LECTURE II.LONDON, THE IMPERIAL CITY.
LONDON, THE IMPERIAL CITY.
1.Areas of India and the British Isles compared.
Before we set out through the largest and most populous city of the world, let us consider what it is that we are going to look at. Let us try to understand the size of the United Kingdom and of London by comparing them with India and its chief cities. First we have a map showing the area of the British Isles compared with the area of India. We see that the British Isles are small as compared with India; but they have a far more dense population. There are more than twice as many people to the square mile in the United Kingdom than there are in India. This is due to the fact that the people of India live for the most part in villages, whereas in the United Kingdom the majority of the people live in the cities. In India only about ten per cent. of the whole population live in towns with more than five thousand inhabitants.
2.Populations of London, Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Delhi, Rangoon, and Karachi compared.
Now let us compare the populations of our chief Indian cities with that of London. We have here circles which represent by their areas the population of London on the one hand, and on the other hand of Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Delhi, Rangoon, and Karachi. We see at a glance that London has a population greater than the combined population of all these great cities.
We notice the words “Greater London” round the black circle. London may be measured in three ways, for it consists of three zones, one within the other. In the centre there is the oldest part, the City of London, which is now the chief place of business. Round the city there has grown up, in the course of centuries, a great ring of population known as Inner London. Outside this again, there has sprung up of recent years a still wider zone of suburbs, whichis called Outer London. These three, the City, Inner London and Outer London, together make Greater London.
3.Areas of London and Calcutta compared.
4.Areas of London and Bombay compared.
5.Areas of London and Madras compared.
We will next consider how much space the seven million people of London take. On this slide we have two little maps, of which the lower shows in pink the ground covered by the houses of London, and above we have Calcutta shown in like manner. In the next slide the map of the houses of London is repeated, but the outline above is that of Bombay, set on its island between the harbour and the ocean. Lastly, we have a comparison of the area of London with that of Madras. In proportion to its population Madras covers a large area, for as you know there are several spaces within it planted with trees and without houses, but even Madras is small as compared with London.
6.The London Docks.
Now let us start on our way through the town. The chief feature of London is the River Thames. The time was when London was only a small village on the banks of the Thames. To-day the Thames is the harbour of London, the greatest port in the world. Let us go on a little steamer along the river, and let us begin with the docks. An immense quantity of food is needed to feed seven million people. Great quantities of coal are required to keep them warm in their cold winter, and to supply gas and electricity during their long winter nights. Much material is, of course, also required for the construction of their houses and public buildings. Of all these commodities a large part is brought in by sea, and is discharged in the docks. You will remember that at the end of the last Lecture we told how the water is held up in the docks, even when the tide falls in the river. Many of the smaller steamers, however, do not go into the docks. They are able to lie in the river itself and rise and fall with the tide.
7.The Tower Bridge.
When we leave the docks and proceed up the river, we come presently to a bridge, the nearest to the sea of many bridges which carry roads and railways over the Thames. This is the Tower Bridge. It is a very striking object, visible in any distant view of London, for as you see it is borne on two lofty piers, between which there is an upper and a lower way. The upper way is used by foot passengers when the lower way is lifted, as in the slide, to allow of the passage of ships with masts.
8.London Bridge.
But, though the Tower Bridge is so remarkable a structure you must remember that it is only new. The most celebrated bridge in London, perhaps in the world, is called London Bridge. It stands next above the Tower Bridge. Two thousand years ago there was no London; where the houses are now were then forests and marshes. Some seventeen hundred years ago the first London Bridge was built; it was rebuilt afterwards more than once; but no second bridge was put over the River Thames to connect the north and the south of London until a century and a half ago. For all those centuries there was one London Bridge. By means of this Bridge the traffic of the south of England crossed the Thames to the north. But London Bridge stopped the ships coming up from the sea and prevented them from going further into the land, because in early days men could only build small arches for a bridge, and these were neither broad enough nor high enough for sea-going ships. So it was that London grew round London Bridge, for here was not only the lowest bridge on the river but also the most inland point to which sea-going ships could ascend. It was an important place, therefore, both for land traffic and for water traffic.
9.The Tower of London.
On the north bank of the river, a little below London Bridge, the Kings of England in old time built a fortress to defend the town, and also to keep its population in order. This fortress is still standing, althoughagainst modern weapons it would now be useless. It is known as the Tower of London, and is a very interesting old place, quiet and silent amid the noisy metropolis around. The King’s Crown and Coronation jewels are kept here.
10.The River below London Bridge.
The Tower Bridge is so called because it crosses the river beside the Tower of London. Here we have a view taken from London Bridge, looking down the busy river to the Tower Bridge. You can just see the Tower of London on the left hand.
11.Plan of Greater London.
On this slide we have shown again the map of the space covered by the houses of Greater London. The red indicates the area of the houses and streets. The green marks the pieces of tree-covered ground known as parks, which have been retained for the pleasure and health of the people of London. Note the River Thames, like a very broad street, winding through the midst of the town. Note also the docks branching from the river, and the bridges across it. Here, marked with their names, are the two lowest of the bridges—the Tower Bridge and London Bridge. You observe that there are no bridges lower than these, and that all the docks open below bridge. Do you see that London Bridge is still almost exactly in the centre of London? At first the river curved through forests and marshes; then there grew up a little town beside the bridge; that town went on growing larger and larger until it is now as large as a small country. But the head of the sea navigation is still at London Bridge, and the vast metropolis extends in all directions round its harbour. Each day there enter some 700 ships from all parts of the world, many of them from the coasts of England itself, but some from the most distant lands—from America, Africa, the East, and Australia.
12.Greater London with Central London marked off.
13.Central London with the City boundaries.
You see this rectangular space marked off on the map of Greater London? I am next going to give you a map, on a largerscale, of the central and most important part of London; it is contained within the rectangle. Here it is, with the boundary of the City of London shown in red upon it. We see the chief streets, and we are able to mark out the route which we are going to take. We start from the Tower and the Tower Bridge; we pass beneath London Bridge, with the City, the chief business centre, on our right hand; we go under several more bridges and arrive at Westminster, where Parliament sits and the King-Emperor is crowned; then we land, drive past Buckingham Palace, where the King lives, and so to the chief parks. Turning eastward again we return through Trafalgar Square to St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is the Cathedral of London; finally we reach the Bank of England, in the centre of the City, and come back to London Bridge, from whose neighbourhood we started. The whole round measures about eight miles, and yet, as you will remember, the map upon which we have traced it is but the central and smaller part of London.
14.Waterloo Bridge and Somerset House.
It would tire you were I to attempt to show all the bridges under which we pass, but there is one which we must not omit. This is Waterloo Bridge, architecturally the finest bridge in London, perhaps the finest of all the buildings in London. The road, as you see, is quite level, and it is carried upon a series of great stone arches. The bridge is called Waterloo Bridge because it was completed soon after the Battle of Waterloo. As we go through London you will find that there are two famous battles—the Battle of Waterloo on the land, and the Battle of Trafalgar on the sea—which are constantly remembered by Englishmen. They were fought ninety and a hundred years ago. Because Britain was victorious in them the British Empire exists to-day. Therefore these battles and the men who fought them are deemed worthy of commemoration in the metropolis of the Empire. Beyond Waterloo Bridge we see on the slide a fine building known as Somerset House, the office into whichthe taxes of the people of England are paid for the government of the country.
15.The Embankment at Waterloo Bridge.
16.Cleopatra’s Needle and Somerset House.
17.The Thames Embankment.
18.The Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
19.Westminster Abbey from Dean’s Yard.
Here we have one of the arches of Waterloo Bridge, spanning the riverside road which is known as the Thames Embankment. The traffic from north to south is carried, as you see, over the bridge, while that from east to west passes under it. Here we have yet another view of the Embankment, with Somerset House and Waterloo Bridge in the distance. We can see Somerset House better in this view, because the bridge is not in the way. In the foreground we have Cleopatra’s Needle, a single piece of stone as high as a tower. It was brought from Egypt in a specially built ship, having been presented to the Queen of England by a former Khedive of Egypt. The next slide shows the bend of the river, with the Embankment beside it. You see the trees planted along the road—they are green in the summer, but in winter the leaves fall and they are black. In the distance, showing over the housetops, is the great dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. At last we reach Westminster, and look across the water to two of the chief buildings of London, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. The Houses of Parliament were erected in the beginning of the reign of Queen Victoria, but Westminster Abbey was built more than 600 years ago. We have here a view of the Abbey from the land side.
20.The King opening Parliament—the State Coach.
21.The same—the Procession.
22.The Coronation in Westminster Abbey.
Westminster is the centre of the Empire. Here at the beginning of his reign the King is crowned. Here each year he opens the Session of Parliament. Let us see something of the splendid pageants which take place at Westminsteron these occasions. This, for instance, is the King driving in the Coach of State, with the Queen beside him. And here is a photograph of the procession through the streets at the opening of Parliament.
23.The same, another view.
24.The King and Queen at the opening of Parliament.
25.His Majesty the King.
Next we have the Coronationin Westminster Abbey, and in another slide a more general view of the interior of the Abbey on that great day when his present Majesty, the Emperor-King, Edward VII., was crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the presence of the chief men of the Kingdom, and of the Empire, and of visitors from all parts of the world. The picture is taken at the moment when the Crown, the emblem of royal authority, is being placed upon the King’s head. In his hand he holds the Sceptre. In the next slide we have the King and Queen Alexandra seated upon the throne at the opening of Parliament, and then follows a portrait of the King in the Robes of State.
26.Westminster Abbey—Poets’ Corner.
After the solemn state of these great ceremonies, we will return for a moment when the Abbey is empty, and look, not at living people, but at the monuments which record the famous men who in the past have helped to make the British Empire. This is called the Poets’ Corner. Here in this particular corner of the Abbey are gathered together the monuments of the men who have written. By inspiring the British race with noble ideas they have helped to make the Empire no less than have the victors of Trafalgar and Waterloo. All the Abbey is full of monuments—in other parts of it you will find record of the statesmen who have given counsel to our Kings and Queens, and of the soldiers and sailors who have fought for them. Here, too, are the monuments of Viceroys of India.
27.The Houses of Parliament from Whitehall.
Let us cross the road to the Houses of Parliament, first glancing at them once more from the outside. We see the two lofty towers, visible, when the weather is clear, from every hill round London. This is the Victoria Tower, named after Queen Victoria, and this is the Clock Tower. When Parliament is sitting by day a flag is flown from the Victoria Tower, and when it sits after dark a powerful electric light shines from the Clock Tower, so that all men may know that laws are being made for the government of the Empire.
28.Westminster Hall—Interior.
We will enter the building through Westminster Hall, which was part of the Old Westminster Palace of the Kings of England. Set round it are statues of our past Kings and Queens. Formerly the Parliament met to give counsel, and the Judges sat to give justice, in the King’s Palace, but in more recent times the business of the country has become so great that it cannot well be housed in a single building. The Palace of Westminster has, therefore, been given wholly to Parliament, and has been rebuilt, except for this splendid Hall, which has been preserved.
29.House of Lords—Interior.
30.House of Commons during Debate.
Let us pass on, and look for a moment into the House of Lords in the morning when it is empty, and the sun is shining through the windows. Here is the throne upon which the King sits when he opens the session of Parliament each year. Parliament consists of two bodies of men, who are known as the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The Lords are the great dignitaries of the realm—the chief landowners, merchants, lawyers, and bishops. The Commons, on the other hand, though many of them are rich and clever men, do not help to make the laws because of their position in the State, but because they are elected by the people of England to tell the King what the people wish for. Here is one of the mostcelebrated of Englishmen, the late Mr. Gladstone, speaking in the Commons as the King’s Prime Minister. It is the Prime Minister’s duty each evening to tell the King what the Commons have said, and so, though the King is not there, the King and the Commons work together for the government and peace of the Empire.
31.Cabinet Council.
These two large assemblies, the Lords and the Commons—each of them containing several hundred men—could not conduct the detailed business of the country. A small number of them, therefore, are chosen to be the King’s Ministers, and the Ministers form a Committee or Council, which is called the Cabinet. Here is a picture of a Cabinet Meeting. It meets privately; no one knows what the Cabinet says in its discussions—we only know what it decides to do. Presiding over the particular Cabinet shown in this picture is another great Englishman, now dead, the late Lord Salisbury. Among the other Ministers you will see Lord George Hamilton, who was at the time Secretary of State for India.
32.The Treasury.
33.The Admiralty.
34.The Foreign Office.
35.The Law Courts.
Near to the Houses of Parliament are the offices of the various Ministers. They are large and handsome buildings, for each Minister has a staff of officials under him. Here, for instance, is the Treasury, where the finances of the country are managed. And here is the Admiralty, whence the British Navy in all parts of the world is controlled by means of telegraphic messages. Here, seen from one of the parks, is the fine building in which are housed both the India Office and the Colonial Office. The part of it to the left hand, with the tower, contains the Foreign Office, where business is transacted between the British Empire and foreign countries. The India Office is at this right-hand corner. The Prime Minister lives in a house opposite to the door of the Foreign Office, in a little street called Downing Street, and the Government is, therefore, often spoken of simply as Downing Street.Finally, we have the Law Courts, which, until lately were in the Palace at Westminster.
36.St. James’s Palace.
37.Buckingham Palace.
38.Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, with her Son, Grandson, and Great-Grandson.
The Palaces of the King are only a short way from the Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. Here is St. James’s Palace, where the Sovereign sometimes holds great receptions of his subjects. Do you see the sentry at the door? He is one of the King’s Guards, a chosen body of soldiers, who remain near the King’s Palaces, except when they are sent out of the country to take part in foreign wars. Here is Buckingham Palace, where the King lives when he is in London. Behind it there is a large garden. Remember, however, that great as he is, the King is a man, just as we are. He is a father and a grandfather, and he had a mother, our beloved Queen and Empress Victoria. In this picture we have four generations of the Royal Family of England; Queen Victoria, who was our Sovereign, King Edward VII., who is our Sovereign, the Prince of Wales, who will be King after his father, and the little Prince Edward of Wales—destined, we hope, some day to ascend the throne of his ancestors. It is the throne of one-fifth of all the world.
39.The Crowd at the Funeral of Queen Victoria.
40.Police regulating Traffic.
41.A Policeman.
From the King let us turn to his people. Here is a crowd of the people of London, gathered in the Park when Queen Victoria was taken to be buried. It was a mighty, silent crowd, never to be forgotten by those who saw it. Of course there are some people in the great crowds of London, as of all other places, who are bad and disorderly, but in general the people of London obey the Law. Here, for instance, we have a busy point where four streets meet. Two policemen control the traffic, now letting this stream of carriagespass, and now that. Often a driver is in haste, but when the policeman raises his hand, the driver silently waits until he has leave to proceed. Only in this way could seven millions of people live together and do their business. The policemen of London are a fine body of strong men, who very rarely lose their tempers or presence of mind, whatever the sudden difficulty with which they may be faced. Here is one of them politely telling the way to an enquiring stranger. You see that he carries no firearms, yet there are only about 20,000 police to manage all these people.
42.Hyde Park—Rotten Row.
43.St. James’s Park—Children at Play.
44.The same—Children Fishing.
Perhaps the most beautiful possessions of London are the parks, in which, in the midst of their province of houses, the people take exercise and find health and amusement. None of the other cities of the world—not Paris, or Berlin, or New York, orPeking, or Calcutta—have anything quite similar to the parks of London, for they are not formal gardens or bare parade grounds, but pieces of rural country; and they are not just outside the town, but contained in its midst. This is a celebrated road in Hyde Park, where only horses and no carriages go. It is called Rotten Row. Here we see it on a summer day, when the sun is shining, with men and women upon horseback taking the air. But the parks are not merely for the amusement of the rich people who can afford to keep horses; they are also for the poor.
45.The Zoological Gardens.
46.Flowers in the Park.
47.The Crystal Palace.
48.St. Thomas’s Hospital.
Here, for instance, we have a picture of children at play, and here another, taken in St. James’s Park, showing children fishing for the little fish that live in the water of the lake. In Regent’s Park there is a Zoological Garden, in which are kept animals from all parts of the world. Here we see a group of children, who, by way of a holidaytreat, are having a few moments on the back of an elephant. These parks of London have much money spent upon them, so that the poor people of London have in parts of them gardens to look upon which are as fine as the gardens of rich men. Here, for example, we have a scene among the flowers in Hyde Park. Nor must we forget the Crystal Palace, an immense house of glass, where the people may find amusement in all weathers. Of course there are still large parts of London which are ugly, and completely covered with small houses. In these parts the life of the people in the dark, chilly, wet winter is not very bright. But men are always at work to better these wretched quarters, and gradually they will disappear. To serve the poor who fall ill, a number of large hospitals have been built, and some of these are fine buildings, and well placed. Here, beside Westminster Bridge, is St. Thomas’s Hospital, which faces the Houses of Parliament.
49.The Imperial Institute and London University.
Now let us consider another aspect of London. To rule an Empire of 300,000,000 people men require skill, and must be educated. Nearly every man and woman in all the seven millions of London can now read and write. There are hundreds of free schools where these things are taught. But the Ministers of the King, and the judges, and the administrators who go out to the Colonies, require greater skill, and for them, and for the doctors and engineers and other learned people, there are Universities. Here is the fine building occupied in part by the Imperial Institute and in part by the University of London. You know of the University of London, because it holds examinations not only in London but also in other parts of the Empire—for instance, in Ceylon.
50.British Museum—Interior of the Egyptian Room, with Rosetta Stone.
Here we come to another of the great centres of learning in London. This is the British Museum, in which have been gathered historical treasures and documents from all parts of the world. The library of the museum contains more than a million books. In the room that is here shown, you see on the stand in the centre one of the most celebrated of all documents. It is written on a stone, called the Rosetta Stone, because it was found at Rosetta in Egypt. Men have learnt from it—because it is written in two languages side by side—to understand the ancient language of the Egyptians. It is necessary to gather these treasures together in the centre of the Empire in order that learned men may study them conveniently, and compare them with one another, without having to lose time in long journeys.
51.Trafalgar Square.
Now let us leave Westminster and the West End of the town, and as we drive through the streets towards the City of London, the place of merchants, let us stop on the way for a moment to see some of the chief monuments which record the history of the British Empire. This is Trafalgar Square, named after the greatest victory at sea. Here is the monument of Admiral Lord Nelson, who won the battle and died in the moment of victory. There in the centre, standing upon a smaller column, is a more recent monument, erected in memory of General Gordon, of whom probably you have heard. He fought for China in the Taiping rebellion, and afterwards died for Britain at Khartoum.
52.St. Paul’s Cathedral—West Front.
53.St. Paul’s Cathedral—Interior.
54.Nelson’s Tomb.
55.Wellington’s Tomb.
Next we come to St. Paul’s Cathedral, of which this is the West Front and the chief entry. Before it is a statue of Queen Anne, one of the Sovereigns of England, who lived 200 years ago. The Cathedral was rebuilt in her reign. Here is the interior, with the sunbeamsstriking down from the dome. To the left is the tomb of the Duke of Wellington, who won the battle of Waterloo. In the crypt below is also the tomb of Lord Nelson, who saved the Empire in the battle of Trafalgar. Here we have another and nearer view of the tomb of the Duke of Wellington.
56.The Royal Exchange and the Bank.
We will now drive on to the middle of the City. Here to the left is the Bank of England, the centre of the finance of the Empire. Beside it is the Royal Exchange, on the upper floor of which the insurance of ships at sea is effected. The statue is of the Duke of Wellington, and was erected by the merchants of London. See the dense traffic of carriages, for this is the very heart of the business quarter of London, and it is the busiest time of the day. If you saw this very spot late on a summer’s evening, or if you saw it on a Sunday, the day of rest, you would find it quiet and nearly empty.
57.View from the Dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Had we climbed just now to the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral and looked eastward over the City, we should have seen in the background the river and the Tower Bridge, but in the foreground the broad roof of Cannon Street Railway Station. There are many railway stations in the City, and for the following reason. The City of London, which measures one square mile, is occupied at night by only 27,000 people. In the daytime there are probably 360,000 people at work in it. These people go out at night to sleep in Outer London, and are brought back in the morning by trains, by omnibuses, and by cabs.
58.Day and Night Populations of the City.
This diagram shows you clearly the meaning of these facts. The largest (pink) square represents the population of Greater London. The very small (black) square in the centre is the night population of the City. Thesquare (red) of intermediate size represents the number of the people who crowd into the City in the daytime but at night sleep without. So that the City is like a huge pulsating heart, which sends its blood outward through the streets and along the railways at evening, and receives it back in the morning.
59.Interior of St. Pancras Station.
Finally, we enter one of the chief stations of London, whence the trains start, not only at morning and evening, in and out between the centre and the suburbs, but also on longer journeys past the green farms and busy factories of Britain to the coasts which everywhere surround it. London is only the heart and the brain of the Empire; it could not stand alone, for there is no food grown in it. London is great only because Britain is a productive country and the British Empire is great. Therefore, when we have rested after our sight-seeing in the metropolis, we will go out to the green fields and the smaller towns, and will see what England and Scotland and Ireland are like, for from them have come the men who have made both London and the Empire.