“Another record of the destruction of part of London Bridge, marks the year 1481, for page 61 of volume i. of Stow’s ‘_Survey_,’ informs us, that a house called ‘_the Common Stage_,’ then fell down into the Thames, and by its fall five men were drowned. What this building really was, you may see in Holinshed’s ‘_Chronicle_,’ volume ii., page 705, where this fact is quoted from the volume entitled ‘_Scala Temporum_,’ or, the Ladder of the Times, a contemporary record of remarkable occurrences. “We are indebted to that singularly curious work, known by the name of ‘_Arnold’s Chronicle_,’ for an account of the expenses of London Bridge in several of the latter years of the fifteenth century, beginning with 1482, and terminating with 1494. The best edition of this volume is that edited by Francis Douce, Esq., London, 1811, quarto, for the series of modern reprints of ancient English Chronicles, which appeared about that time. The modern title of the book is ‘_The Customs of London, otherwise called Arnold’s Chronicle_;’ but in its original state it was devoid of a Title-page, the Table of Contents being headed thus: ‘In this booke is conteyned the names of y^e Bayliffs, Custos, Mairs, and Sherefs of the Cite of London, from the tyme of King Richard the Furst; and also th’ Artycles of the Chartur and Libarties of the same Cyte; and of the Chartur and Libarties off England, wyth odur dyuers matters good for euery Citezen to vndirstond and knowe; whiche ben shewid in Chaptirs after the fourme of this kalendir following.’ The first edition of ‘_Arnold’s Chronicle_’ is usually supposed to have been printed by John Doesborowe, at Antwerp, about the year 1502, in small folio; though it is without either date, or name of place, or Printer. It seems that Richard Arnold himself was a Citizen and Haberdasher, who resided in the Parish of St. Magnus, London Bridge, where he flourished in the year 1519. His work is a most singular compilation, for it not only contains all the subjects which I have already named to you, but numerous others which seem to have no sort of connection with it: such, for instance, as forms for legal instruments, ‘the crafte to make a water to haue spottys out of clothe;’--‘the vij ægesse of the worlde fro Adam forewarde;’--‘the crafte of graffyng and plantyng of tryes;’--‘to make a pickell too kepe fresh sturgeon in;’ and the ancient original of Prior’s beautiful ballad of the Nut-brown Maid! But now to shew you its references to London Bridge in particular, I must observe that one of its articles is entitled ‘The lerning for to make a count by y^e yerly rentis of London Brygge, Fo. 270;’ nearly all of Arnold’s examples being given from real and public documents: indeed, he was, as Mr. Douce observes of him, ‘a very active, and even a meddling character.’ To that activity and meddling, however, we owe too much extremely valuable information, to visit his sins of officious