The capital of France was not paved in the twelfth century; for Rigord, the physician and historian of Philip II., relates, that the king standing one day at a window of his palace near the Seine, and observing that the carriages which passed threw up the dirt in such a manner that it produced a most offensive stench, his majesty resolved to remedy this intolerable nuisance by causing the streets to be paved; which was accordingly done, notwithstanding the heavy expense that had prevented his predecessors from introducing the same improvement. The orders for this purpose were issued by the government in the year 1184; and upon that occasion, as is said, the name of the city, which was then called Lutetia on account of its dirtiness, was changed to that of Paris[807]. This service rendered to Paris by that sovereign, who first also caused the cathedral to be surrounded by a wall, is confirmed by various historians[808]. Mezeray informs us, that Gerard de Poissy, then intendant of the finances, expended eleven thousand marks of silver in this undertaking. It appears that a certain income was allowed to the city for defraying the expenses; for in 1285, a hundred years after, when it was proposed that the pavement should be carried without the gate of St. Martin, the citizens excused themselves from the work, by saying that the funds assigned to them were not sufficient for that purpose[809]. It is certain, that in the year 1641 the streets in many quarters of Paris were not paved[810].
It is very probable that other opulent cities, finding the benefit which the capital derived from this improvement, were induced to follow its example. At any rate we know that Dijon, which was then reckoned one of the most beautiful, had paved streets so early as the year 1391, to which Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, the second husband of Margaret heiress of Flanders and other parts of the Netherlands, contributed two thousand livres; and in 1424 paviors were employed on all the streets[811]. Historians remark, that after this period, dangerous diseases, such as the dysentery, spotted fever and others, became less frequent in that city.
That the streets of London were not paved at the end of the eleventh century, is asserted by all historians. As a proof of this, they relate that in the year 1090, when the church of St. Mary-le-Bow, in Cheapside, was unroofed by a violent storm of wind, four pillars or beams, which were twenty-six feet in length, sunk so deep into the ground, that scarcely four feet of them appeared above the surface. The streets of London then, says Howel, were not paved, but consisted of soft earth[812]. I can however find no account of the time when paving was first introduced. It appears that the pavement of this immense city became gradually extended as trade and opulence increased. Several of the principal streets, such as Holborn, which at present are in the middle of the city, were paved for the first time by royal command in the year 1417[813]. Others were paved under Henry VIII., some in the suburbs[814] in 1544, others in 1571 and 1605, and the great market of Smithfield, where cattle are sold, was first paved in 1614[815].
Of German cities I can mention only Augsburg, which by its trade soon rose to such eminence as to be able to rival magnificent Rome, of which it was a colony, in many expensive improvements. This city from the earliest periods had small subterranean passages under the streets for conveying away filth, which in some measure resembled the Roman cloacæ. Hans Gwerlich, a rich merchant there, having caused a neat foot-path to be made before his house in the oxen-market in 1415, gave rise to the paving of the city; for this convenience was so much admired, that after that time all the streets were paved successively at the expense of the government. Berlin, in the first half of the seventeenth century, was not entirely paved. The new market was first paved in 1679 and the following years, and King-street before the houses in 1684. The square behind the cathedral and before the present tilt-yard remained without pavement in 1679.
When a solid bottom had been given to streets, the cleansing of them, which, as the Roman prætors said, is a continual improvement[816], was then rendered possible. At Rome were appointed tribuni rerum nitentium, who had the care of cleaning the streets, markets, temples, baths and other public places[817]. Strict orders were given that no filth should be thrown into the river or streets; whoever transgressed against this prohibition was subjected to punishment, and obliged to repair the damage[818]. The public sewers, cloacæ, under the streets contributed very much to facilitate the cleaning of them, yet they were commonly full of mud[819], as those of Paris are at present, notwithstanding the many expensive regulations established to prevent that nuisance.
Some centuries after Paris was paved, every citizen was obliged to repair the street before his house, and to clean it at his own expense, as is expressly commanded in an order issued by Philip the Bold[820], in the year 1285. The public however are often careless and negligent respecting the most beneficial regulations, when the maintaining of them is attended with trouble and expense, be it ever so small. By this want of attention, all the streets of Paris were in the fourteenth century entirely spoiled and filled with dirt; but they were again repaired; and in 1348 a law was first made for inflicting punishment upon those who neglected to clean them[821]. This law was rendered more severe in 1388, and several times afterwards. The novelty of it, the dread of punishment, and the vigilance of the new inspectors, produced such an effect, that the inhabitants of one or more neighbouring streets joined together and kept at their common expense a dirt-cart, which at that time was called un tombereau; but the nobility and the clergy, who always wish for immunities, endeavoured to exempt themselves from this burthen. The markets and public squares remained therefore uncleaned, and became still dirtier, as those who resided in the neighbourhood began to throw filth into them privately in the night-time, in order to avoid the expense of having it carried away, till at length these places were rendered so impassable that the toymen who frequented them with their wares wished to abandon them. For this reason it was enacted in the year 1399, that no one should be exempted from cleaning the streets; and an order was issued in 1374, that all those who lived in the markets, together with the toymen who had booths there, should clean them at their joint expenses[822]. Many now made the removing of dirt a trade, and entered into contracts for that purpose; but they as well as the paviors turned so extravagant in their demands, that a price was set upon the labour of the former in 1396, and the latter in 1501 were united into a company, every member of which was obliged to subscribe to certain regulations[823].
When the city at length increased in size and population, the cleaning of the streets became too troublesome and expensive to be left any longer to the care of individuals. Besides, those who inhabited the suburbs complained, and with great justice, that the burthen lay so heavy upon them as to be intolerable; because all the carts which entered the city, or which conveyed filth from it, rendered their streets much dirtier than the rest. It was resolved therefore, in the year 1609, that the streets should be cleaned at the public expense, under the inspection of the police; and a certain revenue in wine was set apart for that purpose. The first person with whom a contract was entered into for this service, was allowed yearly, for cleaning the whole city, 70,000 livres, which sum was raised in 1628 to 80,000[824]. In 1704, the Parisians were obliged to collect 300,000 livres, for which Government undertook to maintain the lamps and clean the streets; but in 1722 this contribution was increased to 450,000. The last contract with which I am acquainted is that of the year 1748, by which the contractors were to be allowed yearly, during six years, for removing the dirt, 200,000 livres, and for clearing away the snow and ice in winter 6000 more, making in all the sum of 206,000 livres[825].
All these regulations and expenses however would undoubtedly have been attended with very little benefit, had not deliberate dirtying of the streets been strictly prohibited, and all opportunities of doing so been as much as possible prevented. As the young king Philip, whom his father Louis the Fat had united with himself as co-regent, and caused to be crowned at Rheims, was passing St. Gervais on horseback, a sow running against his horse’s legs made him stumble, and the prince being thrown was so much hurt, that he died next morning, 3rd October 1131. On account of this accident an order was issued that no swine in future should be suffered to run about in the streets; but this was opposed by the abbey of St. Anthony, because, as the monks represented, it was contrary to the respect due to their patron to prevent his swine from enjoying the liberty of going where they thought proper. It was found necessary therefore to grant these clergy an exclusive privilege, and to allow their swine, if they had bells fastened to their necks, to wallow in the dirt of the streets without molestation[826].
A very improper liberty prevailed at Paris in the fourteenth century, which was, that all persons might throw anything from their windows whenever they chose, provided they gave notice three times before, by crying out Gare l’eau, which is as much as to say, Take care of water. This privilege was forbidden in 1372, and still more severely in 1395[827]. A like practice however seems to have continued longer at Edinburgh; for in the year 1750, when people went out into the streets at night, it was necessary, in order to avoid disagreeable accidents from the windows, that they should take with them a guide, who as he went along called out with a loud voice, in the Scotch dialect, Haud your haunde, Stop your hand[828].
This practice however would not have been suppressed at Paris, had not the police paid particular attention to promote the interior cleanliness of the houses, and the erection of privies. Some will perhaps be astonished that these conveniences should have been first introduced into the capital of France by an order from government in the sixteenth century; especially as they are at present considered to be so indispensably necessary, that few summer-houses are constructed without them. Those however to whom this affords matter of surprise must be still more astonished when they are told that the residence of the king of Spain was destitute of this improvement at the very time that the English circumnavigators found privies constructed in the European manner near the habitations of the cannibals of New Zealand[829]. But Madrid is not the royal residence which has had dirty streets longest on account of this want. Privies began to be erected at Warsaw for the first time only within these few years[830].