LON 
Mr. Hill, let his merits obtain honourable mention. 
He pofl'efl'es a ftrong reafoning mind. He readily feizes 
the prominent bearings of his fubjefts, fixes them in the 
cleared point of view, and is eafily apprehended by his 
auditqry. His addredes, as they feem to flow from the 
fervour of feeling, often drongly affefl the feelings of 
thofe to whom they are directed; and the very tremu- 
loufnefs of his under-tones contributes, at times, to fo- 
Icmnizg the minds of the people. His action, though too 
frequently ludicroufly diftorted, is, when occafionally he 
places his hands on the fconces of the pulpit, really grace¬ 
ful and highly dignified.—Evangelical minilters, it tliould 
feem, are fometimes rather earthly-minded. What other 
feeling than that of fallible vanity, the poor love of poor 
fame, induced Mr. Hill to tolerate, and patronize too, 
prints of his houfe, in which he is drawn as fetting out 
from home, fully robed ; while a medallion profile of him 
appears fufpended, amidlt the clouds ? Charity urges us 
to refrain from feverely animadverting on Mr. Hill’s re¬ 
iterated invectives againll regular clergymen, and his ill- 
diflembled confidence in his own preaching. 
Thefe remarks are gathered chiefly from a very popular 
work called the Pulpit. In the following opinion of the 
author, however, we do not coincide. Onefimus fays, 
p. 183, “I imagine that Surry Chapel will not always 
continue fo profitable as it may hitherto have proved. 
Novelty ceafes to attraCl its crowds to this evangelical oc¬ 
tagon, or religious round-houfe; and the poptllar influ¬ 
ence of its founder, for whom there will not loon be found 
an adequate fuhftitute, is now rapidly declining.” This 
is contrary to fad: the chapel is as fully attended 
as ever it was ; and it is obfcrved, that Mr. Hill’s fubfti- 
tutes attraft even greater audiences than he does himfelf. 
Surrey Chapel was built in the year 1784. It is a fort 
of rotunda, with four porticoes and a cupola; and, though 
not an elegant building, is certainly a great ornament to 
the road. It is a very capacious edifice; and the congre¬ 
gation is very numerous, and very charitable; for we are 
informed that greater colleflions have been made here 
for charitable purpofes, upon 1'ome occafions, than at any 
church whatever of the eftablifhment. We had been pro¬ 
mis'd fome particulars upon the lubjefl to lay before our 
readers; but the nature of a weekly publication, has pre¬ 
vented us from waiting for the defired information.—Of 
the ftyle of linging early adopted, and Hill praftifed, in 
this chapel, it mult with juftice be aflerted, in the verfifi- 
cation of Pope, that 
The blefling thrills through all the labouring throng; 
And heaven is won by—violence of fong. 
To this “ violence of fong” has been occafionally added 
a kind of machinery appended to the organ, to imitate, 
in a tnoft theatrical manner, the roaring of thunder, in 
order to give ftage-effedd to particular paflages. But this 
exhibition is now dileontinued. 
To the fouth-eall of this chapel, in Gravel-lane, we 
meet with a charmingly-pifturefque fet of alms-houfes, 
erected in 1812, which owe their origin to the religious 
philanthropy of the fame celebrated clergyman, Mr. R. 
Hill. The building cenlifts of three corps de logis, for the 
accommodation of twenty-four poowold women belong¬ 
ing to the congregation ; and we underftand, that, al¬ 
though the whole is l'upported and managed folely by the 
kindnefs of Mr. Hill, thefe alms-houfes afford great com¬ 
forts to their inhabitants. The eltablifhment alio includes 
a. free day-lchool for twenty-four girls, who are well edu¬ 
cated and completely clothed, bqt not boarded : this is 
called the lchool ot indultry, and occupies the centre part 
of the building. The whole edifice is in the modern Go¬ 
thic Ityie, and by its regularity prefents a neat and in- 
terefting appearance. We refer the readers to our Plate 
VII p. exhibiting both the alms-houfes and the chapel. 
Before we take leave of Mr. Rowland Hill, we fhould 
clvierve, that we have' been informed, that the firft Sun- 
Vou. XIII. No. 924. . ' 
DON. 521 
day-fchool in London originated at Surry-chapel; and 
that the committee of managers of that chapel are the 
guardians of all the Sunday-lehools throughout the Bo¬ 
rough of Southwark—and laftly, that Mr. Hill devote3 
the whole of his time, and the whole of his fortune, to 
the moll benevolent and charitable purpofes. 
Hill’s alms-houfes are nearly furrounded, on the fouth, 
by new ftreets and neat rows of comfortable dwellings ; 
but, unfortunately, too near the polluted llreet anciently 
called Higlers-lane, and now Friar-fireet, (not, we hope, 
on account of its being peopled with nuns of the cypriare 
order,) which is certainly a nuifance to the whole neigli- 
bourhood. 
On the well of the alms-houfes we found a (lone, hav¬ 
ing the following infcription, engraved, as it appears by 
the charafler of the letters, more than a hundred years 
ago : “ This ftone is the boundary of Hangman’s Acre.” 
Whence this denomination arofe we cannot tell.—-On an¬ 
other ftone juft by, and indeed upon feveral hereabouts, 
we noticed the arms or badge of the borough of Southwark, 
confifting of an annulet lurmounted by a crofs pattee, 
and interlaced with a faltire conjoined at the bottom. See 
Plate Vlltt. fig. 1. This, and fimilar figures, ufed to be 
anciently the fign of marts and ftaples, and particularly 
of ivool-llaples; the bales were marked with it, as being 
an eafy figure to draw. Some of thefe marks have, in- 
Head of the crofs pattee, a plain crofs with a line drawn 
from the top to the left arm of the crofs, (as (hown at 
fig. 2.) intended perhaps to reprefent a veftel, with fail 
and oars. At Collumpton, in Devonlhire, we have feet* 
many badges, fomewhat fimiiar to this, carved in feveral 
parts of John Lane’s chapel, who was himfelf a confider- 
able wool-merchant ar.d clcth-manufafturer. We may 
therefore infer, that the borough of Southw-ark adopted 
this badge on account of a great trade of wool going on 
there. The Ikin-market in Great Suffolk-ftreet, is a faint 
remembrance of it. Seep. 511. 
Great Surry Road, which, from the nature of the gravel 
and fand Jaid over the cncaiffement, would be intolerably 
dully, is in general well-watered in fummer, and thus 
becomes cool and pleafant.—Having returned this way to 
the centre of our perambulations, by once more crofting 
Blackfriars-bridge, we lhall now follow a weftern direfliom 
from the city obelilk to the fartheft verge of Weftminfter. 
From the fouth end of Fleet Market, we afcend the 
counter-part of Luelgate-hill, called Fleet-ftreet; leaving 
on our left the Obelilk, erebled in 1775, at the opening 
of Bridge-ftreet, by alderman John Wilkes, of patriotic me¬ 
mory, then lord-mayor of London, and often mentioned 
in our annals, and in the article Engi and, vol. vi.—We 
perceive every moment the great utility of the llielter fur- 
nilhed by the polls furrounding this obelilk, to paflengers 
aliailed on every fide by horfes, carriages, and cattle.— 
We leave the well-known negro who, for fo many years 
has fwept the crofting and bowed to the public, and who 
is now conlidered as a natural appurtenance to the fpot.— 
We leave alfo the celebrated patriot’s elegant Ihop at the 
corner, Waithman’s (haw 1 and printed-linen warehoufe ; 
and we proceed. The old faloop-lhop is Hill here; and 
Hill the perfume of wholefome faflafras keeps the mind 
awake, in fpite of all the opiatic farrago of daily pub¬ 
lications : but we beg pardon—the place is now called 
“ Read’s Coffee-houfe.” A f*ew doors farther, Bride-lane 
brings us into St. Bride’s church-yard, which furrounds 
the church. The ground here is lo unequal, that on one 
fide the path of the church-yard is about twenty feet in 
height, while on the other it i? level with Salilbury-court. 
St. Bridget, or St. Bride, well known in legendary lore, 
for her vifions and afcetic fpafms, is the patronefs of this 
church, which feems to be of lome antiquity, from its 
having had three reflors before the year 1362. It was a 
very lmall building till about the year 1480, when it was 
greatly enlarged by William Venor, warden of the Fleet 
Prifon, who caufed a fpacious fabric to be erebied at the 
6 R w-e.fi 
