the tenancy. If the rent be above that
sum, half a year's notice is required: neglect of
this provision burdens you with the payment of
rent for the additional quarter or half-year,
unless you can obtain a tenant in your stead.
The same notice is exacted from your landlord
if he desires to oust you from possession, but,
should he sell the house, the buyer may eject
you at pleasure, unless you have a special agreement
to the contrary.

Oldboume-street, to which we are approaching,
is in the ward of Farringdone, which is so
extended by the number of houses built without
the walls that there is an intention shortly to
petition parliament to divide it into two wards
—one within and one without. The houses to
which we most commend you are newly built, a
little higher up the hill than Thavie's Inn. This
first one may be had at a rent of eighty shillings
yearly. It is substantially erected, and finished
with much care. The party-walls and chimneys,
in conformity with the Assize of which we told
you, are of freestone, brought, as it seems, from
Maidenstone in Kent: they are sixteen feet
high and three feet thick. The paint on the
ashlaring is gaudy in your eyes, no doubt, but
is commonly employed with us, whose
atmosphere being freer from smoke and many other
vapours, agrees with bright colours better than
yours. The mortar is of lime mixed with sand
or broken tiles. The framework built upon the
walls, and the gables, both front and back, are
of wood, whitewashed with plaster of Paris. The
roof is tiled and pitched high, so that rain may
readily fall into the gutters at the side. The
windows in houses of this description are not
always glazed as here; but, of late, glass has
been largely imported from Flanders, Normandy,
and Lorraine, and the glaziers now constitute a
mystery, or distinct trade.

If you happen to be acquainted with the
principles of architectural construction, you will
conclude, from the external appearance of the
house, what is the fact, that the chief mechanical
powers in use amongst you—as the crane and
lewis, for example—are familiar to us. The
numerous improvements made in the science
of building are almost confined to the
elaboration of machinery for obtaining increased
expedition.

Let us now enter the house and see the plan
of it. We first come to the vestibule leading
to the hall, or sitting apartment. The latter, you
may see from the single chimney, is one room,
although divided into two by a wooden partition.
Both are of good size, as houses run with
us, though eight feet in height may be thought
low. The floors are well planked, and, as
well as the wainscoting, are of Norway fir. In
houses of a better class than this, designs of
figures or flowers are generally painted on the
wainscoting. If you object to the aspect of
these whitewashed walls, you can easily drape
them with hangings, as we commonly do. That
floriated ironwork on the lock of the door is of
excellent workmanship. We obtain most of our
iron from Spain, though there are extensive
bloomeries in the Forest of Dean, and at
Furness in Lancashire. These aumbries, or, as you
would call them, cupboards, are formed by
means of arches in the wall, which, in accordance
with the Assize, do not exceed a foot in
depth.

On the right of the vestibule we come to the
kitchen, which doubtless strikes you as strangely
and inconveniently constructed. In houses of
this description, and, indeed, in many of the
better sort, it is usual to leave the kitchen
uncovered, so that the smoke from the grate in the
centre and the vapours of cooking may have free
exit. This, of course, is objectionable in rainy
weather, and we are beginning to use roofs and
chimneys, the expense of constructing which
hinders their general adoption. The floor here
being unplanked, the refuse is carried off by this
gutter into a sink outside. The buttery (the
larder of your country) is on the other side of
the vestibule. The entrance to the cellars is
by the steps outside, in the curtilage or
courtyard.

Let us now ascend by this internal staircase to
the solar or upper chamber. In older houses
than this you will often find the staircase
external. The solar, like the hall, is one room di-
vided by wooden partitions. The compartment
that contains the chimney you will of course
make your own chamber. The other rooms, with
central hearths and louvers above, are not so
pleasant. The windows here, you see, are not
glazed, but protected by wooden shutters, and
lattices filled in with canvas. It is not
unfrequent to glaze the upper lights, and keep the
wooden shutters for the lower. At the back we
look out on the curtilage and garden sloping
down to the houses on the Fleet banks. There
is a well in the former, together with a sink for
refuse water, faced with stone. Our drainage
in London, by the way, though far behind yours,
is not ill managed. Besides private sinks, there
is a common drain in the great streets communicating
with the houses. The Thames is happily
little polluted by the discharge of sewage, much
of which falls into the town ditch. There are
strict and continual regulations issued to keep
the highways clear from rubbish, and officers are
appointed by each ward to see that these
ordinances are put in force. There are also rakyers,
as we have said, whose duty it is to remove
the garbage to places made to receive it. These
places are periodically cleansed, the contents
being carried away in carts provided by the
City.

You will be glad to know what precautions
we take against peril from fire, and the attacks
of enemies. Certain provisions against the
former are exacted from all builders of houses
in the City such as the construction of stone
chimneys, and the prohibition of thatched roofs,
and ovens placed near timber structures. It is
further demanded of all the holders of large
houses that they keep a ladder or two for the
rescue of their neighbours, and in summer a
large water-vessel always full. Each ward
is bound to keep ready for use an iron crook,