1S05.] 



Incidents in and near London. 



1:9 



tolerable fenfe of vacimm which the mind 

 fufFers that has no objeil commenfurate 

 to its capacity, or whofe faculties of ac- 

 tion and of feeling, although in a flateof 

 reguifition, are not fummoned by an im- 

 perious necefTity, or other motives of fuf. 

 ficient power, to regular and intererting 

 occupation. To the proper and healthy 

 ftate of man daily exertion is no lei's ne- 

 ceflary, than the diurnal motion of the 

 earth he inhabits is to its exiltence and 

 continued prefervatlon. Without intel- 

 leflual, bodily exercife is comparatively of 

 little avail to one whofe underftanding has 

 been enriched and exalted by literary cul- 

 tivation. ♦« I will not hefitate to affert, 

 that to have the mind ardently engaged in 

 a purfuit that totally excludes exercife of 

 the body, is much more favourable to the 

 fpirlts than a languid mixture of both."* 



• Dr. Aikiii'i " Letters to his Son." 



Of the important effefls aiifing from bo- 

 dily labour, when united w'th mental tx- 

 cittment, we have recorded a remaikible 

 inftance in the " Monitor ct Prectptor" 

 of Dr. Mead. — "A young ftuient at 

 college became fo dee} ly hypochondriac, 

 that he proclaimed himfclf dead, and or- 

 deied the ccllege-bell to be toiled on the 

 occp.il n of his death. Isi this he was in- 

 dulged ; but the man employed to exe- 

 cute the tafk appeared to the ftudent to 

 perform it fo imperfeftiy, that he arofe 

 from his bed in a fury of paflion to toll 

 the bell for his o*n departure. When he 

 had finiflied, he retired to his bed in aHa:e 

 of profufe perfpiraticn, and was from 

 that m.ment slive and well — " Vitam a«- 

 tem reddidit ijie labor, et cannjalefcit." 



J. Reid. 

 Grenmlle ftreet, Brunfi^jick-fquan, 

 Augufl 25, 1805. 



INCIDENTS, MARRIAGES and DEATHS in and NE.-iH LONDON. 

 With Biographical Memoirs of dijUnguiJhed CharaBers recer.ily deceafed. 



nPHE engineers are about to be begin imme- 

 diately on the two archways under the 

 Thames at Rotherhithe. This work will be 

 a worthy companion of the Weft India and 

 London Docks, and wiW with them vie with 

 the greatcftof the ufetul public works of an- 

 cient and modern times. 



A plan for covering the naked f«nds of 

 Hyde Park with verdure has been adopted. — 

 Several teams are employed in conveying to 

 the different bare parts of the Park a rich 

 B'old for the purp^fe. It i< intended to Uy 

 ftratums of tbi« m-jld over tlie njkfd furface, 

 and then to drc.''s the wliole with a fbrinkling 

 •t grafs feeds, ii th:it by next fumnier a 

 luxuriant verdure will hive fucceeJed the fte- 

 rile afpeQ which now it. many places disfi- 

 gures the ii<.c cii the Park. The mold is 

 tiken from the bed of the piece of water 

 between the Ride and the Drive, which has 

 been drained in the purpole. 



About the middle of the night of the T ith 

 of Auguil: a fire broke out at the Royal Cir- 

 cus, St. George's Fields. Tiie H mics ex- 

 tended with the Mio't aftonifliing rapidity over 

 the whole buiUir;, which was in a (hort 

 time entirely con.umed, toe'-ther with the 

 adjoining coffee houlr, the ridinp-houfc, and 

 Come other biiilaings behind the Circus. The 

 tlamei ill the th-atre were fo rapid, that not 

 *n article of the fcenery Srefies, or mufical 

 uiftruments, could be faved ; fortunately, 

 however, the horfes were all got out alive. 

 The effect of the conHagration, when at its 

 Jx'ght, wai awtully grand : the batiks of 



the river for a confiderable diftance, and the 

 ftreets leading from the Strand to the 

 Th.itr.es, were fo brilliantly illuminated, 

 that it was light as noon-clay. Many of the 

 performers have fuftaineJ heavy loffes by the 

 deftruftion of their pro^'eity in the theatre J 

 and the fire happening in the height of the 

 fealbn, is particularly unfortunate, both for 

 them and the proprietors. 



On the preceding Thurfday, about one 

 o'lilock, a fire broke out at the houfe of 

 Lewis and Porter, oil-dealers and dry- filters. 

 Budge-row, Walbrook. It was oc^afioned 

 by a candle conimunicating with the turpeu- 

 tine and other infianimable rnitcrl.ils in the 

 Cfllar. The flaints were fo rapid and ioftan- 

 taiKous, that it was with great difficulty the 

 peifons in the houfe could nuke their efcape. 

 The female part of the family were compel- 

 led to get out at the windows. The books of 

 account, bills, &c were moftly burnt. 



Government have at length ferioully de- 

 terniii;ed to improve the external appearance 

 of the two Houfcs of Parliament, and to 

 give to the prefcnt ih.ipelefs pile ot building 

 a regular fo: "1 The alterations and improve- 

 ments will b" upon a very extenfive fcale, 

 and it will pr habiy be fome yens before 

 they are completed. It is intended, in the 

 fiift inftance, to take down all the private 

 houfes and buildings in Palace-yard, vvhicti 

 join Weftminller-hall and the Exdicqufr.^ 

 The gre«t north front ot Welhuint>er hall ia 

 to be rellorcU as nearly as poifible to its -'igi- 

 nal ftatt ; and the Court of Exchequer •>■> 

 Z I the 



