and recreation" to the King's Scholars and neighbours. In 1672 the parish made a new maze herein; and Aubrey speaks of it "as much frequented in the summer in fair afternoons."

William Collins, "the inseparable companion of Gainsborough," a famous modeller in clay and wax, and carver in wood, died in Tothill Fields, on May 31, 1793.

In 1793 there was a famous bear-garden in these fields. A portion of them, including about ten acres, was during the present century inclosed by railings, and named VINCENTSQUARE, after the learned Dean who then presided over the Abbey Church.

In this square, on October 12, A.D. 1837, a Church, dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, was consecrated by the Bishop of Oxford. The Dean and Chapter gave the ground; the Church Commissioners, £3,000; the Society for building Churches, £500; and Lord Bexley contributed £100, and the Church-plate used at the Administration of the Holy Communion. The first Incumbent is the Rev. Abraham Borradaile, M.A., late student of Christ Church, Oxford. The architect was Mr. Edward Blore.

On St. Margaret's Day, July 20, 1847, Miss Angela Burdett Coutts, on a site in ROCHESTER-ROW, opposite Emery Hill's Almshouses, laid the foundation-stone of a Church, to be dedicated to GOD in honour of St. Stephen (the first martyr), and be built and endowed by her free gift, in the presence of the Bishops of London, Oxford, Tasmania, and Adelaide; the last See having been also endowed by her bounty. The architect is Mr. Benjamin Ferrey; the builders, Messrs. Rigby; and the style adopted that of the fourteenth century. The Nave, with its aisles, will be 82 feet long, and the Chancel 47 feet; the tower and spire, which will be 200 feet in height, being placed with a bold projection on the east side of the northern aisle. The materials employed are Anstone and Snenton rag-stone for the walls, and Caen and Whitby for the quoins and dressings. The Schools, for 400 children, will harmonize admirably with the future structure. The whole building, when completed, will be most richly decorated and

picturesque, attesting that knowledge of his art and taste which the able architect has so often displayed. The first Incumbent of the district is the Rev. William Tennant, A. M., of Trinity College, Cambridge.

It is a cheering thought, that (though, alas! much remains to be done) Westminster has not been slack in fulfilling her part in that paramount duty which devolves upon a Christian country-the education of her poor, essential ever for her progress in civilization, her liberty and safety, and the antidote of evil teaching. A century and a half since the parish of St. Margaret-then consisting of 3,039 houses-not, as now, thinned in a great degree of its former wealth and influence-contained but one Church, and its Chapel of Ease in the Broadway. Now, the last has been replaced by a fair fabric: there has been built the Church of St. John Evangelist's Parish,-formed and subdivided by the bounty of individuals and inhabitants into the districts of St. Mary and St. Stephen, each with its Church and that indispensable adjunct-a School. In Dacre-street a large Free School has been established. Already All Saints' at Knightsbridge is fast approaching completion; and we trust that the time is not distant when, from the temporary Church of St. Mark's, its congregation will be enabled to remove to a permanent building, and the district of St. Matthew, in St. Peter-street, furnish in its Church and School another evidence that the good work has not been stayed. For

"As star that shines dependant upon star

Is to the sky, while we look up in love;

As to the deep fair ships, which though they move
Seem fixed to eyes that watch them from afar;

As to the sandy desert fountains are,
With palm-groves shaded at wide intervals;
Such to this British Isle her Christian fanes,
Each linked to each for kindred services."

WORDSWORTH.

Number of Children educated in the United Parishes of St. Margaret and St. John, Westminster, 1849.

The present site of the Gas-works was, not many years ago, the residence of a market-gardener, with poplars and a tea-garden, still perpetuated in the name of the adjacent publichouse, "The White Horse and Bower."

These Gas-works (one of the three earliest stations established by the first Gas Company in the Metropolis, which

received its Charter of Incorporation in 1812,) owe their origin to the enterprise of Mr. F. A. Winsor, who, upon the evening of the King's birthday, A. D. 1807, made a brilliant display of gas along the wall between the Mall and St. James's Park. The general lighting of the Capital with gas began on Christmas-day 1814.

MARKET-STREET

derived its name from the right of holding "one market at Touthull every Monday; and one fair to be held annually in the same place, on the Eve, Day, and day following St. Mary Magdalene" (July 2), which was granted to the Abbat and Convent by King Henry III. in a charter. King Edward I. allowed only one fair, to consist of thirty-one days, and commence on October 13. It is said that the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London, by a bribe of £8,000, induced the Abbat to yield up his privilege.

The following amusing notice of a fair in Westminster, A. D. 1560, is given in Machyn's "Diary," page 241. "The xxv day of June, Saint James fayer by Westminster was so great that a man could not have a pygg for money; and the beare wiffes hadd nother meate nor drinck before iiij of cloke in the same day. And the chese went very well away for 1d. q. the pounde. Besides the great and mighti armie of beggares and bandes that were there."

THE HORSE-FERRY.

The wooden house was built for a small guard which was posted here at the time of the Usurpation. The ancient Horse-ferry between Westminster and Lambeth was suppressed when Westminster Bridge was built; but, as it was the property of the Archbishops of Canterbury, and leased out at a yearly rent of £20, the Primate at the time received £3,000, which was funded in his name.

At Christmas 1282, after a severe frost and snow, men "passed over the Thamis betweene Westminster and Lambeth

dryshod;" just as in 1269, "from St. Andrewe's Tyde to Candlemas, men and beasts passed afoote from Lambeth to Westminster." (It has been calculated, after careful observations, that the Thames rises about eighteen inches higher every century.) On August 10, 1600, the Ambassadors of Morocco and Barbary crossed the water at this point, on the way to Nonsuch Palace.

The great frost commenced December 1683; and by January 6, 1684, the river presented the appearance of a town of booths, with carriages plying on it. There was a foot-passage quite across the river from Lambeth-stairs to the Horse-ferry. Evelyn, in his Diary, says that on February 5 he crossed in his carriage from Lambeth to Millbank.

M. de Lauzun mentions the Ferry in his account of the escape of the Queen of James II., December 9, 1688; Sir Edward Hales being in attendance with a hackney-coach. "We drove from Whitehall to Westminster, and arrived safely at the place called the Horse-ferry, where I had engaged a boat to wait for me. To prevent suspicion, I had accustomed the boatmen to row me across the river of a night, under pretence of a shooting expedition, taking cold provisions and a rifle with me to give it a better colour."

The same author tells us that "the King, attended by Sir Edward Hales, who was waiting for him, descended the back stairs, and crossing Privy Gardens, as the Queen had done two nights before, proceeded to the Horse-ferry, and crossed the Thames in a little boat with a single pair of oars to Vauxhall." He threw the Great Seal into the river by the way; but it was afterwards recovered, in a net cast at random, by some poor fishermen.

Very early one morning, while the watermen were dreaming of fares when they should have been by the river-side, the Duke of Marlborough with his hounds desired to cross. By good fortune one Wharton chanced to be at hand; and the Duke rewarded him by obtaining a grant of the "Ferry-house" for him the present owner is a descendant of Wharton.