Part 24
The reader who _admires_ adulteration may find enough of it thus noticed in the London Chronicle, June 2, 1764. This article evinces that I am not the first person who has reprobated the London brick-maker. "We have long complained of _alum_ bread, of small beer brewed with _treacle and water_, and porter without _malt or hops_. No one is now ignorant, that half of the best rums and brandies are but _malt spirits_; and that the quantity of port-wine which is drunk in England, by the help of _Alicant_ and _other mixtures_, more than doubly exceeds what is annually imported. And every family at this time is lamenting the unmerciful roguery of forestallers and engrossers, and those who increase the price upon all adulterated commodities, without any feeling for the consumer. But we take not the least notice of a practice that seems more hurtful to the community than any of the above--_the present method of making bricks_.
"If you go to the remains of London Wall, or examine any old brick buildings, you will find it more difficult to pull it down, than it was for the architect to raise it; but let any person attend to the continual accounts given in the papers _of the number of half-built houses that tumble down before they can be finished_, and he will tremble for those who are to inhabit the many piles of new buildings that are daily rising in this metropolis. When we consider the practice among some of the brick-makers about the town, we shall not wonder at this consequence, though we must shudder at the evil. The increase of buildings has increased the demand, and consequently the price of bricks. The demand for bricks has raised the price of brick-earth so greatly, that the makers are tempted to mix _the slop of the streets_, _ashes_, _scavengers dirt_, and every thing that will make the brick-earth or clay go as far as possible. It is said the price of this brick-earth is more than doubled within these two or three years. The Scavenger, unwilling to be behind with the Landholder, has doubled the price of ashes, trebled the price of cinders, and charges a considerable price for the filth, mud, and what they call the slop of the streets. This slop makes near one half of the composition that is to raise the enormous and very numerous buildings which are to unite London with Highgate, Bromley, Rumford, and Brentford, within these five years; unless, what seems very possible, the bricklayers, carpenters, and masons, with all their labourers and workmen, are overwhelmed in the ruins of their own buildings before the plan is finished. The Legislature has provided for our safety against the roguery of the Builders; but, unless the materials of which the bricks are made shall be taken into consideration, London may shortly resemble the City of Lisbon, without the intervention of an Earthquake."
When the Corporation of London had determined in 1766 to remove many of the inconveniences and obstructions then common in the City of London, it appeared in evidence that the Streets were generally badly paved, very dirty, and not sufficiently lighted; and that the Signs prevented a free circulation of the air and view of the Streets, while the Posts contributed to impede the passenger. Nor were the Penthouses less injurious; those, loaded with flower-pots, often occasioned dangerous hurts by the fall of the latter; and the watering of the plants in them contributed, with the projecting spouts, in rainy weather, to sluice the Citizen, who at the same time steered his undulating or zig-zag way through wheelbarrows and bawling owners. Another comfort peculiar to this period was the ambition of Shop-keepers, who encroached upon the footways by bow-windows. When an example was set, the whole fraternity, fired with emulation, thrust each new one beyond his neighbour. Such were the impediments to walking so recently as 1766! The reader may imagine how a Londoner must have felt during a high wind and shower; a thousand signs swinging on rusty hinges above him, threatening ruin to his person at every step, and a thousand spouts pouring cascades at his luckless head.
The extravagant use of Signs had been complained of early in the century, when they were described as very large, very fine with gilding and carving, and very absurd. _Golden_ perriwigs, saws, axes, razors, trees, lancets, knives, salmon, cheese, blacks' heads with gilt hair, half-moons, sugar-loaves, and Westphalia hams, were repeated without mercy from the Borough to Clerkenwell, and from Whitechapel to the Haymarket; but a person who knew what they were much better than myself thus described them under the signature of A. B. in one of the newspapers of 1764: "In the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV. the inhabitants of the City of Paris were ever complaining how sick the City was, and how fast they died: upon which, Louis consulted the Medical people what could be the cause of it: and they all agreed, that it was owing to the largeness of the Signs, which choaked up the free circulating air, which ever administers to health; upon which an edict was published, that no Sign should be more than 18 inches by 12, and all the iron perhaps may weigh four or five pounds; and I do suppose that some of the Sign-irons in London weigh four or five hundred, and some a great deal more. Soon after this edict was published, it was declared by the inhabitants, that they found a sensible difference in their healths. The general run of their streets are a little wider than Paternoster-row; a few much wider, and a great many not so wide.
"Now, when the wind blows hard upon a very broad Sign, with a great weight of Iron on the front of the house, I often wonder, that the fronts do not fall oftener than they do. In the year 1718, the front of a house, opposite Bride-lane in Fleet-street, fell down, and killed two young ladies, a cobler, and the King's Jeweller. This you may depend upon as a truth; many others were maimed, and a few more were killed, I cannot say how many: this was done by the wind blowing hard against the large Sign and Iron. These gorgeous Signs are to draw in customers; but, if they were all upon a footing, and our signs and callings were wrote as they are in the Strand, would not every body be the better for it, and a great deal of money be saved into the bargain? First, they would save their money; secondly, render the City more healthy; and thirdly, prevent people's brains being knocked out," &c. &c.
The suggestions of this and other good citizens were at length attended to; and the Court of Common Council appointed a Committee, in the same year, to consider of some method by which they might accomplish the removal of Signs and Water-spouts, and cause the former to be affixed to the fronts of houses flat against the wall, and the latter to be so contrived as to discharge their contents without annoying passengers. The gentlemen commissioned for the above purpose were directed besides to arrange a plan for inscribing the names of streets, lanes, and alleys, on their corners.
Soon after the above appointment, the Newspaper-writers frequently noticed the alteration of Signs; and the inhabitants of Shug-lane appear to have led the way in putting the Act of Parliament in execution, sanctioning the general improvement of London and Westminster. In addition to the names of streets placed on the corners, the Nobility then introduced brass plates or door-plates with their names engraved on them; and the numbering of the houses completed this portion of the great work of amendment.
The streets of London were extremely inconvenient before this period, as the kennels were in the midst, and the stones of the pavements round; nor was there, as at present, a smooth footway for the pedestrian. A meeting of the Commissioners for the re-paving of London was held in June 1766, when Aberdeen granite was adopted, and Charles Whitworth, Esq. contracted for the performance; but the Commissioners for paving the squares, streets, and lanes of Westminster, had issued the following intimation in March 1763:
"Notice is hereby given, that they intend new paving Parliament-street, Charing Cross, Cockspur-street, and Pall Mall; for which purpose the following Proposals are advertised, _viz._
"1st, For furnishing Edinburgh stones, or stones of the like quality, for the carriage-way of the said streets, at the Quarry, according to the dimensions following, _viz._ of four and five inches thick (and a few of six for the kennels), and not less than nine inches deep, and for delivering the same at the places where they may be most conveniently shipped.
2dly, For freight and delivery at such wharf or wharfs, near Westminster-bridge, as the Commissioners shall direct.
3dly, For carriage from the said wharf or wharfs to the said streets, or any of them, as the Surveyor shall direct.
4thly, For paving of the carriage-way of the said streets with the said stones, supplying the best Thames sand, labourers, and all incidental charges (except only removing the old pavement, and leveling the ground), according to such dimensions as shall be set out by the Surveyor, and under such inspection of the Surveyor as is directed by the Act of Parliament.
5thly, For paving the footways of the said streets with the best Purbeck pavement, and a curb of Purbeck or Moor stone twelve inches broad, and seven inches thick, leveling the ground, finding all materials and workmanship, according to such levels and such dimensions as shall be directed and appointed by the Surveyor, and under his inspection, as the said Act directs; as likewise for re-laying such part of the old footways as shall be directed by the Surveyor.
6thly, Persons willing to contract may make their Proposals for the whole, or any part, of the said works; and for keeping the same in repair for the term of ten years; the said works being to be completed within one year from the 3d of May next.
Note, The number of square yards of the carriage-way is about 20,000; and the quantity of stones to be contracted for will be 7000 tons, to be delivered in London, within the space of one year from the 3d of May 1763 to the 3d of May 1764, according to the following proportions, _viz._ 600 tons in the month of May, 800 tons in each of the months of June, July, August, and September, 500 in October, 400 in each of the months of November, December, and January, and 500 tons in each of the months of February, March, and April.
Proposals in writing, sealed up, to be delivered in at Westminster-bridge office, Old Palace-yard, Westminster, on or before Tuesday the 12th of April next.
By order of the Commissioners,
GEORGE BOX, _Clerk_."
As St. James's-street now is, nothing can be more convenient than the gradual declination from Piccadilly to the Palace. That the houses on each side of the way have been almost entirely rebuilt since the year 1765, will pretty plainly appear from the ensuing lively paper, inserted in the London Chronicle August 15, 1765:
"We have read a great deal in your paper about Liberty, Mr. Printer; give me leave to say a word or two about Property, which, talk as they please, the greatest part of mankind reckon the most valuable of the two. Our sensible forefathers, in framing the Streets of this great City, preferred utility to ornament; and, in St. James's-street, they were very industrious, that the paving of that uneven ground should not prejudice the property of any individual.--Their wiser sons have wished to reverse this practice, and have been full as industrious in conforming the buildings to the Scotch paving. The descent from the upper to the lower end of this street being so very steep, has brought very whimsical distresses upon many of the inhabitants--some of the ground-floors, that were almost level with the street, are now eight, nine, and some ten steps, and those very steep, from the ground; while others, to which you used to ascend by three or four steps, are now as many below the surface. Cellars are now above ground, and some gentlemen are forced to dive into their own parlours. Many laughable accidents too have happened from this new method of turning the world upside-down: some persons, not thinking of the late alterations, attempting to knock at their own door, have frequently tumbled up their new-erected steps, while others, who have been used to ascend to their threshold, have as often, for the same reason, tumbled down; and their fall had been the greater, from their lifting up their legs to ascend as usual. An old gouty friend of mine complains heavily; he has lain, he says, upon the ground-floor for these ten years, and he chose the house he lives in because there was no step to the door; and now he is obliged to mount at least nine, before he can get into his bedchamber, and the entrance into his house is at the one pair of stairs. A neighbour too complains he has lost a good lodger, because he refused to lower the price of his first floor, which the gentleman insisted he ought, as the lodgings are now up two pair of stairs. Many of the street doors are not above five feet high; and the owners, when they enter their houses, seem as if they were going into a dog-kennel rather than their own habitations. To say the truth, no fault can be imputed to the trustees: but many are great sufferers; and this method of making the houses conform to the ornamental paving, is something like the practice of Procrustes, the robber, who made a bed of certain dimensions, and whoever was put into it, had his legs cut shorter if they were too long, or stretched out if they were too short, till the poor wretch was precisely of the length with the bed.
"I am, Sir, yours, &c.
"ANTI-PROCRUSTES."
The exertions of our fathers in the general improvement of houses and streets have left _us_ little to do. Pure air, so essential to the preservation of life, now circulates freely through the _new_ streets; squares, calculated for ornament, health, and the higher ranks of the community, are judiciously dispersed, and their centres converted into beautiful gardens; the tall houses have a sufficient number of large windows; the areas in front are wide, and handsomely railed with cast iron; lamps on scrollwork are suspended at due distances from each other; and admirable level smooth footways of great breadth protect the passenger from the carts and carriages, separated from him by a curb stone raised several inches above spacious kennels, through which the water from showers passes and descends into large drains, communicating with vast sewers many feet below the level of the street.
There are salutary laws providing for the performance of those acts of cleanliness which individuals might neglect or omit. The inmates of every house will of course cleanse the steps leading to it; but they will not _universally_ remove the soil from their pavements. The law commands them to do so _every_ morning under a penalty of 5_s._; and yet there are very few who walk the narrow streets of London in winter can forget the retrograde motion of their feet on the deep mud when the pavements are--_greasy_. Sir William Curtis, when Lord Mayor, recently determined to enforce the law--and very honourably _fined himself_.
Scavengers are appointed to sweep the carriage-ways, and carry off the dirt; and yet there are places to be found where brooms have not always done their duty. The publick are very properly forbid to throw any kind of dust into the streets, and are ordered to reserve it for the Dustman, who is enjoined to call for it frequently; and yet I was once informed by a housekeeper that their Parish Dustman had not honoured them with a visit _for six long weeks_. The renters of single rooms, in first, second, and third floors, in mean streets, feel themselves _above_ restraint. Those people empty dirty water mixed with their offals into the gutters, the stench of which is appalling; but I forget, they certainly do not offend against the law--it is _dust_, not _water dirtied_, or mixed with dust and vegetables, which they are forbidden to deposit in the streets.
Let me not neglect in this survey the laudable efforts of the Sweepers male and female, who, stationed at corners and crossings, faithfully remove every appearance of soil from the stones for the casual receipt of half-pence. They are undoubtedly an useful body, and they have my commendations accordingly.
Beer-houses, or, as they are generally termed, Public Houses, render our streets extremely unpleasant in summer; but delicacy forbids my adding more on the subject. Would that equal delicacy in the keepers would _turn their customers backwards_!
So much for the Streets. Repairing-leases contribute greatly to the handsome appearance of the Houses; every thing is in order; and the clause for painting the fronts triennally keeps the woodwork as clean and bright as our fogs and the coal smoke will permit. The shop-keeper prides himself on the neatness of his shop-front; his little portico, and the pilasters and cornices, are imitations of Lydian, serpentine, porphyry, and verde antique marbles; and those who have the good fortune to serve any branch of the Royal Family immediately place large sculptures of their several arms and supporters over their doors, and their own names and business in golden characters. The great windows of large panes exhibit the richest manufactures, and the doors of the Linen drapers are closed by draperies of new muslins and calicoes. Some wags pretend indeed that the tradesman has a double motive in this proceeding--the darkening of his premises to prevent keen eyes from discovering coarse threads, and embellishing his shop.
The Goldsmiths and Jewellers, and some Pawnbrokers, indulge the publick with the view of diamonds, pearls, rubies, emeralds, gold, and silver, in most fascinating quantities; but the Watch-makers and Glassmen eclipse all competitors in the display of fanciful clocks set in alabastor, or _molu_, gold and silver, and the richest cut glass lighted by patent lamps at night. The Bookseller exposes copies of the most expensive works in his windows, and the Printsellers those of the best artists. The Undertaker covers his panes with escutcheons, crowns, coronets, and mitres of gold; and contrives to introduce the lid of a little velvet coffin, which is intended to lead the eye to full-sized real ones preparing for the dead.
The Lottery-office-keeper attracts a crowd by numbers of tickets and shares disposed for sale, and always places a paper _memento_ at the elbow, of "No. &c. &c. sold at this office in the last lottery, drawn a prize of 30,000_l._" Hence the Lucky Office and _Only_ Lucky Office[403:A].
The retailer of Quack Medicines covers every pane of his shop-windows with the bills of different compounders of nostrums, and the angles between the paper and the sashes with transparent vivid colours; and the Proprietors of Newspapers seize upon every battle or capture as fair opportunities for pasting large pieces of paper together, which they inscribe "Sixth edition," &c. &c. and suspend from the top to the bottom of their casements; while their myrmidons the Newsmen reiterate the "Sixth edition" with distended lungs in the short intervals between the--I had almost said--infernal blasts of their tin trumpets. Let the purchaser, however, beware the Newsman doth not give him a paper or gazette--three weeks old--_in the hurry of the moment_!
Such are the methods adopted by the London Tradesmen to attract attention, and such the appearance of the lower part of their Houses: indeed, Commodities are now generally used in place of the antient Signs. One of their _absurdities_ deserves reprehension: when a man has a front door between two windows, or a door on the right side of a window, he will have his name over the door, and his business on the friezes of the windows; for instance,
Window Door Window --+---------------+-------+---------------+-- | GOLDSMITH AND | BROWN | JEWELLER, &c. | +---------------+-------+---------------+
instead of "Brown, goldsmith and jeweller." The nonsense produced in this way is sometimes incredibly ludicrous. I once observed the words "Preston, Nightman, and Rubbish carted," so placed that they conveyed an idea of a partnership "Preston and _Rubbish_."
The noble fronts of the several Banking-houses and Insurance offices, many of the latter with fine emblematic statues over the doors, are great ornaments to the streets of London.
The interior architecture of our dwellings is generally very convenient; but I could wish that the kitchens might henceforward be erected behind the house, that no human being should be immersed in damp, and blinded with darkness, as our servants now are, seven or eight feet below the surface of the street.
It will be perceived that every thing under this article has now been noticed which is independent of the information already given in "Londinium Redivivum." I shall, therefore, conclude it with referring the reader to the annexed Prints, where he will find sketches of various parts of London which I have considered as the most picturesque, the whole contributing to illustrate the _general character_ of the Metropolis.
FOOTNOTES:
[359:A] Mungo Park confirms this supposition by his description of the mud walls and thatched roofs of the Savages in Africa, where civilization has not yet made its appearance.
[364:A] See specimens of brick-work in the annexed prints, of Croydon palace, and a curious gateway, dated 1599, near Bromley, Kent.
[366:A] The _Minced pie_ House is at Greenwich, and was built by Vanbrugh. The ludicrous title is a witticism upon the architecture.--It is an unfortunate circumstance that the two old houses in Goswell-street are just rebuilt; and the view of Privy-garden is _now_ incorrect, through alterations made since the Plate was engraved.
[403:A] The expensive and absurd methods lately adopted by Lottery-office keepers and many other tradesmen to invite customers are too contemptible for serious notice.
CHAP. X.
SKETCH OF THE PRESENT STATE OF SOCIETY IN LONDON.