of those whose descendants are at this moment enriching themselves by the same occupation, applied to him, with no small obsequiousness, for his custom; but his grey eye immediately assumed a look of increased suspicion, and their overtures were all rejected with much less ceremony than they were tendered."I have no objection to dine with you, my good friend," he exclaimed to Sir Josiah Child, who was one of the applicants in question—“ I shall be well pleased to see the great fishponds at Wanstead, and the plantations of walnut trees of which I have heard so much, and I wish good success to your friends Blanchard and Child, of Temple-bar; but with their leave and yours, I will take care of my own money. I see so many round about me who lost the cash they had deposited with Ben Hinton of Lombard Street, that I had rather run the risk of thieves than that of bankers. Adzooks! Sir Josiah, if you had not kept the key of your own strong box, you had never given fifty thousand pounds to your daughter, and married her to the Duke of Beaufort's eldest son."

Being now joined by some of the principal merchants upon the Baltic walk, he fell into a desultory discourse with his companions, in which the new statue of Charles the First, the recent death of Charles the Second, King James's declaration to the Lords at Whitehall, and the fluctuation in Exchequer tallies and India Stock, divided the attention of the Speakers, with the prices of Riga hemp and flax, Archangel tar, and Petersburgh yellow candle tallow.

A new application from a banker canvassing for custom occasioning him to quit this party in dudgeon, Isaac turned to his nephew, and tapping him on the shoulder, offered to treat him to oysters and lamb's-wool, (or ale poured on roasted apples and sugar,) adding that he had the latter ingredient in his pocket which would save two-pence. This invitation being joyfully accepted, they forced their way through the mercantile dealers and chapmen, whom, indeed, Goldingham shouldered aside without much ceremony, and passed into Cornhill. Old folks in young ones, as if conscious that

the

company of their associates are likely to enjoy a greater

share of the future, are apt to indemnify themselves out of the past, by making a triumphant display of their superior extent of recollection. Thus the worthy merchant failed not to point out to his young auditor as they proceeded, every change that had occurred in the rebuilding of the houses after the great Fire, boasting how well he recollected all the alterations, and the fronts of each individual edifice for twenty years before that all-obliterating calamity. On reaching the bottom of Cornhill he crossed over into the Stocks Market; and after regretting the removal of the Stocks, whence the place took its name, and which had been of special use for the intimidation of petty offenders and disorderly apprentices, he passed under the row of trees that bounded the place on the east, in order that he might point out to the attention of his young companion the famous equestrian statue, erected in honour of Charles the Second, by his most loyal subject Sir Robert Viner, the great banker." Egad! that was a lucky hit of Sir Robert's," cried Goldingham; "he fortunately discovered an old

statue of Sobieski, King of Poland, trampling on a Turk, and causing a few alterations to be made, he christened the Polish monarch by the name of Charles; bestowed that of Oliver Cromwell on the turbaned Turk, and set

the transmogrified figures where you now see them. Ah Reuben, Reuben! that was a merry meeting when I dined with Sir Robert during his mayoralty at his new house in Lombard Street. King Charles was there; and when he was for retiring, his jovial host, filled with good liquor and loyalty, laid hold of him, and swore he should take t'other bottle. I shall never forget how kindly the merry King looked at him over his shoulder, as with a smile and graceful air he hummed part of a song out of one of Shadwell's plays,—

"Good store of good Claret supplies every thing,
And the man that is drunk is as great as a king."

after which he immediately turned back, and complied with his host's request. Poor man! dead and gone! But

he is dead and gone now, here we are at the Oyster stands, so eat away,

and I'll sweeten the lamb's-wool for you myself."

Diving into his capacious waistcoat-pocket he fished up two or three lumps of sugar, with which he carefully prepared their beverage; the youth betook himself to the oysters, and both having presently appeased their appetites and emptied the tankard, the party set off on their return towards the Exchange.

Short as was the way, the merchant did not lose the opportunity of still further displaying his antiquarian lore. At the sight of the gilt grasshopper upon the top of the tower, he failed not to recount that Sir Thomas Gresham, the builder of the original edifice, was reported to have chosen it for his crest, because the chirping of that insect had occasioned him to be found when he was left exposed as an infant in the fields; concluding with the equally apocryphal statement, that when Queen Elizabeth and her nobility came from Somerset House, and caused the new building to be named by trumpet and herald "The Royal Exchange," Sir Thomas had reduced a costly pearl to