The Sun.
London, England, 1826-05-12 00:00:00

METROPOLITAN IMPROVEMENTS.

Amongst the splendid improvements which the taste
and ingenuity of modern times have suggested,we know
of none more distinguished,—none so calculated to

give general satisfaciion, as the project of widening
the Strand. This great thoroughfare iiuni the City to
the West-end of the Metropolis, presents now a pas-

sage difficult to the pedestrian, and at all times oi-ea.;'
sively inconvenient f of every denomination.
carriages`Yet, calculating upon the rapidity With which the dirty
miserable neighbourhood .of Swallow-street was
.. '
converted into the splendid road which ' now
reaches from -Pall-mall to. Portland -.lac. '.. t, e,, 1)c, may
shortly have to congratulate the Public upon the sud-
den transformation of the bustling and jostling
line of the Strand to a broad, magnificent.
street ; of the width of which we may form some' con-
ception, from the space in the inimeiliate front of So-
merset House, The demolition of Exeter 'change
may incommode some of those inhabitants who have
lung formed part of the Menagerie community of Mr.
Cross; but it is some consolation to know, that as
they have travelled from the most distant parts of the
world td that
.spot---(,‘ out-damned spot," ;as Lady
Macbeth says), they will not. be much inconvenienced
by another jaunt of a mile or two, probably the extent
of their journey ere they take up another abode. This
concern being dispensed with, we have nothing but a
miserable collection of oyster shops, liquor shopS, and
tobacco .shops to regret the loss of, and the line is
cleared from the New Church to King Charles on
horseback. Having thus disposed of affairs westward,
we would most willingly recommend the destruction of
that dingy patch of buildings between the New Church
and St. clement s, that these two places of Worship,
which are really ornaments to the neighbourhood,
may be viewed to perfection, instead of being half
hidden by the old clothes shops of Holliwell-atreet,
and cramped up by old Betty's Chop Honse and the
Spotted Dog ;--,-nay, we are in a destructive mood, and
we would sweep off every thing that stands in the'way
of a crescent on. the north side of the New Church, as
wide as that of St. Clement's, to the discomfiture of
all the lath and plaister between that and the Olympic
Theatre, which we would. recommend to be newly
faced or rebuilt. Presuming the way to be now cleared
from Temple Bar to Northumberland House, we
would doom the architect for the new buildings to
a . walk on the' right side of the street from
St. Clement's' to St. Martin's. The rain falling
at the rate of an inch an hour, the mud .ancle deep,
and he in silk hose and thin pumps ; moreover, we
should wish that he had previously paid a visit to
Chester, where there are two rows of shops, two
foot-paths, bridges across the roads, and so forth, and
we are convinced that we should soon.see the founda-
tion laid for a beautiful colonnade the whole length of
the Strand, with foot-paths one story high, so that
those, who choose to walk on the ground floor may in-
dulge themselves under a canopy, and the more aspiring
if they please, walk as well as i ladge,up one pair of
stairs. To be more serious, we would suggest to the
gentlemen under whose management 'the 'prteted
improvements are to be conducted, the propriety of
constructing: a footway upon the level of the, first
story ;'and we are certain, that, operating as it would
to the increase of the value of the ,property, and in-
strumental as it would be to the supply of a shelter
from rain and sun, it might be made 0110'a the most
perfect of all the improvements, combiniUg ,at once
taste, elegance, convenience, and even magnifi-
cence, with the grand desideratum of increasing ma-
terially the value of every foot of frontage, from Aid-
gate pump to Northumberland House.