Remember me to our Jesuitical friends,
and believe me ever,
Dear knight,
Yours affectionately,
J. MELFORD
LONDON, May 24.
To Dr LEWIS.
DEAR DOCTOR,
London is literally new to me; new in its streets, houses, and
even in its situation; as the Irishman said, 'London is now gone
out of town.' What I left open fields, producing hay and corn, I
now find covered with streets and squares, and palaces, and
churches. I am credibly informed, that in the space of seven
years, eleven thousand new houses have been built in one quarter
of Westminster, exclusive of what is daily added to other parts
of this unwieldy metropolis. Pimlico and Knightsbridge are now
almost joined to Chelsea and Kensington; and if this infatuation
continues for half a century, I suppose the whole county of
Middlesex will be covered with brick.
It must be allowed, indeed, for the credit of the present age,
that London and Westminster are much better paved and lighted
than they were formerly. The new streets are spacious, regular,
and airy; and the houses generally convenient. The bridge at
Blackfriars is a noble monument of taste and public-spirit. -- I
wonder how they stumbled upon a work of such magnificence and
utility.
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