Page:The reign of George VI - 1763.djvu/192

 doms, the streets increased prodigiously: most of the nobility and gentry spent their winters at Stanley; the seat of every thing that could charm the wise, the rich, and the luxurious. London was already degenerated into a mere trading capital; and the King was every day planning the removal of those offices, which it was in his power to transport to his favourite city.

His Majesty ordered Comins, the architect, to draw the plan of an edifice designed for the Chancery: that ingenious architect brought him the sketch of the building as it now remains; but it was not equal to some other works at Stanley, nor indeed to several churches of Comins's raising, in which he was peculiarly excellent.—Yet the Chancery is a very noble building, and does honour to its author. It contains immense apartments for the several courts of