literary men of the 17-18th centuries. In the vicinity, between Catherine Street and Drury Lane, is Drury Lane Theatre (p. 40).

Covent Garden Market (Pl. R, 31; II), the property of the Duke of Bedford, is the principal vegetable, fruit, and flower market in London, and presents an exceedingly picturesque and lively scene. The best time to see the vegetable market is about 6 o'clock on the mornings of Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, the market-days (comp. p. 26). The show of fruit and flowers is one of the finest in the world, presenting a gorgeous array of colours and diffusing a delicious fragrance; it is seen to full advantage from 7 to 10 a.m. The Easter Eve flower-market is particularly brilliant.

The neighbourhood of Covent Garden is full of historic memories. The name reminds us of the Convent Garden belonging to the monks of Westminster, which in Ralph Agas's Map of London (1560) is shown walled around, and extending from the Strand to the present Long Acre, then in the open country. The Bedford family received these lands (seven acres, of the yearly value of 61. 68. 8d.) as a gift from the Crown in 1552. The square was planned by Inigo Jones; and vegetables used to be sold here, thus perpetuating the associations of the ancient garden. In 1831 the Duke of Bedford erected the present market buildings, which have recently been much improved. The neighbouring streets, Russell, Bedford, and Tavistock, commemorate the family names of the lords of the soil. In the Covent Garden Piazzas, now nearly all cleared away, the families of Lord Crewe, Bishop Berkeley, Lord Hollis, Earl of Oxford, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Sir Kenelm Digby, the Duke of Richmond, and other distinguished persons used to reside. In this square was the old 'Bedford Coffee-house', frequented by Garrick, Foote, and Hogarth, where the Beef-Steak Club was held; and here was the not over savoury 'Old Hummums Hotel'. Here also was 'Evans's' (so named from a former proprietor), a house once the abode of Sir Kenelm Digby, and long noted as a place for suppers and evening entertainments. It is now occupied by a fashionable club.

The neighbouring church of St. Paul, a plain building erected by Inigo Jones at the beginning of the 17th cent., contains nothing of interest. It was the first Protestant church of any size erected in London. In the churchyard are buried Samuel Butler (d. 1680), the author of 'Hudibras'; Sir Peter Lely (Vandervaes, d. 1680), the painter; W. Wycherley (d. 1715), the dramatist; Grinling Gibbons (d. 1721), the carver in wood; T. A. Arne (d. 1778), the composer; John Wolcot (Peter Pindar; d. 1819), the author; and Kynaston, the actor.

Between Covent Garden and the Strand is old Maiden Lane, where Andrew Marvel, the poet, and Turner, the painter once resided, and where Voltaire lodged for some time.

The Garrick Club, 13 and 15 Garrick Street, Covent Garden, founded in 1831, possesses an important and valuable collection of portraits of celebrated English actors, shown on Wednesdays only, to visitors accompanied by a member.

16. Whitehall.

United Service Museum. The Horse Guards. The Government Offices.

The broad street leading from Trafalgar Square, opposite the National Gallery, to the S., towards Westminster, is called Whitehall (Pl. R, 26; IV), after the famous royal palace of that name formerly situated here, of which the banqueting hall only now remains.

At the beginning of the 13th cent., the Chief Justiciary, Hubert de Burgh, who resided here, presented his house with its contents to the Dominican monks of Holborn, who afterwards sold it to Walter Gray, Archbishop of York. Thenceforward it was the London residence of the Archbishops of York, and was long known as York House or York Palace. On the downfall of Wolsey, Archbishop of York, and favourite of Henry VIII., York House became crown property, and received the name of Whitehall:

'Sir, you
Must no more call it York-place, that is past;
For, since the cardinal fell, that title's lost;
'Tis now the king's, and call'd Whitehall'.

Hen. VIII. iv. 6.

The palace was greatly enlarged and beautified by its new owner, Henry VIII., and with its precincts became of such extent as to reach from Scotland Yard to near Bridge Street, and from the Thames far into St. James's Park, passing over what was then the narrow street of Whitehall, which it spanned by means of a beautiful gateway designed by Holbein.

The banqueting hall of old York House, built in the Tudor style, having been burned down in 1615, James I. conceived the idea of erecting on its site a magnificent royal residence, designed by Inigo Jones. The building was begun, but, at the time of the breaking out of the Civil War, the Banqueting Hall only had been completed. In 1691 part of the old palace was burned to the ground, and the remainder in 1697; so that nothing remained of Whitehall, except the new hall, which is still standing (on the E. side of Whitehall). This fine hall, one of the most splendid specimens of the Palladian style of architecture, is 111 ft. long, 551/2 ft. wide, and 551/2 ft. high. The ceiling is embellished with pictures by Rubens, on canvas, painted abroad, at a cost of 3000l., and sent to England. They are in nine sections, and represent the Apotheosis of James I. in the centre, with allegorical representations of peace, plenty, etc., and scenes from the life of Charles I., the artist's patron. Van Dyck was to have executed for the sides a series of mural paintings, representing the history and ceremonies of the Order of the Garter, but the scheme was never carried out. George I. converted the banqueting-house into a Royal Chapel, and as such it is still used. In the lobby may be seen a large sheet showing the design by Inigo Jones of the entire palace as projected. On Maundy Thursday the Queen's 'eleemosynary bounty' is distributed here according to ancient custom. The public are admitted on application to the keeper. In Whitehall Gardens, at the back of Whitehall, stands a bronze statue of James II., by Grinling Gibbons, erected in 1686.

The reminiscences of the tragic episodes of English history transacted at Whitehall are much more interesting than the place itself. It was here that Cardinal Wolsey, the haughty, splendourloving Archbishop of York, gave his costly entertainments, and here he was disgraced. Here, too, Henry VIII. became enamoured of the unhappy Anne Boleyn, at a ball given in honour of the fickle and voluptuous monarch; and here he died in 1547. Holbein, the famous painter, occupied rooms in the palace at that period. It was from Whitehall that Elizabeth was carried as a prisoner to the Tower, and to Whitehall she returned in triumph as Queen of England. From an opening made in the wall between the upper and lower central windows of the Banqueting Hall (Chapel Royal), Charles I. was led out to the scaffold erected in the street close by. A little later the Protector Oliver Cromwell took up his residence here with his secretary, John Milton, and here he died on 3rd Sept., 1658. Here Charles II., restored, held a profligate court, one of the darkest blots on the fame of England, and here he died in 1685. After the destruction of Whitehall Palace by fire in 1697, St. James's Palace became the royal residence.

In Whitehall Yard, a little to the N., is the Royal United Service Museum, which was founded in 1830 and contains an interesting collection of objects connected with the military and naval professions, and a library. The institution numbers 4600 members, each of whom pays an entrance fee of 11. and a yearly subscription of the same amount or a life-subscription of 101. Admission, by order from a member, daily, except Sundays and Fridays, 11-5 in summer, 11-4 in winter. Soldiers, sailors, and policemen in uniform are admitted without orders. The Auditorium, or Lecture Theatre, has seats for about 500 persons.

The vestibule contains weapons and martial equipments from America, Africa, the South Sea Islands, etc. We then enter the European Armoury, containing specimens of the armour and weapons of the different European nations. In the glass-cases by the windows are the swords of Cromwell and General Wolfe, a dirk which belonged to Nelson, and other objects interesting from their historical association. The next room is the Asiatic Armoury, with Indian guns and armour, etc. The following three rooms are devoted to the Naval Collection, including models of different kinds of vessels, ships' gear, marine machinery, and the like. In the first room is an ingenious little model of a ship, executed by a French prisoner-of-war, hung up (under glass) on one of the pillars. The second naval room contains relics of Franklin's expedition to the N. pole, and others of the Royal George, sunk at Spithead in 1782. The case in the centre contains personal relics of Drake, Nelson, Captain Cook, and other famous seamen. In the centre of the adjoining room, under glass, is a large model of the sea-fight of Trafalgar. In a room immediately to the right of the entrance are models of ordnance and specimens of shot and shells, while an apartment beyond this contains a collection of model steam-engines.

The principal room of the FIRST FLOOR contains military models of various kinds: siege-operations with trenches, lines, batteries, approaches, and walls in which a breach has been effected; fortifications, pioneer instruments, etc. The other rooms contain uniforms and equipments of soldiers of different countries, fire-arms and portions of fire-arms at different stages of their manufacture, and (in cases) various objects of personal interest, such as the pistols of Sir Ralph Abercromby, Bolivar, and Tippoo Sahib, relics of Sir John Moore, etc.

The SECOND FLOOR contains a large *Model of the battle of Waterloo, by Captain Siborne, in which 190,000 figures are represented, giving one an admirable idea of the disposition and movements of the forces on the eventful day; relics of Napoleon and Wellington; the skeleton of Napoleon's charger, Marengo; Hamilton's model of Sebastopol, showing the position of the troops; the stuffed figure of Bob, the dog of the Scotch Fusilier Guards; trophies from the Crimean war and from the last campaign in China.

Whitehall and the neighbourhood now contain various public offices. Near Charing Cross, to the left, in Great Scotland Yard, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police; it contains in one section the 'Black Museum', a motley collection of objects connected with crime and criminals. Scotland Yard is said to have belonged to the kings of Scotland (whence its name) from the reign of Edgar to that of Henry II. At a later period, Milton, Inigo Jones, Sir Christopher Wren, and other celebrated persons resided here. Opposite, on the right side of Whitehall, is the Admiralty. Below the Admiralty is the Horse Guards, the office of the commander-in-chief of the army, an inconsiderable building with a low clock-tower, erected in 1753 on the site of an old Tilt Yard. It derives its name from its original use as a guard-house for the palace of Whitehall. Two mounted Life Guards are posted here as sentinels every day from 10a.m. to 4p.m., and the operation of relieving guard, which takes place hourly, is interesting. At 11 a.m. the troop of 40 Life Guards on duty is relieved by another troop, when a good opportunity is afforded of seeing a number of these fine soldiers together. The infantry sentries on the other side of the Horse Guards, in St. James's Park, are also changed at 11 a.m. A passage, much frequented by pedestrians, leads through the Horse Guards into St. James's Park, but no carriages except those of royalty and of a few privileged persons are permitted to pass.

The Treasury, a building 100 yds. in length, situated between the Horse Guards and Downing Street, originally erected during the reign of George I. and provided by Sir Charles Barry with a new façade, is the office of the Prime Minister (First Lord of the Treasury) and also contains the Education Office, the Privy Council Office, and the Board of Trade. The Office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer occupies a separate edifice in Downing Street.

To the S., between Downing Street and Charles Street, rise the new Public Offices, a large pile of buildings in the Italian style constructed in 1868-73 at a cost of 500,000l., from designs by Sir G. G. Scott (d. 1878). They comprise the Home Office, the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, and the India Office. The handsomely furnished and decorated apartments of the Foreign and India Offices are shown to visitors on Fridays from 12 to 3, on application to the porter. - The effect of the imposing façade towards Parliament Street (the southern prolongation of Whitehall) has been greatly enhanced by the widening of the street to 50 yds., whereby, too, a view of Westminster Abbey from Whitehall is disclosed; but the removal of the W. side of Parliament Street will be necessary for the full realisation of this effect.

The East India Museum, a rich collection of Indian products and manufactures, formerly exhibited in the India Office, has been removed to South Kensington (see p. 289).

The modern edifice on the E. side of Whitehall, in the FrancoScottish Renaissance style, is Montague House, the mansion of the Duke of Buccleuch, containing a splendid collection of miniatures and many valuable pictures.

No. 2 Whitehall Gardens, to the N. of Montague House, was the home of Benjamin Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield) in 1873-5. No. 4 was the townhouse of Sir Robert Peel, whither he was carried to die after falling from his horse in Constitution Hill (June 29th, 1850).

17. Houses of Parliament and Westminster Hall. St. Margaret's Church, Westminster Bridge.

The *Houses of Parliament, or New Palace of Westminster (Pl. R, 25; IV), which, together with Westminster Hall, form a single pile of buildings, have been erected since 1840, from a plan by Sir Charles Barry, which was selected as the best of 97 sent in for competition. The previous edifice was burned down in 1834. The new building is in the richest late-Gothic (Tudor or Perpendicular) style, and covers an area of 8 acres. It contains 11 courts, 100 staircases, and 1100 apartments, and has cost in all about 3,000,0001. Although so costly a national structure, some serious defects are observable; the external stone is gradually crumbling, and the building stands on so low a level that the basement rooms are said to be lower than the Thames at high tide. The Clock Tower (St. Stephen's Tower), at the N. end, next to Westminster Bridge, is 318 ft. high; the Middle Tower is 300 ft. high; and the S.W. Victoria Tower, the largest of the three, through which the Queen enters on the opening and prorogation of Parliament, attains a height of 340 ft. The large clock has four dials, each 23 ft. in diameter, and it takes five hours to wind up the striking parts. The great Bell of the Clock Tower, popularly known as 'Big Ben' (named after Sir Benjamin Hall, Chief Commissioner of Works at the time of its erection) is one of the largest known, weighing no less