



Produced by Jonathan Ingram and PG Distributed Proofreaders




THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.

VOL. XIII, No. 365.] SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 1829. [PRICE. 2d.

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OLD SOMERSET HOUSE.

[Illustration: OLD SOMERSET HOUSE.]


The Engraving on the annexed page is, perhaps, one of the greatest
antiquarian treasures it has for some time been our good fortune to
introduce to the readers of the MIRROR. It represents the original
SOMERSET HOUSE, which derived its name from Edward Seymour, Duke of
Somerset, maternal uncle to Edward VI., and Protector of the realm during
most of the reign of that youthful sovereign. The time at which this
nobleman commenced his magnificent palace (called _Somerset House_) has
been generally faxed at the year 1549; but that he had a residence on
this spot still earlier, is evident from two of his own letters, as well
as from his "cofferer's" account, which states that from April 1, 1548,
to October 7, 1551, "the entire cost of Somerset House, up to that
period, amounted to 10,091l. 9s. 2d." By comparing this sum with
the value of money in the present day, we may form some idea of the
splendour of the Protector's palace, as well as from Stow, who, in his
"Survaie," second edition, published in 1603, styles it "a large and
beautiful house, but yet unfinished." The architect is supposed to have
been John of Padua, who came to England in the reign of Henry VIII.--this
being one of the first buildings designed from the Italian orders that
was ever erected in this kingdom. Stow tells us there were several
buildings pulled down to make room for this splendid structure, among
which he enumerates the original parish church of St. Mary-le-Strand;
Chester's or Strand Inne; a house belonging to the Bishop of Llandaff;
"in the high street a fayre bridge, called _Strand Bridge_, and under it
a lane or waye, down to the landing-place on the banke of Thames;" and
the _Inne_ or London lodging of the Bishop of Chester and the Bishop of
Worcester. Seymour states, that the site of St. Mary's church became a
part of the garden of Somerset House; and that when the Protector pulled
down the old church, he promised to build a new one for the parishioners,
but his death prevented his fulfilling that engagement. The Strand Bridge
formed part of the public highway; and through it, according to Maitland,
"ran a small watercourse from the fields, which, gliding along a lane
below, had its influx to the Thames near Somerset Stairs."[1]

   [1] The present _Strand Lane_ (as it would seem to have been called in
       Strype's time) skirts the eastern side of Somerset House, and forms
       a boundary between the parishes of St. Mary and St. Clement Danes.
       At its stairs, which are still, as formerly, "a place of some note
       to take water at," is the outlet of a small underground stream.

Besides the places above mentioned, the palace-building Protector pulled
down part of the Priory church of St. John, Clerkenwell, a chapel and
cloisters near St. Paul's cathedral, for the sake of the materials. He
was, however, soon overtaken by justice, for in the proclamation, October
8, 1549, against the Duke of Somerset, previously to his arrest, he is
charged with "enriching himselfe," and building "sumptuous and faire
houses," during "all times of the wars in France and Scotland, leaving
the king's poore soldiers unpaid of their wages." After the attainder and
execution of the Protector, on Tower Hill, January 22, 1552-3, Somerset
Place devolved to the Crown, and was conferred by the king upon his
sister, the Princess Elizabeth, who resided here during her short visit
to the court in the reign of Queen Mary. Elizabeth, after her succession
to the throne, lent Somerset Place to Lord Hunsdon, (her chamberlain,)
whose guest she occasionally became. He died here in 1596. On the death
of Elizabeth, it appears to have become a jointure-house, or dotarial
palace, of the queens' consort; of whom Anne of Denmark, queen of James
I. kept a splendid court here. Arthur Wilson, in his "History of King
James," generally calls this mansion "the queen's palace in the Strand;"
but it was more commonly called Denmark House; and Strype says that by
the queen "this house was much repaired and beautified, and improved by
new buildings and enlargements. She also brought hither water from Hyde
Park in pipes." Dr. Fuller remarks that this edifice was so tenacious of
the name of the Duke of Somerset, "though he was not full five years
possessor of it, that he would not change a duchy for a kingdom, when
solemnly proclaimed by King James, Denmark House, from the king of
Denmark lodging therein, and his sister, Queen Anne, repairing thereof."

Pennant says, "Inigo Jones[2] built the back-front and water-gate about
the year 1623;" but it may be questioned whether these were not the new
buildings spoken of as having been previously raised by Anne of Denmark.
Pennant likewise speaks of the chapel which was begun by Jones in the
same year.

    [2] Inigo Jones died at Somerset House, July 21, 1651.

Denmark House was next fitted up for Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles
I., and settled on her for life. By her marriage articles, extraordinary
concessions were made in favour of the Catholics. The queen was not only
allowed to have, herself, the free exercise of the "Roman Catholic
Apostolic religion," but all her children were to be brought up in the
same faith; she was to have a chapel in all the royal palaces; a bishop
of her own faith was to be her almoner; twenty-eight priests, or
ecclesiastics, were to serve in her chapel; the domestics of her
household were to be French Catholics, &c. Thus, this mansion became the
very focus of Catholicism, and a convent of Capuchin friars was
established here by the queen. At length, in 1642, it was ordered by the
Parliament that "the altar and chapel in _Somerset House_ be forthwith
burnt," and that the Capuchins be "sent into France."

In 1659, the Commons resolved that Somerset House, with all its
appurtenances, should be sold for the partial discharge of the great
arrears due to the army; and Ludlow states, that it was sold for
10,000l. except the chapel; but the restoration of King Charles
prevented the agreement from being fulfilled.

This mansion was frequently used for the state reception of the remains
of deceased persons of high rank previously to their interment. The
Protector, Oliver Cromwell, was laid in state here; and Ludlow states,
that the folly and profusion of this display so provoked the people, that
they "threw dirt, in the night, on his escutcheon, that was placed over
the great gate of Somerset House." After the restoration of Charles II.
Somerset House reverted to the queen dowager, who returned to England in
1660; went back to France, but returning in 1662, she took up her
residence at Somerset House; when Cowley and Waller wrote some courtly
verses in honour of this edifice, the latter complimenting the queen with
Somerset House rising at her command, "like the _first creation_."

In 1670, the remains of Monck, Duke of Albemarle, were laid here "for
many weeks in royal state." For several years subsequently to this period
the mansion was but little occupied; but in 1677, the Prince of Orange,
afterwards William III., resided here for a short period prior to his
marriage. In 1678, Somerset House became the reputed, if not the real
scene of the mysterious murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, which is
attributed to the <DW7>s connected with the chapel establishment of
Catherine of Braganza, queen of Charles II.; to whom this mansion was
destined, contingently, as a jointure-house, and who was occasionally
lodged here when Charles's gallantries had rendered it incompatible for
her to be at Whitehall. On the king's decease, in 1685, she removed
hither entirely, and kept her court here till 1692, when she departed for
Portugal, leaving her palace to the Earl of Faversham, who continued to
inhabit it till after the decease of the queen dowager in 1705.

From a description about 1720, we learn that "the stately piles of new
brick houses on both sides of Somerset House, much eclipse that palace."
At the entrance from the Strand, "is a spacious square court, garnished
on all sides with rows of freestone buildings, and at the front is a
piazza, with stone pillars, and a pavement of freestone. Besides this
court there are other larger ones, which are descended towards the river
by spacious stairs of freestone. The outward beauty of this court appears
by a view from the water, having a good front, and a most pleasant
garden, which runs to the water side. More westward is a large yard
adjoining to the Savoy, made use of for a coach-house and stables; at the
bottom of which are stairs, much used by watermen, this being a noted
place for landing and taking water at." The water gate was ornamented
with the figures of Thames and Isis, and in the centre of the
water-garden was a statue. The principal garden was a kind of raised
terrace, (ascended by steps from the water side) in which there was a
large basin, once dignified with a fountain. The ground was laid out in
parterres, near the angles of which statues were placed; one of them, a
Mercury, in brass, had been appraised, in 1649, at 500l.

In the early part of the last century, Somerset House was occasionally
appropriated to masquerades and other court entertainments. In the reign
of George II. William, Prince of Orange, resided here a short time; and
in 1764, the hereditary Prince of Brunswick became an inmate, prior to
his nuptials with the Princess Augusta, sister to George III. In April,
1763, a splendid fete was given here to the Venetian ambassadors, who
were entertained several days in this mansion.

In the year 1761, the second of his late majesty, Somerset House was
settled on the queen consort, in the event of her surviving the king; but
in April, 1775, in consequence of a royal message to Parliament, it was
resolved, that "Buckingham House, now called the Queen's House," should
be settled on her majesty in lieu of the former, which was to be vested
in the king, his heirs and successors, "for the purpose of erecting and
establishing certain public offices." An act was consequently passed in
the same year, and shortly afterwards the building of the present stately
pile was commenced under the superintendence of the late Sir William
Chambers. Extensive, however, as the buildings are, the original plan
has never been fully executed, and the eastern side is altogether
unfinished. The splendour of the building is, however, shortly to be
completed by the erection of another wing, to be appropriated as the
King's College; and surveys have already been made for this purpose.

The print represents the original mansion, or, we should rather say, city
of mansions, with its monastic chapel, and geometrical gardens, laid out
in the trim style of our forefathers. The suite of state apartments in
the principal front was very splendid, and previously to their being
dismantled by Sir William Chambers, they exhibited a sorry scene of royal
finery and attic taste. Mouldering walls and decayed furniture, broken
casements, falling roofs, and long ranges of uninhabited and
uninhabitable apartments, winding stairs, dark galleries, and long
arcades--all combined to present to the mind in strong, though gloomy
colours, a correct picture of the transitory nature of sublunary
splendour.

In the distance of the print is the celebrated Strand maypole, although
its situation there does not coincide with that marked out in more recent
prints. The original of our Engraving is a scarce print, by Hollar, who
died in 1677.

In the year 1650, an act was passed for the sale of the "honours, manors,
and lands heretofore belonging to the late king, queen, and prince," for
the payment of the army; and under that act were sold several tenements,
&c. "belonging unto Somerset House." In this list were several signs, and
it is remarkable, that the _Red Lion_, (opposite the _Office of the
Mirror_, and at the corner of Catherine-street, in the Strand) is the
only one which now remains. The _Lion_ may still be seen on the front of
the house. The Red Lion wine vaults, three doors from this corner was
probably named from the above, since nearly every house formerly had its
sign.

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JERUSALEM.

_(For the Mirror.)_


  City of God--thy palaces o'erthrown--
  Thy nation branded--tribes o'er earth dispersed:
  Thy temple ruin'd, and thy glory fled,--
  Speak of thy impious crimes, thy daring guilt,
  And tell a tale whose lines are traced in blood.

               No more from hence ascends
  The sacrificial smoke; the priest no more
  Sheds blood of lambs, to expiate thy crimes--
  Crimes foul as hell--crimes which the blood of Him,
  Who came from heaven to die for guilty man,
  Alone could purge,--and innocence impart.
  Here holy David tuned his harp to strains
  Sublime as those of angels, when he sung
  In dulcet melody the praise of Him
  Who should redeem from guilt the sons of man,
  And rescue who in Him believed from death--
  That second death--of which the first is type.
  Here lived--here died--whom prophets long foretold,
  Whom angels worship and whom seraphs praise,
  The Son of God, mysterious God-Man:
  He was rejected by the Jew; and here--
  To fill the awful measure of their guilt--
  At noon, a deed was done, without a peer;
  A deed, unequalled since the world began,
  The masterpiece of sin, of crime the chief;
  At which the sun grew dark, earth's pillars shook,
  Chaotic gloom as erst o'erspread the land,
  And nature frowned at insults paid her God--
  The crucifixion of His only Son.

    Here now the banner of the prophet false,
  Unfolds its silken folds to taunt the Jew;
  The moslem minarets lift high their heads.
  And raise their summits in the placid sky--
  As tho' to rouse from his deep lethargy
  The hardened Jew; to wrest from Paynim hordes
  The Holy City, once the abode of God.

    But shall Mohammed's banner ever float
  On Salem's ruins? Shaft her sacred dust
  Where Christ has shed His blood, by infidels
  Be ever trodden down? Shall her temple
  Prostrate lie, to cause the impious mock
  Of Mussulmen for ever? It may not be.
  Ere many years wane in eternity,
  That banner shall be plucked from its proud height--
  Those tow'ring minarets shall fall to earth
  And God again be worshipp'd thro' the land.
  David's fair city shall be then rebuilt;
  Her pristine beauty shall be far surpassed
  By more than mortal splendour; her temple
  Point high its turrets to the skies--and He,
  The God of Hosts with glory fill the place!

S.J.

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PARLIAMENTS, ANCIENT AND MODERN.

_(For the Mirror.)_


Chamberlayne in his _Notitia Angliae_, says, "Before the conquest, the
great council of the king, consisting only of the great men of the
kingdom, was called _Magnatum Conventus_, or else _Praelatorum Procerumque
Concilium_, and by the Saxons in their own tongue _Micel Gemote_,[3] the
great assembly; after the conquest about the beginning of King Edward I.,
some say in the time of Henry I., it was called by the French word
_Parlementum_, from _Parler_, to talk together; still consisting (as
divers authors affirm) only of the great men of the nation, until the
reign of Henry III. when the commons also were called to sit in
parliament; for divers authors presume to say, the first writs to be
found in records, sent forth to them, bear date 49 Henry III. Yet some
antiquaries are of opinion, that long before, nothing of moment wherein
the lives or estates of the common people of England were concerned, ever
passed without their consent."

    [3] Or Wittenagemote, i.e. assembly of wise men.

In Edward the Third's time, an act of parliament, made in the reign of
William the Conqueror, was pleaded in the case of the Abbey of St.
Edmund's Bury, and judicially allowed by the court. Hence it appears that
parliaments or general councils are coeval with the kingdom itself.

Sir Walter Raleigh thinks the Commons were first called on the 17th of
Henry I.

_Parliamentum de la Blande_, was a denomination to a parliament in Edward
the Second's time, whereto the barons came armed against the two
Spencers, with  bands on their sleeves for distinction.

_Parliamentum Insanum_, was a parliament held at Oxford, anno 41 Henry
III. so called, because the lords came with great retinues of armed men
to it;