The Sun.
London, England, 1822-12-28 00:00:00

NORTIIUMBERLAND7HOUSE.

. .
' The repairs at the front of- .I.Noithumberland
House (which are now completely finished] have given an en-
tirely new face to this memento of the splendour of our an-
cient Nobility; and were it not for the confined situation in which
it stands, which prevents any thing like an advantageous sight
of it, it must, notwithstanding the grotesque character of its ar-
chitecture, be viewed with a considerable degree of admiration.
A drawing,, by Holler, in the Pepysian library at Cam-
bridge, gives us an interesting view of the original mansion
on this site ; which though generally resembling the present
building, differed in several particulars from it, especially on
the Thames side. In that it is shown of a square form, with
towers and turrets at the four corners; and gardens at the
back, reaching down to the river, which are bounded by a
wall, and stairs for taking water. The style of this first
structure, as appeared from considerable remains of it
lately existed, -was that distinguished by the name of
" Elizabethan :" the walls being of red brick, with large
stone-framed windows. It was erected on the site of the Hos-
pital of St. Mary Rouncival, which was founded by William
Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, in the reign of Henry 111. sup-
pressed as an alien Priory by Henry V., refounded by Edward
IV, for a fraternity, and finally suppressed by Henry VIII.,
at which period its inmates are mentioned • to have con-
sisted of a master, wardens, brethren, and sisters. Edward
VI. granted the site to Sir Thomas Cawarden, or Caver-
den. It was afterwards transferred to Henry Howard, Earl
of Northampton, who, in the time of James 1., built him-
self the house just described, which he called after his
own name. He left it to his kinsman, the Earl of Suffolk,
Lord Treasurer, and by the marriage of Algernon Percy, Earl
of No: thumberland, with Elizabeth, daughter of Theophihis,
Earl of Suffolk, it passed inte,the family of the present Noble
Owners.
Part of the present mansion is from the designs of Bernard
Jansen, and the frontispiece; r gateway, from those of Gerrard
Christmas, who haOeft- his mark, or initials, at top. This gate-
way cannot possibly be described correctly, as the ornaments are
scattered in the utmost profusion from the base to the attic,
which supports a copy of Michael Angelo's celebrated lion.
Double ranges of grotesque pilasters inclose eight inches on the
sides, and there are a:bow window and an open arch above the
gate.
The basement' of the whole front contains fourteen niches,
with imitations of ancient weapons crossed within them ; and
the upper stories have twenty-four windows, in two ranges,
with pierced, battlements. Each wing terminates in a cupola,
and the angles rustic quoins. . ,
The quadrangle within the gate is in a better style of build-
ing, but rather distinguished by simplicity than grandeur.
The present gardens next the Thames, from their fine growth
of trees serve to screen the back• part of the house from
those disagreeable objects -which have, in modern times,
usurped part of their site, and which generally bound the
shores of the river in this vast trading city ; but it is to be
regretted,. as a late writer observes, that the whole of these in-
cumbrances cannot be done away with, and as the public con-
venience would not admit of restoring the gardens to their origi-
nal length, the site formed into a noble terrace walk. The
Dukes are said.to possess the powers at any time• of giving the
spot this desirable improvement ;.- as the late Duke received a
lease from the Crown of all the intervening ground as far as
the River ; and within the last few years; an absolute exchange
for certain lands in Northurriberland to erect batteries on against
foreign invasion, at the period when the project of universal
fortification prevailed.
Northumberland-house was discovered to be on fire March
18, 1780, at five o'clock in the morning, which raged from that
hour till eight, when the whole front next the Strand was com-
pletely destroyed. Dr. Percy's apartments were consumed,
but great part of his library escaped the general ruin. The
Duke distributed large sums of money amongst the firemen.— 1
The present front was only erected after this accident; and
though it needed the renovation it has just received, was, it will
be perceived by this statement, by no means so old as some
people may have imagined it.
The ground adjoining Northumberland house, on which
Hungerford-market now stands, was formerly the 'site of the
town-mansion of the Himgerfords of Fairleigh, in Wiltshire.
Sir Edward Hungerforcl, created a Knight of the Bath, at the
coronation of King Charles the Second, owned thi4 residence,
which had then large gardens attached; but, influenced by the
same motives that prompted his illustrious eastern neighbour,
determined to sacrifice the honour of his ancestors at the shrine
of Plutus, and obtained an Act in that reign to make lease Of
the scite and grounds, where the present market was soon after-
wards erected! - It, however, now bears strong marks of ruin,
though honoured ,by the presence of a hideous bust, probably
of Sir Edward—possibly of Charles IL The passages round
this market, from being, so extremely narrow and unpleasant,
seem to have been the cause that it is so little frequented.
St. Martin's-lane, much used as a thoroughfare from the
northern parts of the town, is extremely narrow and incon-
venient. And the Strand, facing Northumberland House,
is, perhaps, more confined than any ;other portidn of that
busy street; consequently the front cannot operate, as we first
observed, in improving the general appearance of the neigh-
bourhood. The public are indebted to Dr. Barbor for widen-
ing St. Martin's-lane, which formerly was much worse than
at present, as may be seen from old prints of the spot. This
happened about the year 1639. He petitioned the Legislature
in that year, representing that part of the revenue from hackney-
coaches had been appropriated for this purpose • that he had
contracted with the 'Commissioners for 50001., and for 7501. to
purchase a piece of ground to enlarge the church-yard, and
that he had received but 4990/. when the Act expired.
Charing-cross, as now widened, is also anotherimportant im-
provement to this spot. The 'ancient cross, which gave it its
name, stood on the exact site where the statue of Charles I. is
now situated, and was removed by the frantic populace as a rem-
nant of superstition too leniently spared by time. Ina scarce tract,
intituled " a Dialogue between the Crosse in Cheap, and Charing
Crosse, comforting each other as fearing their fall in these un-
certain times" (1641), is a wood cut, in which two Bishops are
represented in the act of supporting the cross, which appears
reduced to a mere fragment, and over the tallest are -the words
" Help Wren—or we are undone men." To which the other
answers, "It shall not fall—to ruin all." • Wren was Bishop
of Ely from 1638 to 1863. This dialogue informs us, that it
was made all of white marble, which was not perceived by
every one • and so cemented with mortar, made of the purest
lime,, Callisssand, the whites of eggs, and the strongest work,
that defied all hatchets and hammers whatsoever. That first
'in Henry the Eighth's days, it was begged, and should have
been degraded, for having, as it had, :a stately ascent of
many steps,. it should have been, taken from them ; and
when Somerset-house was building, it was again in danger ;
that one of Queen Elizabeth's footmen had like to have run
away with it, but its greatest danger was in the time of James
1., when it was begged eight times. It appears further, from
the same tract, that it was then so decayed as not to be worth
' begging ; and the following are the uses to which it is said to
have been destined. Part of it was bespoken to make a kitchen
chimney for the chief constable of Shoreditch ; an innkeeper in
Holborn bad bargained for as much of it as would make him
two troughs, one to stand under a pump to water his guests'
horses, and the other to give his swine their meat in. " The
rest of my poor carcase," the cross is made to say " should
have been carried I know not whether !"

Few places are better calculated for a cross or statue than
this. The present figure is elevated on a pedestal of stone,
seventeen feet high, and is ornamented with trophies, palms,
genii, and the Royal Arms. The horse and effigies of bronze,
are by Herbert Le Scour. V.lfe Medley for August, 1719, mtn-
tions that the King's statue had been defaced, and expresses
some surprise that the artist had omitted a girth to the saddle,
which is certainly the fact. This statue, about which Pennant
tells his entertaining story of the brazier, is said to have been
not buried in the ground, but to have been concealed during
the interregnum, in a vault within Covent-Garden church-yard.
Mr. Vancost, of -Hyde Park Corner, cast an equestrian statue
of George 1., modelled from this, in 1721.
The St. James's Evening Post,of July 19, 1729, contains
the foll6wing article :—" The workmen, in making the new
Sewer at Charing-cross, have found a statue in fine marble.
The labourer, by digging, broke off the arm. The work-
manship of this statue is surprisingly beautiful, and has amused
some of the virtuosi, and was generally said to have been a
Julius Ccesur ; but it is found to be St. Sebastian tied to a tree.
who was to be shot to death by arrows. The dying passions
expresied by distorted muscles anti agonising pangs are beauti-
fully fine ; and it is looked upon as a very great curiosity."
he value of the freehold and inheritance of the ground and
buildings from Spring-gardens-passage to the Admiralty was
gstimated, in 1757, at 25,3441., exclusively of a brick house ad-
joining to the gateway near the Horse Guards, said to be worth
1,137/.

* Year Books of the reigfi of Henry VIII.

Extracts from The Dal% Journal Newspaper
of January 1, 1722 :
" Last week a very considerable sum of money was lent into
the Exchequer at 3 per cent.
" On Sunday a woman was seized near London Wall, for
wearing a 'gown faced with calico, and being counselled before
a Magistrate, and refusing to pay the penalties inflicted by the
Statute, she was committed to the Compter."

PRICE OF SOME OF THE STOCKS.

South Seas .
Swordblade Bonds

- 1001
21. 10s. per cent. dis.

FOR THE SUN.

NEWSPAPERS.

Mtt. EDITOR—We all remember the famous
Whig Vote, that the Influence of the Crown
" had increased, was increasing, and ought to
be diminished ;" which, like many other posi-
tions of that sect of philosophers, was directly in
_opposition to the truth ; but nqw, with more
sound reason (if you will not be offended) we
may apply a similar assertion to newspapers;
namely, that "they have increased, continue in
that state, and ought to be diminished." Ido
not allude to their number, for that might admit
of a more exact parody ; 44 it has increased, is
increasing," &c. But the natural check to that
increase, and one that is infallible, is the failure
of some, of which we see frequent examples.
I speak of the enormous magnitude 'of our
papers, a;id the compressed form in which they
are printed, with types almost invisible, except
to very acute sight ; insomuch that any single
paper of the Herald, Post, Times, &c. would
make a very ample octavo volume, if printed in
the common form and letter of political pamphlets.
Such is the effect, that many honest persons, who
might otherwise study books, now read nothing
but newspapers, to the total loss of their time ;
for all that they read in the Herald is regularly
contradicted in the Times ; all that the Post
says, is pronounced false by the Chronicle, to
which the Courier again gives tile lie, which it is
in turn to receive from the Statesman, Examiner,
&c. Thus the whole amount of this laborious
study comes to nothing ; the several Papers, like
acids and alkalies neutralizing each other. Mean-
while, the eyes of these readers must suffer grie-
vously, by the smallness of the letters ; and it
may be doubted whether the Egyptian Optthal-
mia ever made havock with those organs as the
news-mania: and this at a time when there is
really no news.
Observe the foreign papers, how modest their
size, how limited their contents ; part of which
they also borrow from our folios. Nor do I less
pity the unfortunate editors, than I lament the
suffering of the public. How they labour to fill
tip their vast waste of Elephant-sheet ! One cuts
a slip from this book, another from that. One
pays a vast salary to a correspondent kept in
foreign countries, to supply foreign lies, or, what
is still worse, continental speculations. Another
is at an equal expellee to pay runners, who are to
attend, and detail, all the miserable petty causes
of our several police offices. These narratives,
to he sure, they sometimes enliven with wit and
humour of their own ; but after all, what a pic-
ture of things is this, to go out into the world !
How must foreigners of all countries, be surpris-
ed and disgusted at it ! What can they think of
a people who encourage such groveling nonsense?
Permit me then to give one short piece of ad-
vice, of which you, I am sure, Mr. Editor, must
feel the wisdom and advantage. Let the large
sized papers be confined to the sittings of Par-
liament ; when Englishmen may have a rational
wish to know what is said by those who are
entrusted to make or amend their laws. But the
moment the adjournment or prorogation takes
place, let them shrink to their ancient form ; so
shall much labour be saved to you Editors, many
eyes be preserved to old age, which now must be
early extinct ; and the book reading of many
worthy persons be resumed, to the great advan-
tage and increase of learning. Your's,
CONTRACTOR.

The late expulsion of several students from
the College of the East India Company in Hertfordshire is
said to have been decreed, in conformity with the rules of the
Institution. Upon that point we offer no opinion; but cer-
tainly those rules are originally bad, which, in a society of
youths, that is, in circumstances, where the greatest probabi-
lity of error exists, are, found to afford no middle course be-
tween the toleration of gross outrages and the exclusion of
every opportunity for exercising thelaculties'there cultivated,
or gratifying the hopes there 'excited. At this College the
system of education is, in a great degree, one of disqualifica-
tion for every other employment, than that under the East
India Company. Languages of very difficult attainment are
acquired, which are totally useless in any other service. Much
of the other knowledge taught is inapplicable, or, at least, im-
material elsewhere: And to the acquisition of these qualifica-
tions for India, years are appropriated, in which faculties re-
ceive the direction and impulse and habits, that almost always
form the future man, as far as regards intellectual exertion. It
is also certain, that not one of the lads sent to this College is
placed there except in consequence,of some particular prospect
of encouragement in India. In our Universities the education
is to be a Prqftssion, the whole sphere of which is open to
the student ;in this College it is to a Service—a local and espe-
cial service. Yet in Universities, it is well known that final expul-
sion is rarely pronounced. Rustication for a year is asentence fora
very flagrant violation of statutes. The offences committed at
the Hertfordshire College require some severe castigatic le; but
have any of the offenders deserved civil death ? Are they to be
rendered burthens upon their families, or upon society, for the
long remainder of their existence ? Are their families to be
still further impoverished, after having made what to many
was a painful expenditure upon their education ? We cannot
believe that all this severity is without aPossibilitv of remis-
sion ; and we trust, that the Right Rev. Visitor, when an ap-
peal shall reach him, will be solicited to moderate the sentence
even by those, who thought themselves obliged to pass it.—
( Morning Paper.)

It was stated in a Chester Paper a few weeks
ago, which we did not think it worth while at
the time to contradict, that the late storm would

cause a loss to the Liverpool Underwriters of
nearly 100,0001.; but as the article has since
been copied into most of the London and Pro-
vincial Journals, we now deem it necessary to
say, that there is no truth in the statement.—
We believe in no storm ever experienced here
ha's there been less serious damage done to
the shipping—the whole of the vessels which
were diveu on shore in the river by the gale,
having since been fortunately got off and brought
into the Docks, with the exception of the Rock-
inghatn, from New York, which has been con-
demned, but her cargo was saved; so that the
Underwriters have sustained comparatively but
little loss. This is not the first time unfounded
statements have originated in the same quarter,
respecting the commerce and other matters con-
nected with this port.—(Liverpool Advertiser)
A tread-mill is now erected in the County
Goal at Gloucester. It is attached to the Peni-
'tentiary, and will be worked in two divisions, by
about 32 prisoners. The power is to be applied
in grinding corn and pumping water.