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Twice Around the Clock, Or, The Hours of the Day and Night in London
Twice Around the Clock Or The Hours of the Day and Night in London Author:George Augustus Sala Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SIX O'CLOCK A.M.—COVENT GARDEN MARKET. An Emperor will always be called Caesar, and a dog " poor old fellow," in whatever country they may reign or bark, I su... more »ppose ; and I should be very much surprised if any men of Anglo-Saxon lineage, from this time forward to the millennium, could build a new city in any part of either hemisphere without a street or streets named after certain London localities, dear and familiar to us all. There is a Pall Mall in Liverpool, though but an unsavoury little thoroughfare, and a Piccadilly in Manchester—a very murky, bricky street indeed, compared with that unequalled hill of London, skirted on one side by the mansions of the nobles, and on the other by the great green parks. Brighton has its Bond Street—mutatus ab ille, certainly, being a fourth-rate skimping little place, smelling of oyster-shells, sand, recently-washed linen, and babies. I question not but in far-off Melbourne and Sydney, and scarcely yet planned cities of the Bush, the dear old names are springing up, like shoots from famous trees. Antipodean legislators have a refreshment room they call " Bellamy's ;" merchants in far-off lands have their " Lloyd's;" there are coffeehouses and taverns, thousands of miles away, christened " Joe's," and " Tom's," and " Sam's," though the original " Joe," the primeval " Tom," the first " Sam," most bald-headed and courteous of old port- wine-wise waiters, have long since slept the sleep of the just in quiet mouldy London graveyards, closed years ago by the Board of Health. On very many names, and names alone, we stamp esto perpetua ; and English hearts would ill brook the alteration of their favourite designations. Long, long may it be, I hope, before the great Lord Mayor of London shall be called the Prefect of the Thames, or the Secretary of...« less