To the above account of Crosby Hall, by an architectural friend, we shall subjoin a few particulars from other sources; and first from the description communicated by A. J. Kempe, Esq. F. S. A. to our much respected and venerable contemporary, Mr. Urban; that is if we, a mere Hebdomadal, and scarcely a month old, may be allowed the privilege of so distinguishing ourselves. edifice which adorned the city of London in the fifteenth century; and although it would require some labour to obtain a tolerable idea of its original plan, data exists for such an undertaking. Portions of its groined vaults remain, I believe, under several of the houses in the present Crosby Square; and in a cellar, on the right of the outer approach towards the hall, is a crypt and some architectural remains; these per "Crosby Place was the most important domestic haps belonged to an entrance gate. My idea of the building is, that it consisted of two courts, divided by the hall, the outer one the smaller, the inner about thirty yards in depth by twenty in breadth, placed a little to the S. E. of the outer. The entrance to the inner court was, as at present, under that portion of the south end of the hall which was anciently appropriated as a music gallery. The modern buildings in Crosby Square, in all probability, occupy the line of the original apartments and offices which surrounded the quadrangle. Access from the mansion to the priory precinct and church was had by a doorway which still remains. "The founder of this building was a rare exception in the class of persons who generally constructed these costly mansions. Sir John Crosby was no potent feudatory in capite of the crown, but an eminent grocer and wool merchant of the City of London. He accumulated a large fortune by his commercial pursuits in the reigns of Henry VI. and Edward IV. A current tradition, arising perhaps from the passion of the vulgar for the marvellous, was, that he was a foundling and derived his name from being taken up near one of those public crosses, so common for merly in our highways; hence he was called Crossby. Stowe rejects the story as fabulous, and thinks he might be the son of one John Crosby, a servant of Henry IV. to whom he granted the wardship of Joan, the daughter of John Jordaine, a wealthy fishmonger. This John Crosby might have married his ward, and thus established himself as a person of consequence in the city. His son, of whom I am speaking as the founder of Crosby Place, was an alderman of London, and one of the sheriffs for that city in 1470. In 1471, he met Edward IV. on his entry into the city, and was then knighted. In the following year he was a commissioner for treating with the Hanse Towns relative to some differences in which the Duke of Burgundy was concerned. "Having obtained, in 1466, of Alice Ashted, the prioress of the Convent of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, a lease for ninety-nine years of certain lands and tenements adjoining the precinct of her nunnery, at the rent of 17 marks (£11. 6s. 8d.) per annum, Sir John Crosby erected for himself the magnificent mansion now under review. He died in 1475, and was buried in the chapel of the Holy Ghost, near Agnes his [first] wife. Their effigies, beautifully sculptured in ala- | badge, the collar of SS., a very general distinction for baster, remain in the church at this day, and his helmet is suspended from the wall in the vestry. He is said to have been a zealous Yorkist, and it is very remarkable that his effigy does not wear the Lancastrian Numerous benevolent bequests were made by Sir John Crosby, (in his last will, bearing date March 6th, 1471, and proved on February the 6th, 1475,) to religious houses, prisons, buildings, &c., and the residue of his effects, in de VOL. I. persons of gentility or noble blood, but a collar composed of roses and suns alternately disposed ;---the white rose and sun being the badge adopted by Edward IV. after the ominous parhelion which apfault of heirs, were, agreeably to the instrument, applied to charitable uses under the direction of the Grocers' Company. His will has been printed at length, in Gough's "Sepulchral Monuments." Appendix, No. IV. ED. G peared in the heavens on the day of the victory at does not inform us, whether as tenant or as owner. Mortimer's Cross."* 66 It is, however, most probable that Richard was merely an occupant under the Prioress of St. Helen's, as we learn, that after the Reformation (viz. in 1542) Henry VIII. granted this mansion, with all its appurtenances, to Anthonio Bonvice, a rich Italian merchant, as " parcel of the late Priory of St. Helen."t Its next inhabitant was Garman Cioll; and after him, William Bond, an alderman of London, who erected a new turret on the roof. After his decease, in 1576, it was occasionally appropriated for the reception of foreign ambassadors. It was next purchased by Sir John Spencer, alderman, who, according to Stowe, The tomb of Sir John Crosby is represented in the annexed cut. His figure is sculptured as in plate armour, with a mantle and standing cape; the knee pieces appear rivetted on the inside. At his feet is a griffin; his head rests on a helmet, but the crest, supposed to have been a ram, is gone. He wears a dagger on the right side, but has no sword. His lady is in a mantle and close-bodied gown, (enwrapping the feet,) with tight sleeves coming down to the wrists. On her head is a singular close cap, with long lappets, beneath which the hair is tucked up. Her head rests on a cushion supported by two small angels. On" made great reparations" there. He likewise kept the pannelled quatrefoils in front of the tomb are shields, formerly blazoned with the Crosby arms, viz. Sable, a chevron Ermine, between three rams trippant Argent, horned and hoofed Or. The inscription, now defaced, is thus given by Weever: Orate pro animabus Johannis Crosby, Militis, Ald. atque tempore vite Majoris Staple ville Caleis, et Agnetis uxoris sue, ac Thome, Ricardi, Johanni, Margarete, et Johanne, liberorum ejusdem Johannis Crosby, Militis; ille obiit 1475, et illa 1466, quorum animabus propitietur Deus. † In the wood-cut which concludes this article, both the helmet, whereon the knight reposes, and his real helmet, in the vestry-room, are correctly delineated. Stowe says, "Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Lord Protector, afterwards King, by the name of Richard III., was lodged in Crosby House;" but he his mayoralty in Crosby Place in 1594; but whilst it still continued in his possession, (viz. in the first year of King James the First,) "Monsieur de Rosney, Great Treasurer of France, with his retinue, which was very splendid, was there harboured." Strype, writing prior to 1720, says, "This large and convenient house is now built into a square of good houses, and called Crosby Square." The Great Hall, however, which in the reign of Charles the Second was first adapted (soon after the Act of Uniformity was passed,) as a place of worship for Non-conformists, was kept standing; and it continued to be occupied for religious meetings for nearly a century and a half. Its more recent occupiers were wharfingers and packers, and its present owner is " the grandson and heir of the late Admiral Williams Freeman."§ From the annexed plan of the vaults formerly be- | with other houses, it will be apparent that the buildlonging to this mansion, but now in part connected ings extended upwards of forty yards further west Vide "Gentleman's Magazine," June, 1832, p. 506. + Engravings of the figures of Sir John Crosby and his lady are given in Gough's "Sepulchral Monuments," and again, but more accurately, in Stothard's "Monumental Effigies." ward than the present hall; and it is believed that #Vide Strype's "Stowe's London," p. 106, (Edit. 1720) vol. i. p. 435, from the original deed. § Vide" Gent's Mag." June, 1832, p. 507. other vaults remain, to which access has not been obtained. Except one, all the vaults have plain arched roofs of brick, plastered over. REFERENCES: A. The vault under the Great Hall is crossed by a modern wall. It is nine feet six inches in height, and has iron rings in the middle of the roof. B. The vault under the Council Chamber, with continuations eastward. C. This also is crossed by a modern wall, and is nine feet six inches in height. D. Nine feet high, and has two large iron rings in the roof. E. The roof here is groined, and better finished than the others. In this division are the remains of a staircase which led to the upper apartments. F. This is a cellar under a house in Bishopsgate Street, but of the same character as the other vaults. G. A very long vault, which is divided by a wall, and has had two communications with other cellars. "On the eve of demolition," says Mr. Kempe, "threatened on all sides, like many other venerable foundations, to be swept away by the spring tide of reformation and improvement, or, at least, of the devastating principle so called,---Crosby Hall has been fortunate enough to find, in an intelligent literary lady, its near neighbour, and in various other public spirited individuals, a timely and energetic protection. A public subscription has been entered into for the purpose of securing an interest in the Hall, on a term of lease, equal in point of possession to a freehold, and for restoring its architectural details to their primitive splendour."---That the proposed restoration may meet with every success is our decided hope; for buildings displaying such high architectural science and enriched beautiful design, as CROSBY HALL, have few parallels in modern erections. It may be truly said of our forefathers, that, in architecture, "There were giants in those days ;"---and it would be well if their posterity, instead of lavishing an affected pity over the presumed "ignorance of the dark ages," were emulously to strive at the attainment of the same superior excellence in performance, the same deep insight into principles, the same vigorous judgment, and the same beautiful taste, which distinguished the labours of our ancestors. It has been proposed that Crosby Hall, when repaired, should be appropriated as a "Museum of National Antiquities;" yet, for that purpose, it is hardly * Gent's. Mag. June, 1832, p. 507. of sufficient extent. Another and better appropriation 20 POPULAR ESSAYS ON CHIVALRY, No. II. THE ANCIENT KNIGHT. B. HAVING already taken a glance at the education and initiation of an ancient Knight, we will now portray the leading features of the Knightly character as illustrated by Chaucer and the elder poets and romancers. The ancient Knights were distinguished for their ardent piety, their devotion to the fair sex, and their fraternity in arms. When we bear in mind that Chivalry was an ecclesiastical order founded by holy men and favoured by the church as her champion and servant, we at once perceive that a felon, or unchristian Knight, would in those days have been regarded with a feeling of abhorrence, similar to that which we should entertain towards a priest who denied the truths and ridiculed the sacraments of his own religion. In all the descriptions, therefore, of these gallant warriors, we find their piety lauded in the warmest terms, but, alas! Christianity was then but a feeble light shining in a dark place. Its principle of universal love was but little understood, and although it infused into the spirit of Chivalry all that rendered it worthy of our honour, regard, and gratitude; yet as explained and enforced by the Romish Hierarchy, | falchion thrust into his accursed bowels." Their and darkened by human superstition, it inspired its servants with a flaming zeal rather to defend its cause than obey its precepts, goaded on the armies of Christendom to wars of extermination, and taught that, like heavenly charity, the slaughter of " Pagan houndes" would cover and extenuate a multitude of sins. To abandon land, wealth, friends, and relatives, and struggle in Palestine for the Cross of Christ, was esteemed a sufficient atonement for the greatest crimes; and Chaucer, in his lively portrait of "a veray parfit gentil Knight," prefers recording that he fought against the Saracens in the far-off east rather than at Cressy and Poictiers. For these martial missionaries Heaven is represented as visibly manifesting itself; and seraphs and glorified saints escorted the crusading forces. At the conquest of Jerusalem, St. George descended upon Mount Olivet and waved his glittering shield. This circumstance is narrated in history; and if we turn to the works of the old romancers, we are edified with legend upon legend, describing the marvellous assistance rendered to the "Elect warriors." We find their very angels instigating the most cruel massacres. When an embassy from the Soldan came to King Richard, with the offer of a fair partition of the sovereignty in all the empire subject to Saladin, on condition of his renouncing the Christian faith and embracing that of Mahomet, the English monarch sternly replied, that if the Holy Cross were not brought to him on the following day, every prisoner taken at Acre should then be sacrificed. The ambassador answered, that a compliance with this article was impossible, because the Cross could not be found, so Richard gave orders for the immediate execution of sixty thousand captives :- They said " Signeurs tuez, tuez!" 'Spares hem nought, and beheadeth these!" King Richard heard the angels voice And thanked God, and the holy cross."* So ardent was the zeal of the Knights against the infidels, that they seem for the most part to have thrown aside their noted courtesy when contending with the eastern nations. "If an infidel," observes a great authority, impugn the doctrines of the Christian faith before a churchman, he should reply to him by argument; but a Knight should render no other reason to the infidel than six inches of his oath required them never to witness pagan or superstitious rites without expressing their detestation of them, and likewise to make no peace with heretics. They regarded their Paynim adversaries as savages in league with demons,-who, by their innumerable abominations and their cruel treatment of unoffending pilgrims, had drawn down upon their own heads the judicial vengeance of God,—and themselves the instruments in the hand of Providence of their destruction. They sincerely and honestly believed that they were performing a Christian duty when they slew the "Infidel Turks," and willingly exposed themselves to agony and death in the cause of religion, with a pious enthusiasm which shames the lukewarm piety of many of their more enlightened descendants. How noble was the conduct of the victorious Godfrey, when standing in the city he had won at so great a price, he refused to wear the golden chaplet in the place where his Saviour had worn a crown of thorns! We are told that Sir Bevis of Southampton, although smitten by the incomparable charms of the daughter of the heathen Soldan, resolved rather to pine away with unsatisfied desire than wed one who had not been washed with "the water of regeneration," and that this same Knight, when on an embassy to Damascus, was so mastered by his godly zeal, that upon observing a crowd of people preparing to sacrifice to an image representing their Prophet, he rushed towards the idol, seized it by its golden crown, hurled it in the dust, and jeeringly requested the Mahometans to go and help their helpless Deity. The populace rose en masse, but nothing daunted, Sir Bevis hewed his way through the indignant multitude until he reached the royal palace, when, dropping on his kness before the Prince, he delivered his credentials, accompanying them with an oration expressive of his contempt for his Majesty's sacred person, and for the believers in Mahomet of all ranks and conditions.* The piety of these zealous Christians did not alone manifest itself in acts of valour against the Philistines, nor wholly evaporate in the decapitation of the liege subjects of the terrified Sultans. Very frequently, when they had passed the meridian of their life, and their blood waxed cold and their strength feeble, they took the cowl and devoted the remainder of their days to the service of the cloister. The heroes * "Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances," vol. ii. "Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances,” by G. | p. 125.—In a future number the Romance of Sir Bevis, will Ellis, Esq., vol. ii. pp. 245, 6. be considered more at length. En. |