description; and, on the south
side, was the eleemosynary or almonry, where the alms of the abbot were
distributed.--This place is remarkable for being the spot in which the
first printing-press ever used in England was set up; and here, in 1474,
Caxton printed the Game and Play of Chesse, the first book ever
printed in England.--A new Court House is now built on the site of the
sanctuary.

Having seen in the Abbey every curiosity of note, its two visitants
directed their course into Westminster Hall, the great national seat
of justice.--This together with the House of Lords, and the House of
Commons, are the remains of the palace of Westminster, built by Edward
the Confessor, the situation of which was close to the river Thames, and
the stairs leading from it still retain the name of palace stairs. The
hall itself is the largest room in Europe, except the theatre at Oxford,
unsupported by columns. It is 275 feet in length, 74 in breadth, and 90
in height, the roof being of oak, of curious gothic architecture. It
was originally used as a place of festivity, and Richard IId entertained
10,000 guests within its walls. In this hall Charles I.. was tried and
condemned; and at present it is occasionally fitted up for the trial of
peers or of any person impeached by the Commons.

Our heroes now relinquishing the contemplation of the olden times for
the enjoyment of the passing scenes of the modern, turned their steps
in the direction of Whitehall; passing through which, and facing the
Banquetting-House,{2} their observation was attracted to a gentleman on

1 See Shakespeare's Play of Henry IV. Part II.

2 In front of the Banquetting House, on a scaffold, Charles
I. was beheaded on the 30th of January, 1648;--His Majesty
passed from the Banquetting House to the scaffold through
one of the windows.

~88~~horseback, followed by a number of people, by whom he was
frequently and warmly cheered; and _en passant_ was recognized with
other popular feeling of regard and respect. Dashall stept forward to
reconnoitre, and ascertained that the favourite was no other than the
worthy representative of the borough of Southwark, Sir Robert Wilson,
Knt. lately deprived of his rank as a General, "for," continued Dashall,
"nobody knows what, unless the enormous crime of paying his last tribute
of respect to the memory of an "injured Queen;" and endeavouring, in
the temperate language of remonstrance, to prevent the