The City and Westminster. But London proper, what is strictly called the City, was no longer sufficient to contain all the inhabitants, and fashionable life had already begun that movement to the West which is so remarkable a feature in the history of London. The fashionable quarters then were the neighbourhood of Great Ormond Street and Queen's Square. To the West lay Kensington, a separate village where was King William's Palace. Both London and Westminster may be said each to have had two centres, one secular and the other ecclesiastical: London, the Exchange and St. Paul's; Westminster, the Parliament Houses and the Abbey, or Minster, whence the place had its name. The Exchange and London's commerce. The Exchange was the commercial centre, and indeed may be said at this time to have become the centre of the commerce of the world. In the Middle Ages Venice was the centre of the world's trade. The invention of the compass took away this supremacy froin Venice, as mariners were no longer confined to coasting voyages. The extreme commercial activity of the Netherlands next made Bruges and Antwerp the centre, and they retained this supremacy during the Reformation period. The persecution of the Protestants by the Spanish Government, and the fierce fighting which followed the Revolt of the Netherlands, destroyed this. Commerce was driven from Antwerp through the long siege by the Duke of Parma, which ended in the year that followed Elizabeth's death. During the next century, the seventeenth, the supremacy of trade lay between Amsterdam and London, the former having the best of it until the English Civil War was over; but in the latter half of the century London was beginning to prevail. The commercial rivalry between the English and the Dutch was very keen, and their commerce was nearly equal; but the palm was slowly though surely passing to England. Tyre in Fénelon's 'Télémaque,' is supposed to be Amsterdam; but if he had written a quarter of a century later he would probably have described London. The following passage from the 'Spectator' gives Addison's picture of the Exchange, which, it must be remembered, is neither the Exchange that now is, nor that originally built by Sir Thomas Gresham, but the second, namely, that which was built after the Great Fire, and which was itself destroyed by fire in 1838 : 'There is no place in the Town which I so much love to frequent as the Royal Exchange. It gives me a secret Satisfaction, and in some measure gratifies my Vanity, as I am an Englishman, to see so rich an Assembly of Countrymen and Foreigners consulting together upon the private Business of Mankind, and making this Metropolis a kind of Emporium for the whole Earth. I must confess I look upon High Change to be a great Council, in which all considerable Nations have their Representatives. . . . I have often been pleased to hear Disputes adjusted between an Inhabitant of Japan and an Alderman of London, or to see a Subject of the Great Mogul entering into a League with one of the Czar of Muscovy.' Architec- The only art that really flourished in Queen Anne's time was Architecture, and that because England happened to possess an architect of consummate genius. Sir Christopher Wren was a man of great attainments, being especially learned in astronomy and in mechanics, and one of the first members of the Royal Society founded in the reign of Charles II. He was as modest as he was learned, and perhaps would have been treated with more respect in that age if he had more firmly asserted his own rights. He was not especially educated for the profession of an architect, but when he was appointed king's surveyor he M. H. at once showed himself a master of the art. With all the architects of his day, he evidently preferred the classical style. Before the Fire, he was asked to restore old St. Paul's, which was in the Gothic style, and he did add some towers to Westminster Abbey, which are amongst his least successful productions. But whilst the question of the restoration of St. Paul's St. Paul's. was being debated, and the battle of the styles being fought, the Great Fire put an end to the controversy. St. Paul's is Wren's greatest work, though some say that the church of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, is a more perfect specimen of his art. It was a dean of St. Paul's that wrote of the Cathedral: 'What eye, trained to all that is perfect in architecture, does not recognise the inimitable beauty of its lines, the majestic yet airy swelling of its dome, its rich, harmonious ornamentation?' Cost. The first stone was laid in As the subscriptions for the rebuilding of St. Paul's did not come in fast enough, Parliament voted that a portion of the duty on coals should be applied to the purpose. The total cost of the cathedral was 747,6617. 10s. 5d. Wren's presence, June 21, 1675, the nine years since the fire having been spent in making designs, and the highest stone of the lantern in the cupola was also set by his son in his presence in 1710. It is rare in the history of great buildings, especially of cathedrals, that they should be finished in the lifetime of the original architect. Indeed, it was a marvel both on account of its cheapness, and because of the short time in which it was built. After the completion of the cathedral, it was voted by the Parliament in 1711 that fifty new churches should be built, and that the portion of the coal duty which had been expended on St. Paul's should be applied to that purpose. It is not known how many of these churches were actually built. Yet we may say that most of the London churches, built since the Fire, are of Wren's designing. Fault is found with him because Wren's style. his churches are not Gothic, an objection which seems to imply that there is only one order of ecclesiastical architecture, and surely narrows the art; and also because he mixed the styles in putting steeples, which are a feature of Gothic architecture, over buildings, and especially over porticoes, in the Greek style. The defence is this, that architecture having had its full development, and absolutely new invention being impossible, the originality of a modern architect consists in skilful composition and harmonious proportions. If the combination does not offend the eye, it is pedantry to object that it runs counter to the traditions of the art. Sir John By way of contrast with Sir C. Wren, it may be well to mention another architect of the day. Sir John Vanbrugh had distinguished himself as a writer of very coarse comic dramas. As men used to change from soldier to sailor, so Sir J. Vanbrugh became an architect. He built his own house out of the ruins of Whitehall. A brother architect compared it to 'a flat Dutch oven,' and Swift has a funny little poem about the house, describing everyone as hunting for it up and down the river banks and unable to find it, until at length they did— In the rubbish spy A thing resembling a goose-pie. This was the architect who was chosen to build for a grateful nation, at an expense of half a million pounds, Blenheim Palace, near Woodstock, to be presented to the victorious Duke of Marlborough. It is imposing chiefly on account of its size, but the style is very heavy, and justifies the epigram written on the architect : Lie heavy on him, earth, for he Laid many a heavy load on thee. The immense improvement in one city should be mentioned, because it began within this period. Bath was known as a watering-place as long ago Bath. as the Roman occupation of Britain. It seems always to have preserved its reputation, but it was so uncomfortable that no one cared to stay there, unless for the purposes of health. In the first year of Queen Anne's reign a man of fashion-one Richard Nash, nicknamed Beau Nash-paid it a visit, as some say, in order to replenish a purse emptied by gambling, as well as to mend health broken by dissipation. He at once set to work to increase the cheerfulness of the place, and to provide amusement for those who resorted to it. His genius for organization was quickly recognised, and he was appointed Master of the Ceremonies in 1704. From that time, for a period of nearly fifty years, he may be described as king of Bath, whilst squares and terraces, pump-rooms and public buildings, rose almost like magic ; till under his auspices Bath became the well-ordered city that it now is, deserving, with its magnificent situation, the title of the queen of watering-places. History of the poor. Serf. Section II.-The Poor. Statistics. It seems advisable to collect under one head some scattered information on the history of the English poor. Under the feudal system the poor man was a serf. The difference between a slave and a serf is that the former is a personal chattel and might be sold, the latter could not be sold away from the estate, but had no personal liberty. He was not able to move from the place where he was born, and he was obliged to serve one particular lord. In A.D. 1346 came |