The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1884-09-27

A citY-as something to look at--de-
pends very much on its roofs. If a
city have no character in its roofs it
stirs neither heart nor thought. These
red.tiled roofs of Bermondsey, stretch
ing away mile upon mile, and brought
up at the extremity with thin masts
rising above the mist-these red.tiled
roofs are the roofs of a city. They
have distinctlveness, character; they
are something to think about. No
where else is there an entrance to a city
like this. The roads by which you
approach them give you distant as
pects-mlnarets, perhaps, in the East,
domes in Italy; but, coming nearer,
the highway somehow plunges into
houses, confoundiug you with facades.
and the real place is hidden. Here
from the railway you see at once into
the yastness of London. Roof-tree
behind roof-tree, ridge behind ridge. is
drawn along in succession, line behind
line TIL they become as close together
as the test-lines used for microscopes.
Under this surface of roofs what a
profundity of life there isl Just as
the great horses in the wagons of Lon
don streets convey the idea of strength
so the endlessness of the view conveys
the idea of mass of life, Life con-
verges from every quarter. The iron
way has many ruts the rails are its
ruts: and by each of these a ceaseless
stream of men and women pour over
the tiled roofs into London. They
come from the populous suburbs, from
far-away towns and quiet villages, from
over sea-from the most distant lands
over sea.
Glance down as you pass into the
excavations, the streets, beneath the
red surface you catch glimpse OF
men and women Fastening to and fro,
of vehicles, of horses struggling with
mighty loads, Of groups at the corners,
and fragments, as 1t were, of crowds.
Busy life everywhere; no stiffness nc
quiet no repose. Life crowded and
crushed together life that has hardly
room TO live. If the train slaekens
look in at the open wlndows-they are
always open for air, smoke-laden as IL
is-and see women and children will
scarce room to move, the bed and the
dining table in the same apartment
For they dine and sleep and work and
play all at the same time. One works
at night and sleeps by day he lies
yonder as calmly as if in a quiet
country cottage. The children have
no place to play in but the living-room
or in the street. 1t is not squalor-ii
is crowded life. The people are pushed
together by the necessities of existence
These people have no dislike to il at all
it is right enough to them, and so long
as business is brisk they are happy
The man who lies sleeping so calmly
seems to me to indicate the immen,
sity of the life around more than all
the rest. He IS obvious Of It all II
does not make him nervous or wakeful
he is so used to it and bred to it that il
seems to him nothing. When he is
awake he does not see It; now he sleeps
he does not hear it. 1t is only in great
woods that you cannot see the trees.
He is like leaf in forest-he is moi
conscious Of it. Long hours of work
have given him slumber; and as he sleeps
he seems to express by contrast the i'm.
mensity and endlessness o. the life
around him. Sometimes a floating
haze, now thic ker here and now lit ut
yonder by the sunshine, brings out
objects more distinctly than a clear