40 THE EXETER ROAD 



to become the .site of Belgrave Square and other 

 aristocratic quarters. 



At this spot Mr. Decimus Burton had ah^eady built 

 the great Triumphal Arch forming the entrance to 

 Constitution Hill, together with the Classic Screen at 

 Hyde Park Corner. The Screen was built in 1$28, 

 and the Arch, which is a copy of the Arch of Titus at 

 Rome, in 1832. Already, in 1820, Apsley House had 

 become the residence of the Iron Duke, but it was not 

 until 1846 that what Thackeray justly names ' the 

 hideous equestrian monster ' w^as placed on the summit 

 of that Arch, opposite the Duke's windows. Here is 

 an illustration of it, before it was hoisted up to that 

 height. Beside it you see the Duke himself, in his 

 characteristic wdiite trousers, in company with several 

 weirdly dressed persons. Again, over page, may be 

 seen the Arch, with the statue on it, and the 

 neighbourhood vastly changed from the appearance it 

 w^ears in the picture of the ' North-East Prospect of 

 St. George's Hospital.' Instead of the great hooded 

 waggons starting for the A¥est Country, the road is 

 occupied with very crowded traffic, and among the 

 vehicles may be noticed two omnibuses, one going to 

 Chelsea, the other (for this is the year 1851) to the 

 Exhibition, — the first exhibition that ever was. If, 

 ladies and gentlemen, you will be pleased to look at 

 those omnibuses, you will see that they have neither 

 knifeboarcls nor seats on the roof, and that passengers 

 are sc|uatting up there in the most sujoremely un- 

 comfortable, not to say dangerous, positions. Also, in 

 those dark ages of London locomotion, the ascent to 

 that uncomfortal)le roof was of itself perilous, for no 



