[Transcriber's Note: The following conventions are used in this text:~bold text~, _italic text_, [=i]--i with a macron over it. ]

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[Illustration: THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT: DESIGNED BY BARRY, OPENED1852. ]

THE

HISTORY OF LONDON

BY

WALTER BESANT

AUTHOR OF 'LONDON' 'CHILDREN OF GIBEON' ETC. 

_SECOND EDITION_

LONDONLONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 

1894

_All rights reserved_

CONTENTS. 

LESSON PAGE

 1. The Foundation of London (I) 7

 2. The Foundation of London (II) 10

 3. Roman London (I) 13

 4. " " (II) 16

 5. After the Romans (I) 19

 6. " " " (II) 23

 7. " " " (III) 26

 8. The First Saxon Settlement 29

 9. The Second Saxon Settlement 32

10. The Anglo-Saxon Citizen 34

11. The Wall of London 38

12. Norman London 42

13. FitzStephen's Account of the City (I) 45

14. FitzStephen's Account of the City (II) 50

15. London Bridge (I) 54

16. " " (II) 57

17. The Tower of London (I) 60

18. " " " (II) 63

19. The Pilgrims 67

20. St. Bartholomew's Hospital 70

21. The Terror of Leprosy 74

22. The Terror of Famine 78

23. St. Paul's Cathedral (I) 82

24. " " " (II) 86

25. Paul's Churchyard 91

26. The Religious Houses 95

27. Monks, Friars, and Nuns 100

28. The London Churches 103

29. The Streets 106

30. Whittington (I) 110

31. " (II) 115

32. " (III) 118

33. Gifts and Bequests 121

34. The Palaces and Great Houses 124

35. Amusements 127

36. Westminster Abbey 131

37. The Court at Westminster 134

38. Justice and Punishments 137

39. The Political Power of London 140

40. Elizabethan London (I) 144

41. " " (II) 147

42. " " (III) 151

43. Trade (I) 155

44. " (II) 158

45. " (III) 164

46. Plays and Pageants (I) 168

47. " " " (II) 170

48. " " " (III) 173

49. " " " (IV) 177

50. The Terror of the Plague (I) 180

51. The Terror of the Plague (II) 183

52. The Terror of Fire (I) 187

53. " " " (II) 192

54. Rogues and Vagabonds 197

55. Under George the Second (I) 201

56. Under George the Second (II) 206

57. Under George the Second (III) 210

58. Under George the Second (IV) 214

59. Under George the Second (V) 218

60. The Government of the City (I) 222

61. The Government of the City (II) 226

62. The Government of the City (III) 228

63. London 230

Notes 235

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

 PAGE

 1. The New Houses of Parliament: designed by Barry, opened 1852 _Frontispiece_

 2. Early British Pottery 9

 3. Roman London 15

 4. Remains of a Viking Ship, from a Cairn at Gokstad 22

 5. Martyrdom of St. Edmund by the Danes 31

 6. Saxon Horsemen 33

 7. Saxon Church at Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts 36

 8. City Gates 39

 9. Remains of the Wall 40

10. Part of the Roman Wall at Leicester 41

11. Tower in the Earlier Style. Church at Earl's Barton 44

12. A Norman Ship 46

13. Building a Church in the later Style 47

14. Lay Costumes in the Twelfth Century 50

15. Costume of Shepherds in the Twelfth Century 51

16. Ecclesiastical Costume in the Twelfth Century 52

17. Royal Arms of England from Richard I. To Edward III. 54

18. Old London Bridge 57

19. The Tower of London 61, 64

20. A Bed in the Reign of Henry III. 67

21. Interior of the Hall at Penshurst, Kent 71

22. The Upper Chamber or Solar at Sutton Courtenay Manor-house 73

23. The Lepers Begging 77

24. London before the Spire of St. Paul's was burned; showing the Bridge, Tower, Shipping, &c. 83

25. Old St. Paul's, from the East 85

26. Old St. Paul's on Fire 87

27. West Front of St. Paul's Cathedral Church. (Built by Sir Christopher Wren) 89

28. Paul's Cross 92

29. Bermondsey Abbey 96

30. Ruins of Gateway of Bermondsey Abbey 97

31. Christ's Hospital 99

32. Chepe in the Fifteenth Century 108

33. Large Ship and Boat of the Fifteenth Century 111

34. A Sea-Fight 113

35. Durham, Salisbury, and Worcester Houses 125

36. Bear-baiting 128

37. Shooting at the Butts with the Long-bow 129

38. Tomb of Edward III. In Westminster Abbey 132

39. The Embarkation of Henry VIII. From Dover, 1520 141

40. Coaches in the Reign of Elizabeth 148

41. The City from Southwark 150

42. South-east Part of London in the Fifteenth Century, showing the Tower and Wall 153

43. King Edward VI. 159

44. Sir Thomas Gresham 161

45. First Royal Exchange 162

46. Shipping in the Thames, _circa_ 1660 166

47. Sir Francis Drake, in his Forty-third Year 167

48. The Globe Theatre 179

49. Civil Costume about 1620 181

50. Costume of a Lawyer 181

 Ordinary Civil Costume; _temp. _ Charles I. :

51. A Countryman 185

52. A Countrywoman 185

53. A Citizen 187

54. A Citizen's Wife 187

55. A Gentleman 189

56. A Gentlewoman 189

57. Lud-gate on Fire 190

58. Paul Pindar's House 191

59. London, as Rebuilt after the Fire 193

60. Coach of the latter half of the Seventeenth Century 195

61. Waggon of the second half of the Seventeenth Century 195

62. Ordinary Dress of Gentlemen in 1675 197

63. Dress of Ladies of Quality 199

64. Ordinary Attire of Women of the Lower Classes 199

65. Group showing Costumes and Sedan Chair, about 1720 202

66. Temple Bar, London 203

67. Fleet Street and Temple Bar 205

68. A Coach of the Middle of the Seventeenth Century 207

69. View of School connected with Bunyan's Meeting House 209

70. Grenadier in the time of the Peninsular War 211

71. Uniform of Sailors, about 1790 213

72. Costumes of Gentlefolk, about 1784 215

73. Vessels unloading at the Customs House, at the beginning of the Eighteenth Century 217

74. The Old Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, 1803 221

LONDON

1. THE FOUNDATION OF LONDON. 

PART I. 

'In the year 1108 B. C. , Brutus, a descendant of Æneas, who was the sonof Venus, came to England with his companions, after the taking of Troy, and founded the City of Troynovant, which is now called London. After athousand years, during which the City grew and flourished exceedingly, one Lud became its king. He built walls and towers, and, among otherthings, the famous gate whose name still survives in the street calledLudgate. King Lud was succeeded by his brother Cassivelaunus, in whosetime happened the invasion of the Romans under Julius Cæsar. Troynovant, or London, then became a Roman city. It was newly fortified by Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. '

This is the legend invented or copied by Geoffrey of Monmouth, andcontinued to be copied, and perhaps believed, almost to the present day. Having paid this tribute to old tradition, let us relate the true earlyhistory of the City, as it can be recovered from such documents asremain, from discoveries made in excavation, from fragments ofarchitecture, and from the lie of the ground. The testimony derivedfrom the lie of the ground is more important than any other, for severalreasons. First, an historical document may be false, or inexact; forinstance, the invention of a Brutus, son of Æneas, is false and absurdon the face of it. Or a document may be wrongly interpreted. Thus, afragment of architecture may through ignorance be ascribed to the Roman, when it belongs to the Norman, period--one needs to be a profoundstudent of architecture before an opinion of value can be pronouncedupon the age of any monument: or it may be taken to mean something quiteapart from the truth, as if a bastion of the old Roman fort, such as hasbeen discovered on Cornhill, should be taken for part of the Roman wall. But the lie of the ground cannot deceive, and, in competent hands, cannot well be misunderstood. If we know the course of streams, theheight and position of hills, the run of valleys, the site of marshes, the former extent of forests, the safety of harbours, the existence offords, we have in our hands a guide-book to history. We can thenunderstand why towns were built in certain positions, why trade sprangup, why invading armies landed at certain places, what course was takenby armies, and why battles have been fought on certain spots. For thesethings are not the result of chance, they are necessitated by thegeographical position of the place, and by the lie of the ground. Why, for instance, is Dover one of the oldest towns in the country? Becauseit is the nearest landing ground for the continent, and because its hillforms a natural fortress for protecting that landing ground. Why wasthere a Roman station at Portsmouth? On account of the great andlandlocked harbour. Why is Durham an ancient city? Because the steephill made it almost impregnable. Why is Chester so called? Because itwas from very ancient times a fort, or stationary camp (L. _castra_), against the wild Welsh. 

[Illustration: EARLY BRITISH POTTERY. ]

Let us consider this question as regards London. Look at the map called'Roman London' (p. 15). You will there see flowing into the river Thamestwo little streams, one called Walbrook, and the other called the FleetRiver. You will see a steep slope, or cliff, indicated along the riverside. Anciently, before any buildings stood along the bank, this cliff, about 30 feet high, rose over an immense marsh which covered all theground on the south, the east, and the west. The cliff receded from theriver on the east and on the west at this point: on either side of theWalbrook it rose out of the marsh at the very edge of the river at hightide. There was thus a double hill, one on the east with the Walbrook onone side of it, the Thames on a second side, and a marsh on a thirdside, and the Fleet River on the west. It was thus bounded on east, south, and west, by streams. On the north was a wild moor (hence thename Moorfields) and beyond the moor stretched away northwards a vastforest, afterwards called the Middlesex forest. This forest covered, indeed, the greater part of the island, save where marshes and stagnantlakes lay extended, the haunt of countless wild birds. You may seeportions and fragments of this forest even now; some of it lies in KenWood, Hampstead; some in the last bit left of Hainault Forest; some atEpping. 

The river Thames ran through this marsh. It was then much broader thanat present, because there were no banks or quays to keep it withinlimits: at high tide it overflowed the whole of the marsh and lay in animmense lake, bounded on the north by this low cliff of clay, and on thesouth by the rising ground of what we now call the Surrey Hills, whichbegin between Kennington and Clapham, as is shown by the name of ClaphamRise. In this marsh were a few low islets, always above water save atvery high tides. The memory of these islands is preserved in the namesending with _ea_ or _ey_, as Chelsea, Battersea, Bermondsey. AndWestminster Abbey was built upon the Isle of Thorns or Thorney. Themarsh, south of the river, remained a marsh, undrained and neglected formany centuries. Almost within the memory of living men Southwarkcontained stagnant ponds, while Bermondsey is still flooded when thetide is higher than is customary. 

2. THE FOUNDATION OF LONDON. 

PART II. 

On these low hillocks marked on the map London was first founded. Thesite had many advantages: it was raised above the malarious marsh, itoverlooked the river, which here was at its narrowest, it was protectedby two other streams and by the steepness of the cliff, and it was overthe little port formed by the fall of one stream into the river. Here, on the western hill, the Britons formed their first settlement; therewere as yet no ships on the silent river where they fished; there was noferry, no bridge, no communication with the outer world; the woodsprovided the first Londoners with game and skins; the river gave themfish; they lived in round huts formed of clay and branches with thatchedroofs. If you desire to understand how the Britons fortified themselves, you may see an excellent example not very far from London. It is theplace called St. George's Hill, near Weybridge. They wanted a hill--thesteeper the side the better: they made it steeper by entrenching it;they sometimes surrounded it with a high earthwork and sometimes with astockade: the great thing being to put the assailing force under thedisadvantage of having to climb. The three river sides of the Londonfort presented a perpendicular cliff surmounted by a stockade, the otherside, on which lay the forest, probably had an earthwork also surmountedby a stockade. There were no buildings and there was no trade; thepeople belonged to a tribe and had to go out and fight when war wascarried on with another tribe. 

The fort was called Llyn-din--the Lake Fort. When the Romans came theycould not pronounce the word Llyn--Thlin in the British way--and calledit Lon--hence their word Londinium. Presently adventurous merchants fromGaul pushed across to Dover, and sailed along the coast of Kent pastSandwich and through the open channel which then separated the island ofThanet from the main land, into the broad Thames, and, sailing up withthe tide, dropped anchor off the fishing villages which lay along theriver and began to trade. What did they offer? What Captain Cook offeredthe Polynesians: weapons, clothes, adornments. What did they take away?Skins and slaves at first; skins and slaves, and tin and iron, after thecountry became better known and its resources were understood. The tastefor trading once acquired rapidly grows; it is a delightful thing toexchange what you do not want for what you do want, and it is so veryeasy to extend one's wants. So that when the Romans first saw London itwas already a flourishing town with a great concourse of merchants. 

How long a period elapsed between the foundation of London and thearrival of the Romans? How long between the foundation and thebeginnings of trade? It is quite impossible even to guess. When Cæsarlanded Gauls and Belgians were already here before him. As for theBritons themselves they were Celts, as were the Gauls and the Belgians, but of what is called the Brythonic branch, represented in speech by theWelsh, Breton and Cornish languages (the last is now extinct). Therewere also lingering among them the surviving families of an earlier anda conquered race, perhaps Basques or Finns. When the country wasconquered by the Celts we do not know. Nor is there any record at all ofthe people they found here unless the caves, full of the bones whichthey gnawed and cut in two for the marrow, were the homes of theseearlier occupants. 

When the Romans came they found the town prosperous. That is all weknow. What the town was like we do not know. It is, however, probablethat the requirements of trade had already necessitated some form ofembankment and some kind of quay; also, if trade were of long standing, some improvement in the huts, the manner of living, the wants, and thedress of the people would certainly have been introduced. 

Such was the beginning of London. Let us repeat. 

It was a small fortress defended on three sides by earthworks, bystockades, by a cliff or steeply sloping bank, and by streams; on thefourth side by an earthwork, stockade, and trench. The ground wasslightly irregular, rising from 30 to 60 feet. An open moor full ofquagmires and ponds also protected it on the north. On the east on theother side of the stream rose another low hill. The extent of thisBritish fort of Llyn-din may be easily estimated. The distance fromWalbrook to the Fleet is very nearly 900 yards; supposing the fort was500 yards in depth from south to north we have an area of 450, 000 squareyards, i. E. About 100 acres was occupied by the first London, theFortress on the Lake. What this town was like in its later days when theRomans found it; what buildings stood upon it; how the people lived, weknow very little indeed. They went out to fight, we know so much; and ifyou visit Hampstead Heath you may look at a barrow on the top of a hillwhich probably contains the bones of those citizens of London who fellin the victory which they achieved over the citizens of Verulam whenthey fought it out in the valley below that hill. 

3. ROMAN LONDON. 

PART I. 

The Romans, when they resolved to settle in England, establishedthemselves on the opposite hillock, the eastern bank of the Walbrook. The situation was not so strong as that of the British town, because itwas protected by cliff and river on two sides only instead of three. Butthe Romans depended on their walls and their arms rather than theposition of their town. As was their habit they erected here a strongfortress or a stationary camp, such as others which remain in thecountry. Perhaps the Roman building which most resembles this fort isthe walled enclosure called Porchester, which stands at the head ofPortsmouth Harbour. This is rectangular in shape and is contained by ahigh wall built of rubble stone and narrow bricks, with round, hollowbastions at intervals. One may also see such a stationary camp atRichborough, near Sandwich; and at Pevensey, in Sussex; and atSilchester, near Reading, but the two latter are not rectangular. Oneend of this fort was on the top of the Walbrook bank and the other, ifyou look in your map, on the site of Mincing Lane. This gives a lengthof about 700 yards by a breadth of 350, which means an enclosure ofabout 50 acres. This is a large area: it was at once the barrack, thearsenal, and the treasury of the station; it contained the residences ofthe officers, the offices of the station, the law court and tribunals, and the prisons; it was the official residence. Outside the fort on thenorth was the burial place. If we desire to know the character of thebuildings we may assure ourselves that they were not mean or ignoble byvisiting the Roman town of Silchester. Here we find that the great Hallof Justice was a hall more spacious than Westminster Hall, thoughdoubtless not so lofty or so fine. Attached to this hall were othersmaller rooms for the administration of justice; on one side was an opencourt with a cloister or corridor running all round it and shops at theback for the sale of everything. This was the centre of the city: herethe courts were held; this was the Exchange; here were the baths; thiswas the place where the people resorted in the morning and lounged aboutto hear the news; here the jugglers and the minstrels and the acrobatscame to perform; it was the very centre of the life of the city--as wasSilchester so was London. 

[Illustration: _Walker & Boutallse. _

ROMAN LONDON. ]

Outside the Citadel the rude British town--if it was still a rudetown--disappeared rapidly. The security of the place, stronglygarrisoned, the extension of Roman manners, the introduction of Romancustoms, dress, and luxuries gave a great impetus to the development ofthe City. The little ports of the rivers Walbrook and Fleet no longersufficed for the shipping which now came up the river; if there were asyet no quays or embankments they were begun to be erected; behind themrose warehouses and wharves. The cliff began to be cut away; a steepslope took its place; its very existence was forgotten. The same thinghas happened at Brighton, where, almost within the memory of living man, a low cliff ran along the beach. This embankment extended east andwest--as far as the Fleet River, which is now Blackfriars, on the west, and what is now Tower Hill on the east. Then, the trade stillincreasing, the belt of ground behind the embankment became filled witha dense population of riverside people--boatmen, sailors, boat-builders, store-keepers, bargemen, stevedores, porters--all the people who belongto a busy mercantile port. As for the better sort, they lived round theCitadel, protected by its presence, in villas, remains of which havebeen found in many places. 

The two things which most marked the Roman occupation were London Walland Bridge. Of the latter we will speak in another place. The wall waserected at a time between A. D. 350 and A. D. 369--very near the end ofthe Roman occupation. This wall remained the City wall for more than athousand years; it was rebuilt, repaired, restored; the scanty remainsof it--a few fragments here and there--contain very little of theoriginal wall; but the course of the wall was never altered, and we knowexactly how it ran. There was first a strong river wall along thenorthern bank. There were three water gates and the Bridge gate; therewere two land gates at Newgate and Bishopsgate. The wall was 3 miles and205 yards long; the area enclosed was 380 acres. This shows that thepopulation must have been already very large, for the Romans were notaccustomed to erect walls longer than they could defend. 

4. ROMAN LONDON. 

PART II. 

We must think of Roman London as of a small stronghold on a low hillrising out of the river. It is a strongly-walled place, within which isa garrison of soldiers; outside its walls stretch gardens and villas, many of them rich and beautiful, filled with costly things. Below thefort is a long river wall or quay covered with warehouses, bales ofgoods, and a busy multitude of men at work. Some are slaves--perhapsall. Would you like to know what a Roman villa was like? It was in plana small, square court, surrounded on three sides by a cloister orcorridor with pillars, and behind the cloister the rooms of the house;the middle part of the court was a garden, and in front was another anda larger garden. The house was of one storey, the number and size of therooms varying according to the size of the house. On one side were thewinter divisions, on the other were the summer rooms. The former partwas kept warm by means of a furnace constructed below the house, whichsupplied hot-air pipes running up all the walls. At the back of thehouse were the kitchen, stables, and sleeping quarters of the servants. Tesselated pavements, statues, pictures, carvings, hangings, pillows, and fine glass adorned the house. There was not in London the enormouswealth which enabled some of the Romans to live in palaces, but therewas comparative wealth--the wealth which enables a man to procure forhimself in reason all the things that he desires. 

The City as it grew in prosperity was honoured by receiving the name ofAugusta. It remained in Roman hands for nearly four hundred years. TheCitadel, which marks the first occupation by the Romans, was probablybuilt about A. D. 43. The Romans went away in A. D. 410. During these fourcenturies the people became entirely Romanised. Add to this that theybecame Christians. Augusta was a Christian city; the churches whichstand--or stood, because three at least have been removed--along ThamesStreet, probably occupied the sites of older Roman churches. In thispart of the City the people were thickest; in this quarter, therefore, stood the greater number of churches: the fact that they were mostlydedicated to the apostles instead of to later Saxon saints seems to showthat they stood on the sites of Roman churches. It has been asked whythere has never been found any heathen temple in London; the answer isthat London under the Romans very early became Christian; if there hadbeen a temple of Diana or Apollo it would have been destroyed orconverted into a church. Such remains of Augusta as have been found areinconsiderable: they are nearly all in the museum of the Guildhall, where they should be visited and examined. 

The history of Roman London is meagre. Seventeen years after thebuilding of the Citadel, on the rebellion of Boadicea, the Roman generalSuetonius abandoned the place, as unable to defend it. All those whoremained were massacred by the insurgents. After this, so far as weknow, for history is silent, there was peace in London for 200 years. Then one Carausius, an officer in command of the fleet stationed in theChannel for the suppression of piracies, assumed the title of emperor. He continued undisturbed for some years, his soldiers remaining faithfulto him on account of his wealth: he established a Mint at London andstruck a large amount of money there. He was murdered by one of hisofficers, Allectus, who called himself emperor in turn and continued torule in Britain for three years. Then the end came for him as well. TheRoman general landing with a large force marched upon London whereAllectus lay. A battle fought in the south of London resulted in theoverthrow and death of the usurper. His soldiers taking advantage of theconfusion began to plunder and murder in the town, but were stopped andkilled by the victors. 

Constantine, who became emperor in 306, was then in Britain, but hisname is not connected with London except by coins bearing his name. 

Tradition connects the name of Helena, Constantine's mother, withLondon, but there is nothing to prove that she was ever in the island atall. 

Late in the fourth century troubles began to fall thick upon thecountry. The Picts and the Scots overran the northern parts andpenetrated to the very walls of London. The general Theodosius, whoseson became the emperor of that name, drove them back. About this timethe wall of London was built; not the wall of the Roman fort, but thatof the whole City. From the year 369, when Theodosius the general landedin Britain, to the year 609 we see nothing of London except one briefglimpse of fugitives flying for their lives across London Bridge. Ofthis interval we shall speak in the next chapter. Meanwhile it issufficient to say that the decay of the Roman power made it necessary towithdraw the legions from the outlying and distant portions of theEmpire. Britain had to be abandoned. It was as if England were to giveup Hong Kong and Singapore and the West Indies because she could nolonger spare the ships and regiments to defend them. The nation whichabandons her possessions is not far from downfall. Remember, when youlisten to those who advocate abandonment of our colonies, the example ofRome. 

5. AFTER THE ROMANS. 

PART I. 

The Romans left London. That was early in the fifth century; probably inthe year 410. 

Two hundred years later we find the East Saxons in London. 

What happened during this long interval of seven generations? Not a wordreaches us of London for two hundred years except once when, after adefeat of the British by the Saxons at Crayford in the year 457, we readthat the fugitives crossed over London Bridge to take refuge within thewalls of the City. What happened during this two hundred years?[1]

We know what happened with other cities. Anderida, now called Pevensey, was taken by the Saxons, and all its inhabitants, man, woman and child, were slaughtered, so that it became a waste until the Normans built acastle within the old walls. Canterbury, Silchester, Porchester, Colchester--all were taken, their people massacred, the walls leftstanding, the streets left desolate. For the English--the Saxons--lovednot city walls. Therefore, we might reasonably conclude that the samething happened to London. But if it be worthy of the chronicler to notethe massacre of Anderida, a small seaport, why should he omit the farmore important capture of Augusta?

[1] On this subject, see the author's book _London_ (Chatto & Windus). 

Let us hear what history has to tell. Times full of trouble fell uponthe country. Long before the Romans went away the Picts and Scots werepouring their wild hordes over the north and west, sometimes getting asfar south as the Middlesex Forest, murdering and destroying. As early asthe year 368, forty years before they left the country, the Romans sentan expedition north to drive back these savages. Already the Saxons, theJutes and the Angles were sending piratical expeditions to harry thecoast and even to make settlements. The arm of the Roman was growingweak, it could not stretch out so far: the fleets of the Romans, underthe officer called the 'Count of the Saxon Shore'--whose duty was toguard the eastern and southern coasts--were destroyed and theircommander slain. So that, with foes on the eastern seaboard, foes in theChannel, foes in the river, foes in the north and west, it is certainthat the trade of Augusta was declining long before the City was left todefend itself. 

What sort of defence were the people likely to offer? For nearly fourhundred years they had lived at peace, free to grow rich and luxurious, with mercenaries to fight for them. Between the taking of the City byBoadicea and the departure of the Romans, a space of three hundred andfifty years, the peace of the City was only disturbed by the lawlessnessof Allectus's mercenaries. Their attempt to sack the City was put down, it is significant to note, not by the citizens but by the Roman soldierswho entered the City in time. The citizens were mostly merchants: theywere Christians in name and in form of worship, they were superstitious, they were luxurious, they were unwarlike. Many of them were not Britonsat all, but foreigners settled in the City for trade. Moreover, for itis not true that the whole British people had grown unfit for war, arevolt of the Roman legions in the year 407 drew a large number of theyoung men into their ranks, and when Constantine the usurper took themover into Gaul for the four years' fighting which followed, the countrywas drained of its best fighting material. The City, then, contained alarge number of wealthy merchants, native and foreign; it also containeda great many slaves who were occupied in the conduct of the trade, andfew, since the young men went away with Constantine, who could be reliedupon to fight. 

One more point may be made out from history. Since London was a townwhich then, as now, lived entirely by its trade and was the centre ofthe export and import trade of the whole country, the merchants, as wehave seen, must have suffered most severely long before the Romans wentaway. We are, therefore, in the year 410, facing a situation full ofmenace. The Picts and Scots are overrunning the whole of the north, theSaxons are harrying the east and the south-east, trade is dying, thereis little demand for imports, there are few exports, it is useless forships to wait cargoes which never arrive, it is useless for ships tobring cargoes for which there is no demand. 

[Illustration: REMAINS OF A VIKING SHIP, FROM A CAIRN AT GOKSTAD. 

(_Now in the University at Christiania. _)]

A declining city, a dying trade, enemies in all directions, an unwarlikepopulation. When the curtain falls upon the scene in the year 410 thatis what we see. 

6. AFTER THE ROMANS. 

PART II. 

Consider, again, the position of London. It stood, as you have seen, originally on two low hills overlooking the river. A strong wall builtall along the bank from Blackfriars (now so called) to the present siteof the Tower kept the river from swamping the houses and wharves whichsprang up behind this wall. The walls of the City later on, but onlyabout fifty years before the Romans went away, enclosed a large areacovered over with streets, narrow near the river and broad farthernorth, and with residences, warehouses, villas, and workshops. There wasprobably a population of 70, 000 or even more. On the west, in thedirection of Westminster, the City wall overlooked an immense marsh: onthe south across the river there was a still broader and longer marsh:on the east there was another great marsh with the sea overflowing thesedgy meadows at every high tide: on the north there was a wild moor andbeyond the moor there was an immense forest. Four roads not counting theriver-way kept the City in communication with the rest of the island. The most important of these roads was that afterwards called WatlingStreet, which passed out at Newgate and led across the heart of thecountry to Chester and Wales, to York and the north. The second, afterwards called Ermyn Street, left the City at Bishopsgate and ranthrough Lincoln to York, a third road called the Vicinal Way ran intothe eastern counties, and by way of London Bridge Watling Street wasconnected with Dover. 

London, therefore, standing in its marshes had no means of providing foritself. All the food for its great population was imported. It wasbrought on pack asses along these roads. It came from the farms andgardens of the country inland by means of these high roads, strong, broad, and splendid roads, as good as any we have since succeeded inmaking. In peaceful times these roads were crowded all the way fromChester and Lincoln and Dover with long trains of animals laden withprovisions for the people of London, as well as with goods for exportfrom the Port of London. They were met by long trains of animals ladenwith imports being carried to their destination. The Thames in the sameway was filled with barges laden with provisions as well as with goodsgoing down the river to the people and the Port of London. Below Bridgethe river was filled with merchant ships bringing cargoes of wine andspices and costly things to be exchanged for skins and slaves andmetals. Let us remember that the daily victualling of 70, 000 peoplemeans an immense service. We are so accustomed to find everything readyto hand in cities containing millions as well as in villages ofhundreds, that we forget the magnitude of this service. No mind canconceive the magnitude of the food supply of modern London, Paris, NewYork, or even such towns as Portsmouth, Plymouth, Bristol. Yet try tounderstand what it means to feed every day, without interruption, only asmall town of 70, 000 people. So much bread for every day, so much meat, so much fish, so much wine, beer, mead, or cider--because at no time didpeople drink water if they could get anything else--so much milk, honey, butter, cheese, eggs, poultry, geese and ducks, so much beans, pease, salad, fruit. All this had to be brought in regularly--daily. There wassalted meat for winter; there was dried fish when fresh could not beprocured; there were granaries of wheat to provide for emergencies. Allthe rest had to be provided day by day. 

First, the East Saxons, settling in Essex and spreading over the wholeof that county, stopped the supplies and the trade over all the easterncounties; then the Jutes, landing on the Isle of Thanet, stopped theships that went up and down the river; they also spread over the southcountry and stopped the supplies that formerly came over London Bridge. Then the Picts and Scots, followed by more Saxons, harassed the northand middle of the island, and no more supplies came down Watling Street. Lastly, the enemy, pressing northward from the south shore, gained themiddle reaches of the Thames, and no more supplies came down the river. 

London was thus deprived of food as well as of trade. 

This slowly, not suddenly, came to pass. First, one source of supply wascut off, then another. First, trade declined in one quarter, then itceased in that quarter altogether. Next, another quarter was attacked. The foreign merchants, since there was no trade left, went on boardtheir own ships and disappeared. Whether they succeeded in passingthrough the pirate craft that crowded the mouth of the river, one knowsnot. The bones of many lie at the bottom of the sea off the Nore. Theyvanished from hapless Augusta; they came back no more. 

Who were left? The native merchants. Despair was in their hearts;starvation threatened them, even amid the dainty appointments of theirluxurious villas; what is the use of marble baths and silken hangings, tesselated pavements, and pictures, and books, and statues, if there isno food to be had, though one bid for it all the pictures in the house?With the merchants, there were the priests, the physicians, the lawyers, the actors and mimics, the artists, the teachers, all who minister toreligion, luxury, and culture. There were next the great mass of thepeople, the clerks and scribes, the craftsmen, the salesmen, thelightermen, stevedores, boatmen, marine store keepers, makers of ships'gear, porters--slaves for the most part--all from highest to lowest, plunged into helplessness. Whither could they fly for refuge? Upon whomcould they call for help?

7. AFTER THE ROMANS. 

PART III. 

Abroad, the Roman Empire was breaking up. The whole of Europe wascovered with war. Revolts of conquered tribes, rebellions of successfulgenerals, invasions of savages, the murders of usurpers, the sacking ofcities. Rome itself was sacked by Alaric; the conquest of one countryafter another made of this period the darkest in the history of theworld. From over the seas no help, the enemy blocking the mouth of theriver, all the roads closed and all the farms destroyed. 

There came a day at length when it was at last apparent that no moresupplies would reach the City. Then the people began to leave the place:better to fight their way across the country to the west where theBritons still held their own, than to stay and starve. The men tooktheir arms--they carried little treasure with them, because treasurewould be of no use to them on their way--their wives and children, ladies as delicate and as helpless as any of our own time--children asunfit as our own to face the miseries of cold and hunger andnakedness--and they went out by the gate of Watling Street, notaltogether, not the whole population, but in small companies, forgreater safety. They left the City by the gate; they did not journeyalong the road, but for safety turned aside into the great forest, andso marching across moors and marshes, past burned homesteads, andruined villages, and farm buildings thrown down, those of them who didnot perish by the way under the enemies' sword or by malarious fever, orby starvation, reached the Severn and the border of the mountains wherethe Saxon could not penetrate. 

There was left behind a remnant--after every massacre or exodus there isalways left a remnant. The people who stayed in the City were only a fewand those of the baser sort, protected by their wretchedness andpoverty. No one would kill those who offer no defence and have notreasures; and their condition under any new masters would be no worse. They shut the gates and barred them: they closed and barred the Bridge:they took out of the houses anything that they wanted--the soft warmmantles, the woollen garments, the coverlets, the pillows and hangings, but they abode in their hovels near the river banks; as for the works ofart, the pictures, statues, and tesselated pavements, these they leftwhere they found them or for wantonness destroyed them. They fished inthe river for their food: they hunted over the marshes where are nowWestminster, Battersea, and Lambeth: the years passed by and no onedisturbed them: they still crouched in their huts while the thin veneerof civilisation was gradually lost with whatever arts they had learnedand all their religion except the terror of the Unknown. 

Meanwhile the roofs of the villas and churches fell in, the wallsdecayed, the gardens were overgrown. Augusta--the proud and statelyAugusta--was reduced to a wall enclosing a heap of ruins with a fewsavages huddled together in hovels by the riverside. 

For the East Saxon had overrun Essex, the Jute covered Kent and Surrey, the South Saxon held Sussex, the West Saxon held Wessex. All around--onevery side--London was surrounded by the Conqueror of the Land. Why, then, did they not take London? Because London was deserted; there wasnothing to take: London was silent. No ships going up or down the riverreminded the Saxon of the City. It lay amid its marshes and its moors, the old roads choked and overgrown; it was forgotten; it was what theSaxons had already made of Canterbury and Anderida, a 'Waste Chester, 'that is, a desolated stronghold. 

Augusta was forgotten. 

This is the story that we learn from the actual site of London--itsposition among marshes, the conditions under which alone the peoplecould be maintained. 

How long did this oblivion continue? No one knows when it began or whenit ended. As I read the story of the past, I find a day towards theclose of the sixth century when there appeared within sight of thedeserted walls a company of East Saxons. They were hunting: they werearmed with spears: they followed the chase through the great forestafterwards called the Middlesex Forest, Epping Forest, Hainault Forest, and across the marshes of the river Lea, full of sedge and reed andtreacherous quagmires. And they saw before them the gray walls of agreat city of which they had never heard. 

They advanced cautiously: they found themselves on a firm road, theVicinal Way, covered with grass: they expected the sight of an enemy onthe wall: none appeared. The gates were closed, the timbers were rottenand fell down at a touch: the men broke through and found themselvesamong the streets of a city all in ruins. They ran about--shouting--noone appeared: the City was deserted. 

They went away and told what they had found. 

But Augusta had perished. When the City appears again it is under itsmore ancient name--it is again London. 

8. THE FIRST SAXON SETTLEMENT. 

A hundred and fifty years passed away between the landing of the EastSaxons and their recorded occupation of the City. This long period madea great difference in the fierce savage who followed the standard of theWhite Horse and landed on the coast of Essex. He became more peaceful:he settled down contentedly to periods of tranquillity. Certain arts heacquired, and he learned to live in towns: as yet he was not aChristian. This means that the influence of Rome with its religion, itslearning and its arts had not yet touched him. 

But he had begun to live in towns; and he lived in London. 

Perhaps the first of the new settlers were the foreign merchantsreturning, as soon as more settled times allowed, with their cargoes. London has always been a place of trade. But for trade no one would havesettled in it. Therefore, either the men of Essex invited the foreignmerchants to return; or the foreign merchants returned and invited themen of Essex to come into the City and to bring with them what they hadto exchange. 

In the year 597 Augustine, prior of a Roman monastery, was sent by PopeGregory the Great with forty monks, to convert the English. Ethelbert, King of Kent, and most powerful of the English kinglets, was married toBertha, a Christian princess. She had brought with her a chaplain and itwas probably at her invitation or through her influence, that the monkswere sent. They landed at Thanet. They obtained permission to meet theKing in the open air. They appeared wearing their robes, carrying acrucifix, and chanting Psalms. It is probable that the conversion of theKing had been arranged beforehand; for without any difficulty or delaythe King and all his Court, and, following the King's example, all thepeople were baptised. 

Augustine returned to Rome where he was consecrated Archbishop of theEnglish nation. A church was built at Canterbury, and the work ofpreaching the Faith went on vigorously. The East Saxons made no morehesitation at being baptised than the men of Kent. Ethelbert, indeed, could command obedience; he was Over Lord of all the nations south ofthe Humber. He it was, according to Bede, who built the first church ofSt. Paul in London, a fact which proves his authority and influence inLondon, and his sincere desire that the East Saxons should becomeChristians. 

They did, in a way. But when King Siebehrt died, they relapsed and drovetheir Bishop into exile. 

Then--Bede says that they were punished for this sin--the East Saxonsfell into trouble. They went to war with the men of Wessex and weredefeated by them. After this, we find London in the hands of theNorthumbrians and the Mercians--that is to say--these nations one afterthe other obtained the supremacy. It was in the year 616 or thereabouts, that Bishop Mellitus had to leave his diocese. Forty years later anotherconversion of London took place under Bishop Cedd, consecrated atLindisfarne. The new faith was not strong enough to stand against aplague, and the East Saxons of London went back once more to their oldgods. After another thirty years, before the close of the seventhcentury, London was again converted: and this time for good. 

In the eighth century London passed again out of the hands of the EastSaxon kings into those of the Mercians. The earliest extant documentconcerning London is one dated 734, in which King Ethelbald grants tothe Bishop of Rochester leave to send one ship without tax in or out ofLondon Port. 

A witan--i. E. A national council--was held in London in 811. It is thenspoken of as an illustrious place and royal city. The supremacy ofMercia passed to that of Wessex--London went with the supremacy. In 833Egbert, King of Wessex, held a witan in London. 

[Illustration: MARTYRDOM OF ST. EDMUND BY THE DANES. 

(_From a drawing belonging to the Society of Antiquaries. _)]

When Egbert died the supremacy of Wessex fell with him. Then the Danishtroubles fell thick and disastrous upon the country. When Alfredsucceeded to the Crown the Danes held the Isle of Thanet, whichcommanded the river; they had conquered the north country from the Tweedto the Humber; they had overrun all the eastern counties twice--viz. , in839 and in 852: they had pillaged London, which they presently occupied, making it their headquarters. With this Danish occupation ends the firstSaxon settlement of the City. 

9. THE SECOND SAXON SETTLEMENT. 

The Danes held the City for twelve years at least. One cannot believethat these fierce warriors, who were exactly what the Saxons and Juteshad been four hundred years before--as fierce, as rude, aspagan--suffered any of the inhabitants, except the slaves, to remain. Massacre and pillage--or the fear of both--drove away all the residents. But the City was the headquarters of the Danes. Alfred recovered it inthe year 884. 

He found it as the East Saxons had found it three hundred years before, a city of ruins; the wall a ruin; the churches destroyed. 

King Alfred has left many imperishable monuments of his reign. One ofthe greatest is the City of London, which he rebuilt. A recent historian(Loftie, _Historic Towns_, 'London') says that it would hardly be wrongto write, 'London was founded, rather more than a thousand years ago, byKing Alfred--who chose for the site of his city a place formerlyfortified by the Romans but desolated successively by the Saxons and theDanes. '

The first thing he did was to rebuild the wall. This work re-establishedconfidence in the minds of the citizens. Alfred placed his son-in-lawEthelred, afterwards Alderman (i. E. Chief man--Governor) of theMercians, in command of the City, which seems to have been immediatelyfilled with people. The London citizens went out with Ethelred to defeatthe Danes at Benfleet, and with Alfred to defeat the Danes at the mouthof the river Lea; they went out with Athelstan to fight at Brunanburgh. London was never again taken by the Danes. Twice Sweyn endeavoured totake the City but was repulsed. Nor did London open her gates to himuntil the King had left the City. And when the Danes again entered theCity there was no more pillage or massacre; London was too strong to bepillaged or massacred, and too rich to be abandoned to the army. 

King Ethelred came back and died, and was buried in St. Paul's; the oldSt. Paul's--that of King Ethelbert or that of Bishop Cedd--was burneddown and the Londoners were building a new cathedral. 

Edmund Ironside was elected and crowned within the City walls. Thenfollowed a siege of London by Canute. He dug a canal through the swamps, and dragged his ships by its means from Redriff to Lambeth. But he couldnot take the City. But the Treaty of Partition between Edmund andhimself was agreed upon and the Dane once more obtained the City. He hasleft one or two names behind him. The church of St. Olave's in HartStreet, and that in 'Tooley, ' or St. Olave's Street, Southwark, and theChurch of St. Magnus, attest to the sovereignty of the Dane. 

[Illustration: SAXON HORSEMEN. 

(_Harl. MS. 603. _)]

At this time the two principal officers of the City were the Bishop andthe Portreeve: there was also the 'Staller' or Marshal. The principalgoverning body was the 'Knighten Guild, ' which was largely composed ofthe City aldermen. But these aldermen were not like those of the presentday, an elected body: they were hereditary: they were aldermen in rightof their estates within the City. What powers the Knighten Guildpossessed is not easy to define. Besides this, the aristocracy of theCity, there were already trade guilds for religious purposes and forfeasting--but, as yet, with no powers. The people had their folk mote, or general gathering: their ward mote: and their weekly hustings. Wemust not seek to define the powers of all these bodies and corporations. They overlapped each other: the aristocratic party was continuallyinnovating while the popular party as continually resisted. In many wayswhat we call the government of the City had not begun to be understood. That there was order of a kind is shown by the strict regulations, asstrictly enforced, of the dues and tolls for ships that came up theriver to the Port of London. 

10. THE ANGLO-SAXON CITIZEN. 

The Londoner of Athelstan and Ethelred was an Anglo-Saxon of a type farin advance of his fierce ancestor who swept the narrow seas and harriedthe eastern coasts. He had learned many arts: he had become a Christian:he wanted many luxuries. But the solid things which he inherited fromhis rude forefathers he passed on to his children. And they remain aninheritance for us to this day. For instance, our form of monarchy, limited in power, comes straight down to us from Alfred and Athelstan. Our nobility is a survival and a development of the Saxon earls andthanes; our forms of justice, trial by jury, magistrates--all come fromthe Saxons; the divisions of our country are Saxon, our municipalinstitutions are Saxon, our parliaments and councils are Saxon inorigin. We owe our language to the Anglo-Saxon, small additions fromLatin, French, and other sources have been made, but the bulk of ourlanguage is Saxon. Three-fourths of us are Anglo-Saxon by descent. Whatever there is in the English character of persistence, obstinacy, patience, industry, sobriety, love of freedom, we are accustomed toattribute to our Anglo-Saxon descent. In religion, arts, learning, literature, culture, we owe little or nothing to the Anglo-Saxon. In allthese things we are indebted to the South. 

Let us see how the Anglo-Saxon Londoner lived. 

He was a trader or a craftsman. As a trader he received from the countryinland whatever it had to produce. Slaves, who were bred like cattle onthe farms, formed a large part of the exports; hides, wool, iron, tin, the English merchant had these things, and nothing more, to offer theforeigner who brought in exchange wine, spices, silk, incense, vestmentsand pictures for the churches and monasteries, books, and otherluxuries. The ships at first belonged to the foreign merchants: theytraded not only at London, but also at Bristol, Canterbury, Dover, Arundel, and other towns. Before the Conquest, however, English-builtships and English-manned fleets had already entered upon the trade. 

The trader, already wealthy, lived in great comfort. He was absolutemaster in his own house, but the household was directed or ruled by hiswife. Everything was made in the house: the flour was ground, the breadwas baked, the meat and fish were salted; the linen was woven, thegarments were made by the wife, the daughters, and the women servants. The Anglo-Saxon ladies were remarkable for their skill in embroidery;they excelled all other women in this beautiful art. 

The Anglo-Saxon house developed out of the common hall. Those who knowthe colleges of Oxford and Cambridge can trace the growth of the housein any of them. First there is the Common Hall. In this room, formerly, the whole family, with the serving men and women, lived and slept. Therestill exists at Higham Ferrars, in Northampton, such a hall, built as analmshouse. It is a long room: at the east end, raised a foot, is alittle chapel; on the south side is a long open stove; the almsmen slepton the floor on reeds, each man wrapped in his blanket. 

[Illustration: SAXON CHURCH AT BRADFORD-ON-AVON, WILTS. ]

Everybody lived and slept in the Common Hall. All day long the womenworked at the spinning and weaving and sewing and embroidery. Women weredefined by this kind of work--we still speak of spinsters. Formerlyrelationship through the mother was called 'on the spindle side, ' while, long after the men had to fight every day against marauding tribes, relationship through the father was called 'on the spear side. ' All daylong the men worked outside in the fields, or in the warehouse, and onthe quays or at their craft. In the evening they sat about the fire andlistened to stories, or to songs with the accompaniment of the harp. 

The first improvement was the separation of the kitchen from the hall:in the Cambridge College you see the hall on one side and the kitchenthe other, separated by a passage. The second step was the constructionof the 'Solar, ' or chamber over the kitchen, which became the bedroom ofthe master and the mistress of the house. Then they built a room behindthe solar for the daughters and the maidservants; the sons and themenservants still sleeping in the Hall. Presumably the house was at thisstage in the time of King Ethelred, just before the Norman Conquest. Theladies' 'bower' followed, and after that the sleeping rooms for the men. 

There was no furniture, as we understand it. Benches there were, andtrestles for the tables, which were literally laid at every meal: agreat chair was provided for the Lord and Lady: tapestry kept out thedraughts: weapons, musical instruments, and other things hung upon thewalls. Dinner was at noon: supper in the evening when work was over:they made great use of vegetables and they had nearly all our modernfruits: they drank, as the national beverage, beer or mead. 

But everybody was not a wealthy merchant: most of the citizens werecraftsmen of some kind. These lived in small wooden houses of two rooms, one above the other: those who were not able to afford so much slept inhovels, consisting of four uprights with 'wattle and daub' for thesides, a roof of thatch, no window, and a fire in the middle of thefloor. They lived very roughly: they endured many hardships: but theywere a well-fed people, turbulent and independent: their houses werecrowded in narrow lanes--how narrow may be understood by a walk alongThames Street; they were always in danger of fire--in 962, in 1087, in1135, the greater part of the City was burned to the ground. They livedin plenty: there was work for all: they had their folk mote--their Cityparliament--and their ward mote--which still exists: they had no feudallord to harass them: as for the dirt and mud and stench of the narrowCity streets, they cared nothing for such things. They were free: andthey were well fed: and they were cheerful and contented. 

11. THE WALL OF LONDON. 

Let us examine into the history and the course of the Wall of London, ifonly for the very remarkable facts that the boundary of the City wasdetermined for fifteen hundred years by the erection of this Wall; thatfor some purposes the course of the Wall still affects the government ofLondon; and that it was only pulled down bit by bit in the course of thelast century. 

You will see by reference to the map what was the course of the Wall. Itbegan, starting from the east where the White Tower now stands. Part ofthe foundation of the Tower consists of a bastion of the Roman wall. Itfollowed a line nearly north as far as Aldgate. Then it turned in a N. W. Direction just north of Camomile Street and Bevis Marks to Bishopsgate. Thence it ran nearly due W. , north of the street called London Wall, turning S. At Monkwell Street. At Aldersgate it turned W. Until itreached Newgate, where it turned nearly S. Again and so to the river, alittle east of the present Blackfriars Bridge. It ran, lastly, along theriver bank to join its eastern extremity. The river wall had openings orgates at Dowgate and Bishopsgate, and probably at Queen Hithe. Thelength of the Wall, without counting the river side, was 2 miles and 608feet. 

This formidable Wall was originally about 12 feet thick made of rubbleand mortar, the latter very hard, and faced with stone. You may knowRoman work by the courses of tiles or bricks. They are arranged indouble layers about 2 feet apart. The so-called bricks are not in theleast like our bricks, being 6 inches long, 12 inches wide and 1½ inchthick. The Wall was 20 feet high, with towers and bastions at intervalsabout 50 feet high. At first there was no moat or ditch, and it will beunderstood that in order to protect the City from an attack ofbarbarians--Picts or Scots--it was enough to close the gates and to manthe towers. The invaders had no ladders. 

[Illustration: CITY GATES. ]

In the course of centuries a great many repairs and rebuildings of theWall took place. The Saxons allowed it to fall into a ruinous condition. Alfred rebuilt it and strengthened it. The next important repairs weremade in the reign of King John in 1215, by Henry III. , Edward I. , Edward II. , Edward III. , Richard II. , Edward IV. After these variousrebuildings there would seem to be little left of the original Wall. That, however, a great part of it continued to be the hard rubble coreof the Roman work seems evident from the fact that the course of theWall was never altered. The only alteration was when they turned theWall west at Ludgate down to the Fleet River and so to the confluence ofthe Fleet and the Thames. The river side of the Wall was also allowed tobe removed. 

[Illustration: REMAINS OF THE WALL. ]

The City was thus protected by a great wall pierced by a few gates, withbastions and towers. At the East End after the Norman Conquest rose theGreat White Tower still standing. At the West End was a tower calledMontfichet's Tower. 

[Illustration: PART OF THE ROMAN WALL AT LEICESTER. ]

But a wall without a ditch, where a ditch was possible, became oflittle use as soon as scaling ladders were invented with wooden movabletowers and other devices. A ditch was accordingly constructed in theyear 1211 in the reign of King John. It appears to have been from thevery first neglected by the citizens, who trusted more to their ownbravery than to the protection of a ditch. It was frequently ordered tobe cleansed and repaired: it abounded, when it was clean, with good fishof various kinds: but it was gradually allowed to dry up until, in thereign of Queen Elizabeth, nothing was left but a narrow channel or nochannel at all but a few scattered ponds, with market gardens planted inthe ditch itself. In Agas's map of London these gardens are figured, with summer houses and cottages for the gardeners and cattle grazing. Onthe west side north of Ludgate the ditch has entirely disappeared andhouses are built against the Wall on the outside. Houndsditch is a rowof mean houses facing the moat. Fore Street is also built over againstthe moat. Within and without the Wall they placed churchyards--those ofSt. Alphege, Allhallows, and St. Martin's Outwich, you may still see foryourselves within the Wall: that of St. Augustine's at the north end ofSt. Mary Axe, has vanished. Those of the three churches of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, Aldgate, Aldersgate, and that of St. Giles are churchyardswithout the Wall. Then the ditch became filled up and houses were builtall along the Wall within and without. Thus began unchecked, perhapsopenly encouraged, the gradual demolition of the Wall. It takes a longtime to tear down a wall of solid rubble twelve feet thick. It took theLondoners about 160 years. In the year 1760 they finally removed thegates. Most of the Wall was gone by this time but large fragmentsremained here and there. You may still see a considerable piece, part ofa bastion in the churchyard of St. Giles, and the vestry of All Hallowson the Wall is built upon a bastion. In Camomile Street and in otherplaces portions of the Wall have been discovered where excavations havebeen made: and, of course, the foundation of the Wall exists still, fromend to end. 

12. NORMAN LONDON. 

When William the Conqueror received the submission of the City he gavethe citizens a Charter--their first Charter--of freedom. There can be nodoubt that the Charter was the price demanded by the citizens andwillingly paid by the Conqueror in return for their submission. Thefollowing is the document. Short as it is, the whole future of the Cityis founded upon these few words:--

'William King greets William Bishop and Gosfrith Portreeve and all theburghers within London, French and English, friendly. 

'I do you to wit that I will that ye be all law worthy that were in KingEdward's day, and I will that every child be his father's heir after hisfather's day: and I will not endure that any man offer any wrong to you. 

'God keep you. '

The ancient Charter itself is preserved at Guildhall. Many copies of itand translations of it were made from time to time. Let us see what itmeans. 

The citizens were to be 'law worthy' as they had been in the days ofKing Edward. This meant that they were to be free men in the courts ofjustice, with the right to be tried by their equals, that is, by jury. 'All who were law worthy in King Edward's day. ' Serfs were not lawworthy, for instance. That the children should inherit their father'sproperty was, as much as the preceding clause, great security to thefreedom of the City, for it protected the people from any feudal claimsthat might arise. Next, observe that there was never any Earl of London:the City had no Lord but the King: it never would endure any Lord butthe King. An attempt was made, but only one, and that was followed bythe downfall of the Queen--Matilda--who tried it. Feudal customs aroseand flourished and died, but they were unknown in this free city. 

But the City with its strong walls, its great multitude of people, andits resources, might prove so independent as to lock out the King. William therefore began to build the Tower, by means of which he couldnot only keep the enemy out of London but could keep his own strong handupon the burghers. He took down a piece of the wall and enclosed twelveacres of ground, in which he built his stronghold, within a deep andbroad ditch. The work was entrusted to Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, who left it unfinished when he died thirty years after. 

The next great Charter of the City was granted by Henry the First. Heremitted the payment of the levies for feudal service, of tax calledDanegeld, originally imposed for buying off the Danes: of the murdertax: of wager of battle, that is, that form of trial in which theaccused and the accuser fought it out, and from certain tolls. He alsogave the citizens the county of Middlesex to farm on payment to theCrown of 300_l. _ a year--a payment still made: they were to appoint aSheriff for the county: and they were to have leave to hunt in theforests of Middlesex, Surrey, and the Chiltern Hills. They were alsoempowered to elect their own justiciar and allowed to try their owncases within their own limits. 

[Illustration: TOWER IN THE EARLIER STYLE. CHURCH AT EARL'S BARTON. 

(_The battlements are much later. _)]

This was a very important Charter. No doubt, like the first, it wasstipulated as a price for the support of the City. William Rufus waskilled on Thursday--Henry was in London on Saturday. He must thereforehave ridden hard to get over the hundred and twenty miles of roughbridle track between the New Forest and London. But the City supportedhim and this was their reward. 

We are gradually approaching the modern constitution of the City. ThePortreeve or first Magistrate, in the year 1189, in the person of HenryFitz Aylwin, assumed the title of Mayor--not Lord Mayor: the title camelater, a habit or style, never a rank conferred. With him were twoSheriffs, the Sheriff of the City and the Sheriff of the County. Therewas the Bishop: there was the City Justiciar with his courts. There werealso the Aldermen, not yet an elected body. 

The Londoners elected Stephen King, and stood by him through all thetroubles that followed. The plainest proof of the strength andimportance of the City is shown in the fact that when Matilda tookrevenge on London by depriving the City of its Charters the citizensrose and drove her out of London and made her cause hopeless. 

13. FITZSTEPHEN'S ACCOUNT OF THE CITY. 

PART I. 

The White Tower is the only building in modern London which belongs toNorman London. Portions remain--fragments--a part of the church of St. Bartholomew the Great, a part of the church of St. Ethelburga, the cryptof Bow Church: very little else. All the rest has been destroyed bytime, by 'improvements, ' or by fire, the greatest enemy to cities inevery country and every age. Thus, three great fires in the tenth andeleventh century swept London from end to end. No need to ask ifanything remains of the Roman or the Saxon City. Not a vestige isleft--except the little fragment, known as the London Stone, now lyingbehind iron bars in the wall of St. Swithin's Church. Churches, Palaces, Monasteries, Castles--all perished in those three fires. The City, nodoubt, speedily sprang again from its ashes, but of its rebuilding oneach occasion we have no details at all. 

Most fortunately, there exists a document priceless and unique, short asit is and meagre in many of its details, which describes London as itwas in the reign of Henry II. It is written by one FitzStephen, Chaplainto Thomas Becket. He was present at the murder of the Archbishop andwrote his life, to which this account is an introduction. 

[Illustration: A NORMAN SHIP. 

(_From the Bayeux Tapestry. _)]

He says, first of all, that the City contained thirteen largerconventual churches and a hundred and twenty-six parish churches. Hewrites only fifty years after the Great Fire, so that it is not likelythat new parishes had been erected. All the churches which had beendestroyed were rebuilt. Most of them were very small parishes, with, doubtless, very small churches. We shall return presently to thequestion of the churches. 

[Illustration: BUILDING A CHURCH IN THE LATER STYLE. 

(_From a drawing belonging to the Society of Antiquaries. _)]

On the east was the White Tower which he calls the 'Palatine Castle:'on the west there were two towers--there was the Tower calledMontfichet, where is now Blackfriars station, and Baynard's Castle, close beside it. The walls of the City had seven double gates. The riverwall had by this time been taken down. Two miles from the City, on thewest, was the Royal Palace (Westminster), fortified with ramparts andconnected with the City by a populous suburb. Already, therefore, theStrand and Charing Cross were settled. The gates were Aldgate, Bishopsgate, Cripplegate, Aldersgate, Newgate, Ludgate, and the Bridge. 

FitzStephen says that the citizens were so powerful that they couldfurnish the King with 20, 000 horsemen and 60, 000 foot. This is clearlygross exaggeration. If we allow 500 for each parish, we get a populationof only 63, 000 in all, and in the enumeration later on, for the poll taxby Richard the Second, there were no more than 48, 000. This, however, was shortly after a great Plague had ravaged the City. 

But the writer tells us that the citizens excelled those of any othercity in the world in 'handsomeness of manners and of dress, at table, and in way of speaking. ' There were three principal schools, thescholars of which rivalled each other, and engaged in public contests ofrhetoric and grammar. 

Those who worked at trades and sold wares of any kind were assignedtheir proper place whither they repaired every morning. It is easy tomake out from the surviving names where the trades were placed. Thenames of Bread Street, Fish Street, Milk Street, Honey Lane, WoodStreet, Soapers' Lane, the Poultry, for instance, indicate what tradeswere carried on there. Friday Street shows that the food proper for fastdays was sold there--namely, dried fish. Cheapside preserves the nameof the Chepe, the most important of all the old streets. Here, everyday, all the year round, was a market held at which everythingconceivable was sold, not in shops, but in _selds_, that is, coveredwooden sheds, which could be taken down on occasion. Do not think that'Chepe' was a narrow street: it was a great open space lying between St. Paul's and what is now the Royal Exchange, with streets north and southformed by rows of these _selds_ or sheds. Presently the sheds becamehouses with shops in front and gardens behind. The roadway on the southside of this open space was called the Side of Chepe. There was anotheropen space for salesmen called East Chepe, another at Billingsgate, called Roome Lane, another at Dowgate--both for purposes of exposing forsale imports landed on the Quays and the ports of Queenhithe andBillingsgate. Those who have seen a market-place in a French town willunderstand what these places were like. A large irregular area. On everyside sheds with wares for sale: at first all seems confusion and noise:presently one makes out that there are streets in orderly array, inwhich those who know can find what they want. Here are mercers; heregoldsmiths; here armourers; here glovers; here pepperers or grocers; andso forth. West Chepe is the place of shops where they sell the thingsmade in the City and all things wanted for the daily life. 

On the other side of the Walbrook, across which there is a bridge whereis now the Poultry, is East Chepe, whither they bring all kinds ofimported goods and sell them to the retailers: and by the river side themerchants assemble in the open places beside Queenhithe and Billingsgateto receive or to buy the cargoes sent over from France, Spain, and theLow Countries. One more open space there was, that round St. Paul's, the place where the people held their folkmotes. But London was not, asyet, by any means built over. Its northern parts were covered withgardens. It was here, as we shall see, that the great monasteries wereshortly to be built. 

[Illustration: LAY COSTUMES IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. ]

14. FITZSTEPHEN'S ACCOUNT OF THE CITY. 

PART II. 

Outside the walls, he says, there were many places of pleasant resort, streams and springs among them. He means the Fleet River winding at thebottom of its broad valley: farther west Tyburn and Westbourne: on thesouth the Wandle, the Effra, the Ravensbourne. There was a well atHolywell in the Strand--it lies under the site of the present OpéraComique Theatre: and at Clerkenwell: these wells had medicinal ormiraculous properties and there were, no doubt, taverns and places ofamusement about there. At Smithfield--or Smooth Field--just outside theCity walls, there was held once a week--on Friday--a horse fair. Business over, horse racing followed. Then the river was full of fish:some went fishing for their livelihood: some for amusement: salmon wereplentiful and great fish such as porpoises sometimes found their wayabove Bridge. 

Then there were the sports of the young men and the boys. They played atball--when have not young men played at ball? The young Londonerspractised some form of hockey out of which have grown the two noblegames of cricket and golf. They wrestled and leaped. Nothing is saidabout boxing and quarterstaff. But perhaps these belonged to thepractice of arms and archery, which were never neglected, because at anymoment the London craftsman might have to become a soldier. They hadcock fighting, a sport to which the Londoner was always greatlyaddicted. And they loved dancing with the girls to the music of pipe andtabor. In the winter, when the broad fens north of the walls werefrozen, they skated. And they hunted with hawk and hound in the Forestof Middlesex, which belonged to the City. 

[Illustration: COSTUME OF SHEPHERDS IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. ]

The City, he tells us, is governed by the same laws as those of Rome. Like Rome, London is divided into wards: like Rome the City has annuallyelected magistrates who are called Sheriffs instead of Consuls: likeRome it has senatorial and inferior magistrates: like Rome it hasseparate Courts and proper places for law suits, and like Rome the Cityholds assemblies on ordered days. The writer is carried away by hisenthusiasm for Rome. As we have seen, the government, laws, and customsof London owed nothing at all, in any single respect, to Rome. Everything grew out of the Anglo-Saxon laws and customs. 

[Illustration: ECCLESIASTICAL COSTUME IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. ]

By his loud praise of the great plenty of food of every kind which couldbe found in London, FitzStephen reminds us that he has lived in othertowns, and especially in Canterbury, when he was in the service of theArchbishop. We see, though he does not mention it, the comparison in hismind between the plentiful market of London and the meagre market ofCanterbury. Everything, he says, was on sale. All the roasted meats andboiled that one can ask for; all the fish, poultry, and game in season, could every day be bought in London: there were cookshops where dinnersand suppers could be had by paying for them. He dwells at length uponthis abundance. Now in the country towns and the villages the supplieswere a matter of uncertainty and anxiety: a housewife had to keep herpantry and her larder well victualled in advance: salt meat and saltfish were the staple of food. Beef and mutton were scarce: game therewas in plenty if it could be taken; but game laws were strict; verylittle venison would find its way into Canterbury market. To this clericwho knew the country markets, the profusion of everything in London wasamazing. 

Another thing he notices--'Nearly all the Bishops, Abbots, and Magnatesof England are, as it were, citizens and freemen of London; having theirown splendid houses to which they resort, where they spend largely whensummoned to great Councils by the King, or by their Metropolitan, ordrawn thither by their own private affairs. '

In another century or two London will become, as you shall see, a Cityof Palaces. Observe that the palaces are already beginning. Observe, also, that London is already being enriched by the visits and residenceof great lords who, with their retinues, spend 'largely. ' Down to thepresent day the same thing has always gone on. The wealthy people whohave their town houses in the West End of London and the thousands ofcountry people and foreigners who now flock to the London hotels are thesuccessors of the great men and their following who came up to London inthe twelfth century and spent 'largely. '

'I do not think, ' says FitzStephen, 'that there is any city with morecommendable customs of church attendance, honour to God's ordinances, keeping sacred festivals, almsgiving, hospitality, confirming, betrothals, contracting marriages, celebration of nuptials, preparingfeasts, cheering the guests, and also in care for funerals and theinterment of the dead. The only pests of London are the immoderatedrinking of fools and the frequency of fires. '

15. LONDON BRIDGE. 

PART I. 

Nobody knows who built the first Bridge. It was there in the fourthcentury--a bridge of timber provided with a fortified gate, one of thegates of the City. Who put it up, and when--how long it stood--whatspace there was between the piers--how broad it was--we do not know. Probably it was quite a narrow bridge consisting of beams laid acrossside by side and a railing at the side. That these beams were not closetogether is known by the fact that so many coins have been found in thebed of the river beneath the old Bridge. 

[Illustration: ROYAL ARMS OF ENGLAND FROM RICHARD I. TO EDWARD III. 

(_From the wall arcade, south aisle of nave, Westminster Abbey. _)]

Besides the Bridge there were ferries across the river, especiallybetween Dowgate and the opposite bank called St. Mary Overies Dock, where was afterwards erected St. Mary Overies Priory, to which belongedthe church now called St. Saviour's, Southwark. The docks at either endof the old ferry still remain. 

The Bridge had many misfortunes: it is said to have been destroyed bythe Danes in 1013. Perhaps for 'destruction' we should read 'damage. ' Itwas, however, certainly burned down in the Great Fire of 1136. Another, also of wood, was built in its place and, in the year 1176, a bridge ofstone was commenced, which took thirty years to build and remainedstanding till the year 1831, when the present Bridge was completed andthe old one pulled down. 

The Architect of this stone Bridge, destined to stand for six hundredand fifty years, was one Peter, Chaplain of St. Mary Colechurch in theOld Jewry (the church was destroyed in the Great Fire and not rebuilt). 

Now the building of bridges was regarded, at this time, as a work ofpiety. If we consider how a bridge helps the people we shall agree withour forefathers. Without a bridge, those living on one side of a rivercan only carry on intercourse with those on the other side by means ofboats. Merchants cannot carry their wares about: farmers cannot gettheir produce to market: wayfarers can only get across by ferry: armiescannot march--if you wish to follow an army across a country where thereare no bridges you must look for fords. Roads are useless unless bridgescross the rivers. The first essential to the union of a nation is thepossibility of intercommunication: without roads and bridges the man ofDevon is a stranger and an enemy to the man of Somerset. We who havebridges over every river: who need never even ford a stream: who hardlyknow what a ferry means: easily forget that these bridges did not growlike the oaks and the elms: but were built after long study of thesubject by men who were trained for the work just as other men weretrained and taught to build cathedrals and churches. A religious orderwas founded in France in the twelfth century: it was called the Order ofthe 'Pontife' Brethren--_Pontife_ is Pontifex--that is--Bridge Builder. The Bridge Building Brothers constructed many bridges in France ofwhich several still remain. It is not certain that Peter of Colechurchwas one of this Brotherhood, perhaps not. When he died, in 1205, beforethe Bridge was completed, King John called over a French 'Pontife' namedIsembert who had built bridges at La Rochelle and Saintes. But theprincipal builders are said to have been three merchants of London namedSerle Mercer, William Almain, and Benedict Botewrite. The building ofthe Bridge was regarded as a national work: the King: the great Lords:the Bishops: as well as the London Citizens, gave money to hasten itscompletion. The list of donors was preserved on 'a table fair writtenfor posterity' in the Chapel on the Bridge. It was unhappily destroyedin the Great Fire. 

It must not be supposed that the Bridge of Peter Colechurch was like thepresent stately Bridge of broad arches. It contained twenty arches ofirregular breadth: only two or three being the same: they varied from 10feet to 32 feet: some of them therefore were very narrow: the piers werealso of different lengths. These irregularities were certainlyintentional and were based upon some observations on the rise and fallof the tide. No other great Bridge had yet been constructed across atidal river. 

When the Bridge was built it was thought necessary to consecrate it tosome saint. The latest saint, St. Thomas Becket, was chosen as thetitular saint of this Bridge. A chapel, dedicated to him, was built inthe centre pier of the Bridge: it was, in fact, a double chapel: in thelower part, the crypt, was buried Peter of Colechurch himself: the upperpart, which escaped the Great Fire, became, after the Reformation, awarehouse. 

16. LONDON BRIDGE. 

PART II. 

Houses were erected in course of time along the Bridge on either sidelike a street, but with intervals; and along the roadway in the middlewere chain posts to protect the passengers. As the Bridge was only 40feet wide the houses must have been small. But they were built out atthe back overhanging the river, and the roadway itself was not intendedfor carts or wheeled vehicles. Remember that everything was brought tothe City on pack horse or pack ass. The table of Tolls sanctioned byKing Edward I. Makes no mention of cart or waggon at all. Men onhorseback and loaded horses can get along with a very narrow road. Perhaps we may allow twelve feet for the road which gives for the houseson either side a depth of 14 feet each. 

[Illustration: OLD LONDON BRIDGE. ]

These houses were occupied chiefly by shops, most of which were'haberdashers and traders in small wares. ' Later on there were manybooksellers. Paper merchants and stationers, after the Reformation, occupied the chapel. The great painter Hans Holbein lived on the Bridgeand the two marine painters Peter Monamy and Dominic Serres also livedhere. 

The narrowness of the arches and the rush of the flowing or the ebbingtide made the 'shooting' of the Bridge a matter of great danger. TheDuke of Norfolk in 1429 was thrown into the water by the capsizing ofhis boat and narrowly escaped with his life. Queen Henrietta, in 1628, was nearly wrecked in the same way by running into the piers whileshooting the Bridge. Rubens the painter was thrown into the water in thesame way. 

One of the twenty arches formed a drawbridge which allowed vessels oflarger size than barges to pass up the river and could be used to keepback an enemy. In this way Sir Thomas Wyatt in 1557 was kept out ofLondon. Before this drawbridge stood a tower on the battlements of whichwere placed the heads of traitors and criminals. The heads of SirWilliam Wallace, Jack Cade, Sir Thomas More and many others were stuckup here. On the Southwark side was another tower. 

The Bridge, which was the pride and boast of London, was endowed withlands for its maintenance: the rents of the houses were also collectedfor the same purpose: a toll was imposed on all merchandise carriedacross, and a Brotherhood was formed, called the Brothers of St. Thomason the Bridge, whose duty it was to perform service in the chapel and tokeep the Bridge in repair. 

Repairs were always wanting: to keep some of the force of the water offthe piers these were furnished with 'starlings, ' i. E. At first pilesdriven down in front of the piers, afterwards turned into projectingbuttresses of stone. Then corn mills were built in some of the openings, and in the year 1582 great waterworks were constructed at the southernend. The tower before the drawbridge was by Queen Elizabeth rebuilt andmade a very splendid house--called Nonesuch House. The Fire destroyedthe houses on the Bridge, some of which were not rebuilt: and in theyear 1757 all the houses were removed from the Bridge. 

The New Bridge was finished and opened in 1831--it stands 180 feet westof its predecessor. Then the Old Bridge was pulled down. The work ofPeter Colechurch lasted from 1209 to 1831 or 622 years. The PontifeBrothers, therefore, knew how to put in good and lasting work. 

This is the history of London Bridge. First a narrow wooden gangway ofbeams lying on timber piles with a fortified gate; then a stonestructure of twenty irregular arches, the Bridge broad but the roadwaystill narrow with houses on either side and a fortress and a chapel uponit--in those times there was always a fortress, and there was always achapel. It must have been a pleasant place of residence: the air freshand clear: the supply of water unlimited--one drew it up in a bucket:always something going on: the entrance of a foreign ambassador, areligious procession, a riding of the Lord Mayor, a pageant, a noblemanwith his livery, a Bishop or a Prior with his servants, a pilgrimage, astring of pack horses out of Kent bringing fruit for the City: alwayssomething to see. Then there were the stories and traditions of theplace, with the songs which the children sang about the Bridge. Especially there was the story of Edward Osborne. He was the son of oneRichard Osborne, a gentleman of Kent. Like many sons of the poor countrygentlemen, he was sent up to London and apprenticed to Sir WilliamHewitt a cloth worker who lived on London Bridge. His master had adaughter named Anne, a little girl who one day, while playing with hernurse at an open window overhanging the river, fell out into the rushingwater sixty feet below. The apprentice, young Osborne, leaped into theriver after her and succeeded in saving her. When the girl was grown upher father gave her to his ex-apprentice, Edward Osborne, to wife. Edward Osborne became Lord Mayor. His descendant is now Duke of Leeds. So that the Dukedom of Leeds sprang from that gallant leap out of thewindow overhanging the river Thames from London Bridge. 

17. THE TOWER OF LONDON. 

PART I. 

In an age when every noble's house was a castle, and when every castlewas erected in order to dominate, as well as to defend, the town and thedistrict in which it stood, the Tower of London was erected. The builderof the White Tower was William the Conqueror, who gave the City itsCharter but had no intention of giving up his own sovereignty; thearchitect, as has been already said, was one Gundulph, Bishop ofRochester. Part of the City wall was pulled down to make room for it, and it was intended at once for the King's Palace, the King's Castle, and the King's Prison. It was also the key of London--who held theTower, held the City. 

William Rufus built a wall round the Tower so as to separate it entirelyfrom the City and to prevent the danger of a hasty rising of thepeople: with the same object he gave it a water gate. 

A hundred years later, while Richard Coeur de Lion was on his Crusade, the moat was constructed. Henry III. And his son Edward I. Added to theouter walls and strengthened them. 

[Illustration: TOWER OF LONDON. ]

There is a plan of the Tower made from a survey of the year 1597 andpublished by the Society of Antiquaries. A study of the plan should bemade before visiting the place. Remark first of all that the fortresshas three entrances only: one at the S. W. Angle to the City; one to theriver now called Traitors' Gate; and one on the S. E. Angle called theIrongate: that it is surrounded by a broad and deep moat which could befilled at every high tide: that from the moat rises a battlemented wall, and that within this first wall is another, flanked with protectingtowers; that the City entrance is most jealously guarded by a stronggate first: then by a narrow way passing under a tower: then over abridge. In all mediæval castles the first thought was to make itimpossible to carry the place by a rush. If we would restore the Towerof Queen Elizabeth to the Tower of Edward III. We must abolish all thosebuildings which stand on the north and east sides, with those called'Lieutenants' Lodgings' on the south. The space on the north side of theKeep was the exercising ground: stables there must have been somewherein this great area; the men at arms would live in the smaller towers. Ifyou will study this plan carefully, you will understand the generalarrangement of a mediæval castle. 

In the sixteenth century the place was no longer regarded as a fortressfor the defence or the domination of the City. But the old forms werekept up: nobody was admitted who carried arms: the guard kept the gate:a garrison was maintained. Within, there was an armoury, the beginningof the splendid collection which is now shown: there was a Mint for thecoining of money: there were collections of tapestry, saddles, bedfurniture and robes belonging to the Crown: here were kept the Crown andsceptre and insignia: here was the Royal menagerie. Here were the roomsreserved for state criminals. It was no longer the Royal Palace but thesovereign sometimes occupied the Tower. James the First was here, forinstance, in 1604. 

Near the outer gate where is now the Refreshment Room were kept theKing's lions. Henry I. Began this menagerie which was continued untilthe year 1834. At the entrance of the fortress is the Bell Tower whereQueen Elizabeth was once confined. The Water Gate called Traitors' Gateis under St. Thomas's Tower. The Beauchamp Tower has been the prison of, among others, Queen Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey. In the Great WhiteTower Richard II. Abdicated in favour of Henry IV. In the vaults aredungeons, once the prison of Guy Fawkes. In the Chapel the newly madeKnights of the Bath watched their armour all night long. The collectionof arms contains examples of weapons and armour of every age. In theChurch of St. Peter ad Vincula you will find the graves of theunfortunate Princes, Queens, and nobles who have been executed for Stateoffences. Nothing, except the Royal tombs of Westminster, so much helpsto prove the reality of History, as this collection of graves and slabsand tablets in this little church. And here were kept the Crown jewelsabout which many a chapter might be written. 

But to study the Tower of London one must visit it with the History ofEngland in hand. Hither were brought all the State prisoners: here theywere confined: here they were executed. Every tower, every stone remindsone of sufferers and criminals and traitors and innocent victims. Donot, however, forget that this Tower was built for the restriction ofthe liberties of the people. That purpose has been defeated. Theliberties have grown beyond what could ever have been hoped while theprivileges of the Crown, which this Tower was built to protect and toenlarge, have been restricted beyond the greatest fears of the mediævalkings. 

18. THE TOWER OF LONDON. 

PART II. 

Of all the prisoners who suffered death at the termination of theircaptivity in the Tower, there is none whose fate was so cruel as that ofLady Jane Grey. Her story belongs to English history. Recall, when nextyou visit the Tower, the short and tragic life of this young Queen of anine days' reign. 

[Illustration]

She was not yet eighteen when she was beheaded, not through any fault ofher own, but solely because her relationship to the Crown placed her inthe hands of men who used her for their own political purposes. She wasthe second cousin of Edward VI. , Mary, and Elizabeth. Her grandmotherwas the sister of Henry VIII. , widow of Louis XII. Of France, and wifeof Charles, Duke of Suffolk. The young King on his deathbed waspersuaded to name her as his successor. She was sixteen years of age:she was already married to Lord Guilford Dudley, son of the Duke ofNorthumberland: when she was proclaimed Queen. Nine days after theproclamation she was a prisoner. On the 8th of July she wasacknowledged Queen by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen: on the 10th she wastaken by water from Greenwich to the Tower, and proclaimed Queen in theCity: on the 17th another proclamation was made of Queen Mary, and herreign was over. But the Tower she was never more to leave. 

On the 13th of November--after five months of suspense--she was triedfor high treason with Cranmer, her husband Lord Guilford, and herhusband's brother, Lord Ambrose. They were all four found guilty, andcondemned to death--their judges being the very men who had swornallegiance to her as Queen. It would seem that Mary had no desire tocarry out the sentence: Cranmer she reserved for a more cruel death thanthat of beheading--he was to be burned as a heretic. The other three, two boys and a girl, it would be dangerous to execute on account of thepopular sympathy their death would awaken. They were therefore sent backto the Tower. Probably it was intended that Lady Jane, at least, shouldpass the rest of her life in honourable captivity, as happened later onto Arabella Stuart. But the rebellion of Wyatt showed that her namecould still be used as a cry in favour of a Protestant succession. Itwas therefore resolved to put both husband and wife to death. Whatfurther harm the young Lord Guilford Dudley could do is not apparent. Even then the Queen's advisers shrank from exhibiting on Tower Hill thespectacle of a young and beautiful girl, taken forth to be beheadedbecause certain hot-headed partizans had used her name. She was executedtherefore within the verge of the Tower itself, on the so-called'Green. '

'The Green' is a place where no grass will grow--it used to be said--onaccount of the blood that had been shed upon it. Among the sufferershere was Hastings, executed by order of King Richard: Anne Boleyn:Katharine Howard: and Lady Jane Grey. A stone marks the spot on whichthe scaffold was set up. 

It was on the morning of the 12th of February that Lady Jane Grey wasput to death. She was then confined in the 'Brick' Tower, the residenceof the Master of the Ordnance. From her window she saw the headless bodyof her husband brought back from Tower Hill in a cart. She looked uponit without shrinking. 'Oh! Guilford, ' she said, 'the antipast is not sobitter after thou hast tasted, and which I shall soon taste, as to makemy flesh tremble: it is nothing compared to the feast of which we shallpartake this day in Heaven. ' So she went forth with her two gentlewomen, Elizabeth Tylney and Mistress Helen, but she shed no tears. When she wason the scaffold she spoke to the officers of the Tower and the soldiersthat stood around. No man or woman, however wise and dignified, couldspeak more clearly and with greater dignity than this girl of sixteen. They had been trying to make her a Catholic. Therefore, she madeconfession of the Protestant Faith: 'Good Christian people, bear witnessthat I die a true Christian woman and that I do look to be saved by noother means but only by the mercy of God, in the blood of his only son, Jesus Christ. '

So she made her gentlewomen bare her neck and bind her eyes and kneelingdown laid her head upon the block, and while she was saying, 'Lord, intoThy hands I commend my spirit, ' the axe fell and she was dead. 

She lies buried before the altar of St. Peter's Church, near the bodiesof the Queens Anne Boleyn and Katharine Howard. 

So she died, this poor innocent child of whom all we know is that shewas so scholarly that she could read Greek in the original: that shewas beautiful: of a grave and sweet disposition: and raised far abovethe voice of calumny. She had, says Foxe, 'the innocency of childhood, the beauty of youth, the gravity of age: she had the birth of aprincess, the learning of a clerk, the life of a saint, and the death ofa malefactor for her parents' offences. '

[Illustration: A BED IN THE REIGN OF HENRY III. ]

19. THE PILGRIMS. 

In the time when the road connecting village with village and town withtown was but an uncertain bridle path through woods and over wasteplaces, where in winter horse, man, and wayfarer struggled with bog andquagmire, where robbers lurked in the thickets, and fevers and agueshaunted the marsh, where men went armed and every stranger was a foe: itwould seem as if most men stayed where they were born and desired not tocourt the dangers of the unknown world. In many villages, especially inthe remote places of the country, this was the case. The men of Somersetabode where they were born, speaking their own language, a race apart:the men of Norfolk abode in their county cut off from the rest of theworld by fens in the west and sea on the north and east: their languagewas not understood by the men of the west or the south country. Had theother conditions of life allowed this isolation to continueundisturbed, the nation could never have been created: we should haveremained a scattered collection of tribes speaking each its own languageand developing its own customs. 

There were three causes which stirred the stagnant waters. The first wasWar. The Baron, or Feudal Lord, carried off the young men of the villageto fight: those of them who returned had things to tell of the outsideworld. They fired the imagination and awakened the enterprise of thelads. The second was Trade at the trading ports: the lads saw, andcontinued to talk with, the foreign sailors--the Fleming, the German, the man of Rouen or Bordeaux: some of them went on board the ships ofthe merchant adventurers and sailed to foreign lands. Lastly, there werethe Pilgrimages. 

From the tenth to the fifteenth century there was a rage for pilgrimage. Everybody wanted to become a pilgrim. No money was wanted: there wouldcertainly be found every day some monastery at which bed and a supperwould be provided for the pilgrim: it was a joyous company which faredalong the road, some riding, some on foot, travelling together forsafety, all bound to the same shrine where they would hear the massesand make their vows and so return, light-hearted: it was, in fact, themediæval way of taking a holiday. Sometimes it was to Canterbury, wherewas the shrine of Thomas Becket, that the pilgrims were bound: sometimesto Walsingham, where was the miraculous image of the Virgin: sometimesto Glastonbury, hallowed by the thorn miraculously flowering every yearon Christmas Day, planted by Joseph of Arimathea himself: sometimes itwas farther afield--to Compostella in Spain, Rome, or evenJerusalem--that the pilgrims proposed to go. Chaucer describes such acompany all starting together, riding from London to Canterbury onpilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Becket. They are pilgrims, but thereis very little piety in their discourse: one can see that, whatever themotive, whether for the expiation of sin, or any other cause, thejourney is full of cheerfulness and enjoyment. The Crusades were oneoutcome of this passion for pilgrimage. Nay, the first Crusade itselfwas little better than a great pilgrimage of the common people, soignorant that they asked at the sight of every walled town if that wasJerusalem. It was a pilgrimage from which few, indeed, returned. 

In England, the chief gain from pilgrimage was the bringing together ofmen from the different parts of the country. Remember that the men ofthe North could not understand the speech of the men of the South: aNorfolk rustic at the present day would hardly understand a man ofDevon: there was always danger of forgetting that they all belonged tothe same realm, the same nation, and the same race. 

But the love of pilgrimage spread so wide that it became a danger. Therustic left the plough: the blacksmith his anvil: the carpenter hisbench: all left their wives and their children in order to tramp acrossthe country on pilgrimage to some shrine. By day they marched together:at night they sat round the fire in the strangers' room of themonastery, and took their supper and slept on the reeds. A delightfulchange from the monotony and hard work of the village! But the Bishopsinterposed. Let no one go on pilgrimage without his Bishop's license. Let not the monasteries give a bed and supper to any pilgrim who couldnot show his Bishop's license. Then the rustics and the craftsmen had toremain at home where they have stayed, except when they went out tofight, ever since. 

When the pilgrim--especially the pilgrim who had been over theseas--came home, he was able to entertain his friends with stories hehad seen all the rest of his life. Thus, the earliest plan of the HolySepulchre is one drawn by a pilgrim for the instruction of certain monkswho entertained him. The pilgrims were the travellers of the time. Theyobserved foreign manners and customs: they brought home seeds and toldof strange food: they extended the boundaries of the world: theyprevented the native village from becoming the whole world: they taughtand encouraged men to cease from regarding a stranger as an enemy. Theworld was thus opened out by War, Trade, and Pilgrimage, but most of allby Pilgrimage. 

20. ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL. 

The oldest of the City Hospitals is that great and splendid Foundationwhich stands in Smithfield--the Smooth Field. It was first founded byone Rahere, of whom we know little or nothing except that he lived inthe reign of Henry I. , and that he founded the Priory and Monastery ofSt. Bartholomew. In the church of St. Bartholomew the Great you may seea very beautiful tomb said to be his, but the work is of a later date. It is related that while on a pilgrimage to Rome he fell ill and waslike to die. And he vowed that if he were restored to health he woulderect and establish a hospital for poor sick people. He did recover andhe fulfilled his vow. He built the Priory of St. Bartholomew, whosechurch still stands in part and beside it established his hospital. Theplace called Smithfield was then a swampy field used for a horse fair:it was also a place of execution without the City wall. At first thehospital was a very small place. It consisted probably of two largerooms or halls, one for men and one for women--with a chapel. If it hadany endowment at all it must have been very small, because the Master orHospitaller had to go every morning to the Shambles, Newgate, in orderto beg meat for the maintenance of the sick. Two hundred years later thehospital was taken in hand by Edward IV. And provided with anestablishment of Master, eight brethren, priests, and four sisters, whoserved the sick. They were all subject to the Rule of St. Austin. Afterthe death of Whittington, the hospital buildings were repaired by hisbequests. On the dissolution of the religious houses, the Priory andHospital of Bartholomew fell with the rest, but five years later thehospital was refounded and endowed by the King and the City. 

[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE HALL AT PENSHURST, KENT. 

(_Showing the screen with minstrels' gallery over it, and the brazierfor fire in the middle; built about 1340. _)]

If you visit a hospital and are taken into a ward, you see a row ofclean white beds arranged in orderly position on either side of the longroom: the temperature is regulated: the ventilation is perfect: thereare means by which the patient can be examined in private: the diseasesare apportioned to separate wards: every thing is managed with thegreatest cleanliness and order: if an operation is performed the patientis kept under chloroform and feels nothing. The physicians are men ofthe highest scientific reputation: the nurses are trained assistants:the food is the best that can be procured. The poorest man brought tothe hospital is treated with the same care, the same science, the sameluxuries as the richest. 

Look, however, at the hospital as founded by Rahere. 

There is a great hall with a chapel at one end: at which mass is dailysung. The room is narrow and lofty, lit by Norman windows, two or threeon a side: there is a lanthorn in the roof: under the lanthorn a fire isburning every day, the smoke rising to the roof: the hall is dark andill ventilated, the air foul and heavy with the breath of sixty orseventy sick men lying in beds arranged in rows along the wall. Thereare not separate beds for each patient, but as the sick are brought inthey are laid together side by side, in the same bed, whatever thedisease, so that he who suffers from fever is placed beside another whosuffers from palsy. There are four in a bed, and in times of pressureeven more. Sometimes one arrives who develops the plague, when thewhole of the patients in the hospital catch the infection and all dietogether. The surgeons are especially skilled in the dressing of woundsreceived in battle or in fray: the sisters can tie up a broken limb andstop a bleeding wound. The brethren go about the beds administering thelast offices of the Church to the dying. The food is scanty: theappliances are rude: there is small hope of recovery: yet to die inhospital tended and consoled instead of in the hut where life has beenpassed is something for which to be grateful. 

[Illustration: THE UPPER CHAMBER OR SOLAR AT SUTTON COURTENAYMANOR-HOUSE. 

(_Date, about 1350. _)]

Consider into how great, how noble a Foundation the little hospital ofRahere has grown. The modern hospital contains 676 beds: it receivesabout 150, 000 patients every year, of whom 7, 000 are inpatients, 18, 000out patients, and 130, 000 casuals. The eight brethren have become 30physicians and surgeons besides the assistants called clinical clerksand dressers. The four sisters are now 159 sisters and nurses. There isa noble school of medicine: there are museums, libraries, lecture rooms, and there is a residential college for medical students: there is aconvalescent hospital in the country. No hospital in the world has alarger or a more noble record than this of St. Bartholomew. And it allsprang from the resolution of one man, who started a humble house forthe reception of the sick in a poor and despised place outside the Citywall, but near to the Shambles where one could beg for broken victualsand for the pieces of meat that the butchers could not sell. Thus out ofone good deed, apparently of small importance, has grown a never-endingstream of refreshment and healing. It has lasted for 700 years already:there seems no reason why it should ever stop. 

21. THE TERROR OF LEPROSY. 

One mile outside the City walls, on the west, stood for four hundredyears the Hospital of St. Giles in the Fields. 

Here was a Lazar House, i. E. A Hospital for Lepers. It was founded byMaud, Queen of Henry I. It was dedicated to St. Giles because this saintwas considered the protector of cripples. Hence the name Cripplegate, which really means the Little Gate, was applied to the church of St. Giles, and supposed to mean the gate near the church dedicated to thePatron Saint of Cripples. A common result of leprosy was to make thesufferer lame and crippled. Hence the connection. Generally, however, Lazarus, whom our Lord raised from the dead, was esteemed the Saint ofLepers, whence a Leper's Hospital was always called a Lazar House. 

In the middle ages the mysterious disease called leprosy was an everpresent terror. Other plagues appeared at intervals and disappeared. Leprosy remained. It never left the land. It struck the King on hisThrone, the Bishop in his Cathedral, the Abbess in her Nunnery, thesoldier in camp, the merchant in his counting house, the sailor at sea. No class could escape it. Robert Bruce died of it; Orivalle, Bishop ofLondon, died of it; Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, died of it. To this dayit prevails in India, at the Cape, in the Pacific Islands, while thereare occasional cases found in our own hospitals. The disease wasincurable: the man, woman, or child, attacked by it would surely andslowly die of it. The leper was unclean: he was thrust out of the town:he had to live apart, or congregated in hospitals with other wretchessimilarly afflicted: if he walked abroad he wore a grey gown fordistinction and carried a clapper as he went along, crying 'Unclean, Unclean, ' so that the people might stand aside and not so much as touchhis garments. And since he could not work with his hands, he waspermitted to carry into the market a 'clap dish, ' that is to say, a bowlor basin in which to receive food and alms. [2]

[2] Lacroix, _Science_, p. 146. 

Leprosy is supposed to have had its origin in Egypt: the laws laid downin the Book of Leviticus for the separation of lepers are stringent andprecise: it was believed, partly, no doubt, on account of these statutesin the Book of the Jewish Law, that the disease was brought into WesternEurope by the Crusaders; but this was erroneous, because it was in thiscountry before the Crusaders. Thus the Palace of St. James stands uponthe site of a lazar house founded before the Conquest for fourteenleprous maidens. 

This is not the place to describe the symptoms and the results of thisdreadful disease. Suffice it to say that the skin thickens, isdiscoloured and ulcerates: that the limbs swell: that the fingers andtoes drop off: that the voice sinks to a whisper: and that thesufferer's mind is weakened by his malady. 

The fearful scourge was so prevalent that there was not a town, hardly avillage, in any country of Europe which had not, in those centuries, itslepers and its lazar house, great or small. Every effort was made toisolate them: they were not allowed to worship with the rest of thepeople: they were provided with a separate building or chapel where, through a hole in the wall, they could look on at the performance ofmass. And in addition, as you have seen, they lived apart and took theirfood apart. 

As for their houses--the lazar houses--the chief of them all, the placewhere Abbot possessed some kind of authority over the others, was onebuilt in a village near Melton Mowbray called Burton Lazars. TheHospital of St. Giles, for instance, became shortly after its foundationa 'cell, ' or dependency, of this House. 

Whatever the cause of this malady, whether it be contagious, i. E. Communicated by touch; or infectious, that is, communicated by breathingthe same air; or hereditary; it is quite certain that it was greatlyaggravated by the habits of the time. Bad food, uncleanly habits, badair, all contributed to the spread of leprosy. Especially it has beenconsidered that the long fasts during which meat was prohibitedencouraged the disease: not because abstinence from meat is in itself abad thing, but because the people had to eat fish imperfectly cured orkept too long, and unwholesome. Fresh-water fish could not be procuredin sufficient quantities and it was impossible to convey fish from thesea more than a certain distance inland. 

[Illustration: THE LEPERS BEGGING. ]

The dreadful appearance of the lepers, their horrible sufferings, produced loathing more than pity. People were horror stricken at thesight of them: they drove them out of their sight: they punished themcruelly if they broke the rules of separation: they imprisoned anycitizen who should harbour a leper: they kept bailiffs at the City gatesto keep them from entering. Fourteen of these afflicted persons wererequired to be maintained in accordance with Queen Maud's Foundation bythe Hospital of St. Giles: there was also a lazar house in the Old KentRoad, Southwark: one between Mile End and Bow: one at Kingsland betweenShoreditch and Stoke Newington: one at Knightsbridge, west of CharingCross, and one at Holloway. 

On the Dissolution of the Monasteries, all these lazar houses weresuppressed. Now, since we hear very little more about lepers, and sinceno new lazar houses were built, and since the prohibitions to enterchurches, towns, &c. , are no more renewed, it is tolerably certain thatleprosy by the middle of the sixteenth century had practicallydisappeared. The above will show, however, how great and terrible athing it was between the ninth and the sixteenth centuries. 

22. THE TERROR OF FAMINE. 

Suppose that all the ocean traffic were stopped; that there was nocommunication, or exchange of commodities, between our country andanother; suppose that the people of this island depended entirely ontheir own harvests and their own cattle for their support. You wouldthen easily understand how a single bad year might produce scarcity offood, and a very bad year might produce a famine. That was our conditiondown to the fifteenth century. Some corn may have been brought over fromPrussia or from Hamburg; but there was no regular supply; the countrydepended on its own harvests. Therefore, the fear of a famine--or ofscarcity--was ever present to the people. 

Many of these famines are on record. In the year 990 a famine raged overthe whole of England; in 1126 there was a terrible scarcity. Wheat wassold at 6_s. _ a horseload. Now, in the twelfth century a shilling meantmore than a pound of our money, in purchasing power. It is not statedhow much constituted a horseload. It would probably mean the filling ofthe two baskets hanging on either side of the packhorse. In 1257, aftera wet season and a bad harvest, wheat rose to 24_s. _ a quarter, a pricewhich prohibited all but the richest from eating wheaten bread. It issaid that 20, 000 perished of starvation. In 1316, after the same cause, wheat became so scarce that its price rose to 4_l. _ a quarter. So greatwas the distress this year, that great nobles had to dismiss theirretainers; the roads in the country were crowded with robbers. Robberieswere openly committed in the streets for the sake of food: in theprisons the unfortunate criminals, left to starve, murdered and devouredeach other. The people ate carrion and dead dogs. In 1335 there wasanother time of scarcity and suffering; in 1439, the distress was sogreat that the people made bread of fern roots and ivy berries. Then, for the first time, we read of the famine being assuaged by the arrivalof rye from Prussia. In 1527 a threatened famine was checked by theHanseatic merchants who gave, or sold, a hundred quarters of wheat tothe City and sent three ships to Dantzig for more. In 1593 and in 1597wheat rose to an enormous price. The last time of scarcity was duringthe long war with France, which lasted, from 1792 to 1815, nearly aquarter of a century. We were then compelled to depend almost entirelyupon our own harvests. Wheat went up as high as 103_s. _ a quarter. 

At no time did the poorer classes depend much upon wheat. Rye and oatsmade the bread of the working people. But bad harvests affected rye andoats as much as wheat. 

The famine prices of wheat may be explained by the following facts. Inthe reign of Henry I. , at ordinary prices, bread enough for one meal for100 men could be bought for a shilling and a whole sheep cost fourpence. In the next century, when wheat was at 6_s. _ a quarter, a farthing loafwas to weigh 24 oz. Whole meal and 16 oz. White. When it was at 1_s. _6_d. _ a quarter the farthing loaf was to weigh 96 oz. Whole grain and 64oz. White. The quartern loaf of 4 lb. Or 64 oz. Now costs 5_d. _, wheatbeing very cheap. So that prices in time of plenty being supposed thesame, money was worth twenty times in that century as much as it isworth now. In the reign of Edward I. Wheat went down to 1_s. _ a quarter. 

The food of the craftsmen in London was, in ordinary times, plentifuland cheap. The City, as we have seen, was always remarkable for thegreat abundance of provision which was brought there. And there is everyreason to believe that while the rustic fared poorly and was underfed, the craftsman of the towns always enjoyed good food and enough of it. This made a time of scarcity hard to bear for one who habitually livedwell. 

Once or twice an attempt was made to provide the City with granaries incase of famine. Thus the origin of Leadenhall, the great City market, was the erecting of a public granary here by Sir Simon Eyre in 1419. Attached to the Hall, after the manner of the time, was a chapeldedicated to the Holy Trinity, which the founder endowed for 60 priestswho were to prepare service every day for those who frequented themarket. 

Another public granary was established in 1610 at Bridewell Palace. Thiswas built to contain 6, 000 quarters of wheat. 

Nothing more is heard about these public granaries. Probably the publicmind grew more assured on the subject of famine as it became betterunderstood that the loss of one country might be made up from thesuperfluous harvests of another. The lesson taught by the Hanseaticmerchants in sending to Prussia for corn was not likely to be lost. 

At the present moment, with means of transport always in readiness andthe electric wire joining the most distant countries, it might seem thatfamine was a thing no longer to be feared. There cannot be bad harvestsall over the world. Not only can we every year import so much wheat thatwe need grow little in this country, but we import frozen meat in vastquantities: we bring fruit of all kinds from the most distant countries, insomuch that there are some fruits, such as apples, oranges, grapes, bananas, which we can enjoy the whole year round. But famine may yetplay a great and a disastrous part in our history. We must not forgetthat we enjoy our present abundance of all things on one of twoconditions; first, that we are strong enough to protect the waterway andkeep it open, or, secondly, that we remain at peace. The latter wecannot hope to do always. Therefore it is of vital importance that wemaintain a strong fleet, well equipped, ready to fight, at all times andat the shortest notice, superior to any likely combination that may bebrought against us. Therefore, again, it behoves every man in theseIsles to be jealous of the fleet, for a time may come when the way ofthe ocean may be closed and when Great Britain, through the neglect ofher rulers, may be starved into a shameful and ruinous surrender. 

23. ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. 

PART I. 

When London was converted to Christianity, in the year 610, the firstBishop of London, Mellitus, built a church on the highest ground withinthe walls of the City. This church he dedicated to St. Paul the Apostlewho first preached to the Gentiles. What kind of church thiswas--whether great or small--whether of wood or of stone--how oftenrebuilt or repaired--we know not. Probably it was quite a small churchat first. This church, or its successor, was taken down in the year 1087when Bishop Maurice began to build a new and far more stately Cathedral. Fifty years later most of the church, not yet completed, was burneddown. Its building, thus delayed, was continued for nearly twocenturies. The steeple was not completed, for instance, till a hundredand fifty years after the commencement of the building. The drawingshows the church as it was in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Old St. Paul's was one of the largest churches in Europe: its length wasat least 600 feet; the spire reached the height of 460 feet. The churchstood in a large walled enclosure, still kept partly open, though thewall has long since been pulled down and there have been encroachmentson the north side. 

[Illustration: LONDON BEFORE THE SPIRE OF ST. PAUL'S WAS BURNED: SHOWINGALSO THE BRIDGE, THE TOWER, SHIPPING, ETC. ]

The church in the fourteenth century was not regarded only as a placefor public worship. Masses and services of all kinds were going on allday long: the place was bright, not only with the sunlight streamingthrough the painted glass, but with wax tapers burning before many ashrine--at some, all day and all night. People came to the church towalk about, for rest, for conversation, for the transaction ofbusiness--to make or receive payments: to hire servants. The middleaisle of the church where all this was done was called Paul's Walk orDuke Humphrey's Walk. Here were tables where twelve licensed scribes satwriting letters for those who wanted their services. They would alsoprepare a lease, a deed, a conveyance--any legal document. The churchwas filled with tombs and monuments, some of these very ancient, some ofthe greatest interest. Here was one called the tomb of DukeHumphrey--Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, who was really buried at St. Alban's. On May Day the watermen used to come to St. Paul's in order tosprinkle water and strew herbs upon this tomb--I know not why. Those whowere out of work and went dinnerless were said to dine with DukeHumphrey: and there was a proverb--'Trash and trumpery is the way toDuke Humphrey. ' Trumpery being used in its originalmeaning--_tromperie_--_deceit_. Among other tombs there were those ofthe Saxon Kings Sebbi and Ethelred. The first of these was King of theEast Saxons. He was converted by Bishop Erkenwald. The second was theelder brother of King Alfred. There were tombs or shrines to many saintsnow forgotten--that of St. Erkenwald, whose fame rivalled that of Edwardthe Confessor at Westminster, St. Cuthbert at Durham, and St. Thomas àBecket at Canterbury: that of St. Ethelbert: that of St. Roger, Bishopof London--a cope which St. Roger wore is still preserved in theSacristy: and that of St. Wilford. At every one of these shrinesmiracles were wrought--or believed to be wrought. There was also amiraculous crucifix said to have been discovered by Lucius, the firstChristian King of ancient Britain in the year 140. Great gifts wereconstantly made to this crucifix. 

Under the Cathedral, in the crypt, was a parish church--that of St. Faith's--it is now united with the parish church of St. Augustine's inWatling Street. 

[Illustration: OLD ST. PAUL'S, FROM THE EAST. 

(_Showing its condition just before the Great Fire; from an engraving byHollar. _)]

Outside the church, almost against the south wall, was the parish churchof St. Gregory. In the same way the parish church of St. Margaret'sstands outside Westminster Abbey. Within, we can see, in imagination, the people walking about--they have not yet begun to stand bareheaded inchurch--some dictating to the scribes: some leaning against the tombs:some sitting on the bases of the great round pillars--there were nopews, benches, or chairs in the Cathedral: the chantry priests aresaying masses in the chapels: the people are kneeling before the goldenshrine of St. Erkenwald, resplendent with lights, jewels, gold, andsilver: women lay their offerings before the miraculous crucifix prayingfor the restoration to health of son or husband: a wedding is celebratedin one chapel: a funeral mass is being said in another: servants gatherabout a certain pillar waiting to be hired: porters carrying baskets ontheir heads enter at the north door and tramp through, going out of thesouth: processions of priests and choir pass up and down the aisles: theorgan peals and echoes along the long and lofty roof. See; here comes atroop of men. They carry instruments of music: they are dressed in alivery, a cloak of green: they march together entering at the westerndoors and tramping through the whole length of the church to the chapelof Our Lady in the East. This is the Guild of the Minstrels. There weremany other guilds attached to the Cathedral. You shall learn presentlywhat was the meaning of these guilds. 

24. ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. 

PART II. 

Such was Paul's in the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth theReformation came. The candles were all put out; the shrines weredestroyed; the altars were taken out of the chapels: the miraculousimages were taken away: the church, compared with its previouscondition, became a shell. The choir was walled off for public worship:the rest of the church became a place of public resort: the poets of thetime are full of allusions to Paul's Walk. It was a common thoroughfareeven for men leading pack horses and asses. The Cathedral, left toneglect, began to fall into a ruinous condition. An attempt was made atrestoration: funds were collected, but they came in slowly. Laud, whobecame Bishop of London in 1631, gave an impetus to the work: thecelebrated Inigo Jones was appointed architect: in order to prevent thechurch from being turned into an Exchange, he built a West Porch, whichis shown in some of the pictures of St. Paul's. In the time of theCommonwealth this portico was let off in shops and stalls: the nave ofthe church actually became a cavalry barrack. 

[Illustration: OLD ST. PAUL'S ON FIRE. 

(_From Longman's 'A History of the Three Cathedrals of St. Paul's. '_)]

When King Charles returned it was resolved to repair and restore thecathedral, by this time almost in ruins: but while the citizens wereconsidering what should be done, the Great Fire of London settled thequestion by burning down all that was left. 

Then Christopher Wren began the present building. The first stone waslaid on June 21, 1675, nine years after the Fire. Divine service wasperformed on December 2, 1697, the day of thanksgiving for the Peace ofRyswick. The work was completed in 1710, thirty-five years after itscommencement. The present church is 100 feet shorter than itspredecessor: its dome is also 100 feet lower than the former spire. Thegrandeur of the building cannot be appreciated by any near view, becausethe houses block it in on all sides, and the former view from the bottomof Ludgate Hill is now spoiled by the railway bridge. Those who wish tosee what St. Paul's really is--how splendid a church it is--how grandlyit stands above the whole City--must cross the river and look at it fromBankside, Southwark. 

The dome is three fold: it consists of an outer casing of wood coveredwith lead: a cone of bricks which supports the lantern and cross: and aninner cupola of brick which supports nothing. The towers at the west endare 222 feet in height. 

St. Paul's, especially since the crowding at Westminster Abbey, isbecoming the National Burial Church. It is already well filled withmonuments of British worthies and heroes of this and the last century. Of men distinguished in Literature, Art, and Science, there are buriedhere Dr. Johnson, Hallam the historian, Sir Joshua Reynolds the painter, Turner the painter, Rennie the engineer who built Waterloo Bridge, SirWilliam Jones, the great Oriental scholar, and Sir Astley Cooper, thegreat surgeon. There is also buried here, as he should be, SirChristopher Wren himself. But those who visit the Cathedral desire mostto see the tombs of Wellington and Nelson. The remains of the former liein a great sarcophagus worked out of a single piece of Cornish porphyry. Those of the Admiral were placed first in a coffin made from the mainmast of the French ship _Orient_, taken at the Battle of the Nile. This was deposited in a sarcophagus made by Cardinal Wolsey and intendedfor the burial of King Henry the Eighth. In the Cathedral, too, you willfind the monuments of those splendid fighting men, Lord Collingwood, Nelson's friend: Howe and Rodney: Earl St. Vincent, who won the battleof Cape St. Vincent: Lord Duncan of Camperdown, and many others. 

[Illustration: WEST FRONT OF ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL CHURCH. 

(_Built by Sir Christopher Wren. _)]

In the crypt you will find, if you look for it, the brass tablet whichmarks the spot where lie the remains of a man whose history should be anencouragement to every boy who reads this book. His name was EdwardPalmer. Born without family influence, plainly educated at the grammarschool of his town, he taught himself in the teeth of alldifficulties--that of bad health especially--Arabic, Persian, and allthe languages which belong to that group: at the age of twenty-four hewas so splendid an Oriental scholar that the greatest Orientalist atCambridge declared that he could teach him nothing. He was elected to aFellowship at St. John's College and became the Lord Almoner's Professorof Arabic. He mastered, in addition to his Oriental studies, all theEuropean languages except Russian and the Slavonic group. He exploredthe Desert of the Exodus and the Peninsula of Sinai. He did a great dealof literary work. But he was not buried in St. Paul's Cathedral forthese studies. In the year 1882, when the Egyptian War broke out, he wassent on a secret mission to the tribes of the Desert. He knew them all:he could talk their language as well as his own: he was the equal of anyone in his knowledge of Arabic poetry and his power of telling stories:they welcomed him with open arms: the service that he rendered to hiscountry for which he was honoured with a funeral at St. Paul's, was thathe prevented these tribes from destroying the Suez Canal. He succeededin reaching the British camp at Suez in safety, his task accomplished, the safety of the Canal assured. He was murdered in return by a party ofEgyptian Arabs sent from Cairo. His bones were recovered by Sir CharlesWarren--who further tracked down and hanged every man connected with themurder. The road to possible greatness lies open to all, but the wayleads through a difficult and thorny way only to be passed, as Palmerfound, by resolution invincible and by long patient industry. 

25. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. 

St. Paul's Cathedral stood in the centre of an oval-shaped enclosurevery much like the present St. Paul's Churchyard, save that the housesnow in the north are an encroachment. This open space was surrounded bya wall, in which were six gates embattled. The first was the GreatWestern Gate, facing Ludgate Hill: the second in Paul's Alley inPaternoster Row: the third at Canon Alley: the fourth, or Little Gate, where is now the entrance into Cheapside: the fifth, St. Augustine'sGate, Watling Street: the sixth at Paul's Chain. 

[Illustration: PAUL'S CROSS. ]

Walking round this enclosure we come first upon the Bishop's Palace, standing on the north side of the Nave. The Palace was provided with aprivate entrance into the Cathedral. Beyond the Palace was a verybeautiful cloister called Pardon Church Haugh. In this cloister stood achapel built by Gilbert, father of Thomas à Becket. Many monuments andtombs of great persons stood within this cloister, which was alsoremarkable for its 'Dances of Death. ' This was a series of paintingsrepresenting Death as a skeleton armed with a dart, leading by the handmen and women of every degree, from the highest to the lowest. Therewere formerly many examples of such dances. Next to the cloister wasthe library, the catalogue of which still exists to show what ascholar's collection of books then meant. Next to the library stood theCollege of the Minor Canons: then came Charnel Chapel, beneath which wasa crypt filled with human bones taken from the churchyard. Remember thatthis has been a burial place ever since the year 610, when a church wasfirst built here. From the year 610 till the year 1840, or for a periodof 1, 200 years, new graves were continually made in this ground. Who canguess how many thousands lie buried here? Every handful of the dust is ahandful of human remains. From time to time, however, the bones werecollected and placed in this crypt of Charnel Chapel. The chapel itselfwas apparently a large building, for when it was pulled down thematerials were used by the Duke of Somerset at the Reformation inbuilding Somerset House in the Strand. There are yet standing someportions of the original house, so that the stones of Charnel Chapel maystill be seen. As for the crypt, they carried away the bones, which madea thousand cartloads, and laid them over Finsbury Fields, covering themwith ground, on which were erected three windmills. The site is markedby the street called Windmill Street. 

Next to Charnel Chapel stood the famous Paul's Cross. 

This famous place was a Pulpit Cross, from which sermons might bepreached in the open air. Several London churches had their open-airpulpits: notably St. Michael's, Cornhill; St. Mary's Spital, withoutBishopsgate--at this Cross a sermon was preached every Easter to theLord Mayor and aldermen. When Paul's Cross was erected is not known: itprobably stood on the site of some scaffold or steps, from which thepeople were anciently harangued, for this was the place of thefolk-mote, or meeting of the people. Here were read aloud, andproclaimed, the King's Laws and Orders: here the people were informed ofWar and Peace: here Papal Bulls were read. There was a cross standinghere in the year 1256--very likely it was already ancient. In the year1387 it was ruinous and had to be repaired. It was again repaired orrebuilt in 1480. Paul's Cross played a very important part in theReformation. Here the 'Rood' of Bexley, which was a crucifix where theeyes and lips were made to move and the people were taught that it wasmiraculous, was exposed and broken to pieces: here the famous images ofWalsingham and Ipswich, the object of so many pilgrimages, were broughtto be broken to pieces before the eyes of the people. Here Latimerpreached, a man of the people who could speak to them in a way to makethem understand. Had it not been for the preaching of Latimer and otherslike him in plain language, the Reformation would have been an attempt, and probably a failure, to enforce upon the people the opinions ofcertain scholars. Paul's Cross did not perish in the Fire: it was takendown in the year 1643, or thereabouts, in order to be rebuilt; but thiswas not done, and when the Fire destroyed the Cathedral Paul's Cross wasforgotten. Its site may be seen in the churchyard at the N. E. Corner ofthe choir, marked by a flat stone, but it must be remembered that theold church was wider but farther south. 

On the south side of Paul's Churchyard we pass in succession thebeautiful Chapter House: the Church of St. Gregory and the Deanery. Close to the western gate are residences for the Canons, south of theenclosure are the Cathedral Brewhouse and Bakehouse. 

Such are some of the buildings in Paul's Churchyard. The Cathedralestablishment supported a great army of priests and people. For many ofthem, perhaps for most, there were residences of some kind either withinthe enclosure or close beside it. Thus the priests, including Bishop, Dean, Archdeacons and Canons, a hundred and thirty in number: then therewere the inferior officers: yet persons of consideration and authority, such as Sacrist, Almoner, Bookbinder, Chief Brewer, Chief Baker, withall their servants: scribes, messengers, bookbinders, illuminators andcopyists: singing-men and choir boys, and women to keep the churchclean. When we add that the Brewer had to provide 200 gallons of beer aday, it is obvious that there must have been a good many peoplebelonging to the Cathedral who lived in the enclosure called theChurchyard. 

26. THE RELIGIOUS HOUSES. 

If we take a map of London in the fourteenth century and lay down uponit all the monasteries and religious Houses that then existed we shallfind twenty, all rich and splendid Foundations, without counting thoseof Westminster and the villages within a few miles of London Stone. These were built for the most part either just within or just withoutthe City wall. The reason was that the City was less densely populatednear the wall than lower down along the river-side. Every one of theseSocieties was possessed of estates in the country and streets and housesin the City. Every one then retained, besides the monks or friars andnuns, a whole army of officers and servants. A great monastery providedemployment for a very large number of people. In every separate estatewhich belonged to it, the monastery wanted tenant farmers, foresters andhunters, labourers, stewards and bailiffs, a curate or vicar in chargeof the church and all the officers who are required for the managementof an estate. For the House itself there were wanted first, the serviceof the chapel, apart from the singing which was done by the brethren:the school: the library: lawyers and clerks to administer the estatesand guard the rights and privileges of the House: the brewhouse, bakehouse, kitchen, cellar, stables, with all the officers and servantsrequired in a place where everything was made in the house; thearchitects, surveyors, carpenters and people wanted to maintain thebuildings. It is not too much to reckon that a fourth part of thepopulation of London belonged in some way or other to the monasteries, while these Houses were certainly the best customers for the wines, silks and spices which were brought to the quays of Queenhithe andBillingsgate. 

[Illustration: BERMONDSEY ABBEY. ]

It is generally believed that the monasteries, besides relieving thesick and poor and teaching the boys and girls, threw open their doorsreadily to any poor lad who desired to take the vows of the Order. 

[Illustration: RUINS OF GATEWAY OF BERMONDSEY ABBEY. ]

All this is a misconception: there were the same difficulties aboutrelieving the poor as there are with us at the present moment. That isto say, indiscriminate charity then, as now, turned honest working meninto paupers. This the monks and friars understood very well. They weretherefore careful about their charities. Also in many Houses the schoolwas allowed to drop into disuse. And as regards the admission of poorboys it was done only in cases where a boy showed himself quick andstudious. It has been the glory of the Church in all ages that she hasrefused to recognise any barrier of birth: but she has also been carefulto preserve her distinctions for those who deserve them. Most of thebrethren in a rich Foundation were of gentle birth and good family. If apoor boy asked to join a monastery he was lucky if he was allowed tobecome one of its servants and to wear its livery. Then his livelihoodwas assured. There is every reason to believe that the rule of thebrethren, strict for themselves, was light and easy for their servants. You may find out for yourselves where the London monasteries were, bythe names of streets now standing on their sites. Thus, following theline of the wall from the Tower north and west you find St. Katharine'sDock where stood St. Katharine's Hospital: the Minories marks the Houseof the Minorites or Sisters of St. Clare; Great St. Helens is on thesite of St. Helen's Nunnery: Spital Square stands where St. Mary'sSpital formerly received the sick: Blackfriars, Charter House andBartholomew's still keep their name: Austin Friars is the name of acourt and the Friars' Church still stands: Whitefriars is still the nameof a street: Grey Friars is Christ's Hospital: the Temple is now thelawyer's home; part of the Church of the Knights Hospitallers is stillto be seen. Three great Houses, it is true, have left no trace or memorybehind. Eastminster or the Cistercian Abbey of St. Mary of Grace, whichstood north of St. Katharine's, and was a very great and stately placeindeed: the Priory of the Holy Trinity, which stood where is now Duke'sPlace, north of the church of St. Catharine Cree: and St. Mary ofBethlehem, which stood just outside Bishopsgate. The memory ofBermondsey Abbey and St. Mary Overy on the south side of the river hasalso departed, but the church of the latter still stands, the mostbeautiful church in London next to Westminster Abbey. 

[Illustration: Christ's Hospital]

But besides all these religious Houses employing thousands of people, there were in the City of London no fewer than 126 parish churches. Manyof the parishes were extremely small--a single street--or half a street:many of the churches were insignificant: but many were rich and costlystructures, adorned and beautified by the piety of many generations: allwere endowed with funds for the saying of masses for the dead, so thatthere were many priests to every parish. Consider these things and youwill understand that the City was filled with ecclesiastics--priests, friars, servants of the Church: at every corner rose a church: to onestanding on the other bank of the river the City presented a forest ofspires and towers. The church then occupied a far larger part of thedaily life than is now the case even with Catholic countries. All wereexpected to attend a daily service: the trade companies went to churchin state: young men belonged to a guild: the ringing of the bells wasnever silent: no one could escape, if he desired, from the Church. Noone did desire to escape, because every one belonged to the Church. Youmust understand, not only that the Church was so great and rich that itowned and ruled a very large part of the country, but also that thepeople all belonged to the Church: it was part of their life as much astheir daily work, their daily food, their daily rest. 

27. MONKS, FRIARS, AND NUNS. 

We must not speak of monks indiscriminately as if they were all thesame. There were as many varieties among the Orders as there are sectsamong Protestants and as much rivalry and even hatred of one with theother. Let us learn some of the distinctions among them. 

Monks were first introduced into Western Europe in the year 529. Therehad long been brotherhoods, hermits, and solitaries in the East, wherethey existed before the Christian age. St. Benedict founded at MonteCasino in Campania a monastery for twelve brethren in that year. TheBenedictines are the most ancient Order: they have also been always themost learned. The Priory of the Holy Trinity in London was Benedictine. Several branches sprang out of this Order, mostly founded with the viewof practising greater austerities. Among them were the Carthusians, avery strict Order--in London they had the Charter House, a name which isa corruption of Chartreuse, their original House: and the Cistercians, founded at Citeaux in France--they had Eastminster, or the Abbey of St. Mary of Grace. All these were monks. 

The Augustine, or Austin Friars, pretended to have been founded byAugustine, but were not constituted until the year 1256. They had themonastery of Austin Friars in London. There were several branches ofthis Order. 

There were next the three great Mendicant Orders, Franciscans, Dominicans, and Carmelites. These were the popular Orders. The monksremained in their Houses alone, separated from the world. The friarswent about among the people. By their vows they were to possess nothingof their own: they were to sleep where they could: they were to begtheir food and raiment: they were to preach to the people in the streetsand in their houses: they were to bring the rites of the Church to thosewho would not enter the doors of the Church. None were to be too poor ortoo miserable for them. In their humility they would not be calledfathers but brothers--fratres--friars. In their preaching they usedevery way by which they could move the hearts of the people; somethundered, some wept, some made jokes. They preached in the midst of themarkets, among the sports of the Fair, wherever they could get anaudience together. 

The Franciscans, who had Grey Friars House, now the Bluecoat School, were founded by St. Francis of Assisi in the beginning of the thirteenthcentury. They came over to England and appeared in London a few yearslater. On account of their austerities and the faithfulness with whichthe earlier Franciscans kept their vows and the earnestness of theirpreaching they became very popular in this country. Their name--GreyFriars--denotes the colour of their dress. The old simplicity andpoverty did not last long. It must, however, be acknowledged that wealthwas forced upon them. 

The Dominicans were founded by St. Dominic about the year 1215. Sixtyyears later they came to London and established themselves in the placestill known by their name--Blackfriars. Their dress was white with ablack cloak. They were never so popular as the Franciscans perhapsbecause they insisted more on doctrine, and were associated with theInquisition. 

The third of the Mendicant Orders was the Carmelite. They were theWhitefriars, their dress being white with a black hood. Their House wasin Fleet Street. Here was a sanctuary whose privileges were notabolished till the year 1697. 

Other Orders represented in London were the Cluniacs, a branch ofBenedictines--they had the Abbey of St. Saviour in Bermondsey; the BlackCanons, established at St. Bartholomew's: the Canons Regular of St. Augustin--who had the Southwark Priory of St. Mary Overie: the KnightsTemplars; and the Knights of St. John. 

As a general rule it is enough to remember that the monks wereBenedictines with their principal branches of Carthusians, Cistercians, and Cluniacs: that the friars were those named after Augustine, Dominic, Francis, and Mount Carmel; that the monks remained in their Houses, practising a life of austerity and prayer--so long as they were faithfulto their vows: and that the friars went about among the people, preaching and exhorting them. 

Of the nunneries some were Benedictine, some Franciscan: that of theMinorites belonged to the latter Order: that of St. Helen's, to theformer. 

The Religious Houses were dissolved at the Reformation. You mustremember that if it had not been for the existence of these Houses, mostof the arts, science, and scholarship of the world would have perishedutterly. The monks kept alive learning of all kinds: they encouragedpainting: they were discoverers and inventors in science: they were thechief agriculturists and gardeners: they offered an asylum to the poorand the oppressed. 'The friendship of the poor, ' said Bernard, 'makesus the friends of Kings. ' And in an age of unrestrained passions theyshowed an example of self-restraint and austerity. The friars did more:they were poor among the poor: no one was below their care andaffection: they had nothing--they would take nothing--at first: till thelove and gratitude of the people showered gifts upon them and evenagainst their will, if they still retained any love for poverty, theybecame rich. 

28. THE LONDON CHURCHES. 

Before the Great Fire of London there were 126 churches and parishes inthe City. Most of these were destroyed by the Fire, and many were neverrebuilt at all. Two or even three and four parishes were united in onechurch. Of late years there has been a destruction of City churchesalmost as disastrous as that of the Fire. Those who have learned fromthis book, and elsewhere, to respect the monuments of the past and todesire their preservation, should do their utmost to prevent thedemolition of these churches, in consideration of their history andtheir association with the past. 

Looking at a picture of London after the Fire, you will certainly remarkthe great number of spires and towers. London, in fact, was then, andmuch more so before the Fire, a city of churches. Those which are hererepresented and those which now remain are nearly all the work ofChristopher Wren, the architect of St. Paul's. Many of them are verybeautiful internally; many have been decorated and adorned with the mostsplendid carved woodwork. About many there cling the memories of deadmen and great men who worshipped here and made gifts to the church andwere buried here. 

Let us show, by a few examples, how worthy these City churches are ofpreservation and respect. 

First, many of them stand on the sites of the most ancient churches inthe history of London. Those about Thames Street, dedicated to St. Peter, St. Paul (the Cathedral), St. James, probably represent Christiantemples of Roman London. The church of St. Martin's, Ludgate Hill, wastraditionally built by a British prince: that of St. Peter, Cornhill, bya Roman general. The tradition proves at least the antiquity of thechurches. St. Augustine's preserves the memory of the preacher whoconverted the Saxons. St. Olave's and St. Magnus mark the Danish rule:St. Dunstan's, St. Alphege, St. Ethelburga, St. Swithin, St. Botolph, commemorate Saxon saints. Why, for instance, are there three churchesall dedicated to St. Botolph just outside City gates? Because thissaint--after whom the Lincolnshire town of Icanhoe changed its name toBotolph's town, now Boston--was considered the special protector oftravellers. Then the names of churches still commemorate some fact inhistory. St. Mary Woolnoth, marks the wool market: St. Osyth's--the nameexists in Sise Lane, was changed into St. Bene't Shere Hog--orSkin-the-Pig--because the stream called Walbrook which ran close by wasused for the purpose of assisting this operation. St. Austin's was thechapel of Austin Friars Monastery. St. Andrew's Undershaft tells thatthe City May Pole was hung up along its wall. St. Andrew's-by-the-Wardrobe commemorates the existence of the Palaceformerly called the King's Wardrobe. In St. Michael's Bassishaw survivesthe name of an old City family--the Basings. In St. Martin Orgar's--nowdestroyed--we have another old City name--Orgar. 

Or, again, there are the people who are buried or were baptised in thesechurches. 

In All Hallows, Bread Street, now pulled down, was baptised the greatestpoet of our country, John Milton. For this cause alone the church shouldnever have been suffered to fall into decay. It was wickedly andwantonly destroyed for the sake of the money its site would fetch in theyear 1877. When you visit Bow Church, Cheapside, look for the tablet tothe memory of Milton, now fixed in that church. It belonged to AllHallows, Bread Street. 

 Three poets in three distant ages born, Greece, Italy, and England did adorn: The first in loftiness of thought surpassed, The next in majesty--in both the last. The force of Nature could no further go; To make a third she joined the other two. 

Christ Church, Newgate, stands on part of the site once occupied by thesplendid church of the Grey Friars. Four Queens lie buried here, and animmense number of princes and great soldiers and nobles. 

Very few people, of the thousands who daily walk up and down FleetStreet, know anything about the statue in the wall of St. Dunstan'sChurch. This is the statue of Queen Elizabeth which formerly stood onthe west side of Lud Gate. This gate was taken down in the year 1760, and some time after the statue was placed here. One of the sights ofLondon before the old church was pulled down was a clock with the figureof a savage on each side who struck the hours and the quarters on a bellwith clubs. London has seldom been without some such show. As long agoas the fifteenth century there was a clock with figures in Fleet Street. Tyndal the Reformer, and Baxter the famous Nonconformist were preachersin this church. 

St. Mary le Bow, was so called because it was the first church in theCity built on arches--bows--of stone. The church is most intimatelyconnected with the life and history of the City. Bow Bell rang for theclosing of the shops. If the ringer was late the prentice boys remindedhim pretty plainly. 

 'Clarke of the Bow Bell with thy yellow lockes: In thy late ringing, thy head shall have knockes. '

To which the clerk replied:

 'Children of Chepe, hold you all stille: For you shall have Bow Bell ring at your will. '

St. Mary's Woolnoth was for many years the church of the Rev. JohnNewton, once the poet Cowper's friend. He began his life in the merchantservice and was for many years engaged in the slave trade. 

For these reasons--their antiquity, their history, theirassociations--the destruction of the City churches ought to be resistedwith the utmost determination. You who read this page may very possiblybecome parishioners of such a church. Learn that, without the consent ofthe parishioners, no church can be destroyed. A meeting of parishionersmust be called: they must vote and decide. Do not forget this privilege. The time may come when your vote and your's alone, may retain for yourposterity a church rich in history and venerable with the traditions ofthe past. 

29. THE STREETS. 

You have seen how the wall surrounded Roman London. The same wall whichdefended and limited Augusta defended and limited Plantagenet London. Outside the wall on the east there continued to extend wide marshesalong the river; moorlands and forest on the north; marshes with risingground on the west; marshes on the south. Wapping was called Wapping inthe Wose (Wash or Ouze), meaning in the Marsh: Bermondsey was Bermond'sIsland, standing in the marsh: Battersea was Batter's Island, or perhapsIsland of Boats: Chelsea was the Island of Chesel or Shingle:Westminster Abbey was built on the Isle of Thorns. The monasteriesstanding outside the wall attracted a certain number of serving peoplewho built houses round them: some of the riverside folk--boat-builders, lightermen, and so forth--were living in the precinct of St. Katharine, just outside the Tower: all along the Strand were great men's houses, one of which, the Somerset House, still stands in altered form, andanother, Northumberland House, was only pulled down a few years ago. Southwark had a single main street with a few branches east and west: italso contained several great houses, and was provided with many Inns forthe use of those who brought their goods from Kent and Surrey to LondonMarket. It was also admitted as a ward. On either side of the HighStreet lay marshes. The river was banked--hence the name Bank Side--butit is not known at what time. 

That part of the wall fronting the river had long been pulled down, butthe stairs were guarded with iron chains, and there was a river policewhich rowed about among the shipping at night. 

[Illustration: CHEPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. ]

The streets and lanes of London within the walls were very nearly thesame as they are at present, except for the great thoroughfaresconstructed within the last thirty years. That is to say, when oneentered at Lud Gate and passed through Paul's Churchyard, he foundhimself in the broad street, the market place of the City, known asChepe. This continued to the place where the Royal Exchange now stands, where it broke off into two branches, Cornhill and Lombard Street. These respectively led into Leadenhall Street and Fenchurch Street, which united again before Aldgate. Another leading thoroughfare crossedthe City from London Bridge to Bishopsgate, and another, Thames Street, by far the most important, because here the merchant adventurers--thosewho had ships and imported goods--met for the transaction of business. The rough cobbled pavement of Thames Street was the Exchange ofWhittington and the merchants of his time, who all had their houses onthe rising ground, among the narrow lanes north of the street. You haveseen what splendid houses a London merchant loved to build. What kind ofhouse did the retailer and the craftsman occupy? It was of stone in thelower parts, but the upper storey was generally of wood, and the roofwas too often thatched. The window was glazed in the upper part, but hadopen work and shutter for the lower half: this half, with the door, stood open during the greater part of the year. The lower room was theliving room, and sometimes the work room of the occupant. The upperfloor contained the bed rooms. There was but one fireplace in thehouse--that in the living room. At the back of the house was generally asmall garden. But, besides these houses, there were courts dark, narrow, noisome, where the huts were still 'wattle and daub, ' that is, builtwith posts, the sides filled in with branches or sticks and clay or mud, the fire in the middle of the floor, the chimney overhead. And still, asin Saxon times, the great danger to the City was from fire. 

Men of the same trade still congregated together for convenience. Whenall lived together the output would be regulated, prices maintained, andwages agreed upon. Nothing was more hateful to the mediæval trader thanforestalling and regrating. To forestall was to buy things before theyarrived at market with intent to sell at a higher price. To regrate wasto buy up in the market and sell again in the same market at an advancedprice. To undersell your neighbour was then also an unpardonable crime. You discover, therefore, that trade in Plantagenet London was not liketrade in Victorian London. Then, all men of the same trade stood by eachother and were brothers: now, too often, men of the same trade areenemies. 

The names of streets show the nature of the trades carried on in them. Turners and makers of wooden cups and platters, Wood Street:ironmongers, in their Lane: poultry sellers, the Poultry: bakers, BreadStreet: and so on. Chepe was the great retail market of the City. It wasbuilt over gradually, but in early times it was a broad market coveredwith stalls, like the market-place of Norwich, for instance; thesestalls were ranged in lines and streets: churches stood about among thelines. Then the stalls, which had been temporary wooden structures, werechanged into permanent shops, which were also the houses of the tenants:the living room and kitchen were behind the shop: the master and hisfamily slept above, and the prentices slept under the counter. 

[Illustration: LARGE SHIP AND BOAT OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 

(_The mainsail of the ship has the Beauchamp arms, and the streamer thebear and ragged staff. From the 'Life of Richard Beauchamp, Earl ofWarwick, ' by John Rous; drawn about 1485. _)]

30 WHITTINGTON. 

PART I. 

The story of Dick Whittington has been a favourite legend for manygenerations. The boy coming up to London poor and friendless; lyingdespairing on the green slope of Highgate; resolved to return to thecountry since he can find no work in London: the falling upon his earsof the bells of Bow, wafted across the fields by the south wind--everychild knows all this. What did the bells say to him--the soft andmellow bells, calling to him across four miles of fields? 'Turn again, Whittington--Turn again, Whittington--Lord Mayor of London--Turn again, Whittington. ' He did turn, as we know, and became not once, but fourtimes Lord Mayor of London and entertained kings, and was the richestmerchant of his time. And all through a cat--we know how the cat beganhis fortune. 

That is the familiar legend. Now you shall learn the truth. 

There was a Dick Whittington: and he was Lord Mayor of London--to beaccurate, he was Mayor of London, for the title of Lord Mayor did notyet exist. 

He was not a poor and friendless lad by any means. He belonged to a goodfamily, his father, Sir William Whittington, Knight, being owner of anestate in Herefordshire called Soler's Hope, and one in Gloucestershirecalled Pauntley. The father was buried at Pauntley Church, where hisshield may still be seen. Richard was the youngest of three sons of whomthe eldest, William, died without children: and the second, Robert, hadsons of whom one, Guy, fought at Agincourt. From the second son thereare descendants to this day. 

Richard, at the age of fourteen, was sent to London, where he hadconnections. Many country people had connections in London who weremerchants. Remember that in those days it would be impossible for a boyto rise from poverty to wealth and distinction by trade. Such a ladmight rise in the church, or even, but I know not of any instance, bydistinguished valour on the field of battle. Most certainly, he would beprenticed to a craft and a craftsman he would remain all his life. Whittington was a gentleman: that was the first and necessary conditionto promotion: he came to London, not to learn a craft at all, but to beapprenticed to his cousin Sir John Fitzwarren, Mercer and MerchantAdventurer. The Mercers were the richest and most important company inLondon: the merchant adventurers were those--the foremost among theMercers--who owned ships which they despatched abroad with exports andwith which they imported stuffs and merchandise to the Port of London. Whittington's master may have had a shop or stall in Chepe--but he was agreat importer of silks, satins, cloth of gold, velvets, embroideries, precious stones, and all splendid materials required for an age ofsplendid costume. 

[Illustration: A SEA-FIGHT. 

(_From the 'Life of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick'; drawn by JohnRous about 1485. _)]

What is the meaning of the 'cat' story? Immediately after Whittington'sdeath the story was spread about. When his executors repaired Newgatethey placed a carven cat on the outside: when Whittington's nephews, afew years later, built a house in Gloucester they placed a carven catover the door in recognition of the story. All sorts of explanationshave been offered. First, that there never was any cat at all. Next, that by a 'cat' is meant a kind of ship, a collier. Thirdly, that thecat is symbolical and means something else. Why need we go out of ourway at all? A cat at that time was a valuable animal: not by any meanscommon: in certain countries where rats were a nuisance a cat was veryvaluable indeed. Why should not the lad entrust a kitten to one of hismaster's skippers with instructions to sell it for him in any Levantineport at which the vessel might touch? Then he would naturally everafterwards refer to the sale of the cat, the first venture of his own, as the beginning and foundation of his fortune. But you must believeabout the cat whatever you please. The story has been told of other men. There was a Portuguese sailor, named Alphonso, who was wrecked on theCoast of Guinea. He carried a cat safely ashore and sold her to theKing for her weight in gold: with this for his first capital he rapidlymade a large fortune. Again, one Diego Almagro, a companion of Pizarro, bought the first cat ever taken to South America for 600 pieces ofeight. And the story is found in Persia and in Denmark, and I dare sayall over the world. Yet I believe in its literal truth. 

In the year 1378 Whittington's name first appears in the City papers. Hewas then perhaps twenty-one--but the date of his birth is uncertain--andwas already in trade, not, as yet, very far advanced, for his assessmentshows that as yet he was in the lowest and poorest class of thewholesale Mercers. 

31. WHITTINGTON. 

PART II. 

For nearly fifty years after this Whittington leads an active, busy, prosperous life. It was a distracted time, full of troubles andanxieties. A Charter obtained in 1376, two or three years before hebegan business, was probably the real foundation of Whittington'sfortune. For it forbade foreign merchants to sell by retail. This meantthat a foreign ship bringing wine to the port of London could onlydispose of her merchandise to the wholesale vintners: or one bringingsilk could only sell it to wholesale mercers. The merchants, no doubt, intended to use this Charter for the furtherance of their own shippinginterests. 

This important Charter, presented by the King, was nearly lost a littleafter, when there was trouble about Wycliffe. The great scholar wasordered to appear at St. Paul's Cathedral before the Archbishop ofCanterbury and the Bishop of London, to answer charges of heresy. Hewas not an unprotected and friendless man, and he appeared at theCathedral under the protection of the powerful John of Gaunt, Duke ofLancaster, son of King Edward III. The Bishop of London rebuked the Dukefor protecting heretics, so the Duke, enraged, threatened to pull theBishop out of his own church by the hair of his head. The people outsideshouted that they would all die before the Bishop should sufferindignity. John of Gaunt rode off to Westminster and proposed that theoffice of Mayor should be abolished and that the Marshal of Englandshould hold his court in the City--in other words, that even theliberties and Charters of the City should be swept clean away. Then theLondoners rushed to the Savoy, the Duke's palace, and would have sackedand destroyed it but for the Bishop. This story indicates the kind ofdanger to which, in those ages, the City was liable. There were nopolice; a popular tumult easily and suddenly became a rebellion: no oneknew what might happen when the folk met together and wild passions ofunreasoning fury were aroused. 

Another danger of the time for the peaceful merchant. For some years thenavigation of the North Sea and the Channel was greatly impeded by aScottish privateer or pirate named Mercer. In vain had the City maderepresentations to the King. Nothing was done, and the pirate grew dailystronger and bolder. Then Sir John Philpot, the Mayor, did a verypatriotic thing. He built certain ships of his own, equipped them witharms, went on board as captain or admiral, and manned them with athousand stout fellows. He found the pirate off Scarborough, fell uponhim, slew him with all his men and returned to London Port with all hisown ships and all the pirate's ships--including fifteen Spanish vesselswhich had joined Mercer. 

The King pretended to be angry with this private mode of carrying onwar, but the thing was done, and it was a very good thing, andprofitable to London and to the King himself, therefore when Sir JohnPhilpot gave the King the arms and armour of a thousand men and all hisown ships and prize ships, the Royal clemency was not difficult toobtain. I wish that I could state that Whittington had sailed with SirJohn on this gallant expedition. 

A third trouble arose in the year 1381 on the rebellion of the peasantsunder John Ball, Wat Tyler, Jack the Miller, Jack the Carter, and JackTrewman. The rebels held possession of the City for awhile. Theydestroyed the Savoy, the Temple and the houses of the foreign merchants(this shows that they had been joined by some of the London people). They murdered the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Prior of St. John'sHospital. Then the citizens roused themselves and with an army of 6, 000men stood in ranks to defend the King. 

Then there happened the troubles of John of Northampton, Mayor in 1382. You have learned how trades of all kinds were banded together each inits own Company. Every Company had the right of regulating prices. Thusthe Fishmongers sold their fish at a price ordered by the Warden orMaster of the Company. It is easy to understand that this might lead tomurmurs against the high price of fish or of anything else. This, infact, really happened. It was a time of great questioning and doubt; therising of Wat Tyler shows that this spirit was abroad. The craftsmen ofLondon, those who made things, grumbled loudly at the price ofprovisions. They asked why the City should not take over the trade infood of all kinds and sell it to the people at lower prices. John ofNorthampton being Mayor, took the popular view. He did not exactly makeover the provisioning of the City to the Corporation, but he firstobtained an Act of Parliament throwing open the calling of fishmonger toall comers; and then another which practically abolished the trade ofgrocers, pepperers, fruiterers, butchers, and bakers. Imagine the ragewith which such an Act would now be received by London tradesmen!

The next Mayor, however, obtained the rescinding of these Acts. Inconsequence, fish went up in price and there was a popular tumult, uponwhich one man was hanged and John of Northampton was sent to the Castleof Tintagel on the Cornish Coast, where he remained for the rest of hislife. 

32. WHITTINGTON. 

PART III. 

In the year 1384, being then about twenty-six years of age, Whittingtonwas elected a member of the Common Council. In the year 1389 he wasassessed at the same sum as the richest citizen. So that these ten yearsof his life were evidently very prosperous. In the year 1393 he was madeAlderman for Broad Street Ward. In the same year he was made Sheriff. Inthe year 1396, the Mayor, Adam Bamme, dying in office, Whittingtonsucceeded him. The following year he was elected Mayor. 

In the year 1401, water was brought from Tyburn (now the N. E. Corner ofHyde Park) to Cornhill in pipes, a great and important boon to the City. 

In the year 1406 he was again elected Mayor. The manner of his electionis described in the contemporary records. After service in the chapelof the Guildhall, the outgoing Mayor, with all the Aldermen and as manyas possible of the wealthier and more substantial Commoners of the City, met in the Guildhall and chose two of their number, viz. , RichardWhittington and Drew Barentyn. Then the Mayor receiving this nominationretired into a closed chamber with the Aldermen and made choice ofWhittington. 

In the year 1419 he was elected Mayor for the third and last time, but, counting his succession to Bamme, he was actually four times Mayor. In1416 he was returned Member of Parliament for the City. 

It was not a new thing for a citizen to be made Mayor more than once. Three during the reign of Edward III. Were Mayor four times; two, threetimes; seven, twice. 

In Whittington's later years began the burning of heretics and Lollards. It is certain that Lollardism had some hold in the City, but one knowsnot how great was the hold. A priest, William Sawtre, was the first whosuffered. Two men of the lower class followed. There is nothing to showthat Whittington ever swerved from orthodox opinions. 

In 1416, the City was first lighted at night: all citizens were orderedto hang lanterns over their doors. How far the order was obeyed, especially in the poorer parts of the City, is not known. 

In 1407 a plague carried off 30, 000 persons in London alone. If thisnumber is correctly stated it must have taken half the population. 

Many improvements were effected in the City during these years: it isreasonable to suppose that Whittington had a hand in bringing theseabout. Fresh water brought in pipes: lights hung out after dark: theerection of a house--Bakewell Hall--for the storage and sale ofbroadcloth: the erection of a store for the reception of grain, in caseof famine--this was the beginning of Leadenhall--the building of a newGuildhall: and an attempt to reform the prisons--an attempt whichfailed. 

In his last year of office Whittington entertained the King, Henry V. And his Queen. 

There was as yet no Mansion House: every Mayor made use of his ownprivate house. 

The magnificence of the entertainment amazed the King. Even the fireswere fed with cedar and perfumed wood. When the Queen spoke of thiscostly gift the Mayor proposed to feed the fire with something moreprecious still. He then produced the King's bonds to the value of60, 000_l. _ which he threw into the fire and burned. This great sum wouldbe a very considerable gift even now. In that time it represented atleast six times its present value. The Mayor therefore gave the King thesum of 360, 000_l. _

This is, very shortly, an account of Whittington's public life. 

He lived, I believe, on the north side of St. Michael's PaternosterRoyal. I think so because his College was established there after hisdeath, and as he had no children it is reasonable to suppose that hishouse would be assigned to the College. There is nothing to show whatkind of house it was, but we may rest assured that the man who couldentertain the King and Queen in such a manner was at least well housed. There is a little court on this spot which is, I believe, on the site ofWhittington's house. They used to show a house in Hart Street asWhittington's, but there was no ground for the tradition except that itwas a very old house. 

Whittington married his master's daughter, Alice Fitzwarren. He had nochildren, and he died in 1423 when he was sixty-five years of age. 

Such was the real Whittington. A gentleman by birth, a rich andsuccessful man, happy in his private life, a great stickler for justice, as a magistrate severe upon those who cheat and adulterate, a loyal andpatriotic man, and always filled with the desire to promote theinterests of the City which had received him and made him rich. 

33. GIFTS AND BEQUESTS. 

The stream of charity which has so largely enriched and endowed the Cityof London began very early. You have seen how Rahere built and endowedBartholomew's, and how Queen Maud founded the Lazar House of St. Giles. The fourteenth century furnishes many more instances. Thus WilliamElsinge founded in 1332 a hospital for a hundred poor blind men: in 1371John Barnes gave a chest containing 1, 000 marks to be lent by the Cityto young men beginning trade. You have heard how one Mayor went out tofight a pirate and slew him and made prizes of his vessels. Another whencorn was very dear imported at his own expense a great quantity fromGermany. Another gave money to relieve poor prisoners: another leftmoney for the help of poor householders: another provided that on hiscommemoration day in the year 2, 400 poor householders, of the Cityshould have a dinner and every man two pence. This means in presentmoney about £600 a year, or an estate worth £20, 000: another left moneyto pay the tax called the Fifteenth, for three parishes: another broughtwater in a conduit from Highbury to Cripplegate. 

But the greatest and wisest benefactor of his time was Whittington. Inhis own words: 'The fervent desire and busy intention of a prudent, wise, and devout man, should be to cast before and make secure the stateand the end of this short life with deeds of mercy and pity, andespecially to provide for those miserable persons whom the penury ofpoverty insulteth, and to whom the power of seeking the necessaries oflife by act or bodily labour is interdicted. '

With these grave words, which should be a lesson to all men, rich orpoor, Whittington begins the foundation of his College. If a man were inthese days to found a College he would make it either a school for boysor a technical school--in any case a place which should be always_working_ for the world. In those days, when it was universally believedthat the saying of masses was able to lift souls out of punishment, aman founded a College which should _pray_ for the world. Whittington'sCollege was to consist of a Master and four Fellows--who were to beMasters of Arts--with clerks, choristers, and servants. They were everyday to say mass for the souls of Richard and Alice Whittington in thechurch of St. Michael's Paternoster Royal--which church Whittingtonhimself had rebuilt. Behind the church he founded and built an almshousefor thirteen poor men, who were to have 16_d. _ each per week, about7_s. _ of our money, with clothing and rooms on the condition of prayingdaily for their founder and his wife. Part of the ground for thebuilding was granted by the Mayor and Corporation. 

The College continued until the Dissolution of the ReligiousHouses--that is, for one hundred and fifty years: the almshousecontinues to this day: but it has been removed to Highgate: on its sitethe Mercers' Company has established a school. 

Whittington, further, built a library for the Franciscan House; part ofthe building still remains at Christ's Hospital. It was 129 feet longand 31 feet broad. He also gave the friars 400_l. _ to buy books. Herestored and repaired the Hospital of St. Bartholomew's, to which hegave a library. He paved and glazed the new building of Guildhall: hegave large sums for the bridge--and the chapel on the bridge--atRochester--as a merchant he was greatly interested in keeping thisimportant bridge in order: he repaired Gloucester Cathedral--thecathedral church of his native diocese: he made 'bosses, ' i. E. Taps ofwater, to the great aqueduct: he rebuilt and enlarged Newgate Prison;and he founded a library at Guildhall. 

Many of these things were done after his death by his executors. 

Such were the gifts by which a City merchant of the fourteenth andfifteenth centuries sought to advance the prosperity of the citizens. Fresh water in plenty by 'bosses' here and there: the light of learningby means of libraries: almshouses for the poor: mercy and charity forthe prisoners: hospitals for the sick: help for the young: prayers forthe dead. These things he understood. 

We cannot expect any man to be greatly in advance of his age. Otherwisewe should find a Whittington insisting upon cleanliness of streets:fresh air in the house: burial outside the City: the abolition of thelong fasts which made people eat stinking fish and so gave them leprosy:the education of the craftsmen in something besides their trade: theestablishment of a patrol by police: and the freedom of trade. 

He did not found any school. That is a remarkable omission. One of hissuccessors, Sir William Sevenoke, founded a school for lads of hisnative town Sevenoaks: another, Sir Robert Chichele, founded a school, an almshouse, and a college in his native town of Higham Ferrers. Afriend of his own, Sir John Niel, proposed to establish four new grammarschools in the City. And yet Whittington left no money for a school. Wemay be quite sure that there was a reason for the omission. Perhaps hewas afraid of the growing spirit of doubt and inquiry. Boys who learngrammar and rhetoric may grow into men who question and argue; and so, easily and naturally, get bound to the stake and are consumed with thepile of faggots. Everything was provided except a school for boys. Libraries for men; but not a school for boys. The City of London Schoolwas founded by Whittington's executor, John Carpenter. There must havebeen reasons in Whittington's mind for omitting any endowment ofschools. What those reasons were I cannot even guess. 

34. THE PALACES AND GREAT HOUSES. 

When you think of a great city of the thirteenth or fourteenth centuryyou must remember two things. First, that the streets were mostly verynarrow--if you walk down Thames Street and note the streets runningnorth and south you will be able to understand how narrow the Citystreets were. Second, that the great houses of the nobles and the richmerchants stood in these narrow streets, shut in on all sides thoughthey often contained spacious courts and gardens. No attempt was made togroup the houses or to arrange them with any view to picturesque effect. 

It has been the fashion to speak of mediæval London as if it were a cityof hovels grouped together along dark and foul lanes. This was by nomeans the case. On the contrary, it was a city of splendid palaces andhouses nearly all of which were destroyed by the Great Fire. You haveseen how the City was covered with magnificent buildings of monasteriesand churches. Do not believe that the nobles and rich merchants whoendowed and built these places would be content to live in hovels. 

[Illustration: DURHAM, SALISBURY, AND WORCESTER HOUSES. ]

The nobles indeed wanted barracks. A great Lord never moved anywherewithout his following. The Earl of Warwick, called the King Maker, whenhe rode into London was followed by five hundred men, wearing hiscolours: all of these had to find accommodation in his town house. Thiswas always built in the form of a court or quadrangle. The modernSomerset House, which is built on the foundations of the old house, shows us what a great man's house was like: and the College of Heraldsin Queen Victoria Street, is another illustration, for this was LordDerby's town house. Hampton Court and St. James's, are illustrations ofa great house with more than one court. Any one who knows the collegesof Oxford and Cambridge will understand the arrangement of the greatnoble's town house in the reign of Richard II. On one side was the hallin which the banquets took place and all affairs of importance werediscussed. The kitchen, butteries and cellars stood opposite the doorsof the hall; at the back of the hall with a private entrance were therooms of the owner and his family: the rest of the rooms on thequadrangle were given up to the use of his followers. 

Baynard's Castle--the name yet survives--stood on the river bank not farfrom Blackfriars. It was a huge house with towers and turrets and awater gate with stairs. It contained two courts. It was at last, afterstanding for six hundred years, destroyed in the Great Fire, and was oneof the most lamentable of the losses caused by that disaster. The househad been twice before burned down, and that which finally perished wasbuilt in 1428. Here Edward IV. Assumed the Crown: here he placed hiswife and children for safety before going forth to the Battle of Barnet. Here Buckingham offered the Crown to Richard. Here Henry VIII. Lived. Here Charles II. Was entertained. 

Eastward, also on the river bank and near the old Swan Stairs, stoodanother great house called Cold Harbour. It belonged to Holland, Dukesof Exeter, to Richard III. And to Margaret, Countess of Richmond. 

North of Thames Street near College Hill was the Erber, another greathouse which belonged successively to the Scropes and the Nevilles. Herelived the King-maker Earl of Warwick. His following was so numerous thatevery day six oxen were consumed for breakfast alone. His son-in-law, who had the house afterwards, was the Duke of Clarence--'false, fleeting, perjured Clarence. '

If you would know how a great merchant of the fifteenth century loved tobe housed, go visit Crosby Hall. It is the only specimen left of theancient wealth and splendour of a City merchant. But as one man lived sodid many. We cannot believe that Crosby was singular in his building apalace for himself. 

London with its narrow streets, its crowded courts, and the cornerswhere the huts and hovels of wood and daub and thatch stood among theirfoul surroundings, a constant danger to the great houses of fire andplague, was a city of great houses and palaces, with which no other cityin Europe could compare. Venice and Genoa had their Crosby Halls--theirmerchants' palaces; but London had in addition, the town houses of allthe nobles of the land. In the City alone, without counting the Strandand Westminster, there were houses of the Earls of Arundel, Northumberland, Worcester, Berkeley, Oxford, Essex, Thanet, Suffolk, Richmond, Pembroke, Abergavenny, Warwick, Leicester, Westmoreland. Thenthere were the houses of the Bishops and the Abbots. All these before wecome to the houses of the rich merchants. Let your vision of Londonunder the Plantagenets be that of a city all spires and towers, greatchurches and stately convents, with noble houses as great and splendidas Crosby Hall scattered all about the City within the walls and liningthe river bank from Ludgate to Westminster. 

35. AMUSEMENTS. 

We have heard so much of the religious Houses, Companies, Hospitals, quarrels and struggles that we may have forgotten a very importantelement in the life of the City--the amusements and pastimes of thecitizens. Never was there a time when the City had more amusements thanin these centuries. You have seen that it was always a rich town: itscraftsmen were well paid: food was abundant: the people were well fedalways, except in times of famine, which were rare. There were tavernswith music and singing: there were pageants, wonderful processionsrepresenting all kinds of marvels, devised by the citizens to please theKing or to please themselves: there were plays representing scenes fromthe Bible and from the Lives of the Saints: there were tournaments tolook at. Then there were the Festivals of the year, Christmas Day, Twelfth Day, Easter, the Day of St. John the Baptist, Shrove Tuesday, the Day of the Company, May Day, at all of which feasting and merrimentwere the rule. The young men, in winter, played at football, hockey, quarterstaff, and single stick. They had cock fighting, boar fights, andthe baiting of bulls and bears. On May Day they erected a May-pole inevery parish: they chose a May Queen: and they had morris-dancing withthe lads dressed up as Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Little John, Tom thePiper, and other famous characters. 

[Illustration: BEAR-BAITING. 

(_From the Luttrell Psalter. _)]

Then they shot with the bow and the cross-bow for prizes: they hadwrestlings and they had foot races. 

The two great festivals of the year were the Eve of St. John the Baptistand the Day of the Company. 

[Illustration: SHOOTING AT THE BUTTS WITH THE LONG-BOW. ]

On the former there took place the March of the Watch. Bonfires were litin the streets, not for warmth but in order to purge and cleanse the airof the narrow streets: at the open doors stood tables with meat anddrink, neighbour inviting neighbour to hospitality. Then the doors werewreathed with green branches, leaves, and flowers: lamps of glass werehanging over them with oil burning all the night: some hung out branchesof iron curiously wrought with hundreds of hanging lights. Andeverywhere the cheerful sounds of music and singing and the dancing ofthe prentice lads and girls in the open street. Through the midst ofthis joyousness filed the Watch. Four thousand men took part in thisprocession which was certainly the finest thing that Mediæval London hadto show. To light the procession on its way the City found two hundredcressets or lanterns, the Companies found five hundred and theconstables of London, two hundred and fifty in number, each carried one. The number of men who carried and attended to the cressets was twothousand. Then followed the Watch itself, consisting of two thousandcaptains, lieutenants, sergeants, drummers and fifers, standard bearers, trumpeters, demilances on great horses, bowmen, pikemen, withmorris-dancers and minstrels--their armour all polished bright and someeven gilded. No painter has ever painted this March: yet of all things, mediæval, it was the most beautiful and the most mediæval. 

On the day of the Company, i. E. The Company's Saint's Day, all themembers assembled in the Hall, every man in a new livery, in themorning. First they formed in procession and marched to church, headedby priests and singing boys, in surplices: after these walked theservants, clerks, assistants, the chaplain, the Mayor's sergeants, oftenthe Lord Mayor himself. Lastly came the Court with the Master andWardens followed by the Livery, i. E. The members. 

After church they returned in like manner to the Hall, where a greatbanquet awaited them, music played in the gallery: the banners of theCompany were hung over their heads: they burned scented wood: they satin order, Master and Wardens and illustrious guests at the high table:and the freemen below, every man with his wife or some maiden if he wereunmarried. After dinner the loving cup went round: the minstrels led inthe players: and they had dramatic shows, songs, dances and 'mummeries'for the rest of the day. 

Do not think of mediæval London as a dull place--it was full of life andof brightness: the streets were narrow perhaps, but they were full ofcolour from the bright dresses of all--the liveries of theCompanies--the liveries of the great nobles--the splendid costume of theknights and richer class. The craftsman worked from daylight till curfewin the winter: from five or six in the summer: he had a long day: but hehad three holidays: he had his evenings: and his Sundays. A dull timewas going to fall upon the Londoners, but not yet for two hundred years. 

36. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 

Hitherto our attention has been confined to the City within the walls. It is time to step outside the walls. 

All this time, i. E. Ever since peaceful occupation became possible, atown had been growing up on the west side of London. You have seen thatformerly there spread a broad marsh over this part. Some rising groundkept what is now the Strand above the river, but Westminster, except forcertain reed-grown islets, was nothing but a marsh covered over twice inthe day by the tide. The river thus spreading out over marshes on eitherbank was quite shallow, and could in certain places be forded. The spotwhere any ford existed afterwards became a ferry. Lambeth Bridge spansthe river at one such place, the memory of which is now maintained inthe name of the Horseferry Road. The largest of these islets was oncecalled Thorney, i. E. The Isle of Thorns. If you will take a map ofWestminster, shift the bank of the river so as to make it flow alongAbingdon Street, draw a stream running down College Street into theThames; another running into the Thames across King Street, and draw aditch or moat connecting the two streams along Delahaye Street andPrinces Street you will have Thorney, about a quarter of a mile long, and not quite so much broad, standing just above high water level. Thiswas the original Precinct of Westminster. 

[Illustration: TOMB OF EDWARD III. IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. ]

The Abbey of St. Peter's, Westminster, is said to have been founded onthe first conversion of the East Saxons, and at the same time as theFoundation of St. Paul's. We know nothing about the foundation of thechurch. During the Danish troubles the Abbey was deserted. It wasrefounded by Dunstan. It was, however, rebuilt in much greater splendourby Edward the Confessor. Of his work something still remains, and can bepointed out to the visitor. But the present Abbey contains work by HenryIII. , Edward I. , Richard II. --Whittington being commissioner for thework--Henry VII. And Wren, Hawksmoor and Gilbert Scott the architects. 

There is no monument on British soil more venerable than WestminsterAbbey. You must not think that you know the place when you have visitedit once or twice. You must go there again and again. Every visit shouldteach you something of your country and its history. The building itselfbetraying to those who can read architecture the various periods atwhich its builders lived: the beauty of the building, the solemnity ofthe services--these are things which one must visit the Abbey often inorder to understand. Then there are the associations of the Abbey; thethings that have been done in the Abbey: the crowning of the Kings, in along line from Edward the Confessor downwards. Here Edward the Fourth'sQueen, Elizabeth Woodville, took sanctuary when her husband sufferedreverse: here the unfortunate Edward V. Was born. Here the same unhappyQueen brought her two boys when her husband died. Here Caxton set up hisfirst printing press: here is the coronation chair. Here is the shrineof the sainted Edward the Confessor. It is robbed of its precious stonesand its gold: but the shrine is the same as that before which for fivehundred years people knelt as to the protector saint of England. This isthe burial-place of no fewer than twenty-six of our Kings and theirQueens. This is the sacred spot where we have buried most of our greatmen. To name a few whose monuments you should look for, here are SirWilliam Temple, Lord Chatham, Fox and Wilberforce, among statesmen; ofsoldiers there are Prince Rupert and Monk; of Indian fame, here are LordLawrence and Lord Clyde; of sailors, Blake, Cloudesley Shovel, and LordDundonald. Of poets, Chaucer, Spenser, Beaumont, Ben Jonson, Dryden, Prior, Addison, Gay, Campbell. Of historians and prose writers, SamuelJohnson, Macaulay, Dickens, Livingston, Isaac Newton. Many others thereare to look for, notably the great poet Tennyson, buried here in October1892. 

Read what was written by Jeremy Taylor, a great divine, on WestminsterAbbey:--

'A man may read a sermon, the best and most passionate that ever manpreached, if he shall but enter into the sepulchre of Kings. .. . Therethe warlike and the peaceful, the fortunate and the miserable, thebeloved and the despised princes mingle their dust and pay down theirsymbol of mortality; and tell all the world that when we die our ashesshall be equal to kings, and our accounts easier, and our pains or ourcrowns shall be less. '

37. THE COURT AT WESTMINSTER. 

Although the Kings of England have occasionally lodged in the Tower andeven at Baynard's Castle, and other places in the City, the permanenthome of the Court was always from Edward the Confessor to Henry VIII. Atthe Royal Palace of Westminster. Of this building, large, rambling, picturesque, only two parts are left, Westminster Hall and the crypt ofSt. Stephen's Chapel. When King Henry VIII. Exchanged Westminster forWhitehall the rooms of the old Palace were given over to variouspurposes. One of them was the Star Chamber, in which the Star ChamberCourt was held: one was the Exchequer Chamber: St. Stephen's Chapel wasthe House of Commons; and the House of Lords sat in the Old Court ofBequests. All that was left of the Palace except the Great Hall, wasdestroyed in the fire of 1834. Very fortunately the Hall was saved. Thismagnificent structure, one of the largest rooms in the world notsupported by pillars, was built by William Rufus, and altered by RichardII. Here have been held Parliaments and Grand Councils. Here have beenmany State trials. Sir William Wallace was condemned in this Hall. SirThomas More; the Protector Somerset; Lady Jane Grey; Anne Boleyn; KingCharles I. ; the rebels of 1745, Lords Kilmarnock, Balmerino and Lovat:Earl Ferrers, for murdering his steward; all these were condemned. Oneor two have been acquitted, Lord Byron--cousin of the poet--for killingMr. Chaworth: and Warren Hastings, the great Indian statesman. InWestminster Hall used to be held the Coronation Banquets at which thehereditary champion rode into the Hall in full armour and threw down aglove. 

After the removal of the Court the Hall became the Law Courts. It isalmost incredible that three Courts sat in this Hall, cases being heardbefore three Judges at the same time. In addition to the Courts, shopsor stalls were ranged along the walls where dealers in toys, milliners, sempstresses, stationers and booksellers sold their wares. A pictureexists showing this extraordinary use of the Hall. 

It is more difficult to restore ancient Westminster than any part of theCity. We must remember that the great Hall formed part of a square orquadrangle on which were the private rooms of the Sovereign, the Staterooms of audience and banquet, the official rooms of the King'sministers and servants; this court led into others--one knows not howmany--but certainly as many as belong to the older part of HamptonCourt, which may be taken as resembling Westminster Palace in itsleading features. The courts were filled with men-at-arms, serving men, pages, and minstrels. They went backwards and forwards on their businessor they lay about in the sun and gambled. Sometimes there crossed thecourt some great noble followed by two or three of his servants on hisway to a Council: or a bishop with his chaplain, to have speech with theKing: or a group of townsmen after a brawl, who had been brought herewith ropes about their necks, uncertain whether all would be pardoned orhalf a dozen hanged, the uncertainty lending a very repentant andanxious look to their faces. Or it would be the Queen's most ExcellentHighness herself with her ladies riding forth to see the hunt. This wasthe daily life of the Court: we read the dry history of what happenedbut we forget the scenery in which it happened--the crowds of nobles, bishops, abbots, knights, men-at-arms, serving men, among whom all thesethings took place. We are apt to forget, as well, the extraordinarybrightness, the colour, the glitter and gleam that belonged to thosetimes when every man went dressed in some gay livery wearing the coloursand the crest of his lord. Who rides there, the hart couchant--the deerat rest--upon his helm? A Knight belonging to the Court: one of theKnights of King Richard the Second. Who march with the bear and raggedstaff upon their arms? They are the Livery of the Earl of Warwick. Theclash and gleam of arms and armour everywhere: colour on the men as wellas the women: colour on the trappings of the horses: colour on thehanging arras of the wall: colour on the cloth of scarlet which theyhang out of the windows when the royal pageant rides along. 

Close to the Palace, the Abbey. That too belongs to the time. Within theAbbey precincts the people are almost as crowded as in the Palace. Butit is a different crowd. There is not so much colour: no arms or armour:an orderly crowd: there are the Benedictine monks themselves, with theircrowd of servants, cooks, and refectory men: brewers: bakers: clothiers:architects, builders and masons: scribes and lawyers: foresters andfarmers from the estates: stewards: cellarers: singing boys:organists--for the Abbey Church of St. Peter is as great and as rich andmaintains as large an army of servants as the Cathedral Church of St. Paul. 

38. JUSTICE AND PUNISHMENTS. 

In the time of the Plantagenets the punishments inflicted on wrongdoerswere much more lenient than those which followed in later years. Thereis none of that brutal flogging which grew up in the last century, theworst time in the whole history of the country, for the people. Thisflogging not only in the army and navy but also for such offences asvagrancy, lasted even into the present century. In the year 1804 sixwomen were publicly flogged at Gloucester for this offence. UnderWhittington this barbarous cruelty would not have been done. There were, it is true, certain punishments which seem excessively cruel. If a manstruck a sheriff or an alderman he was sentenced to have his right handchopped off. That is, indeed, worse than hanging. But, consider, thewhole strength of London lay in its power to act and its resolutionalways to act, as one man. This could only be effected by habitualobedience to law and the most profound respect to the executiveofficers. Therefore the worst penalty possible--that which deprived aman of his power to work and his power to fight--which reduced him toruin--which made his innocent children beggars--which branded him tilldeath as a malefactor of the most dangerous kind--was inflicted for suchan offence. Here, again, mercy stepped in; for, when the criminal wasbrought out for execution, if he expressed contrition the offendedofficer, represented by the Alderman of the Ward--begged that he mightbe pardoned. 

For burglary criminals were ruthlessly hanged. This crime is bad enoughnow; it is a crime which ought at all times to be punished with theutmost rigour. But in these days what is it that a burglar can carryaway from an ordinary house? A clock or two: a silver ring: a lady'swatch and chain: a few trinkets: if any money, then only a purse withtwo or three pounds. The wealth of the family is invested in varioussecurities: if the burglar takes the papers they are of no use to him:there is a current account at the bank; but that cannot be touched. Books, engravings, candlesticks, plated spoons--these are of little realvalue. Formerly, however, every man kept all his money--all hiswealth--in his own house; if he was a rich merchant he had a stone safeor strong box constructed in the wall of his cellar or basement--I haveseen such a safe in an old house pulled down about seven years ago. Ifhe was only a small trader or craftsman he kept his money in a box: thishe hid: there were various hiding places: behind the bed, under thehearthstone--but they were all known. A burglar, therefore, might, andvery often did, take away the whole of a man's property and reduce himto ruin. For this reason it was very wisely ordered that a burglarshould be hanged. 

They began in the reign of Henry IV. To burn heretics. Later on theyburned witches and poisoners. As yet they had not begun to slice offears and to slit noses: there was no rack: nobody was tortured: nobodywas branded on the hand: there was no whipping of women in Bridewell asa public show--that came later: there was no flogging at the cart tail. 

Punishments were mild. Sometimes the criminal performed the _amendehonorable_, marching along Chepe bareheaded and wearing nothing but awhite shirt, carrying a great wax taper, escorted by the Mayor'ssergeants. There was a ducking-stool on the other side of the river, atBank Side, in which scolds were ducked. There was the thewe, which was achair in which women were made to sit, lifted high above the crowd, exposed to their derision. There was the pillory, which served foralmost all the cases which now come before a policemagistrate--adulteration, false weights and measures, selling bad meat:pretending to be an officer of the Mayor: making and selling bad work:forging title deeds; stealing--all were punished in the same way. Theoffender was carried or led through the City--sometimes mounted with hishead to the horse's tail--always with something about his neck to showthe nature of his offence, and placed in pillory for a certain time. 

There was one punishment always in reserve--the worst of all. This wasdeprivation of the privileges of a freeman and banishment from the City. 'Go, ' said the Mayor. 'Thou shalt dwell with us; trade with us;converse with us; no more. Go. ' And so that source of trouble wasremoved. 

We have seen how the trades formed companies--every trade having its owncompany. It must not, however, be understood that the working man gainedmuch power by their unions. They were organised: they had to obey:obedience was very good for them as it is for all of us, always; but itmust be obedience to a corporate body, not to a master. This they didnot understand and they tried to form 'covins' or trades unions of theirown. The City put down these attempts with a stern hand. The tradecompanies ruled hours of work, wages, and standard of work. Lastly, though there was no City police to guard the streets, there were certainlaws for the maintenance of order. Nobody under the rank of knight wasto carry arms in the streets: no one was to walk about the street afternine at night: houses were not to be built over streets. In a word, there were not many laws; but the people were law abiding. And this, perhaps, as much as anything else, explains the greatness of London. 

[Illustration: THE EMBARKATION OF HENRY VIII. FROM DOVER, 1520. 

(_From the original painting at Hampton Court. _)]

39. THE POLITICAL POWER OF LONDON. 

Until the rapid growth of the manufacturing interests created immensecities in the North, the wealth and prosperity and population of Londongave it a consideration and power in the political situation which wasunequalled by that of any other mediæval city. Even Paris, for instance, has never held an equal importance in the history of France. This powerhas been especially, and significantly, employed in the election andproclamation of Kings. It is not only that London has been the placeof proclamation: it is that the Londoners themselves have repeatedlysaid, 'This shall be our King': and, as repeatedly, by that very act, have given him to understand that if he would not reign well he should, like some of his predecessors, be deposed. London chose Kings Edmund andHarold Harefoot, before the Conquest. After the Conquest, they electedStephen at a folkmote, a gathering of all the citizens. They put him onthe Throne and they kept him there. The power of the Londoners is verywell put by Froissart, who wrote in the time of Richard II. And HenryIV. , and was an eyewitness of many things which he relates. 'TheEnglish, ' he says, 'are the worst people in the world: the mostobstinate and the most presumptuous: and, of all England, the Londonersare the leaders; for, to say the truth, they are very powerful in menand in wealth. In the City there are 24, 000 men completely armed fromhead to foot and full 30, 000 archers. This is a great force and they arebold and courageous, and the more blood is spilled, the greater is theircourage. '

Take the deposition of Edward II. , also described by Froissart. He saysthat when the Londoners found the King 'besotted' with his favourites, they sent word to Queen Isabella that if she could land in England with300 armed men she would find the citizens of London and the majority ofthe nobles and commonalty ready to join her and place her on the Throne. This the Queen effected: the citizens joined the little army thuscollected--without their assistance, Froissart says, the thing could nothave been done--and made Edward prisoner at Berkeley Castle. 

Or there was the capture of Richard II. This also was effected by anarmy composed entirely of Londoners 12, 000 strong, led by Henry ofLancaster. Afterwards, when Henry of Lancaster was Henry IV. , and aconspiracy was formed against him, the Lord Mayor said, 'Sire, King wehave made you: King we will keep you. ' The City played almost as great apart against Henry VI. --half-heartedly at first, because they thoughtthat as he had no children there would be at some time or other an end. Moreover, they could not readily forget his grandfather, their own King;and his father, the hero of Agincourt. When, however, a son was born, the Londoners became openly and unreservedly Yorkists. And the Yorkiststriumphed. The election of Richard III. Was made in London. When LadyJane Grey was proclaimed Queen, it was not by the Mayor and Aldermen, but by the Duke of Northumberland, and the City looked on in apathy, expecting trouble. The greatest strength of Elizabeth lay in theaffection and support of London, which never wavered. Had Charles I. Conciliated the City he might have died in his bed, still King ofEngland. It was the City which forced James II. To fly and called overWilliam Prince of Orange. It was, again, London which supported Pitt inhis firm and uncompromising resistance to Napoleon. And in the endNapoleon was beaten. It cannot be too often repeated that two causesmade the strength of London: the unity of the City, so that its vastpopulation moved as one man: and its wealth. The King thought of thesubsidies--under the names of loans, grants, benevolences--which hecould extort from the merchants. We who enjoy the fruits of the longstruggle maintained especially by London for the right of managing ourown affairs, especially in the matter of taxation, cannot understand thetyrannies which the people of old had to endure from Kings and nobles. Richard II. , for instance, forced the citizens to sign and seal blank'charts'--try to imagine the Prime Minister making the Lord Mayor, theAldermen, the Common Council men, and all the more important merchantssign blank cheques to be filled in as he pleased! That, however, was thelast exaction of Richard II. Henry of Lancaster went out with 12, 000Londoners, and made him prisoner. 

Another factor, less generally understood, assisted and developed thepower of London. 

It was also the position of the City as the centre of the country; notgeographically, which would give Warwick that position, but from theconstruction of the roads and from its position on the Thames. But, torepeat, the use and wont of the City to act together by order of theMayor, principally made it so great a power. Whatever troubles mightarise, here was a solid body--'24, 000 men at arms and 30, 000 archers, 'all acting on one side. The rest of the country was scattered, uncertain, inclined this way and that. The City, to use a modern phrase, 'voted solid. ' There were no differences of opinion in the City. Andthat, even more than its wealth, made London a far more importantfactor, politically, than the barons with all their following. 

40. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. 

PART I. 

A map of Elizabethan London, drawn by one Agas, which is almost apicture as well as a map, shows us very clearly the aspect of the City. Let us lay down the map before us. First of all, we observe the wall ofthe City; it is carefully drawn of uniform height, with battlements, andat regular intervals, bastions. Outside the wall there is the ditch, butit is now, as Stow describes it, laid out in gardens--cows are grazingin some parts of it--and there are mean houses built on the other sideof it. There is a single street of houses with large gardens outsideAldgate, which is now Whitechapel. The north side of Houndsditch isalready built. A street of houses runs north of Bishopsgate. No housesstand between this street and two or three streets outside Cripplegate. Moorfields are really fields. There are windmills, gardens withsummer-houses, pasture-fields with cows, a large 'dogge house, ' andfields where women appear to be laying out clothes to dry. Really, theyare tenter fields, i. E. Fields provided with 'tenters, ' or pegs, bymeans of which cloth could be stretched. North of Moorfields isindicated rising ground with woods. There can be no doubt at all as tothe course of the wall, which is here marked with the greatestclearness. On the east of the Tower there is already a crowded quarterin the Precinct of St. Katherine's: and a few buildings mark the formersite of the great monastery of Eastminster. In the Minories a group ofnew houses marks the site of the nunnery which stood here. London Bridgeis covered with houses: on Bank Side, Southwark, there are two roundbuildings, 'The Bearebayting' and 'The Bullebayting. ' There is also, opposite to Blackfriars, Paris Garden, a very favourite place of resortfor the citizens. But as yet there are no theatres. Along the riveroutside the walls we find, beyond Bridewell Palace, an open space wherewas formerly Whitefriars. Here presently grew up a curious colony calledAlsatia, which claimed to retain the right of Sanctuary once belongingto the monastery. Arrests for debt could not be made within its limits. That is to say, it was so claimed by the residents, who resisted anyattempt to violate this privilege by force of arms. It was a notoriousplace in the seventeenth century, filled with rogues and broken-downgamblers, spendthrifts and profligates. As yet (when this map was drawn)there are very few houses between Whitefriars and the Temple. Beyond theTemple there are marked Arundel Place, Paget Place, Somerset Place, theSavoy, York Place. Duresme--i. E. Durham--Place, and 'the Court'--i. E. Whitehall--of which the map gives a plan, which gives us a clear idea ofthe plan and appearance of this palace, of which only the BanquetingHall remains. The Savoy, at the time (1561) was a hospital. Henry VII. Made a hospital of it, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, receiving 100poor people. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was suppressed. Queen Mary restored it, and it continued as a hospital till the year1702, when it was finally suppressed. Like Whitefriars, and for the samereason, it claimed the right of Sanctuary: therefore it became theharbour of people described as 'rogues and masterless men. ' In the Cityitself there are many large gardens and open spaces. The courts of theGrey Friars, now a school, are still standing: there are gardens on thesite of the Austin Friars' monastery and gardens between Broad Streetand Bishopsgate Street. We must not think of London as a city crowdedwith narrow lanes and courts, the houses almost touching their oppositeneighbours. Such courts were only found beside the river: many streets, it is true, were narrow, but there were broad thoroughfares likeCheapside, Gracechurch Street, Canwicke (now Cannon Street) TowerStreet, and Fenchurch Street. The river is covered with boats: one ofthem is a barge filled with soldiers, which is being tugged by afour-oared boat: packhorses are being taken to the river to drink: belowbridge the lighters begin: two or three vessels are moored atBillingsgate: the ships begin opposite the Tower: two or three greatthree-masted vessels are shown: and two or three smaller ships of thekind called ketch, sloop, or hoy. Along the river front of the Tower aremounted cannon. The ditch of the Tower is filled with water. On TowerHill there stands a permanent gallows: beside it is some smallstructure, which is probably a pillory with the stocks. 

Such is a brief account of London from this map. The original is theproperty of the Corporation and is kept in the Guildhall Library. Afacsimile reprint has been made. 

41. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. 

PART II. 

We have passed over two hundred years. We left London under the ThreeEdwards. We find it under Elizabeth. It was a City ofPalaces--monasteries, with splendid churches and stately buildings: townhouses of bishops, abbots, and noble lords, every one able toaccommodate a goodly following of liveried retainers and servants: themansions of rich City merchants, sometimes as splendid as those of thelords: the halls of the City Companies: the hundred and twenty Citychurches. Look at London as Shakespeare saw it. Everywhere there are theruins of the monasteries: some of the buildings have been destroyed withgunpowder: some have been pulled down: where it has been too costly todestroy the monastic chapels they are used as storehouses or workshops:the marble monuments of the buried Kings and Queens have been broken upand carried off: the ruins of refectory, dormitory, library, chapterhouse stand still, being taken down little by little as stones arewanted for building purposes: some of the ruins, indeed, lasted tillthis very century, notably a gateway of the Holy Trinity Priory, at theback of St. Catharine Cree, Leadenhall Street, and some of the buildingsof St. Helen's Nunnery, beside the church of Great St. Helen's. Onewould think that the presence of all these ruins would have saddened theCity. Not so. The people were so thoroughly Protestant that theyregarded the ruins with the utmost satisfaction. They were a sign ofdeliverance from what their new preachers taught them was falsedoctrine. Moreover, there were other reasons why the citizens underQueen Elizabeth could not regret the past. 

[Illustration: COACHES IN THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH. 

(_From 'Archcæologia. '_)]

The parish churches were changed. The walls, once covered with paintingsof saints and angels, were now scraped or whitewashed: instead of altarswith blazing lights, there was a plain table: there were no morewatching candles: there were no more splendid robes for the priest andthe altar boys: the priest was transformed into a preacher: the serviceconsisted of plain prayers, the reading of the Bible, and a sermon. Invery few churches was there an organ. There was no external beauty inreligion. Therefore external beauty in the church itself ceased forthree hundred years to be desired. What was required was neatness, withample space for all to be seated, so arranged that all might hear thesermon. And whereas under the Plantagenets every other man was a priest, a friar, or some officer or servant of a monastery, one only met hereand there a clergyman with black gown and Genevan bands. 

This change alone transformed London. But there were other changes. Mostof the great nobles had left the City. Long before they went away theirfollowing had been cut down to modest numbers: their great barracks hadbecome useless: they were let out in tenements, and were falling intodecay: some of them had been removed to make way for warehouses andoffices: one or two remained till the Great Fire of 1666. Among themwere Baynard's Castle, close to Blackfriars, and Cold Harbour. A fewnobles continued to have houses in the City. In the time of Charles II. , the Duke of Buckingham had a house on College Hill, and the palacesalong the Strand still remained. 

[Illustration: THE CITY FROM SOUTHWARK. ]

The merchants' houses took the place of these palaces. They were builteither in the form of a quadrangle, standing round a garden, with acloister or covered way running round, of which Gresham House, pulleddown in the last century, was a very fine example. But, since fewmerchants could afford to build over so large a piece of ground and landwas too valuable to be wasted on broad lawns and open courts, the houseswere built in four or five stories, with rich carvings all over thefront. The house called Sir Paul Pinder's House in Bishopsgate Street, pulled down only a year or two ago, was a very fine example of such ahouse. The great hall was henceforth only built in great country houses:in the City the following of the richest merchants, in his privatehouse, consisted of a few servants only; small rooms henceforward becamethe rule: when entertainments and festivities on a large scale are held, the Companies' Halls may be used. The inferior kind of Elizabethan housemay still be seen in Holborn--outside of Staple Inn: in Wych Street: inCloth Fair: and one or two other places. They were narrow: three orfour stories high: each story projected beyond the one below: they weregabled: the windows were latticed, with small diamond panes of glass:they were built of plaster and timber. Building with brick only began inthe reign of James the First. Before every house hung a sign, on whichwas painted the figure by which the house was known: some of these signsmay still be seen: there is one in Holywell Street: one in Ivy Lane: andthere are many old Inns which still keep their ancient signs. 

42. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. 

PART III. 

The population of London at this time was perhaps, for it is notcertain, 150, 000. There were no suburbs, unless we call the Strand andSmithfield suburbs; the London citizen stepped outside the gates intothe open country. This fact must be remembered when we think of thenarrow lanes. The great danger of the City still remained, that of fire, for though the better houses were built of stone, the inferior sort, aswas stated above, continued to be built of timber and plaster. Therewere no vehicles in the streets except carts, and the number of thesewas restricted to 420. When you think of London streets at this timeremember that in most of them, in all except the busy streets and thechief thoroughfares, there was hardly ever any noise of rumbling wheels. The packhorses followed each other in long procession, laden witheverything; there were doubtless wheelbarrows and hand carts; but therumbling of the wheels was not yet a part of the daily noise. 

The Lord Mayor was directed by Elizabeth always to keep a certain numberof the citizens drilled and instructed in the use of arms. When theSpanish invasion was threatened, the Queen ordered a body of troops tobe raised instantly. In a single day 1, 000 men, fully equipped, weremarched off to camp. Afterwards 10, 000 men were sent off, andthirty-eight ships were supplied. Both men and sailors were raised byimpressment. A constant danger to the peace of the City was theturbulence of the prentices, these lads were always ready to rush intothe streets, shouting, ready to attack or destroy whatever was unpopularat the moment. Thus, early in the reign of Henry VIII. , at a time whenthere was great animosity against foreign merchants, of whom there werea great many beside the Hanse merchants of the Steelyard, there was ariot in which a great many houses of foreigners were destroyed, manypersons were killed, Newgate was assailed and taken, eleven riotershanged and 400 more taken before the King with halters round their necksto receive his pardon. This was called 'Evil May Day. ' The disorderlyconduct of the prentices continued during Elizabeth's reign, she orderedthe Provost-Marshal in order to put an end to this trouble, to hang alldisorderly persons so convicted by any Justice of the Peace. 

There was much complaint of extravagance in dress: rules were passed bythe Common Council on the subject. Prentices especially were forbiddento dress in any but the warmest and plainest materials. The dress of theBlue Coat boy is exactly the dress of the prentice of the period, including the flat cap which the modern wearer of the dress carries inhis pocket. 

[Illustration: SOUTH-EAST PART OF LONDON IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, SHOWING THE TOWER AND WALL. ]

The punishments of this time are much more severe than had been foundnecessary in the Plantagenet period. They not only carried criminals inshameful procession through the City, but they flogged girls foridleness, apprentices for immorality, and rogues for selling goodsfalsely described. A 'pillar of reformation' was set up at the Standardin Cheap; here on Sunday morning the mayor superintended the flogging ofyoung servants. When Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen a young fellow, for speaking slightingly of her title, had his ears nailed to thepillory and afterwards cut off, heretics were burned, traitors werehanged first for a few minutes and then taken down and cut open--one ofthe most horrible punishments ever inflicted. 

The Reformation, which suppressed the religious Houses, at the same timesuppressed the hospitals which were all religious Houses and the schoolswhich belonged to the religious Houses. St. Bartholomew's, St. Thomas's, St. Mary's, St. Mary of Bethlehem, besides the smaller houses, were allsuppressed. The sick people were sent back to their own houses; thebrethren and sisters were dispersed. One House contained one hundredblind men, all these were cast adrift; another contained a number ofaged priests--these were turned into the streets. Eight schools perishedat the Dissolution. For a time London had neither schools nor hospitals. 

This could not continue. Bartholomew's, St. Thomas's, Bethlehem, and, under Queen Mary, the Savoy were refounded under new statutes ashospitals. For schools, St. Paul's which was never closed, was endowedby Dean Colet; St. Anthony's continued, the Blue Coat School was foundedon the site of the Franciscan House. The Mercers took over the school ofSt. Thomas. The Merchant Taylors founded their school. In Southwark, schools were founded at St. Olave's and St. Saviour's. A few years laterCharterhouse was converted into an almshouse and a school. 

43. TRADE. 

PART I. 

London was anciently the resort of 'foreign' merchants. It was richbecause 'foreign' merchants brought and exchanged their goods at thisport. There were no ships built in England until the reign of KingAlfred. When the kingdom became tranquil he is said to have hired outhis ships to foreign merchants. A list of tolls paid by foreign ships inthe reign of King Ethelred II. Shows that the imports were considerable. The foreign merchants, however, were not to 'forestall their marketsfrom the burghers of London, ' so that the retail trade was kept innative hands. When retail trade was separated from wholesale trade allthat the London merchants had was the collection, the warehousing, andthe sale of the exports. It is reasonable to suppose that foreignmerchants coming to the City year after year would find it useful tohave a permanent settlement--a wharf with officers and servants of theirown. Such a settlement was, no doubt, permitted from very early times. But in the year 1169 was founded a trade association which, for wealth, success, and importance, might compare with our East India Company. Thiswas the Hanseatic League (so called from the word _Hansa_, aconvention). In the League were confederated: first, twelve towns in theBaltic, Lübeck at the head; next, sixty-four--and even eighty--Germantowns. They were first associated for protection against pirates: theyspeedily became the greatest trading company of the period. In the reignof Henry III. The League obtained a Royal Charter granting them libertyof constant residence at a place in London. They were permitted to havea permanent establishment at a place called the Steelyard--i. E. Theplace where the Steelyard or Scales had formerly been kept--undercertain conditions, including the payment of custom dues. They werecalled the Merchants of the Steelyard: they at once drew to themselvesthe whole trade of England with the northern ports: and they remainedthere for nearly 400 years. 

There was another association of foreigners called the Merchants of theStaple. That is to say, they dealed in what was called the 'staples' ofEngland--in the raw produce, as lead, tin, wool, &c. Gradually, however, the word Staple came to be applied solely to wool as the most importantexport. The Lord Chancellor, to this day, is seated on a Woolsack. TheMerchants of the Staple became merged in the Merchants of the Steelyard. 

These foreign merchants were at all times extremely unpopular with theLondoners, who envied their wealth, which they thought was made at theexpense of the City, not understanding, for a long time, that the sameway of wealth was open to themselves. When they began to put forthmerchant ships on their own account, they at first sought the southernports, sailing to Dunquerque, Sluys, Rouen, Havre, Bordeaux, Lisbon, andeven to the Mediterranean ports. Whittington's trade was entirely withthe South. It was not at Lübeck or on the shores of the Baltic that hefound his cloth of gold, his rich velvets, his silks, his goldembroidery, his scented wood, his wines, his precious stones. And thereason why he sent his ships to the South was that the trade of theNorth was in the hands of the Steelyard. 

Edward III. Seems first of our kings to have understood the value ofmanufactures and of foreign trade. He first passed laws for the repairof the highways: under his reign the Merchant Adventurers wereencouraged and assisted: he first stimulated the making of Englishcloth instead of selling our wool: under him the shipping of the Londonmerchants began to increase and to develop. Still the foreign merchantscontinued to occupy the Steelyard: still our merchants were shut out ofthe northern ports: still other foreigners received permission tosettle: even craftsmen came over from Germany and the Low Countries andfollowed their trade in London. Richard III. , in order to please thecitizens, ordered their expulsion, but it does not appear that the orderwas obeyed. Henry VII. , on the other hand, persuaded many Flemishwoollen manufacturers to come over to this country. 

Early in the sixteenth century the exports of English cloth by theforeign merchants amounted to 44, 000 pieces, while the English shipstook away no more than 1, 000 pieces. When our own merchants wereprepared with ships and had what may be called the machinery of trade;as a market, wharves, permission to buy and sell; it is obvious that theold state of things could no longer continue. It was not, however, untilthe reign of Edward VI. That the foreign merchants were finally deprivedof all their privileges and charters. 

These rivals, with their powerful organisations and their hold over allthe northern ports, once out of the way the English merchants began topush out their enterprises in all directions. You shall see immediatelyhow they prospered. 

Meantime there remains a monument erected in memory of the HanseaticLeague. In the reign of Queen Anne the merchants of Hamburg presented tothe church where the merchants of the Steelyard had worshipped for 400years, a splendid screen of carved wood. Unless the church, which isalready threatened with destruction, is pulled down, you should go tosee that screen, and remember all that it means and commemorates. 

44. TRADE. 

PART II. 

English trade, that is to say, trade in English hands, practically beganwith Edward III. And, slowly increasing under his successors, gained anenormous development under Elizabeth. Several causes operated to producethis increase. In the first place the abolition of the Steelyard, thoughordered by Edward VI. , was not completely carried out till many yearsafterwards. During this period the merchants were learning the immensepossibilities open to them when this incubus should be removed. Next, the great rival of London, Antwerp, suffered, like the rest of theNetherlands, from the religious wars. Thirdly, the wise and farseeingaction of Gresham transferred the commercial centre of the northernworld from that town to London. 

Antwerp in the fifteenth century was the richest and most prosperouscity in western Europe. There were 200, 000 inhabitants, a great manymore than could be counted in London: 5, 000 merchants met every day inthe Bourse for the transaction of business: 2, 500 vessels might becounted in the river: 500 loaded waggons entered every day from thecountry. It was the port of the great and rich manufacturing towns ofBruges and Ghent. In the latter town there were 40, 000 weavers, and anarmy of 80, 000 men fully armed and equipped, could be raised at anymoment. The former town, Bruges, was the Market--the actual commercialcentre--of the world. Hither came the merchants of Venice and Genoa, bringing the silks, velvets, cloth of gold, spices and precious stonesfrom the East to exchange for the English wool and the produce ofGermany and the Baltic. 

[Illustration: KING EDWARD VI. 

(_From a picture belonging to H. Hucks Gibbs, Esq. _)]

The Religious Wars of the sixteenth century: the ferocities, cruelties, and savagery of those wars: depopulated and ruined this rich andflourishing country: the Inquisition drove thousands of Flemings, anindustrious and orderly folk, to England, where they established silkmanufactures: and the carrying trade which had been wholly in the handsof the Antwerp shipowners was diverted and went across the narrow seasto London, where it has ever since remained. 

Before the ruin of Antwerp, Bruges, and Ghent, it was of these townsthat the Kings of England obtained their loans. They were taken up bythe merchants of the Low Countries at an interest of 14 per cent. Thisenormous interest, then thought quite moderate and reasonable, explainshow the merchants of that time grew so wealthy. Part of the loans, also, often had to be taken in jewels. In order to negotiate these loans andto pay the interest an agent of the English Sovereign was kept atAntwerp, called the Royal Agent. Very fortunately for London, the RoyalAgent under Edward VI. , Mary, and the early years of Elizabeth, was SirThomas Gresham. 

You must learn something about this great man. He was the son of SirRichard Gresham, formerly Lord Mayor: nephew of Sir John Gresham, alsoLord Mayor (who preserved Bethlehem Hospital on the Dissolution of theReligious Houses): he came of a Norfolk family originally of the villageof Gresham: like Whittington he was of gentle birth. He was educated atCambridge: he was apprenticed to his uncle after taking his degree: andhe was received into the Mercers' Company at the age of twenty-four. Itmust be observed that from the outset the young man had everyadvantage--good birth, good education, good society, and wealth. 

[Illustration: SIR THOMAS GRESHAM. ]

At the age of thirty-two he was appointed Royal Agent at Antwerp. Atthis time the City was at the height of its splendour and prosperity. Gresham walked upon the long quays, gazed at the lines of ships, sawthe river alive with boats and barges, loading and unloading, watchedthe throng of merchants in the Bourse, saw the palaces, the rows andstreets of palaces in which they lived, thought of London which he hadformerly regarded with so much pride though he now perceived that it waseven poor and quiet compared with this crowded centre of an enormoustrade--why, the city which he had thought the envy of the whole worldcould show no more than 317 merchants in all, against Antwerp's 5, 000:and these, though there were some esteemed wealthy, could not betweenthem all raise a loan of even 10, 000_l. _ The King had to go abroad forthe money and to pay 14 per cent. For it. Then he began to ask himselfwhether something could not be done to divert some of this trade to hisnative town. 

[Illustration: FIRST ROYAL EXCHANGE. ]

First of all, he applied himself to the reduction of the interest. Thishe managed to lower from fourteen per cent. To twelve and even to ten. Again of four per cent. On a loan of, say, 60, 000_l. _ meant a saving of2, 400_l. _ a year. 

When he came back to England he brought with him a discovery which seemssimple. It is, however, the most difficult thing in the world for peopleto understand: we are always discovering it, over and over again. 

His discovery was this--it applies to every kind of business orenterprise--It is that union will effect what single effort is powerlessto attempt. The City had for centuries understood this in matters ofgovernment: they were now to learn the same thing in matters of trade. The merchants of Antwerp had a central place where they could meet forpurposes of union and combination. Those of London had none. As yetunion had only been practised for the regulation of trade prices andwork. True, the merchant adventurers existed, but the spirit ofenterprise had as yet spread a very little way. 

Gresham determined to present to his fellow citizens such a Bourse asthe merchants of Antwerp had enjoyed for centuries. He built his Bourse;he gave it to the City: he gave it as a place of meeting for themerchants: he gave it for the advance of enterprise. The Queen opened itwith great State, and called it the Royal Exchange. It stood exactlywhere the present Royal Exchange stands, but its entrance was on thesouth side, not the west. And no gift has ever been made to any citymore noble, more farseeing, more wise, or productive of greaterbenefits. 

45. TRADE. 

PART III. 

The merchants got their Exchange. What did they do in it? They did mostwonderful things with it. Greater things were never done in anyExchange. For the first time they were enabled to act together: and itwas the most favourable opportunity that ever happened to any tradingcommunity. The charters of the foreigners were abolished: the markets ofBruges were depressed in consequence of the civil wars alreadybeginning: that city itself, with Antwerp and Ghent, was on the point ofruin. The way was open, and the spirit of enterprise was awakened. Inordinary times it would have been the love of gain alone that awakenedthis spirit. But these were not ordinary times. The people of WesternEurope took a hundred years to discover that Columbus had doubled theworld: that there was a new continent across the ocean. They began tosend their ships across: nobody as yet knew the possibilities of thatcontinent with its islands: the Spaniards had the first run, but theFrench and the English were beginning to claim their share. Then a wayto India and the East had been found out: we were no longer going to bedependent on the Venetians for the products of Persia, India, theMoluccas, China. All those turbulent and restless spirits who could notsettle down to peaceful crafts or the dull life of the desk, longed tobe on board ship sailing Westward Ho. Fortune was waiting for themthere: fortune with fighting, privation, endurance--perhaps death byfever or by battle: yet a glorious life. Or they might sail southwardsand so round the Cape of Good Hope--called at first the Cape ofStorms--and across the Indian Ocean to the port of Calicut, there totrade. There were dangers enough even on that voyage to tempt the mostadventurous: Moorish pirates off the coast of Morocco: Europeanpirates--English pirates--coming out of the rivers and ports of WesternAfrica: storms off the Cape: hurricanes in the Indian Ocean: the rocksand reefs of seas as yet unsurveyed: treachery of natives. Yet therewere never wanting men in plenty to volunteer for these long andperilous voyages. At home, then, the spirit of enterprise, joined withthe spirit of adventure, achieved mighty things. The merchantadventurers succeeding to some of the trade of the Hanseatic League, established 'courts, ' i. E. Branches at Antwerp, Hamburg, and Dordrecht:they had also courts at York, Hull, and Newcastle. Many other companieswere founded. There was the Eastland Company or merchants of Ebbing. Their trade was with the Baltic. There was the 'Merchant Adventurers forthe discovery of Lands, not before known to, or frequented by, theEnglish. ' This afterwards became the Russian Company. They sent out SirHugh Willoughby with three ships to find a North-East passage to China. He and all his men were frozen to death on the shores of RussianLapland. The Company afterwards took to whaling. There was also theTurkey Company, which lasted to well into the present century. There wasthe Royal African Company, which has been revived. There were theMerchants of Spain: the Merchants of France: the Merchants of Virginia:the East India Company: the Hudson's Bay Company: the South Sea Company:the Guinea Company: the Canary Company. Some of these companies werefounded later, but they are all sprung from the spirit of enterprise, first called into existence by Gresham when he built his Exchange andbrought the merchants together. 

[Illustration: SHIPPING IN THE THAMES, CIRCA 1660. 

(_From Pricke's 'South Prospect of London. '_)]

By leaps and bounds the prosperity of the City increased, and has stillcontinued to increase, for the three hundred years that have passedsince Queen Elizabeth opened the Royal Exchange. Whether this prosperitywill still further advance; whether forces, as yet unnoticed, will bringabout the decay of London, no one can venture to prophecy. Antwerp mayagain become her rival: may perhaps surpass her; the port of Antwerp isrising yearly in importance: and that of Hamburg further north, has, like Liverpool, its miles of quays and wharves and its hundreds ofvessels. But the trade of London is still far greater than that of anyother port in the world, and for its three hundred years of prosperitywe must thank, above all men, that wise merchant Sir Thomas Gresham. 

[Illustration: SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, IN HIS FORTY-THIRD YEAR. 

(_From the engraving by Elstracke. _)]

He did more than give an Exchange to the City. He gave a college: hegave his own house in Broad Street for a college: he endowed it withprofessorships: he intended it to become for London what Christ Churchwas to Oxford, or Trinity to Cambridge. It has been converted into aplace for the delivery of lectures, but there are signs that the Citywill once more have such a college as Gresham intended. 

46. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. 

PART I. 

There were no theatres in England, nor any Plays, before the reign ofQueen Elizabeth. This is a statement which is true, but needsexplanation. It is not the case that there was no acting. On thecontrary, there has always been acting of some kind or other. There wasacting at the fairs, where the Cheap Jack and the Quack had theirtumbling boys and clowns to attract the crowd. There were alwaysminstrels and tumblers, men and women who played, sang, danced, andtumbled in the hall for the amusement of the great people in the longwinter evenings. Not including the wandering mummers, the Theatre waspreceded by the Religious Drama, the Pageant, and the Masque. 

The Religious Drama was usually performed in churches, but sometimes inmarket-places and in front of churches. They represented scenes from theBible and acts of saints. In a time when the people could not read, suchshows presented Sacred History in a most vivid form. No one couldpossibly forget any detail in the Passion of Our Lord who had once seenit performed in a Mystery, with the dresses complete, with appropriatewords and action, and with music. In the year 1409 there was a playrepresenting the Creation of the World performed at Clerkenwell. Itlasted eight days, and was witnessed by a vast concourse of all ranks. Here were shown Paradise, our first parents, the admonition of theCreator, the Fall, and the expulsion. Such a sight was better than ahundred sermons for teaching the people. 

The plays were not generally so long and so ambitious. They acteddetached scenes: the two men of Emmaus meeting the Risen Lord: theRaising of Lazarus: the Birth of Christ: the Flood: the Fall of Lucifer:the Shepherds of Bethlehem: and other scenes. The Mystery or Sacred Playwas the Sunday school of the middle ages. By those plays they learnedthe whole of Scripture History. The churches taught detached portions bythe frescoes on the wall, the painted windows and the carvings: but thehistory in its sequence was taught by the Sacred Dramas. 

We have very full accounts of one Miracle Play, that which was annuallyperformed by the Guilds of the City of Chester. It was performed atWhitsuntide and lasted three days. The play began with the 'Fall ofLucifer' performed by the tanners: went on to the 'Creation, ' by thedrapers: then to the 'Flood, ' and so on. Nine plays were performed onthe first day; nine on the second; and seven on the third. Each Guildprovided a scaffold on wheels. The scaffold was provided with a canopywhich would represent the sky, or the roof of a house, or a tent, or acave, as the play demanded: the performers were properly dressed fortheir parts: there was music, and in some cases there were songs. Underthe scaffold was the room where the actors dressed and where the'properties' were kept. Every play was performed in every principalstreet. When one was finished the scaffold was rolled to another stationand the play was repeated. This method prevented crowding. The mostsacred Persons were exhibited at these plays, and nothing was spared tomake them realistic to the last degree. Sometimes devils were put uponthe stage: flames issued from their mouths: they performed tricks ofbuffoonery: they dragged off sinners to their doom. Sometimes comicscenes were introduced, as in the play of the 'Flood, ' where it wascommon to represent Noah's wife as a shrew who beats her husband andrefuses to go into the Ark. 

These plays were swept away by the Reformation. They had been productivefor a long time of mischief rather than of instruction. The profanity ofthe comic scenes increased: and reverence was destroyed when in the sametableau which presented the most sacred of events appeared the mostunbridled buffoons. Religious plays have never been allowed since theReformation. Should they again be put upon the stage it must be underthe safeguard of those who can be trusted to admit of no otherconsideration than the presentation in the most reverent manner ofsacred subjects. There must be no thought of gain for those who manage, or those who act, such plays. Many scenes and events of the Bible wouldlend themselves wonderfully to dramatic rendering. But the choice ofthese must not be left to the lessee of a theatre: nor must the actingof such plays be permitted to those who live by making the people laugh. 

47. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. 

PART II. 

After the religious dramas, the Pageants gratified the desire forspectacle and show. Pageants were held on every grand occasion: towelcome the sovereign: to honour the new Lord Mayor: to celebrate avictory. Then they erected triumphal arches adorned with pasteboardcastles, ships, houses, caves--all kinds of things. They either carriedwith them, as part of the procession, or they stationed at some point, the City Giants. London was not alone in having giants. York, Norwich, Chester, possessed city giants. In Belgium the city giant is stillcarried in procession in Antwerp, Douai, and other towns. The figure ofthe giant symbolised the strength and power of the city. After AgincourtHenry V. Was welcomed at the south gate of London Bridge by two giants:his son, Henry VI. , was also received by a giant seventeen years later. Two giants stood on London Bridge to welcome Philip and Mary: the sametwo, at Temple Bar, afterwards welcomed Elizabeth. The pair of giantsnow in Guildhall were carved in 1707. The names Gog and Magog are wrong. The original names were Gogmagog and Corineus. 

The following account of the Pageant to celebrate the return of thevictor Henry V. After Agincourt is preserved in Stow's 'London. '

The Mayor and Aldermen, dressed in scarlet, with collars and chains, with 400 citizens in 'murrey, ' all well mounted, rode out to meet theKing at Blackheath. Then, after formal greetings, they all rode toLondon. In Southwark the King was met by all the London clergy in theirmost sumptuous robes, with crosses and censers. At the entrance ofLondon Bridge, on the top of the tower, stood a pair of giants, male andfemale, the former bearing in his right hand an axe, and in his lefthand the keys of the City. Around them stood a band of trumpeters. 

On the drawbridge were two lofty columns, on one of which stood anantelope and on the other a lion--both the King's crests. 

At the other end of the Bridge was another tower, and within it an imageof St. George, with a great number of boys representing angels. Thesesang an anthem, 'Give thanks, O England, to God for victory. ' This issupposed to be preserved in the song 'Our King went forth to Normandy. '

On Cornhill there was erected a tent of crimson cloth ornamented withthe King's arms. Within it was a company of 'prophets' in golden coats. As the King approached they set loose a great number of small birds, which fluttered about while the 'prophets' sung 'Cantate Domino canticumnovum'--'Sing unto the Lord a new song. '

In Cheapside the conduit was hung with green. Here sat the twelveApostles and the twelve Kings, Martyrs and Confessors of England. Theyalso sung a chant and made the conduit run with wine. This representedthe reception of Abraham by Melchisedek. 

The Cross of Chepe was built over by a high tower of wood covered allover with splendid coats of arms. There was a stage in front, on which acrowd of girls came with timbrels dancing and singing. Thus the maidenswelcomed David when he returned from the slaughter of Goliath. And allabout the building were crowds of boys, representing the Heavenly Host, who showered down coins resembling gold, and boughs of laurel, and sang'Te Deum Laudamus. '

Lastly, there was another tower at the west end of Chepe. In each cornerof this stood a girl, who out of a cup strewed golden leaves before thefeet of the King. And there was a high canopy painted with blue andstars, and beneath a figure all gold, to represent the sun surrounded byangels singing and playing all kinds of musical instruments. 

This witnessed, the King went on to St. Paul's to pay his devotions. 

When you read this bald account of one of the greatest Pageants evercelebrated in the City, you must fill it up by imagining the longprocession, every one in his place. Trumpeters, bowmen in leatherjerkins, men-at-arms in shining helmet and cuirass, horsemen in fullarmour, knights, nobles, heralds all in full panoply, banners andbannerets, the Bishop and all the clergy, the King and his retinue, theLord Mayor and his four hundred followers. Imagine the blare of thetrumpets, the singing of the chants, the roaring of the people, thecrimson hangings all along the line of march at every window. There wereno police to keep the line: you might see the burgesses running out ofthe taverns on their way with blackjacks of Malmsey to regale thegallant soldiers who had fought and won the victory. You would see theKing bareheaded. Why was he bareheaded? Because he was so modest--thisbrave King. Because he would not let the people see his helmet dintedand misshapen with the signs and scars of hard battle in which he hadplayed his part as well as any humble leather-jerkined bowman in hisarray. Your ancestors, these soldiers and these citizens: yourforefathers. They knew, far better than you will ever know, how tomarshal a gallant show. We have lost the art of making a Pageant. Itremains with us--once a year--in the Lord Mayor's Show. But think ofHenry's Riding into London compared with the Lord Mayor's Show!

48. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. 

PART III. 

Between the Pageant and the Play stands the Masque, a form ofentertainment which achieved its greatest splendour both in stagemounting and in the words and songs in the reigns of Elizabeth andJames I. Nowhere was the Masque more carefully studied and moremagnificently presented than in London. The scenic display which in theearly theatre was so meagre was carried in the Masque to a height neversurpassed until the splendid shows of the present day. Nor did thegreatest poets disdain to write words for the Masque. The most beautifulof those which remain are to be found in Ben Jonson's works. Every greatman's house had a hall which was used for the Masque. Bacon, who givesdirections for building a house, orders that there must be a room builton purpose for these performances. Under it is to be another room forthe actors to dress and for the 'properties'--i. E. The things requisitefor the presentation of the Masque, such as scenery, the woods, fountains, rocks, palaces, &c. --that might be required. Let us show whata Masque was like by describing one of Ben Jonson's. It is called theMasque of Oberon, and was performed before Prince Henry, the eldest sonof James I. , who died in youth. 

The scene presents a rock with trees beyond it and 'all the wildnessthat can be presented. ' All is dark. Presently the moon rising shows aSatyr, one of the beings with whom the ancients peopled the forests andwild places. They were drawn with the feet and legs of goats, shorthorns on the head, and the body covered with thick hair. This Satyrlifts his head and calls his companions. There is no answer. He blowshis cornet. Echo answers him. He blows again, and is again mocked by theEcho. A third time he blows, and other Satyrs come leaping and dancingupon the stage. Silenus, their leader, bids them prepare to see theyoung Prince Oberon. 

The scene opens: the rocks and forests disappear: there is shown aglorious palace whose walls and gates are transparent. Before the gateslie asleep two 'Sylvans'--i. E. Men of the woods. The Satyrs gather roundthese sleeping sentinels and wake them up with singing:

 Buzz, quoth the blue fly: Hum, quoth the bee: Buzz and hum they cry And so do we. In his ear, in his nose, Thus do you see? [They tickle them. ] He ate the dormouse Else it was he. 

The Sylvans wake: they explain that it is yet too early for the gates toopen. Meantime let them sing and dance to while away the time. One ofthem sings therefore. After the song they fall into an 'antick dancefull of gesture and swift motion' and thus continue till the crowing ofa cock gives the signal for the whole palace to open. It is like atransformation scene at a pantomime. There is the palace with all itsoccupants--the 'whole nation of Fays' or Fairies. Some are playinginstruments of music; some are singing: some are bearing lights: at theback of the stage sit the 'Knights masquers. ' With them Oberon in hischariot. And then, drawn by two white bears, guarded by three Sylvans oneach side, the chariot moves down the stage. Observe that to produce allthese effects the stage must have been very deep. The song they sing isin praise of the King:

 Melt earth to sea, sea flow to air, And air fly into fire, Whilst we in tunes to Arthur's chair Bear Oberon's desire: Than which there's nothing can be higher Save James to whom it flies: But he the wonder is of tongues and ears and eyes--

The Satyrs leap and dance again for joy at so splendid a sight. 

Then Silenus speaks in praise of Prince Oberon, who is, of course, Prince Henry, the elder son of James, who died young. The flattery is noworse than was usual in Masques. Silenus says that the Prince--

 Stays the time from turning old, And keeps the age up in a head of gold. He makes it ever day and ever spring When he doth shine, and quickens everything. 

Then two Fays sing a song and all the Fays together dance, after whichall together sing. Then Oberon and his knights dance. Another songfollows. Then they all together dance 'measures, corantos, andgalliards, ' till Phosphorus the day star appears and calls them away--

 To rest! To rest! The herald of the day, Bright Phosphorus commands you hence. Obey. 

They quickly dance their last dance, one by one getting into the Palace. Then the Star vanishes, the day breaks, and while the last song is sungthe 'machine closes'--i. E. The Palace becomes a wall of the room and theshow is over. This is the pretty song which ends the Masque:

 O yet how early and before her time, The envious morning up doth climb, Though she not love her bed! What haste the jealous sun doth make His fiery horses up to take And once more show his head! Lest, taken with the brightness of this night, The world should wish it last and never miss his light. 

49. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. 

PART IV. 

Through the Religious Drama, the Pageant, the Masque, we work our way tothe Play itself. The first beginnings of the modern Drama must here bepassed over: there were the rough and unformed comedies such as 'GammerGurton's Needle, ' performed in a college hall: or the tragedy played onboards spread over a waggon in the courtyard of an inn. Let us supposethat we are past the beginnings and are in Shakespeare's time--i. E. Theend of Queen Elizabeth and the whole reign of James I. 

The first theatre was built in 1570. Thirty years after there wereseven. The Queen had companies of children to play before her. They werethe boys of the choirs of St. Paul's, Westminster, Whitehall, andWindsor. The actors called themselves the servants of some great lord. Lord Leicester, Lord Warwick, Lord Pembroke, Lord Howard, the Earl ofEssex, and others all had their company of actors--not all at the sametime. The principal Houses were those at Southwark, and especially atBank Side, where there were three, including the famous Globe: theBlackfriars Playhouse: the Fortune in Golden Lane, and the Curtain atShoreditch. If you will look at the map you will observe that not one ofthese theatres is within the City--that at Blackfriars was in the formerprecinct of the Dominicans and outside the City. No theatre was allowedin the City. Thus early sprang up the prejudice against actors. Probablythis was of old standing, and first belonged to the time when theminstrel and the tumbler, the musician and the dancing girl, the buffoonand the contortionist, wandered about the country free of rule anddiscipline, leading careless and lawless lives. 

The theatre was octagonal in shape but circular within. What we call thepit was called the 'yarde. ' The stage projected into the 'yarde, ' aboutthree or four feet high. The people who filled the 'yarde' were calledgroundlings. Round the house were three galleries, the lowest of whichcontained 'rooms' or private boxes: what we call the upper circle andthe gallery were above. There were no seats in the pit, nor apparentlyin the upper circles. On either side of the stage sat or lay gentlemen, chiefly of the younger kind, who smoked pipes of tobacco and talkedloudly, disturbing the performance. At the back of the stage was a kindof upper stage, supported on columns, which gave the players a tower, gallery, wall, a town, or an upper story of a house, or anything of thekind that they wanted. There was a great sale of apples, nuts, and alebefore the play began and between the acts: boys hawked the newest booksabout the 'rooms': the people while they waited smoked pipes, playedcards. Above the stage on one side was the 'music. ' Three times thetrumpets sounded. At the first, those who were outside hurried in to geta place: at the second, the card-players left off their games: at thethird, those who bawled apples and ale and shouted the name of the newbook became silent: the audience settled down: the Play began. Not muchcostume was wanted: that of the Elizabethan--noble--courtier--youngknight--clown--fitted any and every age. There was little sceneryrequired: blue hangings above meant day: black hangings night: theactors came out upon the advanced stage and played their parts. No doubtthe illusion was as complete as we can contrive with all our scenery, mounting, and correctness of costume. 

[Illustration: THE GLOBE THEATRE. ]

The parts of women were taken by boys. No women appeared on the stageuntil the reign of Charles II. The Play began with the Prologue, spokenby an actor dressed in a long black velvet coat bowing very humbly tothe audience. After the Play was over the clowns began to tumble and tosing. In short, a farce succeeded a tragedy. The time of performance wasone o'clock, and the performance lasted until five. 

In the year 1610 the Lord Mayor and Aldermen being alarmed at theincreasing popularity of the Play, ordered that there should be only twotheatres, the Fortune in Golden Lane and the Globe at Bankside. Thisorder, however, like so many other laws, was only passed to satisfy apassing scare and does not seem to have been carried into effect. It wasin such a theatre as this and with such scenery that the immortal playsof Shakespeare and Ben Jonson were acted. When next you read a play ofShakespeare, remember the stage projecting into the pit; the people inthe pit all standing, the gallants on the stage talking and smoking, theladies in the boxes, the boys enjoying apples and nuts and ale and newbooks, and the actors playing partly on the stage advanced and partly onthe stage behind. 

50. THE TERROR OF THE PLAGUE. 

PART I. 

You have seen the City as it appeared to one who walked about itsstreets and watched the people. It was free, busy and prosperous, exceptat rare intervals, when its own internal dissensions, or the civil warsof the country, or the pretensions of the Sovereign, disturbed the peaceof the City. Behind this prosperity, however, lay hid all through themiddle ages, and down to two hundred years ago, four great andever-present terrors. The first was the Terror of Leprosy: the secondthe Terror of Famine: the third was the Terror of Plague: the last wasthe Terror of Fire. 

[Illustration: CIVIL COSTUME ABOUT 1620. 

(_From a contemporary broadside. _)]

[Illustration: COSTUME OF A LAWYER. 

(_From a broadside, dated 1623. _)]

As for the first two, we have seen how lazar houses were establishedoutside every town, and how public granaries were built. Let us considerthe third. The Plague broke out so often that there was hardly any timebetween the tenth and the seventeenth century when some living personcould not remember a visitation of this awful scourge. It appeared inLondon first--i. E. The first mention of it occurs in history--in theyear 962: again in 1094: again in 1111: then there seems to have been arespite for 250 years. In the year 1348 the Plague carried off manythousands: in 1361 it appeared again: in 1367 and in 1369. In 140730, 000 were carried off in London alone by the Plague. In 1478 a plagueraged throughout the country, which was said to have destroyed morepeople than the Wars of the Roses. But we must accept all mediævalestimates of numbers as indicating no more than great mortality. Withthe sixteenth century began a period of a hundred and sixty years, marked with attacks of the Plague constantly recurring, and every timemore fatal and more widespread. Nothing teaches the conditions of humanlife more plainly than the history of the Plague in London. We areplaced in the world in the midst of dangers, and we have to find out forourselves how to meet those dangers and to protect ourselves. Thus avast number of persons were crowded together within the walls of theCity. The streets were all narrow: the houses were generally of three ormore stories, built out in front so as to obstruct the light and air;there were many courts, in which the houses were mere hovels: there wasno drainage: refuse of all kinds lay about the streets: everything thatwas required for the daily life was made in the City, which added athousand noisome smells and noxious refuse. Then the Plague came andcarried off its thousands and disappeared. Then the survivors went ontheir usual course. Nothing was changed. Yet the Plague was a voicewhich spoke loudly. It said 'Clean yourselves: cease to defile the soilof the City with your decaying matter: build your houses in widerstreets: do not shut out the sunshine--which is a splendid purifier--orlight and air. Keep yourselves clean--body and raiment, and house andstreet. ' The voice spoke, but no one heard. Then came the Plague again. Still no one heard the voice. It came again and again. It came in 1500, in 1525, in 1543, in 1563, in 1569, in 1574, in 1592, in 1603 (when30, 575 died), in 1625 (when 35, 470 died), in 1635 (when 10, 400 died), and lastly, in 1665. And in all that time no one understood that voice, and the City was never cleansed. All that was done was to light bonfiresin the street in order to increase the circulation of the air. After thelast, and worst attack, in 1666 the City was burned, and in thepurification of the flames it emerged clean, and the Plague has neversince appeared. The same voice speaks to mankind still in everyvisitation of every new pestilence. It used to cry aloud in time ofPlague: it cries aloud now in time of typhoid, diphtheria, and cholera. Diseases spring from ignorance and from vice. Physicians cannot curethem: but they can learn their cause and they can prevent. 

The Plague of 1665 began in the autumn of the year before. It had beenraging in Amsterdam and Hamburg in 1663. Precautions were taken to keepit out by stopping the importation of goods from these towns. But theseproved ineffectual. Certain bales from Holland were landed and taken toa house in Long Acre, Drury Lane. Here they were opened by twoFrenchmen, both of whom caught the disease and died. A third Frenchmanwho was seized in the same house was removed to Bearbinder Lane, St. Swithin's Lane, where he, too, died. And then the disease began tospread. A severe frost checked it for a time. But in March, when milderweather returned, it broke out again. 

The disease, when it seized upon a person, brought upon him a mostdistressing horror of mind. This was followed by fever and delirium. Butthe certain signs of the plague were spots, pustules, and swellings, which spread over the whole body. Death in most cases rapidly followed. Some there were who recovered, but the majority gave themselves over forlost on the first appearance. Many of the physicians ran away from theinfected City: many of the parish clergy deserted their churches. TheLord Mayor and Aldermen, however, remained, by their presence givingheart to those of the clergy and physicians who stayed, and by theirprudent measures preventing a vast amount of additional suffering whichwould otherwise have fallen upon the unhappy people. 

51. THE TERROR OF THE PLAGUE. 

PART II. 

In the month of May it was found that twenty City parishes wereinfected. Certain preventions, rather than remedies, of which there werenone, were now employed by the Mayor. Infected houses were shut up: noone was allowed to go in or to come out: food was conveyed by bucketslet down from an upper window: the dead bodies were lowered in the sameway, from the windows: on the doors were painted red crosses with thewords, 'Lord, have mercy upon us!' Watchmen were placed at the doors toprevent the unhappy prisoners from coming out. All the dogs and cats inthe City, being supposed to carry about infection in their fur or hair, were slaughtered--40, 000 dogs, it is stated, and 200, 000 cats, whichseems an impossible number, were killed. They also tried, but withoutsuccess, to kill the rats and mice. Everything was tried except the onething wanted--air and cleanliness. At the outset a great many of thebetter sort left the City and stayed in the country till the danger wasover: others would have followed but the country people would not suffertheir presence and drove them back with clubs and pikes. So they had tocome back and die in the City. Then all the shops closed: all industrieswere stopped: men could no longer sit beside each other: the mastersdismissed their apprentices and their workmen and their servants. In theriver the ships lay with their cargoes half discharged: on the quaysstood the bales, unopened. In the churches there were no services exceptwhere the scanty congregation sat singly and apart. The Courts ofJustice were empty: there were no crimes to try: in the streets thepassengers avoided each other. In the markets which had to be kept open, the buyer lifted down his purchase with a hook and dropped the moneyinto a bowl of vinegar. Many families voluntarily shut their houses andwould neither go in or out. Some of these escaped the infection; thehistory of one such family during their six months' imprisonment hasbeen preserved. They thanked God solemnly every morning for continuedhealth: they prayed three times a day for safety. Some went on boardship and, as the Plague increased, dropped down the river. 

[Illustration: A COUNTRYMAN. A COUNTRYWOMAN. 

ORDINARY CIVIL COSTUME; _temp. _ CHARLES I. 

(_From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England, ' 1646. _)]

The deaths, which in the four weeks of July numbered 725, 1, 089, 1, 843, and 2, 010, respectively, rose in August and September to three, four, five, and even eight thousand a week: but it was believed that theregisters were badly kept and that the numbers were greater thanappeared. Every evening carts were sent round, the drivers who smokedtobacco as a disinfectant, crying out, 'Bring out your Dead. Bring outyour Dead, ' and ringing a bell. The churchyards were filled and pitswere dug outside the City into which the bodies were thrown withoutcoffins. When the pestilence ceased the churchyards were covered with athick deposit of fresh mould to prevent ill consequences. It wasobserved that during the prevalence of the disease there was anextraordinary continuance of calm and serene sunshine. For many weekstogether not the least breath of wind could be perceived. 

When the summer was over and the autumn came on, the disease becamemilder in its form: it lasted longer: and whereas, at the first, not onein five recovered, now not two in five died. Presently the cold weatherreturned and the Plague was stayed. They burned or washed all the linen, flannel, clothes, bedding, tapestry and curtains belonging to theinfected houses: and they whitewashed the rooms in which the disease hadappeared. But they did not take steps for the cleansing of the City. Thevoice had spoken in vain. The number of deaths during the year wasregistered as 97, 306 of which 68, 596 were attributed to the Plague. Butthere seems little doubt that the registers were inefficiently kept. Itwas believed that the number who perished by Plague alone was at least100, 000. 

It is easy to write down these figures. It is difficult to understandwhat they mean. Among them, a quarter at least, would be thebreadwinners, the fathers of families. In many cases all perishedtogether, parents and children: in others, the children were leftdestitute. Then there was no work. There were 100, 000 working men out ofemployment. All these people had to be kept. The Lord Mayor, assisted byhis Aldermen and two noble Lords, Albemarle and Craven, organised aservice of relief. The King gave a thousand pounds a week: the City gave600_l. _ a week: the merchants contributed thousands every week. And sothe people were kept from starving. 

When it was all over Pepys, who kept his Diary through the time of thePlague but was not one of those who stayed in the infected City, notesthe enormous number of beggars. Who should they be but the poorcreatures, the women and the children, the old and the infirm who hadlost their breadwinners, the men who loved them and worked for them? Thehistory is full of dreadful things: but this amazing crowd of beggars isthe most dreadful. 

52. THE TERROR OF FIRE. 

PART I. 

[Illustration: A CITIZEN. A CITIZEN'S WIFE. 

ORDINARY CIVIL COSTUME; _temp. _ CHARLES I. 

(_From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England, ' 1646. _)]

The City of London has suffered from fire more than any other greattown. In the year 961 a large number of houses were destroyed: in 1077, 1086, and 1093, a great part of the City was burned down. In 1136, afire which broke out at London Stone, in the house of one Aylward, spread east and west as far as Aldgate on one side and St. Erkinwald'sshrine in St. Paul's Cathedral on the other. London Bridge, then builtof wood, perished in the fire, which for five hundred years was knownas the Great Fire. In these successive fires every building of Saxonerection, to say nothing of the Roman period, must have perished. 

But the ravages of all the fires together did less harm than theterrible fire which laid the greater part of London in ashes in the year1666. If you will refer to the map of London you may mark off within thewalls the North-East angle: that part contained by the wall and astraight line running from Coleman Street to Tower Hill. With theexception of that corner the whole of London within the walls, andbeyond as far as the Temple, was entirely destroyed. 

The fire broke out at a baker's in Pudding Lane, Thames Street. It wasearly on Sunday morning on the second day of September, 1666. It wasthen, and is now, a place where the houses stood very thick and closetogether: all round were warehouses filled with oil, wine, tar, andevery kind of inflammable stuff. The baker's shop contained a largequantity of faggots and brushwood, so that the flames caught and spreadvery rapidly. The people, for the most part, had time to remove theirmost valuable things, but their furniture, their clothes, the stock oftheir shops, the tools of their trade, they had to leave behind them. Some hurriedly placed their things in the churches for safety, as if thefire would respect the sanctity of these buildings. A stranger Sundaywas never spent than this, when those who had escaped were asking whereto go, and those upon whom the flames were advancing were tearing out oftheir houses whatever they could carry away, and the rest of the townwere looking on and asking whether the flames would be stayed beforethey reached their houses. 

Among those who thought that a church would be a safe place were thebooksellers of Paternoster Row. They carried all their books into St. Paul's Cathedral and retired--their stock in trade was safe. But theflames closed round upon the Cathedral: they seized on Paternoster Row, so that the booksellers like the rest were fain to fly: and presentlytowering to the sky flamed up the lofty roof of nave and chancel andtower. Then with an awful crash the flaming timbers fell down into thechurch below. Even the Cathedral was burned with the rest, and with itall the books. 

[Illustration: A GENTLEMAN. A GENTLEWOMAN. 

ORDINARY CIVIL COSTUME; _temp. _ CHARLES I. 

(_From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England, ' 1646. _)]

All Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday, the fire raged, tillit seemed as if there would be no end until the City was utterlydestroyed. Happily a remnant was saved, as you have seen. The fire wasstopped at last by blowing up houses everywhere to arrest its progress. Close by the Temple Church (which barely escaped) they stopped it inthis way. At Aldersgate, Cripplegate, and Bishopsgate, they used thesame means, and at Pye Corner, Smithfield. Nearly opposite Bartholomew'sHospital, you may still see the image of a boy set up to commemorate thestopping of the fire at that point. Had it gone further we should havelost St. Bartholomew the Great and the houses of Cloth Fair. 

[Illustration: LUD-GATE ON FIRE. ]

When the fire stopped the people sat down to consider the losses theyhad sustained and the best way out of them. 

St. Paul's Cathedral, that ancient and venerable edifice, with its thickwalls and roof so lofty, that it seemed as if no fire but the fire fromheaven could reach it, was a pile of ruins, the walls of the nave andtransept standing, the choir fallen into the crypt below. The Parishchurches to the number of 88 were burned: the Royal Exchange--Gresham'sExchange--was down and all the statues turned into lime, with theexception of Gresham's alone: nearly all the great houses left in theCity, the great nobles' houses, such as Baynard's Castle, Coldharbour, Bridewell Palace, Derby House, were in ashes: all the Companies' Hallswere gone: warehouses, shops, private residences, palaces andhovels--everything was levelled with the ground and burned to ashes. Five-sixths of the City were destroyed: an area of 436 acres was coveredwith the ruins: 13, 200 houses were burned: it is said that 200, 000persons were rendered homeless--an estimate which would give an averageof 15 residents to each house. Probably this is an exaggeration. Thehouseless people, however, formed a kind of camp in Moorfields justoutside the wall, where they lived in tents, and cottages hastily runup. The place now called Finsbury Square stands on the site of thiscurious camp. 

[Illustration: PAUL PINDAR'S HOUSE. ]

We ask ourselves in wonder how life was resumed after so great acalamity. The title deeds to houses and estates were burned--who wouldclaim and prove the right to property? The account books were alllost--who could claim or prove a debt? The warehouses and shops withtheir contents were gone--who could carry on business? The craftsmen hadlost their employment--how were they to live?

Of debts and rents and mortgages and all such things, little could besaid. It was not a time to speak of the past. They must think of thefuture: they must all begin the world anew. 

53. THE TERROR OF FIRE. 

PART II. 

They must begin the world anew. For most of the merchants nothing wasleft to them but their credit--their good name: try to imagine the havoccaused by burning all the docks, warehouses, wharves, quays, and shopsin London at the present day with nothing at all insured!

[Illustration: LONDON, AS REBUILT AFTER THE FIRE. ]

But the citizens of London were not the kind of people to sit downweeping. The first thing was to rebuild their houses. This done therewould be time to consider the future. The Lord Mayor and the Aldermentook counsel together how to rebuild the City. They called in SirChristopher Wren, lately become an architect after being astronomer atCambridge, and Evelyn: they invited plans for laying out the City in amore uniform manner with wider streets and houses more protected fromfire. Both Wren and Evelyn sent in plans. But while these were underconsideration the citizens were rebuilding their houses. 

They did not wait for the ashes to get cool. As soon as the flames wereextinct and the smoke had cleared: as soon as it was possible to makeway among the ruined walls, every man sought out the site of his ownhouse and began to build it up again. So that London, rebuilt, wasalmost--not quite, for some improvements were effected--laid out withthe same streets and lanes as before the fire. It was two years, however, before the ruins were all cleared away and four years beforethe City was completely rebuilt. Ten thousand houses were erected duringthat period, and these were all of brick: the old timbered house withclay between the posts was gone: so was the thatched roof: the houseswere all of brick: the roofs were tiled: the chief danger was gone. Atthis time, too, they introduced the plan of a pavement on either side ofsmooth flat stones with posts to keep carts and waggons from interferingwith the comforts of the foot passengers. It took much longer than fouryears to erect the Companies' Halls. About thirty of the churches werenever rebuilt at all, the parishes being merged in others. The first tobe repaired, not rebuilt, was that of St. Dunstan's two years after thefire: in four years more, another church was finished. In every yearafter this one or two: and the last of the City churches was not rebuilttill thirty one years after the fire. 

[Illustration: COACH OF THE LATTER HALF OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

(_From Loggan's 'Oxonia Illustrata. '_)]

[Illustration: WAGGON OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

(_From Loggan's 'Oxonia Illustrata. '_)]

It was at this time of universal poverty that the advantages of unionwas illustrated to those who had eyes to see. First of all, theCorporation had to find food--therefore work. Thousands were employed inclearing away the rubbish and carting it off so as to make the streets, at least, free for traffic. The craftsmen who had no work to do, wereemployed when this was done on the building operations. The quays werecleared, and the warehouses put up again, for the business of the Portcontinued. Ships came, discharged their cargoes, and waited for theirfreight outward bound. Then the houses arose and the shops began to openagain. And the Companies stood by their members: they gave them credit:advanced loans: started them afresh in the world. Had it not been forthe Companies, the fate of London after the fire would have been as thefate of Antwerp after the Religious Wars. But there must have been manywho were ruined completely by this fearful calamity. Hundreds ofmerchants, and retailers, having lost their all must have been unable toface the stress and anxiety of making this fresh start. The men advancedin life; the men of anxious and timid mind; the incompetent and feeble:were crushed. They became bankrupt: they went under: in the great crowdno one heeded them: their sons and daughters took a lower place: perhapsthey are still among the ranks into which it is easy to sink; out ofwhich it is difficult to rise. The craftsmen were injured least: theirCompanies replaced their tools for them: work was presently resumedagain: their houses were rebuilt and, as for their furniture, there wasnot much of it before the fire and there was not much of it after thefire. 

The poet Dryden thus writes of the people during and after the fire:

 Those who have homes, when home they do repair, To a last lodging call their wandering friends: Their short uneasy sleeps are broke with care To look how near their own destruction tends. 

 Those who have none sit round where once it was And with full eyes each wonted room require: Haunting the yet warm ashes of the place, As murdered men walk where they did expire. 

 The most in fields like herded beasts lie down, To dews obnoxious on the grassy floor: And while the babes in sleep their sorrow drown, Sad parents watch the remnant of their store. 

[Illustration: ORDINARY DRESS OF GENTLEMEN IN 1675. 

(_From Loggan's 'Oxonia Illustrata. '_)]

54. ROGUES AND VAGABONDS. 

The aspect of the City varies from age to age: the streets and thehouses, the costumes, the language, the manners, all change. In onerespect however, there is no change: we have always with us the samerogues and the same roguery. We do not treat them quite after the mannerfollowed by our forefathers: and, as their methods were incapable ofputting a stop to the tricks of those who live by trickery, so are ours;therefore we must not pride ourselves on any superiority in thisdirection. A large and very interesting collection of books might beformed on the subject of rogues and vagabonds. The collection wouldbegin with Elizabeth and could be carried on to the present day, newadditions being made from year to year. But very few additions are evermade to the customs and the methods of the profession. For instance, there is the confidence trick, in which the rustic is beguiled by thehonest stranger into trusting him. This trick was practised threehundred years ago. Or there is the ring-dropping trick, it is as old asthe hills. Or there is the sham sailor--now very rarely met with. Whenwe have another war he will come to the front again. We have still thecheating gambler, but he has always been with us. In King Charles theSecond's time he was called a Ruffler, a Huff, or a Shabbaroon. Thewoman who now begs along the streets singing a hymn and leading borrowedchildren, did the same thing two hundred years ago and was called aclapperdozen. The man who pretends to be deaf and dumb went about then, and was known as the dummerer. The burglar was then the housebreaker. Burglary was formerly a far worse crime than it is now, because thepeople for the most part kept all their money in their houses, and arobbery might ruin them. The pickpocket plied his trade, only he wasthen a cutpurse. The footpad lay in wait on the lonely country road oramong the bushes of the open fields at the back of Lincoln's Inn. Thepunishments, which seem so mild under the Plantagenets, increased inseverity as the population outgrew the powers of the government. Insteadof plain standing in pillory, ears were nailed to the post and evensliced off: whippings became more commonly administered, and were muchmore severe: heretics were burned by Elizabeth as well as by Mary, though not so often. After the civil wars we enter upon a period whenpunishment became savage in its cruelty, of which you will presentlylearn more. Meantime remark that when the City was less denselypopulated, and when none lived outside the wards and walls, the peoplewere well under the control of the aldermen and their officers: theywere also well known to each other: they exercised thatself-government--the best of any--which consists in refusing to harboura rogue among them. If in every London street the tenants would refuseto suffer any evildoer to lodge in their midst, the police of Londonmight be almost abolished. But the City grew: the wards became denselypopulated: then houses and extensive suburbs sprang up at Whitechapel, Wapping, outside Cripplegate, at Smithfield north of Fleet Street, Lambeth, Bermondsey and Rotherhithe: the aldermen no longer knew theirpeople: the men of a ward did not know each other: rogues were harbouredabout Smithfield and outside Aldgate: the simple machinery for enforcingorder ceased to be of any use: and as yet the new police was notinvented. Therefore the punishments became savage. Since the governmentcould not prevent crime and compel order, they would deter. 

[Illustration: DRESS OF LADIES OF QUALITY. 

(_From Sandford's 'Coronation Procession of James II. '_)]

[Illustration: ORDINARY ATTIRE OF WOMEN OF THE LOWER CLASSES. 

(_From Sandford's 'Coronation Procession of James II. '_)]

Apart from active crime, vagrancy was a great scourge. Wars and civilwars left crowds of idle soldiers who had no taste for steady work: theybecame vagrants: there was also--and there is still--a certainproportion of men and women who will not work: they become vagrants by akind of instinct: they are born vagabonds. Laws and proclamations werecontinually passed for the repression of vagrants. They were passed onto their native place: they were provided with passes on their way. Butthese laws were always being evaded, and vagrants increased in number. Under Henry VIII. A very stringent statute was passed by which old andimpotent persons were provided with license to beg, and anybody beggingwithout a license was whipped. But like all such acts it was imperfectlycarried out. For one who received a whipping a dozen escaped. Stocks, pillory, bread and water, all were applied, but without visible effect, because so many escaped. London especially swarmed with beggars andpretended cripples. They lived about Turnmill Street, Houndsditch andthe Barbican, outside the walls. From time to time a raid was carried onagainst them, and they dispersed, but only to collect again. In the year1575, for instance, it is reported that there were few or no rogues inthe London prisons. But in the year 1581, the Queen observing a largenumber of sturdy rogues during a drive made complaint, with the resultthat the next day 74 were arrested: the day after 60, and so on, thecatch on one day being a hundred, all of whom were 'soundly paid, ' i. E. Flogged and sent to their own homes. The statute ordering the whippingof vagabonds was enforced even in this present century, women beingflogged as well as men. No statutes, however, can put down the curse ofvagrancy and idleness. It can only be suppressed by the will andresolution of the people themselves. If for a single fortnight we shouldall refuse to give a single penny to beggars: if in every street weshould all resolve upon having none but honest folk among us: then andonly then, would the rogue find this island of Great Britain impossibleto be longer inhabited by him and his tribe. 

55. UNDER GEORGE THE SECOND. 

PART I. 

THE WEALTH OF LONDON. 

If a new world was opened to the adventurous in the reign of QueenElizabeth, this new world two hundred years later was only half exploredand was constantly yielding up new treasures. The lion's share of thesetreasures came to Great Britain and was landed at the Port of London. The wealth and luxury of the merchants in the eighteenth centurysurpassed anything ever recorded or ever imagined. So great was theirprosperity that historians and essayists predicted the speedy downfallof the City: the very greatness of their success frightened those wholooked on and remembered the past. 

[Illustration: GROUP SHOWING COSTUMES AND SEDAN CHAIR, ABOUT 1720. 

(_From an engraving by Kip. _)]

Though the appearance of the City had changed, and its colour andpicturesqueness were gone, at no time was London more powerful or moremagnificent. There were no nobles living within the walls: only two orthree of the riverside palaces remained along the Strand: there were notroops of retainers riding along the streets in the bright liveries oftheir masters: the picturesque gables, the latticed windows, theoverhanging fronts--all these were gone: instead of the old churchesrich with ancient carvings, frescoes in crimson and blue, marblemonuments and painted glass, were the square halls--preaching halls--ofWren with their round windows, rich only in carved woodwork: the houseswere square with sash windows: the shop fronts were glazed: the streetswere filled with grave and sober merchants in great wigs and whiteruffles. They lived in stately and commodious houses, many of whichstill survive--see the Square at the back of Austin Friars Church for avery fine example--they had their country houses: they drove inchariots: and they did a splendid business. Their ships went all overthe world: they traded with India, not yet part of the Empire: withChina, and the Far East: with the West Indies, with the Levant. They hadCompanies for carrying on trade in every part of the globe. The SouthSea Company, the Hudson's Bay Company, the Turkey Company, the AfricanCompany, the Russian Company, the East India Company--are some. Theships lay moored below the Bridge in rows that reached a mile down theriver. 

[Illustration: TEMPLE BAR, LONDON. 

(_Built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1670; taken down in 1878 and sincerebuilt at Waltham Cross. _)]

All this prosperity grew in spite of the wars which we carried on duringthe whole of the last century. These wars, though they covered theChannel and the Bay of Biscay with privateers, had little effect to staythe increase of London trade. And as the merchants lived within theCity, in sight of each other, their wealth was observed and known byall. At the present day, when London from nightfall till morning is adead city, no one knows the wealth of the merchants and it is only byconsidering the extent of the suburbs that one can understand theenormous wealth possessed by those men who come up by train every dayand without ostentation walk among their clerks to their offices in theCity. A hundred and fifty years ago, one saw the rich men: sat in churchwith them: sat at dinner with them on Company feast days: knew them. Thevisible presence of so much wealth helped to make London great andproud. It would be interesting, if it were possible, to discover howmany families now noble or gentle--county families--derive their originor their wealth from the City merchants of the last century. 

In one thing there is a great change. Till the middle of the seventeenthcentury it was customary for the rank of trade to be recruited--inLondon, at least--from the younger sons. This fashion was now changed. The continual wars gave the younger sons another career: they enteredthe army and the navy. Hence arose the contempt for trade which existedin the country for about a hundred and fifty years. It is now fast dyingout, but it is not yet dead. Younger sons are now going into the Cityagain. 

[Illustration: FLEET STREET AND TEMPLE BAR. ]

The old exclusiveness was kept up jealously. No one must trade in theCity who was not free of the City. But the freedom of the City waseasily obtained. The craftsman and the clerk remained in their ownplaces: they were taught to know their places: they were taught, whichwas a very fine thing, to think much of their own places and to takepride in the station to which they were called: to respect those inhigher station and to receive respect from those lower thanthemselves. Though merchants had not, and have not, any rank assigned tothem by the Court officials, there was as much difference of rank andplace in the City as without. And in no time was there greater personaldignity than in this age when rank and station were so much regarded. But between the nobility and the City there was little intercourse andno sympathy. The manners, the morals, the dignity of the City illassorted with those of the aristocracy at a time when drinking andgambling were ruining the old families and destroying the noblest names. There has always belonged to the London merchant a great respect forpersonal character and conduct. We are accustomed to regard this as asurvival of Puritanism. This is not so: it existed before the arrival ofPuritanism: it arose in the time when the men in the wards knew eachother and when the master of many servants set the example, because hislife was visible to all, of order, honour, and self-respect. 

[Illustration: A COACH OF THE MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

(_From an engraving by John Dunstall. _)]

56. UNDER GEORGE THE SECOND. 

PART II. 

After the Great Fire, the number of City churches was reduced from 126to 87. Those that were rebuilt were for the most part much larger andmore capacious than their predecessors. In many cases, Wren, the greatarchitect, who rebuilt St. Paul's Cathedral and all the churches, inorder to get a larger church took in a part of the churchyard, whichaccounts for the fact that many of the City churchyards are now sosmall. Again, as the old churches had been built mainly for the purposeof saying and singing mass, the new churches were built mainly for thepurpose of hearing sermons. They were therefore provided with pews forthe accommodation of the hearers, and resembled, in their originaldesign, a convenient square room, where the preacher might be seen andheard by all, rather than a cruciform church. Some of Wren's churches, however, though they may be described as square rooms, are exceedinglybeautiful, for instance, St. Stephen's, Walbrook, while nearly all areenriched with woodwork of a beautiful description. It was the custom inthe last century to attend frequent church services, and to hear manysermons. The parish church entered into the daily life much more underGeorge the Second's reign than it does now, in spite of our improvedservices and our multiplication of services. In forty-four City churchesthere was service, sometimes twice, sometimes once, every day. In allof them there were evening services on Wednesday and Fridays: in manythere were endowed lectureships, which gave an additional sermon once aweek, or at stated times. Fast days were commonly observed, though itwas not customary to close shops or suspend business on Good Friday orAsh Wednesday: not more than half of the City churches possessed anorgan: on Sunday afternoons the children were duly catechised: if boysmisbehaved, the beadle or sexton caned them in the churchyard: the lawswere still in force which fined the parishioners for absence from churchand for harbouring in their houses people who did not go to church. Except for Sunday services, sermons, and visitations of the sick, theclergy had nothing to do. What is now considered the work of the parishclergy--the work that occupies all their time--is entirely modern. Formerly this kind of work was not done at all; the people were left tothemselves: the clergy were not the organisers of mothers' meetings, country jaunts, athletics, boys' clubs, and amusements. TheNonconformists still formed an important part of the City. They had manychapels, but their social influence in London, which was very great atthe beginning of the century, declined steadily, until thirty or fortyyears ago it stood at a very low ebb indeed. 

In the streets the roads were paved with round pebbles--they were'cobbled': the footway was protected by posts placed at intervals: thepaving stones, which only existed in the principal streets before theyear 1766, were small, and badly laid: after a shower they splashed upmud and water when one stepped upon them. The signs which we have seenon the Elizabethan houses still hung out from every shop and everyhouse: they had grown bigger: they were set in immense frames ofironwork, which creaked noisily, and sometimes tore out the front of ahouse by their enormous weight. The shop windows were now glazed withsmall panes, mostly oblong, and often in bow windows: you may findseveral such shops still remaining: one at the top of the Haymarket: onein Coventry Street: one in the Strand: there were no fronts of plateglass brilliantly illuminated to exhibit the contents exposed for sale:the old-fashioned shopkeeper prided himself on keeping within, and outof sight, his best and choicest goods. A few candles lit up the shop inthe winter afternoons. 

[Illustration: VIEW OF SCHOOL CONNECTED WITH BUNYAN'S MEETING HOUSE. ]

To walk in the streets meant the encounter of roughness and rudenesswhich would now be thought intolerable. There were no police to keeporder: if a man wanted order he might fight for it. Fights, indeed, were common in the streets: the waggoners, the hackney coachmen, themen with the wheelbarrows, the porters who carried things, were alwaysfighting in the streets: gentlemen were hustled by bullies, and oftenhad to fight them: most men carried a thick cudgel for self-protection. 

The streets were far noisier in the last century than ever they had beenbefore. Chiefly, this was due to the enormous increase of wheeledvehicles. Formerly everything came into the City or went out of it onthe backs of pack-horses and pack-asses. Now the roads were so muchimproved that waggons could be used for everything, and the long linesof pack-horses had disappeared from the main roads. In the country lanesthe pack-horse was still employed. Everybody was able to ride, and theCity apprentice, when he had a holiday, always spent it on horseback. But for everyday the hackney coach was used. Smaller carts were alsocoming into use. And for dragging about barrels of beer and heavy casesa dray of iron, without wheels, was used. All these innovations meantmore noise and still more noise. Had Whittington, in the time of GeorgeII. , sat down on Highgate Hill (still a grassy slope), he would haveheard, loud above the sound of Bow Bells, the rumbling of the waggons onCheapside. 

57. UNDER GEORGE THE SECOND. 

PART III. 

In walking through the City to-day, one may remark that there is verylittle crying of things to sell. In certain streets, as Broad Street, Whitecross Street, Whitechapel, or Middlesex Street, there is a kind ofopen street, fair, or market; but the street cries such as Hogarthdepicted exist no longer. People used to sell a thousand things in thestreets which are now sold in shops. All the little things--thread, string, pins, needles, small coal, ink, and straps--that are wanted in ahouse were sold by hawkers and bawled all day long in the streets: fruitof all kinds was sold from house to house: fish: milk: cakes and bread:herbs and drugs: brimstone matches: an endless procession passed along, all bawling their wares. Then there were the people who ground knives, mended chairs, soldered pots and pans: these bawled with the hawkers. Wecan no longer speak of the roar of London: there is no roar: thevehicles, nearly all provided with springs, roll smoothly over an evensurface of asphalt: there are no more drays without wheels: there are nomore street fights: there is comparatively little bawling of things tosell. 

[Illustration: GRENADIER IN THE TIME OF THE PENINSULAR WAR. ]

In those days people liked the noise. It was a part of the City life: itshowed how big and busy the City was since it could make such atremendous noise by the mere carrying on of the daily round. Could anyother city--even Paris--boast of such a noise? People who came up fromthe country to visit London were invited to consider the noise of theCity as a part of its magnificence and pride. 

What else had they to consider? What were the sights of London?

First of all, St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey. Then the Tower and theMonument, the Royal Exchange and the Mansion House, Guildhall and theBank of England, London Bridge, Newgate, St. James's and the HorseGuards. These were to be visited by day. In the evening there were thetheatres, Drury Lane and Covent Garden: and there were the Gardens. 

The citizens were always fond of their Gardens. They were opened as soonas the weather would allow, and they continued open till the autumnchills made them impossible. The gardens were those of Vauxhall--stillin existence as a small park: Ranelagh, at Chelsea: Marylebone, oppositethe old Parish Church in High Street: Bagnigge Wells, which lay East ofGray's Inn Road: Belsize, near Hampstead: the White Conduit House in thefields near Islington: the Florida Gardens at Brompton: the Temple ofFlora, the Apollo Gardens, and the Bermondsey Spa Gardens, all on thesouth side. These Gardens, now built over, were all alike. Every one ofthem had an ornamental water, walks and shrubs, a room for dancing andsinging, and a stand for the band out of doors. People walked about, looked at each other, had supper, drank punch--and went home. If theGardens were at any distance from the City they marched together forsafety. 

The river was still the favourite highway--thousands of boats plied upand down: it was much safer, shorter, and more pleasant to take oarsfrom Westminster to the City than to walk or to hire a coach. 

[Illustration: UNIFORM OF SAILORS ABOUT 1790. ]

The high roads of the country were rapidly improving. Stage coaches ranfrom London to all the principal towns. They started, for the most part, at eight in the evening. They charged fourpence a mile, and theypretended to accomplish the journey at the rate of seven miles an hour. You may easily compare the cost of travelling when you remember that youmay now go anywhere for a penny a mile--one fourth the former charge atfive or six times the rate. The 'short stages, ' of which there were agreat many, ran to and from the suburbs: they were like the omnibuses, but not so frequent, and they cost a great deal more. Threepence a milewas the usual charge. There was a penny post in London, first set up bya private person. A letter sent from London cost twopence the firststage: threepence for two stages: above 150 miles, sixpence: Ireland andScotland, sixpence: any foreign country a shilling. There were no banknotes under the value of 20_l. _: there were no postal orders or anyconveniences of that kind. Money was remitted to London either bycarrier or through some merchant. Banks there were by this time: butmost people preferred keeping their own money in their own houses. Alsobanks being few everybody carried gold: this partly explains theprevalence of highway robbery: very likely the passengers on any longstage coach carried between them some hundreds of guineas: a wholerailway train in these days would not yield so much: for people nolonger carry with them more money than is wanted for the smallexpenditure of the day: tram, omnibus, cab, luncheon or dinner. 

58. UNDER GEORGE THE SECOND. 

PART IV. 

So far we understand that London about the year 1750 was a city filledwith dignified merchants all getting rich, and with a decorous, self-respecting population of retail traders, clerks, craftsmen, andservants of all kinds, a noisy but a well-behaved people. Achurch-going, sermon-loving, and orderly people. 

This is in the main a fair and just appreciation of the City. But thereis the other side which must not be overlooked--that side, namely, whichpresents the vice and sin and misery which always accompany thecongregation of many people and the accumulation of wealth. 

[Illustration: COSTUMES OF GENTLEFOLK, ABOUT 1784. ]

The vice which has always been the father of most miseries is that ofdrink. In the middle of the last century, everybody drank too much. Thedignity of the grave merchant was too often marred by indulgence in portand punch: the City clergy drank too much: even the ladies drank toomuch: it was hardly a reproach, in any class, to be overcome withliquor. As for the lower classes their habitual drink was beer--Franklintells us that when he was a printer in London every man drank seven oreight pints of beer every day: nor was this small ale or porter: it wasgenerally good strong beer: the beer would not perhaps hurt them somuch--though the money spent on drink was enormous--but unfortunatelythey had now taken to gin as well--or instead. The drinking of gin atone time threatened, literally, to destroy the whole of the workingclasses of London. There were 10, 000 houses--one in four--where gin wassold either secretly or openly. It was advertised that a man could getdrunk for a penny and dead drunk for twopence. A check was placed uponthis habit by imposing a tax of 5_s. _ on every gallon of gin. This wasin the year 1735 and in 1750 about 1, 700 gin shops were closed. Sincethen the continual efforts made to stop the pernicious habit of dramdrinking have greatly reduced the evil. But it was not only the drinkingof gin: there was also the rum punch which formed so large a part in thelife of the Georgian citizen. Every man had his club to which heresorted in the evening after the day's work. Here he sat and for themost part drank what he called a sober glass: that is to say, he did notgo home drunk, but he drank every night more than was good for him. Theresults were the transmission of gout and other disorders to hischildren. It should be, indeed, a most serious thing to reflect that inevery evil habit we are bringing misery and suffering upon our childrenas well as ourselves. The habits of drinking showed themselvesexternally in a bloated body; puffed and red cheeks; a large and swollennose; trembling hands; fat lips and bleared eyes: in the case of gindrinkers it showed itself in a face literally blue. It is said that KingGeorge the Third was persuaded to a temperate life--in a time ofuniversal intemperance, this King remained always temperate--by theexample of his uncle the Duke of Cumberland, who at the age offorty-five in consequence of his excesses in drink exhibited a bodyswollen and bloated and tortured with disease. 

[Illustration: VESSELS UNLOADING AT THE CUSTOMS HOUSE, AT THE BEGINNINGOF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. ]

If you look at a map of London of this time you will see that the cityextended a long way up and down the river on either bank. Outside thewalls there were the crowded districts of Whitechapel, Cripplegate, Bishopsgate, St. Katherine's, Wapping, Ratcliff, Shadwell, Stepney, andothers. These places were not only outside the wards and thejurisdiction of the City, but they were outside any government whatever. They were growing up in some parts without schools, churches, or anyrule, order, or discipline whatever. The people in many of thesequarters were of the working classes, but too often of the criminalclass. They were rude and rough and ignorant to an extraordinary degree. How could they be anything else, living as they did? They were sounruly, they were so numerous, they were so ready to break out, thatthey became a danger to the very existence of Order and Government. Theywere kept in some kind of order by the greatest severity of punishment. They were hanged for what we now call light offences: they were kepthalf starved in foul and filthy prisons: and they were mercilesslyflogged. In the army it was not unknown for a man to receive 500 lashes:in the navy they were always flogging the men. Horrible as it is to readof these punishments we must remember that the men who received themwere brutal and dead to any other kind of persuasion. Drink andignorance and habitual vice had killed the sense of shame and stilledthe voice of conscience. The only thing they would feel was the pain ofthe whip. 

59. UNDER GEORGE THE SECOND. 

PART V. 

It was estimated, some years later than the period we are considering, that there were then in London 3, 000 receivers of stolen goods; that isto say, people who bought without question whatever was brought to themfor sale: that the value of the goods stolen every year from the shipslying in the river--there were then no great Docks and the lading andunlading were carried on by lighters and barges--amounted to half amillion sterling every year: that the value of the property annuallystolen in and about London amounted to 700, 000_l. _: and that goods worthhalf a million at least were annually stolen from His Majesty's stores, dockyards, ships of war, &c. The moral principle, a writer statesplainly, 'is totally destroyed among a vast body of the lower ranks ofthe people. ' To meet this deplorable condition of things there wereforty-eight different offences punishable by death: among them wasshoplifting above five shillings: stealing linen from a bleachingground: cutting hop bines and sending threatening letters. There werenineteen kinds of offences for which transportation, imprisonment, whipping, or pillory were provided: there were twenty-one kinds ofoffences punishable by whipping, pillory, fine and imprisonment. Amongthe last were 'combinations and conspiracies for raising the price ofwages. ' The classification seems to have been done at haphazard: forinstance, to embezzle naval stores would seem as bad as to steal amaster's goods: but the latter offence was capital and the former not. Again, it is surely a most abominable crime to set fire to a house, yetthis is classed among the lighter offences. It was therefore a time whenthere was a large and constantly increasing criminal class: and, as anatural cause or a natural consequence, whichever we please, there was avery large class of people as ignorant, as rude, and as dangerous ascould well be imagined. I do not think there was ever a time, not evenin the most remote ages, when London contained savages more brutal andmore ignorant than could be found in certain districts outside the Cityof the Second George. But these poor wretches had one great virtue--theywere brave: they manned our ships for us and gave Britannia the commandof the sea: they were knocked down, driven and dragged aboard the shipsby the press-gang. Once there they fell into rank and order, carried avaliant pike, manned the guns with zeal, joined the boarding party withalacrity and carried their cutlasses into the forlorn hope with facesthat showed no fear. They were so strong, so stubborn, and so brave, that one sighs to think of the lash that kept them in discipline andorder. There is one more side of London that must not be forgotten. Itwas a great and prosperous city: we can never dwell too strongly on theprosperity of the city: but there were shipwrecks many and disastrous. And the fate of the man who could not pay his debts was well known toall and could be witnessed every day, as an example and a warning. Forhe went to prison and in prison he stopped. 'Pay what you owe, ' theysaid to the debtor, 'or else stay where you are. ' The debtor could notpay: in prison the debtor had no means of making any money: therefore hestayed where he was until he died. For the accommodation of theseunhappy persons there were the King's Bench and the Marshalsea, both inSouthwark: there were the two Compters, both in the City: and there wasthe Fleet Prison. 

The life in these prisons can be found described in many novels. It wasa squalid and miserable life among ruined gamblers, spendthrifts, profligates, broken down merchants, bankrupt tradesmen, and helplesswomen of all classes. Unless one had allowances from friends, starvationmight be the end. In one at least the common hall had shelves rangedround the walls for the reception of beds: everything was carried on inthe same room, living, sleeping, eating, cooking. And into such aplace as this the unhappy debtor was thrust, there to remain till deathreleased him. 

[Illustration: THE OLD HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT AND WESTMINSTER ABBEY, 1803. ]

This was the London of a hundred and fifty years ago. No longerpicturesque as in the old days, but solidly constructed, handsome, andsubstantial. The merchants still lived in the city but the nobles hadall gone. The Companies possessed the greater part of the City and stillruled though they no longer dictated the wages, hours, and prices. Within the walls there reigned comparative order: outside there was nogovernment at all. The river below the Bridge was crowded with shipsmoored two and four together side by side with an open way in themiddle. Thousands of barges and lighters were engaged upon the cargoes:every day the church bells rang for a large and orderly congregation:every day arose in every street such an uproar as we cannot evenimagine: yet there were quiet spots in the City with shady gardens whereone could sit at peace: wealth grew fast: but with it there grew up themob with the fear of anarchy and license, a taste of which was affordedby the Gordon Riots. Yet it would be eighty years before the city shouldunderstand the necessity for a police. 

60. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. 

PART I. 

Let us walk into the streets. You will not observe, because you are usedto these things, and have been brought up among them, and are accustomedto them, that all the men go about unarmed: that they do not carry evena stick for their protection: that they do not fight or quarrel witheach other: that the strong do not knock down the weak but patientlywait for them and make room for them: that ladies walk about with noprotection or escort: that things are exposed for sale with no otherguard than a boy or a girl: that most valuable articles are hung upbehind a thin pane of glass. You will further observe men in blue--youcall them policemen--who stroll about in a leisurely manner looking onand taking no part in the bustle. What do these policemen do? In theroads the vehicles do not run into one another, but follow in rank andorder, those going one way taking their own side. Everybody is orderly. Everything is arranged and disposed as if there was no such thing asviolence, crime, or disorder. You think it has always been so? Nay:order in human affairs does not grow of its own accord. Disorder, if youplease, grows like the weeds of the hedge side--but not order. 

Again, you always find the shops well provided and filled with goods. There are the food shops--those which offer meat, bread, fruit, vegetables, coffee, tea, sugar, butter, cheese. These shops are alwaysfull of these things. There is never a day in the whole year when thesupply runs short. You think all these things come of their own accord?Not so: they come because their growth, importation, carriage, anddistribution are so ordered by experience that has accumulated forcenturies that there shall be no failure in the supply. 

Again, you find every kind of business and occupation carried on withouthindrance. Nobody prevents a man from working at his trade; or fromselling what he has made. One workman does not molest another though heis a rival. You think, perhaps, that this peacefulness has come bychance? Nay: strife comes to men left without rule--but not peace. 

You may observe further, that the streets are paved with broad stonesconvenient for walking and easy to be kept clean: that the roadways areasphalted or paved with wood, and are also clean: things that must bethrown away are not thrown into the streets: they are collected in cartsand carried away. You think that the streets of cities are kept clean bythe rain? Not so: if we had only the rain as a scavenger we should be ina sorry plight. 

You find that water is laid on in every house. How does that water come?That gas lights up houses and streets. How does the gas come? That drainscarry off the rain and the liquid refuse. How did the drains come?

You may see as you go along a man who walks from house to housedelivering letters. Does he do this of his own accord? You know verywell that he does not; that he is paid to do it: that he does his duty. What is the whole of his duty? Who gives him his orders?

Or you may see another man going from house to house leaving a paper ateach. He is a rate collector. What is a rate collector? Who gives himauthority to take money from people? What does he do with the money?

Or you may see placards on the walls asking people to vote for this man, or for that man, for the School Board, the County Council, the House ofCommons, or the Vestry. Why does this man want to get elected to one ofthose Councils? What will he do when he is elected? What are all theseCouncils for?

Again, the thing has never been otherwise in your recollection and youtherefore do not observe it, but if you listen you will find that mentalk with the greatest freedom as they walk with their friends: no oneinterferes with their conversation, no one interferes with their dress, no one asks them what they want or where they are going. Did thispersonal freedom always exist? Certainly not, for personal freedom doesnot grow of its own accord. 

You will also observe, as you walk along, churches--in every street, achurch--of all denominations: you will find posted on the walls noticesof public meetings for discussion or for lectures and addresses on everyconceivable topic: you will see boys crying newspapers in which allsubjects are treated with the utmost freedom. You suppose, perhaps, thatfreedom of thought, of speech, of discussion, of writing comes to acommunity like the rain and the wind? Not so. Slavery comes to acommunity if you please, but not freedom. That has to be achieved. 

You have seen the city growing larger and wealthier: the people gettinginto finer houses, wider streets, and more settled ways. Now, there is athing which goes with the advance of a people: it is good government. Unless with advance of wealth there comes improved government, thepeople fall into decay. But, which is a remarkable thing, goodgovernment can only continue or advance as the people themselves advancein wisdom as well as in wealth. Such government as we have now wouldhave been useless in the time of King Ethelred or King Edward I. Suchgovernment as we have now would be impossible had not the citizens ofLondon continued to learn the lessons in order, in good laws, in respectto law, which for generation after generation were submitted to thepeople. 

61. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. 

PART II. 

Since all these things do not grow of their own accord, by whom werethey first introduced, planted, and developed? By whom are they nowmaintained? By the collection of powers and authorities which we callthe Government of the City and County of London. 

Thus order reigns in the streets: in the rare cases where disorderbreaks out the policeman is present to stop it. His presence stops it. Not because he is a strong man, but because he is irresistible: he isthe servant of the Law: he represents Authority. Formerly the Aldermanof the Ward walked about his own streets followed by two bailiffs. Ifany one dared to resist the Alderman he was liable to have his handstruck off by an axe. In this way people were taught to respect the Law. By such sharp lessons it was forced upon them that the Law must beobeyed. Thus there gradually grew up among them a desire for Order. Thepoliceman appointed by the Chief Police Officer stands for a symbol andreminder of the Law. 

You have seen how the people of London had their Folks' Mote, their WardMote, and their Hustings. From the first of these has sprung the CommonCouncil, which rules over the City of London within the old boundaries. The Folks' Mote was a Parliament of the People--a rude and tumultuousassembly, no doubt, but a free assembly. When the City grew great such aParliament became impossible. It therefore became an electiveParliament. The election was--and is still--conducted at the Ward Motes, each Ward returning so many members in proportion to its population, forthe Common Council. The Councillors are elected for one year only. Ifthere is a vacancy an Alderman is also elected, but that is for life. 

Formerly every man in London followed a trade: he therefore belonged toa Company. And as the commonalty, all the men of London togetherassembled, i. E. All the members of all the companies, elected the Mayor, so to this day the electors of the Lord Mayor are the members of theCompanies. None others have any voice in the election. The Companies nolonger include all the citizens, and the craftsmen have nearly all leftthe City. But the power remains. 

The Lord Mayor is the chief magistrate. With him is the Court ofAldermen, also magistrates. He has with him the great officers of theCity: the Recorder, or Chief Justice; the Town Clerk; the Chamberlain, who is the Treasurer; the Remembrancer; and the Common Sergeant. 

The education of the young, the maintenance of the old, the paving andcleansing of the streets, the lighting, the removal of waste, theengines for extinguishing fires, the regulation of the road traffic, thepreservation of order, all these things are conducted by the variousCouncils and Courts of the City, and the cost is provided by that kindof taxation known as the rates. That is to say, every house is 'rated'or estimated as worth so much rent. The tenant who pays the rent has topay, in addition, a charge of so much in the pound for this and thatobject. Thus for education, if the rate be 1_s. _ in the pound, a man ina house whose rent is 100_l. _ has to pay 5_l. _ on that charge. He has topay also for the Police, the Fire Brigade, the Poor, lighting andpaving. His own water supply is managed by a private company, andanother private company gives him his gas or his electricity. In thesame way the food is provided by private persons and brought to thecity by private companies. Thus you are governed by men whom you aresupposed yourselves to elect: order is kept for you: education, protection, and conveniences are found for you: in a word, life is madetolerable for you by your own Government--elected by yourselves--and atyour own cost. 

62. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. 

PART III. 

That is the best Government which gives the greatest possible liberty toits people: only that people can be happy which is capable of usingtheir freedom aright. You have seen how your personal freedom fromviolence, robbery, and molestation in your work is secured for you: howyou are enabled to live in comfort and cleanliness--by a vast machineryof Government whose growth has been gradual and which must always beready to meet changes so as to suit the needs of the people. One pointyou must carefully remember, that your greatest liberty is liberty ofspeech and of thought and of the Press. It is not so very long sincemartyrs--Catholic as well as Protestant--were executed for theirreligious belief: Catholics and Jews until quite recently were excludedfrom Parliament. A hundred years ago the debates of Parliament could notbe reported: one had to weigh his words very carefully in speaking ofthe Sovereign or the Ministers: certain forms of opinion were notallowed to be published. All that is altered. You can believe what youlike and advocate what you like, so long as it is not against Divine Lawor the Law of the Land. Thus, if one were to preach the duty of Murderhe would be very properly stopped. Therefore, when you buy a dailypaper: whenever you enter a church or chapel: whenever you hear anaddress or a lecture remember that you are enjoying the freedom won foryou by the obstinacy and the tenacity of your ancestors. 

We have spoken of the City Companies. They still exist and though theirformer powers are gone and they no longer control the trades after whichthey are named, their power is still very great on account of therevenues which they possess and their administration of charities, institutions, &c. , under their care. There were 109 in all, but manyhave been dissolved. There are still, however, 76. About half of thesepossess Halls which are now the Great Houses of the City. The number oflivery men, i. E. Members of the Companies, is 8, 765. The Companies varygreatly in numbers: there are 448 Haberdashers, for instance: 380Fishmongers: and 356 Spectacle Makers: while there are only 16Fletchers, i. E. Makers of arrows. Many of the trades are now extinct, such as the Fletchers above named, the Bowyers, the Girdlers, theBowstring Makers and the Armourers. 

Some of these Companies are now very rich. One of them possesses anincome, including Trust money, of 83, 000_l. _ a year. It must beacknowledged that the Companies carry on a great deal of good work withtheir money. Many of them, however, have little or nothing: the BasketMakers have only 102_l. _ a year: the Glass Sellers only 21_l. _ a year:the Tinplate Workers 7_l. _ 7_s. _ a year. If, therefore, you hear of thegreat riches of the City Companies remember (1) that 25 of them haveless than 500_l. _ a year each: and (2) that the rich Companies supportTechnical Colleges and Schools, grant scholarships, encourage trade, hold exhibitions, maintain almshouses, and make large grants to objectsworthy of support. It is not likely that the privilege of electing theLord Mayor will long continue to be in the hands of the Companies. It isnot, indeed, worthy of a great City that its Chief Magistrate should beelected by so small a minority as 8, 765 out of the hundreds of thousandswho have their offices and transact their business in the City: butwhile this privilege will cease, the Companies may remain and continueto exercise a central influence, at the least in London, over the Craftsand Arts which they represent. Let us never destroy what has beenuseful: let us, on the other hand, preserve it, altered to meet changedcircumstances. For an institution is not like a tree which grows anddecays. If it is a good institution, built upon the needs and adapted tothe circumstances of human nature, it will never decay but, like theSaxon form of popular election, live and develop and change as thepeople themselves change from age to age. 

63. LONDON. 

GREATER LONDON. 

It has been a great misfortune for London that, when its Wall ceased tobe the true boundary of the town, and when the people began to spread inall directions outside the walls, no statesman arose with vision clearenough to perceive that the old system must be enlarged or abolished:that the City must cease to mean the City of the Edwards, and mustinclude these new suburbs, from Richmond on the West to Poplar on theEast, and from Hampstead on the North to Balham on the South. It is truethat something was done: there are the Wards of Bridge Without, which isSouthwark: and of Farringdon Without. There should have been provisionfor the creation of new Wards whenever the growth of a suburb warrantedits addition. That, however, has not been done. The Old London remainsas it was, and as we now see it, surrounded by another, and an immenseCity, or aggregate of cities, all placed under the rule of a Council. 

This was done by the Act of 1888, which created a County whoseboundaries were the same as those of the former Metropolitan Board ofWorks; in other words, it embraces all the suburbs of London properly socalled. This County extends from Putney and Hammersmith on the West toPlumstead on the East: on the North are Hampstead and Highgate; on theSouth are Tooting, Streatham, Lewisham and Eltham. There are 138Councillors, of whom 19 are Aldermen and one a Chairman. Theconservative tendency of our people is shown in their retention of theold division of aldermen. It is, once more, Kings, Lords, and Commons. But the functions of the Aldermen do not differ from those of theCouncillor. The Councillors are elected by the ratepayers for threeyears, the Aldermen for six; but there is a rule as to retiring byrotation. 

The powers of the County Council are enormous. It regulates the buildingof houses and streets: the drainage: places of amusement: it can closestreets and pull down houses: it administers and makes regulationsconcerning parks, bridges, tunnels, subways, dairies, cattle diseases, explosives, lunatic asylums, reformatory schools, weights and measures. It grants licenses for music and dancing: it carries on, in fact, thewhole administration of the greatest City in the world, and, in somerespects, the best managed City. 

In order to carry out these works the Council expend about 600, 000_l. _ ayear. It has a debt of 30, 000, 000_l. _, against which are various assets, so that the real debt is no more than 18, 000, 000_l. _ The rating outsidethe City was last year 12½_d. _ in the pound. The first Chairman was LordRosebery. He has been succeeded by Sir John Lubbock and Mr. JohnHutton. The list of County Councillors contains men of every rank andevery opinion. Dukes, Earls and Barons, sit upon the Council besideplain working men--an excellent promise for the future. 

Such is the government of London. Within the City what was intended tobe democratic has become oligarchic. The election by the whole peoplehas become the election by 8, 000 only. Without the City a greatdemocratic Parliament attracts men whose historic names and titlesbelong to the aristocracy. In the London County Council the Peers may, if they are elected, sit beside the Commons. 

Lastly, what is the chief lesson for you to learn out of this history?It is short, and may be summed up in a few sentences. 

1. Consider how your liberties have grown silently and steadily out ofthe original free institutions of your Saxon ancestors. They have grownas the trunk, the tree, the leaves, the flower, the fruit, grow from thesingle seed. The Folk Mote, the 'Law worthiness' of every man, theabsence of any Over Lord but the King, have kept London always free andready for every expansion of her liberties. Respect, therefore, theancient things which have made the City--and the country--what it is. Trust that the further natural growth of the old tree--stillvigorous--will be safer for us than to cut it down and plant a sapling, which may prove a poison tree. And with the old institutions respect theold places. Never, if you can help it, suffer an old monument to bepulled down and destroyed. Keep before your eyes the things which remindyou of the past. When you look on London Stone, remember that Henry ofLondon Stone was one of the first Mayors. When you go up College Hill, remember Whittington who gave it that name. When you pass the RoyalExchange think of Gresham: when you go up Walbrook remember the streambeneath your feet, the Roman Fortress on your right, and the Britishtown on your left. London is crammed full of associations for those whoread and know and think. You will be better citizens of the present forknowing about the citizens of the past. 

2. The next lesson is your duty to your country. What does it mean, theright of the Folk Mote? The Mote has now become a House of Commons, aCounty Council, a School Board. You have the same rights that yourancestor had. He was jealous over them: he fought to the death topreserve them and to strengthen them. Be as jealous, for they are farmore important to you than ever they were to him. You have a hundredtimes as much to defend: you have dangers which he did not know or fear. Show your jealousy by exercising your right as the most sacred duty youhave to fulfil. Your vote is an inheritance and a trust. You haveinherited it direct from the Angles and the Jutes: as you exercise thatvote so it will be ill or well with you and your children. Be veryjealous of the man you put in power: learn to distinguish the man whowants place from the man who wants justice: vote only for the right man:and do your best to find out the right man. It is difficult at alltimes. You may make it less difficult by sending to the variousParliaments of the country a man you know, who has lived among you, whose life, whose private character, whose previous record you knowinstead of the stranger who comes to court your vote. Above all things_vote always_ and let the first duty in your mind always be to protectyour rights and your liberties. 

These are the two lessons that this book should teach you--the respectthat is due to the past and the duty that is owed to the present. 

NOTES

1. THE FOUNDATION OF LONDON. PART I. 

~Æneas~: a Trojan prince who escaped from Troy when it was destroyed bythe Greeks. 

~Venus~, the Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty, was the mother of Æneas. 

~Troy~: a famous city in the north-west corner of Asia Minor. It wasdestroyed by Greek invaders about 1, 000 years before Christ, and thestories connected with it form one of the chief subjects of Greek andLatin poets. 

~Troynovant~ means New Troy. 

~Constantine the Great~ was Emperor of Rome, that is, of all the thenknown world from 305 to 337 A. D. He was the first Roman Emperor to adoptand favour Christianity. Constantinople is named after him, and was madeby him the capital of the Empire. 

~Geoffrey of Monmouth~ was a British historian of the twelfth century. He was made Bishop of St. Asaph in 1152. His 'histories' are largelymade up of stories, such as that about Brutus, which nobody believesnow. 

~historical document~: a piece of writing that can be used to prove someevent in the history of past times. 

~architecture~: the art of building; the style in which houses arebuilt. 

~Cornhill~: a street in the City of London running west to east from theRoyal Exchange into Leadenhall Street. It was probably named after afamily of that name, and not from any corn market on the site. 

~bastion~: a strong turret or tower at the corner of a fortifiedbuilding. 

~Walbrook~: a small stream that crossed the City from north to south. Itflowed near where the Mansion House now stands (Walbrook is a street atthe side of the Mansion House), and fell into the Thames at Dowgate, near where Cannon Street Railway Station now stands. 

~Fleet River~: a small stream which fell into the Thames near whereBlackfriars Railway Station now stands. 

~Moorfields~ was a piece of moor land lying to the north of the City, outside the walls. The City gate which led to this district was theMoorgate, a name which still survives in Moorgate Street. 

~Ken Wood~, in Hampstead, ~Hainault Forest~, a small piece of wood inEssex, about eight miles north-east of London, and ~Epping Forest~, alarger portion, also in Essex, to the west of Hainault Forest, are allremaining portions of a great forest that once stretched away fromLondon far into the country. 

~Chelsea, Bermondsey~: in all such words _ea_ or _ey_ is an old word forisland. In this way are formed Winchelsea, Battersea, &c. ; ~Thorney~(where Westminster is now) is the Island of Thorns; and ~Jersey~, Cæsar's Island. 

~Southwark~: a district of London opposite the City, on the south sideof the Thames. It was the South work, or fort, and is spoken of as avillage as late as 1327, the accession of Edward III. 

2. THE FOUNDATION OF LONDON. PART II. 

~Malarious~: causing the air to be bad, and so giving rise to fevers;unhealthy. (Latin _malus_, bad; _aer_, air. )

~Weybridge~, in Surrey, near where the river Wey, after flowing pastGodalming and Guildford, falls into the Thames. 

~entrenching~: making a trench or ditch. The earth dug out was formedinto a mound. The mound and ditch, together with the stockade, protectedthe place. 

~stockade~: a barrier made of _stakes_ stuck in the ground. 

~Gaul~: the old name for the country now called France--the land of theGalli, or Celts. _Gaelic_ is the language still spoken by the Celts inScotland. 

~Thanet~: a district in the north-east of Kent, containing Ramsgate, Margate, and Broadstairs. The river Stour parts it from the rest ofKent, so that it is still an 'island, ' though the channel was formerlymuch wider and deeper. 

~Captain Cook~: a famous sailor born 1728, murdered in the SandwichIslands 1779. He was among the first to visit Australia and New Zealand, and made many discoveries in the Pacific. 

~Polynesians~: the natives of Polynesia, or the smaller islands in theSouth Pacific. They are brown-skinned, and akin in race to the Maoriesof New Zealand and the Malays. 

~Brythonic~: that portion of the Celts whose descendants are now theWelsh, Bretons: (in Bretagne, on the west coast of France), andCornishmen. 

~Basques~: the natives of a part of northern Spain, near the Pyrenees. Their language is unconnected with any other, except perhaps that of theFinns. The Province and Bay of Biscay is named after them. 

~Finns~: the natives of Finland in Russia. Like the Basques, they arethe remains of a nation which once spread over all Europe, and has nownearly disappeared. 

~barrow~: a mound raised over a grave. 

~Verulam~: an old British, and then a Roman town, on the site of whichis now St. Albans, in Hertfordshire. 

3. ROMAN LONDON. PART I. 

~Stationary camp~: a fixed or permanent camp; a fort. A Roman army onthe march constructed a camp if it only spent one night in a place. Suchcamps were not stationary. 

~Porchester~: a small town on the north side of Portsmouth Harbour. Chester is the Latin _castra_, a camp, and occurs in Leicester, Colchester, Chester, Silchester, &c. 

~rubble~: small rough stones often used inside piles of masonry. 

~Silchester~: a place near Reading at which remains of old Romanbuildings have been dug out. 

~Mincing Lane~: a narrow street in the east part of the City. 

~tribunal~: the place where judges sit to administer justice. 

~Exchange~: the place where merchants meet and carry on their business. 

~stevedores~: those engaged in the work of loading and unloading ships. 

4. ROMAN LONDON. PART II. 

~Tesselated~: formed of small pieces of stone or tile of various coloursarranged to form a pattern, like mosaic work. 

~Diana~: the Roman Goddess of Hunting; also of the Moon. 

~Apollo~: the Roman God of Poetry, Music, and Prophecy. 

~Guildhall~: the hall of the Guild or Corporation of the City of London, near Cheapside. 

~usurper~: one who by force seizes and holds a position which does notbelong to him. 

~Picts~: wild savages from the country which we call Scotland; ~Scots~, also savage men, who, though they afterwards gave their name toScotland, at that time came from Ireland. 

~Hong Kong~: an island off the coast of China; ~Singapore~, a largeBritish seaport on an island of the same name off the south end of theMalay Peninsula; ~West Indies~, a number of islands to the east ofCentral America in the Atlantic: of those belonging to Great BritainJamaica is the largest. 

5. AFTER THE ROMANS. PART I. 

~East Saxons~ were those who dwelt in Essex, the county named afterthem. 

~Crayford~: on the river Cray in north Kent. Here the Saxons underHengist totally defeated the Britons under Vortimer in 457 A. D. 

~Canterbury~ is the burgh, borough, or fortified place of the men ofKent. 

~Pulborough~, in Sussex, gives us another form of the suffix. 

~chronicler~: a historian, particularly one living in early times. 

~Saxons~: German tribes from the district by the mouth of the Elbe;~Jutes~, from a part of Denmark which still preserves their name, Jutland; ~Angles~, from what is now Schleswig and Holstein. 

~Count of the Saxon Shore~: the Roman admiral set to defend the southernparts of the English coast, which were called 'Saxon Shore, ' becausemost liable to attack from the Saxons. 

~mercenaries~: soldiers who do not fight for the safety and glory oftheir own country, but for hire. 

6. AFTER THE ROMANS. PART II. 

~Blackfriars~, at the eastern end of the Thames Embankment, derives itsname from a monastery or house of Black Friars which stood there. 

~Watling Street~, ~Ermyn Street~, ~Vicinal Way~: made by the Romans, whowere famous makers of high roads, many of which are still in use. (Seemap on p. 15. )

~Newgate~ was a gate on the west of the walls which enclosed the City;~Bishopsgate~, on the north-east. 

~victualling~: providing food for. 

~emergencies~: times of difficulty and danger. 

~Isle of Thanet~: it must be remembered that the Stour, at the back ofThanet, was once much wider and deeper than it is now. In fact, it wasthe general route for vessels coming up the Thames. 

~appointments~: furniture, fittings. 

~mimics~: actors who played in farces, like our panto_mimes_. 

~scribes~: among the Romans, clerks in public offices. 

7. AFTER THE ROMANS. PART III. 

~Alaric~, king of a German tribe called the Visigoths (West Goths)invaded Greece and Italy, and after several defeats finally took andsacked Rome in 410 A. D. It was this state of thing which compelled theRomans to withdraw their troops from Britain. 

~The West where the Britons still held their own~: Wales and Cornwallwere never occupied by the invading Saxons: Welsh and Cornishmen areCelts, with a language of their own in Wales, while the Cornish languagehas only disappeared during the last hundred years. 

~Wessex~: the land of the West Saxons corresponds roughly to Englandsouth of the Thames. 

~oblivion~: being forgotten. 

~The river Lea~ rises in Bedfordshire, near Luton, passes Hertford andWare, forms the boundary between Middlesex and Essex, and falls into theThames at Blackwall, after a course of forty miles. 

~quagmires~: marshy, boggy ground that _quakes_ under the feet (quake, mire). 

8. THE FIRST SAXON SETTLEMENT. 

~Ecclesiastic~: connected with the Church. For many centuries Rome wasthe centre of Christian influence, and is so still to all RomanCatholics. 

~ritual~: the customs and ceremonies employed in performing service in achurch. 

~Gregory I. ~ or ~the Great~ was Pope from 590-604 A. D. He it was whosent Augustine to attempt the conversion of the English in the year 597. 

~kinglet~: a petty king. England was then divided among many kings, sothat the realm of each was necessarily very small. 

~crucifix~: a figure of Christ fixed to the cross. 

~Bede~: a monk and Church historian who lived and died at Jarrow incounty Durham in 735 A. D. 

~Lindesfarne~, or Holy Island, off the coast of Northumberland. 

~Northumbrians~: the men of Northumbria--that is, Yorkshire, Durham, andNorthumberland. 

~Mercians~: the men of Mercia, or land of the Middle English. 

~supremacy~: Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, were separate kingdoms whichwere successively, in the order in which they are given, strong enoughto overawe or exercise supremacy over the others. The king of Wessexeventually became king of England. 

~Witan~, or in its fuller form ~wit-an-a-ge-mote~, the 'meeting of wisemen, ' was the national council which afterwards grew up into our modernparliament. 

9. THE SECOND SAXON SETTLEMENT. 

~Pagan~: heathen, not yet converted to Christianity. 

~King Alfred~, called the Great, was king of England from 871-901 A. D. 

~Alderman~ in early England meant the ruler of a large district, such asa shire or kingdom. When Mercia became subject to Wessex it was ruled byan alderman. 

~Benfleet~: a place in Essex, on the north bank of the Thames, not farfrom Southend. 

~Brunanburgh~ was the scene of a defeat of the Danes by Athelstan in 937A. D. ; the place cannot now be identified. 

~Sweyn~, King of Denmark, invaded England with his son Canute in 1013A. D. 

~Redriff~ is now called Rotherhithe, south of the Thames. 

~King Ethelred II. ~, called the Unredig, or lacking in counsel, reigned979-1013 A. D. 

~Olave~ or ~Olaf~ and ~Magnus~ are Scandinavian names: there were earlykings of Norway so called. 

~The Portreeve~: the reeve or governor of London was a chief magistrateor mayor of the City. 

~The 'Staller'~ or ~Marshal~ led the men of London to battle. 

~The Knighten Guild~ was the ruling council of London: they were notchosen by election, but were the chief owners of property, and, liketheir land, the office was handed down from father to son. 

~mote~: meeting. 

~hustings~: a general meeting of the citizens held every week; later onthe word came to mean the platform whence candidates for parliamentaddressed their constituents. 

10. THE ANGLO-SAXON CITIZEN. 

~Athelstan~ (925-940), the grandson of Alfred the Great, and ~EtheldredII. ~ (979-1013) were kings of England. 

~earl~ or ~eorl~ was what we should now call a gentleman of good family;~thanes~: nobles who for the most part acquired their titles from theking as rewards for services. 

~municipal~: having to do with the municipality or city. 

~French~: Norman-French was the language spoken by the Normans. 

~the meat and fish were salted~: in the absence of root-crops it wasfound difficult to keep animals through the winter. Hence much salt meatand fish were stored up. 

~embroidery~: the art of working designs on cloth in needlework. 

~spinster~: an unmarried woman; so called because unmarried daughtersworked at spinning and weaving for the household, making 'homespun'cloth for them. 

~marauding~: roving about for plunder. 

~solar~: in early houses the chamber over the hall, used as the bedroomfor the master and mistress of the house. (See picture on p. 73. )

~tapestry~: thick hangings or curtains with figures worked on them. 

~mead~: a fermented drink made of honey: metheglin is another form ofthe word. 

~wattle~: flexible twigs, withies, or osier rods: ~daub~, mud. 

~turbulent~: disorderly, riotous. 

~Thames Street~: a very narrow street running along the bank of theThames between Blackfriars and the Tower. 

~ward~: a division of the City. The ~ward mote~ or ward meeting stillexists, and elects the alderman or representative of the ward on theCity Council. 

11. THE WALL OF LONDON. 

The ~White Tower~ is the 'keep' or central part of the Tower of London, begun by William the Conqueror and finished by the Red King. It is 92feet high and the walls are 17 feet thick. 

~Dowgate~: the site of one of the gates of Old London Wall is near whereCannon Street Railway Station now stands: here the Walbrook fell intothe Thames. 

~Queen Hithe~: 'The Queen's Landing Place. ' Merchants were compelled toland their goods here so that the dues paid should go to the Queen. 

~confluence~: a flowing together, the place where two rivers meet. TheFleet fell into the Thames at Blackfriars. (Latin _cum_, with, together;_fluo_, to flow. Compare, _fluid_, _fluent_. )

~Montfichet's Tower~ was near Baynard's Castle, at the south-west cornerof the old walls in Blackfriars. Both were named after the Normantenants who occupied them. 

~Houndsditch~ is now a cross street joining Bishopgate Street andAldgate, with a Church of St. Botolph at each end of it. It adjoined themoat or ditch round the City wall. 

~Allhallows~: the same as All Saints--all the saints to whom churcheswere often dedicated, and whose memory is celebrated on November 1, which is All Saints' Day. 

~St. Giles, Cripplegate~, contains in its churchyard part of LondonWall. Milton was buried here in 1674. 

12. NORMAN LONDON. 

~Bishop and Portreeve~: the two chief officers of the City, one rulingfor the Church, the other a civil ruler. 

~charter~: a writing confirming or granting privileges. 

~burghers~ or burgesses: citizens of a borough. 

~Guildhall~ contains the necessary offices and accommodation for theguild or corporation, town clerk, &c. , the City library, museum and lawcourts, and a great hall that will hold 7, 000 persons. 

~feudal claims~: demands made on their tenants by owners under thefeudal system. Such demands were usually for military service orsomething equivalent. 

~Matilda~, daughter of Henry I. , and mother of Henry II. , and widow ofthe Emperor Henry V. Of Germany, was the opponent of Stephen (1100-1135)in the civil war of his reign. She gave London as 'a demesne' to theEarl of Essex, with the Tower as his castle. 

~Danegeld~, or Dane money: a tax raised to buy off the Danes. 

~Sheriff~, or shire-reeve, governor of a shire, was the king'srepresentative in each shire: he collected the revenue, called out andled the soldiers, and administered justice. 

~Justiciar~: judge. It was one of the privileges of the City to have ajudge of its own to try cases within its own limits. 

~stipulated~: bargained for. 

~constitution~: form of government. 

~priory~: a house for monks or nuns under the rule of a prior orprioress. 

~St. Katherine Cree~: this church is in Leadenhall Street, near Aldgate. Cree in this name is for Christ. 

~Portsoken~ is one of the City wards near Aldgate and the Minories. 

13. FITZSTEPHEN'S ACCOUNT OF THE CITY. 

PART I. 

~St. Bartholomew the Great~ in Smithfield is part of St. Bartholomew'sHospital. 

~St. Ethelburga~ is in Bishopsgate Street, not far from Liverpool StreetRailway Station. 

~crypt~ is a chapel or vault underground. 

~St. Swithin's Church~ is near Cannon Street Railway Station. 'LondonStone, ' supposed to be a Roman milestone, is let into the wall of thischurch. St. Swithin, to whom the church is dedicated, was a Saxon Bishopof Winchester, under whose care the youth of Alfred was spent atWinchester. 

~Thomas Becket~, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in his owncathedral by four knights, who thought they were executing the wishes ofHenry II. (1170 A. D. ). 

~conventual~: attached to convents. 

~Palatine~ usually means 'held by a nobleman who has had royal powersgiven him. '

~Westminster~ is named after a minster first erected there of wood about604 A. D. : it was thus distinguished from St. Paul's, which was the 'EastMinster. ' The site was a marshy spot, then called Thorney, or ThornIsland. 

~Charing Cross~ is named from the memorial cross built there by EdwardI. In 1294 in honour of his queen, Eleanor, who was brought for burialfrom Lincoln to Westminster, and each place (nine) where her body restedwas marked by a similar cross. ('Charing' is a corruption of the French_chère reine_, dear queen. )

~Cheapside~: the important street running between St. Paul's and theMansion House is so called because its site was the side--the southside--of the Chepe, or old London market. 

~East Chepe~, or the East Market, has given its name to Eastcheap, astreet running from the City towards the Tower. 

~mercer~: a merchant selling woollens and silks. 

~folkmotes~: the meetings of the folk or tribe: they met in arms in theSaxon times, and were presided over by the alderman. 

14. FITZSTEPHEN'S ACCOUNT OF THE CITY. 

PART II. 

~Tyburn~: a brook which gave its name to the place Tyburn, where theMarble Arch now stands. 

~Westbourne~: this brook has given its name to Westbourne Park, inPaddington. 

~Holywell~ may be remembered by Holywell Street, in the Strand. 

~Clerkenwell~ is named after the Parish Clerks' Well, round which theyused to perform their 'mysteries. '

~quarterstaff~: a long staff used as a weapon of defence, and held inthe middle and also one quarter way from the end. 

~tabor~: a kind of small drum beaten with one drumstick. 

~consuls~: the chief magistrates of Rome: two of them with equal powercame into office every year. 

~senatorial~: appointed and controlled by the senate or governingcouncil of Rome. 

~venison~ (pronounced _ven´-zon_): the flesh of deer. 

~cleric~: a clergyman. 

~abbot~: the head of an abbey or monastery. 

~magnate~: a great man, a man of great wealth and rank. (Latin _magnus_, great. )

~metropolitan~: the bishop of a metropolis or chief cathedral city, asCanterbury is the metropolis of England in this sense. 

~ordinances~: laws, commands. 

15. LONDON BRIDGE. PART I. 

~Architect~: one who designs buildings and superintends the building ofthem. 

~Jewry~: the district in a town inhabited by the Jews; for in earlytimes the Jews were not allowed to live where they liked, but only inquarters assigned to them. The street now called Old Jewry turns out ofthe Poultry, on the north side. 

~essential~: something very important and that cannot be done without. 

~intercommunication~: intercourse; dealings between people which aremade much easier by having good roads and bridges to travel on. 

~La Rochelle~: a seaport in France on the Atlantic, some distance northof Bordeaux. 

~Saintes~: a French town about thirty-eight miles from La Rochelle. 

~St. Thomas Becket~, the murdered Archbishop of Canterbury, who wascanonised, that is, named a saint after his death. 

~titular~: giving his name to the bridge. 

~crypt~: an underground or lower room used as a chapel or burying-place. 

16. LONDON BRIDGE. PART II. 

~King Edward I~: 1272-1307 A. D. 

~haberdashers~: dealers in 'small wares' such as cotton, tape, needles, and pins. 

~Hans Holbein~: a celebrated German painter who came to live in Englandand was introduced to Henry VIII. 

~marine painters~: artists who excel in painting boats, ships, and seascenes. (Latin _mare_, the sea. )

~'shooting' the bridge~: passing through the arches in a boat. 

~Queen Henrietta~ was the queen of Charles I. Of England. After theCivil War she withdrew to France, where she died in 1669. 

~Rubens~: a very celebrated Flemish painter, born in 1577, died atAntwerp in 1640. 

~Sir Thomas Wyatt~ headed a rebellion in Kent, which was provoked byMary's marriage with Philip of Spain and the restoration of RomanCatholicism. He was about to cross London Bridge, but finding thisimpossible crossed the Thames at Kingston. The rising was a failure, andWyatt was executed, 1554. 

~Sir William Wallace~: a brave Scotch gentleman who led the Scotchagainst Edward I. , who was trying to deprive Scotland of itsindependence. Wallace was finally taken and executed as a traitor atTyburn, 1305. 

~Jack Cade~ headed a rebellion in Kent in 1450 through dissatisfactionwith the government of Henry VI. : 30, 000 rebels gathered on Blackheath, but the movement ended in failure and Cade was slain. 

~Sir Thomas More~: the good and learned chancellor of Henry VIII. , andauthor of a famous book called 'Utopia. ' He was executed as a traitor in1535. 

~St. Thomas-on-the-Bridge~: that is, Thomas Becket, to whom the bridgewas dedicated. 

~pageant~: a splendid show or procession. 

~ex-apprentice~: one who has been once an apprentice. 

17. THE TOWER OF LONDON. PART I. 

~Dominate~: to lord over, to overawe, to be master of. (Latin _dominus_, a master, lord. )

~Crusade~: an expedition under the banner of the _Cross_ to recover theHoly Land from the Turks. Richard I. Went on the third Crusade in 1191. 

~antiquaries~: people who study ancient things. 

~mediæval~: made during the middle ages; the period, roughly speaking, between the time of the Romans and the reign of Henry VII. (400-1485). 

~lieutenant~: an officer in command of the Tower. 

~keep~: the strongest part of a fortress or castle. 

~insignia~: the badges of any office. 

~menagerie~: a collection of wild animals. 

~Queen Anne Boleyn~, to marry whom, Henry VIII. Divorced Catherine ofAragon. She was the mother of Queen Elizabeth. 

~Lady Jane Grey~ was proclaimed Queen by the Duke of Northumberland onthe death of Edward VI. , but the attempt to prevent Mary's accession wasa failure, and Lady Jane Grey was executed in 1554. 

~Guy Fawkes~: a conspirator who tried to blow up the King and Parliamentin 1605. 

~The unfortunate princes~ were Edward V. , son of Edward IV. , and therightful king, and Richard Duke of York, his younger brother, murderedin the Tower by the usurper Richard III. , 1483. 

18. THE TOWER OF LONDON. PART II. 

~Allegiance~: the duty due from a subject to his liege the sovereign. 

~Lord Hastings~ was executed by order of the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III. , in 1483 for supporting the side of Edward V. And his relations. 

~ordnance~: artillery, cannon, big guns. 

~antipast~: aftertaste. 

~clerk~: a clergyman, a scholar, because in early times all learning wasconfined to the clergy. 

19. THE PILGRIMS. 

~ague~: a fever coming on at intervals, with fits of shivering. 

~isolation~: living away from outside communication, a lonely positionlike that of men on an _island_ cut off from the rest of the world. 

~Flemings~: the people of Flanders, a district now comprising parts ofBelgium, South Holland, and North France. 

~Walsingham~: a place in the north of Norfolk, where was a famousshrine. 

~Glastonbury~: a small town near Wells, in Somersetshire. 

~Compostella~: a place in Spain where is the shrine of St. James, thepatron saint of Spain. 

~Chaucer~: the great early English poet, born in London 1328, died 1400. 

~expiation~: making amends for, atonement. 

~Holy Sepulchre~: the burial place of our Lord at Jerusalem, to rescuewhich from the Turks was the object of the Crusades. 

20. ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL. 

~Endowment~: money given for the permanent support of an institution, such as a church, hospital, or school. 

~Hospitaller~: one in charge of a hospital. The term is generallyapplied to the Knights of St. John, who built a hospital for sickCrusaders at Jerusalem. 

~shambles~: a slaughter-house. 

~Whittington~, originally an apprentice in London, became a wealthymercer, thrice Lord Mayor, and knighted. He died in 1423, withoutchildren, and left his wealth for public objects, such as the one in thetext. 

~Dissolution of the religious houses~, carried out by Henry VIII. In1536-1540 for the sake of the plunder they afforded. 

~Chloroform~: a colourless liquid which when inhaled produces completeinsensibility to pain. 

~Norman windows~: that is, built in a style introduced by the Normans. The rounded tops of doors and windows maybe seen in the illustration onp. 44. 

~lanthorn~: a raised construction on the roof, with horn or glass sidesto give light. 

~clinical~: in attendance at the bedside of patients. 

~residential college~: where they reside or dwell. 

~convalescent hospital~: where those who have had some illness may getquite well and strong again. 

21. THE TERROR OF LEPROSY. 

~Leprosy~: a terrible disease of the skin and blood, once prevalent inEurope, now mostly confined to the East. 

~lazar~: a leper; one suffering from a foul disease like Lazarus in St. Luke xvi. 

~congregate~: flock together, crowd with. 

~stringent~: strict. 

~statutes~: rules or laws. 

~Book of the Jewish Law~: that is, the book Leviticus. 

~ulcerates~: is afflicted with ulcers or sores. 

~Mass~: the celebration of the Lord's Supper in the Roman CatholicChurch. 

~Burton Lazars~: a village one mile from Melton Mowbray, inLeicestershire. Here, on account of its excellent sulphur springs, thechief leper-hospital was established in the reign of Stephen. 

~hereditary~: transmitted from parents to children. 

22. THE TERROR OF FAMINE. 

~24 shillings a quarter~: this is not far from the present price ofwheat, which gives us cheap bread. But in 1257 24_s. _ would beequivalent to at least 20_l. _ in our money. 

~retainers~: those in the service of a nobleman and wearing his liveryand badge. 

~Hanseatic merchants~: merchants trading with the Hanse cities inGermany (among which was Hamburg) who had formed a league forself-protection about the twelfth century. 

~granary~: a place for storing up grain or corn. 

23. ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. PART I. 

~460 feet~: the loftiest spire in England, that of Salisbury Cathedral, is about 404 feet. 

~its length was at least 600 feet~: the present cathedral, the third onthe site, is 500 feet long. 

~shrine~: a receptacle for relics and other sacred things. (The wordmeans a 'chest. ')

~aisle~ (pronounced _[=i]le_) is the side or wing of a church. 

~scribe~: a writer. In those early times so few people could read orwrite that men often had to have recourse to professional writers. 

~deed~: a written document relating to some legal transaction. 

~conveyance~: a writing legally transferring from one person to anotherproperty, especially houses and land. 

~Humphrey Duke of Gloucester~ was the youngest brother of Henry V. , onwhose death he was made regent in England in 1422. He died in 1447. 

~St. Cuthbert~ was a monk, missionary, and bishop of Lindesfarne, anisland off the coast of Northumberland, where he died in 687 A. D. , andwas buried in Durham Cathedral. 

~sacristy~: a room adjoining a church where sacred vessels, vestments, &c. Are kept. 

24. ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. PART II. 

~Inigo Jones~ (born 1572, died 1652) was a celebrated architect. 

~Portico~: a row of columns in front of a building. 

~Exchange~: a building where merchants meet to transact business. 

~nave~: the main body of a church, the aisles being on each side of thenave. 

~King Charles II. Returned~ at the Restoration in 1660. 

~Sir Christopher Wren~ (born 1632, died 1723): the greatest Englisharchitect. After the great fire he rebuilt St. Paul's Cathedral, fiftyLondon churches, and many public buildings. Over his tomb in St. Paul'sis the inscription in Latin: 'If you seek for his monument, look roundabout you. '

~The Peace of Ryswick~, 1697, made by England, Spain, and Holland withLouis XIV. Of France. 

~Dr. Johnson~ (born 1709, died 1784): one of the great names in Englishliterature, and author of a celebrated dictionary. 

~oriental scholar~, or ~orientalist~, is a man who studies Eastern orIndian languages, such as Persian, Arabic, Hindi, Sanskrit, &c. 

~sarcophagus~: a stone chest for holding a corpse. 

~porphyry~: a hard kind of stone coloured purple and white. 

~Battle of the Nile~, 1798; ~Cape St. Vincent~, 1797; ~Camperdown~, 1797. 

~Lord Almoner~: the official who dispenses the royal charities andbounties. 

~Slavonic~: a group of kindred languages, including Russian, Polish, andBulgarian. 

25. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. 

~Embattled~: built with battlements. 

~minor canons~: clergy of the cathedral who intone the services and lookafter the music. 

~charnel~: containing the bones of the dead. 

~Finsbury Fields~: the _fenny_ or marshy ground lying north of theMoorgate of the old City walls. 

~Papal Bulls~: decrees and orders issued by the Pope, so called from theseal attached to them. 

~Latimer~ (born 1470, died 1555), Bishop of Worcester, burnt at thestake for his Protestant opinions together with Ridley, Bishop ofLondon. 

~chapter house~: the building where the chapter or clergy belonging tothe cathedral meet. 

~Sacrist~: the official in a cathedral who copied and took care of themusic and books. 

~Paul's Chain~: so called because traffic was stopped by a chain duringthe hours of service. 

26. THE RELIGIOUS HOUSES. 

~Forester~: one who has charge of a forest to cut wood, plant new trees, &c. 

~vicar~: one who acts in place of another; hence a priest who on behalfof his monastery conducted services in a parish church. 

~orders~: the different brotherhoods into which monks were divided. 

~indiscriminate charity~: giving without thinking, whether the charityis well or ill bestowed. 

~Minorites~: monks or nuns belonging to the Franciscan Order, who intheir humility called themselves the 'lesser' (_minores_) brethren, orsisters. 

~Blackfriars~ were the Dominicans; ~Whitefriars~ were the Carmelites;~Greyfriars~ were Franciscans, from the colour of their respectivedresses. 

~Charter House~: the house of the Carthusian monks. 

~Temple~: once the house of the ~Templars~, an order of knights whoseduty it was to protect the Holy Sepulchre. 

~part of the church . .. Still to be seen~: at Clerkenwell the gate ofthe priory of St. John's is still standing. 

27. MONKS, FRIARS, AND NUNS. 

~Indiscriminately~: without making any distinctions between them. 

~hermit~, from the Greek, and ~solitary~, from the Latin, mean the samething--one who retires from the world and lives in a lonely place. 

~Monte Casino~, in Campania, near Naples, where St. Benedict establishedhis monastery in 529 A. D. 

~St. Benedict~ is often shortened to Benet, as in the name of severalLondon churches. 

~austerities~: severe rules of life and conduct. 

~Friars~, or brethren (French _frères_, Latin _fratres_): those ordersthat went forth to the people. 

~Assisi~: a town in Central Italy where St. Francis was born. 

~St. Dominic~: born in Castile, in Spain, 1170, died 1221; founded hisorder to convert 'heretics, ' and procured the establishment of the~Inquisition~, or court for punishing heretics. 

~Sanctuary~: a refuge where criminals were safe from the law. Sir W. Scott in the 'Fortunes of Nigel' well describes the lawless character ofthis district in the reign of James I. 

~St. Bernard~: a celebrated brother of the Cistercian Order (born 1091, died 1153). 

28. THE LONDON CHURCHES. 

~St. Augustine~ was sent by Pope Gregory the Great in 597 to convert theheathen English: he was the 'Apostle of the English, ' and firstArchbishop of Canterbury. 

~St. Dunstan~, who became Archbishop of Canterbury and died in 988, wasnot only a zealous priest but a great statesman and ruler. 

~St. Alphege~: an Archbishop of Canterbury murdered by the Danes in 1012A. D. 

~Sise Lane~: a lane in the City, near Cannon Street. 

~The Basings~: an old City family whose name also survives in the'Bassishaw' ward of the City, and in Basinghall Street. 

~Bread Street~, turning out of Cheapside, shows where the bakers chieflydwelt in Old London. 

~John Milton~ (born 1608, died 1674) wrote 'Paradise Lost, ' 'ParadiseRegained, ' and some beautiful shorter pieces. 

~Three Poets~: i. The Greek Homer, reputed author of those noble epicsthe 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' (about 1000 B. C. ); ii. The Roman Virgil, whowrote the 'Æneid' (born 70 B. C. ); iii. The English Milton. The famousepitaph was written by John Dryden. 

~William Tyndal~ assisted the Reformation by translating the NewTestament into English (1526), and part of the Old Testament. He wasburnt as a heretic at Vilvoorde, near Brussels, in 1536. 

~William Cowper~ (born 1731, died 1800), the author of 'The Task' andother beautiful poems. 

29. THE STREETS. 

~Plantagenet~: Henry II. , 1154-1189, was the first of the line of kingsbearing this name, so called from the badge worn by Henry's father, asprig of broom. 

~Chesel~ was the Anglo-Saxon for pebble, and Kiesel is the German forthe same. The ~Chesil Beach~, near Weymouth, is a remarkable bank ofshingle joining Portland Bill to the mainland. 

~Somerset House~, in the Strand: the palace of the Protector Somersethas been pulled down, and public offices erected on its site. 

~Northumberland House~, now demolished, has given its name toNorthumberland Avenue, near Charing Cross. 

~Southwark . .. Many Inns~: in particular the Tabard, where Chaucer'spilgrims assembled. 

~mediæval~: living in the middle ages, that is, some time before about1500 A. D. 

~ironmongers in their Lane~: that is, Ironmonger Lane, turning out ofCheapside. 

30. WHITTINGTON. PART I. 

~Mercer~: a merchant who sells silken or woollen goods. 

~executors~: those who are appointed to carry out the last will andtestament of a dead man. 

~Levantine~, in the Levant, or eastern part of the Mediterranean. 

~Guinea~, on the west coast of Africa. 

~Pizarro~: a Spanish adventurer who conquered Peru from its nativerulers or Incas, and was murdered in his palace at Lima in 1541. 

~a piece of eight~ (dollars), that is, about 30_s. _

~assessment~: the value put upon house or property in order to fix theamount of taxes to be paid. 

31. WHITTINGTON. PART II. 

~Vintner~: a wine-seller. 

~Wycliffe~, born about 1324, was a learned theologian and rector ofLutterworth, in Leicestershire. For preaching Protestant doctrines hewas summoned to appear at St. Paul's to answer a charge of heresy in1377. 

~John of Gaunt~ thus made the second attempt to deprive London of itsliberties and charter; Matilda, the opponent of Stephen, had tried longbefore, but it ended in her overthrow (_see_ p. 45). 

~The Marshal~ was the commander of the Royal forces. To put London underhim was to destroy its liberty. This office is hereditary in the familyof the Duke of Norfolk, and like other royal offices became unimportantwhen it became hereditary. 

~rebellion of the peasants, 1381~, against over-taxation and being boundto the soil as serfs by their landlords. ~John Ball~, the popularpreacher, used to ask:

 'When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then a gentleman?'

~The Archbishop of Canterbury~, Simon of Sudbury, had as chancellorproposed the taxes complained of; therefore the peasants murdered him. 

~rescinding~: repealing of a law. 

32. WHITTINGTON. PART III. 

~Burning of heretics and Lollards~: in 1401, in the reign of Henry IV. , an Act of Parliament was passed for burning heretics. 

~Lollards~ were those who differed from the Church before theReformation. The name comes from a German word _lollen_, to sing--fromthe custom of these reformers. 

~Mansion House~: the official home of the Lord Mayor. The presentbuilding was begun in 1739; previously a house in Cheapside was used forthe purpose. 

~bond~: a written obligation binding someone to pay a sum of money. Whenmoney was needed the King used to borrow from wealthy citizens and givea bond or promise to repay. 

~St. Michael's Paternoster Royal~ is in College Hill, near CannonStreet. The church was so called from the Tower Royal given by EdwardIII. In 1331 to his queen, Philippa, for her wardrobe. 

33. GIFTS AND BEQUESTS. 

~Mark~: a coin, now obsolete, worth 13_s. _ 4_d. _

~interdicted~: forbidden, prevented. 

~technical school~: where useful and practical arts and trades aretaught. 

~aqueduct~: an artificial channel for water. 

~Sevenoaks~, in Kent. 

~Higham Ferrers~ is a small town in Northamptonshire. 

34. THE PALACES AND GREAT HOUSES. 

~The King Maker~: Warwick was so called because he helped Edward IV. Tobecome king in 1461, and restored Henry VI. For a time in 1470. He wasslain at the battle of Barnet, 1471. 

~quadrangle~: an open court, square, with buildings all round it. 

~College of Heralds~: a Government office under the Earl Marshal whichlooks after pedigrees and armorial bearings. 

~Hampton Court~: a Royal palace begun by Cardinal Wolsey. 

~St. James's Palace~: the official residence of the Queen in London, Buckingham Palace being her private residence. 

~buttery~: a storeroom where liquors and other provisions were kept. 

~Baynard's Castle~ has given its name to one of the City wards. 

~The Duke of Buckingham~ secured the crown for Richard III. , and thenbeing insufficiently rewarded rebelled against him, and was executed in1483. 

~George, Duke of Clarence~, brother of Edward IV. , first sided with hisfather-in-law, the Earl of Warwick, then joined his brother in 1471. With justice, therefore, Shakespeare called him 'false, fleeting, perjured Clarence. He was accused of treason and found dead in the Towerin 1478. 

35. AMUSEMENTS. 

~Tournament~: a sham fight at which knights, mostly on horseback, usedto show their skill. 

~Twelfth Day~: twelve days after Christmas, formerly an occasion ofgreat festivities, which have now nearly died out. 

~Morris-dance~: a _Moorish_ dance to an accompaniment of bells andtambourines. 

~cresset~: a kind of lantern formed of an open brazier filled withcombustible materials. 

~demilance~: a kind of horse-soldier armed with a short lance. 

~mummeries~: entertainments performed by men in masks. 

~Curfew~: the bell rung at eight o'clock at night as a sign to put outall lights. Ancient towns having much wood were liable to serious fires. 

36. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 

~Thorney~, Isle of Thorns; _ey_ and _ea_ meaning island, as in Anglesey, Chelsea, Winchelsea. 

~precinct~: the limit of the ground belonging to a church or otherinstitution. 

~commissioner~: appointed to see that the work was carried out. 

~Sir G. Gilbert Scott~, born 1811, died 1878, was the greatest modernEnglish architect. 

~took sanctuary~: fled for shelter to the abbey, whence she could not betaken without violating the privileges of the Church. 

~William Caxton~ set up in 1476 the first printing press in England. 

~coronation chair~: under this is the famous stone brought from Scone byEdward I. , over which all the Scottish kings had been crowned sinceabout 800 A. D. 

37. THE COURT AT WESTMINSTER. 

~Star Chamber Court~, in which cases were tried before some members ofthe Privy Council and two judges without a jury. This was established in1487 to restore order because great lords and landowners used tofrighten juries from giving true verdicts. 

~bear and ragged staff~: the arms of the Earl of Warwick consisted of abear erect and hugging a rough stake. (See pictures on pp. 111, 113. )

~arras~: tapestry for hanging; so called from Arras, in the north ofFrance, where it was made. 

~refectory~: the hall where the monks or nuns took their meals. 

38. JUSTICE AND PUNISHMENTS. 

~executive officers~: those whose duty it is to enforce the law. 

~contrition~: repentance. 

~securities~: stocks and shares; papers which can be of no use to theordinary thief. 

~Bridewell~: the site of a prison, now demolished. It adjoinedWhitefriars, and may be seen in the map to the west of Blackfriars. 

~amende honorable~ (French): when one who has done wrong givessatisfaction without loss of honour. 

~pillory~: a framework supported by an upright pillar. In it were holesthrough which the head and hands of offenders were thrust. In thisuncomfortable position they had to stand exposed to the insults of themob. 

~cogged~: loaded so as always to fall in a certain way. 

~title deeds~: writings drawn up in proper legal form to prove thepossession of property. 

39. THE POLITICAL POWER OF LONDON. 

~Froissart~: an early French chronicler or historian who visited Englandin the reigns of Edward III. And Richard II. , and died in 1401. 

~besotted with~: stupidly and excessively fond of. 

~commonalty~: the common people. 

~Berkeley Castle~, in Gloucestershire, where Edward II. Was murdered in1327. 

~a son was born~: Edward, Prince of Wales, born in 1453. After theYorkist victory of Northampton in 1460 Edward's claim to the throne wasset aside in favour of Richard, Duke of York, father of Edward IV. ThePrince was slain at the battle of Tewkesbury, 1471. 

~benevolences~: loans of money, supposed to be voluntary, reallycompulsory, made by merchants and other rich men to the king. 

~charts~: papers; ~blank cheques~: orders on the bank for money with allexcept the amount required filled up and properly signed. 

~factor~: if 2 × 3 makes six, 2 and 3 are each factors of 6; hence it issomething which helps to bring about some result. 

40. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART I. 

~Stow~ (born 1525, died 1605): a famous writer in Queen Elizabeth'sreign on the antiquities of London and other places. 

~Whitechapel~ takes its name from a white chapel-of-ease built torelieve Stepney, in which parish this district was till 1763. 

~tenters~: pegs for stretching cloth. Sometimes hooks were used, fromwhich we get the phrase 'to be on tenter hooks'--to be on a stretch withanxiety. 

~St. Katharine's~ has given its name to the great docks east of theTower. 

~bull-, bear-baiting~: the sport of setting dogs to worry bulls orbears. 

~Alsatia~: for a vivid picture of this haunt of rogues in the reign ofJames I. The reader is referred to Sir W. Scott's 'Fortunes of Nigel. '

~Austin Friars~: the space known as Drapers' Gardens (because the hallof the Drapers' Company is adjoining) in Throgmorton Street is on thesite of this monastery. 

~Canwicke (now Cannon) Street~ was so called because the wax-chandlersand candle-makers lived in that part. 

41. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART II. 

~William Shakespeare~ (born 1564, died 1616): the prince of poets, wholived in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. 

~ruins of the monasteries~ which had been suppressed by Henry VIII. In1536-1540. 

~Cold Harbour~: a merchant's mansion once standing on the bank of theThames in Thames Street. 

~Genevan bands~: a kind of collar worn by Protestant clergymen, socalled because Geneva, the home of Calvin, was the centre ofProtestantism. 

~palaces along the Strand~: if you walk along the Strand you will noticethat many of the short streets leading down to the river bear the namesof noblemen, such as Arundel Street, Norfolk Street, Salisbury Street, &c. From the old palaces which once stood there. 

~Staples Inn~: a picturesque group of old houses in Holborn was formerlya wool-market (_staple_ means a fixed market). ~Wych Street~ is nearHolywell Street in the Strand. 

~Cloth Fair~ is now a poor neighbourhood near Smithfield. 

42. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART III. 

~Impressment~: in the absence of some orderly arrangement, such asconscription (where all serve) or a voluntary system (like our own), thepress-gang used to kidnap people and force them to serve. 

~animosity~: anger, ill feeling against. 

~The Steelyard~, on the site of which Cannon Street railway station nowstands, was the house of the Hanse merchants (_see_ note on ChapterXXII. ). 

~John Colet~, Dean of St. Paul's (born 1466, died 1519), was one of theleaders of the revival of learning in England. St. Paul's School, whichhe founded in 1512, has been moved to Hammersmith. 

43. TRADE. PART I. 

~Forestall their market~: that is, to buy things before they arrived atthe market, so as to sell them at a higher price. 

~Lübeck~: a large port in north Germany in the Baltic. 

~staples~, originally all kinds of raw produce, came to be applied onlyto wool. Staples Inn was once a wool-market. 

~instead of selling our wool~: Edward III. Brought Flemish weavers intoEngland to encourage manufactures. Till then England produced andexported wool to Antwerp and other manufacturing centres, but did notmake it into cloth. 

~Hamburg~ was a member of the Hanseatic League. 

~The screen~ was presented to the Church of All Hallows the Great, Thames Street, in 1710, by the Hanseatic merchants. 

44. TRADE. PART II. 

~Incubus~: something that weighs down and hinders. 

~religious wars in the Netherlands~: between the Protestant Dutch andthe Catholic Spaniards, who were oppressing the country through greatpart of the sixteenth century. 

~Bourse~: the same as ~Exchange~, where merchants meet to transact theirbusiness. 

~English wool~ in Bruges, because it was much exported thither fromEngland before the growth of home manufactures. 

~Flemings~: the natives of Flanders; who were the chief manufacturers ofEurope long before England took the lead. 

~14 per cent. ~: the height of this rate may be seen by comparing it withthe 2½ per cent. , which is all England now pays as interest upon herdebt. 

~Bethlehem Hospital~, corrupted into Bedlam, is still a hospital, butonly for the insane. 

45. TRADE. PART III. 

~Bruges . .. Civil wars~: that is, the religious wars referred to inChapter XLIV. 

~Venetians~: before the discovery of the sea route to India and the EastVenice was the first maritime and commercial power in the world. Theroute round the Cape of Good Hope was discovered by Vasco de Gama in1497. 

~Moluccas~: a group of tropical islands between Celebes and New Guinea, rich in pearls, spices, and precious woods. 

~Calicut~: the port in Madras, where Vasco de Gama first landed in May1498. The cotton cloth called _calico_ was first brought thence. 

~Moorish pirates~: North Africa has always been a haunt of pirates. In1816 Lord Exmouth had to bombard Algiers, and even as late as 1860 theEuropean Powers had to suppress piracy in Morocco. 

~Dordrecht~: a commercial town in the south of Holland, near Rotterdam. 

~The South Sea Company~ is celebrated above the other trading companiesfor the great speculation in its shares called the ~South Sea bubble~ in1720. 

46. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART I. 

~Mummers~: men who played in entertainments masked and in variousdisguises. 

~masque~: a kind of play in which the actors wore masks. Milton's'Comus' is a well-known masque of high character. 

~mystery~: a name for a religious play representing some scene from theBible or scenes from the life of a saint. 

~admonition~: warning. 

~frescoes~: paintings on a wall covered with plaster--done while theplaster is still wet or _fresh_. 

~sequence~: that is, the connection of one event with another. 

~properties~: the articles used in the play, scenery, dress, &c. 

~realistic~: looking as though they really were the persons represented. 

~tableau~: scene. 

~lessee~: one who rents a theatre or holds it on a lease from the owner. 

47. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART II. 

~Pageants~: grand shows, processions. 

~censers~: vessels for burning incense. 

~conduit~: a pipe or channel for leading or _conducting_ water. 

~Cross of Chepe~: a memorial erected in the centre of the chepe, ormarket, in memory of Queen Eleanor. 

~jerkins~: a kind of jacket often made of leather. 

~panoply~: full armour. 

~banneret~: a little banner. 

~blackjacks~: leather vessels for holding liquor. 

~malmsey~: a strong sweet wine. 

~marshal~: draw up and arrange. 

~Lord Mayor's Show~: on November 9--when the people have an opportunityof welcoming the new Lord Mayor on his entering into office. 

48. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART III. 

~libretto~: the words of a masque or play set to music. 

~scenic~: on the stage. 

~Ben Jonson~ (born 1574, died 1637): a great English play writer andpoet, and a friend of Shakespeare. 

~Francis Bacon~, Lord Verulam (born 1561, died 1626), was LordChancellor and a great writer on philosophical subjects. 

~Oberon~: the king of the fairies and husband of Titania, as inShakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream. '

~save James~: that is, King James I. ; a piece of courtly flattery due toJonson's connection with the court. 

~Prince Henry~, who is meant by Oberon in the masque, died in 1612, tothe great regret of the people. 

~Phosphorus~: Lucifer, the morning star that brings the day. 

49. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART IV. 

~Gammer (i. E. Old Mother) Gurton's Needle~ is a very rough old playabout an old woman who lost her needle while mending a pair of breeches, and, after accusing everyone of stealing it, finds it after all in thegarment itself. It was written some time before 1560. ('Gammer, ' theFrench _grand'-mère_, grandmother, contracted into 'ganmer, ' and then'gammer. ')

~contortionist~: one who twists himself into extraordinary attitudes toamuse the public. 

~octagonal~: with eight sides. 

~prologue~: the verses spoken before a play to introduce it to theaudience. 

~Golden Lane~: a street near the Barbican, turning out of AldersgateStreet. 

~Bankside~, in Southwark, on the southern side of the Thames. 

50. THE TERROR OF THE PLAGUE. PART I. 

~Pretensions~: ambitious claims. 

~Wars of the Roses~: a civil war lasting 1455-1485. In thinking of theloss of life occasioned by this war, it must be remembered that suchloss fell most heavily on the noble families; the mass of the populationwas not so much disturbed by it. 

~Long Acre~: a street near Drury Lane, now chiefly occupied bycarriage-makers. 

~delirium~: a wandering in the mind caused by fever. 

51. THE TERROR OF THE PLAGUE. PART II. 

~Registers~: a record of names of persons who have died. Such recordsare now accurately kept by the registrars of births, deaths, andmarriages. 

~The King~: Charles II. , who, whatever his faults may have been, was atleast good-natured and averse to suffering. 

~Samuel Pepys~ (born 1632, died 1703) was Secretary to the Admiralty inthe reigns of Charles II. And James II. His famous diary gives a graphicpicture of life during these reigns. 

52. THE TERROR OF FIRE. PART I. 

~Coleman Street~ runs northward from Lothbury (behind the Bank ofEngland) to Moorgate. The name goes back even to Saxon times, andprobably comes from one Ceolmund, who had a farm near. 

~St. Erkinwald~: an early Saxon Bishop of London, who encouraged thecitizens to restore their ruined city, and himself built the Bishop'sGate (named after him). His shrine in St. Paul's was long an object ofreverence. 

~Paternoster Row~: always a great centre of the book trade: it was a rowimmediately adjoining the precincts of the Cathedral beforeencroachments were made. Naturally much of the booksellers' wares wasreligious--paternosters, aves, credos, &c. 

~chancel~: the east end of a church in which is the altar, separatedfrom the rest of the church by a screen or railings. (Latin _cancelli_, a grating. )

~transept~: the part of a cathedral projecting on either side. Cathedrals are generally built in the shape of a cross; the transept isthe arms of the cross in the ground plan. 

53. THE TERROR OF FIRE. PART II. 

~Astronomer~: one who studies the stars or heavenly bodies. 

~John Evelyn~ (born 1620, died 1706), a gentleman of the reign ofCharles II. , was made one of the commissioners for the restoration ofLondon after the Great Fire. He wrote a diary, which is not so amusingas that of Pepys (_see_ Chapter LI. )

~St. Dunstan-in-the-East~, in Tower Street, was the first churchrestored by Wren after the fire. 

~John Dryden~ (born 1631, died 1700): one of the greatest English poets. He was a supporter of the house of Stuart, and was made poet laureate. 

~obnoxious~: exposed to. 

54. ROGUES AND VAGABONDS. 

~Vagabonds~: wanderers who have no settled home. 

~Wapping~: called Wapping Wash (or Marsh) in the time of QueenElizabeth, when it was first drained and banked in, lies on the northbank of the Thames, in Middlesex, near the Thames Tunnel. 

~Lambeth~, facing Westminster, on the south bank of the river, islow-lying, and was called in Saxon times Lambhythe, meaning loamy ormuddy landing place. 

~Bermondsey~ (_ey_--island), on the south bank of the Thames, one mileS. E. Of St. Paul's, is a centre of the leather and wool trade. 

~Rotherhithe~ (or Redriff), on the south bank of the Thames, lies eastof Bermondsey and faces Wapping. The south end of the Thames Tunnel isin Rotherhithe. 

~stringent~: strict. 

~impotent~: powerless, unable to work. 

~stocks~: a wooden frame in which the legs of criminals were confined. 

~The Barbican~: a street near the site of the old Aldersgate. Barbicanmeans defensive works for a gate. ~Turnmill Street~ is near Farringdonrailway station. 

55. UNDER GEORGE II. PART I. THE WEALTH OF LONDON. 

~Essayists~: people who write essays; that is, short compositions on anysubject. 

~picturesqueness~: beauty and grace; qualities which might be supposedto make anything a good subject for a _picture_. 

~ruffles~: pieces of some white material plaited and attached as a frillto the collar and sleeves of garments. 

~ostentation~: making a great show. 

~Puritanism~: the more sober style of life and thought introduced by thePuritans, who were a religious party in the times of Elizabeth and theStuarts, and were desirous of a purer and simpler doctrine and mode ofliving. 

56. UNDER GEORGE II. PART II. 

~Predecessors~: those that went before them. 

~cruciform~: in the form of a cross. The ground plan of many churches isshaped like a cross. 

~St. Stephen's, Walbrook~, stands behind the Mansion House, where theWalbrook used to flow. 

~lectureship~: the office of a lecturer, one who gives lectures, discourses, or (as in this case) sermons. Money was left to pay forthese sermons, that is, the lectureships were ~endowed~. 

~harbouring~: sheltering. 

~organisers~: those who get up and arrange anything. 

~Haymarket~ (obviously once a hay market) is near Trafalgar Square, and~Coventry Street~ near Leicester Square. 

~innovations~: novelties, new things. 

57. UNDER GEORGE II. PART III. 

~Broad Street~: between the Royal Exchange and Liverpool Street. 

~Whitecross Street~ is near the Barbican, Aldersgate Street;~Whitechapel~, in which is ~Middlesex Street~ (commonly known asPetticoat Lane), is reached through Aldgate. 

~Hogarth~ (born 1697, died 1764): a celebrated English painter, chieflyfamous for moral, satirical and humorous pictures drawn from everydaylife. 

~asphalt~: a kind of mineral pitchy substance which melts in heat andcan be laid down so as to form a hard, smooth roadway. 

~Vauxhall~: in Surrey, in the parish of Lambeth, on the south of theThames. There was once an old manor house here called Faukes or FoxHall. 

~Bermondsey Spa~: so called from a mineral spring discovered there in1770. (Spa, a place where there is a mineral spring, gets its name froma celebrated watering-place in Belgium of that name. )

~punch~: a drink containing five ingredients--water, spirits, sugar, lemon-juice, spice. 

58. UNDER GEORGE II. PART IV. 

~Decorous~: behaving in a decent and respectable way. 

~appreciation~: estimate, judgment about. 

~congregation~: gathering together. 

~Benjamin Franklin~ (born 1706, died 1790): a native of Boston, U. S. A. , who lived for some time in England. As a scientist he is famous forelectrical experiments; as a politician, for the share he took inupholding the independence of the American States. 

~transmission~: handing down from father to son. 

~externally~: outwardly. 

~St. Katharine's~, ~Ratcliff~, ~Shadwell~, ~Stepney~, are all in theEast End of London. 

~jurisdiction~: legal authority. 

59. UNDER GEORGE II. PART V. 

~Lighters~: large boats or barges used in unloading ships. 

~bleaching-grounds~: where cloth was laid out to be bleached or whitenedby the wind and sun. 

~hopbines~: the stalks of hop plants. 

~transportation~: conveying convicted criminals abroad. Till 1869convicts were sent to Australia; now they are kept in convict prisons athome. 

~classification~: dividing and arranging into classes. 

~embezzle~: to steal something entrusted to one's care. 

~press-gang~: a party of sailors under an officer who forcibly took mento serve in the Royal Navy. 

~anarchy~: absence of rule, disorder. 

~Gordon Riots~: in 1780, led by the fanatic Lord George Gordon. The mobraised the cry of 'No Popery' on account of a law then proposing toremove hardships from Roman Catholics. Riot and plunder were the realobject of the mob. The disorder had to be suppressed by military force. 

~Police~: organised in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel, after whom the membersof the force were called 'bobbies' and 'peelers. '

60. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. PART I. 

~Denominations~: religious bodies or sects, the members of which are allcalled by the same name. (Latin _nomen_, a name. )

~every conceivable topic~: every subject you can think of. 

~community~: a people, the public. 

~achieved~: won by effort. 

61. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. PART II. 

~Symbol of~: the representative of; the presence of a policeman is theoutward form taken by the law in the eyes of the people. 

~mote~: meeting; hence ~folks' mote~, meeting of the folk or people;~ward mote~, meeting of those living in the same ward or city division. 

~The Companies~: such as those of the Goldsmiths, Merchant Taylors, Drapers, &c. 

~Quarter Sessions~: the sessions or sittings of the Law Courts in acounty or city held every quarter. 

~archives~: public records. 

~sergeant~ means 'servant, ' 'officer'--here of the law. Ordinarily it isa rank in the army. 

62. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. PART III. 

~Advocate~: argue in favour of. 

~tenacity~: perseverance, holding on. (Latin _teneo_, to hold. )

~livery~: because the members of the different trade companies used towear a distinguishing uniform or livery. 

~fletchers~: arrow-makers. (French _flèche_, an arrow. )

~trust-money~: money entrusted for a certain purpose for which alone itcan be used. 

~technical~: where useful trades and sciences are taught. 

63. LONDON. GREATER LONDON. 

~Conservative~: preserving, so far as convenient, the present state ofthings. 

~functions~: powers and duties. 

~reformatory schools~: where boys and girls who have committed somecrime are sent to be reformed to better ways. 

~assets~: property actually held, so that it can be set off against adebt. 

~democratic~: giving power and influence to the people. 

~oligarchic~: giving power and influence to the few. 

~'law worthiness'~: right to assist in the making of laws. 

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_Spottiswoode & Co. Printers, New-street Square, London_

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[Transcriber's Note: The following errors have been corrected in this text:

Page 6: Fitzstephen's to FitzStephen's

Page 68: fiteenth to fifteenth

Page 108: SEVENTEENTH to FIFTEENTH

Page 135: Westminter to Westminster

Page 223: alway to always

Page 246: Archishop to Archbishop

Page 256: supressed to suppressed

The following words are inconsistently hyphenated in the original text:folk-mote, folkmote; Lud-gate, Ludgate; pack-horse, packhorse;river-side, riverside. ]