domes around me. There is at times a thrill 

 of gratitude touching the heart of a spectator, 

 when, fresh from the repose of the night, he 

 once more gazes on the beautiful skies, and 

 inhales the young breeze of the morning. 

 This was the first dawn I had beheld in the 

 metropolis : the sun was just brightening into 

 its full blaze of glory, and while all seemed 

 gladdened by his lustre, it is no affectation 

 in me to say, that my heart and being were 

 renovated, and that I felt the goodness of 

 the great presiding Spirit. 



By chance, the situation of my lodgings 

 enabled me to overlook the Thames : pillows 

 of steam were now rolling along its surface, 

 except at the edges, where the covered barges 

 were lying in moveless masses ; but in a 

 little while, all became open to the gaze, and 

 then, occasional skiffs might be seen shoot- 

 ing over the sparkling waters, while the oars 

 appeared to drip with drops of light. Water- 

 loo Bridge, in all its vast magnificence, next 

 shone forth, dressed with the morning rays ! 

 — while here and there a passenger was 

 reposing his arms on its massive sides, and 

 silently contemplating the river-scene beneath 

 him ; but the grandest sight of all was the 

 appearance of the crowded array of roofs, 

 spread around me ! St. Paul's with its rusty 

 dome and golden-cross crest, — the countless 

 steeples, pointing their glittering heads to 

 the skies, — the columns of smoke wreathing 

 themselves into air, — together with the in- 

 creasing murmurs of morning life, — all united 

 in winning admiration, and making me think, 

 " London is indeed a fine place ! " 



To the most Unimaginative man, his first 

 walk through the streets of London can 

 scarcely fail of interesting the eye, and send- 

 ing an influence home to the heart. If a 

 philosopher, where will he find such an as- 

 semblage of ever- varying character to employ 

 his reflections, and elucidate his theories ? 

 If a man of science and art, what other city 

 in the universe is better stocked with sub- 

 jects to engage, or with masters to instruct ? 

 And lastly, if a commercial speculator, where 

 else can he find Commerce stirring around 

 him in such infinite forms ? 



The fairest capital of all the world ! 

 Where finds philosophy her eagle eye, 

 "With which she gazes at yon burning disk 

 Undazzled, and detects and counts her spots? 

 In London. Where has commerce such a mart, 

 So rich, so throng'd, so drained and so supplied 

 As London, — opulent, enlarged, and still 

 Increasing London ? Babylon of old 

 Not more the glory of the earth than she. 



Cowper. 



As to myself, my views were of a far more 

 lowly order. I had neither the ability nor 

 the wish to employ my mind with sage in- 

 ductions drawn from the scene before me ; 

 all I wanted was a pleasant sans-souci stroll 



through some of the principal streets, and 

 to enjoy the impressions they would create 

 by their first appearance ; the result of such 

 a stroll is here offered to the reader, with a 

 perfect conviction of its unphilosophical 

 character. 



Trusting to my own good luck for finding 

 my way, I sallied forth to reconnoitre. At 

 first, I looked about with an eye of wonder 

 as if I were gazing on no earthly matter ; 

 however, half a dozen kicks in the heel, and 

 a few jerks into the road, speedily convinced 

 me that the Londoners bore a great resem- 

 blance to all other independent terrestrial 

 street-walkers. The first truth that struck 

 me, was as mortifying as mine enemy could 

 wish— my own insignificancy. In small 

 towns, a few days' residence will make you 

 familiar with all the faces of importance in it. 

 One inhabitant repeats the names of all the 

 sages, and another points out their faces ; so 

 that when you parade the streets, the ima- 

 gination has little room to play ; all is re- 

 vealed, and you may hold your head as high 

 or as low as prudence may direct, without 

 endangering your own consequence, or 

 slighting that of other people. In London 

 it is impossible : the oldest Cockney is nearly 

 as ignorant of the rank and quality of those 

 around him, as a perfect stranger ; but cus- 

 tom has hardened the former against all those 

 magnifying thoughts which are so apt to op- 

 press the latter on his initiation into the 

 metropolitan sphere. " Is it possible ! " 

 thought I, while I planted myself against a 

 wall, and gazed on the living mass that was 

 moving before me— "What an unimportant 

 personage I am 1 " — Never, till this moment, 

 did I so feel the greatness of my own little- 

 ness ! In a moment, I created a world of 

 great men around me ; yonder dry-looking 

 man with his thumbs in his waistcoat button- 

 hole, became a political economist ; another 

 with his eyes fixed on the ground, was 

 a philosopher ; another, with his nose di- 

 rected to the skies, an astronomer; one, with 

 a good hat, but a thread bare coat, a poet ; 

 another, with a bundle of pamphlets^ under 

 his arm, a mighty magazine contributor; 

 and he with a skinny lip, a critic ; and 

 so on, till I circumscribed myself with an 

 imaginary host of all that are great and 

 learned. 



Perhaps no other city in the world, within 

 an equal compass, comprehends so wonderful 

 a variety of characters and personages as 

 London. The plump John Bull, the sallow 

 Frenchman, the beardy Italian, and still 

 more bear dy Jew, the high-boned Scotchman 

 the merry-faced Irishman, the turbaned Turk 

 — a specimen of the human animal from 

 almost every clime under heaven— are pass- 

 ing and repassing before you in the course 

 of every ten minutes. To stand and take a 



