Fields; of late years, however, as the population of these districts has advanced, greater attention has been given to the drainage, and the whole is now in a state of progressive improvement. The extent of London from West to East, or from Knightsbridge to Poplar, is full seven miles and a half; its breadth, from North to South, is very irregular, but may be described as varying from two to four miles. The outward line, or circumference, of the contiguous buildings, allowing for the numerons inequalities of breadth, may be computed at about twenty-five miles; and the area of the whole comprehends between eight and nine square miles. The principal mercantile Streets range from West to East, and in that direction the Metropolis is intersected by two great thoroughfares; the one, which is most adjacent to the Thames, and may be called the Southern line, commences on the Bath Road, at Hyde Park Corner, and under the successive names of Piccadilly, Hay-market, Cockspur Street, Charing Cross, Strand, Fleet Street, Ludgate Hill, St. Paul's Church-yard, Watling Street, Cannon Street, East Cheap, and Tower Street, connects with Tower Hill; and thence extends to Limehouse, about two miles further, through East Smithfield, Radcliff Highway, Upper and Lower Shadwell, &c. The Northern line begins on the Uxbridge and Oxford Road, and under the different appellations of Oxford Street, High Street, St. Giles's, Holborn, Skinuer Street, Newgate Street, Cheapsi le, Cornhill, Leadenhall Street, Aldgate, and Whitechapel, leads by the Mile-End road into Essex from this latter line, at Church-lane, Whitechapel, the new Commercial Road branches off South-eastward, and goes on to the West India Docks, a distance of about two miles. The principal thoroughfare which crosses London from North to South, enters from the Cambridge Road at Kingsland, and continues along Shoreditch, Norton-Falgate, Bishopsgate Street, Gracechurch Street, Fish-Street Hill, London Bridge, the Borough High-Street, Blackman Street, and Newington Causeway, to the Brighton and other roads. Besides this, there are two other main avenues into Surrey and Kent, over the Bridges of Blackfriars and Westminster, by by spacious Roads, which meet at the Obelisk in St. George's Fields, and again diverge near the well known sign of the Elephant and Castle. Independent of its various local and judicial divisions, London may be considered as comprehending three great districts, viz. The West End of the Town; the City; and the East End of the Town. The West End of the Town,' which, in its general colloquial acceptation, extends from the vicinity of the Strand, to the neighourhbood of Hyde Park, Westward, and to Paddington Road North-westward, is the most modern and uniform part of the Metropolis; and the houses, generally speaking, are the largest, most respectable, and best built. Here, at Westminster, and St. James's, are the Seats of the Legislature, of Government, and of the Court; and the squares, and principal places of this district, contain the Town residences of the chief Nobility and Gentry of the Kingdom. The City,' includes the division, properly so called, and some portion of its Liberties, and forms the Grand' Centre of the Mercantile and Trading parts of London; with the exception, perhaps, of the Silk Manufacture, (which is mostly confined to the populous vicinity of Spitalfields), and of most of the Maritime branches; the latter are principally carried on at the East End of the Town,' and in its vastly increasing Suburbs. The inhabitants of this large District are in general connected with the Shipping Business, and consist of Merchants, Owners, and Captains of Ships, Ship and Boat Builders, persons concerned in the Docks, as Shop-keepers, Slop sellers, &c., Sailors, Watermen, and others who derive employment from maritime pursuits. The Southern banks of the Thames, from Deptford and Rotherhithe, to Lambeth and Vauxhall, are also chiefly inhabited by persons engaged in Commercial and Maritime concerns; and the immediate borders of the River are occupied by an almost continued rage of Dock-yards, Wharfs, Warehouses, Iron-founderies, Glass-houses, Timber-yards, Boat-builder's Yards, and Manufac tories of different kinds.* B 3 * See preceding Vol, pages 62, 63. London London is computed to contain about 60 Squares, and 8000 Streets, Lanes, Courts, &c.: the whole formed by upwards of 160,000 Buildings, of various descriptions, as Public Structures, Churches, Dwelling Houses, Warehouses, Shops, &c. The Churches and other principal edifices, are mostly built of stone; the Dwellings, with the exception of some of the mansions belonging to the nobility, also of stone, are almost wholly built with brick but few wooden houses are now to be seen, and those are principally of a date anterior to the Great Fire of 1666. Many of the Squares are extremely spacious, and the central area of most of them is inclosed by an iron pallisade, and laid out in gravelled walks and shrubberies for the recreation of the inhabitants of the surrounding houses. The principal Streets are also spacious and airy; and in most of the new parts of the town, the buildings are respectable and uniform; yet the continuity of line, which results from this regularity, renders them by far less picturesque than the old houses, which were constructed with projecting porticoes, over-hanging windows, gable ends, &c. and of which some specimens may yet be found. Through the numerous improvements that have been made in the course of the last 150 years, the inhabitants of London enjoy greater conveniences and domestic comforts than those of any other city in Europe. All the Streets, excepting on the very outskirts of the town, are regularly paved, and divided into a carriage way, and a foot-path on each side. The carriage way is paved with small squarish blocks of Scotch granite, or pebbles, so disposed as to rise with a small convexity in the centre, and having a continued channel, or kennel, on each side, at a short distance from the footpavements: the latter are in general laid with large thin flags, or slabs, either of Yorkshire freestone, moorstone, or limestone; and are finished with a regular kirb, raised an inch or two above the carriage way: their breadth varies from about three to six, or eight feet, in proportion to the width of the avenue. The mud and soil which accumulates in the streets, are taken away at stated intervals by scavengers employed by the different parishes; and the waste water, &c. runs off through iron gratings, fixed in the kennels at proper intervals, into arched arched sewers or drains, constructed beneath the streets (and communicating by smaller drains with the houses) and having various outlets through larger sewers into the Thames. Through these means, and from the ample supply of water which the inhabitants derive from different sources, the general cleanliness is very considerable, and greatly contributes to the present salubrity of the Metropolis. The charges of constructing and keeping in repair the sewers, drains, &c. and of paving the streets, are defrayed by levies of a small sum per pound on the rents of all inhabited houses; and the expenses of lighting and watching are likewise discharged in the same manner. The sewer tax is collected every two or three years under the direction of the Commissioners of Sewers; the taxes for paving, lighting, and watching are, in general, assessed by the authority of magistrates and other officers, acting in the different districts and parishes, under the express regulations of various acts of Parliament, obtained for local purposes. The manner in which the Streets are Lighted very much conduces to the public safety, and on dark nights has a most striking effect, particularly at a distance, and to strangers. The lamps are very numerous: in the more respectable neighbourhoods, (in addition to those fixed up before the larger mansions, and at almost every door, at the private charge of individuals,) they are hung in front of every dwelling, by means of iron frame-work, connected with the railings of the areas; in all the principal streets and avenues also, they are ranged before every second or third house.† The roads immediately contiguous to the Metropolis are likewise B 4 enlightened Pennant mentions an anecdote of a foreign Ambassador, who, on entering London through St. George's Fields, at night, conceived the idea that the town was illuminated in honour of his arrival, and with humorous naiveté remarked, that it was "more than he could have expected!" + The Lamps are of glass, of a globular form, and about ten inches in diameter: within these are hung the burners (for the consumption of oil, with cotton wicks) each of which has two lights, one on each side, and the whole is covered by a tin top, partly conical, and partly cylindrical, having small apertures enlightened by lamps hung upon strong posts, about eight feet high fixed in the ground at regular distances along the edge of the footpaths. In some parishes, of late years, the lamps have each been furnished with two solid glass lenses, being segments of globes, through which the light is greatly increased by refraction; yet these are by many regarded as objectionable, from their dazzling the sight at a distance, and yet leaving the space immediately beneath the lamps in darkness. The Watching of the Metropolis is chiefly entrusted to aged men, who are mostly hired at small weekly salaries by the different parishes, and provided with a great coat, a lanthorn, a pole or staff, a rattle and a watch-box. Each watchman has a regular beat or walk, which it is his duty to go twice round every hour during the night, and to proclaim aloud the time, and the state of the weather. The whole number of these nightly guardians, including the patroles, (who are much fewer, but are armed with cutlasses, firearms, &c.) does not exceed 2,200, according to a late estimate made apertures to give vent to the smoke. These tops, also, prevent the lights from being extinguished by rain or wind, unless the weather should be very squally. From the mode in which the private lamps are generally hung, their appearance becomes ornamental, the iron-work frequently displaying considerable taste in the design or pattern. "The following is an estimate of the Watchmen and Patroles employed to protect the inhabitants of the Metropolis during the night against acts of violence and depredation. City of London, watchmen and patroles, about.. City and Liberty of Westminster, ditto,. .785 ..300 .370 ......130 Division of the Tower Hamlets and Tower Liberty, ditto,....290 Division of Kensington, Chelsea, &c. ditto,..... Borough of Southwark and vicinity, ditto,.......... 65 80 2,020 Private watchmen in different parts of the Metropolis, ditto, 180 2,200 Vide Treatise on the Functions,&c. of a Constable,' by P. Colquhoun, Esq. L. L. D |