Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/694

Rh LONDON. LONDON. Arlington in the street of that name, the Portland in Stratford-place, Oxford-street, the Whitehall Club, the Westminster in Albemarle-street, and Prince's in Hans- place. This last, besides the usual accommodation of ordinary clubs, has excellent tennis and racket courts, where the University and other important matches are played. There are also some few clubs where the members are not provided with dining accommodation (the chief of them being the Cavendish in Eegent-street) ; and some where there is no election by ballot, but admis- sion is at once obtained by payment of a certain annual sum. Of these the largest is the Whittington in Arundel-street, Strand ; and besides being a club, it has class and entertainment rooms, in which lectures, balls, and concerts are given by the managers, and to which, and to certain rooms of the club, ladies have the right of entree. In the city there are the Gres- ham in Gresham-placo, King William-street, and the City of London in Old Broad-street, the members being, with but very few exceptions, men who are engaged in business in the city. Besides these are various social clubs, such as " Our Club," the " Cosmopolitan," &c., which are chiefly composed of authors, actors, artists, and gentlemen connected with the press, whose avoca- tions keep them up late, and who meet in the evening for the purpose of social conversation on points con- nected with their respective callings. The residences of the nobility and gentry are almost entirely in the W. and N.W. districts. They are very numerous and splendid, but those which are most remarkable are Stafford House, the town residence of the Duke of Sutherland, in Stable-yard, St. James's ; and close to it Bridgewater House, the mansion of the Earl of Ellesmere. In this latter there is one of the noblest collections of pictures in England. There are also some very fine pictures and works of art in Apsley House, the residence of the Duke of Wellington, at Hyde Park Corner, and at Baron Rothschild's which adjoins it. Devonshire House in Piccadilly, Chester- field House in South Audley-street, Lansdowne House in Berkeley-square, Dorchester House in Park-lane, Montague House in Whitehall-gardens (the residence of the Duke of Buccleuch), Mr. Hope's house in Picca- dilly, Grosvenor House, the residence of the Marquis of Westminster, in Upper Grosvenor-street, Grosvenor- square, are all magnificent mansions, abounding with the most celebrated and costly works of art, and in the last named there are four pictures by Rubens which cost 10,000, and the Claudes are unequalled by those in any other collection in the world. The three royal palaces of London are those of Buckingham, St. James's, and Kensington. The first of these stands at the W. end of St. James's Park. It is a stone building with gates in front, and has cost nearly a million of money. On the eastern and northern sides are the queen's apartments, and the principal rooms in the building are, the throno room, in which addresses are received, the green drawing- room, the banqueting room, the state ball room, and the grand saloon. During the absence of the royal family the palace may be seen by an order from the Lord Chamberlain. There are fine stables and a riding house attached to it, and in the gardens stands a pavilion adorned with paintings by celebrated modern artists. St. James's Palace is at the foot of St. James's- street. It was originally a leper hospital, but in 1532 Henry VIII., who purchased the land around it, built a mansion, and laid out some pleasure-grounds there. It is now a rambling, irregular pile of building of brick and stone mixed, having its principal entrance under a lofty gate-house, on which there is a clock, into a quadrangle with a piazza on the W. side. In this piazza is the entrance into the chapel royal, and the principal staircase leads to the state apartments, which are situ- ated on the side next to the park. In these the " state drawing rooms " and "levees" are held, and in the Colour Court the band of the Guards plays daily at 11 o'clock. In the Stable-yard are th'e residences of the Duchess of Cambridge and several members of the aristocracy, as well as the houses of persons officially connected vith the court. Kensington Palace, on the W. side of Kensington-gardens, is not now a royal residence, but is inhabited by various persons who are allowed by the crown to live there. It is a red brick building containing a suite of state apartments, and having a fine orangery attached to it. Maryborough House, the residence of the Prince of Wales, is separated from St. James's Palace by an entrance into the park, and derives its name from having belonged to the celebrated Duke of Marlborough, who died there. Opposite to it stands the gallery of the British Institu- tion, where an exhibition of pictures by old masters takes place during the season, and on the same side of the way the street consists entirely of shops, whereas on the other, or S. side, it is composed of club-housea, and the block of buildings in which the business of the War office is carried on. Overlooking St. James'i Park, at the S. end of Waterloo-place, arc Carlton- terrace and Carlton-gardens, which are rows of stately mansions inhabited by ambassadors, ministers of state, and members of the aristocracy. Here at the top of a flight of steps leading into the park, and having the Athenaeum Club on the right, and the United Service Club on the left, stands the Duke of York's column. It was built in 1833 by public subscription iu honour of Frederic, the second son of George III., is 122 feet high, and is surmounted by a bronze figure of the duke. Visitors are allowed to ascend it on payment of 6d., and the view from the top is well worth seeing. Another column stands in Trafalgar-square, in honour of Admiral Lord Nelson. It is a fluted Corinthian column upon a pedestal ornamented with bas-reliefs illustrative of the victories of St. Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen, and Tra- falgar. The platform or terrace on which it stands is to be adorned with figures of lions couchant, after models by Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A. The entire height of the column, including the bronze capital, and the statue of Lord Nelson by which it is surmounted, is 145 feet. The only other column in London is the monument on Fish- street-hill. It is a fluted Doric column, 202 feet high, and was finished from designs by Sir C. Wren in 1677, at a cost of 13,700. On the W. side of the pedestal is an emblematical sculpture in relief, representing the destruction of the City, and Charles II. giving orders for its restoration, and the top is surmounted by a gilt urn from which issue flames ; inside is a staircase of 345 steps, and at the top an iron balcony, which, in conse- quence of six persons having thrown themselves from the top, is now caged over. The public are allowed upon payment to ascend it, and very many persons avail them- selves of the permission, as a very extensive and inte- resting view is obtained from it of the metropolis and its environs. The royal statues in London are, those of Edward VI. in bronze in the court of old St. Tho- mas's Hospital, in Southwark, and another in Christ's Hospital; an equestrian one of Charles I., at Charing- cross ; one of Charles II. in the quadrangle at Chelsea Hospital, and another in Soho-square ; one of James II. behind the Chapel Royal, Whitehall ; an equestrian statue of William III. in St. James's-square ; one of Queen Anne in Queen-square, Westminster, and another before St. P_aul's Cathedral; an equestrian statue of George III. in Pall Mall East, and the same monarch, with Father Thames, in the quadrangle of Somerset House ; an equestrian statue of George IV. in Trafalgar- square ; of William IV. in King WilSam-stroot, London Bridge ; and of Queen Victoria in the area of the 1; Exchange. In Old Palace-yard, near the peers' en- trance to the House of Lords, is a statue, of a highly imaginative kind, of Richard Cteur de Lion. It was in the Exhibition of 1851, and was purchased by subscrip- tion and a parliamentary grant as a, memorial of that event. Besides those, there are the following statues of public characters : the Duke of Cumberland, the victor of Culloden, an equestrian statue, in Cavendish-square ; the Duke of Kent, the father of Queen Victoria, in Park- crescent, at the top of Portland-place ; the Duke of Wellington, two equestrian statues, one on the top of the arch at Hyde Park Corner, and another in front of