Old Humphrey's Walks in London and Its Neighbourhood (1854)

Victor i an 914.21 0L1o 1854 Joseph Earl and Genevieve Thornton Arlington Collection of 19th Century Americana Brigham Young University Library BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY 3 1197 22902 8037 OLD HUMPHREY'S WALKS IN LONDON AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. BY THE AUTHOR OP "OLD HUMPHREY'S OBSERVATIONS"—" ADDRESSES 1"- "THOUGHTS FOR THE THOUGHTFUL," ETC. Recall thy wandering eyes from distant lands, And gaze where London's goodly city stands. FIFTH EDITION. NEW YORK: ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, No. 28 5 BROADWAY. 1854. UOPB CONTENTS Pagt The Tower of London 14 Saint Paul's Cathedral 27 London, from the Cupola of St. Paul's .... 37 The Zoological Gardens 49 The National Gallery CO The Monument 71 The Panoramas of Jerusalem and Thebes .... 81 The Royal Adelaide Gallery, and the Polytechnic Institution 94 Westminster Abbey Ill The Museum at the India Hcfuse 121 The Colosseum 132 The Model of Palestine, or the Holy Land . 145 The Panoramas of Mont Blanc, Lima, and Lago Maggiore . 152 Exhibitions.—Miss Linwood's Needle-work—Dubourg's Me- chanical Theatre—Madame Tussaud's Wax-work—Model of St. Peter's at Rome 168 Shops, and Shop Windows * 177 The Parks 189 The British Museum 196 . IV CONTENTS. Chelsea College, and Greenwich Hospital • • . 205 The Diorama, and Cosmorama 213 The Docks 226 Sir John Soane's Museum 237 The Cemeteries of London 244 The Chinese Collection 263 The River Thames, th e Bridges, and the Thames Tunnel 2TO ; PREFACE. It is possible that in the present work I may, with some readers, run the risk of forfeiting a portion of that good opinion which has been so kindly and so liberally extended to me. There may be those who will think that London sight-seeing is an occupation too light-hearted to be indulged in by an old man, and that I might have employed myself better in attending to things more profitable, and better adapted to my years. Different people, however, take different views on most subjects and believing, as I do, that habitual cheerfulness is no unfit at- tendant on healthy piety ; and having also a strong impression that a grateful participation of lawful enjoyment is a better ex- pression of thankfulness to the Father of mercies, than a volun- tary endurance of unmeaning penances, and useless and unprofit- able self-denials ; I have thought it not inconsistent with my years and my hopes, to give some account of such places of public interest in London as may be visited by Christian people in their hours of relaxation, without hampering them in their earthly du- ties, or hindering them on their way to heaven. Though the grey hair is on my head, and the furrows of time on my brow, yet have I to be thankful for a light foot, a ready hand, a quick eye, and a cheerful heart ; and the possession of these blessings, naturally enough, leads me to partake of sunshine, rather than to go in quest of shadows. Most people thjik that their trials are at least equal to those of their neighbours and I, too, have thought before now that I have had my share. If, how- VI PREFACE. ever, my mourning has been great, my me cieshave been greater; and seldom do I pass an hour of any day without a halleluia on my lip or in my heart. No marvel, then, that with these buoyant emotions, I should love to go abroad when animate and inanimate creation rejoices ; when mankind, in a proper and grateful spirit, keep holiday ; and when " the mountains break forth into singing, and the trees of the field clap their hands." In collecting into one volume my scattered papers on the sights of London, and in adding to them such further information as they appeared to require, I hope not to dissipate the minds of my readers, but, on the contrary, to interest and instruct them. There are some who know less of the things on which I have treated than myself, though many may know more : at any rate, I have persuaded myself that the cheerful gossip and graver remarks of a friendly old man, on subjects interesting in themselves, will not be altogether unwelcome. To such of my readers as estimate books only in the proportion in which they are likely to do good, I trust it will appear that I have not sought to give pleasure unaccompanied with profit, but so connected my walks in London with that " city which hath foundations," that those who are informed as to the one, shall not be altogether unmindful of the other. Old Humphrey. WALKS IN LONDON AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. OLD HUMPHREY'S CITY GRATIFICATIONS. Before I notice the sights of London and the neighbourhood, let me point out a few things which are to me sources of gratification. Wrong me not, however, by supposing me to be an idle lounger, an indolent stroller in public places. Sight-seeing may be useful as an occasional recreation, though it would be profitless as a regular employment. In the busiest life there are seasons of leisure, even in the six days appointed us in which to labor and do all 1 that we have to do, anr I think it no evil, wherever 1 am, in town or country to seek out innocent sources of enjoyments. I like to pick up scraps of conversation as I pass my fellow pilgrims in the world, whether at St. Giles's or St. James's: to notice peculiarities in form, dress, demeanour, language, or action : to muse on the shrewd- ness of one man, the oddness of another, the churlishness of a third, and the kindness of a fourth : the Jew with his old clothes ; the Mohammedan with his box of rhu- ! 8 old Humphrey's barb ; the whining beggar, defended by his matches from the interference of the police ; the fish-woman at Billingsgate; the merchant on 'Change, and the Lord Mayor in his state carriage—all call forth the specula- tions of Old Humphrey. I like to look in the shop windows, for many of them supply food for profitable speculation. I like to pause as the plumed hearse and mourning coaches, drawn by black horses arching their proud necks and lifting their feet high, slowly move among the crowded and busy streets, emphatically proclaiming to the passers by, " Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not," Job xiv. 1, 2. I like to look on etchings, drawings, engravings, and pictures, and am oftentimes spell-bound by their in- fluence, feeling regret that I cannot thank those who have so much contributed to my gratification. I like to glance, if it be only at the title-page, on the works of authors that I believe to be in heaven, claiming kindred with them even there, knowing them, loving them, and longing to be like them. How many a kindred spirit, by the record it has left behind it, has made my heart beat and my pulse play, and called forth my admi- ration, joy, and thankfulness, hundreds of years after its translation to glory I like to linger at the well-supplied stalls of second- hand books, and **% turn over the leaves of the volumes exposed for sak rom the twr openny box of all sorts at the door, to \\v shelf of folios inside the shop. I like to glide slowly with the living stream along Cheapside, noting the passers by, and reading their history in their CITY GRATIFICATIONS. 9 eyes, faces, and appearance. Twenty men did I see there in procession last week, every one bearing a broad, heavy board on his shoulder, placarded with the name of a London Journal, and some of them tottered beneath their burdens. Oh, what a tale did their haggard cheeks, their sickly frames, and their ragged raiment make known! Poverty, and perhaps, thoughtlessness, in- discretion, and crime, had made them what they were. I like to stand opposite Christ's Hospital, and look through the double row of iron palisades at the boys when they are at play in the court-yard. If it were possible to make a good-looking boy appear ugly, by dressing him up in uncouth clothing, the blue gown, yellow petticoat and stockings, and buckle-gavter-like girdle of the Christ's Hospital costume would undoubt- edly do it: but, in spite of their dress, the light-hearted, merry-making young rogues find their way into my heart. I remember that I once was a boy, and when they knuckle down at ring-taw, leap the skipping rope, trundle the hoop, and race after one another, I feel that I could join them at their sport. It was but yesterday that I stood looking at them for ten minutes, after- wards giving them in silence my parting blessing. I like, when I feel strong, though some would re- gard it as an arduous undertaking for an old man, to ascend to the golden gallery of St. Paul's Cathedral, and look upon London below. The incessant rumble of busy life reaches me as an echo of things remote, and my brother emmets beneath me, by their diminished stature make me feel little in my own eyes. London, the treasure-house of the earth for wealth and power, as the queen of nations, stretches the sceptre of her in- fluence over the east and west, the north and the south.

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