LONDON. 
49 
atau fometimes with his initials combined as in the (lift of in the delirium of an accidental dream. Ere the French 
the following ciphers. 
LQN'DERSEL, or Land'feld (Ahafuerus), an en¬ 
graver, who, though not of firft-rate talent, has been ce¬ 
lebrated under two names. He appears to have been a 
native of Holland, born about the middle of the fixteenth 
century, and to have been chiefly engaged in the execu¬ 
tion of letter-prefs engravings, in a neat and delicate ftyle, 
and which are marked fometimes with one and at other 
times with the other of the two laft monograms above. 
And it is not unlikely-that thefe two marks may have given 
rife to the reparation of his works into thofe of Ahafuerus 
Landfeld, and Ahafuerus Londerfel. That he was re¬ 
lated to John Londerfel, the fubjeft of the preceding ar¬ 
ticle, is highly probable. From the fmallnefs of his pro¬ 
ductions, of which the greater number adorn the books 
that were publifhed at Antwerp about this period, he is 
claded among the little mailers, but his engraving of the 
L ift Supper is on a larger fcale. Among the books which 
he thus decorated, are the 4*0. edition, in the French lan¬ 
guage, of the Travels of Nicholas de Nicolay into Tur¬ 
key, printed at Antwerp in 1576 ; and the large Herbal 
of Matthias de Lobel. 
LONDINIE'RES, a town of France, in the department 
of the Lower Seine : feven miles north of Neufchatel, and 
fifteen eaft-fouth-eaft of Dieppe. 
LON'DON, the metropolis of Great Britain, is fituated 
in 51 0 3 1' N. latitude, and in longitude 5' 37 " W. of Green¬ 
wich, where the royal national obfervatory is eftabliftied, 
and from whence the longitude is taken in all our charts, 
maps, &c. The diftance of London from the principal 
cities in Europe is as follows : from A mfterdam, 190 miles 
W. Paris, 215 N.N.W. Dublin, 338 S.E. Edinburgh, 
395 S. Berlin, 540 VV. Copenhagen, 610 S.W. Stock¬ 
holm, 750 S.W. Vienna, 820 N.W. Lilbon, 850 N.E. 
by N. Madrid, 860 N.E by E. Rome, 950 N.N.W. Pe- 
terfburgh, 1140 S.W. Conftantinople, 1660 W.N.W. 
Mofcovv, 1660 W.S.W. 
INTRODUCTION. 
If a traveller, fetting out in fearch of antiquities, with a 
mind fraught with claflical knowledge, feels elated with 
felf-fatisfacfion, and thinks his labours well repaid, by the 
perfonal gratification he enjoys, when, after long invefti- 
gations and affiduous inquiries, he finds a handful of 
coins, Lome remains of ancient architecture, fruits of co¬ 
lumns, broken parcels of ftatues, and the flighted veftiges 
of long-forgotten towns; what ought not to be the afto- 
niftiment and the feelings of a foreigner, when, entering 
this noble city, the moft populous, the largeft, the molt 
commercial, and the richeft, in the world, he finds it not 
only decorated with handfome buildings, aired by nu¬ 
merous and elegant fquares, interfered by wide and con¬ 
venient ftreets, watered every where, and nearly to the 
roofs of the houfes, by fubterraneous canals, but alfo ani¬ 
mated by a tnoft iuduftrious and bufy fpirit of trade, and 
enlivened by citizens who, in both leXes, may boaftof being 
without competition the handfomeft in the world ? He may 
afterf, that, in the courfe of his travels, he has found, in fe- 
veral parts of the continent, fome of thefe advantages in a 
high ftateof perfection ; and his affections cannot be denied. 
The cleanlinefs of the Flemifii and Dutch ; the fpiritednefs 
and vivacity of the French ; the livelinefs and mirth of the 
Italians ; the departed wealth of Venice; the mouldering 
grandeur of Rome; the plodding quays of A mfterdam ; 
recur powerfully to his mind ; but no'where did he find 
all thefe fo happily combined and concentrated on a fingle 
Ipot, and brought to fuch an aftonifning degree of perfec¬ 
tion, that he may fairly be allowed to doubt whether he 
really fees what moves before his eyes, or does not indulge 
Vol. XIII. No. 887. 
revolution burft out like a moft tremendous volcano, and 
not only broke all the ties of that monarchy, but (hook 
afar the moftdiftant nations; commerce, fciences,and the 
liberal arts, were thriving in other countries, and bringing 
5 wealth, comfort, and ornaments, to other towns and com¬ 
munities; but, fince England remained the only date that- 
had not caught the contagion of the new principles of 
deftruftive levelling, London, the centre, the heart, the 
focus, of that life which animates the whole of the united 
kingdom, becoming confequently the refuge of the op- 
prefied, fbines at this moment the emporium of the world, 
and the fafeft and wealthieft point of the univerfe. 
After thefe general confiderations and comprehenfive 
views, it mult appear difficult indeed to give ah adequate 
idea of the fubjeft in contemplation. Pennant, in his ufual 
interefting and pithy ftyle, fays, “ He muft be a Briareus in 
literature who would dare to attempt a hiftory of our ca¬ 
pital, on the great, the liberal, the elegant, plan which it 
merits.” Although a great deal of refpeft is owing to an 
author who has gleaned fo fuccefsfully on the Londonian 
field, it muft be confefled that it is rather extraordinary 
that a complete and even voluminous defeription of Lon¬ 
don, decorated with all that typography and chalcogra¬ 
phy united can produce, has never been attempted ac¬ 
cording to that gigantic fcheme; for it is beyond doubt 
that this wonderful city has fulfilled'wdiat an ancient poet 
of Great Britain has prematurely faid : 
Urbes terrarum facile Londonia vincit 
Ornatu, fpatio, tempore, divitiis. 
That is: “ In ancienty, in extent, in beauty, and in wealth, 
London furpaffes all the cities of the world.” However, 
as far as the limits of our plan will allow, this article ffiall 
obtain that degree of fulnefs which its importance requires* 
and of attention and corre&nefs which the beft authorities 
and the ftridteft care are able to procure. 
Etymology. —It happens with famous cities as with 
ancient noble families ; they feem to conceal their vene¬ 
rable heads in Hie clouds, or behind the veil of antiquity, 
with fucli obftinacy and reluftance againft being brought 
to light, that thekeeneftand moft iuduftrious heralds and 
antiquaries generally find their labours and lucubrations 
loft in. fruitlefs and tirefome fearches, without arriving at 
the defired objeft of their enquiries. The faft is, That 
populous and trading towns, in countries whofe hifiories 
have not been recorded by theable hands of contemporary 
writers, having often changed their governors, their inha¬ 
bitants, and their language, as is the cafe with London, 
have undergone in their denominations the moft material 
changes. And hence the name of this metropolis has ex- 
ercifed the {kill and imagination of numerous antiquaries, 
from the e^riieft ages of Chriftianity to the prefent. Some 
afiert that it originated, and moft probably it did fo, from 
the Celtic language, fuppofed to have been fpoken by part 
of Gallia and the whole of Great Britain, and now pre¬ 
ferred among the Welch and the inhabitants of Low Bri- 
tanny in France. Lhongdin, in that tongue, fignifies “a 
town of ftiips ;” and the correfpondence of founds, united 
to the fituation of this city, militates coniiderably in fa¬ 
vour of this derivation. The learned Camden brings. In 
its fupport, the words Llhong and Dinas, which he tranftates 
“ the city of (hips.” Others propofe Lhawn , full, and Dym 
man, “a city full of men ;” but as this 1 a it denomination 
bears no charr.eferiftic analogy to the piace in queftion, 
it does not deferve much credit, although it may be re- 
fpecied on account of the ingenuity of its authors. It is 
certain, that the word Don, contracted from Down , and that 
of Town, arifing from the fecond and compreffed into the 
lirft, (which the Romans, after their arrival in this coun¬ 
try, rendered generally, or attempted to represent, by Du¬ 
num,) are of great antiquity in this land, and mean inva¬ 
riably a low place; that is, a fituation between two or 
more hills, whole ((reams are naturally running. Water 
being one of the firft uecelTaries of life,, as icon as men 
O'. met 
