4C2 LON 
handfotnely difpofed againft the walls. On each fide of 
the principal building, at fome diftance backward, is a 
Email edifice, iifed by the company on particular occa- 
lions. There are three entrances to this ground, by hand- 
fome iron gates; the principal of which is on -the fouth 
fide from Chifwell-ftreet. 
The prefent Artillery-ground, together with the land 
on the north fide of it, as far as Old-ftreet, was anciently 
denominated Bonhili or Bunhiil Fields, part whereof was, 
by the mayor and citizens of London, in the year 1665, 
fet apart and confecrated as a common cemetery, for the 
interment of fuch bodies as could npt be admitted into 
their parochial grounds. However, it not being made 
nfe of for the purpofe intended, Dr. Tindal took a leafe 
of it, and converted it into a burial-ground for the ufe of 
the diffenters. It contains a prodigious multitude of 
grave-ftones with inscriptions, befides a great number of 
railed monuments, with vaults underneath, belonging to 
particular families. 
The weft fide of Finfbury-fquare, and the ftreet between 
Moorfields and the City-Road, were begun in 1777} a 
conliderable time elapfed before the remaining part could 
be carried into execution. At length, in 1789, the north 
fide was let upon building leafes, at 5s. 3d. per foot; the 
eaft fide was let in 1790, and the fouth fide in 1791. So 
■unwilling were builders to (peculate in this concern, that 
the whole ground-rent of the fquare amounts but to 125I. 
per annum. But it was not long before the corporation 
found the advantage of forming a refpeftable neighbour¬ 
hood on this eftate, fit for the refidence of the wealthy. 
Even before the fquare was completed, liberal offers were 
made for pieces of ground in its vicinity; and nearly the 
whole of it is now covered with hand fome ftreets, the pre- 
fent ground-rents of which amount to upwards of 7000I. 
per annum. The original defign was to have a piece of 
■water in the centre of the fquare, which might be a re- 
fervoir to the New River; but, from an apprehenfion that 
it would be a receptacle for filth, it was changed into a 
garden. 
To the north of Finfbury-fquare is a large and hand- 
fome meeting-houfe, belonging to a congregation of dif- 
fenters, called the Founder)’, from having been ereffed by 
the famous John Wefley on the fite of a place of that de- 
feription ; and at a fmall diflance from it is another meet¬ 
ing-houfe, called the Tabernacle, erefted in 1753 by the 
aaot-lefs-famous George Whitfield. This place of worfhip 
is in a moll flouriftiing ftate; for the congregation is un¬ 
commonly numerous, the pulpit refounds with the unc¬ 
tuous and pathetic language of true and genuine diflent- 
ing popularity, and nearly the whole neighbourhood forms 
a religious family. Rival to Rowland's Hill’s chapel, the 
Tabernacle can boaft of thoufands of vifitors on a Sunday 
«vening; while the facred orators and the harmonious 
fingers^of both may fmile at the lonelinefs of our eita- 
blifried churches. 
The Temple of the Mufes,or, in plain Englifii, the hook- 
feller’s (hop, dole to Finfbury-fquare, is worthy of notice, 
not only on account the curious Life and Confeftions of 
Mr. Lackington, with which he has favoured the world 
himfelf, but alfo for the quantity and variety of books 
colledled there, and the particular order in which they are 
fet within the circumference of a fort of tower, which, from 
a circular counter below, rifes to the lantern at the top 
of the building, which is in itfelf an ornament to the place. 
-—Mr. L. profeffes himfelf to be the fon of a poor journey¬ 
man fiioemaker at Wellington, in Somerf'etfliire, to which 
profeffion he was himfelf educated ; and it was all the edu¬ 
cation that he received. After working at his trade in 
■various places, and being fometimes a follower of old 
John 'Wefley, and other methodiftical teachers, which firft 
gave him a talte for reading, he at length refolved to try 
lvis fortune in London. Accordingly, he removed to the 
metropolis, with a pious wife of the fame complexion-5 
but poverty it ill followed his (ftps; until, by the death 
of his grandfather, he gained a legacy of ten pounds, 
nearly the half of which was ablorbed in the expenl'es of 
D O N. 
a journey toTeceive it. On this capita /, he hired a little 
fhop and parlour, and commenced mafter-fhoemaker and 
feller of old books; until, finding the latter half of his 
trade fucceed the beft, he converted his (lock of leather 
into literature, and thus became a regular boo-kfeller. 
This was in 1775 ; and his fuccefs in bufinefs muff have 
been very rapid,'for in 1791, when he publiftved his Life, 
he already computed his profits at 4.000I. perannum, fothat 
he rode in his own chariot, had two town-houfes, and a 
country-feat at Merton in Surrey! When we conftder the 
narrow views and ideas with which an ordinary mechanic 
fets out, great allowances may be made for his exultation, 
when, after ftruggling through diltrefles, he finds him* 
felf elevated to a new rank in life. In this inftance, the 
rank attained was that of a fubftantial bookfeller; it was 
therefore in the line of his profeflionto proclaim his opu¬ 
lence, and to exhibit the portrait of fo extraordinary a 
penonage in the front of liis book. Nor is this all, for 
in a motto above, he even triumphs over an old proverb, 
by inferibing Sutor ultra crepidam, fdicker aufus. Beneath,,, 
under his name, is added—“ Who a few years fince began 
bufinefs with only five pounds ; now fells one hundred 
thoufand volumes annually.” Whatever degree of vanity 
may be dil'covered in thus publifhing a volume wholly 
written about himfelf and his own affairs, Mr. L. is a fly 
egotift, and takes induftrious opportunities to point out 
his fhop as the only market in London for cheap books 5 
and attributes his great tiade to his low profits.—Mr. 
Lackington of whom we have been fpeaking, lias retired 
from bufinefs; the prefent head of the firm is his nephew.. 
Bending our way fouthwards to the old walls of Lon¬ 
don, we meet the place called Moorjields, the appearance 
of which is now very different from what it was ancient¬ 
ly, and indeed not longer than fifteen years fince, when 
trees of large growth were forming quincunxes, and of¬ 
fering a pleafant walk for the neighbours. But now it is 
(horn of its glory ; and we underhand that it is deftined 
to bear fome new buildings furrounding a fquare. The 
north and eaft fides are at prefent curioufiy ftudded with 
brokers and upholfterers’ fliops, with their ufual out-door 
difplay of all forts of goods. Broker-row in Moorfields 
has long been famous ; and a great quantity of cuftomers 
come from all parts within and without the bills of mor¬ 
tality to furnilh their apartments out of this plentiful re- 
pofitory of ready-made rubbifli. The fouth fide is bound¬ 
ed by the well-known efiablifhment called Bethlehem, cor¬ 
rupted into Bedlam. It was a noble ftrufture, five hundred 
and forty feet in length, and forty feet in breadth. The 
middle and ends, which projected a little, were adorned 
with Corinthian pilalters, entablatures, foliage, &c. and, 
riling above the reft of the building, had each a fiat roof, 
with a handfome baluftrade of itone, in the centre of 
which was a handfotne turret. In the middle was a 
clock and three dials, and on the top was a gilt ball and 
vane. The whole was built of brick and Itone, and in- 
clofed by a handfome wall, formed of the fame materials, 
fix hundred and eighty feet long. In the centre of this 
wall, which went in with a grand femicircular fweep, was 
a large pair of fine iron gates, fupported by Itone piers, on 
the top of which were two ftatues, in a reclining polture j 
one reprefenting Raving, and the other Melancholy, Mad- 
nefs. Thele figures are finely exprefled, and were exe¬ 
cuted by Mr. Cibber, who carved the emblematical fi¬ 
gures on the Monument.—Pope, addreffing Cibber the 
poet-laureat, fon of this celebrated artift, called tliefe two 
pieces of foundery his brazen brothers ; and they have long 
been admired. A Weltminfter fcholar compofed the fol¬ 
lowing hexaltich expreffive of the oppofite charafterof the 
two figures and of the (kill of the artilt: 
Belhlemii ad porta.m fe to/lit dupla columna 
Ei xofu, ruv ercot tyra.oe e^ei ; 
Hie calvum ad dextram trijli caput ore reclinat j 
Vix ilium ad lavam ferrea vincla tenent. 
DiJJimilis furor ejl Jlatuis : Jed utrumque laboran 
k'.t gem urn art) ficis mcnjlrat liter que Juror, 
Which 
