d within a wall, and serveth as a
burial-place for the inhabitants of the parish."

On the west side of Foster Lane stood the small parish church of St.
Leonard's. This church, says Stow, was repaired and enlarged about the
year 1631. A very fair window at the upper end of the chancel (1533)
cost L500.

In this church were some curious monumental inscriptions. One of them,
to the memory of Robert Trappis, goldsmith, bearing the date 1526,
contained this epitaph:--

"When the bels be merrily rung,
And the masse devoutly sung,
And the meate merrily eaten,
Then shall Robert Trappis, his wife and children be forgotten."

On a stone, at the entering into the choir, was inscribed in Latin,
"Under this marble rests the body of Humfred Barret, son of John Barret,
gentleman, who died A.D. 1501." On a fair stone, in the chancel,
nameless, was written:--

"LIVE TO DYE.

"All flesh is grass, and needs must fade
To earth again, whereof 'twas made."

St. Vedast, otherwise St. Foster, was a French saint, Bishop of Arras
and Cambray in the reign of Clovis, who, according to the Rev. Alban
Butler, performed many miracles on the blind and lame. Alaric had a
great veneration for this saint.

In 1831, some workmen digging a drain discovered, ten or twelve feet
below the level of Cheapside, and opposite No. 17, a curious stone
coffin, now preserved in a vault, under a small brick grave, on the
north side of St. Vedast's; whether Roman or Anglo-Saxon, it consists of
a block of freestone, seven feet long and fifteen inches thick, hollowed
out to receive a body, with a deeper cavity for the head and shoulders.
When found, it contained a skeleton, and was covered with a flat stone.
Several other stone coffins were found at the same time.

The interior of St. Foster is a melancholy instance of Louis Quatorze
ornamentation. The church is divided by a range of Tuscan columns, and
the ceiling is enriched with dusty wreaths of stucco flowers and fruit.
The altar-piece consists of four Corinthian columns, carved in oak, and
garnished with cherubim, palm-branches, &c. In the centre, above the
entablature, is a group of well-executed winged figures, and beneath is
a sculptured pelican. In 1838 Mr. Godwin spoke highly of the transparent
blinds of this church, painted with various Scriptural subjects, as a
substitute for stained glass.

"St. Vedast Church, in Foster Lane," says Maitland, "is on the east
side, in