425 LON 
'the principal one in the city, as Cheapfide is at prefent, 
London-ftone might have been the place where public 
proclamations and notices were given to the citizens. 
This conjecture has, indeed, fome argument to fupport it ; 
for, in the year 1450, when Jack Cade, the Kentiih rebel, 
came through Southwark into London, he marched to this 
ftone, where was a great concourfe of people, among whom 
was the lord-mayor. On this ftone Jack Cade (truck his 
fword, and (aid, ‘‘Now is Mortimer lord of this city.” It 
is alfo faid, that this ftone was fet up for the tendering 
and making of payments by debtors to their creditors, at 
their appointed days, till, in after-times, they were ufually 
made at the font in St. Paul’s church, or the Royal Ex¬ 
change. Thefe, however, are but conjectures ; nor can 
we fay more, than that it is very fingular, fo much care 
fliould have been taken to preferve tire ftcne, and (o little 
to preferve the hiftory of its origin. But it is with this 
fort of palladium as with others of the fame kind and of 
the remoteft antiquity—Veneration knelt before it; and, 
had (lie found what it really was, Veneration would have 
difappeared, and, the charm of myftety being once broken 
and unwound, the (iniple thing would have proved what 
it merely was in reality, an unknown ftone, like many 
which uhrevered and unnoticed lie at the foot of the hill, 
from which they originally rolled, either at fome convul- 
fion of nature in the place, or according to the fyftern of 
gravitation which in a rotative motion fends heavy bo¬ 
dies to the circumference. Some centuries hence, per¬ 
haps, when the dark veil of ignorance revifits this ifland, 
as it probably may, Superltition will take hold of this 
fubjeiff, and make much more of it than has been done 
before, grounding her refpeft upon the very notice which 
we have taken of it. In this manner have thoufands of 
prodigies been handed to pofterity ; and, like fame, ga¬ 
thered ftrength as they went on : Vires acqnirit ettndo. Livy 
would never have employed his pen in recording the talk¬ 
ing of cows, the fweating of marble (latues, and other 
portentous nonfenfe, had not his cotemporaries been fo 
plainly perfuaded of the truth of thefe reputed faffs, that 
his paffing them unnoticed would have brought his an¬ 
nals into downright difcredit.—A furvey of London with¬ 
out fome differtation upon London-ftone would fhare the 
fame fate, and be (tamped with the fame anathema which 
the hiftorian of Padua would have incurred had he not 
facrificed blindly to the tafte of his countrymen. 
In Svvithin’s-lane, behind the church, is Salters’ Hall, 
a plain brick building, part of which is let to a congre¬ 
gation of Prefbyterians. In this hall are portraits of fe¬ 
deral kings of England, and a remarkable fine one of the 
great architect fir Chriftopher Wren, as large as life. 
We are here, and indeed on the whole declivity of the 
hill from St. Paul’s to the Tower, as if in a foreft of tow¬ 
ers and fpires, fo numerous are the churches all around. 
It is hardly poflible to guefs why our anceftors were fo 
fond of building religious edifices ; for, in faff, London, 
three centuries ago, was not half fo big as it is now, and 
yet the number of places of worftiip was much greater, if 
we except the (mall diflenting meeting-houfes, which rife 
like muftirooms in all parts within and without the city. 
We have hardly loft fight of St. Swithin when we come 
to St. Mary Abchurch ; lo called from its dedication to 
the Virgin Mary; the additional epithet of Ab, or Up¬ 
church, being given to it. It appears that a church, de¬ 
dicated to St. Mary, has (food upon this lpot from very 
early times; and we find, that, in the year 1448, the pa¬ 
tronage of it was in the prior and canons of St. Mary 
Overy ; but, coming to the crown in the reign of queen 
Elizabeth, her majelty granted the perpetual advowfon to 
Corpus Chrilti College, in Cambridge, in whom it (fill 
remains. The old church was deltroyed by the fire of 
London, foon after which the prefent building was erect¬ 
ed. It is built of brick, (frengthened with rultic quoins 
of ftone at the corners, with three windows on each fide; 
the middle window riling higher, and taking up the fpace 
jftoove, while the others, which are fmaller, have round 
4 
DON. 
windows over them : the window and door cafes are aif® 
of ftone. The tower is fquare, the comers of which are 
ftrengthened in the fame manner as the body ; and in the 
centre of each fquare is a window, ornamented like the 
reft.. From the tower rifes a dome, on the fummit of 
which (lands a plain fpire, fupported by a lantern-bafe. 
The altar-piece, which is very curioufly carved, is deferv- 
ing of notice. The length of the church is fixty-three 
feet, its breadth fixty feet, the height of the roof fifty- 
one feet, and that of the fteeple one hundred and forty 
feet. 
After the fire, the parifii of St. Lawrence Pounteney 
was annexed to this parilb, the church of the former not 
being rebuilt. The old church was fituated on the weft 
fide of Lawrence-Pounteney-lane, and took the addition 
of Pounteney from its great benefaflor, fir John Pounte¬ 
ney, lord-mayor in the years 1312, 1330, 1331, and 1333, 
w ho founded a College of Jefus and Corpus Chrilti, for a 
mafter, warden, thirteen priefts.and four chorifters ; w hich 
was confirmed by Edward III. in the year 1346. The 
patronage of this church and college was in its own chap¬ 
lains, until the diftolution of the college, when it came 
to the crown ; and was granted, by queen Elizabeth, to 
Edward Dorening and Roger Rant, to be held of her and 
her fucceffors, as an appendage of the manor of Eaft 
Greenwich, paying a fee-farm rent of 4I. 6s. 9d. a-year to 
the crown, and iol. annually to a ftipendiary prieft, ferv- 
ing cure there. Soon after this, the parifliioners pur- 
chafed the grant for 340I. by which means they obtained 
the advowlon, which has continued in them ever fince. 
The fite of the old church is now ufed as a cemetery for 
the inhabitants of this pari(h. 
Defcending a little towards the Thames, we find, 
in Suffolk-lane, Merchant-Taylors’ School, founded 
by that refpedable company in the year 1651, for the 
education of boys. It was anciently kept in a houfe 
which belonged to the duke of Buckingham, and w'as 
called the Manor of the R.ofe; but, that edifice being, de¬ 
ft royed by the fire in 1666, the prefent ftruffure was ere£f- 
ed upon the fame fpot. The fchool is a long and fpa- 
cious building, fupported on the eaft by ftone pillars, 
forming a handfome cloifter, within which are apartments 
for the three ufhers. Adjoining to this is a library, fup¬ 
ported alfo by ftone pillars, and well furnifhed with claf- 
lical and other books, for the ufe of the fchool ; and on 
the fouth of the library is the chapel. Contiguous to 
thefe is a large houfe appropriated to the ule of the head 
mafter. The fchool confifts of eight forms, in which, 
near three hundred boys have their education ; a hundred 
of whom, according to the conftitutions of the founda¬ 
tion, are taught gratis ; a hundred more at 5s. and fifty at 
2S. 6d. per quarter. The head mafter receives from the 
company a falary of iol. 6s. per annum, and 30s. for water; 
befides the quarterage from the fcholars, which renders 
his falary very conliderable. The firft u(her has 30I. per 
annum, and the two others 25I. and all of them have pro¬ 
per apartments. Several of the fcholars are annually Cent 
to St. John’s College, Oxford, which was founded by fir 
Thomas White chiefly for their ufe, fince they have 
forty-fix fellowlhips in it. 
Nearly oppofite Suffolk-lane (lands the parochial church 
of Allhallows the Great. This church, which is dedi¬ 
cated to All Saints, was originally called Allhallows ad 
Fcenum in the Ropery, from its vicinity to a hay-wharf, 
and its fituation among rope-makers ; and Allhallows the 
More, (or Greater,) to diftinguiffi it from another church, 
which ltood a little to the eaft of it, and was called AU- 
hallows the Lefs ; but, being both deltroyed by the fire 
in 1666, the latter was not rebuilt, and the two parithes 
were united. The church of Allhallows the Great was 
founded by the noble family of the Defpencers, who pre- 
fented to it in the year 1361 ; from whom it palled to the 
earl of Warwick and Salifbury, and at laft to the crown.. 
In 1546, Henry VIII. gave this church to Thomas arch- 
bilhop of Canterbury, in whole fucceffors it has conti¬ 
nued 
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