Or rr ee 
1824] 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
WALKS IN LONDON. 
THE MONUMENT. 
URROUNDED by objects magni- 
ficent or interesting in themselves, 
the generality of London pedestrians 
are content with the gratification’ af- 
forded by the present state of the city; 
but let us not, absorbed in the gran- 
deur and the opulence, which are. so 
broadly displayed in every point, forget 
the former inhabitants. It is not only 
amid tombs and charnel-houses that we 
should allow the dead to engross a por- 
tion of our attention ; the places where- 
in our ancestors flourished, the scenes 
of their triumphs, their trials, or their 
afflictions, ought not to be passed with 
indifference. It is true that the silent 
walls bear no record of those who now 
are dust, save a disregarded, or. per- 
chance corrupted, name; but if we are 
imbued with that spirit which prompts 
us to search for the wreeks and rem- 
nants of mortality, and to exclaim with 
the Prophet, in his vision, “ Let these 
dry bones live!” princes and senators, 
warriors and martyrs will arise, and 
we shall find ourselves surrounded by 
much that is great and venerable: 
though we may recoil from the crimes 
and sufferings of the darker ages, 
yet, in the struggles for power, in 
the rebellions, the treasons, and the 
tyranny of those times, we may trace 
the germ of much that constitutes 
our present happiness and pride. The 
passions of men controuled by the re- 
straint of civilization, exhaust them- 
selves upon paper; gauntletted gloves 
are no longer flung down in proud de- 
fiance on the floor of the House of 
Lords, nor, do the retainers. of rival 
barons combat with each other in 
the streets; and though this change 
in manners must be estimated as one 
of the greatest blessings we possess, 
yet it has driven us to seek for all that 
is pictorial and imposing in less polished 
times, when power was with the strong, 
and lawless force trampled upon the 
rights both of the subject and the king ; 
when greedy vassals lived upon the rude 
hospitality of their masters, and were 
thus kept in a state of servile dependance, 
and even a gentleman of birth pre- 
ferred the badge of a nobleman, a 
livery and a sword, to the cultivation 
of those useful arts which, in our days, 
by raising the middle ranks to impor- 
tance, have curbed the insolence of the 
nobility and the licentiousness of the 
rabble. Scenes of riot, contention, and 
Monrputy Mac. No. 402. 
Walks in London.—The Monument. 
297 
bloodshed, formerly of almost every day 
occurrence, are fast fading away from 
the memories of men, for history dis- 
dains to enter into those minute details 
of individuals the most active in pro- 
ducing usurpations and revolutions, 
which can alone give a lively interest 
to events so long gone by. In the 
chivalrous age of our remote ances- 
tors, the history of every statesman 
and of eyery commander was a ro- 
mance, and seldom has the pen of fiction 
ventured to relate such strange vicissi- 
tudes as have in reality befallen the 
great, the valiant, and the rich. It is 
in the city, now the exclusive posses- 
sion of commerce, that we shall find 
the greatest number of records of 
these who have distinguished them- 
selves in the olden time. Not a single 
name which the tongue or the pen of 
Fame has emblazoned, but may be dis- 
covered by diligent search in remote 
alleys, forsaken lanes, and narrow 
courts. London, from time immemo- 
rial, has been the resort of all the rank 
and talent of England; and whilst we 
are perambulating the most squalid 
avenue, or surrounded by the ensigns 
of vulgar trade, we have only to recur 
to the past to feast the mental vision 
with scenes of grandeur and magnifi- 
cence. 
The monument is now growing out 
of fashion as one of the sights of Lon- 
don, yet it does not deserve to be neg- 
lected, for highly interesting in itself, 
as a work of art commemorating a sig- 
nal catastrophe, it is surrounded by 
sacred ground, the scites of houses once 
tenanted by the best blood in Britain’s 
Isle.* This beautiful pillar, one of the 
most noble works of Sir Christopher 
Wren, was disgraced by the rage of 
party; the uncharitable and intolerant 
spirit of the professors of the reformed 
faith, unmindful of the mild precepts of 
their religion, stigmatized their unhappy 
brethren of the Roman persuasion as 
the occasion of the late calamity which 
had ravaged the city ; the most frightful 
and improbable calamities’ were heap- 
ed upon the papists, and even the king, 
notwithstanding his extraordinary ef- 
forts in staying the progress of the 
flames, was included in the accusation. 
Pope has justly vented his indignation 
at the malevolent inscription, which 
taught 
* It is scarcely necessary to mention 
that the monument was erected as a memo- 
rial of the great fire in 1666, 
2Q 
