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[Illustration: ONE MORE UNFORTUNATE. (Page 459.)]
[Illustration: GRAND STAIRCASE, BUCKINGHAM PALACE.]
PALACE AND HOVEL:
Or,
Phases of London Life.
Being
Personal Observations of an American in London, by Day and Night; with
Graphic Descriptions of Royal and Noble Personages, Their Residences
and Relaxations; Together with Vivid Illustrations
of the Manners, Social Customs, and Modes of
Living of the Rich and the Reckless, the
Destitute and the Depraved, in the
Metropolis of Great Britain.
With
Valuable Statistical Information,
Collected from the Most Reliable Sources.
by
DANIEL JOSEPH KIRWAN.
Beautifully Illustrated with Two Hundred Engravings, and a finely
executed Map of London.
Published by Subscription Only.
Hartford, Conn.:
Belknap & Bliss.
W. E. Bliss, Toledo, Ohio.--Nettleton & Co., Cincinnati,
Ohio.--Duffield Ashmead, Philadelphia, Pa.
Union Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill.
A. L. Bancroft & Co., San Francisco, Cal.
1870
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
Belknap & Bliss,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut.
William H. Lockwood,
Electrotyper,
Hartford, Conn.
TO
Samuel L.M. Barlow, Esq.,
OF
NEW YORK CITY,
A
True Gentleman in Every Quality and Duty of Life,
THESE PAGES ARE DEDICATED,
AS A
SLIGHT TESTIMONY
TO THE
Unvarying Friendship borne by him for the author
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.
[Illustration:
List of ILLUSTRATIONS
_BY_
Fay & Cox
105 Nassau ST.
N.Y.]
1. One More Unfortunate Frontispiece --
2. Grand Staircase, Buckingham Palace--Illuminated Title-Page. --
3. Bird's-Eye View of London, 17
4. Initial Letter, 17
5. The London Stone, 19
6. "Thank you, Sir," 20
7. The Rock and Chain, Tail Piece, 23
8. Initial Letter, 24
9. Sword, &c., Tail Piece, 27
10. Entrance to Docks, 32
11. "I Don't Think it Will Hurt me," 34
12. Forest, Initial Letter, 42
13. Buckingham Palace (Full Page,) 45
14. Portrait of Queen Victoria, 50
15. John Brown Exercising the Queen, 53
16. Fancy Sketch, Tail Piece, 56
17. Lion on Guard, Initial Letter, 57
18. Purty Bill Showing us in, 61
19. "Wont you Take Something?" 63
20. Snake Swallowing, 67
21. "Bilking Bet takes the Chair," 72
22. "Teddy the Kinchin's Song," 74
23. Explosive Materials, Tail Piece, 75
24. Initial Letter, 76
25. Cogers' Hall, Debating Club, 85
26. Snake in the Grass, Tail Piece, 91
27. Initial Letter, 92
28. Conservative Club House, 99
29. Carlton Club House, 101
30. Oxford and Cambridge Club House, 102
31. United Service Club House, 104
32. Architectural Sketch, Tail Piece, 106
33. Initial Letter, 107
34. Westminster Abbey, 109
35. Shakespeare's Tomb, 115
36. Tomb of Milton, 117
37. Tomb of Mary Queen of Scots, 118
38. Coronation Chair, 121
39. Gauntleted Hand and Sword, Tail Piece, 127
40. Initial Letter, 128
41. Victoria Theatre in the New Cut, (Full Page,) 136
42. Rag Fair, 142
43. A Cell Window, Initial Letter, 145
44. The Last Execution at Newgate, 151
45. Fetters and Chain, Tail Piece, 158
46. Broken Wheel, Initial Letter, 159
47. Doctors' Commons, 162
48. Eagle and Snake, Tail Piece, 166
49. Initial Letter, 167
50. A Bohemian Carouse, 171
51. A Water Scene, Tail Piece, 180
52. Tower of London (Full Page,) 182
53. Initial Letter, 183
54. Traitors' Gate, 189
55. The Crown Jewels, 197
56. Imperial Orb, Ampulla and other Jewels, 199
57. The State Salt-Cellars, 200
58. Cannon, Tail Piece, 206
59. Initial Letter, 207
60. The Cadgers' Meal, 210
61. Raft Timber, Tail Piece, 215
62. The Old Oak, Initial Letter, 216
63. Bathing in Hyde Park, 219
64. The Labyrinth, 221
65. The Crystal Palace, 223
66. The Promenade, Tail Piece, 225
67. Fort and Water Scene, Initial Letter, 226
68. Portrait of the Prince of Wales, 230
69. Prince and Cabman, 234
70. Broken Wagon and 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 Hamilton, 262
74. Portrait of 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, 279
80. Portrait of John Bright, 281
81. The Student, Tail Piece, 284
82. Initial Letter, 285
83. "Could you Make it a Tanner?" 290
84. The Speaker of the House, 292
85. First Lord of the Admiralty, 298
86. Portrait of Robert E. Lowe, 300
87. Gladstone Speaking in the House of Commons (Full Page,) 307
88. Landscape, Tail Piece, 317
89. Initial Letter, 318
90. The Pocket-Book Game, 324
91. Steam Frigate, Tail Piece, 329
92. A Broadside, Initial Letter, 330
93. The Sewer Hunter, 334
94. Blood-Hound, Tail Piece, 336
95. Island, Initial Letter, 337
96. Cats Receiving Rations, 339
97. The Great Porter Tun, 341
98. Initial Letter, 344
99. The Harvard Crew (Full Page,) 353
100. Bridge, Tail Piece, 361
101. Initial Letter, 362
102. The Oxford Crew, (Full Page,) 369
103. The University Race, (Full Page,) 375
104. Beautiful Craft, Tail Piece, 381
105. Initial Letter, 382
106. Hospital Ship "Dreadnought," 384
107. Jonathan Wild's Skeleton, 389
108. Tail Piece, 390
109. Initial Letter, 391
110. Coke Peddler, 399
111. Bum Boatman, 401
112. "I Gets it for Cigar Stumps," 403
113. Street Acrobats, 405
114. Punch and Judy, 407
115. Initial Letter, 410
116. Nelson's Monument, 416
117. Damaged Tree, Tail Piece, 419
118. Initial Letter, 420
119. Nursery in the Foundling Hospital, 421
120. Washing the Waifs, 427
121. Landscape, Tail Piece, 434
122. Initial Letter, 435
123. Breakfast Stall, Covent Garden Market (Full Page,) 443
124. The Orange Market, 450
125. Going to Market, Tail Piece, 451
126. Fancy Piece, Initial Letter, 452
127. Wild and Desolate, Tail Piece, 460
128. Initial Letter, 461
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
134. Initial Letter, 486
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
141. Initial Letter, 508
142. An Auction at Billingsgate Fish Market, (Full Page,) 511
143. Initial Letter, 518
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
150. Carpet-Bag, Tail Piece, 544
151. London Bridge, (Full Page,) 546
152. Forest Scene, Initial Letter, 547
153. Temple Bar, Fleet Street, 550
154. The New Blackfriars Bridge, 553
155. Bridge and Water Scene, Tail Piece, 555
156. Initial Letter, 556
157. Windsor Castle, 560
158. Tail Piece, 565
159. Initial Letter, 566
160. Loading the Prison Van, 570
161. Detective Irving, 572
162. Before the Lord Mayor, 574
163. Bible and Hand, Initial Letter, 576
164. Portrait of Spurgeon, 577
165. Portrait of Father Ignatius, 578
166. "Lothair" (Marquis of Bute,) 583
167. Ruins, Tail Piece, 586
168. Initial Letter, 587
169. "Scott's" in the Haymarket, 588
170. The Midnight Mission, (Full Page,) 592
171. "Skittles" and the Princess Mary, 595
172. A Row in Cremorne, 596
173. Sword and Purse, Initial Letter, 598
174. Portrait of "Mabel Grey," 602
175. Portrait of "Anonyma," 605
176. Portrait of "Baby Hamilton," 606
177. Mabel Grey at Home, 609
178. Portrait of "Alice Gordon," 613
179. Snake and Dove, Initial Letter, 614
180. A Meal at a Cheap Lodging House, (Full Page,) 617
181. "Damnable Jack," 619
182. Statue of George Peabody, 625
183. Tail Piece, 625
184. Initial Letter, 626
185. Old "Smudge," the Cabby, 627
186. "A Hansom Cab," 628
187. "One Hundred Rats in Nine Minutes," 630
188. The Rat-Catcher, 632
189. "Paddy's Goose," 633
190. Waiting for the Tide, 634
191. Ruins, Tail Piece, 635
192. "The Times" Office, 650
193. The Sub-Editors' Room, "Daily Telegraph" Office, 651
194. Portrait of 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
201. Tail Piece, 652
202. Initial Letter, 655
203. Half-Penny Soup House, (Full Page,) 653
204. A Pawn-Broker's Shop, 656
205. A Third Class Railway Carriage, 659
206. Tail Piece, 662
207. Map of London, --
[Illustration: Contents]
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 SILENT HIGHWAY.
The Thames Embankment--The Tunnel--The Subway--Tunnel Thieves--Pneumatic
Railway, 24
CHAPTER III.
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 LONDON.
St. James--Whitehall--Buckingham Palace--Magnificence of the Queen's
Residence--The Grand Staircase--Queen's Library--The Famous _John
Brown_, 42
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--The Most Worthy Grand--News of the Week--Interesting
Debates--Irish Orator and Scotch Presbyterian--Liberals and
Conservatives--"Where are we now?"--Farce and Tragedy, 76
CHAPTER VII.
CLUBS AND CLUB HOUSES.
Aristocratic Members--Entrance and Subscription Fees--How Managed
and Supported--Architectural Splendor--Choice Wines and Luxurious
Dinners--Interesting Statistics--A Model Kitchen--Heavy Swell
Club, 92
CHAPTER VIII.
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 XI.
DOCTORS' COMMONS.
Marriage Licenses--Divorces--Ecclesiastical Court--High Court of
Admiralty--Paying the Piper--Legal Scoundrelism--The Last Will and
Testaments of Shakespeare, Milton, and of Napoleon Bonaparte--The
Forgotten Sailor, 159
CHAPTER XII.
THE BOHEMIANS OF LONDON.
Carlisle Arms--A Pint of Cooper--Cockerell's Lodgings--Fitz and Dawson,
or the Radical and Conservative Reporter--The Short Hand
Reporter--Dawson's Story--A Song from the Speaker--Beautiful Potato, 167
CHAPTER XIII.
TOWER, PALACE, AND PRISON.
Its History and Dimensions--Council Chamber--Jolly Bishops and Royal
Prisoners--The Traitor's Gate--Anne Boleyn--Princess Elizabeth--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 Labyrinth--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 XVII.
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 Marquis of Waterford--Marquis of Hastings--Duke
of Newcastle--Earl of Jersey--Lord Clinton and others, 240
CHAPTER XVIII.
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
CHAPTER XIX.
LORDS AND COMMONS CONTINUED.
Reporters' Gallery--Dr. Johnson taking Notes--The 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--The Pocket-Book Game--New
York a Precious bad Place--Police Districts--Expenses Attending
them--River Thieves, 318
CHAPTER XXI.
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 XXII.
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, 338
CHAPTER XXIII.
HARVARD AGAINST OXFORD.
Police Arrangements--Thomas Hughes, M.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--The Harvard Crew--Loring's Condition--Simmons
the Pride of the Crew--The Oxford Crew--"Little Corpus," the
Coxswain--The Start--Harvard Leads--Burnham's bad Steering--Oxford's
Vengeance Stroke--The Last Desperate Struggle--Beaten by
Six Seconds--Fair Play and Courtesy, 362
CHAPTER XXV.
CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
"Domesday Book"--Oldest Books in England--Hospital Ship "Dreadnought"--A
Gaudy Show--The Queen's Stage-Coach--Jonathan Wild's
Skeleton--The Lord Mayor's State Coach--Installation of a London
Sheriff, 382
CHAPTER XXVI.
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 XXVII.
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 the National
Gallery--The Great Masters--Free to the Working People, 410
CHAPTER XXVIII.
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, 420
CHAPTER XXIX.
MARKETS AND FOOD.
Amount of Food Sold--Inspections--Metropolitan Cattle Market--New
Smithfield Market--Covent Garden Market--Hot Coffee Girl--Vegetable
Market--The Baked Potato Man--The Jews' Orange Market, 435
CHAPTER XXX.
SECRETS OF A RIVER.
Waterloo Bridge--The Pale-Faced Girl--Three O'clock in the
Morning--Weary of Life--A Leap from the Parapet--Fruitless
Attempt to Save--A Sad Sight--The Wages of Sin is Death, 452
CHAPTER XXXI.
INTO 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--"Wotten Wow"--In the Canteen--The
Old Sinner--The Tulip and the Daisy, 461
CHAPTER XXXII.
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 XXXIII.
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 XXXIV.
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 "Immensekoff," 493
CHAPTER XXXV.
BILLINGSGATE FISH MARKET.
Profit on Fish--Oyster Boats--Number of Fishing Vessels--The Fish
Woman--The Old Style of Dress--Breakfast at Billingsgate--Capital
Invested--Immense Sales, 508
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE INNS OF COURT.
Number of Students--Gray's Inn--The New Hall of Lincoln's
Inn--Parliament Chamber--How to become a Lawyer--Procuring
Admission--"Hall Dinners"--Cup of "Sack"--The Toast--Irish
Students, 518
CHAPTER XXXVII.
BANK OF ENGLAND AND THE MINT.
Its History--The Riots--Ledgers and Money-Bags--A Powerful
Corporation--Bankers' Eating-House--Great Panic of 1825--In
the Vaults--Making Sovereigns--Marking Room--How the Coin is
Tested--Celebrated Counterfeiters, 526
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
BRIDGES OF LONDON.
History of Old London Bridge--The Fire of 1632--Where Traitors' Heads
were Suspended--Temple Bar--Traffic of London Bridges--Southwark
and Waterloo Bridges--The New Blackfriars Bridge--Suspension
Bridges--Acrobatic Feats--Scott, the American Diver, 547
CHAPTER XXXIX.
WINDSOR CASTLE.
Great number of Apartments--The Round Tower--The Audience
Chamber--Throne Room--Visit to the Queen's Bedroom--An
Elegant Apartment, 556
CHAPTER XL.
BEFORE THE MAGISTRATES.
The "Old Bailey"--Its Jurisdiction--The Lord Mayor's Court--The
Trial of a Young Forger--The Judges' Dinner--Loading the Prison
Van--The Mansion House--Detective Irving--The Forger Harwood--How
Justice is Administered, 566
CHAPTER XLI.
CANTERBURY AND ROME.
Churches and Sects--Bishop of London--Archbishop of
Canterbury--Spurgeon--"Apocalypse Cumming"--Church of
England--Father Ignatius--Roman Catholic Lords--Marquis of Bute, 576
CHAPTER XLII.
LEGION OF THE LOST.
The Great Parade Ground--"Scott's" in the Haymarket--Oysters in every
Style--Prostitutes and Abandoned Women--The Midnight Mission--Rev.
Baptist Noel--Cremorne Gardens at Chelsea--A Row at Cremorne--"Skittles"
and the Princess Mary of Cambridge, 587
CHAPTER XLIII.
SCARLET WOMEN.
Goodwood Races--Men of the Turf--Swarms of People--The Barouche and
Four--Beauty of its Occupants--"Anonyma" and the Chestnut Mare--"Mabel
Grey" and "Baby Hamilton"--The Race for the Goodwood
Cup--The Itinerant Preacher--Mabel Grey at Home--"The Kitten"--Alice
Gordon, 598
CHAPTER XLIV.
CHEAP LODGING HOUSES.
Eve of the Great Derby Race--Visit to Westminster--Lodging House of
Jack Scrag--_Four-Penny_ Beds--Unpleasant Bed-Fellow--Attacking
the Enemy--A Lucky Escape--Crowded Buildings--Eminent
Philanthropists--Model Lodging Houses--Munificent Gifts--George
Peabody's Statue, 615
CHAPTER XLV.
A TRAMP IN THE BY-WAYS.
"Old Smudge," the Cabby--A "Hansom" Cab--Rates of Fares--A Convivial
Pup--The Rat Pit--The Terrier "Skid"--The Match for £50--Skid
Slaughters a Hundred Rats in 8:40--Paddy's "Goose," or "The
White Swan"--Please Excuse me--Waiting for the Tide--Cured of the
Blues, 626
CHAPTER XLVI.
LITERATURE AND JOURNALISM.
Work and Wages--Influence of London Journals--Management of the
Press--Circulation and Delivery of Papers--Celebrated Writers--James
Anthony Froude--Algernon Charles Swinburne--John Stewart
Mill--Benjamin Disraeli--John Ruskin--Charles Kingsley, Anthony
Trollope, and others, 636
CHAPTER XLVII.
THE POOR OF LONDON.
Half-Penny Soup House--The Little Cast-aways and Waifs Provided
for--Visit to the Work-House of St Martin's--The Workers' Uniform--The
Old Pauper--Daily Rations--Schools--Trades--Struggles and Trials of
the London Poor--Pawn-Brokers' Shops--Third Class Railway Carriages, 655
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I.
THE MISTRESS OF THE WORLD.
IN 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.
Directly before me, and almost at my feet, lay the turbid Thames,
winding in and out sinuously 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 silver-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.
[Illustration: THE LONDON STONE.]
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 substantial
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, followed
by 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 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 them to the Bridewell; and now the view enlarges
to the southward, and the eye takes in the fine Holborn Viaduct,
lately honored by the 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 train from Dover, which
dashes like a demon over the Charing Cross bridge and into its station.
Structure after structure rises on the retina, the Treasury Buildings
and Horse Guards in Parliament street, Marlborough House, the British
Museum, Buckingham Palace, the University College, the Nelson and York
Monuments, 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
overhang the Thames, Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop
of Canterbury, Chief Dignitary of the English State Church and 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 Kensington 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 penetrate farther than Vauxhall
bridge, I give 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 wealth and population which is centered and aggregated
below, under and in the shadow of St. Paul's, the Mother Church of
Great Britain.
[Illustration: "THANK YOU, SIR."]
The verger says with a weak and wheezy voice:
"This is a werry 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. 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 Shoreditch.
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 mishaps 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, than 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 vaunted institutions.
Down in the quiet and aristocratic dwellings of Pimlico, you shall find
such ladies as "Nelly Holmes," or "Skittles," and in St. John'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 perhaps as
those of Sidney or Hampden.
At Blanchard'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 two-pence 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
Morley's or the Langham Hotel and pick your teeth and no one will be
the wiser.
For other amusements there is the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's
Park, with the amusing elephant, the comic kangaroo, the graceful
hippopotamus, the sleepy alligator, a band of music, lots of very
pretty 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 six-penny days, and when you come out from the wild
beasts, if you be 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
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 masterpieces of Velasquez,
Murillo, Paul Veronese, 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.
The Londoners have the finest public parks in the world. The flower
beds in Hyde Park, Battersea Park, Victoria Park, Regent's Park,
Kensington Gardens, and the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, are wonderful
for their beauty and constant freshness, and in the Serpentine, a
clear stream in Hyde Park, there is no hindrance from bathing, though
the stream laves the margin of Piccadilly, one of the principal
thoroughfares of the city, where many of the richest and most powerful
of the nation have their mansions.
This is London in brief. But a rapid and imperfect glance can be given
of the wonderful city in the opening chapter of this book, but it is
my purpose to give such details as I hope may instruct and amuse my
readers, in the chapters that shall follow.
[Illustration]