When Victoria ascended the throne, there were one-and-a-half million Londoners; at her death, there were four-and-a-half million, a population explosion spurred by the Irish potato famine and new laws which allowed Jews escaping from Russian pogroms to immigrate. London was the largest city in the world-new bridges opened up the city; railroads and docks brought people and goods. The 1851 Crystal Palace exhibition was the largest greenhouse in the world, a symbol of Britannic imperial might; meanwhile, living conditions for the poor became worse and worse. The Victorian belief that cleanliness is next to godliness was concretized by the realization that, for the poor, cleanliness was next to impossible, and do-gooders made some headway in introducing decent low-income housing and washhouses with running water. The principal illustrations: Kensington Palace, The London Docks, Hyde Park, The Crystal Palace, The Albert Memorial, Brick Lane and Fournier St. in Whitechapel, A Model Home on Streatham St., Chichester St. Washhouse, Lancaster Gate and Mews.