The rest of this reign exhibited a dreadful scene of religious bigotry, by a most cruel persecution of the Protestants; for the principal instance she gave of her tender maternal love to the citizens, was, her causing many of them to be burnt in Smithfield, in order to put a stop to the reformation begun by her father, and continued by her brother: but Providence soon interposed; her reign was short; and the fires which were then kindled for the holy martyrs, who sealed their faith with their blood, were the last effort, under the sanction of law, made by religious tyranny in this kingdom to overthrow the reformation. Happy would it have been for the Protestants, if this cruel spirit had never prevailed amongst them; if, upon this change, universal benevolence had taken place, and every Briton would have allowed his neighbour the same liberty ofenquiry, which he claimed for himself! but though both the national church and the dissenters from it, have disclaimed the pretended infallibility they so justly censured in the church of Rome, and have even constantly owned that they themselves are fallible, yet, contrary to the mild, the humane spirit of the Gospel, they have absurdly persecuted those who would not allow them to be infallible, and have presumed to differ from the unerring standard of their judgment!
We are now come to the period when our streets were no longer to be crouded with monks and friars of various orders, and in very different and uncouth habits, walking with their heads shaven and bare, with long beards, and a rosary hanging at their girdles; when our nobility and gentry were to be no longer affronted in the streets by Cardinals, attended by a great retinue of servants: by the lordly Knights of religious orders, or the wealthy Priors of convents: when our streets were no longer to be adorned with crosses and the images of the saints, the objects of much superstition; and when many of our largest, most conspicuous, and stately buildings, were no longer to consist of priories, friaries, nunneries, and guilds of religious fraternities.
Thus the appearance of the city, with respect to its buildings, ornaments, and inhabitants, received a considerable alteration from the abolition of popery in these kingdoms; and the reader will probably be pleased at seeing, at one view, a list of these religious houses, which will the better enable him to form an idea of the difference between London at that time and the present.
The priories then were, that of St. John of Jerusalem, near Clerkenwell.
That of the Holy Trinity of Christ church, or Creechurch, within Aldgate.
That of St. Bartholomew the Great, between Newgate street and West Smithfield.
The priory or abbey of Bermondsey, Southwark.
The priory of the Knights Templars, in Fleet street. And
The old Temple of Holborn.
The friaries were, that of the crutched or crossed friars, in St. Olave’s, Hart street.
That of the brethrende sacca, orde pœnitentia Jesu Christi, in the Old Jewry.
The Charter house monks, or the house of the Carthusians, between St. John’s street and Goswell street.
The New Abbey, by East Smithfield.
And that of Westminster Abbey.
The five following were convents of begging friars;
Black friars in Holborn, and
The black friars, Dominicans, or preaching friars, near Ludgate.
The gray friars, or Franciscans, near Newgate.
The Augustine friars, in Broad street.
And the white friars, or Carmelites, in Fleet street.
The convents of women were, that of Clerkenwell.
That of St. Helen, within Bishopsgate.
That of St. Clare, in the Minories.
And that of Holiwell by Shoreditch.
The guilds or fraternities were, the brotherhood of St. Fabian and St. Sebastian, in St. Botolph’s, Aldgate.
The fraternity and chapel of the Holy Trinity, in Leadenhall; and innumerable others, founded in most churches.
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the far greatest part of this metropolis was contained within the walls, and even in these narrow limits were many gardens, which have been since converted into lanes, courts, and alleys. The buildings of London were, on the west, bounded by the monastery of St. Catharine’s;East Smithfield was open to Tower hill, and Rosemary lane was unbuilt. The Minories were built only on the east side, which fronted the city wall: cattle grazed in Goodman’s Fields, and Whitechapel extended but a little beyond the bars, and had no houses to the north; for Spitalfields, which of themselves would now compose a very large town, were then really fields, separated from each other by hedges and rows of trees. Houndsditch consisted only of a row of houses fronting the city wall, and the little yards and gardens behind them also opened into those fields. Bishopsgate street, Norton Falgate, and the street called Shoreditch, were then however built as far as the church, but there were only a few houses and gardens on each side, and no streets or lanes on either hand. Moorfields lay entirely open to the village of Hoxton; and Finsbury Fields, in which were several windmills, extended to the east side of Whitecross street. Chiswell street was not erected, and St. John’s street extended by the side of the priory of St. John of Jerusalem, to the monastery of Clerkenwell, and Cow Cross, which opened into the fields.
But on leaving the city walls, the buildings were much less extensive; for though the village of Holborn was now joined toLondon, the backs of the houses, particularly on the north side, opened into gardens and fields; part of Gray’s Inn lane were the only houses that extended beyond the main street; great part of High Holborn had no existence, and St. Giles’s was a village contiguous to no part of London.
If we turn to the Strand, we also find, that spacious street had gardens on each side, and to the north, fields behind those gardens, except a few houses where is now the west end of Drury lane. On the south side of the street, the gardens generally extended to the Thames; though some of the nobility had houses on the back of their gardens, next the water side. Covent Garden, so called from its belonging to the convent at Westminster, extended to St. Martin’s lane, and the field behind it reached to St. Giles’s. That lane had few edifices besides the church; for Covent Garden wall was on one side, and a wall which inclosed the Mews, on the other, and all the upper part was a lane between two hedges, which extended a little to the west of the village of St. Giles’s. Hedge lane was also a lane between two hedges; the extensive street now called the Hay Market, had a hedge on one side, and a few bushes on the other.Neither Pall Mall, St. James’s street, Piccadilly, or any of the streets or fine squares in that part of the town, were built; and Westminster was a small town on the south west, and south sides of St. James’s Park.
Lambeth was, at that time, a little village at a considerable distance from Southwark, and there were no buildings on the south bank of the Thames, till a row of houses began opposite to White Friars, and extended along the river, with gardens, fields, or groves behind them, till almost opposite the Steel Yard, where several streets began: the Borough extended a considerable distance from the bridge to the south, and the buildings to the east as far as the Tower.
This was the state of this great metropolis, so lately as in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; and how inconsiderable soever it must appear, when compared with its present dimensions, yet, by order of that Queen, a proclamation was published, by which all persons were forbid to build upon new foundations, and this order was twice repeated in the following reign.
On the 1st of January 1559, the Litany, as now used, was first read in all the churches of London; and about this time the populace not only destroyed all thestatues and pictures of the saints in the churches, but most of their rich robes, altar cloths, books, and sepulchral banners.
In the year 1582, expence in dress having prevailed in the city, among people of all ranks, particularly among apprentices, which was then apprehended might prove of dangerous consequence to their masters, the following orders were published by the Lord Mayor and Common Council, which will be now thought very extraordinary, viz. That from thence forward no apprentice whatsoever should presume,
To wear any apparel but what he receives from his master.
To wear no hat within the city and liberty thereof, nor any thing instead of it but a woollen cap, without any silk about it.
To wear no ruffles, cuffs, loose collar, nor any thing more than a ruff at the collar, and that only of a yard and a half long.
To wear no doublets but what were made of canvas, sackcloth, fustian, English leather, or woollen cloth, without being enriched in any manner with gold, silver, or silk.
To wear no other coloured cloth or kersey, in hose or stockings, than white, blue, or russet.
To wear little breeches of the same stuffs as the doublets, without being stitched, laced, or bordered.
To wear a plain upper coat of cloth or leather, without pinking, stitching, guarding, lace, or silk about it.
To wear no other surtout than a cloth gown or cloak, lined or faced with cloth, cotton, or bays, with a fixed round collar, without stitching, guarding, lace, or silk.
To wear no pumps, slippers, nor shoes, but of English leather, without being pinked, edged, or stitched; nor girdles nor garters except of crewel, woollen, thread, or leather, without being garnished.
And to wear no sword, dagger, or other weapon, but a knife; nor neither a ring, nor a jewel, gold, silver, nor silk in any part of his apparel.
Rigorous as these laws were, and unsufferable as they would be now thought, yet any apprentice offending against any of the above particulars, was, for the first offence, to be punished at the discretion of his master; for the second he was to be publickly whipped at the hall of his company; and for the third, to serve six months longer than specified in his indentures. And every master conniving at his apprentice’s violating the above severedecree, was to forfeit 6s. 8d. to the poor of the parish in which he dwelt.
The plague, which had broke out many times in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, appeared afresh in 1603, on the accession of King James I. to the throne, and made such dreadful devastation, that, within the space of a year, it swept away 30,578 persons: but it having at length happily ceased, the King, Queen, and Prince Henry, made their public entry from the Tower on the 15th of March 1604, on which occasion the city was embellished with seven magnificent triumphal arches, numerous pageants, and other pompous decorations. The streets were adorned with the richest silks and carpets, and lined with the stands of the several corporations, with their flags and bands of music.
In the year 1608, King James I. granted the city a charter, by which he not only confirmed all the ancient rights, liberties, and immunities of the citizens, but added to the bounds and jurisdiction of the city the precincts of Duke’s Place, St. Bartholomew’s the Great and Less, Black and White Friars, and Cold Harbour. That King also granted the city two other charters.
In 1613, the water of the New River,brought from Ware by the great Sir Hugh Middleton, was let into the lower reservoir at Islington, with great ceremony: the next year Smithfield was first paved, and in 1615, the sides of the streets of this city being paved with pebble stones, which had hitherto rendered walking very troublesome, the inhabitants of the principal streets first began to pave their doors with broad free stone and flags.
In the year 1625, when King Charles I. ascended the throne, a most dreadful pestilence raged in London; the fatal effects of this distemper had been frequently felt; but it now carried off, within the space of a year, in the city and suburbs, 35,417 persons, besides those who died of other distempers, which, in the whole, amounted to 54,265, said to be one third of the inhabitants.
It is remarkable that in the year 1629, the goldsmiths shops in the south row of Cheapside, reached from the Old Change to Buckler’s Bury, exclusive of only four shops of other trades in all that space; but these four shops gave King Charles I. and his Privy Council such offence, that they sent an order to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, commanding them to turn out the tenants, and to oblige all the goldsmithsin the city, to settle in Cheapside and Lombard street. This arbitrary order however not being complied with, several others were sent, both by the Council and the court of Star-chamber, in which they were commanded to commit the tenants to prison, if they refused to give security to quit their houses by a certain day: and the court of Star-chamber even threatened the Alderman of the ward, that if he or his deputy did not immediately cause every such shop to be shut up, he or his deputy should be sent to prison, by warrant from the Board.
In 1633, King Charles I. being returned from his progress into Scotland, the gentlemen of the four Inns of Court entertained their Majesties with a pompous masque, which excelled every thing of the kind that had been seen in England, the expence amounting to 21,000l. the greatest sum probably ever expended in this kingdom in mere shew, except at a coronation; we shall therefore give it our readers, as a specimen of the taste of the times; the following account being the more curious, as these kinds of entertainments are now entirely laid aside.
The masquers, musicians, and all who were actors, met on Candlemas day in the afternoon, at Ely House in Holborn,where the Committee for the management of it sat all day, and in the evening they set forward, in the following order, down Chancery lane to Whitehall.
The march began with twenty footmen in scarlet liveries, trimmed with silver lace, each having his sword by his side, a baton in one hand, and a lighted torch in the other. These were the Marshal’s men, who cleared the streets, and were about the Marshal, waiting his commands. After them, and sometimes in the midst of them, came Mr. Darrel the Marshal, a very handsome gentleman, of Lincoln’s Inn, mounted upon one of the King’s best horses, and richest saddles. He was magnificently dressed, and, besides his Marshal’s men, had two lacquies who carried torches, and a page in livery carrying his cloak.
He was followed by an hundred of the handsomest young gentlemen of the Inns of Court, twenty-five chosen out of each house, all of them mounted on the best horses, and with the best furniture that the King’s stables, and those of all the noblemen in town could afford. These hundred gentlemen were so richly dressed, that scarce any thing but gold and silver lace could be seen, and every one of them had two lacquies, in his own livery, carryingtorches by his horse’s side, and a page carrying his cloak. These gentlemen had about a dozen of the best trumpeters, in their own livery, sounding before them.
After this noble troop, came the antimasquers; preceded by the sound of keys and tongs, playing in concert. The first antimasque consisted of beggars and cripples, mounted on the poorest leanest jades that could be got out of the dust carts or elsewhere, a change, which from the nobleness of the music, the fineness of the horses, and the magnificent appearance of the gentlemen, afforded a very odd and surprizing contrast; the habits and every thing belonging to these cripples and beggars being ingeniously fitted by the direction of the commissioners, among whom were Mr. Attorney Noy, Sir John Finch, Sir Edward Herbert, and Mr. Selden.
After the beggars antimasque, came men on horseback, playing upon pipes, whistles, and instruments, imitating the notes of all sorts of birds, and playing in excellent concert.
These were followed by an antimasque of birds, consisting of an owl in an ivy bush, with many different sorts of birds, in a cluster gazing upon her; these were little boys put in covers in the shape of those birds, nicely fitted, sitting on smallhorses, with footmen going before them with torches in their hands, and others to look after them, to prevent their falling.
After this antimasque, came other musicians on horseback, playing upon bagpipes and other kinds of Northern music, to shew that the following projectors were Scots; and these, like the rest, had many footmen with torches waiting on them.
First in this antimasque rode a fellow upon a little horse with a great bit in his mouth, carrying upon his head a bit with a headstall and reins; a projector, who begged a patent, that none in the kingdom might ride their horses, without such bits as they should buy of him.
Then came another fellow with a capon upon his fist, and a bunch of carrots upon his head, representing a projector, who begged a patent of monopoly, as the first inventor of the art of feeding capons fat with carrots.
Several other projectors were personated in this antimasque, which pleased the spectators the more, because an information was thus covertly given to the King, of the unfitness and ridiculousness of these projects against the law. The Attorney Noy, who had most knowledge of them, had a great hand in this antimasque of the projectors.
After this and the rest of the antimasques, came six of the chief musicians on horseback upon foot-cloths, and in the habits of Heathen priests, footmen carrying torches by their sides. These were followed by a large open chariot, drawn by six fine horses with large plumes of feathers on their heads and cruppers. In this chariot were about a dozen persons, in the habits of Gods and Goddesses, many footmen walking an all sides with torches.
This chariot was followed by six more of the musicians on horseback, dressed and attended with torches like the former, proceeding before another large open chariot, drawn by six fine horses, with feathers, liveries, and torches, like the other. Within it were twelve musicians, as variously dressed as the others, to represent, like them, Pagan deities. These chariots were made for this occasion, and, preceding the grand masquers chariots, played upon excellent loud music all the way.
After this chariot came six more musicians, dressed and attended like the former, followed by the first chariot of the grand masquers, which was not so large as those that went before, but was curiously carved and painted. It was in the form of a Roman triumphal chariot, and richly painted with crimson and silverall over, not excepting the wheels. It was drawn by four horses all in a breast, covered to the heels with crimson and silver tissue, and with huge plumes of red and white feathers on their heads and cruppers. The coachman’s cap and feather, his long coat, his cushion, and his very whip, were of the same stuff and colour. In this chariot sat the four grand masquers of Gray’s Inn, who were handsome young gentlemen. Their habits, doublets, trunk hose and caps, were of the richest tissue, covered as thick with silver spangles as they could be placed; large white silk stockings up to their trunk hose, and very fine sprigs in their caps.
On each side of the chariot were four footmen, in liveries of the colour of the chariot, carrying huge flambeaus, which, with the torches, gave the greatest lustre to the paintings, spangles and habits.
After this chariot came six more musicians, in habits like the former, followed by the second chariot, which differed only from the other in its being painted silver and blue. The chariot and horses were covered with tissue of blue and silver, as the former was with silver and crimson.
In this second triumphal chariot were four grand masquers of the MiddleTemple, in the same habits as the other masquers, and had the like attendance, torches and flambeaus, as the former.
After these followed the third and fourth triumphal chariots, with six musicians between each; both they and their horses dressed as before. The triumphal chariots were all of the same make, and alike carved and painted, only differing in the colours. In the third of these chariots rode the grand masquers of the Inner Temple, and in the fourth those of Lincoln’s Inn; each taking the place assigned them by lot.
In this order they proceeded to Whitehall, where the King and Queen, from a window of the Banquetting house, beheld this procession, and were so highly delighted with it, that the King sent to desire the Marshal to take a turn round the Tilt Yard, that he and his consort might have a second view of this pompous procession; which being accordingly performed, they entered the palace, and were conducted to several apartments prepared for their entertainment; where the Ladies of honour, and even the Queen herself, danced with the principal masquers.
With this fine cavalcade her Majesty was so delighted, that she desired to have it repeated, which being intimated to theLord Mayor, he invited the King and Queen, with the above masquers, to an entertainment in Merchant Taylors Hall; and on this occasion they came in procession into the city, in exactly the same order, and with equal splendor and applause as at Whitehall.Whitlock’s Memoirs.
During this unhappy reign, great disputes arose between the King and the city, in relation to ship-money, loans, &c. the city was deprived not only of the new plantation of Ulster in Ireland, which had been granted to the Lord Mayor and citizens by King James I. but fined 50,000l. Several of the Aldermen were imprisoned, for neglecting to send to court an account of such persons as were able to lend his Majesty money, and the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs prosecuted in the Star-chamber; the five members whom the King himself went with a guard to seize in the Parliament House, took refuge in the city, and were conducted back by water to the House of Commons, by a great number of citizens, while the Trained-Bands, as a farther guard, marched by land to Westminster. But even in the midst of these disputes, while the King was actually opposing the liberties of thecitizens, he granted them several charters, by which he confirmed all their former privileges, and added some new ones. At length the Lord Mayor, contrary to an order of Parliament, endeavouring by proclamation to raise troops for his Majesty, he was committed to the Tower; and several articles of impeachment being brought against him, he was, by the sentence of the House of Peers, degraded from the Mayoralty, and rendered incapable of bearing any office, or receiving any farther honour.
There being some time after but little prospect of an agreement between the King and Parliament, and the greatest part of the city being averse to all thoughts of an accommodation, the Common Council passed an act for fortifying the city with out-works; agreed that all the ways leading to the city should be shut up, except those entering at Charing Cross, St. Giles’s in the Fields, St. John’s street, Shoreditch, and Whitechapel, and that the exterior ends of those streets should be fortified with breastworks and turnpikes, musket proof; that the several courts of guards, and rails at the extreme parts of the liberty of the city, should be fortified with turnpikes, musket proof; that all the sheds and buildings contiguous to theoutside of London Wall should be taken down; and that the city wall with its bulwarks should be not only repaired and mounted with artillery, but that several new works should be added to it, at the places most exposed.
This act of Common Council being soon after confirmed by an order of Parliament, the following forts were raised, 1. A bulwark and a half, at the north end of Gravel lane. 2. A hornwork, near the windmill in Whitechapel road. 3. A redoubt with two flanks, near Brick lane. 4. A redoubt with four flanks, in Hackney road, Shoreditch. 5. A redoubt with four flanks, in Kingsland road. 6. A battery and breast-work, at Mountmill. 7. A battery and breast-work, at the end of St. John’s street. 8. A small redoubt, near Islington pound. 9. A large fort with four half bulwarks, near New River head. 10. A battery and breast-work, on the hill, east of the place afterwards called Black Mary’s Hole. 11. Two batteries and a breast-work, at Southampton, now Bedford-house. 12. A redoubt with two flanks, near St. Giles’s pound. 13. A small fort, at the east end of Tyburn road. 14. A large fort with four half bulwarks, across the road where Wardour street is now built. 15. Asmall bulwark, at the place now called Oliver’s Mount. 16. A large fort with four bulwarks, at Hyde Park Corner. 17. A small redoubt and battery on Constitution Hill. 18. A court of guard at Chelsea turnpike. 19. A battery and breast-work, in Tothill Fields. 20. A quadrant fort with four half bulwarks, at Vauxhall. 21. A fort with four half bulwarks, at the Dog and Duck in St. George’s Fields. 22. A large fort with four bulwarks, near the end of Blackman street. 23. A redoubt with four flanks, near the Lock Hospital.
These forts were all joined by a line of communication, formed by a rampart of earth, which on all sides surrounded the cities of London and Westminster, and the borough of Southwark, This was done at the expence of the city, and the whole was immediately executed with the greatest alacrity.
After this, the city entered heartily into the measures of the Parliament, though the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council frequently sollicited that body to settle the peace of the kingdom: but soon after the King’s death, an order being sent to the Lord Mayor and Sheriff, to proclaim the abolition of monarchy, he refused to comply, upon which he wasbrought to the bar of the House of Commons, committed prisoner to the Tower for two months, and another Mayor chosen in his room.
At the inauguration of Cromwell in 1657, as Lord Protector, the Lord Mayor carried the city sword before him, accompanied by the Earl of Warwick, who carried the sword of state, and during the ceremony stood on the right side of Cromwell’s chair, while the Lord Mayor stood on the left.
But after the death of Cromwell, the Common Council opposing the Committee of Safety, declaring for a free Parliament, and refusing to pay or advance money to the Parliament, General Monk was ordered to march with his army into the city, and the streets became planted with soldiers; when several of the Aldermen and Common Council were taken into custody, the whole body disqualified, and a new Common Council ordered to be chosen; after which the city gates were broke and cut to pieces, the portcullises taken down and destroyed, and the posts and chains taken down.
After this, the city heartily and zealously joined with General Monk, in bringing about the restoration. The Lord Mayor and Aldermen, on the 29th ofMay 1660, went out to meet Charles II. in St. George’s Fields, where the city had erected a magnificent pavilion, provided with a sumptuous collation, of which that Prince having participated, was conducted through the city by a very noble cavalcade, the Lord Mayor carrying the sword bare-headed before the King, accompanied by the Duke of Buckingham and General Monk, who were also bare. Upon this occasion the city was adorned with the richest silks and tapestries, and the streets lined with the city corporations and Trained Bands, while the conduits flowed with wine, and the windows, balconies, and scaffolds were crouded with an infinite number of spectators.
In the year 1663, King Charles II. granted the city a confirmation of all their former charters, privileges, liberties, rights and customs; and the next year the city, in return, advanced several considerable sums for his Majesty, to enable him to carry on a war with the Dutch, for which the citizens received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament.
About the beginning of May 1665, one of the most terrible plagues that ever was inflicted on this, or perhaps any other kingdom, broke out in this city: and as this was happily the last visitation of thiskind, it may be proper to give a short account of its rise and progress.
The week wherein this most dreadful distemper was first discovered, it carried off nine persons, whereby the citizens were so greatly alarmed, that an universal dread diffused itself amongst people of all ranks: but the week after, the number, according to the bill of mortality, being reduced to three, the fears of the citizens were greatly alleviated. The next week, however, the number increasing to fourteen, and progressively to forty-three, the people were struck with consternation, and many of them had thoughts of leaving the city: but in the month of June, the number having gradually increased to 470 a week, the nobility, gentry, and principal citizens fled for safety, all being instantly in an amazing hurry, and the city emptying itself into the country, the streets and roads were excessively crouded with carriages and passengers. In July the bill increasing to 2010, all houses were shut up, the streets deserted, and scarce any thing to be seen therein but grass growing, innumerable fires made to purify the air, coffins, pest-carts, red crosses upon doors, with the inscription ofLord, have mercy upon us!and poor women in tears, with dismal aspects, and woeful lamentations, carryingtheir infants to the grave! and scarce any other sounds to be heard than those incessantly repeated from the windows,Pray for us!and the dismal call of,Bring out your dead!with the groans of the dying, and the melancholy tolling of bells for bodies ready for the grave! But what greatly added to this distressful scene, was, the spectator’s own reflections, that he himself should perhaps soon make one among the dismal objects, whose groans resounded in his ears.
Under these deplorable circumstances, the citizens, when in the greatest want of spiritual guides, were forsaken by their parochial Ministers, when those who had been just before ejected from the pulpits, considering their indispensible duty in this dreadful visitation, were induced, though contrary to law, to supply their place; upon which the people, laying aside the distinction of churchmen and dissenters, joyfully resorted to church, where the concourse was so exceeding great, that these non-conformist Ministers were frequently obliged to clamber over the pews to get to the pulpit; and if ever preaching had a better effect than ordinary, it was at this time, when the people listened with the utmost eagerness, and attendedas if their salvation depended upon every word they heard.
In the month of September Death rode triumphant, for the burials then amounted in one week to 6988; but the week after the bill falling to 6544, gave some glimmering hopes that this dreadful distemper was past its crisis: however, the great increase the week following to 7165, re-immerged the survivors into an abyss of horror and despair; for now they were struck with the dreadful apprehensions, that in a few days the living would not be sufficient to bury the dead. They were, however, happily mistaken; for after this, the contagion gradually decreased, till it pleased the Almighty to restore this desolate city to its pristine state of health; after the direful ravages of this distemper had swept off 68,596 persons, which, together with those who died of other diseases, made the bill of mortality for this year amount to 97,306.Echard’s Hist.Vincent’s God’s terrible voice.
As to the natural causes of this pestilence, Physicians differ greatly; however, Dr. Baynard observes, that during the havock made by it, there was a general calmness and serenity of weather, without the least wind or rain; that through thegreat scarcity of nitre in the air, the fires in the streets were with great difficulty made to burn; and by its extreme rarefaction, which was doubtless increased by these fires, the birds panted for breath, and those of the larger sort were observed to fly more heavily than usual.
The above calamity was scarcely ceased, and those who had fled returned to their houses, when on Sunday the 2d of September 1666, a dreadful fire broke out at one in the morning, in the house of Mr. Farryner, a baker, in Pudding lane; a time when the eyes and senses of all were locked in sleep. The house was a wooden building pitched on the outside, as were all the rest in the lane, which was exceeding narrow, and by the jutting over of the several stories, the buildings on each side almost met at the top; and in this manner were built most of the houses in this metropolis. The house in which the fire began, containing much brush and faggot wood, the fire soon got ahead, and furiously seized on the neighbouring houses on all sides, running four ways at once; it presently set New Fish street all in a flame; while another branch raging down Pudding lane, laid hold on Thames street, the repository of all combustibles, as hemp, flax, rosin, oil, butter, pitch, tar,brimstone, cordage, hops, sugar, brandy, wood, and coals; where dividing itself, it ran both eastward and westward with inexpressible fury, into the adjacent lanes, consuming all before it; and its two main branches meeting at London bridge, soon reduced all the buildings upon it to ashes, together with the water engines under it; by which means the people were deprived of the assistance of that element; for the New River water was not then laid into those parts.
The pulling down houses every way, at some distance, was first proposed; and this was the only method that could have been of any service in stopping the progress of the flames; for had there been water, the fire was too fierce to be mastered by engines, or to suffer any body to work near it; but this was objected to, and while the affair was debated, the flames spread still farther.
Unhappily they were increased by a violent easterly wind; and that day and the following night spread up Gracechurch street, and downwards from Cannon street to the water side, as far as the Three Cranes.
The people in all parts were distracted at seeing the progress of the fire, and by the care of carrying off their goods. However,many attempts were now made to prevent its spreading, by pulling down houses, and making great intervals; but not having time to remove the materials, the fire seized upon the timber, boards, laths, and rubbish, and extended itself over these spaces to the neighbouring houses; raging in a bright flame all Monday and Tuesday, without any endeavours to stop it proving effectual; though his Majesty, the Duke of York, and great numbers of the nobility and gentry came with the guards, who were employed in endeavouring to extinguish it.
The wind, however, slackened a little on Tuesday night, when the fire, meeting at the Temple with brick buildings, it by little and little lost its force on that side, so that on Wednesday morning a stop was put to it on the west, at the Temple church, and also at Holborn bridge and Pye corner. On the north, it stopped at Aldersgate, Cripplegate, near the north end of Basinghall street, and in Coleman street: on the east, at the south corner of Bishopsgate street and Leadenhall street, at the church in Fenchurch street, and at the Tower dock, after its having consumed all the buildings within these limits, quite down to the water side.
On Thursday the flames were extinguished;but that evening the fire burst out again at the Temple, by the falling of some sparks upon a pile of wooden buildings; but upon blowing up the houses around it with gunpowder, it was extinguished the next morning.
By this dreadful conflagration were consumed 400 streets and lanes, 13,200 houses, the cathedral church of St. Paul, 86 parish churches, 6 chapels, the Royal Exchange, Blackwell Hall, and the Custom House, several hospitals and libraries, 52 of the Companies halls, and a vast number of other stately edifices, together with three of the city gates, four stone bridges, and four prisons; the loss of which, with that of the merchandize and houshold furniture, amounted, according to the best calculation, to ten millions, seven hundred and thirty thousand, five hundred pounds: but it is amazing, that in this terrible devastation, only six persons lost their lives by the fire.
As by the dreadful ravages of the plague the preceding year, the city was depopulated, and the houses deprived of their inhabitants, so by this conflagration the surviving citizens were deprived of their habitations, and many thousands of them compelled to retire to the fields, with such of their effects as they were able tosave, where they continued destitute of the conveniencies, and almost all the necessary accommodations of life; lying in the open air, till tents and slight wooden huts could be erected, to secure them from the inclemencies of the weather. Meanwhile the King had the goodness to order a considerable quantity of naval bread to be immediately distributed among the poor, and a proclamation was wisely published, ordering the neighbouring Justices to encourage the bringing in of all sorts of provisions.
It has been much disputed, whether this dismal catastrophe was occasioned by accident or design. An attempt was first made to fix it upon the dissenters, who suffered as much by this calamity, as any other body of men; but having not the least colour for such a pretence, it dropped of course; and the English being then at war with the French and the Dutch, the latter were charged with concerting this diabolical scheme; but this was found to be only an injurious aspersion: however, Robert Hubert, a Frenchman, of the Romish church, confessed, that he, at the sollicitation of one Stephen Piedloe, set fire to the baker’s house in Pudding lane, by means of a fire-ball which he fixed to the end of a long pole, and lighting ita match, put it in at a window; and that for this villainy he was to be rewarded on his return to France; but it is generally allowed, that this man was at that time disordered in his senses; and great pains have been taken to prove that he had no hand in that calamity: however, he was condemned and executed, though he surrendered himself, and though there was no other evidence of his guilt than that of his own confession.
It is observable, that the preceding spring and summer had been the dryest in the memory of man; whereby the houses, which were all built of wood, and without party walls, were prepared, as it were, by Heaven, to become fuel for this terrible conflagration, which, together with the east wind abovementioned, might possibly be alone sufficient to reduce the city to a heap of ashes.
But whatever the unhappy citizens of London might then suffer; it is evident, that this was one of the greatest blessings that could have happened for the good of posterity; for, instead of very narrow and incommodious streets; instead of dark, irregular, and ill contrived wooden houses, with their several stories projecting over, obstructing the circulation of the air, and harbouring those noxious particles thatoccasioned the frequent return of the plague, and often fires of the most dreadful kind; by the modern way of building, and the enlarging of many of the streets, offensive vapours are expelled; and this, added to the cleanliness produced by the great quantities of the water brought into London by the New River, has freed this city from all pestilential symptoms for above ninety years together.
The reduction of this great and opulent city to a heap of rubbish, greatly affected the whole nation; and the King desiring it should be now erected with greater magnificence, uniformity, and safety than before, prohibited for some time the rebuilding of the houses; and the Judges were ordered by Parliament to hear and determine all disputes between landlords, tenants, and lessees, concerning the rebuilding and repairing of houses, &c. without fee or reward.
London indeed might now have been rebuilt in such a manner, as to have exceeded in beauty all the cities upon earth; and this would have been the case, had either of the following plans been followed. The first was formed by Sir Christopher Wren, who, pursuant to the royal commands, traced over the great plain of ashes and ruins, and thence formed hisplan of a new city, free from all the deformities and inconveniencies of the old one; by enlarging the streets and lanes, and rendering them as nearly parallel to each other as possible; by seating all the parish churches in a conspicuous manner; by forming the most public places into large piazzas, the centers of eight ways; by uniting the halls of the twelve Companies into one regular square annexed to Guildhall; by making a spacious and commodious key along the whole bank of the river, without any interruptions, from Black Friars to the Tower, with some large docks for barges deep laden.
The streets were to be of three magnitudes; the three principal leading straight through the city, and one or two cross streets to be at least ninety feet wide; others sixty feet, and the lanes about thirty feet, excluding all narrow dark alleys, thoroughfairs, and courts.
The Exchange to stand free in the middle of a piazza, and to be the center of the town, from whence the streets should proceed to all the principal parts of the city; the building to be after the form of a Roman forum, with double porticos.
Many streets were also to radiate upon the bridge. Those of the first and secondmagnitude to be carried on as straight as possible, and to center in four or five areas surrounded with piazzas.
The churches were to be designed according to the best forms for capacity and hearing; and those of the larger parishes adorned with porticos and lofty ornamental towers and steeples: but all church yards, gardens, and unnecessary vacuities, and all trades that use great fires, or yield noisome smells, were to be placed out of the town.
This plan, which that great architect laid before the King and the House of Commons, is thus explained: from that part of Fleet street which remained unburned, a straight street of 90 feet wide was to extend, and, passing by the south side of Ludgate, was to end gracefully in a piazza on Tower hill.
In the middle of Fleet street was to be a circular area surrounded with a piazza, the center of eight ways, where, at one station, were to meet the following streets.
The first, straight forward, quite thro’ the city: the second, obliquely towards the right hand, to the beginning of the key that was to be run from Bridewell dock to the Tower: the third, obliquely on the left, to Smithfield: the fourth,straight on the right, to the Thames: the fifth, straight on the left, to Hatton Garden and Clerkenwell: the sixth, straight backwards to Temple Bar: the seventh, obliquely on the right, to the walks of the Temple: and the eighth, obliquely on the left, to Cursitor’s alley.
Passing down Fleet street, at the bottom of which the ditch was to be rendered a beautiful canal, passable by as many bridges as there were streets to cross it, and leaving Ludgate prison on the left side of the street; where a triumphal arch was to be formed, instead of the gate, in honour of King Charles II. the founder of the new city: St. Paul’s was to be situated where it is at present, and surrounded by a triangular piazza.
On leaving that cathedral on the left, a straight street was to extend directly to the Tower, adorned all the way, at proper distances, with parish churches; and leaving that edifice to the right, the other great branch was to lead to the Royal Exchange, which was to be seated in the middle of a piazza, between two great streets; the one from Ludgate leading to the south front, and another from Holborn, thro’ Newgate, and thence straight to the north front of the Exchange.
This noble scheme was demonstrated tobe practicable, without the infringement of any man’s property; for, by leaving out the church-yards, &c. which were to be removed out of town, there would have been sufficient room both for the augmentation of the streets, the disposition of the churches, halls, and all public buildings, and to have given every proprietor full satisfaction: for though few of them would have been seated upon exactly the very same ground they possessed before the fire, yet none would have been thrust at any considerable distance from it: but the obstinacy of great part of the citizens, in refusing to recede from the right, of rebuilding their houses on the old foundations, was an unsurmountable obstacle to the execution of this noble scheme.Parentalia.
Soon after this, Sir John Evelyn produced another plan, in which he proposed that some of the deepest vallies should be filled up, or at least made with less sudden declivities. That a new and spacious key should run from the Tower to the Temple, and extend itself as far as the low water mark; by which means the channel of the river would be kept constantly full; the irregularity and deformity of the stairs, and the dirt and nastiness left at every ebb would also be prevented.
To create variety in the streets, he also proposed, that there should be breaks and enlargements, by spacious openings at proper distances, surrounded with piazzas, and uniformly built with beautiful fronts; and that some of these openings should be square, some circular, and others oval. He would have none of the principal streets less than an hundred feet in breadth, nor any of the narrowest less than thirty. He would have three or four large streets between the Thames and London Wall, reckoning that of Cheapside for the chief, which might extend from Temple Bar to the upper part of Tower hill, or to Crutched Friars, bearing the cathedral of St. Paul’s upon a noble eminence.
Among these he would have the parochial churches, which he thought might be reduced to half the number, as some of the parishes were then no less than two hundred times larger than others: and these he would have so interspersed as to adorn the profile of the city at all its avenues. Most of them he would have in the center of spacious areas, adorned with piazzas, &c. so as to be seen from several streets, and others at the abutments and extremities of them.
About the church piazzas, the stationers and booksellers were to have theirshops, and the Ministers their houses; as about that of St. Paul’s was to be the episcopal palace, the Dean and Prebends houses, St. Paul’s school, a public library, the prerogative and first fruits office, all which were to be built at an ample distance from the cathedral, and with more stately fronts, in honour of that august pile. In some of these openings, surrounded with piazzas, he proposed to have the several markets. In others the coaches might wait; and in some might be public fountains constantly playing.
The College of Physicians he would have in one of the best parts of the town, incircled with a handsome piazza, for the dwellings of those learned persons, with the surgeons, apothecaries, and druggists in the streets about them; for he would have all of a mystery in the same quarters: those of the better sort of the shopkeepers in the sweetest and most eminent streets and piazzas; and the artificers in the more ordinary houses, in the intermediate and narrow passages; the taverns and victualling houses were to be placed amongst them, and be built accordingly; but so as to preserve the most perfect uniformity.
Between the piazzas, market places, and churches, might be placed the hallsfor the Companies; and these, if fronted with stone, and adorned with statues and other ornaments, would infinitely inrich the streets, and render this city as famous for architecture of the most refined gusto, as any city in Europe; among which should be distinguished Guildhall, by its being more pompous and magnificent than the rest: near this edifice he would have a magnificent house for the Lord Mayor, and others for the two Sheriffs.
The Royal Exchange he thought might front the Thames about the Steelyard, in an area surrounded on three sides with piazzas, with vaults for warehouses underneath; and for such merchandize as could not be well preserved under ground, might be erected buildings fronting the Thames on the other side of the river, with wharfs before and yards behind for the placing of cranes; the laying of timber, coals, &c. and other gross commodities, while the key over against it should be built for the owners, and the dwellings of the principal merchants: but if the warehouses must needs be on this side, they should be made to front Thames street rather than the river, because of the dull and heavy aspect of those buildings.
The little bay at Queenhithe should have the key continued around it, andcloistered about for the marketmen and fruiterers; and where the wharf then was, a stately avenue was to extend to St. Paul’s.
Four great streets were to extend along the city: the first from Fleet ditch, (which was to be formed into a noble canal) to the Tower: the second, from the Strand to the most eastern part of the city, where should be a noble triumphal arch in honour of Charles II. the third, from Newgate to Aldgate: and the fourth and shortest, from Aldersgate to Bishopsgate. He proposed that five principal cross streets should extend from Black Friars stairs into West Smithfield; from the Thames east of St. Paul’s to Aldersgate; from Queenhithe to Cripplegate; and from the Royal Exchange to Moorgate: that the street from the bridge should extend to Bishopsgate: that one from Billingsgate should extend near as far: and one from the Custom house to Aldgate.
Instead of houses on the bridge, he proposed to have it adorned with a substantial iron baluster, decorated, at convenient distances, with statues on their pedestals, with a footway on each side.
The hospitals, workhouses to employ the poor, and the prisons, being builtand re-indowed at the public expence, were to be disposed of in convenient quarters of the city: the hospitals would become one of the principal streets; but the prisons, and court for the trial of criminals, might still be built near the entrances of the city.
The gates were to be in the form of triumphal arches, adorned with statues, relievos, and apposite inscriptions, not obstructed by sheds, or mean houses joined to them.
This gentleman also proposed, that along the wall betwixt Cripplegate and Aldgate, should be the church-yards of the several parishes, while the houses opposite to them formed a large street for the common inns, and served as a station for carriers, &c. These being on the north part of the city, and nearest the confines of the fields and roads, would least incumber the town; and there would be a far more commodious and free access to them, by reason of their immediate approaches through the traverse streets, than if they were scattered up and down without distinction.
But this scheme, which was designed as an improvement of Sir Christopher’s, also fell to nothing; and by the obstinacy of the citizens, the opportunity was lost ofrendering this city the admiration of the world, and thereby of drawing the nobility of all Europe to visit it, and lay out great sums here.
However, it was ordered by act of Parliament, that many of the streets and lanes should be widened, and the city was impowered to make a new street from Cheapside to Guildhall, which obtained the name of King street, and another from Threadneedle street to Lothbury, called Prince’s street. And the markets, which till then were held in Newgate street and Cheapside, were ordered to be removed behind the houses into commodious market places to be prepared for that purpose. It was also enacted that all the houses should be built with stone or brick, with party walls, and the whole finished within three years: that the ground in several places should be raised, and that a column of brass or stone should be erected on or near the place where the above dreadful fire began; whence arose that noble column called the Monument: but had it been raised near the place where the fire ceased, and in the center of the fine circular area proposed by Sir Christopher Wren, in Fleet street, where eight streets would radiate upon it, and where it would be seen to terminate the view,even from Aldgate and Westminster, it would have enjoyed a situation vastly more worthy of its beauty, and have appeared to infinitely greater advantage, than in the corner where it is now placed. See the articleMonument.
The reader has just seen the city under two of the most dreadful calamities that could fall upon a people, pestilence, and a general destruction by fire; he will now see the citizens suffering calamities of a very different kind, and deprived of all their boasted privileges. This affair it is necessary to trace from its origin.
In the beginning of May 1679, a conspiracy of the papists was discovered, for destroying the city again by fire, occasioned by the burning of one Bird’s house in Fetter lane; for Elizabeth Oxley, the servant, being suspected, was committed to prison; where she not only confessed the fact, but declared, that she was prevailed upon to fire it by one Stubbs, a papist, upon the promise of 5l. Stubbs being secured, confessed that he had been excited to this by Father Gifford, his confessor, who told him, that instead of its being a sin, it would be a great service to the church to burn and destroy all the houses of heretics; and that he had several conferences with Gifford, and twoIrishmen, upon that affair; that an insurrection was to be made in London, and a powerful army expected from France. Five Jesuits were executed for this plot, the papists banished from the city, and ten miles round, and afterwards the Lord Stafford was beheaded for the same crime.
In revenge, the Romish party trumped up what was called the Meal Tub plot, to bring an odium upon the presbyterians and the heads of the country party; but Dangerfield, the chief actor in this farce, being committed to prison, applied himself to the Lord Mayor, and in an ample confession laid open the whole scene of iniquity, discovering the persons who set him to work.
The citizens not only vigorously pressed the prosecution of all the persons they had reason to think concerned in the popish plot, in opposition to the court, who endeavoured to skreen them; but the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council presented a petition to his Majesty, desiring, that all the persons who had been impeached by the Commons, might be brought to their trials; the Duke of York, as being a papist, excluded from succeeding to the throne; and the Parliament continued, in order to makethe necessary provisions for the preservation of his Majesty and his protestant subjects; but this petition not only hastened the dissolution of the Parliament, but was so highly resented by the King, that it principally occasioned the loss of all the rights and privileges belonging to the citizens.
The Parliament being soon after dissolved, and writs issued for a new election, the citizens chose their former members, and gave them directions in writing to continue their search into the popish plot; to promote the bill of exclusion, and to grant no supplies of money till they had effectually secured them against popery and arbitrary power; which example was followed by most of the electors of the kingdom.
The court now threw the city into confusion, by interfering in the election of Sheriffs; those the city had chosen, and one of the Aldermen, were committed to the Tower; while other Sheriffs were elected by the Lord Mayor, without the consent of the Commons; and soon after aquo warrantowas brought against the city, contrary to justice, the charters of the city, and the rights of the citizens: the plea and rejoinder brought by the citizens, were as full and as nervous, as the argumentsbrought to support the information were weak and trifling. However, the ministry having at all events determined to remove the sacred fence, and destroy the dear bought privileges of the citizens, removed the Judges who did not approve these proceedings, and chose others, who would be more obedient, in their room; and on the 12th of June 1683, the sentence was pronounced, that the city had given just ground for the forfeiture of their charter.
After this the King granted the office of Lord Mayor to be held during pleasure, appointed the Sheriffs, the Recorder, and sixteen of his favourite Aldermen; degraded eight of those that were in the country interest, and appointed eight others in their room.
The death of King Charles II. was far from putting a stop to the arbitrary measures of the court: for James II. immediately singled out as a sacrifice to popery, Mr. Cornish, an Alderman of this city, who, when Sheriff, had exerted himself in an uncommon manner in the detection and prosecution of those concerned in the popish plot. This gentleman was apprehended, and committed to Newgate, without the use of pen, ink, or paper, till Saturday noon, when he received notice,that he was to be tried for high treason on the Monday following. In the interim, his children humbly petitioned the King for time, that their father might prepare for his defence: but they petitioned in vain, though the most material evidence in his favour was then 140 miles from London. He was indicted the next Monday, for conspiring to raise a rebellion, to destroy the King, and subvert the constitution in the late reign. The only material evidences were two persons of an infamous and profligate character; one of them an outlaw, who was pardoned, and his testimony made legal, for his appearing against Cornish; and though what he deposed did not affect the prisoner, he was condemned, and on the 23d of the same month, hanged, drawn, and quartered before his own door, at the end of King street, Cheapside.
During this short but iniquitous reign, in which the boldest attempts were made for extirpating the protestant religion, and the religious and civil liberties of the people, the citizens and the whole nation cast their eyes on the Prince of Orange as their deliverer. That Prince’s resolution to grant them his assistance was no sooner known at Whitehall, than the deluded, weak, and pusillanimous King, promptedby fear, sent for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, and with a meanness of spirit equal to that of enslaving his people, promised to restore their charter. Accordingly, on the sixth of October 1688, the infamous and cruel Lord Chancellor Jeffries brought back the charter to the city.
Upon this, a new Lord Mayor was chosen; the Aldermen restored to their respective wards; and the Liverymen of the several Companies at the time when judgment was given against the city upon thequo warranto, were also restored.
It may be proper to observe, before we conclude this reign, that about the beginning of December 1683, was a severe frost, which continued till the 5th of February; the Thames being froze, a great number of streets with shops were erected upon it.
In the year 1687, a dreadful persecution raging in France against the distressed protestants, 13,500 of them came over and settled in this city, and the parts contiguous, particularly in Spitalfields, by which they greatly enriched the city and kingdom, by introducing among us new arts and manufactures.
As the citizens had contributed very much to the revolution, King Williamand Queen Mary were conducted by a noble cavalcade to Guildhall, where their Majesties and a numerous train of the nobility were entertained at dinner; and soon after the Parliament reversed the proceedings of the former reigns on thequo warranto, declaring them to be illegal and arbitrary, and confirmed all the rights and privileges of the city.
After the peace of Ryswick, King William III. at the desire of the Lord Mayor and citizens, made his public entry into the city, with great magnificence, the Lord Mayor carrying the city sword before his Majesty.
In the reign of Queen Anne, her Majesty came several times in great state to St. Paul’s, to return thanks for the glorious victories of the great Duke of Marlborough; and after the victory of Blenheim, his Grace, with the Prince of Hesse and many of the nobility, dined with the Lord Mayor and Aldermen at Goldsmith’s Hall.
On Friday the 26th of November 1703, happened the most dreadful storm of wind that perhaps was ever known in any age or nation. For, beginning about eleven at night, and increasing till about seven in the morning, it committed the most terrible and amazing devastations,by blowing down houses, trees, brick walls, and stacks of chimneys; by which many of the citizens were buried in ruins; a considerable number of whom were killed, others terribly wounded, while others again were amazingly preserved unhurt among the rubbish. As an instance of which, it may be proper to mention the following circumstance: two boys lying in a garret in the Poultry, a huge stack of chimneys fell in, which making its way through that and all the other stories to the cellar, it was followed by the bed with the boys asleep in it, who first awaked in that gloomy place of confusion, without having suffered the least hurt. Incredible as this story is, it is nevertheless well attested.
By the impetuosity of this storm, many spires and turrets were destroyed; upon the churches and other public buildings, the lead was rolled up like scrolls, and blown to a considerable distance. At the approach of day, the houses appeared like so many skeletons, and being mostly stripped, the damage done to the roofs was so great, that the price of tiles rose from 1l. 1s. to 6l. a thousand.
It is not easy to conceive the surprize that appeared in all countenances in the morning; for the streets were coveredwith bricks, broken tiles, signs, and pest-houses;almost all thoughts of trade were laid aside, and the principal concern was the immediate repair of their houses, in order to preserve themselves from the inclemency of the weather in that rigorous season.
The damage at sea, however, far exceeded that by land; for in that dreadful night twelve men of war were lost, with above 1800 men on board; besides the prodigious loss of merchant ships, computed at ten times the value. At that time the roads near our coast were filled with ships, especially the Downs, where most of them were swallowed up by the waves; and even in the Thames, only four from London bridge to Limehouse, rode it out; for the rest being driven to Limehouse, lay there, beating against each other, by the irresistible fury of the tempest, by which they suffered inconceivable damage.Maitland.
The French having unmercifully destroyed the Palatinate, by burning the cities and towns, near 12,000 Palatines arrived at London, where they met with the most charitable assistance. Above 3000 of them were sent to Ireland, and the rest to our plantations, where they have made very great improvements.
In the latter end of this reign, great disturbances were occasioned by two sermons preached by Dr. Sacheverel; in which he represented the church to be in danger from the dissenters; for these inflaming discourses he was impeached by the Commons, and tried by the Lords, at which the mob were so exasperated, that they pulled down several meeting houses, and occasioned great disturbances.
Soon after the death of Queen Anne, King George I. made his public entry into London, the Lord Mayor carrying the city sword before him, from St. Margaret’s hill to St. James’s palace.
In 1715 happened a total eclipse; and the same year a severe frost began in November, and continued with short intermissions till the middle of February; by which the Thames was frozen over, and a great number of booths erected upon it.
The next year great disturbances were caused by the enemies of the government, who, on the King’s birth day, accession to the crown, and coronation, assembled in the streets in a tumultuous manner, and with the most amazing assurance, by expressions and representations, in the grossest manner dishonoured his Majesty. This induced the friends of the government, under some persons of the highest distinction,to form themselves into societies, at certain alehouses, which, from the vessels out of which they drank, were denominatedmughouses, at each of which were deposited a great number of cudgels. At this the rabble were so exasperated, that many thousands of them assembled, and attacking one of those houses in Salisbury court, Fleet street, the landlord, in defending his property, killed one of the assailants; but this did not prevent their rifling the house, before they could be dispersed. However, several rioters being taken, they were soon after tried, when five of them were condemned and executed at the end of Salisbury court; which put an effectual stop to all tumultuous practices for many years.
It is observable, that in 1716, by a long dry season, the river Thames was reduced so low, that by a violent storm of wind at west south west, it was blown so dry, during the recess of the tide, that many thousands of people passed it on foot, both above and below bridge, and walked thro’ most of the arches.
The year 1720 will be ever famous in this city, for the destructive South Sea scheme, by which many thousands of the wealthy citizens and others were impoverished,while others acquired immense riches. SeeSouth Sea Company.
The year 1733 was rendered memorable by the effectual opposition made by the citizens against a scheme for a general excise.
In 1734, two spacious arches, ten feet high and six wide, were erected as a common sewer over the Fleet ditch, from Holborn to the end of Fleet street; and a neat market house being since erected in the same place, by the name of Fleet market, was opened in the year 1737; and the next year the buildings and sheds of Stocks market, at the end of the Poultry, were cleared away, in order to lay the foundation of a mansion house for the Lord Mayor, which was afterwards erected. SeeMansion House.
The present reign is indeed rendered remarkable by the multitude of magnificent buildings, fine streets, and spacious squares, that have been added, and still are adding to this metropolis. A taste for elegance in architecture, and a desire to improve and adorn the city, have produced one of the finest bridges in the world at Westminster; have caused London bridge to be stripped of its ruinous buildings that encumbered the passage, and will soon render it as commodiousand beautiful as possible. Another elegant bridge is erecting at Black Friars, in so grand a taste as to do honour to the city. We are become sensible of the absurdity of building magnificent structures in holes and narrow passages, where they cannot be seen to advantage; and now resolve to make what is beautiful in itself, an ornament to the city.
But this is not all; charity and humanity now triumph over bigotry and superstition, and the rage of party is on all sides ready to expire; churchmen and dissenters mingle in the same company without animosity, and friendships are contracted between those of different sentiments, both with respect to religion and government; while party zeal is almost confined to the ignorant and the vulgar.
During this reign the wealthy have shewn their humanity and pity for the distresses of their fellow creatures, by erecting a great number of infirmaries and hospitals, for the relief of those afflicted with any of the diseases to which human nature is subject; while others are appropriated to the cure of particular distempers. The deserted infant is received into an hospital founded for its education and support; the young, innocent, friendless girl finds an asylum; even the repentingprostitute has an opportunity of returning to virtue. The poor married woman is relieved and supported in the time of her greatest difficulty, distress and danger; she who is under the same distress, with the additional pangs of guilt, has a receptacle in which she also may be delivered, and supported during her lying-in, without the least expence. Those under the small-pox, who were formerly sent to pest-houses, and treated as if they had the plague, are now happily accommodated in places prepared for their relief; and there is even an hospital for inoculating the young who never had this formidable disease, in order to prevent the fatal effects which commonly attend its being caught in a riper age. In short, the last charitable foundation I shall mention, as an honour to the present age and nation, is the Marine Society; a society formed for increasing our mariners, by clearing our streets of poor vagabond boys, and men destitute of the means of procuring an honest support; thus those are made to contribute to the glory and safety of the nation, who would otherwise be brought up to plunder and rapine, who would live in misery and vice, and probably end their days with ignominy. See an account of each of these societies undertheir several articles,Asylum,Lying-in Hospital,Marine Society, &c.