136 



Within the last twenty years the rate of increase of population in 

 the outer ring of London has been i26*8 per cent,, while that of 

 London proper has been only 36 per cent.; and in the city there 

 has actually been a decrease of 56 per cent., which has been 

 occasioned chiefly by improvements, but in the central business 

 districts it is almost entirely the result of the substitution of business 

 premises for dwelling houses. The Day Census of the City in 

 1866 shows the number of persons employed was 170,000, and in 

 1881 there was a day population of 261,000. While the night 

 population in 1871 was 74,897, and in 1881 only 50,526 ! This 

 is owing to the facilities afforded by the underground and suburban 

 railways and workmen's trains, by which artisans and clerks can 

 live in fresher air and cheaper lodgings, and get to their work in 

 good time in spite of the distance they have to travel. 



It is interesting to note, though figures are dry subjects, that 

 the population in 1801 was 958,000, thirteen persons to an acre; 

 in 1881 the population was 3,818.000, or fifty-one persons to an 

 acre ; and the rateable value of the City and liberties has since 

 1 80 1 increased sevenfold, having risen from ^507,000 to over 

 ;^3,ooo,ooo. 



The number of passengers and vehicles over London Bridge 

 was taken in 1823, and again in 1881, and-in the former year they 

 numbered 89,000 and 6,182 respectively, and in the latter year 

 nearly 158,000 and 21,466. 



Hackney coaches are first mentioned in 1625, when they were 

 kept at inns, and only numbered twenty ; and they were limited 

 afterwards in number, increasing to 1200 in 1800; and in 1832 

 the restriction in the number was abolished. In 1871 the number 

 of cabs was 8,000, and in i88i, 9,500, of which more than half were 

 hansoms, and there were nearly 1,000 less four-wheelers than 

 before ; so that what Lord Beaconsfield calls the " gondola of 

 London," or the hansom cab, largely increased, and has now made 

 still further progress both in numbers and comfort. 



The lighting, too, of the metropolis, is an interesting history of 

 progression. In 14 16, the citizens of London were under an 

 obligation to hang out candles between certain hours on dark 



