CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



divided into 25 wards, each represented by an 

 alderman in the Common Council, which consists 

 of 206 members. The Council, of which the Lord 

 Mayor is the chief, forms a kind of parliament for 

 the management of City affairs. Westminster and 

 Southwark are each under local authorities, but 

 only in minor matters. The Mansion House and 

 Guildhall are the chief buildings for the transac- 

 tion of corporate business ; the Bank of England 

 and the Stock Exchange for financial affairs. 

 Nearly all the drainage and sewage of London 

 now enters the Thames about 12 miles below Lon- 

 don Bridge. A new system of drains has been 

 introduced of recent years, the expense of which 

 has come to nearly .5,000,000. London is the seat 

 of a bishopric, which comprises about 320 bene- 

 fices. St Paul's is the cathedral for the diocese. It 

 was built by Sir Christopher Wren (1675-1710), at 

 a cost of ,748,000. It is 5 14 feet long by 286 wide. 

 The cross over the ball above the dome is 356 

 feet above the pavement Plans are in progress 

 for an extensive restoration of the interior. West- 

 minster Abbey is 530 feet in outer length by 203 

 in width. The west towers are 225 feet high. It 

 is said to have been founded by Sebert, king of 

 the East Saxons (circa 616). It was enlarged by 

 King Edward the Confessor, and rebuilt nearly 

 as we now see it by Henry III. and Edward I. 

 Here the kings and queens of England have been 

 crowned from Edward the Confessor to Queen 

 Victoria, and here many of them are buried ; here 

 also are interred many of England's most famous 

 men. Men of world-wide renown in war, literature, 

 and politics, whose span of life was divided by 

 centuries, are here assembled in death. Here 

 lie the conquerors of Agincourt, Blenheim, and 

 Waterloo ; here those whose genius has charmed 

 the world, from Shakspeare to Dickens ; whose 

 brain has ruled the destiny of nations, from cun- 

 ning Burleigh and Elizabeth to genial Palmerston. 

 It is quite impossible, within necessary limits, to 

 give even a sketch of the chief buildings and 

 spectacles of London, and merely to make a list 

 of them would be neither useful nor amusing. 

 The stranger who may wish to form an idea of 



its magnitude and wealth, would do well, after 

 seeing Westminster Abbey and the Houses of 

 Parliament, to walk or drive into the City by the 

 Strand, Temple Bar, and Fleet Street ; let him 

 then cross into Oxford Street, and so reach Hyde 

 Park about five o'clock in the afternoon. Having 

 seen the commercial, he will then see the fashion- 

 able world of London at full-tide ; and certainly, 

 if the sight of splendid equipages, horses and 

 chariots, dress, beauty, and boundless wealth, has 

 any charm for him, he ought to be fully gratified. 

 Covent Garden Market is also well worthy of a 

 visit early in the morning, as conveying an idea 

 of the immense requirements of the great city 

 surely the greatest and most wonderful which the 

 world has ever seen. 



Liverpool, a town in Lancashire, on the north 

 bank of the Mersey, is, taken with Birkenhead, 

 on the opposite side, the most important town in 

 England, next to London, in a maritime point of 

 view. The rise of the port has been very remark- 

 able. In the middle of the I4th century, it was 

 but a village, with a population under 1000. It 

 was not till 1647 that it was made a free port, 

 having down to that date been subject to the 

 Chester officers. Its individuality as a parish 

 was not declared till 1697, when its population 

 was estimated at 5000, its shipping at 80 vessels. 

 In 1700, its first regular dock was built, on the 

 site where the Custom-house stands at the pre- 

 sent day. From 1760 to 1800, the population 

 advanced from 25,700 to 77,700 ; the shipping 

 from 1 200 to 5000 vessels ; and the amount of dock 

 dues from .2300 to .28,300 ; nearly two-thirds of 

 the increase taking place during the last 1 5 years 

 of the period. The progress of the cotton-trade 

 was the chief cause of this rapid improvement 

 Simultaneously with the mechanical revolution 

 brought about by the inventions of Hargreaves, 

 Arkwright, and others, there came an increased 

 foreign trade, and owing to the opening of the 

 Bridgewater Canal in 1773, inland business was 

 also augmented. The following statement shews 

 how far Liverpool was benefited by the cotton- 

 trade in the end of last century : 



British ports. 



232 



DECLARED REAL VALUB OF EXPORTS AND IMPORTS AT LIVERPOOL, 

 IN 1880. 



Exports. Imports. 



Liverpool 84,029,651 107,460,187 



London 52,600,929 141,442,907 



Hull 18,572,005 17,600,430 



Gnmsby 7,236,471 3,906,321 



Glasgow 11,828,729 12,564,978 



All others 48,792,661 128,254,742 



223,060,446 411,229,565 



This gigantic trade has given being to the 

 magnificent system of docks extending five miles 

 along the river, containing 54 docks and basins, 



