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Trade, without enlarging the British territories, has given us a kind of additional empire. It has multiplied the number of the rich, made our land estates infinitely more valuable than they were formerly, and added to them an accession of other estates as valuable as the lands themselves.-Addison.

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE

Cornhill. The first Exchange, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham, was destroyed by the great fire of London, in 1666. A new edifice was afterwards erected at the expense of the City and the Mercers' Company, and opened in 1699. That magnificent pile, in turn, was also destroyed by fire in January, 1838; soon after which, the erection of the present noble edifice was commenced, from the designs of Mr. Tite; the first stone having been laid by his Royal Highness Prince Albert, with great ceremony, on the 17th January, 1842; and the Exchange opened by her Majesty in person, October 28th, 1844. As a building it is an honour to the city, and one of the finest structures which the present age has yet produced, in its full completion; and has deservedly placed the architect in the first rank of his profession. The principal front faces the west, and exhibits a handsome portico of eight Corinthian columns, incontestibly the finest thing of the kind in the metropolis-the most dignified as to its scale, and the most commanding in effect-supporting a tympanum, richly sculptured by R. Westmacott, (the younger) R.A.. The east end of the building is ornamented with a clock-tower, that contains a set of chimes, consisting of seventeen bells, the largest or tenor bell, weighing a ton. On the north side are placed statues of Sir Thomas Gresham and Sir Hugh Myddelton, by Messrs. Joseph and Carew.

The merchants' area is larger than that of the old Exchange, the central part being, like that also, open to the sky. The dimensions of the area are one hundred and seventy feet by one hundred and twelve, and of the open part one hundred and sixteen feet by fiftyeight: it is approached by the entrance already described at its western

extremity, and corresponding ones on the east, north, and south sides. In the centre of the quadrangle is placed a full length marble statue of her Majesty Queen Victoria, by Lough, erected in 1845. The ambulatory is separated from the open portion by arcies and columns, the interior being arranged after the best examples of such open and uncovered courts in the palaces and buildings of Italy, and profusely decorated with encaustic paintings, by F. Sang, a German artist of some celebrity. In the angles north and south of the east end are placed statues of Queen Elizabeth and Charles II., in whose reigns the two former edifices were erected.

The suite of rooms belonging to Lloyd's, occupy a large portion of the first floor on the east and south sides, and are approached by a staircase immediately entered from the north end of the small east court. The first room on ascending, is a vestibule of lofty proportions, opening at the opposite, or west side, into the Commercial Room; on its south into the Subscription, or Underwriters' Room; and on its north having an arcade of three arches springing from columns, forming a sort of architectural screen, which keeps up the general symmetry of the room, by cutting off, without entirely shutting up, an irregular space, caused by the obliquity of the north and south sides of the building. The principal room is a magnificent apartment, ninety feet long by forty feet wide; in addition to which there is the Subscribers' Room, almost as large. A self-registering anemometer and rain-guage, erected by Mr. Follett Osler, of Birmingham, is a remarkable feature in the furnishing of the building. It records, on paper prepared for the purpose, by its own automatic motions, the force and direction of the wind for every minute of the day, the quantity of rain that falls, and the periods of greatest humidity.

In the vestibule, to Lloyd's, is placed a full-length marble statue of his Royal Highness Prince Albert, by Lough, erected in 1847, and a colossal full-length statue of Mr. Huskisson, by Gibson, R.A., presented by Mrs. Huskisson, in 1848; also a marble tablet to the memory of John Lyddeker, Esq., a South Sea ship owner, who left to the Merchant's and Seaman's Society upwards of £50,000; and a marble tablet to perpetuate the vigorous efforts made by the "Times newspaper, to protect the commercial interest from an extensive gang

of swindlers.

The 'Change hours, when "merchants most do congregate," are between two and four o'clock.

THE BANK OF ENGLAND,

Threadneedle Street-the largest establishment of the kind in the world-was founded in 1694. Several schemes had been suggested by different individuals, for a banking establishment, but at last the project of a Scotch gentleman of the name of Patterson, was acted upon. The government of William III. being in great want of money, it was proposed to lend it £1,200,000, on the condition of the lenders receiving a charter of incorporation as a company. This was agreed

upon; the subscription list was filled in ten days; and on the 27th July, 1694, the Bank received its charter of incorporation. The charter was at first limited to eleven years, but it has been renewed at successive periods; the last renewal being in 1833, when the Bank charter was extended to 1855, with a proviso, that in 1845, if parliament should think fit, and the money owing by government to the Bank be repaid, the charter can be withdrawn, which was not done.

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The business of this great establishment was originally transacted at Grocers' Hall, in the Poultry; but in 1732, the foundation of the present structure was laid, and the first portion of this vast building opened for business June 1st, 1734, but was soon found insufficient for the immense and increasing concerns of the Bank; and some neighbouring houses were purchased to increase its dimensions. Different architects have been employed for a long series of years; but the enormous pile of building which is now called the Bank, may be quite fairly termed the work of Sir John Soane, who was appointed architect in 1788. The greater part of this extensive edifice is of stone; and in order to obviate danger from fire, all the new buildings erected by that architect, have been constructed fire-proof. The vaults in which the bullion, coin, bank notes, &c., are deposited, are also indestructible by fire. The vast range of building has also the great advantage of being quite detached, though closely surrounded, by other buildings. The destruction by fire of its near neighbour, the Royal Exchange, in 1838, and the alterations consequent on the re

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