5. St. Edward's Staff. It is four feet seven inches and a half long, and three inches and three quarters round, made of beaten gold. It is borne before the

king in the coronation procession.

6. The gold salt-seller of state. In make it resembles the square White Tower, and is of excellent workmanship. At the coronation it is placed on the king's table.

7. The sword of mercy. It has no point; the blade is about two inches broad, and thirty-two inches long. At the coronation it is carried before the king, between the two swords of justice, spiritual and temporal.

8. A grand silver font, double gilt, and elegantly wrought. This is used for christenings of the royal issue.

9. A large silver font, a present from the town of Plymouth to Charles II. It is curiously wrought, but not equal to the other.

10. The crown of state. His majesty wears it in parliament. It has a pearl, the finest ever seen; a ruby of inestimable value; and an emerald seven inches round.

11. The crown which is placed before the Prince of Wales in Parliament, to shew that he is not come to it.

When the king goes to the parliament-house, the keeper of the jewel-office, attended by warders of the Tower, privately carry, in a hackney-coach, the two last mentioned crowns to Whitehall, where proper officers are appoinned to receive them; who, with some yeomen of the guard, carry them to the rooms where his majesty and the prince robe themselves. When they are disrobed, the crowns are conveyed back to the Tower by the persons who brought them. The king in his crown and robes, and the princes, and all the peers, in their robes, may be seen by any well dressed person, on application to the keepers of the house of lords, on any day on which his majesty attends that house on public business. The

royal procession to and from the house to St. James's palace, is also deserving of the notice of the curious stranger.

12. Queen Mary's crown, globe, and sceptre; and the diadem she wore proceeding to her coronation with King William.

13. An ivory sceptre, with a golden dove enamelled with white, perched on the top, the garniture of which is gold. It was made for the queen of James II.

14. The golden spurs, and the bracelets for the wrists; they are very ancient, and worn at the coronation.

15. The golden eagle, which contains the holy oil for anointing the kings and queens of England. The head screws off, in the middle of the neck, which is made hollow to hold the oil; and when the bishop anoints the king and queen, he pours it from the bird's beak into a spoon. The eagle and pedestal on which it stands are about nine inches high, and the expansion of the wings is nearly seven inches; the weight of the whole is about ten ounces, and is curiously engraven. 16. The golden spoon, into which the bishop pours the oil. These two pieces are very ancient.

In this office are all the crown jewels, worn by the princes and princesses at coronations; and abundance of curious old plate. Independently of several of the jewels which are inestimable, the value of the precious stones and plate contained in this office, is not less than two millions sterling.

The Mint.

Visitors are not permitted to see any part of the Mint. The manner of stamping is performed by an engine, worked by a spindle like a printing-press. To the point of this spindle is fixed, by a screw, the head of the dye; and, in a cup beneath, which receives it, is placed the reverse. The piece of metal being cut round to the size (and, if gold, exactly weighed) is placed between the cup and the point of

the spindle, and by one jerk the stamp is complete. The manner of stamping gold, silver, and half-pence, is exactly the same. The silver and gold, thus stamped, are afterwards milled round the edges, which is done privately.

The Chapel.

The chapel, situated at the north end of the parade, is a small low building; it contains a few ancient monuments. Near the gallery stairs, two alabaster figures are elevated on a tomb; on the inscription around, in the old characters, the name of Cholmondeley is visible; here were interred the celebrated Lords Kilmarnock, Lovat, and Balmerino. Near the altar are mo numents of Sir Michael Blount, who died in 1592, Samuel and Mary Payler, 1646, and Sir Allen Apsley, Knight, 1630; with some account of their marriages and issues. On a flat stone an inscription in memory of Talbot Edwards, who was keeper of the Regalia when Blood stole the crown, and who it is said knocked him down in the attempt. He died in 1674, ⚫ aged 80. The chapel otherwise forms no object of attraction; may be seen by applying to the pewopener, at any time, for a small fee.

THE THREE BRIDGES.

In connection with the Thames, may be noticed the three magnificent stone bridges, of which views are inserted in the work.

Westminster Bridge was first built between the years 1738 and 1750, and cost 389.500. It is 1223 feet long, and 44 feet wide; containing 14 piers, and 13 large and two small semi-circular arches; and has on its top 28 semi-octangular towers, twelve of which are covered with half domes. The two middle piers contain each 3000 solid feet, or 200 tons of Portland stone. The middie arch is 76 feet wide; the two next 72 feet, and the last 25 feet. The free water-way between, the piers is 870 feet. This bridge is esteemed

one of the most beautiful in the world. Every part is fully and properly supported, and there is no false bearing, or false joint, throughout the whole structure.

It

Blackfriar's Bridge was finished in the year 1769, and is remarkable for the lightness of its structure. has eight piers and nine elliptical arches. The centre arch is 100 feet wide; those on each side 93, the third 80, and the fourth 70. The length is 1100 feet, and the breadth 42 feet.

London Bridge is of great antiquity, and was for many ages encumbered with houses built on each side. It was improved, and put into its present condition, in 1756, but it is at this time considered as a building so unfit for its situation, that it is intended to take it down; and, among other plans, an iron bridge, of one immense arch, has been proposed in its stead; and ap proved of by a committee of the House of Commons. It is 915 feet long, and 45 feet broad; the arches are 19 in number, and, excepting the centre arch, are only 20 feet wide.

The Water Works, on the north-west side of the Bridge, supply a considerable part of London with water, for domestic purposes, in the same manner as is effected by the New River. But, as London Bridge lies very low, the water requires to be forced up to a bason on the top of a building 120 feet in height. From this bason it again descends into the main pipes, and is conveyed in all directions through the town. The water is raised by the action of four great wheels, which are turned by the stream, and every turn of the four wheels causes 114 strokes of the piston rods-by this means from 40 to 50,000 hogsheads of water are raised every 24 hours..

A very heavy fall of water occurs at this bridge, occasioned in part by the enormous size of the sterlings, and by the small breadth of free water-way. The obstruction to the navigation from this cause, and the number of lives which are every year lost in consequence, are sufficient reasons for removing the bridge as scon as posssible.

THE MONUMENT.

About 200 yards north of London-bridge is situated the finest pillar in the world, erected by Sir Christopher Wren, in memory of the great fire, which, in 1566, broke out at a house on this spot, and destroyed the metropolis, from the Tower to Temple Bar.

It is a fluted column, of the doric order; the total height of it is 202 feet; the diameter at the base 15 feet, and the height of the column 120 feet. The height of the massy pedes al is 40 feet, and the cone at the top, with its urn, is 42 feet. Within the column is a flight of 345 steps, and from the iron balcony at top is a most fascinating prospect of the metropolis, and the adjacent country. The admittance to the top is sixpence. It is impossible not to lament the ob scure situation of this beautiful monument, which in a proper place would form one of the most striking objects of the kind that architecture is capable of producing.

No rational being can entertain the notion, that the catholics, or any religious sect, could wilfully have perpetrated so horrible a deed as this pillar was intended to impute to them, nor can so much credit be given to human foresight, as for it to be concluded that a fire, which broke out in a single house, could upon this, rather than upon other occasions, have extended its ravages in so extraordinary a manner.

STATUES AND SQUARES.

The noble figure of King Charles on horseback, at Charing Cross, is by Hubert de Scur. The com manding grace of the figure, and exquisite form of the horse, are striking to the most unpractised eye. This piece was cast in 1633, and not being erected before the civil war, it was sold by the parliament to John Rivet, a brazier, with strict orders to break it to