London Stone and Monument.
London Stone is in the very centre of the old city, and was the stone from which all distances were measured, and from which all the old Roman roads through England started. It is now built in the wall of a church, and protected by an iron grating from the too curious public. It is of unknown age, but is mentioned in an old MS. as far back as the time of Athelstane, King of the West Saxons.
The Monument, commemorating the great fire in 1666, stands where the fire ended; it is a fluted column 202 feet high. The reason given for this height is, I believe, that this is the distance from the spot where the fire started in Pudding Lane. There was once an inscription on the Monument saying that the fire was the result of a Popish plot, but this was long ago effaced.
There is a fine view from the top, but the stairs are very wearisome. In one of Dickens's books—Martin Chuzzlewit, I think—the man in charge of the Monument says, when some folks have paid the money necessary for admission: "They don't know what a many steps there is. It's worth twice the money to stay below." The top is enclosed with an iron railing, because so many people have committed suicide from it. Although there are hundreds of statues, memorials, monuments, etc., this is "the Monument" of London. The carriages here always go to the left instead of to the right. That seems odd to an American.
Tillie S. Taylor, R. T. F.