On the south

scattered farm-house or cottage. side, the Thames was to be seen gliding silently between its shady banks; and on the north rose the high and well-wooded grounds of Hampstead and Highgate.

At the period of which we are speaking, and indeed till a much later date, no fewer than three small streams, having their source in the highgrounds to the north of London, crossed the Strand in their way to the Thames. They were spanned by as many bridges; the remains of one of which, consisting of a single stone arch about eleven feet in length, was discovered in 1802, during the construction of a new sewer a little to the eastward of St. Clement's Church. The two others were severally known as Strand Bridge and Ivy Bridge. The former stood at the end of Newcastle Street; the latter near Salisbury Street; the site of both bridges being pointed out by Strand Lane and Ivy Lane, which formed anciently the channels through which the two rivulets flowed to the Thames.

By degrees the gradual erection of new buildings altered the aspect of the Strand; but it was not till 1532 that it was formed into a regular street, when an act was passed for paving the "streetway between Charing Cross and Strand Cross," at the expense of the owners of the land. Within eleven years from this period, there was almost a continuous row of houses on the north side of the Strand, extending from Temple Bar to the church of St. Mary

le-Strand. The south, or river side, was occupied principally by Somerset House, the Savoy Palace, Durham House, York House, and St. Mary's Hospital, the site of the present Northumberland House.

There were, however, a few other mansions in the Strand, which, with their fair gardens extending to the river, were occupied entirely by the dignitaries of the Church. "Anciently," says Selden, "the noblemen lay within the City for safety and security; but the Bishops' houses were by the water side, because they were held sacred persons whom nobody would hurt." There were in fact, at one period, no fewer than nine Bishops who had "inns," or palaces, on the south side of the Strand. Three of these (those of the Bishops of Llandaff, Chester, and Worcester) were demolished by the Protector Somerset, to make room for his new palace. The remainder also, as we shall presently show, by degrees fell into the hands of the lay nobility, and changed their names accordingly. Many of the water-entrances to these stately mansions, such as Hungerford Stairs, York Stairs, Salisbury Stairs, Surrey Stairs, Arundel Stairs, and Essex Stairs,-still retain their ancient names and use. But we shall presently have to dwell more fully on this subject in speaking of the houses of the nobility in the Strand, as they existed in the reigns of Elizabeth and James the First.

We will now stroll from Temple Bar to Charing

Cross, pointing out the different objects of interest, and recalling historical associations, as we pass along.

Temple Bar derives its name from a bar or chain which anciently formed the line of demarcation which separated the Cities of London and Westminster. At a later period, according to Strype, "there. was a house of timber erected across the street, with a narrow gateway, and an entry on the south side of it under the house." In 1670, a few years after the destruction of this clumsy edifice, the present gateway was erected by Sir Christopher Wren. The statues on the east side are those of Queen Elizabeth and King James the First; those on the west side, of Charles the First and Charles the Second.

It was through Temple Bar, after the battle of Poictiers, that Edward the Black Prince made his triumphal entry into Westminster, with his illustrious prisoner, John, King of France, riding by his side. And through it also, after his great victory at Agincourt, in 1415, Henry the Fifth rode in triumph to his palace at Westminster; the Lord Mayor and Aldermen attending him,-" appareled," says Hall, "in grained scarlet; the commoners in beautiful murrey, well mounted and gorgeously. horsed with rich collars and great chains." Through Temple Bar Edward the Fourth led his beautiful bride, Elizabeth Woodville, to her coronation at Westminster; and here also, on her way to her coronation, Elizabeth of York, the interesting young

queen of Henry the Seventh, was greeted by "singing children; some arrayed like angels, and others like virgins, who sang sweet songs as her grace passed by." Katherine of Aragon, and her beautiful rival Anne Boleyn, when severally on their way to be crowned at Westminster, were alike received with extraordinary rejoicings and pageantry at Temple Bar. Hall, speaking of the latter occasion, observes "Then came the Queen in a litter of white cloth of gold, not covered nor vailed, which was led by two palfreys clad in white damask down to the ground, head and all, led by her footmen. So she, with all her company and the Mayor, rode forth to Temple Bar, which was newly painted and repaired, where stood also divers singing men and children, till she came to Westminster Hall, which was richly hanged with cloth of arras and new glazed; and in the midst of the Hall she was taken out of her litter." Twenty-five years afterwards we find her daughter, Queen Elizabeth, welcomed by the citizens at Temple Bar, with similar pageantry and rejoicings to those which had greeted her ill-fated mother.

On the occasions when the sovereign pays a visit to the City, there still exists the ancient custom of closing the gates of Temple Bar, when admission is formally demanded by the flourish of trumpets, and announcement made by the heralds that the sovereign is without. The gates are then opened, and the Lord Mayor delivers up the guardian sword of the City, which the sovereign immediately re

turns. When Oliver Cromwell and the Parliament dined in state in the City, on the 7th of June 1649, we find this ceremony performed in the same manner as towards the ancient kings of the realm.

For some years after the rebellion of 1745, the heads of more than one of the unfortunate sufferers in the cause of the House of Stuart were to be seen affixed to poles on the top of Temple Bar. Walpole writes to George Montagu, 16th August 1746:-"I have been this morning at the Tower, and passed under the new heads at Temple Bar, where people make a trade of letting spying-glasses at a halfpenny a look." As late as the As late as the year 1772 there were still two heads to be seen on Temple Bar, one of which is mentioned as having fallen down on the 1st of April in that year. "I remember once," said Dr. Johnson, "being with Goldsmith in Westminster Abbey. While we surveyed the Poets' Corner I said to him, from Ovid

Forsitan et nostrum nomen miscebitur istis.

When we got to Temple Bar he stopped me, pointed to the heads upon it, and slily whispered

me

Forsitan et nostrum nomen miscebitur istis."

It is, perhaps, needless to remark that Goldsmith's sly remark had reference to the Jacobite prejudices which it is well known that Johnson entertained.

Ben Jonson at one period of his life lived close to Temple Bar. "Long since, in King James's