hood and Freedom, with Manlike and Lawful Exercises be used. And We further command Our Justices of Assize, in their several Circuits, to see that no Man do trouble or molest any of Our Loyal and Dutiful People, in or for these Lawful Recrcations, having first done their Duty to God, and continuing in Obedience to Us and Our Laws. And of this we command all Our Judges, Justices of the Peace, as well within Liberties, as without, Mayors, Bailiffs, Constables, and other Officers to take notice of, and to see observed as they tender Our Displeasure. And We further Will, that publication of this Our Command be made by Order from the Bishops through all Our Parish Churches of their several Dios eeses respectively.

66

Given at Our Palace at Westminster the Eighteenth Day of October, in the ninth year of Our Reign. God Save the King."

CANONBURY TOWER AND TAVERN.

The manor of Canonbury, at Islington, was, in the reign of Edward the Third, granted by Sir Ralph de Berners, to the Prior and Canons of St. Bartholomew's, in West Smithfield, who continued to possess it till the Dissolution, when it was surrendered to Henry the Eighth, Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, and John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, on whom it was afterwards successively bestowed by the crown, both perished on the scaffold, the former in 1540, and the latter in 1553. Queen Mary, in 1557, granted it to Thomas Lord Wentworth, who, in 1570, alienated it to the affluent Sir John Spencer, Knt. and Bart, who so greatly distinguished himself by his public spirit during his mayoralty in 1595. Elizabeth, his only

daughter and heiress, married William, second Lord Compton, who is traditionally said to have contrived her elopement from her father's house at Canonbury, in a Baker's basket. This was the spirited Lady, who, about the year 1617, wrote the remarkable letter to her husband, in which, after requiring an annuity of 22001.; the like sum for her privy purse; 10,000l. for jewels; her debts to be paid, and horses, coaches, male and female attendants, &c. to be provided for her, she concludes by praying him, when he becomes an Earl, to "allow her 1000. more than she now desires, with double attendance." These " reasonable requests,” as her ladyship terms them, serve to prove the great wealth of the family, but whether they were granted or not is unknown. In August, 1618, Lord Compton was created Earl of Northamptou, and from him the present owner of Canonbury, who is the ninth Earl, and first Marquess of Northampton, is lineally descended.

Whilst this estate was the property of the Priors of St. Bartholomew, they caused a spacious mansion to be erected here for their country residence, which nearly covered the entire site now occupied by Canonbury Place. It had, also, attached to it, a small park of about four acres, with large gardens, a fish pond, and various domestic offices. Canonbury Tower, which is of red brick, was, probably, erected soon after the time of Wm. Bolton, who was Prior from 1509 till 1532; but his device, or rebus, viz. a bird-bolt in a tun, appears in different parts of the walls connected with the Tower. From the leads of this building, which is

about seventeen feet square, and nearly sixty feet in height, is one of the most delightful panoramic scenes to be met with near London. The prospects include a vast extent of country, teeming with towns and villages, and finely diversified by hill and dale: that over the metropolis is particularly grand, and, in a clear day, the whole course of the river Thames may be traced as far as Gravesend, with the hills of Kent rising beyond, and all the intervening tract spotted by buildings, and enriched by cultivation. The salubrity of the air, and the proximity of the metropolis, renders Canonbury a very desirable place of residence, and in the summer season, the Tower building, which is seven stories high, is let out as a lodging-house. It contains twenty-three rooms, besides convenient closets and landing-places. Several persons of literary eminence have been residents here, as Dr. Ephraim Chambers, Dr. Goldsmith, and Mr. J. Newbury. In several of the contiguous houses there are remains of the old buildings; and particularly, two or three curiously ornamented chimney-pieces, and some stuccoed ceilings, of Queen Elizabeth's time.

Canonbury Tavern, now a respectable and wellknown place of public entertainment and tea-gardens, was, in the middle of the last century, nothing more than an inconsiderable ale-house. It was afterwards taken by a Mr. James Lane, who had been a private soldier, and by him some considerable additions and improvements were made; but the present celebrity of this place was chiefly owing to the widow Sutton, who resided here from 1785 to 1808. Throug the

attention and good management the trade rapidly increased; to keep pace with which, she built several new rooms, and laid out the bowling-green and teagardens: the grounds are pleasant. Nearly the entire premises, which occupy about four acres, are situated within the old park wall of the Priors of St. Bartholomew; it forms a part, indeed, of the eastern side of the house the ancient fish-pond, also, on the south side, is connected with the grounds. The Assembly-room, used also for dinner parties, &c. is spacious and well-proportioned. An Assembly was first established here in the year 1810.

:

ST. MARY'S, OR THE ROUND CHURCH, INNER TEMPLE, Spenser's Red-cross Knight, in the "Fairy Queen," appears to have been " depictured" from a recollection of the dress and manners of the Knights Templars, by whom the Round Church in the Inner Temple was originally built.

"And on his breast a bloodie Cross he bore, The deare remembrance of his dying Lord,

For whose sweete sake that glorious badge he wore, And dead, as living, ever him ador'd :

Upon his shield, the like was also scor'd,

For soveraigne hope which in his helpe he had.
Right faithful, true, he was in deede and word;
But of his cheere did seem too solemne sad,
Yet nothing did he dread, but ever was ydrad."

The Order of the Knights Templars was instituted about the year 1117, or 1118, and shortly afterwards taken under the patronage of Pope Honorius, for the

pose of protecting Pilgrims in their passage to the

Holy Land, and of entertaining and defending them when there; as well as to protect the Sepulchre of Christ from all violation. They were, of course, a military Order, and were called Templars, says an Heraldic manuscript in the British Museum, "for that they were placed in a house adjoining or near to the Temple of Jerusalem, by vow and profession to bear and wage war against the Pagans and Infidels, and keep from spoil and profanation the sacred Sepulchre of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, attempted by Turks, Saracens, and Argarins, and other barbarous miscreants, pursuing with malice and hostility Christians, and infesting Palestine, or the Holy Land, with cruelty, homicide, and bloodshed." This fraternity was instituted by two Crusaders, Hugh de Paganis and Godfrey de St. Audomare, or St. Omer, who were, at first, joined by seven other persons only, but eventually, the brotherhood increased to such a degree, and became so renowned for valour, that the most illustrious nobility in Christendom deemed it an honour to be admitted into their Order. They bound themselves to chastity and obedience, according to the rules of the cauons regular of St. Augustin.

About the beginning of King Stephen's reign, the Knights Templars established themselves in London, and they afterwards formed Preceptories, as their houses were called, in divers parts of the Kingdom. They first settled near Old-bourne, (Holborn) on the site of the present Southampton Buildings; where, upwards of a century ago, on pulling down certain old houses, some remains were discovered of their