WESTMINSTER. 



CMvfifting of fix of thefe circular divifions ; the whole en- 

 compafled with a wall, inclofing 1 8 acres of ground, and cal- 

 culated to contain altogether from looo to 1200 prifoners. 

 Some of them are already placed, and the beneficial effefts of 

 the inftitution on their general conduft has already been very 

 perceptible. As a part of Middlefex, the proper prifons 

 for criminals are thofe belonging to the county ; but in 

 Tothill-fields is a bridewell for the detention and temporary 

 punifhmcnt of petty offenders, under the charge of the 

 magiltrates of the city and liberties. The charitable efta- 

 bliftments of Weflminiler for the education and maintenance 

 of youth and the confolation of age, for the relief of difeafe 

 and accidental calamity, are much more numerous and ufeful 

 than fplendid. St. George's and the Middlefex hofpital, 

 (not, however, properly within the town,) the Weftminfter 

 infirmary, &c. are excellent inftitutions, fuperintended by 

 medical gentlemen of the higheil profeffional reputation. Of 

 the diftinguifhed private manfions of noblemen and others, 

 it is impoffible here to do more than point out a few of 

 the moft remarkable. Among thefe are Northumberland- 

 houfe, the only refidence now remaining of our ancient 

 nobihty in the Strand ; the duke of Marlborough's in Pall- 

 Mali, erefted by the nation for the great duke John j the 

 duke of Norfolk's, St. James's fquare ; earl Spencer's in 

 St. James's place ; Burhngton-houfe ; the duke of Devon- 

 (hire's and earl of Egremont's in Piccadilly ; the marquis 

 of Lanfdowne's in Berkeley-fquare ; the earl of Chefter- 

 field's in South Audley-ftreet ; earl Grofvenor's in Upper 

 Grofvenor-ftreet ; the marquit of Anglefey's in Burlington- 

 ftreet ; the marquis of Stafford's, Cleveland-houfe. Thefe 

 are fome of the beft, as far as the exterior is concerned ; 

 but many others might be noticed highly deferring of at- 

 tention, particularly for the admirable paintings by the beft 

 mafters with which they are enriched. 



Bridges. — It is a remarkable faft, that, great and im- 

 portant as Weftminfter is, until the conftruftion of the 

 noble bridge of its own name, of 15 arches, and in total 

 length 1223 feet, completed in 1750, it pofleffed no other 

 mode of communication acrofs the Thames than by ferries, 

 or by the embarrafled circuit of London-bridge. The 

 opening of Blackfriar's-bridge was certainly a great accom- 

 modation for an extended portion of the town ; but ftill 

 fomething more was wanted, in a fpace between thofe 

 bridges of no lefs than 3100 yards, or one mile and three 

 quarters, of a moft populous and aAive metropolis. About 

 mid-way of this interval was opened, on the i8th July, 

 18 1 7, a new bridge, leading from the Strand between the 

 Savoy and Somerfet-place, called the Strand or Waterloo 

 bridge : it is a ftrufture of a novel defcription in this 

 country. The idea of it is not, however, new, having 

 been frequently fuggefted, particularly by Gwyn in 1766. 

 (For a particular defcription of this bridge, and the di- 

 menfions of its various parts, we refer to the article Wa- 

 terloo. ) The road-way is ftriftly horizontal on the level of 

 the ftreet in the Strand, but much above the furface of the 

 Surrey fhore, to which it defcends by a long and gentle Hope. 

 Each pier, as in Blackfriar's-bridge, is externally ornamented 

 with two Tufcan columns fupporting a fquare projeAion. 

 The bridge was opened on the anniverlary of the horrible car- 

 nage of Waterloo, and from this event it has been attempted 

 to give it a name. In this cafe, however, as in that of what 

 was formerly ftyled Pitt's-bridge, in London, in 1 760, the 

 pubhc, unable to difcover even the moft diftant relation be- 

 tween the ftruftures and the propofed appellations, know 

 them only, as they muft naturally do, by their fituation, as 

 3Blackfriar's and the Strand bridges. This admirable work 



does great honour to the engineer and architeft Mr. John 

 Renme, and to the judgment of the managers of the enter- 

 prife ; and is, all circumftances of pofition, form, and ma- 

 terials confidered, without a parallel in Europe. Befides 

 the Strand-bridge, another of a dift'erent kind has lately- 

 been conftrufted over the Thames, juft a mile above Weft- 

 minfter-bridge, leading over from Tothill-fields to Vauxhall, 

 and thence properly named Fauxhall-hridge. The architeft, 

 Mr. Walker, has divided the breadth of the river into nine 

 apertures, covered by frames of caft-iron, refting on ftone 

 piers. The road is not horizontal, but forms two gently 

 inchned planes, meeting in a very obtufe angle in the middle. 

 The length of this light and elegant bridge is 809 feet. A 

 third bridge, not indeed immediately connefted with Weft, 

 minfter, but of great importance to the metropolis, is now 

 in progrefs. This is the Southwark-bridge, commencing 

 between that portion of the town and the city of London, 

 on the hne of Queen-ttreet and King-ftreet to Guildhall. 

 This extraordinary ftrufture, defigned alfo by Mr. Renuie, 

 confifts of three grand arches of caft-iron, in fegments of 

 very large circles : the centre arch 240 feet in fpan, and 

 the two others of 210 feet, each. To enable the reader 

 to form a comparative idea of the bridges now mentioned, 

 the following dimenfions of fome other remarkable bridges 

 are fubjoined. London-bridge, (fee Bridge,) confifts of 

 19 very unequal arches; Southwark-bridge (the iron part), 

 730 feet long, and of three arches ; Blackfriar's-bridge, 

 995 feet long, of nine arches; Strand-bridge, 1280 feet 

 long, of nine arches; Weftminfter-bridge, 1223 feet long, 

 of 15 arches ; Vauxhall-bridge, 809 feet long, of nine 

 arches. On the continent, the moft remarkable ftrudlures 

 of this defcription are the celebrated horizontal bridge over 

 the river Loire, at Tours, in the weft of France, in length 

 '335' ^"^ confifting of 15 elliptic arches ; the bridge over 

 the Moldaw, at Prague, in Bohemia, 1700 feet long. 

 Thefe, however, are all far outdone by the antique bridge 

 over the Rhone, at St. Efprit, in the fouth of France, con- 

 fifting of a multitude of fmall arches, fupporting a very 

 narrow road-way, extending in 'all nearly to 3000 feet. 

 This bridge has the pecuharity, that, inftead of being 

 ftraight, it is compofed of two lines forming an obtule 

 angle, turned againft the current, as if the better to with- 

 ftand its violence. 



Literary and fcientific Injlitutions. — Thefe have already- 

 been noticed in the article London, to which the reader is 

 referred. It will always be a peculiar iionour for the Britifh 

 nation in general, and to the metropolis in particular, that, 

 with very few exceptions indeed, all thofe valuable inftitu- 

 tions for the promotion of learning, fcience, and the arts, 

 which add fo much fplendour to the capital, owe their ori- 

 gin, their maintenance, and their reputation, to the volun- 

 tary exertions, perfonal and pecuniary, of private individuals. 

 The two principal exceptions in London and Weftminfter 

 are the BritiJJi Mufeum, and the Academy of Painting, Sculp- 

 ture., and Architecture ; but from their nature, without 

 public aid, neither of thefe inftitutions might ever have been 

 eftabliftied. (See Museum.) The Britifh Mufeum is in 

 regular and rapid progrefs, in the acquifition of ftores of 

 high importance in the departments of natural hiftory, lite- 

 rature, and art, to which it is devoted. The Elgin marbles, 

 or the venerable monuments of Grecian fculpture, refcued 

 by the earl of Elgin, during his embafly at the Ottoman 

 porte, from barbaric negleft and deftruftion, in their ori- 

 ginal pofition in Athens, are objefts of attraftion and im- 

 portance unparalleled in Weftern Europe. Of the Britilh 

 Mufeum, in general, it is but juftice to obferve, that, in no 

 T t 2 finiilav 



