352 



London in 1826, with respect to its present State of Architect 

 tural Advancement. Read before the Literary and Philo- 

 sophical Society of Liverpool: Sessions 1826, 



Having lately had opportunities of examining the external 

 aspect of the British Metropolis with much attention and in 

 great detail, and having compared it with such of the other 

 European capitals as I have seen, and with the rest, from a 

 careful inspection of plans, descriptions and drawings, it has 

 occurred to me that a few observations on the subject would 

 not be altogether undeserving the attention of this society. 



I find it generally admitted that, with respect to architectural 

 improvement, London has made greater advances since the 

 late peace, than in the entire century which preceded that 

 most auspicious event. Public spirit has been more directed 

 into this channel ; the remission of war has enabled the nation 

 to devote more expense to such objects; and above all, a taste 

 for architectural embellishment, both in public buildings and 

 private dwellings, has accompanied the natural progress of arts 

 and knowledge in this refined^community. If the career which 

 has so lately been entered upon should happily not be inter- 

 rupted by the recurrence of war, a still greater improvement 

 in this most striking and resplendent of all the arts may be 

 confidently anticipated. 



As the architectural pretensions of London are therefore, in 

 a very great degree, of a recent date, the subject is not desti- 

 tute of novelty ; no writer, as far as my knowledge extends, 

 having as yet published any notices of the British capital in its 

 present state. The inquiry must be admitted to be interest- 

 ing, since the vast city, in its actual condition, presents a 

 spectacle to which the history of ancient and modern civiliza- 

 tion, in all probability, affords no parallel. Within the limits 

 of this civilization, there is reason to believe so large a mass of 

 human beings have never before been congregated on so small 

 a space of ground. As to the great cities of antiquity, our in- 

 formation concerning their size and population is too vague, as 

 well as too scanty, to enable us to speak with any precision 

 If we are to believe the exaggerations of Herodotus and other 



