rough this mighty metropolis, whose patients,
in due course of time and physic, are handed over to the tender mercies of
500 undertakers. Nearly 3,000 boot and shoe-makers give their aid to keep
our feet dry and warm, while 2,950 tailors do as much for the rest of our
bodies. The wants of the fairer portion of the population are supplied, by
1,080 linen drapers, 1,500 milliners and dressmakers; 1,540 private
schools take charge of their children; and 290 pawn-brokers' shops find
employment and profit out of the reverses, follies, and vices of the
community. It is said that 700,000 _cats_ are kept in London, to maintain
whom large part of the 3,000 horses which die every week is sold by
cat's-meat vendors. About 520,000 (1873) houses give shelter to upwards of
three millions of people, whose little differences are aggravated or
settled by upwards of 3,000 attorneys and 3,900 barristers.

"The spiritual wants of this mighty aggregate of human souls are cared for
by more than 2,000 clergymen and dissenting ministers, who respectively
preside over 620 churches and 423 chapels, of which latter buildings the
Independents have 121, the Baptists 100, the Wesleyans 77, the Roman,
Catholics about 90, whereas in 1808 they had but 13, the Calvinists and,
English Presbyterians 10 each, the Quakers 7, and the Jews 10; the
numerous other sects being content with numbers varying from one to five
each. To wind up with the darkest part of the picture, the metropolis
contains on an average 129,000 paupers."

On my way to London, I fell in company with a young gentleman who was well
acquainted in the metropolis, and who gave me much valuable information,
and assisted me in establishing myself in a central location, where
excursions to all sections could be conveniently made. This was "King's
Cross Station," the terminus of the Great Northern Railway, and one of the
principal stations of the Metropolitan (or Underground) Railroad;
besides, it is in the heart of the great city. We reached it by the
Underground Railway from Paddington, the terminus of the Great Western
Railway. When we _came up out of the earth_ at Kings Cross, I saw a
_busy-ness_ such as I had never seen before. My friend went with me a
short distance to point out a street where private rooms could be rented.

The tourist who wants to make the most of his time must never engage to
board at his lodging-place, as it will be very inconvenient and at a
sacrifice of much time, t