NOON
-- the hardest worked , the worst paid , and too often , the worst used class of the community . Eleven o'clock , and a new set of people fill the streets . The goods in the shop-windows are invitingly arranged ; the shopmen in their white neckerchiefs and spruce coats , look as it they could n't clean a window if their lives depended on it ; the carts have disappeared from Covent-garden ; the waggoners have returned , and the costermongers repaired to their ordinary ` beats ' in the suburbs ; clerks are at their offices , and gigs , cabs , omnibuses , and saddle-horses , are conveying their masters to the same destination . The streets are thronged with a vast concourse of people , gay and shabby , rich and poor , idle and industrious ; and we come to the heat , bustle , and activity of NOON . But the streets of London , to be beheld in the very height of their glory , should be seen on a dark , dull , murky winter 's night , when there is just enough damp gently stealing down to make the pavement greasy , without cleansing it of any of its impurities ; and when the heavy lazy mist , which hangs over every object , makes the gas-lamps look brighter , and the brilliantly-lighted shops more splendid , from the contrast they present to the darkness around . All the people who are at home on such a night as this , seem disposed to make themselves as snug and comfortable as possible ; and the passengers in the streets have excellent reason to envy the fortunate individuals who are seated by their own firesides . In the larger and better kind of streets , dining parlour curtains are closely drawn , kitchen fires blaze brightly up , and savoury steams of hot dinners salute the nostrils of the hungry wayfarer , as he plods wearily by the area railings .