526 



LONDON (CIVIL GOVERNMENT) 



screen of Portland stone, designed by Robert Adam. 

 The War Office, usually called the Horse Guards, 

 is a substantial structure, built by W. Kent, about 

 1730. The Treasury, with various government 

 offices, forms a range of buildings with an orna- 

 mented front opposite Privy Gardens, designed by 

 John Soane, R.A. Westminster Hall, between the 

 Abbey and the Thames, was built by William Rufus, 

 and was altered and enlarged, if not rebuilt, in the 

 reign of Richard II.: it was also completely repair- 

 ed, and the front was renovated in 1822. Parlia- 

 ments were formerly held in this hall, and it is still 

 appropriated for coronation feasts. On the western 

 side of the hall, and communicating with it, are UK, 

 new Courts of Chancery, King's Bench, Common 

 Pleas, and Exchequer, erected by Mr Soane. The 

 I louse of Lords, Old Palace Yard, and House of Com- 

 mons, adjoining, were burned in 1834. In the Old 

 Bailey is the sessions' house for the city of London ; 

 on the south side of Clerkenwell Green stands the 

 County Hall, or sessions' house for Middlesex, a 

 spacious detached edifice ; and in Portugal Street, 

 Lincoln's Inn Fields, is the Insolvent Debtors' 

 Court, a commodiously arranged modern structure. 

 In connexion with the buildings for the use of the 

 legislature and the administration of the laws, may 

 be mentioned the Inns of Court, designed for the 

 education of lawyers. The Temple, consisting of a 

 number of quadrangles, passages, and buildings, on 

 the south side of Fleet Street and the Strand, is 

 divided into two establishments, the Inner Temple, 

 and the Middle Temple, under the government of 

 their respective societies, the principal officer, being 

 a clergyman, called the master of the Temple. 

 These buildings, comprising the Temple Church, 

 were anciently the residence of the Knights Tem- 

 plars, from whom they were transferred in 1 324, to 

 the students of the common law. Lincoln's Inn, on 

 the west side of Chancery Lane, stands on the site of 

 a mansion anciently belonging to the Laceys, Earls 

 of Lincoln ; its buildings include a spacious hall, and 

 a chapel, designed by Inigo Jones ; it is governed by 

 a society established in 1310. Gray's Inn, on the 

 north side of Holborn, is so called, because it 

 anciently belonged to the noble family of Grey or 

 Gray de Wilton ; and in 1541 Henry VIII. granted 

 it to the students of law. There are other Inns of 

 Court in the vicinity of the preceding, as Sergeant's 

 Inn, Clement's Inn, Staple's Inn, &c. The Royal 

 Exchange, Cornhill, was originally founded for the 

 congress of merchants, by Sir Thomas Gresham in 

 1567, and having been burned down in 1666, it was 

 rebuilt probably from the designs of Sir Christopher 

 Wren, at the expense of nearly .100,000, and opened 

 in 1669. The present tower is of recent erection, 

 and consists of a spacious quadrangle, encompassed 

 by a colonnade, above which, arranged in niches, are 

 statues of the kings of England from Edward I. to 

 George III. ; on a pedestal in the central area is a 

 statue of Charles II., and under the piazza or colon- 

 nade are those of Sir T. Gresham, and Sir John Bar- 

 nard. The Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, 

 belonged to a chartered company, established in 

 1693, under the management of a governor, a deputy- 

 governor, and twenty directors, was built in 1732, its 

 concerns having been previously transacted at Gro- 

 cers' Hall, in the Poultry. The East India House, 

 Leadenhall Street, was built in 1726, and enlarged 

 in 1799, by the addition of the portico and east wing. 

 The Auction Mart, Batholomew Lane, is a spacious 

 and commodious building, erected in 1810. The 

 Commercial hall, Mincing Lane, for the sale of 

 colonial produce, was built in 1811. The Corn 

 Exchange, Mark Lane, is a handsome edifice, 

 erected in 1827. The Custom House Lower Thames 



Street, was originally founded in the reign of 

 Elizabeth, and having been repeatedly destroyed by 

 fire, was rebuilt on a most extensive scale, in 1814 ; 

 but the foundation having given way in 1825, the 

 front next the Thames has been since rebuilt. The 

 Excise Office, Broad Street, is a spacious structure, 

 erected in 1768, on the site of Gresham College. 

 The General Post Office, the business of which was 

 formerly carried on in Lombard Street, is a noble 

 structure, the principal front of which is towards St 

 Martin's-le-Grand. It is a building of great extent, 

 consisting of a central portico of fluted columns of 

 the Ionic order. It was erected in 1828. 



Civil government.* The chief civic officer of Lon- 

 don is the lord mayor, annually elected from among 

 the aldermen on the 29th September. The powers 

 and privileges of this officer are very extensive. The 

 court of aldermen consists of twenty-six members. 

 They are chosen for life by the householders of the 

 twenty-six wards into which the city is divided, each 

 being the representative of a several ward. They are 

 properly the subordinate governors of their respective 

 wards, under the jurisdiction of the lord mayor, and 

 preside in the courts of Wardmote for the redress of 

 minor grievances, removing nuisances, &c., assisted 

 by one or more deputies, nominated by them from 

 the common council of the respective wards. Such 

 as have filled the office of lord mayor, become justices 

 of the quorum, and all others are justices of the peace 

 within the city. The sheriffs, two in number, are 

 annually chosen by the livery, or general assembly 

 of the freemen of London. When once elected, they 

 are compelled to serve, under a penalty of .400. 

 The common council is a court consisting of 24O 

 representatives, returned by twenty-five of the wards, 

 in proportion to their relative extent ; the twenty- 

 sixth, or Bridge fPard Without, being represented 

 by an alderman. The general business of this court 

 is to legislate for the internal government of the city, 

 its police, revenues, &c. It is convened only on sum- 

 mons from the lord mayor, who is an integral mem- 

 ber of the court, as are the aldermen also. The de- 

 cisions are, as in other assemblies, dependent on a 

 majority of voices. The recorder is generally a 

 barrister of eminence, appointed, for life, by the lord 

 mayor and aldermen, as principal assistant and adviser 

 to the civic magistracy, and one of the justices of 

 Oyer and Terminer, for which services he is remuner- 

 ated with a salary of 2000 per annum from the 

 city revenues. The subordinate officers are the cham- 

 berlain, town clerk, common sergeant, city remem- 

 brancer., sword-bearer, &c. The livery of London is 

 the aggregate of the members of the several city com- 

 panies, of which there are ninety-one, embracing the 

 various trades of the metropolis. They constituted 

 the elective body, in whom resided the election, not 

 only of all the civil officers, but also of the four 

 members who represented the city in parliament. The 

 local jurisdiction of Westminster is partly vested 

 in civil, partly in ecclesiastical officers. The high 

 steward has an under-steward, who officiates for him. 

 Next in dignity and office are the high bailiff and the 

 deputy bailiff, whose authority resembles that of a 

 sheriff, in summoning juries and acting as returning 

 officers at the election of members of parliament, of 

 whom the city of Westminster returns two. These 

 officers are chosen by the dean and chapter of West- 

 minster, and appointed for life. The borough of 

 Southwark is one of the city wards, and denominated 



*The Municipal Reform Bill, recently passed, baa caused 

 an entire revolution in the constitution* of the English 

 boroughs. In that bill, however, London is not included, 

 aa it IB intended to be the subject of a special measure. 

 Meanwhile, therefore, we can only give the civil govern- 

 ment of the metropolis as it has existed and still exists. 



