In King Charles's building there is a library for the use of the pensioners, in which is placed a bust of Dibdin, whose sea songs are so well known. Over the library is King Charles's Ward, which is open to public inspection. This is said to have been the ball-room, and library of that Monarch; is two hundred and forty-four feet in length and is considered the finest of the whole series. The dormitories throughout the hospital are particularly clean and neat; in that of King Charles's Ward are deposited the remains of the hat worn by Nelson at Teneriffe, presented by William IV., and the silk stockings worn by him on the same occasion; the donor remarking, that "every relic of Nelson belonged to his country."

The hospital gates open at sunrise. The Painted Hall and Chapel are open every week-day from ten till seven o'clock during the summer months, and from ten till three o'clock in the winter; and on Sundays after Divine service in the morning. On Mondays and Fridays they are open free to the public, and on other days on payment of fourpence. Soldiers and sailors are admitted free at all times. Clarke's HandBoook Guide, threepence.

THE ROYAL NAVAL ASYLUM

Was originally commenced at Paddington, in 1801, but removed in 1807 to its present situation, near the entrance to Greenwich Park, and incorporated with the hospital in 1821. It is intended for the reception and education of eight hundred boys and two hundred girls, the children of seamen in the Royal Navy, and consists of an upper and lower school; the former being the sons of officers and seamen in the royal navy and marines, and in the merchant service,-receiving a practical education in navigation, and nautical astronomy; the latter consisting of the sons of seamen in the royal navy, or of non-commissioned officers and privates of the royal marines,-who are instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and other usefnl information.

There are convenient playgrounds for the boys, one of which is properly fitted for training them gymnastic exercises; in the centre being a model of a full-rigged ship, intended to instruct the pupils in nautical evolutions.

The building consists of a centre connected with two wings by a colonnade of forty stone columns. The interior of the central portion of this building is remarkable, having been commenced in 1613, by Anne of Denmark, and completed in 1635, by Queen Henrietta Maria, whose arms still adorn the ceiling of the room in which her son, Charles II., was born, in 1630. This house, which was afterwards transformed into the Ranger's Lodge, became the occasional residence of the Prime Minister, Pelham, from whom it derived the name of Pelham House.

CHELSEA HOSPITAL.

Go with old Thames, view Chelsea's glorious pile,
And ask the shattered hero whence his smile;
Go view the splendid domes of Greenwich-go,
And own what raptures from reflection flow.
Hail! noblest structures, imaged in the wave,
A nation's grateful tribute to the brave.
Hail! blest retreat from war and shipwreck, hail!
That oft arrest the wandering stranger's sail.
Long have ye heard the narratives of age,
The battle's havoc and the tempest's rage:
Long have ye known reflection's genial ray

Gild the calm close of valour's various day.-Rogers.

This noble monument of national munificence and gratitude, owes its origin to the benevolent exertions of Sir Stephen Fox, ancestor of the late Lord Holland, who having persuaded Charles II. to purchase the old building of Chelsea College, from the Royal Society, to whom it had been presented by that monarch, and having induced the king to endow it with the sum of £5,000 per annum, the old buildings were razed, and the present appropriate and substantial structure was erected in its stead, at a cost of £20,000. Sir Stephen also became an active friend and liberal benefactor to the establishment: the sale of the college and other arrangements were completed in the month of February, 1682, and the Royal Hospital for invalids in the land service was accordingly commenced, the first stone having been laid by the King in person, March 2nd, 1682, and the building completed in 1692, in the reign of William and Mary. It is a noble structure, seven hundred and ninety feet in length, of a very appropriate design, remarkable for the justness and harmonious proportions of its different parts; it is of red brick, with stone dressings, forming three sides of a quadrangle, and was built after the designs of Sir Christopher Wren, at a cost of £150,000.

The number of in-pensioners is five hundred and thirty-nine, who must, except under special circumstances, be sixty years of age, and have passed twenty years in her Majesty's service, before they are eligible for admission. They wear an uniform dress of red, lined with blue, are lodged and fed, and receive an allowance of eighteenpence per week. The out-pensioners form an unlimited number, and are dispersed all over the three kingdoms, with liberty to exercise their various occupations, though liable to be called upon for garrison duty in the time of war.

The centre of the building is embellished with a tetrastyle portico of the Roman Doric order, ornamented by a handsome lofty turret, in which is a clock. Under the portico are the principal entrances on one side is the chapel, the furniture and the plate, of which were given by James II.; over the altar is a picture of the Ascension, by Sebastian Ricci: there is also an organ, the gift of Major Ingram. On the other side is the hall, where the pensioners dine. Both these apartments are paved with black and white marble.

In the Chapel are preserved the eagles of Napoleon, captured at Barossa, Talavera, Salamanca, and Waterloo. In the Dining Hall, is a portrait of Charles II., on horse-back, by Verrio and Henry Cooke, as also fragments of the standards won at Blenheim, from the proud Louis XIV., surnamed "the Great," and a number of flags of all nations, captured by the British Army in various campaigns, down to the Chinese, with the dragon-banners.

The grounds and gardens of the Hospital, with the centre walk of lime-trees, and terrace bounded by the Thames, commanding all the diversified attractions of that portion of the river, are open daily to the public, and form a very interesting promenade, especially during the summer season.

THE ROYAL MILITARY ASYLUM,

King's Road, Chelsea, sometimes called the Duke of York's School, with whom it originated. It is devoted to the education of children of both sexes, of the soldiers of the regular army. There are generally about seven hundred boys, who wear red jackets, blue trousers, &c., and about three hundred girls, who are habited in red gowns, blue petticoats, and straw bonnets.

The building, which has nothing remarkable about it in an architectural view, was built from the designs of John Sanders, Esq., the first stone being laid by the late Duke of York, June 19th, 1801, and the building completed in 1805. It is of brick, and forms three sides of a quadrangle; the centre consists of dining and school rooms, one of which is used as a chapel, and the wings are occupied as dormitories; that on the north side for the boys, and that on the south for the girls. The comfort and general healthy appearance of the children, and the playing of the juvenile band every fine evening in the summer, are very attractive and gratifying to the numerous company who promenade here.

The establishment is conducted strictly, according to military discipline. Friday is the best day for viewing the children parade, with their military band. Open from ten o'clock till four. Dinnerhour, one.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL,

On the east side of Smithfield, seems to have been the first establishment of the kind in London for relieving the diseased and maimed poor, it having been founded in 1102, by Rahere, the minstrel and poet of Henry I. It owes much to the munificence of Henry VIII., who endowed it, at the Reformation, with an annual revenue; and profits largely at times by the liberality of private benefactors.

The buildings which form a spacious quadrangle, each side being detached from the other, and joined only by stone screens and gateways were erected from the designs of James Gibbs, Esq., the first stone having been laid June 9th, 1730. Each building is of Bath stone, with moulded designs to the windows, and a cornice and balustrade to the top. Over the entrance next Smithfield, erected in 1702, is a statue of Henry VIII., the second founder, under which is inscribed "ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL, FOUNDED BY RAHERE, A. D. 1102; REFOUNDED BY HENRY VIII., A.D. 1546."