LONDON STONE. 



By Ekxest J. Miller. 



To the American traveler approaching London, it presents a very 

 familiar appearance. For far off in the distance he sees the immense 

 dome of St. Paul's and the turrets of the Tower of London: and so 

 well known have they become, both by print and painting, that he 

 needs no guide to point them out, but recognizes them at once as 

 readily as he would any of the churches or public buildings of his na- 

 tive city. So that almost his first visit is made to these familiar 

 buildings ; not to examine them in detail or to study all the wonders 

 they contain ; but simply to verify his preconceived notions, and to 

 know how nearly the representations he has seen of them agree with 

 the reality. But in going from St. Paul's to the Tower by the almost 

 straight road which is clearly seen on the map of Roman Loudon, and 

 which can be easily traced out even now, the traveler passes by one 

 of the oldest antiquities of London, and one that is rarely visited by 

 any of the tourists who roam over that old city. For the southerly 

 end of St. Paul's churchyard is on Watling street, and passing down 

 that street to Cannon street, you cross St. Swithin's lane. Near the 

 lane is St. Swithin's church, and under the south wall of that church 

 protected by an iron railing is a sort of stone monument with a large 

 circular opening toward the spectator, and in that opening lies a small 

 stone, but little larger thau a man's head — that is London Stone, or 

 rather all that is left of it. Every one can find out when the founda- 

 tions of the tower were laid, but no one can tell when London Stone 

 was erected in Cannon street. Every one knows who was the archi- 

 tect of St. Paul's, but no one knows who was the builder of London 

 Stone. The reasons for the building of St. Paul's and the Tower are 

 apparent at first glance, but why London Stone was built is only a 

 matter of conjecture, and is not of absolute certainty. So to-night we 

 propose to discuss a question of probabilities ; for our subject cau be 

 nothing else, if we do not know why it was erected, or when, 01 by 



