ROY 
from the hours of six to eight from Lady- 
day till Michaelmas, and from Michaelmas 
to Lady-day from the hoars of four to six ; 
before and after which hours the bell shall 
ring as above-said. And it is further enact- 
ed, that no persons shall assemble-iri com- 
panies, as stock-jobbers, &c. either in Ex- 
change Alley, or places adjacent, to stop 
up and hinder the passage from and to the 
respective houses thereabouts, under pain 
of being immediately carried before the 
Lord Mayor, or other Justice of the Peace, 
and prosecuted.” 
There are at , present numerous shops 
encircling the Royal Exchange, but they 
are confined to the ground floor, under the 
arches or piazza; many years past the upper 
rooms were used for this purpose, and it 
has been said to the amount of two hun- 
dred. Lloyd’s Coffee-House now occupies 
the greater pari of the upper story. 
Before the present unhappy war, the 
Royal Exchange of London presented an 
epitome of the world, where specimens of 
ail the varieties of m4n might be seen and 
studied; in which point of view it was 
equally valuable to the philosopher as to the 
merchant for his extended pursuits, nor was 
it less useful to the observer of the manners 
of different nations; now, unfortunately, 
neither the philosopher, the observer of 
manners, nor the merchant, finds it a place 
of its original attraction. The frantic de- 
crees against the commerce of England, on 
the continent, and the necessary reprisals of 
our own government, are the causes which 
have rendered the area of the Royal Ex- 
change a splendid desart, compared to what 
it has been ; but the enterprising spirit of 
our traders, which outstrips all the cold cal- 
culations of politicians, may serve to con- 
vince the world that though this spirit may 
be checked for a short time, it can never 
be extinguished, nor will all the powers of 
the earth combined produce the growth of 
grass between the stones of its pavement. 
The architectural decorations render the 
exterior and interior fronts of the Royal 
Excliange an ornament to the vast metro- 
polis of England. The form is square, arid 
the area the same; there are four gates 
which face the cardinal points, but the prin- 
cipal is in Cornhill. Mr. Malcolm informs 
us that the statues of George I. and George 
II. are by Rysbrack ; his present Majesty’s 
by Wilton, which was erected in March, 
1764 ; and that most of the Kings previously 
to Charles II. were sculptured by Libber ; 
that of the latter King, which originally 
RUB 
stood in the area, is the work of Grinlin 
Gibbons, the unrivalled carver in wood- 
those of Charles I. and II., on the principal 
front, are by Bushnell. The statue of 
Charles II., in the area, was a few years 
since replaced by another in a Roman 
habit, the performance of Mr. Spiller. We 
shall conclude this slight sketch of the history 
of the Royal Exchange, with a brief descrip- 
tion by the author just-mentioned. The 
grand gateway is in the centre intercolum- 
niation of four Corinthian pillars, which are 
the whole height of the front, and have a 
complete entablature, the great arch reach- 
ing to the architrave. In the attic, directly 
over the gate, are the royal arms, and this 
forms the base of the steeple, on which 
there are three gradations, or stories, each 
bounded by pilasters and pillars, with en- 
tablatures and balustrades, and busts in 
place of vases, the usual ornaments of this 
sort of magnificent edifices; except the 
third, which has pediments on each side, 
with a cupola arising from the centre. On 
this is a globe and gilt grasshopper. 
Over each side intercolumniation of the 
front are circular pediments, above them 
are attics and balustrades, with the Mercers 
crest and the City supporters. The lesser en- 
trances have divided pediments, and over 
them Corinthian niches, and pediments con- 
taining statues of King’s Charles the First 
and Second. The wings of the front are 
five arches in length, on each side of tire 
gates, three of these form a piazza; the 
two remaining retire into the main building. 
The basement in which they are turned is 
rustic, and the story above them Corin- 
thian, with four pillars, an entablature, and 
balustrade. The three windows of the pro- 
jection, and those of the -building, are ex- 
actly attic in their borders, though placed 
in Corinthian intercolumniations. The four- 
sides of the quadrangle are magnificent, and 
richly decorated with the basement arches 
of the walks, the cornices, over them, the 
niches, statues, pillars, circular windows, 
entablatures, and balustrade, all in correct 
proportion and arrangement. 
ROYENA, in botany, African blaMer- 
nut, so named in honour of Adrian Van 
Royen, a genus of the Decandria Digynia 
class and order. Natural order of Bicsrnes. 
Guaiacanae, Jussieu. Essential character : 
calyx pitcher-shaped ; corolla one-petalled, 
with the border revolute; capsule one- 
celled, four-valved. There are seven spe- 
cies. 
RUBIA, in botany, madder, a genus of 
