It only remains now to speak of the statues of Queen Victoria inside the building, and of the Duke of Wellington without. The latter is a bronze equestrian figure, by Chantrey, and was composed of the metal of the guns taken in battle. contributed by the government, and valued at £1,500. The cost of the statue itself was £900. It was com pleted on the anniversary of Waterloo. the 1Sth June. 1844, when the inauguration took place, at which the King of Saxony. who was in England at the time, attended. The marble statue of the Queen. by Lough, in the centre of the merchants' area, was not placed on its pedestal until the 27th of October, 1S-15. An interesting fact is recorded by historians respecting the statue of Gresham. During the raging of the great fire of 1666: " When the fire was writes the old chronicler. how quickly (lid it run round the galleries, filling them with ilames ; than descending the stairs. compassed] the walks, gin ing forth flaming volleys, and filling the court with sheets of fire. By-and-lay the kings fell all down on their faces. and the greater part of the stone building after them, the founder's statue alone remaining." It is a remarkable filet, that this statue was again saved in the fire of 18:;8.
The gates of the Exchange are exceedingly handsome. They are made of wrought-iron, the decorations being cast iron. In the centre of the gates, on either side. are the arms of the City of London, and of the Mercers' Company, with the cipher of Sir Thomas Gresham, (T. G.,) very ingeniously introdneed. In the ornamental heads of the gates, the rose, thistle, and shamrock appear entwined.
After the publication of the first portion of this article, the fiallowing paragraphs appeared in The Times ; and Nve think we cannot better conclude our account of the Exchanges of London. than by recording so high and so well-deserved a
compliment, to the designer of the Coal Exchange:—" A piece of plate. weighing 2;2.2 ounces of silver, was presented to the City architect, tbr services which are sufficiently indicated by the inscription Presented to 1. B Bunning, Esq., by the coal-thetors and merchants of the City of London, as a testimonial of their admiration of his genius and judgment in the erection of the Coal Exchange, and of his urbanity throughout the progress of the structure ; which is not more approved of by these for whose use and convenience it was designed, than by the public at large, for its taste and ele gance as a work of art. Arno Domini M.D.CCCL: The plate was presented by Mr. Danis, as the organ of the coal factors, with an appropriate speech. In addition to this pleasing compliment to Mr. Bunning, the coal-factors and inerehants have signed a declaration, for presentation to the Corporation of the City. of their satisfaction of all the accom modations provided far them by means of Exchange. which they attribute to a union of talent on the part of the architect, which has enabled him to produce an edifice which, whilst it embodies all the requirements of the coal-fiictors and merchants as men of business, is. at the same time, in design, taste, and judgment, the admiration of the numerous strangers who daily visit it, as one of the chief objects of interest and of Art in the City of London."