Part 6

Colleges.—The two chief colleges in London are connected with the _London University_. This University is a body of persons, not (as many suppose) a building. The body was established in 1837, to confer degrees on the students or graduates of many different colleges in and about London. It occupies apartments at Burlington House, Piccadilly, lent by the government for examining purposes; but it neither teaches nor gives lectures. _University College_, in Gower Street, was originally called _London University_; but since 1837, the more limited designation has been given to it. [Picture: University College] It was founded in 1828, on the proprietary system, to afford a good middle-class education at a moderate expense, without limitation as to religious tests. Hence it is much frequented by Jews, Parsees, Hindoos, &c. The whole range of college tuition is given, except divinity; with the addition of much fuller instruction in science and in modern languages than was before given in colleges. The building, with its lofty portico, might possibly have presented a good appearance if the plans of the architect had been carried out; but, through want of funds, the wings have never been built, and the structure is ridiculously incomplete. The college possesses a fine collection of casts from Flaxman’s sculptures, usually open to inspection by strangers. _King’s College_, in the Strand, has been already mentioned as adjoining Somerset House on the east. It was founded in the same year as University College, expressly in connection with the Established Church of England. There was some sectarian bitterness between the two establishments at first, but both have settled down into a steady career of usefulness. The teaching of divinity, and the observance of church-service as part of the routine, are maintained at King’s College. _Gordon College_, or _University Hall_, in Gordon Square, is an establishment mainly supported by Unitarians; the building itself, as a modern imitation of the old red-brick style, is worthy of a passing glance. _New College_, at St. John’s Wood, for Congregationalists or Independents; the _Baptist College_, in the Regent’s Park; the _English Presbyterian Theological College_, Guildford Street, W.C.; the _Wesleyan College_, in the Horseferry Road; _Hackney College_; and a few others of less note—are establishments maintained by various bodies of dissenters; some for educating ministers for the pulpit; some for training schoolmasters and schoolmistresses. Of the buildings so occupied, the handsomest is New College. This was established, a few years ago, as a substitute for _Highbury_, _Homerton_, and _Coward_ Colleges, all belonging to the Congregationalists. _Gresham College_: this is not a college in the modern sense of the term; it is only a lecture-room. Sir Thomas Gresham left an endowment for an annual series of lectures, and residences and stipends for the lecturers. The charity was greatly misused during the 17th and 18th centuries. Public attention having been called to the subject, a new lecture hall was built, a few years ago, at the corner of Basinghall and Gresham Streets, out of the accumulated fund; and lectures are delivered here at certain periods of each year. The subjects are divinity, physic, astronomy, geometry, law, rhetoric, and music. The lectures take place in the middle of the day, some in Latin, some in English; they are freely open to the public; but the auditors, at such an hour and in such a place—surrounded by the busy hum of commerce—are very few in number. Among the training colleges for schoolmasters and mistresses may be named the _National Society’s_ at Battersea; _St. Mark’s Training College_, Fulham Road; the _Training Institution_ for schoolmistresses, King’s Road, Chelsea; the _British and Foreign_ in the Borough Road; and the _Home and Colonial_ in Gray’s Inn Road. At Islington is a Church of England Training College for missionaries. The _College of Preceptors_, in Queen Square, resembles the London University in this, that it confers a sort of degree, or academical rank, but does not teach. Many so-called colleges are either proprietary or private schools.

Great Public Schools.—The chief of these in London is _Westminster School_, not for the building itself, but for the celebrity of the institution; although the college hall, once the refectory of the old abbots of Westminster, is interesting from its very antiquity. The school, which was founded in 1560, lies south-west of Westminster Abbey, but very near it. Some of our greatest statesmen and scholars have been educated here. _St. Paul’s School_, situated on the eastern side of St. Paul’s Churchyard, was founded in 1521, by Dean Colet, for the education of ‘poor men’s children.’ Like many others of the older schools, the benefits are not conferred so fully as they ought to be on the class designated. The presentations are wholly in the hands of the Mercers’ Company. The now existing school-house, the third on the same site, was built in 1823. The _Charter House School_, near Aldersgate Street, is part of a charity established by Thomas Sutton in 1611. Among other great men here educated were the late Sir Henry Havelock, and W. M. Thackeray. There is an Hospital or Almshouse for about 80 ‘poor Brethren,’ men who have seen better days; and there is a school for the free education of 40 ‘poor Boys,’ with many more whose parents pay for their schooling. The chapel and ante-chapel, the great hall and staircase, and the governor’s room, are interesting parts of the building. _Christ’s Hospital_, or the _Blue Coat School_—as it is commonly called from the colour of the boys’ dress—is situated within an enclosure on the north side of Newgate Street, and is one of the most splendid among the charitable foundations of London. The buildings stand on the site of a monastery of Grey-friars, which was granted by Henry VIII. to the city for the use of the poor; and his son and successor, Edward VI., greatly extended the value of the gift by granting a charter for its foundation as a charity school, and at the same time endowing it with sundry benefactions. The hospital was opened, for the reception and education of boys, in 1552. Charles II. added an endowment for a mathematical class; and with various augmentations of endowment, the annual revenue is now understood to be no less than £40,000. This income supports and educates nearly 1200 children, 500 of whom, including girls, are boarded at the town of Hertford, for the sake of country air. The management of the institution is vested in a body of governors, composed of the lord mayor and aldermen, twelve common-councilmen chosen by lot, and all benefactors to the amount of £400 and upwards. The children are admitted without reference to the City privileges of parents; about one hundred and fifty are entered annually. It is undeniable, however, that many children are admitted rather through interest than on account of the poverty of their parents. After instruction in the elementary branches of schooling, the greater number of the boys leave the hospital at the age of fifteen; those only remaining longer who intend to proceed to the university, or to go to sea after completing a course of mathematics. There are seven presentations at Cambridge, and one at Oxford, open to the scholars. The buildings of the institution embrace several structures of large dimensions, chiefly ranged round open courts, with cloisters beneath; and a Church, which also serves as a parochial place of worship. The only part of the establishment, however, worth examining for its architecture is the Great Hall, occupying the first floor of a building of modern date, designed by Mr. Shaw, in the Gothic style. It measures 187 feet long, 51 feet broad, and 47 high, and possesses an organ-gallery at the east end. In this magnificent apartment the boys breakfast, dine, and sup. Before meals, one of the elder inmates repeats a long grace or prayer, at the commencement of which the whole of the boys, in lines at their respective tables, fall on their knees. The boys are dressed in the costume selected for them in Edward VI.’s reign; the outer garments consisting of a long dark-blue coat, breeches, and yellow worsted stockings. The ‘public suppers,’ on Thursdays in Lent, are worth the attention of strangers: (tickets from governors.) _Merchant Taylors’ School_, situated in a close part of the City behind the Mansion House, was founded in 1561 by the Merchant Taylors’ Company. The present structure was built in 1673, with the exception of some of the classrooms, which are much more modern. About 260 boys are educated, wholly on the presentation of members of the Company; and there are numerous fellowships at St. John’s College, Oxford, open to the scholars. _Mercers’ Free Grammar School_, in College Hill, is a small establishment of similar kind. The _City of London School_, in Milk Street, Cheapside, is one of the most modern of these _Grammar_ Schools, as they are called. It was founded in 1835, and possesses several Exhibitions for successful senior scholars.

Other Schools.—The schools established under the auspices of the National Society, called _National_ Schools, are very numerous, but need hardly be noticed here. The _British and Foreign School Society_, in the Borough Road, and the _Home and Colonial School Society_, in Gray’s Inn Road, train up teachers without reference to religious tests; whereas the _National Society_ is in connection with the Church of England. Many very superior schools for girls, under the designation of _Ladies’ Colleges_, have been established in the metropolis within the last few years, in Harley Street and in Bedford Square, &c. The _Government School of Art for Ladies_ is in Queen Square, Bloomsbury. The _National Art Training School_ is at South Kensington.

The London School Board, elected in 1870, under the new Education Act, has its _locale_ at 33 New Bridge Street, Blackfriars. It has, practically speaking, almost entire control of the educational systems of the metropolis, and is armed with inquisitorial powers that remind us of the ancient Star Chamber. Still, the system of election of the members of the Board gives a certain guarantee of responsibility, that makes its prestige, at least, without suspicion.

Schools of Telegraphy are established at 138 Regent Street, W., and 24 City Road, E.C., where the art is fully instructed, to resident and non-resident pupils.

Hospitals and Charitable Institutions.—A small volume might readily be filled with a list of London’s charitable institutions. The charities connected in some way with the corporation of London are _Christ’s Hospital_, for boarding and educating youth, already mentioned; _Bethlehem Hospital_, Lambeth, for insane patients; _St. Thomas’s Hospital_, for treating poor patients diseased and hurt; and _St. Bartholomew’s Hospital_, West Smithfield, for the same purpose. The City companies likewise support a number of beneficiary institutions, such as the _Ironmongers’ Almhouses_ at Kingsland, and others of like kind. The following hospitals are the most important among the large number founded and supported by private benevolence:—_Guy’s Hospital_, Southwark; _London Hospital_, Whitechapel Road; _Westminster Hospital_, near the Abbey; _St. George’s Hospital_, Hyde Park Corner; _Middlesex Hospital_, Charles Street, Oxford Street; _University College Hospital_, Gower Street; _St. Luke’s Hospital_, for the insane, City Road; _King’s College Hospital_, near Clare Market; _Small-Pox Hospital_, Highgate Rise; the _Foundling Hospital_, Great Guildford Street; the _Consumption Hospital_, Brompton; _Charing Cross Hospital_, Agar Street; the _Lock Hospital_, Harrow Road; and the _Royal Free Hospital_, Gray’s Inn Road. Besides these, there are several Lying-in hospitals, a Floating hospital on the Thames, now substituted by a part of Greenwich Hospital being devoted to a similar use; various Ophthalmic hospitals, and numerous Dispensaries and Infirmaries for particular diseases. Institutions for the relief of indigent persons, Deaf and Dumb asylums, Blind asylums, and Orphan asylums, are far too numerous to be specified. In short, there are in this great metropolis about 250 hospitals, dispensaries, infirmaries, asylums, and almshouses; besides at least 400 religious, visiting, and benevolent institutions for ministering to the various ills, mental and moral, bodily or worldly, to which an immense population is always subject. It is supposed that these several institutions receive in subscriptions considerably over £2,000,000 annually. Some of the hospital buildings above named are large and majestic in appearance. When, for the Charing Cross extension of the South-Eastern Railway, St. Thomas’s Hospital and site, which formerly stood close to London Bridge Station, were purchased for a sum not very much under £300,000, it was arranged to rebuild the hospital between the south end of Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Palace. This hospital, which is now completed, affords a fine object from a steamboat passing up the river, and is certainly one of the noblest buildings of its class in Europe.

THE TOWER; THE MINT; THE CUSTOM HOUSE; THE GENERAL POST OFFICE.

This section treats of four important government buildings situated in the eastern half of the metropolis.

The Tower of London.—This famous structure, or rather group of structures, is a cluster of houses, towers, barracks, armouries, warehouses, and prison-like edifices, situated on the north bank of the Thames, and separated from the crowded narrow streets of the city by an open space of ground called Tower-hill. The Tower was founded by William the Conqueror, probably on the site of an older fortress, to secure his authority over the inhabitants of London; but the original fort which he established on the spot was greatly extended by subsequent monarchs; and in the twelfth century it was surrounded by a wet ditch, which was improved in the reign of Charles II. This ditch or moat was drained in 1843. Within the outer wall the ground measures upwards of twelve acres. Next the river there is a broad quay; and on this side also there was a channel (now closed) by which boats formerly passed into the main body of the place. This water-entrance is known by the name of Traitors’ Gate, being that by which, in former days, state prisoners were brought in boats after their trial at Westminster. There are three other entrances or postern-gates—Lion Gate, Iron Gate, and Water Gate—only two of which, however, are now used. The interior of the Tower is an irregular assemblage of short streets and courtyards, bounded by various structures. The _White Tower_, or _Keep_, is the oldest of these buildings; and the _Chapel_ in it is a fine specimen of a small Norman church. Other towers are the _Lion Tower_, near the principal entrance; the _Middle Tower_, the first seen on passing the ditch; the _Bell Tower_, adjacent to it; the _Bloody Tower_, nearly opposite _Traitors’ Gate_; the _Salt Tower_, near the Iron Gate; _Brick Tower_, where Lady Jane Grey was confined; _Bowyer Tower_, where the Duke of Clarence is said to have been [Picture: Chapel in Tower] drowned in the butt of malmsey; and _Beauchamp Tower_, where Anne Boleyn was imprisoned. These old towers are very curious, but few of them are open to the public. The principal objects of interest are a collection of cannon, being trophies of war; the horse armoury, a most interesting collection of suits of mail on stuffed figures; and the crown and other insignia of royalty. In the _Horse Armoury_, a long gallery built in 1826, is an extensive collection of armour, arranged by Sir Samuel Meyrick, a great authority on this subject. It comprises whole suits of armour, consisting of hauberks, chausses, surcoats, baldricks, breast-plates, back-plates, chain-mail sleeves and skirts, gauntlets, helmets, frontlets, vamplates, flanchards, and other pieces known to the old armourers. About twenty complete suits of armour are placed upon stuffed figures of men, mostly on stuffed horses. Four of the suits belonged to Henry VIII., Dudley Earl of Leicester, Henry Prince of Wales, and Charles I.; the others are merely intended to illustrate the kinds of armour in vogue at certain periods. One suit, of the time of Richard III., [Picture: Traitor’s Gate, Chapel White Tower] was worn by the Marquis of Waterford at the Eglinton tournament in 1839. The gallery also contains some other curiosities relating to the armour of past days. _Queen Elizabeth’s Armoury_ is in the White Tower, the walls of which are 13 feet thick, and still contain traces of inscriptions by state prisoners in troubled times: the armoury contains many curious old shields, bows, Spanish instruments of torture, petronels, partisans, beheading axe and block, thumb-screws, Lochaber axes, matchlocks, arquebuses, swords, &c. Immediately outside these Armouries, in the open air, are some curious cannon and mortars belonging to different ages and different countries. The new _Barracks_ occupy the site of the Small Arms Armoury, destroyed by fire in 1841, when 280,000 stand of arms were destroyed. The _Lions_ in the Tower were among the sights of the place for nearly 600 years; they were in a building near the present ticket-office, but were given to the Zoological Society in 1834. The _Jewel House_, a well-guarded room to the east of the Armouries, contains a valuable collection of state jewels. Among them are the following:—_St. Edward’s Crown_, used at all the coronations from Charles II. to William IV.; the _New State Crown_, made for the coronation of Queen Victoria, and valued at more than £100,000; the _Prince of Wales’s_ and the _Queen Consort’s Crowns_ (the most recent wearer of the last was Queen Adelaide); the _Queen’s Diadem_; the _Royal Sceptre_, _Queen’s Sceptre_, and _Queen’s Ivory Sceptre_; the _Orb_ and the _Queen’s Orb_; _St. Edward’s Staff_ and the _Rod of Equity_; the _Swords of Mercy and of Justice_; the _Coronation Bracelets_ and _Royal Spurs_; the _Ampulla_ for the holy oil, and the _Coronation Spoon_; the silver-gilt _Baptismal Font_, used at the christening of royal children; and the famous _Koh-i-noor_, or ‘Mountain of Light,’ the wonderful diamond once belonging to Runjeet Singh, chief of Lahore, but now the property of Queen Victoria,—it was an object of great interest at the two great Exhibitions in 1851 and 1862. Strangers, on applying at an office at the entrance from Tower-hill, are conducted through a portion of the buildings by warders, who wear a curious costume of Henry VIII.’s time—some years ago rendered incongruous by the substitution of black trousers for scarlet hose. These warders, or _beef-eaters_ (as they are often called), go their rounds with visitors every half-hour from 10 till 4. The word “beef-eaters” was a vulgar corruption of _beaufetiers_, battle-axe guards, who were first raised by Henry VII. in 1485. They were originally attendants upon the king’s buffet. A fee of 6d. is charged for seeing the Armouries, and 6d. for the Jewel House. From time to time, when foreign politics look threatening, the Tower undergoes alterations and renovations to increase its utility as a fortress; and it is at all times under strict military government.

The Mint.—This structure, situated a little north-east of the Tower, is the establishment in which the coinage is in great part made, and wholly regulated. The rooms, the machinery, and the processes for coining, are all full of interest. The assaying of the gold and silver for coinage; the alloying and melting; the casting into ingots; the flattening, rolling, and laminating of the ingots to the proper thickness; the cutting into strips, and the strips into circular blanks; the stamping of those blanks on both surfaces; and the testing to ascertain that every coin is of the proper weight—are all processes in which very beautiful and perfect apparatus is needed. Copper and bronze coins are mostly made for the government at Birmingham. From a statement made in parliament, in August, 1869, by the Right Hon. Robert Lowe, we gathered that _98 millions of sovereigns_ had been coined in the Mint since 1850. But of these no fewer than 44 millions had been lost to our coinage, because many of the sovereigns, being overweight, had been sent to the Continent to be melted down as bullion! There are nearly 500 millions of copper coin in circulation; and of silver coin, from crown pieces down to threepenny pieces, something like the astounding number of 286,220,000. Permission to view this interesting establishment could at one time only be obtained by special application to the Master of the Mint, who has an official residence at the spot; but since the death of the late Master, Dr. Graham, that office will not in future be filled up. A letter to the Deputy Master will probably obtain the required order to view. We should add that the removal of the Mint to Somerset House is now seriously contemplated. It is urged that the price of its present site, if sold, would readily defray cost of removal.

Custom House.—This important building, situated on the north bank of the Thames, between London Bridge and the Tower, occupies a site on which other and smaller custom houses had previously stood. The east and west ends of the present structure were finished in 1817 by Mr. Laing; but the central portion was rebuilt afterwards from the designs of Sir Robert Smirke. The river front is extensive, and although not architecturally fine, the general appearance is effective. One of the few broad terraces on the banks of the Thames is that in front of the Custom House; it is a good position from whence strangers can view the shipping in the river. The ‘Long Room’ in this building is 190 feet long by 66 broad. By way of illustrating the enormous amount of business done here, we may mention, that in the years 1867–68, the amount of Customs’ receipts collected in the port of London was _more_ than [Picture: Billingsgate, Coal Exchange, and Custom House. (Fenchurch Station, behind at the right.)] that of all the _other ports_ of _Great Britain_ taken together, and five times that of the whole of Ireland. In 1867, the port of London gross receipts were £10,819,711; and in 1868, £10,694,494. The vast Customs’ duties for the port of London, amounting to nearly half of those for the whole United Kingdom, are managed here.

[Picture: General Post Office, &c. (Tower, Monument, and London Bridge in the distance.)]