then attiring himself in another, which, if not richer, was at least more clean and comely, sallied forth into the streets. Having crossed over the way, he descended a little towards the river, and then entering Thames Street, proceeded on, till, arriving at Bylyngsgate, then only a small port for the reception of shipping, he enquired the path which would lead him to the Tower, and being told to continue on in nearly a straight line, he soon found himself opposite to one of its gates; knocking at this, it was, after some delay, partially opened to him by a gaunt, hard-featured, and ill-looking fellow, who held it ajar whilst enquiring his business at that unseasonable time, the gate having, as he said, been closed for nearly two hours. 66 Pray, friend," inquired the stranger, without seeming to notice the man's incivility, "instruct me as to the time to-morrow at which a stranger, like myself, may hope to be admitted to the presence of his Grace." "Ouais!" replied the porter, now for the first time wholly opening the gate, and coming ROBERT D'ARTOIS; OR, THE HERON VOW. CHAPTER I. "Spirando il vento prospero, alla poppa A vela e rami, insino a Londra furo." THIS may not be exactly said, seeing that my traveller travelled not by water, but over land; yet will the above lines designate extremely well the spot on which a merchant, meanly attired, mounted on a sorry mule, and accompanied by a single attendant, whose appearance VOL. III. B bespoke him to be not his personal domestic, but the proprietor of the animals of which he himself bestrode one, arrived in the borough of Suthverke―or Southwark, as it is now named --and presented himself before the arched gateway of Saint Thomas, which terminated the southern side of London-bridge, and served, in times of civil commotion, to defend the burghers on one side of the river, from any sudden ingression of the citizens on the other. The stranger-for both such his costume and accent declared him to be-turning to the guide, enquired at what hotel he was accustomed to put up. Having received for answer, that there was one at the other end of the bridge, in which both "man and beast" might depend upon receiving excellent treatment, he ordered the man to proceed, and show him the way. In those days, London-bridge was encumbered by a double-file of houses, one on each side, close to, and almost overhanging, the water. Slowly, and with caution, the traveller went along the narrow street, in which their progress was, at each instant, interrupted by the sledges and other vehicles of merchants which blocked up the way; and by the vast concourse of horsemen and foot passengers; and where the air was darkened by the many huge timber arches thrown across in order to prop the houses, and prevent them from falling together, and burying both their own inmates and those who passed, in one common ruin. Having, at length, with much difficulty, arrived on the northern side: they proceeded towards a small, but what might then have been deemed a very decent-looking inn, situated in Fish-street, and just opposite the church of Saint Magnus. The stranger seemed to think that he had now arrived at the end of his journey; for alighting in the court-yard, he paid the muleteer his due, and then dismissing him, called the host, and desired he would furnish him with an apartment for the night. As this bridge then afforded the only approach from Southwark to London, and as consequently all persons arriving from the continent were constrained to pass over it, the appearance of a |