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THE CITIES OF LONDON AND WESTMINSTER, Copied from the Camera Obscura in the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. (Frontispiece.) IT is impossible to conceive a more lively or more accurate view of the Metropolis than that which is given in this Plate. It embraces the whole of the grand outline, and every principal feature of London, together with that part of the Thames which exhibits most of that busy scene of navigation and commerce for which it is so highly celebrated. The view is taken from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich-park, and is actually copied from the table of the Camera Obscura there, by permission of the Astronomer Royal: speaking of which, Mr. Addison, in his Spectator, No. 414, says, "The prettiest landscape I ever saw was one drawn on the walls of a dark room at Greenwich, which stood opposite, on one side, to a navigable river, and on the other to a park. The experiment is very common in optics. Here you might discover the waves and fluctuations of the water in strong and proper colours, with the picture of a ship entering at one end, and sailing by degrees through the whole piece. On another there appeared the green shadows of trees waving to and fro with the wind, and herds of deer among them in miniature." — "The scene," says Dr. Blair, in his Critical Examination of the Style in the Spectator, "which Mr. Addison refers to is Greenwich-park, with the prospect of the Thames, as seen by a Camera Obscura, which is placed in a small room in the upper story of the Observatory; where I remember to have seen, many years ago, the whole scene here described, corresponding so much to Mr. Addison's account of it in this passage, that, at the time, it recalled it to my memory." The foreground of the Plate is the foot of the park, beyond which is the town of Greenwich, the building with the flag being Greenwich-church. The town to the left is Deptford. The broad expanse of water to the right is the part of the Thames called Deptford Reach; in which is the King's yard, distinguished by a man of war on the stocks with flags flying, seen beyond the tower of Greenwich-church. Several men of war are seen in the lower part of the Reach. On the right of the river is the Isle of Dogs, in which the West India Docks are situated. The manner in which the river winds may be partly traced in this view. The light line running through the centre of the Metropolis marks the course of the river, which winds, in a very luxuriant manner, from the western to the eastern extremity of the town; and, afterwards making a great sweep round the point outside of the right of the Plate, stretches again to the left, forming that part which is called Deptford Reach. The church in the distance, and on the right, is Limehouse-church; and that which is nearer the Reach is Rotherhithe (usually called Redriff), on the south bank of the Thames. The next church is St. George's in the East. St. Paul's standing conspicuously in the centre; and Westminster-abbey, with its noble towers, at the extremity on the left; form bold and beautiful objects in this fine picture. The beautiful pillar which rises to the right of St. Paul's is the Monument; and the extensive square building below, with its turrets, is the Tower of London. In the background, on the right of the picture, are seen the hills of Highgate and Hampstead, which rise in great beauty and grandeur, bounding the northern side of the town. (pp. 475-6) |
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GREENWICH HOSPITAL, THE WEST INDIA DOCKS, &c. (Page 169.) THE house in the foreground is that of the Ranger of Greenwich-park. Beyond, are the southern divisions of Greenwich-hospital, with their beautiful colonnades and domes. Through the interval between these is seen the centre of the grand terrace which runs along the whole front next to the river. A man of war is passing up the river, and is seen in this opening. The extensive range of buildings, toward the background, is the finished warehouses of the West India Docks. They are erected on the northern side of the dock for unloading inward. Nothing can be imagined more complete than they are. This dock covers thirty acres; and will contain nearly three hundred sail of West Indiamen. To the south is a smaller dock for loading outwards. The ground between these docks and the river is a marsh, called The Isle of Dogs. It is a peninsula, and is intersected by a canal cut for vessels and craft, permitted to go through this short passage on the payment of certain rates. The church to the left is St. Anne's, Limehouse. The whole site embraced by this Plate is peculiarly worthy to be visited. (p. 477) |
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GREENWICH PARK. (Page 176.) THIS is a spot of great natural beauty; and in the Easter and Whitsuntide holidays presents a very gay, busy, and festive scene. The broad avenue on the hill, seen in the Plate, is the principal attraction to the merry-making folks. It is extremely steep, and usually thronged; and, every now and then, a group of young men and women, locked hand in hand, rush down this path at full speed; the grand jest and enjoyment of the scene consisting in the falls that happen to the females as well as males in this slippery enterprise. Greenwich is crowded at these holidays. In the public-houses is dancing from morning to evening. Almost every private house of the lower and middle sort make tea and coffee; yet it is often difficult to find room even for a small company; and it is very usual for parties to take a cold repast and wine with them, and dine beneath the trees in the Park, in spots a little retired from the throng. At such times, it is supposed that from ten to thirty thousand of these holiday keepers have been collected in this Park in a single point of view. The hills of this Park afford various beautiful views of London, and the Thames with its moving forest of masts. The building on the brow of the hill is the Royal Observatory. The astronomical apparatus is very excellent; and the whole is worthy of being visited by the curious. (p. 477) |
| COURT OF KING'S BENCH. (Page 233.) THIS Court is an enclosure, formed by a handsome Gothic screen, at the upper end of Westminster-hall, on the left; another enclosure on the right, corresponding with this in style, being the Court of Chancery. The four judges are seated on one bench under a canopy in the Gothic style; lined at the back with tapestry embroidered with the King's arms, the fasces and other emblems of justice. Before each is placed a small desk. The Chief Justice takes the second seat on the left of the Plate; the oldest of the puisne judges being on his right. This is the chief of the common law courts, and has its name from the King having anciently presided therein in person. All criminal causes and pleas of the crown are determined in this Court exclusively, as well as civil actions; and the judges hold their offices non durante placito, but quamdiu se bene gesserint. The judges have no less than five different dresses for various occasions; namely, robes of fine scarlet cloth, trimmed with white ermine; black cloth with white ermine; purple cloth with blue and red shot silk cape and cuffs; scarlet with brown silk cape and cuffs; and gowns of black silk. The four first are robes of ceremony; and with them is worn the large full-bottomed wig. The last is seldom worn but when the judge sits at Nisi Prius; and with it is worn the tie wig. The silk gown of the Chief Justice is distinguished from the rest by a train. Immediately below the judges are seated the clerks of the court; viz. the master and other clerks of the Crown Office, the master of the King's Bench Office with his deputy, and the clerk of the Rules with his deputy. Their duty is to take minutes of the several rules and orders of the court according to their respective departments. These wear a black silk gown and tie wig. The space immediately below the clerks, and between them and the counsel, is allotted to strangers, and to attorneys and other persons concerned in causes. The counsel are seated on benches, enclosing this space in the form of an amphitheatre. A partition called the bar separates the King's counsel's seats from those behind: the former are distinguished also by wearing silk gowns and full-bottomed wigs on the first day of Term, and when pleading before either house of parliament; but on other occasions they appear in tie wigs as other barristers, who wear princes-stuff gowns and tie wigs on all occasions. On the left of the Plate is the jury box; and on the right a box for the law students. Behind the counsel's benches is a space usually filled with strangers. The three royal figures in Gothic niches over the canopy are very ancient, and represent William Rufus, Henry I. and King Stephen. On the other side of the Hall in the Court of Chancery are three similar statues of Henry the Second, Richard the First, and King John. The most probable conjecture is that they were placed there about the time of Henry the Third; for although the Hall was rebuilt by Richard the Second, yet the old south wall appears not to have been taken down. Strangers of distinction are usually invited to sit on the bench, on the left of the judges. This Court has no gallery; and is so small, that the inconvenience to all who have business in it is extremely great. On the first day of each Term the judges of all the four courts, after breakfasting with the Lord Chancellor, proceed in state, attended by their respective officers, to Westminster-hall, according to their rank of precedence; the Lord Chancellor going first; next the Chief Justice of the King's Bench; then the Master of the Rolls; the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas; the Chief Baron of the Exchequer; and then the Puisne Judges according to the priorities of their respective courts. The Serjeants in their robes are drawn up in a line on the right hand side of the Hall to receive them as they pass, when each judge shakes hands with every serjeant, and wishes him a Good Term. (pp. 478-9) |
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THE MALL IN ST. JAMES'S PARK. (Page 256.) THE avenue seen in the Plate is the grand Mall leading from Spring Garden-gate to Buckingham-house, which is seen at the end of the hall. The building on the right is St. James's Palace, representing the garden front of the drawing-room and presence-chamber. It is of brick ornamented with stone. The Park was enclosed by Charles the Second, who planted the avenues, made the canal and the aviary adjacent to the Bird-cage Walk, which took its name from the cages hung in the trees. The Mall used formerly to be much frequented by company, great part of which was often of the highest fashion. It was common for it to be so crowded, as to make it very difficult even to pass along. It is still a Sunday promenade; but its visitors are comparatively few; the fashionable walk at present being the Green-park of an evening, and Hyde-park and Kensington-gardens in the morning. Peers, Privy Counsellors, Ambassadors, and other persons of distinction, generally have permission to pass through the Park, either on horseback or in carriages, by license from the Secretary of State; and a list of persons enjoying this privilege is hung up in the passage of the Horse-guards, for the direction of the soldier on duty. The road lies immediately under the walls which separate the gardens of Pall-mall and of the palace from the Park. On the right of the Plate are seen two of the horse-guards, two of whom regularly patrol the Park when the Royal Family are in town. (p. 479) |
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HYDE PARK. (Page 262.) THE foreground of this Plate represents the entrance of Hyde-park from Piccadilly. The building on the left is the under-keeper's lodge; the horse-road to the left is the celebrated ride called Rotten-row, which on Sundays, during the spring, if the weather be fine, is crowded by persons ambitious of equestrian fame, or proud of their horses, from those of the highest quality to the apprentice and shopman, who hire their hacks at a livery stable for half a guinea a day. This hobbyhorsical exhibition has been justly ridiculed in a well-known Prologue, where, alluding to the lateness of the spring, it is said, "Hors'd in Cheapside, scarce yet the gayer spark On the right hand of the ride is a footway leading to Kensington-gardens, which on fine Sundays is crowded from one extremity to the other. The road to the right of the Plate leads to Grosvenor-gate, opening into Park-lane, and to Cumberland gate, opening into Oxford-street. Part of that beautiful piece of water, the Serpentine-river, is seen in this view, and in the background are the trees of Kensington gardens, with the dormitory in the front of them, which, at this distance, forms a pleasing object, although it is now literally nothing more than a shelter for cattle from the heat of the sun. The Plate affords a very lively picture of this bustling scene, which well deserves a visit from the stranger. Half the confusion of this place is occasioned by the want of sufficient provision for the foot passengers, and of a second gate for carriages and equestrians; by which all going in might have one gate, and all going out another gate. (p. 480) |
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THE HORSE GUARDS, OR WAR-OFFICE, AND PARADE OF THE FOOT GUARDS. (Page 234.) THE building in the centre represents the War-office, or Horse-guards, so called from being the station where that part of his Majesty's troops usually do duty. It was erected after a design by Vardy, and cost above 30,000l. The next, on the right of the Plate, is Lord Melbourne's town residence; it was built (under the direction of Holland) for the Duke of York, who exchanged it with the present possessor for a house in Piccadilly, upon the site and gardens of which a very extensive range of buildings called Albany-place has since been erected. The building at the extremity of the Plate on the right is The Treasury; at the west end of which, enclosed with a wall, are the gardens of the house, occupied by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. All these are of stone, and produce a fine effect; which however is lessened by the buildings, seen on the left of the Plate, being of brick. The building on the left is The Admiralty, and the house adjoining to the right, the residence of the First Lord of the Admiralty. On the top of the former are the Telegraphs, which communicate with the coast. At the extremity of the left, in the background, is the tower with the spire of St. Martin's church, near Charing-cross. The ground in front is the Parade of the Foot-guards, and a detachment is represented as marching to the palace to relieve the King's guard, which is done every morning after parade: it is very spacious, is laid with gravel, and is excellently adapted to the purpose. On the north side of the Parade is placed a fine Turkish piece of ordnance of uncommon length, brought by our troops from Alexandria; it is mounted on a carriage of English workmanship, ornamented with very elegant and appropriate devices. The coup d'oeil of the public buildings on this spot is one of the finest about the metropolis. It contains in one view the three principal offices connected with the government of the country; The Treasury on the right, The War-office in the centre, and The Admiralty on the left. (p. 481) |
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WESTMINSTER FROM LAMBETH. (Page 265.) THE view from this spot is uncommonly beautiful. In the foreground are Lambeth-palace stairs; and on the right, within the cross railing, is the walk, which is separated from the palace gardens by a high wall, and shaded by lofty and venerable trees. Both are in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury's palace. The opposite side of the river embraces an uncommon portion of striking objects. On the left is the Abbey; at the eastern extremity of which is the roof of Henry the Seventh's chapel. St. Margaret's church is distinguished by a flag on the tower. The large building, with a turret at each end, is Westminster-hall. The trees between that and the river are in the gardens of the Speaker of the House of Commons. In the opening of those trees, toward the left, is seen the east end of the House of Commons, which looks into the Speaker's garden; and a little further to the left, at the upper end of the hall, is seen the House of Lords. Adjoining to the lower end of the great hall, is a low range of buildings in which the famous Court of Star Chamber (so called from Starra, the Jewish covenants being deposited there in the time of Richard the Second,) was held, which is now occupied by the offices of the Duchy of Lancaster. Adjoining thereto is the Speaker's house. It is faced with stone, and in the Gothic style. The tower and cupola seen immediately above the trees, to the right, are those of the Horse-guards; they are surmounted by a gilt ball, with a vane, and form a pleasing object in the view. The church seen beyond the Horse-guards is that of St. James's, in Piccadilly; the large church to the right and more advanced to the front is St. Martin's, near the Strand; and that beyond it St. Giles's in the Fields. The pyramid below the bridge is the Hungerford water-works, which supply Piccadilly, St. James's square and street, and that neighbourhood, with water. The lofty building on the right, with a tower on the top, is Drury-lane Theatre. On the right of the Horse guards, that building which overtops the rest is the Banquetting-room, Whitehall, the upper colonnade being seen with the light falling upon it. The houses between Whitehall and the river are in Privy-gardens. The mass of building below the bridge, resting upon arches, is the Adelphi, which has a magnificent terrace upon the water. Westminster-bridge, which is one of the grandest and most beautiful in Europe, is seen to great advantage from Lambeth-walk. The expanse of water here is extremely fine. The Plate represents the river at high water; or rather the tide just turned, and running out; and gives a lively idea of this beautiful scene. In the background are seen the range of hills which run on each side of Hampstead from east to west. (p. 530) |
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THE ROYAL PROCESSION TO PARLIAMENT. (Page 267.) THE Plate represents the large open space before the principal entrance to the House of Lords. The state carriage is very massive, and profusely decorated with carving and gilding. It is drawn by eight cream-coloured horses, the off-horse of each pair being led by one of the King's footmen. The coachman and footmen wear scarlet turned up with blue; the postillion blue; and these liveries are almost covered with broad gold lace. His Majesty is usually accompanied in the carriage by a Lord of the Bedchamber, and the Groom of the Stole, who assist him to robe after he arrives at the House. A yeoman of the guards walks on each side of the carriage. A strong detachment of the horse-guards accompanies the carriage; others of those guards keep the middle of the street clear from carriages and horse and foot passengers, till the procession is closed. The manner of that duty is accurately represented in the Plate. The Master of the Horse precedes his Majesty in a state chariot drawn by six horses; as also do some of the other great officers of state, in three coaches drawn each by six horses. The portico on the right of the Plate is the principal entrance to the House of Lords. The house with a balcony is Waghorn's coffee-house, with an entrance into the lobbies of the House, and is principally appropriated to the use of the peers or members of the House of Commons, who may be desirous of taking refreshments. Almost immediately under this house is the entrance to the cellar or vault in which Guy Faux and the other conspirators of 1605 lodged the barrels of gunpowder, designed at one blow to annihilate the three estates of the realm, when assembled in parliament. The adjoining house, whose gabel-end is seen, is the Ship tavern. The house in the foreground to the right is the Star and Garter tavern. All the buildings contiguous to these, in the Plate, contain apartments and offices of the two houses of parliament, with the exception of the lofty gabel-end crowned with a turret, which is the south end of Westminster-hall. The Gothic building on the left of the Plate is Henry the Seventh's chapel. The flag seen over the roof is placed on the top of St. Margaret's church. The modern building beyond, with wings projecting and higher than the centre, is the Ordnance-office. (p. 483) |
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THE HOUSE OF LORDS. (Page 268.) THE Plate represents his Majesty meeting the parliament at the opening of a session. The King on this occasion wears the coronation robes, which are crimson velvet, trimmed with white ermine spotted with black. The coronation diadem is on his head, and the sceptre in his right hand. He is seated on the throne. On his right the Prince of Wales is seated in a chair of state; and on his left are chairs of state for his six younger sons, the Dukes of York, Clarence, Kent, Cumberland, Cambridge, and Sussex. On each side are ranged the great officers of state, the Lord Chamberlain, the Master of the Horse, the Lord Steward of the Household, &c. The figure in the view, immediately on the right of the King, is one of the great officers of state bearing the Cap of Maintenance; that immediately on the left is the Lord Chamberlain with a white staff in his hand; and the next to him is another great officer bearing the sword of state. All the Heralds are also among the King's attendants. The Lord Chancellor's place is a little advanced on the right of the King. The peers are robed, and standing; as they always are when his Majesty is present in parliament, until he signifies his permission for them to sit. The archbishops and bishops are on the right of the throne; the dukes, marquisses, earls, and viscounts, on the left, in succession; and the barons stand across the House below the table, and on the left below the fireplace. The four figures on the left of the view, with their backs to the spectator, and black patches in their wigs, as well as the four on the right of the plate, are the Judges, in their dress of ceremony. The figures with their backs to the spectator are the House of Commons; the figure in the centre being the Speaker, in his dress of state. On his right is the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod. The Commons stand below the bar, which is a dwarf partition running across the room, at the bottom, dividing off about one-fifth of its length. Ladies are permitted to be present (by peers' orders) in the manner the Plate represents. A few strangers are also admitted below the bar, standing behind the Commons; a space (on the right of the plate) being raised two steps above the floor, and enclosed with a rail, for the foreign ministers and other foreigners of distinction. The robes of the peers are scarlet cloth trimmed with white ermine and gold lace, and lined with white silk. The Lord Chancellor's robes, on state occasions, are of black figured damask silk ornamented with gold lace. The different ranks of the peers are distinguished by the number of broad gold laced stripes on each side of the slash on the right side of the robe: a duke having four before the arm and four behind; a marquis, four before and three behind; an earl, three before and three behind; a viscount, three before and two behind; and a baron, two before and two behind. The Commons (except the Speaker) have no dress of state. The House of Lords is a very handsome, but not a splendid room. It was formerly the Court of Requests, and used merely as a passage to the old House of Lords, which was deemed insufficient after the Union. The tapestry and other ornaments were removed from the old house. The canopy of state is very accurately represented in the Plate: it is of crimson velvet, ornamented with gold and silver; the arms of the united kingdom, over the chair, being embroidered in silk, and the supporters in silver. The throne is an armed chair, elegantly carved and gilt, and ornamented with crimson velvet and silver embroidery. The chair is covered, and its back turned to the House, except when his Majesty is present, or when bills are passed by commission. Before the throne, with an interval of several feet, is a woolsack, in the centre, which is the seat of the Lord Chancellor, or Lord Speaker, when the King is not present. There are two other woolsacks, extending from the latter down the room. On these are seated the Judges when they attend, to afford legal advice to the House, which they do at any time upon order; and also two Masters in Chancery, who are in constant attendance upon the House, being their messengers to the Commons. Below these woolsacks is a table, on which are laid bills in progress before the House, and all petitions and other papers received by the House. On each side, and across the room at the foot, are rows of seats with backs, for the peers. The woolsacks, table, and seats, are covered with fine crimson baize. The walls are decorated with that beautiful and interesting tapestry representing the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. It was made by order of the Earl of Nottingham, Lord High Admiral and Commander in Chief on that glorious day. The Earl sold it to James the First. The design was drawn by Cornelius Vroom*, and executed by Francis Spiering. It was not, however, put up until the year 1650. The story is divided into compartments by broad frames of wainscot; and the heads, which form a border to each design, are portraits of the several gallant officers who commanded in the English fleet on this memorable occasion. The whole floor is covered with matting. The House is lighted by three brass branches pendant from the roof; and sconces (of bronze, and of a peculiarly elegant form,) fixed to the walls. When the House is in its usual sittings, all the space above the Lord Chancellor's woolsack is deemed out of the House, and members of the House of Commons and peers' sons are permitted to stand there. The mace of the Lord Chancellor, and the great seal, in a purse or bag of state richly ornamented with gold and silver embroidery and the royal arms, are placed on the woolsack, while the House is sitting. The Commons, as a house, enter by large folding doors at the bottom of the room. The door for the Lords is at the upper end, and is that which appears on the right of the Plate. At that end of the House is the King's robing-room. When bills are passed by a commission, which is always directed to the great officers of state, the three who are present, of whom the Lord Chancellor is always one, take their seats in their robes upon a bench immediately before the throne, with their hats on; and the Commons being sent for, the Speaker and the members, with the officers of the House, are introduced by the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod. The commission being read by one of the clerks at the table, and afterwards the titles of the bills, the royal assent is pronounced by the Clerk of the Crown, who, after bowing three times to the Lords Commissioners, if it be a money bill, says, Le Roy remercie ses loyaux sujets, accepte leur benevolence et ainsi le veut. For a public bill of a general nature, the words are, Le Roy le veut; and if it be a private bill, Soit fait comme il est desirée. But in case the King should refuse the bill, the answer is, Le Roy s'avisera. When bills are brought up from the Commons, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod announces at the bar a message from the House of Commons; upon which the Lord Chancellor puts the question whether the messengers shall be called in; which being ordered, he comes down to the bar of the House bearing the bag of state, containing the great seal, when the Commons are introduced with three bows, and the member who brings up the bill reads the title of it at the bar, and then gives it to the Lord Chancellor, who, from the woolsack, informs the House of the purport of the message. Three Lords are considered as sufficient to constitute a House; and prayers are always read by the junior Bishop before they proceed to business, except it be on a Committee of Privileges, when prayers are read afterwards. * Vroom had a hundred pieces of gold for his labour. The arras itself cost 1628 pounds sterling. (pp. 484-6) |
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HOUSE OF COMMONS. (Page 270.) THE House of Commons, since the reign of Edward the Sixth, has held its sittings in this room, which was formerly a chapel dedicated to St. Stephen the Protomartyr. It was originally built by King Stephen, and rebuilt in 1347 by King Edward the Third in a very magnificent manner; some curious remains of which were discovered on the House being enlarged, occasioned by the Union with Ireland, the walls appearing to be most richly ornamented with illuminated paintings. The Plate represents the House sitting. The Speaker's chair stands at some distance from the wall at the upper end of the room. It is of oak, slightly ornamented with gilding, with the King's Arms at the top. The Speaker is usually dressed in a train black silk gown, with a full-bottomed wig. On occasions of state, he wears a robe, similar to the state robe of the Lord Chancellor. Before him, with a small interval, is a table, at which three clerks of the House are seated, with their backs to the Speaker, whose business it is to take minutes of the proceedings of the House, read the titles of bills in their several stages, hand them to the Speaker, &c. They are dressed in plain black silk gowns, and tie wigs. On this table, in front, the Speaker's mace always lies when the House is sitting; except when the House is in a Committee, and then it is placed under the table, and the Speaker leaves the chair, there being a perpetual Chairman to the Committee of the Whole House. In the centre of the room, between the table and the bar, is an extensive area. The members' seats occupy each side, and both ends of the room, with the exception of the passages, in the form seen in the Plate. There are five rows of seats, rising above each other, with short backs and green morocco cushions. The seat on the floor, on the left of the Print, is that which is called the Treasury Bench, on which the chief members of the administration sit; and the opposite seat is usually occupied by the leading members of Opposition. The Speaker sits with his hat off, except on particular occasions. All the members must be seated, except him who is addressing the Chair; but they wear their hats or not, at pleasure, except when speaking. A gallery, supported by very elegant pillars of iron, with gilt Corinthian capitals, runs along the two sides and the west end of the room. That part which crosses the west end is the strangers' gallery, and will hold about one hundred and thirty persons. The gallery on each side is reserved for members. Sometimes a member speaks from the gallery. The walls are lined with wainscot; and the gallery and the backs of the seats are also of wainscot. The House, when full, presents a very pleasing coup-d'œil; and it is admirably adapted to the purposes of debate, as a very moderate voice may be distinctly heard in every part. (p. 487) |
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INTERIOR OF THE ROTUNDA IN THE BANK OF ENGLAND. (Page 297.) THIS Plate is an accurate representation of one of the busiest scenes in the metropolis. The apartment itself is a circular building of stone, the top of which is a noble dome. The light is admitted through a cupola, supported by female figures, representing the twelve months of the year. In the centre of the cupola is a wind dial. The spectator is supposed, in this view, to have entered the Rotunda from the Bank gate in Bartholomew-lane, passing on his right and left the Bank Stock Office and the Three per Cent. Consols Office. The opposite entrance, under the clock, is from a vestibule, which leads into the front court of the Bank facing Cornhill. On one side of the Rotunda is the Transfer Office of the Three per Cent. Consols, and on the other the Office of the Four and Five per Cent. Stocks. The body of the Rotunda is filled by brokers, jobbers, and other persons bargaining in the funds; and the artist in this drawing has very happily succeeded in sketching the character of the various groups which are to be daily seen in this place, from the hours of twelve to two. In the centre, and round the room, are placed desks and forms for the convenience of writing; and in the recesses there are seats with fireplaces. To a person of observation this scene will not fail to afford the highest entertainment. The anxiety of those who are compelled perhaps to sell their stock at any price which the state of the market offers; the avidity of others who are catching at every opportunity to buy; the busy faces of the brokers, and the vacant or astonished countenances of the country stockholders, are contrasts of the human character which may be seen here in perfection. Notwithstanding the seeming confusion of this scene, where the noise is frequently so great that persons standing close together are unable to hear each other, and where the throng is sometimes so violent that it is dangerous to stand in the crowd, yet such is the admirable regulation of the business transacted that, in the midst of this apparent mob and uproar, property to the amount of hundreds of thousands of pounds is daily transferred from one owner to another with a facility and correctness almost incredible. (p. 488) |
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THE ROYAL EXCHANGE, BANK, &c. (Page 304.) THE foreground in this Plate is Mansionhouse-street, a spacious area in front of the Mansion-house. The coup-d'œil eastward is as rich and various as any in London. The extensive building with the lofty tower is the Royal Exchange; whose principal front is in Cornhill, on the right of the Plate, and the other in Treadneedle-street, the extremity of the Plate on the left. The range of houses in the centre is Bank-buildings, with Richardson and Goodluck's Lottery-office immediately in front. The Bank is the noble building, with colonnades, on the left. The front is a sort of vestibule; the base rustic; the ornamental columns above Ionic. It was built in 1733 upon the site of the house of Sir John Houblon, who was at the same time Lord Mayor of London, a Lord of the Admiralty, and the First Governor of the Bank of England. The church of St. Bartholomew is beyond; and in the background is seen the dome of the church of St. Peter le Poor, Broad-street, rising above the north end of the Royal Exchange. On the right of the Plate is seen part of the beautiful Gothic tower of St. Michael's, and beyond the spire of St. Peter's, both in Cornhill. At the bottom of Cornhill, and in the corner house, which divides the former from Lombard Stand (now occupied by a glover), stands the house and shop in which the celebrated Thomas Guy, by the exercise of the pious trade of selling Bibles and Prayer-books, made the greatest fortune ever accumulated by the industry of one individual. Besides building and endowing three wards of St. Thomas's Hospital, he was the sole founder of another which bears his name. The expense of the erection amounted to 18,793l. 16s. and he left the enormous sum of 219,499l. to endow it. Besides his public expenses, he allowed small annuities, during his life, to many of his poor relations and others; and to his aged relations he left by his will 870l. in annuities; and to his younger relations and executors 75,589l.! This incredible fortune was amassed from a very small beginning, chiefly by purchasing seamens' tickets in the reign of Queen Anne, by his great success in buying and selling South Sea Stock, and by the sale of Bibles: thus profiting both of God and Mammon. The active part of this scene is uncommonly curious. A prodigious crowd is seen passing in Cornhill; and another in front of the Bank. Beyond the carriage from which a lady is stepping, and over its roof, is seen a stage-coach, with passengers on its top. In the foreground, on the left, is a brewer's dray, with porter-butts; and under the north-west corner of the Royal Exchange is one of the Islington stages. (p. 489) |
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THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. (Page 306.) THE Plate represents the inside of the Royal Exchange. The piazza on the left is the south, in which is the principal entrance leading from Cornhill. The piazzas are divided into walks for the various trades in the following manner: The South Piazza contains the Virginia, Jamaica, Spanish, and Jews walks; and the south front in the area the French, Oporto, and Barbadoes walks. The West contains the Norway and East India walks; and in the area the Silkmen, Clothiers, and Turkey walks. The North contains the East Country, the Irish, Scotch, and Jewellers walks; and in front of the area the Clothiers, Silkthrowers, Skinners, Salters, and Dutch walks. The East contains the Armenian and Portuguese walks; and in the area the Italian walk. In the Centre of the area, toward the south, is the Canary walk; to the west the Grocers and Druggists; to the north the Hamburgh; and the east the Stockbrokers. Merchants, however, by no means confine themselves exclusively to their respective walks, but mix together without any regularity. The name of each walk is painted on tablets over the pillars, as represented in the Plate. A seat extends along the four walls of the piazzas. The two figures in the left corner of the Plate represent two persons seated, and in conversation. The piazzas are very broad and extensive, an entire regiment of the City Volunteers having sometimes gone through their usual exercise under their cover. The open area in the centre is a spacious commodious place for transacting business in fine weather. The whole building stands upon a plot of ground two hundred and three feet in length, and a hundred and seventy-one in breadth, containing an area in the middle of sixty-one square perches. The building is fifty-six feet high, and from the centre in the south front rises a lantern and turret a hundred and seventy-eight feet high, on the top of which is a fane of gilt brass, made in the shape of a grasshopper, the crest of Sir Thomas Gresham's arms. The statue in the area is that of Charles the Second, which was undertaken by Gibbons, but executed by Quillin, of Antwerp. The statues seen in niches of the wall of the quadrangle, in the upper story, are those of kings and queens of England, beginning with Edward the First, on the south side, and ending with his present Majesty on the east. As far as Charles the First they were executed by Gabriel Cibber. The figure in the Plate, under the dial, is the statue of James the First, and the next, on his right, that of Queen Elizabeth. There are twenty-eight niches in the four walls under the piazzas for statues; but two only are occupied: these are on the west side. In one is the statue of Sir Thomas Gresham (by Gabriel Cibber), the original founder of the old Exchange, which was burnt down in 1666, the present one being soon after built, at an expense of 65,9791. 11s. In the other niche is that of Sir John Barnard, which was placed there in his life-time by his fellow-citizens, to express their sense of his great merit; upon which he made a resolution, to which he strictly adhered, never to enter the Exchange more. The walls within the piazzas, and the pillars, are almost covered with boards, neatly framed and painted, announcing the residence and trades of various dealers, who have obtained permission thus to call the attention of the merchants on 'Change to their shops or warehouses. This, no doubt, is of mutual advantage to them and the merchant. The rooms in the upper story of the Royal Exchange are applied to various purposes. Lloyd's Coffee-house and Subscription-rooms, so celebrated for the immense business transacted in them in insuring ships, and so endeared to every Englishman by the noble subscriptions made for humane or patriotic purposes, by the merchants who assemble there, are in this part of the Royal Exchange; and also the Merchant Seaman, Russia, and other public offices. Here are also apartments in which the Gresham lecturers read their lectures, pursuant to the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, who bequeathed to the city and the mercers' company all the profits arising from the Royal Exchange, and other premises in Cornhill, in trust, to pay salaries to four lecturers in divinity, astronomy, music, and geometry, and three readers in civil law, physic, and rhetoric, who were to read lectures daily. The trustees were however prevailed upon to regulate the readings according to the practice of the universities (where they only read in Term-time), although in direct opposition to Sir Thomas Gresham's will. By this management, the professors' places are almost made mere sinecures; for instead of each reading fifty-two lectures annually, they seldom exceed sixteen. (pp. 490-1) |
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ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, WITH THE LORD MAYOR'S SHOW ON THE WATER. (Page 308.) ON the 9th of November, annually, the Chief Magistrate of the City, being newly elected, proceeds by water to Westminster-hall, where he is sworn into his office before the Barons of the Exchequer. He embarks on board his own barge, at Three Cranes Stairs, accompanied by the aldermen, sheriffs, and the liverymen of the company of which he is a member, and is followed by the various free companies of the city in their respective barges. The barges are all built on the same plan; the Lord Mayor's being more profusely decorated with flags. Each has a large and handsome state room; on the roof of which is placed a numerous band of music, who play during the procession. Flags decorate the bow, stern, and deck of the barge. A prodigious number of boats and wherries, with private companies, attend his Lordship on this occasion. The whole forms a very lively and pleasing scene if the weather be fine, which at that season of the year is seldom the case. In the background of the Plate is a grand view of the south side of St. Paul's cathedral. (p. 492) |
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ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. (Page 363.) THIS Plate presents to our view a prospect of the grand entrance to this magnificent structure, taken from the north-west corner of St. Paul's church-yard. The great fire of London, by which the old cathedral was destroyed, made way for the restoration of this magnificent pile by Sir Christopher Wren, surveyor-general of his Majesty's works, and an architect worthy of so grand a design. It was certainly the intention and desire of Sir Christopher Wren to have taken the church of St. Peter at Rome for his model, and to have adopted one single order instead of two, with an attic story, as in that structure. This appears by his two first designs, which were however objected to; and the third produced the present noble pile, which has in some respects been preferred by a judicious writer to even the Roman Basilica. The magnificent portico of the church of St. Peter is certainly not to be equalled; but the whole front of that structure is terminated in a straight line at the top, which has neither so good an effect, nor that agreeable variety, which are given by the elevation of the pediment in the middle, and the beautiful campanile towers at each end of the front of St. Paul's, which are represented in the Plate. It is much to be lamented that all Sir Christopher Wren's exertions could not obtain a greater open space, which might enable the spectator to view his noble structure to full advantage. Unfortunately, the commissioners for rebuilding the city had marked out the streets before his designs were decided upon, and great progress had been made in rebuilding houses before he could even begin to remove the ruins of the old church. The two turrets on the right and left of the front are each two hundred and eight feet in height. In the one on the southern side is the great clock, the bell of which may be heard in the most distant part of London when the wind is in that quarter. In the construction of the dome, which is one hundred and twelve feet in diameter, St. Paul's differs both from the Pantheon at Rome and St. Peter's. The Pantheon is no higher than its diameter, which is too low; and St. Peter's is twice its diameter in height, being an excess the other way. Sir Christopher has taken a mean proportion, which shews its concave every way. Thus the windows of the upper order strike down the light through the great colonnade that encircles the dome without, and serves for its abutment. The inside of the dome is painted by Sir James Thornhill, and contains, in eight compartments, the histories of St. Paul. It was Sir Christopher's intention to have beautified the inside with the more durable ornament of Mosaic work, similar to Su Peter's, which has a most magnificent and splendid appearance, and is as durable as marble, without the least decay of colour. The art was not however understood in England, and although Sir Christopher had engaged four eminent artists from Italy, apprehensions of the expense, and the length of time it would take to finish, occasioned the design to be dropped. The conversion of St. Paul, on the triangular elevation of the pediment, seen in the Plate, the bas-reliefs under the portico, and the statue of Queen Anne, with the figures of Britain, France, Ireland, and America, at the base, were all executed by Francis Bird (pp. 492-3) |
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INSIDE OF ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, WITH THE ANNUAL ASSEMBLAGE OF THE CHARITY CHILDREN OF THE METROPOLIS. (Page 365.) ONCE in every year, usually in the last week in May, or the first in June, a charity sermon is preached at St. Paul's, by one of the bishops or some other dignitary of the church, in aid of the charity-schools of the several parishes in London. The Plate represents this interesting scene. Against the pillars of the great circle beneath the dome are erected temporary galleries on all the eight sides, except that next the western aisle, which is left open for spectators. In these the children are seated; the boys in the upper rows, and the girls below: they usually amount to six thousand! On the north and south sides are temporary staircases, leading into the galleries, the entrance of which will be seen on the right and left of the Plate. The galleries are partitioned into divisions, equal to the number of the several schools; each school being distinguished by its flag, with the name of the parish, raised on a pole above the back of the scaffolding, in the manner represented in the Plate. A seat runs round the foot of the galleries, on which are placed the masters and mistresses of the several schools. The eastern half of the circle is divided into pews for the lord mayor, aldermen, and their friends, the dean and residentiaries, and other persons of distinction. Across the circle, from north to south, is left a broad path, for the stewards and others who regulate the ceremony. The remainder of the circle, and the whole of the west aisle, are occupied with rows of benches for the other parts of the congregation. A temporary pulpit is erected on the eastern side of the circle. Against the organ-loft is a temporary gallery for the choristers of the cathedral, who assist in the service: the children also join in the chanting, following their singing-master, who is elevated on a seat above the galleries to the left of the organ. Persons are admitted to this service only by tickets; and a collection is made, which usually produces from three to four hundred pounds. The Plate represents part of the inside of the dome of St. Paul's. The whispering gallery is within the iron-railing which runs round the dome immediately above the arches. The view of the choir, as it is seen behind the organ-gallery, gives an accurate idea of the aisles of this church. Above the windows are the paintings of Sir James Thornhill. The following are the flags seen in the Plate:—That to the left was taken from the French at Fort Bourbon, in the island of Martinique; the two next were taken in Lord Howe's victory, on the 1st of June 1794; the two most to the right of the other three were taken by Lord Duncan from the Dutch fleet, at Camperdown; and the left of the three was taken by Lord Elphinstone from the Dutch Admiral, Lucas, at the Cape of Good Hope. (pp. 494-5) |
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WESTMINSTER ABBEY. (Page 376.) THE Plate contains a view of the north side of this noble specimen of Gothic, or rather Saracenic, architecture; for, as Sir Christopher Wren justly observes*, "The Goths were rather destroyers than builders, whereas the Saracens wanted neither arts nor learning: and after we, in the west, had lost both, we borrowed again from them, out of their Arabic books, what they, with great diligence, had translated from the Greeks." The present structure was begun by King Henry the Third, who pulled down the old Saxon pile. It was however far from finished in his life-time; the great tower and two western towers remaining incomplete at the Reformation; after which the two present towers arose; but they were left extremely imperfect, one being much higher than the other, until Sir Christopher Wren perfected them in their present elegant form. It is much to be lamented that the Norman architects, who were originally employed in building this beautiful structure, chose a species of Caen stone, which is more beautiful than durable, and so extremely tender that the finer ornaments are speedily destroyed by the weather. When Sir Christopher Wren made his survey, in order to complete the whole structure upon a regular plan, he found the stone decayed four inches deep; and his first care therefore was to cut away all the ragged stone, and supply it with better. The great north window, commonly called the Rose Window, seen in the Plate, he entirely rebuilt of Portland stone, to answer to the south Rose Window, and restored it to its proper shape: but his design of building a tower over the centre of the cross, which would have finally completed the whole structure according to the plan of the original architect, has never been executed. This magnificent pile was formerly adorned on the outside with the statues or figures of those Princes who had contributed to the building; they were placed in niches cut in the buttresses, but few of them now remain. The windows were also formerly all of painted glass, but some only remain at the east and west ends. In the south-west window is the portrait of Edward the Confessor, with his arms. The paintings with which the walls were formerly adorned are now defaced, or obscured by the numerous monuments which, as Mr. Pennant observes, "furnish materials for an excellent lecture upon the progress of these efforts of human skill, from the simple altar tomb to the most ostentatious proofs of human vanity." On the left of the Plate is seen the tower of St. Margaret's church. It was built in the time of Edward the Fourth; and in 1735 the tower was cased, and the whole almost rebuilt, at the expense of 3, 5001. granted by Parliament, it being the church in which the House of Commons attend divine worship. In this church are deposited the remains of the ill-fated Sir Walter Raleigh, who was interred here the day on which he was beheaded in Old Palace-yard. It was left to a sensible churchwarden to record the fact, who inscribed it on a board about fifty years ago. The east window, of fine painted glass, is particularly worthy of notice, being a beautiful composition of figures. The principal subject is the Crucifixion. In a compartment on one side is Henry the Sixth kneeling, and above him his patron St. George; on the other is his queen, and above her St. Catherine. The Dean and Chapter of Westminster, with the most laudable spirit, have very recently given directions to pull down a number of old ruinous houses which totally obscured the north side of Henry the Seventh's chapel, and part of the east end of the Abbey. These disgraceful incumbrances were loudly complained of by Sir Christopher Wren, but their total demolition was reserved for the present day. The total length of the Abbey within the walls is 489 feet, and the height of the middle roof is 92 feet. * Parentalia, p. 297. (pp. 495-6) |
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THE SOCIETY OF ARTS. (Page 406.) THE public spirit of this age is perhaps in no instance more evident than in the rapid progress and present flourishing condition of this valuable Society. It was set on foot by Lord Folkestone, Lord Romney, Dr. Hales, and seven or eight private gentlemen, who were brought together by the unwearied pains of Mr. William Shipley, a person little known, who had long laboured to reduce into practice a scheme he had projected for this purpose. Their first meeting was at Rathmill's coffee-house, March 22, 1754, when those noble Lords not only approved and patronised the undertaking, but offered to make good any deficiencies of subscription which should be found at the end of the year. Premiums were accordingly offered for the discovery of cobalt, for designs in drawing, and for the planting of madder. From this beginning the Society has increased to the present extent, and is annually adding to the list of its subscribers and the number of premiums. The Plate represents this fine Institution in the interesting moment of distributing its annual prizes for the encouragement of arts, manufactures, and commerce. The room is an oblong square, elegantly proportioned: the seats are ranged round the table in an oval form. Many of the figures in this Plate are portraits. The President, his Grace the Duke of Norfolk, is presenting a medal to a successful candidate. On his right is the Secretary, Mr. Charles Taylor; on his left Mr. Thomas Taylor, the Assistant Secretary. The seat immediately round the table is occupied by the Vice-Presidents and Chairmen of Committees. The second seat on the right of the President is reserved for ladies of rank. Among those represented in the Plate are the Duchess of Northumberland and her daughters. The second seat on the left of the President is allotted to foreign ministers, and other foreigners of distinction. The person immediately below the bar, with a white wand in his left hand, is Mr. Pearsal, one of the Managers for the day; the other, with a white wand, is Mr. Tooke, another Manager; and the gentleman handing a lady to her seat is Mr. Gold, a third Manager. The figure entering the room, with his right hand extended, represents a Candidate. I n the area which is seen below the bar are seated ladies, Candidates. The other seats all round are occupied indiscriminately by members and visitors; but, as the Plate represents, the number of ladies who honour the Society with their presence on solemn occasions nearly fill the seats. The gentlemen, members and visitors, are standing in the area round the extreme seat. The walls are decorated with a series of six paintings by Barry, representing the progress of man in civilization: they are among the finest productions of the age. For any adequate feeling of their merit we refer the reader to a view of them. Two of these pictures, and part of a third, are seen in the Plate. That over the President is part of the Olympic Games, a composition unrivalled in modern times. The group seen in the Plate is remarkable for the refinement of its taste and the sweetness of its effect. An old man is represented as borne on the shoulders of his two sons, severally victors in the games.—The next picture is the Triumph of Navigation. Father Thames is seated in his car, drawn by river nymphs. The pillar seen to the right is a naval pillar of a very novel kind, lately added by the painter: it is designed with exquisite fancy, and painted in a bold and finished style. A gallery winds on the outside of the pillar to the top, to enable the spectator to ascend and examine the bas relief on the shaft. The pillar is supported by Tritons, on sea-horses. The steeds and riders are executed with uncommon spirit. The picture on the right of the Plate represents the distribution of the rewards of the Society. All the figures in it are portraits. That with his hat on is the late Lord Romney, the then President of the Institution. The figure in robes, nearer the foreground, represents his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The person sitting in the left corner of the picture is Mr. William Shipley, the founder of the Society. The female figure near the centre, with two girls near her, represents the late Mrs. Montague, who was an active member of the Society for fifteen years.—The portrait seen between the two last pictures represents the late Lord Romney; and below is a bust of the Prince of Wales. The small pictures behind the President are paintings and drawings of Candidates. The statues seen at the upper end and at the bottom of the room are casts of Venus and Narcissus, by the late Mr. John Bacon. This room, especially when the Society is in one of those sittings represented in the Plate, affords one of the finest spectacles in Europe. (pp. 497-8) |
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INSIDE OF DRURY-LANE THEATRE, As seen from the Stage during the Performance. (Page 451.) THIS is one of the most elegant and beautiful Theatres in Europe. It has four ranges of boxes, besides the private boxes, which are a row, on a level with the most elevated part of the pit. The boxes are painted a light green, relieved with red, and ornamented with bas-reliefs of composition, designed and executed in a very fine taste. They are supported by slender pillars of iron, washed with silver: they terminate at top with a pointed Gothic arch; and the whole form of the interior is a mixture of Grecian and Gothic architecture. This is the principal fault of the building; which, however, produces a grand effect to an eye not too nice and critical. The boxes are perhaps too lofty. The stage is of prodigious dimensions. It requires an uncommonly strong and articulate voice to fill the house. The third row in the front is the two-shilling gallery; and the highest row the one-shilling gallery. The whole range of boxes on the level of the pit are private boxes. That on the stage, seen to the right of the Plate, is the Prince of Wales's box; the box immediately above is a public box, distinguished by the name of the stage-box; the one next above that is the Duke of Bedford's box; and the highest on that side is the Duchess of Devonshire's. The Plate gives a very accurate idea of the coup-d'œil of the Theatre when filled. The dimensions of this Theatre between the walls are, 192 feet long, and 87 wide. The receipts of this Theatre, when crowded, amount to between 700 and 800l. (p. 499) |
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INSIDE OF COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE, Viewed from the front Boxes, during the Attendance of the Royal Family and the Performance of Pizarro. (Page 452.) THE Plate represents the Royal Family attending the play at this Theatre. His Majesty's box is in the second row, as seen on the left of the Plate: eight of the ordinary boxes are thrown into one for his accommodation. Over the centre is a canopy of crimson velvet, embroidered with gold, and surmounted with a crown. The pannels in front are of crimson velvet, decorated with a crown, and with the initials of their Majesties, embroidered with gold. The box is lined with blue satin: curtains festooned run round the top. The back of the box is taken away on these occasions, and a crimson curtain is drawn across, which opens into an ante-room lined with white satin. Three of the boxes over their Majesties are occupied by the officers of the horse and foot-guards, and the King's pages. The Lord Chamberlain, the Lord in Waiting, and other officers, stand behind the King during the representation; and the Ladies in Waiting, and other Ladies, behind the Queen. The Princesses sit on each side of their Majesties. The King is dressed either in regimentals, or a plain suit: her Majesty and the Princesses are usually much dressed, the queen generally wearing a great quantity of valuable diamonds. When the King enters, the band plays God save the King: and, of late years, it has been the custom for the vocal performers to sing that song; the whole audience standing, and the men being uncovered. The same is done at the conclusion of the night's amusement. The Stage, in this Plate, represents a scene in Pizarro. Mr. Kemble is playing Rolla, and is in the act of carrying off Alonzo's child from Pizarro. The dimensions of this Theatre are at present, from wall to wall, 158 feet long, and 60 feet wide, the room allowed for the stage being nearly equal to that set apart for the audience. It has been much enlarged within these few years. It will hold between five and six hundred pounds. (p. 500) |
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VAUXHALL GARDENS. (Page 456.) THE Plate represents the orchestra at the time when the performers are singing, and the company are gathered round in front. The orchestra is very elegant in its form, is painted white, ornamented with gilding, and almost covered with small variegated lamps. A beautiful grove of large trees surrounds the orchestra. On the trunks and branches of the trees small lamps of various colours are disposed in great profusion, and with peculiar taste; the light of the lamps giving the leaves an almost transparent appearance, and producing a brilliant effect. Piazzas run in various directions in the garden, illuminated with thousands of various coloured lamps, and decorated with arches with transparent paintings. Specimens of these elegant arcades are seen in the Plate, on the right and left of the orchestra, among the trees. To the left of the orchestra is a very spacious room, ornamented in a most fanciful manner. The amusements are singing, music, fireworks, and a sham cascade. The company in the latter part of the evening (or rather early in the morning) amuse themselves beside with dancing to bands of Italian or German musicians. When the evening is fine, and the gardens full, the whole presents a scene that is something like the realizing of fairy dreams. The refreshments here are cold collations, served in a very elegant style. The boxes are numerous and very handsome; each being ornamented with painted pannels. Three nights in the week are gala nights; Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The price of admittance is then three shillings; on other nights it is only two shillings. (p. 501) |
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BAKING OR BOILING APPLES. BAKING and Boiling Apples are cried in the streets of the metropolis from their earliest appearance in summer throughout the whole winter. Prodigious quantities of apples are brought to the London markets, where they are sold by the hundred to the criers, who retail them about the streets in pennyworths, or at so much per dozen, according to their quality. In winter the barrow-woman usually stations herself at the corner of a street, and is supplied with a pan of lighted charcoal, over which, on a plate of tin, she roasts a part of her stock, and disposes of her hot apples to the labouring men and shivering boys who pass her barrow. --- Stratford Place, the scene in the Plate, is on the north side and near the west end of Oxford-street. It has no thoroughfare; the lower stories of the houses, which are lofty and handsome, are built on a regular design, and faced with rustic stone-work. The house at the north end, facing towards Oxford-street, was lately the property and residence of the Earl of Aldborough, whose family name is Stratford, but is now occupied by the Duke of St. Albans. The late Lord Aldborough erected a pillar, in the form of a candlestick, surmounted with a most disproportioned statue of his Majesty, at the upper end of this place. This triumphal monument, if it deserved that name, was erected in honour of several memorable victories, and built of a composition resembling stone; but it is already nearly destroyed, two sides of the railing being pulled down, and the inscription, which recorded the cause of its erection and the titles of his Lordship, almost defaced. Barren as London is of the classic decorations of statues and public monuments, we cannot wish to sec the pillar of Stratford-place repaired upon the same inelegant and puerile design in which it was originally executed. The object was however good. |
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BAND-BOXES, GENERALLY made of pasteboard, and neatly covered with coloured papers, are of all shapes and sizes, and sold at every intermediate price between sixpence and three shillings. Some made of slight deal, covered like the others, but in addition to their greater strength having a lock and key, sell according to their size, from three shillings and sixpence to six shillings each. The crier of Band-boxes or his family manufacture them; and these cheap articles of convenience are only to be bought of the persons who cry them through the streets. --- The Bibliotheque d'Education, or Tabart's Juvenile Library, seen to the left of the Plate, is in New Bond-street, at the corner of Grafton-street. It is a very admirable and unique Institution, where all elementary books of science and education are to be found, in addition to every moral and amusing publication that can — "teach the young idea how to shoot, |
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BASKETS. MARKET, fruit, bread, bird, work, and many other kinds of Baskets, the inferior of rush, the better sort made of osier, and some of them neatly coloured and adorned, are to be bought cheaply of the criers of Baskets. --- Whitfield's Tabernacle, in Tabernacle-street, north of Finsbury-square, is the place of worship belonging to the Calvinistical Methodists. It is a large octagon building, with galleries. The body is divided into pews, to which every member subscribes a small sum quarterly, and have equal access to all. The Tabernacle is numerously attended on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. |
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BELLOWS TO MEND. THE Bellows-mender carries his tools and apparatus buckled in a leathern bag to his back, and, like the Chair-mender, exercises his occupation in any convenient corner of the street. The Bellows-mender also sometimes professes the trade of a Tinker. --- A part of Smithfield is seen in the Plate on one of the days of the market for hay. Those days are Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mondays and Fridays the great cattle market of London is held in Smithfield; on which days it is disagreeable, if not dangerous, to pass the avenues of Smithfield in the early part of the day, on account of the droves of oxen passing from the market, on whom the drovers sometimes exercise great cruelty. The barbarous practices of these men have been, however, greatly checked by a law, which compels them to wear a badge with a number on one arm; and it is a duty which every person owes to the public to order into immediate custody a drover who shall be seen to maltreat, the animals under his guidance. There is likewise a horse-fair in Smithfield once a week. Smithfield has been alternately the field for gallant tilts and tournaments in the age of chivalry; the scene of trials by duel in the infancy of legislation; and, in the age of bigotry, of our autos da fè. Here is now held the popular show of Bartholomew-fair, which was granted, by charter of Henry the Second, to the neighbouring priory of St. Bartholomew, for three days in the month of September; where fire-eaters, jugglers, and mountebanks of every description exhibit their dexterity. Formerly, however, the best actors exhibited here, and it was the resort of much good company. Bartholomew fair is the favourite holiday of the lower classes, and its crowded scene usually affords a plentiful harvest to pickpockets and petty sharpers. Its humours, however, will never be totally lost so long as Hogarth's inimitable plate exists. The principal entrance to St. Bartholomew's hospital is in Smithfield. |
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BRICK-DUST IS carried about the metropolis in small sacks on the backs of asses, and is sold at one penny per quart. As Brick-dust is scarcely used in London for any other purpose than that of knife-cleaning, the criers are not numerous; but they are remarkable for their fondness and their training of bull-dogs. This predilection they have in common with the lamp-lighters of the metropolis. --- Portman Square, which forms the other subject of the Plate, is large and handsome. It stands in Marybone, to the north of Oxford-street. In the middle of the square is an oval enclosure, which is ornamented with clumps of trees, flowering shrubs, and ever greens. In the background of the Plate, the large centre house is the town residence of the Duke of Athol: it was formerly occupied by the French ambassadors. The ceilings and compartments of the wainscot are decorated, with great taste, with paintings by Cipriani and Angelica Kauffman. In the salle a manger, and the breakfast-room, the subjects are taken from Virgil's Georgics, and those in the drawing-room from the Æneid. The staircases are also ornamented with some fine designs by the former artist. On the left of the Plate, in the north-west corner, standing obliquely to the square, and surrounded by an extensive garden, stands Montague House, the residence of the late celebrated Mrs. Montague, the foundress of the well-known meeting of literary ladies, distinguished by the name of the Blue Stocking Club; an appellation which it received from the singular dress of a gentleman (in always wearing blue stockings), who was the only male person permitted to intrude into this female coterie, and who acted as moderator upon any question which occasioned difference of opinion. The corner house, seen in the Plate, adjoining to the Duke of Athol's, is the residence of Mr. Hamilton Nesbitt, where are deposited the curious antiquities sent by his brother-in-law, Lord Elgin, from Egypt; and in the stables are several very fine Arabian horses, sent over by the same nobleman. |
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BUY A BILL OF THE PLAY. THE doors of the London Theatres are surrounded each night, as soon as they open, with the criers of Play-bills. These are mostly women, who also carry baskets of fruit. The titles of the Play and Entertainment, and the name and character of every performer for the night, are found in the bills, which are printed at the expense of the Theatre, and sold by the hundred to the criers, who retail them at one penny the bill, unless fruit is bought, when, with the sale of half a dozen oranges, they will present their customer a bill of the play gratis. --- Drury-lane Theatre. Part of the colonnade fronting to Russel-street, Covent-garden, with the door leading to the galleries of this superb Theatre, are seen in the Plate. There are also separate entrances to the pit and boxes under the same colonnade. On the west front of the Theatre is a very handsome entrance, through a vestibule with pillars, to the boxes only. In Russel-court is another hall, leading to the pit, boxes, and orchestra boxes: the stage-door is in Drury-lane. The paling seen on the right hand of the Plate is a temporary enclosure of some ground on the west front, where a large and elegant tavern is intended to be erected. |
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CATS AND DOGS' MEAT, CONSISTING of horse-flesh, bullocks' livers, and tripe cuttings, is carried to every part of the town. The two former are sold by weight at twopence per pound, and the latter tied up in bunches of one penny each. Although this is the most disagreeable and offensive commodity cried for sale in London, the occupation seems to be engrossed by women. It frequently happens in the streets little frequented by carriages that, as soon as one of these purveyors for cats and dogs arrives, she is surrounded by a crowd of animals, and were she not as severe as vigilant, could scarcely avoid the depredations of her hungry followers. --- Bethlem Hospital stands on the south side of the quarters of Moorfields, and has the following inscription in gold letters on the front, immediately over the grand entrance: Bethlem Hospital, founded by Henry VIII. for the cure of lunatics, was rebuilt by voluntary contribution in 1675, and the wings added, by subsequent benefactions, in 1733, for the reception of incurable and dangerous lunatics. It was built on the plan of the Tuilleries at Paris. Louis the Fourteenth was so enraged that the design of his palace should be adopted for a lunatic hospital, that he ordered a plan of St. James's to be taken, resolving it should be a model for offices of the vilest nature. The Hospital is five hundred and forty feet in length. A high wall in front of each wing encloses a garden, where the patients are allowed to walk. The centre of the building is seen through iron gates, which open to a paved court leading to the steps of the grand entrance. On each side the iron gate is a figure, one of melancholy and the other of raging madness. These figures are in recumbent postures on the pillars of the gate, and are finely executed. The artist was Caius Gabriel Cibber, father of the poet. Part of the gate, the east wing, and the wall enclosing the garden of that wing, are seen in the Plate. |
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CHAIRS TO MEND. THE business of mending Chairs is generally conducted by a family or a partnership; one carries the bundle of rush, and collects old Chairs, while the workman, seating himself in some convenient corner on the pavement, exercises his trade. For small repairs they charge from fourpence to one shilling; and for new covering a chair from eighteen pence to half a crown, according to the fineness of the rush required, and the neatness of the workmanship. It is necessary to bargain for price previous to the delivery of the Chairs, or the Chair-mender, like other itinerant artists, will not fail to demand an exorbitant compensation for his time and labour. --- Soho Square stands on the south side and near the eastern extremity of Oxford-street. It has a square enclosure, with a shrubbery in the centre. This square was begun in the time of Charles the Second. The Duke of Monmouth lived in the centre house facing the statue, from which circumstance it was originally called Monmouth Square; and, after the execution of that unfortunate nobleman, received the name of King's Square. The admirers of the Duke however had the art to get it changed to Soho, which was the word of the day at the fatal field of Sedgemoore. In this square is the residence of Sir Joseph Banks, the President of the Royal Society, whose library and collection of natural curiosities are well known. On the south side of the Square, in the right-hand corner leading from Greek-street, stands a house in which Fashion once revelled in all its splendour and dissipation. It was the residence of the once celebrated Mrs. Cornelys, who for taste, wit, vivacity, and elegance of manners, was unrivalled in her day. In this house she established her coteries, which were supported by the subscriptions of all the first persons in the country. The entertainments consisted of concerts, dancing, cards, &c. which were followed by Pic Nic suppers. Mrs. Cornelys' taste for magnificence and variety of decoration was unbounded; and the magistrates discovered that her entertainments required a license. Her expenses exceeded her subscriptions, and Fashion led to some more novel scene of amusement. Hence this unfortunate lady was doomed to a prison, where, after a confinement of several years, she, who had been the life of the fashionable world, and "the soul of pleasure," ended her days in poverty and distress. This house was also the residence of Field Marshal Conway, but is now divided into two dwellings. A Roman catholic chapel, much frequented, stands in Sutton-street, on the east side of the Square. |
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CHERRIES APPEAR in the London markets early in June, and shortly afterward become sufficiently abundant to be cried by the barrow-women in the streets at sixpence, fourpence, and sometimes as low as threepence per pound. The May Duke, and the White and Black Heart, are succeeded by the Kentish Cherry, which is more plentiful and cheaper than the former kinds, and consequently most offered to sale in the streets. Next follows the small black Cherry called the Blackaroon, which is also a profitable commodity for the barrows. Other kinds of Cherries, bearing a higher price, are only to be bought in the markets, or at the shops of fruiterers. These barrow-women undersell the shops by twopence or threepence per pound, but their weights are generally to be questioned; and this is so notorious an objection that they universally add full weight to the cry of Cherries. --- The entrance to St. James's Palace, which stands at the west end of Pall-mall, and fronting to St. James's street, is seen in the Plate. The gate opens to the principal court, on one side of which a covered passage leads to the grand staircase belonging to the guard-rooms, drawing-room, and other state apartments. This entrance and the whole palace is of brick; nor does its external appearance convey any idea of magnificence. |
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DOOR MATS OF all kinds, rush and rope, from sixpence to four shillings each, with Table Mats of various sorts, are daily cried through the streets of London. --- Charing-Cross divides the Strand from Parliament-street to the south, and from Cockspur-street to the west. It derives its name from being the site of one of the Crosses, the celebrated memorials of the affection of Edward the First for Queen Eleanor. It was the last spot on which the body rested in its way to the Abbey. This Cross was replaced by a most beautiful and animated equestrian statue in brass of Charles the First, cast in 1633 by Le Sœur for the Earl of Arundel. It was erected in 1678, when it was placed on the present pedestal, the work of Grinlyn Gibbons. The spirit and beauty of the horse have not often been surpassed. To the left of the Plate, and distinguishable by its stone parapet and square tower, is seen part of the magnificent screen of Northumberland House. A spacious court intervenes between this screen and the house itself. Behind the house are extensive gardens. The screen contains two stories of apartments occupied by domestics, and their offices. The entrance gate is in the centre of the screen, which runs from Charing-cross to Northumberland-court, each extremity terminating with a square tower. |
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DUST O! ONE of the most useful among the numberless regulations that promote the cleanliness and comfort of the inhabitants of London, is that which relieves them from the incumbrance of their dust and ashes. Dust-carts ply the streets through the morning in every part of the metropolis; two men go with each cart, ringing a large bell and calling Dust O! These men daily, if necessary, empty the dust-binns of all the refuse that is thrown into them. They receive no gratuity from the inhabitants of the houses; the owner of the cart pays them, like other labourers, weekly wages; and the dust is carried to yards in the outskirts of the town, where a number of women and girls are employed in sifting it, and separating the cinders and bones from the ashes and other refuse. The ashes, &c. are sold for manure, the cinders for fuel, and the bones to the burning-houses. The inhabitants of a crowded city are thus relieved from an incumbrance which, in its accumulation, would prove a dangerous nuisance; employment is afforded to a number of persons; and the dust-carts and yards are a profitable concern to their proprietors. --- New Church, properly St. Mary-le-Strand, is in the Strand, contiguous to Somerset-house. This beautiful church stands in the very centre of the street, dividing it into two branches. |
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GREEN HASTENS. THE earliest pea brought to the London market is distinguished by the name of Hastens; it belongs to the dwarf genus, and is succeeded by the Hotspur. This early pea, the real Hastens, is raised in hotbeds, and sold in the markets at the high price of a guinea per quart. The name of Hastens is however indiscriminately given, by the venders, to all peas, and the cry of Green Hastens resounds through every street and alley of London to the very latest crop of the season. Peas become plentiful and cheap in the latter end of June, and are retailed from carts in the streets at tenpence, eightpence, and sixpence per peck. [Note: The print has 'hasteds', the text 'hastens'; which is correct is currently unclear.] --- Newgate, a lossy and massy structure standing at the west end of Newgate-street and at the top of the Old Bailey, on the north side of Ludgate-hill, is built entirely of stone within and without. In the centre of the front, and distinguishable by its windows, on the right hand of the Plate, is the Keeper's house. The range of building, continuing from the Keeper's house to the corner of Newgate-street, part of which is seen to the left of the Plate, is the Debtor's Side. An equal portion on the other side is appropriated to Felons; and there is a hall of entrance to each, over the doors of which are stone tablets with knots of chains finely executed in stone. In the front wall are four projections with niches: two of them have statues; in one Liberty with the Cap, and in the other a figure bearing the Fasces. |
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HAIR BROOMS. HEARTH Brooms, Brushes, Sieves, Bowls, Clothes-horses, and Lines, and almost every household article of turnery, are cried in the streets. Some of these walking turners travel with a cart, by which they can extend their trade and their profit; but the greater number carry their shop on their shoulders, and find customers sufficient to afford them a decent subsistence, the profit on turnery being considerable, and the consumption certain. --- Shoreditch Church, standing at the northern extremity of Holywell-street, commonly called Shoreditch, is a church of peculiar beauty. It has a portico in front elevated upon a flight of steps. The area before the church, enclosed with an iron railing, is disgraced by a plantation of poplar trees. |
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HOT LOAVES, FOR the breakfast and tea-table, are cried at the hours of eight and nine in the morning, and from four to six in the afternoon, during the summer months. These loaves are made of the whitest flour, and sold at one and two a penny. In winter, the crier of Hot Loaves substitutes muffins and crumpets, carrying them in the same manner; and in both instances ringing a little bell as he passes through the streets. --- St. Martin's Church, called St. Martin's in the Fields, is in St. Martin's lane, near Charing-cross. It has a lofty portico of six pillars raised on a flight of steps. The design of this portico was taken from that of an ancient temple at Nismes, in France, and is peculiarly grand and beautiful. |
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HOT SPICED GINGERBREAD. HOT Spiced Gingerbread, sold in oblong flat cakes of one halfpenny each, very well made, well baked, and kept extremely hot, is a very pleasing regale to the pedestrians of London in cold and gloomy evenings. This cheap luxury is only to be obtained in winter; and when that dreary season is displaced by the long light days of summer, the well-known retailer of Hot Spiced Gingerbread, pourtrayed in the Plate, takes his usual stand near the portico of the Pantheon, with a basket of Banbury and other cakes. --- The Pantheon stands about the middle and on the south side of Oxford-street. It has a fine portico, and the building is of simple and beautiful architecture, but is liable to be overlooked by strangers, as the effect is nearly destroyed by its being erected in a busy and crowded street, and not detached from the surrounding houses. The Pantheon was originally designed for concerts. It contains one large room, finely ornamented with pillars painted in imitation of Scagliola marble, and mirrors in the pannels, with a handsome orchestra, and several retiring rooms, where tea, coffee, jellies, &c. &c. were served. It is at present only used for occasional masquerades in the winter season, |
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KNIVES TO GRIND. THE apparatus of the Knife-grinder is accurately delineated in the annexed Plate. The same wheel turns his grinding and his whetting stone. On a smaller wheel, projecting beyond the other, he trundles his commodious shop from street to street, and generally finds some employment in each. He charges for grinding and setting scissars one penny or two pence per pair; for pen-knives one penny each; and table-knives one shilling and sixpence or two shillings per dozen, according to the polish that is required. --- Whitehall. This beautiful and memorable structure stands in Parliament-street, facing the Horse-guards. It was begun in 1619, from a design of Inigo Jones, in his purest manner, and cost 17,000l. The present building is only a small part of a vast plan left unexecuted by reason of the troubles which succeeded. The ceiling, which cannot be too much admired, was painted by Rubens: the subject is the Apotheosis of James the First. The front of the Banquetting-house is seen in the Plate. The northern end of the palace, to the left of the Plate, is that through which King Charles passed to the scaffold. The breach in the wall made for that purpose is now covered on the outside by the adjoining building; but within the palace the same passage is the entrance into that building. The Banquetting-house has for many years past been converted into a chapel. In the square behind Whitehall palace is an uncommonly fine statue in brass of James the Second, executed by Gibbons the year before that monarch abdicated his throne. At the north end of the Banquetting-house still remains a very high gilt vane, erected by order of James. When the reports were current of the Prince of Orange's intentions to come over and claim the crown, James lodged at Whitehall, and had his bed-room in a part of the palace from which he could see this vane; and by it his hopes and his fears were daily decided. The west wind was the popish, and the east the protestant: if the latter blew, it had a visible effect upon his spirits the whole of the day. |
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LAVENDER. "SIX bunches a penny sweet Lavender" is the cry that invites in the streets the purchasers of this cheap and pleasant perfume. The distillers of Lavender are supplied wholesale from the nursery-grounds, and a considerable quantity of the shrub is sold in the streets to the middling classses [sic] of inhabitants, who are fond of placing Lavender among their linen (the scent of which conquers that of the soap used in washing), yet are unwilling to pay for the increased pungency of distillation. --- Temple Bar. This Gate was erected to divide the Strand from Fleet-street in 1670, after the great fire; previous to which there were only posts, with rails and chains. On the east side, which forms the background of the Plate, in the niches, are the statues of James and Anne of Denmark; and on the opposite side are those of Charles the First and Charles the Second: all executed by Bushnell. On the top of this Gate were exhibited the heads of the unfortunate victims to the justice of their country for the crime of high treason. The last sad mementos of this kind were the rebels in 1746. This Gate is the western extremity of the city of London. On the left of the Plate is the entrance to the Middle Temple. The old Gate was erected by Sir Amias Powlet on a singular occasion. About the year 1501 Sir Amias had placed Cardinal Wolsey, then parson of Lymington, in the stocks. Being sent for to London in 1515 by Wolsey, then raised to the rank of Cardinal, he was, on account of this old grudge, ordered not to quit London until further orders. In this gateway he lodged for five or six years, and rebuilt it. To pacify his eminence, he adorned the front with the Cardinal's cap, badges, cognizance, and other devices. This Gate being burnt by the great fire, the present one was afterwards erected. |
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MACKEREL, MORE plentiful than any other kind of fish in London, are brought from the western coast, and afford during their season (which commences in May, and lasts to the close of July,) a livelihood to numbers of men and women, who cry them through the streets every day in the week, not excepting Sunday; Mackerel boats being allowed by act of Parliament to dispose of their perishable cargo on Sunday morning, previous to the commencement of divine service. No other fish partake that privilege. Mackerel are at first sold at one shilling and sixpence each; but the quantity brought shortly reduces them to tenpence, eightpence, sixpence, and not unfrequently three may be bought for one shilling. A second season for Mackerel is in autumn. The preference is given to the spring Mackerel, and many more of them are brought to London: those of autumn are dried by the inhabitants of the coast of Mount's Bay, where they are chiefly caught for their winter stock of provision. --- Billingsgate, situated in Lower Thames-street, eastward of London-bridge, is the great fish-market whence the metropolis and its neighbourhood are wholly supplied with fish. Billingsgate, as seen in the Plate, is built in the form of a quay, and the fishing-vessels come close to it to deliver their fish. Each day is market-day at Billingsgate. The market commences at three o'clock in the morning in summer, and four in winter. Salesmen receive the cargo from the boats, and announce, by a crier, of what kinds they consist. These salesmen have a great commission, and generally make fortunes. The market is attended thus early by fishmongers, who keep shops in various parts of London, and, serving the richer inhabitants, buy the prime fish; and by the hawkers, who cry fish in the streets, with all their stock in baskets on their heads. The market for wholesale buyers is over by six or seven o'clock. Many private families send their servants to Billingsgate to purchase fish, as persons keep retail stalls in the market throughout the day, and are supposed to sell cheaper than the fishmongers or the hawkers. Nearly opposite to Billingsgate, on the north side of Thames-street, is the Coal Exchange. |
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MATCHES. THE criers of this convenient article are very numerous, and among the poorest inhabitants of the metropolis, subsisting more on the waste meats they receive from the kitchens, where they sell their Matches at six bunches per penny, than on the profits arising from their sale. Old women, crippled men, or a mother followed by three or four ragged children, and offering their Matches to sale, excite compassion, and are often relieved, when the importunity of the mere beggar is rejected. The elder children of a poor family, like the boy seen in the Plate, are frequent traders in Matches, and these generally sing a kind of song, and sell and beg alternately. --- The Mansion House is a stone building of considerable magnitude, standing in Mansion-house-street, at the west end of Cornhill; it is the residence of the Lord Mayor of London. In the front is a portico of fluted pillars, with two pilasters on each side the portico, which is raised above, a lower story opening to the offices. A flight of steps, enclosed with a stone balustrade, leads to the grand entrance under the portico. When it was first resolved in the Common Council to build a Mansion-house for the residence of the Lord Mayor, Lord Burlington, zealous in the cause of the arts, sent down an original design of Palladio, worthy of its author, for their approbation and adoption. The first question in Court was not whether the plan was proper, but whether this same Palladio was a freeman of the city, or no. On this great debates ensued; and it is hard to say how it might have gone, had not a worthy Deputy risen up and observed gravely, that it was of little consequence to discuss this point, when it was notorious that Palladio was a papist, and incapable of course. Lord Burlington's proposal was then rejected nem. con. and the plan of a freeman and protestant adopted in its room. The man pitched upon (and who afterwards carried his plan into execution) was originally a shipwright; and, to do him justice, he appears never to have lost sight of his first impressions. The front of his Mansion-house has all the resemblance possible to a deep-laden Indiaman, with her stern-galleries and gingerbread-work. The stairs and passages within are all ladders and gangways, and the two bulk heads on the roof, fore and aft, not unaptly represent the binacle and windlass on the deck of a great north country catt. |
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MILK. EVERY day in the year, both morning and afternoon, Milk is carried through each square, street, and alley of the metropolis, in tin pails, suspended from a yoke placed on the shoulders of the crier, as represented in the Plate. Milk is sold at four pence per quart, or fivepence for a better sort: yet the advance of price does not ensure its purity, for it is generally mixed in a great proportion with water by the retailers before they leave the Milk-houses. It is calculated that 8,500 cows are kept for the supply of Milk, and that 6,980,000 gallons are annually sold in London. The adulteration of the Milk, added to the wholesale cost, leaves an average profit of cent. per cent. to the venders of this useful article. Few retail trades are exercised with equal gain. A retailer of Milk, in opulent parts of the town, employs two or three carriers: these are, almost universally, Welsh girls, whose uncommon strength and hardiness of constitution peculiarly fit them for an employment of such great labour and constant exposure to the inclemencies of the weather. Milk Walks, that is, a certain proportion of neighbouring streets served by a particular person, are sometimes disposed of by advertisement, and often for a considerable premium. Cream is sold by the Milk-carriers at one shilling and fourpence per pint. --- Cavendish Square is in Marybone, on the north side of Oxford-road. In the centre of an enclosure, erected on a lofty pedestal, and standing on a round platform, is a bronze statue, in the exact uniform of the guards (probably for the assistance of the regimental taylors), mounted on an antique horse, all very richly gilt and burnished. The singular inscription, which takes care to inform us, to prevent mistakes, that it is an equestrian statue, is as follows: — "William Duke of Cumberland, born April 15, 1721 — died October 31, 1765. This equestrian statue was erected by Lieutenant-general William Strode, in gratitude for his private friendship; in honour to his public virtue; —Nov. 4, Anno Domini 1770." The possessive pronoun his is very happily introduced here, because it may be applied to either of the antecedent persons, and will no doubt create subject of learned dispute some ages hence. This statue is seen peeping, like a piece of gilt gingerbread in a green grocer's stall, through a plantation of trees, shrubs, and flowers. In the background of the Plate are two very elegant houses, striking for their unity of design, built by the late Mr. Tuffnell. It was intended to have built the whole square on the same plan, but the expense occasioned the project to be dropped. The house at the corner of Harley-street was occupied by the late Princess Amelia, and now by the Dutch Banker, Mr. Hope. |
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NEW POTATOES ABOUT the latter end of June and in July become sufficiently plentiful to be cried at a tolerably cheap rate in the streets. They are sold wholesale in the markets by the bushel, and retail by the pound. Three halfpence or a penny per pound is the average price from the barrows. --- Middlesex Hospital is situated at the northern end of Berners-street, Oxford-street, and is the county hospital for diseased persons. The building consists of a centre and wings, and stands in a large court with trees, covered by a wall in front with two gates, one of which is represented in the Plate opening to the west wing. In the front of the centre of the building is placed a stone tablet, with the following inscription: — "Middlesex Hospital, erected in MDCCLV. supported by voluntary Contribution." |
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OLD CLOTHES. OLD Clothes are the traffic of the early hours of morning between the Jews, who engross this trade, and servants that are allowed the perquisites of their masters cast-off Clothes. At twelve o'clock the dealers in Old Clothes carry their mornings purchases to a fair held daily in Rosemary-lane, commonly called Rag-fair, adjoining Tower hill, where they barter or sell to other dealers who keep shops, and with alterations and repairs sell again to the public. A busier scene cannot be imagined than Rosemary-lane presents in the fair hours. The broad street and the avenues to it are crowded with buyers and sellers of both sexes, so as to be nearly impassable. A commodious Exchange is built adjoining Rosemary-lane, for the dealers in Old Clothes; and many attempts have been made by the civil power to compel them to take possession of it; but nothing less than military force constantly exercised would prevail over the obstinacy of habit: they constantly abandon the Exchange, and return to their ancient privilege of holding their busy market in the street, to the great annoyance of those whom business compels to pass that way between the hours of twelve and three. --- Fitzroy Square. This elegant and beautiful square, situated west of Tottenham-court road, has only the south and east sides completed; the ground intended for the remaining part lies waste. The houses have stone fronts, and are built as a centre and wings, each side of the square representing an uniform building. The enclosure of Fitzroy-square is circular; a dwarf hedge lines the railing, and is succeeded by a broad gravel walk and circular shrubbery, intersected by gravel walks, and sloping downwards to another broad circular gravel walk surrounding a grass plat, which forms the centre. |
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POOR SWEEP. IN all the public streets and thoroughfares of the metropolis boys and women employ themselves in dirty weather in sweeping crossings, from one side to the other, at convenient distances. The foot passenger is constantly importuned, and frequently rewards the Poor Sweep with a halfpenny, which indeed he sometimes well deserves; for in the winter after a heavy fall of snow, if a thaw should come before the scavengers have had time to remove it, many of the streets cannot be crossed without being up to the middle of the leg in dirt. Many of these Sweepers who choose their station with judgment, reap a plentiful harvest from their labours. --- Blackfriars Bridge crosses the river from Bridge-street to Surry-street. From the latter end the annexed view is taken. The width and loftiness of the arches, and the whole light construction of this bridge, is uncommonly pleasing to the eye. St. Paul's cathedral, never distinctly seen as a whole, displays much of the grandeur of its extensive outline when viewed from Blackfriars-bridge. The Temple gardens, the terrace of Somerset-house, and Westminster-bridge, give beauty to the prospect on the other side. At each end of the bridge watermen ply with their boats. A broad flight of steps with an iron balustrade conducts to the boats, which are neatly painted, and kept perfectly clean. The number of the boat and the waterman's name are always painted in some conspicuous part, in default of which the waterman is liable to a heavy penalty. This regulation prevents, or is intended to prevent, impositions and misbehaviour. |
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RABBITS. THE crier of Rabbits in the Plate is a portrait well known by persons who frequent the streets at the west end of the town. Wild and tame rabbits are sold from nine pence to eighteen pence each, which is cheaper than they can be bought in the poulterers' shops. --- Portland Place is a spacious and elegant street to the north of Marybone. At the south end is Foley-house, the property of Lord Foley, but now let to Mr. Thellusson, a city merchant. From the opening at the upper end of Portland-place is a fine view of Harrow and the Hampstead and Highgate hills; and this opening makes Portland-place one of the most airy situations in town, at the same time that it is one of the finest streets in London, the houses being of perfect uniformity both in height and ornament, and no shops or meaner buildings interrupting the regularity of the design. |
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RHUBARB. THE Turk, whose portrait is accurately given in the Plate, has sold Rhubarb in the streets of the metropolis during many years. He constantly appears in his turban, trowsers, and mustachios, and deals in no other article. As his drug has been found to be of the most genuine quality, the sale affords him a comfortable livelihood. --- Russel Square, on the north side of Bloomsbury, is built on the site where Bedford house and its gardens lately stood. This new square is one of the largest in London. Broad streets intersect it at the corners, and in the middle, which add to its beauty, and remove the general objection to squares by ventilating the air. The square is uniform in its outline, with the exception of Baltimore-house, on the east side, at the corner of Guilford-street, whence the annexed view of the square is taken. The centre houses on the north side are ornamented with pilasters of stone, and the ground floors of both south and west sides are stuccoed, having balconies all round. The extensive enclosure is a square with rounded corners. Next the railing is a dwarf hedge. A grass border and broad gravel walk succeed, which surround a square lawn patched with oval shrubberies, and intersected with gravel walks. In the centre is a large circular plantation bordered by a gravel walk. Adjoining Russel-square to the north, and now building, is Tavistock-square, the east side of which is finished. The houses are of brick with stuccoed ground floors, the wings pilastered, and the whole of uniform design, having balconies and a neat stuccoed cornice. The enclosure, an oblong square with the corners rounded off, is agreeably laid out. In Tavistock-place, on the east side of the square, is a new Gothic chapel. This beautiful specimen of Gothic architecture deserves particular notice from the curious stranger. An elegant building also in Great Coram-street, west of the square, is worthy attention: the centre, having a handsome portico with four pillars, is an assembly room; one wing is appropriated to billiard rooms, and the other contains hot and cold baths. These baths are fitted up in a very neat and commodious manner. |
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SAND O! SAND is an article of general use in London, principally for cleaning kitchen Utensils. Its greatest consumption is in the outskirts and suburbs of the metropolis, where the cleanly housewife strews sand plentifully over her floor, to guard her newly scoured boards from dirty footsteps, a carpet of small expense and easy to be renewed. Sand is sold by measure; red sand twopence halfpenny, and the white five farthings per peck. --- St. Giles's Church, called St. Giles's in the Fields, stands at the west end of Broad St. Giles's. It is a very handsome structure. Over the gate, entering the church-yard, is fixed a curious basso-relievo in brass, representing the Last Judgment, and containing a very great number of figures. It was set up about the year 1686. |
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A SHOWMAN. THIS amusing personage generally draws a crowd around him in whatever street he fixes his moveable pantomime, as the unemployed persons or children who cannot afford the penny or halfpenny insight into the show-box are yet greatly entertained with his descriptive harangues, and the perpetual climbing of the squirrels in the round wire cage above the box, by whose incessant motion the row of bells on the top are constantly rung. The show consists of a series of coloured pictures, which the spectator views through a magnifying glass, while the exhibitor rehearses the story, and shifts the scenes by the aid of strings. These Showmen carry their box on their backs, and frequently travel into the country. --- Hyde-park Corner. Two very handsome houses that stand at Hyde-park Corner form the other subject of this Plate. This entrance to London is worthy of the grandeur and extent of the metropolis. On one side of the spacious street of Piccadilly arc lofty and elegant houses; and on the other, through an open railing, is a fine view of the Green-park, St. James's park, and Westminster-abbey. |
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SLIPPERS. THE Turk in the annexed Plate is a portrait. Habited in the costume of his nation, he has sold Morocco Slippers in the Strand, Cheapside, and Cornhill (during the hours of Exchange), a great number of years. To these principal streets he generally confines his walks. There are other sellers of Slippers, particularly about the Royal Exchange, who are Jews, and are very importunate for custom, while the venerable Turk uses no solicitation beyond showing his Slippers. They are sold at one shilling and sixpence and two shillings per pair, and are of all colours and all sizes. --- Somerset House, on the south side of the Strand, is an extensive and noble structure, built by Government principally for the concentration of the offices of public business. The Plate shews the west side of the entrance, which contains a centre gate for carriages, and two foot ways, through an arched portico. The window on the right hand of the Plate is one of that suite of apartments which belongs to the Royal Academy. A visit to the various departments of Somerset-house will amply repay the trouble of the stranger. |
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SOOT O! THE occupation of sweeping Chimneys begins with the break of day. A master Chimney-sweeper patroles the street for custom, attended by two or three boys, the taller ones carrying the bag of soot, and directing the little diminutive creature who, stript perfectly naked, ascends and sweeps the Chimney. The common price is six pence per Chimney; but for those of large kitchens, where much scraping is required, they usually demand a shilling. The greatest profit arises from the sale of the soot, which is used for manure. Formerly it was the custom to cry "Sweep for the Soot O!" the sale of the soot then being the only compensation of the sweeper. The hard condition of Chimney sweeping devolves upon the smallest and feeblest of the children apprenticed from parish workhouses. The employment in itself stints their growth, and it is unhappily too much the interest of the master so to feed his apprentices as they shall not be liable to outgrow their occupation. It is very common to see Chimney-sweepers of twelve and fourteen years of age who do not exceed the ordinary stature of boys of seven and eight. Many hardships to which these defenceless beings were subjected, have been alleviated by the exertions of the celebrated and benevolent Mr. Jonas Hanway, who obtained an act of parliament, enacting that every Chimney-sweeper's apprentice shall wear a brass plate in front of his cap, with the name and abode of his master engraved on it, thus enabling any humane person to take immediate cognizance of their treatment. Happily, however, for the cause of humanity, a society has been lately established to alleviate the misery of these unfortunate beings, by the adoption of a mode of sweeping Chimnies by a machine, which, upon the examination of several intelligent persons, has been highly approved. --- Foundling Hospital, a handsome, plain, and commodious building in Guilford-street, to the north of Holborn, has a centre and wings, and stands at the upper end of a large piece of ground, in which the children of the foundation are allowed to play in fine weather. The whole is enclosed by a wall with gates. At the western gate is a neat porter's lodge. Divine service is performed in the chapel of the Foundling-hospital twice every Sunday, at eleven in the morning and seven in the evening, and is constantly attended by a crowded and elegant audience. Several of Hogarth's pictures, presented by himself, are in the Foundling-hospital, and claim the attention of strangers, particularly his celebrated March of the Guards to Finchley. The apartments of the Hospital may be seen Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. For particulars of this admirable institution see page 204. |
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STRAWBERRIES, BROUGHT fresh gathered to the markets in the height of their season, both morning and afternoon, are sold in pottles, containing something less than a quart each. The crier adds one penny to the price of the Strawberries for the pottle, which, if returned by her customer, she abates, or will take it again at the same price on another occasion. Great numbers both of men and women are employed in crying Strawberries during their season, which is June, through the streets in suburbs of London. Their profit is from threepence to fourpence in the shilling. Strawberries are frequently to be bought in London at sixpence per pottle. --- Covent-garden Market occupies a large square on the estate of the Duke of Bedford, lying between the Strand and Long-acre. This market is entirely appropriated to fruit and vegetables. On the south side is a range of shops, which contain the choicest fruit and vegetables. The most expensive productions of the hot-house are also to be purchased in these shops. An alley is left for foot passengers between the fruiterers' shops and a row of stands, on which are displayed greenhouse plants, and all kinds of flowering shrubs. The effect is very beautiful. The centre of the market, as shewn in the Plate, although less pleasing to the eye, is more inviting to the general class of buyers. It is crowded with stands, where excellent fruit and vegetables are sold at moderate prices. The wholesale buyers attend early in the morning, and purchase of the gardeners, who supply this market with fresh vegetables Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. On the west of the square which surrounds the market, stands the church of St. Paul's Covent- garden. It was built by Inigo Jones, who, being unfortunately cramped in his design by a limitation of expense, contrived only to make it the finest barn in England. By the happy manner of placing it, however, some effect is produced, in spite of the injudicious simplicity of the fabric. It was nearly destroyed by fire some years ago, but has been since repaired upon the same plan. The piazza extends along the north and part of the east sides of the square. The Theatre, and the Bedford Arms tavern, with several others, are under the piazza. The Hummums, justly celebrated for their convenient and elegant lodgings for gentlemen, are on the east side of the square. |
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WATER CRESSES. WATER Cresses are sold in small bunches, one penny each, or three bunches for twopence. The crier of Water Cresses frequently travels seven or eight miles before the hour of breakfast to gather them fresh; but there is generally a pretty good supply of them in Covent-garden market, brought, along with other vegetables, from the gardens adjacent to the metropolis, where they are planted and cultivated like other garden-stuff. They are, however, from this circumstance, very inferior from those that grow in the natural state in a running brook, wanting that pungency of taste which makes them very wholesome; and a weed very dissimilar in quality is often imposed upon an unsuspecting purchaser. --- Hanover Square, also represented in this Plate, is on the south side of Oxford-street. Here is a circular enclosure in the middle, with a plain grass-plat. The noble house seen in the Plate is the residence of Lord Harewood. In George-street, which leads into this square, is the curious and extensive anatomical museum of Mr. Heaviside the surgeon; to the inspection of which respectable persons are admitted, on application to Mr. Heaviside, once a week, from the first Friday in January to the second in May. In this square is a very extensive building, containing an elegant suite of apartments, appropriated principally for Subscription Concerts. In these the King's Concert of Ancient Music is now held; previous to which, Miss Linwood's matchless performances in needle work were exhibited there. These rooms were built by Sir John Gallini, formerly one of the managers of the Opera, to whom they now belong. |
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Drawing from Life at the Royal Academy, Somerset House |
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Exhibition Room, Somerset House |
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Board Room of the Admiralty |
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Astley's Amphitheatre |
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Dining Hall, Asylum |
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Christie's Auction Room |
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The Great Hall, Bank of England |
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Bartholomew Fair |
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Billingsgate Market |
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The Hall, Blue Coat School (Christ's Hospital) |
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Bow Street Office |
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Pass-Room, Bridewell |
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British Institution, [52] Pall Mall |
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The Hall and Stair Case, British Museum |
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The Hall, Carlton House |
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The Roman Catholic Chapel, [54] Lincoln's Inn Fields |
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The Coal Exchange |
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Royal Cock Pit |
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Water Engine, Cold-Bath-Fields Prison |
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The College of Physicians |
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House of Commons |
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Court of Chancery, Lincoln's Inn Hall |
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Court of Common Pleas, Westminster Hall |
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Court of King's Bench, Westminster Hall |
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Court of Exchequer, Westminster Hall |
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Covent Garden Market, Westminster Election |
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Covent Garden Theatre |
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The Long Room, Custom House |
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Custom House, from the River Thames |
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Debating Society, [22] Piccadilly |
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Doctors' Commons |
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Drury Lane Theatre |
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Corn Exchange |
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Exhibition of Water Colour Drawings, Old Bond Street |
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Fire in London |
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Fleet Prison |
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Foundling Hospital, The Chapel |
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Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street |
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Great Subscription Room at Brooks's, St James's Street |
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Guildhall |
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Guildhall, Examination of a Bankrupt before his Creditors |
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Common Council Chamber, Guildhall |
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Herald's College, The Hall |
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Hospital, Middlesex |
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India House, The Sale Room |
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King's Bench Prison |
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King's Mews, Charing Cross |
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Lambeth Palace |
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Lloyd's Subscription Rooms |
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Leaden Hall Market |
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Egyptian Hall, Mansion House |
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House of Lords |
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Lottery Drawing, Coopers' Hall |
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Magdalen Chapel [part of the Magdalen Hospital] |
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The Mint |
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Mounting Guard, St James's Park |
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Newgate Chapel [at Newgate Prison] |
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Old Bailey |
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Opera House |
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Pantheon Masquerade |
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Philanthropic Society, The Chapel |
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Pillory, Charing Cross |
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The Post Office |
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Quakers Meeting [Note: The precise location depicted is not given in the Microcosm, which details meeting houses 'in Bishopsgate-street, Gracechurch-street, St. Martin's-lane, St. John-street, Southwark, and Ratcliffe'. The marker here is placed in White Hart Court, off Gracechurch Street, the site of the oldest meeting house in London.] |
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Queen's Palace, St James's Park |
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Royal Circus |
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Royal Exchange |
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Royal Institution, Albermarle Street |
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Sadler's Wells Theatre |
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Session House, Clerkenwell |
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Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, Adelphi |
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Society of Agriculture, [32 Sackville Street] |
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Somerset House, Strand |
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Stamp Office, Somerset House |
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New Stock Exchange |
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Drawing Room, St James's |
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St Luke's Hospital |
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St Margaret's, Westminster |
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St Martin-in-the-Fields |
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St Paul's Cathedral |
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Surrey Institution |
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Synagogue, Duke's Place, Houndsditch |
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Tattersall's Horse Repository |
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Temple Church |
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View of the Tower |
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Horse Armoury, Tower |
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Board of Trade |
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Trinity House |
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Vauxhall Gardens |
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St Stephen's, Walbrook |
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Watch House, St Mary Le Bone |
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West India Docks [Note: Built after the completion of Horwood's Plan.] |
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Westminster Abbey |
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Westminster Hall |
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Whitehall |
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Workhouse, St James's Parish [Poland Street] |
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Greenwich Hospital, The Painted Hall |
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