London? I am next going to give you a map, on a larger scale, of the
central and most important part of London; it is contained within the
rectangle. Here it is, with the boundary of the City of London shown
in red upon it. We see the chief streets, and we are able to mark out
the route which we are going to take. We start from the Tower and the
Tower Bridge; we pass beneath London Bridge, with the City, the chief
business centre, on our right hand; we go under several more bridges
and arrive at Westminster, where Parliament sits and the King-Emperor
is crowned; then we land, drive past Buckingham Palace, where the
King lives, and so to the chief parks. Turning eastward again we
return through Trafalgar Square to St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is
the Cathedral of London; finally we reach the Bank of England, in
the centre of the City, and come back to London Bridge, from whose
neighbourhood we started. The whole round measures about eight miles,
and yet, as you will remember, the map upon which we have traced it
is but the central and smaller part of London.
[Sidenote: 14. Waterloo Bridge and Somerset House.]
It would tire you were I to attempt to show all the bridges under
which we pass, but there is one which we must not omit. This is
Waterloo Bridge, architecturally the finest bridge in London, perhaps
the finest of all the buildings in London. The road, as you see, is
quite level, and it is carried upon a series of great stone arches.
The bridge is called Waterloo Bridge because it was completed soon
after the Battle of Waterloo. As we go through London you will find
that there are two famous battles--the Battle of Waterloo on the
land, and the Battle of Trafalgar on the sea--which are constantly
remembered by Englishmen. They were fought ninety and a hundred
years ago. Because Britain was victorious in them the British Empire
exists to-day. Therefore these battles and the men who fought them
are deemed worthy of commemoration in the metropolis of the Empire.
Beyond Waterloo Bridge we see on the slide a fine building known as
Somerset House, the office into which the taxes of the people of
England are paid for the government of the country.
[Sidenote: 15. The Embankment at Waterloo Bridge.]
[Sidenote: 16. Cleopatra’s Needle and Somerset House.]
[Sidenote: 17. The Thames Embankment.]
[Sidenote: 18. The Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.]
[Sidenote: 19. Westminster Abbey from Dean’s Yard.]
Here we have one of the arches of Waterloo Bridge, spanning the
riverside road which is known as the Thames Embankment. The traffic
from north to south is carried, as you see, over the bridge, while
that from east to west passes under it. Here we have yet another
view of the Embankment, with Somerset House and Waterloo Bridge in
the distance. We can see Somerset House better in this view, because
the bridge is not in the way. In the foreground we have Cleopatra’s
Needle, a single piece of stone as high as a tower. It was brought
from Egypt in a specially built ship, having been presented to the
Queen of England by a former Khedive of Egypt. The next slide shows
the bend of the river, with the Embankment beside it. You see the
trees planted along the road--they are green in the summer, but in
winter the leaves fall and they are black. In the distance, showing
over the housetops, is the great dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. At
last we reach Westminster, and look across the water to two of the
chief buildings of London, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster
Abbey. The Houses of Parliament were erected in the beginning of the
reign of Queen Victoria, but Westminster Abbey was built more than
600 years ago. We have here a view of the Abbey from the land side.
[Sidenote: 20. The King opening Parliament--the State Coach.]
[Sidenote: 21. The same--the Procession.]
[Sidenote: 22. The Coronation in Westminster Abbey.]
[Sidenote: 23. The same, another view.]
[Sidenote: 24. The King and Queen at the opening of Parliament.]
[Sidenote: 25. His Majesty the King.]
Westminster is the centre of the Empire. Here at the beginning of
his reign the King is crowned. Here each year he opens the Session
of Parliament. Let us see something of the splendid pageants which
take place at Westminster on these occasions. This, for instance,
is the King driving in the Coach of State, with the Queen beside
him. And here is a photograph of the procession through the streets
at the opening of Parliament. Next we have the Coronation in
Westminster Abbey, and in another slide a more general view of the
interior of the Abbey on that great day when his present Majesty,
the Emperor-King, Edward VII., was crowned by the Archbishop of
Canterbury, in the presence of the chief men of the Kingdom, and
of the Empire, and of visitors from all parts of the world. The
picture is taken at the moment when the Crown, the emblem of royal
authority, is being placed upon the King’s head. In his hand he holds
the Sceptre. In the next slide we have the King and Queen Alexandra
seated upon the throne at the opening of Parliament, and then follows
a portrait of the King in the Robes of State.
[Sidenote: 26. Westminster Abbey--Poets’ Corner.]
After the solemn state of these great ceremonies, we will return for
a moment when the Abbey is empty, and look, not at living people, but
at the monuments which record the famous men who in the past have
helped to make the British Empire. This is called the Poets’ Corner.
Here in this particular corner of the Abbey are gathered together the
monuments of the men who have written. By inspiring the British race
with noble ideas they have helped to make the Empire no less than
have the victors of Trafalgar and Waterloo. All the Abbey is full of
monuments--in other parts of it you will find record of the statesmen
who have given counsel to our Kings and Queens, and of the soldiers
and sailors who have fought for them. Here, too, are the monuments of
Viceroys of India.
[Sidenote: 27. The Houses of Parliament from Whitehall.]
Let us cross the road to the Houses of Parliament, first glancing
at them once more from the outside. We see the two lofty towers,
visible, when the weather is clear, from every hill round London.
This is the Victoria Tower, named after Queen Victoria, and this is
the Clock Tower. When Parliament is sitting by day a flag is flown
from the Victoria Tower, and when it sits after dark a powerful
electric light shines from the Clock Tower, so that all men may know
that laws are being made for the government of the Empire.
[Sidenote: 28. Westminster Hall--Interior.]
We will enter the building through Westminster Hall, which was part
of the Old Westminster Palace of the Kings of England. Set round it
are statues of our past Kings and Queens. Formerly the Parliament met
to give counsel, and the Judges sat to give justice, in the King’s
Palace, but in more recent times the business of the country has
become so great that it cannot well be housed in a single building.
The Palace of Westminster has, therefore, been given wholly to
Parliament, and has been rebuilt, except for this splendid Hall,
which has been preserved.
[Sidenote: 29. House of Lords--Interior.]
[Sidenote: 30. House of Commons during Debate.]
Let us pass on, and look for a moment into the House of Lords in the
morning when it is empty, and the sun is shining through the windows.
Here is the throne upon which the King sits when he opens the session
of Parliament each year. Parliament consists of two bodies of men,
who are known as the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The
Lords are the great dignitaries of the realm--the chief landowners,
merchants, lawyers, and bishops. The Commons, on the other hand,
though many of them are rich and clever men, do not help to make the
laws because of their position in the State, but because they are
elected by the people of England to tell the King what the people
wish for. Here is one of the most celebrated of Englishmen, the late
Mr. Gladstone, speaking in the Commons as the King’s Prime Minister.
It is the Prime Minister’s duty each evening to tell the King what
the Commons have said, and so, though the King is not there, the King
and the Commons work together for the government and peace of the
Empire.
[Sidenote: 31. Cabinet Council.]
These two large assemblies, the Lords and the Commons--each of them
containing several hundred men--could not conduct the detailed
business of the country. A small number of them, therefore, are
chosen to be the King’s Ministers, and the Ministers form a
Committee or Council, which is called the Cabinet. Here is a picture
of a Cabinet Meeting. It meets privately; no one knows what the
Cabinet says in its discussions--we only know what it decides to
do. Presiding over the particular Cabinet shown in this picture is
another great Englishman, now dead, the late Lord Salisbury. Among
the other Ministers you will see Lord George Hamilton, who was at the
time Secretary of State for India.
[Sidenote: 32. The Treasury.]
[Sidenote: 33. The Admiralty.]
[Sidenote: 34. The Foreign Office.]
[Sidenote: 35. The Law Courts.]
Near to the Houses of Parliament are the offices of the various
Ministers. They are large and handsome buildings, for each Minister
has a staff of officials under him. Here, for instance, is the
Treasury, where the finances of the country are managed. And here is
the Admiralty, whence the British Navy in all parts of the world is
controlled by means of telegraphic messages. Here, seen from one of
the parks, is the fine building in which are housed both the India
Office and the Colonial Office. The part of it to the left hand, with
the tower, contains the Foreign Office, where business is transacted
between the British Empire and foreign countries. The India Office
is at this right-hand corner. The Prime Minister lives in a house
opposite to the door of the Foreign Office, in a little street called
Downing Street, and the Government is, therefore, often spoken of
simply as Downing Street. Finally, we have the Law Courts, which,
until lately were in the Palace at Westminster.
[Sidenote: 36. St. James’s Palace.]
[Sidenote: 37. Buckingham Palace.]
[Sidenote: 38. Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, with her Son, Grandson,
and Great-Grandson.]
The Palaces of the King are only a short way from the Abbey and the
Houses of Parliament. Here is St. James’s Palace, where the Sovereign
sometimes holds great receptions of his subjects. Do you see the
sentry at the door? He is one of the King’s Guards, a chosen body
of soldiers, who remain near the King’s Palaces, except when they
are sent out of the country to take part in foreign wars. Here is
Buckingham Palace, where the King lives when he is in London. Behind
it there is a large garden. Remember, however, that great as he is,
the King is a man, just as we are. He is a father and a grandfather,
and he had a mother, our beloved Queen and Empress Victoria. In this
picture we have four generations of the Royal Family of England;
Queen Victoria, who was our Sovereign, King Edward VII., who is our
Sovereign, the Prince of Wales, who will be King after his father,
and the little Prince Edward of Wales--destined, we hope, some day to
ascend the throne of his ancestors. It is the throne of one-fifth of
all the world.
[Sidenote: 39. The Crowd at the Funeral of Queen Victoria.]
[Sidenote: 40. Police regulating Traffic.]
[Sidenote: 41. A Policeman.]
From the King let us turn to his people. Here is a crowd of the
people of London, gathered in the Park when Queen Victoria was taken
to be buried. It was a mighty, silent crowd, never to be forgotten by
those who saw it. Of course there are some people in the great crowds
of London, as of all other places, who are bad and disorderly, but
in general the people of London obey the Law. Here, for instance, we
have a busy point where four streets meet. Two policemen control the
traffic, now letting this stream of carriages pass, and now that.
Often a driver is in haste, but when the policeman raises his hand,
the driver silently waits until he has leave to proceed. Only in
this way could seven millions of people live together and do their
business. The policemen of London are a fine body of strong men, who
very rarely lose their tempers or presence of mind, whatever the
sudden difficulty with which they may be faced. Here is one of them
politely telling the way to an enquiring stranger. You see that he
carries no firearms, yet there are only about 20,000 police to manage
all these people.
[Sidenote: 42. Hyde Park--Rotten Row.]
[Sidenote: 43. St. James’s Park--Children at Play.]
[Sidenote: 44. The same--Children Fishing.]
[Sidenote: 45. The Zoological Gardens.]
[Sidenote: 46. Flowers in the Park.]
[Sidenote: 47. The Crystal Palace.]
[Sidenote: 48. St. Thomas’s Hospital.]
Perhaps the most beautiful possessions of London are the parks, in
which, in the midst of their province of houses, the people take
exercise and find health and amusement. None of the other cities
of the world--not Paris, or Berlin, or New York, or Peking, or
Calcutta--have anything quite similar to the parks of London, for
they are not formal gardens or bare parade grounds, but pieces of
rural country; and they are not just outside the town, but contained
in its midst. This is a celebrated road in Hyde Park, where only
horses and no carriages go. It is called Rotten Row. Here we see
it on a summer day, when the sun is shining, with men and women
upon horseback taking the air. But the parks are not merely for
the amusement of the rich people who can afford to keep horses;
they are also for the poor. Here, for instance, we have a picture
of children at play, and here another, taken in St. James’s Park,
showing children fishing for the little fish that live in the water
of the lake. In Regent’s Park there is a Zoological Garden, in which
are kept animals from all parts of the world. Here we see a group of
children, who, by way of a holiday treat, are having a few moments
on the back of an elephant. These parks of London have much money
spent upon them, so that the poor people of London have in parts of
them gardens to look upon which are as fine as the gardens of rich
men. Here, for example, we have a scene among the flowers in Hyde
Park. Nor must we forget the Crystal Palace, an immense house of
glass, where the people may find amusement in all weathers. Of course
there are still large parts of London which are ugly, and completely
covered with small houses. In these parts the life of the people
in the dark, chilly, wet winter is not very bright. But men are
always at work to better these wretched quarters, and gradually they
will disappear. To serve the poor who fall ill, a number of large
hospitals have been built, and some of these are fine buildings,
and well placed. Here, beside Westminster Bridge, is St. Thomas’s
Hospital, which faces the Houses of Parliament.
[Sidenote: 49. The Imperial Institute and London University.]
Now let us consider another aspect of London. To rule an Empire of
300,000,000 people men require skill, and must be educated. Nearly
every man and woman in all the seven millions of London can now read
and write. There are hundreds of free schools where these things
are taught. But the Ministers of the King, and the judges, and the
administrators who go out to the Colonies, require greater skill, and
for them, and for the doctors and engineers and other learned people,
there are Universities. Here is the fine building occupied in part by
the Imperial Institute and in part by the University of London. You
know of the University of London, because it holds examinations not
only in London but also in other parts of the Empire--for instance,
in Ceylon.
[Sidenote: 50. British Museum--Interior of the Egyptian Room, with
Rosetta Stone.]
Here we come to another of the great centres of learning in London.
This is the British Museum, in which have been gathered historical
treasures and documents from all parts of the world. The library
of the museum contains more than a million books. In the room that
is here shown, you see on the stand in the centre one of the most
celebrated of all documents. It is written on a stone, called the
Rosetta Stone, because it was found at Rosetta in Egypt. Men have
learnt from it--because it is written in two languages side by
side--to understand the ancient language of the Egyptians. It is
necessary to gather these treasures together in the centre of the
Empire in order that learned men may study them conveniently, and
compare them with one another, without having to lose time in long
journeys.
[Sidenote: 51. Trafalgar Square.]
Now let us leave Westminster and the West End of the town, and as we
drive through the streets towards the City of London, the place of
merchants, let us stop on the way for a moment to see some of the
chief monuments which record the history of the British Empire. This
is Trafalgar Square, named after the greatest victory at sea. Here is
the monument of Admiral Lord Nelson, who won the battle and died in
the moment of victory. There in the centre, standing upon a smaller
column, is a more recent monument, erected in memory of General
Gordon, of whom probably you have heard. He fought for China in the
Taiping rebellion, and afterwards died for Britain at Khartoum.
[Sidenote: 52. St. Paul’s Cathedral--West Front.]
[Sidenote: 53. St. Paul’s Cathedral--Interior.]
[Sidenote: 54. Nelson’s Tomb.]
[Sidenote: 55. Wellington’s Tomb.]
Next we come to St. Paul’s Cathedral, of which this is the West Front
and the chief entry. Before it is a statue of Queen Anne, one of
the Sovereigns of England, who lived 200 years ago. The Cathedral
was rebuilt in her reign. Here is the interior, with the sunbeams
striking down from the dome. To the left is the tomb of the Duke of
Wellington, who won the battle of Waterloo. In the crypt below is
also the tomb of Lord Nelson, who saved the Empire in the battle of
Trafalgar. Here we have another and nearer view of the tomb of the
Duke of Wellington.
[Sidenote: 56. The Royal Exchange and the Bank.]
We will now drive on to the middle of the City. Here to the left is
the Bank of England, the centre of the finance of the Empire. Beside
it is the Royal Exchange, on the upper floor of which the insurance
of ships at sea is effected. The statue is of the Duke of Wellington,
and was erected by the merchants of London. See the dense traffic
of carriages, for this is the very heart of the business quarter of
London, and it is the busiest time of the day. If you saw this very
spot late on a summer’s evening, or if you saw it on a Sunday, the
day of rest, you would find it quiet and nearly empty.
[Sidenote: 57. View from the Dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral.]
Had we climbed just now to the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral and looked
eastward over the City, we should have seen in the background the
river and the Tower Bridge, but in the foreground the broad roof of
Cannon Street Railway Station. There are many railway stations in
the City, and for the following reason. The City of London, which
measures one square mile, is occupied at night by only 27,000 people.
In the daytime there are probably 360,000 people at work in it. These
people go out at night to sleep in Outer London, and are brought back
in the morning by trains, by omnibuses, and by cabs.
[Sidenote: 58. Day and Night Populations of the City.]
This diagram shows you clearly the meaning of these facts. The
largest (pink) square represents the population of Greater London.
The very small (black) square in the centre is the night population
of the City. The square (red) of intermediate size represents the
number of the people who crowd into the City in the daytime but at
night sleep without. So that the City is like a huge pulsating heart,
which sends its blood outward through the streets and along the
railways at evening, and receives it back in the morning.
[Sidenote: 59. Interior of St. Pancras Station.]
Finally, we enter one of the chief stations of London, whence the
trains start, not only at morning and evening, in and out between the
centre and the suburbs, but also on longer journeys past the green
farms and busy factories of Britain to the coasts which everywhere
surround it. London is only the heart and the brain of the Empire;
it could not stand alone, for there is no food grown in it. London
is great only because Britain is a productive country and the
British Empire is great. Therefore, when we have rested after our
sight-seeing in the metropolis, we will go out to the green fields
and the smaller towns, and will see what England and Scotland and
Ireland are like, for from them have come the men who have made both
London and the Empire.
LECTURE III.
THE SCENERY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.
[Sidenote: 1. Physical Map of British Isles.]
At the close of the last Lecture we found ourselves in one of the
chief railway stations of London, from which the railways go out
through the open country--twenty different lines in twenty different
directions--to end on the coasts around the island of Great Britain.
We might, of course, take a train from one of these stations and
travel rapidly through the country; but I prefer that you should go
another way, by which you will see more. Here, in this map, we have
the English Channel, up which our steamer brought us from India. We
see the promontory of Kent round which we came; we note the Straits
of Dover across which the Indian mails are carried; and we see the
Thames, up which we passed into the midst of the great city--to the
Tower Bridge and London Bridge.
I now propose taking you up the River Thames beyond London. We
will travel up the river almost to its source here in the Cotswold
Hills, and we will look from the brink of the hills westward over
the country beyond. This will give us a very good idea of the
rolling, fertile plain which occupies all the South of England.
Then returning to the east again we will follow the coast round
from the Fens to Kent, and to the promontory of Cornwall. The rest
of Britain may best be seen in two strips. The first begins here in
Cornwall and Devonshire, and extends northward through Wales and the
Lake District into the east of Scotland. It is mountainous, and has
many beautiful wooded landscapes. The second begins in the South
and West of Ireland, and extends up the West of Scotland. This also
is mountainous, but it is on the edge of the stormy ocean, and is
mostly naked and without trees, but has magnificent cliff scenery.
[Sidenote: 2. Thames Steamboat on Bank Holiday.]
Now let us start on our trip through Britain. Here is a steamboat
on the Thames above London. It is crowded with people, for the
photograph was taken on a Bank Holiday. On four week-days, and four
only, in the year the Banks are closed, and business ceases, while
everyone makes holiday. Those who live in the metropolis naturally
spend the day outside, among the green fields and on the river banks.
[Sidenote: 3. Richmond Bridge.]
[Sidenote: 4. Richmond--View down the River.]
Here is another scene on the Thames. It is near Richmond Bridge.
There are holiday makers who prefer to spend their holiday quietly,
fishing in the river. Next is a view from Richmond Bridge itself.
See the crowd of little boats ready for those who would take their
pleasure in that manner.
[Sidenote: 5. Magna Charta Island.]
We gradually leave the neighbourhood of London and come to quieter
reaches of the Thames, where the water is never disturbed by the
tide, and rich green meadows edge the silent stream. This is a little
island in the river where, seven hundred years ago, Magna Charta was
signed--the famous document by which the then King of England granted
to his people ways of justice which have been practised ever since.
But the island is now merely a little green spot, surrounded by
rippling water, upon which a house has been built for the refreshment
of passing boat people.
[Sidenote: 6. Clieveden.]
[Sidenote: 7. Nuneham Bridge.]
We glide on to places where the woods cover steep slopes and overhang
the water. Here, for example, we have such a wooded bank, crowned
with the country house of a rich man. And here another wooded scene,
with a timber bridge, and a cottage hidden away among the leaves.
[Sidenote: 8. Landscape from Cotswolds.]
[Sidenote: 9. The same--Bredon Hill.]
[Sidenote: 10. The same--Saintbury.]