A Voyage From Westminster To London Bridge.

building , quite unlike any of my day . The " Golden Cross " is close by , but only in name ; and oh 1 the bustle and tumult of this place 1 Persons in absurd and unfashionable attire move in all directions rapidly along : carriages of the strangest and most remarkable shapes are filled with multitudes of people ; the waggons and carts , loaded with merchandise , and di awn by enormous horses , grind along

on ( what is this ?) a flat stone solid pavement . My wonder at all this is increased when I search for the King ' s Mews , and find in its place a great building , which to me looks to be of noble enough proportions . I enter in : and see—it is full of beautiful and wonderful paintings , most of them by artists unknown to me , either byname or style . On leaving this place , I observe a sort of display of statues and

fountains ; but so great is the confusion caused by all , that it seems as if it would be a pleasure for me to saunter quietly up Sfc . Martin ' s-lane , and rest awhile in the open green fields , under the trees . But lo ! instead of these there are nothing here but houses , houses , on and still farther on ; and a gentleman of somewhat prim appearance , clad in a closefitting costume of blue , set with silver buttons , and having

marked on his collar peculiar figures and letters , tells me that if I go for miles in this direction there will be found nothing but houses still . Perhaps there may be breathing space in Spring Gardens , which , in my time was a beautiful place , thickly shaded with the most luxuriant trees . Here , too , I see , however , that the builder has been afc work . I come down what is now called Parliament-street , and miss the

¦ two fine gates which formerly stood across the roadway . The Cock-pit , abutting upon St . James' Park and the Queen's gardens , stretching towards the river , where there used to be a water entrance called Prevy Bridge , are no longer visible . These large structures , called the Admiralty , the Horse Guards , the Treasury , are all new to me . Here , however , is the Banqueting Hall—the work of worthy Master Inigo Jones—still looking little , if any , the worse for wear . The venerable Abbey , "Westminster Hail , and St .

Margaret's Church , seem to me like old friends ; but how wonderfully is all this neighbourhood changed 1 "What vast masses of building have here been raised . The old Abbey , even , looks dwarfed by lofty towers and turrets . And lo 1 just where there was a landing place for the watermen , there ' is one mighty bridge , which has been raised and nearly demolished since my days , and a new one—of singular but

seemingly strong construction , has been finished' —and stretches across the Thames . I see none of the gay barges of royalty and the nobles , thronged with armed retainers in their gorgeous liveries , and a few smaller boats ; but many vessels of large size , which are troubling the waters , blowing out clouds of steam , and with a terrible noise and Tattling of wheelsmoving idly along the river .

, rap Looking with inexpressible feelings at these wonders , I fall into a sort of reverie , and think of the rare doings there used to be here , and at "Whitehall , in Henry "VTII . 's reign , when the last-named place was tenanted by Cardinal "Wolsey * Here the cardinal received foreign potentates and other -persons of distinction . Often the king himself came ; when they wanted no preparations or goodly furniture , nor viands

¦ of the finest sort that might be provided for money or friendship . At these banquets there lacked no dames or damsels meet to dance with the maskers . There were all kinds of music and harmony set forth with excellent voices of both men and children . The king has been seen suddenly to come in hither iu a mask , with a dozen other maskers , all like shepherds , in garments made of fine cloth , and fine

crimson satin , and caps of the same , with visors of good proportion of visnomy ; their hair and beards either of flue gold wire or else of silver , and some being of black silk ; having sixteen torch-bearers , besides their drums ; and other persons attending upon them , with visors , and clothed all iu satin of the same colours . And afc his coming , and before he entered the hall , —it must be understood that he came by water to the water-gates , without any noise , — -men and lads charged many chambers ; and at his landing these

chambers were all shot off , which made such a rumble in the air that ifc was like thunder . There was then some wit shown to deceive each other , and great feasting and dancing , the particulars of which I have not time to describe . I must not , however , rest ; although ifc requires no small amount of courage for a ghost of my date to take a ticket at what they call the steamboat

pier at Westminster , and go onboard the vessel . This being done , and having embarked , I remember that in my time there was only one bridge across the river at London ; now a fellow . -traveller reminds me that there are ten bridges between the Tower and Battersea , and that others are projected . I note great changes on the south side of the Thames .

In my days Lambeth Marsh was almost a desert spot ; and from near London Bridge to the Archbishop of Canterbury ' s Palace there were no houses closely abutting upon the river . From the Prevy Bridge to York House all is changed . Of this once princely mansion the fine water-gate remains ; doing credit to my timo by its contrast with the wretched sheds and ill-shaped buildings which are near . This place

was originally the Inn of the Bishops of Norwich . It then passed into the hands of the monks jf St . Benet Holme , in Norfolk , and , in 1535 , to Brandon , Duke of Suffolk . After becoming vested in the Crown , it was presented by Queen Mary to the Archbishop of York . It again reverted to the Crown , and was used by the keepers of the Great Seal . Lord Bacon was born here ; andby the bthis great man

, ye , was christened in the picturesque church of Sfc . Martin-inthe-Fields . " See sir , " says the passenger to whom I had spoken , " this gate is one of Inigo Jones ' s best works : it shows how well Portland stone stands the atmosphere of London . " , York House came into the possession of the Duke of Buckingham , who was murdered in 1628 ; and in 1649 Parliament gave this place to General Fairfax , whose

daugfcher married George Vilhers , the second duke ; by which act the mansion returned to the Buckingham family . Since those days , this family has , it seems , sold the estate for building purposes ; and in the Strand there are streets placed on this site' called Charles-street , Duke-street , and Buckingham-street ( after Charles , Duke of Buckingham ) . I miss the picturesque remains of the Savoy Palace ,

where this north approach to the most beautiful bridgethey call it "Waterloo Bridge—is now . " This , to my fancv , was one of the most ancient-looking structures along this part of the Thames . The original of this building is of old date , ifc having been founded by Peter de Savoy , brother to Boniface , Archbishop of Canterbury , uncle to Henry HI . 's queen , Eleanor , about the year 1245 . The palace then went

into the hands of the Friars of Montjoy ; after which Queen Eleanor purchased it for her son Edmund , subsequently Duke of Lancaster , whose sou , Thomas , Earl of Lancaster , was decapitated in the reign of Edward IL , when ifc became the property of his brother Henry , by whom it was enlarged . John , King of France , died here in 1364 . During the insurrection , when Wat Tyler figured as a leader , a party , after attacking Lambeth Palace , directed their attention to

the Savoy ; and , on the 12 th of Juue , 1381 , as it is chronicled , they set fire to it round about , and made proclamation that none , on pain of losing his head , should convert to his use anything that there was , but that they should break such plate and vessels of gold and silver as were found in that house ( of which there is great plenty ) , into small pieces , and throw the same into the Biver of Thames . Precious stones

they should break in mortars , that the same might be of no use-, and so it was done by them . One of their companions they burned in the fire because he minded to have reserved one gaudy piece of plate . They found there certain barrels of gunpowder , which they thought had been gold ; and , throwing it on the fire , more suddenly than they thought , the hall was blown up , the houses were destroyed , and

themselves very hardly escaped away . To the number of two-and-thirty these rebels entered a cellar of fche Savoy , when they drank so much of the sweet wines that they were not able to come out in time , but were shut in with wood aud stones that mured ( walled up ) the door , where they were heard calling and calling seven days after , but none came to help them until they were dead . After this affair the Savoy lay in ruins during about 150 years , when Henry VII . commenced transforming the site into an