curious frame of oak, at the four corners of which were carved the cardinal virtues, with the figure of Time on the top and a cock on each side of him : the whole was removed during the last alterations.

On the right and left hand of this balcony stood two gigantic figures, known by the name of Gog and Magog, but supposed by some to represent the giants Corinæus and Gogmagog; by others, to be an ancient Britain and a Roman. These celebrated colossal figures are fourteen feet six inches high, and present most fearful aspects, the one holding a pole-axe and the other a halbert. These were made by Captain Richard Saunders, an eminent carver in King Street, Cheapside, and put up about the year 1708, in the room of two old wicker-work giants formerly carried in procession. Gog and Magog are now placed one in each angle of the west end of the hall on octagonal pedestals, their heads rising to the springing of the great arch.

The hall is ornamented with some splendid monuments, erected at the expense of the city to the memory of Lord Nelson, William Pitt, earl of Chatham, William Pitt, his son, and Beckford, lord mayor in 1766 and 1770, of which a full account will be given in the course of the work.

The Common Council Chamber is a well-proportioned room, at the upper end of which is a fine statue of George III., by Chantry. It likewise contains busts of Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington, and a portrait of Queen Caroline, as well as a fine collection of paintings, presented to the corporation by Alderman Boydell ; amongst them are portraits of Marquis Cornwallis, Lords Howe, Duncan, Heathfield, and Nelson; the destruction of the Spanish and French flotilla before Gibraltar, by Copley; the death of David Rizzio; the death of Wat Tyler; domestic happiness; miseries of civil war; procession of the Lord Mayor to Westminster, by water; and the swearing in of the Lord Mayor in 1781, containing portraits of the principal members of the corporation at that period.

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In Guildhall the following city courts are kept :

1 The Court of Common Council.

2 The Court of Lord Mayor and Aldermen.

3 The Court of Hustings.

4 The Orphans' Court.

5, 6 The two Sheriffs' Courts.

7 The Court of Wardmote.

8 The Court of Hallmote.

9 The Court of Requests, or of Conscience.

10 The Chamberlain's Court, for binding apprentices and making them free when their apprenticeship has expired.

In this hall, also, the following livery companies, who do not possess halls of their own, usually transact business:

LONDON, FROM BANKSIDE.

LONDON has been justly styled the emporium of the world; for, which ever way we turn, nothing meets the eye of the most critical observer that does not bear testimony to its extensive commerce, and to the industrious spirit of its inhabitants. The portion of London comprised in our view, although but as a mere speck in this vast metropolis, is associated with feelings which ought to have a place in the breast of every man. When he beholds the number of edifices dedicated to the worship of that Being "from whom all blessings flow," and among them the stupendous fabric of St. Paul's frowning in majestic grandeur, and appearing as the guardian spirit of the place, the noble Thames, bounded with wharfs, warehouses, and manufactories, in which are employed his fellow men, uniting them in one bond of social intercourse,the number of vessels floating in lordly majesty, and stemming the glassy river at his feet, he will feel a pride in knowing that this is the work of beings like himself, though he cannot but lament that the aggrandizement of the many has caused misery to a few.

ST. MARGARET'S CHURCH, WESTMINSTER.

EDWARD the Confessor, to prevent the inhabitants assembling in his magnificent fabric dedicated to St. Peter to perform their devotions, and thereby interfering with the religious duties of the monks, founded this church, which he dedicated to St. Margaret in 1064.

This structure continued until the reign of Edward I., when it was rebuilt by the parishioners and merchants of the staple, with the exception of the chancel, which was added by the abbot of Westminster about the year 1307. Thus it continued until re-edified in the reign of Edward IV.; the south aisle was repaired by the pious Lady Mary Bylling, and her second husband Sir Thomas Bylling, knight, at that -time chief justice of England.

It underwent several repairs in the years 1641, 1651, 1682, when the north gallery was built for the benefit of the poor, at the sole charge of Sir John Cutler, knight and baronet. In the year 1735, it was not only repaired, but the tower cased with stone, at an expense of 2000l., given by parliament, considering it as a national church for the use of the House of Commons; and in 1758 parliament gave 4000l. to repair it, when there was no part of the church but received ornament, but more particularly the east end, which was wrought into a circular sweep, ending at the top in the form of a half cupola, wrought into squares of Gothic work; under the window and the sides of the altar were also variously ornamented in a Gothic style; and a fine basso relievo, representing Christ and his disciples at Emmaus, was placed over the altar.

In 1803, this church underwent a substantial repair; and it is at pre

sent one of the most handsome structures in the metropolis. It has been decorated with a richly ornamented pulpit and desk and a new organ, and the speaker's pew has been placed in the front of the west gallery. The dimensions of the church are, length 130 feet, breadth 65 feet, altitude 45 feet, and that of the tower (which contains ten musical bells and chimes) to the vertex of the pinnacle, 65 feet.

The greatest ornament of this church is its fine painted window,* representing the history of the crucifixion of Christ between two thieves, the portraiture of whose persons is so well executed that there may be seen the muscles of each limb, occasioned by the different ways they are expanded on the crosses. Round the cross on which our Saviour is extended are the Roman officers and soldiers attending the execution, with some of the chief rulers of the Jews. At the foot of the cross is Mary Magdalen, with Mary the wife of Cleophas and sister to the Virgin Mary, who stands in the front, and is represented as fainting away. On the right hand of the cross is the Roman centurion on horseback, who with a lance pierces our Saviour's side, from which blood and water are represented as issuing. Behind the cross, a little to the left, is a small perspective view of the city of Jerusalem. On the right is the penitent, and on the left the thief who reviled our Saviour. The first capital figure, on the left hand, standing in a niche, curiously delineated, is that of St. George of Cappadocia, the reputed saint of England, standing completely armed at all points, holding in his hand a white banner, partly unfurled, and charged with a red cross, as a symbol of his dying in defence of the cross; and behind him lies at his feet a red dragon, alluding to his conquest over that "red dragon, the devil, who burneth with fury, and is red with the blood of the faithful."

The second figure, on the right hand, is that of St. Catherine, the virgin martyr of Alexandria, holding in her right hand a book, and resting her left on a sword, her head encircled with a crown of glory. At the bottom, towards the left, is a hermit, holding something resembling a root, and looking up towards her; on the right, at the bottom, is part of a wheel, as an emblematical device of the manner of her suffering martyrdom. The third figure on the left hand, under St. George, is

This beautiful window was made by order of the magistrates of Dort, in Holland, and designed by them as a present to Henry VII.; but, that monarch dying before it was finished, it fell into the hands of the abbot of Waltham, who placed it in his abbey church, where it remained till the dissolution of that mix.astery, when it was removed to New Hall, in Essex, then in possession of General Monk, and by him preserved during the civil wars. Some years ago, John Olminis, Esq., the then possessor of New Hall, sold it to Mr. Conyers, of Copthall, who resold it to the inhabitants of St. Margaret's parish in 1758, for 450 guineas.