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Title: Collins' Illustrated Guide to London and Neighbourhood


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***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COLLINS' ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO
LONDON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD***

Transcribed from the 1873 William Collins, Sons and Company edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org

COLLINS’
ILLUSTRATED
GUIDE TO LONDON
AND
NEIGHBOURHOOD:

BEING A

CONCISE DESCRIPTION OF THE CHIEF PLACES OF INTEREST IN THE
METROPOLIS, AND THE BEST MODES OF OBTAINING ACCESS
TO THEM: WITH INFORMATION RELATING TO

RAILWAYS, OMNIBUSES, STEAMERS, &c.

With fifty-eight Illustrations by Sargent and others,
AND
A CLUE-MAP BY BARTHOLOMEW.

LONDON:
WILLIAM COLLINS, SONS, AND COMPANY,
17 WARWICK SQUARE, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1873.

p. vPREFACE.

In this work an attempt is made to furnish Strangers with a handy and useful Guide to the chief objects of interest in the Metropolis and its Environs: comprising also much that will be interesting to permanent Residents.  After a few pages of General Description, the various Buildings and other places of attraction are treated in convenient groups or sections, according to their nature.  Short Excursions from the Metropolis are then noticed.  Tables, lists, and serviceable information concerning railways, tramways, omnibuses, cabs, telegraphs, postal rules, and other special matters, follow these sections.  An Alphabetical Index at the end furnishes the means of easy reference.

The information is brought down to the latest date, either in the Text or in the Appendix at the end.  And the Clue-map has, in like manner, been filled in with the recently opened lines of Railway, &c., as well as with indications of the Railways sanctioned, but not yet completed.

p. viCONTENTS.

p. viiiHOTEL CHARGES.

There is only one class of hotels in and near London of which the charges can be stated with any degree of precision.  The old hotels, both at the West-End and in the City, keep no printed tariff; they are not accustomed even to be asked beforehand what are their charges.  Most of the visitors are more or less recommended by guests who have already sojourned at these establishments, and who can give information as to what they have paid.  Some of the hotels decline to receive guests except by previous written application, or by direct introduction, and would rather be without those who would regard the bill with economical scrutiny.  The dining hotels, such as the London and the Freemasons’ Tavern, in London, the Artichoke and various whitebait taverns at Blackwall, the Trafalgar and Crown and Sceptre taverns at Greenwich, and the Castle and Star and Garter taverns at Richmond, are costly taverns for dining, rather than hotels at which visitors sojourn; and the charges vary with every different degree of luxury in the viands served, and the mode of serving.  The hotels which can be more easily tested, in reference to their charges, are the joint-stock undertakings.  These are of two kinds: one, the hotels connected with the great railway termini, such as the Victoria, the Euston, the Great Northern, the Great Western, the Grosvenor, the Charing Cross, the Midland and Cannon Street; while the other group are unconnected with railways, such as the Westminster Palace, the Langham, the Salisbury, the Inns of Court, Alexandra, &c.

p. 9COLLINS’
ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO LONDON.

Whether we consider London as the metropolis of a great and mighty empire, upon the dominions of whose sovereign the sun never sets, or as the home of more than three millions of people, and the richest city in the world to boot, it must ever be a place which strangers wish to visit.  In these days of railways and steamers, the toil and cost of reaching it are, comparatively speaking, small; and, such being the case, the supply of visitors has very naturally been adjusted to the everyday increasing opportunities of gratifying so very sensible a desire.  To such persons, on their arrival at this vast City of the Islands, we here, if they will accept us as their guides, beg to offer, ere going into more minute details, a

GENERAL DESCRIPTION.

Without cumbering our narrative with the fables of dim legendary lore, with regard to the origin of London—or Llyn-Din, “the town on the lake,”—we may mention, that the Romans, after conquering its ancient British inhabitants, about a.d. 61, finally rebuilt and walled it in about a.d. 301; from which time it became, in such excellent hands, a place of not a little importance.  Roman remains, such as fine tesselated pavements, bronzes, weapons, pottery, and coins, are not seldom turned up by the spade of our sturdy excavators while digging below the foundations of houses; and a few scanty fragments of the old Roman Wall, which was rather more than three miles round, are still to be seen.  London, in the Anglo-Norman times, though confined originally by the said wall, grew up a dense mass of brick and wooden houses, ill arranged, unclean, p. 10close, and for the most part terribly insalubrious.  Pestilence was the natural consequence.  Up to the great plague of 1664–5, which destroyed 68,596, some say 100,000 persons—there were, dating from the pestilence of 1348, no fewer than some nine visitations of widely-spreading epidemics in Old London.  When, in 1666, the great fire, which burnt 13,200 houses, spread its ruins over 436 acres, and laid waste 400 streets, came to force the Cockneys to mend their ways somewhat, and open out their over-cramped habitations, some good was effected.  But, unfortunately, during the rebuilding of the City, Sir Christopher Wren’s plans for laying its streets out on a more regular plan, were poorly attended to: hence the still incongruous condition of older London when compared, in many instances, with the results of modern architecture, with reference to air, light, and sanitary arrangements.  On account of the rubbish left by the fire and other casualties, the City stands from twelve to sixteen feet higher than it did in the early part of its history—the roadways of Roman London, for example, being found on, or even below, the level of the cellars of the present houses.

From being a city hemmed within a wall, London expanded in all directions, and thus gradually formed a connection with various clusters of dwellings in the neighbourhood.  It has, in fact, absorbed towns and villages to a considerable distance around: the chief of these once detached seats of population being the city of Westminster.  By means of bridges, it has also absorbed Southwark and Bermondsey, Lambeth and Vauxhall, on the south side of the Thames, besides many hamlets and villages beyond the river.

By these extensions London proper, by which we mean the City, has gradually assumed, if we may so speak, the conditions of an existence like that of a kernel in a thickly surrounding and ever-growing mass.  By the census of 1861, the population of the City was only 112,247; while including that with the entire metropolis, the number was 2,803,034—or twenty-five times as great as the former!  It may here be remarked, that the population of the City is becoming smaller every year, on account of the substitution of public buildings, railway stations and viaducts, and large warehouses, p. 11in place of ordinary dwelling-houses.  Fewer and fewer people live in the City.  In 1851, the number was 127,869; it lessened by more than 15,000 between that year and 1861; while the population of the whole metropolis increased by as many as 440,000 in the same space of time.

If we follow the Registrar-General, London, as defined by him, extends north and south between Norwood and Hampstead, and east and west between Hammersmith and Woolwich.  Its area is stated as 122 square miles.  From the census returns of 1861, we find that its population then was 2,803,921 souls.  It was, in 1871, 3,251,804.  The real city population was 74,732.

The growth of London to its present enormous size may readily be accounted for, when we reflect that for ages it has been the capital of England, and the seat of her court and legislature; that since the union with Scotland and Ireland, it has become a centre for those two countries; and that, being the resort of the nobility, landed gentry, and other families of opulence, it has drawn a vast increase of population to minister to the tastes and wants of those classes; while its fine natural position, lying as it does on the banks of a great navigable river, some sixty miles from the sea, and its generally salubrious site and soil—the greater part of London is built on gravel, or on a species of clay resting on sand—alike plead in its favour.

At one time London, like ancient Babylon, might fairly have been called a brick-built city.  It is so, of course, still, in some sense.  But we are greatly improving: within the last few years a large number of stucco-fronted houses, of ornamental character, have been erected; and quite recently, many wholly of stone, apart altogether from the more important public buildings, which of course are of stone.  Of distinct houses, there are now the prodigious number of 500,000, having, on an average, about 7.8 dwellers to a house.  For our own part we are somewhat sceptical as to this average.  But we quote it as given by a professedly good authority.

The Post-Office officials ascertained that there was built in one year alone, as long ago as 1864, no fewer than 9,000 new houses.  p. 12Though, by comparison with the houses of Edinburgh and some other parts of the kingdom, many of these are small structures, with but two rooms, often communicating, on a floor, a visitor to London will find no difficulty in seeing acres of substantial residences around him as he strolls along through the wide, quiet squares of Bloomsbury, the stuccoed and more aristocratic quarters of Belgravia and South Kensington, or by the old family mansions of the nobility and gentry in, say, Cavendish, Grosvenor, or Portman Squares, and the large and more modern houses of many of our wealthy citizens in Tyburnia and Westburnia, farther westward of the Marble Arch.  But of this more anon.

We have often heard foreigners laughingly remark of sundry London houses—apropos of the deep, open, sunk areas, bordered by iron railings, of many of them—that they illustrate, in some sense, our English reserve, and love of carrying out our island proverb—viz., that “every Englishman’s house is his castle,”—in its entirety, by each man barricading himself off from his neighbours advances by a fortified fosse!

Without particular reference to municipal distinctions, London may (to convey a general idea to strangers) be divided into four principal portions—the City, which is the centre of corporate influence, and where the greatest part of the business is conducted; the East End, in which are the docks, and various commercial arrangements for shipping; the West End, in which are the palaces of the Queen and Royal family, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the residences of most of the nobility and gentry; and the Southwark and Lambeth division, lying on the south side of the Thames, containing many manufacturing establishments, but few public buildings of interest.  Besides these, the northern suburbs, which include the once detached villages of Hampstead, Highgate, Stoke Newington, Islington, Kingsland, Hackney, Hornsey, Holloway, &c., and consist chiefly of private dwellings for the mercantile and middle classes, may be considered a peculiar and distinct division.  It is, however, nowhere possible to say (except when separated by the river) exactly where any one division begins or ends; throughout the vast compass of the city and p. 13suburbs, there is a blending of one division with that contiguous to it.  The outskirts, on all sides, comprise long rows or groups of villas, some detached or semi-detached, with small lawns or gardens.

The poet Cowper, in his Task, more than a hundred years ago, appreciatively spoke of

“The villas with which London stands begirt,
Like a swarth Indian with his belt of beads.”

We wonder what he would think now of the many houses of this kind which extend, in some directions, so far out of town, that there seems to be no getting beyond them into the country.

From the Surrey division there extends southward and westward a great number of those ranges of neat private dwellings, as, for instance, towards Camberwell, Kennington, Clapham, Brixton, Dulwich, Norwood, Sydenham, &c.; and in these directions lie some of the most pleasant spots in the environs of the metropolis.

The flowing of the Thames from west to east through the metropolis has given a general direction to the lines of street; the principal thoroughfares being, in some measure, parallel to the river, with the inferior, or at least shorter, streets branching from them.  Intersecting the town lengthwise, or from east to west, are three great leading thoroughfares at a short distance from each other, but gradually diverging at their western extremity.  One of these routes begins in the eastern environs, near Blackwall, and extends along Whitechapel, Leadenhall Street, Cornhill, the Poultry, Cheapside, Newgate Street, Holborn, and Oxford Street.  The other may be considered as starting at London Bridge, and passing up King William Street into Cheapside, at the western end of which it makes a bend round St. Paul’s Churchyard; thence proceeds down Ludgate Hill, along Fleet Street and the Strand to Charing Cross, where it sends a branch off to the left to Whitehall, and another diagonally to the right, up Cockspur Street; this leads forward into Pall Mall, and sends an offshoot up Waterloo Place into Piccadilly, which proceeds westward to Hyde Park Corner.  These two are the main lines in the metropolis, and are among the first traversed by strangers.  It will be observed that they unite in Cheapside, which therefore becomes an excessively crowded p. 14thoroughfare, particularly at the busy hours of the day.  More than 1000 vehicles per hour pass through this street in the business period of an average day, besides foot-passengers!  To ease the traffic in Cheapside, a spacious new thoroughfare, New Cannon Street, has been opened, from near London Bridge westward to St. Paul’s Churchyard.  The third main line of route is not so much thronged, nor so interesting to strangers.  It may be considered as beginning at the Bank, and passing through the City Road and the New Road to Paddington and Westbourne.  The New Road here mentioned has been re-named in three sections—Pentonville Road, from Islington to King’s Cross; Euston Road, from King’s Cross to Regent’s Park; and Marylebone Road, from Regent’s Park to Paddington.  The main cross branches in the metropolis are—Farringdon Street, leading from Blackfriars Bridge to Holborn, and thence by Victoria Street to the King’s Cross Station; the Haymarket, leading from Cockspur Street; and Regent Street, already mentioned.  There are several important streets leading northward from the Holborn and Oxford Street line—such as Portland Place, Tottenham Court Road, King Street, and Gray’s Inn Lane.  The principal one in the east is St. Martin’s-le-Grand and Aldersgate Street, which, by Goswell Street, lead to Islington; others are—Bishopsgate Street, leading to Shoreditch and Hackney; and Moorgate Street, leading northwards.  A route stretching somewhat north-east—Whitechapel and Mile End Roads—connects the metropolis with Essex.  It is a matter of general complaint that there are so few great channels of communication through London both lengthwise and crosswise; for the inferior streets, independently of their complex bearings, are much too narrow for regular traffic.  But this grievance, let us hope, is in a fair way of abatement, thanks to sundry fine new streets, and to the Thames Embankment, which, proceeding along the northern shore of the river, now furnishes a splendid thoroughfare right away from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars Bridge, by means of which the public are now enabled to arrive at the Mansion House by a wide street—called Queen Victoria Street, and, by the Metropolitan District Railway, to save time on this route from the west.

p. 15We shall have occasion again to allude to the Thames Embankment some pages on, and therefore, for the present, we will take

A FIRST GLANCE AT THE CITY.

London is too vast a place to be traversed in the limited time which strangers usually have at their disposal.  Nevertheless, we may rapidly survey the main lines of route from east to west, with some of the branching offshoots.  All the more important buildings, and places of public interest, will be found specially described under the headings to which they properly belong.

The most striking view in the interior of the city is at the open central space whence Threadneedle Street, Cornhill, Lombard Street, King William Street, Walbrook, Cheapside, and Princes Street, radiate in seven different directions.  (See illustration.)  While the corner of the Bank of England abuts on this space on the north, it is flanked on the south by the Mansion House, and on the east by the Royal Exchange.  It would be a curious speculation to inquire how much money has been spent in constructions and reconstructions in and around this spot during half a century.  The sum must be stupendous.  Before new London Bridge was opened, the present King William Street did not exist; to construct it, houses by the score, perhaps by the hundred, had to be pulled down.  Many years earlier, when the Bank of England was rebuilt, and a few years later, when the Royal Exchange was rebuilt, vast destructions of property took place, to make room for structures larger than those which had previously existed for the same purposes.  For some distance up all the radii of which we have spoken, the arteries which lead from this heart of the commercial world, a similar process has been going on to a greater or less extent.  Banking-houses, insurance-offices, and commercial buildings, have been built or rebuilt at an immense cost, the outlay depending rather on the rapidly increasing value of the ground than on the actual charge for building.  If this particular portion of the city, this busy centre of wealth, should ever be invaded by such railway schemes as 1864, 1865, and 1866 produced, it is difficult to imagine what amounts would have to be p. 16paid for the purchase and removal of property.  Time was when a hundred thousand pounds per mile was a frightful sum for railways; but railway directors (in London at least) do not now look aghast at a million sterling per mile—as witness the South-Eastern and the Chatham and Dover Companies, concerning which we shall have to say more in a future page.

[16]

The seven radii of which we have spoken may be thus briefly described, as a preliminary guide to visitors: 1.  Leaving this wonderfully-busy centre by the north, with the Poultry on one hand and the Bank of England on the other, we pass in front of many fine new commercial buildings in Princes and Moorgate p. 17Streets; indeed, there is not an old house here, for both are entirely modern streets, penetrating through what used to be a close mass of small streets and alleys.  Other fine banking and commercial buildings may be seen stretching along either side in Lothbury and Gresham Streets.  Farther towards the north, a visitor would reach the Finsbury Square region, beyond which the establishments are of less important character.  2. If, instead of leaving this centre by the north, he turns north-east, he will pass through Threadneedle Street between the Bank and the Royal Exchange; next will be found the Stock Exchange, on the left hand; then the Sun Fire Office, and the Bank of London (formerly the Hall of Commerce); on the opposite side the City Bank, Merchant Taylor’s School, and the building that was once the South Sea House; beyond these is the great centre for foreign merchants in Broad Street, Winchester Street, Austin Friars, and the vicinity.  3. If, p. 18again, the route be selected due east, there will come into view the famous Cornhill, with its Royal Exchange, its well-stored shops, and its alleys on either side crowded with merchants, brokers, bankers, coffee-houses, and chop-houses; beyond this, Bishopsgate Street branches out on the left, and Gracechurch Street on the right, both full of memorials of commercial London; and farther east still, Leadenhall Street, with new buildings on the site of the late East India House, leads to the Jews’ Quarter around Aldgate and Houndsditch—a strange region, which few visitors to London think of exploring.  “Petticoat Lane,” perhaps one of the most extraordinary marts for old clothes, &c., is on the left of Aldgate High Street.  It is well worth a visit by connoisseurs of queer life and character, who are able to take care of themselves, and remember to leave their valuables at home.  4. The fourth route from the great city centre leads through Lombard Street and Fenchurch Street—the one the head-quarters of the great banking firms of London; the other exhibiting many commercial buildings of late erection: while Mincing Lane and Mark Lane are the head-quarters for many branches of the foreign, colonial, and corn trades.  5. The fifth route takes the visitor through King William Street to the Monument, Fish Street Hill, Billingsgate, the Corn Exchange, the Custom House, the Thames Subway, the Tower, the Docks, the Thames Tunnel, London Bridge, and a host of interesting places, the proper examination of which would require something more than merely a brief visit to London.  Opposite this quarter, on the Surrey side of the river, are numerous shipping wharfs, warehouses, porter breweries, and granaries.  The fire that occurred at Cotton’s wharf and depôt and other wharfs near Tooley Street, in June, 1861, illustrated the vast scale on which merchandise is collected in the warehouses and wharfs hereabout. [18]  Of the dense mass of streets lying away from p. 19the river, and eastward of the city proper, comprising Spitalfields, Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, Stepney, &c., little need be said here; the population is immense, but, excepting the Bethnal Green Museum and Victoria Park, there are few objects interesting; nevertheless the observers of social life in its humbler phases would find much to learn here.  6. The southern route from the great city centre takes the visitor, by the side of the Mansion House, through the new thoroughfare, Queen Victoria Street—referred to at a previous page—to the river-side.

It will therefore be useful for a stranger to bear in mind, that the best centre of observation in the city is the open spot between the Bank, the Mansion House, and the Royal Exchange; where more omnibuses assemble than at any other spot in the world; and whence he can ramble in any one of seven different directions, sure of meeting with something illustrative of city life.  The 7th route, not yet noticed, we will now follow, as it proceeds towards the West End.

The great central thoroughfare of Cheapside, which is closely lined with the shops of silversmiths and other wealthy tradesmen, is one of the oldest and most famous streets in the city—intimately associated with the municipal glories of London for centuries past.  Many of the houses in Cheapside and Cornhill have lately been rebuilt on a scale of much grandeur.  Some small plots of ground in this vicinity have been sold at the rate of nearly one million sterling per acre!  On each side of Cheapside, narrow streets diverge into the dense mass behind—Ironmonger Lane, King Street, Milk Street, and Wood Street, on the north; and among others, Queen Street, Bread Street, where Milton was born, and where stood the famous Mermaid Tavern, where Shakespeare and Raleigh, Ben Jonson and his young friends, Beaumont and Fletcher, those twin-dramatists, loved to meet, to enjoy “the feast of reason and the flow of soul,” to say nothing of a few flagons of good Canary wine, Bow Lane, and Old ’Change, on the south.  The greater part of these back streets, with the lanes adjoining, are occupied by the offices or warehouses of wholesale dealers in cloth, silk, hosiery, lace, &c., and are resorted to by London and country shopkeepers for p. 20supplies.  Across the north end of King Street stands the Guildhall; and a little west, the City of London School and Goldsmiths’ Hall.  At the western end of Cheapside is a statue of the late Sir Robert Peel, by Behnes.  Northward of this point, in St. Martin’s-le-Grand, are the buildings of the Post and Telegraph Offices; beyond this the curious old Charter House; and then a line of business streets leading towards Islington.  Westward are two streets, parallel with each other, and both too narrow for the trade to be accommodated in them—Newgate Street, celebrated for its Blue Coat Boys and, till the recent removal of the market to Smithfield, for its carcass butchers; and Paternoster Row, still more celebrated for its publishers and booksellers.  In Panyer Alley, leading out of Newgate Street, is an old stone bearing the inscription:

When y^e have sovgh^t the citty rovnd,
Yet stil this is the highs^t grovnd.

Avgvst the 27, 1688. [20]

At the west end of Newgate Street a turning to the right gives access to the once celebrated Smithfield and St. John’s Gate.  South-west of Cheapside stands St. Paul’s Cathedral, that first and greatest of all the landmarks of London.  In the immediate vicinity of St. Paul’s, the names of many streets and lanes (Paternoster Row, Amen Corner, Ave Maria Lane, Creed Lane, Godliman Street, &c.) give token of their former connection with the religious structure and its clerical attendants.  The enclosed churchyard is surrounded by a street closely hemmed in with houses, now chiefly dedicated to trade: those on the south side being mostly wholesale, those on the north retail.  An open arched passage on the south side of the churchyard leads to Doctors’ Commons, once the headquarters of the ecclesiastical lawyers.

p. 21

Starting from St. Paul’s Churchyard westward, we proceed down Ludgate Street and Ludgate Hill, places named from the old Lud-gate, which once formed one of the entrances to the city ‘within the walls.’  The Old Bailey, on the right, contains the Central Criminal Court and Newgate Prison, noted places in connection with the trial and punishment of criminals.  On the left of Ludgate Hill is a maze of narrow streets; among which the chief buildings are the new Ludgate Hill Railway Station, Apothecaries’ Hall, and the printing office of the all-powerful Times newspaper, in Printing-House Square.  The printer of the Times, Mr. Goodlake, if applied to by letter, enclosing card of any respectable person, will grant an order to go over it, at 11 o’clock only, when the second edition of “the Thunderer” is going to press.  At the bottom of Ludgate Hill we come to the valley in which the once celebrated Fleet River, now only a covered sewer, ran north and p. 22south from St. Pancras to Blackfriars, where it entered the Thames.  A new street, called Victoria Street, formed by pulling down many poor and dilapidated houses, marks part of this valley; while Farringdon Street, where a market, mostly for green stuff, is held, occupies another part.  Newgate Street and Ludgate Hill are on the east of the Fleet Valley; Holborn and Fleet Street on the west.  The Holborn Valley Viaduct crosses at this spot.  And of this wonderful triumph of engineering skill we have now to speak.

It was an eventful day in the annals of the Corporation of the City of London, when Queen Victoria, on November 6, 1869, declared Blackfriars Bridge—about which more hereafter—and Holborn Valley Viaduct formally open.  The Holborn Valley improvements, it should be remembered, were nothing short of the actual demolition and reconstruction of a whole district, formerly either squalid, over-blocked, and dilapidated in some parts, or over-steep and dangerous to traffic in others.  But a short time ago that same Holborn Valley was one of the most heart-breaking p. 23impediments to horse-traffic in London.  Imagine Holborn Hill sloping at a gradient of 1 in 18, while the opposite rising ground of Skinner Street—now happily done away—rose at about 1 in 20.  Figure to yourself the fact, that everything on wheels, and every foot passenger entering the City by the Holborn route, had to descend 26 feet to the Valley of the Fleet, and then ascend a like number to Newgate, and you will at once see the grand utility of levelling up so objectionable a hollow.  To attempt to give a stranger to London even a faint idea of what has been accomplished by Mr. Haywood’s engineering skill, by a necessarily brief description here, is an invidious task.  Nevertheless, we must essay it; premising, by-the-by, that if our readers while in London do not go to see the Viaduct for themselves, our trouble will be three parte thrown away.  The whole structure is cellular, to begin with.  To strip the subject of crabbed technicalities, imagine for a moment a long succession of—let us call them—railway-like arches supporting the carriage-way: these large vaults being available for other purposes.  Outside this carriage-way, and under the edge of the foot-paths on either side, is a subway, some 7 feet wide and 11 feet or so high.  Against the walls of this sub-way are fixed, readily connectable, gas mains and water mains and telegraph tubes.  This was the first time all these important pipes had been so cleverly arranged in one easily accessible place.  They are ventilated and partially lighted through the pavement, and by gas.  Under each sub-way goes a sewer, with a path beside it for the sewer men when at work.  Outside the sub-way are ordinary house vaults of two or three storeys high, according to the height of the Viaduct.  These are divided by transverse walls; and, when houses are built against it, the Holborn Valley Viaduct will be shut out from sight, except in the case of the simple iron girder bridge over Shoe Lane, and the London, Chatham, and Dover bridge, with its sub-ways for gas and water pipes, and the fine bridge over Farringdon Street.  You will, we trust, now see how marvellously every yard of space has been utilized by the engineer, from the roadway down to the very foundations.  A few words must now be said about the splendid bridge over Farringdon Street.  This has public staircases running p. 24up inside handsome stone buildings—the upper parts of which have been let for business purposes.  It is a handsome skew bridge of iron, toned to a deep bronze green by enamel paint, and richly ornamented; its plinths above ground, its moulded bases, and its shafts, are respectively of grey, black, and exquisitely polished red granite.  Its capitals are of grey granite, also polished, and set off by bronze foliage.  Bronze lions, and four statues of Fine Art, Science, Commerce, and Agriculture, stand on the parapet-line on handsome plinths.  These, and the projecting balconies and dormer window of the stone buildings just named, with their four statues of bygone civic worthies,—Fitz Aylwin, Sir William Walworth, Sir Thomas Gresham, and Sir Hugh Myddleton,—enhance the effect of the whole.

Poor Chatterton, “the marvellous boy, the sleepless soul that perished in his pride,” after poisoning himself, in 1770, ere he was eighteen years of age, in Brooke Street, on the north side of Holborn, was laid in a pauper’s grave, in what was then the burying-ground of Shoe Lane Workhouse, and is now converted to very different purposes.

Let us now come to Fleet Street.  This thoroughfare—the main artery from St. Paul’s to the west—for many years has been emphatically one of literary associations, full as it is of newspaper and printing-offices.  The late Angus B. Reach used humorously to call it, “The march of intellect.”  Wynkyn de Worde, the early printer, lived here, and two of his books were “fynysshed and emprynted in Flete Streete, in ye syne of ye Sonne.”  The Devil tavern, which stood near Temple Bar, on the south side, was a favourite hostelrie of Ben Jonson.  At the Mitre, near Mitre Court, Dr. Johnson, Goldsmith, and Boswell, held frequent rendezvous.  The Cock was one of the oldest and least altered taverns in Fleet Street.  The present poet-laureate, in one of his early poems, “A Monologue of Will Waterproof,” has immortalized it, in the lines beginning—

“Thou plump head waiter at the Cock,
   To which I most resort,
How goes the time?  Is ’t nine o’clock?
   Then fetch a pint of port!”

p. 25

Dr. Johnson lived many years either in Fleet Street, in Gough Square, in the Temple, in Johnson’s Court, in Bolt Court, &c., &c.; and in Bolt Court he died.  William Cobbett, and Ferguson the astronomer, were also among the dwellers in that court.  John Murray (the elder) began the publishing business in Falcon Court.  Some of the early meetings of the Royal Society and of the Society of Arts took place in Crane Court.  Dryden and Richardson both lived in Salisbury Court.  Shire Lane (now Lower Serle’s Place), close to Temple Bar on the north, can count the names of Steele and Ashmole among its former inhabitants.  Izaak Walton lived a little way up Chancery Lane.  At the confectioner’s shop, nearly opposite that lane, Pope and Warburton first met.  Sir Symonds p. 26D’Ewes, ‘Praise-God Barebones,’ Michael Drayton, and Cowley the poet, all lived in this street.  Many of the courts, about a dozen in number, branching out of Fleet Street on the north and south, are so narrow that a stranger would miss them unless on the alert.  Child’s Banking House, the oldest in London, is at the western extremity of Fleet Street, on the south side, and also occupies the room over the arch of Temple Bar.  St. Bride’s Church exhibits one of Wren’s best steeples.  St. Dunstan’s Church, before it was modernized, had two wooden giants in front, that struck the hours with clubs on two bells—a duty which they still fulfil in the gardens belonging to the mansion of the Marquis of Hertford in the Regent’s Park.  North of Fleet Street are several of the Inns of Court, where lawyers congregate; and southward is the most famous of all such Inns, the large group of buildings constituting the Temple.  In the cluster of buildings lying east from the Temple once existed the sanctuary of Whitefriars, or Alsatia, as it was sometimes called, a description of which is given by Scott in the Fortunes of Nigel.  The streets here are still narrow and of an inferior order, but all appearance of Alsatians and their pranks is gone.  The boundary of the city, at the western termination of Fleet Street, is marked by Temple Bar, consisting of a wide central archway, and a smaller archway at each side for foot-passengers.  There are doors in the main avenue which can be shut at pleasure; but, practically, they are never closed, except on the occasion of some state ceremonial, when the lord mayor affects an act of grace in opening them to royalty.  The structure was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and erected in 1672.  The heads of decapitated criminals, after being boiled in pitch to preserve them, were exposed on iron spikes on the top of the Bar.  Horace Walpole, in his Letters to Montague, mentions the fact of a man in Fleet Street letting out “spy-glasses,” at a penny a peep, to passers-by, when the heads of some of the hapless Jacobites were so exposed.  The last heads exhibited there were those of two Jacobite gentlemen who took part in the rebellion of 1745, and were executed in that year.  Their heads remained a ghastly spectacle to the citizens till 1772, when they were blown down one night in a gale of wind.

p. 27Having thus noticed some of the interesting objects east of Temple Bar, we will now take

A FIRST GLANCE AT THE WEST END.

The Strand—so called because it lies along the bank of the river, now hidden by houses—is a long, somewhat irregularly built street, in continuation westward from Temple Bar; the thoroughfare being incommoded by two churches—St. Clement Dane’s and St. Mary’s—in the middle of the road.  On the site of the latter church once stood the old Strand Maypole.  The new Palace of Justice, about whose site there have been so many Parliamentary discussions, will stand on what is at present a huge unsightly space of boarded-in waste ground, formerly occupied by a few good houses, between Temple Bar and Clement’s Inn, and many wretched back-slums.  Not having the gift of prophecy as to its future, and warned by so many long delays in its case, we hazard no conjecture as to the time when it will gladden our eyes.  In the seventeenth century the Strand was a species of country road, connecting the city with Westminster; and on its southern side stood a number of noblemen’s residences, with gardens towards the river.  The pleasant days are long since past when mansions and personages, political events and holiday festivities, marked the spots now denoted by Essex, Norfolk, Howard, Arundel, Surrey, Cecil, Salisbury, Buckingham, Villiers, Craven, and Northumberland Streets—a very galaxy of aristocratic names.  The most conspicuous building on the left-hand side is Somerset House, a vast range of government offices.  Adjoining this on the east (occupying the site once intended for an east wing to that structure), and entering by a passage from the Strand, is a range of rather plain, but massive brick buildings, erected about thirty years ago for the accommodation of King’s College; and adjoining it on the west, abutting on the street leading to Waterloo Bridge, is a still newer range of buildings appropriated to government offices—forming a west wing to the whole mass.  The Strand contains no other public structure of architectural importance, except the spacious new Charing Cross Railway Station and Hotel on the south side.  The eastern half of p. 28the Strand, however, is thickly surrounded by theatres—Drury Lane, Covent Garden, the Olympic, the Charing Cross, the Adelphi, the Vaudeville, the Lyceum, the Gaiety (built on the site of Exeter ’Change and the late Strand Music Hall, as is the Queen’s on that of St. Martin’s Hall in Long Acre), the Globe, and the Strand Theatres, are all situated hereabouts.  Exeter Hall is close by, and—pardon the contrast of ideas—so is Evans’s Hotel and Supper Rooms, long famous for old English glees, madrigals, chops and steaks, and as a place for friendly re-unions, without the objectionable features of many musical halls.

Northumberland House, the large mansion with the lion on the summit, overlooking Charing Cross, is the ancestral town residence of the Percies, Dukes of Northumberland.  Over the way is St. Martin’s Church, where lie the bones of many famous London watermen—the churchyard used to be called “The Waterman’s Churchyard”—and those of that too celebrated scoundrel and housebreaker, Jack Sheppard, hanged in 1724.  There also lies the once famous sculptor, Roubilac, several monuments from whose chisel you can see in Westminster Abbey.  Here, too, are interred the witty, but somewhat licentious dramatist, Farquhar, author of The Beau’s Stratagem; the illustrious Robert Boyle, a philosopher not altogether unworthy to be named in the same category with Lord Bacon and Sir Isaac Newton; and John Hunter, the distinguished anatomist.

The open space is called Charing Cross, from the old village of Charing, where stood a cross erected by Edward the First, in memory of his Queen Eleanor.  Wherever her bier rested, there her sorrowful husband erected a cross, or, as Hood whimsically said, in his usual punning vein, apropos of the cross at Tottenham,

“A Royal game of Fox and Goose
   To play for such a loss;
Wherever she put down her orts,
   There he—set up a cross!”

At the time of the Reformation you could have walked with fields all the way on the north side of you from the city to Charing Cross.  The history of the fine statue of Charles the First, by Le Sœur, is p. 29curious.  It was made in Charles the First’s reign, but, on the civil war breaking out ere it could be erected, was sold by the Parliament to a brazier, who was ordered to demolish it.  He, however, buried it, and it remained underground till after the Restoration, when it was erected in 1674.  It marks a central point for the West End.

Southward are Whitehall and the Palace of Westminster; to the west, Spring Gardens, leading into St. James’s Park; north-west lie Pall Mall and Regent Street.  By-the-way, it just occurs to us that the old game Paille Maille, from which Pall Mall took its name, was a sort of antique forerunner of croquet!  The former game, much beloved by Charles the Second, was played by striking a wooden ball with a mallet through hoops of iron, one of which stood at each end of an alley.  Eastward is the Strand.  On the north, Trafalgar Square, with Nelson’s statue and Landseer’s four noble lions couchant—which alone are worth a visit—at its base.  There are also statues to George IV., Sir Charles James Napier, p. 30and Sir Henry Havelock.  A statue of George the Third—with, we think, in an equestrian sense, one of the best “seats” for a horseman in London—is close by.  The National Gallery bounds the northern side.  Of the two wells which supply the fountains in this square, one is no less than 400 feet deep.

Turning southward from this important western centre, the visitor will come upon the range of national and government buildings—the Admiralty, the Horse Guards, the Treasury, the Home Office, &c., &c.—in Whitehall, particulars of which will be given a few pages further on under Government Offices.  Then there are the fine Banqueting House at Whitehall, and some rather majestic mansions in and near Whitehall Gardens—especially one just erected by the Duke of Buccleuch.  Beyond these, in the same general direction, are the magnificent Houses of Parliament, Marochetti’s equestrian statue of Richard Cœur de Lion, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Hall, Mr. Page’s beautiful new Westminster Bridge, and a number of other objects well worthy of attention.

Returning to Charing Cross, the stranger may pursue his tour through Cockspur Street to Pall Mall, and thence proceed up Regent Street.  As he enters this new line of route, he will perceive that the buildings assume a more important aspect.  They are for the most part stucco-fronted, and being frequently re-painted, they have a light and cheerful appearance.  In the Haymarket are Her Majesty’s Theatre and the Haymarket Theatre; and near at hand are many club-houses and Exhibition-rooms.  Pall Mall displays a range of stone-fronted club-houses of great magnificence.  At the foot of Regent Street is the short broad thoroughfare of Waterloo Place, lined with noble houses, and leading southwards to St. James’s Park.  Here stands the column dedicated to the late Duke of York; not far from which is the Guards’ Memorial, having reference to troops who fell in the Crimea.  From this point, for about a mile in a northerly direction, is the line of Waterloo Place, Regent Street, and Portland Place, forming the handsomest street in London.  At a point a short way up we cross Piccadilly, and enter a curve in the thoroughfare, called the Quadrant; at the corners of which, and also in Upper Regent Street, are some of the p. 31most splendid shops in London, several being decorated in a style of great magnificence.  Regent Street, during the busy season in May and June, and during the day from one till six o’clock, exhibits an extraordinary concourse of fashionable vehicles and foot-passengers; while groups of carriages are drawn up at the doors of the more elegant shops.  Towards its upper extremity Regent Street crosses Oxford Street.  The mass of streets west from it consist almost entirely of private residences, with the special exception of Bond Street.  In this quarter are St. James’s, Hanover, Berkeley, Grosvenor, Cavendish, Bryanstone, Manchester, and Portman Squares—the last four being north of Oxford Street; and in connection with these squares are long, quiet streets, lined with houses suited for an affluent order of inhabitants.  In and north from Oxford Street, there are few public buildings deserving particular attention; but a visitor may like to know that hereabouts are the Soho, Baker Street, and London Crystal Palace Bazaars.  The once well-known Pantheon is now a wine merchant’s stores.

The residences of the nobility and gentry are chiefly, as has been said, in the western part of the metropolis.  In this quarter there have been large additions of handsome streets, squares, and terraces within the last thirty years.  First may be mentioned the district around Belgrave Square, usually called Belgravia, which includes the highest class houses.  North-east from this, near Hyde Park, is the older, but still fashionable quarter, comprehending Park Lane and May Fair.  Still farther north is the modern district, sometimes called Tyburnia, being built on the ground adjacent to what once was “Tyburn,” the place of public executions.  This district, including Hyde Park Square and Westbourne Terrace, is a favourite place of residence for city merchants and other wealthy persons.  Lying north and north-east from Tyburnia are an extensive series of suburban rows of buildings and detached villas, which are ordinarily spoken of under the collective name St. John’s Wood: Regent’s Park forming a kind of rural centre to the group.  Standing higher and more airy than Belgravia, and being easily accessible from Oxford Street, this is one of the most agreeable of the suburban districts.

p. 32

If, instead of the Strand and Piccadilly route, or the Holborn and Oxford Street route, a visitor takes the northernmost main route, he will find less to interest him.  The New Road, in its several parts of City Road, Pentonville Road, Euston Road, and Marylebone Road, forms a broad line of communication from the city to Paddington, four miles in length.  Though very important as one of the arteries of the metropolis, it is singularly deficient in public buildings.  In going from the Bank to Paddington, we pass by or near Finsbury Square and Circus, the buildings and grounds of the Artillery Company at Moorfields, the once famous old Burial-ground at Bunhill Fields, St. Luke’s Lunatic Asylum, the Chapel in the City Road associated with the memory of John Wesley, the old works of the New River Company at Pentonville, the Railway stations at King’s Cross (Great Northern), and St. Pancras (Midland),—the vast span of this station’s roof is noteworthy,—and Euston Square (L. and N. Western), several stations p. 33of the Metropolitan Underground Railway, St. Pancras and Marylebone churches, and the entrance to the beautiful Regent’s Park.  But beyond these little is presented to reward the pedestrian.

It is well for a visitor to bear in mind, however, that all the routes we have here sketched have undergone, or are undergoing, rapid changes, owing chiefly to the wonderful extension of railways.  Cannon Street, Finsbury, Blackfriars, Snow Hill, Ludgate Hill, Smithfield, Charing Cross, Pimlico, &c., have been stripped of hundreds, nay, thousands of houses.

PALACES AND MANSIONS, ROYAL AND NOBLE.

These two preliminary glances at the City and the West End having (as we will suppose) given the visitor some general idea of the Metropolis, we now proceed to describe the chief buildings p. 34and places of interest, conveniently grouped according to their character—beginning with Palatial Residences.

St. James’s Palace.—This is an inelegant brick structure, having its front towards Pall Mall.  Henry VIII. built it in 1530, on the site of what was once an hospital for lepers.  The interior consists of several spacious levée and drawing rooms, besides other state and domestic apartments.  This palace is only used occasionally by the Queen for levées and drawing-rooms; for which purposes, notwithstanding its awkwardness, the building is better adapted than Buckingham Palace.  The fine bands of the Foot Guards play daily at eleven, in the Colour Court, or in an open quadrangle on the east side.  The Chapel Royal and the German Chapel are open on Sundays—the one with an English service, and the other with service in German.

Buckingham Palace.—This edifice stands at the west end of the Mall in St. James’s Park, in a situation much too low in reference to the adjacent grounds on the north.  The site was occupied formerly by a brick mansion, which was pulled down by order of George IV.  The present palace (except the front towards the park) was planned and erected by Mr. Nash.  When completed, after various capricious alterations, about 1831–2, it is said to have cost about £700,000.  The edifice is of stone, with a main centre, and a wing of similar architecture projecting on each side, forming originally an open court in front; but the palace being too small for the family and retinue of the present sovereign, a new frontage has been built, forming an eastern side to the open court.  There is, however, little harmony of style between the old and new portions.  The interior contains many magnificent apartments, both for state and domestic purposes.  Among them are the Grand Staircase, the Ball-room, the Library, the Sculpture Gallery, the Green Drawing-room, the Throne Room, and the Grand Saloon.  The Queen has a collection of very fine pictures in the various rooms, among which is a Rembrandt, for which George IV. gave 5000 guineas.  In the garden is an elegant summer-house, adorned with frescoes by Eastlake, Maclise, Landseer, Stanfield, and other distinguished painters.  This costly palace, however, with all its p. 35grandeur, was so badly planned, that in a number of the passages lamps are required to be kept lighted even during the day.  Strangers are not admitted to Buckingham Palace except by special permission of the Lord Chamberlain, which is not easily obtained.  In the front was once the Marble Arch, which formed an entry to the Palace, and which cost £70,000; but it was removed to the north-east corner of Hyde Park in 1851.

Marlborough House.—This building, the residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales, is immediately east of St. James’s Palace, being separated from it only by a carriage-road.  It was built by Sir Christopher Wren, in 1709, as a residence for the great Duke p. 36of Marlborough.  The house was bought from the Marlborough family by the Crown in 1817, as a residence for the Princess Charlotte.  It was afterwards occupied in succession by Leopold (the late king of the Belgians) and the Dowager Queen Adelaide.  More recently it was given up to the Government School of Design; and the Vernon and Turner pictures were for some time kept there.  The building underwent various alterations preparatory to its occupation by the Prince of Wales.

Kensington Palace.—This is a royal palace, though no longer inhabited by royalty, occupying a pleasant situation west of Hyde Park.  It was built by Lord Chancellor Finch late in the 17th century; and soon afterwards sold to William III.  Additions were made to it from time to time.  Certain portions of the exterior are regarded as fine specimens of brickwork; and the whole, though somewhat heavy in appearance, is not without points of interest.  During the last century Kensington Palace was constantly occupied by members of the royal family.  Many of them were born there, and many died there also.  The present Queen was born in the palace in 1819.  The Prince and Princess of Teck reside there at present.  This, like the other royal palaces, is maintained at the expense of the nation; though not now used as a royal residence, pensioned or favoured families occupy it.

Lambeth Palace.—This curious and interesting building, situated in a part of the metropolis seldom visited by strangers, is the official residence of the archbishops of Canterbury.  It is on the south bank of the Thames, between Westminster and Vauxhall Bridges.  The structure has grown up by degrees during the six centuries that Lambeth has been the archiepiscopal residence; and on that account exhibits great diversities of style.  Leaving unnoticed the private and domestic apartments, the following are the portions of the irregular cluster possessing most interest.  The Chapel, some say, was erected in the year 1196; it is in early English, with lancet windows and a crypt; but the roof, stained windows, and carved screens, are much more recent.  The archbishops are always consecrated in this chapel.  The Lollard’s Tower, at the western end of the chapel, was named from some Lollards or Wickliffites supposed p. 37to have been imprisoned there.  It is about 400 years old.  The uppermost room, with strong iron rings in the walls, appears to p. 38have been the actual place of confinement; there are many names and inscriptions cut in the thick oak wainscoting.  The Hall, about 200 years old, is 93 feet long by 78 feet wide; it is noticeable for the oak roof, the bay windows, and the arms of several of the archbishops.  The Library, 250 years old, contains about 15,000 volumes and numerous manuscripts, many of them rare and curious.  The Gatehouse is a red brick structure, with stone dressings.  The Church, near it, is one of the most ancient in the neighbourhood of London; it has been recently restored in good taste.  Simon of Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered here, in 1381, by Wat Tyler’s mob, who stormed the palace, burned its contents, and destroyed all the registers and public papers.  Lambeth Palace is not, as a rule, shewn to strangers.

Mansions of the Nobility.—London is not well supplied with noble mansions of an attractive character; they possess every comfort interiorly, but only a few of them have architectural pretensions.  Northumberland House, lately alluded to, at the Charing Cross extremity of the south side of the Strand, looks more like a nobleman’s mansion than most others in London.  It was built, in about 1600, by the Earl of Northampton, and came into the hands of the Percies in 1642.  Stafford House is perhaps the most finely situated mansion in the metropolis, occupying the corner of St. James’s and the Green Parks, and presenting four complete fronts, each having its own architectural character.  The interior, too, is said to be the first of its kind in London.  The mansion was built by the Duke of York, with money lent by the Marquis of Stafford, afterwards Duke of Sutherland; but the Stafford family became owners of it, and have spent at least a quarter of a million sterling on the house and its decorations.  Apsley House, at the corner of Piccadilly and Hyde Park, is the residence of the Dukes of Wellington, and is closely associated with the memory of the Duke.  The shell of the house, of brick, is old; but stone frontages, enlargements, and decorations, were afterwards made.  The principal room facing Hyde Park, with seven windows, is that in which the Great Duke held the celebrated Waterloo Banquet, on the 18th of June in every year, from 1816 to 1852.  p. 39The windows were blocked up with bullet-proof iron blinds from 1831 to the day of his death in 1852; a rabble had shattered them during the Reform excitement, and he never afterwards would trust King Mob.  Devonshire House, in Piccadilly, faces the Green Park, and has a screen in front.  It has no particular architectural character; but the wealthy Dukes of Devonshire have collected within it valuable pictures, books, gems, and treasures of various kinds.  Grosvenor House, the residence of the Marquis of Westminster, is situated in Upper Grosvenor Street, and is celebrated for the magnificent collection of pictures known as the Grosvenor Gallery; p. 40a set of four of these pictures, by Rubens, cost £10,000.  Bridgewater House, facing the Green Park, is a costly modern structure, built by Sir Charles Barry for the Earl of Ellesmere, and finished in 1851.  It is in the Italian Palazzo style.  Its chief attraction is the magnificent Bridgewater Gallery of pictures, a most rare and choice assemblage.  This gallery contains no fewer than 320 pictures, valued at £150,000 many years ago—though they would now, doubtless, sell for a much higher sum. [40]  Holland House, Kensington, is certainly the most picturesque mansion in the metropolis; it has an old English look about it, both in the house and its grounds.  The mansion was built in 1607, and was celebrated as being the residence, at one time of Addison, at another of the late Lord Holland.  The stone gateway on the east of the house was designed by Inigo Jones.  Chesterfield House, in South Audley Street, was built for that Earl of Chesterfield whose “Advice to his Son” has run through so many editions; the library and the garden are especially noted.  Buccleuch House, in Whitehall Gardens, is recently finished.  Lansdowne House, in Berkeley Square, the town residence of the Marquis of Lansdowne, contains some fine sculptures and pictures, ancient and modern.  Scarcely less magnificent, either as buildings or in respect of their contents, than the mansions of the nobility, are some of those belonging to wealthy commoners—such as Mr. Holford’s, a splendid structure in Park Lane; Mr. Hope’s, in Piccadilly, now the Junior Athenæum Club; and Baron Rothschild’s, near Apsley House, lately rebuilt.

HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT; WESTMINSTER HALL; GOVERNMENT OFFICES.

Houses of Parliament.—This is the name usually given to the New Palace of Westminster, which is not only Sir Charles Barry’s greatest work, but is in all respects one of the most remarkable structures of the age.  The building, which occupies a site close to p. 41the river, and close also to the beautiful new Westminster Bridge, was constructed in consequence of the burning of the old Houses of Parliament in 1834.  It is perhaps the finest modern Gothic structure in the world—at least for civil purposes; but is unfortunately composed of a stone liable to decay; and, to be critical, its ornaments and details generally are on too minute a scale for the magnitude of the building.  The entire structure covers nearly eight acres.  Certain old plain law courts on the north are intended to be removed.  The chief public entrance is by Westminster Hall, which forms a vestibule to the Houses of Parliament and their numerous committee-rooms.  The rooms and staircases are almost inconceivably numerous; and there are said to be two miles of passages and corridors!  The river front, raised upon a fine terrace of Aberdeen granite, is 900 feet in length, and profusely adorned with statues, heraldic shields, and tracery, carved in stone.  The other façades are nearly as elaborate, but are not so well seen.  It is a gorgeous structure, which, so long ago as 1859, had cost over two millions.  A further cost of £107,000, for frescoes, statuary, p. 42&c., &c., had been incurred by the end of March, 1860; and the constant outgoings for maintenance of the fabric, and additions thereto, must every year represent a heavy sum.  Nevertheless, the two main chambers in which Parliament meets are ill adapted for sight and hearing.  On Saturdays, both Houses can be seen free, by order from the Lord Chamberlain, easily obtained at a neighbouring office; and certain corridors and chambers are open on other days of the week.  Admission to the sittings of the two Houses can only be obtained by members’ orders; as the benches appropriated in this way are few in number, such admissions are highly prized, especially when any important debate is expected.  On the occasion when the Queen visits the House of Lords, to open or prorogue Parliament, visitors are only admitted by special arrangements.

Among the multitude of interesting objects in this stupendous structure, the following may be briefly mentioned.  The House of Peers is 97 feet long, 45 wide, and 45 high.  It is so profusely painted and gilt, and the windows are so darkened by deep-tinted stained glass, that the eye can with difficulty make out the details.  At the southern end is the gorgeously gilt and canopied throne; near the centre is the woolsack, on which the Lord Chancellor sits; at the end and sides are galleries for peeresses, reporters, and strangers; and on the floor of the house are the cushioned benches for the peers.  At either end are three frescoes—three behind the throne, and three over the strangers’ gallery.  The three behind the throne are—“Edward III. conferring the Order of the Garter on the Black Prince,” by C. W. Cope; “The Baptism of Ethelbert,” by Dyce; and “Henry Prince of Wales committed to Prison for assaulting Judge Gascoigne,” by C. W. Cope.  The three at the other end are—“The Spirit of Justice,” by D. Maclise; “The Spirit of Chivalry,” by the same; and “The Spirit of Religion,” by J. C. Horsley.  In niches between the windows and at the ends are eighteen statues of Barons who signed Magna Charta.  The House of Commons, 62 feet long, 45 broad, and 45 high, is much less elaborate than the House of Peers.  The Speaker’s Chair is at the north end; and there are galleries along the sides and ends.  In a gallery behind p. 43the Speaker the reporters for the newspapers sit.  Over them is the Ladies’ Gallery, where the view is ungallantly obstructed by a grating.  The present ceiling is many feet below the original one: the room having been to this extent spoiled because the former proportions were bad for hearing.

Strangers might infer, from the name, that these two chambers, the Houses of Peers and of Commons, constitute nearly the whole building; but, in truth, they occupy only a small part of the area.  On the side nearest to Westminster Abbey are St. Stephen’s Porch, St. Stephen’s Corridor, the Chancellor’s Corridor, the Victoria Tower, the Royal Staircase, and numerous courts and corridors.  At the south end, nearest Millbank, are the Guard Room, the Queen’s Robing Room, the Royal Gallery, the Royal Court, and the Prince’s Chamber.  The river front is mostly occupied by Libraries and Committee Rooms.  The northern or Bridge Street end displays the Clock Tower and the Speaker’s Residence.  In the interior of the structure are vast numbers of lobbies, corridors, halls, and courts.  The Saturday tickets, already mentioned, admit visitors to the Prince’s Chamber, the House of Peers, the Peers’ Lobby, the Peers’ Corridor, the Octagonal Hall, the Commons’ Corridor, the Commons’ Lobby, the House of Commons, St. Stephen’s Hall, and St. Stephen’s Porch.  All these places are crowded with rich adornments.  The Victoria Tower, at the south-west angle of the entire structure, is one of the finest in the world: it is 75 feet square and 340 feet high; the Queen’s state entrance is in a noble arch at the base.  The Clock Tower, at the north end, is 40 feet square and 320 feet high, profusely gilt near the top.  After two attempts made to supply this tower with a bell of 14 tons weight, and after both failed, one of the so-called ‘Big Bens,’ the weight of which is about 8 tons, (the official name being ‘St. Stephen,’) now tells the hour in deep tones.  There are, likewise, eight smaller bells to chime the quarters.  The Clock is by far the largest and finest in this country.  There are four dials on the four faces of the tower, each 22½ feet in diameter; the hour-figures are 2 feet high and 6 feet apart; the minute-marks are 14 inches apart; the hands weigh more than 2 cwt. the pair; the minute-hand is 16 feet long, and the hour-hand p. 449 feet; the pendulum is 15 feet long, and weighs 680 lbs.; the weights hang down a shaft 160 feet deep.  Besides this fine Clock Tower, there is a Central Tower, over the Octagonal Hall, rising to a height of 300 feet; and there are smaller towers for ventilation and other purposes.

Considering that there are nearly 500 carved stone statues in and about this sumptuous building, besides stained-glass windows, and oil and fresco paintings in great number, it is obvious that a volume would be required to describe them all.  In the Queen’s Robing Room are painted frescoes from the story of King Arthur; and in the Peers’ Robing Room, subjects from Biblical history.  The Royal Gallery is in the course of being filled with frescoes and stained windows illustrative of English history.  Here, among others, specially note the late D. Maclise’s stupendous fresco, 45 feet long by 12 feet high, representing “The Meeting of Wellington and Blucher after the Battle of Waterloo;” and the companion fresco, “The Death of Nelson.”

Westminster Hall.—Although now made, in a most ingenious manner, to form part of the sumptuous edifice just described, Westminster Hall is really a distinct building.  It was the old hall of the original palace of Westminster, built in the time of William Rufus, but partly re-constructed in 1398.  The carved timber roof is regarded as one of the finest in England.  The hall is 290 feet long, 68 wide, and 110 high.  There are very few buildings in the world so large as this unsupported by pillars.  The southern end, both within and without, has been admirably brought into harmony with the general architecture of the Palace of Parliament.  Doors on the east side lead to the House of Commons; doors on the west lead to the Courts of Chancery, Queen’s Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, Probate, and Divorce, &c.  No building in England is richer in associations with events relating to kings, queens, and princes, than Westminster Hall.  St. Stephen’s Crypt, lately restored with great splendour, is entered from the south end of the Hall.

Somerset House, in the Strand, was built in 1549 by the Protector Somerset; and, on his attainder and execution, fell to the Crown.  p. 45Old Somerset House was pulled down in 1775, and the present building erected in 1780, after the designs of Sir Wm. Chambers.  The rear of the building faces the Thames, its river frontage being 600 feet long, and an excellent specimen of Palladian architecture.  In Somerset House are several Government offices—among the rest, a branch of the Admiralty, the Inland Revenue, and the Registrar-General’s department.  More than 900 clerks are employed in the various offices.  The rooms in which Newspaper Stamps are produced by ingenious processes, and those in which the Registrar-General keeps his voluminous returns of births, marriages, and deaths, are full of interest; but they are not accessible for mere curiosity.  The learned Societies are removed to Burlington House, Piccadilly.

Government Offices.—A few words will suffice for the other p. 46West-End Government offices.  The Admiralty, in Whitehall, is the head-quarters of the Naval Department.  The front of the building was constructed about 1726; and the screen, by the brothers Adam, about half-a-century later.  Most of the heads of the Admiralty have official residences connected with the building.  The Horse Guards, a little farther down Whitehall, is the head-quarters of the commander-in-chief.  It was built about 1753, and has an arched entrance leading into St. James’s Park.    The two cavalry sentries, belonging either to the Life Guards or to the Oxford Blues, always attract the notice of country visitors, to whom such showy horsemen are a rarity.  The Treasury, the Office of the p. 47Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Home Office, the Privy-council Office, and the Board of Trade, together occupy the handsome range of buildings at the corner of Whitehall and Downing Street.  The interior of this building is in great part old; after many alterations and additions, the present front, in the Italian Palazzo style, was built by Sir Charles Barry in 1847.  The Foreign Office, the India Office, and the Colonial Office, occupy the handsome new buildings southward of Downing Street.  The War Office in Pall Mall is a makeshift arrangement: it occupies the old quarters of the Ordnance Office, and some private houses converted to public use.  After many discussions as to architectural designs, &c., the so-called “Battle of the Styles” ended in a compromise: the Gothic architect (Mr. G. G. Scott, R.A.) was employed; but an Italian design was adopted for the new Foreign and India Offices.

ST. PAUL’S; WESTMINSTER ABBEY; CHURCHES; CHAPELS; CEMETERIES.

St. Paul’s Cathedral.—This is the most prominent object in the metropolis.  The lofty dome, seen for miles around, stands in the centre of an enclosed churchyard of limited dimensions, at the head of Ludgate Hill.  A church is said to have existed here four hundred years before the Norman conquest; and, under various shapes and extensions, it remained till destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666.  An entirely new edifice was then erected in its stead, the important work being committed to Sir Christopher Wren.  It was opened for divine service in 1697, and finished in 1710—one architect and one master-mason having been engaged on it for 35 years. [47a]  The cathedral is built in the form of a cross, 514 feet in length by 286 in breadth. [47b]  Outwardly, the p. 48walls, which have a dark sooty appearance, except where bleached by the weather, exhibit a double range of windows.  There are three porticos at as many entrances on the north, west, and south.  That on the west is the principal, with twelve lofty Corinthian pillars below, and a second order carrying the pediment above; the angles are crowned with handsome bell-towers, much larger than ordinary church steeples, and 222 feet high.    But this entrance, p. 49which fronts Ludgate Hill, is not much used; the common entrance is by the north portico and flight of steps.  On entering, the impression produced by the vastness of the internal space is great, although the walls want something in tone and relief.  (Subscriptions are being gradually raised for richly adorning the interior.)  There are two domes, an outer and an inner, having a brick cone between them.  The inner dome has six paintings relating to events in the life of St. Paul: they were painted by Sir James Thornhill, and have recently been renovated.  In the choir is much beautiful carving, by Grinling Gibbons.  In various parts of the cathedral are statues and monuments of John Howard, Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Bishop Heber, Nelson, Cornwallis, Abercrombie, Sir John Moore, Lord Heathfield, Howe, Rodney, p. 50Collingwood, St. Vincent, Picton, Ponsonby, and others.  In the Crypt beneath are the tombs of Wellington, Nelson, Wren, Collingwood, Picton, Reynolds, Lawrence, Opie, West, Fuseli, Turner, Rennie, and other eminent men.  Service is performed on Sundays at 10.30 a.m. and 3.15 p.m.; on week-days at 8.0, 10.0, and 4.0.  A screen, on which the organ stood, has lately been removed, throwing open the beautiful choir to view from the nave.  The organ has been placed on the north side of the choir.  Several times in the year service is performed under the dome on Sunday evenings by gaslight; and an additional organ for this service has been set up in the south transept.  The appearance of the dome at these times, with a soft light shed around it, is extremely beautiful; and the congregation generally assembled is enormous.  If the stranger pleases to pay the required fees, he may mount, by means of stairs and ladders, to the top of the dome; and he will be amply repaid by the extensive view from the balcony or gallery, which comprehends the whole of London, with the country beyond its outskirts, and the Thames rolling placidly in its winding course between dense masses of houses.  The Whispering Gallery, at the bottom of the inner dome, renders audible the slightest whisper from side to side.  The Library contains chiefly ecclesiastical works for the use of the Chapter.  The two Golden Galleries are at the top of the inner and outer domes.  The Ball and Cross, reached by more than 600 steps, are at the summit of the building; the ball, about 6 feet in diameter, is reached with some difficulty.  The Clock-work and Great Bell always attract the notice of visitors.  The pendulum measures 14 feet in length, while the mass at its extremity is one hundredweight.  The great bell, which is only tolled when a member of the royal family dies, is placed in the southern turret above the western portico; it weighs 4½ tons, and is 10 feet in diameter.  The fine deep tones of this mighty bell, on which the hours are struck, sweep solemnly, in a quiet evening, across the metropolis, and are at times heard distinctly by families at their firesides far out in the suburbs.  Altogether, St. Paul’s is a magnificent structure; and though it cost a million and a-half of money in the erection—a great sum in the seventeenth century—p. 51the amount was well spent on so worthy an object.  St. Paul’s is open, during the greater part of the day, free to the public, but no place is exhibited during divine service.—Fee for admission to the whispering gallery and the two outer galleries, 6d.; the ball, 1s. 6d.; the clock, great bell, library, and geometrical staircase, 6d.; and the crypt, 6d.

Westminster Abbey.—Nearly opposite the Houses of Parliament stands Westminster Abbey, open to inspection on the north, west, and east, but much crowded upon by private dwellings on the south.  In very early times this spot of ground was a small insular tract, surrounded by the waters of the Thames, and called Thorney Island.  Here a monastic institution was founded on the introduction of Christianity into Britain.  Under Edward the Confessor an abbey was raised upon the site of the ruined monastic building.  The ground-plan, as usual, bore the form of the cross.  Rights and endowments were granted; and the edifice assumed a great degree of architectural grandeur.  It had become the place for the inauguration of the English monarchs; and William the Conqueror was crowned here with great pomp in 1066.  Henry III. and Edward I. enlarged the abbey; and the building continued nearly in the state in which they left it, until Henry VII. added a chapel, built in the perpendicular style, on which the greatest skill of the architect and the sculptor was displayed; exhibiting one of the most splendid structures of the age, and so highly esteemed, that it was enjoined that the remains of royalty alone should be interred within its walls.  During the reign of Henry VIII., the abbey was considerably defaced; but on the surrender of its revenues, Henry raised Westminster to the dignity of a city, and its abbey was constituted a cathedral.  It was, however, afterwards re-united to the see of London, in 1550.  (An archbishopric of Westminster, created by the Pope a few years ago, is connected only with Roman Catholic matters, and is not recognised by the English law.)  Westminster Abbey, during the reign of William and Mary, was thoroughly repaired, and the towers added at the western entrance, under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren.  These towers, however, though good in outline and general mass, are not in harmony p. 52with the rest of the building.  The length of the abbey is 416 feet; breadth at the transept, 203 feet; and at the nave, 102 feet; height of the west towers, 225 feet.  The exterior measurement, including Henry VII.’s Chapel, is 530 feet.

On entering at the great western door between the towers, the magnificence of the abbey soon becomes apparent.  The interior displays grand masses of marble columns separating the nave from the side aisles.  A screen, surmounted by a noble organ, divides the nave from the choir; while beyond the eye soars, amid graceful columns, tracery, and decorated windows, to the summit of the eastern arch that overlooks the adjacent chapels.  The walls on both sides display a great profusion of sepulchral monuments, among which are some finely executed pieces of sculpture, and touching memorials of those whose exploits or exertions have deserved the notice of posterity; but too many, unfortunately, are in very bad taste.  Above the line of tombs are chambers and galleries, once occupied by ecclesiastics; solemn and dreary in their p. 53antiquity, though relieved by occasional sunbeams glancing across the misty height of the nave.  The northern window is richly ornamented with stained glass.

The Chapel of Edward the Confessor is at the eastern end of the choir, and contains the shrine of St. Edward: that it was an exquisite piece of workmanship, is evident even in its decay.  Here also is the coronation-chair, under which is placed the celebrated stone brought from Scone, in Scotland, by Edward I. in 1297.  The Chapel of Henry VII. is also at the eastern end; and among the ashes of many royal personages interred here are those of Mary and Elizabeth.  The ascent to this splendid work of Gothic art is by p. 54steps of black marble.  The entrance gates display workmanship of extraordinary richness in brass.  The effect produced on entering this chapel is striking: the roof is wrought in stone into an astonishing variety of figures and devices; the stalls are of oak, having the deep tone of age, with Gothic canopies, all elaborately carved.  Here, before the remodelling of the order, used to be installed the knights of the Order of the Bath.  In their stalls are placed brass plates of their armorial insignia, and above are suspended their banners, swords, and helmets; beneath the stalls are seats for the esquires.  The pavement is composed of black and white marble; beneath which is the royal vault.  The magnificent tomb of Henry VII. and his queen stands in the body of this chapel, in a curious chantry of cast brass, admirably executed, and interspersed with effigies, armorial bearings, and devices relating to the union of the red and white roses.

The number of statues and monuments in Westminster Abbey is very great.  Most of them are contained in side-chapels, of which there are several: viz., St. Benedict’s, St. Edmund’s, St. Nicholas’s, St. Paul’s, St. Erasmus’s, John the Baptist’s, and Bishop Islip’s; besides Henry VII.’s and Edward the Confessor’s Chapels, already mentioned.  These Chapels contain about ninety monuments and shrines, some of great beauty.  The Choir, the Transept, and the Nave, also contain a large amount of sculpture—many specimens in wretched taste, by the side of some of the first works of Flaxman, Chantrey, Roubiliac, Nollekins, Bacon, Westmacott, Gibson, Behnes, and others.  Poets’ Corner, occupying about half of the south transept, is a famous place for the busts and monuments of eminent men—including Chaucer, Spencer, Shakespeare, Drayton, Ben Jonson, Milton, Butler, Davenant, Cowley, Dryden, Prior, Rowe, Gay, Addison, Thomson, Goldsmith, Gray, Mason, Sheridan, Southey, Campbell, &c.  Lord Macaulay and Lord Palmerston were recently buried in the Abbey—the one in January, 1860; the other in October, 1865.  William Makepeace Thackeray does not lie there, but at Kensal Green, though his bust is placed next to the statue of Joseph Addison.  On the 14th June, 1870, Charles Dickens was interred there.  His grave is situated at the foot of p. 55the coffin of Handel, and at the head of the coffin of R. B. Sheridan, and between the coffins of Lord Macaulay and Cumberland the dramatist.  Near to England’s great humorist, towards his feet, lie Dr. Johnson and Garrick, while near them lies Thomas Campbell.  Shakespeare’s monument is not far from the foot of the grave.  Goldsmith’s is on the left.  A monumental brass, to the memory of Robert Stephenson, has recently been inlaid in the floor of the nave.  The Cloisters and the Chapter House contain some curious old effigies.

Westminster Abbey is a collegiate church, with a dean and chapter, who possess a considerable authority over the adjoining district, and a revenue of about £30,000 per annum.  The abbey may be considered as sub-divided into chapels; but in the present day divine service (at 7.45,10, and 3) is performed only in a large enclosed space near the eastern extremity of the building—except on Sunday evenings during a portion of the year, when service is performed in the nave, in a similar way to the Sunday evening services under the dome of St. Paul’s.  This evening service, at 7 o’clock, is very striking in effect.  There are usually a considerable number of strangers present at the services, particularly at that on Sunday evenings.  The entrance chiefly used is that at Poets’ Corner, nearly opposite the royal entrance to the Houses of Parliament; but on Sunday evenings the great western entrance is used.  There is admittance every week-day free to the chief parts of the building, and to other parts on payment of a fee of 6d.

Parish and District Churches.—When we consider that the metropolis contains nearly 1000 churches and chapels, it may well be conceived that only a few of them can be noticed here.  In addition to St. Paul’s and the Abbey, the following are worth the notice of strangers.  St. Michael’s, Cornhill, has lately been restored and re-decorated in an elaborate manner by Mr. Gilbert Scott.  St. Bartholomew’s, Smithfield, which has been lately restored, was once the choir and transepts of a priory church; it is interesting, not only for some of its monuments, but for the varieties of Norman and Gothic styles which it exhibits.  St. Stephen’s, Walbrook, close to the Mansion House, is especially worthy of attention; as the p. 56interior is considered to be one of Wren’s happiest conceptions.  Bow Church, or the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow, occupies a conspicuous position on the south side of Cheapside, and has a spire of great elegance, designed by Sir Christopher Wren.  The clock projects over the street from the lower part of the tower.  Standing as this church does, in the centre of the city, those who are born within the sound of its bells are jocularly called Cockneys, a name equivalent to genuine citizens.  The consecration of the Bishop of London takes place at Bow Church.  St. Bride’s, Fleet Street, is adorned with one of the most beautiful of Sir Christopher Wren’s steeples.  The Temple Church is described in the section relating to the Temple and other Inns of Court.  St. Saviour’s is by far the most important parish church on the Surrey side of the water.  It is p. 57near the foot of London Bridge, on the west side of High Street, Southwark.  It originally belonged to the Priory of St. Mary Overy, but was made a parish church in 1540.  The Choir and the Lady Chapel are parts of the original structure, and are excellent examples of the early English style; they have been restored in the present century.  Many other parts of the building deserve notice.  The Savoy Church, between the Strand and the Thames, near Waterloo Bridge, was once the Chapel of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist; it was destroyed by fire in 1864, and re-built in 1866.  St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, built by Inigo Jones, is noticeable for its massive Doric portico.  St. James’s, Piccadilly, one of the least sightly of brick churches outside, has an interior which exhibits Wren’s skill in a striking degree.  St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square, has always been admired for its elegant spire and portico, constructed by Gibbs.  St. George’s, Hanover Square, is chiefly celebrated for the fashionable marriages that take place there; the exterior, is, however, picturesque.  Whitehall Chapel was originally intended as part of a royal residence.  It is, in fact, the Banqueting House of the palace of Whitehall, the only remaining portion of what was once an extensive pile.  The former brick structure is entirely gone.  The present edifice, built by Inigo Jones in the time of James I., is considered to be one of the finest specimens of Italian architecture in England.  Charles I. was executed on a scaffold erected in front of one of the windows.  The interior of Whitehall is about 112 feet long, 56 wide, and 56 high, forming exactly a double cube; the ceiling is painted by Rubens, with mythological designs in honour of James I.  The building, being appropriated to no other use, was converted into a chapel in the time of George I., and was modernized in the interior, about 30 years ago, by Sir Robert Smirke.  Old St. Pancras Church, in Pancras Road, a small but venerable structure, has in recent years been altered and adapted as a District Church.  Its churchyard was remarkable for the number of artists and other eminent persons interred in it; at one time it was the great metropolitan burial-place for Roman Catholics, and consequently an unusual number of foreigners of celebrity, French emigrés p. 58during the Reign of Terror, &c., were buried there.  Recently, however, the old graveyard has been sadly cut about by the pickaxes and shovels of railway excavators, engaged by the Midland Railway, which passes thereby.

It is worthy of note, that Sir Christopher Wren built the large number of fifty-three churches in London after the Great Fire.  Nearly all of them are still standing.  Among the most noted are St. Paul’s; Bow Church; St. Stephen’s, Walbrook; St. Bride’s; St. Andrew’s, Holborn; St. Sepulchre’s; St. Antholin’s, Watling Street; Christ Church, Newgate; St. Clement Danes; St. Dunstan’s-in-the-East; St. James’s, Piccadilly; St. Lawrence, Jewry; St. Magnus, London Bridge; St. Martin’s, Ludgate; and St. Mary, Aldermanbury.

Among churches and chapels of the Establishment, of more recent date, the following are worth looking at:—New St. Pancras, near the Euston Railway Station, is the most notable example in London of an imitative Greek temple; it was built by Messrs. Inwood, in 1822, and cost nearly £80,000.  St. Marylebone, in the Marylebone Road, built by Mr. Hardwick in 1817, cost £60,000; the interior is heavy in appearance, having two tiers of galleries; in few London churches, however, is divine service, according to the established ritual, performed on a more impressive scale.  St. Stephen’s, Westminster, in Rochester Row, was built wholly at the expense of Miss Burdett Coutts, and is a fine example of revived Gothic; the choral service on Sundays is grand and complete.  St. Paul’s, at Knightsbridge, and St. Barnabas, at Pimlico, especially the latter, are noticeable for the mediæval revivals, in arrangements and in service, which belong to what is called the high-church party.  All Saints’ Church, Margaret Street, is, perhaps, the most sumptuous of modern London churches.  Although small, it cost £60,000.  Mr. Butterfield was the architect.  The exterior is of red and black brick, very mediæval in appearance.  The interior is ornate, with polished granite piers, alabaster capitals, coloured marble decorations, stained-glass windows, and frescoes by Dyce.  St. James the Less, in Garden Street, Westminster, is a truly remarkable specimen of coloured-brick p. 59architecture, both within and without; Mr. Street was the architect; and the cost was defrayed by the daughters of the late Dr. Monk, Bishop of Gloucester.  A very noteworthy and costly brick church has been constructed in Baldwin’s Gardens, Gray’s Inn Lane, from the designs of Mr. Butterfield, and at the sole cost of Mr. J. G. Hubbard.  It is dedicated to St. Alban.  The Rev. A. Mackonochie, whose extreme ritualistic views have several times brought his name prominently before the public, was the incumbent.

Catholic, Dissenting, and Jewish Places of Worship.—It is almost impossible to give an exact enumeration of the places of worship in London, seeing that so many new ones are in the course of building.  But the following figures, based on information supplied by the London Post-Office Directory, and otherwise, will, it is hoped, be found to convey a very fair approximate notion on the subject.  In that Directory, then, there will be found the names of about 100 city parishes.  But of these, some 40 have, of late years, been united to other parishes.  Thus, All Hallow’s, Honey Lane, is united with St. Mary-le-Bow; St. Mary Magdalen, in Milk Street, is united with St. Lawrence, Jewry; and so forth.  Many of the parishes so united have their own churches now closed, or in course of demolition, and worship is provided for them at the churches of the particular parishes into which they have been merged.  Without counting the city proper, there are, in London, 50 parish churches, and at least 300 district churches and chapels belonging to the Church of England.  The Roman Catholics have 41 churches and chapels, without reckoning sundry religious houses.  The Wesleyans have 152.  The recognised Dissenters from the Wesleyan body have 4; the Baptists, 109; the Independents, 109; the United Methodist Free Church, 27; Primitive Methodists, 16; the Unitarians, 8; Methodist New Connexion, 8; the Quakers, 5; the Presbyterians (English) 15; the Church of Scotland, 5; the Calvinists have 2; the Calvinistic Methodists, 3; the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, 4.  The Jews have 12 Synagogues; there are 3 French Protestant churches; 9 German (Reformed) churches and chapels; Swiss Protestant, 1; Swedenborgians, 2; Plymouth p. 60Brethren, 3; Catholic Apostolic (not Roman) 6; 1 Swedish, and 1 Greek church; 1 Russian chapel, and 3 meeting-houses of Free Christians; 1 Moravian; and some 40 other places for public worship, belonging to miscellaneous denominations.  Of Roman Catholic churches, the chief is St. George’s Cathedral, near Bethlehem Hospital—a very large, but heavy Gothic structure; the tower has never been finished for want of funds.  The service here is more complete than at any other Roman Catholic structure in England.  St. Mary’s, near Moorfields; the Spanish Chapel, near Manchester Square; and the Italian Church, in Hatton Wall—are three other Roman Catholic chapels that attract many strangers by their excellent music.  The Catholic and Apostolic Church, in Gordon Square, may be regarded as the cathedral of the so-called Irvingites (a designation, however, which they repudiate); it is one of the best modern examples of early English, but there are no funds available p. 61for finishing the tower.  The minister of the National Scotch Church, in Crown Court, Drury Lane, is the celebrated Rev. J. Cumming, D.D., whose preaching attracts large congregations.  Of the dissenting chapels in London, by far the most remarkable is Mr. Spurgeon’s Tabernacle, built at a cost of about £30,000, at Newington, near the Elephant and Castle; everything, within and without, has been made subservient to the accommodating of 4000 or 5000 persons, all of whom can hear, and nearly all see, the celebrated preacher.  The principal Jews’ Synagogue is in Great St. Helen’s, near Leadenhall Street—remarkable rather for the ceremonies, at certain seasons of the year, than for anything in the building itself.  A synagogue exists for the Jews residing in the western half of the metropolis, in Great Portland Street.

Cemeteries.—Intramural burial is now forbidden in London.  The chief cemeteries are those at Highgate, Finchley, Abney Park, Mile-End, Kensal Green, Bethnal Green, Ilford, Brompton, Norwood, Nunhead, and Camberwell.  There is a very fine view of London, on a clear day, from the first-named.  Kensal Green contains the graves of many distinguished persons.  Princess Sophia was buried at the last-named cemetery; and a sedulous visitor would discover the tombs and graves of Sydney Smith, the daughters and a grandchild of Sir Walter Scott, Allan Cunningham, John Murray, Thomas Hood, Liston, Loudon, Callcott, Birkbeck, Brunel, Thackeray, and other persons of note.  Cardinal Wiseman lies interred in the Catholic Cemetery adjacent to Kensal Green.  The Great Northern Cemetery, near Colney Hatch, lately opened, has special railway facilities from the King’s Cross Station.  The Woking Necropolis, in Surrey, is too far distant to be included within London; nevertheless, the admirable railway arrangements, from a station of the South-Western, in the Westminster Road, make it, in effect, one of the metropolitan cemeteries.  If the old burial-grounds are no longer attended to for funerals, many of them are deeply interesting for their memorials of the past.  Old St. Pancras Churchyard has already been named; and another worthy of attention is Bunhill Fields burying-ground.  It has been called the ‘Campo Santo’ of Dissenters, for p. 62there lie the remains of Daniel Defoe, John Bunyan, John Owen, George Fox, (who founded the sect of the Quakers about 1646,) Dr. Isaac Watts, and many a stout defender of nonconformity.

BRITISH AND SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUMS; SCIENTIFIC ESTABLISHMENTS.

British Museum.—This is a great national establishment, containing a vast and constantly-increasing collection of books, maps, drawings, prints, sculptures, antiquities, and natural curiosities.  It occupies a most extensive suite of buildings in Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, commenced in 1823, and not even now finished.  The sum spent on them is little less than £1,000,000.  Sir Richard Smirke was the architect.  The principal, or south front, 370 feet long, presents a range of 44 columns, the centre being a majestic portico, with sculptures in the pediment.  Since its commencement, in 1755, the collection has been prodigiously increased by gifts, bequests, and purchases; and now it is, perhaps, the largest of the kind in the world.  The library contains more than eight hundred thousand volumes, and is increasing enormously in extent every year.  The Reading-Room is open only to persons who proceed thither for study, or for consulting authorities.  A reading order is readily procured on written application, enclosing the recommendation of two respectable householders, to “the Principal Librarian.”  It is open nearly 300 days in the year, and for an average of eight hours each day.  No general inspection of this room by strangers is allowed, except by a written order from the secretary, which can, however, readily be obtained on three days in the week.  The porters in the hall will direct to the secretary’s office; and strangers must be careful to observe the conditions on which the order is given.  The present reading-room, opened in 1857, and built at a cost of £150,000, is one of the finest apartments in the world; it is circular, 140 feet in diameter, and open to a dome-roof 106 feet high, supported without pillars.  This beautiful room, and the fireproof galleries for books which surround it, were planned by Mr. Panizzi, the late chief librarian.

The portions of the British Museum open to ordinary visitors p. 63consist of an extensive series of galleries and saloons on the ground and upper floors, each devoted to the exhibition of a distinct class of objects.  Among others are—terracottas, Roman sculptures and sepulchral antiquities, Sir T. Lawrence’s collection of casts, British antiquities, ethnological specimens, Egyptian antiquities, several saloons containing the Elgin and Phigalian Marbles, Nineveh and Lycian sculptures, &c.  The rooms containing objects in natural history and artificial curiosities are handsomely fitted up with glass-cases on the walls and tables.  Days may be spent in examining this vast assemblage of objects; and to assist in the inspection, catalogues for the entire Museum may be purchased at the door at a cheap price.  The following will convey an idea of the order in which the general contents of the Museum meet the eye.  Outside the building, in unsightly glass sheds under the porticos and colonnades, are ancient Greek sculptures from Asia Minor, chiefly from the famous Mausoleum of Halicarnassus; they are temporarily so p. 64placed until room can be found for them elsewhere.  On entering the hall or vestibule, and ascending the staircase, the galleries of natural history are reached—stuffed quadrupeds, including a gorilla purchased from M. Chaillu; stuffed birds; birds’ eggs; shells in immense variety and of surpassing beauty; minerals; and fossils.  These occupy the eastern, northern, and part of the southern galleries.  The western, and the rest of the southern galleries, are occupied by numerous antiquarian and ethnological collections—including Egyptian mummies and ornaments, Greek and Etruscan vases, Greek and Roman bronzes, ancient and mediæval porcelain, ivory carvings, and specimens of the dresses, weapons, instruments, &c., of various nations.  On the ground-floor, to the right of the hall, visitors are admitted to a room containing a curious collection of manuscripts, autographs, and early printed books; and to the King’s Library, a beautiful apartment, containing the books presented by George IV.  This room also possesses a small but extremely choice display of Italian, German, and Flemish drawings and engravings; together with a few nielli, (black engravings on silver plates.)  The west side of the ground-floor is occupied by the ancient sculptures—Egyptian, Greek, Assyrian, Lycian, Roman, &c.—A refreshment-room for visitors was opened in 1866, and is situated in the western basement.

The British Museum is open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and the whole of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun weeks.  It is closed on the first week in January, May, and September, and on Christmas-day, Good-Friday, and Ash-Wednesday.  The hour of opening is 10 o’clock; that of closing varies from 4 till 6 o’clock, according to the season of the year.  During many years past there have been newspaper controversies and parliamentary debates touching the disposal of the rich contents of the Museum.  Almost every part is filled to overflowing; but much diversity of opinion exists as to which portion, if any, shall be removed to another locality.  Burlington House and the South Kensington Museum, each has its advocates.  Immediate removal of part of the contents has been decided on.

South Kensington Museum.—This very interesting national establishment p. 65is situated at South Kensington, near the Cromwell and Exhibition Roads, on ground bought out of the profits of the Great Exhibition of 1851.  The varied contents have been either presented to, or purchased by, the nation, with the exception of a few collections which have been lent for temporary periods.  They consist of illustrations of manufactures and the useful arts; models of patented inventions; collections of raw produce, derived from the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms; a museum of educational appliances; casts from sculptures and architectural ornaments; objects of ornamental art, both mediæval and modern; naval models, &c.  Besides these, there are the fine collections of paintings presented to the nation by Mr. Sheepshanks, and other liberal donors; and a portion of the Vernon collection, the rest being at the National Gallery.  Turner’s pictures, bequeathed to the nation in his will, were kept here for some years, but were removed to the National Gallery in 1861.  There are, among the group of buildings, some devoted to the Government Department p. 66of Science and Art; but the Museum generally is, so far as concerns the public, distinct.  The Gallery of British Art contains many hundred pictures, including choice specimens by Turner, Wilkie, Mulready, Landseer, Leslie, Hogarth, Wilson, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Lawrence, Constable, Loutherbourg, Callcott, Collins, Etty, Stanfield, Roberts, Uwins, Creswick, Maclise, Webster, Eastlake, Ward, Cooke, Cooper, Danby, Goodall, &c.  The rooms containing these pictures, planned by Captain Fowke, are remarkable for the admirable mode of lighting, both by day and in the evening.  On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays, the admission is free from 10 a.m. till 10 p.m.; on the other three days, called students’ days, 6d. is charged from 10 a.m. till 4, 5, or 6, according to the season.  This is one of the very few free exhibitions open in the evening (thrice a-week) as well as the daytime.

Bethnal Green Museum.—This is really a branch of the South Kensington Museum, and is situated not far from Shoreditch Church.  It is accessible by omnibus from most parts of the City and the West End, and is not far distant from Victoria Park.  It was formally opened, in 1872, by the Prince and Princess of Wales.  At the present, its great attraction is the picture gallery; but it promises to become as popular as any museum in London, especially as technical information will become an essential feature of its future existence.  It is open under the same regulations as are observed at the South Kensington Museum.

Museum of Economic Geology.—This small but interesting establishment, having an entrance in Jermyn Street, is a national museum for the exhibition of all such articles as belong to the mineral kingdom.  It was built from the designs of Mr. Pennethorne, and was opened in 1851.  Though less extensive than the British and South Kensington Museums, it is of a very instructive character.  Besides the mineral specimens, raw and manufactured, it contains models, sections, and diagrams, illustrative of mining, metallurgy, and various manufactures.  It is open, free, every day, except Friday.

p. 67Museum of the College of Surgeons.—This building, on the south side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, can be visited by strangers only through the introduction of members of the College.  The Government, about seventy years ago, bought John Hunter’s Anatomical Museum, and presented it to the College.  The contents of the museum are illustrative of the structure and functions of the human body, both in the healthy and the diseased state; they have been classified and arranged with great skill by Professor Owen.

United Service Museum.—This is situated in Whitehall Yard.  Admission is obtained through the members of the United Service Institution.  The contents of the museum consist of models, weapons, and implements interesting to military men.  Here see the robe worn by Tippoo Sahib, when killed at Seringapatam, in 1799.  Also observe Siborne’s extraordinary model of the battle of Waterloo; and notice the skeleton of the horse which Napoleon rode at that battle.

East India Museum.—Near the building last noticed, in Fife House, Whitehall, is deposited the collection known as the East India Museum, formerly deposited at the India House, in Leadenhall Street, and now belonging to the nation.  It comprises a very curious assemblage of Oriental dresses, jewels, ornaments, furniture, musical instruments, models, paintings, tools, implements, idols, trinkets, &c.  Among the rest is the barbaric toy known as Tippoo’s Tiger.  It consists of a figure of a tiger trampling on a prostrate man, whom he is just about to seize with his teeth; the interior contains pipes and other mechanism, which, when wound up by a key, cause the figure of the man to utter cries of distress, and the tiger to roar.  Such was one of the amusements of Tippoo Sahib!  The museum is open free on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, from 10 till 4.

Royal Institution.—This building, in Albemarle Street, is devoted to the prosecution of science, by means of lectures, experiments, discussions, and a scientific library.  It has been rendered famous by the brilliant labours of Davy and Faraday.  Admission is only obtainable by membership, or by fees for courses of lectures.

Society of Arts.—This institution has existed in John Street, p. 68Adelphi, for a long series of years.  Its object is the encouragement of arts, manufactures, agriculture, and commerce.  Under the auspices of the late Prince Consort, it was mainly instrumental in bringing about the two great International Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862.  The lecture-room contains six remarkable pictures by Barry, illustrative of ‘Human Culture.’  Every year there are free exhibitions of manufactures and new mechanical inventions.

Scientific Societies.—There are many other Scientific Societies which hold their meetings in London; but only a few of them possess buildings worthy of much attention, or contain collections that would interest a mere casual visitor.  The Royal, the Astronomical, the Geological, the Chemical, and the Linnæan Societies, the College of Physicians, the Institution of Civil Engineers, and others of like kind, are those to which we here refer.  Many of these societies are at present accommodated with the use of apartments at the public expense, in Burlington House, Piccadilly.

NATIONAL GALLERY; ROYAL ACADEMY; ART EXHIBITIONS.

National Gallery.—This building, in Trafalgar Square, is the chief depository of the pictures belonging to the nation.  In 1824, the Government purchased the Angerstein collection of 38 pictures, for £57,000, and exhibited it for a time at a house in Pall Mall.  The present structure was finished in 1838, at a cost of about £100,000, from the designs of Mr. Wilkins.  Since that year till 1869, the Royal Academy occupied the eastern half, and the National Gallery the western.  In the last-named year, the Royal Academy was removed to Burlington House; and the whole of the building is now what its name denotes.  This National Gallery now comprises the Angerstein collection, together with numerous pictures presented to the nation by Lord Farnborough, Sir George Beaumont, the Rev. Holwell Carr, Mr. Vernon, and other persons; and, most recent of all, the Turner collection, bequeathed to the nation by that greatest of our landscape painters.  Every year, likewise, witnesses the purchase of choice old pictures out of funds provided by Parliament.  The grant annually is about £10,000.  To accommodate the constantly increasing collection, the centre of p. 69the building was re-constructed in 1861, and a very handsome new saloon built, in which are deposited the choicest examples of the Italian Schools of Painting: forming, with its contents, one of the noblest rooms of the kind in Europe.  To name the pictures in this collection would be to name some of the finest works of the Italian, Spanish, Flemish, and French schools of painters.  Some of the most costly of the pictures are the following:—Murillo’s ‘Holy Family,’ £3000; Rubens’s ‘Rape of the Sabines,’ £3000; Francia’s ‘Virgin and Child,’ £3500; Sebastian del Piombo’s ‘Raising of Lazarus,’ 3500 guineas; Coreggio’s ‘Holy Family,’ £3800; Perugino’s ‘Virgin and Child,’ £4000; Claude’s ‘Seaport,’ £4000; Rubens’s ‘Judgment of Paris,’ £4200; Raffaelle’s ‘St. Catherine,’ £5000; Rembrandt’s ‘Woman taken in Adultery,’ £5250; Correggio’s ‘Ecce Homo,’ and ‘Mercury instructing Cupid,’ 10,000 guineas; and Paul Veronese’s ‘Family of Darius,’ £14,000.

Royal Academy, Burlington House.—The Academy was established in 1768, for the encouragement of the fine arts.  Until the finishing of Mr. Wilkin’s building, the Academy held its meetings and exhibitions in a small number of rooms at Somerset House.  Students are admitted on evidence of sufficient preliminary training, and taught gratuitously; but so far as the public is concerned, the Royal Academy is chiefly known by its famous Annual Exhibition of modern English pictures and sculptures, from May to July.  This Exhibition is a very profitable affair to the Academy.  Royal commissions and parliamentary committees find a difficulty in investigating the revenues, privileges, and claims of the Academy; it is known, however, that the schools are maintained out of the profits.  Concerning the building in Trafalgar Square, most persons agree that the main front is too much cut up in petty detail, and that one of the finest sites in Europe has thus been comparatively neglected.  Some have humorously nicknamed it “The National Cruet Stand.”

National Portrait Gallery.—This infant gallery, established by the nation in 1857, is now at Exhibition Road, South Kensington.  The object is to be strictly confined to the collecting of a series of national portraits of persons of any note, whether of early or of late p. 70days.  A sum of £2000 a-year is voted for this purpose.  The collection is yet only small, but very interesting, and is yearly increasing.  Open free on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Soane Museum.—This closely-packed collection, presented to the nation by the late Sir John Soane, the architect, occupies the house which he used to inhabit, at No. 13, on the north side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields.  Every nook and corner of about 24 rooms is crowded with works of art—sarcophagi, ancient gems and intaglios, medals and coins, sculptures, sketches and models of sculptures, books of prints, portfolios of drawings, Hogarth’s famous series of pictures of the ‘Rake’s Progress,’ and numerous other examples of vertu, some of which cost large sums of money.  The place is open every Wednesday from February to August inclusive, and every Thursday and Friday in April, May, and June, from 10 till 4.  Still, these are very insufficient facilities (only 56 days out of the 365 in the year) for seeing a fine collection of treasures.  Orders for admission are sent, on application, by post.

Art Exhibitions.—There are always numerous picture exhibitions open in the summer months—such as those formed by the British Institution, the Society of British Artists, the Society of Painters in Water Colours, &c.; concerning which information can be seen in the advertisement columns of the newspapers.  At the British Institution there is a spring exhibition of modern pictures, and a summer exhibition of ancient.  The price of admission to such places is almost invariably One Shilling.  Other exhibitions, pertaining more to entertainment than to fine arts, are briefly noticed in a later section.

COLLEGES; SCHOOLS; HOSPITALS; CHARITIES.

London, as may well be imagined, is largely supplied with institutions tending to the proper care of the young, the aged, the sick, and the impoverished.  A few of the more important among them are worthy of the attention of strangers.

Colleges.—The two chief colleges in London are connected with the London University.  This University is a body of persons, not (as many suppose) a building.  The body was established in 1837, p. 71to confer degrees on the students or graduates of many different colleges in and about London.  It occupies apartments at Burlington House, Piccadilly, lent by the government for examining purposes; but it neither teaches nor gives lectures.  University College, in Gower Street, was originally called London University; but since 1837, the more limited designation has been given to it.  It was founded in 1828, on the proprietary system, to afford a good middle-class education at a moderate expense, without limitation as to religious tests.  Hence it is much frequented by Jews, Parsees, Hindoos, &c.  The whole range of college tuition is given, except divinity; with the addition of much fuller instruction in science and in modern languages than was before given in colleges.  The building, with its lofty portico, might possibly have presented a good appearance p. 72if the plans of the architect had been carried out; but, through want of funds, the wings have never been built, and the structure is ridiculously incomplete.  The college possesses a fine collection of casts from Flaxman’s sculptures, usually open to inspection by strangers.  King’s College, in the Strand, has been already mentioned as adjoining Somerset House on the east.  It was founded in the same year as University College, expressly in connection with the Established Church of England.  There was some sectarian bitterness between the two establishments at first, but both have settled down into a steady career of usefulness.  The teaching of divinity, and the observance of church-service as part of the routine, are maintained at King’s College.  Gordon College, or University Hall, in Gordon Square, is an establishment mainly supported by Unitarians; the building itself, as a modern imitation of the old red-brick style, is worthy of a passing glance.  New College, at St. John’s Wood, for Congregationalists or Independents; the Baptist College, in the Regent’s Park; the English Presbyterian Theological College, Guildford Street, W.C.; the Wesleyan College, in the Horseferry Road; Hackney College; and a few others of less note—are establishments maintained by various bodies of dissenters; some for educating ministers for the pulpit; some for training schoolmasters and schoolmistresses.  Of the buildings so occupied, the handsomest is New College.  This was established, a few years ago, as a substitute for Highbury, Homerton, and Coward Colleges, all belonging to the Congregationalists.  Gresham College: this is not a college in the modern sense of the term; it is only a lecture-room.  Sir Thomas Gresham left an endowment for an annual series of lectures, and residences and stipends for the lecturers.  The charity was greatly misused during the 17th and 18th centuries.  Public attention having been called to the subject, a new lecture hall was built, a few years ago, at the corner of Basinghall and Gresham Streets, out of the accumulated fund; and lectures are delivered here at certain periods of each year.  The subjects are divinity, physic, astronomy, geometry, law, rhetoric, and music.  The lectures take place in the middle of the day, some in Latin, some in English; they are freely open to the public; but p. 73the auditors, at such an hour and in such a place—surrounded by the busy hum of commerce—are very few in number.  Among the training colleges for schoolmasters and mistresses may be named the National Society’s at Battersea; St. Mark’s Training College, Fulham Road; the Training Institution for schoolmistresses, King’s Road, Chelsea; the British and Foreign in the Borough Road; and the Home and Colonial in Gray’s Inn Road.  At Islington is a Church of England Training College for missionaries.  The College of Preceptors, in Queen Square, resembles the London University in this, that it confers a sort of degree, or academical rank, but does not teach.  Many so-called colleges are either proprietary or private schools.

Great Public Schools.—The chief of these in London is Westminster School, not for the building itself, but for the celebrity of the institution; although the college hall, once the refectory of the old abbots of Westminster, is interesting from its very antiquity.  The school, which was founded in 1560, lies south-west of Westminster Abbey, but very near it.  Some of our greatest statesmen and scholars have been educated here.  St. Paul’s School, situated on the eastern side of St. Paul’s Churchyard, was founded in 1521, by Dean Colet, for the education of ‘poor men’s children.’  Like many others of the older schools, the benefits are not conferred so fully as they ought to be on the class designated.  The presentations are wholly in the hands of the Mercers’ Company.  The now existing school-house, the third on the same site, was built in 1823.  The Charter House School, near Aldersgate Street, is part of a charity established by Thomas Sutton in 1611.  Among other great men here educated were the late Sir Henry Havelock, and W. M. Thackeray.  There is an Hospital or Almshouse for about 80 ‘poor Brethren,’ men who have seen better days; and there is a school for the free education of 40 ‘poor Boys,’ with many more whose parents pay for their schooling.  The chapel and ante-chapel, the great hall and staircase, and the governor’s room, are interesting parts of the building.  Christ’s Hospital, or the Blue Coat School—as it is commonly called from the colour of the boys’ dress—is situated within an enclosure on the north side of Newgate Street, and is one of the most splendid among the charitable foundations of p. 74London.  The buildings stand on the site of a monastery of Grey-friars, which was granted by Henry VIII. to the city for the use of the poor; and his son and successor, Edward VI., greatly extended the value of the gift by granting a charter for its foundation as a charity school, and at the same time endowing it with sundry benefactions.  The hospital was opened, for the reception and education of boys, in 1552.  Charles II. added an endowment for a mathematical class; and with various augmentations of endowment, the annual revenue is now understood to be no less than £40,000.  This income supports and educates nearly 1200 children, 500 of whom, including girls, are boarded at the town of Hertford, for the sake of country air.  The management of the institution is vested in a body of governors, composed of the lord mayor and aldermen, twelve common-councilmen chosen by lot, and all benefactors to the amount of £400 and upwards.  The children are admitted without reference to the City privileges of parents; about one hundred and fifty are entered annually.  It is undeniable, however, that many children are admitted rather through interest than on account of the poverty of their parents.  After instruction in the elementary branches of schooling, the greater number of the boys leave the hospital at the age of fifteen; those only remaining longer who intend to proceed to the university, or to go to sea after completing a course of mathematics.  There are seven presentations at Cambridge, and one at Oxford, open to the scholars.  The buildings of the institution embrace several structures of large dimensions, chiefly ranged round open courts, with cloisters beneath; and a Church, which also serves as a parochial place of worship.  The only part of the establishment, however, worth examining for its architecture is the Great Hall, occupying the first floor of a building of modern date, designed by Mr. Shaw, in the Gothic style.  It measures 187 feet long, 51 feet broad, and 47 high, and possesses an organ-gallery at the east end.  In this magnificent apartment the boys breakfast, dine, and sup.  Before meals, one of the elder inmates repeats a long grace or prayer, at the commencement of which the whole of the boys, in lines at their respective tables, fall on their knees.  The boys are dressed in the costume selected for p. 75them in Edward VI.’s reign; the outer garments consisting of a long dark-blue coat, breeches, and yellow worsted stockings.  The ‘public suppers,’ on Thursdays in Lent, are worth the attention of strangers: (tickets from governors.)  Merchant Taylors’ School, situated in a close part of the City behind the Mansion House, was founded in 1561 by the Merchant Taylors’ Company.  The present structure was built in 1673, with the exception of some of the classrooms, which are much more modern.  About 260 boys are educated, wholly on the presentation of members of the Company; and there are numerous fellowships at St. John’s College, Oxford, open to the scholars.  Mercers’ Free Grammar School, in College Hill, is a small establishment of similar kind.  The City of London School, in Milk Street, Cheapside, is one of the most modern of these Grammar Schools, as they are called.  It was founded in 1835, and possesses several Exhibitions for successful senior scholars.

Other Schools.—The schools established under the auspices of the National Society, called National Schools, are very numerous, but need hardly be noticed here.  The British and Foreign School Society, in the Borough Road, and the Home and Colonial School Society, in Gray’s Inn Road, train up teachers without reference to religious tests; whereas the National Society is in connection with the Church of England.  Many very superior schools for girls, under the designation of Ladies’ Colleges, have been established in the metropolis within the last few years, in Harley Street and in Bedford Square, &c.  The Government School of Art for Ladies is in Queen Square, Bloomsbury.  The National Art Training School is at South Kensington.

The London School Board, elected in 1870, under the new Education Act, has its locale at 33 New Bridge Street, Blackfriars.  It has, practically speaking, almost entire control of the educational systems of the metropolis, and is armed with inquisitorial powers that remind us of the ancient Star Chamber.  Still, the system of election of the members of the Board gives a certain guarantee of responsibility, that makes its prestige, at least, without suspicion.

Schools of Telegraphy are established at 138 Regent Street, W., and 24 City Road, E.C., where the art is fully instructed, to resident and non-resident pupils.

p. 76Hospitals and Charitable Institutions.—A small volume might readily be filled with a list of London’s charitable institutions.  The charities connected in some way with the corporation of London are Christ’s Hospital, for boarding and educating youth, already mentioned; Bethlehem Hospital, Lambeth, for insane patients; St. Thomas’s Hospital, for treating poor patients diseased and hurt; and St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, West Smithfield, for the same purpose.  The City companies likewise support a number of beneficiary institutions, such as the Ironmongers’ Almhouses at Kingsland, and others of like kind.  The following hospitals are the most important among the large number founded and supported by private benevolence:—Guy’s Hospital, Southwark; London Hospital, Whitechapel Road; Westminster Hospital, near the Abbey; St. George’s Hospital, Hyde Park Corner; Middlesex Hospital, Charles Street, Oxford Street; University College Hospital, Gower Street; St. Luke’s Hospital, for the insane, City Road; King’s College Hospital, near Clare Market; Small-Pox Hospital, Highgate Rise; the Foundling Hospital, Great Guildford Street; the Consumption Hospital, Brompton; Charing Cross Hospital, Agar Street; the Lock Hospital, Harrow Road; and the Royal Free Hospital, Gray’s Inn Road.  Besides these, there are several Lying-in hospitals, a Floating hospital on the Thames, now substituted by a part of Greenwich Hospital being devoted to a similar use; various Ophthalmic hospitals, and numerous Dispensaries and Infirmaries for particular diseases.  Institutions for the relief of indigent persons, Deaf and Dumb asylums, Blind asylums, and Orphan asylums, are far too numerous to be specified.  In short, there are in this great metropolis about 250 hospitals, dispensaries, infirmaries, asylums, and almshouses; besides at least 400 religious, visiting, and benevolent institutions for ministering to the various ills, mental and moral, bodily or worldly, to which an immense population is always subject.  It is supposed that these several institutions receive in subscriptions considerably over £2,000,000 annually.  Some of the hospital buildings above named are large and majestic in appearance.  When, for the Charing Cross extension of the South-Eastern Railway, St. Thomas’s Hospital and site, p. 77which formerly stood close to London Bridge Station, were purchased for a sum not very much under £300,000, it was arranged to rebuild the hospital between the south end of Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Palace.  This hospital, which is now completed, affords a fine object from a steamboat passing up the river, and is certainly one of the noblest buildings of its class in Europe.

THE TOWER; THE MINT; THE CUSTOM HOUSE; THE GENERAL POST OFFICE.

This section treats of four important government buildings situated in the eastern half of the metropolis.

The Tower of London.—This famous structure, or rather group of structures, is a cluster of houses, towers, barracks, armouries, warehouses, and prison-like edifices, situated on the north bank of the Thames, and separated from the crowded narrow streets of the city by an open space of ground called Tower-hill.  The Tower was founded by William the Conqueror, probably on the site of an older fortress, to secure his authority over the inhabitants of London; but the original fort which he established on the spot was greatly extended by subsequent monarchs; and in the twelfth century it was surrounded by a wet ditch, which was improved in the reign of Charles II.  This ditch or moat was drained in 1843.  Within the outer wall the ground measures upwards of twelve acres.  Next the river there is a broad quay; and on this side also there was a channel (now closed) by which boats formerly passed into the main body of the place.  This water-entrance is known by the name of Traitors’ Gate, being that by which, in former days, state prisoners were brought in boats after their trial at Westminster.  There are three other entrances or postern-gates—Lion Gate, Iron Gate, and Water Gate—only two of which, however, are now used.  The interior of the Tower is an irregular assemblage of short streets and courtyards, bounded by various structures.  The White Tower, or Keep, is the oldest of these buildings; and the Chapel in it is a fine specimen of a small Norman church.  Other towers are the Lion Tower, near the principal entrance; the Middle Tower, the first seen p. 78on passing the ditch; the Bell Tower, adjacent to it; the Bloody Tower, nearly opposite Traitors’ Gate; the Salt Tower, near the Iron Gate; Brick Tower, where Lady Jane Grey was confined; Bowyer Tower, where the Duke of Clarence is said to have been drowned in the butt of malmsey; and Beauchamp Tower, where Anne Boleyn was imprisoned.  These old towers are very curious, but few of them are open to the public.  The principal objects of interest are a collection of cannon, being trophies of war; the horse armoury, a most interesting collection of suits of mail on stuffed figures; and the crown and other insignia of royalty.  In the Horse Armoury, a long gallery built in 1826, is an extensive collection of armour, arranged by Sir Samuel Meyrick, a great authority on this subject.  It comprises whole suits of armour, consisting of hauberks, chausses, surcoats, baldricks, breast-plates, back-plates, chain-mail sleeves and skirts, gauntlets, helmets, frontlets, vamplates, flanchards, p. 79and other pieces known to the old armourers.  About twenty complete suits of armour are placed upon stuffed figures of men, mostly on stuffed horses.  Four of the suits belonged to Henry VIII., Dudley Earl of Leicester, Henry Prince of Wales, and Charles I.; the others are merely intended to illustrate the kinds of armour in vogue at certain periods.  One suit, of the time of Richard III., was worn by the Marquis of Waterford at the Eglinton tournament in 1839.  The gallery also contains some other curiosities relating to the armour of past days.  Queen Elizabeth’s Armoury is in the White Tower, the walls of which are 13 feet thick, and still contain traces of inscriptions by state prisoners in troubled times: the armoury contains many curious old shields, bows, Spanish instruments of torture, petronels, partisans, beheading axe and p. 80block, thumb-screws, Lochaber axes, matchlocks, arquebuses, swords, &c.  Immediately outside these Armouries, in the open air, are some curious cannon and mortars belonging to different ages and different countries.  The new Barracks occupy the site of the Small Arms Armoury, destroyed by fire in 1841, when 280,000 stand of arms were destroyed.  The Lions in the Tower were among the sights of the place for nearly 600 years; they were in a building near the present ticket-office, but were given to the Zoological Society in 1834.  The Jewel House, a well-guarded room to the east of the Armouries, contains a valuable collection of state jewels.  Among them are the following:—St. Edward’s Crown, used at all the coronations from Charles II. to William IV.; the New State Crown, made for the coronation of Queen Victoria, and valued at more than £100,000; the Prince of Wales’s and the Queen Consort’s Crowns (the most recent wearer of the last was Queen Adelaide); the Queen’s Diadem; the Royal Sceptre, Queen’s Sceptre, and Queen’s Ivory Sceptre; the Orb and the Queen’s Orb; St. Edward’s Staff and the Rod of Equity; the Swords of Mercy and of Justice; the Coronation Bracelets and Royal Spurs; the Ampulla for the holy oil, and the Coronation Spoon; the silver-gilt Baptismal Font, used at the christening of royal children; and the famous Koh-i-noor, or ‘Mountain of Light,’ the wonderful diamond once belonging to Runjeet Singh, chief of Lahore, but now the property of Queen Victoria,—it was an object of great interest at the two great Exhibitions in 1851 and 1862.  Strangers, on applying at an office at the entrance from Tower-hill, are conducted through a portion of the buildings by warders, who wear a curious costume of Henry VIII.’s time—some years ago rendered incongruous by the substitution of black trousers for scarlet hose.  These warders, or beef-eaters (as they are often called), go their rounds with visitors every half-hour from 10 till 4.  The word “beef-eaters” was a vulgar corruption of beaufetiers, battle-axe guards, who were first raised by Henry VII. in 1485.  They were originally attendants upon the king’s buffet.  A fee of 6d. is charged for seeing the Armouries, and 6d. for the Jewel House.  From time to time, when foreign politics look threatening, the Tower undergoes alterations and renovations p. 81to increase its utility as a fortress; and it is at all times under strict military government.

The Mint.—This structure, situated a little north-east of the Tower, is the establishment in which the coinage is in great part made, and wholly regulated.  The rooms, the machinery, and the processes for coining, are all full of interest.  The assaying of the gold and silver for coinage; the alloying and melting; the casting into ingots; the flattening, rolling, and laminating of the ingots to the proper thickness; the cutting into strips, and the strips into circular blanks; the stamping of those blanks on both surfaces; and the testing to ascertain that every coin is of the proper weight—are all processes in which very beautiful and perfect apparatus is needed.  Copper and bronze coins are mostly made for the government at Birmingham.  From a statement made in parliament, in August, 1869, by the Right Hon. Robert Lowe, we gathered that 98 millions of sovereigns had been coined in the Mint since 1850.  But of these no fewer than 44 millions had been lost to our coinage, because many of the sovereigns, being overweight, had been sent to the Continent to be melted down as bullion!  There are nearly 500 millions of copper coin in circulation; and of silver coin, from crown pieces down to threepenny pieces, something like the astounding number of 286,220,000.  Permission to view this interesting establishment could at one time only be obtained by special application to the Master of the Mint, who has an official residence at the spot; but since the death of the late Master, Dr. Graham, that office will not in future be filled up.  A letter to the Deputy Master will probably obtain the required order to view.  We should add that the removal of the Mint to Somerset House is now seriously contemplated.  It is urged that the price of its present site, if sold, would readily defray cost of removal.

Custom House.—This important building, situated on the north bank of the Thames, between London Bridge and the Tower, occupies a site on which other and smaller custom houses had previously stood.  The east and west ends of the present structure were finished in 1817 by Mr. Laing; but the central portion was rebuilt afterwards from the designs of Sir Robert Smirke.  The p. 82river front is extensive, and although not architecturally fine, the general appearance is effective.  One of the few broad terraces on the banks of the Thames is that in front of the Custom House; it is a good position from whence strangers can view the shipping in the river.  The ‘Long Room’ in this building is 190 feet long by 66 broad.  By way of illustrating the enormous amount of business done here, we may mention, that in the years 1867–68, the amount of Customs’ receipts collected in the port of London was more than that of all the other ports of Great Britain taken together, and five times that of the whole of Ireland.  In 1867, the port of London gross receipts were £10,819,711; and in 1868, £10,694,494.  The vast Customs’ duties for the port of London, amounting to nearly half of those for the whole United Kingdom, are managed here.

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General Poet Office.—This large building, at the corner of Cheapside and St. Martin’s-le-Grand, was finished in 1829, from the designs of Sir Robert Smirke.  It is in the Ionic style, with a lofty central portico; beneath which is the entrance to the spacious hall (80 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 53 feet high), having also an entrance at the opposite extremity; but the central Hall is now entirely enclosed, owing to the recent great extension of the Postal business.  A Money-order Office has been built on the opposite side of the street; and the Post Office has been added to in various ways, to make room for increased business.  The main building, which contains a vast number of rooms, is enclosed by a railing; and at the north end is a courtyard, in which mail-vans range up and depart with their load of bags, at certain hours in the morning and evening, for the several railway termini.  At other portions p. 84of the building the foreign, colonial, and India mails are despatched.  From six to seven o’clock in the evening a prodigious bustle prevails in putting letters into the Post Office; and on Saturday evening, when the Sunday newspapers are posted, the excitement is still further increased—especially just before six, by which hour the newspapers must be posted.  The establishment, some four years ago, employed 20,000 clerks, sorters, and letter-carriers in the various parts of the United Kingdom; and since the Post Office took over the business of the Telegraph Companies, the number of its employés is greatly increased.  The postage charged on foreign and colonial letters is too small to pay for the mail-packets and other expenses; profit is derived only from the inland letters.  There are now in London and the suburbs about 730 pillar-boxes and wall-boxes; without counting receiving houses.  Newspapers and book packets must not be put in town pillar-boxes.  A very useful novelty, Post Office Savings’ Banks, was introduced in 1861.  In the year 1840, in which the uniform rate of one penny per letter of half an ounce weight, &c., commenced, the revenue of the Post Office was only £471,000.  Its revenue received during the year 1871–72 was no less than £6,102,900, and every year the receipts are increasing.  New postal buildings of great extent have been erected on the opposite side of the street.

THE CORPORATION; MANSION HOUSE; GUILDHALL; MONUMENT; ROYAL EXCHANGE.

It will be convenient to group here certain buildings belonging to the Corporation of London; and to prefix to a notice of them some account of the mode in which the city of London is governed.

The Corporation.—With respect to civic jurisdiction, the city of London is governed in a peculiar manner.  In virtue of ancient charters and privileges, the city is a species of independent community, governed by its own laws and functionaries.  While all other boroughs have been reformed in their constitution, London has been suffered to remain, as yet, in the enjoyment of nearly all its p. 85old usages.  The city is civilly divided into twenty-five wards, each of which has an alderman; and with one alderman without a ward, the number of aldermen is 26.  Each is chosen for life, and acts as magistrate within his division.  The freemen of the various wards elect representatives annually to the common-council, to the number of 206 members.  The lord mayor, aldermen, and common-council, compose the legislative body for the city.  The lord mayor is chosen by a numerous and respectable constituency, called the livery, or liverymen; these are certain qualified members of trading corporations, who, except in electing the lord mayor, sheriffs, members of parliament, &c., do not directly interfere in city management.  The Court of Aldermen and the Court of Common-council have certain legislative and executive duties, partly with and partly without the immediate aid of the lord mayor.  The revenue of the city corporation is derived from sundry dues, rents, interest of bequests, fines for leases, &c.  The magistracy, police, and prisons cost about £40,000 annually; but this is exclusive of large sums disbursed by the court of aldermen.  The lord mayor is elected annually, on the 29th of September, from among the body of aldermen.  The livery send a list of two candidates to the court of aldermen, and one of these, generally the senior, is chosen by them.  He enters office, with much pomp, on the 9th of November, which is hence called Lord Mayor’s Day.  The procession through the streets on this occasion attracts citizens as well as strangers.  The advocate and legal adviser of the corporation is an official with the title of Recorder.  The lord mayor and corporation exercise a jurisdiction over Southwark and other precincts.  Westminster, which is not connected in civic matters with London Proper, is under the jurisdiction of a high-bailiff.  The city returns 4 members to Parliament, besides the 16 returned by Westminster, Southwark, Marylebone, Tower Hamlets, Finsbury, Lambeth, Chelsea, and Greenwich.

In 1829, the old mode of protection by Watchmen was abolished in all parts of the metropolis except the city, and a new Police Force established by Act of Parliament.  This has been a highly successful and beneficial improvement.  The new police is under p. 86the management of commissioners, who are in direct communication with the Secretary of State for the Home Department; under the commissioners are superintendents, inspectors, sergeants, and constables.  The district under their care includes the whole metropolis and environs, with the exception of the city, grouped into 21 divisions, each denoted by a letter.  The constables wear a blue uniform, and are on duty at all times of the day and night.  Three-fourths of the expenses are paid out of the parish rates, but limited to an assessment of 8d. per pound on the rental; the remainder is contributed from the public purse.  The corporation have since established a Police Force for the city on the model of that above mentioned.  In addition to two Police Offices for the city, at the Mansion House and Guildhall, there are eleven for the remaining parts of the metropolis,—viz., Bow Street, Clerkenwell, Great Marlborough Street, Thames, Worship Street, Southwark, Marylebone, Westminster, Lambeth, Greenwich and Woolwich, and Hammersmith and Wandsworth.  The Thames Police have a peculiar jurisdiction over the river.  In 1836, a horse patrol was added to the Bow Street establishment, consisting of inspectors and patrols, whose sphere of action is the less frequented roads around the metropolis.  With all these means of preserving the peace and preventing crime, the metropolis is now one of the most orderly cities in the world; and provided strangers do not seek the haunts of vice, but pursue their way steadily, they run little or no risk of molestation.  The number of metropolitan police in 1872 was about 9,000; of city police, 700—including, in both cases, superintendents, inspectors, &c., &c.  The commissioner of metropolitan police is Lieutenant-Colonel E. Y. W. Henderson, C.B., 4 Whitehall Place, S.W.; the commissioner of city police is Colonel James Fraser, C.B., 26 Old Jewry, E.C.

The Drainage of London was a matter barely understood at all, and in no wholesome sense practised, till some time after the Board of Works was formed, in 1855, when their best efforts to check a rapidly growing evil—viz., the casting of London’s poisonous sewage into the Thames at our very doors—were called into play.  The estimated cost of one of the most colossal schemes of modern times was, p. 87at its outset, put down at something over three millions; and when the vast plan for main drainage was commenced, in 1859, a sanitary revolution began.  A far greater sum, however, must be expended ere the idea is wholly carried out.  It is obviously out of our power, in our limited space, to do anything more than give the reader a mere rough notion of the good to be done and the difficulties to be overcome.  The plan was to construct some 70 odd miles of gigantic sewers on either side of the Thames.  The north side of the river has three different lines of sewers, which meet at the river Lea, and thereafter go along, in one huge embankment, to Barking Creek, on the Thames, 14 miles below London Bridge.  With certain differences, the sewage of the south side of the Thames is amenable to the same kind of treatment.  By some returns, furnished in June, 1870, by the engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works, it appears that the average daily quantity of sewage pumped into the river Thames at Crossness was 170,934 cubic metres, and at Barking 152,808 cubic metres—equivalent to about as many tons by weight.  That quantity, of course, will every year, as London grows, increase.  As the sewers on the north side of the river get more near to the sea, they can be seen.  The south side sewers are nearly all out of sight.  As the tide flows, the filth of London, by their means, is poured into the water.  As it ebbs, the sewage is carried out to sea.  Powerful steam-engines, for pumping up sewage from low levels, are used as they are required.  The clerk of the Metropolitan Board of Works, who may be seen at Spring Gardens, Charing Cross, will, we should fancy, oblige any gentleman with engineering proclivities with an order to view what has already been accomplished by marvellous ability and enterprise,—whose results can in no fair sense gain anything like fair appreciation without personal inspection.

London is Lighted by sundry joint-stock gas companies; the parishes contract with them for street lights, and individuals for the house and shop lights.  Gas was first introduced into London, in Golden Lane, in 1807; in Pall Mall in 1809; and generally through London in 1814.  There are something like 2,500 miles of gas-pipes in and about London.

p. 88The first of the public Baths and Wash-houses was established near the London Docks in 1844.  The number, of course, has vastly increased.  Many of them are maintained by the parish authorities, and are very cheap.

The first public Drinking Fountain in London was erected, near St. Sepulchre’s Church, close to Newgate, in 1859.  There are now nearly 200 such fountains and troughs for animals in London.

In 1833, by an agreement among the Fire Insurance offices, there was established a regular fire-suppression police, or Fire Brigade, consisting of a superintendent, foremen, engineers, sub-engineers, and firemen; numerous engines are in constant readiness at fifty-four different stations.  (The brigade is now placed under public control, supported by a house-rate.)  The fires in London exceed 1,500 annually, on an average.

Mansion House.—This is a tall square mass of dark stone building, nearly opposite the Bank and the Royal Exchange, with a portico of six Corinthian columns in front, resting on a low rustic basement.  This edifice, which extends a considerable depth behind, is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London, provided by the city corporation.  Besides an extensive suite of domestic apartments, it contains a number of state-rooms, in which company is received and entertained.  The chief of these rooms are the Egyptian hall and the ball-room, which have a grand appearance.  Some fine sculptures by British artists—the best of which are Foley’s ‘Caractacus and Egeria,’ and Bailey’s ‘Genius and the Morning Star’—have recently been added; the corporation having voted a sum of money for this purpose.  The lord mayor’s annual stipend is £5,997 8s. 4d., with certain allowances, we believe, not stated; and in the Mansion House he has the use of a superb collection of plate: he is likewise allowed the use of a state-coach, &c.  Every lord mayor, however, expends more than this sum during his year of office in grand banquets.

Guildhall.—This may be regarded as the Town-hall, or what the French would call the Hotel de Ville, of London; where are held meetings of the livery to elect members of parliament, lord mayor, p. 89sheriffs, and others, and where the grandest civic entertainments are given.  It is situated at the end of King Street, Cheapside.  The building is old, but received a new front, in a strange kind of Gothic, in 1789.  The interior of the grand hall is 153 feet long, 48 feet broad, and 55 feet high; it is one of the largest rooms in London, and can accommodate about 3,500 persons at dinner.  Two clumsy colossal figures, called Gog and Magog, the history of which has never clearly been made out, are placed at the west end of the hall.  Around it are some fine marble monuments to Lord Mayor Beckford, Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, the Earl of Chatham, and his son, William Pitt.  Note the stained glass with the armorial bearings of the twelve great city companies; also observe, in the passage leading to the common-council chamber, the portrait of General Sir W. F. Williams, the heroic defender of Kars in 1855.  At the top of the council chamber will be seen Chantrey’s statue of George III.; a picture of the siege of Gibraltar, by Copley; and Northcote’s ‘Wat Tyler slain by Lord Mayor Walworth,’ with other pictures and portraits.  Near by are several offices for corporate and law courts.  The Library contains many valuable antiquities, books, coins, pottery, &c., and some interesting autographs.  Note that of Shakespere, on a deed of purchase of a house in Blackfriars.  The Crypt is a curious underground vault.  On Lord Mayor’s Day the grand dinner usually costs about £2,200.  On the 18th June, 1814, when the Allied Sovereigns dined here, the gold plate was valued at £200,000.

The Monument.—This may be regarded as a corporate structure, although it answers no useful purpose.  It is a fluted Doric column, situated in a small space of ground adjoining the southern extremity of King William Street, on the descent to Lower Thames Street.  It was begun in 1671, and finished in 1677, at a cost of about £14,500, in commemoration of the Great Fire of London, which began at the distance of 202 feet eastward from the spot, in 1666; and its height has on that account (so we are told) been made 202 feet.  It is a handsome column, with a gilt finial intended to represent flames of fire.  Visitors are allowed to ascend by a winding stair of 345 steps to the top; fee, 3d.  No better place can be p. 90chosen from which to view the river, the shipping, and the city generally.

The Royal Exchange.—This is a handsome quadrangular building on the north side of Cornhill, having in the centre an open court with colonnades.  The chief entrance faces an open paved space on the west, on which is placed an equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington.  The building was erected from plans by Mr. Tite, and was opened in 1844; it occupies the site of the former Exchange, which was accidentally destroyed by fire.  The pediment contains sculptures by Sir R. Westmacott, R.A.  The lower part of the exterior is laid out as shops, which greatly injure the architectural effect; the upper rooms are occupied as public offices, one of which is Lloyd’s, or, more properly, Lloyd’s Subscription Rooms, where merchants, shipowners, shippers, and underwriters congregate.  A statue of the Queen is in the centre of the quadrangular area.  The busy time on ’Change is from 3 till 4 o’clock, Tuesday and Friday being the principal days.

THE TEMPLE; INNS OF COURT; COURTS OF JUSTICE; PRISONS.

The buildings noticed in this section belong partly to the crown, partly to the corporation of London, and partly to other bodies.

The Temple.—Contiguous to the south side of Fleet Street is a most extensive series of buildings, comprising several squares and rows, called the Temple; belonging to the members of two societies, the Inner and Middle Temple, consisting of benchers, barristers, and students.  This famous old place, taken in its completeness, was, in 1184, the metropolitan residence of the Knights Templars, who held it until their downfall in 1313; soon afterwards it was occupied by students of the law; and in 1608 James I. presented the entire group of structures to the benchers of the two societies, who have ever since been the absolute owners.  The entrance to Inner Temple, from Fleet Street, consists of nothing more than a mere gateway; the entrance to Middle Temple was designed by Sir Christopher Wren.  Middle Temple Hall, 100 feet long, 42 wide, and 47 high, is considered to have one of the finest Elizabethan p. 91roofs in London.  A group of chambers, called Paper Buildings, built near the river, is a good example of revived Elizabethan.  A new Inner Temple Hall was formally opened, in 1870, by the Princess Louise.  In October, 1861, when the Prince of Wales was elected a bencher of the Middle Temple, a new Library was formally opened, which had been constructed at a cost of £13,000; it is a beautiful ornament to the place, as seen from the river.  The Temple Church, a few yards only down from Fleet Street, is one of the most interesting churches in London.  All the main parts of the structure are as old as the time of the Knights Templars; but the munificent sum of £70,000 was spent, about twenty years ago, in restoring and adorning it.  There are two portions, the Round Church and the Choir, the one nearly 700 years old, and the other more than 600.  The monumental effigies, the original sculptured heads in the Round Church, the triforium, and the fittings of the Choir, are all worthy of attention.  The north side of the church has recently been laid open by the removal of adjoining buildings; and in their place some handsome chambers are erected.  Hard by, in the churchyard, is the grave of Oliver Goldsmith, who died in chambers (since pulled down) in Brick Court.  The Sunday services are very fine, and always attract many strangers.  The Temple Gardens, fronting the river, are probably the best in the city.

Lincoln’s Inn was once the property of the De Lacie, Earl of Lincoln.  It became an Inn of Court in 1310.  The fine new hall—worth seeing—was opened in 1845.  The Chapel was built in 1621–3, by Inigo Jones.  He also laid out the large garden in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, close by, in 1620.  Lord William Russell was beheaded here in 1683.  In Lincoln’s Inn are the Chancery and Equity Courts.

Graves Inn, nearly opposite the north end of Chancery Lane, once belonged to the Lords Gray of Wilton.  It was founded in 1357.  Most of its buildings—except its hall, with black oak roof—are of comparatively modern date.  In Gray’s Inn lived the great Lord Bacon, a tree planted by whom, in the quaint old garden of the Inn, can yet be seen propped up by iron stays.  Charles the p. 92First, when Prince Charles, was an honorary member of Gray’s Inn, and Bradshaw, who tried him, was one of its benchers.

Sergeant’s Inn, Chancery Lane, is what its name denotes—the Inn of the sergeants-at-law.  Sergeants Inn, Fleet Street, is let out in chambers to barristers, solicitors, and the general public.  The last remark applies to the other small Inns of Chancery in and about Holborn and Fleet Street.

Till the new Law Courts are erected in Central Strand, London has no Courts of Law well built or convenient.  The Westminster Courts are little better than wooden sheds.  So are the Lincoln’s Inn Courts.  But they still are worth a visit.  At the Old Bailey, near Newgate, is the Central Criminal Court, for the trial of prisoners accused of crimes committed within ten miles of St. Paul’s.  Nominally, this court is free; but practically, a small douceur is always extorted by the ushers for a place.  In the other courts this practice of ‘tipping’ is less common.  The Bankruptcy Court, in Basinghall Street, the Clerkenwell Sessions House, the County Courts, and the Police Courts, are other establishments connected with the administration of justice; but the business of the first will shortly be transferred westward.

The Record Office.—Connected in some degree with the Courts of Law and Equity, is the New Record Office, Fetter Lane, where is deposited a vast body of unprinted documents belonging to the state, of priceless value, including the far-famed Doomsday Book; they having been previously scattered in various buildings about the metropolis.  Apply to the deputy-keeper for an order to inspect any but state papers of later date than 1688, for which the Home Secretary’s special order is requisite.

Prisons.—Newgate, the chief criminal prison for the city and county, in the Old Bailey, was a prison in the new gate of the city as early as 1218.  Two centuries after it was re-built, and in the Great Fire (1666) burnt down.  It was re-constructed in 1778–80; its interior burnt in the Gordon ‘No Popery’ riots in 1780; and its interior again re-constructed in 1857.  Debtors are no longer confined here; the few who come under the new law—which has almost abolished imprisonment for debt—being sent to Holloway Prison p. 93under the new law.  Till public executions were abolished, criminals came out for execution in the middle of the Old Bailey, through the small iron door over which is suspended a grim festoon of fetters.  They are now hanged privately inside the jail.  The condemned cells are on the north-east side of Newgate.  To view the prison, apply to the sheriff or the lord mayor.  The chief debtors’ prison was the Queen’s Bench, in Southwark.  It is now a Military Prison.  The City Prison, Holloway, a castellated structure, was built in 1855, as a substitute for other and overcrowded jails in London.  Other prisons are the House of Correction, Cold Bath Fields, capable of holding 1,200 prisoners; the House of Correction, at Wandsworth; the House of Correction, Westminster; Millbank Penitentiary, near the Middlesex end of Vauxhall Bridge, which could, if wanted, hold 1,200 prisoners, and cost £500,000; Pentonville Model Prison; Female Prison, Brixton; Surrey County Jail, Horsemonger Lane, on the top of which the infamous Mannings were hanged in 1849; and the House of Detention, Clerkenwell, which the Fenians tried to blow up.  The last prison is for persons not convicted.

BANKS; INSURANCE OFFICES; STOCK EXCHANGE; CITY COMPANIES.

Bank of England.—This large establishment is situated north of the Royal Exchange; the narrow thoroughfare between being Threadneedle Street, in which is the principal front.  This is unquestionably the greatest bank in the world.  The present structure was mostly the work of Sir John Soane, at various periods between 1788 and 1829.  About 1,000 clerks, messengers, &c., are employed here, at salaries varying from £50 to £1,200 per annum.  The buildings of the Bank are low, but remarkable in appearance.  In the centre is the principal entrance, which conducts to an inner open court, and thence to the main building.  The Dividend and Transfer Offices, with which fund-holders are most concerned, lie in the eastern part of the building.  Thus far the place is freely open to visitors.  The whole buildings and courts include an area of about eight acres.  The teller’s room shews a scene of great activity—p. 94clerks counting and weighing gold and silver, porters going to and fro, and crowds of tradesmen and others negotiating business at the counters.  The other and more private parts of the Bank can be seen only by an order from a director.  The most interesting departments are the bullion-office, in a vaulted chamber beneath—where there commonly are some 14 to 17 millions in bullion, as a reserve—entering from one of the many open courts; the treasury; the apartments in which the notes of the Bank are printed; and the weighing-office, where coin-balances of exquisite construction are used.  In the printing department there is a large steam-engine, which moves printing-machines, plate-presses, and other mechanism—the whole being in beautiful order, and forming a very interesting sight.  The Bank is guarded at night by its own watchmen, and a detachment of Foot Guards.

Joint-Stock and Private Banks.—Some of the handsomest modern buildings in London are those belonging to the Banking Companies.  The London and Westminster, the London Joint-Stock, the Union, the City, the Australian, and numerous other Companies, have two or more establishments each, some as many as half-a-dozen—the head bank always being in the busy centre of trade, the ‘City.’  Some of these are elegant structures; and all are planned with great skill in reference to interior arrangements.  The private bankers, such as Glyn, Barclays, Lubbocks, Coutts, &c., rival the companies in the architectural character of their banks; and some of their establishments, such as Child’s, near Temple Bar, are curious old places.  Many have lately been rebuilt in a substantial and handsome style.

Insurance Offices.—These form another extensive group, which has conduced much to the improved street appearance of modern London.  All the best conducted Life and Fire Insurance Companies are wealthy; and they have devoted part of their wealth to the construction of commodious and often elegant offices.  The County, the Royal Exchange, the Sun, the Phœnix, the Amicable, the Equitable, the Imperial, are among the most noted of these insurance offices.  The chief buildings are within a small circle, of which the Royal Exchange is the centre; another group is about p. 95Fleet Street and Blackfriars; and a western group lies in and near the Regent Street line.

Stock Exchange.—This building, of which scarcely anything can be seen on the outside, lies up a paved passage called Capel Court, in Bartholomew Lane, on the east side of the Bank of England.  Dealers and brokers in the public funds, and in all kinds of joint-stock shares and debentures, meet and transact business here.  They buy and sell, not only for themselves, but for the public generally; and the amount of business transacted every day is enormous.  The establishment is maintained by about 900 members, who pay £10 a-year each.  They endeavour to enforce strict honesty in each other’s dealings; but they sedulously refuse to allow a stranger even to pass the threshold of their Temple of Wealth.

Various Commercial Buildings.—A stranger has only to look at a detailed map or a directory, to see how numerous are the buildings, especially in the city, applied in various ways to commerce and trading on a large scale.  The Trinity House on Tower Hill; the chambers of the building that was once the South Sea House, near Leadenhall Street; those of the large but irregular structure called Gresham House, in Bishopsgate Street—are all worthy of a glance, some for their architectural character, and all for the importance of the work transacted in them.  The East India House, in Leadenhall Street, has been pulled down; commercial chambers in great number, and let at enormous rentals, have been built on the site.

City Companies.—In nothing is the past history of the metropolis, the memory of Old London, kept alive in a more remarkable way than by the City Companies, or Trading Guilds, which are still very numerous.  All were established with a good purpose, and all rendered service in their day; but at the present time few have any important duties to fulfil.  The age for such things is nearly past; but the companies have revenues which none but themselves can touch; and out of these revenues many excellent charities are supported.  Several of the companies have halls of great architectural beauty, or curious on account of their antiquity.  p. 96Twelve, from their wealth and importance, are called the Great Companies; and all of these have halls worthy of note.  They are the Mercers’, Drapers’, Fishmongers’, Goldsmiths’, Skinners’, Merchant Taylors’, Haberdashers’, Salters’, Ironmongers’, Vintners’, Grocers’, and Clothworkers’.  Every year banquets are given in the halls of these great companies—often under such circumstances as to give political importance to them.  Mercers’ Hall, on the north side of Cheapside, has a richly ornamental entrance.  Grocers’ Hall, in the Poultry, is remarkable rather for the age of the company (more than 500 years) than for the beauty of the building; it is interesting to note that the Long Parliament was entertained at city-dinners in this hall.  Drapers’ Hall, in Throgmorton Street, built in 1667, replaced a structure which had belonged to Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, in the time of Henry VIII., and which was destroyed by the Great Fire.  Fishmongers’ Hall, the most majestic of the whole, stands at the northern end of London Bridge, on the west side; it was built in 1831, as part of the improvements consequent on the opening of New London Bridge, on a site that had been occupied by an older hall since the time of the Great Fire.  Goldsmiths’ Hall, just behind the General Post-Office, is too closely hemmed in with other buildings to be seen well; it is one of Mr. Hardwick’s best productions, and was finished by him in 1835, on the site of an older hall.  Skinners’ Hall, Dowgate Hill, was built (like so many others of the city halls) just after the Great Fire in 1666; but was newly fronted in 1808.  Merchant Taylors’ Hall, Threadneedle Street, is the largest of the city halls.  It was rebuilt after the Great Fire, and has long been celebrated for the political banquets occasionally given there—this being considered the leading Tory Company, and the Fishmongers’ the leading Whig Company.  Haberdashers’ Hall, near Goldsmiths’ Hall, is quite modern; the present building having been constructed in 1855.  Salters’ Hall, St. Swithen’s Lane, was rebuilt in 1827.  Ironmongers’ Hall, Fenchurch Street, was erected in 1748, on the site of an older structure; the banqueting-room was remodelled a few years ago with great richness.  In 1861 this company held an Exhibition of Art, notable for the rarity and beauty of the objects p. 97collected; it was the first thing of the kind organized among these companies, and was in all respects creditable to those who planned and managed it.  Vintners’ Hall, Upper Thames Street, is small and unpretentious.  Clothworkers’ Hall, Mincing Lane, is an elegant Italian Renaissance edifice, erected in 1858, from the designs of Mr. Angell.

Among the minor halls are the Apothecaries’, Blackfriars; Stationers’, behind Ludgate Hill; Armourers’, Coleman Street; Barber Surgeons’, Monkwell Street, (which contains some fine paintings;) Weavers’, Basinghall Street; Saddlers’, Cheapside; and Paper Stainers’, Little Trinity Lane.  At the last-named hall an interesting exhibition of specimens of decorative painting was held in 1864.  The city companies are about eighty altogether.  Some, which tell most singularly of past times, and of the difference between the past and the present, are the Cooks’, the Bowyers’, the Fletchers’, the Woolmen’s, the Scriveners’, the Broderers’, the Horners’, the Loriners’, the Spectacle Makers’, the Felt Makers’, the Patten Makers’, the Parish Clerks’, and the Fan Makers’ companies.  All these, except the Spectacle Makers’ and the Parish Clerks’, have now no halls.  Eight others, formerly existing, have become extinct.  The only three which are actually trading companies at the present day are the Goldsmiths’, the Apothecaries’, and the Stationers’.  The Goldsmiths’ company assay all the gold and silver plate manufactured in the metropolis, stamp it with the ‘Hall-mark,’ and collect the excise duty upon it for the Government; the Apothecaries’ sell medicines, and have a certain jurisdiction in relation to medical practice; the Stationers’ publish almanacs, and register all copyright books.

THE RIVER; DOCKS; THAMES TUNNEL; BRIDGES; PIERS.

We shall next describe certain features connected with traffic on, under, and over the Thames.

The River and its Shipping.—The Thames stream rises in the interior of the country, at the distance of 138 miles above London, and enters the sea on the east coast about sixty miles below it.  It comes flowing between low, fertile, and village-clad banks, out p. 98of a richly ornamented country on the west; and, arriving at the outmost suburbs of the metropolis, it pursues a winding course, between banks thickly lined with dwelling-houses, warehouses, manufactories, and wharfs, for a space of several miles, its breadth being here from an eighth to a-third of a mile.  The tides affect it for fifteen or sixteen miles above the city; but the salt water comes no farther than Gravesend, or perhaps Greenhithe.  However, such is the volume and depth of water, that vessels of great magnitude can sail or steam up to London.  Most unfortunately, the beauty of this noble stream is much hidden from the spectator, there being very few quays or promenades along its banks.  With the exception of the summit of St. Paul’s or the Monument, and the Custom House quay, the only good points for viewing the river are the bridges, which cross it at convenient distances, and by their length convey an accurate idea of the breadth of the channel.  Formerly there were many light and fanciful boats for hire on the Thames; but these are now greatly superseded by small steamers, which convey crowds of passengers up and down the river.

The part of the river between London Bridge and Blackwall, an interval of several miles, constitutes the Port; and here are constantly seen lying at anchor great numbers of vessels.  The portion immediately below the bridge is called the Pool, where coal-ships are usually ranged in great number.  It is curious to watch, while passing up and down the river, the way in which coals are transferred, by labourers called coal-whippers, from the ships into barges, in which they are conveyed to the wharfs of the several coal-merchants.  At wharfs between the Custom House and the bridge lie numerous steam-vessels which ply to Greenwich, Woolwich, Gravesend, Margate, and other places of resort down the Thames; also steamers for continental ports.  London, as has already been observed, possesses no line of quays on the river.  The trade with the ships is carried on at wharfs jutting upon the water.  The Thames is placed under strict police regulations with respect to trade; certain places being assigned to different classes of vessels, including those which arrive from the Tyne, Wear, and Tees with coal, and all coasters.  The trade connected with the p. 99Port is mostly carried on in the closely built part of the metropolis adjacent to the Thames.  Almost the whole of this district consists of narrow streets, environed by warehouses and offices, making no external show, but in which an incalculable amount of trade is transacted.

The Docks.—As a relief to the river, and for other reasons, there are several very large Docks.  The lowest or most eastern are the Victoria Docks, in Essex, just beyond the river Lea.  They cover an area of 200 acres, and have been the means of introducing many improvements in the accommodation of shipping.  The hydraulic lift at these docks, for raising and supporting ships during repair, is well worth looking at.  Next are the East India Docks, constructed in 1806; they consist of two docks and a basin, covering 32 acres.  Near these are the West India Docks, the entrances to p. 100which are at Blackwall and Limehouse; in these large depôts of shipping connected with the West India and other trade may at all times be seen some hundreds of vessels, loading or unloading in connection with the warehouses around.  The largest of these docks is 24 feet deep, 510 feet long, and 498 wide; and, with a basin, they cover nearly 300 acres.  Farther up the river, and near the Tower, in the district called Wapping, are the London Docks and St. Katharine’s Docks.  The London Docks consist of one enclosure to the extent of 20 acres, another of smaller dimensions, a basin, and three entrances from the river.  These are surrounded by warehouses for the reception of bonded goods, and beneath the warehouses are vaults for bonded liquors.  The principal warehouse for the storing of tobacco in bond till it is purchased and the duties paid, is situated close beside a special dock called the Tobacco Dock.  The Tobacco Warehouse occupies no less than five acres of ground, and has accommodation for 24,000 hogsheads of tobacco.  The sight of this extraordinary warehouse, and of the Wine-Vaults, is not soon to be forgotten.  The vaults are arched with brick, and extend east and west to a great distance, with diverging lines also of great length, the whole being like the streets of an underground town.  Along the sides are ranged casks of wine to an amount apparently without limit.  There is accommodation for 65,000 pipes.  These cellars being dark, all who enter and go through them carry lights.  Admission may be had by procuring an order from a wine-merchant to taste and examine any pipes he may have in bond: a cooper accompanies the visitor to pierce the casks.  Besides this large vault, which principally contains port and sherry, there are other vaults for French wines, &c.  St. Katharine’s Docks, between the Tower and the London Docks, were formed in 1828, on a site which required the removal of more than 1,200 houses and 13,000 inhabitants; the earth obtained by the excavation was employed in raising the site for some of the new streets and squares of Pimlico.  There are twelve acres of water area, and about as much of quays and warehouses.  On the south of the Thames are the Commercial and the Grand Surrey Docks, the great centre of the timber trade.  The various docks are the property of p. 101joint-stock companies, who receive rents and dues of various kinds for their use.

Thames Tunnel.—With the view of effecting a ready communication for wagons and other carriages, and foot-passengers, between the Surrey and Middlesex sides of the river, at a point where, from the constant passage of shipping, it would be inconvenient to rear a bridge, a tunnel or sub-river passage was designed by a joint-stock company.  The idea of tunnelling under the river, by the way, was not a novel one.  In 1802 a company was got up with a similar notion, Trevethick, the inventor of the high-pressure engine, being its engineer.  It came to nought; and in 1825 Mr. (afterwards Sir) Marc Isambard Brunel began his tunnel, at a point about two miles below London Bridge, entering on the southern shore at Rotherhithe, and issuing at Wapping on the other.  The water broke in in 1827, and again in 1828, when six men perished.  After all the funds were exhausted, and the Government had advanced no less than £246,000 by way of loan, the work, after many delays, was opened in 1843.  The total, cost was £468,000.  The tunnel consisted of two archways, 1,300 feet long, the thickness of the earth being about 15 feet between the crown of the tunnel and the river’s bed.  As a speculation—toll 1d.—it never paid.  The descent was by a deep, dirty staircase; and only one arch was open for foot-passengers.  But now that the East London Railway Company have purchased it, a wholesome change has come.  Some 40 trains are now running backwards and forwards through it, from Wapping to Rotherhithe, and thence to Deptford and New Cross, and vice versâ.  And so, at last, the once well-nigh useless scheme, which wore out Brunel’s heart, has been, some twenty-two years after his death, made of great service to that part of London.

The Tower Subway.—In the neighbourhood of the Tunnel a subway has been formed, consisting of an iron tube, 7 feet in diameter, laid below the bed of the Thames.  It belongs to a Limited Liability Company.  It was commenced in February, 1869, and opened for tramway traffic on 12th April, 1870.  Being a losing speculation, the tramway cars ceased to run on 7th December, p. 1021870; but it was opened for foot-passengers on the 24th of that month, and it is the intention of the Company to continue it only as such.  It is reached at each end by a spiral staircase of 96 steps.  Its whole length is 1225 feet.  A charge of ½d. is made for each person passing through this Tunnel.  The Tunnel is well lighted up with gas, and the average heat by the thermometer is 65 degrees.

Bridges.—The communication between the northern and southern sections of the metropolis is maintained by means of various bridges.  Excluding Albert Suspension Bridge, (between Cadogan Pier, Chelsea, and Albert Road, leading into Battersea Park,) commenced in 1865, and not yet open, the number is 14—as follow: 1.  London Bridge, built by Rennie, and opened in 1831; it is 928 feet long, and 54 wide; it has 5 arches, of which the centre is 152 feet span, and cost, with the approaches, £2,000,000.  This is regarded as one of the finest granite bridges in the world.  p. 1032.  South-Eastern Railway Bridge, to connect the London Bridge Station with a new terminus in Cannon Street; this bridge, having five lines of railway, is midway between London Bridge and the one next to be named.  3.  Southwark Bridge, by Rennie, was opened in 1819; it is of iron, 708 feet long, with three magnificent arches, the centre one of 402 feet span; it was a toll bridge, and cost £800,000.  In 1865, it was made free, and remains so, by arrangement between the Company and the Corporation.  4.  Blackfriars Railway Bridge, with four lines of rail, connects the Metropolitan Railway north of the Thames with the Chatham and Dover Railway on the south.  5.  Old Blackfriars Bridge, by Mylne, was opened in 1769; it consisted of 19 arches, and was 995 feet long.  The foundations, however, having become decayed, the bridge was pulled down, and a magnificent new one, by Mr. Cubitt, built its place.  A wooden bridge of remarkable construction, with a foot-way over the carriage-way, did duty for traffic till the opening of Mr. Cubitt’s present structure.  This was formally done by the p. 104Queen in person, November 6, 1869.  The entire width of the new bridge is 75 feet, the foot-paths being 15 feet each, with a fine road between them, 45 feet in breadth from kerb to kerb.  The entire length of the bridge, including approaches, is 1,272 feet, and its centre arch has a span of 185 feet in the clear.  It has four piers.  All its iron (except the ornamental portion, which is of cast metal) is hammered.  With its handsome polished red granite piers, Portland stone capitals, and florid Venetian Gothic ornamentation, light-looking yet massive iron arches, spandrils, and parapets, and its general tout ensemble, new Blackfriars is, bearing all things in mind, one of the cheapest permanent bridges thrown across the Thames.  Its total cost is under £400,000.  6.  Waterloo Bridge, one of the most magnificent in the world, was built by Rennie, and was opened in 1817; it is flat from end to end, 1,380 feet long, or 2,456 with the approaches; it consists of nine beautiful arches of 120 feet span, and cost £1,000,000; a toll of one halfpenny per passenger yields a very poor return on this outlay.  7.  Hungerford Suspension Bridge has been replaced by a fine new bridge, partly for foot-passengers, and partly for the Charing Cross extension of the South-Eastern Railway.  8.  Old Westminster Bridge, opened in 1750, is now all removed, to make way for a beautiful new bridge of iron, with granite piers, built by Mr. Page, opened for traffic in 1862.  It is about 1,160 feet long by 85 feet wide.  9.  Lambeth Bridge, a wire-rope suspension bridge of economical construction, from Westminster to near Lambeth Church, was opened in 1862.  10.  Vauxhall Bridge, built by Walker, was opened in 1816; it is of iron, 798 feet long, and consists of nine equal arches.  11.  Pimlico Railway Bridge, from Pimlico to the commencement of Battersea Park, connects the Victoria Station with the Brighton and other railways.  12.  Chelsea Suspension Bridge, very near the bridge last named, gives easy access from Chelsea to Battersea, and is a light and elegant structure.  13.  Battersea Bridge is an old wooden structure, unsightly in appearance, inconvenient to passengers over it, and still more so to steamboats under it.  14.  West London Extension Railway Bridge, opened in 1863, crosses the Thames from a point a little above p. 105Cremorne Gardens to Battersea town; it is a link to connect various railways on the north of the river with others on the south.  Putney Bridge, Hammersmith Suspension Bridge, Barnes Railway Bridge, and Kew Bridge, may or may not be included in this series, according to the acceptation of the indefinite word ‘Metropolis.’

Steam-boat Piers.—If you wish to go eastward of London Bridge, on the north side of the river, you will find steam-boats at London Bridge to take you to Thames Tunnel Pier, Limehouse, Blackwall, and North Woolwich.  On the south side, at the Surrey end of London Bridge, you can take boat for Rotherhithe, Commercial Docks, Greenwich, Charlton, and Woolwich.  If you wish to go westward from London Bridge, on the north side, you can take boat thence for the following piers:—Bridge, Paul’s Wharf, Temple Stairs, Waterloo Bridge, Hungerford Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Millbank, Pimlico, Thames Bank, Chelsea, and Battersea; and on the south side, at Westminster Bridge, Lambeth Stairs, Vauxhall, Battersea Park, Wandsworth, Putney, Hammersmith Bridge, and Kew.  The steamers make an amazing number of trips each way daily, between these several piers, at intervals varying with the season, and at fares ranging from one penny to fourpence.  For example, the fare by the Citizen boats from London Bridge to Westminster is 1d.; to Pimlico, 2d.; Chelsea and Battersea, 3d.  If you wish to go quickly from Westminster Bridge to London Bridge, you will avoid delays at piers by getting one of the penny boats which run every ten minutes from Westminster to London Bridge, only calling at Hungerford.  Steamers for Kew, in the summer, run about every half-hour from London Bridge, calling at intermediate up-river piers—return ticket, 1s.  From Cadogan Pier, Chelsea, you can go to Kew for 4d.  And on Sundays and Mondays you can go up as far as Richmond, if the tide allow, at half-past 10 a.m. from Hungerford—return ticket, about 1s. 6d.  For more distant journeys, such as to Erith, Gravesend, Sheerness, Southend, &c., by excursion steam-boats.  To Gravesend and back, the fare is 1s. 6d.; Sheerness and Southend and back, 2s. 6d.  Boats generally leave Hungerford Bridge for Gravesend and Erith p. 106every half-hour up to 12, and leave London Bridge at 2 and half-past 4 p.m.; they leave Hungerford Bridge for Southend and Sheerness at various times from half-past 8, calling at London Bridge, returning in the afternoon or early evening.

The Thames Embankment is one of the noblest works in the metropolis.  As long ago as 1666 Sir Christopher Wren advocated such a scheme.  Till Mr. Bazalgette, the engineer to the Metropolitan Board of Works, (who, by the way, planned the main drainage,) came forward with his plans, there had been scores of others, all over-costly and few practicable.  The work was virtually begun in 1862.  Both south and north embankments are now open.  The former (or Albert Embankment) was opened the entire length, from Westminster Bridge to Vauxhall, on the 1st September, 1869; the latter, (or Victoria Embankment,) from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars, in the middle of July, 1870.  What the ultimate cost will be of both these gigantic works it is for us here p. 107impossible to tell.  Already the metropolitan public hare paid for their new Thames boulevard £1,650,000.

And now—in the case of the northern embankment, for example—let us consider what vast difficulties have had to be surmounted.  The words of an excellent authority put the matter very concisely as follows:—“The river had to be dammed out for some thirty-eight acres—the mud had to be dredged out down to the London clay—the granite walls had to be built below low-water mark; behind these the low-level sewer had to be constructed.  Over this, again, had to come the subway, and behind all the District Railway, which runs at an average of about eighteen feet below the surface.  It is not known what materials were required for the railway; but what was used for the Embankment is known.  It was:—Granite, 650,000 cubic feet; brickwork, 80,000 cubic yards; concrete, 140,000 cubic yards; timber, (for cofferdam, &c.,) 500,000 cubic feet; caissons, (for ditto,) 2,500 tons; earth filling, 900,000 cubic feet; excavation, 144,000 cubic feet; York paving, 90,000 superficial feet; broken granite, 50,000 yards superficial.  The railway works would make these totals still more formidable.  London is now the metropolis of engineering works, but there is no part of it in which so many and such varied and difficult kinds centre as in the Thames Embankment.  A section of it would be a study for engineers for all time.”

The public foot-way had been open since July, 1868.  It was for the formal opening of the carriage-way that the Prince of Wales, on 13th July, 1870, drove from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars along the Northern Embankment’s carriage-way.  This is sixty-four feet wide, and the foot-way on the land-side is sixteen feet wide, and that on the river-side is twenty feet wide.  Along the river-side are planted rows of trees, which in a few years will afford an unbroken line of shade, doubtless.  As the railway works were completed sufficiently to admit of it, this main roadway has been extended to the Mansion-House, by means of a new street—Queen Victoria Street—referred to in a former page.  There is thus one broad, airy thoroughfare between the Houses of Parliament, and the West End, and the heart of the city.

p. 108It will be obvious that though so much has been done, much yet remains to be accomplished ere the Thames Northern Embankment is regularly completed.  The carriage-way, for the present, has only been gravelled and macadamized.  The reason is, that in newly-made rotten earth its sinking down must be allowed for, for some time, ere it can all be paved, like London Bridge, with “granite pitching.”  Four regular approaches into the Strand—by way of Villiers, Norfolk, Surrey, and Arundel Streets—have been made; and there are three other ways which go from Westminster, Whitehall, and Blackfriars; another is in progress from Charing Cross.

Starting from the western end, the Metropolitan District Railway has already open, along this embankment, five stations, called Westminster, Charing Cross, Temple, Blackfriars, and Mansion House.

The wall of the Thames Northern Embankment just alluded to is, to quote once more, “constructed generally of brickwork faced with granite, and is carried down to a depth of 32½ feet below Trinity high-water mark, the foundation being of Portland cement concrete.  The level of the roadway generally is four feet above Trinity high-water mark, except at the two extremities, where it rises to Westminster and Blackfriars Bridges to an extreme height of about 20 feet above high-water.  The rising ground for both these approaches is retained by a granite faced wall, similar in character to the general Embankment wall.

“The face of the Embankment forms a graceful curve, having a plane face to about mean high-water level, and being ornamented above that level with mouldings, which are stopped at intervals of about seventy feet with plain blocks of granite, intended to carry lamp standards of cast-iron, and relieved on the river face by bronze lions’ heads carrying mooring rings.  The uniform line of the Embankment is broken at intervals by massive piers of granite, flanking recesses for pontoons or landing stages for steamboats, and at other places by stairs projecting into the river, and intended as landing-piers for small craft.  The steamboat piers occur at Westminster, Charing Cross, and Waterloo Bridges; and those for boats midway between Westminster and Charing Cross, and between Charing Cross and Waterloo Bridge; and both are combined p. 109opposite Essex Street.  It is intended eventually to surmount the several blocks and pedestals with groups of statuary.”

FOOD SUPPLY; MARKETS; BAZAARS; SHOPS.

Food Supply.—The Quarterly Review, on one occasion, illustrated, in a whimsical way, the vastness of the system.  The following is described as the supply of meat, poultry, bread, and beer, for one year:—72 miles of oxen, 10 abreast; 120 miles of sheep, do.; 7 miles of calves, do.; 9 miles of pigs, do.; 50 acres of poultry, close together; 20 miles of hares and rabbits, 100 abreast; a pyramid of loaves of bread, 600 feet square, and thrice the height of St. Paul’s; 1000 columns of hogsheads of beer, each 1 mile high.

Water and Coal Supply.—The water used in the metropolis is chiefly supplied by the Thames, and by an artificial channel called the New River, which enters on the north side of the metropolis.  The water is naturally good and soft.  The spots at which it is raised from the Thames used to be within the bounds of the metropolis, at no great distance from the mouths of common sewers; but it is now obtained from parts of the river much higher up, and undergoes a very extensive filtration.  Nine companies are concerned in the supply of water,—viz., the New River, East London, Southwark and Vauxhall, West Middlesex, Lambeth, Chelsea, Grand Junction, Kent, and Hampstead Water Companies.  Some of the works, within the last few years, constructed by these companies, up the river, are very fine.  Returns furnished to the Registrar-General by the London Water Companies shewed that the average daily supply of water for all purposes to the London population, during the month of May, 1870, was 107,540,811 gallons, of which it is estimated the supply for domestic purposes amounted to about 88,381,700 gallons, or 26 gallons per day per head of population.  The metropolis is supplied with coal principally from the neighbourhood of Newcastle, but partly also from certain inland counties; the import from the latter being by railway.  Newcastle coal is preferred.  It arrives in vessels devoted exclusively to the trade; and so many and so excessive are the duties and profits affecting the article, that a ton of coal, which can be p. 110purchased at Newcastle for 6s. or 7s., costs, to a consumer in London, from 22s. to 27s.  The quantity of coal brought to London annually much exceeds 5,000,000 tons, of which considerably more than 2,000,000 come by railway.  The wholesale dealings in this commodity are managed chiefly at the Coal Exchange, a remarkable building just opposite Billingsgate.

Markets.—London contains nearly 40 markets for cattle, meat, corn, coal, hay, vegetables, fish, and other principal articles of consumption.  The meat-markets are of various kinds—one for live animals, others for carcases in bulk, and others for the retail of meat; some, also, are for pork, and others principally for fowls.  The New Cattle Market, Copenhagen Fields, near Pentonville, built, in 1854, to replace old Smithfield Market, covers nearly 30 acres, and, with outbuildings, slaughterhouses, &c., cost the City Corporation about £400,000.  It is the finest live stock market in the kingdom.  The present Smithfield Market, near the Holborn Viaduct, for dead meat and poultry, is a splendid building, 625 feet p. 111long, 240 feet wide, and 30 feet high.  Wide roads on its north, east, and west sides, accommodate its special traffic.  A carriage road runs right through it from north to south, with spacious and well ventilating avenues radiating from it.  There are in this market no less than 100,000 feet of available space.  It has cost upwards of £180,000 already.  There are underground communication with several railways, to bring in, right under the market, meat and poultry from the country, and meat from the slaughterhouses of the Copenhagen Fields Cattle Market.  Newgate Market, as a market, no longer exists.  Leadenhall Market is a depôt for meat and poultry.  At Whitechapel there is a meat market also.  The minor meat markets require no special note here.  Billingsgate, the principal fish market of London, near the Custom House, was greatly extended and improved in 1849.  It is well worth visiting any morning throughout the year, save Sunday, at five o’clock.  Ladies, however, will not care to encounter its noise, bustle, and unsavoury odours.  The fish arriving in steamers, smacks, and boats from the coast or more distant seas, are consigned to salesmen who, during the early market hours, deal extensively with the retail fishmongers from all parts of London.  The inferior fish are bought by the costermongers, or street-dealers.  When particular fish are in a prime state, or very scarce, there are wealthy persons who will pay enormously for the rarity; hence a struggle between the boats to reach the market early.  At times, so many boats come laden with the same kind of fish as to produce a glut; and instead of being sold at a high price, as is usually the case, the fish are then retailed for a mere trifle.  Fish is now brought largely to London by railway, from various ports on the east and south coasts.  The yearly sale of fish at Billingsgate has been estimated at so high a sum as £2,000,000.

Covent Garden Market (connected by Southampton Street with the Strand) is the great vegetable, fruit, and flower market.  This spot, which is exceedingly central to the metropolis, was once the garden to the abbey and convent of Westminster: hence the name Convent or Covent.  At the suppression of the religious houses in Henry VIII.’s reign, it devolved to the Crown.  Edward VI. gave p. 112it to the Duke of Somerset; on his attainder it was granted to the Earl of Bedford; and in the Russell family it has since remained.  From a design of Inigo Jones, it was intended to have surrounded it with a colonnade; but the north and a part of the east sides only were completed.  The fruit and vegetable markets were rebuilt in 1829–30.  The west side is occupied by the parish church of St. Paul’s, noticeable for its massive roof and portico.  Butler, author of Hudibras, lies in its graveyard, without a stone to mark the spot.  In 1721, however, a cenotaph was erected in his honour in Westminster Abbey.  The election of members to serve in Parliament for the city of Westminster was held in front of this church: the hustings for receiving the votes being temporary buildings.  The south side is occupied by a row of brick dwellings.  Within the square thus enclosed fruit and vegetables of the best quality are exposed for sale.  A large paved space surrounding the interior square is occupied by the market-gardeners, who, as early as four or five in the morning, have carted the produce of their grounds, and wait to dispose of it to dealers in fruit and vegetables residing in different parts of London; any remainder is sold to persons who have standings in the market, and they retail it to such individuals as choose to attend to purchase in smaller quantities.  Within this paved space rows of shops are conveniently arranged for the display of the choicest fruits of the season: the productions of the forcing-house, and the results of horticultural skill, appear in all their beauty.  There are also conservatories, in which every beauty of the flower-garden may be obtained, from the rare exotic to the simplest native flower.  The Floral Hall, close to Covent Garden Opera House, has an entrance from the north-east corner of the market, to which it is a sort of appendage as a Flower Market.  Balls, concerts, &c., are occasionally given here.  The Farringdon, Borough, Portman, Spitalfields, and other vegetable markets, are small imitations of that at Covent Garden.

The cultivation of vegetables in the open ground within ten miles surrounding London, has arrived at great perfection; and so certain is the demand, that the whole is regularly conveyed by land or water to the metropolis; insomuch that persons residing in p. 113the neighbourhood of those well-arranged gardens are really less readily accommodated than the inhabitants of the metropolis, and have no supply of vegetables but such as have already been sent to London, and thence back to retailers in their own locality.  There are also large supplies of foreign fruit and vegetables.  The annual produce of the garden-grounds cultivated to supply the London markets with fruit and vegetables has been estimated at the enormous weight of 360,000 tons, or 1,000 tons per day.

Corn.—The greater part of the corn used for bread and other purposes in the metropolis is sold by corn-factors at the Corn Exchange, Mark Lane; but the corn itself is not taken to that place.  Enormous quantities of flour are also brought in, ground at mills in the country and in foreign parts.

Malt liquors.—The beer and ale consumed in the metropolis is, of course, vast in quantity, though there are no means of determining the amount.  If, by a letter of introduction, a stranger could obtain admission to Barclay & Perkins’s or Truman & Hanbury’s breweries, he would there see vessels and operations astonishing for their magnitude—bins that are filled with 2,000 quarters of malt every week; brewing-rooms nearly as large as Westminster Hall; fermenting vessels holding 1,500 barrels each; a beer-tank large enough to float an up-river steamer; vats containing 100,000 gallons each; and 60,000 casks, with 200 horses to convey them in drays to the taverns of the metropolis!

Shops and Bazaars.—The better-class London retail shops, for wealth, variety, and vast number, are among the greatest wonders of the place.  They speak for themselves.  The wholesale establishments with which New Cannon Street, Wood Street, and the south side of St. Paul’s Churchyard—noticeably the gigantic warehouses of Messrs. Cook & Co.—abound, if, by a letter of introduction, an order of admission can be obtained, would strike a stranger—in spite of less external display, save as regards size—as more wonderful still, so enormous is the amount of their business operations, and of capital incoming and outgoing.

There are about 7,400 streets, lanes, rows, &c., in the metropolis.  From Charing Cross, within a six miles radius, there are something p. 114over 2,600 miles of streets.  As regards trades generally, it is hard even to get anything like an approximate notion of their numbers.  As the Post Office London Directory says, new trades are being added to the list every year.  Thus, we are told, 57 new trades were so added in the year 1870.  But to specify a few, there are, say, about 130,000 shopkeepers, or owners of commercial establishments, who carry on more than 2,500 different trades.  Loss of much of London’s shipping trade, &c., has indeed driven hundreds of emigrants of late from our east-end waterside neighbourhoods.  But London has gone on growing all the same, and trade with it.  Among these trades are, without counting purely wholesale dealers, about 2,847 grocers and tea dealers, 2,087 butchers, 2,461 bakers, 1,508 dairymen, &c., 2,370 greengrocers and fruiterers, more than 595 retail fishmongers, 891 cheesemongers, (this computation does not include the small shops in poor neighbourhoods which sell almost everything,) 2,755 tailors, (not including about 500 old-clothesmen, wardrobe-dealers, &c.,) about 3,347 bootmakers, about 450 hatters, and so forth.  All these are master tradesmen or shopkeepers, irrespective of workmen, foremen, shopmen, clerks, porters, apprentices, and families.  We may add, that in the pages of that very large book the London Post Office Directory, no less than 52 columns and over are occupied by the long list of London publicans.

The principal Bazaars of London are the Soho, London Crystal Palace, (Oxford Street,) and Baker Street bazaars, to which should be added the Burlington Arcade, Piccadilly, and the Lowther Arcade, (famous for cheap toys,) in the Strand.  The once celebrated Pantheon, in Oxford Street, is now a wine merchant’s stores.  Many small bazaars exist.

The Bazaar system of oriental countries, in which all the dealers in one kind of commodity are met with in one place, is not observable in London; yet a stranger may usefully bear in mind that, probably for the convenience both of buyers and sellers, an approach to the system is made.  For instance, coachmakers congregate in considerable number in Long Acre and Great Queen Street; watchmakers and jewellers, in Clerkenwell; tanners and p. 115leather-dressers, in Bermondsey; bird and bird-cage sellers, in Seven Dials; statuaries, in the Euston Road; sugar-refiners, in and near Whitechapel; furniture-dealers, in Tottenham Court Road; hat-makers, in Bermondsey and Southwark; dentists, about St. Martin’s Lane; &c.  There is one bazaar, if so we may term it, of a very remarkable character—namely, Paternoster Row.  This street is a continuation of Cheapside, but is not used much as a thoroughfare, though it communicates by transverse alleys or courts with St. Paul’s Churchyard, and, at its western extremity, by means of Ave-Maria Lane, leads into Ludgate Hill.  Paternoster Row, or ‘the Row,’ as it is familiarly termed, is a dull street, only wide enough at certain points to permit two vehicles to pass each other, with a narrow pavement on each side.  The houses are tall and sombre in their aspect, and the shops below have a dead look, in comparison with those in the more animated streets.  But the deadness is all on the outside.  For a considerable period this street has been the head-quarters of booksellers and publishers, who, till the present day, continue in such numbers as to leave little room for other tradesmen—transacting business in the book-trade to a prodigious amount.  At the western extremity of Paternoster Row a passage leads from Amen Corner to Stationers’ Hall Court, in which is situated Stationers’ Hall, and also several publishing-houses.

Mudie’s Library.—While on the subject of books, we may remind the visitor that the most remarkable lending library in the world is situated in London.  Mudie’s, at the corner of New Oxford Street and Museum Street, affords a striking example of what the energy of one man can accomplish.  At this vast establishment the volumes are reckoned by hundreds of thousands; and the circulation of them, on easy terms, extends to every part of the kingdom.  The chief portion of the building is a lofty central gallery, of considerable beauty.

p. 116CLUBS; HOTELS; INNS; CHOP-HOUSES; TAVERNS; COFFEE-HOUSES; COFFEE-SHOPS.

Club-houses.—During the last forty or fifty years new habits amongst the upper classes have led to the establishment of a variety of Club-houses—places of resort unknown to our ancestors.  There are at present, including many fifth-rate clubs, about 84 clubs in London.  A London club-house is either the property of a private person, who engages to furnish subscribers with certain accommodation, on paying a fixed sum as entrance-money, and a specified annual subscription; or else it belongs to a society of gentlemen who associate for the purpose.  Of the first class, the most noted are Brookes’s and White’s, both situated in St. James’s Street, The second class of clubs is most numerous: the principal among them being the Carlton, Junior Carlton, Reform, Athenæum, Oriental, Conservative, Travellers’, United University, Oxford and Cambridge, Army and Navy, Guards’, United Service, Junior United Service, Union, Arthur’s, and Windham clubs.  The houses belonging to these clubs respectively are among the finest at the West-end of London, and may easily be distinguished in and about Pall Mall, St. James’s Street, and Waterloo Place.  No member sleeps at his club; the accommodation extends to furnishing all kinds of refreshments, the use of a library, and an ample supply of newspapers and periodicals in the reading-room.  The real object of these institutions is to furnish a place of resort for a select number of gentlemen, on what are really moderate terms.  The Athenæum Club, (near the York Column,) which consists chiefly of scientific and literary men, is one of the most important.  It has 1,200 members, each of whom pays thirty guineas entrance-money, and seven guineas yearly subscription.  As in all other clubs, members are admitted only by ballot.  The expense of the house in building was £35,000, and £5,000 for furnishing; the plate, linen, and glass cost £2,500; library, £5,000; and the stock of wine in cellar is usually worth about £4,000.  The other principal clubs vary from nine to thirty guineas entrance-fee, from six to eleven guineas annual subscription, and from 600 to 1,500 members.  p. 117During part of the life of the late M. Soyer, the kitchen of the Reform Club-house was one of the sights of the West-end.  The Garrick Club, in Garrick Street, W.C., consists chiefly of theatrical and literary men.  The same remark applies to the Arundel, in Salisbury Street, Strand.  The Whittington Club, in the Strand, was the humblest of its class, and bore little resemblance to the others; it was rather a literary and scientific institution, with a refreshment department added.

The Albany.—The Albany consists of a series of chambers, or suites of apartments, intended for ‘West-end bachelors.’  No person carrying on a trade or commercial occupation is allowed to live within its limits.  There are two entrances, one in Piccadilly and one in Burlington Gardens.  The chambers are placed in eleven groups, denoted by letters of the alphabet, A to L.  There are about 60 suites of apartments, many of which are occupied by peers, members of parliament, honourables and right honourables, and naval and military officers.  Canning, Byron, and Macaulay, are named amongst those who have lived in this singular place.

Hotels and Inns.—It has been conjectured (though probably in excess of the truth) that at all times there are 150,000 strangers residing for a few days only in the metropolis; and to accommodate this numerous transient population, there is a vast number of lodging and boarding-houses, hotels, and other places of accommodation.  There are upwards of 500 better-class hotels, inns, and taverns.  There are about 120 private hotels not licensed, and therefore do not keep exciseable liquors for sale.  There are about 5,200 public-houses licensed to sell wines, spirits, and malt liquors.  There are more than 1,964 beer-shops, where malt liquors only are sold.

The fashionable hotels are situated west of Charing Cross—as, for instance, Claridge’s, Brook Street, Grosvenor Square; Fenton’s, St. James’s Street; Limmer’s, George Street, Hanover Square; the Clarendon, in New Bond Street; the Burlington, in Old Burlington Street; Grillon’s, in Albemarle Street; Long’s, in Bond Street; the Palace, Pimlico; Wright’s, Dover Street; Morley’s, Trafalgar Square; Hatchett’s, Dover Street; Maurigy’s, Regent Street; p. 118Marshall Thompson’s, Cavendish Square; the Albemarle, Albemarle Street; the Hyde Park, near the Marble Arch; the Alexandra, Hyde Park Corner; &c.  In and about Covent Garden there are several good hotels for single gentlemen; among others, the Cavendish, the Bedford, the New and Old Hummums, and the Tavistock.  One or two others, in Bridge Street, Blackfriars, are excellent hotels.  Foreign hotels of a medium class are numerous in and about Leicester Square.  Another class of hotels or inns are those from which stage-coaches at one time ran, and which were resorted to by commercial and other gentlemen; for example, the Golden Cross, (now renovated and extended,) near Charing Cross; the White Horse Cellar, Piccadilly; the Bell and Crown, Holborn; the Castle and Falcon, Aldersgate Street; and the Bull-in-Mouth, (now called the Queen’s,) opposite the General Post Office, in St. Martin’s-le-Grand.  These have all become comfortable middle-class hotels, with railway booking-offices attached; but the fall of the stage-coach trade has lessened their importance to a great extent.  To these we may add certain large inn and tavern establishments at other parts of the town—such as the Bridge House Hotel, at London Bridge; the Angel, at Islington; and the Elephant and Castle, Newington Causeway.

The almost universal defect of the older class of hotels in London is, that they are too often private dwellings extemporized for purposes of public accommodation—not buildings erected with the distinct object for which they are used.  Hence the London hotels, generally, are confined and awkward in their arrangements—a huddle of apartments on different levels, narrow passages, and the offensive odour of cookery being common.  Rarely is there anything to parallel the larger hotels of New York, or the Hotel du Louvre at Paris.  The nearest approach to these foreign establishments is found in certain hotels adjoining the railway termini, of recent construction.  These are the Euston and Victoria Hotels, near Euston terminus; the Great Northern Hotel, adjoining the King’s Cross terminus; the Great Western Hotel, at the Paddington terminus; the Grosvenor Hotel, at the Pimlico terminus; the p. 119London Bridge Terminus Hotel, adjoining the Brighton Railway terminus; the fine South-Eastern Railway Hotel, Cannon Street; the Westminster Palace Hotel, Victoria Street, Westminster; the Midland, at St. Pancras; and the Charing Cross Railway Hotel.  At these new and extensive hotels the accommodation is on a better footing than in the older and generally small houses.  But notwithstanding these additions, it is indisputable that the amount of hotel accommodation is still meagre and defective.  The want of large good hotels in central situations, to give accommodation at moderate charges, remains one of the conspicuous deficiencies of the metropolis.  The Langham, however, in Portland Place, is an excellent hotel.  So is the Salisbury Hotel, Salisbury Square, Fleet Street.  The idea of building a large hotel in the Strand, near St. Mary’s Church, was, by-the-by, abandoned in favour of the new Globe Theatre; while that handsome building, the Inns of Court Hotel, in Holborn and Lincoln’s Inn Fields, has never yet been properly finished, and is now (1873) a failure.

In and about London, we may mention, are sundry extensive and highly-respectable taverns, which, though principally designed for accommodating large dining and other festive gatherings, lodge gentlemen with every comfort.  Among these may be mentioned the London Tavern; the Albion, in Aldersgate Street; several in Fleet Street, near Blackfriars Bridge; the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields; and so forth.  There is, besides, a class of taverns whose chief business is supplying dinners and slight refreshments, also the accommodation of newspapers, and which are resorted to chiefly by commercial men.  Each of these has a distinct character.  Garraway’s and Lloyd’s, at the Royal Exchange, were once coffee-houses, but now are associated with marine intelligence, stock-trading, and auctions; and in Cornhill, opposite, the North and South American Coffee-house supplies American newspapers; and here also are to be seen the captains of vessels who are preparing to sail to different ports in the western continent and islands.  At the Jerusalem and East India Coffee-house, Cowper’s Court, Cornhill, information relating to East India shipping and captains may be obtained.  Peele’s p. 120Coffee-house, in Fleet Street, is celebrated for keeping files of newspapers, which may be consulted; this accommodation, as respects London papers, may also be had at some other places.  Other economical Reading-Rooms are noticed in the Appendix.

Chop-houses, Coffee-shops, and Dining-rooms.—The next class of houses of this nature comprises Chop-houses, but also doing the business of taverns, and resorted to chiefly by business-men—as the Chapter, in Paternoster Row; the Mitre, the Cock, the Cheshire Cheese, and the Rainbow, in Fleet Street.  Many such houses are to be met with near the Bank of England, in Cheapside, Bucklersbury, Threadneedle Street, Bishopsgate Street, and the alleys turning out of Cornhill.  The Ship and Turtle, in Leadenhall Street, was a famous turtle-house; and others are noted for some specialty.

London contains a very numerous class of Coffee-shops, of a much more humble, though perhaps more useful nature, at which coffee, cocoa, tea, bread and butter, toast, chops and steaks, bacon and eggs, and cold meat, may be obtained at very moderate prices; a few pence will purchase a morning or evening meal at such places; and many working-men dine there also.  There are about 1,500 houses of this class in London.  There is another class of Eating-houses or Dining-rooms, resorted to for dinners by large numbers of persons.  Lake’s, His Lordship’s Larder, and one or two others, in Cheapside; Izant’s, and several others in and near Bucklersbury; the Chancery Dining-rooms, in Chancery Lane; the Fish Ordinary at the Three Tuns in Billingsgate, and at Simpson’s in Cheapside; and several dining-rooms in and near the Haymarket and Rupert Street—may be reckoned among the number.  A good but simple dinner may be had at these houses for from 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d.  At the St. James’s Hall Restaurant, in Regent Street; Blanchard’s, Regent Street, corner of Burlington Street; the Albion, Russell Street, near Drury Lane Theatre; the London, Fleet Street, nearly opposite the Inner Temple gate; Simpson’s, in the Strand, opposite Exeter Hall; and last, but by no means least, at Speirs and Pond’s Restaurant, at Ludgate Station of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway; a very fair dinner may be had, at prices varying p. 121from, say, a minimum of half-a-crown up to a greater cost, according to the state of the diner’s tastes and finances.  At the Gaiety Restaurant, adjoining the Gaiety Theatre, a good dinner may be had.  At Cremorne Gardens, too, there used to be a good table d’hôte for 2s. 6d.

Temperance Hotels.—There are several good houses of this character.  Among others may be named The Waverley, King Street, Cheapside; Angus’s, Bridge Street, Blackfriars; Anderson’s, Theobald Road; and Ling’s, South Street, Finsbury.

THEATRES, CONCERTS, AND OTHER PLACES OF AMUSEMENT.

Theatres.—There are altogether in London a large number.  Of these the following are the principal:—Her Majesty’s Theatre, on the western side of the Haymarket, is the original of the two Italian Opera Houses in London; it was built in 1790, on the site of an older theatre, burnt down in 1867, and re-built in 1869.  It is occasionally unoccupied.  The freehold of some of the boxes has been sold for as much as £8,000 each.  The Opera Season is generally from March to August; but the main attractions and the largest audiences are from May to July.  The Royal Italian Opera House, occupying the site of the former Covent Garden Theatre, was built in 1858, on the ruins of one destroyed by fire.  The building is very remarkable, both within and without.  Under the lesseeship of Mr. Gye, and the conductorship of Mr. (now Sir Michael) Costa, operas have been produced here with a completeness scarcely paralleled in Europe.  When not required for Italian Operas, the building is occupied usually by an English Opera Company, or occasionally for miscellaneous concerts.  The Floral Hall, adjoining this theatre, is occasionally engaged for concerts.  Drury Lane Theatre, the fourth on the same site, was built in 1812; its glories live in the past, for the legitimate drama now alternates there with entertainments of a more spectacular and melodramatic character.  The Haymarket Theatre, exactly opposite Her Majesty’s, was built in 1821; under Mr. Buckstone’s management, comedy and farce are chiefly performed.  The Adelphi Theatre, in the p. 122Strand, near Southampton Street, was rebuilt in 1858; it has for forty years been celebrated for melodramas, and for the attractiveness of its comic actors.  The present lessee, Mr. Webster, has the merit of having introduced many improvements for the comfort of the audience.  The Lyceum Theatre, or English Opera House, at the corner of Wellington Street, Strand, was built in 1834; it was intended as an English Opera House, but its fortunes have been fluctuating, and the performances are not of a definite kind.  The Princess’s Theatre, on the north side of Oxford Street, was built in 1830; after a few years of opera and miscellaneous dramas, it became the scene of Mr. Charles Kean’s Shakspearian revivals, and now resembles most of the other theatres.  St. James’s Theatre, in King Street, St. James’s, was built for Braham, the celebrated singer; it was a losing speculation to him; and although a really beautiful theatre inside, its managerial arrangements have been very changeable of late years.  The Olympic Theatre, in Wych Street, Drury Lane, is small, but well conducted and successful.  The Strand Theatre, near the Olympic, has been remarkable for its burlesque extravaganzes.  The New Globe Theatre, Newcastle Street, Strand, and the Gaiety, 345 Strand, and lastly the Vaudeville, (for comedy, farce, and burlesque,) near the Adelphi, are all of comparatively recent erection; so are the Court Theatre, near Sloane Square; the Charing Cross Theatre, King William Street; the Queen’s Theatre, Long Acre, late St. Martin’s Hall; and the Holborn Theatre.  The New Royalty, or Soho Theatre, in Dean Street, Soho, was once a private theatre, belonging to Miss Kelly, the celebrated actress.  The Prince of Wales’s Theatre, in Tottenham Street, is the old Tottenham Theatre in a renovated and greatly improved condition.  Some of Mr. T. W. Robertson’s best comedies have been produced here within the last few years.  Sadler’s Wells, near the New River Head, was at one time remarkable for the ‘real water’ displayed in melodramas.  The Marylebone Theatre, between Regent’s Park and the Edgeware Road; the Grecian, in the City Road; the Britannia, at Hoxton; the City of London, in Norton Folgate; the Standard, in Shoreditch; and the Pavilion, in Whitechapel, are Theatres noticeable for the large numbers of p. 123persons accommodated, and the lowness of the prices of admission.  On the Surrey side of the Thames are Astley’s Amphitheatre, in the Westminster Road, (the Circus is now removed;) the Victoria Theatre, in the Waterloo Road; and the Surrey Theatre, in Blackfriars Road.  The performances at these several theatres commence at an hour varying from half-past six (some of the minors) to half-past eight (two Opera houses) in the evening, but the most usual hour is seven; and, as a general rule, there is half-price at a later hour in the evening.  During the run of the Christmas pantomimes there are a few additional performances at two in the afternoon.  It has recently been estimated that 4,000 persons are employed at the London theatres, earning daily food for probably 12,000; and that the public spend about £350,000 at those places annually.

Concerts.—The principal Concert Rooms in London are, Exeter Hall, St. James’s Hall, Hanover Square Rooms, the Music Hall, in Store Street, the Floral Hall, Willis’ Rooms, and the Queen’s Concert Room, attached to Her Majesty’s Theatre.  All these places are engaged for single concerts; but there are also musical societies and choral bodies which give series of concerts every year.  Among these are the Sacred Harmonic Society, (Exeter Hall,) the National Choral Society, (same place,) the Philharmonic Society, (Hanover Square Rooms,) Mr. Henry Leslie’s Choir, the New Philharmonic, (St. James’s Hall,) the Musical Society, the Musical Union, the Glee and Madrigal Society, the Beethoven Society, the Monday Popular Concerts, &c.  The Oratorio performances at Exeter Hall, by the Sacred Harmonic and National Choral Societies, are considered to be the finest of the kind in Europe.  There are occasional Handel Choral Meetings at the same place, under Sir Michael Costa, supported by 1,600 singers.

Tavern Music Halls.—Numerous Rooms connected with taverns have been opened in London, within the last few years, for musical performances.  The music is a singular compound of Italian, English, and German operatic compositions, fairly executed, with comic songs of the most extravagant kind; to these are added what the performers please to term ‘nigger’ dances, and athletic and rope-dancing feats—the whole accompanied by drinking and p. 124smoking on the part of the audience.  The chief among these places are, Canterbury Hall, near the Westminster Road; the Oxford, in Oxford Street; the Royal Music Hall, late Weston’s, in Holborn; the Alhambra, in Leicester Square; the Philharmonic, Islington, near the Angel.  Evans’, in Covent Garden, does not as a rule admit females, though ladies, friends of the proprietor, &c., are occasionally allowed to look down on the proceedings from wired-in private boxes above the line of the stage.  Evans’ has long been honourably known for its old English glees, catches, madrigals, &c., good supper, and gentlemanly arrangements and audiences.  The Raglan, the Winchester, the South London, and others, are of plainer character.  Charge, usually 6d. to 1s.  Mr. Morton, the former proprietor of Canterbury Hall, provided a capital gallery of pictures, (Punch’s ‘Royal Academy over the Water,’) placed freely open to the visitors to the Music Hall.

Entertainments.—There is a class of London amusements, called Entertainments, which has come much into fashion within a few years.  They generally last about two hours, from eight till ten in the evening.  The late Mr. Albert Smith was one of the first to commence these entertainments, with his ‘Overland Route,’ ‘Mont Blanc,’ and ‘China;’ and the names of other well known entertainers are, Mr. Woodin, Mr. and Mrs. German Reed, Mr. John Parry, Mr. A. Sketchley, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Paul, &c.  Delineation of character, painted scenery, descriptive sketches, singing, music, ventriloquism—some or all of these supply the materials from which these entertainments are got up.  Sometimes the programme of performances is of a less rational character, depending on the incongruities of so-called negro melodists; while occasionally a higher tone is adopted, as in ‘Readings,’ by various persons.  The principal halls or rooms in which these entertainments are held are the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly; the Gallery of Illustration, Regent Street; the minor rooms at St. James’s Hall; and the Music Hall, in Store Street.  The prices of admission generally vary from 1s. to 3s.  The leading pages of the daily newspapers, and more especially of the Times, will always shew which of these entertainments are open at any particular time.

p. 125Miscellaneous Amusements.—The sources of information just mentioned will also notify particulars of numerous other places of amusement, which need not be separately classified.  Among these are the Polytechnic Institution, Regent Street, (famous for Mr. Pepper’s ‘Ghosts;’) and Madame Tussaud’s Waxwork, Baker Street, Portman Square, (a favourite exhibition with country visitors.)  To all such places the charge of admission is 1s.  Among Pleasure Gardens, for music, dancing, tight and slack rope performances, &c., Cremorne Gardens, at Chelsea, St. Helena Gardens, at Rotherhithe, the Riverside Gardens, at North Woolwich, and the Surrey Gardens, near Walworth, are the principal; Vauxhall Gardens have disappeared as places of amusement, and have been supplanted by bricks and mortar.  The so-called Tea Gardens are much more numerous, and are supported rather by the profit on the beverages sold, than by the fee charged for admission.

A few additional particulars concerning Free Exhibitions, Shilling Exhibitions, and Exhibitions available only by Introduction, are given in the Appendix.

PARKS AND PUBLIC GROUNDS; ZOOLOGICAL, BOTANICAL, AND HORTICULTURAL GARDENS.

Much has been done within the last few years towards adorning the metropolis with health-giving parks and grounds freely open to the public.  The gardens of three scientific societies, gradually brought into a very attractive state, are also accessible, though not without payment.

St. James’s Park.—This is so called from St. James’s Palace, which partly bounds it on the north.  Originally these grounds were a marshy waste, which was drained and otherwise improved by Henry VIII.; who also took down an ancient hospital dedicated to St. James, and built on its site the palace now called St. James’s.  Charles II. improved the grounds by planting the avenues of lime-trees on the north and south sides of the park; and by forming the Mall, which was a hollowed, smooth, gravelled space, half a mile long, skirted with a wooden border, for playing at ball.  The southern avenue was appropriated to aviaries; p. 126hence it derived the appellation Birdcage Walk.  The centre of the park was occupied by canals and ponds for aquatic birds.  William III. threw the park open to the public for their recreation.  Within the last thirty years the park has been greatly improved.  It is nearly a mile and a-half in circumference, and covers about 90 acres; and the avenues form delightful shady promenades.  In the centre is a fine piece of water, interspersed with islands, and dotted with swans and water-fowl; a bridge was built across this water in 1857.  On each side are spacious lawns, enriched with lofty trees and flowering shrubs.  The lawns are separated from the avenues by iron railings, and at different parts are keepers’ lodges.  There are nine or ten entrances to the park, the Queen’s Guard doing duty at each, day and night.  At the east side is a large gravelled space, called the Parade, on which, about ten o’clock every morning, the body-guards required for the day are mustered—and here the regimental bands perform for a time in fine weather.  Here also guns are fired on state occasions.  At the south side of the parade is placed a huge mortar, brought from Spain, where it was used during the Peninsular war; it can propel a bombshell nearly four miles.  At the north end of the parade is a piece of Turkish ordnance, of great length, brought from Alexandria, in Egypt.  A little farther north from the parade is a broad flight of steps, giving entrance to the park from Waterloo Place, constructed by order of William IV.; these steps are surmounted by a lofty column, commemorative of the late Duke of York, which occupies the spot where formerly stood Carlton House, the favourite residence of George IV. while Prince Regent.  (Near here the band of the Commissionaires plays on summer evenings.)  Farther along the Mall, or avenue, is Marlborough House; next to which is St. James’s Palace, separated by Stafford House from the Green Park.  At the western end is Buckingham Palace; and on the southern side, Birdcage Walk, and the Wellington Barracks.  This park, all things considered, is one of the greatest ornaments to the metropolis.  The lake or water is a famous skating-place in winter; and having been brought to a maximum and nearly uniform depth of four feet, there is little danger of drowning by the breakage of the ice.

p. 127The Green Park.—This park, less attractive than St. James’s, and occupying about 60 acres, rises with a gentle slope to the north of Buckingham Palace, and is bounded on its east side by many fine mansions of the nobility—including those of the Duke of Sutherland, and the Earls Spencer, Ellesmere, and Yarborough.  In a north-westerly direction from the palace is a broad road called Constitution Hill, connecting St. James’s Park with Hyde Park Corner.  On the north is the line of terrace-like street forming the western portion of Piccadilly.  The whole of the Green Park is surrounded by iron railings, and is interesting from its undulating grassy surface, which rises considerably on the north side.  From the highest ground there is a pleasing prospect of Buckingham Palace, and of St. James’s Park, with its ornamental grounds and avenues of tall trees; and behind these Westminster Abbey and the new Houses of Parliament majestically rise, accompanied by the turrets of other buildings.  At the north-west angle of the park, where Constitution Hill joins Piccadilly, is a triumphal arch of the reign of George IV., elaborately decorated, but possessing little general effect.  The largest equestrian statue in England, that of the Duke of Wellington, stands on this arch; where it was placed in defiance of the opinion of persons of taste, who protested against the incongruity of such an arrangement.  Across the way is the handsome entrance to Hyde Park, close to Apsley House, the great Duke’s residence; and here, in the after-part of the day, in fine weather, may be seen an extraordinary concourse of foot-passengers, vehicles, and equestrians, going to and returning from Hyde Park; also the general traffic between Piccadilly and Kensington, Brompton, and other places in a westerly direction.

Hyde Park.—This fine open place is part of the ancient manor of Hida, which belonged to the monastery of St. Peter, at Westminster, till Henry VIII. appropriated it differently.  Its extent is about 390 acres, part of which is considerably elevated.  The whole is intersected with noble roads and paths, and luxuriant trees, planted singly or in groups, presenting very diversified prospects.  Near the south-east corner, the entrance from Piccadilly, on an elevated pedestal, stands a colossal bronze statue of Achilles, cast p. 128from the cannon taken at the battles of Salamanca and Waterloo, weighing thirty tons, and (as the inscription informs us) ‘erected to the Duke of Wellington and his companions in arms by their countrywomen.’  It cost £10,000, and was the work of Sir R. Westmacott.  The south-east entrance to the park, near Apsley House, is marked by a handsome series of arches and balustrades, from the designs of Mr. Decimus Burton.  The north-east entrance, at the end of Oxford Street, now comprises the Marble Arch, removed from the front of Buckingham Palace.  The other entrances, of which there are several, are less ornate.  The long sheet of water p. 129called the Serpentine enriches the scenery of Hyde Park.  Near its western extremity is a stone bridge, of five large and two smaller arches, erected in 1826, giving access to the gardens of Kensington Palace; and the portion of the Serpentine contained within the gardens has lately been rendered very attractive, by the formation, at its head, of a small Italian garden, with fountains, statuary, &c.  The carriage-drive on the northern bank of the Serpentine is called the Ladies’ Mile.  On the level space of Hyde Park troops of the line and volunteers are occasionally reviewed.  There is a well-stored magazine near the western side.  The broad road through the park to Kensington is denominated Rotten Row, and is a fashionable resort for equestrians of both sexes, but is not open to wheel-carriages.  Other roads display countless elegant equipages of wealth and fashion; while the footpaths, which are railed off from the roads, are favourite places of resort for visitors, who enjoy the salubrity of the air, and the gaiety of the scene, more particularly between five and seven on a summer afternoon.  There are several entrances open from early morning till ten at night.  No stage or hackney coaches, carts, or waggons, are permitted within the gates of Hyde Park—with the exception of a road-way, made at the time of the International Exhibition in 1862, and since kept up, across the park, near Kensington Gardens, for passenger-vehicles.  The Serpentine is much frequented for bathing and skating.  It has been recently cleaned out, and drained to that end; the Royal Humane Society have a receiving-house near at hand, to aid those whose lives may be endangered.  The morning and evening hours for bathing are defined by regulations placarded in various places.  The Great Exhibition of 1851, the first of its kind, was held in a Crystal Palace near the south-west corner of the park.  The Exhibition building of 1862 was beyond the limits of the park.  The Albert Memorial is at the Kensington end of Hyde Park.

London International Exhibition.—Not far beyond Prince’s Gate, Hyde Park, is the London International Exhibition of 1873, which opened on the 1st May, and will continue open till the 30th September of this year.  The ground plan and the view of the building which we give will save unnecessary expenditure of our p. 130space, which is obviously limited.  Among the many objects of interest are shewn selected specimens as follows:—Pictures, Oil and Water Colour; Sculpture; Decorative Furniture, Plate, Designs, Mosaics, &c.; Stained Glass; Architecture and Models; Engravings; Lithography; Photography as a Fine Art; Porcelain; Earthenware of all kinds; Terra-Cotta and Stoneware; Machinery used for Pottery of all kinds; Woollen Manufactures; Carpets; Worsted Manufactures; Machinery, in motion, used in Woollen and Worsted p. 131Manufactures; Live Alpacas, remarkable for their hair and wool, and other animals; Educational Works and Appliances; Scientific Inventions and Discoveries; Horticulture.  In the Royal Albert Hall musical art is represented daily.

Kensington Gardens.—At the western extremity of Hyde Park lie Kensington Gardens, a large piece of ground laid out in the ornamental park style, interspersed with walks, and ornamented with rows and clumps of noble trees.  Besides entrances from Hyde Park, there are others from the Knightsbridge and Bayswater Roads.  Near the west end of the grounds stands Kensington Palace.  The gardens have been more than once considerably extended, so that they now measure about two and a-half miles in circumference.  There are some beautiful gates on the south side, which were contributed by the Coalbrook Dale Company to the Great Exhibition of 1851.  These grounds form a most delightful public promenade during fine weather; especially on summer evenings, when one of the Guards’ bands frequently plays near the south-east corner.

p. 132Regent’s Park.—This beautiful park is situated considerably away from the other parks, in a northerly direction from the Marylebone Road.  It consists of a nearly circular enclosure of about 470 acres, laid out on the approved principles of landscape gardening; its centre is enriched with lakes, plantations, shrubberies, and beds of flowers.  Many of the Metropolitan Volunteer Rifle Corps exercise and drill in this park, in all except the winter months.  The park is surrounded by extensive ranges of buildings, forming terraces, variously designated, and decorated with sculpture in agreement with their respective orders of architecture: producing an effect of much grandeur, though, in some instances, of questionable taste.  Three or four isolated mansions occupy sites within the park.  The outer drive is two miles in circuit; the inner drive is a perfect circle, with two outlets.  At Mr. Bishop’s Observatory, near this inner circle, Mr. Hind made most of his important discoveries of asteroids and comets.  Near the south-eastern corner of the park the Colosseum stands conspicuous.  It is now closed.  The Zoological and Botanical Gardens will be described presently.  Some distance north of the Colosseum are St. Katharine’s Hospital and Chapel—a very luxurious provision for ‘six poor bachelors and six poor spinsters.’  Near the Colosseum was the once celebrated exhibition called the Diorama, which was some years ago converted into a Baptist chapel, at the cost of Sir Morton Peto.

Primrose Hill.—This spot now deserves to be ranked among the public parks of London.  It is immediately north of the Regent’s Park.  The Crown owned part of it, and obtained the rest by purchase from Eton College.  The hill-top, the grassy slopes, and the gravelled paths are kept in excellent order; and a stranger should not lose an opportunity of viewing the ‘world of London’ from this spot in early morning.  By permission of the authorities, a refreshment-room has been established for visitors; and a ‘Shakspeare Oak’ planted, April 23, 1864, which, however, “came to grief.”

Victoria Park.—This, the only park in the east or poorer division of London, consists of about 270 acres.  Having been formed only a few years, the trees have not yet grown to a full size; but it is gradually becoming a pleasant spot, with flower-beds, lakes, walks, p. 133and shady avenues.  This park is especially distinguished by possessing the most magnificent Public Fountain yet constructed in the metropolis; it was provided by the munificence of Miss Burdett Coutts, at a cost of £5,000; the design, due to Mr. Darbyshire, is that of a Gothic structure, crowned by a cupola 60 feet high.  Being near the densely populated districts of Bethnal Green and Mile End, the park is a great boon to the inhabitants.  It lies between those districts and Hackney, and easy access to it can be obtained from two stations on the North London Railway—those of Hackney and Hackney Wick, or Victoria Park.  The fountain just mentioned is near the Hackney entrance.  Improved access is also opened from Whitechapel, from Mile End, and from Bow.

Battersea Park.—This park, of about 180 acres, on which £300,000 has been spent, lies between Vauxhall and Battersea, and is the only public park which comes down to the Thames.  Nothing can exceed the change exhibited on this spot.  Until recently it was a miserable swamp, called Battersea Fields; now it is a fine park, interesting to look at, and healthful to walk in.  A beautiful suspension bridge, from the designs of Mr. Page, connects this park with Chelsea, on the other side of the river; and near it is another bridge for railway traffic.

Kennington Park.—A few years ago there was an open common at Kennington, dirty and neglected, and mostly held in favour by such classes as those which held the Chartist meeting in 1848.  It is now a prettily laid-out public park—small, but well kept.

Finsbury Park, Stoke Newington, near Alexandra Park, was opened in August, 1869.

Southwark Park was opened about the same time.  Though small, they are great boons to the working classes.

Zoological Gardens.—At the northern extremity of the Regent’s Park are the Zoological Gardens, the property of the Zoological Society, and established in 1826.  These gardens are very extensive; and being removed from the dingy atmosphere, noise, and bustle of London, present an agreeable and country-like aspect.  The grounds have been disposed in picturesque style—here a clump of shrubby trees and border of flowers, indigenous and exotic; there p. 134a pretty miniature lake; and at intervals a neat rustic cottage, with straw-thatched roof and honeysuckled porch.  Much of the ground, also, is occupied as green meadows, either subdivided into small paddocks for deer and other quadrupeds, or dotted with movable trellis-houses, the abodes of different kinds of birds which require the refreshing exercise of walking on the green turf.  Throughout the whole, neat gravel-walks wind their serpentine course, and conduct the visitor to the carnivora-house, reptile-house, bear-pit, monkey-house, aviaries, aquaria, and other departments of the establishment.  The collection of animals is unquestionably the finest in England.  The gardens are open every week-day, from 9 till sunset, for the admission of visitors, who pay 1s. each at the gate, or 6d. on Mondays.  On Saturday afternoon, in summer, one of the Guards’ bands generally plays for an hour or two.  On Sunday Fellows are admitted, and non-Fellows by a Fellow’s order.

Botanical Gardens.—These are also situated in the Regent’s Park, occupying the chief portion of the space within the inner circle.  p. 135They belong to the Botanical Society, and contain a very choice collection of trees, shrubs, flowers, and plants generally.  Admission by strangers can only be obtained through the medium of the members, or occasionally on the payment of rather a high fee.  On the days of the principal flower and plant shows, these gardens are especially distinguished by the display of aristocratic fashion and beauty.

Horticultural Gardens.—These beautiful new grounds are objects of attraction on many accounts—their merit in connection with garden architecture, the interest attending the flower-shows there held, and the special relation existing between the grounds and the Exhibitions at Brompton.  You can enter them by the gates in Exhibition Road and Prince Albert Road, South Kensington.  A few years ago, besides an office in London, the society had only facilities at Chiswick for holding the great flower-shows.  The present arrangement is in all respects a superior one.  Twenty acres of land were purchased or rented from the Commissioners of p. 136the Great Exhibition of 1851, between the Kensington and Brompton Roads; the subscribers of the purchase-money being admitted to membership on favourable conditions.  The ground is laid out in three terraces, rising successively in elevation, and surrounded by Italian arcades open to the gardens.  There are also cascades and waterworks.  The highest terrace has a spacious conservatory, to form a winter-garden.  Mr. Sidney Smith is the architect.  The last Great Exhibition building was so planned as to form a vast southern background to the gardens; and the latter were spread out in all their beauty, as seen from certain points in the former.  During the summer months the gardens are open on certain occasions to the public by paying, the days and terms being duly advertised in the newspapers and journals.  Near these gardens is the towering Royal Albert Hall of Science and Art, which was formally opened by Queen Victoria, on the 29th of March, 1871.  The fact of 8,000 people attending within one building to witness the opening of it, will shew its vast size.  The sum of £200,000, up to that date, had been expended on it.  The Hall, in some sense, has been erected in memory of the late Prince Consort, whose aspirations, during his honourable life here, were always towards whatever tended to the moral and intellectual culture of the people of this country.  The management of the undertaking is entrusted to the energetic attention of the scientific men to whom we owe the South Kensington Museum.

OMNIBUSES; TRAMWAYS; CABS; RAILWAYS; STEAMERS.

Omnibuses.—Very few indeed of the regular old-fashioned coaches are now to be seen in London.  Most of the places within twenty miles of the metropolis, on every side, are supplied with omnibuses instead.  The first omnibus was started by Mr. Shillibeer, from Paddington to the Bank, July 4, 1829.  From a return with which, by the courtesy of Colonel Henderson, C.B., Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Scotland Yard, we were kindly favoured, we gathered, that up to date of the communication in question,—viz., 28th June, 1870,—the number of such vehicles licensed in the Metropolitan district was 1,218.  Every omnibus and hackney p. 137carriage within the Metropolitan district and the City of London, and the liberties thereof, has to take out a yearly license, in full force for one year, unless revoked or suspended; and all such licenses are to be granted by the Commissioners of Police, whose officers are constantly inspecting these public vehicles.  Generally speaking, each omnibus travels over the same route, and exactly the same number of times, day after day, with the exception of some few of the omnibuses which go longer journeys than the rest, and run not quite so often in winter as in summer.  Hence the former class of omnibus comes to be associated with a particular route.  It is known to the passengers by its colour, the name of its owner, the name given to the omnibus itself, or the places to and from which it runs, according to circumstances.  The designations given to the omnibuses, whether meaning or unmeaning in themselves, are found to be very convenient, because they are generally written in large conspicuous characters.  This being an important matter to strangers, we shall give a condensed list of some of the chief omnibus routes in London in the Appendix.

Large omnibuses, to work on street tramways, after having been tried within the last few years, having evoked angry discussion between opponents and defenders, and having been entirely withdrawn, have now been revived, from Brixton Church to Kennington Gate, on the Mile End and Whitechapel Roads, City Road, Kingsland, &c., &c., and are rapidly extending.

There are, to a male visitor, few better ways of getting a bird’s-eye view of London than by riding outside an omnibus from one end of London to the other, as, according to the omnibus taken, the route can be greatly varied.

Cabs.—These convenient vehicles have completely superseded the old pair-horse hackney-coaches in London; no vehicle of the kind being now ever seen.  There are, according to the return above quoted, 6,793 of the modern single-horse hackney-coaches in the metropolis altogether—of two different kinds, ‘four-wheelers’ and ‘Hansoms,’ (named after the patentee.)  The ‘four-wheelers’ are the more numerous; they have two seats and two doors; they carry four persons, and are entirely enclosed.  The ‘Hansoms’ have two p. 138very large wheels, one seat to accommodate two persons, and are open in front; the driver is perched up behind, and drives his vehicle at a rapid rate.

Railways.—If omnibuses and cabs are more important than railways to strangers while in London, railways are obviously the most important of the three when coming to or departing from London.  The following are a few particulars concerning such railways as enter the metropolis.

London and North-Western Railway has its terminus just behind Euston Square.  The noble portico in front—by far the finest thing of the kind connected with railway architecture—has been rendered ridiculous by the alterations in the buildings behind it; for it is now at one corner of an enclosed court, instead of being in the centre of the frontage.  A new hall leading to the booking-offices, finished in 1849, is worthy of the great company to which it belongs; the vast dimensions, the fine statue of George Stephenson, and the bassi-rilievi by Thomas, render it an object deserving of a visit.  This station is the London terminus of a system exceeding 1,446 miles.

The Midland Railway has a magnificent terminus in the Euston Road, and a junction with the Metropolitan line.  It has already more than 800 miles open.

Great Northern Railway has its terminus at King’s Cross—a building more remarkable for novelty than for beauty.  This company, a severe competitor to some of older date, has few stations near London; but the directness of the line of railway renders it important as an outlet to the north.  A good hotel is contiguous to the terminus.  The goods’ depôt has become famous for the vast quantity of coal brought to the metropolis.

Great Western Railway has its terminus at Paddington, where a fine new station was built a few years ago.  A style of arabesque polychrome decoration has been adopted, not seen at other metropolitan stations.  Paddington is the head-quarters of the broad-gauge system, which extends to Weymouth in one direction, to Truro in a second, to Milford Haven in a third, and to Wolverhampton in a fourth; but some of the broad-gauge lines belong to p. 139other companies; while, on the other hand, this company has adopted the double-gauge on about 400 miles of its line.  The terminus has a splendid new hotel adjoining it.

West London Railway (now better known as the West London Extension Railway) can hardly be said to have an independent commercial existence.  It was an old and unsuccessful affair, till taken up by four of the great companies, and enlarged in an important way.  It now includes a railway bridge over the Thames at Battersea; it is connected with the London and North-Western, the Great Western, and the Metropolitan, on the north, and with the South-Western, the Brighton, and the Chatham and Dover, on the south.  There are stations at Kensington, Chelsea, and Battersea.

Hammersmith and City Junction Railway crosses the last-named line at Shepherds’ Bush, and joins the Great Western at Kensal New Town, a mile or two beyond Paddington.

North and South-Western Junction Railway is, perhaps, valuable rather as a link between the greater railways, than as an independent line.  It joins the North London at Camden Town, and the South-Western at Kew; and has stations at Kentish Town, Hampstead, Finchley New Road, Edgeware Road, Kensal Green, Acton, and Hammersmith.  It establishes through trains with other companies; and although it has no actual London terminus of its own, it is a great convenience to the western margin of the metropolis, for the fares are low.

South-Western Railway has its terminus in the Waterloo Road, which has been placed in connection with the London Bridge Station.  The main lines of the company extend to Portsmouth in one direction, Dorchester in another, and Exeter in a third; while there is a multitude of branches—from Wimbledon to Croydon, from Wimbledon to Epsom and Leatherhead, from Wandsworth to Richmond and Windsor, from Barnes to Hounslow, from Staines to Reading, &c.  There is no good hotel whatever near the Waterloo or Vauxhall Stations—a defect which seems to need a remedy.

Victoria and Crystal Palace Railway is a concern in which so p. 140many companies have an interest, that it is not easy to define the ownership.  The Victoria Station, within a quarter of a mile of the Queen’s Palace, Pimlico, is very large, but certainly not very handsome.  The Grosvenor Hotel, attached to it, may rank among the finest in the metropolis.  The Brighton, the Chatham and Dover, and the Great Western, are accommodated at this station, where both the broad and narrow gauges are laid down.  The railway leads thence, to join the Brighton at Sydenham and Norwood, by a railway-bridge across the Thames; it has stations at Battersea, Wandsworth, Balham, Streatham, Norwood, and the Crystal Palace; and throws off branches to meet the lines of the other three companies above named.

London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway has for its terminus a portion of the great London Bridge Station, contiguous to which a hotel has been constructed.  It also has termini at Victoria and Kensington.  The line leads nearly due south to the sea at Brighton, and then along the sea-coast, from Hastings in the east to Portsmouth in the west.  There are also several branches to accommodate Surrey and Sussex.  Taken altogether, this is the most remarkable pleasure-line in England,—the traffic of this kind between London and Brighton being something marvellous.

South-Eastern Railway has another portion of the large but incongruous London Bridge Station in its possession.  The seaside termini of the line are at Margate, Ramsgate, Deal, Dover, and Hastings.  The Greenwich and North Kent branches are important feeders; while there are others of less value.  The company have spent a vast sum of money in extending their line to the north of the Thames—by forming a city station in Cannon Street, with a bridge over the river midway between London and Southwark Bridges; and a West-end Station at Charing Cross, with a bridge over the river at (what was till lately) Hungerford Market.  There is also a connection with the South-Western terminus in the Waterloo Road.  The company have been forced to pay a sum of £300,000 for St. Thomas’s Hospital, as the only means of insuring a convenient course for this extension—a striking instance of the stupendous scale on which railway operations are now conducted.

p. 141London, Chatham, and Dover Railway is a very costly enterprise.  It may be said to start from two junctions with the Metropolitan, has a large station near Ludgate Hill, (involving great destruction of property,) crosses the Thames a little eastward of Blackfriars Bridge, and proceeds through Surrey and Kent to Sydenham, Bromley, Crays, Sevenoaks, Chatham, Sheerness, Faversham, Herne Bay, Margate, Ramsgate, Canterbury, Dover Pier, &c.  It also comprises a curvilinear line from Ludgate to Pimlico, with stations at Blackfriars, Newington, Walworth, Camberwell, Loughborough Road, Brixton, Clapham, Wandsworth Road, and Battersea; and a branch to Peckham, Nunhead, and the Crystal Palace.

Blackwall Railway, with which is associated the Tilbury and Southend, has its terminus in Fenchurch Street.  The station is small and unattractive; but it accommodates a wonderful amount of passenger traffic.  The original line extended only from London to Blackwall, with intermediate stations at Shadwell, Stepney, Limehouse, West India Docks, and Poplar.  An important branch from Stepney to Bow establishes a connection with the Great Eastern Railway valuable to both companies.  At Stepney also begins the Tilbury and Southend line, passing through Bromley, Barking, and numerous other places.  Accommodation is provided, a little way from the Fenchurch Street Station, for a large amount of goods traffic.  The line is now leased in perpetuity to the Great Eastern Company.

Great Eastern Railway has its terminus in Bishopsgate Street, or rather Shoreditch, and a large depôt and station at Stratford.  The Shoreditch station is large.  This terminus, however, will shortly be removed to Broad Street, City.  The lines of this company are numerous, and ramify in many directions towards the east, north-east, and north.  Its terminal points (with those of the associated companies) at present are—Peterborough, Hunstanton, Wells, Yarmouth, Aldborough, and Harwich; with less distant termini at Ongar and North Woolwich.

North London Railway, consisting wholly of viaduct and cutting, has its terminus at Broad Street, Finsbury.  All its stations are considered to be in London.  It joins the London and North-Western p. 142near Primrose Hill, and the Blackwall at Stepney.  It has intermediate stations at Camden Road, Caledonian Road, Islington, Cannonbury, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney, Victoria Park, and Bow.  Trains run every quarter of an hour, in both directions, at fares varying from 2d. to 4d.; and the number of passengers is immense.

Metropolitan Railway, from Finsbury to Paddington, is a very remarkable one, nearly all tunnel, and requiring the carriages to be constantly lighted with gas.  It runs from Westminster Bridge, viâ Pimlico, Brompton, Kensington, Notting Hill, and Bayswater, to Paddington, where it joins the Great Western.  It then goes under Praed Street and the New Road to King’s Cross.  There it joins the Great Northern, and thence goes on to Holborn Bridge, Smithfield Dead Meat Market, and Moorgate Street.  Since the opening of the Metropolitan District Extension Railway, you can go at present (July, 1870) from the Mansion House, under the Northern Thames Embankment, before described, to Westminster Bridge, &c.  There are stations near the Mansion House, the terminus; at Blackfriars, the Temple, Charing Cross, and Westminster.

Steamers and Steamboat Piers have been already referred to.

p. 143SHORT EXCURSIONS.

We shall now direct the stranger’s attention to a few places of interest easily accessible from the metropolis—beginning with those situated westward, or up the river.

UP THE RIVER.

Chelsea.—Chelsea, once a village, is now a part of the metropolis, Pimlico and Belgravia having supplied the intervening link.  During the last century a pleasant ramble across the fields was much in favour to the Chelsea bunhouse; but no one thinks of Chelsea now, except as part of London.  Sloane Square and Street, and Hans Place, were named after Sir Hans Sloane, who lived in that neighbourhood.  The chief place of interest at Chelsea is the Hospital for retired invalid soldiers, an institution similar to the asylum for old seamen at Greenwich.  The hospital, which is situated on a flat stretch of ground bordering the Thames, and was p. 144planned by Sir Christopher Wren, consists chiefly of one large edifice of red brick, several stories in height, forming a centre and two wings, or three sides of a square, with the open side towards the bank of the Thames.  On the north, in which is the main entrance, the style of architecture is simple, being ornamented with only a plain portico.  The inner part of the centre building is more decorated, there being here a piazza of good proportions, forming a sheltered walk for the veteran inmates.  In the centre of the open square stands a statue, by Grinling Gibbons, of Charles II., in whose time the hospital took its rise.  The only parts of the structure considered worthy to be shewn to strangers are the chapel and old dining-hall, both in the central building.  The chapel is neat and plain in appearance; the rows of benches being furnished with prayer-books and hassocks, and the floor being paved with chequered marble.  Above the communion-table is a painting of the Ascension, by Sebastian Ricci.  The dining-hall is equally spacious, but is now disused as a refectory.  In the hall and chapel are about 100 flags, taken by British troops in various battles.  The usual number of in-pensioners is about 500, and of out-pensioners not fewer than 60,000 to 70,000, who reside in all parts of the United Kingdom.  The former are provided with all necessaries, while the latter have each pensions varying according to their grade.  The inmates wear an antique garb of red cloth, in which they may be seen loitering about the neighbourhood.

Near Sloane Square is situated a large building forming the Royal Military Asylum, familiarly called the Duke of York’s School, for the support and education of about 500 poor children, whose fathers were non-commissioned officers and privates in the army.  Each regiment of the British army contributes annually one day’s pay, to aid in supporting the institution.  Between Sloane Square and Chelsea Bridge is the fine new Barracks for the Foot Guards: the only handsome barrack structure in the metropolis.

Chelsea to Chiswick.—Battersea Park, elsewhere described, is just opposite Chelsea.  Beyond the park are Battersea and Wandsworth, places containing very few objects of interest; and backed by Clapham and Wimbledon, where many London merchants and p. 145tradesmen have their private residences.  Beyond Wandsworth lie Putney, Barnes, and Mortlake, where the river makes a great bend towards Kew.  Between Putney and Kew many Regattas, or boat-races, take place during the summer; especially the famous annual contest, from Putney to Mortlake, between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge: these are among the most pleasant of the up-river scenes.  Omnibuses, steamboats, and the South-Western Railway, give abundant accommodation to the places here named.  On the Middlesex side of the river, just beyond Chelsea, are Cremorne Gardens.  Next, we get into a region of Market-Gardens, from which London is supplied with vast quantities of fruit and vegetables.  Walham Green, Parson’s Green, and Fulham, lie in the immediate vicinity of these gardens.  Strangers would find an hour or two pleasantly spent hereabouts.  The bishops of London have their palace at Fulham, a picturesque old structure.  After passing Hammersmith, where there is a pretty suspension bridge, we come to Chiswick, noted for its market-gardens; here is the house in which Hogarth died; and in the churchyard is his tomb, with an p. 146inscription by David Garrick.  The Duke of Sutherland has a fine mansion at Chiswick; and near at hand are the old gardens of the Horticultural Society.

Kew Gardens.—Kew is one of the pleasantest villages near London.  When we have crossed the Thames from Brentford, by the bridge, we come upon the green, bounded on three sides by countryfied-looking houses, and on the fourth by the splendid gardens.  The place is very easily reached—by omnibuses from the city to the Middlesex end of the bridge; by steamers every half-hour during summer; and by trains from the Waterloo and the North London Stations.  It may be well to remember, however, that the so-called Kew Station is not actually at Kew.  There is another, however, near the Gardens.  By far the most interesting object at Kew is the famous Botanic Gardens.  This is a very beautiful establishment, maintained at the public expense.  It contains a rare collection of plants, obtained from all parts of the world, arranged and labelled in admirable order by Dr. Dalton Hooker.  The flower-beds, hot-houses, and conservatories, are very numerous.  The great palm p. 147house, with its exotics, reaching to a height of 60 feet, and constructed at a cost of £30,000, forms a grand object.  The new temperate-house was constructed from the designs of Mr. Burton; 212 feet long, 137 wide, and 60 high, with two wings 112 feet by 62.  Extensive new works have been added—including a lake having a communication with the Thames by a tunnel under the river-terrace, and a winter-garden, or enclosed conservatory, more than twice as large as the palm-house.  Three detached buildings have been fitted up as a Museum of Economic Botany.  The Pleasure Grounds form a kind of Park contiguous to the Botanic Gardens; the gardens are 75 acres in extent, and the grounds 240 acres.  This beautiful place is freely open to the public in the afternoon, on Sundays as well as week-days, after one o’clock.

Richmond.—Richmond is a village situated on the south bank of the Thames, at about 9 miles by land from Hyde Park Corner, and 16 miles by following the windings of the river.  The most pleasant mode of conveyance to it used to be by one of the small steamboats from Hungerford Pier; for then an opportunity was afforded of p. 148seeing numerous beautiful and interesting spots on both banks of the river.  The river is now, however, so shallow, that steamers can seldom reach this spot; and the trip is usually made by railway—from the Waterloo and Vauxhall Stations, and from all stations on the Blackwall, North London, and North and South Western lines.  Omnibuses also run very frequently from the City and West End.  Richmond stands on a slope overhanging the river.  Opposite the village is a stone bridge crossing the Thames.  South from the village, a pretty steep bank ascends to the green and bushy eminence called Richmond Hill; and from the terrace on its summit a view is obtained of the beautifully wooded country up the river, stretching away to Windsor.  Among numerous villas, ornamental grounds, and other attractive objects, may be seen Twickenham, situated in the immediate vicinity, on the left bank of the Thames.  In the house for which the present was erected as a substitute, lived Pope the poet, and his body is entombed in the church.  Close by p. 149Twickenham is Strawberry Mill, once the seat of Horace Walpole, and now belonging to Lady Waldegrave.  Moving onwards along the brow of the eminence, and passing the well known but expensive hotel called the Star and Garter, we enter the famous Richmond Park, which is eight miles in circumference, and enriched with magnificent trees.  These extensive grounds were at one time connected with a royal palace, but there is now no such edifice—one or two hunting-lodges excepted; the park is, however, still a domain of the Crown, and freely open to the public.  Foreigners are great admirers of this vicinity.

Hampton Court.—Hampton is about 13 miles from London by railway, and 24 by water.  Trains run there very frequently, and at low fares, from Waterloo Station.  The village is unimportant, but rendered pleasant by its large and open green.  The chief object of attraction is Hampton Court Palace, situated within an enclosed garden near the north bank of the Thames.  The palace p. 150was originally built by Cardinal Wolsey, and a portion of the structure which he reared is still extant in the northern quadrangle.  Here was the scene of the humiliation and forfeiture of that favourite of Henry VIII., who at this place often held his court, and made it the scene of his Christmas festivities; there Edward VI. was born; here were held the masques, mummeries, and tournaments of Philip and Mary, and Elizabeth; here James I. held his court and famous meeting of controversialists; here Charles I. was immured as a state prisoner, and took leave of his children; here was celebrated the marriage of Cromwell’s daughter and Lord Falconberg; here Charles II. sojourned occasionally with his dissolute courtiers; here lived William and Mary after the revolution of 1688; and here, till the reign of George II., royal courts were sometimes held.  The palace, in external appearance, is a lofty and magnificent structure of red brick, with stone cornices and dressings.  The older part, including the famous Great Hall, the scene of the court masques and revels, is of the time of Henry VIII.; the eastern part, including the public rooms and the long garden front, was built by Wren for William III.  Altogether, the edifice consists of three quadrangles.  Entering by the grand staircase, which is decorated with paintings by Antonio Verrio, the visitor is conducted through a suite of lofty and large apartments, furnished in an old-fashioned style.  The guard-room, which is first in order, contains, besides a series of English admirals by Kneller and Dahl, a variety of ancient warlike instruments.  In the next apartment are portraits of various beauties of Charles II.’s court, painted by Sir Peter Lely, who has here depicted several lovely countenances, though a sensual character is common to them all.  In the third room, or audience-chamber, is seen what is generally regarded as the finest painting in the palace—a portrait of Charles I. on horseback, by Vandyck.  The third room has also some good pictures; among others, a painting of the family of Louis Cornaro, a person celebrated for his extraordinary temperance.  The picture, which is from an original by Titian, shews Cornaro and three generations of descendants, who appear in the act of adoration at a shrine.  There are likewise portraits of Titian and his uncle, painted by p. 151Titian himself, and a spirited battle-piece by Giulio Romano.  The fourth apartment, or Queen’s drawing-room, is enriched with an exceedingly fine painting of Charles I., a whole length, by Vandyck, esteemed the best likeness we have of that monarch.  There is a well known and beautiful print from it by Sir Robert Strange, the prince of English line-engravers.  In the next room, or state bedchamber, the visitor will see a portrait of Ann Hyde, daughter of Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, and mother of the successive queens, Mary and Anne.  The Queen’s dressing-room and writing-closet, and Queen Mary’s state bedchamber, which follow, contain many fine pictures, by Holbein, Sir Peter Lely, Sebastian del Piombo, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Durer, and others.  A series known as the Beauties of the Court of William and Mary comprises portraits (by Kneller) more staid than those of the court of Charles II., and, it must be admitted, more tame and dull.  After having traversed these stately and silent halls, one of which contains a valuable collection of historical portraits, the visitor is led out through the gallery lately containing the famous Cartoons of Raphael—which were transferred in 1865 to the South Kensington Museum.  Another room contains a fine series of Cartoons by Andrea Mantegna.  The whole of the pictures at Hampton Court are little less than 1000 in number.

The palace garden has a Vinery, where there is a grape vine ninety years old, which has sometimes yielded 3000 bunches of grapes in one year.  The garden also possesses a Maze, a source of great delight to holiday juveniles.  On the opposite side of the Hampton Wick Road from the palace gardens, is Bushy Park, a royal domain, embellished with an avenue of horse-chestnut trees, which present a splendid sight when in full bloom.  The palace grounds are also exceedingly beautiful.  Bushy Park is open for omnibuses and other vehicles, as well as for pedestrians.  The palace is open free every day except Friday, from 10 till 4 or 6, according to the season; and the grounds or gardens till dusk.  This is one of the very few public buildings in or near the metropolis open on Sundays.

Windsor.—Passing over the country between Hampton and p. 152Windsor, which does not comprise many spots interesting to strangers, we come to the famous royal domain.  Windsor is situated in the county of Berks, at the distance of 22 miles west from London by the road through Brentford; but it may now be reached in an hour or less by the Great Western Railway from Paddington, or the South-Western from Waterloo Bridge.  Windsor occupies a rising-ground on the south bank of the Thames, and is interesting for its ancient and extensive castle, the grandest royal residence in this country.  The gates of the castle are close upon the main street of the town, and lead to enclosures containing a number of quadrangles, towers, gates, mansions, barracks, and other structures.  The principal portion of the castle occupies two courts, an upper and lower, of spacious dimensions, and having between them a large round tower or keep, in which the governor resides.  The top of p. 153this keep is 220 feet above the Thames, and twelve counties can be seen from it in fine weather.  In the lower court is St. George’s Chapel, an elegant Gothic edifice, in which service is performed on Sundays, occasionally in presence of the royal residents.  Besides the chapel and keep, the chief parts of the castle attractive to strangers are the state apartments in the upper or northern court; these are exhibited free to visitors on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.  Tickets can be obtained of Messrs. Colnaghi, 13 and 14 Pall Mall East.  The days, hours, and conditions of visiting are notified on the tickets.  The apartments here meant are the old state rooms, not those actually occupied by the Queen, her family, and retinue.

Outside the castle, facing the north, is the famed terrace, from which a view is obtained over a most beautiful expanse of country.  On another side are the new royal stables, the finest in England, having, with the Riding House, cost £70,000.  In the gardens immediately adjoining the Queen’s apartments, the royal family, p. 154before the death of the Prince Consort, were wont occasionally to promenade, at an hour when the public might see them.  The Home Park, bounding the palace on two sides, is not open to the public; but the Great Park is freely open, to persons on foot, on horseback, or in vehicles.  The Long Walk through this park, extending 3 miles, is one of the finest things of the kind in England.

Eton College, with its school-rooms for 900 boys, chapel, quadrangles, and playing-fields, lies beautifully situated opposite Windsor Castle.

A ramble from the Slough Station, near Eton, would take a visitor to the scenes rendered memorable by Gray’s Elegy.

DOWN THE RIVER.

Deptford.—This was once of some importance as a shipbuilding place, a dockyard having been established here ever since the time of Henry VIII.; but the government establishments have recently been given up to the victualling and store departments.  Deptford p. 155may now be considered part of the metropolis—and a very dirty part it is, containing few objects that would interest a stranger.  Peter the Great of Russia studied as a shipwright at Deptford dockyard in 1698, to fit himself for creating a Russian navy.

Greenwich.—This favourite place lies on the south bank of the Thames, a little below Deptford, about six miles below London Bridge, following the windings of the river, but only about four miles by railway, from the London Bridge Station.  It is noted for the Trafalgar, Ship, Crown and Sceptre, and other taverns, where whitebait dinners have become celebrated.  Diners at these places, however, will require long purses.  Greenwich is chiefly interesting, however, for its national establishments.  Towards its eastern extremity stands the Hospital, which faces the Thames, and has a command of all that passes on the river.  This superb hospital consists of four edifices, unconnected with each other, but apparently forming an entire structure, lining three sides of an open square, the fourth side being next the water.  It is mostly built of stone, p. 156in majestic style; and along nearly the greater part are lofty colonnades, with handsome pillars, and covered overhead, to protect those underneath from the weather.  The square interval in the centre, which is 273 feet wide, has in the middle a statue of George II., by Rysbrach.  A portion of these beautiful buildings was originally planned by Inigo Jones, another portion by Sir C. Wren, and the rest by later architects.  It was William and Mary who, in the year 1694, here established an hospital for superannuated and disabled seamen, to which purpose the buildings were till lately devoted.  The institution is supported by the interest on £2,800,000, funded property, the rental of estates in the north of England, and a national grant.  In 1865 it accommodated about 1300 pensioners, 150 nurses, and a variety of officers for the government of the place.  The inmates were old sailors, with countenances well browned by tropical suns, or bleached by the tempests of the ocean; here one hobbling on a wooden leg, there one with an empty sleeve, and occasionally one with only one eye.  Their clothes were of a dark-blue colour, of an antiquated fashion.  Their old cocked-hats had been superseded by hats of more modern shape; the boatswains, or other warrant-officers, being allowed a yellow trimming or lace to their garments.  An abundance of food was allowed, the clothing warm and comfortable, the accommodations in the rooms good; and each man, according to his rank, had from three to five shillings a-week, as an allowance for pocket-money.  The outer gateway, and the interior parts of this establishment, were under the care of the pensioners themselves, who shewed the utmost attention to strangers, manifesting a frankness and good-nature characteristic of the profession of the sailor.  Small sums were taken for exhibiting some of the buildings, but the money went to the general fund, or for the board and education of the children of seamen.  The visitor did not fail to glance into the refectory and kitchen, which were freely open, and see the old men at their meals.

It may seem singular thus to speak of this famous establishment in the past tense; but in truth the purpose of Greenwich Hospital is changed.  By an arrangement made in 1865, nearly all the pensioners (except sick and decrepit) have left the building, with a p. 157greatly increased money-allowance; most of them now living with their relations or friends.

One attractive part of the establishment is the Painted Hall, in the west wing.  It consists of a great room and one smaller, a vestibule, and a flight of steps.  The appearance of the whole interior, on entering, is very imposing, the ceiling and one end being covered with paintings; and although these paintings, exhibiting a mixture of fantastic heathen gods and goddesses with royal and other portraits, are not in judicious taste, they serve to give a good general effect to the noble apartment.  Along the walls are hung a collection of pictures, partly portraits of celebrated navigators and admirals, and partly depicting distinguished naval victories: each being a present to the institution by some benefactor.  A good portrait of Captain Cook, by Dance, presented by Sir Joseph Banks, adorns the vestibule.  p. 158A number of portraits, by Sir Peter Lely, Dahl, Sir Godfrey Kneller, and others, were presented by George IV.  There are also several by Sir Joshua Reynolds.  The painted ceiling of the great room was executed by Sir James Thornhill in 1703 and subsequent years.  It is related that, in consequence of the length of time he had to lie on his back painting the ceiling, the artist could never afterwards sit upright.  In the smaller apartment are shewn several models of ships of war, admirably executed; the coat worn by Nelson at the battle of the Nile; the astrolabe of Sir Francis Drake, a curious brass instrument of antique fashion, used for nautical observation; and some interesting relics of the ill-fated voyage of Sir John Franklin.  The Hall is open free to the public on Monday and Friday; on other days the charge is 4d.  On Sunday it may be seen after morning-service.  The Chapel is also worth a visit; it contains a fine picture by Benjamin West, the ‘Shipwreck of St. Paul;’ and monuments to two admirals, by Chantrey and Behnes.  A monument or obelisk to the memory of Lieutenant Bellot, who perished in one of the Arctic Expeditions, has been placed on the noble Hospital-terrace, fronting the river.

The Park, extending behind the hospital—open free to the public until dusk—comprehends a considerable space of ground, nearly 200 acres, of great natural and artificial beauty.  A pathway amidst lines of tall trees leads to a piece of rising-ground or mount, which, on holidays, generally exhibits a mirthful scene, in which ‘running down Greenwich hill’ plays a great part.  On the summit is the Royal Observatory, founded by George III. for the promotion of astronomical science, and the scene of the labours of some men of distinguished ability.  An astronomer-royal, supported by a parliamentary grant, constantly resides and pursues investigations in the Observatory.  From this spot British geographers measure the longitude.  The collection of instruments kept and used in this building is superb and costly; but the public are not admitted to see them.  An electric time-ball falls every day at one o’clock precisely; and an electric clock, a standard barometer, and standard measures of length, (of rigorous accuracy,) are placed for public use by the side of the entrance-gates.

p. 159Limehouse to North Woolwich.—If a stranger be willing to lay aside the ideas of mere pleasure spots, he will find much to look at and think about in the stretch of river margin here denoted.  First comes the Isle of Dogs, joining Limehouse on the east.  This strange horseshoe-shaped piece of ground is almost wholly below the level of the river, the inroads of which are only prevented by embankments.  The northern neck of the peninsula (for it is not strictly an island) is occupied by the West India Docks; the middle portion is not much appropriated to any useful purpose, on account of the lowness of the site; the river edge is fringed with shipbuilding and factory establishments.  The Great Eastern was here built at Messrs. Scott Russell’s works.  A new church has been built at Cubitt Town, the name now given to the eastern part of the Isle.  Next below the Isle of Dogs are Poplar and Blackwall, now forming one town—observable for the shipyard of Messrs. Green, the terminus of the Blackwall Railway, the East India Docks, and two or three river-side taverns where whitebait dinners are much in fashion during the season.  Then comes the spot, Bow Creek, at which the River Lea enters the Thames, so closely hemmed in by shipyards and engine-factories, that the Lea itself can barely be seen.  The great shipyard of the Thames Company, late Messrs. Mare’s, is situated here.  Next we come to the extensive and convenient Victoria Docks, occupying ground which was previously mere waste.  Beyond the Docks are new centres of population gradually springing up, called Silvertown and North Woolwich, with large factories and a railway station.  Still farther east, near Barking Creek, there may be seen the vast outfall of the great system of drainage for the northern half of the metropolis.

Woolwich.—Taking the south side of the river instead of the north, and availing himself of steamers or of trains, (from Charing Cross, Fenchurch Street, or Shoreditch,) the stranger finds the next place of importance below Greenwich to be Woolwich.  This is a busy town in Kent, eight miles from London by land, and ten following the course of the river.  Here, in the reign of Henry VIII., a dockyard for the construction of vessels of the royal navy was established; and ever since that time the place has been p. 160distinguished as an arsenal for naval and military stores.  The dockyard was closed 1st October, 1869.  From the river, a view is obtained of the arsenal, now greatly improved.  The ground of the arsenal, for nearly a mile in length, is bounded on the river side by a stone quay, and is occupied in part by prodigious ranges of storehouses and workshops.  Among these is included a laboratory for the preparation of cartridges, bombs, grenades, and shot; a splendid manufactory for shells and guns; a gun-carriage factory of vast extent; and a store of warlike material that never fails to fill a stranger with amazement.  Adjoining are barracks for artillery and marines, military hospitals, &c.  On the upper part of Woolwich Common is situated a royal military academy for the education of young gentlemen designed for the army.  Strangers (if not foreigners) are admitted to the arsenal only by a written order from the War Office.  The number of government establishments in and near Woolwich is very large; and there is generally something or other going on which a stranger would be interested in seeing.

p. 161Below Woolwich.—Numerous steamers during the day, trains on the Tilbury Railway, and others on the North Kent Railway, give easy access to a number of pleasant places lower down the river than Woolwich.  On the Essex side are Rainham, near which onion gardens are kept up; Purfleet, where vast stores of government gunpowder are kept; Grays, where immense quantities of chalk are dug, and where copious springs of very pure water are found in the chalk beds; and Tilbury, where there is a regular fortification for the defence of the river, and a steam-ferry over to Gravesend.  On the Kent side are Plumstead Marshes, where artillery practice by Woolwich officers is carried on; Crossness Point, where the fine buildings connected with the Southern Outfall Sewer are situated, (and near which were the great Powder Magazines that blew up in October, 1864;) Erith, with its pretty wooded heights; Greenhithe, where the late General Havelock passed some of his early years, and where Alderman Harmer built a mansion with the stones of old London Bridge; and Northfleet, where much shipbuilding is carried on.  Beyond Northfleet is Gravesend, a famous place for Cockney picnics, but fast losing its rural character.  Commercially, Gravesend is important as being p. 162the place where the customs’ authorities recognise the port of London to begin; all ships, incoming and outgoing, are visited by the officers here, pilots embark and disembark, and much trade accrues to the town in consequence.

CRYSTAL PALACE, &c.

There are many pretty spots in different directions in the vicinity of London, away from the river, worthy of a visit.  On the north-west are Hampstead, with its noble Heath and its charming variety of landscape scenery; and Harrow, with its famous old school, associated with the memory of Byron, Peel, and many other eminent men.  To its churchyard Byron was a frequent visitor: “There is,” he wrote to a friend in after years, “a spot in the churchyard, near the footpath on the brow of the hill looking towards Windsor, and a tomb (bearing the name of Peachey) under a large tree, where I used to sit for hours and hours when a boy.”  Nearly northward are Highgate, with its fringe of woods, and its remarkable series of ponds; Finchley, once celebrated for its highwaymen, but now for its cemeteries; Hornsey, with its ivy-clad church, and its pretty winding New River; and Barnet, with its great annual fair.  p. 163On the north-east are Edmonton, which the readers of ‘John Gilpin’ will of course never forget; Enfield, where the government manufacture rifles on a vast scale; Waltham, notable for its abbey and its gunpowder mills; and Epping Forest—a boon to picnic parties from the eastern half of London.  ‘Fairlop Oak’ (Hainault Forest) has disappeared.

South of the Thames, likewise, there are many pretty spots, quite distinct from those on the river’s bank.  Wimbledon, where volunteers assemble; Mitcham, near which are some interesting herb-gardens; Norwood, a pleasant spot, from which London can be well seen; Lewisham and Bromley, surrounded by many pretty bits of scenery; Blackheath, a famous place for golf and other outdoor games; Eltham, where a bit of King John’s palace is still to be seen; the Crays, a string of picturesque villages on the banks of the river Cray; &c.  Dulwich is a village about 5 miles south of London Bridge.  Here Edward Alleyn, or Allen, a distinguished actor in the reign of James I., founded and endowed an hospital or college, called Dulwich College, for the residence and support of poor persons, under certain limitations.  On 21st June, 1870, a new college, a modern development and extension of the old charity, was formally opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales.  The new buildings are entirely devoted to educational purposes, and they have accommodation for 600 or 700 boys.  The founder bequeathed some pictures to the institution, and the collection was vastly increased by the addition of a large number, chiefly of the Dutch and Flemish schools, bequeathed in 1810 by Sir Francis Bourgeois.  A gallery, designed by Sir John Soane, was opened in 1817; and this now forms a most attractive sight to all who delight in the fine arts.  The gallery is open free every week-day from 10 to 5 in summer, and from 10 to 4 in winter.

Crystal Palace.—One especial object of interest in the southern vicinity of London is the far-famed Crystal Palace.  This structure, in many respects one of the most remarkable in the world, owed its existence to the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park.  The materials of that building being sold to a new company towards the close of that year, were transferred to an elevated spot near Sydenham, p. 164about 7 miles from London.  The intention was to found a palace and park for the exhibition of objects in art and science, and to make it self-paying.  The original estimate was £500,000, but the expenditure reached nearly £1,500,000—too great to render a profitable return likely.  The palace and grounds were opened in 1854; the water-towers and great fountains some time afterwards.  The marvels of this unparalleled structure cannot be described within a limited space.  The building is about 1600 feet long, 380 wide, and, at the centre transept, nearly 200 high.  It consists of a nave and three transepts, all with arched roofs, and all made chiefly of iron and glass.  Within, the building consists of a central nave, having marble fountains near the two ends, and lined with statues and plants throughout its whole length.  On each side of the nave are compartments to illustrate the sculpture and architecture of different ages and countries; such as Greek, Roman, Assyrian, Pompeian, Egyptian, Alhambraic or Saracenic, Romanesque, Byzantine, p. 165Mediæval, in its English, French, and German varieties, Renaissance, Palladian, and Elizabethan.  Other compartments illustrate certain industrial groups, such as cutlery, porcelain, paper, encaustic tiles, &c.  On the first gallery are large collections of pictures, photographs, and casts from medallions and small works of art.  Near the centre transept are all the necessary arrangements for two concert-rooms—one on a stupendous scale, in which 5000 singers and instrumentalists can sometimes be heard at once.  An orchestra of unparalleled dimensions is constructed here for great festival commemorations, and similar musical meetings.  The botanical collection within the building is very fine; and to preserve the exotic plants, one end of the building is maintained at a high temperature all the year round.  Some portions of the galleries are let out as stalls or bazaars to shopkeepers; and very extensive arrangements are made for supplying refreshments.  In an upper gallery is a museum of raw produce.  In long galleries in the basement p. 166are exhibited agricultural implements, and cotton and other machinery in motion.

The park and gardens are extensive, occupying nearly 200 acres; they are beautifully arranged, and contain an extremely fine collection of flowers and other plants, occupying parterres separated by broad gravel-walks.  The terraces, stone balustrades, wide steps, and sculptures, are all on a very grand scale.  The fountains are perhaps the finest in the world, some of them sending up magnificent streams of water to a great height, and some displaying thousands of minute glittering jets interlacing in the most graceful manner.  A portion of the water is made to imitate cascades and waterfalls.  The jet from the central basin rises to 150 feet; and those from the two great basins to 250 feet.  There are two cascades, each 450 feet long, 100 wide, and having a tall of 12 feet.  When the whole of the waterworks are playing, there are 12,000 jets in all; and when this continues for the length of time customary on some of the ‘grand days,’ the water consumed is said to amount to 6,000,000 p. 167gallons.  Two water-towers of enormous height, (nearly 300 feet from the foundations,) to which water is pumped up by steam-engines, supply the water-pressure by which the fountains are fed.  The illustrations of extinct animals and of geology, in the lower part of the grounds, are curious and instructive.

Railway trains, running frequently during the day, give access to the Crystal Palace, from the Pimlico and London Bridge stations of the Brighton Company, from the Kensington and Chelsea stations of the West London Railway, from the Waterloo station of the South-Western viâ Wimbledon, and from the Ludgate Hill and other stations of the Chatham and Dover.  The last-named company have built an elegant and convenient ‘high-level’ station, in front of the main centre transept.  The Crystal Palace is a shilling exhibition; but the greater number of visitors only pay 1s. 6d. each for a ticket (third class) which insures admission to the palace and grounds, and the railway journey there and back; first and second class tickets are higher; and there are days on which admission to the palace is also higher.  A whole week might be spent in examining the various treasures; for the Crystal Palace and grounds are interesting in each of the following features:—Sculpture; Illustrations of Architecture; Pictures and Photographs; Illustrations of Mechanics and Manufactures; Botany; Ethnology, or Illustrations of National Characteristics; Palæontology, or Extinct Animals; Geology; Hydraulic skill in the Fountains; and Musical facilities of an unprecedented kind.  There are also facilities in the grounds for Cricket, Archery, Boating, Athletic Exercises, and Sports of other kinds, either regularly or occasionally.  The directors must be credited with the undoubted excellence of their Choral Festivals and Orchestral Concerts.  For great holiday demonstrations, too, there is nothing else at all equal to the Crystal Palace in the kingdom; and railways give access to it from almost every part of the metropolis.

Alexandra Park and Palace.—This is situated on the north side of London, near Hornsey, and is reached by means of the Great Northern Railway.  It has long remained closed for want of funds, but is expected to be opened in June.  Its objects, &c., are similar p. 168to those of the Crystal Palace.  The building was erected from the remains of the Exhibition of 1862.

p. 169APPENDIX.
TABLES, LISTS, AND USEFUL HINTS.

Suburban Towns and Villages within Twelve Miles’ Railway-distance.

The distances are measured from the terminal stations of the great Companies’ lines.  The names of these stations are abbreviated thus:

Padd.—Paddington; Great Western.

Eust.—Euston Square; London and North Western.

K. C.—King’s Cross; Great Northern.

Shore.—Shoreditch; Great Eastern.

Fen.—Fenchurch Street; London and Blackwall.

L. B.—London Bridge; South-Eastern, and London and Brighton.

Wat.—Waterloo; London and South-Western.

Vic.—Victoria or Pimlico; Crystal Palace and other railways.

N. L.—North London.

Lud.—Ludgate Hill; London, Chatham, and Dover.

St. Panc.—St. Pancras; Midland.

The places accommodated by the North London Railway have no mileage distances named; for all the stations on that line are equally within the metropolitan limits.  The Metropolitan Railway is not here mentioned at all, for a similar reason.  For all stations on the South-Eastern, the distance from Charing Cross is about 1¾ miles farther than from London Bridge.  On the Chatham and Dover, most of the stations are about equidistant from the Ludgate and Victoria termini.  The places reached by steamers are marked St.; while Om. signifies Omnibus, in cases where there is no very available railway route.  When a town is some little distance from the nearest station, two mileages are named: thus, ‘Beddington, 10½ Croydon + 2½,’ implies that after a railway journey of 10½ miles to Croydon, there are 2½ miles of road.

CHIEF OMNIBUS ROUTES.

There are few better ways for a man to see London, on a fine day, than by riding through it on an omnibus.  These vehicles mostly begin to run about 8.30–9 a.m., and cease about 12 p.m.  To give more than a mere general notion as regards a few of the chief omnibus routes, is impossible in our limited space here.  The fares range, for the most part, from a minimum of 2d. to a maximum of 6d.  They are painted inside the omnibus: the main localities passed on the way, outside.  The groups of these conveyances known by distinctive names, (all the omnibuses of each group having one common name,) are chiefly the following:—

Atlas—colour, green—running between St. John’s Wood and Camberwell Gate, and vice versa, via Oxford Street, and over Westminster Bridge—every 5 minutes.

City Atlas—green—between Swiss Cottage, St. John’s Wood, and London Bridge Station, and vice versa, via Oxford St., Holborn, Bank—every 7 minutes.

Bayswater—light green—from Notting Hill and Bayswater to Mile-End p. 172Gate, via Oxford Street, Holborn, Cornhill, Whitechapel—every 6 minutes.

Bayswater to London Bridge Station, via Oxford Street, Holborn, Cheapside—every few minutes.

Bayswater to Shoreditch Station—Oxford Street, Holborn, Cheapside, Threadneedle Street, Bishopsgate Street—every hour.

Citizen—Paddington to London Bridge Station—Edgeware Road, (only,) Oxford Street, Holborn, Bank—every 8 minutes.

Other omnibuses also run to and from Paddington, as follows:—

Paddington to London Bridge Station—green—Royal Oak, Edgeware Road, New Road, City Road, Bank—every 10 minutes.

Paddington to Fenchurch Station—Some of the above go to Fenchurch instead of London Bridge Station.

Paddington to Whitechapel—green—as above to Bank, then Cornhill and Aldgate—frequent.

Paddington to Charing Cross—red—Edgeware Road, Oxford and Regent Streets, Charing Cross—every 8 minutes.

Favorite—green—Holloway to London Bridge, via Highbury, Islington, City Road, Bank, King William Street—about every 8 minutes.

Favorite—green—Holloway to Westminster, Islington, Exmouth Street, Chancery Lane, Westminster Abbey, Victoria Street.

Favorite—blue—Holloway Road, Caledonian Road, King’s Cross, Euston Road, Portland Road, Regent Street, Piccadilly, Knightsbridge, South Kensington, Museum, “Queen’s Elm”—every 9 minutes.

Havelock—Kingsland Gate to “Elephant and Castle,” via Shoreditch, Bishopsgate Street, London Bridge, Borough—at frequent intervals.

Paragon—green—Brixton to Gracechurch Street, Kensington, “Elephant and Castle,” London Bridge—every 10 minutes.

Buxton to Oxford Street—Kensington, Westminster Bridge, Charing Cross, Regent Street—every half hour.

Royal Blue—blue—Pimlico, Piccadilly, Strand, Cheapside, Fenchurch Street Station—every 8 or 10 minutes.

Waterloo—blue—from “York and Albany,” Regent’s Park, by Albany Street, Regent Street, Westminster Bridge, “Elephant and Castle” to Camberwell Gate—every 6 minutes.

Westminster—brown—Pimlico to Bank, via Lupus Street, Vauxhall Bridge Road, Westminster, Strand, &c.—every 6 minutes.

Such are a few of the numerous omnibus routes of London.  From such places as Charing Cross and the London Bridge Stations, you can get an omnibus for almost any part of London, up till nearly midnight; while, by the aid of a map, no matter in what quarter you may be, you will speedily p. 173find out how best to consult your particular tastes in the way of locomotion and sight-seeing.  In the case of gross incivility or overcharge, you have a simple remedy by taking the conductor’s number and applying for a summons at the nearest police office.  If you are curious in the matter of social contrasts, say, you might do worse than by getting up outside a Stratford and Bow (green) omnibus, at the Oxford Street Circus, and riding—for sixpence all the way—via Regent Street, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square, Strand, Fleet Street, St. Paul’s, past the Mansion House and the Bank, Royal Exchange, Cornhill, Leadenhall Street, Aldgate, Whitechapel Road, Mile End, to Stratford.  If your tastes should lead you westward, an enjoyable shilling’s worth may be obtained by riding on the Richmond (white) omnibus, from St. Paul’s Churchyard to that prettily situated little town.

LONDON TRAMWAYS.

There are now three Tramway Companies in London:—1.  The Metropolitan Street Tramways Company, (Limited.)  They run regularly from Westminster Bridge to Clapham and Brixton, at about every 5 minutes from each terminus, Fare 3d.  2.  North Metropolitan Tramways Company: (1) From Aldgate, along Whitechapel and Mile End Road (through Bow) to Stratford Church; (2) From Moorgate Street to the Angel, Islington, thence to Kingsland, Stoke Newington, &c.  Both running every 5 minutes, Fares 2d.; (3) another route is by Old Street to Stoke Newington and Clapton.  3.  Southall, Ealing, and Shepherd’s Bush Tram Railway Company, (Limited.)  This company is constructing lines in the western suburbs of London.  There are tramways in the north-west of town.

CLUBS AND CLUB HOUSES.

There are, in all, in London, about ninety.  The following is a list of the principal club-houses:—

THE LONDON PARCELS DELIVERY COMPANY.

This Company—whose chief office is in Roll’s Buildings, Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, and whose minor receiving houses, at shops, &c., are very numerous—delivers parcels at a tariff of 4d. if under 4 lbs. weight, and within three miles distance; under 14 lbs. within a like range, 6d.; and so on up to a cwt., which will be delivered for 1s. 2d., subject to the aforesaid condition.  Over three miles distance, the charge for delivering a parcel under 1 lb. to any part of London and its environs will be 4d., under 7 lbs., 6d., and so forth.  For a parcel under 112 lbs., if carried beyond three miles, sender will be charged 1s. 6d.  To more distant places, minimum charge is 6d.  Light but bulky packages charged for by measurement.  The Company does not undertake to collect parcels from the houses of the senders.

p. 175MONEY-ORDER OFFICES, AND POST-OFFICE SAVINGS-BANKS.

The London Postal District, to which special rules relate, includes every town and village within twelve miles of the General Post-office.  Reference has already been made to the number of post-offices, receiving-houses, and pillar-boxes, in this area.  There are 500 Money-order Offices, the whole of which (with a very few exceptions) have within a recent period been made Post-office Savings-banks also.  The facilities thus afforded to strangers visiting London for a few days, for receiving or transmitting money, are very great.  A Post-office Money-order will convey sums of a few pounds without risk of loss, at a cost of a few pence, either from the visitor to his country friends, or from them to him.  The Post-office Savings-banks are even still more convenient; for a person residing in the country, and having money in the savings-banks, can draw it out in London during his visit, or any part of it, with a delay of a day or two, free of expense.  In whatever part of London a visitor may be, he is within five or ten minutes’ walk of a Money-order Office; and at any such office he can, for six hours a day, (10 till 4,) obtain the requisite information concerning both of these kinds of economical monetary facilities.

LONDON LETTERS, POSTAL AND TELEGRAPH SYSTEM.

As just stated, the London District Post operates within twelve miles of the General Post-office: that is, within a circle of twenty-four miles in diameter.  There are a few outlying patches beyond this circle, but they need not here be taken into account.  This large area is now divided into eight Postal Districts, each of which has a name, an initial abbreviation, and a chief office.  They are as follows:—

The use of the district system is, that if a letter, arriving from the country, has on the outside the district initials as well as the address, it has a fair chance of earlier delivery; and if sent from one part of London to another, such chance is the greater.  The reason for this is, that much of the sorting is effected at the eight chief district offices, if the initials are given, to the great saving of time.  An official list of a vast number of p. 176streets, &c., with their district initials, within the London District Post, is published at 1d., and is obtainable at most of the principal receiving-houses.

The portion of each district within about three miles of the General Post-office is called the Town Delivery, and the remainder the Suburban Delivery.  Within the town limits there are twelve deliveries daily: the first, or General Post, commencing about 7.30, and mostly over in London about 9; the second commencing about 8.15, and the third at 10.30.  The next nine are made hourly.  The last delivery begins about 7.45.  There are seven despatches daily to the suburban districts.  The first, at 6.30 a.m., to all places within the London District limits.  A second, at 9.30, to suburbs within about four miles of the General Post-office.  The third, at 11.30, takes in almost all the London district.  The fourth despatch, at 2.30 p.m., goes to spots within about six miles of the General Post-office.  The fifth, at 4.30, comprises the whole of the suburban districts, and, except in the more outlying country spots, letters are delivered same evening.  The sixth, at 6 p.m., goes to places under four miles from the General Post-office.  The last despatch is at 7 p.m.  Letters to go by it should be posted at the town post-offices or pillar-boxes by 6 p.m., or at the chief office of the district to which they are addressed.  They will thus probably be delivered the same night, within about six miles of the General Office.  The suburban deliveries begin one to two hours after despatch, according to distance.

It is always well to remember, that for any given delivery, a letter may be posted rather later at the chief office than at any of the minor offices of each district; that letters only, not newspapers, book-parcels, manuscripts, &c., may be put in pillar-boxes; and that letters posted during the night, (from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.,) have a chance of earlier delivery than otherwise, seeing that the pillar-boxes are cleared at 5 in the morning, and, as a rule, we believe, earlier than the receiving-houses.  Outgoing letters for the evening mails are received at most offices till 5.30, and at the chief office of each district till 6.  By affixing an extra penny stamp, the letter is receivable till 6 at the minor, and till 7 at the chief offices.

Telegraph Offices.—Telegrams may be sent from all Postal Offices within the London district.  The charge for 20 words, not including address, is 1s.

READING AND NEWS-ROOMS.

Jerusalem Coffee-house, Cowper’s Court, Cornhill, (Indian, China, and Australian newspapers.)

3 Wallbrook.

154 Leadenhall Street, (Deacon’s.)

13 Philpot Lane.

Royal Exchange, Lloyds’, (Subscribers only.)

King’s Head, Fenchurch Street.

p. 17726 Fore Street, Cripplegate.

88 Park Street, Camden Town.

83 Lower Thames Street.

177, 178 Fleet Street, (Peele’s—files of the Times for many years.)

24 King William Street, (Wild’s.)

34 Mount Street, Grosvenor Square, (St. George’s.)

22 Paddington Green, (Working Men’s.)

Patent Museum Library, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, (free.)

British Museum Library, (apply for ticket; enclosing letter of introduction from respectable householder.)

There are Reading and News Rooms belonging to a large number of learned societies and public institutions; but these are for the most part accessible only to members.

CHESS ROOMS.

A chess player may meet with competitors at any one of the several chess rooms.  The best are Simpson’s, (Limited Co.,) late Ries’s, Divan, opposite Exeter Hall, Strand; Kilpack’s, Covent Garden, (also an American Bowling Saloon;) and Pursell’s, Cornhill.  Many Coffee-shops are provided with chess-boards and men, and many dining and chop houses have chess-rooms up-stairs.

THEATRES.

There are at present about thirty-seven London Theatres, but those named below are all that need here be considered.

CONCERT ROOMS.

Willis’s Rooms, King Street, St. James’s.

Hanover Square Rooms.

Exeter Hall, 372 Strand, Choral Societies, Sacred Harmonic, &c.

St. James’s Hall, Quadrant and Piccadilly,—Concerts occasionally.

16 Store Street, Bedford Square, „ „

St. George’s Hall, Langham Place.

Princess’s Concert Room, Princess’s Theatre,—Concerts occasionally.

Queen’s Concert Room, (attached to Her Majesty’s Theatre,)—Concerts occasionally.

Myddleton Hall, Upper Street, Islington.

Agricultural Hall, Islington,—Concerts occasionally.

MUSIC HALLS.

MODES OF ADMISSION TO VARIOUS INTERESTING PLACES.

Free.

British Museum.—Chelsea Hospital.—Courts of Law and Justice (at the Criminal Court and the Police Courts a fee is often needed.)—Docks, (but not the vaults and warehouses without an introduction.)—Dulwich Gallery.—East India Museum, Fife House, Whitehall.—Greenwich Hospital, (a small fee for some parts.)—Hampton Court Palace, (Sundays as well as week-days).—Houses of Parliament, (some portions every day; more on Saturdays.)—Kew Botanic Garden and Pleasure Grounds, (Sundays as well as week-days.)—Museum of Economic Geology, Jermyn Street.—National Gallery.—National Portrait Gallery.—Patent Museum, (adjoining the South Kensington Museum.)—Soane’s Museum, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.—Society of Arts Exhibition of Inventions, (in the spring of each year.)—St. Paul’s Cathedral, (fees for Crypt and all above stairs.)—Westminster Abbey, (a fee for some of the Chapels.)—Westminster Hall.—Windsor Castle, (at periods notified from time to time.)—Woolwich Repository, (the Dockyard was closed in October, 1869, and a letter of introduction is needed for the Arsenal.)  Private Picture Galleries are sometimes opened free; of which notice is given in the newspapers.

Shilling Admissions.

The number of Shilling Exhibitions open in London is at all times very large, but more especially in the summer months.  The first page of the Times contains advertisements relating to the whole of them; while the p. 180penny papers contain a considerable number.  As the list varies from time to time, we cannot print it here; but the following are the chief places where the exhibitions or entertainments are held.  (Theatres and Music Halls are not included; because the terms of admission vary to different parts of those buildings.  We may here add that Burford’s and the Colosseum have long been closed.)—Cremorne Gardens, Chelsea.—Crystal Palace, Sydenham, (2s. 6d. on Saturday, 1s. on other days.)—Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, (sometimes two or three exhibitions at once, in different parts of the building.)—Gallery of Illustration, Regent Street.—Various temporary exhibitions in large rooms situated in the Haymarket, Pall Mall, Regent Street, Piccadilly, and Bond Street.—Picture Exhibitions, (such as the Royal Academy, the British Institution, the Society of British Artists, two Water Colour Societies, &c.)—Polytechnic Institution, Regent Street.—Polygraphic Hall, Strand.—Tussaud’s Waxwork, Baker Street Bazaar.—Zoological Gardens, (sixpence on Mondays.)

Admit by Introduction.

Among the places to which admission may be obtained by personal introduction, or by letter, the following may be named:—Antiquarian Society’s Museum, Somerset House.—Armourer’s Museum, (ancient armour,) 81 Coleman Street.—Asiatic Society’s Museum, 5 New Burlington Street.—Bank of England Museum, (collection of coins.)—Botanical Society’s Gardens and Museum, Regent’s Park.—College of Surgeons’ Museum, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.—Guildhall Museum, (old London antiquities.)—Linnæan Society’s Museum, Burlington House.—Mint, (process of coining,) Tower Hill.—Missionary Museum, (idols, rude implements, &c.,) Bloomfield Street, Finsbury.—Naval Museum, (formerly, now at South Kensington.)—Private Picture Galleries, (several.)—Royal Institution Museum, Albemarle Street.—Trinity House Museum, (models of lighthouses, &c.,) Tower Hill.—United Service Museum, Scotland Yard.—Woolwich Arsenal.

N.B.—These lists are subject to constant change.

PRINCIPAL PUBLIC AND TURKISH BATHS.

(Those printed in italics are public baths, established rather for the benefit of the working and middle classes, than for the sake of profit.  At most of them a third-class cold bath can be obtained for 1d.; from which minimum the prices rise to about 6d. or 8d.  Many of the so-called Turkish baths are ordinary baths in which the arrangements for the Turkish or Oriental system have recently been introduced.  There are also a few Medicated Baths, kept by medical practitioners for the use of invalids.)

Turkish.

Medicated Baths.

p. 182CABS.

Practically speaking, the new law ordering cabmen to display a flag, on which is painted their tariff per mile and per hour, is a dead letter.  Few or none shew flags, and many have none to shew.  Cab proprietors can now charge what they please, provided they take out a license from the Commissioners of Metropolitan Police, on which is endorsed the rate by distance or by time intended to be charged, and the number of persons to be carried.  No fare less than one shilling is to be offered.  The driver is to give passenger a card which specifies the licensed price per hour or per mile.  As regards luggage, for each package carried outside 2d. extra is charged.  For each person above two 6d. extra on the entire journey.  If such extra person be a child under 10 years of age, 3d.  Two children of such age to be reckoned as one person.  If cab be discharged more than four miles from Charing Cross by radius, an extra charge will be made for such excess of distance, as per sum stated on cabman’s card.  Every full mile of such excess will be charged for at per tariff per mile stated on such card.  Driver is not compelled to drive more than 6 miles.  For every quarter of an hour he is kept waiting, if the cab be hired by time, one-fourth of his tariff per hour.  If hired by distance, for every quarter of an hour of waiting, the rate charged per mile.  By time, for any period under one hour, the sum stated on driver’s card as charged per hour.  As a general rule, cabmen charge 2s. per hour for four-wheeled cabs, and 2s. 6d. for “Hansom;” and by distance, 1s. for the first mile, and 6d. for the second, and so on.  Property left in hackney carriages should be asked for at the office for property left in such carriages, at the office of the Commissioners of Police, Great Scotland Yard, Charing Cross.  Cabmen are bound, under a penalty, to take such lost property to the nearest police station within 24 hours.  In case of disagreement between a cabman and his passenger, the latter can compel the cabman to drive to the nearest police office; and if a Magistrate be then sitting, he will at once settle the dispute.  If such office is closed, the cabman may be required to drive to the nearest police station, where the complaint will be entered, and adjudicated at the magistrate’s next sitting.  Our readers cannot do better than purchase (price 1s.) a little book on the subject of Cab Fares and Regulations, published under the auspices of the Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police.  It can be ordered through any bookseller, or may be purchased direct, at the office for its sale, a few doors north of the entrance to Great Scotland Yard.  In it will be found a list of fares, and the distances in yards, from many parts in London to others.  Its usefulness will amply repay our readers for their small outlay in its purchase.

p. 183HINTS TO STRANGERS.

Whether you know the proper cab-fare or not, always make a bargain with the cabman when hiring his vehicle; and take a note of his number.

Keep the right hand side of the pavement when walking.

If out with other country friends, keep well together.

Observe caution while crossing crowded thoroughfares.

In asking for information, apply to shopkeepers, or to policemen, rather than to passers-by.

The London police are, for the most part, reliable men; and strangers in any doubt or difficulty can generally obtain useful aid from them.

Be on your guard against pickpockets in crowds, street exhibitions, and omnibuses.

Beware of strangers who endeavour to force their acquaintance on you, and affect to be unacquainted with London; they are often low sharpers.

Keep no more cash about you than is needed for the day’s supply.

Be cautious in opening your purse or looking at your watch in the streets.

Avoid low neighbourhoods after dark; if there is anything worth seeing there, see it in the daytime.

Disregard street-beggars; residents only (and not always even they) can tell the deserving from the undeserving.

COMMISSIONAIRES OR MESSENGERS.

These are a body of retired soldiers of good character, who were originally organized in 1859, by Captain Walter.  Their central office, open day and night, is at Exchange Court, 419a Strand, where men can always be hired.  But they are also to be seen, and are easily recognisable by their neat dark green uniform and badge, in most large thoroughfares.  Their tariff is,—twopence for half-a-mile or under; and threepence for any distance over half-a-mile to a mile.  Back fare, or charge for return, (unless bearing a return message,) is not allowed.  A charge of one penny per mile extra, if the parcel carried weighs more than 14 lbs.  If engaged by time, sixpence per hour, twopence a quarter of an hour, half-a-crown for a day of eight hours.  By special arrangement, they may be hired at from 15s. to 20s. per week.

p. 184THE GREAT INTERCEPTS MAIN DRAINAGE SYSTEM OF LONDON.

North of the Thames are the High Level, the Middle Level, the Low Level, and the Western District Sewers, together with an Outfall at Barking Creek.  The High Level drains Hampstead, Highgate, Kentish Town, Highbury, Stoke Newington, Hackney, and passes under Victoria Park to Old Ford; its length is about 9 miles.  The Middle Level runs by way of Kensal Green, Kensington Park, Notting Hill, Bayswater, Oxford Street, and so under a number of minor streets, to Old Ford, being about 12 miles long.  The Low Level commences near Pimlico, and passes along under the Thames embankment to Blackfriars, whence it is to go through the City and Whitechapel to West Ham.  The Western District Sewers drain Acton, Hammersmith, Fulham, Chelsea, &c., on a plan different from that of the main drainage in other localities.  The Outfall, an immense work 6 miles long, continues the Upper and Middle Level Sewers from Old Ford to West Ham, and all the three sewers thence to Barking Creek, where stupendous arrangements are made for conducting the flow of the sewage into the Thames.  The drainage south of the Thames comprises a High Level Sewer, a Low Level Sewer, and an Outflow.  The High Level drains Clapham, Brixton, Streatham, Dulwich, Camberwell, &c.; the Low Level keeps nearer the Thames, by Wandsworth, Battersea, Vauxhall, Lambeth, Southwark, Bermondsey, and Rotherhithe, to Deptford; while the Outfall continues both these lines of sewers through Deptford, Greenwich, Woolwich, and across Plumstead Marshes to Crossness Point, where the works are situated for conveying the sewage into the river.

p. 185INDEX

Abney Park Cemetery, 61

Achilles’s Statue, 127

Adelphi Theatre, 28, 121

Admiralty, 30, 46

Admission to Places of Interest, 178

Albert Suspension Bridge, 102

Aldermen, 85

Aldgate, 18

Aldgate High Street, 18

Alexandra Park, 167

Alhambra, 124

Amusements, 125

Apothecaries’ Hall, 97

Apsley House, 38, 39

Armouries, Tower, 78

Arsenal, Woolwich, 160

Art Exhibitions, 70

Artillery Ground, 32

Arundel Street, 27

Astley’s Amphith., 123

Austin Friars, 17

Bank of England, 15, 93

Bank of London, 17

Banks, 94

Baptist College, 72

Barclay & Perkins’s, 113

Barnes, 145

Barnet, 162

Baths, 180

Battersea, 104, 144

— Bridge, 104

— Park, 133

Bazaars, 31, 113

Belgrave Square, 31

Berkeley Square, 31

Bethnal Green, 19

Bethnal Green Cemetery, 61

Bethnal G. Museum, 66

Billingsgate, 18, 111

Birdcage Walk, 126

Bishopsgate Street, 18

Blackfriars’ Bridge, 22, 103

Blackheath, 163

Blackwall, 159

— Railway, 141

Blue Coat School, 73

Board of Trade Office, 47

Boat-races, 145

Bolt Court, 25

Bond Street, 31

Book-trade, 115

Botanical Gardens, 134

Bow Church, 56

Bow Lane, 19

Bread Street, 19

Breweries, 113

Bridges, 102

Bridgewater Gallery, 40

— House, 40

Brighton Railway, 140

Britannia Theatre, 122

British Institution, 70

— Museum, 62

Broad Street, 17

Bromley, 163

Brooke Street, 24

Bryanstone Square, 31

Buccleuch House, 40

Buckingham Palace, 34

Bunhill Fields, 32

Burlington House, 69

Cabs and Cab Fares, 137, 182

Cannon Street, 14, 33

Canterbury Hall, 124

Cattle Market, 110

Cavendish Square, 31

Cecil Street, 27

Cemeteries, 57, 61

Central Criminal Court, 21

Chancery Lane, 25

Chapels, 55

Charing Cross, 28, 30

— Railway Station and Hotel, 27

— Theatre, 28, 122

Charitable Institutions, 76

Charles I.’s Statue, 28

Charter House, 20

Charter House School, 73

Chatham and Dover Railway, 141

Cheapside, 15, 19

Chelsea, 144

— Bridge, 104

— Hospital, 143

Chess Rooms, 176

Chesterfield House, 40

Child’s Banking Ho., 26

Chiswick, 145

Chop-houses, 120

Christ’s Hospital, 73

Churches, 55

City Bank, 17

—Companies, 97

—of Lond. School, 20, 75

—Prison, 93

— Road, 32

—, the, 12, 15

Clapham, 144

Clement’s Inn, 27

Clock, Westminster, 43

Clothworkers’ Hall, 97

Clubs and Club Houses, 116, 173

Coal Exchange, 110

Cockspur Street, 30

Coffee-houses, 120

— shops, 120

Colleges, 70

Colonial Office, 47

Colosseum, 132

Commercial Docks, 100

Commissionaires, 183

Common Council, 85

Companies’ Halls, 96

Concert Rooms, 123, 178

Constitution Hill, 127

Corn Exchange, 18, 113

Cornhill, 15, 18

Corporation, 84

Cotton’s Wharf, 18

p. 186Courts of Law, 44, 92

Court Theatre, 122

Covent G. Market, 111

— Theatre, 28

Crane Court, 25

Craven Street, 27

Crays, 163

Cremorne Gardens, 125

Crossness Point, 161

Crystal Palace, 163

— Railway, 139

Custom House, 18, 81

Deptford, 154

Devonshire House, 39

Dining-rooms, 120

Dissenting Chapels, 59

Docks, 18, 99

Doctors’ Commons, 20

Doomsday Book, 92

Downing Street, 47

Down River Excur., 154

Drainage System, 86, 184

Drapers’ Hall, 96

Drury Lane Theatre, 28, 121

Duke of York’s Column, 30

Duke of York’s School, 144

Dulwich College, 163

East India Docks, 99

— Museum, 67

Edmonton, 163

Egyptian Hall, 124

Electric Time-ball, 158

Eltham, 163

Enfield, 163

English Presbyterian Theological Coll., 72

Entertainments, 124

Environs of London, 169

Epping Forest, 163

Erith, 161

Essex Street, 27

Eton College, 154

Euston Road, 32

— Station, 32

Evans’s Hotel and Supper Rooms, 28, 124

Exchequer Office, 47

Excursions, 143

Exeter Hall, 28

Exhibition, International, 129

Exhibitions, &c., 179

Farringdon St., 22

Fenchurch Station, 141

— Street, 18

Finchley, 162

— Cemetery, 61

Finsbury Park, 133

— Square, 32

Fire Brigade, 88

Fires, Great, 10, 18, 80

Fishmongers’ Hall, 96

Fish Street, 18

Fish-supply, 111

Fleet Street, 22, 24

— Valley, 21

Floral Hall, 112

Food-supply, 109

Foreign Office, 47

Fountains, 88, 133, 166

Free Exhibitions, 179

Fulham, 145

Gaiety Theatre, 28, 122

Gall. of Illustration, 12

George III.’s Statue, 30

George IV.’s Statue, 29

Globe Theatre, 28, 122

Gog and Magog, 89

Goldsmiths’ Hall, 20, 96

Gough Square, 25

Government Offices, 45

Gracechurch Street, 18

Grand Surrey Docks, 100

Gravesend, 161

Grays, 161

Gray’s Inn, 91

Great E. Railway, 141

— Nor. Railway, 138

— W. Railway, 138

Grecian Theatre, 122

Greenhithe, 161

Green Park, 38, 127

Greenwich, 155

— Hospital, 155

— Park, 158

Gresham House, 95

— Lectures, 72

— Street, 17

Grocers’ Hall, 96

Grosvenor Gallery, 39

— Hotel, 118

— House, 39

— Square, 31

Guards’ Memorial, 30

Guildhall, 20, 88

Haberdashers’ Hall, 96

Hackney College, 72

Hammersmith, 145

Hampstead, 162

Hampton Court Palace, 149

Hanover Square, 31

— Rooms, 123

Harrow, 162

Havelock’s Statue, 30

Haymarket Theatre, 30, 121

Henry VII.’s Chapel, 51

H. M. Theatre, 30, 121

Highest Ground in London, 20

Highgate, 162

— Cemetery, 61

Hints to Strangers, 183

Holborn, 22

— Hill, 23

— Theatre, 122

— Valley Viaduct, 22

Holford House, 40

Holland House, 40

Home Office, 30, 47

Hornsey, 162

Horse Guards, 30, 46

Horticultural Gardens, 135

Hospitals, 76

Hotel Charges, viii

Hotels, 117

Houndsditch, 18

House of Correction, 93

p. 187Houses and Streets, 11

— of Parl^t., 30, 49

Howard Street, 27

Hudson’s Bay House, 18

Hungerford Bridge, 104

Hyde Park, 31, 127

— Square, 31

India House, 95

— Office, 47

Inns, 117

— of Court, 26, 91

Insurance Offices, 94

International Exhibition, 129

Ironmonger Lane, 19

Ironmongers’ Hall, 96

Isle of Dogs, 159

Jewel House, Tower, 80

Jewish Synagogues, 59

Jews’ Quarter, 18

Johnson’s Court, 25

Junior Athenæum Club, 40

Kennington Park, 133

Kensal Green, 61

Kensington Garden, 131

— Palace, 36

Kew Gardens, 146

King’s College, 27, 45, 72

— Cross Station, 138

King Street, 19

King William St., 13, 18

Koh-i-noor, 80

Lady’s Mile, 129

Lambeth Bridge, 104

— Palace, 36

Landseer’s four Lions, 29

Lansdowne House, 40

Leadenhall Market, 111

— Street, 18

Letter Deliveries, 175

Lewisham, 163

Lighting, 87

Limehouse, 159

Lincoln’s Inn, 91

Lloyd’s, 90

Lombard Street, 15, 18

London and N.-W. Railway, 138

London Bridge, 15, 18, 102

— Hotel, 119

— Station, 140

London, Chatham, and Dover Bridge, 23

London Docks, 100

— in Roman times, 9

— Stone, 168

— University, 70

Long Walk, Windsor, 154

Lord Mayor’s Show, 85

Lothbury Street, 17

Lower Serle’s Place, 25

Ludgate Hill, 21

— Railway Station, 21

Ludgate Street, 21

Lyceum Theatre, 28, 122

Maclise’s Great Picture, 44

Mall, 126

Malt Liquors, 113

Manchester Square, 31

Mansion House, 15, 19, 88

Markets, 110

Mark Lane, 18

Marlborough House, 35

Marylebone Road, 32

— Church, 33

— Theatre, 122

May Fair, 31

Medicated Baths, 181

Mercers’ Grammar School, 75

Mercers’ Hall, 96

Merchant Taylors’ Hall, 96

Merchant Taylors’ School, 75

Metropolitan Railway, 33

Mile-End Cemetery, 61

Military Prison, 93

Milk Street, 19

Millbank Prison, 93

Mincing Lane, 18

Mint, 81

Mitcham, 163

Mitre Court, 24

Model Prison, 93

Money-Order Office, 175

Monument, 18, 89

Moorgate Street, 16

Mortlake, 145

Mudie’s Library, 115

Museum, British, 62

Museum of College of Surgeons, 67

Museum, Geological, 66

Music Halls, 123, 178

Napier’s Statue, 29

National Gallery, 30, 68

— Portrait Gallery, 69

Nelson’s Column, 29

— Tomb, 49

New College, 72

Newgate, 92

— Market, 111

— Prison, 21

— Street, 20, 22

News Rooms, 176

Norfolk Street, 27

Northfleet, 161

N. and S.W. Junction, 139

North London Railway, 141

Northumberland House, 28, 38

Northumberland Street, 27

North Woolwich, 159

Norwood, 163

Observatory, Greenwich, 158

Old Bailey, 21, 92

Old ’Change, 19

Old Roman Wall, 9

p. 188Omnibus Routes, 136, 171

Open House, 121

Oratorios, 123

Oxford Music Hall, 124

— Street, 31

Paddington, 32

— Station, 138

Palace of Justice, 27

Pall Mall, 29

Pantheon, 114

Panyer Alley, 20

Parcels’ Delivery Co., 174

Park Lane, 31

Parks, 125

Parson’s Green, 145

Paternoster Row, 20

Pavilion Gardens, 125

Peel’s Statue, 20

Penitentiary, Millbank, 93

Pentonville Road, 32

Petticoat Lane, 18

Philharmonic Music Hall and Theatre, 124

Piccadilly, 30

Pimlico, 33

— Station, 140

Plague, Great, 10

Plumstead Marshes, 161

Pneumatic Despatch, 101

Police, 85

Polytechnic Inst., 125

Pool, the, 98

Pope’s Villa, 148

Poplar, 159

Population, 11

Portland Place, 30

Portman Square, 31

Port of London, 98

Postal System, 175

Post-office, General, 83, 175

P.O. Savings Banks, 175

Poultry, 16

Primrose Hill, 132

Prince of Wales’ Theatre, 122

Prince’s Street, 15

Princess’s Theatre, 122

Printing House Sq., 21

Prisons, 92

Privy Council Office, 47

Purfleet, 161

Putney, 145

Quadrant, 30

Queen’s Bench Prison, 93

Queen’s Theatre, 28, 122

Queen Street, 19

Queen Victoria Street, 14, 19, 107

Railway Bridges, 104

— Distances, 169

— Hotels, 118

Railways, 138

Rainham, 161

Reading Rooms, 63, 176

Record Office, 92

Regent’s Park, 132

Regent Street, 29, 30

Registrar-General’s Office, 45

Richard Cœur de Lion’s Statue, 30

Richmond, 147

— Bridge, 147

— Hill, 148

— Park, 149

Roman Catholic Chapels, 59

Rotherhithe, 101

Rothschild’s House, 40

Rotten Row, 129

Routes through London, 13

Royal Academy, 69

— Albert Hall, 131

— Exchange, 15, 19, 90

— Humane Society, 129

Royal Institution, 67

— Military Asylum, 144

Royal Music Hall, 124

Sacred Harmonic Concerts, 123

Sadler’s Wells, 122

— Court, 25

Salisbury Street, 27

Savoy Chapel, 57

Schools, Public, 73

—, Various, 75

Scientific Societies, 68

Sergeant’s Inn, 92

Serpentine, 129

Sheepshanks’ Pictures, 65

Shilling Exhibitions, 179

Shoe Lane, 23

Shops, 113

Skinners’ Hall, 96

Shoreditch Station, 141

Smithfield, 20, 110

Snow Hill, 33

Soane Museum, 70

Society of Arts, 67

— of British Artists, 70

Soho Bazaar, 114

— Theatre, 122

Somerset House, 27, 44

South-Eastern Railway, 140

South-Eastern Railway Bridge, 103

South Kensington Museum, 64

South Sea House, 17, 95

Southwark Bridge, 103

— Park, 133

South-Western Railway, 139

Spitalfields, 18

Spring Gardens, 29

Spurgeon’s Tabernacle, 60

St. Bride’s Church, 26

St. Clement Dane’s Church, 27

St. Dunstan’s Church, 26

St. George’s Cathedral, 60

St. Helena Gardens, 125

St. James’s Church, 58

— Hall, 124

—Palace, 33

p. 189St. James’s Park, 29, 33, 38, 125

— Square, 31

— Theatre, 122

St. John’s Gate, 20

— Wood, 31

St. Katherine’s Docks, 100

— Hos., 132

St. Martin’s Church, 28

St. Martin’s-le-Grand, 20

St. Mary’s Church, 27

St. Pancras’ Church, 33

— Station, 32

St. Paul’s Cathedral, 20, 47

— Churchyard, 20, 112

— School, 73

Stafford House, 38

Star and Garter, Putney, 145, 149

State Paper Office, 92

Stationers’ Hall, 97

Steam-boat Piers, 105

Steamers, 142

Stepney, 19

Stock Exchange, 17

Strand, 27, 29

— Theatre, 28, 122

Strawberry Hill, 148

Streets, 113

Suburban Villages, 169

Sun Fire Office, 17

Surrey Gardens, 125

— Street, 27

— Theatre, 123

Taverns, 119

Tea Gardens, 125

Telegraphs, 175, 176

Temperance Hotels, 121

Temple, 26, 90

— Bar, 26, 27

— Church, 91

— Gardens, 91

Thames, and Shipping, 97

Thames Embankment, 14, 106

Thames Subway, 18

— Tunnel, 18, 101

Theatres, 121, 176

Threadneedle St., 17, 93

Tilbury, 161

— and Southend Railway, 141

Times’ Office, 21

Tobacco Dock, 100

Tooley Street, 18

Tower of London, 18, 77

Tower Subway, 101

Trades, Number of, 114

Trafalgar Square, 29

Training Colleges, 73

Tramways, 173

Treasury, 30, 46

Trinity House, 95

Turkish Baths, 180

Turner’s Pictures, 68

Tussaud’s Exhibition, 125

Twickenham, 148

Tyburnia, 31

United Service Museum, 67

University College, 71

— Hall, 72

Upper Regent Street, 30

Up River Excursions, 143

Vaudeville Theatre, 28, 122

Vauxhall Bridge, 104

— Gardens, 125

Vegetable Markets, 111

Vernon Pictures, 68

Victoria Docks, 99

— Park, 132

— Station, 140

— Street, 22

— Theatre, 123

— Tower, 43

Villiers’ Street, 27

Vintners’ Hall, 97

Walbrook, 15

Walham Green, 145

Waltham, 163

— Abbey, 163

Wandsworth, 144

War Office, 47

Water-colour Exhib., 70

— Supply, 109

Waterloo Bridge, 27, 45, 104

— Place, 30

— Station, 139

Wellington’s Statue, 39

Wesleyan College, 72

Westbourne Terrace, 31

West-End, 19, 27

— India Docks, 99

— London Rail, 139

Westminster Abbey, 30, 51

— Bridge, 30, 41, 104

— Hall, 30, 41, 44

— Palace, 29

— Palace Hotel, 119

— School, 73

Weston’s Music Hall, 124

Wharfs, 98

Whitebait Taverns, 155, 159

Whitechapel, 19

— Market, 111

Whitecross Street Prison, 92

Whitehall, 29

— Banqueting House, 30

— Chapel, 57

— Gardens, 30

Wimbledon, 144, 163

Winchester Street, 17

Windsor, 151

— Castle, 153

Wine Vaults, Docks, 100

Woking Necropolis, 61

Wood Street, 19

Woolwich, 159

Wren’s Churches, 58

Zoological Gardens, 133

p. 190WILLIAM COLLINS & CO., PRINTERS,
HERRIOT HILL WORKS, GLASGOW.

FOOTNOTES

[16]  Most of the illustrations are bird’s-eye views, taken from house-tops and church-towers, in order to shew as many public buildings as possible.  The reader will attribute to this cause any apparent distortion of perspective, as compared with views taken from level ground.

[18]  This tremendous conflagration was one of the largest ever known in London since 1666, involving the loss of property valued at two millions sterling.  The ruins were still hot, steaming and smoking, seven weeks after the fire commenced.  Mr. Braidwood, chief of the London Fire Brigade, perished in the ruins; a public funeral testified to the esteem in which he was held.

[20]  This is not what is called London Stone.  That famous stone will be found on the side of St. Swithin’s Church, New Cannon Street.  (See p. 168.)

[40]  Tickets of admission can generally be obtained, during the season, of Messrs Smith, 137 New Bond Street.  Days of admission, from 10 till 5, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

[47a]  The total cost, including 200 tons of iron-railing, was £1,511,202.

[47b]  It is strange that, in relation to the best known building in London, great discordance reigns concerning the total height.  Wren’s son, in the Parentalia, simply states that the lantern is 330 feet from the ground; Maitland gives the total height at 340 feet; many authorities name 360 feet; while several Hand-books and Guides, following the pamphlet sold in the cathedral, raise it to 404 feet.  This last statement agrees with the Cockney tradition, that St. Paul’s is twice as high as the Monument.  A careful examination of the vertical section, however, shews that the height is about 356 feet above the marble pavement of the cathedral, 375 above the level of the crypt, and 370 above the pavement of the churchyard.  It will thus be sufficiently near the truth to say that St. Paul’s is 365 feet high—a familiar number, easy to remember.

[178]  Is also a theatre.

[179]  Is also a theatre.

***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COLLINS' ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO LONDON

AND NEIGHBOURHOOD***


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