and thence, by Lambeth, to Westminster and Blackfriars Bridge, taking in the whole space formerly denominated St. George's Fields, sufficient of itself to form a considerable city. Continuing towards Chelsea, Walham Green, Hammersmith, Turnham Green, and Kensington to Hyde Park Corner, nearly the whole extent is covered with convenient and handsome buildings.

From Bayswater to Paddington, Hampstead, Highgate, Highbury, Kingsland, and Hackney, where the line of circumvallation meets, the entire buildings of Lisson Green, Camden Town, Somers Town, Pentonville, Holloway, Highbury, and Kingsland, have arisen to a very extraordinary extent. Large tracts besides have been formed into magnificent squares and streets.

But the improvements of greatest consequence have been on the north side of the metropolis. In the large parishes of Paddington, St. Mary-le-bone, Pancras, and St. Giles's in the Fields, a great many streets, rows, and public buildings have been raised. An extraordinary feature and great improvement in the parish of Mary-le-bone, is the erection of several elegant villas and fine terraces in the Regent's Park. The spacious squares of Portman, Manchester, Fitzroy, Bedford, Tavistock, Russell, and Brunswick, as well as Portland Place, are all of modern date. The row of houses on the north side of Tyburn Road, or Oxford Street, from Rathbone Place to Vere Street, was completed in 1729, about which time the following streets in the vicinity were built, and the ground laid out for several others, viz. - Henrietta Street, Vere Street, Holles Street, Margaret Street, Cavendish Street, Welbeck Street, Wimpole Street, Princes Street, Bolsover Street, Castle Street, John Street, Market Street, Lower Harley Street, Wigmore Street, Mortimer Street, &c. mostly named from the title and family distinctions of the noble houses of Oxford and Portland. In 1770, a continuation of Harley Street was completed; Mansfield Street, a little beyond it to the north, was formed upon the spot where a body of water, called Mary-le bone basin, had before been; Portland Place, and the streets adjoining, were erected soon after; Stratford Place, which adds such an ornament to the upper part of Oxford Street,

was built, about 1774, on some ground belonging to the city of London, called Conduit Mead, where the Lord Mayor's banquetting-house formerly stood. Cumberland Place, intended for a circus, was begun about the same year; and from 1786, building in that quarter, has proceeded with even increasing rapidity.

About 1760, some important improvements were adopted: among these was a new Bridge at Blackfriars, erected by Mr. Robert Mylne. The first pile was driven in the middle of the river on the 7th of June that year. The city gates also were ordered to be removed, when the committee sold Aldgate for 1777. 108., Cripplegate for 914., and Ludgate for 148l., to be pulled down and taken away by the purchasers within a limited time. Fleet Ditch, which anciently ran along the middle of Fleet Market, was arched over in 1732-3, and after the building of Blackfriars Bridge (or between 1766 and 1775), the remaining part of it was covered, and Bridge Street and Chatham Place erected on its site.

An act of parliament passed in 1765, for the better paving, cleansing, and lighting the city of London and its liberties; for preventing annoyances, &c. This introduced the flag-pavements, and led to the removal of posts, spouts, signs, and gutters.

Great improvements have taken place in the neighbourhood of Moorfields. Finsbury Square, begun in 1779, was completed before the end of the last century, and various new streets built in its vicinity. The large plot of ground that formed the sole remaining vestige of Moorfields, called the Quarters, is now covered by several handsome streets, and by a range of edifices, called Finsbury Circus, on the north side of which stands the London Institution. Along the City Road appear a multitude of new buildings; and the upper parts of Goswell Street and St. John Street Roads have been much extended and improved. The whole of Spa Fields will soon be covered with buildings, which were begun in 1818. On the west side of the top of Gray's Inn Road, several new streets have been formed, and others are in progress. A row of houses has lately been erected on the north of the New Road near Battle Bridge, which, with those previously standing, makes a

complete line of buildings to the top of Tottenham Court Road. On the south side of the New Road, opposite Euston Square, is situated Tavistock Square, now nearly completed, to the west of which is a tract of ground extending to Gower Street, recently let for building upon. Besides two squares to be planted and laid out in a superior style, this piece of ground is to be occupied by streets 75 feet wide, and is to consist entirely of first rate houses. In a line with Tottenham Court Road is a range of houses, reaching along the Hampstead Road on the west side, almost to Camden Town. To the north of the New Road, a vast number of new buildings have been raised, in addition to those already mentioned in the Regent's Park. The Edgeware Road, extending to the north from the west end of Oxford Street, now forms a continued street to Paddington, a line of houses having lately been erected on the west side. Between the Edgeware Road and Portman Square, are situated Montague and Bryanstone Squares; and the whole space south of the New Road, in that quarter, is now filled with buildings. Between Pimlico and Chelsea extensive improvements are making on the estate of Earl Grosvenor. A fine street has been built on the line of the King's Road; and the space between Sloane Street and Grosvenor Place will include two very handsome squares. A large dock has been excavated on the site of the Chelsea water works. Regent Street, which forms a very wide avenue from Pall Mall to the eastern side of the Regent's Park, may be reckoned among the principal improvements in the metropolis, during the present century. The houses, in general, display extraordinary grandeur and magnificence, and their architectural features are very much varied. This street, which is wide and Macadamized, commences at Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, and, passing in a right line to Piccadilly, forms a circus, whence it proceeds, in a curve line, to Glasshouse Street, and thence, across Oxford Street, to Portland Place, at the northern extremity of which is Park Crescent, bordering on the New Road.

Between Pall Mall and Charing Cross, important alterations have been made, by taking down the houses in Suffolk Street and Whitcomb Street, and raising a number

of fine edifices at the lower part of the Haymarket, and on the north side of Cockspur Street, making a grand opening from the Opera House to St. Martin's Church, in front of which there is to be an open space, termed Union Square. About ten years ago, the vicinity of the Houses of Parliament was greatly improved, by taking down several narrow streets and mean buildings, which obstructed the view of Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church from Palace Yard: and, more recently, the former of these structures and Westminster Hall have undergone considerable repairs and embellishments. St. James's Palace has also been much altered, and some new mews or royal stables have been built at Buckingham House.

In the heart of the metropolis several improvements have been effected. The narrow winding passage, formerly called Snow Hill, has given place to Skinner Street, opening a direct and spacious avenue from St. Sepulchre's Church to Holborn Bridge. The Strand, near Temple Bar, has been widened, and Picket Street erected. The removal of Fleet Market has been proposed, and a new and convenient market designed on the east side of Shoe Lane. The street thus formed, by the removal of this market, and continued from Blackfriars Bridge to Clerkenwell Green, &c. will rank, among the most useful improvements of the metropolis.

To the west and south of the Bank are the edifices called Bank Buildings, and other modern erections: the Bank itself has been much enlarged and improved.

On the Surrey side of the Thames, many new streets have been formed, others extended, and various important improvements have taken place. The erection of Waterloo Bridge has been followed by the opening of a spacious avenue to the Obelisk-in St. George's Fields, and several streets have been built to connect it with Great Surrey Street, &c. The Southwark Bridge has been rendered accessible by a wide street leading to Union Street in the Borough, previously to the formation of which, Nelson Square was erected, and almost the whole of St. George's Fields to the east of Great Surrey Street covered with buildings. A spacious and handsome street, called Greshambury, is intended to be formed from the Mansion house to the South.

wark Bridge. Great Dover Street, extending almost parallel with Kent Street, may be considered as one of the greatest improvements in the southern part of the metropolis. new Bridge, now will be the means of materially improving the Borough, as all the houses on the west side of the High Street are to be taken down and rebuilt, so as to form a convenient and spacious street from the Bridge to the Town Hall. The buildings of Newington and Lambeth have been very much extended in the direction of the Kent Road, Walworth, Kennington, and Vauxhall. At the latter place, a new Iron Bridge has been raised across the Thames, affording a communication between Vauxhall and Pimlico; since which, many new erections have taken place in the vicinity.

A writer in the Monthly Magazine, for February, 1811, has asserted, that within the preceding forty years, a thousand houses each year had been added to the metropolis; and he accounted for their rapid occupation, by the circumstance of London being, not merely, as formerly, the capital of England and Wales, but of the whole British empire in America, Asia, and Africa; by the change of manners; by the resort to London of annuitants in the funds; and by the increase of public offices for the revenue and other departments, the numerous clerks and other officers of which are wholly or partially confined to a residence in the metropolis. The number of houses, according to the Parliamentary Returns, made under the Population Act of 1821, amounted in the City of London to 18,290; in Westminster to 19,275; in the other Middlesex suburbs to nearly 100,000; and in Southwark to 13,187.

The Population of London, owing to the general width of the streets, the number of the squares, and the space filled by every distinct family, is by no means proportioned to its extent, at least when compared with other cities; although it is in reality calculated to afford a theme for the utmost admiration and astonishment. The following table exhibits a view of the number of inhabitants in London and its suburbs, according to the Parliamentary Returns of 1821: ̧