THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY From th© collection of Julius Doerner, Chicago Purchased, 1918. 914 2 -\ ■ 164)0 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016-vyith funding from University of Illinois.Urbaha-Champaign Alternates Vr i HE UNIVERSITY Of U.LIN0IS https://archive.org/details/routledgesguidetOOpard StaifcU ^ IS^bor', ili J 4?'^™ I *■ '». U '■ 0 °ROU< ; p«a IrtflaH,,! RO A O' .■ Srxrl'ttjr (W'tions J0H1LD & MACCRECOR THt QUEEN LONDON,- CEORCEL ROUTLE.QCE. & SONS. BROADWAY, LUDGATF HILL u ! \m | 1; U : /' 11 1. Kensington Palace. 2. St. James’ Palace. 3. Buckingham Palace. 4. Whitehall. 5. Lambeth Palace. ROUTLEDGE’S GUIDE TO LONDON AND ITS SUBURBS: COMPRISING DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL ITS POINTS OF INTEREST. BY GEORGE FREDERICK PARDON, AUTHOR OF ROUTLEDGE’S HANDBOOKS TO “ CHESS,” “DRAUGHTS,” “whist,” “billiards^” ETC. NEW EDITION, DEVISED AND IMPROVED. With Original Illustrations, a Map, and Index. “ A mighty mass of brick and smoke and shipping, Dirty and dusky, but as wide as eye Can reach .... Amidst the foresty Of masts, a wilderness of steeples peeping— A huge dun cupola, like a foolscap crown On a fool’s head— and there is London town.”— B yron. LONDON: GEOBGE EOUTLEDGE AND SONS, THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE. NEW YORK: 416, BROOME STREET. RlL-r IZbo ADVERTISEMENT. In most previous Guides to Loudon, too much has been attempted and too little achieved. In the present volume the compiler has endeavoured to produce such a description of the Metropolis as will be readily understood by the visitor, and be found useful to the student. Instead of massing the Parks, Palaces, Docks, and Public Buildings into separate chapters -a — the usual plan — the Streets and their attractive .Jy features have been pointed out, and the routes gene- rally taken by strangers adopted. An attempt has also been made to invest the details of the localities -i visited with a literary and historical interest ; and it ^ is hoped that, while an attractive style of narrative has been employed, no fact or place of importance has t been omitted. The Map and Illustrations have been drawn and engraved especially for this Guide , which will be re- * ^ issued from time to time, with such alterations and improvements as the changing character of London itself demands. hTumerous corrections and additions have been made in this edition, and any suggested emendations will be thankfully received by the pub- lishers. The Broadway, Ludgate. 703312 CONTENTS Introduction. page. London, political, moral, intellectual, and religious . . .1 General Description. Situation— Extent— Suburbs— The river and the streets — Poli- tical and other divisions . 2 Population. Census from 1801 to 1861 — Births and deaths in hospitals, prisons, &c -4 Historical Survey. Distances of capitals of various countries from London — Origin — Roman occupation — London-stone — Etymology — The City gates — London-wall — British London — Saxon London — Norman London — Wards — Civic importance — Magna Charta — Poll-tax — Fires, famines, and plagues — Taxes — Rebellions and sicknesses — Religious dissensions — Conspiracies and invasions — Guy Fawkes’ conspiracy — Great plague — Great fire — Rebuilding the City — Great storm and loss of lives and property — Great frost.. The Gordon riots — Royal Jubilee — The revolution — Present condition . . 6 How Best to See London. Plan of the streets — Aspect of the streets — Rural walks round the City — Dark places and mysteries — Suburbs and manufacturing districts — Fashion and poverty contrasted —Peeps at Belgravia and Bethnal-green— Rags, poverty, and wretchedness 20 Hints and Cautions eor Strangers. Diagram of main thoroughfares— Principal omnibus routes —Hints to strangers — Cab fares— Corps of Commission- CONTENTS. V aires — Railways — Steam boats — Hotels, apartments, and dining-rooms — Luncheon-bars and pastry-cooks — Exhibi- tions, museums, amusements, &c. — Theatres, with their situation, prices of admission, &c 31 The Bank to Charing-cross. Bank — Royal Exchange — Mansion House — Civil Govern- ment — Parochial arrangements — Thames Embankment — Metropolitan Improvements — Poultry — Cheapside — Bow Church — Guildhall — St. Paul’s Cathedral — St. Paul’s Churchyard — St. Paul’s School — Doctors’ Commons — Ludgate-hill — Blackfriars-bridge — Fleet-street — The Temple — Temple Bar — The Strand — St. Clement’s Danes — Newspaper Offices — St. Mary-le-Strand — Somerset House — W aterloo-bridge — The Savoy — The Adelphi — Society of Arts — Exeter Hall — Covent Garden Market — St. Paul’s Church — Trafalgar-square — Royal Academy — National Gallery — Charing-cross — King Charles’ Statue — St. Martin’s-in-the- Fields — Northumberland House . . • 55 Post-Office to Marble- Arch. Post-Office — St. Martin’s-le-Grand — Newgate-street — Christ’s Hospital — Newgate — Old Smithfield — St. Bar- tholomew’s Hospital — St. Sepulchre’s Church — Furnival’s Inn — Gray’s Inn — Lincoln’s Inn — New Oxford-street — British Museum — Oxford-street — Princess’s Theatre — Tottenham-court-road — University College — Cavendish and Hanover-squares — Marble- Arch — Hyde Park — Tyburnia 91 Whitehall to Yauxhall. Whitehall — The Admiralty and Horse-Guards — St. James’s Park — The Government Offices — Westminster Abbey — Westminster Hall — The Sanctuary — Yictoria-street — Westminster School — Millbank Penitentiary — Yauxhall- bridge, &c 109 A Stroll about the West-End. Her Majesty’s Theatre — Pall Mall — St. James’s — Club Houses — Piccadilly — Regent’s Quadrant and Regent-street — St. James’s-park — Brompton — Kensington Gardens and Palace — Regent’s Park-— Zoological Gardens — Houses of the Nobility 120 VI CONTENTS. PAGE From the Bank Eastward. Cornhill — Stock Exchange — Lothbury — Bishopsgate-street — Leadenhall-street — Gracechurch- street — The Tower — The Custom House — The Trinity House — The Mint — St. Katherine’s Docks — London Docks — The Commercial Docks — The East and West India Docks — Thames Tunnel — Commercial-road — Blackwall Railway — Limehouse Church — Bow-road — Mile-end — Victoria Park — Shore- ditch — Whitechapel and Aldgate — London Hospital— Islington 138 Over the Water. The Monument — London-bridge — London-bridge Railway Terminus — The Church of St. Saviour's, Southwark — Bankside — St. Thomas’s Hospital — Guy’s Hospital — St. George the Martyr — The Marshalsea Prison — The Queen’s Bench Prison — The Elephant and Castle — Metropolitan Tabernacle— St. George’s Cathedral — Bethlehem Hospital — The Obelisk — New-Cut — London Terminus of the South-Western Railway — Lambeth Palace 160 Windsor to Ramsgate, by the River. The Thames — Eton — Windsor Castle — Windsor Park and Forest — Hampton Court — Kingston-upon- Thames — Bushey Park — Richmond — Kew — Twickenham — Green- wich — Blackheath — Woolwich — Gravesend — Rochester and Chatham — Herne Bay, Margate, and Ramsgate . .170 Memoranda. Places of interest about town — Principal Churches, Hospitals, Banks, Bazaars, City Companies, Railway Stations, London Police, Postal Regulations, &c. . . .191 ILLUSTRATIONS. Skeleton Map ( Frontispiece ). Churches. Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, St. George’s Cathedral, Temple Church, St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, St. Stephen’s, Wal* brook; St. Bride’s, St. Mary-le-Bow, St. Miry Overies, Bow- land Hill’s Chapel, Spurgeon’s Tabernacle , — (to face Title). Palaces. Buckingham, St. James’s, Kensington, Lambeth, Whitehall. Schools. Christ’s Hospital, St. Paul’s, Westminster, Charterhouse, University College, Merchant Taylors’, King’s College, City of London. Government Buildings. Treasury, Tower, Admiralty, Mint, Somerset House, Houses of Parliament, &c. Museums and Picture Galleries. British, Soane’s, and South Kensington Museums; National Gallery, Dulwich Gallery, College of Surgeons, Society of Arts. Commercial Buildings. Bank of England, Mansion House, General Post Office, Guild- hall, Royal Exchange, Stock Exchange, Custom House, Trinity House. Halls op City Companies. Goldsmiths’, Mercers’, Stationers’, Fishmongers’, Skinners’, Apothecaries’, Drapers’, Merchant Taylors’. Club Houses. Athenaeum, Conservative, Carlton, United Service, Army and Navy. Hospitals. St. Bartholomew’s, Guy’s, St. George’s, St. Thomas’s, West- minster, King’s College, Bethlehem, Brompton, Chelsea, Greenwich. Vlll ILLUSTRATIONS. Theatres. Covent Garden, Drury Lane, Her Majesty’s, Haymarket, Lyceum, Adelphi, Princess’s. Exhibitions. Crystal Palace, Egyptian Hall, Polytechnic, Cremorne, &c. Music Halls. St. James’s, Exeter, St. Martin’s, Oxford, Canterbury, Alhambra. Statues, &c. Triumphal Arch, Hyde Park Gate, Duke of York’s Column, Nelson Column, Guards’ Memorial, Marble Arch, Queen Victoria, George II., Charles I., Duke of Wellington, Sir Bobert Peel. Markets, Docks, &c. Covent Garden, Billingsgate, Coal Exchange, Corn Exchange; London Docks, East and West India, St. Katherine’s, Victoria. Bridges. London, Westminster, Southwark, Waterloo, Vauxhall, Ham- mersmith, &c. Prisons. Newgate, Pentonville, Millbank, Westminster, Bridewell, Whitecross-street, Horsemonger-lane, Holloway. ROUTLEDGE’S POPULAR GUIDE TO LONDON. INTRODUCTION. “ I have often amused myself with thinking how different a place London is to different people. They whose narrow minds are contracted to a consideration of some one particular pursuit, view it only through that medium. A politician thinks of it merely as the seat of government ; a grazier, as a vast market for cattle; a mercantile man, as a place where a prodigious deal of business is done upon ’Change ; a dramatic enthusiast, as the grand scene of theatrical entertainments ; a man of pleasure, as an assemblage of taverns. But the intellectual man is struck with it as comprehending the whole of human life in all its variety, the contemplation of which is inexhaus- tible.” — BOSWELL. London is the political, moral, physical, intellectual, artistic, literary, commercial, and social centre of the world. In no other city are so many distinct aspects presented ; in no other city are so many individual traits and peculiarities observable ; no other city possesses the wealth, the importance, and the abounding population which distinguish it. To London, as the true centre of the world, come ships from every clime, bearing the pro- ductions of nature, the results of labour, and the fruits of commerce. Railways converge to it, and science, art, discovery, and invention seek it as their true home. Its merchants are princes,, and the resolves of its financiers make and unmake empires, and influence the destinies of nations. A visit to London, at once the metropolis of civilization and the British Empire, is an almost inevitable necessity with those who possess the means and leisure ; and in these days of rail and steam the stranger may reach London at but little cost of time or .money.. Foreigners are every day becoming better acquainted with its public buildings, its docks, its bazaars, warehouses, shops, B 2 GENEEAL DESCEIPTION OE LONDON. squares, and interminable and crowded streets. The in- habitants of the cities and towns in the provinces, and even villagers and agricultural labourers, and others among what we may call the stay-at-home population, have every now and again some mighty and attracting power to draw them from their homes and bring them to London ; and once within the circle of its spell, every stranger endeavours to accomplish the greatest possible amount of sight-seeing in the smallest space of time and in the most economical manner. To visit London at least once in a lifetime, and to carry back to far-off homes some pleasant memories and some profitable facts, seems the reasonable wish of thousands. The purpose of this “ Guide” is to provide the “facts,” and to assist the stranger in so seeing the Great Metropolis that the pleasure of his visit may not become a toil. We commence pur task, then, by giving some of those items of general information which every visitor seeks in a guide-book. GENERAL DESCRIPTION.— London, the capital of Great Britain, is one of the most ancient, perhaps the most ancient of our cities. It is situated about sixty miles from the sea on the river Thames, which divides it into two unequal halves. The northern half contains the Houses of Parliament, the palaces, parks, principal docks, and public and private buildings; the southern half consists principally of manufactories, warehouses, shops, and private houses. The banks of the river on either side are lined with wharves and docks from West- minster to Blackwall. The river is crossed by several bridges, which unite the northern and 'southern sides into one great city, or rather, collection of cities. London extends into four counties — Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, and Essex, but by far the largest portion is con- tained in the county of Middlesex. It consists of the City , or London proper, with twenty- six “wards” and several “liberties;” the out-parishes of the city; the City of Westminster ; and five Parliamentary boroughs , namely, Marylebone, Finsbury, Southwark, Lambeth, and the Tower Hamlets. Each of these boroughs returns two members to the House of Commons; Westminster returns two, and the City of London four ; in all, sixteen. Attempts were made to convert Chelsea and Kensington into a parliamentary borough, but have failed. London is generally said to be about thirty miles in circumference, but its extent as defined by the legislature SOIL, SITUATION, EXTENT, ETC. 3 for parliamentary purposes is only “ the circumference of a circle, the radius of which is of the length of three miles from the General Post Office," which gives a circum- ference of only about twenty miles — evidently too re- stricted a space if we include within the term London its outlying suburbs. These are — Hampstead, Holloway, Highgate, Kilburn, Tottenham, and Edmonton on the north; Camberwell, Brixton, Dulwich, Peckham, Nor- wood, Lewisham, and Sydenham on the south; Stratford, Limehouse, Poplar, Blackwall, and Greenwich on the east; and Battersea, Wandsworth, Putney, Fulham, Hammersmith, and Acton on the west. For postal pur- poses, however, London embraces all places within a circuit of twelve miles from the General Post Office, and includes the well-known villages, market towms, and rural suburbs of Annerly, Barking, Bexley, Bromley, Bushey Park, Cheshunt, Chigwell, Crayford, Deptford, Ealing, Eltham, Erith, Footscray, Greenwich (a parlia- mentary borough), Hampton, Harrow, Hornsey, Houns- low, Ilford, Isleworth, Kingston, Lea, Leytonstone, Loughton, Merton, Mitcham, Mortlake, New Cross, Old Ford, Penge, Plaistow, Plumstead, Qneen's Elm, Bain- ham, Bichmond, Boehampton, Bomford, Shacklewell, Sudbury, Sydenham, Turnham Green, Twickenham, Upton, Valentines, Waltham, Willesden, Woodford, and Woolwich. This is, perhaps, rather too wide an area; the real extent of the metropolis being generally given as follows : — the north side, embracing the “ City" and Westminster, with the boroughs of Finsbury, Maryle- bone. and the Tower Hamlets, contains a superficies of about forty-three square miles, the ground rising from the river about thirty- six feet to the mile, while the southern portion, containing the boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth, the parishes of Deptford, Peckham, &c., has an area of nine square miles, nearly on a dead level, and much of the land below the highest tides in the Thames. London lies principally in a valley, surrounded by gently-rising hills. Like ancient Babylon, it is built generally of brick, upon a fine gravelly soil or a kind of clay, known as the “ London clay," which rests on a bed of gravel. It is the best drained, best paved, best lighted, and best ventilated city in Europe, perhaps in the world, and therefore, despite of some deficiency in the sewerage, it is one of the healthiest of cities, possibly the most healthy of any within the area of civilization. It is drained by vast sewers, which run beneath the streets in b 2 4 PRINCIPAL LOCAL AND SOCIAL DIVISIONS. all directions, and empty themselves into the Thames ; but this plan, which succeeded very well in ancient times, is now undergoing a radical change. In 1859 was com- menced a great system of drainage, by which all the sewage of the town will be intercepted and carried a con- siderable distance beyond the metropolis proper, when it will find its way into the river at such places as will entirely prevent its becoming a nuisance or inconvenience to the inhabitants. To the stranger, London presents the aspect of inter- minable streets, the greater part of which are of commo- dious width, with houses of a sombre and rather dingy look, from the use of large quantities of coal fuel. Lately, however, stone-fronted and stuccoed houses have been erected in all the principal avenues. Practically, London is divided into five principal di- visions — the City , the West- end, the JZast-end, the Northern suburbs, and the South, or “ over the water,” as it is called. Other social divisions have been adopted of late years. Thus, we are familiar with such terms as Belgravia, Tyburnia, &c. The Thames flows right through the city from west to east, and the . principal lines of streets take that direction, though some important thoroughfares run directly north and south. Every street is paved with fiat flagstones for foot passengers, and generally granite blocks for roadways. In the suburbs the roadways, being subject to rather less wear and tear from heavy vehicles, are macadamized, that is, laid with broken granite, which soon forms an extremely hard and permanent pavement. In the more closely inhabited streets the houses directly face. the. pathway, but in the airy suburbs slips of garden, with, iron railings in front, divide the roadway from the buildings. Many of the private houses have half-sunk areas. These houses com- monly contain about two or. three, rooms on a floor, and are generally three stories in height— small buildings, in fact, compared to those seen in continental cities and in Edinburgh, where the custom of letting houses in flats or floors is common. Wooden stairs run from basement to attic, and stone steps, except when they face the streets, are the exception. This of course refers only to private dwellings ; public buildings, palaces, churches, and large commercial offices being ordinarily constructed of stone, and in the most handsome and substantial manner. POPULATION, &c.— The census of 1861 gave the POPULATION— DECENNIAL INCREASE. 5 number of inhabitants within London proper as 2,803,921. At the present moment that number is nearer three millions. And if we include the visitors, the last estimate is probably below the mark. These inhabitants lived in 362,890 houses, which occupied a space of ground of about 78,029 acres, or nearly 121 square miles, containing upwards of 10,500 streets, squares, terraces, places, lanes, &c. It should be stated in explanation of the apparent discrepancy between this and a former statement, that for the purposes of the census an area considerably ex- ceeding that adopted for parliamentary purposes was taken ; and also that an estimate was made of the number of persons living temporarily in vessels on the river, or sleeping in barns, outhouses, markets, or doorways ; under railway arches, or in out-of-the-way corners of the town ; in workhouses, prisons, and police-stations. All those employed in printing-offices and engaged in other occupations during the night, were likewise accounted for, so that a pretty accurate estimate of the population of the great metropolis was arrived at. At the accession of James I. London was estimated to contain about 150,000 inhabitants — about as many persons as go to make a good, sized county town in our day. The gradual increase in population will be seen from a comparison of the following figures, which show the numbers at seven decennial periods in the present century, according to the census returns. 1801 864,845 1811 1,009,546 1821 1,225,694 1831 1,474,069 1841 1,870,727 1851 2,362,236 1861 2,803,921 But taking the population of the four counties in which London stands, we shall arrive at a number considerably above three and a half millions — a population perfectly Chinese in its density ; and when we come to consider that, according to the income-tax returns, three-fourths of those paying the tax in the metropolitan districts are living on incomes of less than £300, and the great mass on less than £100 a year, we shall arrive at a fair ap- proximation of the industrial character of the inhabitants. Of course these returns are not to be taken as strictly accurate. A glance at the palatial mansions in the 6 HISTORICAL SURVEY. suburbs, particularly Brompton, Kensington, St. John’s Wood, Bayswater, and Hampstead, ought to enlighten us on this point. In London there are born every week about 1800 children, and from 1200 to 1300 persons die in the like time.. The rate of mortality is, however, very low — considerably less than that of any other city in Europe, only about 2.2 per cent., or 1 in every 45, dying in the course of a year. Of these about 1 in 6 die in hospitals, prisons, or workhouses ; and for the relief of pauperism there is every week collected and distributed upwards of £30,000. And this,, too, in addition to thousands con- tributed to the hospitals and various charities with which our modern Babylon abounds. In a word, London is not only the most vast, the most wealthy, the most densely populated, and the most politically important city in Europe, but it is also the most charitable and the most social of capitals. HISTORICAL SURVEY.— Perhaps no city has had more written about it, or more fiction invented in its honour than London. Poets and historians, topographers and statisticians, have each and all exulted in its greatness and power. Johnson, Gray, and Southey have severally cele- brated its praises in flowing verse ; and the late Eugenius Roche, many years editor of the Courier newspaper, in a long poem anticipated what it might be a thousand years hence, and thus forestalled the celebrated Hew Zealander of Lord Macaulay. He. pictures a civilized savage standing on the ruins of the city, and exclaiming — “Here London stood, and gloried in her might! Babylon, where are thy merchants now? * * * They have been, And are forgotten. Their names have passed, Their arts have perished, and their land is wild.” But Southey takes a more liberal and hopeful view, for he calls it “ A spacious city, The seat where England from her ancient reign Doth rule the ocean as her own domain.” London, the far-famed metropolis of the British Empire, and the emporium of the world’s commerce, sits proudly on the banks of the Thames, in latitude 51° 31' north, and longitude 0° 5' 37" west of the meridian of Greenwich. Its distance and bearings from the principal cities of ROMAN LONDON.-— MARSHES. 7 Europe are — From Edinburgh, 395 miles south ; from Dublin, 338 miles south-east ; Amsterdam, 190 miles west; Paris, 225 miles north-north-west; Copenhagen, 610 miles south-west ; Vienna, 820 miles north-west ; Rome, 950 miles north-west; Constantinople, 1660 miles north-west; Moscow, 1661 miles east- south- east ; St. Petersburgh, 1140 miles south-west; Stockholm, . 750 miles south-west; Berlin, 540 miles west; and Lisbon 850 miles north-north-east. Although the true origin of London is certainly un- known, it was probably founded in days long prior to the Christian era ; since Tacitus, in his account of the revolt of the Iceni under Boadicea, which broke out in the year 61, describes the London of that day as the “ chief resi- dence of merchants,’ * and the “ great mart of trade and commerce.” London was indebted for its foundation to the Celtic Britons ; its natural situation being such as that people were accustomed to select for the site of their fortified towns. In its ancient state, it was protected on the northern side by an extensive morass (of which the name Moor fields now only remains,) and an immense forest, which even so late as the reign of Henry II., was filled with various species of beasts of sport. Portions of this forest still exist in Enfield chase, Epping, and Hain- ault forests, Finchley common, &c. Its eastern side was bounded by the high grounds now forming the site of the Tower, and Tower-hill, and the marshes beyond, extend- ing from Wapping into Essex. Its southern side was defended by the Thames and the marshes of Surrey ; and its western limit was skirted by the creek of the Fleet river, which was once navigable, if tradition may be credited, as far as Pancras Church. The most decided proofs of the Roman occupation of ancient London are to be found in the numerous remains of buildings, tesselated pavements, coins, urns, rings, penates, earthenware, and other articles used by the Romans, that have been dug up in the very heart of the city ; and many similar antiquities have also been met with in digging in its vicinage. The famous London Stone (which is mentioned in history as remotely as the Saxon times) is supposed to be a Roman milliary ; or, more properly, the milliarium aureum of Britain, from which the Romans began the admeasurement of their roads, as from a centre. Like the Palladium of Troy, it was once regarded with a sort of superstitious veneration, from its being thought to be connected with the safety and 8 LONDON STONE. — ETYMOLOGY OP LONDON. flourishing state of the city. It was originally of con- siderable magnitude, fixed very deep in the ground, and fastened with iron bars ; but it is now reduced to a frag- ment scarcely larger than a bomb-shell, which has been encased in freestone, and fixed against the south wall .of St. Swithin’s Church, in Cannon- street, nearly opposite to the spot where it formerly stood. The etymology of the name of London has been fre- quently discussed, though without arriving at any deter- minate conclusion. The most probable opinion is, that it was derived from the British Llyn-Din , or, the “ town, or fort, on the lake Llyn being the Celtic term for a lake, or broad expanse of water; and that appearance must have been strikingly exhibited when all the low grounds on the Surrey side of the Thames were over- flowed, as well as the marshes extending eastward to the Isle of Dogs , and along the Essex shore. Its Homan names, according to Tacitus, were Londinum and Colonia Augusta. Ammianus Marcellinus, who lived in the reign of Julian the Apostate, mentions it as an ancient place, once called Lundunium , but when he wrote, Augusta ; and the same author styles it Augusta Trinobantum, from its being considered as the capital of the Trinobantes. Bede calls it Londonia ; and the Saxons named it Lunden - Ceaster , Lunden- Berig, and Lunden - Wic. The appellation Augusta is now only retained by the poets ; thus Pope, in his finely imagined personification of the river Thames, introduces it as follows : — “ From his oozy bed Old Father Thames advanc’d his reverend head. His tresses bath’d with dews, and o’er the stream His shining horns diffus’d a golden gleam. Grav’d on his urn appear’d the moon, that guides His swelling waters and alternate tides ; The figur’d streams in waves of silver roll’d, And on their banks Augusta rode in gold.” By this name, likewise, Thomson apostrophizes London in his inimitable “ Seasons and Congreve has also ad- dressed it by the same appellation. The consequence London attained at a very early period may be satisfactorily deduced from the celebrated Itinerary of Antoninus, by which it appears that no fewer than seven of the fifteen Iters either commence or terminate in this city ; and that it was considered by the Homans as the metropolis of the Island, is established by ANCIENT WALLS AND GATES. 9 the fact of its haying been made the residence of the vicars-general of Britain under the Roman Emperors. It is probable that London was not walled round till after the massacre of its inhabitants by the Iceni ; but subse- quently to that event, it was certainly fortified in the Roman manner. The ancient walls commenced at a fort built on the site of the present Tower, and were thence continued, in a northern direction, to Aid-gate ; then curving to the north-west they extended to Bishops -gate, and from the latter, in nearly a straight line, westward to Cripple-gate ; thence, veering towards the south-west, they reached Alders-gate and New-gate , and, turning southward, continued to Bud-gate ; at a short distance beyond which they formed. an angle, and ran westward to the Fleet river, when, turning to the south, they extended to the Thames. Another wall, of somewhat more than a mile in length, was carried along the skirts of the latter river, to the fort at the Tower. The course of the outer walls was rather more than two miles in extent, and the area which they included was nearly five hundred acres. They were defended, at different distances, by fifteen strong towers and bastions ; the remains of one of which may be seen in Cripplegate-churchyard, and its internal part now forms the semi-circular end of Barber- Surgeons’ Hall. The height of the walls, when perfect, is thought to have been about twenty-five feet, and that of the towers forty feet. Traces of Roman masonry can be found in the few remains which are now visible, and which are chiefly confined to London- wall, (at the back of Fore- street,) Cripplegate- churchyard, and in the Court leading from the Broadway to Little Bridge-street, on the south side of Ludgate-hill. This cannot be wondered at, when it is considered how greatly the ground in all parts of the metropolis has been raised in the course of the many centuries which have elapsed since the Roman times. Wherever the foundations have been uncovered they are found to be composed of rag- stone, having single layers of Roman tiles inserted at the distance of every two feet ; the tiles were seventeen inches and four-tenths long ; eleven inches and six-tenths broad ; and one inch and three-tenths in thickness. From the numerous remains of sepulture which have been dug up, it w r ould appear that the great cemetery of Roman London was in the vicinity of Spitalfields and Goodman’ s-fields. The centre of the Roman city is supposed to have been crossed by W atling-street. Besides the fort near the Tower, the Romans had a specula , or 10 SAXON LONDON. — COINAGE. watch-tower, on the north side of the Barbican. There was also a strong outwork on the west side of the Old Bailey, the remains of which may yet be seen in Sea- coal-lane ; another fortress is supposed to have occupied the brow of the high ground near the present Printing- house-square, near Apothecaries’-hall. After the Romans. withdrew their troops in the fifth century, London again became a British town, and it is mentioned in the Saxon Chronicle under the date 457, when the Britons fled hither on their defeat by Hengist. About twenty years afterwards it was surrendered to that chieftain by the impolitic Vortigern ; but after his decease it was retaken by the great Ambrosius, whose nephew, Mordred, was crowned here about the year 532. Within fifty years afterwards, it became subjected to the newly-erected kingdom of Essex ; and on the conversion of- the East- Saxons to Christianity, it was nominated a Bishop’s see. Shortly after, between the years 610 and 616, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey were both founded. During the Saxon Heptarchy nothing is recorded of London, but its occasional sufferings by plague and fire. After the union of the kingdoms under Egbert, it attained increased importance, and King Athelstan, who succeeded Edward the Elder, in 925, had a palace here. Its comparative consequence in his reign may be estimated by the laws respecting coinage ; eight minters being established in London, whilst only seven were al- lotted to Canterbury, and six to Winchester, no other town being permitted to have more than three. The Danes repeatedly pillaged and laid it waste ; yet, after the accession of Canute,, it recovered from these disasters, and its power progressively augmented till the. Norman invasion. The defection of the clergy, who traitorously swore fealty to William at Berk.hampstead, induced the magistracy of London to join with the prelates and no- bility, in inviting that successful adventurer to accept the title of King of England, and he was accordingly crowned at Westminster. Soon after he granted a charter to the citizens (beautifully written in the Saxon language, and still preserved in the city archives)., engaging to maintain their accustomed rights. Not being assured of their fidelity, however, he subsequently (anno 1088) built the White Tower, for the purpose of keeping them , in awe. In the same reign, also, and unquestionably with his permission, the strong castles, called Baynard’s and Montfichet’s, were erected within the city walls by two NORMAN LONDON AND ITS CHARTERS. 11 of the Norman chiefs who had accompanied him to Eng- land. From this period London may he regarded as the metropolis of the kingdom. The immediate successors of 'William alternately harassed the city with their usurpations and unlawful acts, and soothed it with new charters to confirm its old privileges or grant new ones, till at length the civil government of London took a form very little different from that by which it is at present administered. The title of Portreve was lost in that of Bailiff , , Shiver eve, or Sheriff, and afterwards the title of Mayor, derived from the Norman language, was given to the chief magistrate, and the municipal power became gradually vested in the citizens, uncontrolled by the court. In the reign of Henry I. London obtained an important grant, by the annexation of the county of Middlesex to its jurisdiction, with the power of appointing a sheriff of that county from among themselves. This w T as done to prevent its being any longer an asylum for culprits, who, having fled from London, lived there in open defiance of those whom they had injured. The King, however, reserved the power to himself of appointing the chief officers of the city ; and though the citizens at this day make their election of their mayor and sheriffs, yet those officers are presented to the Crown for its approval — the mayor to the lord chan- cellor, and the sheriffs to the cursi tor- baron of the King’s Exchequer. In the reign of Edward I. we find the city divided into twenty- four wards (and to these two others have since been added), the magistrate of each of which had the ancient Saxon title of Elderman. Each ward chose also some of the inhabitants as common councilmen, who, being sworn into office, were to be consulted by the aldermen, and their advice followed in all public affairs relative to the city. In the reign of King John the civic importance of London was greatly increased, and the corporation finally assumed that form and predominancy which, with a few alterations, it has maintained till the present time. J ohn granted the city several charters ; by one he empowered the “barons of the city of London” to choose a mayor annually, or to continue the same person from year to year at their own pleasure. In 1212 a dreadful calamity took place, through a fire, which commenced at the bridge-end of Southwark, and was quickly succeeded by another fire at the opposite extremity. Stow relates that 12 FIRES, FAMINES, AND PLAGUES. about 3000 persons perished, chiefly by drowning. During the contest between the King and Pope Innocent III., London severely felt the consequences of the interdict laid upon the kingdom. In the civil feuds which marked the latter years of J ohn, the Londoners sided with the barons ; and when the humbled monarch was compelled to sign Magna Charta, it was therein expressly stipulated that, the “ city of London should have all its ancient privileges and customs as well by land as by water. ,, The long reign of Henry III. affords but few events worthy of notice respecting London, excepting the unworthy con- duct of the King, who checked its growing prosperity by a series of extortions and gross oppressions. In 1258 the price of corn was so excessive that a famine ensued, and according to the Chronicles of Evesham, twenty thousand persons died of hunger alone. Between the years 1314 and 1317 the metropolis suffered greatly from famine, although divers ordinances were made by the Parliament to limit the consumption and restrain the prices of pro- visions. There, followed this famine, says Stow, “a grievous mortalitie of people, so that the quicke might vnneath [scarcely] bury the dead.” Edward III., at the commencement of his reign, granted to the city two charters ; by the.first all its ancient privi- leges were confirmed, and additional ones bestowed ; and by the other, Southwark was granted to the citizens in perpetuity. In that reign, also (anno 1354), the privilege was given for gold or silver maces to be carried before the chief magistrate, from which time the imposing baronial appellation of Lord was prefixed to that of Mayor. In 1348, and during several subsequent years, London was afflicted by a dreadful pestilence, which, first breaking out in India, had extended its ravages to every country in Europe. The common cemeteries, proved insufficient for the interment of the dead, and various plots of ground without the city walls were assigned for burial-places ; among them was the waste land now forming the pre- cinct of the Charter-house, wherein upwards of fifty thousand bodies were deposited. In 1361 the plague was again so destructive that, more than two thousand per- sons fell victims to it within two days. In November, 1380, 4th of Kichard II., an act of par- liament was passed for levying a Poll-tax on every person in the kingdom — male or female — above the age of fifteen years. This act was the occasion of producing, in the following year, the Wat Tyler rebellion, one of the most TAXES, KEBELLIONS, AND SICKNESSES. 13 dangerous insurrections that ever threatened the monarchy of this kingdom, in which the metropolis greatly suffered, and which for three weeks seemed to threaten a total subversion of the Government. In the reign of Henry VI. another insurrection arose of so formidable a nature that for several weeks all the power of the Crown was insufficient to quell it. This tumult is supposed to have been raised by the instigation of the Duke of York, in order to sound the inclinations of the people, and prepare the nation for his design of seizing that sceptre which Henry swayed so feebly. By the secret instructions of the duke, Jack Cade, who had served under him in the French wars, assumed the name of Mortimer, and collected a large body of malcontents, under the popular pretext of redress of grievances. They entered the city in triumph, and for some time bore down all opposition, and beheaded the Lord Treasurer, Lord Say, and several other persons of note. On this occasion Cade struck his sword upon the London Stone, and exclaimed, “ How is Mortimer Lord of London !” The insurgents at length losing ground, a general pardon was proclaimed, and Cade, finding himself deserted by his followers, fled ; but a reward being offered for his apprehension, he was discovered in the woods at Hothfield, in Kent, and re- fusing to surrender, he was killed by the sheriff, Alex- ander Iden. In the reigns of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. London was greatly afflicted by the sweating sickness , which generally occasioned the death of all whom it attacked within twenty-four hours.. In the latter reign the citizens gave such a determined opposition to the king's attempt to raise money without the aid of Parliament, that the measure was abandoned in full council, and a pardon granted to all who had opposed it. On Henry's marriage with the Lady Anne Boleyn, in 1535, she was conveyed from Greenwich, to the Tower, and thence through the City to Westminster, with all the magnifi- cence and pageantry which unbounded prodigality could devise. The remainder of this, reign was notorious for the tyranny and cruelty of the king, who, having thrown off the Pope’s supremacy, sacrificed all who adhered to it ; yet, professing a zealous attachment to the doctrines of the church of Home, he put to death all who presumed to differ from him. Hence the promoters of the lie formation and its opposers perished in the same flames ; the blood of the Catholic and Protestant was shed upon the same 14 RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS, CONSPIRACY AND INVASION. block ; and Henry, whilst vehemently contending* against the Pope’s infallibility, supported his own with the most vindictive cruelty. In these sanguinary scenes London had its full share ; great numbers, of all ranks, were con- tinually executed, either for heresy or treason. The suppression of the monasteries now took place ; oppo- sition to the king’s will was fatal ; and the partial insur- rections that broke out in . consequence only served to forward his measures by giving the colour of necessity to the vengeance that was indicted. Notwithstanding these events, many improvements were made during this reign in the city and its suburbs. The police was better regulated, nuisances were removed, the old conduits were repaired, and new ones erected ; the streets and avenues were repaired and paved ; and various regulations were carried into effect, for supplying the metropolis with provisions, to answer the demand of an increased popu- lation. The year 1586 was memorable from the discovery of Babington’s conspiracy to assassinate Queen Elizabeth, and release the Queen of Scots from the captivity in which she had languished nearly eighteen years. The con- spirators, fourteen in number, were executed as traitors in Lincoln’ s-inn-fields, where they had been accustomed to assemble. In the preparations made to repel the threatened attack of the much- vaunted Spanish Armada, the Londoners took a most distinguished share in fur- nishing large supplies of men, money, and ships. The purposed invasion was delayed a whole year by the pa- triotic conduct of Thomas Sutton, Esq., the munificent founder of the Charter-house, who tried to drain the bank of Genoa of nearly all its cash, so that the Spanish bills, which had been issued to victual the armada, could not obtain credit. The preparations for crowning James I. in 1603 , were interrupted by another dreadful plague, and upwards of 30,500 persons became its victims. In 1604 the horrible conspiracy known in history as the Gun- powder Plot of Guy Fawkes, the grand object of which was to prepare the way for the restoration of the Catholics, was commenced by its daring contrivers, with every pos- sible precaution that seemed necessary to insure success. We all know how it was discovered and how it failed. The commencement of Charles I.’s reign was marked by the return of the plague, which carried off, in the metro- polis, 35,000 persons. This reign was fruitful in cala- mity ; but to advert to all the melancholy transactions GUY FAWKES’ CONSPIRACY.— THE GREAT PLAGUE. 15 that took place in London during the eventful struggle between Charles and his people, would far exceed our limits. The excessive oppressions to which the nation was subjected were more particularly felt in. London than in other parts of the kingdom, from its being more directly in the vortex of the Star-Chamber and High- commission Courts, and from the effects of the monopo- lies, which had a most pernicious influence on trade and commerce. The capital, therefore, became, the great source from which the parliament derived its supplies during the civil war, and was the theatre of. most im- portant events. In the year 1643 the entire city and its liberties, including Southwark, were surrounded by a strong earthen rampart, defended by trenches, redoubts, bastions, &c. On the 30th January, 1649, the king was beheaded in front of. Whitehall ; in April, 1653, the Protector, Cromwell, dissolved the Long Parliament by military force ; and in May, 1660, the monarchy was restored in the person of Charles II. The year 1665 became memorable in London by the ra- vages of the Great Plague, which, made its appearance in December, 1664, and had. not entirely ceased in January, 1666. Its progress during the first three months was comparatively slow, but it continually advanced, not- withstanding every precaution was used to abate its fury. From. May to October, 1665, it raged with the greatest violence ; the deaths progressively increased from five hundred to eight thousand weekly. The pestilence was now at its height ; its ravages, which commenced in Westminster and the western suburbs, extended through the city to Southwark, and to all the parishes eastward of the. Tower. The digging of single graves had long been discontinued, and large pits had been excavated, in which the dead were deposited with some little regularity and decent attention ; but now all regard became impos- sible. Deeper and more extensive pits w T ere dug, and the rich and the poor, the young and the aged, the adult and the infant, were all thrown together in one recep- tacle. Whole families, and even whole streets of fami- lies, were swept away together. . By day, the street pre- sented a fearful aspect of desolation and misery ; and at night the dead- carts, moving with slow pace by torch- light, and with the appalling cry, “Bring out your dead !” thrilled horror through every heart not hardened by suffering to calamity. The stoppage of public busi- ness was so complete, that grass grew within the area of 16 THE GREAT FIRE. — REBUILDING OF THE CITY. the Royal Exchange, and even in the principal streets of the city : all the inns of court were shut up, and all law proceedings suspended. The entire number returned in the bills of mortality as haying died of the plague within the year was 68,950 ; yet there can be no doubt that this total fell short, by many thousands, of those who actually fell by the infection, but whose deaths were not officially recorded. The aggregate is estimated at about 100,000. The most important event that ever happened in this metropolis, whether it be considered in reference to its immediate effects or to its remote consequences, was the tremendous fire emphatically named the Fire of London . It broke out on the morning of Sunday, September 2, 1666, and being impelled by strong winds, raged with irresistible fury nearly four days and nights, nor was it entirely mastered till the fifth morning. The destructive extent of this conflagration was, perhaps, never exceeded in any part of the world by any fire originating in acci- dent. Within the walls it consumed almost five-sixths of the houses, and without the walls it cleared a space nearly as extensive as the one- sixth part left unburnt within. Public buildings, churches, and dwelling-houses were alike involved in one common fate; and, making a proper allowance for irregularities, it may be fairly stated that the fire extended its ravages over a space of ground equal to an obloug square measuring upwards of a mile in length and half a mile in breadth. The amount of property destroyed in this dreadful conflagration could never be calculated with any tolerable degree of exact- ness, but, according to the best estimates, the total value must have been not less than ten millions sterling. As soon as the general consternation had subsided, the re- building of the City became the first object of considera- tion ; an act of parliament was passed for that purpose, and though all was not done that might have been, the City was principally rebuilt within little more than four years, and that in a style of far greater expense, and infinitely more commodious and healthful than the an- cient capital. In the first year of William and Mary all the proceedings of former reigns against the city charters were nullified, and the rights and privileges of the citizens fully re-established. In the reign of Queen Anne London was visited by a fearful storm which arose about ten o’clock on the night of the 26th November, 1703, and continued to rage with in- creased violence till seven the next morning. The de- 1. Stationers’ Hall. 5. Merchant Tailors’ Hall. 2. Diapers’ Hall. 6. Skinners’ Hall. 3> Goldsmiths’ Hall. 7. Mercers’ Hall. 4. Fishmongers’ Hall. 8. Apothecaries’ Hall- \JNWEF QF THE GREAT STORM AND LOSS OF LIVES AND EROPERTY. 17 vastation was most extensive, and every part of the kingdom experienced its ravages. The damage sus- tained by the City of London alone was estimated at two millions sterling. Upwards of two thousand stacks of chimneys were blown down, and the streets were covered with tiles and slates from the roofs of houses. The lead on the tops of several churches was rolled up like skins of parchment, and at Westminster Abbey, Christ’s Hos- pital, St. Andrew’s, Holborn, and several other places, it was swept off the buildings. The roof of the guard- room at Whitehall was carried entirely away ; the two new-built turrets on the church of St. Mary, Alderman- bury, one of the pinnacles of St. Saviour’s, Southwark, and the four on the tower of St. Michael’s, Crooked-lane, were entirely blown down ; the vanes and spindles of the weathercocks were bent in many places, several houses in Moorfields were levelled with the ground, as were about twenty others in the out-parts, with a great num- ber of brick walls, and gable-ends of houses innumerable. Twenty-one persons were killed by the fall of ruins, and about two hundred others were maimed. All the ships in the river Thames, from London-bridge to Limehouse, excepting four, broke from their moorings, and were thrown on shore ; upwards of four hundred wherries were entirely lost ; more than fifty barges were driven foul of London-bridge, and as many more were either sunk or staved between the bridge and Hammersmith. These events were attended with the loss of many lives. Twelve men-of-war, with upwards of eighteen hundred men on board, perished within sight of their own shore ; great numbers of merchantmen were lost, and the whole of the damage was so great that its amount defied com- putation. The winter of 1739-40 became memorable from its un- common severity ; and the occurrence of one of the most intense frosts that has ever been known in this country, has been recorded in our annals by the appellation of the Great Frost. It commenced on Christmas-day, and con- tinued with unabated severity till the 17th of the follow- ing February, when it began to relax, but it did not entirely break up till nearly the end of March. Above bridge the Thames was completely frozen over, and tents and numerous booths were erected on it for selling toys, liquors, cutlery, &c., to the multitudes that daily flocked thither for curiosity or diversion. The scene here dis- played was very singular, and had more the appearance c 18 GREAT FROST. — GORDON RIOTS. of a fair on land than of a frail exhibition, the only basis of which was congealed water. Great improvements were made in different parts of the metropolis in George II. ’s reign ; and health, safety, and convenience were more generally attended to than they had been previously. About 1760 most of the city gates were pulled down, and many improvements made in the avenues of the city and its liberties. The riots of the year 1780 commenced on Friday, the 2nd June, on the occasion of Lord George Gordon pre- senting a petition to Parliament against the recent con- cessions which had been made in favour of the Homan Catholics. The rioters were principally composed of the very lowest people, assisted by thoughtless boys ; tJtie prisons were destroyed, when all the ruffians of the metropolis united with the mob. At first the destruction was confined to the Roman chapels and houses of the principal Catholics ; but as the tumult gathered strength, the houses of Lord Mansfield, and of several justices of the peace, were either burnthr gutted , as the phrase was ; the King’s Bench, New Bridewell, Newgate, and the Fleet Prison were set on fire, and the mob openly avowed their intention to demolish the Bank, the Inns of Court, the Royal Exchange, and several other places. The attack upon the Bank was actually made twice upon one day (Wednesday), but both attempts were feebly conducted, and the rioters repulsed. The outrages of this day were excessive. The inhabitants of most parts of the town, who, on the preceding night, had been obliged to illumi- nate their windows, w r ere now compelled to chalk up “ No Popery” on their doors and window -shutters. Blue ribbons and pieces of blue silk were hung out of most windows to avert the fury of the insurgents, and those whose business called them into the street were anxious to mount a blue cockade in order to preserve themselves from personal insult. Thirty-six fires were to be seen blazing, at one time, in different parts of the metropolis, and it became necessary at length to give an uncontrolled licence to the military power “to act without waiting for directions from the civil magistrates.” During the Thursday the riots were effectually quelled ; between three and four hundred of the mob having been killed or mortally wounded by the soldiery, and the rest intimi- dated or taken into custody. On this day, London may be said to have borne great similarity to a city recently stormed. The Royal Exchange, the public buildings, GORDON RIOTS. — THE ROYAL JUBILEE. 19 the squares, and the principal streets, were all occupied by troops, cannon were planted in the parks, the shops were closed, and business entirely at a stand; whilst immense volumes of smoke were still rising from the ruins of consumed buildings. Fifty-nine persons were after- wards capitally convicted in London and Southwark for rioting ; and the most active of them were executed, within a few days subsequently to their trials, in those parts which had been the scenes of their respective devas- tations. Lord George Gordon was afterwards tried for high treason, but acquitted ; and Brackley Kennet, Esq., the Lord Mayor in 1780, was convicted, at Guildhall, in the following year, for not having properly exerted him- self to suppress the rioters in an early stage of the tumult. In consequence of his decease, however, shortly afterwards, no sentence was pronounced. The continued threats of invasion from France towards the end of the last century, led to the general establishment of armed associations of volunteers, and the metropolis was the first to display the patriotic example. The general peace, signed at Amiens, on the 27th March, 1802, occasioned the dissolution of this force, hut after the renewal of the war with France, in the following year, almost every parish and public office had its distinct body. The squares, gardens, and even churchyards, of London and its vicinity, became places of military exercise, and within a few months, namely, on the 26th and 28th October, the number of effective metropolitan volunteers reviewed on those days by the King, in Hyde Park, amounted to twenty-seven thousand and seventy-seven. The entrance of his Majesty George III. into the fiftieth year of his reign, October 25th, 1809, was celebrated as a great Jubilee ; and rejoicings with illuminations and other manifestations of loyalty were made throughout London, as well as in every other part of the kingdom. The year 1814 was another season of metropolitan splendour ; the successful termination of the war with France by the restoration of the Bourbons ; the visit made to the Prince Regent, in June, by the Emperor of Russia, the King of E Prussia, and many other foreign princes ; and the cele- bration of the Regent’s Fete, in St. James’s and Hyde Parks, having been the occasion of great festivity and public joy. The ever- glorious victory at Waterloo, on the 18th June, 1815, was also followed by much rejoicing on three successive nights ; the numbers which fell in the battle, however, threw a gloom over many families, c 2 20 HOW BEST TO SEE LONDON. and the laurel was mournfully entwined with the cypress. During the long reign of George III., the buildings, improvements, and population of London increased to a degree very far beyond that of any former period of similar duration. # From the year 1780 to the breaking out of the Revolu- tionary W ar, and, generally speaking, with the exception of a few years at intervening periods, till the present hour, the outskirts and suburbs of London have continued to increase with astonishing rapidity ; the extension, indeed, has far exceeded all prior example. Contiguous villages have been connected, and as it were incorporated with the metropolis ; masses of buildings, sufficiently large to bear the name of towns, have sprung up in its vicinity, and are now united with it ; elegant squares and stately streets have added to its splendour, and new institutions combining science with utility, and commercial advantage with architectural adornment, have, at the same time, augmented its extent, and increased its riches and mag- nificence. HOW BEST TO SEE LONDON. “If you wish to have a just notion of the magnitude of this city, you must not be satisfied with seeing its great streets and squares, but must survey the innumerable little lanes and courts. It is not in the showy evolutions of buildings, but in the multi- plicity of human habitations which are crowded together, that the wonderful immensity of London consists.” — Boswell’s Johnson. There are many ways of seeing London : just according to the taste of the visitor will his steps be led in this or that direction. If, for instance, he be an antiquarian, he will seek the older parts of the city and the east-end ; if he be an artist or connoisseur, he will visit the Picture Exhibitions, and endeavour to obtain admission to the private galleries of rich and noble collectors ; if his taste incline to commercial pursuits, he will spend a day at each of the great Docks and explore the principal Ware- houses ; if his penchant be for fashionable life, he will go to the parks, squares, and streets of the west-end ; if he be a lawyer, he will visit the Courts at West- minster and in the City ; if he be a politician, he will try to obtain an order of admission to the Houses of Lords and Commons, and will not fail to attend one PLAN OF PRINCIPAL STREETS. 21 or two of the political meetings constantly being held in some one or other part of the metropolis ; if he be literary, he will look into the Libraries of the British Museum, the London . Institution, Sion College, and the other great depositories of . books ; if he be philanthro- pically inclined, he will seek acquaintance with the various London Charities, and learn something of the Mendicity Society and Town Missions ; if he be medical, he will certainly go to the five Royal Hospitals and visit the other institutions for the relief of sickness ; if his tastes lie in the direction of the drama, he will make a series of after- dark tours to the several Theatres ; if he be fond of amusements, he will seek the Crystal Palace and the various exhibitions ; and whatever be his peculiar leaning in religious matters, he will certainly not fail to visit the Churches. But if the stranger have no decided preferences for any special sights in London, but is anxious to take a more or less leisurely glance at them all, he cannot do better than pursue the plan usually adopted by strangers, and make acquaintance with the leading streets ; after which he can visit the parks and principal public buildings. PLAN OF THE STREETS.— A little study of the map will render the general plan and disposition of London’s principal streets tolerably understandable. It will be seen that two principal thoroughfares on the northern side of the Thames follow in some measure the direction of the river, and that the six main avenues on the south side proceed from the several bridges, and meet in one principal centre — the Obelisk, near the Surrey Theatre, whence they branch off to Walworth and Cam- berwell, Kennington and Clapham, Yauxhall, Brixton, &c., joining in their route at the Elephant and Castle. Two main lines of streets traverse London on the north side, one beginning at Romford in Essex, and proceeding through Stratford, Bow, Mile End, Whitechapel, to Aid- gate ; and the other commencing at the West India Docks, and proceeding along the Commercial-road to Whitechapel Church, whence it falls into the principal line. At Aldgate the thoroughfare divides into Leaden- hall-street and Fenchurch- street, both leading directly to the Bank ; the one through Cornhill, and the other through Fenchurch and Lombard streets. The junction of the two latter streets is met by Gracechurch- street, which leads towards London-bridge, and forms a line from Shoreditch, Norton-Folgate, and Bishopsgate-street, 22 PLAN OF PRINCIPAL STREETS. between the north-east and south-east districts of the metropolis. From the Bank the thoroughfare proceeds westward through the Poultry and Cornhill to St. Paul's, when it divides into the main lines of Holborn and Oxford- street on the right, andLudgate-hill, Fleet-street, and the Strand on the left. Cannon- street, a new and spacious road from London-bridge to St. Paul's churchyard, was opened a few years since > with a view of easing the traffic in Cheapside. The line of road from St. Paul's, by way of Holborn, leads to Uxbridge, through the fashionable suburbs of Bayswater and Hotting- hill, leaving Maryle- bone to the right ; while that by way of the Strand leads to Charing-cross, Hyde-park Corner, Knightsbridge, Brompton and Kensington, through Piccadilly. At Charing-cross, Whitehall, on the left, leads to West- minster Hall and Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, and, through Yictoria- street, to Belgravia, while on the right we reach Regent’s-circus by way of the Haymarket and Regent-street. Between Piccadilly and St. James’s-park runs Pall Mall, in which are situated the principal club- houses. Pall Mall leads directly to St. James’s Palace and Marlborough House. It is not traversed by omni- buses, its principal junctions with the mainline of Picca- dilly being through St. James’s-street opposite the palace, and W aterloo-place, Kegent-street. The latter street and Regent- quadrant, with Bond- street (Old and Hew), and Park-lane, form the main lines of direct communication between Piccadilly and Oxford-street, while Drury-lane, Chancery-lane, and Farringdon-street join Holborn and Fleet- street. These are the streets through which the stranger will most probably make his first acquaintance with London. In them, or in avenues leading out of them, are the principal public buildings and statues. But there is another principal road running east and west, and pro- ceeding directly from the Bank to the Great Western Kailway at Paddington. This isknown as the City-road, the Hew-road, &c. Taking its rise at the Bank, it passes through Princes and Moor gate streets to Finsbury-square ; thence, to the Angel at Islington, it is known as the City- road ; between that point and King's-cross it is called the Pentonville-road ; beyond which to Regent’s- park it is the Euston-road ; whence to Paddington it is named Maryle- bone-road. This line is not so crowded as the more central streets ; and as it contains few objects of interest, is not PLAN OP PRINCIPAL STREETS. 23 much used by strangers, except as a mere thoroughfare. Beneath it runs the Metropolitan Bailway, from Far- ringdon-road to Paddington. From this line, most of the principal cross thoroughfares west of the city take their rise, and between it and Oxford-street lie the British Museum, the Foundling, St. Luke’s Hospital, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Coldbath-fields Prison, University Col- lege and Hospital, the Middlesex Hospital, and Bedford, Bussell, Brunswick, Cavendish, Tavistock, and Portman squares, with some others of lesser note. The principal cross lines of streets on this side are — Gray’s-inn-lane, from King’s-cross to Holborn, near Chancery-lane; Tottenham - court-road, which is a continuation of street from Hamp- stead to Oxford-street ; Portland-place andPortland-road, the direct lines between the Colosseum and Begent’s-circus North; Wimpole-street ; Baker-street, in which is Madame Tussaud’ s celebrated Bazaar ; and the Edgeware-road. Eastward, the chief cross lines of road on the north side the Thames are — St. Martin’ s-le-Grand and Alder sgate-street, which lead from Islington and the great North-road to the City ; Bishopsgate- street, leading from Kingsland and Hackney; and Cambridge-road, from Victoria Park to Mile End. Of the main roads on the south side it is not necessary to say more than that they most of them lead from the suburbs to the river ; one principal line in the little-visited quarter of Bermondsey and Botherhithe running, how- ever, beside the edge of the stream from London-bridge to Deptford, and thence to Greenwich. One of the great wants of London is a series of wide open thorough fares from east to west on both sides the Thames. The Thames Embankment, now in progress, and the extension of the railway system will provide these in course of time. We will now suppose the stranger to have read or skipped, just as he pleases, the foregoing pages, and to be standing in the heart of the city, under the shadow of the Mansion House, in fact, with the Bank of England and the Boyal Exchange on the opposite side, a little to his right ; the Poultry and Cheapside to his left, and the crowd of omnibuses, cabs, and other vehicles passing west- ward close before him. He wishes to see as much as he can in as short a time as possible. Instead of wandering to and fro, and going over the ground several times, it will be as well, perhaps, if he map out some regular plan of operations. THE ASPECT OF THE STREETS.— The most easy 24 ASPECT OF MAIN THOROUGHFARES. and leisurely method of getting through the streets, and so gaining a tolerably good idea of their general aspect, is to take a seat outside an omnibus. The routes and fares of the principal London omnibuses are given on p. 32 . .“When,” says Addison {Spectator > No. 403 ) “I con- sider this great city in its several quarters and divisions, I look upon it as an aggregate of various nations, dis- tinguished from each other by their respective customs, manners, and interests. The courts of two countries do not so much differ from one another as the court and city in their peculiar ways of life and conversation. In short, the inhabitants of St. James’s, notwithstanding they live under the same laws and speak the same language, are a distinct people from those of Cheapside, who are likewise removed from those of the Temple on the one side, and those of Smithfield on the other, by several climates and degrees in their ways of thinking and conversing.” After having glanced at the west- end streets, a couple of hours’ walk through the City will bring him into ac- quaintance with its principal features ; then the Docks and Warehouses in the eastern districts may be visited ; after which the principal public buildings may be more minutely examined, and the best of the exhibitions seen. In the evenings the Theatres, Concert-rooms, Lecture- halls, and other places of amusement may be visited; and, if time permit, flying trips may be made to the outlying districts, or short excursions made into the country around the metropolis. For it must be remembered that London is a vast city in. a garden — not as some suppose, a mere confused collection of bricks and mortar, without trees and flowers, and wide open spaces. Beside the squares, and terraces, and rows, and crescents, which, in different parts of the town, look fresh and green, in due season, with full- leaved trees and many-hued flowers, the visitor has only to mount the roof of any omnibus going towards the suburbs, and in less than an hour he will not only have got away from the crowded streets, but he will have entered upon wide roads bordered with elms, and limes, and chestnuts, and planes, and various kinds of trees, behind which lie the villas, mansions, and pretty houses in which reside the wealthy among London’s middle classes, and he will presently find himself in the midst of as pure an atmosphere and as rural and pleasant a scene as can be found in any part of England. Strangers, espe- cially foreigners, come to London, and expect to find all gloomy, and close, and wretched— a perpetual fog in the RURAL WALKS ROUND LONDON. 25 streets in the winter, and a mass of smoky clouds hang- ing oyer the houses in summer. _ Of course this is a great exaggeration. If, when the visitor has arrived at the end of his omnibus journey, he choose to walk out into the green lanes and fields, he will find as lovely spots as can well be imagined near a great city. It is simply the immense size of London that prevents people properly appreciating its wonderful variety. Indeed, there are in the metropolis hundreds and thousands of people who know less of its attractions and general aspect than the visitor of a week. How many busy people may you meet who confess to never having been inside St. Paul’s, the National Gallery, or the British Museum, much less having looked at the city from the top of the Monument, or gazed at the beautiful panorama of park and garden, and palace, and square, and street from the summit of the Duke of York’s Column in Waterloo-place. The most picturesque suburbs, either west, east, north, or south, may be reached by rail or omnibus from any part of the city in an hour. Of course we do not pretend that London has not its squalid quarters — its dens of poverty and its sinks of iniquity, its horrible lanes and fever -haunted courts, its close, unhealthy streets, and its dark wretched bye-ways, its misery-filled alleys and its sinful slums, where the ginshop and the pawnbroker’s stand side by side ; its Whitechapel and its St. Giles, where thieves and costermongers herd with debased women, whose most familiar . word is an oath, and children whose earliest education has been picked up in the streets ; and its hundreds of squalid lurking-places, known only to their wretched, degraded inhabitants, and to city missionaries, Scripture-readers, parish doctors, hardly-worked clergymen, policemen, and a very few energetic philanthropists. Of course, it is not pretended that London is all fair to look upon and bright with cleanliness and godliness; but it is fairer and cleaner than it was even a quarter of a century ago, and it is be- coming fairer and cleaner every day ! It is less openly sinful than any other capital in Europe, less crowded in its poorest districts than even Paris, less repulsive in its Jews’ quarters than Home, less vicious in its vice than Petersburg, and less stricken with poverty and its terrible attendants than Constantinople or Vienna. Legislation has done much for the London of the working-man, within the memory of him who pens these lines. Philanthropy, and active business influence, and bold 26 DARK PLACES AND MYSTERIES. public writing have not been idle during the same period. Striving in like directions, legislators and the press have awakened inquiry ; inquiry has elicited many im- portant facts, the publication of which has encouraged discussion and stimulated effort, and the result has been that the aspect of the streets has been improved, that new buildings have . not been allowed to be erected without proper supervision, that foul and crowded neighbourhoods have been cleared of their ruin and rottenness, that light and ventilation and drainage have been introduced into poor quarters, that model lodging-houses and reforma- tories and soup-kitchens and refuges for the destitute have sprung up in neglected corners of moral wilder- nesses, and that Drinking fountains, and Parks, and Gardens, and pleasant places have been placed within reach of the labourer and the sempstress. Why, even the densest neighbourhoods of Spitalfields and Bethnal- green have been opened and improved, and brought within the cognizance of educated sympathy and active help. Vic- toria-park is scarcely a mile from the poverty of White- chapel and Waterloo- to wn ; Kennington-park is almost within sight of the vice of Walworth’s back-slums, and Battersea-park is only an easy walk from the crowded potteries and close streetsof Lambeth. While I write, preparations for new parks for Finsbury and Bermondsey are in progress, and the recent demoli- tions of houses in various parts of the town, consequent on the extension of the railways, has necessitated the opening up of new neighbourhoods, which will all bo well built, drained, and ventilated. But should the stranger ask, “Where do the people live ?” he has only to glance at his map and run his huger along the outskirts of the city, and within two or three miles of its ancient walls ; on the east, north, and south, he will find the suburbs of Mile End and Stepney, Ratcliff and Limehouse, Hoxton, Hackney, and Islington ; Ber- mondsey, Newington, and Walworth, Lambeth, Kenning- ton, and Battersea ; while close to the airy quarter of St. John’s-wood, on the north-west, he will find Camden, Kentish, Somers, and Agar-towns — the Regent's- park be- tween ; and beyond, but farther west, he will come upon Paddington. In all these districts there are enough large, good, substantial houses, with gardens in front and behind, to give a character of well-to-do respectability to the neighbourhoods ; while if he goes still farther, in either direction, he will discover noble roomy dwellings, which SUBURBS AND MANUFACTURING DISTRICTS. 27 inltaly would be called “palaces,” andin France “hotels.” Here, however, they are simply known as “villas,” de- tached or semi-detached, as the case may be, but always with trees and gardens about them, and generally having- porticoes and Venetian windows towards the road, and stables and conservatories in the rear. Houses of this description will be found in Stratford, Woodford, and Ley- tonstone on the east; Greenwich, Lewisham, Sydenham, Norwood, Brixton, Clapham, Dulwich, Croydon, Tooting, and Mitcham on the south; Bichmond, Twickenham, Hampton, Hounslow, Brentford, Ealing, Acton, and Sun- bury on the west ; and Finchley, Hornsey, Tottenham, Edmonton, and Enfield on the north. The purely manufacturing parts of London lie between the city and the suburbs — a sort of debateable land that is neither city nor suburb. Clerkenwell is the chief seat of the watchmaking and jewellery trades; Spitalfields and Bethnal-green are the long-established homes of the silk and velvet weavers ; most of the cabinet-makers and car- vers are located about St. Luke's, Old Street-road, and Aldersgate-street ; the ironfounders and anchor- smiths, together with the shipwrights, riggers, and boiler-makers, are to be found in Blackwall, Poplar, Millwall, and the Isle of Dogs; the sugar bakers and refiners, most of them, carry on their businesses in the neighbourhoods of White- chapel and Commercial-road ; the tanners, parchment makers, and skin dressers in Bermondsey ; the potters and glass makers in Lambeth ; the tailors principally about Golden-square and Burlington-Gardens ; the working boot and shoemakers in and about Shoreditch, and also in the courts and narrow streets near Drury-lane ; the producers of plaster casts and images in Leather-lane, Holborn, and the surrounding courts ; the hatters principally in South- wark ; the paper-makers chiefly in Surrey, on the banks of the Wandle ; the chemical manufacturers at Stratford, on the banks of the Lea ; the carriage builders in and about Long-acre ; the boat-builders at Lambeth and Chelsea ; the toy makers and doll-dressers at H oxton, and the brewers everywhere ! Among the non-manufacturing classes : au- thors, journalists, publishers, &c., mostly incline to the new suburbs ; artists and engravers to Kensington and Camden-town ; musicians, singers, actors, and dancers to OkLBrompton ; physicians and surgeons to Savile-row, Brook-street, and Finsbury; lawyers to Bedford-row, Guildford-street, and the neighbourhood of the “ Inns of Court printers to Fleet-street and the Strand; medi- 28 FASHION AND POVERTY CONTRASTED. cal students to Lant-street, Southwark ; costermongers to Whitechapel, the New Cut, Lambeth, and Somers-town ; members of Parliament and diplomatists to Westminster and Belgravia. 41 City men,” such as stockbrokers, merchants, and commercial! agents, affect Tyburnia, Bayswater, Haverstock-hill, Brixton, and Clapham; com- mercial clerks seem fond of Islington, Highgate, Notting- hill, Hackney, and Kingsland ; bill discounters favour the Adelphi and the streets running from the Strand to the river ; professional thieves throng the small streets between Walworth and the Old Kent-road; and“ pretty horsebreakers” have taken up their abodes in large numbers in the rural parts of Lower Brompton and the nice houses between Sloane-street and the Horticultural Gardens at South Kensington. The contrast between the rich and fashionable West End and the poor and unknown East, is very well made by a late writer : — “One of the most extraordinary and rapid changes of condition is that experienced by the traveller who jour- neys from the western to the eastern extremity of the metropolis in the height of the brilliant London season. He starts from South Kensington. He passes rows and rows of palaces. The open windows are full of ffowers. There is such store of perfume in them that they are reckless, and, besides making the rooms within delicious, scatter largesse of rich scent to the passer-by ; sun-blinds gaily striped are drawn down, but still through the laced curtains glimpses may be seen of splendid decoration in the interior of the house ; something may be observed, too, through the open door, for the servants have dis- covered that it is of no use shutting it, the callers being so frequent. So they stand in groups in the hall and on the threshold. The small broughams drawn by ponies, the barouches in which ladies recline at their ease, and all sorts of other equipages, flash about this wonderful neighbourhood with a swift precision which does equal credit to the hand and the eye of the driver. The diplomatist jogs by on a quiet ugly horse, which costs far less than the fiery animal bestridden by the groom behind. The diplomatist sits very far back in his saddle, does not rise in his stirrups, rides with a loose rein and a seat to match, and would certainly tumble off if his horse were to shy. From the great high-mounted chariot with the armorial panels, with the two footmen behind, and the inevitable old lady with a wig inside, to the buggy A PEEP AT BELGRAVIA AND BETHNAL GREEN. 29 drawn by a high-stepper and driven by a minor with expectations, all is brilliant and imposing. Even the Hansom cabs that frequent these regions have a brighter look than other Hansom cabs, and affect tartan panels and varnish, after a singular and vainglorious sort. Nor have we done with the different kinds of vehicles even yet, for, about this neighbourhood, ladies wall drive themselves in little basket carriages ; while the curricle and the fogy are not unknown. Is it a fashionable watering-place or a brilliant capital ? Are care, illness, sorrow, death, known in such a place ? Who are all these people, and how are all these palaces maintained? Where do the inhabitants — where does the money — come from ? Bright awnings quivering in the summer breeze, echoes of gay voices, rollings of light wheels, quick step- ping of untamed horses, distant echoings of military bands — pleasure, luxury, extravagance, have it all their own way here, and a jovial way it is. But the sun which brings out the perfumes of Bel gr avian dower vases, glances on the striped awnings, twinkles on the silvered harness, casts bright gleams here, and broad and luminous shadows there — this same sun has in another neighbourhood other and dirtier work to do. In a certain other region of this town it has to illuminate streets and lanes so narrow and so tortuous, that it is a wonder its straight beams can ever get to the ground. Of a certainty he who passes swiftly from the one neighbourhood to the other may fairly ask himself whether he be still in the same world r instead of the same town. How terrible the change. The sights and sounds how cruelly different. The awnings here are represented by some streaming scrap of rag drying at a window, or by the patched umbrella at the street stall. The flowers are the morsels of vegetables cast out as too bad for even Shoreditch nutriment. The carriages are costermongers* trucks ; for music here are the cries of suffering children, or curses and vituperation — with which the echoes are charged night and day. Are these slouching, sulky, distorted creatures, who lurk and lour along the sordid thoroughfares, the same animals as the gallants of the other part of the town, the men of upright carriage and free and open looks, cantering in Rotten-row, or lounging in faultless clothes at the entrance to that luxurious place ? Are the ladies who lie back in their open 30 RAGS, POVERTY, AND WRETCHEDNESS. carriages, as if their sofas were put upon wheels, or who rein with powerful curb their hardly restrained horses, flesh and blood like to the masculine and bony hags who scream at their children as they drag them from the gutter, and provoke their husbands to increased wrath as they stagger from the public-houses ? Yet it does not take an hour to get from the sight of the first condition to the sight of the second. At one o’clock in the afternoon you may be listening to pleasant and prosperous sounds, inhaling sweet odours, and seeing around you only suggestions of wealth and happiness ; and at two you may plant yourself before a rag and bone shop, with a print in the window of Justice tightly bandaged, weighing a pound of dripping in her scales, and giving the highest price for it compatible with a reasonable profit. . In less than one short hour, you can pass into the regions of intensest squalor, where every senseis offended, just as in the other neighbourhood every one of the five senses was comforted and pleased. Is this great contrast one to which many persons sub- ject themselves ? Are there those who, of their own free will, pass from the first scene to the second ? Nay, are there those whose lot is cast in the pleasant land, and who leave it to go into the land of pain and horror ? There are those who make the pilgrimage — who make it from choice, who cannot enjoy their own comforts while they know of such unutterable misery — who start on a great mission from the west to the east, and who come back leaving behind them goodly work accomplished.” And then the writer goes, on to describe some of the improvements we have mentioned as having been effected in neighbourhoods where poverty most does congregate. In this particular case he adduces Columbia- square, a block of houses in Bethnal-green, founded and erected at the expense of that most benevolent and philanthropic lady, Miss Burdett Coutts. ihe ranges of dwellin&houses for the poor, which have been built by the trustees of the Peabody Fund of £ 250 , 000 , the princely gift of an eminent American mer- chant in London, are, in the main, of similar design to the block in Columbia- square. The stranger who would really see London as it is, must not content himself with gazing on its fairer aspects. He must go into the districts where the poor reside before he can obtain an adequate notion of the variety and immensity of the metropolis. DIAGBAM OF THE MAIN TKOEOGGHFABES. 31 HINTS AND CAUTIONS FOR STRANGERS. nf\r in presume tho illd nlgent reader to have glanced at the pre\ious pages, and that he is now anxious to f n Z e i?>rt lng Well, we must ask 1dm to ta^e a little advice and listen to a few cautions. in tne first place, we say, do not try to see too much in *.. da y.- f . To obtain a thorough knowledge of this great J f\ IS t “f? ary , t0 , llT i e - init i and only to live m it, but to travel about in it ; and to travel about! moreover, with a desire to gain information. Merely doing business m the city, or “ residing at the West- S ( ’ ' VI . no ^ Pe sufficient. But it will be something. Many a stranger gleans more actual experience of Lon- 4™ 1 ud lt ,? f m . a . sses a mouth than a regular cockney does in a life-tnne ; because the stranger makes it his business to see what there is to be seen, v'hile the Londoner contents himself with the knowledge that he never seeing^itatalll 0 ^ 1 * ^ at ^ ^ “ d ^ $ A good plan to begin with, is to acquaint yourself with the general disposition of the .streets* This you may do y referring to the map ; but it will assist your compre- hension to remember the position of the main thorough- fares east and west. Thus— Ox ford -st. Holborn, Newgate st. * Cheapside. ^ Strand, Piccadilly, Fleet-st, &c. V ^ £■ Cornhiil, Leadc-nhall st. To Mile-end Fencliurch-st. Whitechapel. To Commercial- road The Bank is the City centre of London, as Charing-cross is its centre for conveyance purposes, and the General rost-office m St. Martin s-le-Grand for postal purposes 32 PRINCIPAL OMNIBITS ROtJTES. CONVEYANCES. — Omnibuses traverse the main thoroughfares in all directions. The following are the PRINCIPAL OMNIBUS ROUTES. One of the best ways to see the streets of London is from the roof of an omnibus. The Bank of England and Mansion House are the City centres for nearly all the omnibuses going east and west, along the lines between Mile-end, Whitechapel, and Brompton, Blackwall and Kensington ; and north and south between Islington and Brixton, Paddington, &c. The other principal centres of omnibus traffic are — Charing -cross, for all parts of London. Angel at Islington , for Highgate, Homerton, &c. Regent-circus , Piccadilly; ccnARegent-circiisfixiordi-^t, Tottenham-court-road , for Hampstead, Highgate, &c. Gracechurch-street , for vehicles going south. Threadneedle-street , for Walthamstow, Clapton, Hack- ney, Victoria Park, and Old Ford. Elephant and Castle , for the southern suburbs, the City, and the West-end. London-bridge railway -stations for all parts of town ; and the railway stations generally. Metropolitan Railway -station, Farringdon-road, for the west and south. Bayswater and Notting-hill to Mile-end-gate— Green: Notting -hill, Oxford-street, Holborn, Cornhill, Whitechapel — every six minutes. 3d., 4d., and 6d. Bayswater to Shoreditch-station. — Green: Oxford- street, Holborn, Cheapside, Threadneedle - street, Bishopsgate- street — every hour. 3d., 4d., and 6d. Bayswater to London-bridge-station— Oxford-street, Holborn, Cheapside, London-bridge, every few minutes. 3d., 4d., and 6d. Blackwall to Oxford -circus — Blue : Poplar, Lime- house, Stepney, Aldgate, Cheapside, Strand, Charing- cross, Regent-street — every ten minutes. 3d. and 4d. Brentford to St. Paul’s — Red : Kew-bridge, Hammer- smith, Kensington, Piccadilly, Strand — every hour. 6d. to Is. Brixton to Oracechurcii- street— Green : ‘‘Paragon” and others — Kennington, Elephant and Castle, London- bridge— every ten minutes. 3d. to 9d. Brixton to Oxford-street — Kennington, Westminster- bridge, Charing-cross, Regent- street— every half-hour. 3d. to 9d. LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS OMNIBUS ROUTES. 33 Brompton to the Bank— South Kensington Museum, Piccadilly, Strand — every four minutes. 6d. Brompton to Islington— S outh Kensington Museum # Regent-street, New-road, &c., — every nine minutes. 4d. and 6d. Camberwell to Gracechurch- street — Walworth, Elephant and Castle, Borough, London-bridge— every ten minutes. 2d., 3d., and 6d. Camden-town to Hungerford-market — Hampstead- road, Tottenham-court-road, St. Martin’s-lane — every five minutes. 2d. and 3d. Camden-town to Kennington, 3d., 4d., and 6d. Camden-town to Pimlico-station— as above to St. Mar- tin's-lane, to Westminster Abbey, &e. 2d., 3d., and4d. Chelsea to Islington — Sloane-square, Piccadilly, Re- gent-street, Portland-road, King’s-cross, Pentonville — every nine minutes. 3d. and 6d. Chelsea to Bethnal-Green — King’ s-road, Sloane- street, Piccadilly, Strand, Cheapside, Bishopsgate- street. 3d., 4d., and 6d. Chelsea to Hoxton —chocolate. 3d., 4d., and 6d. Clapham to Oxford -street— Stockwell, Kennington, Westminster-bridge, Charing-cross, Regent-street — every fifteen minutes. 6d. Clapham to Gracechurch-street—' “ Plenipo” and others — Stockwell, Elephant and Castle, London- bridge — every ten minutes. 6d. Clapton to Bank through Hackney. 3d. and 6d. Dulwich to Gracechurch-street— ( some start from Crystal Palace) — Camberwell, Elephant and Castle, London-bridge — every hour. 6d. to Is. Euston-station — the New-road omnibuses pass near to the station every few minutes. 3d., 4d., and 6d. Fenchurch Station— Omnibuses to the Bank and the West End, from the station every three or four minutes. 2d., 3d., 4d. and 6d. Farringdon- street Station of the Metropolitan (under- ground) Railway to the Bank and to the Elephant and Castle — three-horse omnibuses. 2d. and 3d. Gracechurch-street to Old Kent-road, Brixton, Clap- ham, Wandsworth, &c. 3d. 4d. and 6d. Greenwich to Gracechurch-street— Deptford, Kent- road, Dover- road, London-bridge — every half-hour. 3d. to 6d. ; after railway hours, Is. Greenwich to Charing-cross— Deptford, Kent-road, Elephant and Castle, Westminster-bridge — every half- hour— same fares as above. D 34 OMNIBUS ROUTES. Hackney to Bank, fares 3d., 4d., and 6d. HACKNEY-road to Camberwell Gate, yellow . 2d. and 3d. Hammersmith to the Bank — Kensington, Piccadilly, Strand, St. Paul's, Cheapside — every five minutes. 3d. to 6d. Hampstead to the Bank — Haverstock-hill, Camden- town, Tottenham-court-road, Holborn, Cheapside — every twelve minutes. 3d., 4d., and 6d. Hampton-court to St. Paul's — Twickenham, Bich- mond, Kew, Hammersmith, Piccadilly, Strand — every half-hour. 4d. to Is. 6d. Haverstock-hill to Hungerford Market and Pim- lico — Many of the Camden-town omnibuses start from Haverstock-hill. 3d., 4d., and 6d. Holloway to London-bridge — “ Favorite” — Highbury, Islington, City-road, Bank, King William-street — every eight minutes. 3d., 4d., and 6d. Islington to Kent-road — Lower-road, Hoxton, Fins- bury, Bank, London-bridge, Borough — every ten minutes. 3d., 4d. and 6d. Kensal-green to the Bank — Harrow-road, Edgeware- road, Oxford- street, Holborn, Cheapside. 2d. to 9d. Kew-bridge to St. Paul’s— Many of the Hammersmith omnibuses extend their route to Kew-bridge, through Turnham-green. 3d. to Is. King's-cross Station — All the New-road omnibuses, and some to Kennington, pass close. Special to the City from all trains. 3d., 4d., and 6d. Kingsland to Elephant and Castle and Camber well- gate. 2d., 3d., and 4d. London-bridge-station — Omnibuses start with extra- ordinary frequency to almost every part of the metro- polis. 2d., 3d., 4d., and 6d. Norwood and Crystal Palace to Oxford-street— Brixton, Kennington, Charing-cross, Begent-street — frequent intervals. Is. Norwood and Crystal Palace to Gracechurch- street — Some by Brixton, some by Camberwell, thence to Elephant and Castle — frequent intervals. Is. Nothing Hill, see Bayswater. Old Ford and Victoria Park to Bank. 2d. and 3d. Paddington-station — Numerous Paddington omni- buses pass close to the station. Special omnibuses for the trains. 3d., 4d., and 6d. Paddington to London-bridge-station — “ Citizen” — Edgeware-road (only), Oxford-street, Holborn, Bank — every eight minutes. 3d. and 4d. OMNIBUS ROUTES. 35 Paddington to London-bridge-station— green. Eoyal Oak, Edgeware-road, New-road, City-road, Bank— every ten minutes. 3d. and 4d. Paddington to Fenchurch- station— S ome of the above go to Fenchurch instead of London-bridge station. 3d. and 4d. '^ROSS'Station — E dgeware-road, Oxford and Regent-streets, Charing-eross — every eight minutes. 4d. Peckham to Gracechurch-street— Camberwell-green, Elephant and Castle, Borough, London-bridge — every twenty minutes. 4d. and 6d. P™M t° West-end — Some over Blackfriars-bridge to the Strand; some over Westminster-bridge to Ox- lord -street — every twenty minutes. 4d. and 6d. Pimlico to Fenchurch- station — Belgrave-road, Pim- lico station, Piccadilly, Strand, Cheapside — every eight minutes. 3d., 4d. & Pimlico to the Bank — ‘ ‘ Westminster” — Lupus-street, Vauxhali Bridge-road, Westminster, Strand — every six minutes. 3d. and 4d. Pimlico Station.— Omnibuses to Camden Town start about every three or four minutes. Less frequent to Paddington. 3d. and 4d. Putney to London-bridge-station. — Fulham, Parson’s- green, Walham-green, Brompton, Strand— every eight minutes. 3d., 4d., and 6d. Shoreditch Station.— Omnibuses continually pass to and from the City and West-end, through Bishopsgate- street. 3d., 4d., and 6d. South Hackney to Bank. 3d. South Kensington Museum. — All the omnibuses to Kensington, Hammersmith, Brentford, Kew, Rich- mond, &c., pass near the northern boundary of the Museum and the Horticultural Gardens ; while those to Brompton andPuTNEY pass near the southern boundary. St. John’s Wood to Camberwell Gate — “Atlas” — Swiss Cottage, Baker-street, Oxford- street, West- minster-bridge— every five minutes. 4d. and 6d. St. John’s Wood to London-bridge-station— “ City Atlas” Swiss Cottage, Baker-street, Oxford- street, Holborn, Bank— every seven minutes. 4d. and 6d. Stoke Newington to Bank.— Kingsland, Shoreditch, Bishopsgate-street — every ten minutes. Stratford and Bow to Oxford -circus— Bow, Mile-end, Whitechapel, Aldgate, Bank, St. Paul’s, Strand, Regent- street, Piccadilly— eyery ten minutes. 3d., 4d., 6d. d 2 36 OMNIBUS BOUTES. Waterloo Station. — The “ Waterloo/' from Camden Town to Camberwell, and Old Kenbroad, pass the sta- tion. Special omnibuses for all the trains. 3d., 4d., and 6d. York and Albany to Camberwell Gate— “Waterloo” — Albany- street, Regent- street, Westminster-bridge, Elephant and Castle — every six minutes. Most of the omnibuses divide their distances so as to make two, three, or more fares. All of them are com- pelled by law to have a table of fares inside the vehicle, and most of them have the fares conspicuously placed on the outside of the door, or above the windows. Many of the Omnibuses on the main routes have their extreme destinations painted on the sides — as : Hammersmith — Hammersmith to St. Paul’s, &c. Numerous Omnibuses pass at low fares between London-bridge and the Marble Arch, at the top of Oxford- street; light-yellow, white, &c., 2d., 3d., and 4d. More than 600 of the London omnibuses belong to the London General Omnibus Company , including the large roomy vehicles, drawn by three horses, purchased by the Com- pany at the close of the Exhibition. The London omni- buses travel in the year upwards of fifteen millions of miles , and carry more than fifty millions of passengers, at an average of 3jd. Of course, it must be understood that each passenger makes many journeys, some as many as six or eight a day. Most persons living in the suburbs and doing business in the city ride to and fro daily. Before getting in ask the conductor if the vehicle goes to the place you wish to reach. Have your fare ready before getting out, and so avoid the necessity of taking change. Do not get out till the vehicle stops. In walking through the streets avoid lingering in crowded thoroughfares, and keep the right-hand to the wall . Never enter into conversation with men who wish to show you the way, offer to sell “ smuggled cigars,” or invite you to take a glass of ale or play a game at skittles. If in doubt about the direction of any street or building, inquire at a respectable shop or of the nearest policeman. Monday is the workman’s holiday ; Saturday the most aristocratic day for the Opjera, Crystal Palace, &c. Consult the Post Office Directory for addresses of friends who do not live in lodgings. Do not relieve street-beggars, and avoid bye-ways and poor neighbourhoods after dark. Carry no more money about you than is necessary for CAB FARES FOR TWO PERSONS 37 the day's expenses. Look after your watch and chain, and take care of your pockets at the entrance to theatres, exhi- bitions, churches, and in the omnibuses and the streets. Messages may he sent by the corps of Commissionaires , at cheap rates; but a penny letter or a telegram for sixpence, is a ready and most economical messenger. Travelling in that most rapid and convenient of London vehicles, the cabriolet— or cab, as it is now universally called — is very common. Remember that the fare for one or two persons is sixpence a mile , by day or night. The following are the CAB FARES To and from the following places and the Exhibition (South Kensington Museum, Brompton,) and the se- veral Railway Stations : Fenchurch Street. Bishopsgate. 1 CO OQ O OQ fcc $ Paddington. 1 Euston-square. | London-bridge. | Waterloo. Victoria- 1 station. 1 Exhibition, 1 Brompton. J s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d- s. d. 2 6 2 6 1 6 1 6 1 0 3 0 2 6 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 6 1 0 1 6 0 6 2 6 1 6 2 0 2 0 I o 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 6 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 2 6 2 6 T 6 1 0 1 0 2 6 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 o 2 0 1 6 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 6 1 6 1 0 2 O 2 0 1 6 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 6 1 0 1 6 2 O 2 6 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 6 1 6 1 6 o 6 0 6 1 6 2 6 1 6 0 6 1 0 2 0 2 6 o 6 1 0 1 6 2 6 1 6 0 6 1 0 2 0 2 6 3 o 3 0 3 0 2 0 2 6 2 6 2 0 1 0 1 0 3 o 3 6 3 0 2 6 3 0 2 6 2 6 1 6 1 0 1 3 o 3 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 2 6 1 6 1 6 i 6 1 6 1 0 1 6 1 0 1 6 1 0 1 6 1 6 2 O 2 6 2 0 1 6 1 6 2 0 1 6 0 6 0 6 , 2 O 2 0 i 6 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 6 1 0 1 0 1 I O 1 0 2 0 3 0 2 0 1 6 2 0 3 0 3 6 L o 6 0 6 1 6 2 6 2 0 0 6 1 6 2 0 2 6 . I o 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 6 1 0 0 6 1 6 2 0 . I o 1 6 1 6 2 6 1 6 0 6 0 6 1 0 2 0 . i 6 1 6 1 0 1 6 1 0 1 6 1 0 1 6 1 6 k 2 O 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 6 1 0 1 6 r i 6 2 0 1 6 1 6 1 0 1 6 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 I o 1 6 2 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 6 2 6 126 2 6 3 0 3 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 6 3 0 3 0 3 6 3 6 3 6 2 6 2 6 2 6 2 6 i I 6 1 6 1 0 1 6 1 0 1 6 1 0 1 0 1 6 . 2 6 2 6 2 O 1 6 2 0 2 6 2 0 1 0 0 6 b 2 0 2 0 i 6 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 6 1 0 1 0 For two persons .— Any distance not exceeding one mile. 6d.; if exceed- ing one mile, 6d. ror every addi- tional mile or part of a mile. For each person above two, 6d. addi- tional for the whole hiring , Acacia-road Avenue-road Albany-st ., Regent* s-pk. . . . Barracks Aldersgate-street Barbican Audley-street , South Mount-st. Baker-st., Portman-sq King-st. Baker-street {Upper) ...New-road Bank of England Bankruptcy Court ...Basinghall-st. Batter sea-bridge Beaufort-st. Bedford-square, N.W. Belgrave-square, N.W. Berkeley-square, N.W. Blackfriar s-bridge ...Chatham-pl, Blackfriar s-road Chari Bloomsbury -square, N.W. .. 38 LAW AS TO PROPERTY LEFT IN CABS. CAB FARES — continued . Property left in Hackney Carriages to be deposited by the driver at the nearest Police-station within 24 hours, if not sooner claimed by the owner ; such property to be returned to the person who shall prove that the same belonged to him, on payment of all expenses. Fenchurch- street. o3 <9 fcc w Jd sferw,Euston-sq. 2 O 2 O o 6 i 6 — 2 O i 6 2 O 2 O London time of opening the doors is gene- rally half-past six, the performances commencing at seven. ^ ra ry-lane, Covent-garden, the Havmarket, the Lyceum, and Sadler s Wells are known as Theatres Royal. The others place the word “ royal” before their titles. What are called the “ minor theatres” are those in the suburbs. Adelphi, 411, Strand ; proprietor and manager Mr. B Webster. Melodrama, domestic drama, farce, &c. Stalls 5s. ; boxes, 4s. ; pit stalls, 2s. ; pit, Is. 6d. ; amphitheatre stalls, Is. 6d. ; gallery, Is. (See p. 86.) Alexandra, adjoining Highbury Barn; proprietor, E. Giovanelli. 3s., 2s., Is. 6d. — Eight. Astley’s Amphitheatre, 6i, Bridge-road ; proprietor and manager, Mr. E.T. Smith. Drama, operas, &c. Stalls, 5s. ; boxes, 4s. and 3s. ; pit, Is. ; galleries, Is. and 6d. Britannia Theatre, Hoxton Old Town ; proprietor, Mr. Lane. Melodrama, farce, and pantomime. 2s., Is., 6d., 3 d! City of London, Norton-Folgate, Bishopsgate- street ; 51 THEATRES — SITUATION, PRICES, ETC. proprietor, Nelson Lee. Melodrama, farce, and panto- mime. 2s., Is., 6d., 3d. (See p. 156.) Covent-garden , Bow-street, Covent-garden ; lessee, Mr. Gye. Italian opera and ballet. A winter season of English opera. Private boxes, two to six guineas, to be hired of the music-sellers ; stalls, 21s. ; pit, 8s. ; amphitheatre stalls, 5s. ; amphitheatre, 2s. 6d. Half- past seven. Drury -lane , Brydges-street, Strand. Drama, opera, ballet, farce, pantomime, according to season. 5s., 4s., 3s., 2s., Is. Grecian , Eagle Tavern, City-road ; proprietor, Mr. B. 0. Conquest. Domestic drama, farce, ballet, &c. 2s., ls.,6d. Half-past six. : of Haymarket ; lessee, Mr. Buck- and occasionally tragedy. 5s., Her Majesty’s Theatre , Haymarket. Opera and ballet. Boxes from three guineas, to be had of the music-sellers ; stalls, 21s. ; pit, 8s. 6d. ; gallery stalls, 5s. ; gallery, 3s. Half-past seven. (See p. 121.) Lyceum , Wellington- street, Strand ; proprietor, Mr. Arnold ; lessee, Mr. Fechter. Drama and farce. 5s., 4s., 3s., 2s., Is. (See p. 85.) Marylehone , New Church-street, Lisson-grove ; lessee, Mr. J. H. Cave. Drama and farce. 3s., 2s., Is., 6d. Olympic, Wych-street, Strand; lessee, Mr. Horace Wigan. Comedy, farce, and burlesque. 4s., 2s., Is. Pavilion , 85, Whitechapel-road; lessee, Mr. J. Douglas. Melodrama, farce, and in the winter season English opera. 2s., Is., 6d., 3d. Open at six. (Seep. 158.) Prince of Wales’ (late Queen’s ), Tottenham -street, Tottenham-court-road ; managress, Miss Marie Wilton. Drama, farce, &c. 4s., 3s., 2s., Is. Princess’s , 73, Oxford-street ; lessee, Mr. Yining. Drama and farce, occasionally tragedy. 6s., 5s., 4s., 2s., Is. (See p. 105.) Royalty (New), Dean-street, Oxford- street; managress, Miss M. Oliver. Melodrama, comedy, farce. 2s., Is., 6d. Sadler's Wells , St. John-street-road ; manager, W. C. Nation. Tragedy, comedy, and farce. 3s., 2s., Is., 6d. St. James’s , 23, King- street, St. James's ; managress, Miss Herbert. Drama and farce. 5s., 4s., 3s., 2s., Is. (Seep. 124.) Standard , 204, High-street, Shoreditch ; proprietor, Mr. John Douglas. Melodrama, farce, and spectacle, oc- THE CITY TO THE WEST-END. 65 casionally tragedy and opera. 2s., Is. 6d., Is., 6d., 4d., 3d. (See p. 156.) Strand , 168, Strand; lessee, Mrs. Swanborough. Farce, burlesque. &c. 3s., Is. 6d., 6d. Surrey , New 124, Blackfriars-road ; lessee, Mr. Shep- herd. Melodrama, farce, and pantomime, occasionally tragedy, comedy, and opera. 2s., Is., 6d., 3d. (See p. 168.) Victoria , Waterloo-road, Lambeth (corner of the New Cut); lessees, Messrs. Frampton and Fenton. Melo- drama, farce, and pantomime. Is., 6d., 3d. (See p. 169.) There are a few other so-called theatres in London, such as the Effingham, Whiteehapel-road ; the Garrick, Leman-street, Whitechapel ; and the Bijou Theatre , at- tached to the Opera-house in the Haymarket. This elegant little theatre is worth seeing ; the stranger will not care to visit the others. FROM THE BANK TO CHARINO CROSS. Bank— Royal Exchange— Mansion House, Govern- ment of London — Poultry — Cheapside — Bow Church — Guildhall — St. Paul’s — Doctor’s Com- mons — Blackfriars Bridge — Fleet Street — Strand— Charing Cross. “ Where has commerce such a mart, — So rich, so thronged, so drained, and so supplied, As London ? Opulent, enlarged, and still Increasing London !” — Cowper’s Task. Standing by the Wellington statue in front of the Exchange, the stranger has before him one of the most remarkable sights in London : he is in the very heart of the City. The open space in front receives the contribu- tions of seven important thoroughfares — Cornliill, Thread- needle-street, Lombard-street, King William-street, from the east; Walbrook, Prince’ s-street, and Cheapside in the other directions ; on his right is the Bank of England, on his left the Mansion House, while before him lies the crowded but famous Cheapside ; behind him is the Royal Exchange and Cornhill, while on either side streets lead to London- bridge and Islington. This is the most crowded, and perhaps the most in- teresting part of the City. From morning to night vehicles of all descriptions pass and repass in either di- 56 THE CITY TO THE WEST-END. rection, while pedestrians pour to and fro in apparently never-ending streams. In the early part of the day the absence of the gentler sex from the neighbourhood will strike the stranger as peculiar, but towards noon, in fine weather, the omnibuses bring them in tolerably large numbers to the Bank and St. Paul's- churchyard. More people, and more omnibuses and cabs, perambulate the space in front of the Bank and the Mansion House than at perhaps any other similar place in the world. The visitor may as well pause for a little while, and look about him from this spot. Within a circuit of half a mile are most of the great City banking-houses, insurance offices, and commercial establishments. The Stock Exchange and Lombard-street are within a stone’s throw of the Bank, and less than an hour’s walk in any direction will bring the stranger to any desired point within that part of the metropolis known as “the City.” The centre of London has the reputation of being always dark and smoky. “ I reached London,” says Guizot, in the account of his English embassy, “towards the close of the morning. I had travelled under a clear cold sun, which entered, like myself, into the vast fog of the City, and suddenly became extinguished there. It was still day, but day without light. As I passed through London nothing particular attracted my attention. Public build- ings, houses, and shops, all appeared to me little, mono- tonous, and meanly ornamented ; everywhere columns, large and small, pilasters, statuettes, and embellishments of all kinds ; but the whole strikes by its extent. London conveys the idea of unlimited space filled with men in- cessantly and silently displaying their activity and their power.” This impression made, twenty-five years ago, upon the mind of a great statesman is that which is sup- posed to be present to every “ intelligent foreigner” who visits our city. But twenty- five years produce great changes. The “smoke nuisance” no longer creates the “ fog of the city,” and the dull uniformity in dress and appearance which then characterized all Englishmen has vanished before bright-coloured garments, fancy hats, and moustachios. There is little to excite the visitor’s admiration in the first general aspect of London, though much to elicit his wonder and astonishment. The very immensity of London is a quality that rather grows upon acquaintance than is apparent at first sight. In the great thoroughfare from the Bank to Charing-cross there are comparatively few important public buildings, and not many com- THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 57 mercial or trading* establishments of the first class ; yet in this line of street, with its monotonous rows of brick houses, each like its neighbour, the most important business trans- actions are being carried on day by day ; year after year. Let us briefly describe the buildings in the neighbour- hood from which we start, and then pursue our walk towards Charing-cross. r THE BANK OF ENGLAND.— The long low structure to the right of the Wellington Statue is the Bank of England. The building covers eight acres of ground, and in its business employs nearly a thousand clerks, porters, and servants. It is the greatest monetary esta- blishment in the world. It was founded in 1691 by William Patterson, a Scotchman, and received its Act of Incorporation in 1694 . The business of the Bank is con- ducted by a governor, a deputy-governor, and board of directors, twenty-four in number, eight of whom go out of office annually, but they are eligible for re-election, and generally serve for several years. The governor must be a proprietor of bank stock to the amount of at least 4000 /. ; the deputy-governor, 3000 /. ; and each director at least 2000/. In the Bank Parlour they meet, and arrange the current rate of discount and declare the dividend on their stock, which is seldom less than seven per cent. The price in the money market of 100/. Bank of England Stock is generally about 230 /. The amount paid in salaries — some of which are very handsome — is about 220,000/. a year. The management of the National Debt, which amounts now to 775 , 000 , 000 /., is entrusted to the Bank, and the commission it receives for keeping the numerous accounts connected with that enormous sum — attending to the transfers of stock from hand to hand, re- covering the income-tax chargeable upon it, and paying the dividends to the several holders, is the comparatively small amount of 200,000/. per annum. The Bank of England is altogether a private trading establishment, like any other banking house in the City, with the ad- ditional privilege of issuing notes payable on demand. To give value to the notes there is usually kept in the Bank fromffifteen to twenty millions in bullion, besides Govern- ment and other securities. Each bar of gold weighs about sixteen pounds, and is worth something like 800 /., while the silver bullion is kept in bars, pigs, and specie of various kinds, to a large extent in silver dollars, kept in bags. The original capital of the Bank was 1,200,000/., but various augmentations have from time to time taken 58 THE BANK OF ENGLAND, place, till now the “ old lady in Threadneedle- street” is the richest old lady in the world. The building occupies the entire area hounded by Threadneedle-street, Prince’s- street, Lothbury, and Bartholomew-lane. Originally the business of the corporation was transacted at Grocers* Hall in the Poultry, but it was soon found that “the principal bank of deposit and circulation, not only in this country but in Europe,*’ required more roomy and im- portant premises. The present building was therefore erected from the plan of Mr. G. Sampson. It was sub- sequently enlarged by Sir R. Taylor, and finally altered and improved by Sir John Soane, till it assumed much of its present aspect. Strangers, are permitted to .walk through the. principal offices during the hours of business, from nine till four. Many of the curiosities within its walls are well worthy of examination. In the Bullion Office is to be seen an exceedingly ingenious and delicate apparatus for weighing gold and silver ; and in the Weighing Office is Mr. W. Cotton’s machine for weighing sovereigns. The light pieces are separated from the rest, and pass into a receptacle beneath ; and so quickly is the operation performed that 35,000 gold coins can be weighed by one machine in a single day, piece by piece. There is also the printing of bank notes by a very ingenious series of steam machines, and the marking them in microscopic writing by a machine lately invented. There is also a collection of ancient coins, which, with the cellars where the bullion is stowed, can be seen by an order obtained from a governor. Within the walls of the Bank is a well- kept garden, and among the minor objects of interest is the clock over the Drawing Office. This clock has sixteen dials, so contrived that a face is seen in sixteen different offices. The principal entrance to the Bank is from Threadneedle-street. All day long crowds of persons are passing in and out of the various offices of the estab- lishment, of whom the beadles at the door seem to take no sort of notice ; but only let a suspicious-looking person pass the gate, and his every movement is closely watched. The principal offices are the Pay Office , the Transfer Rooms , the Five-pound-note Office , the Post Rill Office , the Rotunda , and the Telling Room. In these last a scene of extraordinary activity is observable at those periods of the year when the dividends are payable. Clerks are seen shovelling about gold like children do sand on the sea shore, and what with the counting, weighing, changing, paying in, and carrying away, there THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 59 seems do busier place in the world ; and yet amid all this apparent confusion there are always eyes awake to every movement in the room, so that it happens that while robberies are not uncommon in other banks, very few indeed take place in the Bank of England. Forgery is frequently attempted, but it is always discovered when the spurious note reaches the Bank. The great and paramount object of the forger is to deceive the clerks, and actually pass the base notes into the Bank itself : hitherto this has been found impossible. Within the building there is a good library for the use of the em- ployes ; and perhaps no place of business in London is conducted with such regularity, care, and liberal economy as the Bank of England. At night a small company of military and a few special clerks take charge of the building. The officers in charge and the soldiers have always provided for them a nice little supper, so that ser- vice at the Bank is looked upon as a pleasant privilege. In 1848 , the parapet walls were raised, and the Bank in some degree improved and strengthened, in anticipation of Chartist riots, which never took place ! Several times during its existence the Bank has been threatened, and, as we have seen, once actually attacked. It is perhaps as strong a building as any in London, not even excepting Newgate. But we must hasten on ; and while we are in the neighbourhood we may walk through THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. — In the space in the front stands the Bronze Equestrian Statue of the Duke of Wellington , and between it and the portico of the Ex- change is a pretty Drinking Fountain , erected in 1861 by the Drinking Fountain Association. It consists of a female figure holding in her hand a vase, from which fiows a stream of pure water. The cost of the Wellington statue (exclusive of the value of the materials, which is about 1500 /.) was nearly 10 , 000 /., the whole of which was raised by public subscription. The celebrated Chantrey made the design, which is generally admired. The statue stands on a granite pedestal, on either side of which is inscribed — “Wellington. Erected June 18 , 1844 .“ The Royal Exchange is the third building of the name that has stood on this spot. The first, that of Gresham, was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 ; and the second, and most celebrated, erected from the designs of Jarman, was burnt down in 1838 . Both the old buildings had been honoured by royalty. J arman’s Exchange is well known 60 ROYAL EXCHANGE — LLOYD’S. from the engravings, though probably few Londoners care to remember it, with its lofty bell-tower, its carved walls, and its statues of our kings and queens, from Edward the Confessor to George I Y. The statue of the ill- fated Charles I. shared the obloquy of . his memory, and was thrown down immediately after his execution, and an inscription in gold placed on the pedestal — J Exit tyr annus , regum ultimus: ‘‘The tyrant is gone, the last of the kings.” But the disaffected citizens who so recorded their hatred of royalty were the first to recognise the claim of his suc- cessor on the throne, the “elegant and worthy ” Charles II. The foundation-stone of the present building was laid by his late Royal Highness Prince Albert, on the 17th of January, 1842 ; and the new Exchange was opened by Her Majesty the Queen on the 28th of October, 1844. As we enter the quadrangle we perceive Westmacott’s Statue of Her Majesty in the centre. The small Turkey stones with which the inner space is paved are the iden- tical stones used in the former building, and the margin of freestone surrounding them plainly indicates how much larger is the space now appropriated to the mer- chants than it was formerly. All round, in the peram- bulatory, are what are known as the merchants’ “walks.” The present Exchange is 390 feet long from east to west; the quadrangle is 170 long by 112 wide ; and the height of the tower is 177 feet. Not the least interesting part of the Exchange is the suite of apartments at the east end, known as “Lloyd’s,’’ which word is understood all over the world as indicative of the honourable body of under- writers, or ship-insurers, occupying these rooms. The agents of Lloyd’s are to be found in almost every seaport in the world ; and, through the medium of the small daily paper known as “ Lloyd’s List,” shipping and com- mercial intelligence is promulgated all over the country. As soon as a vessel has sailed, it is notified in this little newspaper; when she is “ spoken” by another vessel, far out at sea, perhaps ; when she arrives at her destined port ; when she takes her departure thence ; when she reaches home, again; or, haply, when she is lost by fire, or wrecked in the unfathomable waves, intelligence reaches the underwriters at Lloyd’s with the most un- erring certainty. Lloyd’s consists of two. principal suites of rooms, one of which is open to the public, and the other reserved to subscribers only. Inserted in the wall nearly over the Captains* Room, observe a marble slab comme- morative of the subscription raised in the City to reim- 1. Triumphal Arch, Entrance to Green Park. 3. Duke of York’s Column. 5. Guards’ Memorial, Waterloo Place. 7. Nelson’s Column. 9. Equestrian statue of Duke of Wellington, Rl. Ex< 11. Equestrian statue 2. Hyde Park Gates. 4. Statue of Sir Robert Peel, Cheapside. 6. Statue of Queen Victoria, Royal Exchange. 8. Equestrian statue of Charles 1st., Char. Cross ige. 10. Marble Arch, Hyde Park. >ige 3rd, Cockspur Street. UBPfRY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS ROYAL EXCHANGE — MANSION HOUSE. 61 burse the proprietors of the Times on the termination of the cause “ Bogle v. Lawson.” In this case the Times fearlessly denounced a gang of swindlers who were going about the Continent with forged letters of credit. One of the suspected parties — Bogle, a banker — brought an ac- tion against the Times for libel, which the proprietors of that paper defended, putting a plea of justification upon the record. By means of this timely exposure the gang was completely routed. Bogle obtained a verdict in his action against the Times; but so thoroughly did the merchants appreciate the good service done the commer- cial community, that a subscription was instantly raised to pay the law expenses of the proprietors. This they nobly refused to put into their own pockets, choosing rather to defend their position ; and a munificent gift to the City of London School, known as the. “ Times - Scholarship” together with this tablet, and a similar one over the door of the printing-office of the paper, was the result of their refusal. The roof of the “covered walks’' is artistically em- bellished in real fresco, from designs by Frederick Sang. Various statues and arms adorn the interior and exterior of the Exchange ; and round the outer wall are a series of shops, after the fashion of the previous building. The Royal Exchange Assurance Company occupy the apartments at the west end of the building, corresponding to Lloyd's rooms. On the top of the tower is the grasshopper, which formed the vane of the old Exchange. The grasshopper was the crest of Gresham, and the legend goes that he assumed it from having, when a babe, been discovered by his nurse close to the river’s edge, to which he had crawled, she having been led thither by the chirp of the insect. Just noticing the fine frontage of the Globe Insurance Office, one of the best of the established offices, and now amalgamated with the London and Liverpool , we cross the road to THE MANSION HOUSE.— -It may be as well, in this place, that we should say something of the Civil Govern- ment of the Metropolis. The City and its Liberties are under three distinct modes of government, Civil , Military , and Ecclesiastical . The civil divides it into wards and precincts, under a Lord-Mayor, twenty- six Aider- men, two Sheriffs (who are also Sheriffs of Middlesex), two hundred and thirty-six Common Councilmen, a Re- corder, a Chamberlain, a Common Serjeant, a Town Clerk, 62 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF LONDON. a Water. Bailiff, and various subordinate officers ; the military is under the authority of a Lieutenancy, vested in the Mayor, Aldermen, and principal citizens, the city being* by charter a county corporate and lieutenancy in itself : and the ecclesiastical is directed by a Bishop, Archdeacon, and subordinate clergy. The civil govern- ment of the City bears a general resemblance to the legisla- tive power of the empire ; the Lord-Mayor exercising some of the functions of monarchy, the aldermen those of the peerage, and the common council those of the third branch of the legislature: the principal . difference is, that the Lord-Mayor himself has no negative. The laws for the internal regulation of the City are wholly framed by these officers acting in common council ; and the administration of them is also exclusively in the corporation, the Lord- Mayor being chief magistrate, and the aldermen justices of the peace. The Lord-Mayor is chosen annually, in the following manner : — On the 29th of September, the livery, in Guild- hall or common assembly, choose two aldermen, by show of hands, who are presented to a court, called the Court of Lord-Mayor and Aldermen, by whom one of the aider- men so chosen (generally the first in seniority) is declared Lord-Mayor elect; and, on the 9th of November following, he enters upon his office. Should a poll be demanded, it commences on the same day, and terminates on the sixth day following. The two sheriffs are chosen annually by the livery, not only for the city, but for the county of Middlesex, the same persons being sheriffs for London, and jointly forming* one sheriff for the county ; and it is their duty to inspect the prisons, summon impartial juries, keep the courts of law, and execute all writs and judg- ments. The sheriffs are sworn in at Westminster, on the 30th of September. The aldermen are chosen for life, by the householders of the several wards, being freemen, one for each ward. The common councilmen are chosen an- nually, by the householders, being freemen, in their several wards, the number for each ward being regulated by ancient custom, the body corporate having a power to extend the number. The livery is a numerous,, respect- able, and important elective body, being the liveries of the several companies, in whom resides the election of Lord- Mayor, sheriffs, members of parliament, chamberlain, bridge-masters, ale- conners, and auditors of the chamber- lain^ accounts, all of whom are chosen by their respective guilds or companies, from among the freemen forming the CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF LONDON. 63 body of the livery. The Lord-Mayor, aldermen, common councilmen, and livery of London, form together the most important popular assembly (the Commons House of Par- liament excepted) in the United Kingdom. There are various courts in the city for trying civil and criminal causes, as well by the judges of the land as by the officers of the corporation. The Lord- May or, the Recorder, the Common Serjeant, and the Aldermen are judges to try capital offences and misdemeanours within the city and county of Middlesex. The principal courts are held at the Guildhall and the Sessions-house in the Old Bailey. Southwark was long independent of the city of London, but in consequence of the inconvenience arising from the escape of malefactors into that district, Edward III. granted it to the city, in consideration of the annual payment of 10/. It was then called the village of South- wark ; and afterwards the bailiwick, a bailiff being ap- pointed by the corporation to govern it. In the reign of Edward VI., it was formed into a twenty-sixth ward, under the name of Bridge- Ward Without ; and it is always bestowed on the senior alderman, it being con- sidered as a sinecure, and, consequently, as best adapted for the “ Father of the City.” Westminster , in respect to its local jurisdiction, is a distinct city, the government of which, both civil and ecclesiastical, was once vested in the Abbot and Con- vent of Westminster ; but, since the Reformation, in the Dean and Chapter, the civil part being by them com- mitted to laymen. Of these the high-steward, who is generally a nobleman of rank, has an under- steward, who officiates for him, and is commonly chairman of the Quarter-Sessions. Next to the high-steward is the high- bailiff, chosen also by the dean and chapter.. His power resembles that of a sheriff ; for by him juries are sum- moned, and he makes the return at the election of mem- bers of Parliament. The chief police regulation of the Suburbs is vested in the Justices of the Peace for Middlesex and Surrey, assisted by stipendiary magistrates, who sit to administer justice at the several Police-courts. The principal Court is at Bow - street ; and since 1829, when the old system of watching the streets by old men (“Charleys” or “Watchmen”), was abolished and Peel’s Police Act established, the police system has been rendered almost as perfect as possible. The City still retains its own police ; but the rest of the metropolis, in all matters con- 64 THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS. nected with police, is regulated by Police Commissioners, under the direction of the Secretary of State for the Home Department. Th q City Police Offices are at the Guildhall and the Mansion House ; the Metropolitan Offices are severally known as Bow- street, Marlborough- street, Southwark, Marylebone, Westminster, Clerken- well, Lambeth, Worship- street, (Shoreditch), Greenwich, Hammersmith, and the Thames. The last has juris- diction over all offences committed on and about the river ; several well-manned boats, or galleys, being kept constantly rowing to-and-fro between Gravesend and Westminster. To these has been added a system of horse- patrol, so that London is perhaps the best ordered and quietest city in Europe. The nightly watch is of peculiar utility in case of fire, as in every police office the names of the turncocks, and the places where engines are kept, are to be found. Be- sides parochial engines, protection from fire is ensured by the Fire Brigade , lately re-organized under the direction of the police. To this brigade the fire insurance offices contribute a large sum yearly. Fire-engines and Fire- escapes are stationed in various districts, with active men and horses. By means of the fire-plugs, water is imme- diately supplied, and the general security is guaranteed by every effort of vigilance and activity. The local management of the whole metropolis is vested in the Metropolitan Board of Works , whose offices are in Spring-gardens. Its members consist of delegates from the City and the several Metropolitan vestries. The City nominates three members, six of the vestries nominate two each, and thirty districts return one each. A salary not to exceed £2,000 per annum is assigned for a chairman. The board entered upon its duties in December, 1855, and after a warm contest with Mr. Roe- buck, Mr. John Thwaites, delegate from Greenwich, since knighted on the occasion of the opening of the Main Drainage Works, was elected permanent chairman. Mr. J. W. Bazalgette was appointed and still holds the office of engineer to the board. By the original constitution of the board, the consent of the First Commissioner of Works was required before it could initiate any plan, whether for drainage, opening new streets, or otherwise improving the metropolis. This provision brought things to a dead lock, and for two years nothing could be done, until in 1858, under Lord Derby's Government, the ne- cessity for adopting some drainage plan became urgent. LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 1. Christ’s Hospital. King’s College. 2. St. Paul’s School. 3. Westminster School. 5. City of London School. 6. Merchant Tailors’ School. 7. Charter House. 8. University College. THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS. 65 Mr. Disraeli brought in a Bill during that session to or- ganize the Board of Works into a regular and indepen- dent corporation. The control of the Chief Commissioner of Works was removed, and the Board was rendered practically irresponsible either to Parliament or to the ratepayers. At the same time the scheme for interceptive drainage was introduced. Into the details of this scheme we do not intend to enter, but we shall briefly touch on the financial part of the matter. In 1858 the Board obtained borrowing powers to the amount of £3,000,000, and in 1862 they came to Par- liament again to seek for additional borrowing powers to the amount of 1,200,000. This immense sum of £4,200,000 will be applied to the drainage scheme alone ; £3,583,761 9s. 3d. of this sum has been expended, all of which has been raised upon Goverment guarantee from the Bank of England at three and a half per cent. The area em- braced by the main drainage work is 117 square miles. With respect to the Thames Embankment, great hopes have been formed by the public of the ornamental nature of this stupendous work. It seems, however, that so far as one important portion of it is concerned this hope is doomed to disappointment. Northumberland House, which, in the opinion of Parliament, it would be sacrilege to touch, almost borders upon the embankment ; not quite however, for between lie certain small and, truth to tell, shabby houses, which the noble possessor will not consent to remove, and which he will not replace by a decent and lofty range of edifices, lest they should intercept the view of the “ silvery Thames” which he obtains from his palace windows. The Board of Works have constructed in several thoroughfares, at a large expense, subways for the use of the gas aud water companies, to avoid the too frequent disturbance of the pavement. It was found, however, that the companies, almost without exception, refused to use these subways, and an attempt to make their employ- ment compulsory failed. The money, therefore, laid out in this way has for the present been practically lost. From a parliamentary Report, issued in April, 1866, we learn that: — Besides the project for improving the approaches to the Thames Embankment, at a cost of £270,000, the Board of Works proposes to embank the river at Chelsea ; to improve Park-lane ; and widen High- street, Kensington, at a total cost of £669,000. THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OE WORKS. The Report gives the following summary of the expen- diture which has been or will be incurred for improve- ments in different parts of the metropolis : Thames Embankment, north side, with proposed approaches — £1,973,510 New street from Black friars to Man- sion House 1,299,260 Garrick-street 125,446 Middle-row, Holborn, removing 61,000 Holborn-valley Viaduct 586,000 Widening Park-lane ... 105,000 Widening High-street, Kensington . . 88,000 Southwark-street 596,706 Victoria Park approach 43,430 Whitechapel-street 175,000 Finsbury Park 59,567 Southwark Park 59,271 Chelsea Embankment 206,000 Lambeth Embankment 909,000 making a total between six and seven millions sterling for past and projected improvements. This sum is in process of collection by means of a rate of threepence in the pound upon all the rateable property in London, and from the coal and wine duties. Quitting this subject, w^e now return to our starting- place opposite the Mansion House. The Mansion House was built in 1739 by George Dance, a retired ship-carpenter, whose chief recommenda- tion as architect is said to have been that he was a citizen! It had originally a sort of quarter-deck roof, which was taken down a few years since. Lord Burlington sent in a view of a pediment by Palladio, the great Italian architect. But the City Solon s rejected it, on the inquiry of an alderman — “Who was Palladio? — was he a freeman ?” This not very handsome structure is at once the civic palace and the civic tribunal of the Lord Mayor, as sovereign and magistrate of the City. Here that great functionary gives those princely entertainments in which all that is high, powerful, and notable in the empire hold a part. Here for twelve months, he maintains that state in which the 8000/. allowed for it are often swallowed up in about half the time. The Egyptian-hall, Venetian - parlour, state drawing-room, ball-room, long parlour, and state bed-room, though, perhaps not of the purest taste in the world, are gorgeous and imposing apart- ments. Strangers are always admitted to see them, on THE POULTRY AND CHEAPSIDE. 67 application to the doorkeepers, who may request, but cannot demand , a gratuity. Amiable weakness often accords sixpence. Glancing down Charlotte-street, on the west side of the mansion, we see the masterpiece of Sir Christopher Wren, St. Stephen^Walbrook. This beautiful church has lately been thoroughly repaired and restored. It is well worthy a visit ; for beauty of effect and grandeur of style it is perhaps unequalled. The roof is supported by several noble Corinthian pillars, and the altar-piece, by West, representing the burial of St. Stephen, is one of the finest pictures by that artist. Immediately under the south wall is Turner's book-shop, where a quarter of an hour may be advantageously spent. We now enter THE POULTRY. This short street connects Cornhill and Cheapside. It was once famous for its Compter , in which, in 1772, the last slave imprisoned m England was confined. There is little worth notice in the Poultry, beyond the fact (if it be one) related in Nicholls’ Literary Anecdotes. We are told that Charles II. stopped on his return from the Mansion House after his restoration to salute the wife of one William King, who kept the King’s Head tavern, now No. 25, in consequence of hear- ing that the lady, who was in an “interesting situa- tion,” had expressed an earnest desire to see the gallant monarch. No. 22 was once kept by Hilly, the book- seller, who published the first edition of “ Boswell’s Johnson and No. 31 was the shop of Vernor and Hood, booksellers, and here the famous Tom Hood was born in 1798. The church is called St. Mildred's in the Poultry . It was burnt in the Great Fire, and rebuilt by Wren. In the old church was buried (in 1580)^ John Tusser, author of “Five Hundred Good Points of Husbandry.” If you wanta<7ooe?cigar go toBoyall’s old-established shop, No. 10. Formerly prisoners committed by the Lord Mayor were sent to the Poultry Compter, and prisoners committed by the sitting magistrates, to Giltspur-street, which prison was pulled down a few years since. At the end of the Poultry, inclining to the south-east, is Buckler sbury , formerly the resort of grocers, drysalters, and herbalists, and now famous for its good City Dining Booms ; though there is still a well-known grocer and tea-dealer doing business there. We now reach CHEAPSIDE, the centre of the retail trade of the city, and its most busy and crowded street. F 2 68 CHEAPSIDE — HISTORICAL GOSSIP. Cheapside derives its name from having been the market 'of the Ward of Cheape. It was the northern boundary of Roman London, all beyond being marsh and bog. Howes, writing in 1631, calls Cheapside the “ Beauty of London.” It has for many years been cele- brated for its hosiers’, mercers’, and jewellers’ shops. This street is full of historical recollections. At the end of Wood-street, just opposite the tree, stood the Cross, one of the nine erected by Edward I. to the memory of Eleanor, his queen, on the various spots where the body rested on the way from Lincoln to Westminster ; the cross at Cheape was the intermediate resting-place between the villages of Charing and Waltham. The history of this in- teresting memorial is worth recording. It was set up in the year 1290, “ re-edified in a most beautiful manner” in 1441, “ new gilt over” in 1 552, in honour of the visit of the Emperor Charles V. ; again gilt the next year by favour of Henry VIII. on his marriage with Anne Boleyn ; new burnished” on the coronation of Edward VI.; gilt in 1554, on the visit of Philip of Spain ; “ broken and defaced” in 1595 and 1600 ; and finally demolished on the 2nd of May, 1643, in the mayoralty of the regicide Isaac Pen- nington, to the noise of trumpets, the tramp of horses, and the cries of the multitude. Any of the streets to the left will lead you to the Thames, the “ noblest commercial river in the world,” converted into a mere common sewer — a scandal and dis • grace, which the main sewer will shortly abolish. Before the days of water monopolies, and when Lon- don was much smaller than it is now, there were two famous Conduits in Cheapside; one at the east end near the Poultry, and the other in the centre of the roadway opposite Old Change. The Standard in Cheape stood in front of Bow Church. In 1196 William Fitzosbert, alias Longbeard, came with his followers, and alarmed the inha- bitants of Cheape, and made an assault on Bow Church. Alter a severe struggle, which lasted several days, this rough reformer, whose opposition to the taxes on the poor caused him to head the sedition, was taken, as he issued from the church, in the midst of fire and smoke, and brought before ‘‘the archbishop in the Tower, where he was by the judges condemned, and by the heeles drawn from thence to a place called The Elmes (without Smith- field) and there hanged with nyne of his fellowes.” Here it was, in 1381, that Wat Tyler caused Richard Irons and others to be beheaded. In 1450, Jack Cade, “ lord 2. Guy’s Hospital. 5. St. Thomas’s Hospital. 8. Brompton Hospital. 10. Chelsea Hospital. 1. St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. *. Bethlehem Hospital. 7. Westminster Hospital. 3. St. George’s Hospital. 6. Greenwich Hospital. 9. King’s College Hospital. CHEAPSIDE — GROCERS’ HALL. 69 of London,*' did a like cruel service on the same spot to Lord Say. In the reign of Edward III. “divers joustings were made in this street between Soper’s-lane and the Great Cross,” says Stowe ; and in the year 1510, on St. John’s Eve, Henry VIII. came privily “in the livery of a yeoman of the guard,” with a halbert on his shoulder, to look after the guard ; and being satisfied with the way they kept watch and ward within the City, came right royally on “ St. Peter’s night next fol- lowing,” ancl with his queen and nobles “ beheld the watch of the city, and departed in the morning.” In 1517 the riot, known as “Evil May-day,” took place in Cheapside. It arose, as many other riots have done, from the jealousy of workmen at the encourage- ment given to foreign artificers who had settled in the City between Temple Bar and Aldgate. “Prentice rows” were common in those days ; and from the Evil May-day the setting up of a May-pole in Cheapside was gradually discontinued. Several houses in Cheapside are historical. No. 73 was used as the residence of the Lord Mayor before the erection of the present, so called, Mansion House ; it was afterwards the dwelling-house and place of busi- ness of the celebrated Thomas Tegg, the bookseller, and in which he made a fortune. His son and successor is now in business as a bookseller and publisher in Queen-street. The house was afterwards used as an insurance office, then as an hotel and dining-rooms, and now it is occupied by Messrs. Mead and Powell, the well- known booksellers, stationers, and account-book makers. This is the great City mart for croquet implements, cricket bats, toys, and all manner of indoor games. Notice the lock and safe sellers, Messrs. Hobbs and Hart. Hobbs was the American scientific lock-picker of the Exhibi- tion of 1851. In 1635 Charles I. dined at the house of Bradborne, the “ great silkman.” No. 90, the corner of Ironmonger- lane, was the residence of Alderman Boydell. The con- cluding plate of Hogarth’s “Industry and Idleness” represents the City procession entering Cheapside, then a very different looking street to what it is now. In Cheap- side is the Hall of the Grocers Company . The faqade is a well-sculptured design, with emblematical figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity ; and the entrance in Iron- monger-lane is adorned with pillars supporting an arch, the keystone of which is the arms of the company. 70 CHEAPSIDE — BOW CHURCH. Within the hall are preserved several curious relics of the famous Whittington “ thrice lord mayor of London,” Cheapside is divided about the centre by King and Queen streets, the former leads to the Guildhall and the latter to Southwark-bridge. At the eastern corner of King-street is the Atlas Insurance Office , a fine building 1 . Notice just before you come to llow Church, on the same side of the way, the shops 65 and 66 , of Mr. John Bennett,, the eminent watchmaker and jeweller, with its illuminated Clock, and the Timeball which falls daily by a current of electricity from Greenwich . Mr. Bennett's premises occupy two large houses ; in the front of which figures of Time and our old friends Gog and Magog strike the hours and quarters upon suspended bells, after the manner of the giants at St. Dunstan’s, Fleet-street, whom some of my readers may remember. The figures were modelled by Mr. Brugiotti from those of the famous Guildhall giants. Altogether Bennett's Observatory may be fairly looked upon as one of the “sights of the City.” Mr. Bennett obtained Prize Medals at the London Exhi- bitions of '51 and ' 62 , the Paris International of ' 55 , and the Dublin of ' 65 . Next door are Lake’s Dining Dooms, ’where a good dinner may be had cheaply ; and nearly opposite, with ata entrance at the side of a handsome block of new house! and shops, is | Saddlers’ Hall , which is well worthy a visit. The^ Saddlers’ is the twenty-fifth on the list of the City Companies, and although considered among the minor companies, it is at once ancient and honourable. Frederick, Prince of Wales, the father of George III., was once a spectator of the Lord Mayor’s show from the doorway of the hall, in remembrance of which honour the saddlers made him master of this company. Immediately opposite Bennett’s is the City warehouse of the Florence Sewing Machine Company. The advantages of this machine are — that it makes four stitches, that it is very easily managed, that it is fitted for all kinds of needlework, and is, moreover, cheap and complete. Sew- ing machines have now became so general that a home can scarcely be said to be complete without one. We must now say a word or two about BOW CHUBCli (St. Mary-le-Bow). — This fine church was built by Sir Christopher Wren, after the Great Fiije. It has an excellent peal of bells and a projecting cloqk. It was the sound of the bells of the first Bow Church CHEAPS1DE — THE GUILDHALL. 71 that is said to have recalled Whittington to the City as he sat disconsolate on Highgate Stone. The steeple, of Portland stone, is 200 feet high, and is considered a tine specimen of church architecture. It is surmounted by a gilt vane in the shape of a dragon. An old prophecy says — When the Gresham Grasshopper And Bowe Dragon both shall meet, On England’s royal throne No. King shall dare to sit. This doggrel prophecy was curiously fulfilled a few years after the accession of our beloved Queen, for the grasshopper and the dragon were both sent to the same workshop at the same time to be regilt. Beneath the clock is the gallery at which royalty, in gone-by days, was w T ont to witness the pageantry of the Lord-Mayor’s Show. The crypt, now filled with coffins and lumber, is a fine specimen of the Norman style. Several celebrities have been buried in Bow-church, within the sound of whose bells all who are born are (or used to bel styled “ Cock- neys.” In Bow churchyard are the extensive premises of Messrs. Copestake, Moore, and Co., the eminent silk- mercers. We go down King-street to / THE GUILDHALL.— In this noble hall, and the adjoining apartments, are held the city parliament and f various courts of law. Here the Lord-Mayor and Sheriffs j of the city are elected, and here, too, the liverymen vote Jj at the elections for members of parliament. The Lord- Mayor’s Dinner, on the 9th of November, is always held in the Guildhall, which may be considered the Town- hall or Hotel de Ville of the city of London. Guildhall was originally built between the years 1411 and 1431, before which the corporation and citizens held their meetings in 1 Aldermanbury, a street in Cripplegate ward, now prin- cipally occupied by wholesale drapers, silk mercers, and Manchester warehousemen. The building was much damaged by the Great Fire ; but it was afterwards re- stored by Wren, with the exception of its Gothic front, which was finished iu 1789. The Great Hall is 153 feet , in length, 48 in breadth, and 55 feet in height; the east 1 and the west windows are adorned with stained and painted glass, which gives a rich mellowness to the light. In 1865-6, under the superintendence of Mr. Grace, the archi- tect, and during the mayoralty of Alderman Phillipps, this ancient hall was restored in the original style, with a fine raftered Gothic-roof, &c. Here in March and April, 1866, was held the first of a series of City Industrial Exhibitions. 72 CHEARSIDE — ST. PAULAS CATHEDRAL. The ancient colossal figures of Gog and Magog are exalted on lofty pedestals on either side of the west window. They are of wood, and hollow. Notice the monument in commemoration of the patriot Beckford, lord-mayor in 1779. He is represented in the attitude in which he ad- dressed George III., in reply to an unfavourable answer to a petition from the City : also the statues of the great Lord Chatham, by Bacon; his son, sometime Chancellor of the Exchequer, by Budd ; and the immortal Nelson, by Smith. There is considerable grandeur in the monuments of the two Pitts; and some parts of that of Nelson are deserving praise. The arms of the various city companies adorn the walls. The Library contains several valuable works, and the Crypt is well worthy examination. The London Rifie Brigade and other volunteer companies drill in Guildhall, which is one of the most interesting of the old buildings of the city. QUEEN STREET is only remarkable for having in it the churchyard of St. Thomas the Apostle, a church de- stroyed by the great fire and not since rebuilt. Queen- street is the original Soper-lane. Here was the tavern called the “ Three Cranes in the Vintry,” mentioned in Scott’s Kenilworth, and immortalized by Ben Jonson. Strype says that the street itself was first called after the name of the tavern. At the bottom of the street is SOUTHWARK-BRIDGE.— This fine bridge consists of three cast-iron arches, which rest on stone piers. It was designed by Sir John Rennie, and erected in 1815 by a public company, at a cost of 800,000/. It was publicly opened in April, 1819. The span of the centre arch is 240 feet, and the weight of iron employed is about 5780 tons. It is one of the bridges for passing over which a toll was till lately exacted, to the great inconvenience of the public, who, to avoid the toll, crowded London and Blackfriars-bridges. At the west end of Cheapside is the Statue of Sir Robert Reel , executed in bronze from the design of Behnes, in 1856 ; the right hand street is St. Martin s-le- Grand, in which is the Post-office, of which we shall speak in the next chapter; while to the left is / ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL. — This great building rears its noble proportions over the ashes of many churches. Fir&t, there was a Christian chuich here belonging to the very earliest times of the Christian religion. It was destroyed during the persecutions of Diocletian. The second was raised, by way of restoration, in the reign CHEAPS1DE — ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL. 73 of the great Constantine, the Roman Emperor. The early Saxon heathens destroyed this. The third structure dates as far hack as 603, in which year Sebert, the sub- king* of Ethelbert, sovereign of Kent, and the first Saxon monarch who was a Christian, rebuilt a church on the old site. At this time, on the recommendation of St. Augustine, Melitus, the first Bishop of London, was ap- pointed. This church, which was a noble edifice, im- proved and adorned by many successive bishops of London, trom St. Erkenwald, the fourth after Melitus, was de- stroyed by fire with a large part of the metropolis in 1086. Immediately after this, Bishop Mauritius set about the fourth and still finer cathedral, commonly called in our day “ Old St. Paul's” — the vast and venerable fane which was destroyed in the great fire of 1666. The present, or fifth church took thirty-five years in the building. It was begun immediately after the fire, and not finished till 1701. The cost, which amounted to 1,500, 000^. sterling, or just half a million less than London - bridge , was defrayed by a small tax on coal, one architect and one mason only being employed in its construction. The circumference of the building is 2292 feet, or within 343 feet of half a mile. From east to west it measures 510 feet ; from north to south, 282. The elevation of the Cross from the foundation is 404 feet ; and from the floor of the basement, 365 feet. The height of the cross itself is 30 feet. The weight of the ball is 5600ibs. ; that of the cross, 3360lbs. The moment you enter the building you are struck by its lofty vaulting, and the noble concave with which it soars upwards. It is full of monuments, some of which are very striking, besides containing a fine library. The curiosities are the Geometrical Staircase, which hangs without any visible support ; the Model-room, containing Sir C. Wren’s original and favourite model of St. Paul’s, and a model of St. Peter’s at Borne ; the Great Bell, which sends its peal to a distance of twenty miles on a fine day, the Whispering Gallery, in which the slightest whisper at one end is heard, as if close to the ear, at the other end, 150 feet away, and in which the clapping of a door resounds like a discharge of artillery or a roll of thunder. All these things, with the vaults beneath, you may see, and you can also mount into the ball of the cross, and take a view from over the lofty gilt balustrade, for a series of charges, amounting in all to 3s . ; which may be thus particularized : — 74 st. Paul’s cathedral — charges. To Ihe Whispering Galleries and the two Outside s. d. Galleries 0 6 To tli e Ball 1 6 To the Library, Great Bell, Geometrical Staircase and Model-room ' 0 6 Clock and Crypt . . 0 6 3 0 For part of each day, the body of the Cathedral is open free , but during divine service no other portion is allowed to be seen. The charges made for viewing the other parts of the cathedral we hope to see soon abolished. In the old Cathedral, which stood, we are told, on the site of an ancient Temple of Diana, great enormities were practised. Plays and mysteries were performed, mer- chandise was publicly sold, the chapels and chantries were used as workshops, the vaults were turned into wine cellars, houses were built against its outer wall — a play- house amongst the number — lotteries were drawn at its gates, and a public thoroughfare existed through its doors. In one sense, therefore, its destruction was a benefit ; for on the new building rising, Phoenix-like, from the ashes of the old, all these enormities were swept away for ever. Let us look around us. Here are the monuments to the “ illustrious dead.” Step softly ; we are on holy ground. Here are memorials of the great among all professions — soldiers, sailors, philosophers, lawyers, painters, poets, and one philanthropist. Many of the monuments in the area of the cathedral are extremely fine, but it is impossible to describe them in this sketch. They record the memory of the following among other personages : — John Howard, Dr. Johnson, Sir William Jones, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Viscount Nelson, Captain Duff, Marquis Cornwallis, Captain John Cooke, Capt. Burgess, Capt. Faulkner, Capt. Miller, Capt. Hardinge, Major-Gen. Dundas, Capt. Westcott, the Generals Crawford and Mackinnon, Major-Generals Mackenzie and Langworth, Lord Rodney, Captains Mosse and Riou, Karl Howe, Sir Ralph Abercromby, (an eques- trian monument,) Sir John Moore, K.B., Admiral Lord Collingwood, Sir Isaac Brock, Major-Gen. Houghton, Sir William Myers, and Major-Gen. Le Marchant. The crypt contains the tombs of Nelson, Collingwood, Picton, Wellington, Turner, Lawrence, West, Fuseli, Reynolds, and other eminent persons. Notice the tomb of Wren, with its Latin inscription — “Beneath lies Christopher 75 st. Paul’s — monuments, etc. Wren, the architect of this church and city, who lived more than ninety years, not for himself alone, but for the public. Leader, do you seek his monument? Look around !” '1 he Dome is supported by eight immense piers, each of them forty feet at the base, 'lhe interior of the dome was painted by Sir James Thornhill, with an emblema- tical history of St. Paul, w T hich, with other parts of the interior, has lately been put in repair. There are three domes, in fact — an outer and an inner, with a brick one between. In the choir are some fine carvings by Grinling Gibbons, and the new organ (which was removed from the Panopticon in Leicester- square) is believed to be as line a one as any in the country. During the winter months a Sunday evening service is held in the body of the Cathedral under the dome. The view from the Gulden Gfallery, or from the Cross, on a line summer morning is superb. In the Yard facing the Western gate, the principal entrance, there is a full-length Statue of Queen Anne , supposed to be in white marble, but black with dust and grime, as, indeed, are many parts of the Cathedral. The thoroughfare round the Cathedral is known throughout the kingdom as St. Paul's Churchyard. The longer side is called the Bow , and the shorter one, which is open only for foot passengers, the String — the two avenues taking somewhat the form of a bended bo\v with the string rather loose. In the right-hand passage are several large drapers’ and silk mercers’ shops ; and at the corner nearest Ludgate-hill is the shop of Messrs Griffith and Farran, the successors of John Newbery, the bookseller, for whom Oliver Goldsmith wrote many books, and among others — so the story goes — the veritable history of “ Goody Two Shoes !” Between St. 1 Paul’s Churchyard and Newgate- street, on the right-hand, is Paternoster - row y the great mart for booksellers. At the upper end, on the south side, are the spacious new premises of Longman and Co., together with those of Blackwood and Sons, the proprietors of “ Blackwood’s Magazine,” opposite is a fine range of new buildings occupied by Messrs. Hamilton, while lower down the “Bow” are the warehouses of the Pteligious Tract Society. In St. Paul’s Churchyard most of Shakspeare’s plays were originally published. Here, also, is the Chapter House ; and behind it is Amen Corner , in the enclosure beyond which reside many of the Cathe- dral authorities. In Stationers' -Hall- court, the space 76 st. Paul’s school — doctors’ commons. between Ludgate-hill and Amen-corner, is Stationers' - Ilall , the hall of the Stationers’ Company. Here is kept the registry for copyright publications, and here also is published annually a series of almanacks, among which is that of Old Moore, the sham weather-prophet ! Several fine pictures are to be seen within the hall, and the por- trait of Sir W. Domville, in his robes as Lord Mayor when attending the Prince Regent and the Foreign Sovereigns at the Guildhall Banquet, in 1814. A fine stained-glass window, presented by Alderman Cadell, is worthy of examination. On the south side of the Churchyard (the Bow) are several noticeable buildings; the first house on the left is the Cathedral Coffee House, where a good dinner may be had. Next is St. Paul's School. This celebrated school was founded in 1509, by Dr. Colet, Dean of St. Paul’s, son of Sir H. Colet, Knt., twice Lord-Mayor. It was instituted for the free education of 153 boys, under especial regulations ; its ample endowments and manage- ment being vested in the Mercers’ Company. The School is divided into eight classes, or forms , and the children are progressively advanced, according to their proficiency, from the first to the eighth. They are generally taught Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and the ablest are initiated in various Oriental languages ; a certain number of the more eminent scholars are annually sent to the university, on exhibitions. Dean Colet was buried in Old St. Paul’s ; and his effigy, in a shroud, is yet preserved in the vaults beneath the present Cathedral. The School-house is not an unhandsome though rather a singular building : the central part containing the School, and the wings, which are considerably more elevated, the dwellings of the masters. Next to St. Paul’s School are the City warehouses of the AVheeler and Wilson Sewing Machine Company. Notice also the fine warehouses of Messrs. Cook, Son, and Co., Messrs. Pawson, and other firms dealing in what are known as Manchester goods. In the centre of the Church- yard, on this side, is Paul's chain , so called from a chain being formerly drawn across the road during Divine service in the Cathedral. Here lived the well-known Cocker, the arithmetician (“ according to Cocker”), who wrote a book called “ The Pen’s Aristocracy.” Farther on is the entrance to DOCTORS’ COMMONS. In this once celebrated em- porium of ecclesiastical and maritime law were the five 1. Westminster Abbey. 2 . St. George’s Cathedral. 3 . Temple Church. 4. St. Martins’s-in-the-Fields. 5. St. Paul’s Cathedral. 6 . Rowland Hill’s Cl apel. 7. St. Mary s Overie*. 8 . St. Stephen’s. Walbrook. 9 . St. Bride’s, Fleet !>t. 10. Spurgeon’s Tabernacle. 11 . St. Mary-le-Bow. LUDGATE-HILL. 77 courts in which all causes relating to wills, divorces, salvage and wrecks at sea were tried. Most of the law business connected with Doctors* Commons has been re- moved to Westminster; but in various houses there are the offices for obtaining licences for marriage, &e., and the registries of wills of persons dying in the British Em- pire. These can be inspected at the rate of a shilling per will, but no transcript is allowed to be made without payment of extra fees. Here also, near at hand, are the Admiralty Kegis.trars’ Office and the Heralds’ College or College of Arms — the grand manufactory of family pedi- grees, with coats of arms to match. In the Offices of the “ Kin gs-at- Arms” may be seen many very curious things — such as the pedigree of the Saxon kings from Adam, and various highly valuable MSS. The several appoint- ments in the Heralds’ College are in the gift of the Duke of Norfolk, hereditary Earl Marshal of England. Emerging from St. Paul’s-ehurchyard, at the corner of which is the well-known tea and grocery establishment of Messrs. Dakin — No. 1 — we find ourselves in / LUDGATE-HILL. — This name is supposed to be de- / rived from Lud, King of Great Britain before the time of " J ulius Csesar. Several fine shops will here attract atten- tion. On the left, the famous shawl and Indian em- j porium of Messrs. Everington and Graham ; on the same I side, but more to the westward, Milton House, built for the Milton Club, which began with a great array of names, and failed. On the right, the shop of Messrs. Strahan and Co., the Edinburgh publishers, formerly occupied by the late firm of Messrs. Bundall and Bridge, the Court goldsmiths, jewellers, and bankers. On the right-hand side of the way is the great clothing esta- blishment of Messrs. Samuels Brothers. About the middle of Ludgate-hill, on the right, is the Old Bailey , in which is the prison of Newgate , described in the next chapter. On the same side of the way is the watch, clock, and jeweller’s shop of the well-known Mr. Benson, whose great clock at the Exhibition of 1862 excited general admiration. Mr. Benson is the inventor of the Chronograph, an ingeniously contrived watch, with an apparatus for marking the time to the twentieth part of a second. It is much used in taking ttip f.imp nt. mops &c. Mr. Benson obtained the Prize bition of 1862 for his silver plate. Close by is Belle- Sauvage-yard, at handsome stock of which is well 78 FLEET-STREET — NEWSPAPER OFFICES. one time containing a celebrated coaching-yard and hotel, where stage plays were wont to be performed before the establishment of regular theatres in London, and now principally in the occupation of Messrs. Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, the publishers of a large number of educa- tional works; and then, passing under the handsome railway arch of the London, Chatham, and Dover Rail- way, we come to the crossing which divides Ludgate-hill from Fleet- street. On the right is Farringdon- street, on the site of which was once held the Fleet Market, and on its east side stood the Old Fleet Prison ; on the left is Bridge -street. Black- friars, the most prominent feature of which now is the terminus of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway. At the entrances to these streets are two obelisks — the Waithman Monument on the one side, and the Wilkes Obelisk on the other ; this last was erected to the memory of John Wilkes, the politician, while, says Walpole, he was yet a criminal and a prisoner of state. Farringdon Market, a market principally for fruit and vegetables is on the west side of Farringdon -street. Looking down Bridge- street we catch a glimpse of BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE. — The old bridge was taken down in 1863 , and the river is now crossed by a temporary wooden bridge, close beside the railway bridge of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, whose station is in Kew Bridge-street. The refreshment rooms of this Station are leased by Messrs. Spiers and Pond, the most enterprising of modern restaurateurs. The old bridge was erected between 1769 and 1768 , at acost of 152 , 840 /., from the design of Robert Mylne. When lighted at night the effect from Bridge-street was very picturesque. We now find ourselves in FLEET STREET, so celebrated for its associations with literature and literary men. The house now occu- pied as the office of the Sunday Times is the one in which Alderman Waithman made his fortune; and on the opposite side is the cigar and snufi-shop, known as Hardliam s, once a sort of amateur dramatic school, where George Frederick Cooke and others made their first appearance. In St. Bride's church — which is ap- proached through the opening next the publishing office of the merry “Punch” — were buried Ogilby, the trans- lator of Hqmer ; Wynkyn de Worde, the famous printer ; the Earl of Dorset, the poet; and Flaxman, the sculptor ; and in the passage by the side of the churchyard was one FLEET-STREET— ST. BRIDE’S CHURCH. 79 of the numerous London residences of Milton. No. 80, on the south side, is the office of “Fun,” the most suc- cessful rival of “ Punch ” which has yet appeared In Shoe-lane , on the opposite side, rare Beu Jonson held his revels; poor Thomas Chatterton was buried ; and Samuel Boyce, the poet, when nearly dying of starvation, could not eat a basin of soup because there was no ketchup in it ! In Bolt-court and Johnson s- court Dr. Johnson passed much of his life ; and in Fleet-street he was so well known that he seldom stirred abroad, either to go to his club or his snug corner in the Rainbow tavern , without a crowd of followers. Anecdotes of Johnson and Fleet-street abound. In Water-lane (now called Whitefriars- street) lived John Filby, the tailor who made Goldsmith’s “bloom- coloured coat.” Bulstrode Whitelocke, Cromwell’s chan- cellor, was born in Fleet-street, near Temple Bar, in 1605. In Salisbury- court and Square , where once the Duke’s theatre existed, and which was then considered a rather fashionable locality, there lived John Dryden, the poet; Richardson, the novelist, who had his printing-office there, where he stood at the case, and composed, without “copy” the principal part of “ Pamela,” ana “ Clarissa Harlowe,” at the same time employing Goldsmith as reader or corrector of the press ; Lady Davenant, the widow of Sir William ; Sandford, and Cave Underhill, the actor; and here died the female quack, Mrs. Daffy, the compounder of the noted elixir. In Fetter-lane , Dryden once lodged ; Hobfes of Malmesbury had a house; and Nathaniel Tomkins was hanged, on the 5th of July, 1643, for parti- cipating in Waller’s plot to surprise the city. In Bell- yard lived Fortescue, the friend of Pope, “his counsel learned in the law,” and in Shire-lane , now a half demolished and filthy place, Dugdale the antiquary had his dwelling, and Theodore Hook lay under arrest at a bailiff’s, for his mismanagement of accounts as treasurer of the island of Mauritius. In the time of James 1. it was known as Rogue’s- lane, and it still deserves the epithet. Fleet-street is still celebrated for its printing and newspaper offices. The “ Alsatia” of old times, a place of refuge for thieves and debtors, was in Whitefriars, between Fleet-street and the river. St. Bride’s Church is well worthy notice for its fine steeple, considered one of Wren’s best examples. St. JDunstan s Church , before which formerly stood, the two wooden giants, who struck the hours on two bells is on 80 FLEET-STREET — THE TEMPLE. the north side. They now perform similar duty in the mansion of the Marquis of Hertford, in Regent’s-park. In the yard of St. Dunstan’s is a stone statue of Queen Elizabeth, which was discovered some years since in a cellar of an old house close by. Near at hand is Chancery- lane , the Law Life Asssurance office, and the “London’* restaurant. N early opposite is the warehouse for the sale of Bradford’s celebrated Washing Machines , and nume- rous other labour-saving contrivances. Several well-known Banking Houses are also in Fleet- street — notably those of Hoare, No. 37 ; Child, next to Temple-bar ; Gosling and Sharp, No. 19 ; and Praed, Fane & Co., No. 189 : William Mackworth Praed, the poet, was a member of this family. Two narrow turnings on the south side, near to Temple-har, lead to THE TEMPLE. — This collection of buildings, the principal of the “ Inns of Court,” is so called from the Knights Templars, who removed hither from Holborn in 1184. They resided here till their downfall in 1313, when the property passed to the Knights of John of Jerusalem, by whom the Inner and Middle Temples were leased to the students at common law. At the dissolution of the religious houses the Temple became the property of the Crown ; till, in 1608, J ames 1. conferred the freehold on the Benchers of the Inner and Middle Temple and their suc- cessors for ever. Notice the Lamb and Flag over the en- trance gate. In the house No. 1, Dr. Johnson resided from 1760 to 1765. Over the doorway is an inscription telling us that “ Dr. Johnson lived here.” The Temple has always been celebrated, and is frequently mentioned in the litera • ture of the last five hundred years. Two edifices in the Temple are highly interesting, not only for their historical associations, but as specimens of architecture — the Temple Church and Middle Temple Hall. The Church serves lor both Temples. It was the church of the Knights Templars, and has been recently renovated, and its Norman work tastefully restored. It contains many monumental effigies and sculptured portraits of its ancient owners. It is more than 600 years old, and is considered one of the finest and most complete archi- tectural relics in the kingdom. To the east of the choir lie the bones of Oliver Goldsmith, and here are buried, beside other eminent men— Earl Pembroke, 1219 ; the learned Selden, 1654 ; Edward Gibbon, ancestor of the historian, and Howell, the letter- writer, 1666. Service is performed here twice a- day on Sundays, and generally 1. Covent Garden Theatre. 2. Lyceum Theatre. 2. Drury Lane Tneatre. 5. Princesses Theatre. 7. Her Majesty’s Theatre. 3. Hay market Theatre. 6. Adelphi Theatre. LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS TEMPLE BAK — STRAND. 81 well attended. Admission to view tlie Temple Church may be obtained by introduction of a member of either Temple. Middle Temple Hall has one of the finest known Elizabethan roofs. The hall is 100 feet long, 47 feet high, and 42 feet wide. Close by the Temple Gardens — one of the best-kept gardens in London, and celebrated by Shakspeare as the scene of the plucking of the red and white roses — the badges of the Houses of York and Lancaster — is the new Library , opened by the Prince of Wales, as his first public act on being called to the bar, in October, 1861 . It is a beautiful specimen of modern architecture, and shows well from the river. Returning to Fleet-street, we pass Temple Bar into the Strand. Temple Bar is not one of the old City gates, but a comparatively modern (and ugly) erection. The gate described by Strype was taken down after the fire ; but both on that and the present gate (erected in 1672 ) the heads of rebels and traitors used to be displayed. The last heads so barbarously exposed were those of Fletcher and Townly in 1772 - 3 . The curious custom of closing the gates, and not admitting royalty into the City until permission had been demanded of the mayor standing on the City side, was last observed when the Queen opened the Royal Exchange in 1844 . The apartment over the gateway is leased to Messrs. Child, the bankers, by whom it is used as a depository for cash-books and ledgers. Temple Bar and the w’hole of the houses between Bell-vard and Clement’s-Inn, Strand (“under the pillars”), together with a mass of old houses behind, to Carey- street, Lincoln's- Inn-Fields, are to come down and the site to be cleared for the new Law Courts. When these are erected, the courts at Westminster will be abolished and the long talked-of “concentration of the law courts” carried into effect. We pass through the “ City boundary ” to THE STRANL). — This broad and noble thoroughfare was, even as lately as the days of Queen Elizabeth, only a covered way, grass-grown, out of London, and connect- ing the latter with the village of Charing. At present, to say it is in London is but little. It is almost the very centre of the metropolis, with as much of the capital to the west as to the east, though not quite as much to the south as to the north. The various streets leading out of the Strand, and occupying the place of the gardens that used to stretch down to the water’s edge, tell in their names the history of their foundation. These were built 82 STRAND — ST. CLEMENT DANES. successively by the various great peers whom they indi- cate — Buckingham, Craven, Norfolk, Northumberland, &c. . At the end of Buckingham-street is Yilliers’ house ; and in the same place were the lodgings of Peter the Great when he resided in London. The streets on the left-hand side of the way, all along this route going westward, lead down to the river, till we come toCharing-cross; and the streets on the other side, from Shoe-lane to Drury-lane, all lead towards Holborn, though the route is by no means direct. Beyond Drury- lane the streets on the right will take you into Oxford- street ; hut if you are not careful you will lose yourself in the purlieus of Seven Dials and St. Giles* — a neighbour- hood into which you will scarcely venture without _ a guide. But if your guide happen to he a policeman in private clothes, you wdll stand a chance of seeing some curious sights. But to return to the Strand. On your right from Temple Bar notice the shop of Professor Holloway, whose advertisements of his Won- derful Pills and Ointment are in all the newspapers ; and on your left is the well-known tea shop and banking- house of Messrs. Twining. Before you is the church of St. Clement Danes. This church was built in 1682, by William Pearce, from a design of Sir Christopher Wren, on the site of a former edifice of the same name. There was a church here before the arrival of the Danes, who destroyed it by fire. At that time, with the exception of a house here and there, the Strand v 7 as an open field, with hedge-rows on the northern side. In the churchyard of St. Clement the poets Otway and Nat. Lee lie buried. The “ Alexander the Great* * of the latter is his only play which retains possession of the stage. The 'pillars on the right lead to Clement' s-inn, an inn of Chancery, belong- ing to the Temple. Clement’s-inn was built in 1716, and was a residence for students even in the time of Henry 1Y. In the play, Falstaff makes mention of this inn, vdiere he says, “ 1 do remember him at Clement’s-inn, like a man made after supper of a cheese-paring.** The chambers of this inn are inhabited by reporters and other profes- sional gentlemen not strictly belonging to the law. In fact, the Temple, Lincoln’s-inn, and the other inns of court are not now, as formerly, confined altogether to the legal profession. In the garden you may notice the figure of a kneeling negro , who bears a sun-dial on his head. It was presented to the inn by Holies, Earl of Clare, after whom Holles-street, Glare-street and Market, STRAND 83 and some other streets in this neighbourhood, are named. On the other side of the church is Essex-street , which leads down direct to the river. On the opposite side, running between the Strand and Drury-lane and Wych- street, is Holy well-street, so called from the former ex- istence of a spring or holy well. This street, which is a close, dirty thoroughfare, is principally inhabited by newsvenders and the sellers of old books and second-hand clothes. There has been a talk for some years past of taking down the houses on the side abutting on the Strand, and so, by throwing open Holywell-street to the main thoroughfare, both widen and improve this part of the road. Indeed, a beginning has been made in this direction by the erection of the yet unfinished Strand Hotel. At the Whittington Club in Arundel- street you may obtain an excellent and very cheap dinner, if you happen to be acquainted with a member. A little farther on is the little theatre called The Strand , a capital house for burlesque and farce. The Roman-bath in Strand-lane will repay a visit ; the Yvmter is pure and cold, and the architecture of the building leaves little doubt of its antiquity. The Strand is famous for its newspaper offices ; in fact, from the office of the Morning Advertiser , in Fleet-street, to that of the Lancet , in the Strand, near Charing-cross, almost every court and alley contains a printing-office — sometimes two or three. At the top of Holywell-street, and under the very shadow of St. Mar y-le- Strand, or the New Church, as it is occasionally called, is the office of the London Journal and the Weekly Times; then at No. 337 was that of the Weekly Chronicle; in Catherine-street, are published the Era, and the Illustrated Times , and at the corner of Wellington- street is the office of the Field , the great authority on all sports and pastimes for gentle- men. In the latter street are the offices of the Morning Post, the Athenceum, and All the Year Round, and if we come a>ain into the Strand, we discover on the opposite side of the way the offices of the Observer , Bell's Life in London, the Illustrated London News— not to mention the places of publication of the Globe and Sun, Bell's New Weekly Messenger , — a very world of broadsheets. The Strand Music Hall , next to Wyatt's Coffee-rooms, is a tine building, which occupies the site of Axeter Change. Possessing ample means of entrance and exit in four streets, this is one of the handsomest, and best con- ducted of the modern music halls. q 2 84 ST. MARY-LE-STRAND. — SOMERSET SOUSE St. Mary -le- Strand (or the New Church) was huilt by William Gibbs in 1717, on the spot of ground whereon the ancient May-pole was wont to be erected. Pope, in his “ Dunciad,” makes this the spot where his heroes assemble : — Where the tall May-pole once o’erlooked the Strand, But now (so Anne and piety ordain) A church collects the saints of Drury-lane ! In Newcastle- street, which runs down from it towards Lincoln’s Inn, there was an old inn of Chancery, called Lyon's Inn , which was used by students of law as early as the time of Henry VIII. This street leads towards Clare -market, a poor collection of butchers’ shambles and costermongers’ stalls. In Wych-street is the Olympic Theatre, rebuilt in 1849 in a very handsome manner. This was the scene of Madame Vestris’s principal triumphs, and Robson’s deserved successes. {SOMERSET HOUSE, formerly the palace of the Protector of that name. Here Qneen Elizabeth, Anne (the Consort of James I.), and Catherine of Braganza (Charles II. ’s wife), successively held their courts. The present handsome and spacious building, however, dates only from 1775-6, and was planned by Sir William Cham- bers. It is now the seat of various Government and other offices, and the head-quarters of various learned societies. King's College is in the Eastern Quadrangle. The Navy Pay Office, the Inland Revenue Office, the Legacy Duty Office, the Poor Law Commissioners’ Audit Office, the Registrar-General’s Office, and various others, are also settled in Somerset House. Any inquiries repecting the University should he addressed here to the Registrar. The business of. the Admiralty, like that of the Inland Revenue, is divided ; and the Board of Commissioners (commonly called the Lords of the Admiralty) sit alter- nately at Whitehall and Somerset House. In the new wing fronting Wellington -streets the office of the Regis- trar-General, wherein many large and well-kept volumes is an account of every birth, marriage, and death which takes place in the whole country, no matter how rich or how poor the individual may be. In the various offices of Somerset House there are above 1700 clerks, ware- housemen, and porters employed, at a cost of something like 380,000/. a year. The rooms to the right of the Strand entrance were formerly used for the exhibition of STBAND — ADELPHI — SOCIETY OF AETS. 85 the pictures of the Royal Academy, and through the doors of which have passed, some hundreds of times, the most eminent British painters and sculptors of modern times — West, Fuseli, Reynolds, Opie, Sir Thomas Law- rence, and many others. Notice the Statue of George III., at the north end of the quadrangle, and the line bronze allegorical figure of The Thames . At the end of Wellington-street you will catch, a glimpse of Waterloo ‘bridge, from the centre of which a good view of. Somerset House and the adjoining build- ings, on both sides of the river, may be obtained. Oppo- site is the Lyceum Theatre, with entrances in the Strand and Wellington-street. The Lyceum has undergone many changes, but under the management of Mr. Fechter it has renewed its ancient fame. Opposite the Lyceum is THE SAVOY — once famous as the locality of the palace of the Dukes of Lancaster. Here is now the German -Lutheran Church, built on a portion of the site of the old palace, and partially injured by fire in 1864. Notice on the south side of the Strand, opposite Exeter Hall, the celebrated “Cigar Divan,” in which is the best frequented chess-room in London. To it is attached an excellent hotel and dining-room. Many shops of deserved note are to be found close by. The ADELPHI, built by the brothers Adam, in 1768, on the site of old Durham House — a noble pile of build- ings, with a fine terrace facing the river, and in which are four streets, called after the several builders, Adam, John, Robert, and William. The Terrace facing the Thames was intended as part of the (even then) con- templated embankment. Buckingham-street, close by, stands on the site of Buckingham House, and its owner has done something to immortalize his name and titles, for he has used them all in designating his property — George - street, Villiers- street, Duke-street, Of- alley, Buckingham - street. In John- street, Adelphi, are the rooms of the SOCIETY OF ARTS. — They are open every day except Wednesday, in every month except September, to visitors provided with orders from members, and generally to strangers without even the formality of an order. Here honorary and pecuniary prizes are given for inventions, discoveries, and improvements. The Society of Arts was founded in 1754, for the purpose of providing means to excite the emulation of artists and artisans. The late Prince Consort was its last president, and in this building it was that the idea of the Great Exhibition of 1851 was 86 EXETER-HALL— COVENT-GAREEN. first mooted ; and the plan for the International Exhibition of 1862 fostered and vitalized. In the Meeting Room are Barry’s fine allegorical pictures, representing the “ Story of Orpheus,” “A Grecian Harvest-home, or Thanksgiving to the Rural Deities Ceres and Bacchus;” “ Crowning the Victors at Olympia;” “Navigation, or the Triumph of the Thames ;” “The Distribution of the Premiums in the Society of Arts ;” and“Ehsium, or the State of Final Retribution.” The Society of Arts has expended since its foundation, above 250,000/. in the promotion of the arts and sciences. In the same street are the offices of the National Life Boat Institution , one of the noblest and most deserving in the world. Opposite Adam-street, in the Strand, is the Adelphi Theatre , a new and handsome building, with a not very imposing exterior. In fact, the frontage towards the street is simply a house decorated and ar- ranged to afford an entrance to the theatre behind. Iron has been largely used in the construction of the Adelphi Theatre, -which is one of the most commodious and best managed in London. The Sanspareil formerly stood on this site. It had, like the present Adelphi Theatre, an entrance in Maiclen-lane behind. Close by is the celebrated Nell Gwynne Tavern. A little to the east, and opposite Salisbury -street, is Milo’s cigar and pipe shop, well known to lovers of the “ fragrant weed.” EXETER HALL is a building with a narrow but tall and conspicuous frontage, with a Greek inscription on the fascia of the pediment, alluding to the purposes for which the building was designed. The large Hall is chiefly used for oratorios, concerts, or polemical meet- ings ; it was erected in 1831, and is capable of accom- modating upwards of 4000 persons seated. During the, month of May many religious societies, as well as those for the abolition of slavery, intemperance, and late hours of business, hold their meetings here. There is a smaller hall beneath used for meetings, &c. Any of the turnings to the right— especially Southampton- street, a tine wide thoroughfare with several good hotels, — will lead to I CO VENT-GARDEN MARKET— the great emporium f for flowers, fruit, and early vegetables for the London tables. It stands on the site of the convent garden for- merly belonging to the abbey of Westminster, and was first used as a market in the fifteenth century. The quadrangle was formed in 1631, at the cost of Francis, COVE NT- GARDEN — ST. PAUl/S CHURCH, 87 fourth Earl of Bedford, on whose estate it stands. The piazza, which formerly ran quite round the square, was built after the design of the famous Inigo Jones. The market, however, occupied but little space, and it was not till the removal of the nobility further west, towards the latter end of the last century, that the entire area was appropriated to its present use. The market-house, perhaps the best and most convenient in England, was built in 1830, by John, Duke of Bedford, under the superintendence of an architect called Fowler. The revenues are collected by a small toll on each ton of potatoes and waggon of vegetables brought for sale, besides the rent of the shops in, and on each side of, the grand arcade. The best time for visiting Co vent-Garden is about five o’clock of a summer’s morning, when the odour of the flowers and the bloom on the fruit and vegetables is quite delicious. Cut flowers used for bridal parties, theatres, balls, &c., are purchased here, as well as the offerings thrown on the stage to the favourite actresses of the season. Before we leave the market we must notice Evans* Grand Hotel , at the north-west corner, famous for its concerts, and for chops, steaks, and stout — with a valuable gallery of theatrical portraits; the Old an &New Hummums , at the south-east angle, first-rate family hotels ; and the entrance, at the north-east corner, to the private boxes of the Italian Opera House , or Co vent- Garden Theatre. Adjoining the theatre is a miniature kind of Crystal Palace, used for a flower show and conservatory. Open during the summer season. In Great Russell-strekt the famous Coffee-houses — Tom’s, No. 17, and Button’s, just opposite — so often mentioned in the Guardian , Spectator , latter, and other works of the eighteenth century— once stood; and the spot is hallowed by the names of Johnson, Garrick, Boswell, Savage, Goldsmith, Colman, Sir Richard Steele, Foote the actor, Sir Philip Francis (the supposed author of “Junius”), Addison, Pope, Arhuthnot, and other famous spirits of bygone days. Nor must we quit the neighbourhood without a glance at ST PAUL’S CHURCH — at the western side of the market, which was rebuilt in 1795 by Hardwick, after Inigo Jones’ original designs, on the site of the old church, destroyed by fire in the same year. In the ground attached to the church lies all that is mortal of Butler, the author of the immortal “Hudibras;” of Grinling 88 ST. PAUL S CHURCH — TRAFALGAR-SQUARE Gibbons, the famous sculptor, of whom it was said that he could carve flowers in wood, which wanted nothing 1 but colour and scent to make them pass for nature, and who carved the flowers, &c., on the pedestal of Charles’s statue at Charing Cross ; and of Macklin, the actor, Wycherley, the author, and Dr. Walcot (Peter Pindar). In front of the church, and facing the western entrance of the market, the hustings for the election of members of Parliament for Westminster are erected ; and here it was that Fox, Sheridan, Burdett, Henry Hunt and the Reformers were wont to hold forth. Returning through any one of the streets on the south we again reach the Strand. On the south side, nearly opposite St. IVlartin’s-in-the-Fields, is the Charing-cross Hotel, behind which is the new station of the South-eastern Railway, one of the finest in London. Directly in front of the hotel is a beautiful reproduction of the Eleanor-cross, noticed on page 91. We pass westward by several well- built houses — the Banking House of Coutts , the clock and watch manufactory and shop of Mr. Dent, and the house belonging to the Art Union of London ; the Low - ther Arcade , a good bazaar of toyshops, music-sellers, &c., and the well-known Golden Cross Hotel; and turning the corner at Morley’s Hotel, under which is the Charing- cross District Post-office , we find ourselves in TRAFALGAR SQUARE. — The most conspicuous ob- jects are : the Nelson Column , a fine pillar, 177 feet high, erected in 1843, from a design by William Railton, at a cost altogether — including the granite statue of the hero, by Baily, and the bronze bas-relief on the four sides of the base, which represent the “ Death of Nelson,” by Carew; the “Battle of the Nile,” by Woodington ; the “ Battle of St. Vincent,” by Watson ; and the “Battle of Copenhagen,” by Ternouth — of upwards of 28,000/. ; the Equestrian Statue of George IV ., by Chantrey, ori- ginally intended for the top of the marble arch at Buck- ingham Palace, a rather common-place looking affair, considering that the horse and his rider cost the nation 9450/. ; and the two fountains, which, though the water is continually tumbling and playing over and into their granite hasins, are by no means striking objects ; the Bronze Statue of Sir Charles Napier, by G. G. Adams, erected in 1857 ; and at the south-east corner, the bronze statue , erected in 1861, to the memory of Major-General Havelock, from the design of W. Behnes. From this spot, also, a fine view may be obtained of Northumberland TRAEALGAR-SQUARE — NATIONAL GALLERY. 89 House and St. Martin s Church — the first (the lion -sur- mounted screen only of which is seen from the street) was erected during the reign of James I. as a town residence of the Percys ; and the last in 1721 - 26 , by Gibbs, at a cost of about 37 , 000 /. The church is a noble edifice ; and when it was built it was literally St. Martin’s in the Fields , the houses of the nobility in that day extending no farther west than Covent-garden. In the churchyard, now covered in with fiat stones, lie the bones of the notorious highwayman Jack Sheppard. The vista down Whitehall and Parliament- street, with Westminster Abbey in the distance, is very fine. Oe- \cupying the north side of Trafalgar- square is the X NATIONAL GALLERY. — The National Gallery con- tains pictures by the best English, and of some of the greatest painters of the Italian, Spanish, Dutch, French, and Flemish schools. The present collection was formed from the nucleus of the Angerstein Collection, formerly shown in a house at Pall Mall, and purchased by the Government, in 1824 , at a cost of 57 , 000 /. From time to time various purchases and donations have been added to it, till, besides the Vernon Gallery, the Turner Gallery, and the Sheepshanks’ Collection (some of the pictures exhibited at the South Kensington Museum, and which consist of paintings of the modern school, some of them the very finest of their class), it now numbers about 260 works of the ancient masters, as well as exquisite speci- mens by Lawrence, Reynolds, Wilkie, V/est, Gainsborough , Turner, and the world- appreciated Hogarth. Official catalogues are sold inside, but good cheap lists of the paintings may be obtained at the doors. Sir Richard Westmacott’s Waterloo Vase and Joseph’s statue of Wilkie, in the Hall, are well worthy attention. The materials of which the vase is composed were taken during the Peninsular war from a French ship, which was conveying them to Paris, to convert them into a monument in honour of Napoleon’s victories; but, possibly, the easel with which Wilkie actually painted, and which is let into the side of the base on which the statue stands, will possess greater attraction for the artistic visitor. The principal specimens from the collection of paintings and drawings bequeathed to the nation by J. M. W. Turner — the greatest of our modern artists — are placed in the West Room. The National Gallery is open to the public free of charge on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays ; and 90 CHARING-CROSS — CHARLES’S STATUE, i to artists on Fridays. The hours of admittance are, in the summer months, from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m., arid in the winter months from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. — At the east end of the National Gallery is located the Royal Academy of Arts , in which from 1000 to. 2000 works in painting, sculpture, and architectural design, are exhibited yearly. This exhibition lasts from May till July, and the admit- tance fee is Is., during the daytime ; but in the evening the price of admission is sixpence, with sixpence for the Catalogue. The Royal Academy removed its exhibition from Somerset House in May 1838, just seventy years after its first foundation. It consists of forty royal academicians, twenty associates, six associate engravers, a president, and secretary. The funds of the academy are derived from the money taken at the doors during the exhibition, and of late years it has been calculated that upwards of 60,000Z. per annum has been so obtained. From the top of the steps in front you w T ill get a capital view of the whole Square, which with its vista leading ' to Westminster Abbey, Sir Robert Peel pronounced “the finest site in Europe.” The National Gallery, Royal Academy, and the Guards' Barracks behind, stand on the site of the King's Mews , a building once very ex- \ tensive, and familiar to all Londoners. While we write, 1 the discussion as to the removal of the Royal Academy, and the enlargement or reconstruction of the National Gallery, as well as the removal of a portion of the con- i tents of the British Museum to South Kensington, is \ engaging the attention of artists and legislators. We \ are now at V CH A KIXG-CROSS, to the south of which is Whitehall and Parliament street, and to the west, Cockspur- street and Piccadilly. At the head of Parliament -street, looking towards Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parlia- ment, is the Statue of Charles 1. This bronze eques- trian statue was cast by Le Sceur in 1633, and not being erected at the commencement of the Civil War, was sold for old metal by the Parliamentarians. But the honest old cavalier, John Rivet, the brazier, disobeyed the order he had received to break it to pieces and cast it in the melt- ing pot. Producing some fragments of old bronze, he con- cealed the statue till 1676, when the Government purchased the work, and set it up on its present site. The pedestal is finely carved ; and the plinth, which was formerly of Portland stone, was in 1856 renewed in granite, under the direction of Mr. G. G. Scott, the eminent architect. The space known as Charing-cross is that between WEST BY WAY OF HOLBORN. 91 the Strand on the east, Whitehall on the south, and / Cock spur- street on the west. . The’ name is probably I derived from the village of Charing, though tradition has it that the place was so called after Eleanor, the chere reine (good queen) of Edward I. At any rate, it was here that he set up the handsomest of the nine Crosses j erected to her memory. A facsimile of this Cross has \ been placed in front of the Charing-cross Hotel, as al- ready mentioned. The other Crosses were at Lincoln, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St. Albans, Waltham, and Cheap. . The last . stopping place of the body previous to its interment in West- I minster Abbey, was at Charing; and there, in 1291-4, I with stone brought from Caen in Normandy, and marble \ from Corfe, in Dorsetshire, the goodly pile was raised. It stood a monument of royal love for more than three hundred and fifty years, and was at last, in June and July, 1647, pulled down by order of the Long Par- 1 liament, and its stones used to pave the street before Whitehall ! Two crosses still remain — one at Waltham and the other at Northampton. The site of Charing Cross was afterwards made the scene of the execution of many of the regicides. Here, in 1660, General Harrison was beheaded, with “ his face towards Whitehall,' ” and here, many years afterwards, Curll, the notorious book- seller, stood in the pillory. Being a very public place, proclamations are read at Charing-cross. Here, on the / 21st of June, 1837, was proclaimed Victoria, our beloved y Queen, whom God preserve. POST-OFFICE TO MARBLE-ARCH. Post-Office — St. Martin’s-le-Grand — Newgate Street —Christ’s Hospital— Newgate— Old Smith- field — St. Bartholomew’s Hospital— St. Sepul- chre’s Church— Furnival’s Inn— Gray’s Inn — Lincoln’s Inn — New Oxford Street— British Museum— Princess’s Theatre — Cavendish and Hanover Squares— M a rb l e- Arc h — T yb u r n ia. “ As clever Tom Clinch, while the rabble was bawling, Rode stately through Holborn to die in his calling, He stopped at the George for a bottle of sack, And promised to pay ior it when he came back.’* Swift, 1727. Another main thoroughfare East and West is from the top of Cheapside to the Uxbridge-road, a continuous line 92 POST-OFFICE. of street, though hearing different names — Newgate-street, Skinner- street, Holborn-hill, High Holborn, New Oxford- street, Oxford-street — upwards of four miles in length. Starting from the Post Office , we have St. Martin s-le- Grand on our right, leading to Pentonville, through Aldersgate- street, Gos well- street and Hoad, and thence, northward, to Islington, Highbury, Holloway, and High- gate. On our left are St. Paul’s and Ludgate-hill, through which we have already passed ; while before us is the road we are about to traverse. But we must first diverge to THE POST-OFFICE. — This handsome building con- tains the great heart through which flows all the vitality of our unequalled postal system. The building was erected in 1829, from the designs of Sir Robert Smirke, in the Ionic style, then considered most fitted for buildings of a commercial character. The main structure is 390 feet long, with a lofty portico, which forms the entrance to the Grand Hall, where are received, at various win- dows and openings, the letters, newspapers, book parcels, &c., through which the correspondence of London with the rest of the world is carried on. For postal purposes London is divided into ten districts, each one of which has a Central or General Office. ( See Postal Regulations. ) The bustle and hurry in the Great Hall every day, and especially Saturdays, between half-past five and half- past six, when newspapers and late letters are posted, is a sight to see and remember. The principal building contains a large number of apartments appropriated to foreign, inland, and town letters. The privilege of ad- mittance during business hours is largely sought . by strangers, and very charily accorded. Behind there is a large courtyard, where are received and despatched the mail carts, vans, bags, &c., to and from the several rail- ways and postal stations. The gross revenue from the Post Office is above three-and-a-half millions, of which about one-third is profit. More than 20,000 clerks, sorters, and letter-carriers are engaged in the postal service of the United Kingdom. The inferior class of employes are very much underpaid, and hence the numerous post- office robberies. The Post-Office is strictly a Govern- ment office, and to properly carry on the correspondence of the country requires as many as 12,000 district offices and receiving houses and 3500 pillar-boxes. More than six hundred millions of letters pass through the Post Office every year, of which immense number Lon - don takes and sends more than a fourth. In addition to GOLDSMITHS 5 HALL— NEWGATE-STKEET. 93 these are eighty millions of newspapers and twelve millions of hook parcels. The system of Post Office Savings Banks, introduced, in 1860-1, has been found to work extremely well. On the opposite side of St. Mar- tin’ s-le- Grand, next the French Protestant Church , is the Money - Order Office , a plain building with a stone front. Throughout the various money-order offices in London, Edinburgh, Dublin, and the principal towns there pass yearly about fifteen millions of pounds sterling. Behind the Post Office, in Foster-lane, is GOLDSMITHS’ HALL.— This is one of the Halls of the twelve great City Companies. Plate and jewellery is sent here to be assayed and stamped. The Hall con- tains many fine pictures and works of art ; permission to view which may be obtained of an alderman or livery- man of the Company. The Hall, entirely of stone, was erected in 1835, from the design of Mr. Philip Hard- wicke, R.A. It is a fine specimen of Italian archi- tecture. In Aid ersg ate -street are Thanet House , a fine old man- sion by Inigo Jones ; andth z Albion Tavern, famed for good public dinners ; Jewin-street, in which is Jewin Chapel, containing John Bunyan’s pulpit ; St. Botolph Church, erected in 1790, on the site of the old church, destroyed by the fire ; next, Little Britain, once famous for its booksellers’ shops ; and a narrow entrance to Bartholomew Close, in which Milton once lived in obscurity, and Benjamin Franklin worked as a journey- man printer. Returning to the Post-Office we enter NEWGATE-STREET, which takes its name, from the Hew Gate, which was the fifth principal gate in the old Citv-wall. It stood across the present street a little east of the Old Bailey. In P any er- alley, the first turning to the left, is an old stone, let into the wall of a new house, representing a boy sitting on a coil of rope, and bearing this inscription When y e have sovgh 4 the Citty rovnd Yet still this is the highs 4 grovnd. Avgvst the 27, 1688. Hewgate-street, from its proximity to the Market, which is shortly about to be removed to Old Smithfield, has been called a long butcher’s tray. Newgate-market — a disgrace to the City — lies between Newgate- street and Paternoster' row, in the space between Ivy-lane and the Prison. Ivy - 94 newgate-street— Christ’s hospital. lane and Warwick-lane have booksellers’ shops and butchers’ stalls side, by side. In Warwick-lane is the old College of Physicians , with its “ gilded pill” on the top. It was built by Wren, but the lower part of the central hall is filled with butchers’ shambles, and the upper portions are used by Messrs. Tyler, the copper- founders, who have removed some of the houses in Warwick-square and filled up the space so obtained with butchers’ shambles, in anticipation of the removal of the market. They propose also to take down the remains of the College of Physicians, which still (May 1866 ) con- tained some old statues and bits of fine carving. In Bath-street, on the north side of Newgate-street, is an old Roman bath, and a little farther on is CHRIST’S HOSPITAL, or the Blue-coat School , as it is generally called, from the costume of the scholars, which is that of the period of Edward VI., by whom the hospital was founded. . The hospital consists of various school and other buildings, the new gothic dining-hall, and the dormitories. It occupies the site of the Grey Friary, and has been enlarged and improved from time to time by Wren, Shaw, and other architects. It has a revenue of 50 , 000 /. ; and though originally intended for the education and sustenance of “ poor boys,” presenta- tions are eagerly sought by persons belonging to the upper classes. A list of governors is printed every Easter, at which time the “ suppings in public” attract large assemblages of persons. Several scholarships be- long to the hospital, to which the “ Grecians” are en- titled. In Christ Church adjoining are preached the Spital Sermons every Easter Monday. A gift of 500 /. con- stitutes a governor ; but certain persons — the Prince of Wales, the Lord Mayor, and the Court of Aldermen, &c. — have free presentations. A branch school at Hert- ford contains some hundreds of children. The schools in Newgate- street accommodate 1200 children, of whom about 150 are admitted yearly. The cloisters, and various other parts of the ancient monastery, are included among the present extensive buildings of the hospital. In its early state, there was only a grammar school for boys, and a separate school for girls, who were taught to read, sew, and mark. Charles II., in 1672 , founded a mathe- matical school and ward for forty boys, who are educated for the sea-service ; and Mr. Travers founded another similar school for thirty-seyon boys, who are not, how- NEWGATE. 95 ever, compelled to go to sea. The general education is adapted to lit youth for merchants* counting-houses and trades; but certain students are sent annually to Cambridge and Oxford, and properly educated for the church ; and, once in seven years, one is sent to Oxford. The boys are instructed by a head classical, and three under-masters, mathematical masters, writing, drawing, French and music-masters. Charles Lamb, Leigh Huut, and Stirling, of the Times , were “Blues.’* The society of “ Old Blues’* — G. Wilkins, secretary, — does a vast deal of good among their poorer schoolfellows. On the oppo- site side of the way is the prison of NEWGATE. — This is the principal prison in London. Here criminals sentenced to death for crimes committed in the county of Middlesex, suffer the last penalty of the law. The prison may be inspected on obtaining an order from the sheriffs or other officials. The condemned cells, occupied by those who are sentenced to be hanged, are in that part of the prison which is next to Newgate- street. The antiquity of this building is prodigious, if viewed in connexion with what it was meant to continue or restore ; for on this spot stood a Koman fort. If con- sidered in its present capacity as a prison, it is still very ancient. During nearly 750 years have the guilty or the unfortunate been here incarcerated. The prison, as we now see it, was rebuilt by Dance, in 1783, alter the partial destruction of the former edifice by the rioters under the notorious Lord George Gordon l see pages 18 and 19). An underground passage leads from the cells to the dock in the Old Bailey Sessions House. Notice in the prison - wall at the western end, in the Old Bailey, a door of iron, so constructed as to look like the stone wall of which it forms part. This door is opened for the removal or en- trance of prisoners, when the prison -van just fits the aperture, so as to prevent the possibility of escape. The Courts of the Old Bailey are nominally open to the public ; but there is so much competition to see the trials, that a small fee to the door keeper is found the most effectual means of secuiing a good, or of bettering a bad place. These fees are, however, practically abolished, and on the occasion of great trials tickets of admission are issued by the aldermen and sheriffs. In the Bailey are two Courts, the Old and the New. In the former sit Her Majesty’s or the superior Judges; in the latter, the infe- rior, or civic judges, the recorder, the common sergeant, and. others. The more important cases are of course 90 st. Bartholomew’s hospital. tried by the former. A third court is commonly im- provsied during a heavy session, with a (Queen’s Counsel or serjeant as judge. At the western end of Newgate- street, and forming a line w T ith the Old Bailey is Gilt spur -street, in which once stood the Giltspur-street Compter, pulled down some years since. It leads to Smith- field , facing which, on the right, is the noble charity called ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S HOSPITAL. — This hos- pital was originally instituted by the pious Rahere , about the year 1102, and attached to the neighbouring priory of St. Bartholomew, of which he, likewise, was the benevolent founder. On the dissolution of religious houses, all its possessions fell to the Crown ; but Henry VIII., in his last year, granted it a charter of incorpora- tion, and gave it to the City. . This event is recorded in stained glass in one of the windows in the hall, where the king is represented delivering his charter to the Lord Mayor, and standing near him are Prince Edward and two noblemen with white rods. In this apartment are also full-lengths of Henry VIII. and Dr. Ratcliffe ; a portrait of Surgeon Pott, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and a tine picture of St. Bartholomew. The great staircase was painted gratuitously by Hogarth : the principal subjects are, “The Angel at the Pool of Bethesda;” “ The Good Samaritan and “Rahere laying the foun- dation of the Hospital, with a sick man carried on a bier, and attended by monks.” The present buildings, which form an extensive and handsome quadrangle, ot' stone, connected by gateways, were erected about 1730; near the north-east angle an additional building forms a laboratory. All persons maimed by accident are received into this hospital, without recommendation, at any hour during the day or night. More than 20,000 persons are annually relieved from this institution, either as in- patients or out-patients. It contains accommodation for between 500 and 600 patients, and has undergone a com- plete repair during the last few years. In a niche over the arch of the principal entrance gateway, in Smith- field, which was rebuilt in 1702, is a full-length statue of Henry VIII. Rahere’s establishment of this hospital was principally for “brethren and sisters, sick persons, and pregnant women.” The estates he settled upon it were valued at 305/. In the year 1334 the priory received a gift from Henry le Hayward and Roger de Creton of 106 acres of arable land, and 4 of meadow, in Islington and Kentish Town, valued at 21s. 6d. per annum, to 1. London Bridge. 2. Southwark Bridge. 3. Blacklriars Bridge. 4. Waterloo Bridge. 5. New Hungerford Bridge. 6. Westminster Bridge. 7. Vauxhall Bridge. 8. Hammersmith Bridge. SMITHFIELD— ST. SEPULCHEE’s. 97 pray for the soul of John de Kentyshton : hence the name Iventish-town. Since which, various donations have contributed, with the greatly increased value of the land, to form the splendid revenues at present enjoyed by this Royal Hospital. OLD SMITHFIELD was used for a cattle-market for more than three hundred years, hut since the estab- lishment of the Metropolitan Cattle -market in the Caledonian-road, Islington, it has been used only for the sale of hay and straw on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. A portion is now (May, 1866) in process of con- version, under the act of 1861, into a dead-meat market, in place of the present confined market in Newgate- street. The open space is upwards of five acres in extent. Smithfield (or Smoothfield, as it was originally called) has been famous at different times as a place for jousts or tournaments, executions, burning of heretics, and that most uproarious of fairs, familiarly known as “Bartlemy,” and wisely abolished several years since. At the Elmes, near here, were executed the royal favourite Mortimer and William Wallace; and here Walworth, the Lord Mayor, slew Wat Tyler. ( See page 12.) Returning through Gilt spur -street we come to Skinner - street and Snow-hilly having on our right the CHURCH OF ST. SEPULCHRE, the bell of which is always tolled at the death of a criminal before New- gate. In the wall of the churchyard, at the south-east corner, is the first public drinking -fountain erected in London. It bears an inscription, notifying the fact that it was presented by Samuel Gurney, M.P. Of this church Pennant says, “ the Church of St. Sepulchre, or the Holy Sepulchre, stands at a small distance from the site of the gate on the north side of Snow-hill. . . . Whether the original church, which was of great size, and long since demolished, was of the form of that in Judea is unknown. It was rebuilt in the reign of Henry VI. or Edward IV. Popham, Chancellor of Normandy, who is mentioned as having been buried in the Church of the _ Chartreux (Charterhouse), was a great benefactor to this church. ” The famous Captain John Smith, renowned for his romantic adventures and marvellous exploits, rested here at the close of his chequered career in 1631. Adjoining this church is the famous Saracen's Heady a tavern formerly much frequented by stage-coach tra- vellers. At the foot of Snow-hill, at the junction of Farringdon and Victoria- streets, we ascend H 98 HOLBORN HILL. HOLBORN-HILL. — Holborn is a corruption of “ old bourne ,” or old brook ; for here once flowed an open stream into the filthy and now covered drain of Fleet-ditch. The Fleet Ditch ran through the valley between the two hills now known as Snow-hill and Holborn-hill, through what is now Farringdon- street , to the river. The ditch still runs over its ancient bed, and empties itself into the Thames near Blackfriars-bridge. This celebrated ditch was primarily supplied, we learn, “ by the waters of certain wells in the suburbs, called Clerken-well, Skinner’s- well, Frog’s- well, Tode-well, Loder’s-well, and Rad- well, forming a stream called the “ River of Wells,” or Turn mill-brook. The River of Wells ran down Turnmill-street and Hockley-in-the-Hole into Holborn, where it was fed by a brook called “Old -bournes,” and so on by the thorough. fare recently called Farringdon-street, where it received the waters of a rapid little streamlet, called “ The Fleet,” and made its way to the Thames. As the population increased about Clerkenwell and Holborn, the waters of the wells were diverted from their former channel, and the ditch became a kind of stagnant creek, the receptacle for every kind of “ filth and garbage.” As Swift describes it — Sweeping from butchers’ stalls, dung, guts, and blood, Drowned puppies, stinking sprats, all drenched in mud, Dead cats and turnip tops, come tumbling down the flood. At last the nuisance became so great that the ditch was confined within walls and arched over, though por- tions remained open to the street till within a few years. Lately the Fleet sewer has been partly diverted by the Metropolitan Railway Company, whose works penetrate a portion of the soil underneath Victoria- street— the new street opposite Farringdon-street, towards Clerken- well. The whole neighbourhood is in a transition state, consequent on the works necessary for the Holborn Y alley improvement, which will occupy some three or four years to complete : the viaduct will span the entire yalley. Just on the brow of the hill is Shoe-lane, leading to Fleet-street, in which, in 1749, Samuel Boyce, the poet, perished with hunger, and in the old churchyard of the workhouse, now used as a printing-office, Chatterton, the wondrous boy-poet, was buried, after committing suicide in Brook • street , on the opposite side of Holborn. The house .No. 4, in which the deed was committed, is HOLBORN HILL — HIGH HOLBORN. now a furniture warehouse. In Shoe-lane stood Bangor House, formerly the palace of the Bishop of Bangor, afterwards a workhouse, and now a printing-office. The Church of St. Andrew's stands at the corner of Holborn- hill and Shoe-lane. It was erected on the site of the old church, by Wren, in 1686. The famous Sacheverell was rector of St. Andrew’s, and was buried there in 1724. On the opposite side is Fly-place, which occupies the site of the town-house or “ host-ell” of the bishops of Ely. Here Sir Christopner Hatton died. The last “mysterie” per- formed in London was “ Christ’s Passion,” represented in “ Elie House in Holborne,” on a Good Friday in the reign of James I. The street farther west, on the same side, is Hatton -gar den, so called alter Sir Christopher Hatton, Lord Chancellor in the reign of “ good Queen Bess.” This street leads directly into the foul neighbourhood of Saffron -hill. The continuation of the main road is called generally Holborn and High Holborn. The viaduct by which the Holborn- valley is to be crossed, will spring from Newgate-street and be carried on to Fetter- lane. The work of demolition preparatory to the erection of this great London improvement is in progress while we write. HIGH HOLBORN contains Gray' s-inn Fur ni- val' s-inn; and the Turnstiles, to the left, beyond Chancery - lane , lead to Lincoln s -inn. Of these we must say a word or two presently. Near the centre of the street, and opposite Gray' s -inn -lane, is Middle-row , near which, on the right, are some of the oldest houses in London. In Middle-row which is doomed to speedy removal, are several shops of the old-fashioned sort. Far nival's -inn consists of a set of chambers, once belonging to Lincoln’s. No part of the old inn described by Stow remains, the whole having been reconstructed by Peto in 1818 . Gray' s- inn is one of the regular “ inns of court, ’’ with two inns of Chancery — Staples' -inn and Barnard' s-inn, both lying more to the east in Holborn, attached to it. It was formerly the seat of the Grays of Wilton, and now con- sists of two fine squares, one with a garden and trees, a Gothic hall, a chapel, and numerous well-built houses. The property extends from behind the houses in Holborn to King' s-road and Bedford-row , both of which are inhabited by members of the legal profession. The great Lord Bacon was a student of Gray’s- inn, as also were Gascoigne and Robert Southey, the poets. Gray' s- inn- gate, in which Jacob Tonson had his bookseller’s shop, H 2 100 tlNCOLNVlNff. and whence he issued many of the works of Addison* leads to the Inn beside Gray s-inn Coffee-house , a famous house for chops and steaks and good old port, much patronized by lawyers and their clients. Gray s-inn-lane leads, by its continuation, Gray’ s-inn-roacl, to King’ across. Hampden and Pym lived in Gray’s-inn-lane, which is now principally occupied, at the Holborn end, by old book shops, furniture dealers, and marine-store sellers. Nos. 55 and 56 High Holborn are the warehouses of Messrs. Hulett and Co., the engineers, and inventors of the well- known gas regiilator.s In Hatton-garden are the ware- houses of Messrs. Howland and Son of Macassar oil and Odonto celebrity. In proceeding westward, Fetter -lane on the left, and Leather -lane on the right, lead respectively to Fleet- street and the Clerkenwell House of Correction . Opposite Brook-street stood Holborn Bars , still distinguished by granite pillars bearing the arms of the corporation in token of the city authority ending at that spot. A little west on the left is Chancery* lane , leading into Fleet- street. Here is the Law Institution with its tine library, and on its west side is a wide archway leading to the Courts of Chancery and other offices in Lincoln s-inn- square , Carey - street , Cur sitor- street, and other tributary passages are chiefly occupied by solicitors, law-stationers, and other limbs of the law. In Portugal street is the now disused Lnsolvent Debtors’ Court. LINCOLN’ S-INN may be entered by way of Chancery - lane, Great Queen- street, or Great and Little Turnstiles . The societies of the Inns of Court consist of benchers, barristers, members, and students. The government is vested in the benchers, who are self-elected, and have power to admit students to the Bar (that is, to enable them to plead and manage causes in the courts of law) or to reject them at will and. without appeal. Students used to eat their way to the Bar , but of late years an examina- tion, not over strict, or, at any rate, attendance at a certain number of lectures, is necessary before a student can be converted into a barrister. Each inn has a dining- hall, chapel, and library, and keeping commons is not now compulsory. Lincoln s-inn, with its extensive squares and gardens, was so named from Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, who built a stately mansion here for his town residence, in the time of Edward I. The present buildings are irregular, and principally of brick. The hall, chapel, and library LINCOLN’S-INN-FIELDS — COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. 101 are noble apartments. The hall contains a large painting by Hogarth, of St. Paul before Agrippa and Festus. Convenient courts for the chancellor, vice-chancellors and lords-justices are within the walls, the chief entrance to which, as before mentioned, is in Chancery -lane. New Hall was built by Hardwicke, in the Tudor style, in 1845, and opened by the Queen in person. The library contains many curious MSS., and particularly those of the great Sir Matthew Hale, who devised them to the Society, on the singular condition that they should never be printed. The garden, pleasantly laid out, has a lofty gravelled terrace, commanding a view of Lincoln s-inn- fields , one of the largest squares in London, with a fine garden in the centre. In 1683, Lord William Russell was beheaded in Lincoln’s-inn-fields, for his supposed par- ticipation in the Rye-house Plot. Many eminent men — Lord Erskine, Lord Kenyon, Lord Somers, Spencer Perceval, Lord Mansfield, Thurloe, Cromwell’s secretary ; Sir Thomas More, and Oliver Cromwell himself, have been inhabitants of Lincoln’s-inn-helds and square. Drs. Donne, Usher, and Tillotson, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, have been preachers in the chapel , in the crypt of which lie buried. Prynne the Puritan, and Brome, the cavalier song* writer. On the south side of Lincoln’s-inn-fields is the COLLEGE OF SURGEONS, which fine edifice was erected in 1835, from the design of Charles Barry, Esq., R.A. In the year 1800, the Surgeons, who had been united with the Barbers’ Company from the time of Henry VII L, received a royal charter, constituting them a separate College. The interior of the building is ex- tremely well adapted to its uses, and the spacious Museum , which is of an oblong form, with galleries, contains the finest. collection of anatomical preparations ever formed. It includes the entire collection of the great John Hunter, which, after his decease, was pur- chased by Government at the public expense, and pre- sented to the College, with the view that a course of lectures on comparative anatomy and other subjects, illustrated by . the preparations, should be annually delivered by its members. Besides the Hunterian collection, this Museum contains many valuable contri- butions, made by Sir Joseph Banks, Sir William Blizard, Sir Everard Home, and other eminent persons. Here, too, is the preserved wife of the celebrated and eccentric Van Butchell, who was himself the embalmer of this 102 LINCOLN’S-INN-FIELDS— SOANE MUSEUM. illusive representation of human existence. She is laid out in an oblong mahogany box, the spaces being occu- pied by some composition. Over the face, which is completely perfect, is a square of glass. Application to view the Museum must be made to the curators ; and admissions can be obtained of any member. The days of admission are Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, from 12 to 4, except during the month of September. Medical students here pass their examina- tion in surgery. At the back of the present building was the Duke's Theatre, in which was first performed Gay’s Beggar’s Opera. The College contains several fine works of Art, and a good professional Library. On the opposite side of Lincoln’s-inn-Fields (No. 13) is located the collection of curiosities known as the SOANE MUSEUM. — Admission may be obtained by personal application during the months of April, May, and June ; but while . we write, the manner of public admission is undergoing revision. The Museum was founded by Sir John Soane, architect to the Bank, who lived and died in this house, and bequeathed his fine collection of works of art and vertu to the country. The collection is distributed over nearly four rooms, every corner being turned to account. Some of the pictures — especially Hogarth’s twofold series of the “Bake’s Progress’’ and the “ Election’’ — are valuable. These were temporarily removed by permission of the Trustees, under a special Act of Parliament, to the Inter- national Exhibition, in order to enrich the Hogarth series there. The Egyptian, Indian, and other curiosities, are exceedingly interesting. Eeturning again 1o Holborn, and continuing our walk to the corner of Hart-street, in Neiv Oxford- street, we turn to the right by Mudie s Library , and presently find ourselves in Great Bussell-street, Bloomsbury, standing before the gilded gates of THE BBITISH MUSEUM, which is open to the public every day except Saturday, with permission to view the New Beading Boom and Library. This im- posing building contains a matchless collection of anti- quities, Greek, Boman, Scandinavian, and British. The Nineveh Marbles, classic vases, and bronzes, a fine eth- nological collection, an unequalled library, an admirable collection of prints, and a unique cabinet of coins, &c. It is impossible in our restricted space to furnish a complete list of the very numerous purchases and dona" BKITISH MUSEUM. 103 tions by the aid of which the British Museum has risen to its present grandeur. In 1722, Parliament purchased Sir William Hamilton’s collection of Roman vases and curiosities. The Townley Marbles were added in 1805, two years after which was opened the Gallery of Anti- quities. Colonel Greville’s minerals were purchased in 1812; the Elgin and Phigalian Marbles came in imme- diately on the peace of 1815 ; Dr. Burney’s Library was purchased in 1818, for a sum of 13,500/. ; Sir Joseph Banks’ library and herbarium were bequeathed in 1820 ; Egyptian Antiquities were bought from Messrs. Salt and Sams, to the amount of nearly 10,000/. ; and in 1823, King George IY. presented the splendid and well -selected library of his father, George III., comprising up- w r ards of 70,000 volumes, now deposited in a fine suite of rooms in the lower story of the east wing of the new building. Since then the additions to them and to the various departments have been numerous and valuable. Crossing the spacious and noble court-yard, the visitor gains admission by the principal entrance, under the porticoes of the south fa$ade by a carved oak door, 9 feet wide and 24 feet high. The entraDce-hall is of the Doric order, 62 feet by 51 feet, and 30 feet high. The ceiling is trabeated (cross-beamed), deeply coffered, and enriched with Greek frets and other ornaments painted in encaustic, in various colours, most harmoniously blended; the large gold star upon’ a blue ground, in the centre of each square, has a superb effect. The floor is laid with large squares of Portland stone, and small grey marble diamonds at their angles. At the western extremity of the hall is the principal staircase. The centre flight is 17 feet wide, and is flanked by pedestals of grey Aberdeen granite. The walls on either side of the centre flight are cased with red Aber- deen granite, highly polished. On the first landing are two beautiful vases, on pedestals of Huddlestone stone, and the balustrades are of the same material. The walls and ceiling are painted in oil, and in encaustic colour ; and the ceiling is trabeated, coffered, and decorated, to harmonize with the entrance-hall. These decorations have been executed by Messrs. Collman and Davies. At the top of the grand staircase commence the suite of rooms appropriated to natural history, the arrangements of which are nearly complete. These galleries occupy, on the upper floor, the eastern portion of the south front, and the whole of the eastern and northern sides of the 104 BRITISH MUSEUM — UNIVERSITY COLLEGE. quadrangle, and are thus divided into five distinct parts, all of which are open to the public : — 1. The Botanical Museum, j 4. The Northern Zoological 2. The Mammalia Gallery, j Gallery. 3. The Eastern Zoological 5. The Northern or Mineral Gallery, J Gallery. The entrance to the Sculpture Gallery is by a doorway to the left of the principal entrance. The Sculpture Gallery occupies the western and south-western portion of the quadrangle on the ground floor, and is thus arranged : — • 1. The Townley Gallery, 2. The Lycian Room, 3. The Grand Central Saloon, 4. The Phigalian Saloon, 5. The Elgin Saloon, 6. The Egyptian Saloon, 7. The Ante-Room. In the basement are exhibited the Nineveh Marbles. Ascending a spacious flight of stairs at the north- west angle you arrive at the Western Gallery, in which the smaller Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquities are arranged as follows : — 1. The Vestibule, j 4. The Etruscan Room, 2. The Egyptian Room, 5. The Ethnographical Room. 3. The Bronze Room, A hook of the contents of the Museum may he pur- chased in the hall for Is. ; hut several cheap guides and catalogues are also published. A continuation of Great Russell-street, westward, brings us to TOTTENHAM-COURT-ROAD, which is the leading thoroughfare to Camden Town , Kentish Town , Hamp- stead, Highgate, and the great northern suburbs. There is little to note in Tottenham-court-road : — except that it contains the chapel, built in 1756, for George Whitfield, one of the founders of the “ sect called Methodists,” and that the brewery of the late Sir Henry Meux is at the Oxford-street corner. Most of the streets on the left hand side lead towards Fitzroy and Cavendish squares, while those on the right will bring you into the neigh- bourhood of UNIVERSITY COLLEGE.— This college was founded by Lord Brougham and other well-known reformers, in 1825, on a very liberal basis. This, with King’s College, and the several educational establishments belonging to the . Nonconformists, forms what is known as the London University. The Council of the University used to meet TOTTENHAM-COUKT-BOAD — OXFOED-STBEET. 105 in an apartment in Somerset House, but now the busi- ness of granting degrees, &c., is conducted at Burlington House, Piccadilly. University College consists of a noble quadrangle, with a fine portico opening to the hall. Here may be seen daily, from 10 to 4, Fiaxman’s casts, and other works of interest. The College Hall, built by Donaldson, in the Klizabethan style, has a front towards Gordon -square, while the school is in the rear. Opposite the College is University College Hospital , founded in 1833, as a school of medicine and general hospital for the sick. It is one of the best conducted establishments of the kind in London. It has an income of about 5000/. and makes up about 135 beds. Near at hand is a line Gothic building, known as the Catholic and Apostolic Church. In Tottenham -court-road is laid the scene of Hogartlrs “ March to Finchley and in the gardens once belonging to tbe manor-house, and subsequently to the Adam and Eve tavern, on the site of which Eden-place, Hampstead- road, was afterwards built, Lunardi made his famous parachute descent, May 16, 1785. The street market in Tottenham-court-road on a Saturday night is a very curious and instructive sight Near the junction of the Tottenham-court-road with the Euston, Hampstead, and Marylebone-roads, is the great drapery establishment of Messrs. Shoolbred, one of the largest and best in the metropolis. Retracing our steps to OXFORD* STREET, we have on the right the Oxford Music Hall , a very handsome and attractive place of public entertainment. Every visitor should go at least once to hear the vocal and instrumental music, performed here every evening. On the left, in Solio-square , is the Soho Bazaar , one of the best places of the kind and the first established ; while farther on, and on the same side of the way, is the Pantheon , where, in addition to the usual contents of a bazaar, is a line conservatory and a good, collection of pictures ; among these is Haydon’s “Raising of Lazarus.” Nearly opposite the Pantheon , formerly noted for mas- querades and similar entertainments, is the Princess's Theatre , built in 1841, on the site of the Queen’s Bazaar. The performances at this theatre are always good, a first-rate company being engaged. Here Mr. Charles Kean commenced that brilliant series of Shakespearian revivals with which his name is so inti- mately connected. 106 REGENT-CIRCUS NORTH — CAVENDISH SQUARE. At the junction of Oxford-street and Regent-street is the Regent' s-circus North , a place of great resort, and from which omnibuses start for nearly all parts of Lon- don. This open space, generally known as Oxford -circus, contains many fine shops. Conspicuous among these — a door or two from the Circus, on the north side of Oxford- street — are the spacious and handsome premises of Peter Robinson, the well-known silk-mercer and draper. This establishment, indeed, consists of several distinct houses, devoted to the preparation and sale of everything con- nected with the costume of ladies. An establishment on an equally extensive scale — a few steps off, on the east side of Regent- street — is devoted to the sale of all kinds of materials fitted for mourning; and belongs to the same proprietor. Next to Peter Robinson’s, in Oxford-street, is the London Crystal Palace, a spacious bazaar for the sale of toys, musical instruments, jewellery, &c. ; and close behind Oxford-street, with two openings into Regent- street, is Hanover -square, built in 1720, and famous for its fine concert and ball-room. — Hanover-square Rooms. They were built by Gallini, and within are held the Phil- harmonic Concerts. No. 11, in the square, is the museum of the .Zoological Society; No. 12, the Royal Agricultural Society ; and No. 13, the Earl of Harewood’s mansion ; while at the north-west corner stands the Oriental Club ; nearly opposite to this building, in Ten- terden-street, is the Royal Academy of Music, founded in the year 1822. In the square is a bronze statue of Pitt, by Chantrey; and in George-street, within a few steps of the square itself, is. the most fashionable church in the metropolis for weddings. To be married at St. George’s, Hanover-square, by a bishop, with three clergymen “assisting,” a lord to give her away, and a dozen of elegantly dressed bridesmaids, is the height of a London belle’s ambition; in George-street the cele- brated Lady Mary Wortley Montagu passed the last moments of her long life. Before quitting this neigh- bourhood, we may mention that the renowned circum- navigator of the globe, George, Lord Anson, lived at one time in Hanover-square ; moreover, that great naval commander, Lord Rodney, breathed his last there in 1792. On the right of Oxford-street through Holles-street, is Cavendish -square, in which are two or three princely mansions. Among them, at the corner of Harley -street, is that of Yiscount Beresford, a house which formerly be» PORTMAN SQUARE— MARBLE ARCH. 107 longed to the Princess Amelia, a daughter of George II. The equestrian statue in the centre of the square is that of William, Duke of Cumberland, the hero of Culloden; bearing the following inscription : — William Duke of Cumberland, born April 15, 1721 — died October 31, 1765. This equestrian statue was erected by Lieutenant General William Strode, in gratitude for his private friendship, in honour of his public services, Nov. the 4th, Anno Domini 1770. It is of this statue that .Reynolds speaks, when he warns modern artists from attempting modern costume in sculpture — a warning not much heeded by his suc- cessors, and of not much worth apparently, seeing what a successful equestrian statue Foley made in 1858 of Lord Hardinge for erection in the public square of Calcutta. Lady Mary Wortley Montague lived in Cavendish- square, which was laid out in 1717 ; hut in conse- quence of the bursting of the South Sea Bubble, in which Harley, second Earl of Oxford, was engaged, the square was not completed for several years. On this side of Oxford-street, also, lies Portman-square , a little further west. It was begun in 1764, but was twenty years in progress. It stands on the site of Little Gibbet Field, Tyburn, which inter- esting neighbourhood we now approach. Tyburn-lane , is now called Park-lane , and runs be- tween Oxford-street and Piccadilly. It is full of fine houses with gardens which overlook Hyde-park. At the junction of Oxford-street with the Edgeware-road and the Uxbridge-road , stood the gallows of Tyburn, and here, at the corner of Hyde-park, is THE MARBLE ARCH, or Cumberland Gate , as the entrance to the park beside it is called. This arch w'as erected by George IV., and cost 90,000/. It formerly stood in front of Buckingham Palace, but was removed a few years since, on the enlargement of the palace, to its present site, where it forms an appropriate ornament to this great approach to London. No. 259 Oxford-street is Blackwell’s, the noted saddler and whip-maker. We now enter HYDE-PABK, one of the “ lungs of London,” which serves to connect the Green-park with Keusington-gar- dens ; and if you look at the map you will discover that there is one grand line of fields and park from the Horse Guards to Kensington. Lysons tells us that “ adjoining 108 HYDE PARK. to Knightsb ridge were two ancient manors, Neyte and Hyde, both belonging to the Church of Westminster till the reign of Henry VIII., when they became the pro- perty of the Crown, having been given, together with the advowson of Chelsea, in exchange for the Priory of Plurley, in Berkshire. The site of the Manor of Hyde constitutes, no doubt, Hyde-park, which having Knightsbridge on the south, lies between the two roads that lead to Hounslow and Uxbridge. ” The park covers a space of about 400 acres, and is separated from Kensington -gardens by a low wall and the Serpentine river, a piece of water of about fifty acres, formed in 1733, by Caroline, queen to George II. It is fed by the water- works of the Chelsea Company, its communi- cation with the Ranelagh Sewer having been cut off in 1834. Early in the morning in the summer months it is much frequented by bathers, upwards of 12,000 of whom have been known to indulge in the luxury of a bath in one day; and in the winter months the Serpentine is the favourite resort of the lovers of skating, for whose safety the Royal Humane Society have erected a receiving- house, which is well supplied with everything necessary to the resuscitation and comfort of those who may be suddenly immersed. This valuable society has been in- strumental in saving thousands of lives. Opposite the Piccadilly entrance, observe the grand statue of Achilles , inscribed “by the women of England to Arthur, Duke of Wellington, and his brave compa- nions in arms.” It was cast by Westmacott, from ord- nance taken from the enemy during the Peninsular war, and the cost of its erection was entirely defrayed by subscriptions raised by the gentler sex, which amounted, it is said, to 10,000/. The park presents a fine appearance on the occasion of a review. In the Ring and Rotten- row are to be seen, in the season, all the fashion of London out for exercise — a sight unequalled in Europe, or, perhaps, in the world. Thousands make holiday here in the summer. We are in the Park, and feel the glow of exercise in all our limbs, and the exhilarating flush of health which no money can purchase. Do we wish for solitude and retirement? it is to be obtained here. Do we desire society ? there are thousands on the green smooth turf. In the works of Pope, Arbuthnot, and their school, numerous references will be found made to Hyde- park. It has been successively used as a race-course, a duelling-field, a private park, a place of resort for the WHITEHALL TO VAUXHALL* 101) fashionable ; and, better than all, a place of meeting for all nations in the Great Exhibition of 1851. WHITEHALL TO YAUXHALL. Whitehall— The Admiralty and Horse- Guards— St. James’s Park— The Government Offices— Westminster Abbey— Westminster Hall— The Sanctuary — Victoria Street — Westminster School — Millbank Penitentiary — Vauxhall Bridge, &c. “ This city now doth, like a garment, wear The beauty of the morning; silent, fair, Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie Open unto the fields and to the sky.” Wordsworth. From Charing-cross to Vauxhall, with the two miles of road thus indicated, are to be seen most of the Govern- ment offices, and the noble old Hall and Abbey of Westminster. Soon the houses that obstruct the view from end to end will be removed, and a street !of palaces will be open to the wondering gaze of the stranger. Start- ing from the statue of Charles 1. we have on our left WHITEHALL. — The old palace of Whitehall occu- pied a considerable space, extending from Scotland-yard along the banks of the Thames towards Westminster; but it was partly burnt down in the year 1697. The present Banqueting House , as it is called, although it was converted into a Chapel soon after the commencement of the last century, had its name from an old building which stood here in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and was used for public entertainments. It was commenced in 1619, from designs of Inigo Jones ; hut it formed only a small part of the vast plan of a royal palace intended to have been erected there, yet never proceeded with, in consequence of the civil wars. The ceiling of the prin- cipal room, now the Chapel, was painted by Rubens, who had 3000/. for his work, which, about 100 years since, was retouched by Cipriani, at an expense of 2000/. It represents the Apotheosis of James I. in nine compart- ments, and is principally indicative of that monarch’s love of peace and detestation of war. Little did James suppose he was erecting a pile from which his son Charles was to step from the throne to the scaffold ! This ill- 110 ADMIRALTY AND HORSE-GUARDS. fated king slept here, in a small room, preceding the night of his decapitation ; and passed through one of the windows (since blocked up) to the scaffold, which was erected before it, in what is now the public street, but which was then an inclosed court. The tine brass statue of James II., by Grinling Gibbons, which stands behind the Banqueting-house, in Priry gardens, has been frequently, but most erroneously, described, as pointing to the spot where his father was beheaded. The figure is not pointing, though the right arm is partly extended ; the attitude is that of deep attention or contemplation. Some years ago a large gallery was erected here, in the Chapel Royal , for the accommodation of the Foot Guards during Divine service. Over the altar are the various Eagles gloriously won from the French, in different battles in the Peninsula, and on the sanguinary field of Waterloo. George I. granted a yearly salary of 30/. to twelve clergymen (six from each University), who officiate a month each, in due succession. Here, too, on every Maunday Thursday, is distributed the Queen’s bounty to poor and aged women. Opposite Whitehall are THE ADMIRALTY AND THE HORSE-GUARDS.— The Admiralty is not a handsome building. It was erected from designs by Ripley, in the reign of the first George. It consists of a courtyard separated from the road by a screen and gateway ; and behind are the several departments for the Royal Commissioners of the Admiralty, a portion of the business of which office is conducted at Somerset House. The Horse- Guards, in front of which two soldiers on horseback are on guard, form the head quarters of the Commander-in-Chief, and the military departments of which he is the head. Within the quadrangle the detachment of household troops quartered here muster every morning and afternoon. The building was erected by Vardy, from a design by Kent. The War-office, the business of which is conducted here, is maintained at a yearly cost of about 30,000/. The archway beneath the Horseguards— through which only the royal family and persons having especial permis- sion, are allowed to pass on horseback or in vehicles — forms the principal entrance for pedestrians to ST. JAMES’S PARK. — This handsome, though small park, was partly a marsh, when Henry VIII. had it enclosed and laid out in walks. Charles 11 . enlarged and greatly improved it, under the direction of LeN dtre. st. james’s park — the mall. ill The ornamental water was then formed, the rows of lime-trees planted, and the “ Mall” laid out. This noble vista, which was at first a smooth hollow walk, half-a- mile in length, had an iron hoop at the further end, for the purpose of playing a game with a ball, called Mall ; and hence its name. Succeeding kings allowed the people the privilege of walking here ; and the passage from Spring-gardens was opened in 1699, by William III. The canal is 2800 feet long, and 100 broad, crossed by an ornamental suspension bridge. On the celebration of the grand fete in 1814, the Pagoda Bridge was raised over the ornamental water. When the fete commenced on the first of August, the five upper stories of the Pagoda Tower were destroyed by fire. On that night, the different walks about the park were illuminated by large paper lanthorns, (hung from tree to tree,) painted with every variety of subject; and large booths were set up for the refreshment of the company, on each side of the canal. In the Green-park was erected a Temple of Concord , which was brilliantly illuminated, and ornamented with large allegorical paintings. This temple was so constructed, as to revolve on cylindrical rollers ; and it was once turned round in the course of the night. Immense flights of rockets and other fire- works, with discharges of maroons and artillery, were here exhibited, for the amusement of the great numbers who had assembled on this occasion ; although a great portion of the crowd was drawn into Hyde-park, by the sham fight and other attractions on the {Serpentine river. From the lawn, also, in front of the Queen's palace, Mr , Sadler, junr., ascended in a balloon, on the same evening, in the presence of the Queen and her court. A similar though simpler sort of pyrotechnic display took place in the parks on the celebration of peace at the conclusion of the Crimean war. Thanks to the Ornithological Society, the visitor may study natural history by observation of the habits of the various foreign water-birds in the orna- mental water ; or botany, thanks, in this case, to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, by the arrange- ment of labelling the trees and shrubs in the enclosure with their English and botanical names, and the countries of their nativity. From this park one of the best distant views of the fine old towers of Westminster Abbey may be obtained ; and glimpses of water, here and there, from amidst the trees render it altogether one of the most charming retreats in the metropolis. It is well provided 112 st. james’s park — green-park. with seats for the tired pedestrian, and it is open from early morn till sunset — Birdcage-walk remaining an open thoroughfare all night. Fronting the Horse-guards observe two pieces of ordnance — one a large howitzer or mortar, captured at the siege of Cadiz in 1810 ; and the other a curious Turkish piece, taken at Alexandria in 1801. In the winter the ice on the water in the Enclosure is carefully preserved, and no one allowed to venture on it till it is quite capable of bearing, when it is crowded with sliders and skaters, among the latter of whom may be observed some ladies occasionally. In 1857 a chain suspension-bridge was thrown across the Ornamental Water, between Q,ueen-square and St. James’s-street, for the convenience of foot passengers. Every morning some companies of the Guards parade the park with their band playing, on their way to relieve guard at St. Jamess Palace. In the Colour Court of the palace the band plays for half an hour daily at eleven. The Wellington Barracks occupy a large space on the south side of the Park oppo- site Birdcage-walk. They were erected in 1834. The Green-park is divided from St. James’s-park by a portion of the Mall and the road called Constitution-liill , where, on June 10, 1840, the lunatic potboy, Oxford, fired a pistol at the Q,ueen. Next the Horse -guards are the Home -office, the Offices of the Board of Trade , the Treasury , and Privy Council- office , which together occupy a very handsome range of buildings, in the Italian style, built by Sir Charles Barry, in 1847. The Whitehall front is new, but much of the main building is of various dates, altered, modified, and otherwise adapted to the requirements of the Govern- ment. The War and Exchequer offices in Downing - street , have been pulled down to make room for the extension of the Government offices southward of the existing range, and now in process of erection, and occupying the whole of Fludyer-street and the adjacent neighbourhood. The business of the W r ar-office is at present conducted in a house, or rather group of houses, in Pall Mall,, The Board of Control was abolished with the old East India Company, and the business of the India Department is for the present carried on in a portion of the W estminster Palace Hotel , a handsome and spacious block at the corner of Victoria-street , the new street opening out from Westminster Abbey to Belgravia. Many other offices con- nected with Government are situated in and about White- hall ; large sums being paid yearly as rent — a system WESTMINSTER BRIDGE — HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. 113 advocated by some politicians as more economical than the expenditure of large sums for land and buildings. We have now reached the open space facing West- minster Abbey. To the left is the new bridge, to the right the Sanctuary , and immediately before us St. Margaret' s Church , the Houses of Parliament, and West- minster Hall. Let us briefly notice each of these. NEW WESTMINSTER- BRIDGE is the largest and finest structure of the kind in Europe. It was only fully opened on the first of* July, in this year 1862. On that day, on which the Princess Alice was married, the last timber of the temporary bridge was knocked away, and the new bridge opened. The old bridge was built in 1739-50, from the design of the Swiss architect, Labeyle ; and the new one — graceful and massive — was begun about seven years since by Mr. Page, who has ably carried out the idea of Sir C. Barry. It is 1160 feet long by 85 feet in width ; twenty-nine feet wider than London-bridge. It will cost altogether about half a million. A portion of the stone of the old bridge was used in the erection of the London and County Bank in Lombard-street. From this bridge to Blackfriars the embankment of the Thames is being made. The houses facing Bridge-street, on the Middlesex side, were pulled down to open the road to the HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, or the New Palace of Westminster , as the building is sometimes called. The first stone of this noble Gothic edifice was laid on the 27th of April, 1840, and the building commenced under the superintendence of Charles Barry, Esq., architect. The river- front includes the residence for the Speaker at the north end, the corresponding terminal towards the south being the residence for the Usher of the Black Rod. Between the two extremes, and comprising what is called the curtain portions, are the libraries for the House of Peers and the libraries for the House of Com* mons : in the immediate centre is the conference-room for the two Houses. All this is on the principal fioor, about fifteen feet above the terrace, or high-water mark. The whole of the floor above the libraries, and overlooking the river, is appropriated to committee-rooms for the purposes of Parliament; the Peers occupying about one- third towards the south, and the Commons two-thirds towards the north. The House of Peers and House of Commons are situated in the rear of the front building, or that next the river ; and will, when completed, be en- closed also towards the west, so as to be entirely sup- I 114 HOUSES OE PARLIAMENT— WESTMINSTER HALL. ported by Parliamentary offices. The plan of this truly national edifice is exceedingly simple and beautiful. The Central Hall, an octagon of seventy feet square, is reached through St. Stephen’s Hall and Porch, communicating, by noble flights of steps, with Westminster Hall, and forming an approach of unequalled magnificence. From the Central Hall, a corridor to the north leads to the Commons’ Lobby and House of Commons ; and a corridor to the south, to the Peers’ Lobby and the House of Peers ; still further to the south are Victoria Hall, the Royal Gallery, and the Queen’s Robing-room, communicating with the Royal Staircase, and the Victoria Tower, at the south-west corner of the pile now reared in Abingdon- street — her Majesty’s state entrance to this Palace. The construction throughout is externally of hard mag- nesian limestone, from Yorkshire. It is a beautiful, close- grained stone', of a texture considerably harder than Portland, and somewhat warmer in colour. The stone having shown signs of deterioration, several ingenious means for its arrest have been tried with varying success. The interior stone-work is from Caen. The bearers of the floor are of cast-iron, with brick arches turned from girder to girder; the entire roofs are of wrought-iron, covered with cast-iron plates galvanized ; so that the carcases of the entire buildings are fireproof, not any timber having been used in their construction. The whole building stands on a bed of concrete, twelve feet thick ; and the materials already used include from eight to nine hundred thousand tons of stone, twenty-four millions of bricks, and flve thousand tons of iron. The splendour of the interior defies description, and must be seen to be appreciated. The Palace at Westminster can be inspected on Wed- nesdays and Saturdays by tickets, to be obtained on the same days at the office of the Lord Great Chamberlain, at the House of Lords, between ten and four o’clock. Closely adjoining, and, indeed, incorporated with the main design of the Houses of Parliament, is WESTMINSTER HALL. — This beautiful and vene- rable building was originally founded by William Rufus in 1097, but it was rebuilt in its present form by Richard II., who, in 1399, kept his Christmas here with great magnificence, the number of his guests amounting to 10,000 each day. Its dimensions are said to exceed those of any other apartment in Europe unsupported by pillars. Its length is 270 feet ; its breadth, 74 feet ; and its height about 90 feet. The roof, which principally WESTMINSTER HALL— LAW COURTS. 115 consists of chestnut- wood, is very curiously constructed, and adorned with angels supporting shields, charged with the arms of Richard II. and his patron saint, Edward the Confessor ; on the stone frieze below the windows are various sculptures of a hart couchant, and other devices of Richard II. The pavement has been thrice raised, at different periods, in order to keep out the water, the hall having been frequently flooded at high tides by the waters of the Thames. This hall appears to have been designed for royal banquets and entertainments, and the corona- tion feasts have been held here for ages. Courts of justice were, however, held here in very early times, in which the sovereign himself was accustomed to preside ; and the ancient stone bench, whereon the monarch sat, is said to be yet in existence beneath the pavement in the upper end. Hence the Curia Domini Regis , or Court of King's Bench , which is one of the four supreme courts now regularly held beneath this roof : the other courts being Chancery , Common Pleas , and Exchequer. These courts being much too small for the business transacted in them, the erection of a new and spacious building in the Strand has been determined on, as already stated. In cases of Parliamentary impeachment the spacious area of the hall itself is fitted up as a court, as jt was for the trial of Thomas, Earl of Strafford, minister of Charles I., and also that of his equally ill-fated sovereign. Here, likewise, in modern times, were tried the celebrated Duchess of Kingston, for bigamy ; Warren Hastings, for misconduct in India; Lord Melville, for misappropriation of the public money ; Lord Cardigan for fighting a duel ; and the ill-fated Caroline, consort of Gieorge IV. Many parliaments have also sat here ; and whilst the hall was rebuilding in 1397, Richard II. had a temporary house erected of wood, in Old Palace-yard for the same purpose. It was open on all sides, that the people might see and hear everything that passed ; yet that nothing might be done contrary to the royal pleasure, the king surrounded it with “four thousand Cheshire archers, having bows bent and arrows notched, ready to shoot.” Many improvements have been made at Westminster of late years, and among others a new Guildhall for that city has been built on the north side of the Abbey. It is an octangular edifice of brick, standing on a part of the ancient sanctuary. Opposite the north front of the Hall is the parish 116 ST. MARGARET^ — WESTMINSTER ABBEY. Church of St. Margaret' s . — It was begun in the reign of Edward I., and repaired, altered, and beautified from time to time ; but it is sadly in the way of the view of the Hall and Abbey. Here many great and noble men have been buried. &ee the tablets to Caxton, the printer, and Sir 'Walter Raleigh ; Howard, admiral to the fleet in the Ar- mada year, 1588 ; and the various members of the Egerton family. In this church the members of the House of Commons are supposed to attend at the beginning and ending of the Parliamentary session — a ceremony nowa- days not very closely observed. In the time of Charles I. the fast-day sermons were preached in St. Margaret’s before Pym, Harrison, Praise-God Barebones, Cromwell, and the rest of the members of the parliament ; and here it was that Hugh Peters preached the sermon which advocated the trial of the unfortunate and misguided Charles Stuart. Opposite the Hall is "WESTMINSTER ABBEY, open to the street on three sides, but much pressed upon by houses on the south. Westminster Abbey, or the collegiate church of St. Peter, is situated on a spot originally surrounded by the waters of the Thames, and called Thorney Island, but now in- cluded under the general name of W estminster. It was founded somewhat previously to the year 616, by Sebert, king of the East Saxons ; and according to the monkish legends, it was miraculously consecrated by St. Peter himself, its patron saint. Edward the Confessor rebuilt and greatly enlarged the original church, but his build- ing was wholly taken down by Henry III., who, with his son, Edward L, erected all the eastern part of the present church to the first column in the nave beyond the entrance of the choir. The nave and its aisles were principally erected by different abbots in the succeeding reigns, down to Henry VII. ’s time ; yet the western towers were never completed till the early part of the 18th century, when Sir Christopher Wren completed the work. This mag- nificent pile is built in the form of a Latin cross, in the pointed style of architecture, and to its eastern ex- tremity is attached the chapel of Henry VII., who founded it as a royal burving-place for himself and succeeding sovereigns and princes. The view of the interior from the west entrance is uncommonly grand ; and many other points might be mentioned, where the various divisions and ornaments of the building range in very beautiful perspectives. The west window is enriched WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 117 with full-length paintings on glass of Moses and Aaron, the Patriarchs, &c., and the large and elegant Rose- window, in the north transept, is embellished with similar paintings of Christ and the Apostles. The Mari- gold-window, in the south transept, was erected in 1814, and is still more elaborate in its design than the one just mentioned, yet from being glazed with plain glass only, its appearance is far less impressive. The choir is wainscoted, and neatly fitted up with stalls, seats, &c,, and a fine organ. The mosaic pave- ment before the altar-piece is a very interesting specimen of ancient art. The altar-piece itself was designed for the chapel of Whitehall by Inigo Jones, but Queen Anne presented it to the Dean and Chapter. In itself it is a rich composition of classic architecture, but it does not assimilate with the solemn character of this building. Immediately behind the choir is the very interesting chapel of Edward the Confessor , in the midst of which stands the shrine in which the ashes of that superstitious, yet pious sovereign, lie entombed. Here, also, is a beautiful screen, on the frieze of which the principal events of the legendary history of that king are sculptured in bold relief. Near it are the coronation chairs , in the framework of the most ancient of which is the famous stone which Edward I. brought from Scotland, tia- ditionally said to have been the very pillow on which Jacob reposed, when he had his beatific vision in the Holy Land (!) Round the chapel are the tombs of Henry III. ; Edward I., and his faithful Queen Eleanor ; Edward III., and Queen Philippa; Richard II., and Anne, his first queen ; and Henry V. The recumbent effigies of Henry III., Queen Eleanor, and Edward III., are particularly beautiful as works of art. A splendid monumental chapel, enriched by statues and other sculptures, surmounts the tomb of Henry Y. Nine or ten other chapels, dedicated to various saints, open to the ambulatory round the choir, and like the transepts and aisles are crowded with monuments of the illustrious dead. The south transept is generally called Poet' s- corner , from being chiefly appropriated to the reception of the monuments and mortal relics of poets and men of letters. Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Camden, Ren Jonson, Milton, Sir William D’Avenant, Dryden, Eutler, Gay, Thomson, Rowe, Gray, Addison, Handel, Garrick, Goldsmith, Sheridan, Campbell, Macaulay, and numerous other persons of distinguished genius, 318 WESTMINSTER ABBEY AND SCHOOL. have memorials here. Here also repose the ashes of the great statesman Lord Palmerston, who died on the 18th of October, 1865. Notice the beautiful monument of John, l)uke of Argyle. In the north transept and its aisles are the splendid monuments of Lord Mans- held, Lord Robert Manners, the great Lord Chatham, Sir Charles Wager, Admiral Vernon, General Wolfe, and numerous others. Sir Isaac Newton, the great Earl Stanhope, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Captain Montague, Mr. Secretary Craggs; the Bishops Pearce, Thomas, Sprat, &c. ; Major Andre, Thomas Thynne, Esq., Dr. Burney, and a crowd of other eminent characters. Many of later date, have monuments in the aisles; and over the west entrance, on an elevated arch, is a statue of the Right Hon. William Pitt. Among the ancient monuments, the most remarkable are those of Aymer de Valence, and Edmund Crouchback, in the north aisle of the choir; and William de Valence, Sir Bernard Brocas, and John of Eltham, in Saint Edmund's Chapel. The chapel of Saint Blaize, Cloisters, Chapter ' House , (used as a Record Office), Chapel of the Fix , and other ancient parts of the Benedictine monastery connected with the Abbey Church, are all deserving of minute and atten- tive inspection. In the old Chapter House is kept the far celebrated Domesday-book, compiled in the time of William the. Norman, still in line preservation. Facing Victoria-street , a line new wide street leading to Belgravia right through the heart of old Westminster, is the handsome Crimean Monument , erected to the memory of the Westminster scholars who fell in the Crimean war. In the south-west corner, in Dean s-yard, is the celebrated WESTMINSTER SCHOOL.— This well-known school was originally allocated to the monastery of Benedic- tines, which anciently formed the nucleus of the city of Westminster, and of which the Abbey church, and vari- ous contiguous buildings, still remain, to testify to the extent and splendour of the establishment. The school is still within the Abbey precincts, but it derives its present foundation from Q,ueen Elizabeth, who, in 1560, re-established the dean and chapter, and rendered the church collegiate. The Queen's Scholars, as they are called, are forty in number, but there are also forty Ring’s Scholars on the foundation; and many others, the sons of the nobility and gentry, are educated here for the PENITENTIARY — VAUXHALL BRIDGE. 119 universities, at the expense of their friends. Some of the most distinguished men the country has produced have been educated in this seminary. Exhibitions are enjoyed by the scholars on thefoundation. The admirers of the ancient drama have a rich treat annually at West- minster school, in the beginning oi' December, when the scholars perform one of Terence’s plays. After making the circuit of the Abbey, bestowing a glance at St. Margaret’s Church, and walking through its burial-ground — in which lie Caxton, the first English printer, who had his office in the Sanctuary ; Sir Walter Raleigh, and some other persons of note— stopping for an instant before Westminster Hospital , at the north corner of the Abbey, in what is called the Broad Sanctuary , which was founded in 1715, and the present building, erected in 1834, from the designs of Mr. Inwood — looking in upon the boys at play in the ground attached to Westminster School, in Dean’s-yarcl, and visiting for a moment the National Society’s Training-school for Mas- ters, in the Sanctuary — we retrace our steps, and crossing Old Palace Yard , we pass the spot on which stood the old Houses of Lords and Commons from the time of Henry II. till their destruction, on the 16th of October, 1834, and come again to the Houses of Parliament. Passing the Victoria Tower , beneath t he noble arch of which the Q,ueen enters the palace when she goes to open or adjourn the session, we skirt the river by Abingdon-street , and, in about a mile, reach the MILL BANK PENITENTIARY.-- Admission to this prison may be obtained by order of the Home fcecretary, or cf Colonel Sir John Jebb, the Government Inspector of prisons. It consists of six wings, built in the form of a star, with the governor’s house in the centre of the six rays, at the end of each of which are strong towers. This prison is almost equal in strength to a fortress, which in- deed it somewhat resembles. It was built in 1812, from the design of the celebrated Jeremy Bentham, and is said to have cost half a million of money. The ground was so low that the greater part of the structure is supported on piles; but the excellent system of ventilation prevents it from being unhealthy. Nearly 4000 criminals pass through this prison every year as a probationary con- finement previous to their final destination or discharge. A little further on is VAUXHALL BRIDGE — leading to the district known as Vauxhall , a collection of unimportant houses, in the 120 VAUXHALL — WEST-END. midst of which stood the once celebrated Vauxhall Gardens. Vauxhall abounds in potteries and manu- factories. The Bridge was built after the designs of Mr. Walker between 1811 and 1816. It consists of nine cast- iron arches, each 78 feet span. A halfpenny toll is taken of foot-passengers. A church and school occupy part of the site of Vauxhall Gardens; and near at hand is Holy Trinity Church , one of three of that name in London, famous for its spire. At no great distance is the cele- brated Cricket ground at Kennington Oval; and facing the river, on the opposite side, is Battersea Bark , of which we shall have something to say when we take a trip on the river. A STROLL ABOUT THE WEST-END. Her Majesty’s Theatre— Pall Mall — Sr. James’s — Reg ENT- STREET — PICCADILLY — ST. JAMES’S PARK — Brompton— Kensington Gardens and Palace. “ The Campus Martius of St. James’s-street, Where the beaus’ cavalry pace to and fro, Before they take the field in Rotten-row.” SlIERTDAN. To take any one district of the West-end and exhaust it with pleasant gossip would require a volume of itself. To notice all the noticeable places between Charing- cross and Kensington would need five times the space occupied by my little Guide; and io tell of the his- torical, literary, and artistic matters which Leigh Hunt converted into such pleasant reading, and other writers have so crammed with facts and figures, would be quite beyond our scope. Enough if we give a few lines to each of the more prominent places and buildings in that wide area, which fashionable folk are apt, rather cynically, it must be owned, to style “ the world.” Passing from Charing-cross to Cockspur -street, we come in sight of the Bronze Statue of George III. on horseback, by M. Cotes Wyatt, erected in 1837. Observe the tail of the horse and the pigtail of the king ! O’Byrne, the Irish giant, died in this street in 1783. The British Coffee House, opposite, is one of the best hotels in London. It is famous for the political meetings held here. In Suffolk-street is the Exhibition of British Artists in Water Colours. To the right, at the corner of the Haymarket , — in which are several first-rate jewel- lers’ and other shops — is HAYMARKET AND PALL-MALL. 121 HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE, until within a few years the sole temple of Italian opera in the metropolis. The present edilice was erected by M. Novosielski, on the site of the former theatre, built by Sir John Vanbrugh, and destroyed by fire in 1790. it has since undergone alter- ations, and in 1820 the present front, with the tine colon- nades and frieze, was erected. Open from February to August. Opposite is the HAYMARKET THEATRE — erected on the site of the “little theatre in the Haymarket,” from the designs fo John Nash, Esq., and opened for dramatic performance July 4, 1821. Under the management of Mr. Buckstone the Haymarket Theatre has attained a high degree of success, and ranks as one of the most fashionable temples of the drama. Here Charles Mathews, Mr. Sothern, and other great stars of the theatrical world, have made their appearances and deserved successes. Westward of the Haymarket, in a line from Cockspur- street, is PALL MALL — a street of palaces, principally the higher class of Club-houses. In Carlton Gardens , the opening towards St. James’s Park, is the Duke of York's Column , erected by public subscription, in 1833, to. the memory of the Queen’s uncle. It was designed by Wyatt, and the figure on the summit, which is four- teen feet high, was cast in bronze, from the design by Westmacott. The view from the top is superb. In this place, we may as well give a list of the PRINCIPAL CLUBS. . The Athencexim , Pall Mall, built in 1839, on part of the site of old Carlton Palace, from the designs of Decimus Burton. Entrance fee, 20 guineas ; 1200 members ; yearly subscription, Cl. 6s. At this and all other clubs the members have the privilege at any time of introducing a friend. United Service , 116, Pall Mall, opposite the Athenaeum, was erected in 1828, after designs by Mr. Nash. 1500 members ; entrance fee, 30/. ; subscription, 6/. The Reform Club , 105, Pall Mall, erected in 1839, from the design of Charles Barry. This is the completest building of the kind in London. Entrance fee 20 guineas ; annual subscription, 5l. 5s. ; 1400 members, exclusive of the honorary members. The Traveller s’, 106, Pall Mall, also erected by Barry, in 1832. Entrance fee, 30 guineas ; annual subscription, 122 PRINCIPAL CLUB HOUSES. 10/. 10s. Only gentlemen who have made the tour of Europe, or been in the Indies, are eligible as members. 700 members. The Carlton , 103, Pall Mall, south side. This elegant building was erected in 1847, from the designs of Sydney Smirke. Entrance fee, 15 guineas ; annual subscription, 10/. 10s. ; 800 members, exclusive of members of either House of Parliament. Military , Naval , and County Service , Pall Mall, erected in 1849-51, and opened in February of the latter year. The architects were Messrs. Parnell and Smith, and the building is a good imitation of an Italian palace. Junior United Service , corner of Charles-street and Waterloo-place, was erected in 1828, by Sir Robert Smirke. 1500 members ; entrance fee, 30/. ; subscription, 5/. os. The Union , Trafalgar-square, was erected under the superintendence of the same architect, in 1844. Entrance fee, 30 guineas ; subscription, 6/. 6s. ; 1000 members. The Conservative , St, James’s- street, on the site of the Thatched House Tavern, was erected in 1824, by Messrs. Sidney Smirke and George Basori. There are several other club-houses ; the entrance fee and subscription to which are mostly lower. Among them may be men- tioned : — The Free Trade Club, Pall Mall ; The Guards, 70, Pall Mall; Brooks's, St. James’- street ; United Uni- versity, Pall Mall East; The Alfred, 23, Albemarle- street ; The Wyndham , 11, St. James’s-square ; Boodle's, 29, and White s, 38, St. James’s-street ; Arthur's , 69, St. James’s-street ; The Oriental , Hanover-square ; The Garrick , Garrick- street ; Oxford and Cambridge, Pall Mall ; The Whittington , Arundel-street, Strand ; The Arundel, 12, Salisbury-street, Strand ; Volunteer Service, 53, St. James’s-street ; City of London, 19, Old Broad street, City ; and the Club Chambers, Regent-street. In Pall Mall are many other line houses. No. 79, now the offices for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, was once — though in somewhat different style — the residence of Nell Gwynne. At the Waterloo-place end is the Guards , Memorial , erected 1861 to the memory of the heroes belonging to the Guards who fell in the Crimea. It consists of a granite pedestal, surmounted by a bronzed figure of victory, bearing wreaths of laurel, below which are three bronze figures of soldiers of the Guards. At the west end of Pall Mall is the Gallery of the British Insti- tution, and nearly opposite is Marlborough House, recently restored from Wrens design of 1710, as a town residence st. james’s palace. 123 for the Prince of Wales. The great duke, whose name it bears, died here. Its latest occupation was for the Vernon collection of pictures and the Schools of Design, now removed to South Kensington Museum. An opening into the Park divides Marlborough House from ST. JAMES’S PALACE. — This palace, with its dingy front facing towards St. James' s -street — another street of handsome houses and shops, where Lord Byron lived and Gibbon the historian died — where Blood, on the 6th of December, 1670, made his desperate attack on the Duke of Ormond, and in which Waller the poet was (in 1687) well enough off to pay rates as a householder, and to be described in the parish books as an esquire. St. James’s Palace is the only London residence of royalty with rooms large enough and convenient enough to hold drawing-rooms and levees. But though not a very handsome-looking house, it was spacious and commodious enough for our kings and queens before the fourth George, who transformed Buckingham House into a palace, without a really good room in it. St. James’s Palace was originally a hospital, founded, prior to the Norman invasion, for fourteen leprous women, to whom eight brethren were afterwards added, to per- form divine service. In 1532 it was surrendered to Henry Vi II., who purchased, also, “all the meadows about St. James’s, and there made a mansion and a park for his greater accommodation and pleasure.’’ It is a very extensive, but irregular, pile, principally of brick, incorporated with the stone remaius of the ancient hospital. The principal entrance is by a lofty gatehouse, opening into a small quadrangular court, having a piazza on the west side.* The principal staircase leads to the state apartments, which are on the park side ; they were chiefly fitted up in the present state, on the marriage of the Prince of Wales with Caroline of Brunswick, in 1795 ; previously to which, they were rather meanly furnished. They consist of a suite of fine rooms, hung with tapestry, originally made for Charles II. ; and ornamented with a few paintings. In the Privy Chamber is a canopy, under which his majesty George ill. was accustomed to receive addresses from the [Society of Quakers. On the right of this are two Drawing-rooms , the iunermost of which contains the throne. The canopy of the throne is of crimson velvet, with broad gold lace, having embroidered crowns, set with line pearls ; it was wrought after the union with Ireland ; and the shamrock, the badge, forms 124 st. james’s palace — regent-street. a part of the decorations. On the left of the Presence Chambers, are two levee rooms. In the chief Drawing- room is a magnificent chandelier, of silver, gilt. The south-eastern wing of this edifice was destroyed by fire, in 1808. At the entrance of this palace, in August, 1786, an attempt was made on the life of his Majesty George III., by an insane woman, named Margaret Nicholson, who struck at him with a knife, which she had concealed behind a pretended petition; but the blow was warded off by a page. In the Stable Yard are the residences of various pensioned courtiers, and other persons of distinc- tion, together with the houses of court officials. In St. James’s Palace died Caroline, Queen of George II., and here also was born thafrfine gentleman George IV. Many are the scandalous stories told of the intrigues once carried on within the palace precincts. In King street, leading from St. James’s- square, is the St. James's Theatre , built in 1836, by the celebrated vocalist Braham, who nearly ruined himself by the speculation. It has been used for the performance of French plays and operas ; but of late it has had a regular English company, under the management of Miss Herbert; and here, too, are Willis's Rooms — the locality of Almack’s. Crossing the Square to W aterloo- place, where will be fouud the Gallery of Illustration , Messrs. Howell and James’, the Court milliners and jewellers, and several fine club-houses, we make our way to Regent' s- circus with its hotels, booking-offices, &c., and so to REGENT-QUADRANT, which is one of the finest thoroughfares in London. It presents a continuous line of handsome shops, from its junction with Coventry- street and Waterloo-place until it merges in Regent- street. The removal of the pillars and covered way in Regent- quadrant some years since greatly altered the distinctive character of this beautiful avenue ; but it has still a re- markably handsome appearance. At No. 89, Quadrant, is the shop of Mr. Godfrey Hall, the inventor and patentee of the Pannus Corium Boot. REGENT-STREET is the continuation of the wide thoroughfare from the Quadrant as far as Langham- place, beyond which point, to the north, the road takes the name of Portland- place, which leads directly into the Mary-le- bone-road, within a few minutes walk of Regent' s-park. The aspect of Regent-street about half-past four in the afternoon is one of the most striking sights in London. The pavement is then crowded with pedestrians, and REGENT-STREET. 125 the roadway filled with the carriages of the nobility and gentry. At the end of the Quadrant, on the east side, are the premises of Messrs. Nicoll, the well known merchant-tailors and fashionable clothiers. Regent- street is full of handsome shops, some of which are well worth visiting. Photographers, printsellers, and book- sellers, jewellers, drapers, &c., vie with each other in ex- ternal show and bravery. On the west side of Regent- street, is the west-end warehouse, No. 139, of Messrs. Wheeler and Wilson, the patentees of the celebrated / lock-stitch sewing machine. The peculiarities of this useful machine are, that the stitch does not unravel, that it works with infinitely less, noise than ordinary imple- ments of the kind, and that it is fitted alike for all kinds of manufacturing and domestic purposes — the best sub- stitute for hand labour in all kinds of needle work which has yet appeared. Regent-street was designed by Mr. Nash in 1813, and was intended as a communication between Carlton House and Regent’s-park. The architect’s idea of uniting nume- rous dwelling houses and shops into one grand and im- posing whole has been very successfully carried out; and though the plaster fronts of the houses have been severely criticized, there is no doubt that the street is exceedingly picturesque, from thecontinuity of design and noble proportions of the separate parts. The ground on which this spacious street was constructed was formerly occupied by a crooked line of dingy houses, stretching from the southern extremity of Portland-place — where the church of All Souls’, Langham-place, now stands — to Piccadilly. This line commenced with what was then called Polsover-street, and reached to Oxford- stieet ; on the south side of which it was continued through fcwallow-street, a most ignoble thoroughfare for so im- portant a line of communication, until it debouched in Piccadilly. In Regent-street are two or three important public and private buildings — St. James’s Hall, Hanover Chapel designed by Cockerell, Archbishop Tenison’s Chapel, &c. Just before you reach the Oxford -circus, on the west side of the street, you come to Jay’s “Mourning Establishment,” one of the most spacious and complete houses for the production and sale of everything connected with this branch of ladies’ dress in this part of London. Beyond the Circus is the Poly- technic Institution , the most unique place of exhibition 126 PICCADILLY — •BURLINGTON HOUSE. in the metropolis, famous of late for Pepper’s Ghost and the wonders of the microscope ; here popular lectures on scientific subjects by eminent professors are frequently delivered ; the National Institution of Fine Arts , and All Souls ' , Eanghajn-place, which handsome church, with its fine spire, by hi ash, forms a fitting termination of the view from the junction of Regent-street and Oxford- street. At this junction of Regent-street with Portland-place, stands the recently constructed Langham Hotel , one of the most spacious establishments of the kind in London. A walk up one side of Regent-street, and down the other, a distance of nearly two miles, will conduct the visitor to PICCADILLY. — This. famous street consists mostly of shops at the east end, interspersed with mansions and fashionable houses as it nears its termination. It derives its name, according to Blount, from pickardil , a kind of stiff collar, made in the form of a band, by the sale of which its founder, one Higgins, a tailor, derived a con- siderable fortune. This was a public highway, with a few houses scattered here and there about, the fields, as early as Queen Elizabeth’s reign, with a windmill at or about the spot now known as Windmill- street. A little way up on the right-hand side is the Piccadilly entrance to St. James's Hall , the principal doorway to which is in Regent- street. It was erected in 1857, from the design of Owen Jones. It is the most gorgeously decorated of our first-class concert rooms. Adjoining it are the St. James's Dining-rooms. Near at hand is St. James's Church , built by Wren in 1684, at the cost and charges of Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans, in the yard of which lie buried Tom D’Urfey the facetious poet, Dodsley the bookseller, Vanderveide the painter, and Gillray the famous caricaturist. The Egyptian Hally a popular place of exhibition for pictures, curiosities, entertainments, &c., was built in 1812 by Robinson, the architect, as a place of reception for Bullock’s antiquities, which, after amusing the town for some time, were sold by auction. J ust oppo- site is the Burlington Arcade , a famous place of lounge or gossip in wet weather. It is filled with pretty shops, and leads directly to Cork-street and Burlington- gar dens. The high wall at the side, facing Piccadilly, effectually conceals Burlington House , even from the gaze of the rider on an omnibus. It stands on the site of a former building of the same name, of which Lord Burlington PICCADILLY — BOND STREETS, ETC. 127 used to boast (in 1650) that it was the most westerly in London! The title from which the house derives its name became extinct in 1835, and the house is now the property of the Government. Its various rooms are now occupied by learned societies. Close by is the Albany , so called from having been exchanged by the first Lord Melbourne for Melbourne House, Whitehall, with the Duke, of York and Albany, It consists of a series of superior club- chambers, famous now as having been the residence of many celebrated men, among whom were Byron and Tom Moore, Canning and Monk Lewis. The names of the streets we pass indicate pretty plainly the names and history of their founders: The Clarendon Hotel in New Bond- street, once the most fashionable place in London, is so called from the great Lord Chan- cellor Clarendon, whose house stood at the top of St. James’s-street ; Albemarle- street — famous now as the home of the Royal Institution , in the laboratory of which Sir Humphrey Davy made some of his most splendid dis- coveries — was called after the second Duke of Albemarle, Christopher Monk ; Bond-street derived its name from Sir Thomas Bond, of Peckham, to whom Clarendon House was sold in 1657 by the Duke of Albemarle. Berkeley - street and Stratton- street, the first of which leads to the aristocratic Berkeley- square, was so-called after John Berkeley, of Stratton, Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland during the reign of Charles II. ; No. 1, in Stratt on-street, is the residence of Miss Burdett Coutts, the richest single lady in England. Jermyn-street is called after Henry Jermyn, Earl of. St. Albans — the little Jermyn of Grammont’s “ Memoirs Borer-street, after the Earl of Dover (died 1708); in which is Ashburnham House(No. 30), the custo- mary residence of the Russian Ambassador ; Clarges- street, after General Monk’s virago wife, Elan Clarges ; Bennet- street and Arlington- street, after Henry Rennet, Earl of Arlington. In 1708 Bolton- street was the most westerly street in London, so called after the Duke of that name. No. 125 Old Bond-street is the west-end esta- blishment of Mr. Benson, the goldsmith and jeweller, whose house on Lud gate- hill we have already noticed. In Jermyn-street is th q Museum of Economic Geology , the admittance to which is gratuitous, every day except Friday, from 10 till 4. It is a handsome structure, having a double frontage, erected in 1848, from the de- sign of Mr. James Pennethorne. The Piccadilly facade is distinguished by great boldness and originality of 128 PICCADILLY — HYDE-PARK-CORNER. character in design, and possesses one singular feature — that there is no doorway in it, the entrance being in Jermyn -street. On the ground -floor is a hall, forty feet by sixty-six, formed into three divisions by Doric columns, for the exhibition of stones, marbles, the hea- vier geological specimens, and works of art of various kinds. Ascending from the hall by a staircase on each side of the entrance lobby, which joins in a central flight between Ionic columns, the visitor arrives at the prin- cipal floor. The large gallery is a line apartment. The neighbourhood is full of historical associations. In Coventry House , now called the Ambassadors ’ Club , opposite the Green-park, died, in 1803 , the husband of the beautiful Miss Gunning, William, sixth Earl of Coventry ; from the house No. 80 , Sir Francis Burdett was taken to the Tower — an officer scaling the walls with a ladder and entering the windows of the drawing-room, in which Sir Francis was found instructing his son in English history, the streets being meanwhile guarded by a troop of horse. This occurrence took place on the 6th of April, 1810 . No. 105 , now a private house, was the old Pulteney Hotel, where the Emperor of Russia stayed during the memorable visit of the allied Sove- reigns to this country in 1814 . The mansion at the corner of Park-lane was once the residence of Lord Elgin, in the different rooms of which the Elgin marbles were placed previous to their removal to the British Museum. Cambridge House, formerly the residence of Lord Palmer- ston, is now occupied by the members of the Oriental Club . At the corner of Down-street is the splendid mansion of Henry Thomas Hope, Esq., which enshrines one of the finest collections of pictures in the world. Permission to view the house, which is said to have cost £ 30 , 000 , may be obtained by written application or per- sonal introduction during the season — April to August. The bay-fronted house at the corner of Wliite-liorse- street was the residence for some time of Sir Walter Scott. Lord Byron spent the first part of his wedded life in that part of the Duchess of Gueen sherry’s house now called No. 139 ; and at the corner of the principal entrance to Hyde-park is Apsley House , the palatial mansion of the Duke of Wellii gton, next the new mansion of Baron Rothschild. Directly opposite is the Triumphal Arch f surmounted by the equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, by Wyatt. This, the largest statue of this kind in London, was erected in 1846 , in defiance of the LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS i. Bank of England. 2. Custom House. 3. Mansion House. 4. Slock Exchange. 5. Guildhall. 6. General Post Office. 7. Trinity House. 8. Royal Exchange. st. george’s hospital— green park. 129 opposition of the press, at a cost of 36,000/. The arch itself stands at the head of Constitution- hilly and is a reduced copy of the Temple of Jupiter in the Homan Forum. At the corner of Grosvenor- place is ST. GEORGE’S HOSPITAL.— This house, built on the site of Lanesborough House, by William Wilkins, R.A., the architect of the National Gallery, which erec- tion it far surpasses in grandeur of appearance, was con- verted into an infirmary in 1733. Within its walls the celebrated John Hunter died, in 1793, from the effects of sudden excitement. He had frequently said that he should die suddenly, being afflicted with a long-standing disease of the heart ; and being one day engaged in a controversy with some of his colleagues about a small matter of precedence, he stopped speaking all at once, retired to an ante-room, and immediately expired. In Grosvenor-place was TattersalV s t the fashionable auction- mart for horses, and aristocratic betting-rooms. (See p. 131.) Crossing the street, we pause a minute before the prin- cipal entrance to Hyde-parky which consists of five avenues, three for carriages and two for pedestrians, supported by noble Ionic pillars, with a frieze above, representing a triumphal equestrian procession. THE GREEN PARK is only separated from Picca- dilly on the one side and from St. James’s-park on the other by an iron railing. It extends westward to Hyde- park- corner, the line of communication being the fine ascent, called Constitution-hill. This Park adds greatly to the pleasantness both of St. James’s and the Queen’s palace, and of the line of houses which overlook it on the east, among which are the handsome mansions of the Marquis of Stafford, and the late Yiscount Melbourne. The Green-park consists now of about fifty-six acres, and lies between Piccadilly, Constitution-hill (where the miscreant Oxford fired a pistol at the Queen), and St. James’s Park. Previously to 1767 it was much larger, but George III. reduced it to enlarge the grounds of old Buckingham House. On the east side, close to several more ambitious structures, and distinguished by bay windows, is the whilom residence of Rogers, the poet and banker, in the drawing- room of which were held those celebrated literary reunions to which talent and celebrity were the only introductions. The street front forms No. 22, St. James’s- place. Strolling on upon the soft green turf, the charac- K 130 BUCKINGHAM PALACE. teristic of the London Parks, and gossiping by the way, we catch a glimpse, here and there, of the beautiful hills in Surrey, and come in view of Buckingham Palace , the town residence of the Queen. Of our parks, a French critic, M. Assolant, who made some very severe, and some not undeserved, strictures on London generally, says, — “ The Luxembourg and the Tuileries do not ap- proach them. They are vast prairies, where you see flocks of sheep browsing among women and children, who are lying down on the grass, or playing on it. In this consists the real superiority of London, and I must admit that Paris has nothing like it.” BUCKINGHAM PALACE is situated at the west- ern end of St. James’s Park. . It was built by George IY. on. the site of old Buckingham House, and has from time to time been much altered. The eastern front, added to Mr. Nash’s building a few years since, is 360 feet long, and completes the quadrangle. . The entire edifice is of stone, and has cost nearly a million sterling. Although it contains many magnificent apart- ments, it is, as a whole, by no means a fine structure, especially for the principal royal palace in London. The Queen’s apartments are situated on the eastern and northern sides. During the absence of the Court from London admission to view the palace may be obtained by special order of the lord chamberlain, at St. James’s Palace. To view the royal stables, with the state coach and stud, application must be made to the clerk of the mews. The various objects of interest in Buckingham Palace are — the throne room, in which the Queen receives addresses (this room has the “Wars of the Boses,” by Stothard, in the frieze ;) the green drawing-room, the state ball-room, the banqueting room, the grand saloon, and the grand, staircase. The royal collection is very fine, more particularly those of the Dutch and Flemish schools, principally collected by George IY. Among the paintings are works by Albert Durer, Rubens, Yan Dyck, Cuyp, Paul Potter, Teniers, Reynolds, Wilkie, and Sir W. Allan. The “ Ship-builder and his Wife,” by Rem- brandt, was purchased by George IY., when Prince of Wales, for .5000 guineas. In the royal gardens is an elegant pavilion, designed, by the late Prince Consort, and adorned with fresco paintings, by Stanfield, Maclise, Eastlake, Landseer, and other well-known artists. . The old conservatory was some years since converted into a chapel ; and in 1851, the Marble Arch, that formed the KENSINGTON GARDENS AND PALACE. 131 eastern entrance gate to what was then the open court, was taken down and re-erected at Cumberland-gate, the entrance to Hyde-park from Oxford-street, as already mentioned. Within the palace are the offices of the Lord Steward, and other departments connected with the royal household. The new fagade has more the appea- rance of a row of modern mansions, than the palace of the sovereign of this wealthy and powerful empire. In the centre of the fagade is an arch, with a balcony, supported by hold trusses, surmounted by scroll-work, and colossal figures of St. George and the Dragon, and Britannia with the British Lion, by Termouth. The principal, or garden front, is ornamented with statues of Prudence, Temper- ance, Fortitude, Faith, Hope, and Charity ; and has a terrace of the like extent. Military trophies, and fes- toons of flowers are distributed over various parts of the building, where ornaments have been required to give effect. Beyond Piccadilly, westward, just past Sloane -street, the road divides. . That to the left leads to Brompton and South Kensington , in which are the South Ken- sington Museum , and many fine mansions lately erected. Tattersall’s, removed from Hyde-park Corner in 1865, occupies a site previously of small value, in the Bromp- ton-road. It will be recognised by the small triangular space planted with evergreens. Old Brompton contains several good houses and some very pretty streets and squares. The road to the right from Knight sb ridge, past the Barracks, leads to Kensington, beside Hyde-park, where may be noticed the two elm trees which were enclosed in the Crystal Palace of 1851. Nearly opposite, a little to the west, are the Horticultural Gardens and Conservatory , built on the site of Gore House and the adjoining grounds. Here are held the great flower shows that draw all London westward ; and in the noble arcades which face the gardens was held the Exhibition of Na- tional Portraits in 1866. The International Exhibition of 1862 was held in a building close by. The ground was purchased by the Government in 1864, but its ultimate appropriation is as yet undetermined. The road still farther west, leads through Kensington to Hammersmith, and so on to Keiv and Richmond, which places are noticed in another page. KENSINGTON GARDENS AND PALACE.— The Palace, though not now inhabited by royalty, is, neverthe- less, a royal one. It is, situated on the west side of the pic- K 2 132 KENSINGTON PALACE — REGENT’S PARK. turesque grounds known as Kensington-gardens. These beautiful gardens form a continuation of Hyde-park to the west. They are about two hundred and ten acres in extent, and are at all times open to the public, who throng the fine walks and shady groves during the summer season — especially when, the band plays, in the afternoons of Tuesdays and Fridays. Near the Ser- pentine there have been lately formed various new flower beds and terraces, with busts and statuary on the adjoin- ing knolls. Shady, seats are liberally distributed about the gardens, in which are some of the best grown trees in or near the metropolis. Ke?isington-palace f the residence, by permission of the crown, of several persons, notably of the . Duchess of Inverness, widow of the Duke of Sussex, is a red- brick building, of no narticular period, but a congeries of apartments, halls, and galleries, presenting, externally, few features of architectural beauty. The orangery, a fine detached building, was built by Sir Christopher Wren. The palace contains a good suite of state apart- ments, but that which gives it the greatest interest, is the circumstance of its having been the residence of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and the birth-place, in 1819, of her Majesty Queen Victoria, who, in the seclusion of its privacy, spent the greater part of her youthful days. There, on her accession to the throne, in 1837, she held her first council. Crossing Tyburnia by the Grand Junction-road , nearly opposite the new road formed across Kensington-gardens, we reach REGENT’S PARK. This delightful park is situated on the north side of the metropolis, between the New- road and Hampstead. In the reign of Elizabeth this was a royal park and residence. .At the Restoration it passed into the hands of private individuals ; when, on its reverting to the crown, in 1814, it was again converted, under the direction of Mr. Nash, into a park, by the Prince Regent, afterwards George IV., from whom it derives its name. It is nearly of a circular form, and consists of four hundred and fifty . acres, laid out in shrubberies, adorned with a fine piece of water, and intersected with. roads and delightful promenades. There is also an artificial lake, over which are thrown pretty suspension bridges. Around the park are numerous magnificent terraces of mansions, villas, and private dwellings, in various styles of architecture. The Outer ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS — COLOSSEUM. 133 Drive is two miles in circumference ; the Inner Drive is a perfect circle. Many of the discoveries of new planets, comets, and asteroids, were made by Mr. Hind, at Mr. Bishop’s Observatory, near the Inner circle. Here also are the Botanic -gardens, the principal entrance facing York-gate. These gardens contain about eighteen acres, hut they have been laid out with so much skill, that they appear of much greater extent. They are beautifully diversified by hill and dale, rural retreats, and winding walks. The conservatory, or winter- garden, enclosing an area of 175 feet in length, and 75 in breadth, is a source of great attraction to visitors, and is capable of accommodating two thousand persons. Three exhibi- tions are held annually, in the months of May, June, and July, when nearly 300 medals are distributed, varying in value from twenty pounds to fifteen shillings. Ad- mission may be obtained by a Fellow’s order. _ The Zoological- gar dens are situated on the north-east side of the park. The grounds are extensive and taste- fully disposed, and possess many horticultural attrac- tions ; they are so laid out as to best suit the numerous animals located within them, and at the same time with an unfailing attention to the picturesque beauty of the general arrangement. Dispersed throughout the grounds are numerous graceful buildings, admirably adapted for the wants of their various inmates. The collection con- sists of more than 1500 rare and beautiful animals; about a fourth of which are mammalia ; the remainder birds and reptiles. The different animals are exhibited in paddocks, dens, and aviaries, suited to their several habits. Open daily, from nine o’clock a.m. to sunset. On Sundays, to Fellows only. Admission one shilling ; on Mondays, sixpence. The Society’s rooms are at No. 11, Hanover-square. The Colosseum is on the east side of Regent’s- park, with an entrance from Albany-street. The building is after the general design, though very much smaller, of the Pantheon at Rome. It was built in 1824, and is polygonal in form, surmounted by a glazed cupola. It is no longer used as a place of amusement, though it was for years celebrated for its panoramas of London and other cities, dioramas, dissolving views, conservatories, Gothic aviary, Temple of Theseus, Swiss Cottage, &c. North of the Colosseum are St. Katherine* s Hospital and Chapel — a royal hospital founded in 1148 by Matilda, wife of King Stephen, and subsequently enlarged and 134 PRIMROSE-HILL — HOUSES OF THE NOBILITY. otherwise enriched. The present Gothic brick building was erected in 1825 on the construction of the St. Kathe- rineVdocks near the Tower, when the old hospital was pulled down. The revenues of the hospital are devoted to the maintenance of six poor bachelors and six poor spinsters. The Gueen of England is the patron. Near the Colosseum is the building which was formerly known as the Diorama. It is the property of Sir S. Morton Peto, by whom the structure was purchased and converted into a Baptist Chapel. . While in the neighbourhood we can- not refrain from visiting PRIMROSE-HILL, which may be considered a sort of supplementary park for the people. It is close to Regent’ s- park, and is easily reached from the City and the east by means of the North London Railway. The hill and the surrounding fields belonged partly to Eton College, from the authorities of which the freehold was purchased by the Government. From the summit may be obtained the best view of London. Near here was found, on Thursday, October 17th, 1678, the murdered body of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey. Near at hand was the famous duelling place of the last century, the well-known Chalk Farm , taken down in 1853. Hampstead-heath lies beyond to the north ; while below, on the north-west, is that favourite suburb of villa and mansion-like houses, called St. John' s-wood. — The whole of the site on which this neighbourhood stands once belonged to the priors of the hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. Near the Eyre Arms is Lord's Cricket Ground , the most celebrated cricket field in the world. In the season a match of cricket here is a sight to be seen and remembered. The residences of the nobility and gentry are principally at the west and north-west part of London. In our walks we have already noticed some of these ; but the visitor will do well to see the interiors, if he can, of the following mansions : — Stafford House , in the Stable-yard, St. James’s, with a garden front overlooking St. James’s and the Green- parks. This is the residence of the Duke of Sutherland. It was commenced in 1825, from designs by Mr. F. Wyatt, and was intended for the residence of the Duke of York. On his demise, it was purchased by the Marquis of Stafford, and furnished in the most splendid HOUSES OF THE NOBILITY. 135 style. Its form is quadrangular, and it has four perfect fronts, all of which are cased with stone. The north or principal front, which is the entrance, exhibits a portico of eight Corinthian columns. The south and west fronts are alike ; they project slightly at each end, and in the centre are six Corinthian columns supporting a pediment. The east front differs a little from the preceding, as it has no projecting columns. About a quarter of a million has been spent in the fittings and decorations of this mansion. Contiguous to this is Bridgewater House , the town residence of the Earl of Ellesmere, Green-park, in which is one of the finest private collections of pictures in England. It was built in 1847-50, from the designs of Sir Charles Barry, R.A. Permission to view the pictures may be obtained by written application, or of Mr. Mitchell, New Bond-street. Devonshire House , in Piccadilly, facing the Green Park, the town residence of the Duke of Devonshire, contains a fine collection of pictures. The house is screened' from the road by a high wall. Chesterfield House , South Audley- street, was built for that superfine gentleman whose “Letters to his Son” were once so much admired. It has a fine library and garden. The Earl of Chesterfield does not reside here now, but usually lets it. Holford House y Park-lane, a splendid building lately erected. Lansdowne House t Berkeley-square, the residence of the Marquis of Lansdowne, was built for the Marquis of Bute, when minister to George III., and sold by him, before completion, to Lord Shelburne, afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne, for 22,000/., some 3000/. less than it is said to have cost. Priestley was living here as librarian to Lord Shelburne, when he made the discovery of oxygen. The house contains some very fine sculptures, paintings, and articles of vertu. Grosvenor House , the residence of the Marquis of West- minster, in Upper Grosvenor-street, Grosvenor-square, is celebrated for its pictures both ancient and modern, especially those by Rubens, four of which are said to have cost 1 0.000/., and its unequalled Claudes. The Grosvenor gallery is one all lovers of art should see. Apsley House y Hyde-park-corner, the residence of the Duke of Wellington, will well repay a visit. Notice the room in which the Waterloo Banquet was wont to be held by the “ Great Duke,” for thirty-six years. The windows 136 CELEBRATED HOUSES AT THE WEST END. overlooking the Park were closed with iron shutters, from 1831, when they were attacked by the mob, in the Reform Riot days, to the time of the duke’s death in 1852. Apsley House contains some very fine pictures. Next door is the Mansion of Baron Rothschild , probably one of the finest private houses in London. Montagu House , in Whitehall Gardens, is only just completed. It has a fine garden facing the Thames. It is one of the town residences of the Duke of Buccleuch. A handsome picture gallery here contains some fine specimens of the Dutch painter, Yan Dyck, and a cele- brated collection of English miniatures. Burlington House , Piccadilly, was erected by Richard Boyle, third Earl of Burlington, on the site of a house built by Sir John Denham, the poet, who was his own architect, in the reign of Charles II. Who plants like Bathurst, and who builds like Boyle? It was admired by Horace # Walpole, and is thus alluded to by Gay, in his “ Trivia — Burlington’s fair palace still remains. Beauty within; — without, proportion reigns; There Handel strikes the strings, the melting strain Transports the soul, and thrills through every vein. There oft I enter — but with cleaner shoes, For Burlington’s beloved by every muse. Burlington House was purchased by the Government in 1854 ; and is now occupied by the Royal Society, the University of London, the Linneean Society, and other learned associations. Holland House , Kensington. This is one of the most interesting historical houses near London. It was built in the year 1607, and is celebrated as having been the residence of the poet Addison, who married the widow of Robert Rich, Earl of Holland and Warwick. Here it was that the poet died, after having called the young scapegrace earl to his bedside to “ see how a Christian can die !” This “ awful scene,” as Dr. John- son called it, is now considered very legendary. The house was afterwards sold to the first Baron Holland, the father of the celebrated Charles James Fox. The third Lord Holland, the famous Whig statesman, made Holland House a place of great social and political importance. His successor died in 1859, and the title is now extinct. LEICESTER SQUARE — ALHAMBRA. 137 The stone gateway on the eastern side of the house was designed by Inigo Jones. We have omitted LEICESTER-SQUARE in our notices of places worth seeing in the west end of London. Leicester-square was built about the year 1635, and was at one time a fashion- able locality. It is now the favourite resort of foreigners, and abounds in foreign hotels. In the centre is the leaden equestrian statue of George II., which was brought from Canons, the seat of the Duke of Chandos, about the year 1754. Mr. Wyld’s Great Globe, which occupied the centre of the square for several years, was removed in 1864. On the eastern side of Leicester-square lived John Hunter, who here formed the collection which was afterwards removed to the College of Sur- geons. Next door to him lived Hogarth; in No. 47, lived and died Sir Joshua Reynolds; and in St. Martin’s- street, on the south side, still stands the house in which resided the great Sir Isaac Newton. In Saville House , burnt down in 1865, was for many years the exhibition of needlework pictures of Miss Linwood. Leicester House stood on the site of part of the Sablonniere Hotel, and was once inhabited by Elizabeth, the “Queen of Bohemia,” daughter of James I.; by George II., when Prince of Wales, and afterwards by his son, Frederick, Prince of Wales. The son of this Frederick, also Prince of Wales, was in this house first named and styled George III., King of Great Britain, Ireland, and France! The Duke of Gloucester, grandson of George II., was another of its royal occupants ; after which Sir Aston Lever lived here, and in the rooms was afterwards exhibited his museum of natural curiosities. The house, called after Robert Sydney, Earl of Leicester, the father of Algernon Sydney, and Henry, the Handsome Sydney of the Grammont Memoirs, is now known only by name. But on a portion of its grounds stands Th e Alhambra, one of the most unique and handsome buildings in the metropolis. It was built in the Moor- ish or Arabesque style, and opened some years since under the title of the Panopticon — a sort of scientific and literary institution, like the Polytechnic in Regent- street. It is one of the most elegant of the metropolitan music halls. The great organ built for the Panopticon was purchased for St. Paul’s Cathedral, where it now 138 CORNHILL AND EAST OF THE BANK. stands. The Alhambra has a constant succession of novel entertainments, and since it has been under the direction of Mr. Strange, has deservedly taken its place as one of the most delightful places of recreation in London. In giving his evidence before a select com- mittee of the House of Commons, Mr. Strange stated that the Alhambra was nightly visited by about four thousand persons, whose average price of admission was one shilling, and whose average expenditure in eating and drinking was less than sixpence ! The premises at the north-east corner of the square, formerly occupied as Burford’s Panorama, Wild’s Bead- ing Booms, are now used as a French chapel, the Notre Dame de France. FBOM THE BANK EASTWABD. Cobnhill — Stock Exchange— Lothbury — Bishops- gate Street — Leadenhall Street— Gracechurch Street— The Tower— The Custom House- The Tri- nity House— The Mint— St. Katherine’s Docks— London Docks— The Commercial Docks— The East and West India Docks — Thames Tunnel — Com- mercial Boad— Blackwall Bailway — Limehoijse Church — B ow Boad— Mile End — Victoria Park — Shoreditch— Whitechapel and Aldgate— London Hospital— Islington. “ This splendid city ! How wanton sits she amidst Nature’s smiles ; Nor from her highest turrets has to view, But golden landscapes and luxuriant scenes— A waste of wealth, the storehouse of the world !” Young. Beturning to the City, the visitor will find much worth examination east of the Bank. From his original starting-place in front of the Mansion-house, he turns his face to the East, _ and has before him Cornlxill , Lombard-street , and King William-street , on the right ; while, on the opposite side, Threadneedle- street and Throgmorton-street lead to Bishops gate and Shoreditch . COBNHILL is the principal street east of the Bank. It contains a large number of fine shops, insurance- offices, merchants’ counting-houses, and other commercial establishments. Here in the courts on the right are the famous taverns and commercial rooms, known as Garra- CORNHILL— STOCK EXCHANGE. 139 way’s, the Jamaica, and Tom’s Coffee-houses. Cornhill is so called, says Stowe, “because of a corn market time out of mind, there holden.” In the middle, just op- posite Bank-buildings , was the famous conduit of sweet waters, and the “Standard,” with its four spouts, one running* towards each point of the compass, every tide. The spot is now marked by a pump, bearing* a suitable inscription. Close at hand was the Stocks Market. Distances were formerly measured from the Standard on Cornhill, as many a suburban milestone yet remains to prove. In this street are the two churches of St. Peter’s and St. Michael’s, the latter close to Bir chin-lane, a famous street for monetary transactions, < leading to Lombard- street. Gray, the poet, was born in a. house that stood where No. 41 now is. The poet’s birth-place was de- stroyed by fire in 1728, hut immediately rebuilt by Gray himself, at a cost of 650/. Fortunate poet, to have a house of his own! Notice Pope's-liead-alley, once inhabited by cutlers, and now containing Peeves’ capital chop- house ; St. Michael' s- alley , in which is the Jamaica Coffee-house, in which much of the underwriting for the West India trade is transacted ; Freeman* s-court, lately enlarged, and in which Daniel De Foe, the author of the immortal “ Robinson Crusoe,” carried on business as a hose factor, in 1702-3, when he was prosecuted for writing his “scandalous and seditious pamphlet,” entitled the “ Shortest Way with the Dissenters.” Close to Bishops- gate-street is the “ City Observatory” of Mr. Bennett, the watchmaker, with its time ball, which falls every day at one o’clock by electric current conveyed from the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. In Capel-court, Bartholomew-lane, beside the east side of the Bank of England, is the STOCK-EXCHANGE. Here business in funded stock, India stock, Exchequer bills, and all such securities, is transacted. During the Railway Mania, crowds assem- bled about this neighbourhood intent on money making ; and both here and in Shorter’ s-court, Throgmorton-street, another entrance to the Exchange, policemen were in constant attendance to prevent the crowd accumulating to the obstruction of ordinary business. The Stock Exchange is not open to the public, the business of buy- ing and selling money and securities being confined to the brokers and the jobbers. This close corporation is governed by a committee of twenty- four members, annually elected by ballot. But there are also many 140 LONDON BROKERAGE — LOTHBURY. outsiders, called jobbers, who, as a medium of sale between the buyer or seller and the broker, are of great utility. It may not be generally known, but few things can be bought in a wholesale way in London without the intervention of a broker. If a man wants to purchase a chest of tea, he must employ a broker ; if a merchant requires a ton of tobacco, he must get a broker to buy it for him ; or if he wants indigo, or pepper, or drugs, or spices, or money, or any of the produce of the Indies, a broker must negotiate their purchase. The reason for this arrangement is obvious. If you had a thousand pounds in the Three per Cents., say, and you wanted to sell out, as it is called, you might find it difficult to procure a person wanting that particular quantity of that particular stock ; but the broker being always ready to buy or .“sell, you go to him, and at once procure a purchaser. Thus the broker, in large transactions, stands in precisely the same position to the buyers and sellers as the tradesman does to the wholesale merchants and the general public. The National Debt stands in the names of about 300,000 individuals, though more than 2,000,000 persons are concerned in the receipt of. Government annuities— the smaller number of names being explained by the fact that many of them are merely trustees for charities, societies, or families. Behind the Bank, in LOTHBURY, are the Offices of the Electric Tele- graph Company, whose wires permeate the whole city, and are found on almost every railway in Great Britain ; the Banking-house of Messrs. Jones, Loyd, and Co.; and the Church of St. Margaret. This street was once chiefly inhabited by copper founders, the memory of whom still remains in Founders’ -court; Founders* -hall, however, is now used as a. dissenting chapel. In Bartholomew-lane is the Auction Mart , a spacious and commodious building, erected by a company, composed principally of auctioneers, for the sale of estates, annuities, shares in public institutions, pictures, books, and other property, by public auction. In Tlireadneedle- street are the City Bank and the Bank of London, the latter held in what was originally called the Hall of Commerce , one of the largest rooms in the city. It was built in 1830, by Edward Moxhay, a wealthy and speculative baker, who, from small beginnings, rose to great opulence. Observe the frieze in bas-relief, repre- senting Commerce and her attendants, designed by Watson, a young sculptor of considerable promise, who AUSTIN FRIARS — BISHOPSGATE STREET. 141 died in 1847. The original intention of Mr. Moxhay, in building the Hall, was to provide a place of meeting for merchants during the rebuilding of the Royal Exchange. It afterwards became a kind of commercial club and sale room, and was occupied by the late Bank of London. In digging for the foundations of this building, a piece of Roman pavement was discovered, which was after- wards presented to the British Museum. Opposite, at the corner of Finch-lane, is the City Bank, built on the site of the shop of Mr. Moon the printseller. Broad-street contains many banking and commercial- houses. Northwards is Austin- Friars, a collection of counting-houses occupying the site of the House of the Augustin Friars, founded by Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex, in 1243. Fulke Greville, the friend of Sir Philip Sidney, lived here when it was fashionable to live in the City. Moor gate -street leads to Finsbury -square, Finsbury - circus (in which is the London Institution ), and thence to Islington and Hoxton. Two streets divide Cornhill from Leadenhall. They are Bishopsg ate -street on the left and Grace church- street on the right. The first leads to Shoreditch, Hackney, Kingsland, &c. ; the last to Lon- don-bridge, and thence to Southwark, Bermondsey, Wal- worth, Kennington, Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, &c. BISHOPSGATE-STREET.— Here stood one of the old City gates. The street is still distinguished as Bishopsgate Within and Without the City. The National and Pro- vincial Bank of England, one of the most beautiful buildings in the City, occupies the site of the old Flower- pot Tavern, at the eastern corner of Threadneedle-street. The building was erected in 1865-6, from the design of an eminent City architect. St. Botolplis Church stands on the west side of the street. It is an ugly structure, built in 1741-4 by Dance, the architect of the Mansion-house, on the site of a church of the same name which escaped the fire. Nearly opposite are Crosby -square, Great St. Helens, and Crosby Hall , the name of which is familiar to the readers of Shakespeare’s “Richard IIL” It is now a wine-merchant’s warehouse ! Sir Paul Pindar’s House (IS o. 169), now a public-house, with the sign of Sir Paul Pindar’s Head, is on the left, farther down Bishopsgate-street. Near at hand is the first workhouse erected in London. Passing, on our way back, the Wes- leyan Centenary Hall, formerly the London Tavern, the entrance to the house of Messrs. Baring Brothers, the 142 LEADENHALL STREET— GRACECHURCH STREET. great American agents, the City of London Tavern, famous for its charity dinners and concerts, we come into LEADENHALL-STREET. — The market here is famous for the sale of meat, poultry, vegetables, bacon, and espe- cially hides. It is one of the most ancient in the metropolis, having been used as a place of sale for corn and meat as early as the year 1300. It escaped the great fire. In this street, Peter Motteux, the translator of “ Don Quixote,” kept a shop ; at No. 122, Sir John Fenwick and his friends met to devise measures for the restoration of James II., after his abdication ; in the kitchen of No. 153 are the remains of an early English crypt ; and at the Aldgate- street end of the street is the Church of St. Catherine Cree , supposed to have been rebuilt, on the site of the old church described by Stowe, by Jnigo Jones, in 1630-1. Nicholas Brady, the editor, with Nahum Tate, of “ The Psalms Versified,” was once curate here. Nearly opposite to this church, and adjoining the Market, is a fine block of commercial offices built on the site of the old East India House. Notice the capital collection of prints, picture-frames, and looking-glasses, at Smithers’, opposite Billiter- street. GRACECHURCH-STREET is the principal standing place for omnibuses going “ over the water” from the City. Here are the “Spread Eagle,” a well-known book- ing office, and several commercial establishments. of note. At the corner of St. Benet’s. Church eastward is Fenchurch- street, and opposite to it is Lombard-street . In the first street are situated Mark and Mincing lanes, the great markets for corn and colonial produce ; in the last the principal London bankers, have their houses. Lombard- street is so called from its original founders, the Lombards, or Longobards, who at the time of Edward II. used to meet there to transact their money concerns. Lombard- street is proverbially the richest street in the City. In Lime- street is the warehouse of Hubbuck and Son, patentees of the zinc paint which is free from the deleterious effects of white lead. Farther on in Grace- church-street is King William- street leading westward to the Bank ; a street principally filled with insurance and merchants’ offices; and Great Tower-street to the east, which leads directly to THE TOWER. — This celebrated fortress stands on the north bank of the River Thames, at the eastern extremity, and just without the limits of the City. The first THE TOWER— HISTORY OF. 143 authentic notice of it is, that William the Conqueror erected a fortress here, immediately after he had obtained possession of London, in the year 1066 , with the view of intimidating the citizens from any opposition to his usurpation. Twelve years afterwards, he built what is now called the White Tower, which w T as repaired and strengthened by Henry III., in the year 1240 . It is a large square structure, situated near the centre of the present fortress, and surmounted by four turrets. In 1092 , William Rufus laid the foundation of a castle on the north side of the White Tower, between that and the river, which was finished by his successor Henry I. During the reign of Richard I., in 1190 , the Chancellor Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, erected a fortified wall of stone round the Tower, with a deep ditch on the outside. In 1240 , Henry III. added a stone gate and bulwark, with other buildings, to the west entrance. He also extended the fortress, by a mud-wall, on the western part of Tower-hill, and this encroachment was surrounded by a brick wall, by Edward IV., within which that monarch built the “ Lion’s Tower.” By the command of Charles II., in 1663 , the ditch was completely cleansed, the wharfing rebuilt with brick and stone, and sluices erected for admitting and retaining the water of the river, as occasion might require. In the early part of the present century, the ditch was again cleansed, and the sluices put in order. Various repairs, in different parts of the fortress, have also been made in late years. The principal store-house was begun by James I., and com- pleted by William III. ; and the small armoury was entirely built by the latter. _ This fortress has the appearance, within, of an exten- sive town, there being various ranges of buildings, and several streets, besides _ the barracks for the garrison. The whole comprises, within the walls, an extent of up- wards of twelve acres. The exterior circumference of the ditch, which entirely surrounded the land side, but is now used as a garden, is 3165 feet. This ditch, on the side of the Tower-hill, was broad and deep, but was much narrower on that nearest the river, from which it was divided by a fine handsome wharf, having a platform upon it, mounting 61 pieces of cannon. Besides these, there are a number of great guns, arranged as small batteries, on different parts of the walls. The chief entrance is by a stone bridge, thrown over the ditch on the west side of the Tower. At the outer extremity of 144 THE TOWER — REGALIA AND ARMOURIES. this bridge are two gates, and within the ditch another, all which were shut up every night, and opened in the morning with particular formality. The wharf is con- nected with the Tower by a drawbridge, near which is a cut, leading from the ditch to the river, secured by a gate called Traitor's Gate, from the circumstance of state prisoners having been formerly conveyed by this passage to Westminster for trial. This fortress formed a principal residence of the Eng- lish sovereigns till after the accession of Queen Eliza- beth ; since that period it has been used as a state- prison, and as a place of security for the Regalia , and for the arms and stores belonging to the crown. Here, also, was the old Mint, which, with the houses belonging to the various officers, &c., employed in the coinage, occupied nearly a fourth part of the building. In the Record Office, formerly a, chapel in the White Tower, were preserved many ancient and important state papers. The yard on the right of the western entrance formerly contained the Royal Menagerie. In the Spanish Armoury are kept the trophies of the celebrated victory over the Spanish Armada, together with a representation of Queen Elizabeth, who is standing by the side of her horse, arrayed in the same dress and armour she wore at Tilbury, in 1588, when she made her ever memorable speech to the assembled army. The Small Armoury con- tained, before the fires of 1841, complete stands of arms for upwards of 100,000 men, elegantly arranged, besides other curiosities. Under the armoury is another noble room, belonging to the royal train of artillery, where many beautiful and uncommon pieces of cannon may be seen. The Horse Armoury is tilled with curiosities of different kinds, amongst which are the figures of the Kings of England on horseback, chiefly dressed in the ancient armour. The Volunteer Armoury , in the White Tower, contains arms for 30,000 men, besides pikes, swords, &c., arranged in many curious devices. Many interesting parts of the Tower, especially those connected with the Keep, have lately been thrown open to public inspection. Memorials of deep histo- rical interest are . abundant. Instruments of ancient torture are not omitted. The royal jewels are especially worthy examination. They are said to be worth three millions sterling. The warders — Beefeaters, from Bou- fetiers, attendants at the boufet — are not now dressed in quite such a picturesque costume as of old, but they are 3. Billingsgate Market. 6. St. Katherine Docks. 9. London Docks. Of VHE UNIVERSITY uf ILLINOIS TOWER HILL — CUSTOM HOUSE. 145 sufficiently quaint in appearance and civil in character. In 1862 Her Majesty acknowledged the services of the late Mr. Superintendent Pierse, in saving the Crown Jewels at the lire at the Tower, in 1841, by a munificent gift to his sister, Mrs. Hash. The present ticket* office and refreshment-rooms stand on the site of the old menagerie. Admission to view the Tower and its curiosities is very easy. The Tower is open daily from 10.30 to 4 o’clock. Tickets obtained at the entrance gate. A warder is in attendance every half hour to conduct parties in waiting. Admission to the armouries, 6d. each ; to the crown jewels, 6cl. On Tower-hill Lady Raleigh lodged while her husband was confined within the fortress. William Penn, the Quaker, the founder of the State of Pennsylvania, was born in a house near the entrance. At a public-house called the Bull, the poet Otway died of want on the 14th of April, 1685, having withdrawn thither to avoid his creditors. At a cutler’s shop in the Postern, Felton gave a shilling for the knife with which he stabbed the Duke of Buckingham : and here, among the host of martyrs, were executed Lord Guildford Dudley, husband of Lady Jane Grey, Feb. 12, 1553 ; the Earl of Strafford, May 12, 1641 ; Archbishop Laud, Jan. 10, 1644 ; Sir Harry Vane, June 14, 1662 ; the great Sir Thomas More, Algernon Sydney, and Lord Lovat. This execution took place on April 9th, 1747. Lord Lovat was not only the last person beheaded on Tower-hill, but the last person decapitated in Great Britain. The last State prisoner in the Tower was Thistlewood, in 1820, for a conspiracy to murder the ministers at a cabinet council. The moat was filled up a few years ago and planted over. It is now used as a drill ground for the troops and various corps of volunteers. On Tower-hill are the Trinity House and the Royal Mint, while in Thames- street are the Custom House , and the Coal Exchange , a fine building, in which the coal* factors and merchants transact the business of supplying London with fuel. THE CUSTOM-HOUSE is an extensive and splendid pile, standing on the banks of the Thames, immediately below Billingsgate , and a little to the west of the site of the old Custom-house, which was erected in 1718, and destroyed by an accidental fire in February, 1814. The great inconvenience which had arisen from the want of sufficient room to transact the vastly increasing business of the Customs, had previously induced the Government L 146 CUSTOM HOUSE— TRINITY HOUSE. to determine on the erection of the present fabric ; the first stone of which was laid on the 23rd October, 1813, and it was opened for public use on the 12th May, 1817. The entire site is the property of the crown, and the whole expense, including the purchase of ground, &c., was nearly 200,000/. The builders were Messrs. Miles and Peto. The general character of this edifice is plain- ness and solidity ; yet from its great extent and the simplicity and just proportion of its parts, the effect is grand and impressive. The Long-room is 190 feet by 60 feet, and about 55 feet high in the centre. In the midst of the area are circular desks, for the use of the merchants, &c., and others who attend here on business. At each end is a handsome lobby, communicating with the grand staircase at each wing, the principal entrances to which are in Thames-street. The Long-room is the chief office for the transaction of all that relates to the shipping business, both inwards and outwards. The basement and story comprising the cellars for receiving goods in bond, are vaulted with brickwork throughout, as is a great part of the ground floor, and all the corridors and passages. The building is, by this and numerous other precautions, rendered in a great measure indestructible by fire, and various incombustible rooms are distributed throughout for the depositing of books and important documents. Iron doors shut the communication between the centre and wings, that in case of accident the fire may not possibly spread. The Quay on the Thames side forms a pleasant promenade, and at each end are con- venient water stairs. The business of the Customs is managed by nine Commissioners, . under the control of the Lords of the Treasury, and their jurisdiction extends over all the ports of England and Wales. To see Billingsgate Fish Market to perfection you should visit it early in the morning — say from five to eight. It is a sight in many respects unique. THE TRINITY HOUSE, on Great Tower-hill, is a handsome building of stone ; and having the advantage of a rising ground for its site, and. a fine area in front, called Trinity -square, its situation is very pleasant. The interior is remarkably fine. In the Court-room are the portraits of George III. and James II., Lord Sandwich, Lord Howe, and the la/te Mr. Pitt. At the upper end is a group of about twenty-four of the Elder Brethren of the Trinity House, the gift of the Merchant Brethren in 1794. The guild of the brotherhood of Trinity was THE MINT — ST. KATHERINE’S DOCKS. 147 founded by Sir Thomas Spert, in the year 1515, at Dept- ford, where nine almshouses for seamen are erected, and it was incorporated by Henry VI I L Among the exten- sive powers possessed by the Brethren, are those of erecting lighthouses and sea marks, examining masters of ships, appointing pilots for the Thames, and removing obstructions to the river navigation. The Corporation consists of a master, four wardens, eight assistants, and eighteen elder brethren. THE MINT — on Little Tower- hill, which occupies a part of the site of the old tobacco warehouses, is an elegant and extensive building, with ponderous entrance gateways. It was designed and executed, in the Grecian style of architecture, by Robert 1 Smirke, jun. The ex- pense of erecting it, and furnishing it with the necessary mechanism, has been immense ; and the charges were increased by a part of the building having been destroyed by fire in 1816. The interior is arranged in the most appropriate and systematic manner ; and the various engines and machines for the making of gold and silver coin are constructed in the very first style of ingenious excellence. Steam-engines of vast power give motion to the machinery. The whole interior is illuminated by gas. Messrs. Boulton and Watt, of the Soho works, near Birmingham, and Mr. Rennie, were the chief contrivers of the steam-engines and coining apparatus. . The bronze coinage is made for the Government at Birmingham. The average production of coin at the Mint is about 6,000,000/. Permission to view the Mint is to be obtained only of the Master, T. Graham, Esq. The now some- what rare florin without the letters D.G., E.D., was coined during the mastership of Mr. Shiel, the Catholic orator and M.P. We may now visit The Docks, which are near at hand. ST. KATHERINE’S DOCKS, though first noticed, are not the largest in the Port of London. The first stone was laid in May, 1827, and the docks themselves publicly opened in October of the following year — an instance of building expedition exceeded only by the International Exhibition Building at South Kensington. The total cost of these magnificent docks — for which 1,252 houses and the old Hospital of St. Katherine, since rebuilt in the Regent’ s-park, were purchased and removed — amounted to 1,700,000/., Mr. Telford being the engineer, and Mr. Hardwicke the architect. The area of the docks is about 24 acres, divided into the Wet and Dry L 2 148 LONDON DOCKS — TOBACCO WAREHOUSE. docks; the first of which covers a space of 11 1 acres, with a quay frontage of 4,600 feet, a portion of which is used as a steam-packet wharf. The entrance-lock is sunk deep enough to float, with ease, ships of 700 tons, and this some hours before high tide. The warehouses in connexion with these i docks contain seldom less than 120.000 tons of goods and merchandise, principally the produce of the Mediterranean and America. The chief entrance is by a handsome gateway, nearly facing the Mint. The docks are open to public inspection from eight a.m. till four p.m. ; and by continuing your walk eastwards along the quay you come to another entrance, and crossing the road, enter the LONDON DOCKS, which are several in number, and communicate, each having a basin and canal. The nearest or western of the docks is twenty acres in extent. There is also a small dock which covers but one acre. The latter, which is called the Tobacco Dock, has ware- houses adjoining it four times as extensive as itself in the area which they occupy — that is, four acres. They can hold 24,000 hogsheads of tobacco, averaging 1200 lbs., each, besides having room in vaulted cellars beneath for 70.000 pipes of wine and spirits. A visit to the tobacco warehouses will well repay your trouble, though to enter them and the vaults it is necessary to obtain an order from the dock secretary, at the office, New Bank-build- ings. This is by no means so troublesome an affair as might be imagined — a polite note, enclosing the card of the applicant, being generally successful. Passing through various passages and alleys formed by hogsheads of the fragrant weed, we come to the north- east corner of the Warehouse, where a direction “ to the Kiln” points out the place where damaged tobacco, and many other things which are not W'orth paying duty on, are consumed. This is technically known as the Queen’s Tobacco Pipe, the long chimney above being the stem, and the roaring furnace below the bowl. Another large dock, called the Eastern, occupies seven acres, and has its own separate canal and basin communicating with the Thames, nearly a mile farther down, between Wapping-wall and Lower Shadwell. London Dock (Proper) was opened in 1805 ; the Eastern Dock is a later work. There is a Board of Directors, twenty-five in number (amongst whom is the Lord Mayor, by virtue of his office), who have the control of this establishment. These docks employ a capital of about COMMERCIAL DOCKS — PORT OF LONDON. 149 four millions, and about 2,000 vessels, from all parts of the world, representing freights and cargo of upwards of 400,000 tons, are annually cleared here. Besides all this, numerous steam -vessels and emigrant ships, light- ers, and smaller carrier boats, are constantly moored to the quays or afloat in the basins. You should by no means neglect to inspect the emigrant ships, which are open to the public all day long ; and if you know a mer- chant in Marl b or Mincing lanes, Fenchurch- street, procure, if you can, a wine-tasting order, which will enable you to view the wonderful extent of vaults, covering an underground area of 890,545 feet, perhaps the largest in the world : one vault alone, the Eastern, occupying a ground space of seven acres ! It is said that the walls alone which surround the dock on the land side cost upwards of 65,000/. Ladies are not admitted to the vaults after one o’clock*. The East and West India Docks are farther down the river, and extend from Lime- house to Blackwall ; but while on the subject of docks we may say a word or two about them. Opposite Lime - house , on the other side of the river, are THE COMMEKCIAL DOCKS, which cover an area of fifty acres in the whole range, of which thirty- eight are water. The Commercial Docks are six in number. They were opened in 1807, and consist principally of the old Greenland Docks, formerly used for vessels in the whale fishery. They are now occupied by timber vessels and other ships trading in the Baltic and East Country commerce. The removal of the mud deposited in the docks by the steam navigation of the Thames is said to cost the Company upwards of 1000/. a-year. A visit to Rotherhithe and the Commercial Docks may well repay the curious inquirer for a day’s walking. Everything in Kotherhithe partakes of the sea. The shops are tarry, the regular inhabitants are fishy, and the very soil is sandy and saturated with brackish water. At the Dock Offices, 106, Eenchurch- street, an order to view the premises may easily be obtained. Behind the Commercial Docks is the Grand Surrey Canal , with its several docks and basins for the storing and seasoning of timber. It may be as well to say here that the Port of London , as actually occupied by . shipping, extends from London-bridge to Deptford, being a dis- tance of four miles, and is from four to five hundred yards in breadth. It may be described as consisting of four divisions, called the Upper, Middle, and Lower 350 EAST AND WEST INDIA DOCKS. Pools, and the space between Limehouse. and Deptford. The Upper Pool extends from London-bridge to Union- hole, about 1600 yards ; the Middle Pool , from thence to Wapping New- stairs, 700 yards ; the Lower Pool f from the latter place to Horseferry Tier, near Limehouse, 1800 yards ; and the space below to Deptford, about 2700 yards. THE EAST AND WEST INDIA DOCKS are situ- ated upon the Isle of Dogs. A voluntary subscription of 1,330,000^ enabled the founders of the West India Docks to begin the great work in the year 1800. The docks consist of an import dock, opened in 1802 ; an export dock, for outward-bound ships ; a south dock and timber dock; besides tidal basins and a reservoir, making altogether nearly 300 acres of land, and water. At the east entrance, near the dock station, is a statue of the Chairman who presided when Pitt laid the hrst stone. The import dock is surrounded by large sugar, coffee, and other warehouses, and stores for mahogany, dye-wood, wines, spirits, &c. A new road named after Miss Burdett Coutts, leads from the Docks to Victoria-park. Owing to some parish jobbery, the street is, however, less straight and spacious than it should be ; and though it contains some well built houses, its entrance from the Bow-road is injured by the erection of a monster gin palace, the pro- perty, I am told, of a Mile-end vestryman ! The East India Docks are near the mouth of the Lea, and consist of a basin and two docks (one called the Brunswick Dock), opened in 1806 for the use of the East India Company’s ships. Here Green’s, Money Wigram’s, and other clipper ships clear out for Australia, China, &c. At the expiration of the East India Company’s exclusive trading charter, these docks became the property of, and were united with, the West India Docks. The Company have their City offices in Billiter- square , with ware- houses in Leadenhall-street, Eenchurch-street, and Petticoat-lane (Middlesex- street), Whitechapel. The water is deeper in these docks than in any except the St. Katherine’s. The Brunswick -pier, Blackwall, with water always high enough, and ample hotel accom- modation, is in connexion with the East India Docks. Towards the south of the West India Export Dock is a canal, nearly a mile long, dug some years since for the purpose of connecting Blackwall-reach with Limehouse- reach. This cutting, as you will perceive by reference to the map, does indeed constitute the peninsula called the Isle of Dogs an actual island . Although a con- T HE DOCKS — THAMES TUNNEL. 151 siderable saving of time is effected by avoiding the great bend of the river, this canal is very little used except as a dock for steamers. The Victoria London Docks occupy a very extensive area farther west. No one should leave London without visiting the docks ; for there, perhaps better than anywhere else, may be observed the indications of the immense wealth and influence of the British metropolis. In no other place in the world is collected so much actual wealth with so little apparent display ; for it does not show itself in the shape of gold and silver and glittering gems, but under the guise of huge misshapen bales of merchandise ; rough, ugly, patched and broken hogsheads ; dirty casks, and ill-made grass bags ; nauseous hides, and musty oil- cakes ; strange heaps of rough brown antlers, and shape- less masses of wool and cotton ; bags of rice, and casks of cocoa ; sickly-smelling barrels of tallow, and ill-made packages of indigo ; heaps of strange woods, and logs of dirty -looking timber ; besides sugar, and tea, and coffee, and drugs, and spices, and oils, and soda ? and alkalies, and lime, and stones, and wines and spirits, and rough gems and precious stones yet innocent of the lapidary’s art, and children’s toys, whole shiploads at a time ! There, among the forests of masts, have met people of all nations and tongues ; not to quarrel and disagree, but in the prosecution of the peaceful principles of commerce and profit — principles which, with education and reli- gion, are destined at last to “ replenish the earth and subdue it.” For this friendly meeting and interchange of the world’s commodities have the toilers worked beneath the sun of Africa or frozen in the Baltic’s icy billows ; for this have rough unshorn men braved storm and wreck and danger, and even death itself, upon the broad unfathomed ocean— outlying on the slippery yards at nights, and soothed by the music of their own homely voices — till at length the curse is turned into a blessing, that by the sweat of their faces are they enabled to eat bread. While in the neighbourhood of the river — the dirty district of Shadwell , Ratcliff Highway , and Old GraveL lane — the visitor will not fail to walk through the THAMES TUNNEL. — This splendid arcade stretches beneath the bed of the river Thames, from Wapping- stairs , on the north bank, to Church- stairs, Rotherhithe , on the south bank. Sir Isambard K. Brunei was the designer of the stupendous undertaking, which consists 152 COMMERCIAL- ROAD — BLACKWALL RAILWAY. of a pile of brickwork 37 by 22 feet square, beneath tlie superincumbent waters of the Thames. In this pile are pierced two arched passages, each of which is 16 feet and some inches wide, and is furnished with a footway three feet wide. The Tunnel is 1200 feet long. This great work was commenced in 1825 ; closed for seven years by an inundation which filled the whole Tunnel ; recommenced in January, 1835, when thousands of sacks of clay were thrown into the river-bed above it ; carried on with varied success and unwearied perseverance ; and finally opened to the public, March 25, 1843, much to the gratification and astonishment of the scientific world and the people, and very much, no doubt, to the disap- pointment of the croakers, who had solemnly prophesied its entire and certain failure. The idea of the shield, which is the peculiarity of the new plan of tunnelling, is said to have been presented to Brunei by the operations of a testaceous insect, covered with a cylindrical shell, called the teredo, which eats its way through the hardest wood, and for that reason was named by Linnaeus ccila- mitas navium. The Tunnel is not now open to the public, it having been taken in 1865 by a railway com- pany to form part of a system of lines uniting the north- ern with the southern network of iron roads. Passing through Ratcliff Highway, now known as St. George’s- street, the head-quarters of seamen belonging to the merchant service, and remarkable for nothing if not for its numerous marine-store shops, gin-shops, and slop-shops, its fish- stalls in the streets, and its scores of unbonneted women, the stranger may, by way of any of the streets on his right, reach the COMMERCIAL-ROAD, a wide thoroughfare, which extends eastward from Whitechapel Church to its ter- mination at the West India Docks. It is a street com- posed almost entirely of shops, the majority of which, especially those at the east end, are devoted to the sale of necessaries for ships and sailors. To the right the river Thames runs almost parallel with the street ; but nearer to us, and visible here and there, in the iron bridges that cross the side streets, is the BLACKWALL RAILWAY, which, having its City terminus in Fenchurch- street, with intermediate stations at the Minor ies, Shadwell , Stepney, Limehouse, and Poplar, joins the North London at Stepney, by means of which passengers are carried from either of the stations named to Hackney, Islington, Highgate, or LIMEHOUSE CHUKCH — BOW-EOAD. 153 Camden Town. In fact, the railway system is becoming so far complete as to promise, in a few years, to supersede other modes of conveyance altogether ; so that, even at pre- sent, the resident at Bow, Stratford , Stepney, Hackney , Stoke Newington , King stand, Islington, or Blackwall, has no necessity, when he wants to go to Liverpool or the North, to ride or walk to Euston- square, but may book himself for the whole journey at any of the minor stations along the line. The Blackwall Railway consists of about eight and a half miles, built principally upon arches. In 18G5 it was amalgamated with the Great Eastern. We may pause to take a glance at that well-known landmark LIMEHOUSE CHURCH. — This handsome structure, partially destroyed by fire on the 29th of March, 1850, and since rebuilt and redecorated, is one of the fifty churches erected during the reign of Queen Anne. It was consecrated September 12, 1730. The architect was Nicholas Hawksmoor, a pupil of the famous Wren; and St. Anne's, Limehouse, like All Souls' College, Oxford, by the same architect, is distinguished by pure taste and nobility of design. The parish of Limehouse — originally called Lime Hurst, or Lime Host — was separated from Stepney about the time of the building of the church, before which period the parish of Stepney, or Stebon- heath, consisted of what are now known as the parishes of St. Mary (Whitechapel), Stepney, Limehouse, Poplar, Shadwell, Bethnal-green, Spitalfields, Bow, and Brom- ley, and the hamlets of Mile-end 01d-tow T n, Ratcliffe, and Mile-end New-town. Near Limehouse Church the street divides itself into two wide and open thorough- fares ; that to the right leading to the East India Docks, Barking, and the eastern counties, is called the Bast India-road , while that to the left leads to, and termi- nates in the West India Docks, already noticed.. A pleasant walk through the new streets, which cover what a few years since was wide open fields, brings us to the BOW-ROAD. — The road eastward leads to Stratford (Stratford-le-Bow), a pleasant suburb really in Essex, but belonging entirely to the metropolis. Stratford New-town , near the church, consists of a large number of small houses, principally inhabited by workmen employed on the Great Eastern Railway and its neighbouring lines. Standing at the top of Bromley- lane , we are about two miles east of what is called 154 MILE-END — STEPNEY-GREEN. London Proper, and in a suburb famous as baying been to our ancestors what Gravesend, and Greenwich, and Windsor, and the Isle of Wight are to us — pleasant retreats for a day in the summer. Then folks went no farther out of town for a day’s excursion than their legs could comfortably carry them; now we have railroads and steam-boats to .transport us from the wilderness of bricks and mortar, and smoke, and city churchyards, to where we may breathe the pure air of heaven miles and miles away. Bow t Church (St. Mary-le-Bow) was built by Matilda, Queen of Henry I., and is at once one of the most old and curious ecclesiastical structures in London. The editor of “ Dyche’s Hew English Dictionary” — William Pardon, Gent., as he is called in the original editions published at the “Bible and Sun,” Warwick- lane — lies buried in the churchyard. He was the author of several educational books, and his Dictionary was the nucleus of Johnson’s larger and more complete work. The parish of Bow was separated from that of Stepney in 1720. The road here is wide and open, and is, perhaps, one of the best entrances into London. There are numerous almshouses belonging to the City companies on the south-side of the way ; and as we come into MILE-END, we notice, just after we have crossed the bridge over the Regent's Canal — a walk by the side of which leads to Limehouse on the one hand and to Hack- ney on the other, Bancroft's Almshouses and Schools , founded, in 1735, by Francis Bancroft, who left 28,000/. to the Drapers’ Company for their maintenance. He was buried in Great St. Helen’s Church, Bishopsgate, whither, on the anniversary of his death, the boys and their masters, to the number of upwards of 100, attend public worship. Stepney -green, on the left, leads to Stepney Church (Old St. Dunstan’s), which is well worthy a visit. Colet, the founder of St. Paul’s School, and Bichard Pace, the friend of Erasmus, were rectors of Stepney, which parish was in old times, a rich and re- spectable suburb, but is now crowded with poor houses and small shops. In. the east wall of the church (re- moved a few years since, when the . fabric was badly repaired, to make way for a poorly-painted window) was the marble monument erected to the memory of Dame Bebecca Berry (died April 26, 1696), wife of Thomas Ellon, of . Stratford-le-Bow, with the device of the fish and the ring, about which is told the well-known legend of the knight being betrothed to the maiden, and throw- VICTORIA-PARK — BETHNAL-GREEN. 155 ing the ring into the sea, with an oath that he would not marry her till she found it ; which ring she, of course, did eventually find while cleaning a cod-fish in her then humble capacity of cook, and, of course, was married to the knight in consequence. It is needless to say that this story, as well as the notion that all children born at sea have a claim on the parish of Stepney, is a vulgar error ; the truth is that the fish and the. ring on the tomb are the arms of the Berry family, which are the same as those borne by the family of Yentris, of Cambridge- shire. The story, too, is not original, the same incident being found in the Arabian Nights* Entertainments.** The Parish of Stepney consists of the hamlets of Mile-end Old-town and Ratcliff , which severally enjoy the unenviable distinction of being, parochially, the worst- managed districts in London. In Beaumont- square is the Beaumont Institution , a building erected by the well-known Barber Beaumont. It has a good library, and during the winter season there are given in the large hall some of the best concerts and lectures east of St. Paul’s. Either of the turnings on the right of going Mile-end, westward, lead to YICTOIIIA-PARK, which may also be reached by rail or omnibus from the city. This beautiful park, one of the largest and most picturesque near London, is situated on what used to be called Bishop Bonner’s Fields. This ground was bought by the Government wdth the money ( 72 , 000 ^.) paid to the Crow 7 n by the Duke of Sutherland for Stafford House, at the palace entrance of St. James’s Park. It was opened in 1847 , for the recreation of the inhabitants of the east side of London. Its area is about 290 acres. It is bounded on the west by the Re- gent’s Canal, on the south by Sir George Duckett’s Canal (sometimes called the New Cut, famous for its fishing and boating), and on the north by the Grove-road. It is approached, besides the walks leading from Mile-End and Bow, by roads leading from Spitalfields and Bethnal- green. It was laid out under the direction of Mr. Curtis, and is really quite a charming place of recreation ; for, in addition to the flowers, walks, and w r ater, there are cricket and gymnastic grounds. A very hand- some Gothic Drinking Fountain was in 1862 erected in the midst of this park for the people, at the sole cost of Miss Burdett Coutts. Through the Elizabethan gates, and out into the Bethnal- green-road i where Robert 156 SHOREDITCH— WHITECHAPEL AND ALDGATE. Ainsworth, Compiler of the Latin Dictionary, once kept a school, or passing up the Hackney -roacl from Cam- bridge-lieath turnpike, leaving- Hackney , and Homerton, and Dalston , and Kingsland , on our right, we make our way through a poor and densely-crowded neighbour- hood, to SHOREDITCH. — Who would imagine, glancing at the dirty, stall-lined streets, that this was once a goodly neighbourhood ? Yet so it was ; for here stood the Cur- tain Theatre , and here, in the burial-ground attached to St. Leonard’s Church , lie buried Will Somers, Henry YIII.’s celebrated jester; Tarlton, the clown of Shak- speare’s plays; Burbage, the actor of Shakspeare’s heroes; and many other celebrated characters. The church was built by Dance, the City architect, once a ship’s car- penter, in 1740 — but there is nothing remarkable about it except the Puseyism of its late rector. We come now to the terminus of the Great Eastern Railway , that most unfortunate of lines. It is a long straggling block of warehouses, with nothing more striking about it than the clock in the centre, and the wide yard facing the Standard Theatre — one of the best of the east- end places of theatrical entertainment. The City terminus of the Great Eastern will shortly be in Liverpool-street, Broad- street, where in 1865 a line railway station w r as erected for the joint accommodation of the principal railways north of the Thames. In 1866 there was opened a new line from Kingsland to Broad-street, City, and before this Guide reaches another edition, the network of railways of which this forms a section will be probably complete. Byway of the new street, called Commercial- street — in which is Spitalfields * Church and the opening to Spital- fields ’ Market , a large mart for vegetables, or by Hounds- ditch , opposite Bisliopsgate Church — having glanced at the City of London Theatre , a very well-conducted esta- blishment, we reach WHITECHAPEL and ALDGATE. — Whitechapel, with its hay-market in the centre, its butcher’s shambles facing the road, its old-fashioned houses, its few remain- ing taverns of the bygone days of stage-coaches, and its street stalls illuminated at night with thousands of naphtha lamps, is one of the most picturesque, if not altogether the most aristocratic, of highways. At the junction of Whitechapel with Al tig ate, at the corner of the Minories, is the spacious outfitting and shipping establish- ment of Messrs. E. Moses and Son. This immense block of HOUNDSDITCH — ALDGATE — LONDON HOSPITAL. 157 buildings, reaching from the Minories to Jewry -street, and occupying many houses in depth, is famous for the supply of all kinds of articles in clothing, hats, boots, shirts, hosiery,^ and, in fact, everything necessary for a complete outfit, at the shortest notice. Messrs. Moses have also a large shop in New Oxford- street, at the corner of Hart-street ; another at the corner of Tottenham- court-road and Euston-road, and a great warehouse for ready-made clothing at Bradford. In Aldgate High-street , near the City terminus — White- chapel Bars, now shown by a couple of dwarf granite pillars — is Petticoat -lane, the mart of the Hebrew dealers in old clothes, and leading to the Clothes' -mart, in Cutler- street, Houndsditch. A little west of Aldgate Church stood one of the gates of the City — the old gate described by Stowe ; close to the site of which is Aldgate Pump , where, in 1549, says Stowe, “ the bailiff of Bomford was executed. I heard the words of the prisoner, for he was executed upon the pavement of my door where I then kept house.” Strype, the con- tinuator of “ Stowe’s London,” once resided in Petticoat- lane, which, in his day, had trees on either side. In the centre of Houndsditch , which leads from Bishops- gate-street to Aldgate, are the great warehouses and showrooms of Messrs. Defries and Sons, the well-known manufacturers of chandeliers and all kinds of glass, china, and porcelain ware. A visit to this extensive establishment, albeit at the east-end of London, may well occupy a couple of hours while you are in this neigh- bourhood, so rich and varied is the stock it contains. Nearly all the chandeliers for the theatres and music- halls are, we understand, supplied by Messrs. Defries, who lately manufactured several superb objects in glass for Her Majesty, the Prince of Wales, and the Viceroy of Egypt. By the Minories we reach the Tower and the Docks. At the south end of this street is Rosemary -lane, another mart for old clothes; and on the west side is America square, and the streets leading to Mark and Mincing lanes — a neighbourhood famous for tea- brokers and Colonial agents. In Whitechapel-road stands the LONDON HOSPITAL, founded in 1740. The present plain but commodious building was erected in 1759, on what was then a wide open space. At this hospital, which makes up above 500 beds, and which is considered 158 ISLINGTON — AGRICULTURAL HALL. one of the best medical schools in London, thousands of suffering persons are relieved annually. A new wing was added to this excellent institution in 1865, and formally opened by the Prince of Wales. In WLitechapel are several good drinking fountains, one of them in the wall of Whitechapel Church, a well- frequented but ugly church at the corner of the street leading to the Commercial-road. In Whitecliapel-road is the Pavilion Theatre , newly and handsomely built, in which west- end actors do not disdain occasionally ^ to play Shakspearian characters to large and appreciative audiences. We have now noticed the principal places of interest in the streets east of the Bank. To the north, as already stated, is Islington, which we may as well now mention briefly. ISLINGTON is situated in the north of London, be- yond the Angel and City-road. It contains St. Mary's, a brick parish spire church, repaired many years back by means of a scaffolding of basket work ; the London Fever Hospital , Canonbury Tower , Agricultural Hall, Philhar- monic Hall, &c. Sadler s Wells Theatre — which you must not fail to visit — is in St. John’s-street-road. . Hoxton lies to the east, and Holloway and Highgate to the north. . In Islington lived Charles Lamb, author of the charming “Essays of Elia;” and in Canonbury Tower have resided at various times Oliver Goldsmith, Collins, Colley Cibber, and Sir W alter Raleigh. Islington, once famous for its cakes, as Chelsea for its buns, is the home of City clerks and well-to-do merchants. Once a pretty suburban village, it is now part of London itself. In 1861-2 there was erected on Islington-green a Statue and Drinking Fountain, to the memory of Sir Hugh Myddelton. The site of the statue and fountain is a few yards from one of the entrances to the new Agri- cultural Hall. The figure of the knight, executed by the late Mr. Thomas, the sculptor, is 8ft. 6in. in height. It is carved in white Sicilian marble, and represents Sir Hugh clothed in the costume of the latter portion of the 16th century, with badge and chain, holding in his left hand a scroll containing the plan of his great and useful work, labelled with the words “ New River.” The statue is placed upon a pedestal of ^ grey Devonshire granite, on the front of which is the inscription, — “ Sir Hugh Myddelton, B. 1555, D. 1631.” The figures and basins are of Sicilian marble. The whole stands upon a SIR HUGH MYDDELTON. 159 base of 17 ft. by 7 ft. The statue itself has been given by Sir S. M. Peto, and the rest has been provided for by subscription, the New River Company having given 50/. towards the cost. Sir Hugh Myddelton, one of the greatest of the many benefactors of the metropolis, was the sixth son of Richard Myddelton, Esq., Governor of Denbigh Castle. Having obtained from the City of London a grant of the parliamentary powers which had been conferred upon them for bringing a new. supply of water to the metro- polis from streams in Middlesex and Hertfordshire, he began in April, 1608, to execute the work. Two springs — one rising near Ware, and the other at Amwell, in Hert- fordshire— were united for the supply of an artificial river, which was conducted to London. In length it was no less than 39 miles, in consequence of a great number of windings having been made in order to avoid inequa- lities in the ground. The vast expenses attendant upon the scheme exhausted the finances of Sir Hugh, who, having in vain applied for assistance to the corporation of London, procured that of James I., to whom a moiety of the concern was made over, in consideration of his bearing an equal share of the cost. The work was com- pleted in 1613, and on the feast of St. Michael in that year the water was admitted into the reservoir at Sadler’s Wells, Pentonville, with great pomp and ceremony. The expense of the work was about 500,000/. Sir Hugh Myddelton was. soon afterwards dubbed a knight, and eventually obtained the grant of a baronetcy. 160 OVER THE WATER — SOUTHWARK. OYER THE WATER. “ Where London’s column pointing to the skies, Like a tall bully lifts its head, and lies !” — Pope. The Monument — London Bridge — London Bridge Railway Terminus— The Church of St. Saviour’s, SouTnwARK — B ankside — St. Thomas’s Hospital — Guy’s Hospital — St. George the Martyr — The Marshalsea Prison— The Queen’s Bench Prison — The Elephant and Castle — Metropolitan Ta- rernacle — St. George’s Cathedral — Bethlehem Hospital — The Obelisk— New-Cut— London Ter- minus of the South-Western Railway — Lam- beth Palace. Let us now go south — “ over the water ” as it is popularly called. Look at the map, and you will perceive the im- possibility of walking through those close-packed streets, anH becoming acquainted with all their peculiarities. Instead, therefore, of pursuing any one line of road, we shall notice the more remarkable buildings “ over the water,” without particular regard to the distance to be travelled, leaving the reader at liberty either to follow our steps or to omit altogether the less prominent features presented to his notice. There are seven or eight mainlines of road, from which all the others more or less diverge. On crossing London Bridge, you find yourself in a wide thoroughfare, .called High-street , Southwark, pursuing which, you passthrough Blackman- street and Newington- causeway to the “ Ele- phant and Castle,” where the road divides itself into six, like the spokes of a wheel — Newington-causeway , the street you have just come through ; the London-road , to the north-west, which leads to' a central point marked by an Obelisk ; St George* s -road, more north-westerly still, and lending to the Lambeth and Vauxhall-roads ; the New Kent-road , to the east, leading into another main road, the Old Kent or Hover -road, which passes through a populous modern suburb, called Beckham New town ; Newington High- street , to the ‘right of the “ Elephant and Castle ,” which is the direct road to Kennington, Claphaniy, and Brixton ; and the Walworth-road, to the left, which leads straight to Camberwell and the beautiful village of Dulwich — both of which last streets are in a 1. St. James’ Hall. 4. Exeter Hall. 2. The Oxford. 5. St. Martin’s Hall. 3. The Canteiburv Hall. 6. The Alhambra. SOUTHWARK— DIRECTION OF STREETS. 161 southerly direction. From St. George s Churchy South - warhy the Kent-road has its commencement ; and from the end of Blackman - street a wide street called the Borough-road leads to the Obelisk. From Southwark Bridge, the Southwark Bridge-road leads southerly into the Borough- road, and thence to the Obelisk ; from Blackfriars Bridge, a fine straight street, called indifferently the Blackfriars-road or Great Surrey - street , leads direct to the Obelisk ; from Waterloo Bridge, the Waterloo-road also leads to the same spot, the •Obelisk; and from Westminster Bridge the Westminster Bridge-road , a wide, noble street, brings you again to the Obelisk ; — so that you perceive the Obelisk is a central point, from which you may reach any of the bridges, provided you turn your face to the north and take either of the four roads before you ; and from which you may bend your course to any parts of Lambeth or Southwark (called generally the Boro’), and from thence to the numerous pretty villages of Surrey and Kent. Near the railway arch, which crosses the Westminster- bridge-road, with a rather poor entrance, is the Canterbury Music Hally a fine spacious room, in which a good musical entertainment takes place nightly, and attached to which is an excellent and lofty gallery of modernpictures, collected by the late proprietor, Mr. Morton. Canterbury Hall was the earliest of the now numerous Music Halls in London, and is deservedly patronized by appreciative audiences. Vauxhall Bridge is directly in the road to Kennington- park and Oval, South Lambeth, and Camberwell ; while Batter sea-bridge is the communication between Chelsea and Battersea ; and Putney Bridgey yet farther up the river, joins Parson's -greeny Hammer smithy and Fulhaniy to Putney and the extreme south-west extremity of the borough of Lambeth. To the east of London Bridge lies the extensive and crowded neighbourhood of Bermondsey ; farther east still, and skirting the river side, is Rotherhithey which extends from Tooley-street and Bermondsey to Deptford , which lies immediately opposite the low marshy ground of the Isle of Dogs. Deptford Creek and the Ravens- bourne river divides the last-mentioned town from Greemvich. As before-mentioned, the Isle of Dogs is formed by the winding of the river and the canal, or South Dock, cut from Blackwall-reach to Limehouse- reach. Thus you will perceive that a continuous line of houses extends from Finchley to Greenwich. 162 KING WILLIAM STREET— THE MONUMENT. These details, though rather dry, are necessary to the right understanding of what we shall say of Southwark and Lambeth. Proceed we, then, as briefly as may he, to describe the noticeable objects “over the water.” Passing down Gracechurch-street towards London Bridge we notice the Statue of King William IV ., a bold de- sign, showing well from the street, and the far-famed MONUMENT. — This noble column was erected on Fish-street-hill, in commemoration of the Great Fire in 1666, which broke, out at a short distance from this spot. It was begun in 1671 by that distinguished archi- tect Sir Christopher Wren, and, though the. work was impeded at times for want of stones of sufficient scant- ling, it was finished in 1677. It is a fluted column, of the Doric order, 202 feet high, including its massy pedestal, and surmounting cippus and blazing urn. The west side of the pedestal displays an emblematical sculpture by Cibber, in alto and bas-relief, of the de- struction of the city, with Charles II., surrounded by “Liberty, Genius, and Science,” giving directions for its restoration. On the other sides are appropriate inscrip- tions. Within the Column is a flight of 345 steps leading to an iron balcony above the capital, from which the prospect is. extremely interesting. In this majestic column, which is 24 feet higher than Trajan’s Pillar at Rome, there are 28,196 feet of solid Portland stone. The inscription which formerly ran round the plinth was as follows: — “ This pillar was set vp in perpetval remem- brance of that most dreadfvl bvrning of this Protestant city, begvn and carried by ye treachery and malice of ye Popish factio, in ye beginning of Septem., in ye year of our Lord 1666, in order to ye carring on their horrid plott for exterpating the Protestant religion and old English liberty and introducing Popery and slavery.” The inscription on the north side continued — “ Sed fvror papisticus qvi tam dira patravit nondum restringvitvr.” These offensive words, after being obliterated by James II., were recut in the reign of William, and finally dis- appeared by order of the Common Council on January 26th, 1831. LONDON BRIDGE. This noble bridge was built by Rennie, in 1824-31, a little above the old historical structure, and opened by King William TV. with great pomp. It is the most crowded bridge in the metropolis. LONDON-BRIDGE— RAILWAYS. 163 Its width is 56 feet, and it has five grand arches — the middle one of 152 feet span. It cost, with the approaches, above two millions of money. It is within the city boundary, and it is supposed that not fewer than 8000 foot passengers and 900 vehicles pass over it every hour. From London Bridge may be seen Fishmongers' -hall, a fine building ; Adelaide- wharf ; the Monument on Fish-street-hill, leading down to St. Magnus Church,, with which the old bridge was in line ; the Custom-house, the Tower, and the shipping ; St. Paul’s, and the numerous city churches. On the Borough side are Humphrey’s warehouses, Fenning’s wharf, the Telegraph- station ; St. Saviour’s Church-tower, and the fine range of new warehouses built on the site of the tremendous fire of 1861. On the left, at the Surrey side of the bridge, is Tooley-street with its numerous ware- houses, wharfs, and little docks ; adjoining Tooley-street is the LONDON BRIDGE RAILWAY TERMINUS.—This extensive station accommodates various lines of railway — the South Eastern , with the Greenwich, North Kent, and Reading branches ; the Brighton and South Coast line, with the Crystal Palace and West-end lines ; the Croydon and Epsom railways, and various branch lines. An extension from the South-Eastern to the South- Western, passing close to Barclay and Perkins’ great brew- ery ; with branches across the river, from near Southwark Bridge-road to Cannon- street, and from near Waterloo to Hungerford Market, has lately been completed. St. Thomas’s Hospital has been almost entirely razed to the ground, and part of its site occupied by the new London Bridge Hotel , a very handsome pile seven stories high, 130 feet by 97, with 150 private rooms. Omnibuses from almost all parts of London go to this congeries of rail- way stations. In the centre of the road, which is crossed by an ugly railway arch, opposite St. Saviour’s Church, is a clock-house , which is shortly to be removed. THE CHURCH OF ST. SAVIOUR’S, SOUTHWARK. This was the Church of the Priory of St. Mary Overie, and was erected in 1540, when the parishes of St. Mary and St. Magdalene were united under the name of St. Saviour’s. Observe the Lady Chapel , which was restored in 1832. John Gower the poet, who died in 1402 ; Edmund Shakspeare, younger brother of the dramatist ; John Fletcher, the coadjutor of Beaumont, in writing their well-known plays ; and Philip Massinger, the M 2 164 BANKSIDE — THE HOSPITALS. dramatic poet, lie buried here. Behind the. Borough Market , and comprehending that part of the river bank between the Clink and the Surrey end of Blackfriars- bridge, is BANKSIDE, where once stood the theatres known as Paris Garden, the Bose, the Hope, the Swan, and the Globe; in the last of which — the “wooden 0” — Shakspeare was a shareholder, and here he produced many of his most celebrated plays. The fire destroyed all trace of the Globe and the other playhouses. Nearly opposite is ST. THOMAS’S HOSPITAL occupies the building and grounds of the late Surrey Gardens at Walworth ; a new hospital is in course of erection at Lambeth, opposite the Houses of Parliament. This Hospital was founded in 1213, by Bichard, prior of Bermondsey, as an almonry; enlarged in 1215 by Peter de Bupibus, Bishop of Win- chester ; bought at the dissolution of religious houses by the Corporation of London ; and opened as an hospital for poor sick persons in November, 1552. The building was repaired in 1699, and. entirely rebuilt in 1701-6. There are about 50,000 patients admitted annually, by letters of admission, obtainable from the Governors. In St. Thomas’s-street, is GUY’S HOSPITAL, founded by Thomas Guy, in 1723, and built by Dance, at a cost of 18,793/. 16s. Id. Guy, who is said to have obtained his wealth by the pur- chase of "seamen’s tickets, endowed the hospital with 219,499/. 0s. 4 d. Admission by letters of recommendation, to be obtained of the Governors. Besides being a great benefactor to St. Thomas’s, Mr. Guy at the age of 76 years, began the present hospital, on which he expended 18,793/. previously to his death in December, 1724, when he bequeathed the sum of 219,499/. for its endow- ment. He also left about 100,000/. for his poor relations, and for other charitable purposes. In the chapel, near the altar, is a statue of the founder, in white marble, executed by Bacon, in 1799. The Governors were incorpo- rated by Act of Parliament, and empowered to purchase, either in perpetuity or for a term of years, any estate to the amount of 12,670/. per annum, its present annual revenue exceeds 25,000/. This hospital consists of two small quadrangles, united by a cross building on arches, and contains about 320 beds for patients, together with a chapel, and convenient theatre, for chemical, medical, and. anatomical lectures. There is also a small neat edifice, behind the hospitals, for incurable lunatics. MARSHALSEA AND QUEEN’S BENCH PRISONS. 165 About 3000 persons are annually relieved here, either as in, or out-patients. Farther on, towards the south, on the east side of the street is the Church of ST. GEORGE THE MARTYR, built in 1733-6, by John Price, on the site of a former edifice. In the Churchyard lies buried Edward Cocker, the writing- master and author of the “ Arithmetic” (“according to Cocker”) ; and here was married Lilly, the astrologer, to his master’s widow. If you wish to visit the once celebrated Mint in the Borough , you had better engage the services of a police-constable of the “ detective force.” Like the once notorious Alsatia, this district was a refuge for runaway debtors and escaped felons ; and ever since the time of Jack Sheppard and Jonathan Wild, it has re- tained a character for lawlessness and daring second to no refuge in London. It is at present a collection of ill- ventilated streets, principally inhabited by thieves. In High-street was to be seen, a few years since, THE MARSHALSEA PRISON, formerly “pertaining to the Marshals of England,’’ and one of the five great prisons of London in the reign of Queen Elizabeth — the Tower, the Marshalsea, the Fleet, the Compter, and the Gatehouse, in Westminster. The notorious Bishop Bonner died here, and was buried in the Churchyard of St. George’s, Southwark. Here Christopher Brooke, the poet, was confined, for giving Ann More in marriage to Doctor Donne, without the consent of the lady’s father ; and here Wither wrote his best poem, “ The Shepherd’s Hunting.” On the right hand side of High-street 18 THE QUEEN’S BENCH PRISON, within the rules of which died Kit Smart, the poet. To this prison was com- mitted Henry, Prince of Wales, for insulting Judge Gascoigne; Baxter, for writing his “ Paraphrase on the New Testament here Hay don, while a prisoner, painted the “Mock Election;” and William Combe wrote the once popular Adventures of Dr. Syntax. The date of the erection of this prison is unknown. The rules extended about a mile around the walls. The Queen’s Bench, since 1863, has not been used as a debtors’ prison — the opera- tion of the new Act happily rendering imprisonment for debt a more rare punishment than formerly. Farther on, and just facing the new Drinking Fountain , a handsome structure is THE ELEPHANT AND CASTLE, principally known as a starting-place for omnibuses for most parts of Lon- - 166 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE— BEDLAM. don. It was lately sold, together with the adjoining houses in the Wal worth-road, for upwards of 200,000/. In Newington Causeway , and occupying a large space also in the New Kent-road , is the great drapery establishment of Messrs. Tarn, a palace in size and appearance, and one of the noticeable buildings in this neighbourhood. Oppo- site the Elephant and Castle, in the Kennington-road , is Mr. Spurgeon’s METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE. — This edifice, which looks more like a Grecian temple than a modern place of worship, was opened in 1861 ; having been built by subscriptions obtained by the Rev. Mr. Spurgeon by preaching in the Surrey Music Hall , partially destroyed by fire, and since occupied temporarily as St. Thomas’s Hospital. The Tabernacle has a six column portico, and is 145 feet long, 81 broad, 62 high. It is lighted by a lantern from above, as well as from the side windows. Two deep galleries run round the interior, which is some- what in the style of a concert-room, with a raised plat- form instead of a pulpit. It is well adapted for hearing. There is room for 5000 persons seated, or 6500 sitting and standing. Passing down St. George’ s-road, we come to ST. GEORGE’S CATHEDRAL, the metropolitan church of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. It stands in the St. George’s Fields, by a strange coincidence, the very spot where the No-Popery rioters, under Lord George Gordon, met eighty-four years ago to petition Parliament against the Papal aggressions of that day ! This, the largest Roman Catholic Church erected in Great Britain since the Reformation, was built by the late Mr. A. W. Pugin, in the decorated Gothic style, at an estimated colt of upwards of 100,000/. It will hold 3000 people ; and adjoining is a convent for Sisters of Mercy and a school for 300 children. It will well repay a visit. Eighty years since the neigh- bourhood hereabouts was literally fields. In the “Re- jected Addresses/’ occur the lines — “ St. George’s Fields are fields no more ; The trowel supersedes the plough ; Swamps, huge and inundate of yore, Are changed to civic villas now.” Close by is the madhouse, commonly called Bedlam, the proper appellation of which, however, is BETHLEHEM HOSPITAL.— It was founded in 1246, in Bishopsgate Without, by Simon Fitz-Mary, Sheriff of London, as a Priory. At the dissolution of religious THE OBELISK — SUBBEY GABDENS. 167 houses Henry VIII. gave it to the Corporation of London, who converted it into a hospital for lunatics. The old building was taken down, and the hospital removed to Moor-Fields in 1675, which second building, after having cost 17,000/., was razed to the ground, and the institution again removed to its present site, and anew wing erected in 1838 for 166 additional patients. James Lewis and Sidney Smirke were the architects. The whole building, with the House of Occupation, covers an area of fourteen acres, and the annual expense incurred is upwards of 20,000/. There is accommodation for 375 patients ; and the modern plan of treatment by kindness rather than cruelty is fully carried out here. During the last century, Bedlam, like St. Paul’s, was an open exhibition, but now an order from a Governor is necessary before a visitor is admitted. Within these walls have been confined — “ the renowned porter of Oliver Cromwell, who had more volumes around his cell in the College of Bedlam than Orlando in his present apartment Nat Lee, the drama- tic poet, spent four years here; and Peg Nicholson, the woman who shot at George III., who died here after a confinement of forty-two years ; Oxford, for shooting at the Q,ueen on Constitution-hill ; and M‘Naughten, another so-called lunatic, who shot Mr. Edward Drummond, Sir Robert's secretary, in mistake for Sir Robert Peel himself. We now return to THE OBELISK, about which we have already spoken, and of which it is only necessary to say further, that it was erected in 1771, in commemoration of the patriotism of Crosby, Lord Mayor of London .. In the Borough are many old inns. Among them is the Tabard (or Talbot, as it is now called), from which Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims set out. We must also mention Horsemonger-lane Gaol , in the front of which the miscreants Manning were executed ; the British and Foreign School in the Borough-road, in which are edu- cated about a thousand boys and girls, and the South- wark Literary and Scientific Institution , noticeable chiefly on. account of its admirable lectures. Lying between the Walworth and Clapham roads were The Surrey Gardens , covering an area of about sixteen acres, which have been taken, as already stated, for the temporary accommodation of the patients from St. Thomas’s Hospital. In the London-road notice the Philanthropic Institution for the industrial and reli- gious training of youthful criminals. It was founded in 168 PIULANTHIiOPIC INSTITUTIONS AND ASYLUMS. 1783 ; and besides the building here, the Society have a farm at Red-hill, near Reigate, in which the boys are taught farming. Nearly adjoining is the School for the Indigent Blind , founded in 1797, and supported by the contributions of the benevolent. The present building was erected in 1837. It contains about eighty inmates, who are instructed iu reading by the sense of touch, and various useful arts, such as basket and mat making, by which they are enabled to earn their own living after leaving the Asylum. In the Blackfriars-road is the Surrey Theatre , destroyed by tire in 1865, and since handsomely rebuilt. It is now a spacious and remarkably well-conducted house. At a little distance is The Magdalen Hospital, a noble institution, sup- ported by voluntary contributions, for the reception and reformatory teaching of unfortunate women. It was erected in 1769. The Magdalen Hospital, St. George's Fields, was founded about the year 1758, in a great measure through the exertions of the reverend and ill- fated Dr. Dodd, the last man who suffered death for forgery. The buildings are spacious, and contain an octagonal chapel, in which a select portion of the inmates are permitted to sing, during divine service, though ex- cluded from the public eye by a screen. The London Female Penitentiary , established at Pentonville, in 1807 ; and the Female Refuge for the Restitute, in Hackney- road, of more recent origin, . may be considered as ad- juncts in the meritorious design of this hospital. The Asylum for Female Orphans , founded in 1758, and incorporated in 1800, may likewise be regarded as an assistant to the Magdalen, it having been instituted nearly at the same period, in order to prevent prostitu- tion, by receiving and affording protection to the deserted and orphan children of the poor. Four thousand orphan children have been received here since its foundation, who have been educated and properly taken care of. It contains about 200 inmates, and is open to inspection on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Divine service is performed in the chapel adjoining. This building is situated about midway on the south side of the road from Westminster-bridge to the Obelisk. Still nearer to the Obelisk, but on the north side, is the Freemasons * School and Asylum for Female Orphans, which was instituted on the 25th March, 1788. In the Kent-road is the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, NEW CUT — LAMBETH PALACE. 169 a handsome brick building ; the society was instituted in 1792, but the present edifice was not completed till 1806. Here the dumb are not only taught to speak, read, and cipher, but also various mechanical arts, to enable them to obtain a living when discharged from the establishment. In B la ckfria rs -road is Howland Hill’s Chapel , erected in 1784, and once the most popular place of meeting for Protestant Dissenters in London. Opposite is the NEW- CUT, which runs from the Blackfriars to the Waterloo-road, and is remarkable for the number of its brokers’ shops, which line both sides of the way, and in which may be bought and sold almost any conceivable article second-hand, from a watch-spring to a steam- engine, or a pocket-pistol to a piece of ordnance. At the end is the Victoria Theatre , a very popular, and of late years exceedingly well-managed house. In the Black- friars- road, just at the foot of the bridge, is the Rotunda , in which Lawrence delivered his lectures on physiology. It is now used as a warehouse. Passing through Upper- Ground- street and the Commercial-road , we arrive in the Waterloo-road , in which, nearly opposite St. John’s Church, a tine edifice built in 1818, is the LONDON TERMINUS OF THE SOUTH-WEST- ERN RAILWAY, opened to the public in July, 1848. During the summer season excursions to Southampton, Salisbury, and other places are made almost daily. A ride on this railway will show you as much as you will care to see of this crowded and rather squalid neighbour- hood, and speedily carry you into the fields, out of the smoke of London. The Kennington-road leads direct to the Kenninaton Park (formerly the Common) and Kennington Oval , in which is the famous Surrey County Cricket Ground. In Kennington-lane is that admirable charity, the Licensed Victuallers Asylum. Proceeding onwards through a crowded neighbourhood, abounding in potteries and manufactories, we come to LAMBETH PALACE, the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is an irregular pile of building, on the south bank of the Thames, almost oppo- site the New Houses of Parliament. Having been erected at different periods, it displays various kinds of architec- ture : a considerable portion having been built as far back as the thirteenth century. The corners of the edifice are faced with rustic work ; and the top surrounded with battlements. In the banqueting-room, which has 170 LAMBETH PALACE — THE RIVER. an old carved ceiling*, are portraits of all the primates from Land to the present time. Juxon’s-hall (a noble room), forming* part of the old palace, has been converted into a library, which was founded by Archbishop Bancroft, and increased at successive periods by Archbishops Abbot, Juxon, Laud, Shelden, Tennison, and Seeker, till the number of volumes now exceeds 20,000. An order from the Archbishop or the Lords of the Treasury will admit the student to a view of the library. The chapel, erected in the twelfth century, contains the remains of Archbishop Parker ; and in the vestry are portraits of several . bishops. The Lollards’ -tower, at the western extremity of the chapel, contains a small room wains- coted with oak, on which are inscribed several names and portions of sentences in ancient characters ; and the walls are furnished with large rings, to which the Lollards, and other persons confined for heretical opi- nions, are supposed to have been affixed. In the grounds, which are tastefully laid out, are two fig trees of extra- ordinary size, said to have been planted by Cardinal Pole, about the year 1558. A new Gothic wing was added by Dr. Howley, the late archbishop, from the designs of Mr. Blore ; and the domestic portion of the palace greatly enlarged. The old church of St. Mary lies close to the palace ; and a noted promenade called the Bishop’ s- walk faces the Tha mes. And here, politest of visitors, we leave you to ponder over the memorials of past times ; persuaded that, having accompanied us thus far, you will have patience with us yet a little longer while we take a trip down the river. WINDSOR TO RAMSGATE, BY THE R1YER. The Thames— Eton— Windsor— Windsor Castle— Windsor Park and Forest — Hampton Court — Kingston-upon-Thames— Bushet Park— Richmond — Kew— Twickenham — Greenwich — Blackheath — Woolwich— Gravesend— Rochester and Chat- ham — Herne Bay, Margate, and Ramsgate. “ Noble Thames, whilst I can hold a pen, I will divulge thy glory unto men.” Taylor, the “ Water Poet .” THE THAMES is the noblest river in England, and certainly the most thoroughly useful river in Europe, THE RIVER, A GOSSIP ABOUT. 171 and perhaps the most important commercial river in the world. Though for many years converted into a mere common sewer for the great metropolis, there seems to be a chance of its eventually being almost as pure at London- bridge as it is at Hampton-court, between which and Chelsea it is a lovely flowery stream, with picturesque views on its banks, beautiful little islets here and there, and pleasant glimpses of home scenery, which in its way is altogether cheering. The Thames takes its rise in Gloucestershire, and passing Windsor, Hampton-court, Twickenham, Richmond, Fulham, and Chelsea, reaches London ; thence seaward it washes the shores of Greenwich, Gravesend, &c., and falls into the English channel about sixty miles from the Old Tower and Billingsgate. As we said, at Hampton-court the Thames is a clear and beautiful river. As the placid stream flows on we follow it in fancy, till it rushes through ill- shaped bridges and wooden locks, and becomes less and less clear ; till at last its sides are lined with wharves, and railway stations, and huge prisons, and hospitals, and houses, and workshops, and little towns, with here and there a field between. And crowded steamers ply to and fro with their living cargoes ; and little boats cross and re- cross, and four-oared cutters pass us swdftly by, impelled by manly arms ; and on one hand Lambeth Palace, an old and stately building, looks down upon the stream ; and on the other the Houses of Parliament, an architect’s puzzle, yet unfinished, and already dimmed with smoke and dust, presents itself to view ; then, throwing its graceful form from bank to bank, suspended high in air, and seeming scarcely substantial enough to form a bridge for a railway and a footpath for the traveller, we see a structure of wire ; and then, the stream more turbid, and the air more close, and the noise and bustle more ob- servable, and the steam-boats in greater numbers, the houses dark and dirty, crowd more thickly still upon the river-side ; and the busy hundreds at work upon the great Thames Embankment, w'hich will soon line both sides of the stream, and be known as Thames- way ; and smoky clouds upon the air and in the sky ; and great lumbering barges filled with coal go slowly past, or lie beside the entrance gate of some dark wharf; and long rows of wooden boats (called by the natives piers,) unfit for better service, jut into the river ; and high steeples and dark houses ; and noise and bustle, and dirt and smoke, and business and 172 GOSSIP ABOUT THE BIVEJl. pleasure ; and industry and idleness ; and meanness and wealth, grandeur and poverty ; state barges ; and gardens and gas works ; and fire engines and cleansing apparatus ; and crowds of fishing-boats ; and all the thousand sights and sounds of a great city, and lo ! we are in London ! boastful, beautiful, dirty, despised, proud, petty, rich, unhealthy, close, fetid, prison-like — yet spacious, crowded, careless, and wealthy London ; the wonder of the age, and the pride of the world ! Hark how the roar of its thousand streets comes booming over the quiet water. Look all around and view the various contrivances for business and pleasure, money-making and money- spending, and wonder at the inconsistencies of the giant place. What a contrast does it not present to the quiet scene we left at . Hampton Court, and yet the two are scarcely twenty miles apart ! And so the river Hows on ; away, away ; out among the fields and far from town ; and the tall spars of a thousand ships, in docks and by wharves, and lying in mid-stream, are glistening in the sun, and peace and brightness brood upon the waters. How pleasant, too, to stand upon the bridge, and, leaning idly over, gaze into the “silent highway” flowing far beneath. . And weary men come close beside you, and resting their heavy burdens on the edge, look down upon the stream, and think there must be something pleasant in lying idly upon a coal-sack and smoking in the sunny sky. And others, pale women, sometimes with burdens heavier far to bear, speculate upon the depth of the still waters, and only wait till night ; and when the turbid stream is rushing through the bridges and past the quiet houses, and far oil' into its eternity, the sea, it bears upon its bosom a ghastly freight ! But away with sombre thoughts ; the sun is shining, and the clear morning air looks glad and bright ? Gay parties of pleasure are making their way to steamboat piers, and bustle and confusion reigns supreme ; and the roaring, sputtering, tearing,, noisy, impatient steamers seem in such haste to go upon their way, as scarcely to allow time for the crowds of young and gay, and old and jolly, to get on board and start. And then what light and joyous laughter floats upon the air; and rustling silks, and pretty feet, and impatient faces ; and delicate forms, are squeezed and hustled for a moment, till they find themselves fairly on board the boat — then hie for Itichmond. KIVER GOSSIP — ETON. 173 Richmond , famed through all the world for beautiful views and high prices ; a splendid park and a dear hotel. And oh, what pleasant afternoon rambles have we not taken in that famed old park ! and Hampton- court, too ; and Bushey-park. But back to the world of care and trouble we must come, despite our dreams. Rare old river, that carries daily, all the summer months, such freights of smiling faces and gladsome hearts : a benison upon thy waters. Despite the murky stream and, till lately, neglected banks, cheap steamers still ply upon its surface, and carry the weary, labour-worn mechanic, and the pale, thoughtful student, the fagged and listless clerk, and the tired shopman, and the footsore traveller, and the overworked sempstress, and the labourers and the pleasure-seekers, to look upon the green fields, and dream of love and pleasure far away. Having gossiped thus far of the river itself, we may now say a word or two of the principal places worth seeing on its banks. We started from Windsor, which may be reached from London by the South-Western and Great Western Rail- ways ; but certainly not by water in anything larger than a wherry. If we go by the iron road, we pass Ealing, Han- well (notice the Lunatic Asylum), Southall, West Drayton, Langley, and Slough, and enter the royal town by way of ETON. — This town consists of one long straggling street, on the right bank of the Thames, opposite Windsor, from which it is divided by a handsome bridge. Eton is chiefly remarkable for its noble college, founded by Henry YI. in 1446. It is a favourite place of preliminary instruction for the sons of the nobility and gentry, having about 750 pupils, of whom a tithe are foundation scholars. The college is richly endowed ; and here Walpole, Bolingbroke, Fielding, Gray, Porson, Chatham, Fox, and Wellington were schoolboys. WINDSOR is divided into the Old and the New Town, the two being separated by the old Roman road from Silchester. It has about 10,000 inhabitants, and returns two members to Parliament. Windsor has a fine town- hall, a neat market-place, several good churches and chapels, a theatre, barracks for infantry, a good hospital, and several well-appointed hotels. During the Saxon dynasty a palace existed in Old Windsor ; but the royal . residence was removed to its present locality by YVilliam the Conqueror, who may be considered the founder of 174 WINDSOR CASTLE— STATE APARTMENTS. WINDSOR CASTLE. — Since the time of the Normans, however, the castle has had various alterations, improve- ments, . and embellishments from successive monarchs. Our kings have always made Windsor Castle their principal residence ; and of all the “ homes of England,” it is perhaps the most worthy the principal personage in the realm. The state-rooms of the Castle are open by. ticket to the public on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, between the hours of eleven and four. Tickets can be had of Messrs. Colnaghi, printsellers, 14, Pall- Mall; and Mr. Mitchell, bookseller, 33, Old Bond-street. They are available for one week, and are not transferable : and it being contrary to Her Majesty’s commands that payment for or in reference to them be made. Visitors are only admitted to the private apartments during the absence of the Court, and then only by special order from the Lord Chamberlain. The suite of State Apartments in Windsor Castle to which the Queen has been graciously pleased to permit the free admission of the public, consists of the following rooms: — The Queen’s Audience Chamber, hung with Gobelins tapestry ; the Old Ball-room, or Vandyck Room, so called from the twenty -two portraits by that master ; the Queen’s State Drawing Room, or Zuccarelli Room, containing nine large paintings by that artist ; the State Ante-Room, the ceiling of which is painted by Verrio ; the Grand Vestibule, with the colossal marble statue of George IV. by Sir Francis Chan trey; the. Waterloo Chamber, with its thirty-eight fine portraits by Sir Thomas Lawrence and Sir Martin Archer Shee ; the Presence Chamber, a gorgeous room, with some line Gobelins tapestry ; St. George’s Hall, an immense apart- ment, in which is the Queen’s Throne ; the Guard Chamber, glittering with arms and emblems ; and the Queen’s Presence Chamber. The access to the State Apartments is by the entrance under a small Gothic porch adjoining King John’s Tower, exclusively appropriated to this purpose. After passing through these, the visitor again reaches the small ante-room at the head of the stairs, on de- scending which is seen a portrait of Sir Jeffrey Wyatville, Kt., the architect under whose skilful management the repairs and alterations contemplated, and for the most part planned, by King George IV., were conducted. The portrait is from the pencil of Sir Thomas Lawrence, the then President of the Royal Academy, and was painted by WINDSOR PARK— HAMPTON COURT. 175 command of the monarch under whom the architect began his extensive operations. For gorgeous furniture and bedizenment, fine paintings and royal trappings, there is no place in Great Britain can excel Windsor Castle. But vou must not omit a visit to WINDSOR PARK AND FOREST, where, in the abandonment of leisure, you may revel to your heart's content in the green luxury of nature ; and, yielding to the influences of the place, exclaim with Shakspeare's Henry YI. : — “ O God ! me thinks it were a happy life To be no better than a homely swain.” Or giving your fancy full sway, you may recollect, and almost realize, the legend of Herne the Hunter, in this same old forest, and call up reminiscences of poetry and romance, forgotten, haply, years ago. The Great Park comprises about 3800 acres, well stocked with deer and other royal game, and the forest is about 56 miles in circumference. You should, while here, stroll through the Long Walk, and visit Virginia Water , with its sham ruins and beautiful scenery. HAMPTON COURT. — This splendid mansion, now the residence of decayed nobles and court pensioners, was built by Cardinal Wolsey, though little remains of the original palace, the three large quadrangles of Grecian architecture having been erected for William III., by Sir C. Wren. In the state-rooms of the palace, open at all times to the public without charge, were deposited some of Kaffaelle’s unrivalled cartoons ; these have been lately removed to South Kensington ; but there remains a large collection of paintings, chiefly portraits, by Holbein, Yan- dyek, Kneller, and West. The palace is of red brick, with stone facings and decorations, and a painted ceiling by Y errio. It has been an occasional royal residence between the reigns of Henry YIII. and George II., and. boasts one of the most beautiful gardens and parks within what may be called. a horse-ride of London. Here, among the sculpture, fountains, and vases, you will not fail to notice the splendid vine , said to be the largest in Europe, and the far-famed Maze , in which, if you have ladies in the party, you may amuse yourself for an hour at least. The population of Hampton is about 5000 ; the park is five miles in circumference, and well stocked with deer, and the walks about the neighbourhood may be designated as superb. A good and tolerably cheap dinner may be 176 KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES— BUSHEY PARK. had at the hotel just outside the gates of the palace ; though the numerous parties from London commonly pic- nic in the park, or in the numerous private houses de- voted to the purposes of such accommodation. Close by is KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES, a pretty little town, built at the influx of the Ewell on the east hank of the Thames. . It extends half a mile along the banks of the river, which is here crossed by a noble stone bridge of five arches. This towmis noticeable as having been originally a Koman station, and, at a later period, the place of coronation of our Saxon kings, from Edward the Elder to Ethelred the Unready. In 838 Egbert held a general ecclesiastical council here ; and during the Parliamentary war, the first armed force of the Parliament assembled, and the last expiring efforts of the ill-advised Charles were made in this town. In the market-place you will notice the lately erected monument to the memory of our Saxon kings. King slon-npon- Railway is a hamlet which has sprung up round the station of the South-Western Kailway. It contains many handsome houses, a fine church, some good libraries, and a capital inn, where you may dine for a shilling or a guinea ! Adjoining Hampton Court is the royal demesne called BUSHEY PAKK. — Here, in the area of 1100 acres, may be seen one of the most superb avenues of limes and chestnuts in the world. It forms the public road through the Park, the house in which was one of the favourite residences of William IV. Kew, Kichmond, Twickenham, and Kingston may be reached by rail or steamer ; there is also a steamboat goes occasionally, when the tide serves, to Hampton Court. To the three first-named places the water excur- sion is delightful ; to the last, the ride through Bushey Park and Kingston is generally preferred. In the sum- mer season, vans and omnibuses and gigs and go-carts proceed to Hampton every day ; and it is pleasant to see that even to the very poor the doors of this royal palace are thrown open without charge. The fares, by steamer or rail, seldom exceed a shilling to either of these places. KICHMOND. — This has been happily designated the Tivoli of England; for though the town itself is irregularly built, the outskirts abound with handsome villas and gentlemen’s residences. Fyom the noble park and hill some of the most exquisite landscape scenery to be found in England may be discerned ; and on a fine day mm 1 1 i hi i 1. Conservative Club House. 2. Athenaeum Club House. 3 Carbon Club House. 4. United Service Club House. 5. Army and Navy Club House. KEW GARDENS — TWICKENHAM. 177 in summer a distant view of the Castle of Windsor may be distinctly discovered. A walk in this splendid, well- wooded park, with its dells and grassy knolls, and herds of deer, and myriads of birds warbling . on the waving trees, will well repay any trouble the visitor may have taken in getting there. Richmond may boast the honour, if honour it be, of having been the death-place, as Green- wich was the birthplace, of “Good Queen Bess.” In those days, in consequence of the badness of the roads and uncertain temper of the populace, the river was as much entitled to be called the “ silent highway ” as at pre- sent ; and, as far as the conveyance of royalty and nobility goes, more so. Henry VII., from whose paternal earl- dom in Yorkshire the town derived its name, also died here. There are many handsome hotels and villa re- sidences facing the river. With a well-lined purse, go to the Star and Garter. This has been recently much enlarged. At Richmond the Duke of Buccleugh has one of his many mansions. KEW. — This pretty little village is connected by a handsome stone bridge with Brentford ; it is about seven miles from London, and contains a population of less than a thousand. But the chief attraction lies in its splendid Botanic Gardens , which are maintained at the national cost, and form part of the grounds belonging to the royal palace, once the favourite residence of George III., and many members of the royal family, especially the late King of Hanover. Kew Gardens contain, per- haps, the most splendid collection of plants in the world ; and the Palm-house, 360 feet long by 90 wide, is the largest glass building in the world — except the Crystal JPalace at Sydenham. A day may be well spent here. Admission is free, but it is necessary you should be there before three in the afternoon. It is not our intention to describe the wonders of the gardens— the splendid gigantic Victoria Regia lily, the noble series of palms, orchidse, pelargoniums, roses, and evergreens, the flora of every land and clime ; for our time and space would not permit so large a digression. Opposite Richmond, on the west bank of the Thames, is the village of TWICKENHAM. — The place is pleasantly dull and old-fashioned, but on the banks of the river are some very handsome houses. Here you may see Strawberry Hill, once the residence of the dilettante Horace Walpole, and now occupied by Lady Waldegrave. Near at hand is 178 BRIDGES OVER THE THAMES. the site of Pope’s famous villa ; and if you are fond of eel*pies and pic-nics, you may pass an hour verypleasantly at Twickenham Ait , a little islet near here. In our way from Hampton Court to London we have E assed through various bridges, some of them new and andsome, belonging to the several railways that cross the Thames. A note of these and of the places near them on either side may not be uninteresting. Good fishing may be had above Hammersmith, and especially in the neighbourhood of Richmond, Isle worth, and Sion House. Angling from the banks or from punts is al- lowed, except in the months of March, April, and May. Barbel and dace may be caught in the preserved water above Richmond-bridge from the middle of August to the end of October. Hampton Court is joined to Moulsey by an old-fashioned wooden bridge, built about 1778. Above Hampton are the pretty villages of Sunbury , Cliertsey , Staines , and Datchet . At the latter place, where Shakspeare gave Falstafi* a ducking, there is now a station of the Staines, Richmond, and Windsor Railway. Richmond Bridge is a stone structure of no great im- portance, though it looks well from the river, and has on one side a pretty walk and on the other the beautiful green meadows . Kew Bridge , was. built in 1789, and is of stone, with seven arches. . It joins Kew to Brentford. Hammersmith Suspension Bridge joins Hammersmith to Barnes. The bridge was built in 1827 from the design of Mr. T. Clarke. It is an elegant structure, and was the first bridge of the kind erected over the Thames. Rutney Bridge is an old wooden erection, 805 feet long, connecting Putney with Fulham, in which is the palace of the Bishop of London. Bishop's Walk is one of the most picturesque near London. The Palace Garden has some fine trees, and the village contains a pretty church lately rebuilt. Cremorne Railway Bridge , now completed, for the West London Line, need only be mentioned ; you now come to Old Battersea Bridge , 786 feet long, built in 1771. A toll of one halfpenny is taken for foot-passengers, but on Sundays it is free. Opposite are Cremorne Gardens , one of the most popular places of amusement in London. It has fire-works, statues, and various elegant buildings, with a monster dancing platform and a good concert room. The entertainments THE BRIDGES AND THE SIGHTS FROM THEM. 179 consist of music and dancing*, fireworks, &c., under the excellent management of Mr. E. T. Smith, the lessee of Astley’s. It may be reached by omnibuses from all parts of town, and by the Citizen steamboats from London-bridge and intermediate piers. Chelsea New Bridge , an elegant iron structure on the suspension principle, by Mr. Thomas Page, the architect of the new bridge at Westminster. It w*as opened on the 26th of March, 1858. A toll of a halfpenny is exacted from foot passengers. Near it is the tubular iron bridge for the Crystal Palace Railway. Chelsea Hospital and Botanical Gardens are well worthy a visit. Vauxhall Bridge , consists of nine arches of cast-iron, each with a span of 78 feet, and an average rise of 1 feet. It was completed, from the design of Mr. Walker, in 1816. Hence we get glimpses of beautiful streets on the Mid- dlesex side, and of St. Mary s Church . From Vauxhall- bridge and pier may be seen on the one side, the South- Western railway and pier, the Water- works, Battersea - park, a well laid-out and excellent pleasure-ground, and the Victoria or Pimlico bridge. On the other, are CubitFs campanile tower and workshops, the Chelsea Botanical Gardens , founded by Sir Hans Sloane, with their fine cedars of Lebanon, Cheyne-walk, Cadogan- pier, and St. Luke’s Church. Cheyne-walk , facing the river, was once a fashionable promenade, and is still a pleasant place, with trees and numerous good old- fashioned houses and shops. Chelsea buns are sold at numerous places in the neighbourhood, and several good streets lead to the west-end. Lambeth Bridge , consists of wrought-iron plates, sus- pended by wire ropes — a not very handsome structure. Westminster Bridge has already been described. From it may be seen, on the Middlesex side, the Houses of Parliament, St. John’s Church, the Horseferry, the Mill- bank Penitentiary , Richmond-terrace, and various fine houses. Among the latter is Montague House, the newly erected mansion, in Scotch Gothic, of the Duke of Buc- cleugh. On the other side are the Vauxhall Gasworks, and Astley's Amphitheatre , already mentioned. Hungerford Suspension Bridge has lately been con- verted into a railway bridge for the Charing-Cross branch of the South-Eastern Railway. For the purposes of the railway the whole of the space hitherto used as Hunger- ford Market has been absorbed. A toll of a halfpenny is N 2 180 THE BRIDGES AND THE SIGHTS FROM THEM. taken from foot passengers. The new bridge accommo- dates not only the railway, but also foot passengers. The present bridge joins the Strand to York and Westminster roads. From Hungerford-bridge may be seen, on the north, Scotland-yard , the head-quarters of the Metro- politan Police, with numerous coal and other wharves ; Wliitehall-place and the Horse Guards , Privy Gardens, Montague House, and Richmond-terrace, the Board of Control, and the Hungerford steamboat pier ; while on the south is the South- western steamboat pier, the great factory of the Messrs. Maudsley, and the low wharves on the banks, proposed to be enclosed with the southern em- bankment. Waterloo Bridge comes next. This handsome bridge •was said by Canova, the sculptor, to be the finest work of the kind in the world ; and by Baron Dupin, it was called a “ colossal monument worthy of Sesostris and the C^sars.” This bridge is the property of a private com- pany, and from foot passengers a toll of a halfpenny is exacted. It was built from the designs of John Rennie, who, though only the son of an East Lothian farmer, proved himself equal to the greatest engineering under- takings in Europe, having constructed many large docks, and the Breakwater at Plymouth. It cost upwards of 1,000,000/., and was opened to the public on June 18, 1817 — the second anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. Its length is 2456 feet, including the approaches ; and the road and footways are entirely level with the Strand. Having hurried on, we stop a moment at the Temple Bar pier , now the property of the South-Eastern Railway Company, which gives us an opportunity of admiring the Temple Gardens , one of the most agreeable promenades in the City. This, as well the great metropolitan fish-market, the Custom House and pier, the Tower and Docks, and a perfect forest of masts ; while on the Surrey shore may be observed the great warehouses for the storage of all kinds of produce, Barclay and Perkins’ brewery, St. Saviour’s and St. Olave’s Churches, the great stations of the Brighton and South-Eastern Railways, St. Paul’s, and a larger number of church spires than is visible from one spot in any other part of the world. The best time to see Billingsgate Market is very early in the morning, when the scene is exceedingly character- istic. The Market-house was rebuilt in a handsome manner a few years since. The fish dinner at Simpson’s is one of the regular London treats. Further east we have — MIDDLESEX SIDE. Billingsgate Market, p. 146 Coal Exchange, p. 145 Custom House, p. 145 The Tower, p. 142 St. Katherine’s Docks, p. 147 London Docks, p. 148 Tunnel Pier, p. 151 SURREY SIDE. St. Olave’s Church, Cotton’s, and other wharves, p. 163 South-Eastern, Brighton, and North - Ken t Rai 1 w ay s , p . 1 6 3 Rotherhithe Church Pier, p. 119 182 PLACES ON EITHER SIDE THE RIVER FROM LONDON. THAMES TUNNEL. London Docks, Eastern En- u trance, p. 148 ® 73 Regent’s Canal and Basin, o £ p. 149 ^ Cuckold’s Point. Grand Surrey Docks and Canal, p. 149 Commercial Docks and Pier, p. 149 South Dock Canal, p. 149 Isle of Dogs, p. 150 Steam Engine Manufactory. Iron Cable Manufactory. East Ferry, p. 150 | # Commercial Dock Pier o East Country Dock, ij g Greenland Dock. .3 M Deptford Dockyard. o . Dreadnought Hosp. Ship, 183 | © Greenwich Hosp. and Pier, 183 S © Trafalgar, and other Green- Jc ^ wich Hotels, p. 176 I p.149 West India Docks, p. 150 Whitebait Houses, Blackwall. Brunswick Pier, p, 150 g & Blackwall Railway, p. 150 x g East India Docks and Mast- * $ house. PQ Victoria London Docks, p. 151 Greenwich and Bugsby’s Marshes, p. 183 North Woolwich Gardens, Charlton, p. 184 Hotel, and Pier, p. 185 ^.d Woolwich Dockyard and Ar- Barking and Dagenham. § | senal, p. 184 Purfleet, and Powder Maga- $ Erith Gardens and Marshes, zines. Dartford Marshes, West Thurrock. Grays. Tilbury Fort. Southend, with long pier and clean streets, may be reached by rail from Fenchurch- street, p. 188 % . Greenhithe. | -g Salt Marsh. g S Northfleet& Rosherville, p.185 Gravesend, p. 185 •ja g Whitstable, famous for its go g oysters, p. 188 ja o Herne Bay, good walks and •SPfi cheap lodgings, p. 188 Essex Marshes, p. 186 Suffolk Coast, p. 184 § § Mouth of the Medway, p. 186 * m Sheerness, p. 188 •c -g Margate and Ramsgate, p. 1 88 •§ £0 North and South Foreland, 18S g a OS THE BRITISH CHANNEL. GREENWICH HOSPITAL, PARK, AND TOWN. 183 We will now attempt a slight description of some of the more important places in our route eastward from London -bridge. The first place of consequence is GREENWICH. — This ancient town is renowned for three principal things ; first, its Observatory , built at the command of Charles II., furnished with, perhaps, the finest astronomical instruments in the world, and constituting the central meridian of longitude in all British calculations ; secondly, its noble and most beautiful Park , the resort of pic-nic parties in the summer season ; and thirdly, its almost matchless Hospital . In the latter, which merely as a building merits particular examination, are lodged old pensioners, nurses, and others; but a recent enactment has deprived Greenwich Hospital of more than two-thirds of its inmates. The “pensioners” now mostly reside with their friends, and enjoy an increased income in con- sequence of their removal . It is proposed to convert it into a regular hospital, and to do away with the Dread- nought Hospital Ship. The famous Painted Hall — the masterly work of Sir I ames Thornhill — may be seen gratis on Mondays and Fridays, and for threepence on other days. Greenwich is a parliamentary borough, and returns two members to the House of Commons. The most ancient parts of the hospital were built by the celebrated Inigo Jones ; and in 1732 the forfeited estates of the Earl of Derwentwater went to enrich its revenues. But, besides this splendid charity, there are— a Grey-Coat School for 120 boys, a Green-Coat School, a Girls’ School, and hospital for pensioners, all of which have endowments of greater or less value. Greenwich was the birthplace of Henry VIII. ; and in the Castle on the Observatory Hill were born the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth, both of whom became queens, though with far different degrees of popularity. Edward VI. died in Greenwich. In the park, which was first enclosed by Duke Humphrey of Gloster, Protector in the reign of Henry VI., are kept several herds of deer ; and at the south-east corner is a well- stocked rabbit warren. Passing southward through a fine grove, we come to BLACKHEATH, famous as having been the scene in olden time of the insurrectionary movements of Wat Tyler and Jack Cade, and also as being crossed by the Roman Watling- street. It has now, however, a fame of a far different kind, and is frequented principally by the lovers of donkey-riding, cricketing, and such -like rural sports, for which its flat surface and open common is 184 CRYSTAL PALACE, BLACKHEATH, AND WOOLWICH. admirably adapted. All round the heath are gentlemen’s houses and handsome villas and cottages ; and a little way across to the south-east, you will arrive at Morclen College— a house and tine garden formed in 1695 by Sir J. Morden, for the residence of a chaplain and thirty decayed merchants of the city of London. It has a revenue of upwards of 5000^. per annum. Strangers are at liberty to walk in the gardens, though they are cautioned parti- cularly not to pluck the flowers. Crowning fair Sydenham-hill, about four miles south of Greenwich, is THE CRYSTAL PALACE. — This beautiful glass building, with its park, pleasure-grounds, gardens, and fountains ; its unequalled architectural courts, its noble series of portrait busts, its statuary, music, and picture galleries, is, par excellence , the greatest sight in London, and the wonder of Europe as a place of popular amuse- ment and instruction. The building was re-constructed, with many additions and improvements, after its removal from Hy de-park in 1851, and opened to the public on the 10th of June, 1854, by the Queen and Court. The prices and times of admission will be found on page 49. No stranger should leave London without visiting the Crystal Palace at least once ; but if he went every day for a month he would find something new, something to admire, something to learn. During the twelve years it has been open, about eighteen millions of visitors have attended. About nine miles from London, on the south side of the Thames, is situated the town of WOOLWICH. — The principal objects of interest at Woolwich are its celebrated Arsenal and its equally celebrated Dockyard. The Arsenal is in every respect worthy of inspection. It is the largest in the world, covering more than 100 acres, and containing about 25,000 pieces of ordnance, besides other warlike stores. In the Foundry are several furnaces, in one of which alone, at one and the same time, seventeen tons of metal can be melted. In the Laboratory everything that can attract the attention of military and philosophical in- quirers is abundant. The Arsenal may be seen by ticket on applying to the bombardier in the left-hand lodge at the entrance gates : but to be admitted throughout the interior, an order must be obtained from the Royal Board of Ordnance. Foreigners must apply for these orders through their respective ambassadors. GRAVESEND, MILTON, AND NORTHFLEET. 185 The other points most deserving of notice are — the Sappers' Barracks , the Royal Artillery Barracks , the Ordnance Hospital , and the Royal Artillery Hospital . In the Dockyard was built the noble and ill-fated Royal George , which sank at Spithead on the 28th of June, 1782, with nearly a thousand people on board. But few large vessels are built here now in conse- sequence of the shallowness of the water, which allows of the operation of launching only at very high tides. You can reach Woolwich by rail from London-bridge or Bishopsgate-street. In. the first case you come direct, in the last you cross the river in a small steamer from North Woolivich , a neat collection of houses and a fine wooden pier at the station of the Great Eastern Bailway. North Woolivich Gardens are highly attractive at this season. There are some pretty walks round at Charlton, Footscray, &c. ; and a stroll on to Woolwich parade and practising-ground, when the troops are there, or in and about the barracks, will well repay your trouble, and sufficiently gratify your curiosity. About five-and-twenty miles from London, by the river, is the “ municipal borough, river port, town, and parish.’ * of GRAVESEND. — What is called Gravesend includes, also, the parishes of Milton and Northfieet, the three places having a resident population of about 18,500 ; though in the height of the summer season there are sometimes three times that number of persons located here. If you land at Kosherville Pier, you are at Northfieet ; if you stop at the Town Pier, you may enter Gravesend by the High-street— much improved in consequence oi* a fire in 1850 having necessitated the removal of some old houses ; and if you go ashore at the Terrace Pier, you will enter the watering-place of Milton- on -Thames. For economy, the first-named place is perhaps preferable ; as besides the pleasant walk by the river side, you are close to the Rosherville Gardens , with their fiowers and statues and rural sports. If you wish to stay only a single day, and want a cheap dinner — say, one for eightpence or a shilling-land at the Town Pier. In High-street you will obtain the dinner aforesaid. But if you think of staying a week in Kent, and are not particular to a few shillings, then go boldly on to the Terrace Pier — take a lodging in Berkeley-crescent — order your dinner at five, and stroll in the meanwhile on Windmill-hill , from which a fine view of the town may be obtained ; or while away 18G ROSHERVILLE GARDENS AND THE RIVER. an hour in looking in at the market, walking the streets, or lounging in the Bazaars. Of course, in coming down the river, the sun will have been shining, and you will have gazed on Greenwich Hospital ; and looked with some- thing of national pride at the Dreadnought — a floating hospital for seamen of all nations ; and wondered at the air of apparent apathy and stillness in the dockyard and aboard the craft at Woolwich ; and cast your eyes across the wide expanse of marsh and swamp and meadows and sedgy banks upon the Essex shore ; and revelled in the glorious look of gaiety which the sun throws on the dusky waters ; and caught distant glimpses of quiet homesteads, which lie, as it were, imbedded in green paradises ; and admired the clean beauty of Ingress Abbey — the seat of the late Mr. Alderman Harmer ; and become almost enthusiastic, as hill and wood, and meadow and hedge, and village and green-covered church, and high chalk cliff and sunny- looking town, and gaily-peopled pier, arose, and expanded, and died away in the distance on either hand — to say not a word about ships and boats and fishing-smacks, _ of all sorts and sizes, about which you have been talking to the man at the wheel ; or a single syllable of the people on board, with baskets of provisions, and their best clothes and pleasantest looks on ; or the beat- ing, screeching, whistling, tearing, noisy, but yet regular and well-managed steam-engine, that works so untiringly for all the people who crowd the clean- washed decks ; or even to waste a thought about anything in the world, except this beautiful summer trip into Kent by the waters of the Thames. Why, it is worth almost a week’s con- finement to experience a new sensation. As for the town of Gravesend itself, there is little to see in it ; but from it there are some beautiful walks. You may go two miles or more by the sea wall ; with the river on one hand and the meadows on the other ; or you may walk to Springhead — a pretty village and tea-garden about three miles from the town ; or you may ride to Cobham — the seat of Lord Darnley, about eight miles from the town — and admire the architecture of the Hall, one of Inigo Jones’s best specimens, and view the pictures and the house on a Friday, by an order obtainable at the Public Library at Gravesend, and roam through the splendid park. But you must by no means neglect to visit ROCHESTER AND CHATHAM.-From Gravesend, Rochester may be reached by rail, and a small steamer ROCHESTER AND CHATHAM. 187 takes you across the Medway to Chatham. But if you prefer fields, streets, and country lanes and hedgerows, and the songs of birds, to the dark railway tunnel, two miles long, enlivened only by the startling dissonance of the steam shriek — then take the advice of an old traveller on the road, and go by the slower and more old-fashioned stage-coach. You will find vehicles at all hours of. the day waiting near the Terrace-pier, or at the top of High- street, in the .London-road. Mounting the box-seat, then, and chatting pleasantly by the way with the jolly coachman, you pass through as rural a road as any in broad England, with waving fields of corn, and long- distant vistas of park and wood on either hand, and arrive, in the course of a short hour, within sight of the noble old castle and the picturesque street of Rochester. Here descend ; and stopping on the new bridge which crosses the Medway — narrow at this part — gaze around. The panorama here is beautiful in the extreme. Sur- rounding the harbour, formed by a bend of the river, lie the irregular, straggling streets and the picturesque houses of Chatham , Rochester , Stroud , and Brompton ; while in the distance the fortified hills frown down upon the scene, and would be warlike were it not for a back- ground, more distant still, of dark green trees, which surround and overshadow all the scene. Here we may philosophize and ponder on the past ; for the grey moul- dering ruin of the Norman castle of Bishop Gundulph, albeit noble and majestic in decay, looking down upon the doings of the present, may well call up reflections on the vanity of human wishes. Men die ana are forgotten, but their works live after them. A visit to the interior of the Castle will well repay your exertion ; and if you happen to be there during service time, you should enter the fine old Cathedral \ It has been recently repaired throughout ; but there is enough of antiquity about it to remind you of the state of society in the days of Gundulph, the first English bishop after the Conquest. It is considered one of the finest specimens of Norman and early English architecture which remains to us. For a small gratuity to the verger, you are allowed to inspect the chapels, monuments, and crypt. In Rochester is a Grammar-school, founded in 1542, supported by the dean and chapter ; and possessing six exhibitions to universities. There are besides, the hospital for poor women, called St. Catherine s; Watts' Hospital , for the nightly entertainment of six poor 188 HERNE-BAY, MARGATE, AND RAMSGATE. travellers ; and Haywood's House of Industry. In the long*, straggling High-street, are several picturesque old houses, a theatre, baths, custom-house, assembly-room, and several fine shops. Besides the remains of old gate- ways and monastic structures, there are two modern forts facing the Medway, several wharves, a railway- station, and a pier. . The trade of the city, like that of Chatham, depends principally on the resident military. Next to Canterbury, Rochester is the most ancient bishopric in England. Chatham — which joins the old citj 7 '— is noticeable on account of its fine dock-yard, the third in England, being inferior only j:o those of Portsmouth and Plymouth ; its splendid forts and bastions, which command the entrance to the river, its fairs, and its races. You should by all means visit the dockyard, and witness the building of ships and the necessary preparations for their equip- ment. There is no charge for admission ; but you must be at the gate before three in the afternoon. Chatham returns one member to the British Parliament, and con- tains about 17,000 inhabitants. Ere you leave, this part of Kent, it may tend to sober your national pride to recollect that in 1667, the Dutch, under their famous admiral De Ruyter, sailed up the Medway, “ and in spite of the forts on its banks, succeeded in burning many vessels and naval stores !” You will now perhaps visit HERNE-BAY, MARGATE, AND RAMSGATE.— To these you may proceed either by rail or steamboat. The latter method, however, is both the cheaper and pleasanter. Herne Bay is about 80 miles from London ; Margate about 100 ; and Ramsgate , 105 — reckoning the distance by the water. By rail, you can reach the latter place, by the South-Eastern line, in about 97 miles, or a four- hours’ ride; or by the London, Chatham, and Dover. Opposite Herne Bay is Southend , a rising watering-place. Having come so far, you may also visit Dover, Deal, and Folkestone, and return to London by railway. The trip may be accomplished in two days. Herne Bay is situated on the estuary of the Thames, between Whitstable and Reculver, about eight miles from Canterbury. It has several handsome streets, hotels, baths, and houses, with a resident population of about 1800. The church is a line masonic structure, of the particular style of architecture satirically known as the Cockney school. PLACES OE INTEREST ABOUT TOWN. 189 Margate and Ramsgate are distant from each other only three miles and a half by road, and about eight by water. They are situated on the Isle of Thanet, and com- mand a fine view of the Downs. Ramsgate is considered the more fashionable watering-place, and, by conse- quence, the dearer ; both towns contain a number of fine churches, hotels, streets, and private houses. There is excellent bathing at both. They have each a resident population of about 11,000, with accommodation, during the season, for thrice as many visitors. The chief trades carried on are in fish, fruit, and vegetables ; though, during the summer months, the business of letting lodg- ings and selling provisions, may be described in Dominie Sampson’s own word as “ Prodigious!” . While in Rams- gate do not omit to visit the Catholic Church of St. Augustine , built by Pugin. Broadstairs , which is a more quiet place of summer resort than either of the above, is situated nearly midway between them. PLACES UNDESCRIBED IN THE PREVIOUS PAGES. In passing through the principal thoroughfares we have neces- sarily omitted the mention of some places out of the regular route. Among these are — Almonry, The, the lowest part of Westminster, adjoining Tothill-street , and principally inhabited by thieves and prostitutes. It was originally the Eleemosynary of the Abbey, and is vulgarly called the Ambry. The new street called Victoria- street, passes near the Almonry. Apothecaries’ Hall, Water-lane, Blackfriars, a plain brick building, erected in 1670. It is the dispensary of all drugs sold in London, and the Examination Hall for apothecaries and surgeons. Till 1617, the grocers and apothecaries formed one company, when the latter obtained their charter of incorporation through the exertions of Gideon Delaine, medical attendant to James I. Art-Union of London. — Office, 4, Trafalgar-square. Estab- lished 1836, and incorporated in the tenth year of her present Majesty’s reign by royal charter. A guinea subscription entitles the subscriber to a handsome print and a chance in the annual lottery of pictures. Artillery Ground, West side of Finsbury -square . — The exer- cising ground of the Artillery Company, established in 1585, during the furor occasioned by the Spanish invasion. Ashburniiam House, Little Dean’s-yard, AVestminster, and so called after John, Earl of Asliburnham. In 1731 the Cottonian Library was deposited here, and partially destroyed by a fire which 190 PLACES OF INTEREST ABOUT TOWN. broke out on the 23rd October, 1731. The present occupant is the Rev. H. Milman, the author of the “ Fall of Jerusalem.” Battle Bridge, St. Pancras, now called King’s Cross, from a bad statue of George IV., taken down in 1842. A battle is said to have been fought here between Alfred and the Danes. Bayswater. — A large and genteel district west of Oxford-street, famous, not many years since, for its springs and conduits. In the burial-ground opposite Hyde-park, Lawrence Sterne lies buried. Bedford-square and Row, Bloomsbury ; so called after the Duke of Bedford, who lived in the reign of Charles II. The archi- tect is said to have been Inigo Jone3. In No. 6, in the square lived Lord Chancellor Eldon from 1805 to 1815; and here it was that the Chancellor was visited by the Prince Regent, when the latter wished to advance his friend Jekyll, the wit, to the office of Master in Chancery. The Prince only succeeded in his suit by threatening his host. Bloomsbury-square, Holborn, was built by Thomas Wriothes- ley, Earl of Southampton, in 1665. The great Lord Mansfield, whose house and library were burnt by the No-Popery rioters in 1780, Dr. Radcliffe, and Sir Hans Sloane, have been inhabitants of this square. Bunhill Fields Burying-ground, in Bunhill-row, Finsbury, was one of the great fields appertaining to Finsbury Farm, “ Bon- hill-field, Wallow-field, and the High-field, where the three windmills stand.” De Foe gives a terrible description of this place, which was used as a pest-field during the Great Plague of 1665. It was formed into a cemetery for Dissenters soon after, and so it has remained ever since. John Bunyan, the author of “ The Pilgrim’s Progress,” was buried here, in the vault of his friend Strudwick, a grocer, in whose house on Snow-hill he died, August 31, 1688. Butcher-hall-lane, Newgate-street, famous for its cheap ordinary at Campbell’s, and for its frequent changes of name, having been successively Blowbladder- street, Stinking-lane, Chick- lane, Butcher-hall-lane, and now King Edward-street. Caledonian Asylum, Copenhagen fields, Islington, founded in 1815, “for the relief of the children of soldiers and sailors, natives of Scotland, who have died or been disabled in the service of their country.” It is a deserving institution in a handsome building. Camden Town — a great suburb north-west of the New-road. It was begun in 1791, and contains a vast number of houses and an immense poor population. It is called after Baron Camden, Attorney-General and Lord Chancellor in the reign of George III. Dibdin, the song-writer, lived here. Canonbury Tower, Islington, 68 feet high and 17 feet square, is all that remains of Bolton Priory, an estate formerly belonging to the convent of St. Bartholomew, in Smithfield. Newberry, the bookseller, had lodgings here in 1763-4, in which Goldsmith some time resided. It is now let out in separate tenements. In Wash- ington Irving’s “ Tales of a Traveller” there is a good description of Canonbury Tower. PLACES *0F INTEREST ABOUT TOWN. 191 Charter-House — in Aldersgate-street, Charter-house-square, the site of a Carthusian monastery, which became a seat of the Howard family. It was converted, by Thomas Sutton, in 1611, into a foundation" for eighty pensioners, and a classical school for forty-five (now’- sixty) boys. Observe the great Chamber, Hall, Chapel, and grounds. Here were educated Barrow, Addison, Wesley, Ellenborough, Havelock, and Thackeray. Christian Knowledge Society, 67, Lincoln’s-inn-Fields, was founded in 1691, “ for circulating approved works of a religious and instructive character.” This Society circulates above 5,000,000 tracts yearly. City of London School, Milk-street, Cheapside, was estab- lished in 1835, “for the sons of respectable persons engaged in professional, commercial, and trading pursuits.” The course of instruction includes the study of English, French, German, Latin, and Greek languages ; writing, arithmetic, mathematics, book- keeping, and history ; and the charge for each pupil is 251. a term — the year being divided into three terms. The first stone was laid in 1835 by Lord Brougham. There are several scholarships open to the pupils. Cloth Fair, Smithfield, derives its name from having been the resort of clothiers in the seventeenth century. There are yet several tailors’ shops here. Bartholomew Fair, which was held in Smith- field, used to be annually proclaimed here. Danish Church, Wellclose-square, Whitechapel, was built in 1 696, by Caius Cibber, the sculptor, at the expense of Christian V., King of Denmark, for the use of his countrymen residing in Lon- don. It is now held on lease by the British and Foreign Sailors’ Society, and was re-opened for public worship on April 30, 1845. Observe the “ royal pew” used by Christian VII., on his visit to this country in 1768, and the tablet to the memory of Jane Colley, the mother of Colley Cibber. Dulwich College — “God’s gift college in Dulwich” — was built and endowed by the actor, Edward Alleyn, in 1619, and en- dowed for “chapel, a schoole- house, and twelve almes-houses.” The master must bear the name of Allen. The walk hither is one of the prettiest out of London. Dulwich Gallery contains one of the best collections of pic- tures of the old masters. Admission free. On Thursdays and Fridays, Gd. The Gallery is open from ten to five. In 1811 Sir Francis Bourgeois bequeathed 354 pictures, and 10,0002. to build a gallery for their reception, besides 2000L to provide for their proper care and repair. Here are fine specimens of Murillo, Cuyp, Teniers, Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Ostade, Salvator Rosa, Paul Veronese, Claude, and Poussin ; besides single pictures by Gains- borough, Opie, and Sir Thomas Lawrence. Euston-square, New-road, is so called from the names of the ground landlords, the Fitzroys, Dukes of Grafton and Earls of Euston. Behind it is the station of the London and North-Western Railway. Dr. Walcot, well-known as Peter Pindar, died in a 192 PLACES OF INTEREST ABOUT TOWN. house attached to Montgomery’s nursery-ground which stood here. Execution Dock, Wapping, was “ the usual place of execution for hanging of pirates and sea-rovers, at the low-water mark, and there to remain till three tides had overflowed them.” A gibbet was erected there as lately as 1815. — Five Fields, Pimlico, filled the space now occupied by Belgrave and Eaton Squares, the most fashionable in the metropolis. Where ladies and gentlemen now ride and walk, footpads prowled and robbers pursued their unholy calling scarce a century ago. Foundling Hospital, in Guildford-street', was founded by Captain Thomas Coram, in 1739, for the reception of “ exposed and deserted children.” In the present day the mothers of the children must be known. Hogarth and Handel were great benefactors to this charity. Some of Hogarth’s best pictures are to be seen here. The music on a Sunday in the chapel is well worth hearing. Freemasons’ Hall and Tavern, Great Queen-street, Holborn, contains two of the largest rooms in London. The tavern is known for good dinners and concerts. Opened in May, 1776. Here is held the Grand Lodge of the “Free and Independent Masons.” French Protestant Churches. There is one in Bloomsbury- street and another in St. Martin’s-le-Grand ; others in Clement-lane, Lombard* street, and Little Dean-street, Soho. Golden-Square lies to the north of Regent’s Quadrant, and is a place of decayed appearance, principally inhabited by foreign artists and restaurateurs. In the centre is an old statue of George II. Lord Bolingbroke resided here, as well as Mrs. Cibber, the singer, the beloved of Lord Peterborough, in 1746. Goodman’s Fields, Whitechapel, is one of the oldest suburbs in London. In the theatre here, the Garrick, burnt down in 184 3, and since rebuilt, Garrick made his first appearance. Great Western Railway, Paddington, was opened, first to Maidenhead, in 1830, and to Bristol in 1841. The broad gauge is used on this line, which was begun and completed by I. K. Brunei, the son of the celebrated Brunei, engineer of the Thames Tunnel. Green-Arbour-Court, Old Bailey, a squalid place, famous for its Breakneck steps , and for the residence, at No. 12, of Oliver Goldsmith, in his poverty, was absorbed in 1865-6 by the Metro- politan Railway. Grub Street (now called Milton-street), Fore-street, Cripple- gate, was the noted locality of poets, according to the writers of the last century. Infant Orphan Asylum, Wanstead, Surrey, was founded in 1827, and is open to candidates from all parts of the empire. The first stone of the present handsome building was laid by Prince Albert in 1841 : Messrs. Scott and Moffat, architects. Kensal-Green Cemetery, Harrow- road, is about two miles and a half from the Paddington station of the Great Western Railway, and was formed by a joint-stock company in 1832. The Duke of Sussex (died 1843) and the Princess Sophia (died 1848) PLACES OF INTEREST ABOUT TOWN. 193 are both buried here : another instance — at least as far as the will of the first is concerned — that his sympathies were with the people, even in his death. But there are other tombs even more interest- ing. Anne Scott, the daughter of the novelist, Sir Walter ; Allan Cunningham ; John Murray, the eminent publisher ; Thomas Barnes, many years editor of the Times; Rev. Sydney Smith (Peter Plymley) ; Thomas Hood ; John Liston, the original Paul* Pry of Poole’s play ; J. C. Loudon, the well-known writer on gardening ; Dr. Birkbeck, the founder of Mechanics’ Institutions — have all their graves here ; while the most conspicuous monuments are those erected to Ducrow, the actor ; Morison, the Hygeist ; George Robins, the auctioneer; Soyer, the cook; and St. John Long, the quack ! Kentish Town, a large and healthy suburb north-east of Re- gent’s-park and Primrose-hill, and extending as far as Highgate. It was a prebendal manor of St. Paul’s in the fourteenth century, and passed (1670) eventually into the family of the first Earl Camden, the owner also of the extensive district called Camden Town. King’s College Hospital, Portugal-street,Lincoln’s-inn-fields, was opened some years since in connexion with the medical school at King’s College. It is entirely supported by voluntary contribu- tions, and has proved a highly valuable boon to a very crowded neighbourhood. 21,000 patients are said toderive medical assistance at this hospital yearly. Lea, The River, has its rise in Houghton Regis, near Dun- stable, in Bedfordshire, and after forming the separating line between Hertfordshire and Essex, and also between Essex and Mid- dlesex, passes through Stratford-le-Bow, Bromley, and West Ham, and falls into the Thames a little below the East India Docks. It is well known for its good fishing, much of the river being care- fully preserved. Little Britain and Bartholomew Close, once famous for booksellers’ shops. The “ Close” has gates at the several entrances, which are still shut at night. In Palmer’s printing-office, Benja- min Franklin worked at press and case on Woollaston’s M Religion of Nature.” London Library, 12, St. James’s-square, consists of 40,000 volumes; was formed in 1841 as a public subscription library, Entrance fee, 62. 6s. ; annual subscription, 22. 2s. Long- Acre, famous for its coachmakers as early as 1700, and ever since retaining its reputation, runs from Drury-lane to St. Martin’s-lane. Oliver Cromwell and John Dryden, the poet, have both lived in this spacious street. Man Chester- square, Oxford-street, was begun in 1776, and finished in 1788. In Manchester House, a fine building on the north side, resided Talleyrand during his long stay in this country as ambassador. Marylebone, anciently called St. Mary-on-the-Brook, is — including Paddington and St. Pancras — one of the parliamentary boroughs. It is known as a semi-fashionable quarter, including O 194 PLACES OF INTEREST ABOUT TOWN. Marylebone (now called the Regent’s) Park. That large and populous neighbourhood north of Oxford-street is included under the name of Marylebone. May-Fair, a fashionable district lying between Piccadilly and Grosvenor-square. It was first regularly built over in the latter end of the last century, and was so called from an ancient fair held in the month of May, finally abolished in 1809. Mendicity Society, Red Lion-square, Holborn. It was estab- lished about fifty years since for the relief of beggars and wan- derers. The affairs of the society are managed by a board of forty-eight directors. Merchant Taylors' School, in Suffolk-lane, Dowgate, City, was established in 1561 for the education of 300 boys, 100 of whom are taught free. It has several fellowships and scholarships. The present school-house was built in 1675, after the Great Fire, by Sir Christopher Wren, whose father had been educated at the school. It is supported on the east side by stone pillars, forming a hand- some cloister, containing apartments for the ushers. Adjoining is the chapel and a well-furnished library. Bishop Andrews, and Bui strode Whitelocke, the author of the “ Memorials,” were scholars in this school. Middlesex Hospital, Charles-street, Cavendish-square, was established in 1745, by the benevolent exertions of a few indi- viduals, for the medical relief of the poor of this extensive neigh- bourhood. There is a good medical school here. In 1795, through the munificence of J. Whitbread, Esq., a ward was fitted up for patients afflicted with cancer. The hospital is capable of contain- ing upwards of 300 patients. Moorfields, an extensive district north of the City. In 1527 it was a mere bog, and was first drained and inhabited during the reign of Charles II. Keats, the poet, was born at the Swan and Hoop Livery Stables, No. 28, Finsbury-pavement, now a public-house. Pudding-lane, Tower-street, celebrated as the spot where the Great Fire of London commenced, and Pye-comer, Smithfield, where it ended. “ Times” Printing Office, Printing-house-square, out of Lud- gate-hill, on the site of Blackfriars Monastery. The first No. appeared on New Year’s Day, 1788. Employs about 300 persons. Open by order, at 11, when the second edition is going to press. Zoar-street, Bankside, is only remarkable as having contained the chapel in which John Bunyan, the author of the celebrated “ Pilgrim’s Progress,” preached after his liberation from Bedford Gaol. PRINCIPAL CHURCHES. St. Paul's Cathedral, between Cheapside and Ludgate-hill ; the most remarkable and most magnificent edifice in the metropolis, p. 72. Westminster Abbey , near the Houses of Parliament; containing the tombs of the departed great of the land, p. 116, St. Saviour's, Southwark ; built in the English style, p. 163. St. George the Martyr, Thames street, London-bridge, p. 165. PRINCIPAL CHURCHES IN LONDON — BAZAARS. 195 St. Bunstan-in-the-East, St. Dunstan’s-hill, Tower-street. St. Mary Woolnoth , Lombard-street. St. Stephen's , Walbrook, p. 67. St. Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, p. 70. All Hallows , Bread-street. Christ Church , Newgate-street, p. 94. St. Sepulchre's, Skinner-street, p. 97. St. Andrew's, Holborn-hill, p. 99. St. Bride's, Fleet-street, p. 79. Temple Church ; built of Purbeck-marble, p. 80 St. Dunstan's-in-tlie-West , Fleet-street ; tower composed of Kelton stone; Gothic style, p. 79. St. Clement Danes, Strand ; Corinthian style, p. 82. St. Mary-le- Strand, Strand; steeple of Corinthian style, p. 84. St. John the Baptist, Savoy* street, Strand, p. 85. St. Paul's, Covent Garden; portico in Tuscan style, p. 87. St. Mar tin-in-the- Fields, St. Martin’s-lane, p. 89. St. Anne's, Dean-street, Soho. St. James's, Piccadilly ; in the Basilical style. Chapel Royal, Whitehall, p. 110. St. Margaret's, Westminster, p. 113. « St. John the Evangelist, Millbank, Westminster; built of stone, with porticoes in the Doric style. St. Mary's, Lambeth-walk. St. Philip's, Regent-street. St. George's, Hanover-square ; porticoes of Corinthian style, p. 106. All Souls, Langham-place, Regent-street ; chiefly Ionic and Co- rinthian style, p. 126. St. Marylebone, High-street, Marylebone. St. Marylebone, New-road ; Corinthian style, chiefly. St. Pancras New Church, Eust on-square, New-road ; chiefly Ionic style. St. George's, Hart -street, Bloomsbury; chiefly Corinthian style. St. Giles- in-the-Fields, High-street, Bloomsbury ; exterior of Portland stone, and style a combination of Doric and Ionic orders. St. Bartholomew the Great, West Smithfield ; Norman style. St. Alban's, Brook-street, Holborn ; Gothic. BAZAARS AND ARCADES. The Pantheon, Oxford-street; built in the Grecian style, 101. London Crystal Palace , Oxford-street, near the north Circus. Soho Bazaar , Soho-square, 105. Burlington Arcade , Piccadilly, 126. Lowther Arcade, West-Strand; built in the Grecian style, 88. 1 he Pantechnicon, Motcomb-street, Belgrave-square. Royal Bazaar, New Oxford-street; in the Italian style. Baker-street Bazaar, Baker-street, Portman-square, p. 107. MARKETS. Newgate Market, between Newgate-street and Paternoster-row* shortly to be removed to the east side of Old Smithfield, p. 94. O 2 196 MARKETS, HALLS, RAILWAYS, AND HOSPITALS. Leadenhall Market , Leadenhall-street, p. 142. Borough Market , York-street, near St. Saviour’s Church. Farringdon Market , Farringdon-street, p. 78. Islington Cattle Market , Bali’s Pond, p. 97. Covent Garden Market, Strand, p. 86. Billingsgate Market , Thames-street, p. 181. PRINCIPAL CITY COMPANIES’ HALLS. Merchant- Taylors' Hall, Threadneedle- street. Goldsmiths' Hall, Foster -lane ; built of Portland stone, in the Italian style. Mercers' Hall, Cheapside. Fishmongers' Hall, London Bridge ; faced of Portland stone, in the Grecian Ionic style, p. 163. Ironmongers' Hall, Fenchurch-street ; built of Portland stone, Grocers' Hall, Grocers’-hall-court, Poultry, p. 69. Drapers' Hall, Throgmorton-street. Barbers' Hall, 33, Monkwell-street, Cripplegate. Armourers' Hall, 81, Coleman-street ; built of brick. Stationers' Hall, Stationers’-hall-court ; cased with Portland stone, p. 76. * Salters' Hall, St. Swithin’s-lane. Clotliworkers ' Hall, Mincing-lane, Tower-street ; built of brick. Saddlers' Hall, Cheapside, p. 70. Apothecaries' Hall, Water- lane, Blackfriars, p. 189. Vintners' Hall , Upper Thames-street Skinners' Hall, Dowgate-street ; dining-hall of Italian style. Painter-Stainers ' Hall, 9, Little Trinity-lane ; in the Corinthian style. PRINCIPAL RAILWAY STATIONS. The London Terminus of the North-Western Railway is at Euston-square ; Great Western, at Praed-street, Paddington ; Great Northern, at King’s-Cross; London, Chatham, and Dover , at Bridge-street, Blackfriars ; Great Eastern, at Shoreditch ; Black- wall, at London-street, Fenchurch-street ; Metropolitan, at Moor- gate-street, with stations at Farringdon-road, Bishop’s-road, Paddington, &c. ; Greenwich, North Kent , Croydon, Brighton, and South-Eastern, at London Bridge ; South-Western, at Waterloo-road, Lambeth ; Richmond, at the same place. A large station at the east end of Broad-street forms the City terminus of the North London, London and North- Western, Great Northern , Great Eastern, and Great Western railways. The London and Brighton railway has a West-end terminus at Victoria-street, Pimlico; and the South Eastern a West-end terminus at Charing-cross, and a City station in Cannon-street. PRINCIPAL HOSPITALS AND CHARITIES. The Royal Hospitals are, Greenwich Hospital ; Chelsea Hospital ; Military Asylum, King’s-road, Chelsea ; and Bethlehem, St. George’s-fields, Lambeth. PUBLIC STATUES. 197 The Endowed Hospitals are, St. Bartholomew’s, Smithfield ; St. Thomas’s, Walworth; Guy’s, St. Thomas’s-street, Southwark; London, Whitechapel-road. The principal Hospitals supported by Voluntary Contributions are, the Free Hospital, Gray’s-inn-road ; Charing-Cross Hospital; Middlesex, Charles-street, Oxford-street ; University College Hos- pital, Upper Gower-street ; King’s College Hospital, Portugal- street, Lincoln’s-inn-fields ; Westminster Hospital, near the Abbey ; St. George’s, Hyde-park-corner ; St. Mary’s, Cambridge-place, Pad- dington ; Consumption Hospital, Fulham-road, Brompton ; Fever Hospital, Liverpool-road, Islington ; Ophthalmic Hospital, Strand ; St. Luke’s, Old-street, City-road ; Foundling, Guildford-street ; St. Katherine’s, Begent’s-park ; Caledonian Asylum, Copenhagen - fields, Islington ; Blind School, St. George ’s-fields, Lambeth , Small- pox Hospital, Highgate; Lock Hospital, Kensal-road; Consump- tion Hospital, Victoria Park ; German Hospital, Dalston ; French Hospital, Victoria Park. Lying-in Hospitals are five in number: the British, Endell- street, Long-acre ; City of London, Old-street, City -road ; Queen Charlotte’s, Lisson-grove ; General, York road, Lambeth ; and Queen Adelaide’s, Queen-street, Golden-square. Deaf and Dumb Asylum, Kent-road ; the Magdalen, Blackfriars- road; the Female Orphan Asylum, Westminster-road. Public Statues in London. — A return has lately been made “ of the public statues or public monuments in London belonging to the nation, exclusive of those in palaces other than St. Stephen’s-hall, in the Palace of Westminster, or cathedrals, and now under the charge of the Chief Commissioner of Works, speci- fying the date of erection and names of the artists, if known, and from what funds purchased or erected.” The list is as follows: — King James II., Whitehall-gardens, erected 1686, by G. Gibbons ; the Bight Hon. George Canning, New Palace-yard, - by B. West- macott, paid for by subscription ; King Charles I., Charing-cross, by Le Sueur; King George III., Pall-mall East, 1836, by M. C. Wyatt, paid for by subscription; King George IV., Trafalgar- square, between 1840 and 1845, by Sir Francis Chantrey, paid for by Parliamentary grant ; Lord Nelson (column and statue), Tra- falgar-square, commenced 1840 (unfinished) by William IiailtoD, E. H. Baily, J. E. Carew, M. L. Watson, W. F. Woodington, and J. Tearmouth, paid for by subscription and Parliament ary grant; the Duke of Wellington, on the top of the Arch, Ily de-park corner, 1846, M. C. Wyatt, paid for by subscription ; Achilles, Hyde-park, 1822, by B. Westmacott, paid for by subscription ; King George II., Golden- square ; the Duke of Wellington, Tower-green, 1848, by T. Milnes, presented by the sculptor; King George III, Somerset-house, by J. Bacon ; Queen Anne, Queen-square, Holborn ; Queen Anne, Queen-square, Westminster; the D ike of Kent, Portland-place, by S. Galiagan, paid for by subscription ; General Sir C. Napier, Tra- falgar-square, 1858, by G. C. Adams, paid for by subscription; 198 LONDON BANKERS — LONDON POLICE, Dr. Jenner, Kensington-gardens, 1858, by W. C. Marshall, paid for by subscription ; Richard Coeur-de-Lion, Old Palace-yard, 1861, by Baron Marochetti, paid for by subscription and Parliamentary grant; Major-General Havelock, Trafalgar-square, 1861, by W. Behnes, paid for by subscription The statues of Hampden, Sel- den, Walpole, Falkland, Clarendon, Somers, Mansfield, Fox, Chat- ham, Pitt, Grattan, and Burke, in St. Stephen’s-hall, in the new Palace of Westminster, were erected between the years 1847 and 1858, and paid for by vote of Parliament. The sculptors were J. H. Foley, J. Bell, W. C. Marshall, E, H. Baily, P. M’Doweli, J. E. Carew, and W. Theed. PRINCIPAL LONDON BANKERS. Alliance, 5, Lothbury Bank of England, Threadneedle- street Barclay, Bevan, and Co., 54, Lom- bard-street Barnett, Hoare, and Co., 62, Lom- bard-street Bosanquet and Co., 73, Lombard- street Brown, Janson, and Co., 32, Ab- church-lane Child and Co., 1, Fleet-street City Bank, corner of Finch-lane Cocks and Biddulphs, Charing- cross Coutts and Co., 59, Strand Curries and Co., 29, Cornhill Dimsdale and Co., 50, Cornhill Drummond, 49, Charing-cross East London, 52, Cornhill Fuller and Co., 77, Lombard-street Glyn and Co., 67, Lombard-st. Goslings & Sharp, 19, Fleet-st. Hanburys and Co., Lombard-st. Herries and Co., St. James’s-st. Hill and Sons, 17, West Smith- field. Hoare and Co., 37, Fleet-street Hopkinson & Co., 3, Eegent-st. London Joint Stock, 5, Princes- . street, 124, Chancery-lane, and 69, Pall-Mall London and County Joint Stock Banking Company, 21, Lombard- street ; and branches London and Westminster, Loth- bury; and branches Martin and Co., 68, Lombard-st. National, 13, Old Broad-street National Provincial Bank of Eng- land, Bishopsgate- street. Praed & Co., 189, Fleet-street Prescott and Co., 62, Threadneedle- Ransom & Co., 1, Pall-Mall East Robarts and Co., Lombard-street Scott & Co., 1, Cavendish-sq. Smith, Payne, and Co., 1, Lom- bard-street Stevenson and Co., 20, Lombard- street Twining, 215, Strand Union, of London, 2, Princes-st., Bank Williams, Deacon, Labouchere, and Co., 20, Birchin-lane Willis, Percival, and Co., Lom- bard-street. THE POLICE OF LONDON. The Metropolitan Police Force is under the control of the Commissioners, Sir Richard Mayne, C.B., and Captain W. Hay. The force consists of 25 Superintendents, 150 Inspectors, 700 Sergeants, and 6000 Constables ; including horse patrols and the Thames Division. The City Police Force is under the direction of Commissioner Captain Fraser; about 20 Inspectors, 25 Station Sergeants, 60 Sergeants, and 600 Constables. A system of constant communication is kept up night and day between every police-station. Everything that occurs is written LONDON POLICE, 199 down, to be forwarded to head-quarters. In cases of necessity, additional force can be immediately supplied from each station ; where from twenty to thirty men are always collected. The Central Criminal Court is held in the Old Bailey, and its jurisdiction extends for ten miles in every direction from St. Paul’s Cathedral. Newgate Prison, Old Bailey, is for criminals only from the City of London and counties of Middlesex, Essex, Kent, and Surrey, within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court. House of Detention, Clerkenwell, is used for Middlesex county prisoners awaiting- trial. The Metropolitan Police Courts are open every day, except Sundays, Christmas Day, Good Friday, or any day appointed for a public fast or thanksgiving. The hours of attendance in the London districts are from ten to five ; and at other times, if urgent necessity requires. They are held at — Bow-street, Covent-garden ; Clerkenwell, Bagnigge wells-road ; Lambeth, Lower Kenningt on- lane; Marlborough-street ; Marylebone, 86, High-street; South- wark, Black man -street, Borough ; Thames, Arbour-square, Stepney ; Westminster, Vincent-square ; Worship-street, Finsbury ; Wands- worth, Love-lane ; Hammersmith, Brook-green-lane ; Greenwich ; Woolwich. The City Police Courts are open on the same days as those of the Metropolitan Divisions ; the hours of attendance are from 12 till 2. They are held at The Mansion House and Guildhall. — Six stations belong to the City Police, at each of which officers are on duty day and night. House of Correction, Coldbath-fields, is for criminals from all parts of the county of Middlesex. It has 140 officers. A beautiful flower-garden is cultivated by the prisoners. Tothill-fields Prison is situated in Francis-street, West- minster. Bridewell, Bridge-street, Blackfriars, is a house of correction, chiefly for city apprentices. Penitentiary, Millbank, the largest prison in England, is used as a general depot for convicts sentenced to penal servitude or transportation. Horsemonger-lane Gaol, Southwark, is the county gaol for Surrey. Model Prison, Pentonville, for the solitary system on the American plan. Whitecross-street Prison is now used for debtors appertain- ing to the entire metropolis. POSTAL REGULATIONS. London is divided into ten postal districts, each one of which is treated as a separate town, with a chief office, numerous receiving houses, and pillar boxes in all the principal streets. The Receiving Houses are bound to supply stamps at the regular rates, and to give money in exchange for stamps, less 2 % per cent,, 200 POSTAL REGULATIONS. or 6d. in the pound. Most of the Receiving Houses are also Money Order Offices, where money orders are granted at the rate of 3d. each under 5Z., and Gd. each for every separate order above 5 1. and under 50 1. They are most of them also entitled to act as branch savings’ banks, and agents for the Government scheme of Post- Office Insurance. Letters only are to be put into the pillar boxes ; book parcels dropped into them are liabie to be detained for 24 hours. No money, notes, jewellery, or other valuable articles should be sent in letters without registration. The money-order system pro- vides security for the transmission of cash ; and registered letters are practically safe from peculation. In the town delivery (within three miles of the General Post- Office) there are twelve deliveries daily. In the suburbs (within twelve miles of the post office) there are seven deliveries daily. Sundays excepted, in each case. The postage for letters is at the rate of a penny for each half ounce, without reference to distance, prepaid by stamps. The postage for book parcels is at the rate of a penny for every quarter of a pound, prepaid by stamps. A book-packet may contain any number of separate books or other publications, in- cluding printed or lithographed letters, prints, or maps, photo- graphs when not on glass or in cases containing glass, and any quantity of paper, parchment, or vellum, and may be either printed, written, or plain, or any mixture of the three. Further, all legitimate binding, mounting, or covering of a book, whether loose or attached, will be allowed ; as also rollers, in the case of prints or maps ; and, in short, whatever is necessary for the safe transmission of literary or artistic matter, or usually appertains thereto; but no patterns, or books of patterns (unless these consist merely of paper), can be allowed. Any packet which shall not be open at the ends or sides, or shall have any written letter or any communication of the nature of it letter written in it, or upon its cover, will be charged with the “ unpaid” letter postage. The names of sender or receiver, and address, may be written inside or out. Newspapers are subject to a postage of one penny (prepaid) for each paper. Periodicals are subject to the book-post according to weight. Newspapers with the impressed stamp pass free to all parts of the United Kingdom ; but if addressed to any person within three miles of the post-office, they must bear a penny postage stamp, whether they bear the impressed stamp or not. Newspapers may be either enclosed in a wrapper, or tied up, with the ends open. The impressed stamp is of no value for trans- mission of newspapers to places abroad. All newspapers must be prepaid ; if sent unpaid, they are retained for a week, and then if the postage remain unpaid they are destroyed. No writing, except the address and the printed name of the paper, and name and address of the sender or publisher, is allowed on newspapers or the wrapper in which they are enclosed. HOLIDAYS AT PUBLIC OFFICES. 201 Petitions and Addresses to the Queen , and Parliamentary Petitions to either House , are free of postage if sent without covers, or with covers open at the ends, and if the package does not weigh more than 2 lbs. Parliamentary Proceedings are subject to the same rates and conditions of postage as book parcels. Patterns and Samples are forwarded through the post, in parcels weighing not more than 2 lbs., at the rate of 3d. for every 4 ounces. LAW AND UNIVERSITY TERMS IN LONDON. Hilary Term begins Jan. 11, ends Jan. 31. Easter Term begins April 15, ends May 11 Trinity Term begins May 25, ends June 15. Michaelmas Term begins Nov. 2, ends Nov. 25. HOLIDAYS AT PUBLIC OFFICES. Bank of England and Exchequer , — Good Friday and Christmas Day. Bank Transfer Office , — Good Friday, Christmas Day, May 1, and Nov. 1. Custom House and Docks, — Good Friday, Christmas Day, and Queen’s Birthday. Excise , Stamp, and Tax Offices , — Good Friday, Christmas Day, Queen’s Birthday, March 25, May 29, and June 5. Chancery Offices, — April 14, 17, 18, Good Friday, and Christmas Day. Common Law Offices, — April 14, 15, 17, and 18; June 5 and 20 ; Queen’s Birthday ; Dec. 25, 26, 27, and 28. INDEX The figures refer to the pages in the book: the letters to the Postal Districts in which the places are to be found. Abingdon-stbeet, 119, Achilles, Statue of, lojf ' W * Adelphi, the, 85, w.c. Adelphi Theatre, 53, Admiralty, 109, S.w. [W.C. Albany, 127, w. Albemarle- street, 127, W. Albion Tavern, 93, e.C. Aldersgate-street, 93, E.C. Aldgate, 122 Alfred Club, 156, w. Alhambra, 48, 137, w.c. Almonry, Westminster, 189, S.w. Alsatia, 79 Ambassadors’ Club, 128, W. Amen-corner, 75, e.c. Andrew, St., Holborn, 99, Angerstein Collection, 89 ’ Antiquarian Museum, 48, Apartments, 47 [E.c. Apostle, St. Thos., 72, e.c. Apothecaries’-hall, 189, [E.C. Apsley-house, 128, 136, w. Arlington- street, 127, w. Arsenal, Woolwich, 53, 184, [S.E. Arthur’s Club, 122, S.w. Arts, Society of, 51, 85, w.c. Art Union of London, 88, 189, w.c. Artillery Ground, 189, E.C. Arundel Club, 122, w.C. Ashburnham-house, 189, [s.w. Astley’s Amphitheatre, 53, 179, s. Aspect of Streets, 23 Asylum for Female Or- phans, 168, s. Athenaeum Club, 121, s.w. Atlas Insurance Office, 70, [E.C. Auction-mart, 140, E.c. Austin-Friars, 141, E.C. Bank, Centre of London, 31, 48, 55, 57, 138, E.C. Bankers, list of, 198 Bankside, 164, s.e. [154, e. Bancroft’s Almshouses, Banquet.ing-house, Whitehall, 109, S.W. Barnard’s -inn, 99 E.c. Bartholomew’s Hospital, 96, E.C. Bartholomew-close, 93, 193, E.C. Bath-street, 94, E.C. Battersea-park, 179, S.W. Battle-bridge, 190, N. Bayswater, 190, w. Bazaars and Arcades, list of, 195 Belgravia, 112, s.w. Beaumont Institution, 155, E. Bedford-row, 99, w.c. Bedford- square, 190, W.C. Bell-yard, 79, e.c. Bennet-street, 127, w. Berkeley-street and Square, 127, w. Bermondsey, 27, 161, s.e. Bethnal-green, 27, 29, 156, [n.e. Bethlehem Hospital, 16o, s. Bijou Theatre, 55 Billingsgate, 146, 181, E.C. Billiter-street, 142, e.c. Bishopsgate-st., 141, E.C. Birchin-lane, 139, e.c. Birdcage-walk, 112, s.w. Bishop’s-walk, Lambeth, 170, s. [E.C. Blackfriars-bridge,78, 180, Blackheath, 183, S.e. [e.c Blackwall Railway, 44, 152, Bloomsbury-square, 190, [w.c. Blue-Coat School, 94, e.c. Board of Control, 112, Board of Trade, 112, s.w. Bolton-street, 127, w. Bolt-court, 79, E.c. Bond-street, Old and New 127, w. Boodle’s Club, 122, s.w. Botanic Gardens, Re- gent’s-park, 133, N.w. Botolph’s, St., Bishops- gate, 141, e.c. Borough Market & Inns, 164, 167, S.E. Bow and its Church, 153, e. Bride’s, St., Church, 78, 79 Bridge-street, Blackfriars, 78, E.C. [s w. Bridgewater House, 135, Bridges over the Thames, 178, et seq. British Institution, 122, [s.w. British Museum, 48, 102, [E.C. British »n