Bank of England.—This large establishment is situated north of the Royal Exchange; the narrow thoroughfare between being Threadneedle Street, in which is the principal front. This is unquestionably the greatest bank in the world. The present structure was mostly the work of Sir John Soane, at various periods between 1788 and 1829. About 1,000 clerks, messengers, &c., are employed here, at salaries varying from £50 to £1,200 per annum. The buildings of the Bank are low, but remarkable in appearance. In the centre is the principal entrance, which conducts to an inner open court, and thence to the main building. The Dividend and Transfer Offices, with which fund-holders are most concerned, lie in the eastern part of the building. Thus far the place is freely open to visitors. The whole buildings and courts include an area of about eight acres. The teller’s room shews a scene of great activity—clerks counting and weighing gold and silver, porters going to and fro, and crowds of tradesmen and others negotiating business at the counters. The other and more private parts of the Bank can be seen only by an order from a director. The most interesting departments are the bullion-office, in a vaulted chamber beneath—where there commonly are some 14 to 17 millions in bullion, as a reserve—entering from one of the many open courts; the treasury; the apartments in which the notes of the Bank are printed; and the weighing-office, where coin-balances of exquisite construction are used. In the printing department there is a large steam-engine, which moves printing-machines, plate-presses, and other mechanism—the whole being in beautiful order, and forming a very interesting sight. The Bank is guarded at night by its own watchmen, and a detachment of Foot Guards.

Joint-Stock and Private Banks.—Some of the handsomest modern buildings in London are those belonging to the Banking Companies. The London and Westminster, the London Joint-Stock, the Union, the City, the Australian, and numerous other Companies, have two or more establishments each, some as many as half-a-dozen—the head bank always being in the busy centre of trade, the ‘City.’ Some of these are elegant structures; and all are planned with great skill in reference to interior arrangements. The private bankers, such as Glyn, Barclays, Lubbocks, Coutts, &c., rival the companies in the architectural character of their banks; and some of their establishments, such as Child’s, near Temple Bar, are curious old places. Many have lately been rebuilt in a substantial and handsome style.

Insurance Offices.—These form another extensive group, which has conduced much to the improved street appearance of modern London. All the best conducted Life and Fire Insurance Companies are wealthy; and they have devoted part of their wealth to the construction of commodious and often elegant offices. The County, the Royal Exchange, the Sun, the Phoenix, the Amicable, the Equitable, the Imperial, are among the most noted of these insurance offices. The chief buildings are within a small circle, of which the Royal Exchange is the centre; another group is about Fleet Street and Blackfriars; and a western group lies in and near the Regent Street line.

Stock Exchange.—This building, of which scarcely anything can be seen on the outside, lies up a paved passage called Capel Court, in Bartholomew Lane, on the east side of the Bank of England. Dealers and brokers in the public funds, and in all kinds of joint-stock shares and debentures, meet and transact business here. They buy and sell, not only for themselves, but for the public generally; and the amount of business transacted every day is enormous. The establishment is maintained by about 900 members, who pay £10 a-year each. They endeavour to enforce strict honesty in each other’s dealings; but they sedulously refuse to allow a stranger even to pass the threshold of their Temple of Wealth.

Various Commercial Buildings.—A stranger has only to look at a detailed map or a directory, to see how numerous are the buildings, especially in the city, applied in various ways to commerce and trading on a large scale. The Trinity House on Tower Hill; the chambers of the building that was once the South Sea House, near Leadenhall Street; those of the large but irregular structure called Gresham House, in Bishopsgate Street—are all worthy of a glance, some for their architectural character, and all for the importance of the work transacted in them. The East India House, in Leadenhall Street, has been pulled down; commercial chambers in great number, and let at enormous rentals, have been built on the site.

City Companies.—In nothing is the past history of the metropolis, the memory of Old London, kept alive in a more remarkable way than by the City Companies, or Trading Guilds, which are still very numerous. All were established with a good purpose, and all rendered service in their day; but at the present time few have any important duties to fulfil. The age for such things is nearly past; but the companies have revenues which none but themselves can touch; and out of these revenues many excellent charities are supported. Several of the companies have halls of great architectural beauty, or curious on account of their antiquity. Twelve, from their wealth and importance, are called the Great Companies; and all of these have halls worthy of note. They are the Mercers’, Drapers’, Fishmongers’, Goldsmiths’, Skinners’, Merchant Taylors’, Haberdashers’, Salters’, Ironmongers’, Vintners’, Grocers’, and Clothworkers’. Every year banquets are given in the halls of these great companies—often under such circumstances as to give political importance to them. Mercers’ Hall, on the north side of Cheapside, has a richly ornamental entrance. Grocers’ Hall, in the Poultry, is remarkable rather for the age of the company (more than 500 years) than for the beauty of the building; it is interesting to note that the Long Parliament was entertained at city-dinners in this hall. Drapers’ Hall, in Throgmorton Street, built in 1667, replaced a structure which had belonged to Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, in the time of Henry VIII., and which was destroyed by the Great Fire. Fishmongers’ Hall, the most majestic of the whole, stands at the northern end of London Bridge, on the west side; it was built in 1831, as part of the improvements consequent on the opening of New London Bridge, on a site that had been occupied by an older hall since the time of the Great Fire. Goldsmiths’ Hall, just behind the General Post-Office, is too closely hemmed in with other buildings to be seen well; it is one of Mr. Hardwick’s best productions, and was finished by him in 1835, on the site of an older hall. Skinners’ Hall, Dowgate Hill, was built (like so many others of the city halls) just after the Great Fire in 1666; but was newly fronted in 1808. Merchant Taylors’ Hall, Threadneedle Street, is the largest of the city halls. It was rebuilt after the Great Fire, and has long been celebrated for the political banquets occasionally given there—this being considered the leading Tory Company, and the Fishmongers’ the leading Whig Company. Haberdashers’ Hall, near Goldsmiths’ Hall, is quite modern; the present building having been constructed in 1855. Salters’ Hall, St. Swithen’s Lane, was rebuilt in 1827. Ironmongers’ Hall, Fenchurch Street, was erected in 1748, on the site of an older structure; the banqueting-room was remodelled a few years ago with great richness. In 1861 this company held an Exhibition of Art, notable for the rarity and beauty of the objects collected; it was the first thing of the kind organized among these companies, and was in all respects creditable to those who planned and managed it. Vintners’ Hall, Upper Thames Street, is small and unpretentious. Clothworkers’ Hall, Mincing Lane, is an elegant Italian Renaissance edifice, erected in 1858, from the designs of Mr. Angell.

Among the minor halls are the Apothecaries’, Blackfriars; Stationers’, behind Ludgate Hill; Armourers’, Coleman Street; Barber Surgeons’, Monkwell Street, (which contains some fine paintings;) Weavers’, Basinghall Street; Saddlers’, Cheapside; and Paper Stainers’, Little Trinity Lane. At the last-named hall an interesting exhibition of specimens of decorative painting was held in 1864. The city companies are about eighty altogether. Some, which tell most singularly of past times, and of the difference between the past and the present, are the Cooks’, the Bowyers’, the Fletchers’, the Woolmen’s, the Scriveners’, the Broderers’, the Horners’, the Loriners’, the Spectacle Makers’, the Felt Makers’, the Patten Makers’, the Parish Clerks’, and the Fan Makers’ companies. All these, except the Spectacle Makers’ and the Parish Clerks’, have now no halls. Eight others, formerly existing, have become extinct. The only three which are actually trading companies at the present day are the Goldsmiths’, the Apothecaries’, and the Stationers’. The Goldsmiths’ company assay all the gold and silver plate manufactured in the metropolis, stamp it with the ‘Hall-mark,’ and collect the excise duty upon it for the Government; the Apothecaries’ sell medicines, and have a certain jurisdiction in relation to medical practice; the Stationers’ publish almanacs, and register all copyright books.