Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1874-04-22
Batohman 6 journal.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL %, 1874.
For the Waterman.
Historical Views Of IondOn---No. I.

] hut tnht tncIe " cnltiFhleO IN tne country
higher and more delicate sense Of reputation
giving assurance Of prosperity and joyous ! fe
than obtains with the masses Of a city popnla
ton. 1t is in the country that intellectual ant
moral refinement commune with nature. Th'
wild hills and valleys, and plains, and fores
trees, and meadows, and rivers, and streams
are made the counterparts Of the true and gen
uine poetry Of life The daughter sings in
chorus with the mountain birds and fires IN
the now made clearing illuminate the night,
and show the joyous victory Of man, as above
the pains Of his labor, while forests depart,
and fruitful fields certify the triumphs Of hardy
toll But life in the country, to a large extent
preserves its own individuality, circulates in a
restricted sphere, and fails in developing the
combined powers of large community It is
the city that develops the vast strength Of
aggregated manhood strength not merely Of
physical force, but Of intelligent confidence in
The largest Of human undertaking. Intel
lectual powers in combination there become
great aggregated moral forces forces that not
only lay deep the foundations Of the CONNER
cial town, but move, a. with a wand Of magic
power, the rural communities three hundred,
and perhaps a thousand miles away. The
planting, the growth and development Of such
a town, is the subject before u.s.
Though the subject Of our essay is expressed
in a single word LONDON yet the concentra-
ton Of nearly four millions Of people in a single
community, presents topics 50 many and so
various that it becomes difficult, within the
reasonable limits allowed US, to satisfy one out
Of thousand inquiries suggested by the sub
ject. We can only hope 10 give a birds eye
view Of this great metropolis Of the world,
which will bring out but few Of the objects
Of interest, and only the great thoroughares Of
the town
The London Of to-day bears about the same
relation 10 the ancient town, as the present city
Of Brooklyn does TO what was dgnifed as the
village Of Brooklyn half century ago. The
London of to-day is about ten miles long and six
miles broad, on both sides Of the River Thames,
extending back about three or four miles on
the northerly side Of the river and from two 10
three miles in depth on the southerly side.
The River Thames passes through about the
centre Of the town, By a serpentine course,
making the distance from the lIammcrsmith
Bridge 10 the mouth Of the River Lea by the
winding course Of the river, some fifteen miles
The ancient London extended along the north
bank Of the Thames, from the gates Of the
Tower to Middle Temple Lane, near Black
Friar's Bridge, and from the Thames to the
more modern London Wall-being about mile
and a quarter in length, along the river, and
three-lourths Of a mile in depth Some suburbs
without the walls were included 10 the city
proper, but the larger part Of what now consti-
tutes London, were separate cities, towns and
parishes.
To conceive Of the origin and growth Of Lon.
don we have to go back for over two thousand
years, when Great Britain was a forest.clad
land. save here and there a stray settler from
the continent had come, with some knowledge
Of rude agriculture, aud cleared up limited
fields for grain and vegetable culture Cattle
in countless thousands rOamed wild over the
hills, and while their skins furnished clothing
for the barbarian population, their meat was
the chief resource for food The industries Of
civilized life were excluded by the almost
constant state Of war to which the land became
subject The dwellings Of the people were
rude huts, on which the matched cottages Of the
present day were great Improvement Place
yourself among the piratical adventurers Of
fbfaa aav1v or .uff
mariner, in some frail boat, into the mouth ol
the Thames River land clothed 10 forest
bowers on the distant hills, with marshes Of
greater or less extent along either shore, would
tell you Of a sea-green isle, seemingly rich 10
is beauty and its solitudes lf we still sailed
On up the river, or bay, or estuary, by what
ever name it were known (ls with the tides Of
the sea its currents ran inland and outward to
the ocean day by day., till at length We see.
over wide intervening marsh, a rising up
land, jutting down to the very borders of the
river. Its woods are cleared away, and scat
tered cottages, Of rsie construction, in near
proximity to each other, show the rude be-
ginning Of primitive town. Such, from the
best evidences remaining, was ancient London.
before Julius Caesar came from Rome to this
Iar-ofr isle to find home for his people. These
Romans came to stay and for near five cen
turies the primitive Britons yielded to their
sway. In the meantime the light Of new
religion came, as star Of promise, to this
hitherto heather land But before Christ was
born the old Romans, Hppreciating commercial
interests, had fixed on London as the site Of
their commercial metropolis, and a city in the
style Of commercial town began to overlook
the Thames from its northern border.
The high grounds now occupied by Cheap
side and st. Paul's Cathedral, were evidently
the earliest settled portions of the town. In
deed, the far famed Cheapsde has an unwritten
history for two thousand years. We carry you
thus back through all these long centuries not
through the mere names Of provincial Latin
origin, and their doubtful and uncertain appli-
cation, bat by means Of visible relies, pre-
served in the British Museum, dug up from
different localities in the town, which show the
old Roman days of this pristine metropolis o
the British Empire. large number of Roman
vases are so preserved, that were dug up at or
near st. Paul church.yard. How do we know
that they were Of Roman origin? Because they
are Of similar patterns, and adapted to similar
uses, with those dug out Of the ruins of Pompei
and Eerculaneum, and those that have been
preserved in Roman museums for many cen
turies. Independent of traditions claiming
there are reasons, gathered from the
customs of early Christians, for presumng that
ST. Paul's actually occupies the site of the
earliest Christian temple in Britain, or at least
in London-and that the relics exhumed were
deposited, as part of the customs of the
times, in the graves of those buried in this
most ancient cemetery, st. Paul is said to
have visited Britain. Who knows but that he
might have laid the cornerstone Of this old
Cathedral that in its successors continues to
bear his name2 Or that he might not have
rehearsed the promises Of the gospel over the
graves of these ancient dead? The site of st.
paul's is nearly the highest land within the
walls Of London, and the religious traditions Of
ages have pointed to mountains aud hills as
the most suitable places for religious worship.
- To 20 up to the house Of the Lord is IA
miliar phrase with ancient and modern yotaries
of religion" Neither in this mountain, nor
yet at Jerusalem, shall men worship the
Father" "Trust in the Mountains of Sa-
a.