The Middlesex Archæological Society.

the school would look in , in passing through the city , and learn how this addition is appreciated by the " Blue-coat Boys , " a capital library would soon be the result . The Duke of Cambridge , who was to have presided at the meeting , was prevented from doing so ; and the Bishop of Carlisle took the chair in ins stead . The Tfev . Thomas Hugo read a brief sketch of the foundation of the

hospital ; and Mr . Fairholt described clearly the pictures and the plate , which was laid out in the court-room ; none of the latter is very ancient . In this room is a very interesting picture of Edward VI .,- at the age of nine years , by Holhein . It is inscribed "Edwardus , Wallias Princeps , anno astatis sine 9 . Formerly the property of Sir Anthony Mildmay , Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth . " A larger picture of the king , also in the courtroom , and carefully glazed , may be a copy .

From Christ's Hospital the party proceeded to St . Bartholomew ' s Hospital , where , in the great hall , a fine room of eighteenth century work , Mr . White told the story of Rahere , who , first a sinner then a saint , founded the church of St . Bartholomew the Great and the "hospital house , a litell longer off from the chirche , " at the beginning of the twelfth century . It was pointed out , as a fact only recently arrived at , that the bells ' in the seventeenth century tower of the church of St . Bartholomew the Great are

the ancient bells , and are inscribed to saints . The church itself , chiefly Norman , is , as most of our readers know , one of the most interesting in London , with its semicircular arches , " purgatory , " the tomb of the founder , and additions by " Prior Bolton , with his bolt and ton . " The interior of the church is in a miserable condition , further disfigured by two huge pulpits and a mountainous stove in the centre . In the church of St . Bartholomew the Less , Inigo Jones was baptised , as the register records ; and in

Bartholomew-close Hubert Le Scour modelled his statue of Charles I ., now at Charing-cross . St . Giles ' s , Cripplegate , was the next place visited , where rest three notable Johns—Speed , Fox , and Milton ; and here Mr . E . Woodthorpe read a paper descriptive of the church and of that portion of old London-wall which remains in the burial-ground , illustrating his observations with some sketches , which included a view of the crypt of St . James ' s on the Wall .

Barber-Surgeons' Hall , in Monkwcll-strect , where there is another bastion , was also visited , and the fine Holbein there preserved , which represents Henry VIII . delivering the charter to the court of assistants , duly examined . The curious wanderer in this part of London should examine the whole plot which is bounded on the west b y St . Martin's-le-Grand , the east by Bishopsgate-street , the north by London-wall , and on the south by Greshamstreet and Lothbury . Here Wood-streetAldermanburyand

hall-, , Basmg street , which are themselves of no great width , are intersected like a maze by narrow Janes and alleys east of Moorgate-street ; and , lying between that street and Lothbury , London-wall , and Old Broad-street , is a mass of buildings still more confused and confined , a number of which seem to have escaped the ravages of the Great Fire , and still serve to give an excellent idea of a large portion of London before that event . From London-wall along the space mentioned run numerous courtsthe entrances and otlier

, parts so narrow , and the houses so high , that fresh air must be scarce . Most of the dwellers here seem to be respectable and hard-working people —some the widows of tradesmen who have been in better circumstances . The pleasant manner of the poorer occupants in the quiet of the city is striking ; we do not mean those in such streets as have become " rookeries " and dens for crowds of doubtful characters ; but in such places as this where , as in the smaller towns and villages ^ families have been known