This church was one of fifty, erected by act of Parliament in 1724. John James was the architect. The first stone was laid by General Stewart, with the following ceremony:—Having made a libation of wine, he pronounced these words: “The Lord God of heaven preserve the church of St. George!” It is dedicated to St. George the Martyr, in honour of George I. The subject of the altar-piece is the Last Supper, attributed to Sir James Thornhill. This church is remarkable for the number of fashionable marriages celebrated here.
BUY A BOX!—BUY A BAND-BOX!
These useful articles are mostly the manufacture of the persons who carry them about for sale: they are of all shapes and sizes—cap-boxes, bonnet-boxes, clothes-boxes, &c.
OLD CLOTHES!
“Clo! Clo!!” This is the abbreviated cry of the old clothesman, when going his rounds. The trade is mostly conducted by Jews, who take the morning purchases to Rosemary Lane, (commonly called Rag Fair,) near Tower Hill, where they dispose of them to dealers, who patch, mend, and sell again to the public. Our Jew, judging from his beard and band round his waist, is some dignitary of the synagogue; he has just made a purchase of an old court suit at
ST. JAMES’S PALACE.
It is a plain brick building, and was erected by Henry VIII. in 1551. Queen Anne was the first to hold her court here, since which time it has been uniformly used for that purpose. Here is the Chapel Royal, in which our present Queen was married to Prince Albert: it is used only for purposes of state. King Charles I. passed the last eleven days of his life here, during his trial. A great portion of the south-eastern corner was destroyed by fire, in 1809.