122 Met i opohtan Improvements. [Fun. 



find the justice of his holiness' a observation exemplified in a church buried 

 amidst the crowded houses of Lombard-street and the lanes in its vicinity. 



Such, until late years, has been the fate of nearly all the specimens of 

 architecture which our metropolis possesses. Of St. Paul's, it is impossible 

 to get any one view, which can convey an adequate idea of its magnificence 

 to the beholder ; so that, although we are acquainted with the beauty of 

 its details, we actually pass our lives in the immediate vicinity of one of 

 the finest specimens of architectural magnificence in the world, without 

 ever having an opportunity of judging of its effect as a whole. 



Twenty years ago, the very doors of Westminster Abbey were blocked 

 up by the contiguous houses, and now there is only one side of this superb 

 specimen of the Gothic open to the inspection of the artist; and the effect 

 of this is, in a great measure, spoiled by the bad taste which could place 

 St. Margaret's Church and the Westminster Session-House so immediately 

 contiguous lo such a building. 



The alterations in this part of Westminster were among the first at- 

 tempts to unbury some of our architectural beauties ; and by the plans 

 at present in agitation of removing the whole pile of buildings which di- 

 vides Parliament and King streets, as well as those which adjoin the 

 Abbey westward, we trust a very few years will accomplish the object of 

 presenting Westminster Abbey to the eye of the spectator totally unincum- 

 bered by the neighbourhood which at present conceals and disgraces it. 



When this shall be the case, it is to be hoped that the contrast between 

 this elaborate specimen of Gothic architecture and the miserable attempt 

 on the opposite side of Parliament-square, will induce the complete altera- 

 tion of the latter, and make our Houses of Parliament and Courts of Law 

 what they ought to be models of architectural taste, instead of ridiculous 

 abortions, in which bad Italian architecture is mixed with bastard Gothic. 

 Had we the power of dictation here, we would have the interior of West- 

 minster Hall taken as a kind of grammar to the whole pile of building, and 

 the exterior in the architecture of that period ; by which means we should 

 have two specimens of English architecture of different aeras, and the eyo 

 would not be hurt by the strong contrast of Gothic tracery with Italian 

 columns. 



But, to have done with improvements, which may never have any other 

 existence than in our wishes and imaginations, let us turn to those which 

 have already taken place to those which are in progress and to those 

 which are in projection. 



It has been customary to judge of the increased civilization of a country 

 by its improvements in architecture. By monuments of this art the progress 

 of the ancients is traced; the power of the Egyptians is deduced from the 

 wonderful labour of the Pyramids ; the taste and elegance of the Greeks, 

 from the Acropolis and the temple of Athens. Were we of the present day 

 to be judged thus, England must appear to have advanced a century within 

 the last few years ; for, I suppose, in the annals of the world there have 

 never been such rapid changes and such vast improvements as has occurred 

 in this metropolis during the last seven years. 



We have no occasion now to refer to Pennant to produce exclamations 

 of surprise at the wonderful changes in London ; our own recollections are 

 sufficient. Oxford-street seems half a mile nearer to Charing Cross than in 

 the days of our youth Swallow-street, with all the dirty courts in its 

 vicinity, have been swallowed up, and replaced by one of the most magni- 

 ficent streets in Europe ; a street, which may vie with the Calle d'Alcala 



