On.

the space north of the Strand as far as Holborn, and from Temble Bar to St. Martin's Lane, had been extensively built upon. The parts of Westminster, also, from Charing Cross to St. James's Palace, began to have the appearance of a town. The New River was completed, and many houses were supplied with water. Sewers were dug, smooth pavements were laid down for foot passengers, and hackney-coaches became general. But, after all, these were but imperfect palliatives of all but incorrigible disorders. We have previously noticed the narrow, dirty, and filthy state of the streets and houses of the city in the seventeenth century, and the ravages committed in it by the plague, from which it was then rarely, if ever, wholly exempted. And it would have been extremely difficult, or rather, perhaps, impossible, to have introduced a different and improved state of things by legislative or municipal regulations. But what they could not effect was effected by widely different means. the 2nd of September, 1666, the great fire broke out in Pudding Lane, near the spot where the Monument was subsequently erected in commemoration of the occurrence. It raged till the 5th, when it ceased, rather by pulling down houses in the line of its course, than by the success of the exertions directly to extinguish the flames. The ruins, covering 336 acres, comprised 13,200 houses, 90 churches, and many public buildings; the property destroyed being estimated at 10,000,000. Though productive of great loss, and of much temporary distress and suffering, this conflagration was, in its results at least, of signal advantage. Its destructive agency was required to get rid of the vast mass of old wooden houses, and narrow and filthy lanes and courts, that had for centuries been the permanent abode of the plague and other pestilential diseases. No doubt it must ever be regretted, that the designs of Sir Christopher Wren for the renovation of the city were not adopted. But notwithstanding the numerous defects of the new plan, it was a vast improvement on that by which it had been preceded. Though

still too narrow, the streets were materially widened; the new houses were constructed of brick instead of wood; party walls were introduced; the old practice of making each story project over that immediately below was abandoned; obstructions and filth of all sorts were removed; and the sewerage and pavement of the streets were vastly improved. A fire which happened in Southwark ten years afterwards, afforded an opportunity for carrying similar improvements into that part of the metropolis. The population and trade of the city now increased more rapidly than before. The revocation of the edict of Nantes occasioned the immigration of a great number of French, who settled in Spitalfields and St. Giles's. The parishes of St. Anne and St. James were formed, the district called the Seven Dials was built, Piccadilly began to extend west, and Soho Square and Golden Square were laid out. St. Paul's cathedral was almost completed; the parish of Wapping was formed east of the city; the Penny Post Office was instituted; and several miscalled asylums (such as Alsatia and the Mint), where robbery and crime had been protected, were abolished.

From this period the increase of London and the progress of improvement have continuously advanced. In the early part of the eighteenth century, an act was passed for building fifty new churches in and about the metropolis, most of which were completed within a few years, and some of them are still among its ornaments. Houses sprang up on every side; and by the middle of the century the west end of the town, as far as Hyde Park, became a compact mass of buildings, reaching beyond Oxford Street on the north, and extending east from Portman Square, across Tottenham Court Road, past Montague House and Gray's Inn Gardens, through Clerkenwell, Finsbury Square, Spitalfields, and Whitechapel to Wapping. Before this time water-works had been formed at Chelsea in aid of the supply furnished by the New River. Sewers had become more general, lamps had been fixed in all the principal streets, the Bank of

England and Westminster Bridge were built, St. Paul's completed, and Fleet Ditch arched over. In the last half century Blackfriars Bridge was built, the houses encumbering London Bridge were removed, the Mansion House was finished, and Somerset House erected. At the same time, many unsightly and inconvenient buildings were removed; lamps were much increased in number, and lighted during the whole night; raised footways became universal, and the shops, which before were mere stalls, assumed a size and splendour evincing the wealth of their occupiers, and greatly contributing to the ornament of the town.

The citizens of London have, generally speaking, been distinguished by their orderly behaviour and respect for the laws. In 1780, however, the peace, and even in some degree the existence, of the metropolis, were compromised by the excesses of the mob. Certain concessions made in the course of the previous year to the Roman Catholics, had provoked a good deal of religious excitement in all parts of the kingdom. The contagion spread to London; and the weakness of the government, and the folly, or rather madness, of Lord George Gordon, and other leaders of the ultra Protestant party, led to a dangerous riot. The mob were, in fact, for about two days, masters of the city. They took possession of the prisons, and turned the inmates out of doors; destroyed the chapels of the ambassadors of the different Catholic powers; many private houses, including that of Lord Mansfield, were plundered and set on fire; a great distillery belonging to a Catholic firm shared the same fate; and an attack was made on the Bank, which, however, was happily repelled. At length, this formidable riot was effectually put down, though not till a considerable number of the rioters had been killed and wounded. Since this disgraceful epoch, the peace of the city has not been seriously endangered; and the troops in and about town, added to the effective police force that now exists, seem quite adequate, under ordinary circum

stances, to ensure the public tranquillity and the safety of the peaceable part of the community.

During the present century, London has made great advances. Within that period four bridges have been built, extensive docks have been excavated, gas has been introduced into every street and alley; steam, on the river, the sea, and on railways, has given it an almost unlimited power of intercourse with every part of the kingdom and of the world; new and handsome markets have been erected; arcades lined with elegant shops have been formed; and wide lines of communication have been opened through close and densely crowded neighbourhoods. Two new parks have been laid out; an improved police has given additional security to person and property; abundant supplies of water have been furnished to every separate dwelling; and the formation of spacious cemeteries in the suburbs is leading to the disuse of interments within the town. At the same time the establishment of colleges and proprietary schools has increased the facilities (which are still, however, very deficient), for procuring good education; the formation of savings' banks, by affording a safe and convenient place of deposit for the smallest savings, has tended to diffuse habits of economy among the lower classes; while the institution of a National Gallery and School of Design has done something to improve the national taste, and to add to the intellectual pleasures of the people. The spirit of improvement, moreover, is still suggesting extensive and useful works. The nuisance of Smithfield market, notwithstanding the protection given to it by the Corporation, cannot fail of being abated; and no doubt, also, provision will be made for having all sorts of animals slaughtered at some distance from the city. And these, with the improvement of the sewerage and buildings, and the opening of new 'lines of streets, will at once increase the health of the citizens and add to the convenience and beauty of the town.

London has been the subject of an immense number of pub

lications. Of these the best by far is the Survey by Stow (originally published in 1598), with additions by Strype and others, 2 vols. folio, 1754. The account of the Metropolis and its environs by Brayley, Nightingale, and Brewer, 5 vols. 8vo., 1814-16, is, in some respects, a valuable work; but it contains a great deal of matter but slightly connected with the subject, and which might advantageously have been omitted. Cunningham's Handbook is a carefully compiled, amusing, and instructive manual of popular antiquities and street history. But, though there are several valuable works on detached topics, there is not, in point of fact, any good general account of modern London.