For besides its being continually covered with Ships, Barges, Boats, &c. going up and down with the Tide, its Banks are adorned with a Variety of fine Scenes, such as Towns, Villages, and Country-Houses. Among others, there’s the great and magnificent Hospital of Greenwich, founded in the Reign of Charles II. for disabled Seamen, or the Invalids of the Navy. Tho’ this Structure is not yet finish’d, it may be rank’d amongst the most considerable in Europe, and is not inferior in Grandeur to many Royal Palaces. Its Situation also is so charming, that were it for that alone, it were worth while to take a Turn on Purpose to see it.
London stands on the Left-side of the River, where it forms a Crescent. The famous Bridge upon which Queen Elizabeth caused the Head of the Earl of Essex to be exposed, after having flatter’d him that he should one Day be a Partner in her Throne, is eight hundred Feet long, and sixty broad; but the Prospect of the River is stopp’d by Houses on both Sides, which are neither fine nor lofty.
St. Paul’s Church, the Cathedral of London, is, next to St. Peter’s at Rome, the greatest and most stately Temple in Europe; and I even question, whether it would not be more magnificent than St. Peter’s, if it had such a Square or Colonnade before it, as that has; but I mean only the Outside of it; for as to the Inside, they are not to be compar’d. The principal Front of St. Paul’s is of that sort of Architecture which the old Romans, those Masters in the Art of Building, would not perhaps have thought unworthy of their Time; tho’ ’tis certain this beautiful Front is render’d the less majestic by two little Towers or Steeples of a very Gothic Taste, which are placed upon the two Angles of the Building. This whole Fabric stands by itself,
and is built in the Form of a Cross, with a great Dome in the middle. The Entrance to it is by three grand Porticos on the North, South, and West. Opposite to the principal Front there’s an Area, encompass’d with an Iron Palisado, in the midst of which is a white marble Statue of Queen Anne, in whose Reign this Church was finish’d; which was begun so long ago as after the Great Fire, in the Reign of Charles II. The Queen is there represented standing with all her Regalia. She holds in her Right hand a Sceptre; but ’tis so much like a Wax Taper, that one would almost swear she was performing an[123] Amende honorable: And really, this Statue is unworthy of the Queen whom it represents; of the Church before which it stands, and of the City of London, by whose Order ’twas erected. All the Church is of very white Stone, which the Smoke, that Bane of London, has rendered black on one Side. The Inside of it is as plain as the Outside is magnificent. The Dome only is painted of an Ash Colour. The Choir (for the Church of England retains the Use of Choirs) is separated from the Nave, by a Wall of just such a Height as to support the Organs, which by this Means serve the Choir and the Nave of the Church alike, but disfigure both. The Seats, or Stalls of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, when they assist at Te Deum, are of Wood, and built like those of the Canons in our Churches. The subterraneous Parts are very magnificent, and contain Vaults,
in which are interred such People as they belong to.
The famous Monument erected in Memory of that sad Conflagration which consumed one Third of the City, in the Reign of King Charles II. is a very lofty Pillar of the Doric Order, fluted, and has a Stair-case in the Inside of it, which goes up to a Platform at the Top, from whence there’s a Prospect of the whole City, and a great many fine Scenes.
The Royal-Exchange, where the Merchants meet at One o’Clock every Day, is a large square Building of Free-stone. The grand Portico is adorned with Columns, and has a Tower on the Top, with Chimes in it. The Inside of it consists of a Court surrounded with Piazzas, over which are placed the Statues of the Kings that have reigned in England; which are of Free-stone, and all done by bad Hands. The Statue of King Charles II. in whose Reign this Edifice was built, stands in the midst of this Court, and is of white Marble, representing the King in the Habit of a Roman Emperor. This is not one of the worst Statues in London; where indeed Sculpture is of all Arts the least cultivated; but why, I can’t conceive; since most of the English Nobility have been in Italy, and have there acquired a Taste for what is fine and curious.
The famous Tower of London, which is, as it were, the Citadel of this Metropolis, stands on the Bank of the Thames, at the Extremity of the City, going down the River. It contains several Buildings, but without Uniformity. Here are kept the Jewels of the Crown, and the Crown itself, Lions, and other outlandish Creatures, and the Arsenal of Arms; and in this Tower are confined certain Prisoners of State; but thro’ good Fortune, the Reign of King George II. now upon
the Throne, has been so free from Punishment or Severity, that the Tower is empty of Prisoners.
As one goes up the Thames towards St. James’s, End of the Town, where the King and most of the Nobility reside, one passes along by a Palace called the Savoy, because it was built by the Princes of Savoy, Uncles of Queen Eleanor of Provence, Wife to Henry III. This Building has nothing in it from one End to the other, but what is very deformed. The Chamber is still to be seen here in which John II. King of France was imprisoned, who, like Regulus, came and re-delivered himself into the Custody of his Conqueror, when he found the Estates of his Kingdom not disposed to perform the Terms of Peace, which he had signed, and which were the Condition of his having obtained Leave to go to France.