London (Dr. Castiglione László könyvtárából) [antikvár]

n' INTRODUCTION " When a man is tired of London he is tired of life: for there is in London all that life can afford"—Dk. Johnson. Dr. Johnson's words are, if anything, more true now than when first written; for the centuries-old enlargement of London has continued, and it is continuing at such speed that even those intimately acquainted with the trends and movements of the Metropolis can hardly keep pace with its manifold developments. In this Guide we can attempt only to direct the visitor's footsteps so that in a given period he sees all that is most worth seeing of its streets and buildings, and to allude to just a few of the habits and customs which play so important a part in the life of what Sidney Smith aptly called "The Great Wen." Certainly in no city of ancient or modern days has there been such "fullness of life" as that which crowds the streets of the Metropolis at this period of our history; and if Dr. Johnson were alive today we can well believe that he would enjoy the traditional walk down Fleet Street with even more than his accustomed relish. The Sightseer's London Although the Metropolis is so vast that it would take the best part of a lifetime to traverse its 10,000 streets, and another lifetime to know intimately every part of the suburbs, the features of interest appealing especially to sightseers are, with few exceptions, confined to a central area, for the most part north of the Thames, measuring roughly some five miles from west to east, and three from north to south. We are far indeed from saying that there is not anything of interest outside this area; but we do say that the visitor, however hardy and determined, who has methodically and conscientiously "done" the orthodox sights, and taken a trip or two by way of relaxation to places like Windsor and Hampton Court, will have little heart or shoe-leather left for Islington and Kilbum, and other places in the "Middle Ring," unless lured there by the calls of business or of friendship. We have accordingly dealt fully with the West End and the City, and outlined all the principal excursions from London; but the reader who is in search of detailed information respecting suburban dormitories must, we fear, be referred to volumes of greater capacity. We have done our best to squeeze a quart—ought we not rather to say a hogshead?—into a pint pot, but something was bound to be spilt in the process. 7