assumed the Cross in consequence of a prediction that " he should die in Jerusalem," which had been made to him in the early part of his life. "He became so syke," says Fabian, "whyle he was makynge his prayers, to take there his leve, and so to spede hym upon his iournaye, that such as were aboute hym feryd that he wolde have dyed right there; wherefore they, for his comforte, bare hym into the Abbottes place, and lodged hym in a chamber, and there, upon a paylet, leyde hym before the fyre."* Shortly after, on recovering his senses, he enquired where he was, and on being told in the Jerusalem Chamber, he adverted to the prophecy, and finding his death to be approaching, employed his last moments in giving counsel to his son, the Prince of Wales; then recommending his soul to God, he expired.

The College Hall (formerly the Abbot's Hall) is spacious and well-proportioned; the roof is supported by strong beams, and the wall partly lined by a pannelled wainscotting; at the south end is a large music gallery, now used as a pantry. In the middle of the floor, which is paved with stone, is a raised circular hearth, with a hollow surrounding it, for the combustion of wood, as was usual in great halls in ancient times. On the corbels, below the timbers of the roof, are the arms of St. Edward the Confessor, the Abbey of Westminster, and Abbot Litlington; and on the north wall are painted those of the College of Westminster; Trinity College, Cambridge; and Christ Church,

* Fabian's "Chronicle," pp. 576, 577, edit. 1810. VOL. II.

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Oxford. This is now the Dining hall of the Westminster scholars: the Abbot's Kitchen is likewise appropriated to their use.

VINTNERS' COMPANY AND HALL.

The Vintner's Company was originally composed of the two bodies denominated Vintinarij ana Tabernarij, the former being the importers and wholesale dealers in wine, and the latter the retailers, who kept taverns and cellars in different parts of the city for selling it in small quantities. "These vintners," says Stow, "as well Englishmen as strangers borne, were of old time great Bourdeaux merchants of Gascoyne and French wines ;" and they were hence denominated the "Merchant Wine-tunners of Gascoyne." We learn from

the same authority, that in the reign of Edward III., Gascoigne wines were sold in London, "not above iiij pence, and Rhenish wine not above sixe pence the gallon." The above sovereign empowered the "Merchant Vintners" to carry on an exclusive importation trade for Wine, from Gascony, in the year 1365; yet it was not till the fifteenth of Henry VI., anno 1437, that the successors of those Vintners and Winedrawers, that retailed by the gallons, pottell, quart, and pynte," were incorporated by the appellation of "the Master, Wardens, Freemen, and Commonalty of the Mystery of Vintners of the City of London." All the freemen of the Company have the privilege of retailing wine without a license. The further privilege was granted to them in the time of Charles I., anno 1637, "to sell a penny in a quart above the

rates set, to dress meat, and to sell beer and sugar;" but for this they agreed to pay his Majesty forty shillings upon every tun of wine retailed or vended.”

VINTNERS' HALL is a respectable brick building, situated on the south side of Upper Thames Street, immediately contiguous to the new road leading to the Southwark Bridge. Upon this spot stood a large mansion, called Stody Place, or the "manor of the Vintry," which was given to the Company "with the tenements round about," by Sir John Stody, or Stodie, who was Lord Mayor in 1357. Here, says Stow, "the Vintners builded for themselves a faire Hall, and also thirteen alms-houses for thirteen poor people." These were destroyed by the great fire in 1666, after which the present fabric was raised: it forms three sides of a quadrangle and has a dwarf wall, with iron gates and a palisade in front: the gates have stone piers, which are sculptured with grapes and vine leaves. The Hall, occupying the south side, is a spacious and lofty apartment, paved with marble, and neatly wainscotted. Here are many shields of arms of Masters of the Company, and, in different windows, are the Company's arms,* and also those of Charles II. In the same window with the latter, (which is over a recess, on the north side,) is a sun-dial, with a fly upon it," painted curiously." In the Court Room

* The Vintners' arms are, sable, a chevron between three tuns argent. These arms were granted by Roger Legh, Clarencieux, in 1447, and confirmed by Thos. Benoilt, Clarencieux, in the 22d of Henry VIII.