We are indebted to an active Correspondent for the original of the engraving (a pencil drawing), and the abridgment of the previous description, from a neatly compiled work—the Percy History of London, and from original and authentic sources. We are, however, compelled to omit the "dimensions of the ground on which the original Exchange stood," notwithstanding our Correspondent has been at the pains to copy the items from "an old record in the Chamber of London, never before made public." The document is of considerable value, in illustrating the topography of ancient London; but its interest is hardly popular enough for our pages.

SONNET,

ON LEAVING WINCHESTER

Winton—ere thee I leave in hoary pride, Thy hallow'd temples, and thine aged towers, Lifting their heads amid the rural bowers That grace fair Itchen's ever-rippling tide, I gaze—and think how many a century Hath slowly roll'd along, since in their might The British Chieftain and the Roman Knight First met in thee in triumph or to die. But now in peace along thy vale I rove, Or mark with awe thy venerable pile Of mitred pomp, and down the lengthen'd aisle Listen to notes divine, with those I love. These are the charms that memory must renew, Till I shall gaze again, with reverence due.

TOSCAR

EQUANIMITY

HORACE. Part of Ode 3rd, Book 3rd, paraphrased

"Justum et tenacem propositi virum"

Nor direful rage, nor bois'trous tumult loud, Nor looks infuriate of the threat'ning crowd— Nor haughty tyrants, with their angry scowl, Like beasts that o'er the traveller's pathway prowl— Nor southern storm, that o'er the ocean raves, And swells in mountain heights its restless waves, Can aught avail, with all their force combined, To shake the man with firm, though tranquil, mind! Guided by Justice and by Wisdom's laws, Secure he stands to guard his righteous cause. What—tho' in awful haste the tott'ring world, By Heaven's command, be into ruin hurl'd: As on a rock unshaken he remains, Upborne by Him who all the just sustains! Destruction's thunders rage from pole to pole— Yet he undaunted smiles, and bids them calmly roll!

TOSCAR

ST. SEPULCHRE'S BELL

(For the Mirror.)

Among the list of benefactions in the parish church of St. Sepulchre is the following, relative to the tolling of the church-bell on the eve of the execution of unhappy criminals:

"Robert Doue, Citizen and Merchant Tailor of London, gave to the parish church of St. Sepulchre's the somme of £50. That after the several Sessions of London, when the prisoners remain in the gaole as condemned men to death, expecting execution on the morrow following, the clarke (that is, the parson) of the church shoold come in the night time, and likewise in the morning, to the window of the prison where they lye, and there ringing certain tolls with a hand-bell appointed for the purpose, he doth afterwards (in most Christian manner) put them in mind of their present condition and ensuing execution, desiring them to be prepared therefore as they ought to be. When they are in the cart, and brought before the wall of the church, there he standeth ready with the same bell, and after certain toles rehearseth an appointed praier, desiring all the people there present to pray for them. The Beadle, also, of Merchant Taylors' Hall hath an honest stipend allowed to See that this is duly done."

It has been a very ancient custom, on the night previous to the execution of condemned criminals, for the bellman of the above parish to go under Newgate, and, ringing his bell, repeat the verses beneath (which, by the above extract, it would appear, should be the duty of the clergyman), as a friendly admonition to the wretched prisoners:

"All you that in the condemned hold do lie, Prepare you, for to-morrow you shall die! Watch all and pray, the hour is drawing near That you before the Almighty must appear: Examine well yourselves, in time repent, That you may not t' eternal flames be sent. And when St. Sepulchre's bell to-morrow tolls, The Lord above have mercy on your souls! Past twelve o'clock!"

In the case of Stephen Gardener, who was executed at Tyburn, in 1724, the bellman chanted the above verses. This man, with another, being brought to St. Sepulchre's watch-house, on suspicion of felony, which, however, was not validated, they were dismissed. "But," said the constable to Gardener, "beware how you come here again, or this bellman will certainly say his verses over you;" for the dreaded bellman happened to be then in the watch-house.—Such proved to be the case, for the same man suffered the penalty of the law, for housebreaking, "the day and year first above mentioned."

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The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 395, October 24, 1829

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SONNET,

ON LEAVING WINCHESTER

TOSCAR

EQUANIMITY

HORACE. Part of Ode 3rd, Book 3rd, paraphrased

TOSCAR

ST. SEPULCHRE'S BELL

(For the Mirror.)

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