London - free ebook by Walter Besant

THE HISTORY OF LONDON

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1. THE FOUNDATION OF LONDON. PART I.

'In the year 1108 B.C. , Brutus, a descendant of Æneas, who was the son of Venus, came to England with his companions, after the taking of Troy, and founded the City of Troynovant, which is now called London. After a thousand years, during which the City grew and flourished exceedingly, one Lud became its king. He built walls and towers, and, among other things, the famous gate whose name still survives in the street called Ludgate. King Lud was succeeded by his brother Cassivelaunus, in whose t

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2. THE FOUNDATION OF LONDON. PART II.

On these low hillocks marked on the map London was first founded. The site had many advantages: it was raised above the malarious marsh, it overlooked the river, which here was at its narrowest, it was protected by two other streams and by the steepness of the cliff, and it was over the little port formed by the fall of one stream into the river. Here, on the western hill, the Britons formed their first settlement; there were as yet no ships on the silent river where they fished; there was no fe

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3. ROMAN LONDON. PART I.

The Romans, when they resolved to settle in England, established themselves on the opposite hillock, the eastern bank of the Walbrook. The situation was not so strong as that of the British town, because it was protected by cliff and river on two sides only instead of three. But the Romans depended on their walls and their arms rather than the position of their town. As was their habit they erected here a strong fortress or a stationary camp, such as others which remain in the country. Perhaps t

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4. ROMAN LONDON. PART II.

We must think of Roman London as of a small stronghold on a low hill rising out of the river. It is a strongly-walled place, within which is a garrison of soldiers; outside its walls stretch gardens and villas, many of them rich and beautiful, filled with costly things. Below the fort is a long river wall or quay covered with warehouses, bales of goods, and a busy multitude of men at work. Some are slaves—perhaps all. Would you like to know what a Roman villa was like? It was in plan a small, sq

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5. AFTER THE ROMANS. PART I.

The Romans left London. That was early in the fifth century; probably in the year 410. Two hundred years later we find the East Saxons in London. What happened during this long interval of seven generations? Not a word reaches us of London for two hundred years except once when, after a defeat of the British by the Saxons at Crayford in the year 457, we read that the fugitives crossed over London Bridge to take refuge within the walls of the City. What happened during this two hundred years? [1]

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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 built all along the bank from Blackfriars (now so called) to the present site of the Tower kept the river from swamping the houses and wharves which sprang up behind this wall. The walls of the City later on, but only about fifty years before the Romans went away, enclosed a large area covered over with streets, narrow near the river and broad farther north, and w

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7. AFTER THE ROMANS. PART III.

Abroad, the Roman Empire was breaking up. The whole of Europe was covered with war. Revolts of conquered tribes, rebellions of successful generals, invasions of savages, the murders of usurpers, the sacking of cities. Rome itself was sacked by Alaric; the conquest of one country after another made of this period the darkest in the history of the world. From over the seas no help, the enemy blocking the mouth of the river, all the roads closed and all the farms destroyed. There came a day at leng

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8. THE FIRST SAXON SETTLEMENT.

A hundred and fifty years passed away between the landing of the East Saxons and their recorded occupation of the City. This long period made a great difference in the fierce savage who followed the standard of the White Horse and landed on the coast of Essex. He became more peaceful: he settled down contentedly to periods of tranquillity. Certain arts he acquired, and he learned to live in towns: as yet he was not a Christian. This means that the influence of Rome with its religion, its learnin

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9. THE SECOND SAXON SETTLEMENT.

The Danes held the City for twelve years at least. One cannot believe that these fierce warriors, who were exactly what the Saxons and Jutes had been four hundred years before—as fierce, as rude, as pagan—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 in the year 884. He found it as the East Saxons had found it three hundred years before, a ci

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10. THE ANGLO-SAXON CITIZEN.

The Londoner of Athelstan and Ethelred was an Anglo-Saxon of a type far in advance of his fierce ancestor who swept the narrow seas and harried the eastern coasts. He had learned many arts: he had become a Christian: he wanted many luxuries. But the solid things which he inherited from his rude forefathers he passed on to his children. And they remain an inheritance for us to this day. For instance, our form of monarchy, limited in power, comes straight down to us from Alfred and Athelstan. Our

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11. THE WALL OF LONDON.

Let us examine into the history and the course of the Wall of London, if only for the very remarkable facts that the boundary of the City was determined for fifteen hundred years by the erection of this Wall; that for some purposes the course of the Wall still affects the government of London; and that it was only pulled down bit by bit in the course of the last century. You will see by reference to the map what was the course of the Wall. It began, starting from the east where the White Tower n

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12. NORMAN LONDON.

When William the Conqueror received the submission of the City he gave the citizens a Charter—their first Charter—of freedom. There can be no doubt that the Charter was the price demanded by the citizens and willingly paid by the Conqueror in return for their submission. The following is the document. Short as it is, the whole future of the City is founded upon these few words: — 'William King greets William Bishop and Gosfrith Portreeve and all the burghers within London, French and English, fr

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13. FITZSTEPHEN'S ACCOUNT OF THE CITY. PART I.

The White Tower is the only building in modern London which belongs to Norman London. Portions remain—fragments—a part of the church of St. Bartholomew the Great, a part of the church of St. Ethelburga, the crypt of Bow Church: very little else. All the rest has been destroyed by time, by 'improvements,' or by fire, the greatest enemy to cities in every country and every age. Thus, three great fires in the tenth and eleventh century swept London from end to end. No need to ask if anything remain

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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 the bottom of its broad valley: farther west Tyburn and Westbourne: on the south the Wandle, the Effra, the Ravensbourne. There was a well at Holywell in the Strand—it lies under the site of the present Opéra Comique Theatre: and at Clerkenwell: these wells had medicinal or miraculous properties and there were, no doubt, taverns and places of amusement about

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15. LONDON BRIDGE. PART I.

Nobody knows who built the first Bridge. It was there in the fourth century—a bridge of timber provided with a fortified gate, one of the gates of the City. Who put it up, and when—how long it stood—what space there was between the piers—how broad it was—we do not know. Probably it was quite a narrow bridge consisting of beams laid across side by side and a railing at the side. That these beams were not close together is known by the fact that so many coins have been found in the bed of the rive

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16. LONDON BRIDGE. PART II.

Houses were erected in course of time along the Bridge on either side like a street, but with intervals; and along the roadway in the middle were chain posts to protect the passengers. As the Bridge was only 40 feet wide the houses must have been small. But they were built out at the back overhanging the river, and the roadway itself was not intended for carts or wheeled vehicles. Remember that everything was brought to the City on pack horse or pack ass. The table of Tolls sanctioned by King Ed

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17. THE TOWER OF LONDON. PART I.

In an age when every noble's house was a castle, and when every castle was erected in order to dominate, as well as to defend, the town and the district in which it stood, the Tower of London was erected. The builder of the White Tower was William the Conqueror, who gave the City its Charter but had no intention of giving up his own sovereignty; the architect, as has been already said, was one Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester. Part of the City wall was pulled down to make room for it, and it was in

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18. THE TOWER OF LONDON. PART II.

Of all the prisoners who suffered death at the termination of their captivity in the Tower, there is none whose fate was so cruel as that of Lady Jane Grey. Her story belongs to English history. Recall, when next you visit the Tower, the short and tragic life of this young Queen of a nine days' reign. She was not yet eighteen when she was beheaded, not through any fault of her own, but solely because her relationship to the Crown placed her in the hands of men who used her for their own politica

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19. THE PILGRIMS.

In the time when the road connecting village with village and town with town was but an uncertain bridle path through woods and over waste places, where in winter horse, man, and wayfarer struggled with bog and quagmire, where robbers lurked in the thickets, and fevers and agues haunted the marsh, where men went armed and every stranger was a foe: it would seem as if most men stayed where they were born and desired not to court the dangers of the unknown world. In many villages, especially in th

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20. ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL.

The oldest of the City Hospitals is that great and splendid Foundation which stands in Smithfield—the Smooth Field. It was first founded by one Rahere, of whom we know little or nothing except that he lived in the reign of Henry I., and that he founded the Priory and Monastery of St. Bartholomew. In the church of St. Bartholomew the Great you may see a 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 was like to

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21. THE TERROR OF LEPROSY.

One mile outside the City walls, on the west, stood for four hundred years the Hospital of St. Giles in the Fields. Here was a Lazar House, i.e. a Hospital for Lepers. It was founded by Maud, Queen of Henry I. It was dedicated to St. Giles because this saint was 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 the Patron Saint of Cripples. A comm

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22. THE TERROR OF FAMINE.

Suppose that all the ocean traffic were stopped; that there was no communication, or exchange of commodities, between our country and another; suppose that the people of this island depended entirely on their own harvests and their own cattle for their support. You would then easily understand how a single bad year might produce scarcity of food, and a very bad year might produce a famine. That was our condition down to the fifteenth century. Some corn may have been brought over from Prussia or

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

When London was converted to Christianity, in the year 610, the first Bishop of London, Mellitus, built a church on the highest ground within the walls of the City. This church he dedicated to St. Paul the Apostle who first preached to the Gentiles. What kind of church this was—whether great or small—whether of wood or of stone—how often rebuilt or repaired—we know not. Probably it was quite a small church at first. This church, or its successor, was taken down in the year 1087 when Bishop Mauri

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

Such was Paul's in the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth the Reformation came. The candles were all put out; the shrines were destroyed; the altars were taken out of the chapels: the miraculous images were taken away: the church, compared with its previous condition, 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 the time are full of allusions to Paul's Walk. It was a common thoroughfare even for men leading pac

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25. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD.

St. Paul's Cathedral stood in the centre of an oval-shaped enclosure very much like the present St. Paul's Churchyard, save that the houses now in the north are an encroachment. This open space was surrounded by a wall, in which were six gates embattled. The first was the Great Western Gate, facing Ludgate Hill: the second in Paul's Alley in Paternoster Row: the third at Canon Alley: the fourth, or Little Gate, where is now the entrance into Cheapside: the fifth, St. Augustine's Gate, Watling St

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26. THE RELIGIOUS HOUSES.

If we take a map of London in the fourteenth century and lay down upon it all the monasteries and religious Houses that then existed we shall find twenty, all rich and splendid Foundations, without counting those of Westminster and the villages within a few miles of London Stone. These were built for the most part either just within or just without the City wall. The reason was that the City was less densely populated near the wall than lower down along the river-side. Every one of these Societi

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27. MONKS, FRIARS, AND NUNS.

We must not speak of monks indiscriminately as if they were all the same. There were as many varieties among the Orders as there are sects among Protestants and as much rivalry and even hatred of one with the other. Let us learn some of the distinctions among them. Monks were first introduced into Western Europe in the year 529. There had long been brotherhoods, hermits, and solitaries in the East, where they existed before the Christian age. St. Benedict founded at Monte Casino in Campania a mo

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28. THE LONDON CHURCHES.

Before the Great Fire of London there were 126 churches and parishes in the City. Most of these were destroyed by the Fire, and many were never rebuilt at all. Two or even three and four parishes were united in one church. Of late years there has been a destruction of City churches almost as disastrous as that of the Fire. Those who have learned from this book, and elsewhere, to respect the monuments of the past and to desire their preservation, should do their utmost to prevent the demolition o

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29. THE STREETS.

You have seen how the wall surrounded Roman London. The same wall which defended and limited Augusta defended and limited Plantagenet London. Outside the wall on the east there continued to extend wide marshes along the river; moorlands and forest on the north; marshes with rising ground on the west; marshes on the south. Wapping was called Wapping in the Wose (Wash or Ouze), meaning in the Marsh: Bermondsey was Bermond's Island, standing in the marsh: Battersea was Batter's Island, or perhaps I

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30 WHITTINGTON. PART I.

The story of Dick Whittington has been a favourite legend for many generations. The boy coming up to London poor and friendless; lying despairing on the green slope of Highgate; resolved to return to the country since he can find no work in London: the falling upon his ears of the bells of Bow, wafted across the fields by the south wind—every child knows all this. What did the bells say to him—the soft and mellow bells, calling to him across four miles of fields? 'Turn again, Whittington—Turn ag

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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 and anxieties. A Charter obtained in 1376, two or three years before he began business, was probably the real foundation of Whittington's fortune. For it forbade foreign merchants to sell by retail. This meant that a foreign ship bringing wine to the port of London could only dispose of her merchandise to the wholesale vintners: or one bringing silk could only sell it

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32. WHITTINGTON. PART III.

In the year 1384, being then about twenty-six years of age, Whittington was elected a member of the Common Council. In the year 1389 he was assessed at the same sum as the richest citizen. So that these ten years of his life were evidently very prosperous. In the year 1393 he was made Alderman for Broad Street Ward. In the same year he was made Sheriff. In the year 1396, the Mayor, Adam Bamme, dying in office, Whittington succeeded him. The following year he was elected Mayor. In the year 1401,

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33. GIFTS AND BEQUESTS.

The stream of charity which has so largely enriched and endowed the City of London began very early. You have seen how Rahere built and endowed Bartholomew's, and how Queen Maud founded the Lazar House of St. Giles. The fourteenth century furnishes many more instances. Thus William Elsinge founded in 1332 a hospital for a hundred poor blind men: in 1371 John Barnes gave a chest containing 1,000 marks to be lent by the City to young men beginning trade. You have heard how one Mayor went out to fi

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34. THE PALACES AND GREAT HOUSES.

When you think of a great city of the thirteenth or fourteenth century you must remember two things. First, that the streets were mostly very narrow—if you walk down Thames Street and note the streets running north and south you will be able to understand how narrow the City streets were. Second, that the great houses of the nobles and the rich merchants stood in these narrow streets, shut in on all sides though they often contained spacious courts and gardens. No attempt was made to group the h

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35. AMUSEMENTS.

We have heard so much of the religious Houses, Companies, Hospitals, quarrels and struggles that we may have forgotten a very important element in the life of the City—the amusements and pastimes of the citizens. Never was there a time when the City had more amusements than in these centuries. You have seen that it was always a rich town: its craftsmen were well paid: food was abundant: the people were well fed always, except in times of famine, which were rare. There were taverns with music and

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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, a town had been growing up on the west side of London. You have seen that formerly there spread a broad marsh over this part. Some rising ground kept what is now the Strand above the river, but Westminster, except for certain reed-grown islets, was nothing but a marsh covered over twice in the day by the tide. The river t

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37. THE COURT AT WESTMINSTER.

Although the Kings of England have occasionally lodged in the Tower and even at Baynard's Castle, and other places in the City, the permanent home of the Court was always from Edward the Confessor to Henry VIII. at the Royal Palace of Westminster. Of this building, large, rambling, picturesque, only two parts are left, Westminster Hall and the crypt of St. Stephen's Chapel. When King Henry VIII. exchanged Westminster for Whitehall the rooms of the old Palace were given over to various purposes.

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38. JUSTICE AND PUNISHMENTS.

In the time of the Plantagenets the punishments inflicted on wrongdoers were much more lenient than those which followed in later years. There is none of that brutal flogging which grew up in the last century, the worst time in the whole history of the country, for the people. This flogging not only in the army and navy but also for such offences as vagrancy, lasted even into the present century. In the year 1804 six women were publicly flogged at Gloucester for this offence. Under Whittington t

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39. THE POLITICAL POWER OF LONDON.

Until the rapid growth of the manufacturing interests created immense cities in the North, the wealth and prosperity and population of London gave it a consideration and power in the political situation which was unequalled by that of any other mediæval city. Even Paris, for instance, has never held an equal importance in the history of France. This power has been especially, and significantly, employed in the election and proclamation of Kings. It is not only that London has been the place of p

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40. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART I.

A map of Elizabethan London, drawn by one Agas, which is almost a picture 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 of the City; it is carefully drawn of uniform height, with battlements, and at regular intervals, bastions. Outside the wall there is the ditch, but it is now, as Stow describes it, laid out in gardens—cows are grazing in some parts of it—and there are mean houses built on the other side of i

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41. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART II.

We have passed over two hundred years. We left London under the Three Edwards. We find it under Elizabeth. It was a City of Palaces—monasteries, with splendid churches and stately buildings: town houses of bishops, abbots, and noble lords, every one able to accommodate a goodly following of liveried retainers and servants: the mansions of rich City merchants, sometimes as splendid as those of the lords: the halls of the City Companies: the hundred and twenty City churches. Look at London as Shak

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42. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART III.

The population of London at this time was perhaps, for it is not certain, 150,000. There were no suburbs, unless we call the Strand and Smithfield suburbs; the London citizen stepped outside the gates into the open country. This fact must be remembered when we think of the narrow lanes. The great danger of the City still remained, that of fire, for though the better houses were built of stone, the inferior sort, as was stated above, continued to be built of timber and plaster. There were no vehi

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43. TRADE. PART I.

London was anciently the resort of 'foreign' merchants. It was rich because 'foreign' merchants brought and exchanged their goods at this port. There were no ships built in England until the reign of King Alfred. When the kingdom became tranquil he is said to have hired out his ships to foreign merchants. A list of tolls paid by foreign ships in the reign of King Ethelred II. shows that the imports were considerable. The foreign merchants, however, were not to 'forestall their markets from the b

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44. TRADE. PART II.

English trade, that is to say, trade in English hands, practically began with Edward III. and, slowly increasing under his successors, gained an enormous development under Elizabeth. Several causes operated to produce this increase. In the first place the abolition of the Steelyard, though ordered by Edward VI., was not completely carried out till many years afterwards. During this period the merchants were learning the immense possibilities open to them when this incubus should be removed. Next

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45. TRADE. PART III.

The merchants got their Exchange. What did they do in it? They did most wonderful things with it. Greater things were never done in any Exchange. For the first time they were enabled to act together: and it was the most favourable opportunity that ever happened to any trading community. The charters of the foreigners were abolished: the markets of Bruges were depressed in consequence of the civil wars already beginning: that city itself, with Antwerp and Ghent, was on the point of ruin. The way

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46. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART I.

There were no theatres in England, nor any Plays, before the reign of Queen Elizabeth. This is a statement which is true, but needs explanation. It is not the case that there was no acting. On the contrary, there has always been acting of some kind or other. There was acting at the fairs, where the Cheap Jack and the Quack had their tumbling boys and clowns to attract the crowd. There were always minstrels and tumblers, men and women who played, sang, danced, and tumbled in the hall for the amus

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47. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART II.

After the religious dramas, the Pageants gratified the desire for spectacle and show. Pageants were held on every grand occasion: to welcome the sovereign: to honour the new Lord Mayor: to celebrate a victory. Then they erected triumphal arches adorned with pasteboard castles, ships, houses, caves—all kinds of things. They either carried with 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

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48. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART III.

Between the Pageant and the Play stands the Masque, a form of entertainment which achieved its greatest splendour both in stage mounting and in the words and songs in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. Nowhere was the Masque more carefully studied and more magnificently presented than in London. The scenic display which in the early theatre was so meagre was carried in the Masque to a height never surpassed until the splendid shows of the present day. Nor did the greatest poets disdain to writ

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49. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART IV.

Through the Religious Drama, the Pageant, the Masque, we work our way to the Play itself. The first beginnings of the modern Drama must here be passed over: there were the rough and unformed comedies such as 'Gammer Gurton's Needle,' performed in a college hall: or the tragedy played on boards spread over a waggon in the courtyard of an inn. Let us suppose that we are past the beginnings and are in Shakespeare's time—i.e. the end of Queen Elizabeth and the whole reign of James I. The first theat

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50. THE TERROR OF THE PLAGUE. PART I.

You have seen the City as it appeared to one who walked about its streets and watched the people. It was free, busy and prosperous, except at rare intervals, when its own internal dissensions, or the civil wars of the country, or the pretensions of the Sovereign, disturbed the peace of the City. Behind this prosperity, however, lay hid all through the middle ages, and down to two hundred years ago, four great and ever-present terrors. The first was the Terror of Leprosy: the second the Terror of

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51. THE TERROR OF THE PLAGUE. PART II.

In the month of May it was found that twenty City parishes were infected. Certain preventions, rather than remedies, of which there were none, were now employed by the Mayor. Infected houses were shut up: no one was allowed to go in or to come out: food was conveyed by buckets let down from an upper window: the dead bodies were lowered in the same way, from the windows: on the doors were painted red crosses with the words, 'Lord, have mercy upon us!' Watchmen were placed at the doors to prevent

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52. THE TERROR OF FIRE. PART I.

The City of London has suffered from fire more than any other great town. 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, a fire 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's shrine in St. Paul's Cathedral on the other. London Bridge, then built of wood, perished in the fire, which for five hundred years was known as the Great

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53. THE TERROR OF FIRE. PART II.

They must begin the world anew. For most of the merchants nothing was left to them but their credit—their good name: try to imagine the havoc caused by burning all the docks, warehouses, wharves, quays, and shops in London at the present day with nothing at all insured! But the citizens of London were not the kind of people to sit down weeping. The first thing was to rebuild their houses. This done there would be time to consider the future. The Lord Mayor and the Aldermen took counsel together

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54. ROGUES AND VAGABONDS.

The aspect of the City varies from age to age: the streets and the houses, the costumes, the language, the manners, all change. In one respect however, there is no change: we have always with us the same rogues and the same roguery. We do not treat them quite after the manner followed by our forefathers: and, as their methods were incapable of putting a stop to the tricks of those who live by trickery, so are ours; therefore we must not pride ourselves on any superiority in this direction. A lar

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55. UNDER GEORGE THE SECOND. PART I. The Wealth of London.

If a new world was opened to the adventurous in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, this new world two hundred years later was only half explored and was constantly yielding up new treasures. The lion's share of these treasures came to Great Britain and was landed at the Port of London. The wealth and luxury of the merchants in the eighteenth century surpassed anything ever recorded or ever imagined. So great was their prosperity that historians and essayists predicted the speedy downfall of the City:

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56. UNDER GEORGE THE SECOND. PART II.

After the Great Fire, the number of City churches was reduced from 126 to 87. Those that were rebuilt were for the most part much larger and more capacious than their predecessors. In many cases, Wren, the great architect, who rebuilt St. Paul's Cathedral and all the churches, in order to get a larger church took in a part of the churchyard, which accounts for the fact that many of the City churchyards are now so small. Again, as the old churches had been built mainly for the purpose of saying a

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57. UNDER GEORGE THE SECOND. PART III.

In walking through the City to-day, one may remark that there is very little crying of things to sell. In certain streets, as Broad Street, Whitecross Street, Whitechapel, or Middlesex Street, there is a kind of open street, fair, or market; but the street cries such as Hogarth depicted exist no longer. People used to sell a thousand things in the streets which are now sold in shops. All the little things—thread, string, pins, needles, small coal, ink, and straps—that are wanted in a house were

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58. UNDER GEORGE THE SECOND. PART IV.

So far we understand that London about the year 1750 was a city filled with dignified merchants all getting rich, and with a decorous, self-respecting population of retail traders, clerks, craftsmen, and servants of all kinds, a noisy but a well-behaved people. A church-going, sermon-loving, and orderly people. This is in the main a fair and just appreciation of the City. But there is the other side which must not be overlooked—that side, namely, which presents the vice and sin and misery which

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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 is to say, people who bought without question whatever was brought to them for sale: that the value of the goods stolen every year from the ships lying in the river—there were then no great Docks and the lading and unlading were carried on by lighters and barges—amounted to half a million sterling every year: that the value of the property annually stolen in

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60. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. PART I.

Let us walk into the streets. You will not observe, because you are used to these things, and have been brought up among them, and are accustomed to them, that all the men go about unarmed: that they do not carry even a stick for their protection: that they do not fight or quarrel with each other: that the strong do not knock down the weak but patiently wait for them and make room for them: that ladies walk about with no protection or escort: that things are exposed for sale with no other guard

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61. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. PART II.

Since all these things do not grow of their own accord, by whom were they first introduced, planted, and developed? By whom are they now maintained? By the collection of powers and authorities which we call the Government of the City and County of London. Thus order reigns in the streets: in the rare cases where disorder breaks 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 is the servant of the Law: he represent

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62. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. PART III.

That is the best Government which gives the greatest possible liberty to its people: only that people can be happy which is capable of using their freedom aright. You have seen how your personal freedom from violence, robbery, and molestation in your work is secured for you: how you are enabled to live in comfort and cleanliness—by a vast machinery of Government whose growth has been gradual and which must always be ready to meet changes so as to suit the needs of the people. One point you must

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63. LONDON. GREATER LONDON.

It has been a great misfortune for London that, when its Wall ceased to be the true boundary of the town, and when the people began to spread in all directions outside the walls, no statesman arose with vision clear enough to perceive that the old system must be enlarged or abolished: that the City must cease to mean the City of the Edwards, and must include these new suburbs, from Richmond on the West to Poplar on the East, and from Hampstead on the North to Balham on the South. It is true that

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1. THE FOUNDATION OF LONDON. PART I.

Æneas : a Trojan prince who escaped from Troy when it was destroyed by the 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 was destroyed by Greek invaders about 1,000 years before Christ, and the stories connected with it form one of the chief subjects of Greek and Latin poets. Troynovant means New Troy. Constantine the Great was Emperor of Rome, that is, of all the then known world from 305 to 337 A.D

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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 past Godalming and Guildford, falls into the Thames. entrenching : making a trench or ditch. The earth dug out was formed into a mound. The mound and ditch, together with the stockade, protected the place. stockade : a barrier made of stakes stuck in the ground. Gaul : the old name for the country now called France—the land

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3. ROMAN LONDON. PART I.

Stationary camp : a fixed or permanent camp; a fort. A Roman army on the march constructed a camp if it only spent one night in a place. Such camps 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, &amp;c. rubble : small rough stones often used inside piles of masonry. Silchester : a place near Reading at which remains of old Roman buildings have been dug out.

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4. ROMAN LONDON. PART II.

Tesselated : formed of small pieces of stone or tile of various colours arranged 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 not belong to him. Picts : wild savages from the country which we call Scotland; Scots , also savage men, who, though

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5. AFTER THE ROMANS. PART I.

East Saxons were those who dwelt in Essex, the county named after them. Crayford : on the river Cray in north Kent. Here the Saxons under Hengist totally defeated the Britons under Vortimer in 457 A.D. Canterbury is the burgh, borough, or fortified place of the men of Kent. 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

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6. AFTER THE ROMANS. PART II.

Blackfriars , at the eastern end of the Thames Embankment, derives its name from a monastery or house of Black Friars which stood there. Watling Street , Ermyn Street , Vicinal Way : made by the Romans, who were famous makers of high roads, many of which are still in use. (See map 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

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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 and sacked Rome in 410 A.D. It was this state of thing which compelled the Romans to withdraw their troops from Britain. The West where the Britons still held their own : Wales and Cornwall were never occupied by the invading Saxons: Welsh and Cornishmen are Celts, with a language of their own in Wales, while the Cornish language has only disappeared during the last

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8. THE FIRST SAXON SETTLEMENT.

Ecclesiastic : connected with the Church. For many centuries Rome was the centre of Christian influence, and is so still to all Roman Catholics. ritual : the customs and ceremonies employed in performing service in a church. Gregory I. or the Great was Pope from 590-604 A.D. He it was who sent Augustine to attempt the conversion of the English in the year 597. kinglet : a petty king. England was then divided among many kings, so that the realm of each was necessarily very small. crucifix : a fig

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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 as a shire or kingdom. When Mercia became subject to Wessex it was ruled by an alderman. Benfleet : a place in Essex, on the north bank of the Thames, not far from Southend. Brunanburgh was the scene of a defeat of the Danes by Athelstan in 937 A.D. ; the place cannot now be identified. Sweyn , King of Denmar

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10. THE ANGLO-SAXON CITIZEN.

Athelstan (925-940), the grandson of Alfred the Great, and Etheldred II. (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 the king 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 was found difficult to keep animals throug

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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 92 feet high and the walls are 17 feet thick. Dowgate : the site of one of the gates of Old London Wall is near where Cannon Street Railway Station now stands: here the Walbrook fell into the Thames. Queen Hithe : 'The Queen's Landing Place.' Merchants were compelled to land their goods here so that the dues paid should go to the Queen. confluence : a flowing t

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12. NORMAN LONDON.

Bishop and Portreeve : the two chief officers of the City, one ruling for 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 the guild or corporation, town clerk, &amp;c., the City library, museum and law courts, and a great hall that will hold 7,000 persons. feudal claims : demands made on their tenants by owners under the feudal system. Such

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13. FITZSTEPHEN'S ACCOUNT OF THE CITY. PART I.

St. Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield is part of St. Bartholomew's Hospital. St. Ethelburga is in Bishopsgate Street, not far from Liverpool Street Railway Station. crypt is a chapel or vault underground. St. Swithin's Church is near Cannon Street Railway Station. 'London Stone,' supposed to be a Roman milestone, is let into the wall of this church. St. Swithin, to whom the church is dedicated, was a Saxon Bishop of Winchester, under whose care the youth of Alfred was spent at Winchester. Thom

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14. FITZSTEPHEN'S ACCOUNT OF THE CITY. PART II.

Tyburn : a brook which gave its name to the place Tyburn, where the Marble Arch now stands. Westbourne : this brook has given its name to Westbourne Park, in Paddington. Holywell may be remembered by Holywell Street, in the Strand. Clerkenwell is named after the Parish Clerks' Well, round which they used to perform their 'mysteries.' quarterstaff : a long staff used as a weapon of defence, and held in the middle and also one quarter way from the end. tabor : a kind of small drum beaten with one

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15. LONDON BRIDGE. PART I.

Architect : one who designs buildings and superintends the building of them. Jewry : the district in a town inhabited by the Jews; for in early times the Jews were not allowed to live where they liked, but only in quarters assigned to them. The street now called Old Jewry turns out of the Poultry, on the north side. essential : something very important and that cannot be done without. intercommunication : intercourse; dealings between people which are made much easier by having good roads and br

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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 England and was introduced to Henry VIII. marine painters : artists who excel in painting boats, ships, and sea scenes. (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 the Civil War she withdrew to France, where she died in 1

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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 the Holy 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 for

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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 was confined to the clergy....

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19. THE PILGRIMS.

ague : a fever coming on at intervals, with fits of shivering. isolation : living away from outside communication, a lonely position like that of men on an island cut off from the rest of the world. Flemings : the people of Flanders, a district now comprising parts of Belgium, South Holland, and North France. Walsingham : a place in the north of Norfolk, where was a famous shrine. Glastonbury : a small town near Wells, in Somersetshire. Compostella : a place in Spain where is the shrine of St. J

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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 generally applied to the Knights of St. John, who built a hospital for sick Crusaders at Jerusalem. shambles : a slaughter-house. Whittington , originally an apprentice in London, became a wealthy mercer, thrice Lord Mayor, and knighted. He died in 1423, without children, and left his wealth for public objects, such as the one in the t

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21. THE TERROR OF LEPROSY.

Leprosy : a terrible disease of the skin and blood, once prevalent in Europe, 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 Catholic Church. Burton Lazars : a village one mile from Melton

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22. THE TERROR OF FAMINE.

24 shillings a quarter : this is not far from the present price of wheat, which gives us cheap bread. But in 1257 24 s. would be equivalent to at least 20 l. in our money. retainers : those in the service of a nobleman and wearing his livery and badge. Hanseatic merchants : merchants trading with the Hanse cities in Germany (among which was Hamburg) who had formed a league for self-protection about the twelfth century. granary : a place for storing up grain or corn....

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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 on the site, is 500 feet long. shrine : a receptacle for relics and other sacred things. (The word means a 'chest.') aisle (pronounced īle ) is the side or wing of a church. scribe : a writer. In those early times so few people could read or write that men often had to have recourse to professional writers. deed : a written document relatin

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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 the nave. King Charles II. returned at the Restoration in 1660. Sir Christopher Wren (born 1632, died 1723): the greatest English architect. After the great fire he rebuilt St. Paul's Cathedral, fifty London churches, and many public buildings. Over his

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25. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD.

Embattled : built with battlements. minor canons : clergy of the cathedral who intone the services and look after the music. charnel : containing the bones of the dead. Finsbury Fields : the fenny or marshy ground lying north of the Moorgate of the old City walls. Papal Bulls : decrees and orders issued by the Pope, so called from the seal attached to them. Latimer (born 1470, died 1555), Bishop of Worcester, burnt at the stake for his Protestant opinions together with Ridley, Bishop of London.

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26. THE RELIGIOUS HOUSES.

Forester : one who has charge of a forest to cut wood, plant new trees, &amp;c. vicar : one who acts in place of another; hence a priest who on behalf of his monastery conducted services in a parish church. orders : the different brotherhoods into which monks were divided. indiscriminate charity : giving without thinking, whether the charity is well or ill bestowed. Minorites : monks or nuns belonging to the Franciscan Order, who in their humility called themselves the 'lesser' ( minores ) b

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27. MONKS, FRIARS, AND NUNS.

Indiscriminately : without making any distinctions between them. hermit , from the Greek, and solitary , from the Latin, mean the same thing—one who retires from the world and lives in a lonely place. Monte Casino , in Campania, near Naples, where St. Benedict established his monastery in 529 A.D. St. Benedict is often shortened to Benet, as in the name of several London churches. austerities : severe rules of life and conduct. Friars , or brethren (French frères , Latin fratres ): those orders

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28. THE LONDON CHURCHES.

St. Augustine was sent by Pope Gregory the Great in 597 to convert the heathen English: he was the 'Apostle of the English,' and first Archbishop of Canterbury. St. Dunstan , who became Archbishop of Canterbury and died in 988, was not only a zealous priest but a great statesman and ruler. St. Alphege : an Archbishop of Canterbury murdered by the Danes in 1012 A.D. Sise Lane : a lane in the City, near Cannon Street. The Basings : an old City family whose name also survives in the 'Bassishaw' war

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29. THE STREETS.

Plantagenet : Henry II., 1154-1189, was the first of the line of kings bearing this name, so called from the badge worn by Henry's father, a sprig of broom. Chesel was the Anglo-Saxon for pebble, and Kiesel is the German for the same. The Chesil Beach , near Weymouth, is a remarkable bank of shingle joining Portland Bill to the mainland. Somerset House , in the Strand: the palace of the Protector Somerset has been pulled down, and public offices erected on its site. Northumberland House , now de

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30. WHITTINGTON. PART I.

Mercer : a merchant who sells silken or woollen goods. executors : those who are appointed to carry out the last will and testament 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 native rulers 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 the

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31. WHITTINGTON. PART II.

Vintner : a wine-seller. Wycliffe , born about 1324, was a learned theologian and rector of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire. For preaching Protestant doctrines he was summoned to appear at St. Paul's to answer a charge of heresy in 1377. John of Gaunt thus made the second attempt to deprive London of its liberties and charter; Matilda, the opponent of Stephen, had tried long before, but it ended in her overthrow ( see p. 45 ). The Marshal was the commander of the Royal forces. To put London under

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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 the Reformation. The name comes from a German word lollen , to sing—from the custom of these reformers. Mansion House : the official home of the Lord Mayor. The present building was begun in 1739; previously a house in Cheapside was used for the purpose. bond : a written obligation binding someone to pay a sum of mone

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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 are taught. aqueduct : an artificial channel for water. Sevenoaks , in Kent. Higham Ferrers is a small town in Northamptonshire....

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34. THE PALACES AND GREAT HOUSES.

The King Maker : Warwick was so called because he helped Edward IV. to become king in 1461, and restored Henry VI. for a time in 1470. He was slain 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 which looks 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 Palac

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35. AMUSEMENTS.

Tournament : a sham fight at which knights, mostly on horseback, used to show their skill. Twelfth Day : twelve days after Christmas, formerly an occasion of great festivities, which have now nearly died out. Morris-dance : a Moorish dance to an accompaniment of bells and tambourines. cresset : a kind of lantern formed of an open brazier filled with combustible materials. demilance : a kind of horse-soldier armed with a short lance. mummeries : entertainments performed by men in masks. Curfew :

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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 other institution. commissioner : appointed to see that the work was carried out. Sir G. Gilbert Scott , born 1811, died 1878, was the greatest modern English architect. took sanctuary : fled for shelter to the abbey, whence she could not be taken without violating the privileges of the Church. William Caxton set up in 1476 the first printing press

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37. THE COURT AT WESTMINSTER.

Star Chamber Court , in which cases were tried before some members of the Privy Council and two judges without a jury. This was established in 1487 to restore order because great lords and landowners used to frighten juries from giving true verdicts. bear and ragged staff : the arms of the Earl of Warwick consisted of a bear erect and hugging a rough stake. (See pictures on pp. 111 , 113 .) arras : tapestry for hanging; so called from Arras, in the north of France, where it was made. refectory :

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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 the ordinary thief. Bridewell : the site of a prison, now demolished. It adjoined Whitefriars, and may be seen in the map to the west of Blackfriars. amende honorable (French): when one who has done wrong gives satisfaction without loss of honour. pillory : a framework supported by an upright pillar. In it were holes through which the head and

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39. THE POLITICAL POWER OF LONDON.

Froissart : an early French chronicler or historian who visited England in 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 in 1327. a son was born : Edward, Prince of Wales, born in 1453. After the Yorkist victory of Northampton in 1460 Edward's claim to the throne was set aside in favour of Richard, Duke of York, father of Edward IV.

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40. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART I.

Stow (born 1525, died 1605): a famous writer in Queen Elizabeth's reign on the antiquities of London and other places. Whitechapel takes its name from a white chapel-of-ease built to relieve Stepney, in which parish this district was till 1763. tenters : pegs for stretching cloth. Sometimes hooks were used, from which we get the phrase 'to be on tenter hooks'—to be on a stretch with anxiety. St. Katharine's has given its name to the great docks east of the Tower. bull-, bear-baiting : the sport

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41. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART II.

William Shakespeare (born 1564, died 1616): the prince of poets, who lived in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. ruins of the monasteries which had been suppressed by Henry VIII. in 1536-1540. Cold Harbour : a merchant's mansion once standing on the bank of the Thames in Thames Street. Genevan bands : a kind of collar worn by Protestant clergymen, so called because Geneva, the home of Calvin, was the centre of Protestantism. palaces along the Strand : if you walk along the Strand you will noti

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42. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART III.

Impressment : in the absence of some orderly arrangement, such as conscription (where all serve) or a voluntary system (like our own), the press-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 now stands, was the house of the Hanse merchants ( see note on Chapter XXII .). John Colet , Dean of St. Paul's (born 1466, died 1519), was one of the leaders of the revival of learning in England

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43. TRADE. PART I.

Forestall their market : that is, to buy things before they arrived at the 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 only to wool. Staples Inn was once a wool-market. instead of selling our wool : Edward III. brought Flemish weavers into England to encourage manufactures. Till then England produced and exported wool to Antwerp and other manufacturing centres, but did not ma

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44. TRADE. PART II.

Incubus : something that weighs down and hinders. religious wars in the Netherlands : between the Protestant Dutch and the Catholic Spaniards, who were oppressing the country through great part of the sixteenth century. Bourse : the same as Exchange , where merchants meet to transact their business. English wool in Bruges, because it was much exported thither from England before the growth of home manufactures. Flemings : the natives of Flanders; who were the chief manufacturers of Europe long b

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45. TRADE. PART III.

Bruges ... civil wars : that is, the religious wars referred to in Chapter XLIV . Venetians : before the discovery of the sea route to India and the East Venice was the first maritime and commercial power in the world. The route round the Cape of Good Hope was discovered by Vasco de Gama in 1497. 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 May 1498. The cotton

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46. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART I.

Mummers : men who played in entertainments masked and in various disguises. 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 the Bible or scenes from the life of a saint. admonition : warning. frescoes : paintings on a wall covered with plaster—done while the plaster is still wet or fresh . sequence : that is, the connection of one event with another. properties :

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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, or market, 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 peopl

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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 and poet, and a friend of Shakespeare. Francis Bacon , Lord Verulam (born 1561, died 1626), was Lord Chancellor and a great writer on philosophical subjects. Oberon : the king of the fairies and husband of Titania, as in Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream.' save James : that is, King James I.; a piece of courtly flattery due to Jonson's connection with

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49. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART IV.

Gammer (i.e. Old Mother) Gurton's Needle is a very rough old play about 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 the garment itself. It was written some time before 1560. ('Gammer,' the French grand'-mère , grandmother, contracted into 'ganmer,' and then 'gammer.') contortionist : one who twists himself into extraordinary attitudes to amuse the public. octagonal : with eight sides. prologue : the verses

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50. THE TERROR OF THE PLAGUE. PART I.

Pretensions : ambitious claims. Wars of the Roses : a civil war lasting 1455-1485. In thinking of the loss of life occasioned by this war, it must be remembered that such loss fell most heavily on the noble families; the mass of the population was not so much disturbed by it. Long Acre : a street near Drury Lane, now chiefly occupied by carriage-makers. delirium : a wandering in the mind caused by fever....

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51. THE TERROR OF THE PLAGUE. PART II.

Registers : a record of names of persons who have died. Such records are now accurately kept by the registrars of births, deaths, and marriages. The King : Charles II., who, whatever his faults may have been, was at least good-natured and averse to suffering. Samuel Pepys (born 1632, died 1703) was Secretary to the Admiralty in the reigns of Charles II. and James II. His famous diary gives a graphic picture of life during these reigns....

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52. THE TERROR OF FIRE. PART I.

Coleman Street runs northward from Lothbury (behind the Bank of England) to Moorgate. The name goes back even to Saxon times, and probably comes from one Ceolmund, who had a farm near. St. Erkinwald : an early Saxon Bishop of London, who encouraged the citizens to restore their ruined city, and himself built the Bishop's Gate (named after him). His shrine in St. Paul's was long an object of reverence. Paternoster Row : always a great centre of the book trade: it was a row immediately adjoining t

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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 of Charles II., was made one of the commissioners for the restoration of London after the Great Fire. He wrote a diary, which is not so amusing as that of Pepys ( see Chapter LI .) St. Dunstan-in-the-East , in Tower Street, was the first church restored by Wren after the fire. John Dryden (born 1631, died 1700): one of the greatest English poets. He was a supporter of the house

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54. ROGUES AND VAGABONDS.

Vagabonds : wanderers who have no settled home. Wapping : called Wapping Wash (or Marsh) in the time of Queen Elizabeth, when it was first drained and banked in, lies on the north bank of the Thames, in Middlesex, near the Thames Tunnel. Lambeth , facing Westminster, on the south bank of the river, is low-lying, and was called in Saxon times Lambhythe, meaning loamy or muddy landing place. Bermondsey ( ey —island), on the south bank of the Thames, one mile S.E. of St. Paul's, is a centre of the

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55. UNDER GEORGE II. PART I. THE WEALTH OF LONDON.

Essayists : people who write essays; that is, short compositions on any subject. picturesqueness : beauty and grace; qualities which might be supposed to make anything a good subject for a picture . ruffles : pieces of some white material plaited and attached as a frill to the collar and sleeves of garments. ostentation : making a great show. Puritanism : the more sober style of life and thought introduced by the Puritans, who were a religious party in the times of Elizabeth and the Stuarts, and

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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 is shaped like a cross. St. Stephen's, Walbrook , stands behind the Mansion House, where the Walbrook 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 for these sermons, that is, the lectureships were endowed . harbouring : sheltering. organisers : those who get up and arrange anything. Haymar

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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 as Petticoat Lane), is reached through Aldgate. Hogarth (born 1697, died 1764): a celebrated English painter, chiefly famous for moral, satirical and humorous pictures drawn from everyday life. asphalt : a kind of mineral pitchy substance which melts in heat and can be laid down so as to form a hard, smooth roadway.

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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 for electrical experiments; as a politician, for the share he took in upholding the independence of the American States. transmission : handing down from father to son. externally : outwardly. St. Katharine's , Ratcliff , Shadwell , Step

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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 whitened by the wind and sun. hopbines : the stalks of hop plants. transportation : conveying convicted criminals abroad. Till 1869 convicts were sent to Australia; now they are kept in convict prisons at home. 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 forcib

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60. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. PART I.

Denominations : religious bodies or sects, the members of which are all called 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....

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61. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. PART II.

Symbol of : the representative of; the presence of a policeman is the outward 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, &amp;c. Quarter Sessions : the sessions or sittings of the Law Courts in a county or city held every quarter. archives : public records. sergeant means 'se

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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 to wear a distinguishing uniform or livery. fletchers : arrow-makers. (French flèche , an arrow.) trust-money : money entrusted for a certain purpose for which alone it can be used. technical : where useful trades and sciences are taught....

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63. LONDON. GREATER LONDON.

Conservative : preserving, so far as convenient, the present state of things. functions : powers and duties. reformatory schools : where boys and girls who have committed some crime are sent to be reformed to better ways. assets : property actually held, so that it can be set off against a debt. 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. Spottiswoode &amp; Co. Printers, N

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