lanes, and alleys, avenues of ingress and egress, of trade and traffic, fine shows and social squalor. Pedestrianism is futile in so vast a network, and it would seem that Government itself were incompetent to cleanse and order such a confusion of streets for society's daily use. And yet London streets, considered in relation to the traffic they sustain and the material of which they are made, are the cleanest roadways of any city on either continent, one fourth London's size. The author has run footloose over nearly all the United States, Canada, and Europe. He would know a London street by its odour, its individual character, and its indefinable flavour if he came upon it in the dark of reality or dreamland, on any pilgrimage in rain or shine. There is no other street like it, except perhaps within the purlieus of old Boston in Massachusetts. Its mysterious composition of sounds and odours and humid suggestion of clean decay, carbolised municipal scouring, ammoniated relationship with the animal which Britons love, and drive more skilfully and humanely than any horsemen in the world, these are all unmistakable proclamation of a London street to him who has fallen victim of its peculiar charm. That it is the cleanest street in the world is one of the wonders of Europe. That the air above it is over-freighted with filth is a condition which the city's size, its unsuppressed smoke nuisance, and the country's climate will probably maintain even to an aggravated degree as long as the seething metropolis expands and intensifies its febrile civilisation. But these are material considerations and not entirely in tune with the pleasures of England which I desire to suggest to the wanderer in Thamesland. CHAPTER XXVIII FROM LONDON TO THE SEA Lambeth Palace Sir Arthur Sullivan — Westminster The Houses of Parliament — Westminster Bridge - St. Margaret's Church-The Strand-Westminster Abbey, a triumph of ecclesiastical art - Westminster Hall, where Charles I and Warren Hastings were tried "Big Ben," the Parliament Clock - Victoria Embankment - Whitehall Court - National Liberal Club Cleopatra's Needle - The "Cecil" and " Savoy" Waterloo Bridge - Somerset House - The Temple Charles Lamb and Oliver Goldsmith - The War of the Roses - Temple Church-Sion College - Blackfriars Bridge Henry VIII and Katharine of Arragon - St. Paul's Cathedral — Sir Christopher Wren - Nelson and Wellington London Bridge, A.D. 944-Billingsgate - The Tower of London Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard Sir Walter Raleigh - The Beefeaters — Tower Bridge - The Pool - The Docks - Greenwich, The Hospital, The National Observatory - Tilbury Gravesend Nore Light. The dominant fact concerning the Thames, dwarfing its natural beauty and unrivalled historical associations, is that London stands upon its shores majestic London, that world within a world. There exists no place with which to compare it; and he who essays to present merely a superficial account of its aspect must be prepared to write many volumes, so vast and burdened with the story of the past is London. Lambeth It is obvious that in following the course of the Thames as it flows through London, no more than a fraction of the great city is seen. It is, however, an important fraction. As we pass under Lambeth Bridge, on our right stands Lambeth Palace, the official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury; an ancient structure of dull red brick, containing a splendid library rich in theological works. Not many yards from the palace is the great faïence factory of Messrs. Doulton, a modern structure which necessitated the destruction of many old houses, one house, the birthplace of Sir Arthur Sullivan, the composer, being spared. It is a typical bit of London, hereabout, with its ecclesiastical palace dating from the twelfth century, its busy factory crowded with workers, and its immense hospital (St. Thomas's), consisting of eight separate buildings, arranged so that each may be isolated, except upon the river front, should an outbreak of infectious dis ease occur. Houses of Looking across the river from the Albert Embankment where these buildings stand, we obtain the best view of the Houses of Parliament on the opposite bank. This magnificent Gothic pile stands close to the water's edge and is in the ancient city of Westminster. Foreigners are not expected to understand this. That one city should be within another city strikes one as absurd, but the explanation is simple. For centuries Westminster was a distinct city, but London, the insatiable, long ago reached to it, spread out all around it, and absorbed it utterly. Just by the Houses of Parliament the river is spanned by Westminster Bridge, which is generally thought to be the finest of the Thames bridges. Passing over this bridge from the Surrey to the Middlesex side we come upon the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. They are on our left, scarce a stone's throw apart, and St. Margaret's Church (a place of great interest, where Sir Walter Raleigh lies buried and Milton the poet, was married) is near to both. On Westminster the right is Parliament Street, with its government offices, leading toward Charing |