The house for

the reception of custom

Previous to the destruction of the custom-house, which had become very inadequate to the increased business required to be transacted in it, the lords of the treasury had determined on erecting an edifice on a large scale, and had actually adopted a plan, submitted by Mr. David Laing, the architect, under whose direction the present custom-house was erected.

The new custom-house, which is situated on the banks of the Thames, east of London-bridge, extends in length feet, and in breadth ; the grand front facing the river, from which it is separated by a terrace, is of Portland stone.

The centre is quite plain to the height of the ground floor of the building, but above the windows there is an entablature, divided into two compartments, ornamented with figures in alto relievo. In one compartment the commerce and industry of the country, and the arts and sciences connected with them, are allegorically represented; and in the other, the costume and character of the various nations with which we traffic are delineated. These groups are boldly executed; and the height of the figures being nearly five feet, they can easily be distinguished from the terrace. Between the entablature is an inscription recording the date of the erection, surmounted by a large sun-dial, which is sustained by two recumbent figures of Industry and Plenty.

Each wing has six columns of the Ionic order; these give a grandeur to the edifice which, on so extended a scale, might appear as carrying the simplicity of architecture too far. There is one great disadvantage in viewing the custom-house from the terrace, because it is much too narrow to include the whole building in one coup d«oeil; and it can only be seen to advantage from the river.

The interior of the building is admirably constructed. There are necessarily several entrances to this noble pile; the two principal ones are in Thames-street. They lead through halls rather commodious than large, to the grand staircase, which, by a double flight of steps, leads to lobbies at each end of the long room. This room, which in the centre is 190 feet in length, and

66 in width, is divided into three quadrangular compartments, by eight piers, surmounted by three domes, through which the rooms are ventilated.

In the course of the year , the foundations of this extensive pile of building were found to have given way, and in , in the same year, the long room and a great portion of the building fell; the accident fortunately occurred in the day time, and no lives were lost. Government immediately set about repairing the damages, which was principally done by under-pinning the entire building and repairing the foundation; this was necessarily an arduous work, but it was entirely accomplished, and almost a new building was opened to the public in .

The front towards the river of the present edifice consists of a centre and wings; the former is embellished with a portico of Ionic columns, elevated on an arched basement, the columns surmounted by an entablature and ballustrade, a poor common-place design, which was substituted at the last repair for the series of lofty arched windows, which lighted the long room. The wings retain the attached Ionic columns of the old design; the ends of the building and the back front are destitute of architectural ornaments, and the latter is built of brick with stone dressings; the ends and river front being faced with stone. The interior has been much altered at the recent repair; the long room is a vast dull looking apartment covered with a coved ceiling, the soffit pannelled; light is admitted by piercing some of the pannels, which clumsy contrivance detracts greatly from the beauty of the whole. The other offices are built for convenience rather than effect. R. Smirke, esq. was the architect who superintended the recent repairs.

The whole produce of the customs, on the exports and imports of England, were for many years farmed at the year ending the , they amounted to ! Such has been the growth of British commerce during a period of less than centuries and a half. The levying of duties on ships and merchandize is generally attributed to Ethelred, and is said to have been resorted to by that king, in , when all vessels trading to London paid certain duties at , or Belin's-gate, as it was then called.

The principles upon which the revenue of the customs, which were originally on exports only, were vested in the king were, , because the king was bound of common right to maintain and keep up the ports and havens, and to protect the merchants from pirates; and secondly, because he gave the subject leave to depart the kingdom, and to carry his goods along with him.

In , the custom duties were sanctioned, as a source of revenue, by the parliament of Edward I.; but the fees must have been very small for more than centuries afterwards, for in the year queen Elizabeth farmed them to Thomas Smith, for

a year. The queen was induced to do this in consequence of the representations of a person of the name of Carmarthen, to her majesty, that she had lost in the customs, during the preceding years. Smith, who had been a collector of the duties, well knew their value, for he gained upwards of by the contract.

In the year the customs amounted to of which London alone paid In they were farmed at ; and in they amounted to During the half of the last century, the customs remained nearly stationary, although commerce had greatly increased: the late reign was , however, in which great skill and ingenuity were displayed in inventing means to increase the revenue; and although the

official value of the goods

The net income of the customs for was and for .

On the east side of is