The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-07-24
IN FOREIGN LANDS.
C0,respondence of the Mtelliqencer.

that the city of London contained resi-
dent population of only about $4,000
people, the readers Of the 1NrELL1GEN-
GER would be very certain that either we
or the composition had made blunder
but such is actually the case. The juris-
diction of the Lord Mayor extends over
g territory between one and two square
miles in extent, with resident popula-
tion of little more than $4,000 at the
time of the last census, but growing
smaller each year. This, although being
all that is legally known as the Getty Of
London" of course comprises only a
small part of the great metropolis, which
extends about ten miles from East to
West and nearly as far from North to
South. The other portions are, however,
under some dozen or more different
municipal governments and are, techni-
cally speaking, as distinct from "the city,
as it is called, as is New York from
Brooklyn. A reform bill is now before
Parliament, however, which proposes to
unite all these separate municipalities
into one mammoth corporation contain.
ing nearly three and half million souls.
In spite of its diversity of authority, Lon
don is, popularity speaking, a we'll gov.
erned city and our friends of New York
might we'll copy the cleanliness of its
streets. 1t is world in itself and in its
floods of humanity, one may we'll ex.
claim:
"The bubble broken on the wave,
The leafet falling in the wood,
Is not more lost to sight than
Within This murmurous multitude"
With a population sufficient for small
nation, situated on both sides Of broad,
deep river, only a comparatively short
distance from the ocean, she possesses
great natural advantages, and it would
be difficult to imagine anything in exis.
tence on the face of the earth as the pro.
duct of science or art which cannot be
found here. 1t is not, However, in any
sense or the word beautiful city. Lon
don fog and smoke succeeds in blacken.
ing everything and but few of its fine
buildings are fair to look upon, while
many of those which appear the best are
but.a hollow sham, having stucco fronts.
The tourist visiting London for the
first time will probably be somewhat at q
loss to decide what to see first; but to
most people Westminster Abbey, located
on the North, or rather West side of the
river, (which at this point flows nearly
North) will prove the greatest attraction
and claim their first attention. 1t was
founded in tho sixth century by Sebert
The Saxon, whose tomb it still contains.
It was destroyed by the Danes, but was
rebuilt by Edward the Confessor in 1865.
Like all of the old cathedrals and
churches, it was built in the form of a
cross, with the chancel and high altar to
the East and the nave to The West. The
chapel of Henry VII was built in 1902
and occupied the extreme Eastern end.
Edward the Confessor's chapel occupies
the position beyond the transept, usually
given to the choir in churches of this
form, while the choir is placed in the
Eastern end of the nave. This, together
with the numbcsless marble statues, me.
mortal tablets, etc., with which the entire
interior is lined, greatly Injuries the
architectural effect as it is chiefly from
associations that the visitor is impressed.
In fact, it is frequently spoken of by the
rreverent of London as "The old crock
cry shop" But in spite Of all this, it is
a grand building and that man who
can stand unmoved within its sacred
walls must be stole indeed. 1t has a
total length of 375 feet, with width at
the trausept of 200 feet. In the several
chapels lie buried no less than twenty
eight kings and-queens, including Sebert
The Saxon, Edward the Confessor, Henry
the VII (whose chapel is spoken of by
Bacon as one of the stateliest and dantiest
tombs in Europe,) Queen Elizabeth,
Mary Queen of SCOTS, Henry the V, Ed
ward the III and many others, together
with royal princes and many of the
proudest mobiles of the land. But it is
not in these crumbling monuments Of
royalty that the grandest interest of the
Abbey lies. In the South transept is the
poets Corner" and here we notice
monuments or tablets to Garrick, Addi-
son, Gay, Dickens, SHAKESPEARE, Macauly,
Thackery, Goldsmith, Southey, Campbell, /,
Milton, Gray, Spencer, Chaucer and
many others, some of whom are buried
in the Abbey and some elsewhere. A
fine bust of Longfellow has just been
added by the English admirers of the
great American author. Compare the
undying influence welded by those whose
names adorn the "Poets' Corner" with
the power of those mighty kings and
princes whose costly tombs are found in
the other portions Of the Abbey and who
will not say surely, "The pen is mightier
than the sword"
Between the Abbey and the river are
the Houses of Parliament, erected about
forty years ago, at an enormous expense.
The stone used, however, was Of so poor
quality that already much of the fine
carving has crumbled away and the
building appears about the same age as
its neighbor, the Abbey, in which Will.
liam the Conquerer was crowned, more
than 800 years ago. Although the ex-
ternal design of the Houses Of Parlia-
ment is good and its appearance, extend.
ing fc~ nearly 1000 feet along the bank
of the Thames, very fine, yet the interior
arrangements are not in any way worthy
of the great people whose
representatives meet there. The House
of Lords is 80 by As feet and As feet in
height, with the throne between the
entrance doors and the "Woolsack" upon
which the Lord Chancellor sits, in the
centre, in front of the throne. The Lords
occupy the red.leather benches which rise
in tiers on either side, but are provided
with no desk accommodations or other
conveniences. The House Of Commons
is Is feet shorter than the House OF
Lords, with the same general arrange.
ment of leather covered benches. In.
Guiding the galleries there are seats for