his debtors are to be traced no less illustrious names than those of the haughty Elizabeth, and her illfated favourite the Earl of Essex.

Notwithstanding his peaceful habits and gentle disposition, Sir Robert was far from being the mere merchant or philanthropist. When Master-General of the Ordnance in the North he had acquired a military reputation, and is especially mentioned as having commanded in person one of the batteries raised for the reduction of Edinburgh Castle in 1573.

On the 9th of May 1611, Sir Thomas, having completed the purchase of the Charter House from the Earl of Suffolk, for the sum of 13,000l., immediately commenced preparations for establishing his new institution on its present footing. He had proposed to nominate himself its first governor; but his arrangements had scarcely been completed, when he was seized by a fatal illness, which carried him off on the 12th of December, 1611, at the age of seventy-nine. His death took place at Hackney, exactly six weeks after he had signed the important deeds which conveyed his vast landed estates to the Charter House. His body, having been embalmed, was brought from Hackney to the house of Dr. Law, in Paternoster Row, from whence it was conveyed to its temporary restingplace in Christ Church, Newgate, followed by six thousand persons. In March 1616, it was removed to the spot where it now reposes in the chapel of his own princely foundation.

The establishment of the Charter House, which is under the rule of sixteen governors, consists of a Master, Preacher, head Schoolmaster, second Master, Registrar, House Steward, or Manciple, besides inferior officers and servants. The pensioners on its establishment are eighty "decayed gentlemen," and forty-four scholars.

The scholars are admitted between the ages of ten and fourteen, and, provided they attain a certain proficiency in learning, are transplanted in due time to the University, where, according to the will of the founder, twenty-nine exhibitions of the value of 801. a-year, are provided for those who have been educated on his foundation. The school has long borne a creditable reputation; but compared with Eton, Westminster, or even Harrow, appears to have produced but few individuals of extraordinary celebrity. The principal exceptions appear to be Richard Crashaw, the poet, Addison, Sir Richard Steele, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, and Sir William Blackstone, the lawyer and poet. Wesley, who survived till the almost patriarchal age of eighty-seven, used to attribute the health which he enjoyed through so long a life, to his having kept a promise which he made to his father, that he would never miss a day without running a certain number of times round the Charter House playing-ground. Another scholar at the Charter House was the late Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, Lord Ellenborough, whose strong attachment to the scenes of his

boyish days may be presumed from the wish which he expressed to be buried within its walls. A prominent object, on the south wall of the Charter House play-ground, is a painted crown, which is said to have been originally drawn in chalk by the great lawyer in his boyhood, and which has ever since been religiously renewed and preserved in durable colours. In the chapel of the Charter House is a monument to the memory of Lord Ellenborough.

The pensioners, or "decayed gentlemen," live entirely apart from the scholars: they have each their separate apartment, and receive an allowance of 251. a-year each, besides a table being kept for them. No person is admitted who has not been a housekeeper, nor who is under the age of fifty, unless he has been maimed in war. Elkanah Settle, the poet, and John Bagford, the antiquary, were severally "poor brethren" of the Charter House.

In addition to its historical associations, there are many objects of interest in the Charter House which render it worthy of a visit. Although portions of the ancient walls of the monastery are unquestionably incorporated in the present building, the edifice as it now stands, exhibits but few traces of the original structure of Sir Walter de Manny. Perhaps the only exception is the basement of the chapel turret, which is supported on the exterior by an original buttress, anciently forming a part of the old tower of the Carthusian chapel. Of the monastery, however, as it existed at a later period,

the antiquary may trace some interesting remains. The chamber, where the pensioners now dine, was the Refectory of the old monks: the entrances to several of their cells may still be traced on the south side of the present play-ground; their ancient kitchen is still in use; and the cloisters, which witnessed the sufferings of the ill-fated Carthusians, still continue objects of unfading interest.

The other objects of note in the Charter House, are the Chapel, the Hall, the Old Court Room, and an ancient and beautiful apartment called the Evidence Room, in which the records of the establishment are preserved. The principal object in the chapel, though placed in a dark corner, is the large and gaudy monument of the founder, Sir Thomas Sutton, whose recumbent effigy, painted in imitation of life, is represented with grey hair and beard, in a black furred gown. On each side of it is an upright figure of a man in armour, and above it is a preacher addressing a full congregation. This monument was the work of the well-known mason and statuary, Nicholas Stone, who was employed as master-mason, under Inigo Jones, in building the Banqueting-House at Whitehall. His bill for Sutton's monument is still in existence, and amounts to 3661. 15s.

The hall is said to have been built by Sir Edward North, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, and was afterwards used as a banqueting-room by the illfated Duke of Norfolk. The roof is fine and mas

sive, and in the oriel windows are some remains of painted glass, with various armorial bearings. The mantel-piece, too, is curious. Above it are Sutton's arms, and on each side of them is represented a mounted piece of cannon, supposed to have reference to the military services performed by the peaceful founder in his youth, at the siege of Edinburgh.

The apartment, known as the Governors' Room, in the Master's House, is also well-worthy of a visit from its containing the portraits of several celebrated persons. In curious juxtaposition, we have likenesses of the grave founder and the gay and unprincipled George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham; of the pious Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury, and of the profligate Charles the Second; of the hero, William Earl Craven, and the philosopher Burnet, author of the "Theory of the Earth;" of the handsome and unfortunate Duke of Monmouth; of the eminent philosopher, Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury, and of the celebrated statesman, Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury.

But the most interesting apartment in the Charter House is unquestionably the old Court Room, with its sombre tapestry, its lofty panelled mantelpiece, and its beautiful stuccoed and gilded ceiling. How vividly does it recall to our imaginations the golden days of Queen Elizabeth-those days when the virgin queen rode on horseback from the Tower to the Charter House, to spend four days