Palace and hovel

Front matter

ONE MOKE UNFORTUNATE. (I'lii;*' 469.)

GUANU STAIRt'ASK, I5UCKING11AM PALACE.

V

Preface

In offering this volume to the Public, the result of a year's experience and labor, I must indeed feel gratified, and more than rewarded, if any of those ■who may peruse its pages shall find in them a tithe of the pleasure which I enjoyed in journeying in and about the nooks, crannies, and curious places, of what may be justly called the greatest and most populous City of the Modern World.

Believing that a Metropolis of Three and a Half Millions of people should be observed and described, if observed and described at all, in a large and comprehensive sense, in order that a thorough knowledge of it may be obtained by those who will do me the honor of turning the leaves of this book, I have not hesitated to take my readers into places which they might shrink from visiting alone, and which are rarely or ever seen by the stranger, in London. Therefore have I sketched its Haunts of Vice, Misery, and Crime, as well as its fairer and brighter aspects, with no faltering in my purpose, so that the American people might see London as I saw it, and as it exists To- Day.

The material employed in making the book was gathered from personal observation, while acting as a Special Correspondent of the New York World, in London, and I cannot do less than make an acknowledgment of the kindness of its Editor, Mr. Manton Marble, by whose permission I have used some portions of the matter embodied in this work.

DANIEL JOSEPH KIRWAN.

Hartford, August 1st, 1870.

One More Unfobtu>'ate Frontispiece —

Gkand Staircase, Buckingham Palace — Illuminated Title-Page

The London Stone, 19

"Thank you. Sib," 20

The Rock and Chain, Tail Piece 23

Sword, &c.. Tail Piece, 27

Entrance to Docks, 32

" I DoNT Think it Will Hurt me," 34

Forest, Initial Letter, 42

Buckingham Palace (Full Page,) 45

Portrait of Queen Victoria, 50

John Brown Exercising the Queen, 53

Fancy Sketch, Tail Piece, 56

Lion on Guard, Initial Letter, 57

PuRir Bill Showing us in, 61

" Wont you T.ike Scmethino?" 63

Snake Swallowing, 67

" Bilking Bet takes the Chair," 72

' Teddy the Kinchin's Song," 74

Explosive M.atehials, Tail Piece, 75

CoGERs' Hall, Debating Club, 85

Snake in the Grass, Tail Piece, 91

Conservative Club House 99

Carlton Club House, 101

Oxford and Cambridge Club House, 102

United Service Club House, 104

Architectural Sketch, Tail Piece, 106

Westminster Abbey, 109

Shakespeare's Tomb, 115

Tomb of Milton, 117

ToMD OF Mary Queen of Scots, 118

Coronation Chair, 121

Gauntleted Hand and Sword, Tail Piece, 127

Victoria Theatre in the New Cut (Full Page,) 186

KagFair 142

Vi ILLUSTRATIONS.

43. A Cell Wwbow, Initial Letter, 145

44. Tae Last Execuiio.n at Newgate, 151

45. Fetters and Ciiai.v, Tail Piece, 15S

46. Broken Wheel, Initial Letter, 159

48. Eagle and Snakb, Tail Piece 166

60. A Bohemian Carouse, 171

61 A Water Scene, Tail Piece 180

52. Tower op London (Full Page,) _.. 182

54. Traitors' G.\te, 189

55. The Crow.v J ewei^, 197

56. Imperial Orb, A.mpclla and other Jewels 199

57. The St.\te Salt-Cellars, 200

58. Cannon, Tail Piece, 206

60. The Cadgers' JIeal, 210

61. Raft Timber, Tail Piece, 215

62. The Old Oak, Initial Letter, 216

63. Bathing in Htde Park 219

64. The L.^byrinth, 221

65. The Crystal Palace 223

66. iHi: Promen.U)e, Tail Piece 225

67. Fort and W.wer Scene, Initial Letter, 226

68. Portrait of the Prince op Wales, 230

69. Prince and Cabman, 234

70. Broken Wagon a.nd Dead Horse, Tail Piece, 239

71. Blood-Hounds in the Leash, Initial Letter, 240

72. Portrait of Lady Mordaunt, 243

73. Portrait of the Duke of ILwiaTON 262

74. Portrait op the Marquis of Waterford, 265

75. Portrait of the Marquis of Hastings, 267

76. Mounted Cannon, Initial Letter, 270

77. Houses of Parliament (Full Page,) 272

78. Portrait of William Ewart Gladstone, 274

79. The Legislative Bar-Maid, ?T. 279

80. Portrait of John Bright, 281

81. The Student, Tail Piece, 284

83. " Could tod .Make it a Tanner?" 290

84. The Speaker of the House 292

85. First Lord op the Admiralty, 298

86. Portrait of Robert E. Lowe, 300

87. Ol.\dstone Speaking in the House of Commons (Full Page,) 307

88 Landscape, Tail Piece, 317

90. The Pocket-Book Game, 324

91. Steam Frig.^te, Tail Piece 329

92. A Broadside, Initial Letter, 330

93. The Sewer Hunter, 334

94. Blood-Hound, Tail Piece, 336

95. IsuND, Initial Letter, 337

96. Oats Receiving Rations, 339

9". The Great Porter Tun 341

98. Initial Lctter, 344

99. The Harvard Crew (Full Page,) 853

ILLUSTRATIONS. VU

100. Bridge, Tail Piece 361

102. The Oxford Crew, (Full Page,) 369

103. The University Race, (Full Page,) 375

104. Beautiful Cr.4.ft, Tail Piece, 381

106. Hospital Ship " DREADSOUonT," 384

107. Jonathan Wild's Skeleton, 389

110. Coke Peddler, 399

111. Bum Boatman, 401

112. "I Gets it for Cigab Stumps,"' 403

113. Street Acrobats, 405

116. Nelson's Monument, 416

117. Damaged Tree, Tail Piece, 419

119. Nursery in the Foundling Hospital 421

120. Washing the Waifs, • 427

121. Landscape, Tail Piece, 434

123. Breakfast Stall, Covent Garden Market (Full Page,} 143

124. The Orange Market, 450

125. Going to Market, Tail Piece, 451

126. Fancy Piece, Initial Letter, 452

127. Wild and Desolate, Tail Piece, 4G0

129. Foreign Cafe in Coventry Street,., 462

130. Canteen of the Alhambra, 471

131. The Old Sinner, 473

132. Rough AND Ready, Tail Piece, 475

133. In the Haymarket, ^ 482

135. St. Paul's Cathedral, 487

136. Sharp-Shooter, Initial Letter, 493

137. "Beautiful Miss Neilson,". 494

138. A Gin Public in the New Cut 500

139. A Gallery of the "Vic," 502

140. Putting on Airs, Tail Piece, 507

142. An Auction at Billingsgate Fish Market, (Full Page,) 511

144. Lincoln's Inn, 520

145. Fancy Sketch, Tail Piece, 525

146. An English Oak, Initial Letter, 526

147. Bankers' Eating-House, 528

148. The Bank of England, 533

149. " I Began to Perspire," 538

151. London Bridge, (Full Page,) 546

152. Forest Scene, Initial Letter, 547

153. Temple Bar, Fleet Street, 550

154. The New BLAgKFRiARS Bridge, 553

155. Bridge and Water Scene, Tail Piece 555

156. iNiTLiL Letter, 556

Viii ILLUSTKATIONS.

157. Windsor Castle, 560

161). I.MTIAL LETTEa, 666

160. Loading tub Prison Van, 570

161. Detective Irvixo, 572

163. BiiiLE AND Hand, Initial Letter, 676

Ifrl. Portrait of Spuroeon 577

165. Portrait OF Fatqer Ignatius 578

166. " Lothair" (Marqdis or Blte,) 583

167. Ruins, Tail Piece i 5S6

169. " Scott's ' in toe IIatmabeet, .'. 588

170. The Midnight Mission, (Full Page,) 592

171. " Skittles " and the Princess Mary, 595

172. A Row in Cremobsf., 696

173. Sword AND Purse, Initial Letter, C 598

174. Portrait op " Madel Gret," 602

176. Portrait of " Anontma," 605

176. Portrait or " Baby Hamilton," 606

177. Mabel Grev at Home, 609

178. Portrait of " Alice Gordon," 613

179. Snake and Dote, Initial Letter, 614

180. A Meal at a Cheap Lodging Housb, (Full Page,) 617

181. "Damnable Jack," 619

182. Statue of George Peabodt, 625

185. Old "Smudge,'' the Cabbt, 627

186. "A Hansom Cab " 628

187. " One Hundred Rats in Nine Mintjtes," , 630

188. The Rat-Oatciier, 632

189. " Paddvs Goose," 633

190. Waiting FOR the Tide 634

191. Ruins, Tail Piece, 635

192. " TuE Times ' Office, 650

193. The Suu-Editors' Room, "Daily Telegraph" Office 661

194t. Portrait op James Anthony Froude, 639

195. Portrait of Algernon Charles Swinburne, 641

196. Portrait of John Stewart Mill 643

197. Portrait of Benjamin Disraeli, 644

198. Portrait of John Ruskin, 637

199. Portrait of Charles Kingsley, 645

200. Portrait of Anthony Trollope, 647

203. Half-Penw Soup House, (Full Page,) 653

204. A Pawn-Broker's Shop C56

205. A Third Class Railway Carriage 659

207. Map of London, —

Chapter I. The Mistress Of The World

View from the Cupola of St. Paul's Cathedral — Population of London — Its Wealth and Poverty — Interesting Statistics, - - - 18

Chapter II. The Silext Highway

The Thames Embankment — The Tunnel — The Sub-way — Tunnel Thieves — Pneumatic Railway, ------ 24

CHAPTER m.

THE DOCKS, SHIPPING, AND COMMERCE.

Custom-House Duties — Immense "Wine Vaults under the Docks — Hoisting and Discharging Cargoes — London and West India Docks — Opposition to the New Dock System — Dock Laborers, - - - 28

Chapter IV. Palaces Of Loxdox

St. James — Whitehall — Buckingham Palace — Magnificence of the Queen's Residence — The Grand Staircase — Queen's Library — The Famous John Brown, -------- A2

Chapter V. Hidden Depths

Underground Life — A Friendly Visit among Thieves and Pick-Pockets — The Midnight Feast, 58

Chapter VI. Debating Clubs And Cogers' Hall

Society of Cogers — Tlie Most Worthy Grand — News of the Week — Interesting Debates — Irish Orator and Scotch Presbyterian — Liberals and Conservatives — "A^Tiere are we now?" — Farce and Tragedy, - 76

X CONTENTS.

CHAPTER Vn.

CLUBS AND CLUB HOUSES.

Aristocratic Members — Entrance and Subscription Fees — How Managed and Supported — Architectural Splendor — Choice AVines and Luxurious Dinners — Interesting Statistics — A ;ModeI Kitchen — Heavy Swell Club, 92

CHAPTER Vm.

WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

Its Dimensions and Architectural Construction — Its Wealth and Immense Revenues — The Burial-Place of the Kings and Queens — Magnificence of their Tombs — Tomb of Shakespeare — Tomb of Milton — Tomb of Mary Queen of Scots — Coronation of William the Conqueror — The Massacre, ..---..- 107

CHAPTER IX.

THE COSTERMONGERS AND RAG FAIR.

The New Cut — Heathenism of the Costers — Marriage Relation — Old Clothes District — Petticoat Lane — Congress of Rags — Modus Operandi of Selling, -------- 128

CHAPTER X.

FROM NEWGATE TO TYBURN.

Dying for an Idea — Execution of Barrett — !Man in the Mask — Famous Criminals — Pestiferous Prison — The Old Bailey Court — Hotel Regulations — Drinking from St. Giles' Bowl, _ _ - 145

CHAPTER XL

doctors' commons.

Man-iage Licenses — Divorces — Ecclesiastical Court — High Court of Admiralty — Paying the Piper — Legal Scoundrelism — The Last Will and Testamentsof Shakespeare, Milton, and of Napoleon Bonaparte — The Forgotten Sailor, - - - - - - - 159

CHAPTER XH.

' ■ THE BOHEMIANS OF LONDON.

Carlisle Arms — A Pint of Cooper — Cockerell's Lodgings — Fitz and Dawson, or the Radical and Conservative Reporter — Tlie Short Hand Rejiorter — Dawson's Story — A Song from the Speaker — Beautiful Potato, 167

CONTENTS. XI

CHAPTER Xin.

TOWER, PALACE, AND PRISON.

Its History and Dimensions — Council Chamber — Jolly Bishops and Royal Prisoners — The Traitor's Gate — Anne Boleyn — Princess EUzabeth — Heroism of Lady Jane Grey upon the Scaffold — The Crown Jewels — What can be seen for a Sixpence, ----- 183

CHAPTER XIV.

CADGERS OF LONDON BRIDGE.

Under the Arches — Vagrancy and Pauperism — The Family Gathering — The Cadger's Meal— A Confirmed Vagrant— The Girl Molly— The Hopeful Son — The Cadger's Story, - - - 207

CHAPTER XV.

THE LUNGS OF LONDON.

Regent's and Hyde Parks — Dimensions of the Public Parks and Gardens — What they Contain — Bathing in Hyde Park — Richmond Park with its Forests and Hunting Grounds — Hampton Court Park — Its Lab}Tinth — The Crystal Palace — Veteran Musicians — Greenwich Park — Grand Observatory, - - - - - - - 216

CHAPTER XVI.

THE RAKES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY.

Vagabonds in Kingly Robes — Prince of Wales and his Personal Friends — The Prince and the London Brewer as Firemen — Lord Carington as a Coachman — His Cowardly Assault upon Greenville Murray — The Prince and Cabman — Infamy of the Prince — A Mad King, - - 226

CHAPTER XVH.

FAST YOUNG ENGLAND.

Lord Carington — Lady Mordaunt, Divorce Proceedings, and Interesting Testimony — Love Letters of the Prince — Duke of Hamilton — The Fastest Young Man in England — The IMarquis of Waterford — Marquis of Hastings — Duke of Newcastle — Earl of Jersey — Lord Clinton and others, 240

CHAPTER XVin.

LORDS AND COMMONS.

Westminster Palace and Houses of Parliament — Interior of the House of Commons — Bobbies and Cabbies — Strangers' Gallery — The Legislative Bar-Maid — William Ewart Gladstone — England's Greatest Commoner John Bright, ------- 272

Xli CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIX.

LORDS AND COMMONS CONTINUED.

Reporters' Gallery — Dr. Johnson taking Notes — Tlie Speaker and his "Wig — Important Personages — First Lord of the Admiralty — Peers in the Gallery — Gladstone's Early Life — The Eloquence of the Premier — The Sarcasm of Disraeli — Ducal Houses — Upper House of Parliament — Privileges of the Peers, ----- 285

CHAPTER XX.

LONDON POLICE AND DETECTIVES.

The Old Jewry — Central Detective's Office — Relics of Crimes — Inspector Bailey — Experience of Mr. Funnell — Tlie Pocket-Book Game — New York a Precious bad Place — Police Districts — Expenses Attending them —River Thieves, .--..- 318

CHAPTER XXL

HUNTING THE SEWERS.

The City Honey-Combed — 2,000 Miles of Sewerage — An Unlawful and Dangerous Business — Prizes Found — The Hunter's Story — Great Battle with the Rats — "Victory at last, - - - - 330

CHAPTER XXIL

BACCHUS AND BEER.

The English a Great Beer-Drinking People — Amount of Exports — Barclay and Perkins — A Princely Firm — Cats on Guard — The House of Hanbury, Buxton & Co. — Great Porter Tun — Libraries in the Establishments — Quantities of Beer used in London, - . . 333

CHAPTER XXHL

HARVARD AGAINST OXFORD.

Police Arrangements — Thomas Hughes, ^I. P. — Dark Blue and Magenta — On the Tow-Path — A Frightful Jam — Booths and Shows — Badges and Rosettes — The Dear Old Flag, . - _ . 344

CHAPTER XXIV.

STRUGGLE AND VICTORY.

On Board the Press Boat — Tlie Harvard Crew — Loring's Condition — Simmons the Pride of the Crew — Tlie Oxford Crew — " Little Corpus," the Coxswain — Tlie Start — Harvard Leads — Burnham's bad Steering — Oxford's Vengeance Stroke — Tlie I.,ast Desperate Struggle — Beaten l)y Six Seconds — Fair Play and Courtesy, - - - 3G2

CONTENTS. Xiii

CHAPTER XXV.

CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.

"Domesday Book" — Oldest Books in England — Hospital Ship "Dreadnought " — A Gaudy Show — The Queen's Stage-Coach — Jonathan AVild's Skeleton — The Lord Mayor's State Coach — Installation of a London Sheriff, 382

CHAPTER XX"Va

STREET SIGHTS OF LONDON.

Street Hawkers — Venders of Old Boots and Shoes — The Dog Fancier — Bird Sellers — Coke Peddlers — Bum Boatman — Stock in Trade — How Dick gets his Porridge — "I Gets it for Cigar-Stumps" — Street Acrobats — Punch and Judy Show, - - - - - 391

CHAPTER XXVn.

THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND NATIONAL GALLERY.

Its Origin — Laying the Foundation — Reading Room — Departments of the Museum — The Galleries and Saloons — The Three Libraries — What can be seen — Nelson's Monument — Pictures and Works of Art in tlie National Gallery — The Great Masters — Free to the Working People, 410

CHAPTER XXVHI.

NAKED AND NEEDY.

Infanticide — The Benevolent Captain — Foundling Hospital — Admission of Children — Great Numbers Received — How they Dine — How they Sleep — Washing the Waifs — Charitable Institutions — An Interesting Sight — Innumerable Bequests, _ _ . - _ 42O

CHAPTER XXIX.

MARKETS AND FOOD.

Amount of Food Sold — Inspections — Metropolitan Cattle Market — New Smithfield Market — Covent Garden ]\Lirket — Hot Coffee Girl — Vegetable Market — The Baked Potatoe Man — The Jews' Orange Market, 435

CHAPTER XXX.

SECRETS OF A RIVER.

Waterloo Bridge — The Pale-Faced Girl — Tliree O'clock in the Morning — Weary of Life — A Leap from the Parapet — Fruitless Attempt to Save — A Sad Sight^Tlie Wages of Sin is Death, - - - 452 xiv CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXXI.

IXTO THE JAWS OF DEATH.

Leicester Square — Foreign Cafe in Coventry Street — The Abode of Sir Joshua Reynolds— The Residence of William Hogarth— Royal Alhambra Palace— The Great Social Evil—" Wottcn Wow "—In the Canteen— Tlie Old Sinner— The Tulip and the Daisy, - - 461

CHAPTER XXXn.

THE "ARGYLE," " BARNES'" AND «' CASINO."

The Haymarket by Night — The Argyle Rooms — Fast Young Men — Paint and Jewelry — Silks and Satins — Free and Easy — Barnes' — "Holborn Casino" — A Magnificent Saloon — Good Night, - - 476

CHAPTER XXXIH.

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.

Its History and Dimensions — Destruction of Old St. Paul's — Annual Revenues — Prices of Admission — Monuments to Nelson — Burial-Place of Wellington — Nelson's Funeral — A Grand Sight — "I am the Resurrection and the Life," ------- 486

CHAPTER XXXrV.

GOING TO THE PLAY.

Beautiful Miss Neilson — The Lord Chamberlain a Censor — Royal Victoria Theatre — Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres — A " Gin Public " in the New Cut— The Gallery of the "Vic"— The Chorus of "Immen-

CHAPTER XXXV.

BILLINGSGATE FISH MARKET.

Profit on Fish — Oyster Boats — Number of Fishing Vessels — The Fish Woman — Tlie Old Style of Dress — Breakfast at Billingsgate — Capital Invested — Immense Sales, ----- 508

CHAPTER XXXVI.

THE INNS OF COURT.

Number of Students — Gray's Inn — Tlie New Hall of Lincoln's Inn — Parliament Chamber — How to become a Lawyer — Procuring Admission — '• Hall Dinners " — Cup of " Sack " — The Toast — Irish Students, 5J9

Chapter I. The Mistress Of The World

N the civilized world perhaps such another sight cannot be witnessed, as that which greets the eye from the great Cupola of St. Paul's, when the view is taken on a bright summer morning, after daybreak has settled on the leads and huge gilded cross of this, the most mighty of English Cathedrals.

I saw this vast expanse of brick, stone, and mortar, one delicious, but hazy September morning, from the outer circle of the dome, and I shall never forget that peopled metropolis which lay swarming below me like a vast human hive.

For a radius of ten miles, the roofs and spires of countless religious edifices, dwelling-houses, banks, the tall cones of storied monuments, the delicate tracery of a forest of slender masts, and the smoky chimneys of innumerable breweries, manufactories, and gas-houses, met my vision, which had already begun to weary long before any of the individual characteristics of the British metropolis had segregated themselves from the aggregate mass. 2

18 THK MI.STRESS OF THE WORLD.

Directly before me, and almost at my feet, lay the turbid Thames, winding in and out sinously under bridges, and heaving from the labor which the paddles of numerous steam craft impressed in its dirty yellow bosom. These small steamers were of a black and red, mixed, color, and it was only through a glass that I could discern where the two colors met and divided. Passing under the huge stone bridges, their smoke stacks seemed to break in two parts for an instant as they shot under an arch of the huge spans of London or Waterloo Bridges ; gracefully as a gentleman bows to his partner in a quadrille, and then the black funnels went back to their original erect but raking position with great deliberation.

I had secured an eyrie in the top of St. Paul's at an early hour with the aid of a greasy half crown, which I had slipped to an old toothless verger with his sih-er-tipped wand, and he readily gratified my wish to allow me egress from the Whispering gallery which encircles the interior dome of the Cathedral, to a point where, giddily, I might lean out and look all over the great city.

"It's as good as my place is worth, sir," said he, "to let you look out here. A man who was a little light headed from drinking tumbled from this window some years ago, and was broken to pieces on the cobble stones below."

The danger did not prevent me from looking long and greedily at the splendid coup d'oeil.

Far up the river to the left the queerly shaped toy turrets and massive ramparts and quadrangles of the Tower broke through the morning haze in shapely and artistic masses, and at the back of the green spot of grass which surmounts Tower Hill, the square, solid, and sul)fetantial looking Mint showed where Her Majesty's sworn servants were already at work employed in making counterfeit presentments of her features for circulation in trade and commerce. The Norman tower and flanking buttresses of St. Saviour's, Southwark, next came in range, fallowed liy the long oval glass roof of the Eastern Railway Terminus, facing Cannon street, where is erected London Stone, upon which Jack Cade sat in triumph

THE MISTRESS OP THE WORLD.

before the dirty, noisy, rabble, which had followed his fortunes ; and now I can see Guy's Hospital with its hundred windows, the Corinthian Royal Exchange in Cornhill, the massive Guildhall where many a bloated Britisher has fed on the fat of the land ; the Mansion House in which the Lord Mayor occasionally does petty offenders the honor of sentencing tliem to the Bridewell ; and now the view enlarges to the soutliward, and the eye takes in the fine Holborn Viaduct, lately honored by tlie Queen's presence ; Barclay and Perkin's massive caravanserai for the brewing of beer, and the gray stones of St. Sepulchre's where the passing bell is always tolled for the condemned Newgate prisoner just before execution. The square, gray blocks of this fortress of crime gloom in an unpitying way below me, and there now is the court yard of Christ's Hospital with the gowned and bare headed school lads at their morning game of foot ball, and their shouts peal upward, even up as high as the dome of St, Paul's, like the chimes of merry music.

The great piles of Somerset house and the Custom House frown down on the busy river, and the sound of the bell of St.

Clement Dane's in the Strand, striking six o'clock, mingles with the mighty thunder whirr of the incoming trai^ from Dover, which dashes like a demon over the Charing Cross bridg(j and into its station. Structure after structure rises on tlie retina, the Treasury Buildings and Horse Guards in Parliament street, Marlbrough House, the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, the University College, the Nelson and York IMonuments, the splendid club houses in Pall Mall and St. James ; Apsley House and Hyde Park with its lakes of silvery water, Westminster Abbey, the Clock and Victoria Towers surmounting the Parliament Houses which

THE LONDON STONE.

THE 3IISTRESS OF THE WORLD.

overhang the Thcames, Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbi.shop of Canterbury, Chief Dignitary of the English State Chnrcliand Milbank Penitentiary down in dusty Westminster, and by the way this prison with its eight towers looks like a cruet stand and its towers certainly represent the caster bottles. With its parterre of trees in the central square, the quadrangles of Chelsea Hospital, and the dome of the Palm House in Kensing-ton Garden next come under inspection, and finally I became weary in endeavoring to pierce the haze which the sun

had broken into annoying fragments, and failing to penet ra t e farther than \'auxliall bridge, I ■z ive up the task and draw in my head after a last look at the Catherine and West India docks, bewildered and confused by the very immensity of wealtli and population which is centered and aggregated below, under and in the shadow of St.

Paul's, the Mother Church of Great Britain.

Tlic verger says with a weak and wheezy voice : " Tliis is a worry great city, sir. They do say as how there's more nor three millions of hooman beings in this 'ere metropolis, and how they all gets a living is a blessed puzzle to me. I gets an occasional sixpence, and Americans seem to be more generous than any other visitors. Thank you, sir."

London is a wonderful city in many ways. The year 1866 brought the number of the inhabitants to the total of 3,186,000.

" THANK TOU, SIR."

THE MISTRESS OF THE WORLD. 21

This is a population larger than that of Pekin, and as large and a half as that of London's great rival, Paris. It has a greater number of edifices devoted to religious worship than the Eternal City, Rome. Its commerce exceeds that of New York, Glasgow, Cork, Havre, and Bremen in gross. It sends abroad missionaries of all known sects, to convert the heathen and blackamoor, and for them and their wives there is a larger amount of money collected in London than could by any possibility be subscribed in all the other great cities of the world combined for a like purpose. It numbers among its population more prostitutes and unfortunate females than Paris, there being according to a calculation made by a former bishop of Oxford, 30,000 of this wretched class, alone, who are strictly professionals.

London has work houses to accommodate 150,000 paupers under the parochial system, for which the residents or freeholders of every parish in the metropolitan district are taxed at an annual rate of fourteen pounds ten shillings per pauper, and yet men, women, and children die of starvation, weekly, in the slums of St. Giles, Saffron Hill, Bethnal Green, and Shore- Ditch.

For a penny the young thief or abandoned street girl can listen to hoarse fiddling, obscene jests, and the lowest of low slang songs at some penny " gaff " in Whitechapel, and on a benefit night at Covent Garden, or the Haymarket, the man who is known in society will have to pay twenty-five or thirty shillings or from six to ten dollars to hear the musical warblings of a Patti or a Nillson.

There are one hundred and three hospitals in London in which all the complaints, frailties, and misliaps of poor human nature are supposed to be provided for, and yet it will be much easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, or a rich man to get a free pass into paradise, tlian that a poor wretch without friends or influence should be able to find a bed in an hospital, unless he can succeed by a miracle in dodging the sentinels which red tape has placed at every entrance to these vamited institutions.

22. THE MISTRESS OF THE WORLD.

Dov.n in the quiet and aristocratic dwellings of Pimlico, you shall find such ladies as " Nelly Holmes," or " Skittles," and in St. Julin's Wood a" Mabel Gray," and in a delicious villa at Fulham, a " Formosa," spending in one night's Corinthian revelry the yearly salary of a bank clerk, or hazarding at a game of cards the life-time pittance of a sewing woman. And with these painted women shall be found night after night the curled darlings of the Pall Mall clubs, some of them mere youths who bear names as old as Magna Charta, and once as spotless pcrlwj^s as those of Sidney or Hampden.

At Klancliard's, in Regent street, you may dine for a pound upon the choicest variety of dishes, cooked by a French Chef, who would scorn a gift of the Order of the Garter were it given to him without the proper culinary brevet to accompany it ; and at a ham and beef shop in Oxford street you may fill yourself to repletion, taking as a basis a pork saveloy for a penny, a " penn'orth" of bread as a second layer, a mutton-pie for " tuppence," a tart for a penny, and a pint of porter for " tuppence," and then as a relish of a literary kind, you can look at the great evening paper of London, the Echo, written in the most scholarly English, without any fee. Or you can go down Camden Town way, or up into Tottenham Court Road and get a kidney pie for two pence, or an eel stew for twopence half penny, with a dry bun for a penny, and a good glass of Bass's ale for three half pence. And then you can go to Morlcy's or the Langham Hotel and pick your teeth and no one will Ijc the wiser.

For other amusements there is the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park, with the anmsing elephant, the comic kangaroo, the graceful hippopotamus, the sleepy alligator, a band of music, lots of very ])rctty English girls, a score of impudent waiters in the restaurant to give you cold dishes when you call for hot ones, and all these delights may be enjoyed on sixpenny days, and wlien you come out from the wild beasts, if you 1)0 thirsty it will only cost you a half-penny for a chair in the Regent's Park with its noble avenues of stately trees, and the little old woman at the little old house which juts off the gate

THE MISTRESS OP THE WORLD. 23

will hand you a bottle of cooling ginger beer, a popular Cockney drink, for one penny.

In the National Gallery, a magnificent structure which faces the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square, one of the finest collections of paintings in the world is hung. Here is the noble Turner Gallery, bought for the nation and free to all for copying or inspection. Here are Corregio's Angelos', Titians, the master pieces of Velasquez, Murillo, Paul Yeronese, the best things done by Etty, Landseer, Stanfield,Wilkie, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and nearly all of that glorious galaxy whose names have been painted too deeply in their grand canvasses ever to efface. All this is free to the public, poor and rich alike, but on Sunday, British piety bolts the lofty doors in their hapless faces.