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made no provision for growth. Then it was not considered that more bridges might be required, and the quays from Blackfriars to the Tower would have afforded but little facility for the growth of that commerce which has made London the port of the world. It is, therefore, open to question whether a city laid out on this uniform plan, with little provision for any but the rich, would have grown, without some modification, into the London of to-day.

Evelyn's plan differed from that of Wren chiefly in proposing a street from the church of St. Dunstan's-in-the-East to the Cathedral, and in having no quay or terrace along the river. He wished, however, to employ the rubbish he obtained by levelling the streets for filling up the shore of the Thames to low water-mark, so as to keep the basin always full.

On September 19 Robert Hooke exhibited his model for rebuilding London before the Council of the Royal Society, and it is said that the Lord Mayor and Aldermen preferred it to Wren's plan. All the chief streets were designed to run in an exact straight line, and all the cross streets to turn out of these at right angles. All the churches, public buildings, market-places, and the like, were to be arranged in proper and convenient places.

In spite of the multitude of counsellors, the jealousies of the citizens prevented any systematic design from being carried out, and in consequence the old lines were in almost all cases retained.

A very excellent proposal was made by Colonel Birch in Parliament for the purpose of carrying out a uniform plan for rebuilding. It was that the whole ground of London should be sold and placed in trust, and that the trustees should sell again with preference to the former owners. Unfortunately this simple proposal was not adopted.

Although measures were taken for rebuilding, London remained in ruins for many months, and as late as April 23, 1668, Pepys describes himself as wearily walking round the walls in order to escape the dangers within.

Although the chief responsibility of rebuilding the whole City devolved upon Wren, that great man recognised the advantage of obtaining the skilled assistance of Hooke, and for several years the two worked together. Hooke's model drew the attention of the Corporation to him, and obtained for him the position of City Surveyor. He laid out the ground of the several proprietors in the rebuilding, and had no rest early or late from persons soliciting him to set out their ground for them at once. No doubt there were many heartburnings at this time, but on the whole every one seems to have been fairly well satisfied. It is said that the Commissioners, who were appointed by Parliament to settle all differences arising out of the rebuildings, gave such satisfaction that their portraits were painted at the expense of the citizens for £60 apiece.

Although as antiquaries we may regret the interesting relics of past ages which were swept out of existence by the ruthless flames, we

cannot but rejoice as Londoners at the sanitary improvement caused by the clearing away of alleys and courts reeking with pestilence. In illustration of this, it is only necessary to point to the fact that before the fire the plague constantly visited the City, and since that time it has not been heard of therein.

Hundreds of fine old mansions were destroyed, and many public buildings. Of the 98 parish churches within the walls 85 were burnt down, and 13 left standing-35 of the destroyed churches were not rebuilt, and their parishes were joined to others. The greatest loss of all, however, was that of the noble Cathedral of St. Paul's, a building indissolubly connected with our old literature. The beautiful spire, rising 208 feet above the tower, had been destroyed long before, but the splendid building itself, with its good but incongruous portico by Inigo Jones, the handsome tomb of Sir Guy Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, called and universally supposed to be the tomb of the good Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the innumerable chapels, and the world-renowned Paul's Cross-all perished completely and left the world the poorer.

Although much was destroyed, much was also saved, and we have still some relics of the elder time around us. There are the Tower, Great St. Bartholomew's, and the Temple Church among the chief of those historical buildings which were rescued from the flames. The church of St. Olave's, Hart Street, very narrowly escaped, and Pepys relates his fears for the Navy Office and the adjoining church.

London was fortunate in possessing such an architect as Wren, who was equal to the occasion which so unexpectedly presented itself. He stamped his genius upon the new London which arose from the ashes of the old. Not only are his churches, from the cathedral downwards, beautiful in design as buildings, but they all bear their part in the general effect. Each one helps to enhance the picturesque design which the architect produced. Unfortunately in these latter days we have done all in our power to destroy this design, and in some instances we have needlessly destroyed some of these elegant churches.

When the City was in ruins the citizens feared that business might leave its old haunts and move westward, but when the City was rebuilt these fears were proved to be groundless, and business went on as before in its old grooves.

The growth until the end of the last century was almost entirely along the course of the Thames. The citizens lived eastward in Essex, and fashionable persons westward near the court.

Westminster and London had a distinct origin, but gradually they were joined, and at last they became practically one.

First the Bishops built their palaces on the Strand of the river, then the road upon which the stables abutted came to rank as a street, and houses were built on the opposite side. The village of Charing grew into importance as a meeting place between Westminster and London and the newly settled district of St. James's.

The first general emigration westward of the laity was made in the reign of James I. Lord Herbert of Cherbury and many others went to Great Queen Street, which was built about 1629, and called after Henrietta Maria. In the latter part of Charles I.'s reign and during the Commonwealth Covent Garden became the fashionable quarter. At the Restoration St. James's started into favour, and has retained its position ever since.

Grosvenor Square came into existence early in the 18th century, and Belgravia dates from the end of George IV.'s reign. The first emigration of the London merchants westward was about the middle of the last century; and only those who had already secured large fortunes and possessed reputations beyond the shadow of a doubt ventured as far as Hatton Garden.

The importance of the noble river, which first called London into being and has ever been the main cause of its prosperity, was never more neatly explained than in that speech of a London alderman quoted by Stow. A courtier told the worthy alderman that Queen Mary in her displeasure against London had appointed to remove with the Parliament and term to Oxford. He answered, "Does she mean to divert the Thames from London or no?" The gentleman said "No"; and the alderman cried, "Then by God's grace we shall do well enough at London, whatsoever become of the term and Parliament!"

The Thames continued to be a main highway long after the fire, and within living memory it was common for persons to row for pleasure from London Bridge to Battersea or farther. The watermen were a privileged class, notorious for the bad language with which they saluted all they met. Johnson's reply to one of these watermen is the only recorded instance of a successful retort on such an occasion. Most of the respectable people gave up the contest in despair.

State prisoners to the Tower were taken by water, and that way went the Seven Bishops in the reign of James II. The body of Nelson was brought in state from Greenwich to Whitehall.

A very different scene was exhibited when the river was frozen over. This often occurred when in hard winters the blocks of ice were kept by the small arches of London Bridge from travelling farther. The Thames since new London Bridge was built has not been liable to this

occurrence.

In spite of all the growth that took place, it was nearly a century after the fire before a second bridge was built. Westminster Bridge was opened in 1750, Blackfriars (intended to be called Pitt Bridge, after the great Earl of Chatham) in 1768, Vauxhall in 1816, Waterloo (originally called Strand Bridge) in 1817, Southwark in 1819. Then came a period of rebuilding, commencing with New London Bridge in 1831.

Westminster and Lambeth long remained at the western end of the town, for although there was much beyond, that was in the country. Dr. Heberden recommended South Lambeth as a health resort on

account of its being situated on the banks of a tidal river, with the south-west wind blowing from the country, and the north-east softened by blowing over the town.

Vauxhall Gardens existed for nearly two centuries, and when we read Pepys and Evelyn, Addison and Fielding, we cannot help feeling that in the 17th and 18th centuries our countrymen lived a much more out-of-door Continental sort of life than we do now. A forgotten poet of the last century likens Vauxhall Gardens to Eden, and Fielding in his Amelia expresses himself unable to describe the extreme elegance and beauty of the place.

Ranelagh came into being about 1733, and soon afterwards we hear Johnson exclaiming, "When first I entered Ranelagh, it gave me an expansion and gay sensation in my mind, such as I never experienced anywhere else!"

Either in the time of James I. or in the next reign, a portion of the St. James's Fields were laid out for the convenience of the players of the newly introduced game of Pall Mall. Games did not flourish during the years of the Commonwealth, and at the Restoration the courtiers found the Pall Mall less secluded than they left it. In consequence of the road being partly built upon, Charles II. set aside a portion of St. James's Park for the purposes of his favourite game. The street at first was given the name of the Queen Catharine, but this name was never popular, and the usual designation was the "Old Pall Mall." St. James's Park was originally in the country, but when Pall Mall was built and fashionable people began to frequent it, it became, from its vicinity to the palace of Whitehall and St. James's House, a part of the town. One corner of the park had been occupied by a favourite place of entertainment called Spring Garden, but after the Restoration building was commenced there. As early as 1661 the inhabitants of Charing Cross, who enjoyed a fine view of the trees in the park, petitioned the King that no further houses might be erected in the Spring Gardens. The ground built upon was called "Inner Spring Gardens" and "Outer Spring Gardens," and many illustrious persons came to live in the new quarter. Maitland, writing some 150 years ago, in speaking of London, says, "This ancient city has engulphed one city (Westminster), one borough (Southwark), and fortythree villages." Were he living now he would have been able to make large additions to his list.

In the year 1222 the parish of St. Margaret constituted the whole of Westminster, but a very few years afterwards a large portion was abstracted to form the parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, which for four or five centuries included nearly all the west of London. The parish of St. Paul, Covent Garden, was carved out of St. Martin's in 1645; that of St. Anne, Soho, in 1678; and that of St. James in 1685; but it was not until 1725, when the parish of St. George, Hanover Square, was constituted, that the extreme west was taken away from the parish of St. Martin. These dates show very clearly the slow but steady.

growth westward. It must not be forgotten that there was also a considerable growth eastward. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in October 1685, and the consequent migration into this country of a large number of industrious French Protestants, caused a considerable growth in the east end of London. It was then that the silk manufactories at Spitalfields were established.

William III. cared little for London, the smoke of which gave him asthma, and when a great part of Whitehall was burnt in 1691, he purchased Nottingham House and made it into Kensington Palace. For convenience of communication with London, the King caused a broad road to be made through Hyde Park, which was lighted by lanterns at night. Kensington was then an insignificant village, but the arrival of the Court soon caused it to grow into importance.

In the 18th century London had grown into a City of very considerable proportions, but it had not become positively unwieldy in size, and it would seem to have been esteemed an exceedingly agreeable place to live in. It certainly produced some of the most devoted Londoners. Dr. Johnson, although he came to London after his first youth was past, and although he always retained a fond affection for his birthplace, Lichfield, thought that London was the only place in the world where a man could really live. He was constantly moving, and he therefore had a considerable experience of various parts of the town. At first he went to Exeter Street, Strand, then he migrated to Greenwich. He brought his wife to Woodstock Street, near Hanover Square, then he moved to Castle Street, Cavendish Square, after that he was in the Strand, in Boswell Court, in the Strand again, in Bow Street, in Holborn, in Fetter Lane, and in Holborn again. In Gough Square he compiled the great Dictionary, but when that work was finished, and supplies no longer came in from the publishers, Johnson was forced to seek a cheaper lodging in Staple Inn. He then crossed Holborn to Gray's Inn. Afterwards he went to Inner Temple Lane, to Johnson's Court, and in Bolt Court, close by his beloved Fleet Street, he died.

A still more representative Londoner was Hogarth. He did not change his quarters so often as Johnson, but he has left us a series of the most marvellous pictures of the London life of his time-and this life in all its phases is mirrored in his pictures and engravings. He shows us tavern life, and theatrical life, also the hospitals, the prisons, and streets. It is a very unlovely picture, but the cruelty and crime that is painted so true to life must have caused many to labour for a reformation of manners, a reformation that was brought about in the end, and in the attainment of that end the labours of Hogarth must not be forgotten. It is perhaps necessary to mention that this artist's topography is not always to be trusted, as it was often sacrificed to pictorial effect.

In conclusion, it is necessary to speak of the great northern and southern growth of London.

In 1756, and for some years subsequently, the land behind

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