London, as may well be imagined, is largely supplied with institutions tending to the proper care of the young, the aged, the sick, and the impoverished. A few of the more important among them are worthy of the attention of strangers.

Colleges.—The two chief colleges in London are connected with the London University. This University is a body of persons, not (as many suppose) a building. The body was established in 1837, to confer degrees on the students or graduates of many different colleges in and about London. It occupies apartments at Burlington House, Piccadilly, lent by the government for examining purposes; but it neither teaches nor gives lectures. University College, in Gower Street, was originally called London University; but since 1837, the more limited designation has been given to it. University College It was founded in 1828, on the proprietary system, to afford a good middle-class education at a moderate expense, without limitation as to religious tests. Hence it is much frequented by Jews, Parsees, Hindoos, &c. The whole range of college tuition is given, except divinity; with the addition of much fuller instruction in science and in modern languages than was before given in colleges. The building, with its lofty portico, might possibly have presented a good appearance if the plans of the architect had been carried out; but, through want of funds, the wings have never been built, and the structure is ridiculously incomplete. The college possesses a fine collection of casts from Flaxman’s sculptures, usually open to inspection by strangers. King’s College, in the Strand, has been already mentioned as adjoining Somerset House on the east. It was founded in the same year as University College, expressly in connection with the Established Church of England. There was some sectarian bitterness between the two establishments at first, but both have settled down into a steady career of usefulness. The teaching of divinity, and the observance of church-service as part of the routine, are maintained at King’s College. Gordon College, or University Hall, in Gordon Square, is an establishment mainly supported by Unitarians; the building itself, as a modern imitation of the old red-brick style, is worthy of a passing glance. New College, at St. John’s Wood, for Congregationalists or Independents; the Baptist College, in the Regent’s Park; the English Presbyterian Theological College, Guildford Street, W.C.; the Wesleyan College, in the Horseferry Road; Hackney College; and a few others of less note—are establishments maintained by various bodies of dissenters; some for educating ministers for the pulpit; some for training schoolmasters and schoolmistresses. Of the buildings so occupied, the handsomest is New College. This was established, a few years ago, as a substitute for Highbury, Homerton, and Coward Colleges, all belonging to the Congregationalists. Gresham College: this is not a college in the modern sense of the term; it is only a lecture-room. Sir Thomas Gresham left an endowment for an annual series of lectures, and residences and stipends for the lecturers. The charity was greatly misused during the 17th and 18th centuries. Public attention having been called to the subject, a new lecture hall was built, a few years ago, at the corner of Basinghall and Gresham Streets, out of the accumulated fund; and lectures are delivered here at certain periods of each year. The subjects are divinity, physic, astronomy, geometry, law, rhetoric, and music. The lectures take place in the middle of the day, some in Latin, some in English; they are freely open to the public; but the auditors, at such an hour and in such a place—surrounded by the busy hum of commerce—are very few in number. Among the training colleges for schoolmasters and mistresses may be named the National Society’s at Battersea; St. Mark’s Training College, Fulham Road; the Training Institution for schoolmistresses, King’s Road, Chelsea; the British and Foreign in the Borough Road; and the Home and Colonial in Gray’s Inn Road. At Islington is a Church of England Training College for missionaries. The College of Preceptors, in Queen Square, resembles the London University in this, that it confers a sort of degree, or academical rank, but does not teach. Many so-called colleges are either proprietary or private schools.

Great Public Schools.—The chief of these in London is Westminster School, not for the building itself, but for the celebrity of the institution; although the college hall, once the refectory of the old abbots of Westminster, is interesting from its very antiquity. The school, which was founded in 1560, lies south-west of Westminster Abbey, but very near it. Some of our greatest statesmen and scholars have been educated here. St. Paul’s School, situated on the eastern side of St. Paul’s Churchyard, was founded in 1521, by Dean Colet, for the education of ‘poor men’s children.’ Like many others of the older schools, the benefits are not conferred so fully as they ought to be on the class designated. The presentations are wholly in the hands of the Mercers’ Company. The now existing school-house, the third on the same site, was built in 1823. The Charter House School, near Aldersgate Street, is part of a charity established by Thomas Sutton in 1611. Among other great men here educated were the late Sir Henry Havelock, and W. M. Thackeray. There is an Hospital or Almshouse for about 80 ‘poor Brethren,’ men who have seen better days; and there is a school for the free education of 40 ‘poor Boys,’ with many more whose parents pay for their schooling. The chapel and ante-chapel, the great hall and staircase, and the governor’s room, are interesting parts of the building. Christ’s Hospital, or the Blue Coat School—as it is commonly called from the colour of the boys’ dress—is situated within an enclosure on the north side of Newgate Street, and is one of the most splendid among the charitable foundations of London. The buildings stand on the site of a monastery of Grey-friars, which was granted by Henry VIII. to the city for the use of the poor; and his son and successor, Edward VI., greatly extended the value of the gift by granting a charter for its foundation as a charity school, and at the same time endowing it with sundry benefactions. The hospital was opened, for the reception and education of boys, in 1552. Charles II. added an endowment for a mathematical class; and with various augmentations of endowment, the annual revenue is now understood to be no less than £40,000. This income supports and educates nearly 1200 children, 500 of whom, including girls, are boarded at the town of Hertford, for the sake of country air. The management of the institution is vested in a body of governors, composed of the lord mayor and aldermen, twelve common-councilmen chosen by lot, and all benefactors to the amount of £400 and upwards. The children are admitted without reference to the City privileges of parents; about one hundred and fifty are entered annually. It is undeniable, however, that many children are admitted rather through interest than on account of the poverty of their parents. After instruction in the elementary branches of schooling, the greater number of the boys leave the hospital at the age of fifteen; those only remaining longer who intend to proceed to the university, or to go to sea after completing a course of mathematics. There are seven presentations at Cambridge, and one at Oxford, open to the scholars. The buildings of the institution embrace several structures of large dimensions, chiefly ranged round open courts, with cloisters beneath; and a Church, which also serves as a parochial place of worship. The only part of the establishment, however, worth examining for its architecture is the Great Hall, occupying the first floor of a building of modern date, designed by Mr. Shaw, in the Gothic style. It measures 187 feet long, 51 feet broad, and 47 high, and possesses an organ-gallery at the east end. In this magnificent apartment the boys breakfast, dine, and sup. Before meals, one of the elder inmates repeats a long grace or prayer, at the commencement of which the whole of the boys, in lines at their respective tables, fall on their knees. The boys are dressed in the costume selected for them in Edward VI.’s reign; the outer garments consisting of a long dark-blue coat, breeches, and yellow worsted stockings. The ‘public suppers,’ on Thursdays in Lent, are worth the attention of strangers: (tickets from governors.) Merchant Taylors’ School, situated in a close part of the City behind the Mansion House, was founded in 1561 by the Merchant Taylors’ Company. The present structure was built in 1673, with the exception of some of the classrooms, which are much more modern. About 260 boys are educated, wholly on the presentation of members of the Company; and there are numerous fellowships at St. John’s College, Oxford, open to the scholars. Mercers’ Free Grammar School, in College Hill, is a small establishment of similar kind. The City of London School, in Milk Street, Cheapside, is one of the most modern of these Grammar Schools, as they are called. It was founded in 1835, and possesses several Exhibitions for successful senior scholars.

Other Schools.—The schools established under the auspices of the National Society, called National Schools, are very numerous, but need hardly be noticed here. The British and Foreign School Society, in the Borough Road, and the Home and Colonial School Society, in Gray’s Inn Road, train up teachers without reference to religious tests; whereas the National Society is in connection with the Church of England. Many very superior schools for girls, under the designation of Ladies’ Colleges, have been established in the metropolis within the last few years, in Harley Street and in Bedford Square, &c. The Government School of Art for Ladies is in Queen Square, Bloomsbury. The National Art Training School is at South Kensington.

The London School Board, elected in 1870, under the new Education Act, has its locale at 33 New Bridge Street, Blackfriars. It has, practically speaking, almost entire control of the educational systems of the metropolis, and is armed with inquisitorial powers that remind us of the ancient Star Chamber. Still, the system of election of the members of the Board gives a certain guarantee of responsibility, that makes its prestige, at least, without suspicion.

Schools of Telegraphy are established at 138 Regent Street, W., and 24 City Road, E.C., where the art is fully instructed, to resident and non-resident pupils.Hospitals and Charitable Institutions.—A small volume might readily be filled with a list of London’s charitable institutions. The charities connected in some way with the corporation of London are Christ’s Hospital, for boarding and educating youth, already mentioned; Bethlehem Hospital, Lambeth, for insane patients; St. Thomas’s Hospital, for treating poor patients diseased and hurt; and St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, West Smithfield, for the same purpose. The City companies likewise support a number of beneficiary institutions, such as the Ironmongers’ Almhouses at Kingsland, and others of like kind. The following hospitals are the most important among the large number founded and supported by private benevolence:—Guy’s Hospital, Southwark; London Hospital, Whitechapel Road; Westminster Hospital, near the Abbey; St. George’s Hospital, Hyde Park Corner; Middlesex Hospital, Charles Street, Oxford Street; University College Hospital, Gower Street; St. Luke’s Hospital, for the insane, City Road; King’s College Hospital, near Clare Market; Small-Pox Hospital, Highgate Rise; the Foundling Hospital, Great Guildford Street; the Consumption Hospital, Brompton; Charing Cross Hospital, Agar Street; the Lock Hospital, Harrow Road; and the Royal Free Hospital, Gray’s Inn Road. Besides these, there are several Lying-in hospitals, a Floating hospital on the Thames, now substituted by a part of Greenwich Hospital being devoted to a similar use; various Ophthalmic hospitals, and numerous Dispensaries and Infirmaries for particular diseases. Institutions for the relief of indigent persons, Deaf and Dumb asylums, Blind asylums, and Orphan asylums, are far too numerous to be specified. In short, there are in this great metropolis about 250 hospitals, dispensaries, infirmaries, asylums, and almshouses; besides at least 400 religious, visiting, and benevolent institutions for ministering to the various ills, mental and moral, bodily or worldly, to which an immense population is always subject. It is supposed that these several institutions receive in subscriptions considerably over £2,000,000 annually. Some of the hospital buildings above named are large and majestic in appearance. When, for the Charing Cross extension of the South-Eastern Railway, St. Thomas’s Hospital and site, which formerly stood close to London Bridge Station, were purchased for a sum not very much under £300,000, it was arranged to rebuild the hospital between the south end of Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Palace. This hospital, which is now completed, affords a fine object from a steamboat passing up the river, and is certainly one of the noblest buildings of its class in Europe.