Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

THE CHEPSTOW GLEANER, No. 5. Fiat Lux—" Let thttre be Light." Price 3d. Rambles in the Metropolis. The united cities of London and Westminster, with their suburbs, extend seven or eight miles along the borders of the Thames, in a direction nearly from east to west, and expand nearly six miles from north to south; while on either point new streets, crescents, and squares are invading the fields and the groves, giving to many of the approaches a picturesque and beautiful appearance. If our rea¬ ders will follow us, we will endea¬ vour to give a description of that part of the metropolis which forms the seat of government. London, properly so called, is situated at the eastern part of the densely crowded scene of com¬ merce; interspersed with manufac¬ tories, warehouses, and flanked by quays and docks of great extent. Westminster is the western por¬ tion of the immense metropolis; but to the stranger who perambu¬ lates the streets, the one appears so close in connexion with the other, that there is no obvious dis¬ tinction. The large and long tho¬ roughfare called the Strand, in Westminster, is a continuation of Fleet-street, in the city; and on this line, which is densely crow¬ ded with shops, may be perceived many recent improvements of ar¬ chitectural elegance. The Strand is terminated on the west by an open area named Charing cross, from whence radiate various tho¬ roughfares, one in a westerly di¬ rection leading towards Pall-mall and the fashionable end of the town adjacent to the Parks, and another in a southerly direction, called Whitehall-street, leading to the Houses of Lords and Coni- II mons, and Westminster Abbey.— On the north side of Charing-cross stands the great National Gallery. This open space is called Trafal¬ gar-square, and is adorned on the east with St. Martin's church (a building of the Corinthian order of architecture), and on the west by the Union club-house and the college of Physicians. The centre of the area of Charing-cross is rendered conspicuous—it cannot be said to be ornamented—by an equestrian statue of Charles I. ele¬ vated on a pedestal, and said to be the first erected in England, on the spot where Edward I. raised a cross to Eleanor his queen. Whitehall-street possesses the usnal bustle of the main streets of the metropolis, but its bustle is of a peculiar kind—having an official look about it, and is not of a com¬ mercial character. The street is capacious and dignified in its as¬ pect. As you look along it, various public structures attract the eye. The first building of this nature you come to is one situated on the right hand side, called the Admi¬ ralty: it is an extensive edifice of brick and stone, with a lofty por¬ tico in the centre, and projecting wings, forming a court with a screen next the street, decorated with naval emblems. Here the lords of the Admiralty transact all business of importance relative to naval affairs. On the summit of the edifice may be seen a tele¬ graph for carrying on a rapid com¬ munication with distant ports in the British channel; an order from it to fit out a fleet will in two or three minutes set all Portsmouth in motion. Adjoining to the Ad¬ miralty is the Navy Pay-office, a