zero, and in July, 1808, when it rose to 94° in the shade. The barometer averages 294 inches. A considerable part of the metropolis, viz. the city of Westminster and the borough of Southwark, is below the level of the highest water-mark. The soil, in general sound and dry, the sewers and drains, which convey away all impurities, the broad tide-current of the Thames, the wholesome and abundant supply of provisions, and the precautions for cleanliness, combine to render London, perhaps, the healthiest metropolis in the world. The average duration of human life has increased with the improvements in domestic economy, insomuch that the rates of premiums on life-insurances have universally been lowered. The diseases of London are in nowise peculiar to it as a city. Those of a cutaneous nature are comparatively rare. Many result from the nature of the employment, in manufactures of various kinds; others are the offspring of intemperance. The annual mortality in London, which, in the year 1700, was as 1 in 25, may now be taken at 1 in 40 persons. The number of registered births amounted, in the year ending Dec. 15, 1829, to, males 13,764; females, 13,354; total, 27,118. The number of registered burials, in the same year, was, males, 12,015; females, 11,509; total, 23,524. The table of baptisms does not include the children of Dissenters from the establishment. It was stated, in a meeting lately held for the purpose of forming a grand national cemetry, in London, that the annual interments amounted to about 40,000.—Civil government. The chief civic officer of London is the lord mayor, annually elected from among the aldermen on the 29th September. The powers and privileges of this officer are very extensive. The court of aldermen consists of 26 members. They are chosen for life by the householders of the 26 wards into which the city is divided, each being the representative of a several ward. They are properly the subordinate governors of their respective wards, under the jurisdiction of the lord mayor, and preside in the courts of Wardmote for the redress of minor grievances, removing nuisances, &c., assisted by one or more deputies, nominated by them from the common council of the respective wards. Such as have filled the office of lord mayor, become justices of the quorum, and all others are justices of the peace within the city. The sheriffs, two in number, are annually chosen by the livery, or general assembly of the freemen of London.

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When once elected, they are compelled to serve, under a penalty of £400. The common council is a court consisting of 240 representatives, returned by 25 of the wards, in proportion to their relative extent; the 26th, or Bridge Ward Without, being represented by an alderman. The general business of this court is to legislate for the internal government of the city, its police, revenues, &c. It is convened only on summons from the lord mayor, who is an integral member of the court, as are the aldermen also. The decisions are, as in other assemblies, dependent on a majority of voices. The recorder is generally a barrister of eminence, appointed, for life, by the lord mayor and aldermen, as principal assistant and adviser to the civic magistracy, and one of the justices of Oyer and Terminer, for which services he is remunerated with a salary of £2000 per annum from the city revenues. The subordinate officers are the chamberlain, town clerk, common sergeant, city remembrancer, sword bearer, &c. The livery of London is the aggregate of the members of the several city companies, of which there are 91, embracing the various trades of the metropolis. They constitute the elective body, in whom resides the election, not only of all the civil officers, but also of the four members who represent the city in parliament. The local jurisdiction of Westminster is partly vested in civil, partly in ecclesiastical officers. The high steward has an under-steward, who officiates for him. Next in dignity and office are the high bailiff and the deputy bailiff, whose authority resembles that of a sheriff, in summoning juries and acting as returning officers at the election of members of parliament, of whom the city of Westminster returns two. These officers are chosen by the dean and chapter of Westminster, and appointed for life. The borough of Southwark is one of the city wards, and denominated Bridge Ward Without. It is subject to the jurisdiction of the lord mayor. It returns two members to parliament. The military force supplied by London comprises two regiments of militia, amounting to 2200 men, whom the city is authorized to raise by ballot; the officers being appointed by the commissioners of the king's lieutenancy for the city of London, according to a parliamentary act in 1794. The year 1829 witnessed the almost entire remodeling of the ancient system of police and nightly watch. These latter guardians of the public were heretofore appointed

by the several wards in the city district, and by the parochial authorities in other parts of the metropolis. But a recent act of parliament established a body of metropolitan police, divisioned and disciplined somewhat like the gens d'armerie of France, and subjected to the control of a board, consisting of three commissioners, who superintend and are responsible for all acts of their inferiors. The metropolis being subdivided into sections, each has a station or watch-house, and a company of police, consisting of 1 superintendent, 4 inspectors, 16 sergeants, and 144 police constables. They are dressed in a blue semi-military uniform, and are on duty at all hours, night and day. This new police commenced its duties, in several of the parishes of Westminster, on Sept. 29, 1829, and is becoming gradually extended to the other districts. The present number employed is estimated at 5000 men. But the city retains its special establishments, under the control of its own magistracy. It comprises marshalmen, day and night patrols, constables, watchmen and streetkeepers, altogether amounting to 800 or 900 men, appointed by the several wards. The principal city police offices are at the Mansion house and Guildhall, where aldermen preside in rotation. In the districts not within the city jurisdiction, there are eight different offices, presided over by 27 magistrates, usually selected from among the barristers. There are also 100 foot-patrols, and, in winter, 54 horsepatrols, the former continually, the latter only by night, protecting the streets and environs of the metropolis. Independent of these is the Thames police, established in 1798, for the protection of persons and property connected with the shipping, from Vauxhall bridge to Woolwich. The chief office is at Wapping, and the importance of such an establishment may be estimated, by considering that there are upwards of 13,000 vessels of various sizes engaged on this river, annually discharging and receiving more than 3,000,000 packages of goods of every description. The chief prison for criminals is Newgate in the Old Bailey. It is the common gaol for London and Middlesex. The number of its inmates varies from 900 to 350. The Compter is situated in Giltspur street, close to Newgate, and destined for the reception of vagrants and persons committed previous to examination, or as a house of correction for the confinement of persons sentenced to hard labor or imprisonment. Clerkenwell prison, in Spafields, receives prisoners of every description, for the

county of Middlesex. Its average number of inmates is about 200. The Fleet prison, in what was lately Fleet market, is a receptacle for debtors and persons guilty of what is technically called contempt of the court of chancery. It is intended to remove this nuisance, and to build a substitute in St. George's fields, in the Borough. The prison usually contains 250 indwellers, and keeps ward of about 60 out-patients, i. e. prisoners privileged to live within the rules. The King's Bench prison is a spacious gaol for debtors and minor criminals. It has about 200 separate apartments. The other prisons of note are in Southwark, viz. Horsemonger lane or the Surrey county gaol, appropriated to felons and debtors; the Borough Compter, for various classes of offenders; the New Bridewell, erected in 1829, near Bethlehem hospital, as a house of correction, in which the prisoners are chiefly employed at the tread-mill; and the Marshalsea prison, in Blackman street, for persons committed by the Marshalsea court. The principal houses of correction are the Bridewell hospital, Cold Bath fields, and the penitentiary at Milbank. The ecclesiastical division of London comprises 97 parishes within the walls, 17 without, 10 in Westminster, besides 29 out-parishes in Middlesex and Surrey. It contains one cathedral (St. Paul's), one collegiate church (Westminster abbey), 130 parish churches, and 70 Episcopal chapels; nearly 200 places of worship belonging to Protestant Dissenters; 18 churches or chapels of foreign Protestants, viz. 1 Armenian, 1 Danish, 2 Dutch, 5 French, 7 German, 1 Swiss, and 1 Swedish; 6 meeting-houses of the Friends (or Quakers); 10 British Roman Catholic chapels; 5 ditto for foreigners of that persuasion, viz. 1 Bavarian, 1 French, 1 German, 1 Sardinian, 1 Spanish; and 6 Jewish synagogues, one of which is for Portuguese, and another for German Jews. (Westminster abbey and St. Paul's cathedral are described in separate articles.) London owes not merely its magnificent cathedral, but 53 other churches, to sir Christopher Wren. The multiplication of churches has nearly kept pace with the rapid extension of the metropolis. The commissioners, appointed for the purpose, are gradually removing the stigma upon an opulent church establishment, that religious accommodation was unprovided for the poor. Many of the churches possess much architectural beauty. There are, in London, 45 free schools, endowed in perpetuity, for educating and maintain

tients; the London hospital; small-pox hospital; various lying-in hospitals, &c. The Bethlehem hospital and St. Luke's hospital receive insane patients. The humane society has 18 receiving-houses in different parts of London, with apparatus for restoring suspended animation. Dispensaries relieve more than 50,000 patients annually. There are at least 30 of them, besides 12 for the sole purpose of vaccination. The college of physicians and the college of surgeons examine candidates for the professions of physic and surgery, in the metropolis and the suburbs. The museum of the latter body contains the collections of the celebrated John Hunter, amounting to 20,000 specimens and anatomical preparations. The apothecaries' company grant certificates, without which no one can practise as an apothecary in England or Wales. The number of booksellers and publishers is more than 300. The number of newspapers is 55. (See Newspapers.) The British museum (q. v.) is a spacious brick structure, in the French style of architecture. It was, originally, the palace of the first duke of Montague, built in 1677; its dimensions, 216 ft. length by 70 ft. depth,and 57 ft. height. The ground floor is appropriated solely to the reception of the library of printed books. The principal or upper floor contains the miscellaneous articles of curiosity for public inspection; such as collections of minerals, lavas, volcanic productions, shells, fossils and zoological specimens, British and foreign, and also various articles from the South sea Islands, and North and Western America, &c. The ground floor is connected with a more modern building, called the gallery of antiquities, divided into 15 apartments, in which are distributed nearly 1000 pieces of sculpture, Greek and Roman, a fine collection of terra cottas, Roman sepulchral urns, cippi, sarcophagi, &c. temporary room are deposited the Elgin marbles, purchased by government for £35,000. The upper floor of this gallery contains the collections of Herculanean and Pompeian antiquities made by sir William Hamilton, cabinets of coins and medals, and also a rare collection of prints and engravings by the most eminent artists. The present building is destined to be razed to the ground as soon as a splendid edifice, now constructing, is completed. There are various other public libraries. King's college (q. v.) was founded in 1828. The London university, founded in 1825, is not a chartered institution. Its course of instruction compre

ing nearly 4000 children, 17 for pauper or deserted children, and about 240 parish schools, in which clothing and education are supplied to about 12,000 children. The chief public endowments, of the first description, are, St. Paul's school, Christ's hospital, Westminster school, Merchant Tailors' school, and the Charter house. St. Paul's school, founded in 1509, bestows a classical education upon 153 pupils. Christ's hospital, founded by Edward VI, in 1547, can accommodate about 1100 children, of both sexes, who are clothed, boarded and educated for seven years. Some of the boys are prepared for the university, most of them for commerce. Westminster school, founded in 1560 by queen Elizabeth, receives a large number of pupils of high rank and respectability. Merchant Tailors' school, founded by the company of merchant tailors in 1561, educates about 300 pupils at a very low rate of payment. The company nominate to 46 fellowships in St. John's college, Oxford. The Charter house, endowed in 1611, supports and educates scholars for the university (where they receive a liberal annuity), or for commerce, besides instructing about 150 other pupils. Many other charitable institutions for education are supported by voluntary contribution, as are, also, the parochial schools, which usually provide clothing and elementary instruction for the poor children of the respective parishes. The children of these schools are annually assembled in the vast area of St. Paul's, on the first Thursday in June. The central national school, with its 40 subsidiary schools in London, educates there about 20,000 children. The British and foreign school society, at its central and subsidiary schools, of which there are, in London, 43, educates about 12,000 children. The Sunday schools, taught by about 5000 gratuitous teachers, instruct between 60,000 and 70,000 children. The foundling hospital is capable of receiving about 200 children. There are also orphan asylums, an asylum for the deaf and dumb, one for the indigent blind, and many others. Alms-houses are numerous. There is a small debt relief society, a mendicity society, a philanthropic society for giving employment to the industrious poor, a prison discipline society, &c. There are also various hospitals; St. Thomas's, with 490 beds; St. Bartholomew's, capable of accommodating between 400 and 500 patients; Guy's hospital, with 400 beds; St. George's, with 350; Middlesex hospital, able to contain 300 pa

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hends languages, mathematics, physics, ethics, law, history, political economy and medical science, communicated in public lectures, examinations by the professors, &c. The building is yet incomplete, the central part alone being finished, which extends 400 feet in length, and 200 in depth. The front, to Gower street, is a handsome façade, adorned with the noblest portico in London, of 12 Corinthian columns, ascended by a flight of steps, surmounted by a dome and lantern. On the principal floor is a spacious examination hall, a museum of natural history, a museum of anatomy, professors' apartments, a grand library, 120 feet by 50, and a smaller library, 41 feet by 22; and at each end is a semicircular theatre for lectures, 65 feet by 50. The ground floor is portioned into lecture-rooms, cloisters, two theatres, chemical laboratory, museum, offices and council-room. The number of students, in this university, in the year 1829, was 680. The royal society of literature was instituted in 1823; the royal society for improving natural knowledge, in 1663; the society of antiquaries, in 1572; the royal institution, in 1800, for diffusing mechanical knowledge, and the application of science to the various purposes of life; the society of arts, in 1574, to award premiums and bounties to useful inventions and discoveries; the royal academy, in 1768, for the promotion of the fine arts. It provides students with busts, statues, pictures and living models, and has professors of painting, architecture, anatomy, perspective and sculpture. Their annual exhibition of new paintings, drawings, sketches, sculptures, &c., the admission to which is one shilling per head, averages £6000 per an num, and supports all the expenses of the establishment. There are several other societies for the promotion of the fine arts, and the private collections of works of art are numerous and splendid. The number of theatres and amphitheatres is 12, of which the principal are, the King's theatre or Italian opera-house, Drury lane and Covent garden theatres. Vauxhall gardens are a favorite place of summer resort for the lovers of music, singing and fireworks. The principal promenades are St. James's park, Green park, Hyde park (q. v.), (which comprises nearly 400 acres) Kensington gardens, and the Regent's park, which is laid out in shrubberies and rich plantations, adorned by a fine piece of water, studded with villas and intersected by rides and promenades. The Zoological gardens, in this park, contain

many different sorts of animals, in paddocks, dens or aviaries. The commerce of London was so extended, even in the fourth century, that 800 vessels were employed in its port, for the exportation of corn only. In the seventh century, it is characterized by Bede as the emporium of traffic to many nations; and, in the twelfth century, it appears that the products of Arabia and the East were largely imported. In the thirteenth century, the company of merchant adventurers was incorporated by Edward I; in the sixteenth, the Russia company received its charter from Mary, which was confirmed by her successor, Elizabeth; and the Levant or Turkey company was established. The increase of commerce in this century led, also, to the erection of the royal exchange, by sir Thomas Gresham. The beginning of the seventeenth century witnessed the first patent granted to the East India company, the incorporation of the company of Spanish merchants, and the establishment of assurance and insurance companies. (See Companies, and Commerce of the World.) The number of vessels belonging to the port of London, in 1701, was 560 ships, containing 84,882 tons; in 1829, 2663 ships, containing 572,835 tons. The value of the imports and exports of London, in 1806, was £36,527,000; in 1829, £107,772,805. The customs of London amounted, in 1710, to £1,268,095; in the year ending July 5, 1829, to £15,597,482; ditto, 1830, to £16,385,049. The number of vessels employed in the coasting trade, was, in 1796, 11,176; in 1827, 17,677. The number of vessels employed in the foreign trade, in 1827, was, British, 4012; foreign, 1534; total, 5546; in which it is calculated, that one sixth of the tonnage and one fourth of the men were employed in the East India trade, and one sixth of the tonnage and one third of the men in the West India trade. The vessels employed in the river navigation, in 1827, were 3000 barges, 350 punts, and 3000 wherries, the total tonnage of which was 110,000 tons, employing 8000 men. There are 50 steamvessels, of different descriptions, belonging to the port of London, and the year 1830 is remarkable for the successful voyage of the first steam-packet from India. The custom-house, in Lower Thames street, is a spacious building. The principal front to the river presents a façade of 480 feet in length; the depth is 100 feet; and the principal or Long room is 180 feet by 60. The building affords accommodation to 650 clerks and officers, besides 1000 land

ing waiters and servants. The docks of London are on a scale of grandeur commensurate with the extent of its commerce. (See Docks.) St. Catharine's docks were commenced in 1827, with a capital, of which £1,000,000 sterling was subscribed by 19 persons only. They communicate with the river by a canal 190 feet long and 45 broad, and cover a surface of 24 acres, originally occupied by 1250 houses, situate between London docks and Tower hill, including St. Catharine's church and hospital. They are calculated to accommodate 1400 merchant vessels, annually, in the wet docks and basin, the former covering 11 acres. The cost of completing these great works was £2,000,000 sterling. In noticing the manufactures and trade of London, we shall merely observe, that as early as the fourteenth century, it was celebrated for its excellent cloths and furs, the skinners and cloth-workers forming a numerous and wealthy class of citizens. In the sixteenth century, the manufacture of fine glass, silk stockings, knives, pins, needles, pocket-watches and coaches, was extensively established. In the seventeenth, it was noted for the manufacture of saltpetre; and the silk manufactures, on an extensive scale, commenced under the industrious French refugees, great numbers of whom settled in Spitalfields, after the revocation of the edict of Nantes. The printing of calicoes was also commenced, and weaving-looms were introduced from Holland. From that time to the present, the productions of London have increased with extraordinary rapidity, and include every article of elegance and utility. No city can boast more splendid shops, or in greater number, than London; these, with the vast warehouses in the city, where the wholesale trade is chiefly carried on, excite the astonishment of foreigners. Previously to the year 1694, the pecuniary transactions of London were chiefly carried on by the aid of the wealthy goldsmiths, who were the principal bankers during the disturbances of the civil wars. In 1694, the bank of England was incorporated, under the title of the governor and company of the bank of England, in consideration of a loan of £1,200,000 advanced to government, at the rate of £8 per cent. The amount of bank-stock capital, in the year 1750, was £10,780,000; it is now £14,553,000. The average price, during the year 1829, was £213. (See Bank.) In no part of the world is the post-office system conducted on a scale of such magnitude, excellence, security, and speed of commu

It is stated, that the average number of letters which pass through the post-office exceeds half a million weekly: 30,000 letters were put into the post-office on the 26th of June, 1830, the day of king George IV's death. The chief offices of the East India company are comprised within the precincts of the East India house, in Leadenhall street-a spacious edifice, ornamented by an Ionic portico of six columns, and presenting a stately front of 200 feet length. Insurances on ships are chiefly effected by underwriters, whose principal place of resort is Lloyd's coffee-house, on the north side of the royal exchange. Insurances on lives, and against loss of property by fire, are effected by 37 insurance companies. (For the bridges, see Bridge). The Thames tunnel was commenced in 1825, and was intended to form a communication, under the bed of the river, between Rotherhithe and Wapping. It was to consist of two parallel archways, each 1300 feet long and 14 feet wide, having the partition wall pierced by a series of arched passages, to allow access from one road to the other. The crown of the tunnel is 15 feet below the bed of the river, and the approaches are formed by spiral descents of easy declivity. The progress of the work is suspended at present; but the portion of it complete extends above 600 feet in length, and is accessible to visitors. If ever it be finished, it will form one of the most extraordinary substructions of ancient or modern times. The projector was Mr. Brunel, a skilful and enterprising engineer. The Monument, on Fish street hill, is a lofty column of the Doric order, erected to commemorate the dreadful fire of London, in 1666. Sir Christopher Wren furnished the design. The altitude is 202 feet from the pavement, the diameter of the shaft 15 feet, the pedestal 40 feet high, and its plinth 28 feet square. The inscription, ascribing the fire to the Catholics, has been lately effaced. Besides the public edifices already noticed, are the new palace of Buckingham house, Westminster hall, the council office, the banqueting