the ground-story is faced with Portland stone, the remainder is of brick with stone facings, and a great deal of taste is shown inside as well as in the exterior.-Another large and lofty pile close by has been built for Messrs. Moses from the designs of Messrs. Tillott and Chamberlain.-In Wood-street an immense range of warehouses has been erected by Mr. G. S. Clarke for Messrs. Munt and Brown, displaying a good deal of ornament and some architectural character; in Lime-street a range by Mr. Aitcheson, and others in the streets on each side of Cheapside and Cannon-street.-Other vast piles for 'chambers' have been completed, or nearly so, in Mark-lane (by Mr. W. T. Randall-a really noble 'business' elevation of five stories, constructed at an expense of 12,000, wholly in Portland stone); one adjoining by Mr. R. Bell; in Fenchurch-street, (by Mr. l'Anson, remarkable chiefly for the great extent of glass in the front, it being like

"Proud Hardwick Hall,

More window than wall,")

and several others in the lanes and courts about Cornhill.-In Bread-street Hill is a large new printing-office, erected for Messrs. Clay, from the designs of Mr. H. Dawson, which may be compared with another just completed, from the designs of Messrs. Tress and Chambers, for Messrs. Petter and Galpin, in Belle Sauvage-yard― both presenting an amount of architectural finish quite novel in establishments of that kind.-Proceeding westward in the city, we may notice a building in Fetter-lane of red and black brick with stone dressings, erected from the designs of Mr. Donaldson, for Messrs. Shaw, the publishers, which has some good features-though marred by want of elevation in the shop-floor-and serves to illus trate the value of coloured brick in street elevations; with it may be compared a still more successful application, by Mr. F. W. Porter, of the same materials, in the warehouse of Mr. Cleaver, Red Lionstreet, Holborn.-In Fleet-street a substantial stone-fronted building has been erected for a branch of the Union Bank. In Chancerylane a south wing has been added to the Law Institution; and somewhat farther south the Law Union Assurance has been completed, from the designs of Mr. Penfold.

Besides the buildings directly devoted to trade, there are some belonging to the City Companies in progress or completed. The completed ones are Weavers' Hall, Basinghall-street, a substantial pile of no very marked character, having the ground floor appropriated to offices; and Dyers' Hall, Dowgate-hill, by Mr. D. A. Corbett, which is better, but of no great mark: in this also a large portion is intended for offices. A more ambitious and more important work is Clothworkers' Hall, Mincing-lane, now in progress, and of which we give an engraving. The area is 187 feet deep, with an average width of 83 feet, but the front in Mincing-lane is only 50 feet. As will be seen the façade, entirely of Portland stone, is a somewhat florid Italian. The ground floor is to contain a court-room 40 feet by 24, a court dining-room 31 by 25 feet, and other official apartments. The first floor will contain the Great Hall, on which the chief decorative resources of the architect will be expended: it is to be 80 feet

The

long, 40 feet wide, and 40 feet high, the roof, which is vaulted, being supported on Corinthian columns of polished red granite with capitals of Caen stone. The windows are to be of stained glass. Adjoining the great hall is the court drawing-room 51 feet by 21, and another drawing-room 42 feet by 24, with a spacious serving-room. great hall is approached by a grand staircase which is to be lighted by a dome, and promises to be one of the stateliest in the city. In every part the ornamentation is to be carried out with the fulness and richness proper to the style. The architect is Mr. S. Angell.

Turning westward we must mention the erection of a large building, intended for offices we believe, in Henrietta-street, Covent Garden, as one of the most successful applications of the Lombardic style to London street architecture; it is by Mr. C. Gray, the architect of the building in Southampton-street noticed last year. In Leicester-square Mr. Billings has shown some fancy in adapting Gothic forms to the requirements of a small banking-house. In St. James's-square, Mr. Fowler has completed a building for the Clerical Life Assurance Company. At the corner of St. James's-street and Piccadilly, one of somewhat too florid a character has been finished from the designs of Mr. H. Jones, for the Sovereign Fire and Life Assurance Company. In passing along Piccadilly the reader will do

well to look at a private house (Mr. Uzielli's, No. 114, opposite the Green Park), in order to see how much may by good management be made of the narrowest strip of frontage. The front has been cased with stone; columns of serpentine marble from the Lizard have been added to the windows, the archivolts of which are of the same material; and carved capitals and ornamental balconies increase the effect: the design-a little quaint in parts-is by Mr. J. Edmeston, jun. At St. George's-place, Knightsbridge, a lofty pile of buildings, six stories high, is approaching completion. It consists of a large hotel with two dwelling-houses on each side, forming one extensive façade, Italian in style, with a profusion of ornament in the shape of columns, friezes, statues, vases, &c., the whole being executed in cement. The architect is Mr. F. R. Beeston. The extensive ridingschool in High-street, Knightsbridge, designed by Mr. P. Hardwick, . R.A., for the Duke of Wellington, has besides its great size a claim to notice, as possessing architectural merits seldom looked for in such buildings.

At Manchester the enormous range of warehouses in Portland-road, erected for Sir J. Watts, and noticed in the Companion for last year, is nearly completed, and we are bound to say has a more satisfactory appearance than we predicted. Not only does its mass render it imposing, but its general effect is good despite a too prominent ambitiousness of style, and the details are carried out with great completeness. Other warehouses of an important architectural character are being constructed in the vicinity. We have spoken of some of the other architectural additions to the city elsewhere. In Liverpool the chief building of a business character is the large one adjoining the Exchange Buildings, by Mr. Cockerell, R.A., in the Italian renaissance style. It covers a large area, having four fronts (all of Derby Dale stone with a granite plinth) and a central court, which it is intended to cover with a glass roof. The ground on which the building stands is said to have cost above 70,000l.; the building itself will cost about 40,000%. It belongs to the Liverpool and London Assurance Company, who will occupy a considerable portion of it, the rest will be let in offices. Another pile, nearly equal in magnitude to that by Mr. Cockerell, is erecting for letting in offices, by Mr. J. K. Cooling in Oldhall-street; like the other it is renaissance, but somewhat less classically treated. A large block of offices, Italian renaissance in style, by Mr. Picton of Liverpool, has also much merit. The same architect has erected a large warehouse, Middleton Buildings, near at hand, in a similar style. We are glad to notice that the pretty polished granite drinking fountains, which two or three years ago were beginning to be placed about the neighbourhood of the Exchange, &c., have been increased in number, and that the example has been followed at Chester, St. Helen's, Sunderland, and some other towns.

BRIDGES, DOCKS, &c.

Westminster Bridge, after the long suspension of the works, is again being proceeded with, the authorities having at last with great

labour arrived at the conclusion, which the general public never departed from, that, whether a better site might originally have been found for it or not, it would be now a great public inconvenience and an absurd waste of money to divert the line of traffic. Battersca Bridge is approaching completion, and except the hideous tollhouses-is a handsome structure.

At Chatham a tidal dock, larger than at either of our other great naval establishments, 400 feet by 96, the bottom being formed of immense blocks of granite, is nearly completed; and another, 338 feet by 98 feet, has been commenced. The Northumberland Dock at Hayhole-on-the-Tyne has been completed under the direction of Mr. Plews, at a cost of about 200,000l. The area is 55 acres; the tidalbasin is 475 feet long and 175 feet wide, with an entrance 70 feet wide; it will accommodate 400 vessels. The Jarrow Dock, nearly as large, is in course of construction on the opposite side of the Tyne. An Act of Parliament has been obtained for a third dock, to be called Coble Deane Dock. At Silloth a dock of considerable magnitude is in progress, as are others at Maryport, and in connexion with railways at Brentford and at Cardiff. There was during the last session some rather acrimonious debating in the House of Commons respecting the outlay for harbours of refuge, especially with reference to the progress and the value of the works at Dover. It did not seem from the speech of Sir C. Wood that much anxiety was felt on the part of the government for their completion; but we may trust that the same costly folly will not be repeated in respect of the southern harbours, which caused so much waste of money and time at Holyhead. The works at Dover, Portland, and Holyhead have all made important progress during the year. At Glasgow a quay-wall, nearly a third of a mile long, has been constructed west of Glasgow Bridge: the wall and connected improvements will give a depth of 20 feet at low water, thus enabling laden vessels of the largest size to lie afloat at all times of the tide. At Liverpool a vast Floating Stage, 1,000 feet long by 82 feet wide, has been constructed under the direction of Sir W. Cubitt, and moored in its place at Prince's Pier. The stage, the weight of which is upwards of 3,000 tons, is supported on 63 air-tight rectangular pontoons, of which 12 are each 96 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 5 feet deep; 49 each 80 feet long, 10 broad, and 5 deep, and 3 of somewhat smaller size. The total cost was 140,000l.

XV. CHRONICLE OF OCCURRENCES.

From October, 1856, to November, 1857.

1856. Oct. 8. Seizure, by the Chinese authorities, of a 'lorcha,' or small trading-vessel, under the British flag, which leads to hostilities between the British and Chinese.

13. Surrender of the city of Herat to the Persians. The Governor and his family put to death.

24. Canton attacked by the English on account of the seizure of the 'Arrow' lorcha by the Chinese, and the refusal of the Viceroy to hold personal communication with Sir Michael Seymour, the British admiral.

26. Opening of Lisbon and Santarem Railway: the first in Portugal. 27. Opening of a railway between Montreal and Toronto. 28. The English and French legations leave Naples.

Nov. 1. War proclaimed against Persia at Calcutta by the GovernorGeneral of India.

3. Bombardment of the city of Canton by the British fleet.

5. At Constantinople Lord Stratford de Redcliffe installed the Sultan a Knight of the Garter with a magnificence similar to that observed in England at the installation of the Emperor Napoleon.-Attempts made by Russian officials to land stores for the lighthouse on the Isle of Serpents were frustrated by H.M.S.' Magicienne.'

10. Lord Palmerston, at the Lord Mayor's inauguration dinner, spoke in a very decided manner in reference to the points supposed to be in dispute between the Russian and British authorities as to the interpretation of the Treaty of Paris. His lordship said " We were convinced that the people of England would willingly forego the prospect of future military and naval glory when they were satisfied that the objects of the war had been substantially accomplished. It now remains that the conditions of the Peace shall be faithfully executed and honourably observed, and I trust that the peace of Europe will be placed upon a secure and permanent foundation."

11. The Belgian Legislative Chambers opened by a speech from the King, in which he gratefully acknowledges the manner in which the twenty-fifth anniversary of the inauguration of his reign had been celebrated, and describes the commercial condition of the country as satisfactory. A full and free pardon granted by the Queen to persons suffering for political offences. This pardon applies to Messrs. Frost, Smith O'Brien, Doherty, &c., and restores them to their civil rights and station, as they stood previous to trial.-Discovery of enormous frauds on the Great Northern Railway Company, committed by one of its principal officers-Leopold Redpath, who held the office of Registrar of shares and transferrer of stock. The defalcation amounted to upwards of 150,000l. Redpath was traced to Paris, whence he returned to London, and was captured on the 14th.

13. The bell for the new Houses of Parliament tried for the first time. It was named 'Big Ben.' The clapper weighed 16 cwt. The note of the bell was a pure natural E. On September 24th, 1857, it was found to be cracked and rendered unserviceable till re-cast.-Death of Charles Frederick, Prince of Leiningen, son of the Duchess of Kent by her first husband, and, consequently, half-brother of Queen Victoria. He was 52 years of age.

14. Mysterious murder of Mr. Little, cashier of the Great Western Railway of Ireland.

22. An insurrectionary movement broke out in Sicily, but was speedily repressed by the military. Baron Bentivenga, the chief of the insurgents, was taken prisoner. Soujuk-Kaleh recaptured by the Russians, under General Philipson, and the Circassians expelled, after an obstinate conflict.

Dec. 1. Opening of the United States Congress, and delivery of the President's message. The House of Representatives refused, by 101 to 97, to receive Mr. Whitefield, the delegate from Kansas.

3. An action brought by the Earl of Lucan, in the Court of Exchequer, against The Daily News,' for libel contained in an article in that paper on July 26th, in reference to his lordship's conduct in the Crimea, was decided in favour of the defendant.

4. The Emperor of Austria issues a decree removing the sequestra