Picturesque Sketches of London, Past and Present

The Cathedral of St. Paul's is the great landmark of London. Long before the eye of the approaching stranger obtains a glimpse of the graceful spires, grey massy towers, and tal...

The oldest remains of London, with few exceptions, nearly stand facing each other, and are on opposite sides of the river. Thus, the Tower, though some distance "below" bridge,...

All doubts about the immense population of London would vanish from the mind of a stranger could he but stand on London Bridge Wharf, and see the vast multitudes that embark on...

Food and raiment, household shelter and a grave, are all the Poor-Law allows to the pauper; for there is no clause in that act permitting him the enjoyment of the sweet air of h...

We have often wondered what effect Cheapside produces upon a countryman when he first visits London. The whole street is alive with cabs, carts, chariots, omnibuses, drays, wago...

We have now quitted the City and entered the Strand; before us stands the Church of St. Clement Danes, on the right of which an archway opens into Clement's Inn; beyond that is...

The greater portion of the following work originally appeared in the columns of the _Illustrated London News_. The beauty of the sketches, and the permanent interest attached to...

Our rambles have now brought us to the Docks; but, before describing them, we must glance backward at the scenes which in former years met the eye on the very spots which these...

That it was customary in ancient times to bury the dead outside the city-walls the holy Bible bears witness, even as far back as in the early chapters of the Book of Genesis, wh...

What a crowd of solemn associations gather around the mind of the intellectual visitor on first entering these ancient walls! the very silence which reigns around the vast edifi...

We have again reached the point from which we started at the commencement of our work, leaving behind us undescribed many objects of great interest to such as love to dwell upon...

Although Guildhall was seriously scarred by the Great Fire, and but little more left than the crypt and bare walls that had witnessed its ancient splendour, we are still enabled...

As St. Giles's folds within its arms a portion of the fashion-frequented neighbourhood of Oxford-street, so do the low alleys of Tothill-fields hem in the palaces of Westminster...

Hitherto our course has been eastward; we must now turn our faces towards the west, and describe a few of the objects which lie on our right hand, as we retrace our steps, and j...

Smithfield-market will soon be numbered with the things that "have been;" the defenders of dirt must give way, and the foul and musty corners of the City be purified. Should the...

The cries of "All a-blowing! all a-growing!" are the first sounds with which the spring-flowers are ushered into the streets of London; and although not uttered by the lips of s...

We have often wondered how the mind of a stranger to London is impressed by seeing bare-headed young men moving about our city-thoroughfares wearing the costume of the period of...

Such of our readers as have never been in London in November can scarcely imagine what it is to grope their way through a downright thorough London fog. It is something like bei...

Around and within London lies a land chequered with lights and shadows, close city courts, and stifling suburban alleys, in which the sunshine only lingers for a few minutes dur...

At different times several ephemeral little treatises have appeared professing to teach the inhabitants of London how to live upon 50_l._, 100_l._, and divers other sums a year,...

Beautiful as Greenwich Park is within itself, with its long aisles of overhanging chestnuts, through whose branches the sunlight streams, and throws upon the velvet turf rich ch...

The first object that still strikes the eye when we have passed over into the Borough is the beautiful old church founded by a Saxon maiden called Mary of the Ferry, which in ti...

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL--Anniversary meeting of charity children--interior of St. Paul's--the _Times'_ office--Doctors Commons--Prerogative Court--Examiners of wills--Shakspeare's...

THE TOWER--The White Tower--Hentzner's description of the Tower in the reign of Queen Elizabeth--Anecdotes of lions--The Crown Jewels--The Armoury--Execution of Lady Jane Grey--...