conjectured that a cup of tea was first drunk in England, the introduction of that luxury being attributed to Bennet, Earl of Arlington (it would seem, however, that tea was known east of Temple-bar as early as 1657); in St. Michael's alley, Cornhill, was Bowman's, the first coffee-house that was established, which dates from a time many years before the names of coffee and tea had become naturalized words in London; from the old galleried inn-yard, at the back of the Three Kings' stables gateway, Piccadilly, the first coach to Bath started; in St. Giles's there existed until very lately the district known as the Rookery, where the Irish first colonized London; in Portugal Street, Lincoln's-innfields, is the site of the theatre (the Duke's), where, on the 1st March, 1662," Romeo and Juliet" was acted for the first time; and in Clerkenwell, on a site now occupied by a distillery, stood the Red Bull theatre, where women first acted on the English stage.

Less familiar to the public eye, but not less properly included amongst the curiosities of London, are the National Records and public collections of manuscripts; a class of historical monuments possessing inestimable value. The Reports of the Commissioners on the Public Records made known to the nation some years since the vast mine of historical riches that lay buried in the cold and dusty chambers of the different repositories of records; and many recent publications have not only explained the origin, character and contents of the respective classes of Rolls, but have afforded examples of the light they throw on the manners and customs of our ancestors, and of the condition of our towns and the country generally, from the time of the Norman kings to comparatively recent periods. The public records, in fact, illustrate every topic of national history, civil and political, social and religious, moral and material, and may be truly said to form materials for history unequalled in the world. The earliest and most celebrated of our documentary curiosities is " Domesday Book," the Register of the lands of England which was framed by direction of William the Conqueror, and which, treasured in the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey, still remains in pristine freshness, fair and legible as when first written. It is the carliest English record in existence, and Spelman, in his anti

quarian enthusiasm, pronounced it the most noble as well as ancient written monument of Britain. It is a travelled book, for, in early times, precious as it was always deemed, it occasionally accompanied the king's judges on their circuit. It was originally deposited in the Chapter House at old royal Winchester, and afterwards was usually kept, with the great seal, in the King's Exchequer at Westminster, but in the reign of Queen Anne it was deposited in the Chapter House, which was repaired for the reception of public records soon after 1705.

As to the public collections of manuscripts in the British Museum and elsewhere in London, a separate article might be devoted to the merest outline of their more remarkable features, and on the present occasion we cannot enter on this tempting ground. The oldest existing library in the metropolis is that of Lincoln's-Inn, which can boast a magnificent collection of juridical works and manuscripts little known beyond the circle of legal students and practitioners. It was founded in 1497.

The Registry of Wills in Doctors' Commons is in itself a treasure-house of documentary curiosities. Its locality, moreover, constitutes one of the most curious features of the metropolis. Even the dreaded penetralia of Chancery Lane cannot boast anything equal to the seclusion, the silence, the mystery, and the shade of Doctors' Commons-that imposing old-world region, where the hopes and fears, the frailties, the passions, the loves, the charities of many lives are discerned, in ever-shifting variety, as in a camera obscura. It seems to form the citadel of the Civil and Canon Law, in the midst of the busy commercial life of the nineteenth century, and its very atmosphere and aspect are redolent of antiquity. We have no room left for going into the history of Doctors' Commons; but it appears that the Civilians and Canonists lived in a collegiate manner, taking commons together, as early as the time of Elizabeth, and they have still their common-hall. According to the dictum of Her Majesty's Solicitor General on a debate last session, their learned successors in these sombre precincts do not enjoy "the clear light of day;" but in their ancient twilight they still attract to themselves a multitude of transactions that affect the dearest interests of society, and relate as well to the living as the dead. In Doctors' Com

mons is the Court of Arches-removed thither from the Norman arcades of St. Mary-le-Bow-a court of ill-omen to married people, and possessing if not exercising the grave attributes of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. In Doctors' Commons is the Consistory Court of the Bishop of the diocese; the High Court of Admiralty of the Seas, before the judge of which tribunal a silver oar is carried as the emblem of his office; and the Court where wills have long been proved and administrations granted within the Prerogative of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and where causes testamentary are heard. In Doctors' Commons is the Faculty Office, from which dispensations formerly issued to eat flesh on prohibited days, and in which faculties to Notaries and dispensations to the Clergy are still granted. In Doctors' Commons are various episcopal registries, where you get licenses for marriage in ominous proximity to the offices in which people sue for divorce; and where, if you are fortunate enough to possess bona notabilia in the province, your executors will carry your will. The Prerogative Office is one of the most remarkable features of Doctors' Commons. In the year 1853-1854, no less than from thirteen thousand to fourteen thousand wills were proved here, representing property worth more than fifty millions, and five thousand administrations were granted of the effects of intestate persons. So much for Doctors' Commons a convenient loophole of retreat from which

to see the stir

Of the great Babel and not feel the crowd.

It has been

But here we must bring our survey to a close. directed to the London of the Past rather than of the Present; for, as it would not be possible to describe all the curiosities of the great Metropolis in the limits of an article, we have grouped together those only which relate in particular to its history and progress. London is a metropolis of marvels; and the wellknown features which surround and are most familiar to the Londoner in his daily life, are not less worthy of attention than those connected with its history-they are themselves curiosities without an equal in the world. Where can we find anything to compare with "the wonderful immensity of London"-a province of brick and mortar that has an area of 115 square miles, a popu

lation exceeding that which dwells in the 16,000 square miles of Denmark, and assessed property exceeding 12,000,000l. in value -an amount far beyond that of the whole kingdom of Scotland? Where (it has been asked) can we see such masses of population as throng the streets of London? Where such a variety of human life of "many-languaged men"? Where can we sce such brilliant gatherings of rank; such patrician splendour and refinement; such vast commercial wealth? What, indeed, is the city of the genii compared to London by night, with its millions of lamps and its thousands of chariots? Where can we traverse highways so commodious, cross such bridges, tread such pavements, or view such scenes as the mighty river presents from the crowded docks at commercial Blackwall to the historic palaces of ancient Westminster? Where can we see such mansions of the nobility; such priceless collections of art; such sumptuous clubhouses; such breezy public parks? Where can we find such marvels in regard to the supply of food and water for the daily use of more than 2,400,000 inhabitants? Where such provisions for order and for the enjoyment of life and property? Where can we see institutions that mark such regard for moral as well as material advancement; such libraries, museums, and public collections? Where such noble charities and spacious hospitals for indigence and suffering? Where can we be surrounded by such enduring traces of the piety and patriotism of our forefathers? Where can we tread ground invested with so much historic dignity and once pressed by the footsteps of such memorable and illustrious men? Where can we see such suggestive buildings, such "petrifactions of history," as remain in London? Where a feudal stronghold with such memories as the Tower of London? Where such a noble structure of regal piety and monastic devotion as the Abbey at Westminster?. Westminster, where we see allied the edifices of a nation's faith, liberties, and laws; where, near the time-honoured abode of kings, converge the ruling forces of an empire on which the sun never sets; and where, in the sumptuous pile now risen on the ancient royal site, our constitutional legislature assembles beneath the monitory shadow of the venerable abbey-" that noble epic in stone," which has the faith of ages and the majesty of England for its theme.

NOTE ON ARUNDEL HOUSE IN THE STRAND, AND THE DISPERSION OF ARUNDEL MARBLES.

["Notes and Queries," vol. iv. p. 361.]

THIS mansion, or, rather, collection of buildings, the site of which had been taken from the see of Bath in the time of "Protector" Somerset, appears from Hollar's Views to have comprised a range of irregular buildings, principally of red brick, erected at various periods, and combined without much regard to elegance or uniformity; although its noble owner, the Earl of Arundel, who was so celebrated as a collector of works of art and a preserver of learning, is said to have been the first person who introduced uniformity in building, and to have been made chief commissioner for promoting this object in London. Arundel House stood between the gardens of Essex House on the east, and of Somerset (then called Denmark) House, on the west, its pleasure grounds extending to the river and commanding a fine view of the city to London Bridge, of Westminster, and of the country to the south and west. In this house, as Mr. Cunningham mentions in his excellent "Hand-Book," Hollar drew his well-known view of London as seen from the roof.

Of this quaint old palace or town inn, Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, was lord in the first half of the seventeenth century. It is hardly necessary to say that this illustrious nobleman was son of Philip Howard Earl of Arundel, the faithful and constant, who, being persecuted for his religion, was suffered by Queen Elizabeth to languish in the Tower, where he died in 1595, and great-grandson of the accomplished Henry Howard Earl of Surrey, who was beheaded in 1547 by "the Nero of the Tudor race." Thomas Howard was restored to the Earldom of Arundel