Oldal 192 [192]
170 COMMERCE
ment will make an otherwise ugly design ornamental. The two banks
next to it—that of Messrs. Gosling, with the three squirrels in the
window, and that of Messrs. Hoare, with its golden bottle—are very
plain ; but nearly opposite to them the Law Courts branch of the Bank
of England forms a striking feature in the view along Fleet Street, It
is by Sir Arthur Blomfield, and resembles a little too much an Italian
country villa, not having the plain dignity suitable for a town
house. The chief banks are in and near Lombard Street; but though
a good many of them
have been _ recently
rebuilt, their style,
which might have
made this ancient
thoroughfare into a
street of palaces, com¬
parable to Pall Mall
or the Via Nuova in
Genoa, has only suc¬
ceeded in disfiguring
it. The chief offend¬
ers, IN my opinion at
least, are among the
most costly, as, for
example, the block
in which Messrs.
Kobarts bank is
Situate, that which
contains the Credit
Lyonnais, and the
new buildings of the