mounted by the archiepiscopal mitre. It is ninety-three feet in length, thirty-eight in breadth, and upwards of fifty feet in height. The depth of the great window at the northwest end is seven feet four inches; and it reaches in height from the floor to the edge of the roof. The whole of the inside is profusely ornamented; the roof, in particular, is constructed with great labour, and, considering the age in which it was built, may be regarded as a curious and fine piece of workmanship. It is entirely composed of oak; and on some parts of it are carved the arms of Juxon; on others, those of Juxon impaled with the see of Canterbury, or the arms of Canterbury only; and in a few places a mitre between four negro's heads. At the upper end, above the archbishop's seat, in the large north window, the same arms are again seen in stained glass: they are likewise carved over the hall door with the date MDCLXIII.; and at the lower end is a screen of the Ionic order, on the top of which is the Founder's crest, a negro's head crowned. The whole is wainscoted to a considerable height, and the floor consists of an handsome pavement. Two of the great oak tables have upon them the date 1664, which denotes their having been made at the charge of Archbishop Sheldon: the lowest on the east side is a shovel-board-table, an old English game, which is now almost forgotten, but was as usual an appendage of the ancient seats of our nobility and gentry, as the billiard-table is of the country houses of modern times.

These great halls formed a part of the seats of our ancestors, that there might be room to display the noble hospitality which prevailed among them, and was generally exercised by the possessors of this stately palace.

Strype gives an account of the splendid establishment. and magnificent hospitality of Archbishop Cranmer, when he enjoyed the primacy. His houshold consisted of the following officers :-Steward, treasurer, comptroller, granators, clerk of the kitchen, caterer, clerk of the spicery, yeoman of livery, bakers, pantlers, yeomen of the horse, yeo

men ushers, butlers of wine and ale, larderers, ushers of the hall, porter, ushers of the chamber, daily waiters in the great chamber, gentlemen ushers, yeoman of the chamber, carver, sewer, cup-bearer, grooms of the chamber, marshal, groom ushers, almoner, cooks, chandler, butchers, master of the horse, yeomen of the wardrobe and harbingers.

The archbishop's state fully corresponded to this numerous retinue. There were generally three tables spread in the hall, and served at the same time.-The archbishop's table, at which ordinarily sat none but the peers of the realm, privy-counsellors and gentlemen of the greatest quality; the almoner's table, at which sat the chaplains and all the guests of the clergy, beneath diocesan bishops and abbots; the steward's table, at which sat all the gentlemen: besides this hospitality proper relief was administered to the poor at the gate.

Cardinal Pole had a patent from Philip and Mary, to retain one hundred servants, from whence an adequate notion may be formed of his splendid hospitality.

Archbishop Parker had a similar grant from Queen Elizabeth for forty retainers; but he had a much greater number as appears from the checque-roll of his houshold, which gives an interesting account of this excellent prelates's hospitality.

"All these had allowance for their diet in the hall at Lambeth as first was the steward's table on the one side for himself; his two fellow-officers, gentlemen of the horse, secretaries, gentleman usher, that waited not at the archbishop's table, with other gentlemen waiters: and if all could not sit there, they were placed at the gentleman's table. Next to that table, over against the steward's table on the other side of the hall, had the almoner his table, with the chaplains and the students; and either of these tables had like allowance of diet, manchet, and wine. The gentlemen's long table, at first sitting, was for some gentlemen of houshold and manors, and for the archbishop's waiters when he had dined. On the other side agains

them sat the yeomen waiters and yeomen officers, that attended not, and meaner sort of strangers. At the table, next the hall door, sat the cooks and attendant yeomen officers: over against them sat the grooms before mentioned of the stable and other extra places. Then at the nether end of the hall, by the pantry, was a table whereat was daily entertained eight or ten of the poor of the town by turns."

Strype gives this further aceount of the same excellent prelate's hospitality.

"In the daily eating this was the custom. The steward, with the servants that were gentlemen of the better rank, sat down at the tables in the hall on the right hand; and the almoner, with the clergy and the other servants, sat on the other side, where there was plenty of all sorts of provisions for eating and drinking. The daily fragments thereof did suffice to fill the bellies of a great number of poor hungry people that waited at the gate; and so constant and unfailing was this provision at my lord's table, that whosoever came in, either at dinner or supper, being not above the degree of a knight, might here be entertained worthy of his quality, either at the steward's or at the almoner's table. And moreover, it was the archbishop's command to his servants, that all strangers should be received and treated with all manner of civility and respect; and that places should be assigned them according to their dignity and quality, which redounded much to the praise and commendation of the archbishop. The discourse and conversation at meals were void of all brawls and loud talking; and, for the most part, consisted in framing men's manners to religion, or to some other honest and beseeming subject. There was a monitor of the hall; and if it happened that any spoke too loud, or concerning things less decent, it was presently hushed by one that cried silence. The archbishop loved hospitality, and no man shewed it so much or with better order, though he himself was very abstemious."

The Gate-House is, perhaps, the most magnificent building of its kind now remaining; not for the elegance of its workmanship, but for its size and height. It consists of two large square towers, with a spacious gateway and postern in the centre; the whole being embattled and built of red brick with stone dressings. The arch of the gateway is pointed, and the roof beautifully groined. Above is a noble room, called the Record Room, in which the archives of the see of Canterbury are deposited. The towers are ascended by spiral stone stair-cases, which lead to the apartments on the different stories. The roof of this building is flat and leaded, from whence there is a prospect of great extent and beauty. This structure was rebuilt by Cardinal Morton, in the year 1490, in the manner we at present see it.-There is also a small room adjoining the porter's lodge, which, from the rings fastened to the wall, the inscriptions on it, the double doors and stone walls, is supposed to have been used as a secondary prison to the Lollard's tower.

At this gate, the dole, immemorially given to the poor by the Archbishops of Canterbury, is constantly distri buted. This now consists of fifteen quartern loaves, nine stone of beef, and five shillings worth of half-pence: these are divided into three equal portions, and distri buted, every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, among thirty poor parishioners of Lambeth. The beef is made into broth, thickened with oatmeal, is divided into ten equal shares, and distributed, with half of one of the loaves, a pitcher of the broth and twopence, to as many poor persons, who are thus weekly relieved by rotation. It is, however, but justice to observe, that the charity of the palace is not confined to this benevolent distribution; as a considerable number of poor housekeepers of the parish are also relieved by annual donations from the archbishop.*

Among other examples of Lambeth hospitality, it becomes us to mention, that, on the annual aquatic procession of the Lord Mayor of

Adjoining the gateway on the right hand is a large modern house, called the New Buildings, which was begun by Archbishop Tillotson, about the year 1692, but finished by Archbishop Bancroft. A room which juts out over the hall door, is said to have been the study of that Archbishop, and derives an interesting consequence from having probably been the scene of those pious labours, which may be considered as holding an high rank among the classics of English theology.

On the ancient brick wall immediately opposite this building, and which bounds the court yards on the Thames side, are several devices in glazed bricks, Among them may be discerned three or four crosses of different forms very prettily worked, which seem to determine the erection of this wall to have been prior to the reformation.

The Park and Gardens contain eighteen acres, and are indebted for their present improved state to Archbishop Moore. They have long been remarkable for two uncommonly large fig-trees, traditionally reported to have been planted by Cardinal Pole, and which grow against that part of the palace, supposed to have been erected by him. They are of the white Marseilles sort, and continue to bear delicious fruit. They cover a surface of more than fifty feet in height and forty in breadth. The circumference of the stem of the southernmost of these trees is twenty-eight inches, and of the other twenty-one. On the south side of the building, in a small private garden, is another tree of the same kind and age, whose circumference at the bottom is also twentyeight inches. The small garden near the Thames was walled and embanked by Archbishop Cornwallis.

London to Westminster, the barge of the Company of Stationers proceeds to Lambeth Palace; where, from time immemorial, they have received a present of sixteen bottles of wine, with plenty of bread, cheese, and ale to the watermen. The Company in return presents the Archbishop with a copy of the several almanacks, which they have the peculiar privilege of printing.