Picturesque Europe, containing famous tours and scenes in the Old World ... together with the wonders of astronomy ...

Front matter

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Preface

THIS great work combines a vast amount of interesting and valuable information with fascinating descriptions of scenes in the Old World. To open it is to see at once its worth, and even a hasty glance will prove it is a work that should be found in every home.

It embraces all that is striking and novel in the various countries of Europe. The amazing Discoveries of our great travellers, with the exciting Explorations, daring deeds and perilous adventures by which their marvelous successes were won are here related and illustrated with attractive engravings.

Thousands cross the ocean yearly to view the remarkable sights of Great Britain and the Continent. This book places these before the reader in the most attractive form. He visits the far-famed Alps, the vast dominion of the Czar, the dykes and towns of quaint old Holland, all interesting localities in Eastern Europe, in sunny France, in beautiful Italy, in the German Fatherland, in Spain, Great Britain and Ireland.

The aim has been to furnish a description of the countries and the peojjles of Europe, which is free from dull statements and dry, technical terms, which is fascinating to old and young alike, and by the vivid portrayal of facts surpass in interest the creations of romance. This aim we

believe is fully realized.

Chester R. Stratton.

Contents

CHAPTER L

FASCINATING SCENES IN FRANCE.

Extent and Situation of the Country — Mountains and Lowlands — Former Haunts of Wolf, Boar and Deer — Fine Climate — What France Exports — Splendid Paris — River Seine and Bridges — Palaces in the Heart of the City — Magnificent Gardens — Heroes, Nymphs and Fauns — A Celebrity and his Nosegay — Favorite Resort of Napoleon HI — Celebrated Cathedral — "A Book in Stone" — Gigantic Proportions and Superb Symmetry — " Gamins " of Modern Paris — Songs in a Hidden Gallery — Rich Decorations — Women Elegantly Dressed — A Historic Edifice — Grand Sight — Scene of Coronation and Royal Marriage — Palace and Gardens of Versailles — Once a Magnificent Home of Royalty — Renowned Personages — Startling Scenes in Earlier Days — Ancient Churches — Palace of Fontainebleau — Place Wliere the Great -Napoleon Signed his Abdication 17

Chapter I. Fascinating Scenes In France

Extent and Situation of tlie Country — Mountains and Lowlands — Former Haunts oi Wolf, Boar and Deer — P^ine Climate— What France Exports —Splendid Paris — River Seine and Bridges — Palaces in the Heart of the City— Magnificent Gardens — Heroes, Nymphs and Fauns — A Celebrity and his Nosegay — Favorite Resort of Napoleon III — Celebrated Cathedral — "A Book in Stone" — Gigantic Proportions and Superb Symmetry — "Gamins" of Modern Paris — Songs in a Hidden Gallery — Rich Decorations — Women Elegantly Dressed— A Historic Edifice — Grand Sight — Scene of Coronation and Royal Marriage — Palace and Gardens of Versailles^Once a Magnificent Home of Royalty — Renowned Personages — Startling Scenes in Earlier Days — Ancient Churches — Palace of Fontainebleau — Place Where the Great Napoleon Signed his Abdication.

,,|^ ULLY three and a half times larger than England, France is singularly well situated for commerce. As Russia occupies the broadest part of the European Continent, so France stretches across its narrowest span, and, lying between the Mediterranean and Atlantic, has good harbors in both seas. From Italy it is separated by the Jura Alps, from Spain by the rugged Pyrenees. The boundary of the country on the side of Belgium and Germany is a mere line on the map, guarded by a chain of fortresses round which international jealousies are likely to circle for ages yet to come. Corsica, a rugged forest-covered mountainous island of the Mediterranean, is also an integral part of France, so far as its government is concerned, though the people are more Italian than French, and cherish strong prejudices, which a century of Gallic rule has not yet entirely effaced.

France is not an elevated country outside the ranges mentioned, yet Mont Blanc, the loftiest peak in Europe, rises just within its borders. The lowlands of France are not, however, flats, as in the more northerly countries, but rolling, undulating districts lying for the most part along the Atlantic bordei , and in the Valley of the Rhone opening into the Mediterranean. About one-eighth of the surface is still wooded, in spite of the enormous destruction of timber which has been going on during the last (qw centuries, the forests of Orleans and Fontainebleau being specimens of what at one time prevailed over much of the country con- 2 17 trolled by the despotic feudal proprietors who took their pleasure in the widespread haunts of the wolf, the boar and the deer.

But with slight exceptions, there are few parts of France incapable of supplying food for man and beast. The climate is one of the finest in Europe — mild, equable and healthy — in spite of the hot winds from Africa which sometirjies impinge on the southern districts, and the chilly "mistral" which sweeps down from the Alps in the North. The vine is one of the plants regularly grown in all the departments except the north^ western, the regions of Champagne, Burgundy, and the country in the vicinity of Bordeaux being the best fitted for the protection of the grapes from which the wines known under these names are made. Great Variety of Exports.

The olive flourishes in the valley of the Rhone, the maize is also a profitable crop, and in the maritime country opposite England wheat and other cereals, along with all kinds of temperate fruits, are grown in great abundance and perfection, while the labor of the peasants results in the exportation of prodigious quantities of fowls, eggs, butter and vegetables to England, which constitutes their most profitable market. The extreme subdivision of farms acts prejudicially on pastoral pursuits. In the number And quality of the sheep, cattle and horses, France is far inferior to Germany and England, though, again, the general comfort, thrift, and prosperity of the people are superior to what obtains in the latter country, md even in the former, which the poverty of the soil, and the oppressive military and other laws, handicap.

The Brilliant French Capital.

Paris, the gayest capital of modern civilization — the goal of pleasureseeking pilgrims from every quarter of the globe — the city that, according to Victor Hugo, combines in itself Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem — the apotheosis at once of beauty, strength, and truth — Paris, like most other cities of historic fame, has gradually risen from an insignificant beginning to its present height of power and glory. Across the broad hill-encircled basin, upon which the modern city stands, flows the river Seine, hemmed in on either bank by five miles of quays, spanned by five^- and-twenty bridges, and passing on its way palaces, churches, and edifices, linked with innumerable historic and legendary associations. The river in its course encircles two small islands, and on the larger of these, the nucleus was formed of that grand aggregate which after nearly twenty centuries of growth and development is now known to all the world as Paris.

Old chroniclers have recorded many fanciful legends of the origin of

FROM POLE TO POLE.

the city, but the earliest authentic history we have is of a hunted tribe fleeing from some unknown locahty, and treating with the Senones, a tribe of the Gallic Confederation, for a strip of land on which to settle. The fugitives were known as the Parish — that is, borderers. On seven small islands of the Seine, that have now become two, these rude hunters and fishers built their village of thatched mud huts, and called it Lutetia — " dwelling of the waters." As skillfully as they knew how they fenced in their primitive citadel, and connected it with the mainland by two bridg-es. On both sides of the river were marshes and forest'^, abounding

PONT DES ARTS, LOUVRE AND TUILERIES.

with wild boars and other game. Here they sought their prey, and on the high places now known as Mont St. Genevieve, Montmartre, and elsewhere, they reared their rough-hewn altars, and celebrated the mystic rites of their relimon.

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No less than sixty acres in the very heart of Paris were covered by the magnificent group of palaces known as the Louvre and the Tuileries. The latter was destroyed in 1 87 1, and its ruins were removed in 1882 by order of the municipality. The Louvre, with its grand fagades, pavilions, and colonnades, and its splendid halls, saloons, and galleries, still stands as the proudest monument of the ancient royalty of France, as well as oi

FASCINATING SCENES IN FRANCE.

her imperial splendor in modern days. Down to the water's edge in ancient times stretched a dense forest, in which King Dagobert built himself a hunting-seat, afterwards transformed by Philip Augustus into a citadel and a group of towers. This stronghold was used by succeeding monarchs as a State prison. It became dilapidated, and although restored and furbished up for the reception of the Emperor Charles V., the result was so unsatisfactory that Francis I. determined to rear a stately modern palace in lieu of the old feudal castle. Pierre Lescot, the great architect, aided by the noted sculptor Jean Coujon, commenced the work which has from time to time afforded occupation for French monarchs

PALACE OF THE TUIEERIRS, DESTROYED BY THE COMMUNE, iS/I.

and architects ever since. Three Queens — Catherine de Medici, Marie de Medici, and Anne of Austria — successively lavished sumptuous decorations on the interior; Louis XIV. and Colbert built the eastern and southern facades. But the King relinquished his project of completing the work in favor of his new caprice at Versailles, and a considerable part of the building was roofless till finished by Napoleon I. His nephew, Napoleon III., at a cost of 25,000,000 francs, made vast additions, building elaborately-sculptured pavilions, and porticoes, and colonnades, until the Louvre and Tuileries formed one immense and .stately pile completely surrounding the Place du Carrousel.

The Garden of the Tuileries, if perhaps deserted now to some extent

FROM POLE TO POLE.

by the fashionable world for the Champs Elys^es, is still a favorite resort of thousands of Parisians, and a very paradise for nursemaids and children. In the time of Louis XIII. there were gardens here, much smaller than now, but still picturesque, in their way, and decidedly fashionable. There was a wood much frequented by young lovers, a lake with swans, an aviary, a labyrinth, an echo, and so forth.

Then, in ! 630, Renard, by royal command, cleared a space, and planted rare flowerlnc^- plants, and built a royal dog-kennel. In the reign of Louis

^ - " -.--^^=^^ XIV. the celebrated

# ^ landscape-gardener Lf»

I Notre gave to the ga^-

m. dtns of the Tuileries

the same general feat-

■ uies they now retain —

broad gravel walks,

^= of limes and chestnuts,

and basins and foun^

tains with marble

divinities, heroes,

nymphs, and fauns, to

n:ieet the eye at every

step.

Many a civic and fiaternal festival did the RepubHcans hold beneath the shade of ^^^^^^Mthe grand avenues of these gardens. Two hemicycles of white marble still remain as a memorial of that epoch ; they were designed by Robespierre for a council of old men to preside over the floral games in the month of Germmal (21st March to 19th April). The gxzndifHe of the " Supreme Being " was held here, when Crime and Vice were burnt in efifigy, and Robespierre, walking in splendid raiment at the head of the National Convention, and carrying a nosegay nearly as big as himself, excited jealousy and paved the way for his doom. The new road in front of the palace-ruins marks the site of the " Reserved Garden," where Napoleon III., for hours at a time, watched his child as he amused

THE ARCH OF TRIUMPH.

FASCINATING SCENES IN FRANCE.

himselt' with his costly toys, undreaming of the "baptism of fire" at Saarbriick and the awful death in Zulu-land.

Looking up to the front of the cathedral of Notre Dame from the Place du Parvis, on the venerable Isle St. Louis, with " God's Hotel," the great hospital on one hand and the vast lime-stone mansions of new Paris on the other, the effect is grand. The sunlight breaks into brilliant tracery o^ gleams over the almost countless statues ranged above the huge doors, and a roseate glow is reflected from the rosace in the centre of the'*" fagade. Firmly founded as tlu everlasting hills, |f its foundationstones lying upon the very river bed of the Seinf^ and on the ruiub of a pagan temple, it is one of ^ the most impressive monuments in Europe. Vic tor Hugo calls it the " book in stone," and, in- ^ deed, it is at once an eoic and a vestibule of the new opera house — paris.

romance. It has been the scene of numerous historic transactions.

The sturdy majesty of its form — that of the Latin cross — and the superb symmetry of its gigantic proportions, give it an epic force ; while the wonderfully imaginative decorations of its towers and balconies, the vast and dizzy heights, the whelming abysses, the gorgeous outlook, and the fine flow of fancy, even in the smallest detail, give it a romantic character. The wealth of legend, too, lavished upon it by a thousand)

2,4

FROM POLE TO POLE.

artists, poets and dreamers, has made it stand out weird among the churches. It has infinite transition within its Hmits for him who wanders aright rn its galleries. The great recess at the altar's rear, where the red and black-robed priests are chanting continuous psalms, seems like a bit of life cut out of the Middle Ages.

There is only one thing to destroy the illusion, and that is the little group of white- stoled boys who swing the censers before the mner altar, and who now and then smg in childish voices There is no mistaking these urchins, they are all the irreverent incredulous, skeptical 'gamins' of modern Paris, utterly devoid of serious beliefs and superstitions. In another portion of the cathedral you shall see a group of market women, bare-footed, coarse-haired, grimy-armed, savoury of the fish-barrel and the potato-sack, kneeling reverently before little straw- bottomed chairs, and listening with tears in their tired eyes to the pure voices of the women singing in some hidden gallery.

Before the entrance to the grand aisle sits the withered old man who

FRENCH HAWKER CRYING HIS WARES-

FASCINATING SCENES IN FRANCE.

holds the brush from which the holy water is sprinkled upon the worshippers. He sits there, under the sombre shadow of the great pillar, all day long. Never a gleam of sunlight touches him; never a soul salutes him, every one is too busy with his or her conscience, and he sprinkles, sprinkles, sprinkles, dreamily afar off, as if he had eaten of the lotus. In the lateral chapels, many of which are extremely rich in decoration and design, elegandy-dressed women kneel for hours together, praying for the remission of sins for which they believe they are easily pardoned. Ah ! here is a dingy and grimy old door leading up great stone steps

FAMOUS CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME.

to the cathedral roof; where the lover of the picturesque may wander for hours without ever wearying. It is a long way up, and the steps are worn and old; millions of feet have made great creases in them. Suddenly you stagger out upon a wide platform, and Paris, with its curving Seine — Paris, with its hundred palaces, its giant avenues, its vast towers, its glorious parks, lies spread before you. You feel as if breathing a purer air. You are of the world, yet separated from it. You are elated, jubilant, exalted.

The hum and din of the great capital smites gently upon your ears. A strong thrill of excitement runs through you as you press to the outer railing, ana look down from the dizzy height into the place belov*. Anthose ants cvawling on their ant-hill, or are they really men in the r^'iarket place ? As you get tired and seek a spot to repose, the old womaix who has her home in a little house in the belfry invites you to a place on a rustic bench.

Notre Dame nas had its day of splendor and consummate glories. Since its first stone was laid in the tenth century, it has seen riots, murders, vast mobs of thieves, iconoclasts; and kings have come there to be crowned and married. The old cathedral is essentially a Parisian pro-

CHURCH OF SAINT EUSTACHE.

duct : its Gothic proportions were hewn out of the limestone quarries in and around the city, and for many hundreds of years architects wrought into it their hopes, their fears, their aspirations.

There were long epochs between its beginning and its completion, the first stone was laid in 1163 ; the choir was finished in 1185 ; the triforium of the nave in 121 5 ; the chapels of the apsis were built in 1296; and the church was very frequently altered and mutilated during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. When the restoration began, in 1845, *t was feared that much of the antique beauty of the venerable structure would be lost;

FASCINATING SCENES IN FRANCE.

but the French of to-day, with a praiseworthy care for details, have copied in its exactest outHne every stone and ornament of the edifice, and it stands rejuvenated in large degree.

There are few grander sights than that of the old cathedral, filled with twenty thousand worshippers, kneeling mutely in the sombre shadow of the great pillars, while from the organ come thunderous outbursts of music, and from the concealed galleries the pure voices of chanting women. * Napoleon I. and Josephine were crowned here. Napoleon III. was married here. It seems almost like yesterday when the Commune sternly demanded the silver images of the great altars, that they miyht be

VIEW OF IHE PALACE AND PARK OF VERSAILLE'^.

melted into money with which to purchase bread for " the armies of Paris." The Commune made an effort also to destroy the venerable cathedral by fire, but it was frustrated, and the florid spires and towers still kiss the crystal sky.

Outside the walls of Paris are many sites of historic interest. Foremost of these in point of celebrity comes Versailles, with its grand palace and gardens, created by Louis XIV. at a cost of not less than forty millions of pounds sterling, necessitating increased taxation, that hastened the coming of the Great Revolution. Its splendid saloons and apartments, associated with all the glories and scandals of the French Court

>M FROM POLE TO POLE.

from the youth of Louis XIV. to the Revolution ; its vast collections of pictures, portraits, busts, and statues ; its terraces, avenues, parterres, orangeries, bowers, lakes, and grand fountains : all these and other attractions, which draw thousands of visitors to this magnificent home of royalty, would require a chapter to describe in detail, while to narrate the historic memories of the palace would be to write the history of France for a century. An innumerable train of kings and queens, poets and philosophers, courtiers and lovely women, passed through these halls. Scenes of Suprising- Splendor.

Louis XIV. changed his predecessors' hunting-lodge at Versailles into a gorgeous palace for Madame de la Valliere. When that lady fled, to die in a convent cell, the graceful and witty Madame de Montespan, with her blue eyes and fair waving hair, reigned here in her stead. When she also sought the cloister, Madame de Maintenon succeeded, and was married to the King in 1686. Magnificent and lavishly extravagant were the Court festivities in those days. At the marriage of the Duke of Burgundy, 4,000 wax candles lit the Great Gallery, that could scarcely contain the throng of courtiers and grand ladies brilliantly dressed and sparkling with flashing gems. Amongst that .gay crowd moved generals like Turenne, statesmen like Colbert and Louvet, men of letters like Racine and Boileau and Moliere, and preachers like Bossuet and Massillon and Pere la Chaise — the latter zealously working to bring about the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.

Here Madame de Maintenon watched the death-bed of Louis XIV., and then retired to St. Cyr, to end her days in prayer. Louis XV., whilst loving, in a fashion, his " frozen Venus," Queen Maria Leckzinska, brought to Versailles Madame de Pompadour, who won his admiration whilst hunting in the forest. Her name for twenty years stood foremost in France, till she died in the palace, suffering in mind and body. Clad in a robe of serge, and with a wooden cross on her bosom, she was carried hence with a pauper's funeral, as she had directed, to her grave in the Capuchin convent ; and the King, who watched the scene from the balcony, soon solaced himself with the society of Madame du Barry. When the last miserable years of Louis XV. were ended, the Du Barrywas sent adrift, and a brilliant Court soon clustered round the fair Queen Marie Antoinette. Here Burke saw her, and compared her to " the morning star, full of hope, and splendor, and joy." In the distinguished crowd that surrounded her, beauty and courage, and wisdom and wit, were conspicuous.

But whilst the Court pursued its glittering round of pleasure, and

FASCINATING SCENES IN FRANCE.

Louis XVI., busied himself with his beloved turning-lathe and forge, ominous clouds were gathering. Soon those clouds broke in the tempest of revolution. A ferocious crowd carried off the King and his family in triumph to Paris, and the Palace of Versailles ceased to be a royal residence. It was stripped and devastated, and turned into a manufactory of arms. Napoleon wi.shed to re-furnish it, but could not spare the money. Louis Philippe spent large sums in restoring the palace, and made it what it now is — a grand historical museum. On the i8th of January, 871, the Great Gallery beheld a novel scene, for here King William of

PALACE OF FONTAINEBLEAU THE FOUNTAIN COURT.

Prussia was declared Emperor of Germany by the generals of the army that was then besieging Paris.

The Great and Little Trianon are for the most part associated with the royal mistresses. At the latter Louis XV. died of small-pox, whilst the Du Barry was anxiously watching for the signal-light in his window which told her that her reign was at an end. Hither came Marie Antoinette in her straw hat and white muslin dress to cultivate her flowers, and play at being dairymaid and shepherdess.

Fontainebleau, where kings and rulers of France took their pleasure in successive edifices, from the time of King Robert the Devout to Louis

Philippe, is a handsome town, with a splendid palace and a grand forest. In this palace Napoleon I. signed his abdication in 1814.

At Compiegne, where in 1430 the Maid of Orleans was made prisoner by the English, there is a beautiful palace which was alv/ays a favorite residence with the royalty of France. Here wandered Marie de Medici, watched by Richelieu's spies, till she escaped to die in poverty in a foreign land ; here strayed young Louis XV., sighing for Mazarin's lovely niece, Marie Mancini ; here Louis XVL, and afterwards Napoleon, came to meet their respective Austrian brides.

St. Cloud, preserving by its name the memory of the pious grandson of Clotilda, shows a mass of ruins for what was once a stately palace. In the adjacent forest Catherine de Medici and her fifty plumed damsels hunted. In the palace the line of Valois became extinct when Henry III. died by the knife of Friar Clement. Here, long after, Mirabeau, won over by the seductive grace of Marie Antoinette, mistook the signs of the times, and declared tliat the monarchy was saved. Here, as it were but yesterday, the young Prince Imperial was holding his youthful

Court.

Places of World-wide Renown.

St. Germain-en-Laye is associated with the exiled Stuarts, who at this place plotted the restoration that was not to be. Here poor Henrietta Maria, widow of Charles I. of England, dwelt, so poor at times as to be obliged to stay in bed for want of a fire. Here Charles II. heid his Court, and vainly tried to win Mademoiselle de Montpensier, the richest heiress in France. In 1689 James II. came with his troop of exiled nobles to live on the bounty of King Louis, and here the Pretender Charles Edward was proclaimed James III. of England.

Vincennes has won fame as palace, prison, and fortress. It is associated with the loves of Charles VII. and Agnes Sorel, the death of Henry v.. King of France and England, and was the prison-house of hundreds of victims of the dreaded letires de cachet. Here the young Due d'Enghien was shot by Napoleon as a warning to the Bourbons.

There are scores of other interesting spots around Paris which we can but name ; St. Denis, famous for its abbey-church, and monuments of the Kings of France, rifled in a single day in 1793 of the royal remains of ten centuries ; Malmaison, sacred to Josephine's sorrowing widowhood ; Charenton, famous for religious controversies at the time of the League, and at the present time for its National Lunatic Asylum ; Arceuil, with its magnificent aqueduct of the time of Louis XIII., and remains of an earlier and Roman structure.

Chapter II. Great Britain And Ireland

rhe Largest City in the World — Extent of London — Square Miles— Population — Part called "The City" — Very Ancient Town — Principal Buildings, Streets and Objects of Interest— The Celebrated Westminster Abbey — Founded by Edward the Confessor — Description of the "World's Most Famous Religious Edifice — Edward's Chapel — Tombs of Monarchs — Poets' Corner — Beautiful Windows of Colored Glass — Antiquity and Threatened Ruin— The Thames Embankment — Cathedral of Saint Paul — Lofty Dome— Unique Whispering Gallery — Celebrities Buried in the Crypt — Houses of Parliament— Story of the Gunpowder Plot — The Queen Opening Parliament — Description of Htr Majesty in State Robes — Edinburgh — Calton Hill — Princess Street — Scott's Monument — Old Castle — Holyrood Palace— Romance of History— Trip Through Ireland— History of the Irish —

Characteristics of the Celt — Fine Scenery in Ireland — Lakes of

Killarney — Irish Towns — Belfast and Dublin.

1^ ONDON is situated on both sides of the river Thames, lying principally on the north bank in the county of Middlesex. The portion south of the Thames is in the county of Surrey. The distance from London to the mouth of the Thames is about forty-five miles. The city is fourteen miles long and ten broad, thus covering an area of one hundred and forty square miles, or more ground than the District of Columbia. It had a population of 2,362,000 in 185 1. At present the population is about 4,000,000. The present increase is about 44,000 per annum, or a birth every twelve minutes. It contains 360,000 houses, and the cost of food used each day is said to be $800,000. It is one of the healthiest capitals of Europe, the annual death-rate being twenty-four in every thousand ; while that of Berlin is twenty-six, that of Paris twenty-eight, that of St. Petersburg forty-one, and that of Vienna forty-nine.

The portion of London called " The City," and which was the original settlement, was formerly surrounded by walls. It is situated on the Middlesex side, and lies between the tower and Temple Bar. The other official divisions of the Metropolis are Westminster, Marylebone, Finsbury, Lambeth, Tower Hamlets, Chelsea and Southwark. Of late years two social divisions have sprung up, namely, Belgravia and Tyburnia. Belgravia lies south of Hyde Park, and west of Westminster. It is the

FROM POLE TO POLE.

creation of the last fifty years, and is the home of the EngHsh aristocracy, Tyburnia lies north of Hyde Park, and west of Marylebone. It is the

ELIZABETH ENGLAND'S MOST FAMOUS QUEEN.

home of prosperous city merchants and professional men, who hope some day to be numbered among the aristocracy.

London was a town before the Roman conquest, its real origin being lost in the gloom of antiquity. The Romans surrounded it with walls, and under them it grew and prospered. It contains many venerable monuments of the past, the most interesting of which are those which are connected with the history of England.

The modern city of London is massively built, and is in many respects the most splendid city in the world. It is the commercial capital of the globe, and consequently the wealthiest city of modern times. Its police regulations are excellent, and it is in all respects one of the best governed cities of the world.

We give in the words of Mr. Fetridge, the author of Harper's admirable " Handbook for Travelers in Europe," the following description of a run through the city : " To see and properly appreciate London in an architectural point of view, the traveler should devote one or two days to viewing its exterior. Starting from Charing Cross, the architectural and fine-art centre of the West End, the towers of Westminster Palace and the houses of Parliament on your right, the National Gallery on your left, the beautiful club-houses of Pall Mall in your rear, with Nelson, in bronze, looking down upon you from a height of one hundred and sixty feet, you proceed along the Strand, passing Marlborough and Somerset Houses on your right ; through Temple Bar, which marks the city's limits on the west; through Fleet Street and Ludgate Hill, emerging into St Paul's Churchyard, with the Cathedral of Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece on your right, and the Post-office on your left; through Cheapside, notice Bow Church, another of Wren's best works ; through Poultry to the great financial centre, the Exchange, in front of which stands an equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, the Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor, Banks, etc. ; down King William Street to London Bridge, passing in view of the beautiful monument erected to commemorate the great fire ; then King William's statue. The World's Most Celebrated Bridgre.