540 L O N 
Scottifti monarchs, whenever they vifited this capital. It 
was originally given by Edgar of England to Kenneth III. 
of Scotland, for the humiliating purpole of his making an 
annual journey to this place to do homage for his kingdom 
of Scotland. In after-times'it was uled by his fucceffors 
when they came to Weftminfter to do homage for the 
counties of Cumberland and Huntingdon, and other fiefs 
held by them of the crown of England. 
Thefe pafiages lead us to a court behind the Banquet- 
ing-houfe, where we have always admired an excellent 
fiatue in brafs, of the ill-advifed James II. executed the 
year previous to his abdication, by Grinlyn Gibbons. 
Now that all the ftrife about the Stuarts has been put 
an end to by the death of the la ft of the family, it is a 
pity this ftatue, the workmanfhip of which is admirable, 
fhould be thus buried in an obfcure place, behind the 
magnificent houfe which his grandfather built, and his 
father fo gorgeoufiy decorated. 
The old palace of Whitehall, to which this building 
was annexed, owes its origin to Hubert de Burgh, earl of 
Kent, who, in the year 1242, bequeathed it to the black 
friars in Chancery-lane, Holborn, in whofe church he was 
interred. But in 1248, thefe friars having difpofed of it 
to Walter de Grey, archbifhop of York, he left it to his 
fucceffors, the archbiftiops of that fee, for their city man- 
lion ; and hence it obtained the name of York Place. This 
manfion, with two gardens, three acres of land, and the 
appurtenances, were feized by Henry VIII. in the twenty- 
firtt year of his reign, when cardinal Wolfey incurred the 
premunire by which all his goods and poffellions were for¬ 
feited to the crown; and, when the king afterwards re- 
ftored the poffeffions of the archbifhopric of York to him, 
this place was referved. Henry was no fooner poffeffed 
of this palace, than he enclofed the park for the ufe of 
this and the palace of St. James ; and alfo built a beauti¬ 
ful gate acrofs the ftreet, with a magnificent gallery for 
the accommodation of the royal family, the nobility, and 
great officers of (late, who fat there to fee the tourna¬ 
ments and military exercifes performed in the tilt-yard; 
and, foon after, the king, who had a greater tafte for plea- 
lure than for elegance in his manfions, ordered a tennis- 
court, a cockpit, and bowling-greens, to be formed, with 
other places for different kinds of diverfion. _ The defign 
of the gate was by Holbein. It was built with bricks of 
two colours, glazed and difpofed in a teffelated faffiion. 
The top of it, as well as thole of an elegant tower on each 
fide, w ere embattled. On each front were four buffs in 
baked clay, in proper colours, which refilled every attack 
of the weather to the laft. When this gate was taken down, 
about fifty years ago, William duke of Cumberland had 
all the parts of it numbered, with an intention of rebuild¬ 
ing it at the top of the long walk at Windfor; but this 
defign was never carried into execution.'—From the time 
of Henry, Whitehall became the royal refidence of the 
kings of England ; and fo continued till the year 1697, 
when, by an accidental fire, it was entirely deftroyed, ex¬ 
cept the prefent edifice, which had been added to the old 
King James I. in the year 1619, according to a defign of 
Inigo Jones. 
This magnificent ftrufiureis built entirely of ftone, and 
is divided into three ftories. The low-eft ftory has a ruftic 
wall with fmall fquare windows, and ferves as a balls for 
the orders. On this is raifed the Ionic, with' columns 
and pilafters; and between the columns are well-propor¬ 
tioned windows, with arched and painted pediments. 
Over thefe is placed the proper entablature, on which is 
raifed a fecond feries of the Corinthian order, confifting 
of columns and pilafters like the other. From the capi¬ 
tals are carried feftoons, which meet with malks and other 
ornaments in the centre. This leries is alfo crowned 
with its proper entablatures, whereon is raifed a baluftrade 
with attic pedeftals between, which crown the work. This 
building was only a fmall part of king James’s plan for 
rebuilding the royal palace; the remainder was left unex¬ 
ecuted on account of the turbulence of the times. It 
DON. 
was to have confiffed of four fronts, each with an entrance 
between two fquare towers. The interior w-as to have 
contained five courts ; viz. a large one in the centre, and 
two fmaller at the ends ; and between two of the latter, 
a beautiful circus with an arcade below, the pillars of which, 
were to have been ornamented with caryatides. The length 
of this palace was to have been 1152 feet, and the depth 874. 
Part of this edifice is converted into a military chapel, 
in which fervice is performed every Sunday morning and 
afternoon ; George I. having granted a falary of thirty 
pounds per annum to each of twelve clergymen, fele&ed 
equally from Oxford and Cambridge, who officiate a month 
in turn. The ceiling is richly painted by Rubens ; the 
fubjedr is the Apotheofis of James I. which is treated in 
nine compartments, and for boldnefs of defign and fuc- 
cefsful execution cannot be too much admired. This 
fine performance is painted on canvafs, and is in fine pre- 
fervation. A few years fince, thele paintings were re¬ 
touched by Cipriani, with fo much addrefs as to leave 
no apparent difference in the vyork. The altar-piece was 
preferved from the fire which deftroyed Whitehall, and 
given to this chapel by queen Anne. The coft.of. erect¬ 
ing the Banqueting-houfe was feventeen thoufand pounds. 
Rubens received three thoufand pounds for painting the 
ceiling; but the remuneration to the architect was very 
difproportionate ; who, according to Mr. Walpole, re¬ 
ceived only eight fliillings and four-pence a-day as furveyor 
of the works, and forty-fix pounds per annum for houfe- 
rent, a clerk, and incidental expenfes. This place was 
cliofen by the regicides who brought Charles I. to the 
block, for the laft aft of his mortal exiftence. On the 
morning of his execution he was conducted hither from 
St. James’s ; and, after palling a fpace in his bed-room, 
went from thence through a breach in the wall at the 
north end of the room upon the fcaffcld. The paffage 
ftill remains, and is the door of a fmall additional build¬ 
ing- , ' 
The old palace lay in ruins for many years. At prefent 
the fite of it, with a part of the privy-garden, is covered 
by the d welling-lioufes of different noblemen and gentle¬ 
men, among which, thofe of the dukes of Richmond and 
Buccleugh, and the earl of Fife, are the mod confpicuous ; 
the embankment behind the latter is a great improvement 
to this part of the bank of the Thames, and commands 
a very extenfive view of the water between Blackfriars 
and Weftminfter Bridges. Several improvements have 
been made of late in front of thefe lioufes; railings, letting 
in the fight to grounds planted with ffirubs and trees, 
have taken the place of dead walls covered with lottery- 
bills and ballads ; and the circulation of the air, perfumed 
by thefe plants and plots of flowers, has become more free 
and wholefome. 
Nearly oppofite to Scotland yard, is fituated the Admi¬ 
ralty-office, a maffy building of brick and ftone. It has 
two deep wings, and is entered by a lofty portico, fup- 
ported by four very tall ftone columns, with Ionic capi¬ 
tals, to which there is an afeent by a few fteps; but this 
portico, which was intended as an ornament to the build¬ 
ing rather difgufts than pleafes, in confequence of the im¬ 
moderate height of the columns. It is faid that the archi¬ 
tect who built this portico had made the lhafts of a juft; 
length, when it was obferved that the pediment interrupted 
the light of fome of the apartments, in confequence of 
w hich lie was compelled to violate every rule of architec¬ 
tural proportion, and carry his columns to the roof of the 
building. Happily, however, this clumfy pile is concealed 
from view by a very handfome fcreen, built by Meffrs. 
Adams, in the centre of which is an arched gateway, over 
which runs a baluftrade. On each fide of the gate is a 
niche, furmounted by a pedeftal, on which is the figure 
of a winged fea-horfe. In front of the fcreen is a colonade 
of the Doric order; and at each extremity are three niches, 
above which are triangular pediments ; in one of thele 
pediments is a baffo-relievo of the prow of a Roman gal¬ 
ley, and in the other the bow of a Britilh three-decked 
man- 
