Of all the poor itinerants of London the Match-sellers are the poorest, and subsist as much by donations as by the sale of their wares. The old match, a splinter of wood, with ends dipped in brimstone, is fast disappearing before the modern lucifer or congreve. The poor creature here represented is appealing to a lady and gentleman, (whose shadows are seen in the picture,) on their way to the
BANK OF ENGLAND.
This great national establishment was erected in 1788 by Sir John Soane: it covers about eight acres of ground, and consists of nine open courts, almost all the rooms being on the ground-floor, lighted from above, beneath which are very extensive cellars, used for the deposit of bullion. This building is raised on the course of the ancient stream of Wall-Brook. In the Pay-Hall, where the notes are issued and exchanged, is a marble statue of William III., founder of the Bank, by Cheere. The Court-Room windows overlook a piece of ground, laid out as a garden: this was formerly the churchyard of St. Christopher’s; nearly the whole of this parish is within the walls of the Bank, the church having been removed in 1780, after the riots. The Bank of England is isolated from all other buildings, and fire-proof.
ORANGES!—BUY ORANGES AND LEMONS!
Here is a poor Irish boy endeavouring to dispose of his oranges to some passengers outside an omnibus, in Cornhill, near the
ROYAL EXCHANGE.
The merchants used, in olden times, to meet in Lombard Street, until Sir Thomas Gresham built the first edifice here, in 1567, from the designs of Henrick, a Fleming, who, it is said, made constant journeys from London to Flanders, to obtain materials and workmen. All the stone, slate, iron, wainscot, and glass, came from Antwerp; so that the first Exchange might be considered a Dutch building. This pile was burnt down at the Fire of London, in 1666, and a second Exchange was built on the old site, by Gernan, the first stone of which was laid by Charles II., and was completed in 1669, at an expense of £59,000, and was again destroyed by fire in 1838. The present edifice occupies the same spot, of which Prince Albert laid the first stone; and it was opened, with great display, by her Majesty, Queen Victoria, in October, 1844, during the mayoralty of Sir W. Magnay. It is from a design by William Tite; the pediment, seen in the drawing, is by R. Westmacott, Jun.
