WILLIAM GEORGE'S SONS LTD. 
 89 PARK STREET, BRISTOL 1
 
 LONDON HKIHC;K
 
 STORIES 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CITY OF LONDON 
 
 gctoto for 0iti|jfel 
 
 BY 
 
 MRS. NEWTON CROSLAND. 
 
 AUTHOR OF "HUBERT FREETH'S PROSPERITY," "MEMORABLE WOMEN," ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 ALFRED T. ELWES AND JOHN JELLICERE. 
 
 " Our crowded town, 
 Whose age is poetry 
 
 Present and Past 
 
 Alike impregnate London's ' cloud-capp'd towers ' 
 With Poesy's own soul 
 
 Oh ! not blind 
 
 To Nature's loveliness are they who still 
 May love the Eegal City " 
 
 LONDON: 
 W.. H. ALLEN & CO., 13, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W. 
 
 VUBLISHBKS TO THE INDIA OFFICE. 
 1880. 
 
 [All rights reserved.]
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BT WOODFALL AND KINDER, 
 MILFORD LANE, STKAND, W.C.
 
 ARTHUR LEONARD AND KATHLEEN NORA, 
 
 AND TO HER GODSON, 
 
 ARTHUR NEWTON, 
 
 THIS BOOK is DEDICATED, WITH THE LOVE AKD BEST WISHES OF THE 
 AUTHOR. 
 
 2039367
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 T AM well aware that each of the following 
 Stories either has been or might be made 
 the subject of a separate instructive volume ; 
 but elaborations of History, with all their wide- 
 spread ramifications, are only really acceptable 
 to the mature and already well-informed reader. 
 To the young there must ever be a gradual 
 acquirement of all sorts of knowledge, and those 
 histories which are most diffuse, and those 
 biographies which are most ample, do not always 
 make the deepest impression on youthful minds. 
 Remembering this, my aim has been to retell 
 these true stories graphically, yet succinctly ; 
 believing that interest may be maintained
 
 Tl. PREFACE. 
 
 through, forty pages when it would flag under 
 a more prolonged effort, and knowing that it 
 is that in which we are really interested which 
 the memory retains most faithfully. 
 
 C. C. 
 
 BLACKHEATH, December, 1880.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 LONDON BRIDGE 1 
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH 31 
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE 70 
 
 THE TOWER 103 
 
 THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON .... 136 
 
 THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON 155 
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS 173 
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL . 216
 
 ILLUSTKATIONS. 
 
 FRONTISPIECE : EDWARD OSBORNE RESCUING ANXE 
 HEWET 
 
 2. BUILDING THE TEMPLE CHURCH ... 48 
 
 3. QUEEN ELIZABETH VISITING THE ROTAL EX- 
 
 CHANGE 94 
 
 4. SIR WALTER RALEIGH IN THE TOWER . . 125 
 
 5. SOLOMON EAGLE PREACHING .... 149 
 
 6. CHARLES THE SECOND DISTRIBUTING MONET . 167 
 
 7. RIOTERS AT THE DISTILLERY .... 202 
 
 8. WORKMEN IN THE TUNNEL .... 232
 
 STORIES 
 
 THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 LONDON BRIDGE, 
 
 SUPPOSE there are very 
 few English people who 
 do not know London 
 Bridge, either "by actual 
 observation or by means 
 of pictorial representa- 
 tion. But often things 
 that are very familiar to 
 us awaken little thought in our minds, and 
 among the multitude of passengers who cross 
 the Thames every day by means of London 
 Bridge, perhaps only a few reflect on the re-
 
 2 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 markable events with which the spot is asso- 
 ciated. Everybody, no doubt, observes the 
 ceaseless traffic which is going on, and finds 
 time to notice the shipping which crowds the 
 river below bridge, and the wharves which 
 are the scene of so much bustling business ; 
 while on both sides of the bridge there may 
 be seen steamboats darting along or bend- 
 ing their funnels to pass through the arches. 
 Weather even makes but little difference, for 
 the people who congregate near London Bridge 
 are for the most part intent on pursuits which 
 must not be hindered by heat or cold, or rain or 
 drought. Perhaps they are too busy to pause 
 and think of times so different from the present 
 that it requires a strong effort of the imagination 
 to picture them. 
 
 Think of a London not a twentieth part 
 the size it is at present. Think of a London 
 without carriages or cabs or omnibuses, and 
 with only a few wheeled vehicles of a rude 
 description : of a London not lighted at night, 
 and with streets of houses built chiefly of wood, 
 the upper floors of which projected far over the
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 3 
 
 pathway. No doubt you have seen pictures of 
 such houses, if not the houses themselves, for in 
 many old cities a few of them still remain. 
 They must have been rather convenient to pro- 
 tect passengers in wet weather, for in those 
 olden days nohody dreamed of such a thing as 
 an umbrella; but the overhanging stories must 
 have made the shops beneath them very dark, 
 especially as the streets were usually narrow. 
 
 In the old time every shop had a sign, gene- 
 rally descriptive of its character, and for the 
 good reason that very few people could read. 
 Thus, when a serving-man was sent on an errand 
 by his master, he was very glad to know that 
 the sign of a lamb suspended by its body, just 
 as you may see it in the order of the Golden 
 Fleece, meant that the shopkeeper was a hosier 
 and dealer in many woollen articles ; that a 
 pestle and mortar indicated an apothecary; a 
 striped pole a barber-surgeon so called because 
 the barber drew teeth and bled people ; or a 
 bunch of grapes a vintner ; and so on with 
 many trades. Other houses were designated by 
 what may be called fancy signs, such as a blue 
 
 B 2
 
 4 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 boar, a red lion, a black bull, a spread eagle, or 
 a swan. 
 
 But even in the days long preceding these 
 mediaeval, or middle ages, people dwelt on the 
 banks of the Thames, and must have needed to 
 pass often from one shore to the other; and 
 though nothing is known quite positively on 
 the subject, there is reason to believe that the 
 first bridge across the river was built either by 
 the Romans, or by the natives shortly after the 
 Romans left England. There are still to be 
 traced the remains of the great Roman Road 
 which ran across the whole country from the 
 south-east to the north-west coast, and its name 
 is still perpetuated where it passed through 
 London as Watling Street. 
 
 Now, originally this road appears to have 
 reached the Thames at Westminster, where the 
 water was shallow ; for in those old days that 
 neighbourhood was very much of a swamp, and 
 what is now St. James's Park was a tidal 
 lagoon ; that is to say, at high tide a great 
 pond formed there. It was where the channel 
 of the stream grew narrower that the water
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 5 
 
 naturally became deeper. If, as it seems, the 
 Roman Road was in the first instance brought 
 to Westminster, we may imagine that travellers 
 on it had some means of crossing the river at 
 that point; perhaps they used a ferry-boat, 
 though some antiquaries have believed that the 
 stream just there was often, if not always, shallow 
 enough to be fordable. A street in the dis- 
 trict still bears the name of Horseferry Road. 
 
 But an uncertain, tedious, and inconvenient 
 mode of travelling was not a thing that either 
 the Romans or the British were inclined to 
 endure longer than they could help ; and it 
 seems tolerably clear that one or the other looked 
 about for the most convenient place at which 
 either to build a bridge or establish a ferry, and 
 that finally they selected pretty nearly the spot 
 on which London Bridge now rests. One thing 
 we know, and that is, that they diverted the 
 Roman Road from Westminster, making a sharp 
 turn at Tyburn near where is now the Marble 
 Arch and carrying it straigbt to what is at 
 present called Newgate. From this spot it ran 
 across the city diagonally nearly through the
 
 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 modern Watling Street before it reached the 
 river. 
 
 Now it is not at all likely that the Romans 
 would have taken this trouble if they had not 
 wanted to cross the Thames in some way more 
 pleasant than by a ford ; for at the spot the 
 road now reached the stream was much deeper 
 than at Westminster, though on the other hand 
 narrower, and every way more suitable for build- 
 ing a bridge. It is highly probable, however, 
 that they first established a .Ferry. 
 
 There still remains a church called St. Mary's 
 Overy near the foot of the present London 
 Bridge, and there is little doubt that Overy is but 
 a corruption of " over the Ferry." It stands on 
 the site of what was at first a Nunnery, and 
 afterwards a college for Priests. The story goes 
 that the Ferry brought considerable profit to the 
 Ferryman and his wife, who left all they had, 
 and the right they must have obtained over the 
 Ferry, to their only daughter, who was the original 
 builder of the religious house. When it came 
 into the hands of the priests they seem to have 
 been rich enough to build a wooden bridge, and
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 7 
 
 afterwards keep it for a length of time in 
 repair. 
 
 Probably, however, it was not a very substan- 
 tial one that was erected, for we find that in A.D. 
 993, a Norwegian fleet sailed up the river as far 
 as Staines, which could not have been the case 
 had there been a bridge to impede its course. 
 However, soon after this time some sort of 
 bridge was erected, though like its predecessor 
 not destined to last ; for we learn that in A.D. 
 100S there was a battle of London Bridge, in 
 which Olave, the Norwegian king who was 
 helping Ethelred the Unready to fight against 
 the Danes with his ships and Norsemen entirely 
 destroyed it. No doubt the fabric was of wood 
 or it could not have given way, though the plan 
 for its destruction was ingenious. The Nor- 
 wegians chose the time of the ebbing tide to 
 help them, lashed their own vessels with strong 
 cables to the piers, and then plied their oars 
 with their utmost strength, though the Danes, 
 who had possession of the bridge, hurled stones 
 and other missiles on them from above. But at 
 last it fell with a great crash, plunging its de-
 
 8 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 fenders in the water, and a great number of them 
 were drowned. 
 
 Yet another and another slight bridge seem 
 to have been erected ; for one certainly existed 
 when Canute invaded England in A.D. 1016, as 
 he had to cut a channel for his ships in the low 
 marshy land by the river's side, taking them 
 round by its means from Rotherhithe to Chelsea ; 
 and also we find that in November, 1091, in the 
 reign of William Eufus, a tremendous storm, 
 which was accompanied by a high tide of im- 
 mense force, swept the bridge entirely away. 
 Another bridge, likewise of wood, was burnt 
 down in 1136, when a destructive fire raged in 
 London. 
 
 The London Bridge, however, with which we 
 have chiefly to do, and which was most rich in 
 historical associations, was far more durable 
 than its predecessors. It was the first one built 
 of stone, and was begun in the reign of Henry 
 the Second and finished in that of King John. 
 The architect was Peter, surnamed Colechurch 
 it is to be presumed because he was curate of 
 St. Mary's Colechurch. In those times learn-
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 9 
 
 ing and skill in the arts and sciences were 
 almost wholly confined to the monks, and 
 therefore there was nothing unusual in one of 
 them being an architect. The cost of this new 
 erection was so great, that a tax laid upon wool 
 was the chief means to defray it ; hence arose 
 the joke that London Bridge was built upon 
 woolpacks. Of course the people who lived at 
 the time, and perhaps their children and grand- 
 children, understood the saying ; but after a while 
 its peculiar meaning was forgotten, and the 
 words were taken in a literal sense. We can 
 easily understand, if we really think about it, 
 how facts must have been forgotten or misstated 
 when there were no printed books to read, and 
 when only a very few people could read and 
 write at all ; after old persons who knew the 
 truth of things were dead, all about them was 
 merely hearsay, except indeed the written records 
 kept by learned people, and to which historians 
 are so largely indebted. 
 
 Peter Colechurch did not live to see his fine 
 stone bridge quite finished, though he super- 
 intended the work for nearly thirty years, and
 
 iU STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 no doubt it was completed exactly in the manner 
 he had planned. It consisted of 20 arches, was 
 raised 60 feet from the river, was 40 feet wide 
 from, parapet to parapet, and was 926 feet in 
 length. 
 
 As for hundreds of years to come, that is to 
 say until the middle of the eighteenth century, 
 there was only this one bridge over the Thames, 
 we can fancy how constantly it was thronged 
 by passengers ; and no doubt it was for this 
 reason that it was considered a capital place for 
 business, as all great thoroughfares to this day 
 are. Probably it was for the good opportunity 
 of displaying wares and tempting purchasers 
 that the custom arose of building houses on 
 bridges that spanned the rivers near which 
 great cities were founded, and the London 
 Bridge of the middle ages formed no exception 
 to the rule. Tall houses of many stories were 
 speedily built upon it ; and though overhanging 
 floors, such as I have already described, projected 
 far beyond the shop fronts below, the roadway 
 of forty feet must still have been considerably 
 narrowed.
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 11 
 
 In the centre of the bridge, over the tenth 
 pier, was erected a chapel, dedicated to St. 
 Thomas a Becket, and here Peter Colechurch, 
 the priest and architect, was buried. This 
 chapel was on the east side of the bridge, and to 
 support it the central pier on which it "stood was 
 carried farther out to the east than the others. 
 It must have been a beautiful building, with a 
 frontage of thirty feet. The interior consisted 
 of a chapel proper, and a crypt beneath it, the 
 latter having a flight of stairs to the river, as 
 well as easy means of communication with the 
 chapel and the street. The crypt was about 
 twenty feet in height, supported by clustered 
 columns of great beauty ; and both chapel and 
 crypt were lighted by arched windows looking 
 out on the river. 
 
 In the street of houses which the bridge 
 speedily became there were three breaks open- 
 ings to the water and between the chapel and 
 the Southwark end of the bridge, one of the 
 arches was formed by a drawbridge. Evidently 
 the citizens had it in their minds to defend 
 London Bridge if necessary, and prevent the
 
 12 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 advance of foes. At the north end of the draw- 
 bridge was a tower, on which the heads of persons 
 executed for high treason were exposed a 
 ghastly and barbarous practice, all the more 
 shocking to contemplate because in those times 
 of frequent civil discord, when might often 
 prevailed over right, many great and good men 
 were called traitors and suffered accordingly. 
 
 Towards the close of the sixteenth century, this 
 tower was replaced by so singular an edifice, that 
 it was called Nonsuch House. It was entirely 
 of wood, and was said to have been constructed 
 in Holland, sent over to England in pieces, and 
 put up here with only wooden pegs to hold it 
 together. It extended right across the bridge 
 by means of an archway, and its east and west 
 gables protruded far beyond the line of the 
 bridge. At each of the four corners was a short 
 dome with a spire and gilded vane, so that some- 
 thing of this fantastic building could be seen 
 from any quarter. 
 
 When Nonsuch House was erected the traitors' 
 heads withering on pikes were removed to the 
 gateway at the Southwark end of the bridge,
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 13 
 
 which for this reason acquired the name of 
 " Traitors' G-ate." 
 
 To have a true notion of old London Bridge 
 we need to remember a great many things. We 
 must think of it as the only bridge across the 
 Thames, and consequently as always thronged; 
 we must think of the tall houses with their 
 swinging signs, rattling in the wind ; of the 
 overhanging stories, approaching the opposite 
 ones so nearly that neighbours must often have 
 chatted with each other from their lattices. We 
 must think of the droves of oxen and flocks of 
 sheep coming from the country to feed the town ; 
 of the waggons and pack horses constantly going 
 to and fro ; and later on, when coaches were in- 
 troduced, of the very fine but cumbrous carriages 
 of the nobility and rich people who had to cross 
 the bridge in many of their journeys, and who 
 also were fond of coming to London Bridge to do 
 their shopping. Often their great coaches were 
 drawn by four horses, partly on account of the 
 great weight the animals had to draw, and partly 
 on account of the general badness of country 
 roads.
 
 14 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 As for pedestrians, they must have come badly 
 off; for there was no footpath, and the safest 
 place was to walk behind some heavy vehicle. 
 I do not fancy there was much need to run to 
 keep up with anything especially the laden 
 waggons for the bridge was usually so crowded 
 that no one passed along very fast. I suppose 
 brisk horsemen who could thread their way in 
 and out had the best of it. In picturing this 
 daily life of the bridge we must not forget the 
 ghastly heads set upon the Bridge Tower and 
 afterwards on Traitors' Grate, and left to rot in 
 the rain and wind and sunshine. The head of 
 the Scottish hero William Wallace, and that of 
 the grey-haired Earl of Northumberland, the 
 father of Hotspur, were here exposed ; and later 
 on, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, the re- 
 mains of Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, and Sir 
 Thomas More both executed for refusing to 
 acknowledge the king's spiritual supremacy 
 were subjected to the same revolting indignity. 
 
 Months after the exposure of Sir Thomas 
 More's head, and when it was about to be 
 thrown into the Thames to make way for the
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 15 
 
 head of some other unfortunate, that of Sir 
 Thomas was purchased by his daughter Mar- 
 garet, whose pious devotion to her father is well 
 known to students of history and biography. 
 The story goes that it was found hardly changed 
 at all, except, indeed, that "the hairs of his head 
 being almost grey before his martyrdom, they 
 seemed now as it were reddish or yellow." For 
 hundreds of years the custom of exposing hu- 
 man heads in this manner prevailed, and there 
 are old prints remaining which show them, 
 sometimes as many as thirty at a time, we are 
 told, having been seen. Even as late as after 
 the Eestoration the heads of some of the Regi- 
 cides were set up on London Bridge. 
 
 The citizens of London no doubt from the 
 first determined to make all possible use of their 
 bridge; and often enough they took the law 
 into their own hands. An account is given of 
 the manner in which they prevented Queen 
 Eleanor of Provence, the wife of Henry the 
 Third, from passing along the river to Windsor, 
 where she wished to take shelter. She was hated 
 by the English for her many selfish and unprin-
 
 16 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 cipled acts, though she was called La Belle for 
 her beauty, and was accomplished in the grace- 
 ful arts. She had been living for some time in 
 the Tower with her husband, they having taken 
 refuge there from the fury of the Barons ; but, 
 tired of the seclusion, she determined to chance 
 what might happen, and reside at Windsor. The 
 royal barge was sumptuously prepared, and she 
 had a fit retinue in attendance, and as she took 
 the seat of state, trumpets signalled her depar- 
 ture. But at the bridge her passage was stopped. 
 A crowd of Londoners had assembled on it, and 
 they so assaulted her with stones and dirt and 
 we must add foul language that she had to 
 turn back. 
 
 A century later there was another memorable 
 scene on London Bridge when Wat Tyler and 
 his Kentish men forced their way into the city, 
 notwithstanding the vigorous efforts of the 
 Lord Mayor, Sir William Wai worth, to resist 
 them. The drawbridge was raised up and 
 fastened by a great chain of iron, but the 
 commons of Surrey prevailed with the wardens 
 to let it down, under threat of destroying them
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 17 
 
 altogether if they refused. It would indeed be 
 a long history to tell of the stirring events and 
 processions of which London Bridge was for 
 centuries the scene. 
 
 Being the direct entrance to the metropolis 
 from the southern or south-eastern coast, foreign 
 princesses who came to be English Queens, not- 
 able visitors from distant lands, and sometimes 
 famous captives, all traversed the bridge in more 
 or less state. On London Bridge Henry the 
 Fifth was received in triumph after his victory 
 at Agincourt that " Harry the King " of whom 
 Shakespeare writes so finely and whose dead 
 body, seven years later, was borne along this 
 same highway with funereal splendour. 
 
 When travelling was so much more difficult 
 than it is at present, people made home the scene 
 of their chief pleasures. Merchants and traders 
 for the most part lived at their places of busi- 
 ness, and must have been rich indeed before they 
 thought of country houses ; nor did they want 
 them for health's sake as much as they do now. 
 There was not any part of London in those old 
 times that was far from green fields and rural 
 
 c
 
 18 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 scenery, and the dwellers on London Bridge 
 often resorted to Finsbury Fields for exercise 
 and pastimes. Finsbury now is in the very 
 heart of the east part of London, but three 
 hundred years ago what we now call athletic 
 sports were carried on there men leaping and 
 wrestling, casting the stone, and shooting with 
 the long bow. Also the Londoners had much 
 amusement on the Thames, which was then a 
 clear silvery stream, rich in fish and gay 
 with boats and barges, people using it as 
 a highway from one end of London to the 
 other. 
 
 No doubt the pleasantest rooms in the 
 London Bridge houses were those which faced 
 the river. In bright weather there was always 
 sunshine on them some part of the day, and 
 there was always some moving river scene to 
 look out upon. And for profit as well as 
 amusement a fish-pond was constructed in con- 
 nection with the bridge, by which the fish 
 caught in it at high tide were prevented by an 
 iron railing from returning to the river. 
 
 The apprentice boys of the reign of Henry
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 19 
 
 the Eighth were for the most part a rough and 
 unruly set, but there is a pretty story told of 
 one of them that had important consequences. 
 His name was Edward Osborne, and he was 
 apprenticed to William Hewet, a thriving 
 clothworker living on London Bridge. Hewet 
 had a little daughter an only child who when 
 about the age of four years fell from her 
 nurse's arms out of a window into the river. 
 Edward Osborne, then a mere lad of twelve or 
 fourteen, happening to be on the spot, without 
 a moment's hesitation jumped into the water, 
 and succeeded, though not without difficulty, 
 in saving the child. In consequence of the 
 numerous arches the water was always rough at 
 London Bridge, with waves more or less like 
 those of the ocean, and with dangerous eddies 
 caused by the obstructions the rushing river 
 found. So much was this the case that at cer- 
 tain stages of the tide it was thought positively 
 dangerous to attempt the passage of a wherry 
 beneath the bridge. Thus you see it was a 
 particularly ugly place at which to be immersed. 
 The fall, too, must have been from a considerable 
 
 c 2
 
 20 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 height, and the leap of the brave boy probably 
 not less so, and we may be sure he deserved all 
 the praise that was showered upon him for the 
 rescue. 
 
 When we read stories of this kind it is a good 
 plan to try and picture the scene, and imagine 
 much that must have happened. We can fancy 
 the father's joy that his darling Anne that 
 was her name was saved, and his grateful 
 acknowledgments to the 'prentice lad who had 
 risked his own life to preserve that of the little 
 girl ; and I do not think we should be far wrong 
 in picturing the careless servant with a white 
 face of terror, and apron to her eyes, shedding 
 floods of tears and being soundly scolded. 
 
 As for Edward Osborne himself half 
 drowned no doubt he was sent to bed and 
 cositedjust the same as the little girl was, and 
 made much of as he had never been before ; 
 and when he quite recovered from the shock he 
 had received he must have found himself the 
 hero of the bridge, all the apprentices thronging 
 about him and seeming proud to be considered 
 his friends. When we remember his after
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 21 
 
 career there is good reason to suppose that 
 Osborne was a very superior lad, and probably 
 his master had already discovered his good 
 qualities ; but however this may have been it 
 is certain that as he grew up he was treated 
 like a son by the worthy cloth-worker in whose 
 house he lived continually. 
 
 William Hewet prospered in his business so 
 much that in a few years he became a very 
 wealthy man, and lived to receive the honour of 
 knighthood and be Lord Mayor of London. 
 Meanwhile, his daughter, Mistress Anne, as she 
 was called, grew to be a very charming girl, and 
 as she was looked upon as a rich heiress was 
 sought in marriage by people of consequence a 
 great many times. But her father had no doubt 
 studied the character of Edward Osborne, and 
 observed the attachment which had sprung up 
 between him and the child he had rescued. 
 Certain it is that Hewet gave his daughter in 
 marriage to the young apprentice with hearty 
 good will, saying he " had saved her, and he 
 should have her." 
 
 In due time Edward Osborne became quite as
 
 22 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 wealthy and distinguished a man as his father- 
 in-law had heen, and was himself knighted, and 
 chosen Lord Mayor of London in the reign of 
 Queen Elizabeth. No doubt his children were 
 worthy of their parentage, and indeed his family 
 and their descendants so prospered in life and 
 advanced in social position that the great-grand- 
 son of Sir Edward and Anne Osborne was the 
 first Duke of Leeds, from whom all the succeed- 
 ing Dukes have descended. 
 
 It was in the reign of Queen Elizabeth that 
 some very famous and ingenious waterworks 
 were erected at the Middlesex side of London 
 Bridge. They were invented by a Dutchman a 
 " free denizen " he was called for the purpose of 
 supplying the City with water, and were in the 
 first instance moved only by the tide passing 
 through the first arch, but subsequently the 
 watercourses of some other arches were diverted 
 and turned into rapids to keep the wheels in 
 motion. We can imagine how great a boon 
 these works must have been to Londoners, who, 
 hitherto, when a little distant from the banks of 
 the Thames, had been mainly dependent on wells
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 23 
 
 or ditches like rivulets for their supply of water. 
 These works though often repaired and im- 
 proved continued in operation till 1822, when 
 an act of Parliament was passed for their 
 removal. By this time London had a purer 
 supply of water than could be obtained by these 
 means, and besides, preparations were being made 
 for pulling down the old bridge. 
 
 Durable as London Bridge was, it could not 
 last for ever, and it had had many trials to go 
 through, besides suffering from the slow work of 
 time. Four times a portion of it was destroyed 
 by fire, namely in 1212, when historians say 
 not less than three thousand persons perished 
 in consequence of being caught between the 
 masses of flame. They had assembled on the 
 bridge to see the fire which, having spread from 
 the Church of St. Mary over to the Southwark 
 gate of the bridge, was suddenly carried by the 
 wind to the London end. No doubt many of 
 these unfortunates dropped into the river and 
 were drowned, and the scene must have been 
 nearly as terrible as that of a burning ship on 
 the ocean. In February 1663 a fire broke out
 
 24 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 from the carelessness of a servant placing some 
 hot coals under a flight of stairs, a fire which 
 raged many hours, destroying all the houses on 
 the bridge from the north end to the first open- 
 ing one of the breaks already described by 
 which passengers could see the river. These 
 houses were not all rebuilt when the great fire of 
 1666 devastated London, and though it did not 
 make its way quite across the bridge, it again 
 reduced to ashes all the houses on both sides as 
 far as the first opening. Again, as late as 1725, 
 the bridge was the scene of a dreadful fire, which 
 consumed nearly sixty houses, and so injured 
 the old Traitors' Gate, that what remained of it 
 had to be pulled down, and the gate entirely 
 rebuilt. No doubt, on all these occasions the 
 free current of air afforded by the river fanned 
 the flames and greatly added to their force. 
 
 The bridge also had many trials from storm 
 and frost, one of the most notable having been 
 in January 1281, when five of the arches were 
 carried away, either by the action of the ice, or 
 the swell of the river which happened in con- 
 sequence of severe frost. No wonder that in its
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 2o 
 
 long existence of more than six hundred years 
 London Bridge was subjected to so many repairs 
 and modifications that, could Peter Colechurch 
 have looked at it, he would hardly have re- 
 cognized his own work yet still we are justi- 
 fied in calling it his as long as the structure 
 lasted. 
 
 Early, however, in the eighteenth century, the 
 narrowness of the thoroughfare became a great 
 inconvenience. Population, and consequently 
 traffic, were increasing, and in 1757 the work of 
 pulling down the houses was begun. It was 
 carried on slowly, probably out of consideration 
 for the rights of householders, and the South- 
 wark gate remained standing till 1766. 
 
 An old writer describes from his own recollec- 
 tion the street on London Bridge " narrow, 
 darksome and dangerous," with "frequent arches 
 of timber crossing from the tops of the houses 
 to keep them together, and from falling into the 
 river." In one of Hogarth's pictures which is 
 to be seen in the National Gallery, there is a 
 view of Old London Bridge with houses upon it 
 that look ready to topple over. Though it was
 
 26 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 high time that the houses should be taken down, 
 we can fancy the bridge was a picturesque ob- 
 ject to artists. Indeed, it is believed' that more 
 than one painter of note fitted up a studio on 
 the bridge, the most famous of them having been 
 Hans Holbein. The houses looking east and west, 
 sunrise or sunset upon the river must often 
 have been a lovely sight from them ; while run- 
 ning water, with all the variation of the tides 
 and made a highway with boats and barges, and 
 frequent State processions must have presented 
 endless scenes of interest to a painter's eye. 
 
 Venerable as Old London Bridge was, and 
 endeared to the citizens from its many stirring 
 associations, its days, however, were numbered. 
 Early in the present century it was found to be 
 incapable of satisfactory repair, and in 1822 an 
 Act of Parliament was passed for the erection of 
 a new bridge, which is the present one. Strange 
 to say, the Corporation of the City of London 
 were violently opposed to the measure, wishing 
 still only to repair the old structure. Happily 
 wiser counsels prevailed, the design chosen for 
 a new bridge being that of the engineer John
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 27 
 
 Rennie. He, however, died before the work was 
 begun, though it was superintended by his son. 
 The first pile of the first coffer-dam was driven 
 on the 15th of March, 1824; the foundation 
 stone was laid on the 15th of June, 1825, and 
 the bridge was opened by King William the 
 Fourth and Queen Adelaide, August 1, 1831. 
 The occasion was made a great holiday and gala 
 day in London, as many elderly people can still 
 well remember. 
 
 The 1st of August was the anniversary of the 
 accession of the house of Hanover, and very 
 probably for that reason it was selected for the 
 ceremony. It was a lovely summer day, still 
 and warm. The King and Queen went, with 
 their retinue, in State barges from Somerset 
 House. The King, though an old man, ascended 
 the long flight of steps from the river without 
 apparent fatigue, and amid loud cheers from the 
 crowd. The customary formality of presenting 
 the keys of the city by the Lord Mayor was 
 gone through they being, of course, graciously 
 returned by the King and the royal party 
 proceeded to a splendid pavilion which had been
 
 28 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 erected on the new bridge. After inspecting the 
 bridge, and having had its structure explained, 
 they returned to the pavilion, where a sumptu- 
 ous banquet was prepared for them. 
 
 The Lord Mayor proposed the health of the 
 King, and the King drank out of a gold cup to 
 the prosperity and commerce of the City of 
 London. Many other " toasts " were given, 
 according to the custom at public banquets, and 
 " drinking healths " prevailed in those days to a 
 great extent. 
 
 After the banquet the royal party returned 
 to Somerset House by water, and the Lord 
 Mayor and the City Companies followed in 
 their State barges gaily decorated. It was a 
 great show, that reminded spectators of much 
 older times. 
 
 The present bridge stands about 180 feet 
 higher up the river than its predecessor, and 
 consequently more westward; and, of course, 
 the old bridge was left standing until the new 
 one was brought into use. But the ancient 
 structure had long been considered positively 
 insecure, and timid people in heavy vehicles
 
 LONDON BRIDGE. 29 
 
 passed over it in fear and trembling. The new 
 bridge already seems old to the generation 
 which has arisen since its erection, and it has 
 been the high road by which many famous 
 people have entered London as it is the daily 
 scene of enormous traffic. But perhaps no day 
 in its history is more memorable than the 7th 
 of March, 1863, when it was decorated with 
 the insignia of England and Denmark, and 
 made an avenue typical of the most affectionate 
 welcome to the Princess Alexandra of Den- 
 mark, who, three days later, became Princess of 
 Wales. 
 
 Plenty of even quite young people can re- 
 member that holiday of general rejoicing when 
 the youthful and beautiful royal maiden entered 
 London in state, passing for miles between 
 serried masses of English people, who greeted 
 their own Prince and his chosen Bride in the 
 most loyal manner. Few who witnessed the 
 scene will ever forget it, and perhaps many a 
 student of history called to mind as he gazed, 
 incidents of the olden time when the Danes 
 came as conquerors of another sort she to win
 
 30 STORIES OP THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 English hearts they as conquerors fierce and 
 bold ; but we may well forgive them 
 
 " For withal 
 
 They dashed the salt spray in our face, 
 And taught us 'neath their passing thrall, 
 To win ourselves the Sea Kings' place ! " 
 
 The present London Bridge is a noble struc- 
 ture, massive and beautiful ; its five elliptical 
 arches spanning the river in the most graceful 
 form. They afford such ample space for the rising 
 tide and rushing stream that navigation beneath 
 them is perfectly safe, which was not always the 
 case with the smaller arches of the old bridge. 
 Indeed the bridge which now adorns the City 
 of London, and takes its name from the metro- 
 polis just as its predecessor did, is a triumph of 
 engineering skill, well able to resist storm and 
 tempest, flood and frost, and is likely to endure 
 for uncounted centuries. May it ever be trod 
 by a Free People aspiring to virtue, and grate- 
 ful for the blessings inherent in their Island 
 Home !
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 
 
 HERE is scarcely an 
 edifice in all England 
 more full of historical 
 associations than the 
 Temple Church. Situ- 
 ated in the heart of the 
 busiest metropolis in 
 the world, and close to 
 the river where the ships of all nations are 
 moored, that beautiful church carries the mind 
 back to remote ages. For it is by no mere 
 figure of speech, but by following link by link 
 a chain of circumstances, that we can trace 
 events which connect it even with the Temple 
 of Solomon. In our midst there still stands a 
 memorial of the Crusades, and of the Knights
 
 32 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 Templars who played so striking a part in 
 mediaeval history. 
 
 In these days laws and manners, and systems 
 of government, are so different from what they 
 were eight hundred years ago, that it requires 
 a strong effort of the imagination to picture 
 events in the guise in which at that period they 
 really happened. History tells the sad story of 
 wars and sieges all over the known world, but 
 perhaps none are so deeply pathetic as the 
 struggles which from time to time took place 
 in Palestine, and the sieges to which Jerusalem 
 was subjected. 
 
 The Bible relates those events which caused 
 Palestine to be called the Holy Land, and after 
 the Christian era its vicissitudes were many and 
 great. The terrible siege of Jerusalem under 
 Vespasian and Titus, A.U. 70, and its total de- 
 struction are well known ; and in the following 
 century the Romans built a heathen city on its 
 site. But the old name was revived after the con- 
 version to Christianity of the Emperor Constan- 
 tine, who built a sacred edifice on the spot where 
 the crucifixion of Our Saviour had taken place.
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 33 
 
 After being besieged by the Persians, and 
 again falling into the hands of the Eomans in 
 the beginning of the seventh century, it was 
 taken by the Saracens A.D. 637. 
 
 These people were Arabs newly converted to 
 Mahoramedanism. They had previously been 
 an idolatrous race, worshipping the sun, moon 
 and stars. The name Saracen probably 
 derived from an Arabic word signifying Eastern 
 people more especially belonged to the people 
 dwelling between the Tigris and Euphrates, but 
 in the course of time it became the name of all 
 Arabs who had embraced the doctrines of 
 Mahomet and afterwards in the middle ages 
 for all Mahommedans. 
 
 When the Saracens took Jerusalem Mahomet 
 had only been dead six or seven years, and 
 though from the first foundation of Mahom- 
 medanism there had always been great enmity 
 between its followers and Christians, the feud 
 had not as yet attained the rancour which after- 
 wards distinguished it. Still it was a great 
 blow to Christendom to feel that places made 
 sacred by the sufferings of Our Lord were in 
 
 D
 
 34 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 the hands of the Infidel ; for pilgrimages to the 
 Holy Land were often made, so that besides the 
 sentiment of profanation which no doubt widely 
 prevailed, difficulties for pilgrims had to be 
 apprehended. 
 
 Before we can estimate what a pilgrimage 
 from France or England to the Holy Land really 
 meant in the early centuries of Christianity, we 
 must consider the difficulties of travelling 
 through long desolate tracts of country, or in 
 districts where crimes of violence were of fre- 
 quent occurrence. No doubt many devout 
 persons undertook the long journey from, merely 
 a strong religious impulse, but in numerous 
 instances it was performed as a penance enjoined 
 by the Romish Church for past sin, or as a 
 means of procuring what was called an indul- 
 gence. 
 
 The Saracens, however, permitted pilgrims to 
 visit the Holy Places, though they levied a capi- 
 tation tax for the privilege they awarded. And 
 the Caliph Haroun-Alraschid, who seems to have 
 been on friendly terms with the Emperor Char- 
 lemagne, sent to that monarch the keys of the
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 35 
 
 Holy Sepulchre as a free-will offering. This 
 happened A.D. 801, and was looked on as a com- 
 pliment to the Latin Church. But when in the 
 eleventh century the Turks became masters of 
 Jerusalem, a new era began, which was des- 
 tined to influence many generations of men. 
 
 The Turks, though also Mahommedans, were 
 far less refined than the Saracens, and far more 
 cruel and rapacious. Not content with the tax 
 which the Christians were willing to pay, these 
 new masters of Jerusalem robbed and maltreated 
 the pilgrims, treating them with the greatest 
 cruelty and indignity. This conduct roused the 
 spirit of the Christian nations, and in A.D. 1096 
 various expeditions were set on foot by men de- 
 termined either to lay down their lives or to 
 reach Jerusalem. The first body was led by a 
 Burgundian named Graultier, surnamed fians-avoir, 
 or as English writers call him Walter the Pen- 
 niless, who apparently set out with the intention 
 of begging his way to the Holy Land. It was a 
 serious matter for the countries through which 
 they had to pass, to feed and shelter a number 
 of armed men who were little disciplined, and 
 
 D 2
 
 3() STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 were rapacious from the urgency of their need. 
 Thus \ve cannot wonder at the conflicts which 
 took place. 
 
 Besides, the Turks already powerful re- 
 sented any facilities offered to the pilgrims, and 
 fanaticism on each side grew more and more 
 violent. If, indeed, the pilgrims had been rich 
 enough always to pay their way, and had carried 
 much money about them, then probably they 
 would have been waylaid and murdered for the 
 sake of their gold, and perhaps not a man left to 
 tell the story. For Europe was in a most law- 
 less state, and might was honoured instead of 
 right. The literal truth is, that these armed 
 men set out with the determination of 
 reaching Palestine at all hazards of fighting 
 their way whenever it was found necessary so 
 to do. 
 
 This first body under Walter the Penniless 
 was destroyed in Bulgaria. Then came the 
 preaching of Peter the Hermit, and the expe- 
 dition he himself led, which was likewise cut to 
 pieces ; a third, consisting mainly of German 
 peasants, likewise perished ; and the fourth, after
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 37 
 
 committing dreadful atrocities and massacring 
 
 o r> 
 
 the Jews in Mainz, were themselves well-nigh 
 exterminated by the Hungarian army. It is 
 very dreadful to reflect on the manner in which 
 ignorant superstition and religious fanaticism 
 were made the excuses for wholesale murder. 'No 
 doubt it was the wealth of the Jews that caused 
 their destruction. Debarred by the laws from 
 all occupations except those of commerce, they 
 devoted themselves energetically to trade, and 
 in the middle ages were generally the wealthiest 
 of citizens. Princes and Crusaders alike plun- 
 dered the Jews, often on the shallowest pretexts. 
 The avowed object of the Crusaders, who 
 fought under the banner of the Cross hence their 
 name was to rescue Jerusalem from the Infi- 
 dels ; but by-and-by personal ambition mingled 
 largely with their enterprises. Perhaps, how- 
 ever, the noblest and most pure-minded man who 
 distinguished himself at this time was Godfrey 
 de Bouillon. He was of noble birth, his father 
 having been Count of Boulogne ; while, through 
 his mother, daughter of a Duke of Lorraine, he 
 claimed descent from Charlemagne. In those
 
 38 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 days men of his .rank almost always devoted 
 themselves to military pursuits, and he was no 
 exception to the rule. He became standard- 
 bearer in the army of the Emperor of Germany, 
 by whom he was made Marquis of Antwerp. 
 He had, however, to fight for the duchy of 
 Bouillon, which had been invaded in his ab- 
 sence, but after expelling the usurper he returned 
 to Grermany and again distinguished himself in 
 connection with the Imperial army. 
 
 The story goes that while Godfrey was very 
 ill from a fever he heard of an expedition to 
 Jerusalem, and vowed that if he recovered his 
 health he would join in it. An old chronicler 
 relates that directly he uttered this vow he 
 recovered his strength. Soon afterwards he was 
 
 O 
 
 placed at the head of an immense army, esti- 
 mated by some writers as more than a hundred 
 thousand men. They were a motley concourse 
 divided into several bands, and many thousand 
 men never reached Palestine. Godfrey, at the 
 head of one detachment which when nearing 
 its destination was joined by some others 
 pushed his way through Germany and Hungary,
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 39 
 
 and after many trials and losses arrived at 
 Antioeh, which town after a desperate resistance 
 fell into the hands of the invaders June 3, 10 98. 
 
 The Crusaders, however, were now in their 
 turn attacked by a body of Persian Turks, 
 whom they at last defeated, mainly it was said 
 by the enthusiasm that was kindled by a French 
 priest who believed that he had had an en- 
 couraging vision of St. Andrew. The Cru- 
 saders had suffered terribly from famine and 
 pestilence, but such as remained fit for the 
 expedition marched on to Jerusalem, where they 
 arrived in 1099. 
 
 Now began that terrible siege which lasted 
 five weeks, during which the most horrible 
 sufferings were inflicted and endured by both 
 parties. Several chiefs besides Godfrey greatly 
 distinguished themselves, conspicuous among 
 them having been Tancred, and Robert Duke of 
 Normandy, eldest son of William the Con- 
 querer. These two Princes were those who 
 forced one of the gates, and may be said to 
 have planted the standard of the Cross on the 
 walls of Jerusalem.
 
 40 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 You must bear in mind that the fighting was 
 chiefly carried on by means of cross-bows and 
 arrows for gunpowder was not yet invented 
 and movable towers, which protected the men 
 inside them. But the Turks, well acquainted 
 with what was called Greek fire, poured out 
 flame upon their assailants. No doubt the fury 
 of the struggle roused the fiercest passions on 
 both sides ; but it is sad to think, and sad to 
 tell, of the cruelties which were perpetrated by 
 men who professed Christianity and fought 
 under the banner of the Cross. The Turks 
 unable to resist their enemies fled in numbers to 
 the Mosques, and were slain there without 
 distinction of age or condition ; while those in 
 the streets and houses, even the women and 
 children, were massacred by thousands. The 
 streets literally flowed with human blood. 
 
 The Crusaders justified themselves for their 
 vengeance, by believing it a deserved retribution 
 on the Infidel for his oppression of Christians. 
 It is probable, indeed, that they thought the 
 extermination of the Turks a duty laid upon 
 them, so little at that time was the teaching of
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 41 
 
 Our Lord understood, or his command to forgive 
 injuries acted on. 
 
 Now that Jerusalem was conquered it became 
 necessary to place it in the hands of some power- 
 ful prince, and Godfrey was duly elected the 
 first King of Jerusalem. He was solemnly in- 
 vested with this new dignity in the Church of 
 the Holy Sepulchre, but would not allow himself 
 to be crowned, saying it was not fit that he 
 should wear a diadem of gold in the city where 
 his Saviour had been crowned with thorns. He 
 indeed only called himself " Defender and Baron 
 of the Holy Sepulchre." After the capture of 
 Jerusalem, Godfrey gained further possessions 
 in the East, all of which consolidated his 
 power, but he only lived a year, dying July 
 17th, 1100. For many centuries his tomb was 
 an object of devout interest, and his sword is 
 still preserved at Jerusalem as a precious relic. 
 In Brussels there is a very fine equestrian statue 
 of Godfrey de Bouillon holding aloft the standard; 
 and this hero of the Crusaders is immortalized 
 in Tasso's great poem of "Jerusalem Delivered." 
 
 Though Godfrey's reign was so short he had
 
 42 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 instituted a wise code of laws for his subjects. 
 He was succeeded by his brother Baldwin, who 
 reigned till 1118 under the title of Baldwin the 
 First. On his death, after many conflicts with 
 the Saracens, his cousin became King of Jeru- 
 salem as Baldwin the Second. This prince, 
 unlike Godfrey, consented to be crowned and the 
 ceremony was performed with great solemnity. 
 " They put the ring on his finger as signifying 
 faith; then they girded on the sword which 
 means justice, to defend the faith and holy 
 Church ; and after that the crown which signi- 
 fies dignity ; and then the sceptre which signifies 
 to defend and punish ; and then the -apple or 
 globe which signifies the earth and soil of the 
 kingdom." 
 
 Baldwin the Second was often in conflict with 
 the Saracens, but though he was taken prisoner 
 and had many changes of fortune, he left the 
 kingdom of Jerusalem greatly enlarged. It was 
 during his reign that the Pope sanctioned the 
 institution of the Knights of St. John of Jeru- 
 salem, and of the Knights Templars. 
 
 Though the little kingdom of Jerusalem was
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 43 
 
 certainly established to tlie great joy of all 
 Christendom, the Mahommedans never relin- 
 quished the idea of regaining their possessions. 
 Consequently it was found necessary to be con- 
 stantly prepared to repel attacks. The Turks 
 were still powerful enough to be dreaded if 
 vigilance were once relaxed, and the standing 
 difficulties of pilgrims in travelling great dis- 
 tances still remained. It was for the protection 
 of pilgrims that the two famous orders of 
 knighthood were originally instituted. 
 
 The Knights Hospitallers of St. John devoted 
 themselves to providing hospitality for pilgrims, 
 according to their first vow, though they were 
 also warriors who fought against the Infidels. 
 
 The Knights Templars were a fraternity of a 
 somewhat similar order, but for a time were a 
 more powerful one. They took their name from 
 the circumstance that Baldwin the Second gave 
 them apartments on Mount Moriah, within the 
 enclosure of the Temple of Jerusalem, whence 
 they were speedily called Knights of the Temple 
 of Solomon, and afterwards Knights Templars. 
 
 About A.D. 1119, nine French gentlemen
 
 44 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 formed themselves into a body for the avowed 
 purpose of defending pilgrims on their way to 
 the Holy Land. These knights, though of 
 gentle birth, are believed to have been very poor, 
 but their wealth and their numbers soon 
 increased; they were organized into a society 
 with a Grand Master and ;i distinguishing dress. 
 This was a white mantle, with a red cross upon 
 it. In battle they displayed a black and white 
 banner, inscribed "Non nobis Domine, non nobis, 
 sed nomini tuo da gloriam," Not unto us, 
 Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy Name give 
 the praise. Either to symbolize their original 
 poverty or commemorate a fact, they adopted for 
 the seal of their Order the device of two men 
 riding on one horse. 
 
 In the twelfth century news did not travel 
 very fast. Tidings from the Holy Land, however, 
 were always full of interest, and travellers on 
 their return home were eagerly welcomed. The 
 pilgrim generally wore a cockle shell in his hat 
 of a sort found on the Syrian shore, with a 
 wallet slung on his shoulders, and had a staff in 
 his hand ; and the appearance of one of these
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 45 
 
 personages was enough to ensure hospitality 
 among honest folks. This he requited by 
 relating his own adventures, and telling of the 
 deeds performed and dangers encountered by 
 others. Often the pilgrim had his staff wreathed 
 with palm-leaves gathered in Palestine, and 
 which he carried as proof that he had really 
 been there. Hence he was sometimes called a 
 " palmer." 
 
 It was from returned pilgrims no doubt that 
 the English first heard of the Knights Templars, 
 and were in some measure prepared for a party 
 of them which arrived in England A.D. 1128. 
 Hugh de Payens, one of the first nine knights 
 who founded the Order, was now Grand Master ; 
 and selecting four of the brethren for his com- 
 panions he journeyed from Jerusalem to our 
 shores, for the express purpose of explaining to 
 Henry the First and his nobility the objects of 
 the Society of Templars. 
 
 So successful was he that after his visit to 
 England he returned to Jerusalem with three 
 hundred fresh brethren belonging to the noblest 
 families, mainly those of England and France.
 
 46 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 There was something very attractive to the 
 mediaeval mind in the combination of warlike 
 fame and religious holiness ; and no doubt many 
 of the Templars in the early days of the Order 
 were men who sincerely desired to devote them- 
 selves to the service of Grod. They vowed 
 individual poverty, obedience to their supe- 
 riors, and not to marry. But as wealth flowed 
 in to the common stock many temptations 
 sprang up. They affiliated " serving brothers" 
 to attend upon them from the citizen class which 
 they despised, and their Grand Master was 
 allowed to hold the rank of a prince. They were 
 in truth very powerful, and their pride and 
 arrogance became proverbial. 
 
 Before Hugh de Payens left England he 
 established a society in this country, with a 
 Knight called a " Prior of the Temple" at the 
 head of it to manage the affairs of the Order 
 and transmit the money accumulated to Jeru- 
 salem. Many establishments connected with 
 the order now sprang up in the country, the 
 principal one being in London, in Holborn, on 
 the spot where Southampton Buildings at pre-
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 47 
 
 sent stand. This house Hugh de Payens him- 
 self saw established. 
 
 But in fifty years the English Templars were 
 greatly increased in numbers, and they wanted 
 more magnificent buildings than they as yet 
 possessed. They had wealth to gratify their 
 wishes, and purchased a site which was probably 
 then one of the most delightful in London 
 namely the ground on which the Temple Church, 
 the Temple Gardens, and those Inns of Court 
 called Inner and Middle Temple now stand. 
 In the old times " Inn " meant place of residence 
 not merely a temporary abode. On this spot 
 they began erecting a beautiful church on the 
 model of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, and 
 extensive adjacent buildings for the accommoda- 
 tion of the Order. 
 
 Some time, however, before the works were 
 completed, great troubles fell upon their brethren 
 in Palestine in consequence of the increasing 
 power of the Saracens, who after Saladin became 
 their leader vanquished the Christian armies on 
 several occasions. These misfortunes brought 
 Heraclius the Patriarch of Jerusalem to England,
 
 48 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 accompanied by the Master of St. John's. The 
 Master of the Temple had also set out, but he 
 had died on the way. 
 
 The object of these illustrious visitors was 
 a personal interview with the English king, 
 Henry the Second, to enlist his sympathies and 
 obtain promises of assistance. Henry received 
 them very graciously and appeared much moved 
 by their description of affairs in Palestine, and 
 the great risk there was of the Holy Land again 
 passing into the power of the T ~^del. Indeed 
 they had some claim on the /s considera- 
 tion, for on obtaining abso i for his par- 
 ticipation in the murder of Thomas a Becket he 
 had promised to lead an army to Palestine, and 
 to maintain at his own charge a certain number 
 of Templars. But the only assurance that 
 Henry could now give was a promise to consult 
 the Parliament directly it met. 
 
 Meanwhile it was A.D. 1185 the English 
 Templars took advantage of the arrival of the 
 Patriarch, to solicit from him a great honour ; 
 namely that he should consecrate and open 
 with all due ceremonies their new home. This
 
 TEMPLE CHURCH
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 4'J 
 
 he gladly consented to do ; and, familiar as lie 
 was with oriental magnificence, there is little 
 doubt that he was both surprised and delighted 
 at the architectural beauties he beheld. The 
 Templars were already rich, and they had 
 lavished their wealth on the buildings now just 
 finished. It was an age when workmen were 
 plentiful and laborious, and when the designs 
 of the architect were carried out with patience, 
 good faith, and skill. The church, with its cir- 
 cular colonnade and tesselated pavement, its 
 stained glass windows and decorated ceiling, was 
 almost unique in form, and would alone have 
 proved the resources of the Order. 
 
 But in harmony with the Church were the 
 quiet cloisters, the separate homes for the Prior, 
 the chaplains, and the Knights, as well as for the 
 inferior serving brothers, and all sorts of domes- 
 tics. There were the Chapter-house where they 
 met to transact business, and the spacious Eefec- 
 tory where they dined, with all sorts of needful 
 offices. A beautiful garden sloped down to the 
 Thames and here the Knights practised mili- 
 tary exercises and trained their horses. 
 
 E
 
 50 STORIES OF THE CTTT OF LONDON. 
 
 No doubt Heraclius was delio-hted with the 
 
 O 
 
 prosperity of the English Templars; but the 
 Knights of St. John were also growing rich, and 
 were highly esteemed, and the Patriarch conse- 
 crated their church in Clerkenwell likewise. It 
 is sad to say, that within the next century 
 the rivalry of these two noble Orders became so 
 extreme that, instead of co-operating for the good 
 of Christendom, they grew into bitter, remorse- 
 less enemies. 
 
 The Patriarch was doomed to a grave disap- 
 pointment with regard to obtaining assistance 
 from the King. 
 
 It is only fair to admit that Henry's position 
 was trying. Whether he really wished to ful- 
 fil his vow or not, it is impossible to say; he 
 professed to do so, but when Parliament met the 
 Barons declared that by his coronation oath he 
 was bound to stay in England and govern the 
 realm. Something of a compromise was at- 
 tempted, and an offer was made to raise money for 
 the expenses of a body of troops, to be commanded 
 by such nobles and others as desired to join 
 the Christian warriors. Lastly, the King offered
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 51 
 
 " to give largely of his own " to such " as would 
 undertake the voyage," though he could not 
 leave his country to be the prey of Frenchmen. 
 
 This answer aroused the wrath and indigna- 
 tion of the Patriarch, who replied with bitter- 
 ness, 
 
 " We seek a man, and not money ; well-near 
 every Christian region sendeth unto us money, 
 but no land sendeth to us a Prince. Therefore, 
 we ask a Prince that needeth money, and not 
 money that needeth a Prince." 
 
 But the King still made excuses, and the 
 Patriarch " departed from him discontented and 
 comfortless, whereof the King being advertised, 
 intending somewhat to recomfort him with 
 pleasant words, followed him unto the sea-side." 
 So little effect, however, had Henry's " pleasant 
 words " that Heraclius broke out into still more 
 violent speech, exclaiming, after fresh reproaches, 
 " Do by me right as thou didst by that blessed 
 man Thomas of Canterbury, for I had liever, be 
 slain by thee than of the Saracens, for thou art 
 worse than any Saracen." 
 
 The King, still keeping his temper, replied, 
 
 E 2
 
 52 STORIES OF THE CITT OP LONDON. 
 
 " I may not wend out of my land, for my own 
 sons will arise against me when I was absent." 
 
 " No wonder," replied the Patriarch, " for of 
 the Devil they come, and to the Devil they shall 
 go," and then departed from the King in great 
 wrath. 
 
 Henry appears to have borne meekly these 
 insulting taunts. Perhaps after the penance 
 and humilation to which he had submitted, in 
 consequence of the murder of Becket, at his sup- 
 posed instigation, he felt that he could endure 
 anything from a dignitary of the Church. 
 Those vvho remember the history of Henry's 
 son, Richard Coeur de Lion, know that the 
 Christians in Palestine did get a Prince to fight 
 for them. 
 
 The consecration of their new church, and the 
 occupation of the adjacent and commodious 
 building by the Templars, formed a memorable 
 era in the history of the Order. Now it seemed 
 firmly established in England. The head of the 
 house was called Master of the Temple the 
 supreme head at Jerusalem being entitled Grand 
 Master.
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 53 
 
 The jurisdiction of the Master of the Temple 
 extended not only over his own house in London, 
 but over all the priors or preceptors of provincial 
 establishments. He was elected in an assembly 
 of Knights from one of themselves, and no 
 doubt the position was coveted eagerly by those 
 who were ambitious of power. But to be simply 
 a brother of the Order was itself a title of honour. 
 
 The installation of the Knights was a very 
 solemn and religious ceremony, which it is sup- 
 posed took place in a chapel on the south-side of 
 the Eound of the Church, which clmpel existed 
 till the year 1827. The candidate who had 
 previously been examined and questioned ap- 
 peared before the assembly of Knights, when 
 with folded hands and kneeling before the Master 
 lie humbly entreated to be received into the 
 Order to share in its good deeds, and to be 
 through life its slave and servant. 
 
 Then the Master represented to him what a 
 " great matter " he was asking, saying to him 
 that he only saw the outward shell of the Order 
 how that the Knights were splendidly dressed 
 and had fine horses richly caparisoned; that
 
 54 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 they fared sumptuously with regard to meat and 
 drink ; but that he knew not yet all the hard- 
 ships he should have to encounter. He re- 
 minded him how his own will must in all things 
 give way under his vow of obedience how 
 when he wanted to sleep he might be ordered 
 to watch ; how when he wanted to eat he might 
 be ordered to do something else ; and many other 
 certain trials were pointed out to him. Con- 
 senting to everything the candidate was at last 
 received and assured of " bread and water, and 
 the poor clothing of the Order, and labour and toil 
 enow." Then the famous white mantle with the 
 red cross on the shoulder, was placed upon him by 
 the Master, who kissed him, as did the chaplain. 
 This ceremony completed, the Master delivered 
 a discourse enumerating the duties of the Knights 
 Templars or Eed Cross Knights, as they were 
 sometimes called. They were commanded never 
 to strike or maltreat any Christian ; never to 
 swear ; never to receive attendance from a woman 
 without permission ; never to abuse or call names, 
 but on all occasions to be courteous and polite. 
 As women often attended wounded warriors, dress-
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 55 
 
 ing their wounds and ministering to them, pos- 
 sibly the order relating to women was intended 
 in some measure to prevent these soldiers of the 
 Cross growing effeminate by accepting services 
 when not absolutely necessary. 
 
 The Knight was ordered to perform certain 
 duties with regularity, such as attending di- 
 vine service, and never to sit down to table or 
 rise from it without prayer. He was to sleep in 
 his hose and with a girdle round his waist 
 no doubt that he might be promptly ready for 
 any duty demanded of him. He was also to 
 recite a certain number ofjyafer nosters when the 
 Master died. 
 
 The Master's exhortation over, the newly re- 
 ceived brother was presented with clothes, and 
 all necessary arms and equipments, and hence- 
 forth he was to appear only arrayed as a Knight 
 Templar. He was generally given three horses, 
 and allowed an esquire sometimes a youth of 
 noble birth to attend upon him. 
 
 The rules of the Order must have pressed 
 very differently upon different characters. No 
 doubt it numbered among its members many
 
 56 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 earnest men, who honestly believed that the 
 cause of Christianity could be best served by 
 extirpating the Infidel. There is no record of 
 their having tried gentle measures of persuasion, 
 and of having shown the beauty of holiness, and 
 the superiority of their own faith by deeds of 
 loving kindness. Indeed, there is good reason 
 to believe that the Saracens were often their 
 superiors in courtesy and generosity. 
 
 Some Templars, perhaps, cared less for the 
 spread of Christianity than for their individual 
 glory and renown ; some, perhaps, knowing their 
 own frailties, put themselves in subjection as a 
 means of discipline. However this may have 
 been, the Order generally increased in riches 
 and dignity. But when, notwithstanding the 
 efforts of Richard Cceur de Lion and his fellow- 
 crusaders, Palestine again fell into the hands of 
 the Infidel, the establishment of the Knights 
 Templars in Jerusalem was broken up, and after 
 some vicissitudes they established their head- 
 quarters in France. By this time they num- 
 bered many thousands, and for a while they still 
 continued to grow in wealth and fame.
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 57 
 
 But, perhaps, in the same way that the riches 
 of the Jews in the middle ages brought persecu- 
 tion and robbery on them, so the vast posses- 
 sions of the Knights Templars set needy princes 
 coveting their treasures. Being human, the 
 Templars were no doubt often faulty, and they 
 held so prominent a place in the world, that 
 something of "the fierce light which beats upon 
 a throne " beat also upon them, to reveal their 
 frailties, and often in an exaggerated manner. 
 But that they were guilty of the atrocious 
 crimes their enemies imputed to them, few stu- 
 dents of history can believe. The real truth 
 seems to be that unscrupulous princes wanted 
 their wealth, and miserable wretches were found 
 to act the part of false witnesses, and plot their 
 ruin. 
 
 Yet it was not till the reign of Edward II. 
 that the overthrow of the unfortunate Templars 
 was effected. Philip of France, the Pope, and 
 the weak English King were equally greedy of 
 the riches possessed by the Knights, and equally 
 determined to break up the Order. Let us hope 
 that these potentates at least believed some of
 
 58 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 the accusations made against the Templars. 
 Even then their cruelty was monstrous. 
 
 It was the age when frightful tortures were 
 inflicted on criminals with the avowed -object of 
 leading them to confess the crimes of which 
 they were accused. Multitudes of miserable 
 innocent people, unable to bear their torments, 
 have said whatever their accusers demanded, 
 desiring only a speedy death to end their suffer- 
 ings. This was the case with the Grand Master 
 James de Molay and three other Templars. 
 But, contrary to expectation, De Molay, when 
 called upon to repeat his confession in public in 
 Paris, on a scaffold in front of the church of 
 Notre Dame, instead of doing so, raised his 
 chained hands and solemnly recanted it. 
 
 " I acknowledge," he said, " though to my 
 eternal shame, that I have committed the greatest 
 of crimes ; but it has been the acknowledging of 
 those which have been so foully charged on the 
 Order. I attest, and truth obliges me to attest, 
 that it is innocent. I made the contrary de- 
 claration only to suspend the excessive pains of 
 torture, and to mollify those who made me
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 59 
 
 endure them. I know the punishments which 
 have been inflicted on all the Knights who had 
 the courage to revoke a similar confession ; but 
 the dreadful spectacle which is presented to me 
 is not able to make me confirm one lie by an- 
 other." 
 
 One of the other Templars followed the great 
 example of his Master. Both were burnt to 
 death by slow fire that same evening. 
 
 Meanwhile the order in England had been 
 treated with nearly equal severity. For a time, 
 it is true, Edward the Second had professed to 
 be their friend and protector, but a papal bull or 
 decree of the Pope seems suddenly to have 
 changed his opinions. For a little while Edward 
 was opposed to torture being inflicted, but after 
 some demur, he yielded, and gave up the Tem- 
 plars to the power of the papal inquisitors. 
 
 When first interrogated every Knight, without 
 exception, maintained the innocence of the Order ; 
 but torture was applied, and a chaplain and 
 two serving men made the desired statement 
 confession it was called as to the Order's denial 
 of the Saviour. On this as individuals they were
 
 GO STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 pardoned. But the other Templars were bravely 
 resolute. At last they were brought to acknow- 
 ledge that they had believed the Master had the 
 power of absolution. This was declared to be 
 rank heresy and sufficient excuse to despoil 
 them of their wealth. They were required to 
 make a public confession of their fault, and on 
 doing so were re-admitted to the Christian com- 
 munity. But they were utterly beggared, and 
 many of them must have starved had not some 
 of the chief ecclesiastics had compassion on 
 them and procured their admission into religious 
 houses. 
 
 Nominally the property of the Order was 
 transferred to the rival Order of St. John of 
 Jerusalem, the Knights Hospitallers, now estab- 
 lished in the island of Ehodes and called 
 Knights of Ehodes. But they did not enter 
 on their inheritance without great limitations. 
 The kings of France and England as well as 
 some other princes shared in the spoils, and 
 the Pope probably claimed precisely what he 
 pleased. 
 
 It would have been very difficult for the
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 61 
 
 Knights of Khodes to establish their full claim 
 to the English property against the will of the 
 English king, and probably they took a course 
 as wise as generous in demising the church, 
 gardens, and stately buildings belonging to the 
 London Templars, with " all the appurtenances," 
 to certain students of the common law. This 
 event took place in the twentieth year of the 
 reign of Edward the Third, and ever since then 
 the home and the haunt of the English Knights 
 Templars has been devoted to the study and 
 practice of the law. 
 
 Whatever hold the Knights of Rhodes might 
 retain over the property ceased at the time of 
 the Eeformation, when Henry the Eighth sup- 
 pressed all monastic orders, doing just what he 
 pleased with their funds. After this period the 
 Inns of Court were held by lease from the 
 Crown. 
 
 The Knights Hospitallers retained the island 
 of Ehodes for more than two hundred years, 
 increasing in fame and opulence. Gibbon the 
 historian speaks of them as a " bulwark of 
 Christendom. " that " provoked and repelled the
 
 62 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 arms of the Turks and Saracens." It was still 
 considered their prime duty to exterminate the 
 Infidel if possible, and they lost no opportunity 
 of attacking their enemies. It was their habit 
 in their island home to keep perpetual watch 
 for Saracen ships. Woe betide a solitary vessel 
 that steered within sight the Knights imme- 
 diately sent out a little fleet to chase and capture 
 it. We find it difficult to look upon such con- 
 duct as anything but cruel piracy yet the 
 Knights held themselves to be perpetually at war 
 with the Infidel and extenuated their actions 
 accordingly. 
 
 In 1522, however, they were overcome by the 
 Turks, and had to surrender Ehodes. For a 
 few years they were without a permanent home, 
 till in 1530 Charles the Fifth bestowed the 
 Island of Malta, with some other territory upon 
 them, and henceforth they were called Knights 
 of Malta. But the world was gradually chang- 
 ing, and though the body of Knights known by 
 so many different names still remained some- 
 times to do good service in many sorts of ways, 
 its power in time decayed. In 1798 Napoleon
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 63 
 
 the First seized Malta, and soon afterwards the 
 Order was dispersed. 
 
 When we read history with intelligence and 
 sympathy we feel how mysteriously past and pre- 
 sent old things and new are linked together. 
 Though the main buildings of the Knights 
 Templars in London may have yielded to fire 
 and time, and to the changes necessary for a 
 change of purposes, the beautiful Church still 
 remains, restored in a reverent spirit within the 
 last few years, so that the visitor or worshipper 
 feels that he is indeed standing or kneeling 
 where, with little change, the monastic warriors 
 prayed and preached and did penance centuries 
 ago. 
 
 How different was their mode of life from 
 anything experienced to-day ! The poorest 
 classes of people now enjoy comforts and 
 luxuries to which the magnificent Knights 
 Templars were wholly strangers. Not a printed 
 book existed, and there were very few writings 
 in the world except copies of the Scriptures in 
 Latin and Greek. These manuscripts were 
 often rightly judged more precious than their
 
 64 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 weight in gold. Beading was thought a great 
 accomplishment, and to be able to write some- 
 thing extraordinary. We may be pretty sure 
 that except the Chaplains, and probably the 
 Masters, few of the Knights Templars could 
 either read or write with anything like facility. 
 
 Then in the matter of their diet how 
 limited it was ! Tea and coffee and potatoes 
 and the greater number of our fruits and 
 vegetables were wholly unknown to them. 
 Wine was sold in small quantities as a cordial, 
 and was probably looked on as a medicine ; 
 though it is likely enough that those Templars 
 who had travelled in the East had tasted the 
 Greek wines and perhaps some others. How- 
 ever, they had the best of all beverages close at 
 hand, their fountain of pure water in the 
 Temple Gardens, and the bright river called for 
 many generations after their day the Silver 
 Thames. 
 
 The river swarmed with fish, so that no doubt 
 they had fresh delicious fare for their so-called 
 fast-days; and we may be sure that country 
 friends supplied them with venison and other
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 65 
 
 game very often, and we know they had plenty 
 of money to purchase anything in the market. 
 But it was a strange life, without reading and 
 without postal communication, and we can 
 fancy how the Templars told travellers' tales 
 over and over again for want of novelties to 
 think about. Sun-dials and hour-glasses must 
 have been used by them instead of clocks. 
 
 In the Temple Church are several effigies of 
 Knights remaining, those which have the legs 
 crossed commemorating Brothers of the Order 
 who had travelled to the Holy Land. This 
 attitude in old monuments always indicates a 
 Crusader. 
 
 But though the Knights Templars knew how 
 to honour their Order, they also knew very well 
 how to punish refractory members of it. There 
 is still to be seen at the side of the Church the 
 penitential cell in which culprits were confined, 
 often for long periods. It is reached by a narrow- 
 staircase, and measures less than five feet in 
 length by two and a half in breath, so that a 
 well grown man could not lie down at full 
 length in it. There were apertures, however. 
 
 p
 
 66 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 looking into the Church through which he could 
 hear the service. This appeared as if the Order 
 had care for the souls of their erring brothers, 
 however cruelly their bodies were treated. In 
 this wretched cell the Grand Preceptor of 
 Ireland was fettered by command of the Master, 
 and died in his misery. At daybreak his body 
 was ignominiously buried between the Church 
 and the Hall. 
 
 Sometimes, for what we should call trivial 
 offences, the Knights were publicly scourged. 
 One of them quitted the Order, but either impel- 
 led by superstitious terrors or really repentant of 
 his faults, he voluntarily returned and submitted 
 himself to whatever penance the Master chose 
 to inflict. He was condemned to fast on 
 bread and water four days in the week, and 
 to eat with the dogs on the ground for a year, 
 and to be scourged in the church every Sun- 
 day. 
 
 Of course this severity of discipline, and the 
 courage and piety of those who submitted to it, 
 had great weight with the outer world in days 
 when true religion was mingled with much
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 67 
 
 superstition, and the brave endurance of severe 
 penance was thought admirable in the extreme. 
 It became an object of ambition to be buried 
 among the Knights Templars, and the noble 
 and the rich often showered wealth on the 
 Order, for the purpose of purchasing the privilege 
 they so much coveted. Sometimes great people 
 in trouble took refuge with the Templars and 
 were hospitably entertained by them, notably 
 King John, who dated many documents from 
 the Temple. 
 
 They also knew how to be kind and generous 
 to the miserable on occasion. There was a baron 
 Geoffrey de Magnaville, son of one of the same 
 name who fought at Hastings, who, for many 
 sins, had been excommunicated by the Church. 
 The Templars, however, believing him penitent, 
 had enrolled him among their Order. But when 
 he died they dared not bury him in consecrated 
 ground, so hung up his corpse in a leaden coffin 
 on a tree in the garden, until after some years 
 they obtained absolution for him, and buried 
 him near the western door. No doubt his grave 
 clothes were of sack- cloth, like those of many less 
 
 F 2
 
 68 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 erring brothers. His effigy is still to be seen in 
 the Church. 
 
 Much wealth was sometimes confided to the 
 safe keeping of the Templars, and perhaps from 
 various circumstances of those unsettled times it 
 was often not reclaimed. When Edward the 
 First returned from the conquest of Wales he 
 professed a great desire to see his mother's 
 jewels, which had been placed in charge of the 
 Templars. He was admitted, and carried off 
 ten thousand pounds, as the Templars declared, 
 by breaking open their coffers. It was not 
 possible to resist a King ; and by this time they 
 were looked on as little wanted for anything ex- 
 cept their money. 
 
 But they had made their immortal mark on 
 the pages of mediaeval history. We cannot read 
 of Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries 
 without perceiving what an influence the Order 
 of Knights Templars exercised, and speculating 
 on the characters of the men who composed it. 
 Great qualities were required to fulfil worthily 
 many difficult duties. Pride in the Order, which 
 made every brother desire to uphold its dignity,
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 69 
 
 was often combined with the extreme of personal 
 humility. Undauntable courage was allied to 
 unquestioning obedience to the Master, and the 
 power of ready self-denial was exacted from men 
 of lineage trained to command. It is impossible 
 to think of the Knights Templars and their 
 romantic history without feeling that the Lon- 
 don district which is called the Terujjle is hal- 
 lowed ground.
 
 70 
 
 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 
 
 HE Royal Exchange is 
 one of the City sights 
 which foreigners and 
 country cousins visit- 
 ing the Metropolis 
 generally desire to see ; 
 though perhaps some 
 people living at the 
 
 other end of London know little more about 
 it than the strangers whose curiosity has been 
 aroused by their recollections of history. The 
 Royal Exchange, however, is not only intimately 
 associated with English history, but with the 
 biography cf a very remarkable man. 
 
 Sir Thomas Gresham was born in 1519, in 
 those early days of Henry the Eighth's reign, 
 when the King had shown none of the vices
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 71 
 
 which made him abhorred in later years. The 
 Greshams were a Norfolk family, who, for several 
 generations, had been people of wealth and in- 
 fluence and good repute. The father and two of 
 the uncles of the famous Thomas were eminent 
 and prosperous merchants, and from his earliest 
 years he himself was intended for a mercantile 
 career. Nevertheless, like a wise man, his 
 father, Sir Kichard, bestowed a liberal education 
 on him at one of the Universities, and we are 
 quite justified in looking at the future mercer 
 and merchant as a scholar and finished gentle- 
 man. Indeed, without advantages of learning 
 and courtly manners he would have been little 
 likely to become the counsellor and trusted emis- 
 sary of princes. 
 
 In reading about London in the middle ages 
 we often come upon the terms Mercer and Mer- 
 chant-adventurer. Mercer, which now means 
 a dealer in silks and woollen cloths, in remote 
 times was the term applied to a dealer in various 
 small wares ; but as the commerce of England 
 developed the Mercers became more and more 
 important, until mercer and merchant were
 
 72 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 words used with almost the same meaning. The 
 Mercers' Company, incorporated in the fourteenth 
 century, ranks first of all the City Companies, 
 and has enrolled among its members many royal 
 and noble personages. Nearly a hundred Lord 
 Mayors have been elected from it, and perhaps 
 more than any other body it is associated with 
 the commerce of London. 
 
 There can be little doubt that Thomas Gres- 
 ham early in life showed abilities far above the 
 common average ; but throughout his whole 
 career these natural talents were aided by great 
 energy of character and a degree of shrewdness 
 and prudence in worldly affairs that have seldom 
 been surpassed. So early as at the age of twenty- 
 four he was a merchant of repute, and before he 
 was thirty-two he became what was called 
 King's Merchant or Factor, and was entrusted 
 with the management of affairs of the greatest 
 importance. 
 
 Kings of England, and especially the Tudor 
 sovereigns, were often very much in want of 
 money. Hard and unjust laws prevented the 
 natural wealth of the country from being de-
 
 THli ROYAL EXCHANGE. 7^ 
 
 veloped, while frequent wars and lavish gifts to 
 favourites helped to exhaust the treasury. In 
 the time of Henry the Eighth and his immediate 
 successors, Antwerp was the great emporium 
 of commerce, and being consequently probably 
 the richest city in the world, its merchants 
 became the greatest of money lenders. Now, 
 the Tudor sovereigns were great borrowers, and 
 they so t ften wanted money, and I am sorry to 
 say were for the most part such bad paymasters, 
 that the rich Antwerp merchants always bar- 
 gained for enormous interest as much sometimes 
 as fourteen per cent, or perhaps even more ; and 
 not content with this sort of extortion they very 
 frequently insisted on jewels being taken in part 
 instead of money. They knew exceedingly well 
 the real value of precious stones, and we may be 
 pretty sure they put the very highest price on 
 those of which they so disposed. 
 
 Gresham married when he was about five or 
 six and twenty, and had a son born before he 
 became King's Factor. During the ^ears when 
 he had only been what was called a Merchant- 
 adventurer his business had frequently taken
 
 74 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 him to Antwerp, and no doubt he had made 
 acquaintance with the rich merchants and 
 money lenders of that City ; thus he was in all 
 respects well qualified to be entrusted with 
 Government affairs. Gresham had not only to 
 negotiate loans, but to purchase ammunition, 
 and to report all sorts of desirable information 
 to the Privy Council. 
 
 There is a proverb that " birds of a feather 
 flock together," and it is a very true one ; for it 
 is generally a fair test of any one to judge him 
 by the character of his intimate friends and 
 associates. It was necessary that Gresbarn 
 should have a home at Antwerp, and with his 
 wife and family he was allowed to take up his 
 abode with a very eminent man. This was 
 Jasper Schetz, the eldest of three brothers whose 
 firm was one with the highest reputation of any 
 in Antwerp, and whose unanimity was so re- 
 markable that a medal with their names and 
 armorial bearings was struck to commemorate it. 
 All were distinguished men, but Jasper was the 
 most important of the brothers. He was a 
 scholar and poet as well as a man of business,
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 75 
 
 and was employed by the Emperor Charles the 
 Fifth in the same office that Gresham filled for 
 the English King. As Gresham speaks of Jasper 
 Schetz as his " very friend " we may infer that 
 they had the most congenial tastes and opinions. 
 Gresham however did not live with any regu- 
 larity at Antwerp ; he made frequent journeys 
 to London, partly no doubt on his own affairs, 
 in the conduct of which he had to employ 
 agents, but often because he was sent for by the 
 young King. Indeed it is said that in the two 
 first years of Edward the Sixth's reign he 
 journeyed from Antwerp to the Court no less 
 than forty times. When we remember how 
 comparatively slow travelling was in those days, 
 it seems as if Gresham must have spent more 
 time on the road and on the sea than in his own 
 home. Before the days of steam navigation the 
 sea passage must often have been tedious, and 
 always uncertain, depending as it did on the 
 wind and the weather ; and as for the land trav- 
 elling coaches were only just coming into use 
 and men almost always made journeys on horse- 
 back.
 
 76 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 When the boy -king Edward the Sixth died, 
 and Mary came to the throne, Gresham was 
 hastily dismissed. He was known to be a 
 staunch protestant, and only papists seemed now 
 to have a chance of court favour. He had, 
 however, a very warm friend in Sir John a Leye, 
 or Leigh, whose acquaintance he had probably 
 made abroad, and who interceded for him, and 
 evidently made some impression on the Queen 
 and her ministers. But Gresham himself wrote 
 to Queen Mary, enumerating his services, and 
 explaining how by his good management he had 
 discharged the late King's debts, which otherwise 
 would have embarrassed her Majesty. There is 
 no doubt Gresham was a most efficient agent, 
 and moreover it was always his policy to per- 
 suade the English Government to pay its debts 
 punctually according to promise, by which means 
 he was an instrument to improve its credit and 
 obtain money on the most favourable terms. 
 
 Noth withstanding the hot bigotry of Mary and 
 her persecution of protestants, Gresham returned 
 to Antwerp and resumed his office in connection 
 with the English Government, only a few months
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 77 
 
 after Queen Mary's accession ; a circumstance, I 
 think, conclusive that no Roman Catholic equally 
 competent for his duties could be found to super- 
 sede him. Mary wanted money quite as much as 
 her father and brother had done, and Gresham 
 had many arduous tasks during her reign. 
 
 His position, indeed, was a very difficult 
 one. There is really no reason to believe that 
 he in any way conformed to the Romish faith, 
 though it is likely enough that he did not give 
 speech to his protestant convictions during the 
 five years of Mary's reign. As long as he ful- 
 filled his duties as the Queen's agent, and kept 
 a quiet tongue with regard to his religious 
 opinions, he seems to have suffered no farther 
 inconvenience than that of making a great many 
 enemies among the bigots of the time, many of 
 whom, no doubt, were envious of his influential 
 position and growing wealth. For Gresham 
 received a percentage on the loans he negotiated, 
 and though he often complained of being badly 
 paid, he early in life began to accumulate a 
 fortune. 
 
 Perhaps, however, the accession of Queen
 
 78 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 Elizabeth should be considered the great turn- 
 ing point in Gresham's career. This event took 
 place on the 17th November, 1558. During the 
 preceding summer, Grresham had been in Eng- 
 land, but it is known that he returned to the 
 continent in October. He must, however, have 
 been again on his way to London, when the 
 news of Queen Mary's death reached him, or in 
 those days of slow travelling he could not have 
 received the intelligence and started so as to 
 arrive by the 20th, on which day he was one of 
 a group of statesmen who had audience of the 
 new Queen. 
 
 At this period r Gresham was in his fortieth 
 year, in the full vigour of his intellectual facul- 
 ties, and with a vast fund of experience in deal- 
 ing with men and state affairs. From the 
 portraits which remain of him there is no doubt 
 he was a man of a striking presence, and some- 
 thing above the average height, though unfor- 
 tunately lame. There is a well known portrait 
 of him by Sir Anthony More, a celebrated 
 painter, who, in fact, painted him several times, 
 and was probably his intimate friend.
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 79 
 
 The portrait, however, in question, and which 
 is the most familiar to people through engrav- 
 ings, represents him in sober costume and wear- 
 ing a black cap on his head. In his left hand 
 he holds a small object which looks like an 
 orange, but is really intended for a pomander, 
 the name given to a ball of spices and perfumes, 
 which was thought to be a safeguard against 
 infection. Sometimes a pomander was really 
 made of a dried Seville orange filled with cloves 
 and other spices. There was a sort of fashion 
 in using these scented balls, and they are often 
 to be noticed in old portraits either hanging 
 from the girdle or held in the hand. It is to 
 be observed that the hand which holds the 
 pomander also wears a ring, which, like gloves, 
 in a portrait of the sixteenth century, may 
 always be trusted as a sign of social distinction. 
 In ihe middle ages, there was a marked differ- 
 ence of dress among different classes, and for a 
 long time what were called sumptuary laws pre- 
 vailed, which regulated the attire of different 
 orders of society. 
 
 Elizabeth was staying at Hatfield when the
 
 80 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 news of her sister's death reached her, and she 
 found herself acknowledged as Queen of Eng- 
 land ; and certainly that first council of hers, at 
 which Gresham was present, and Sir William 
 Cecil was appointed Secretary of State, deserves 
 to be remembered as an epoch in English 
 History. Elizabeth, now five-and-twenty years 
 of age, was in the bloom of her beauty, but she 
 had led a life of great retirement, and had 
 known a period of imprisonment. She had 
 long been the hope of the Protestant party and 
 she was soon to be its idol. She had been 
 highly educated, and was what even now would 
 be called a learned lady ; but the most striking 
 characteristic of the great Queen was her 
 shrewd judgment, her power of penetrating 
 beneath false appearances and discovering the 
 real qualities of the people about her, and their 
 fitness for different employments. 
 
 Cecil was Gresham's friend, and it is highly 
 probable that he may have spoken of him 
 favourably to Elizabeth. However this may 
 have been, Gresham was at once reinstated as 
 the Queen's Factor. Years afterwards he wrote of
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 81 
 
 the Queen's reception of him, and of her 
 graciously saying that " on the faith of a 
 queen " she would " keep one ear shut to hear 
 him," evidently meaning that she would not 
 believe any evil report of his enemies, hut 
 always hold an ear closed from them to listen to 
 his defence. Also she said that " if he did her 
 no other service then he had done for her late 
 brother King Edward and her late sister Queen 
 Mary she would give him as much land as ever 
 they both did." So you see when Grresham 
 started afresh on his career under Queen 
 Elizabeth he did so under the most favourable 
 auspices, and early in December we find him 
 again at Antwerp. Previously, however, he 
 seems to have addressed a remarkable letter to 
 the new Queen, a letter in which he expounded 
 his views on financial affairs, and which was 
 possibly written at a request from her that he 
 should express his opinions in writing. It is 
 full of good advice, and dwells strongly on the 
 necessity of keeping up her credit by just and 
 punctual payments, especially to her own mer- 
 chants, on whom she would have to rely. I
 
 82 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 wish, though, he had not emphasized this duty 
 to her own people as of more account than to 
 foreigners. 
 
 All along Gresham advocated borrowing from 
 London merchants whenever it was possible, 
 instead of from foreigners, that the interest 
 required might not go out of the country ; but 
 many preceding monarchs had been such 
 extortioners, and dishonourable debtors, that 
 their own people were often unwilling to help 
 them even when able to do so. To Gresham the 
 nation was largely indebted for bringing about 
 a better state of things, and there is abundant 
 evidence that Elizabeth heartly approved of his 
 views and valued his services. In the year after 
 her accession she conferred on him the honour 
 of knighthood and appointed him temporary 
 ambassador at the Netherlands ; and it may be 
 observed that about this time he had the 
 opportunity of showing his gratitude to Sir 
 John Leigh, who appears to have been in some 
 political difficulty now that so many Roman 
 Catholics lay under suspicion of disloyalty. 
 "Writing to Sir William Cecil, Gresham pleads
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 83 
 
 for his friend, saying, " verily, Sir, it was the man 
 that preserved me when Queen Mary came to 
 the crown, for the which I do account myself 
 bound to him during my life." 
 
 The next few years were probably the happiest 
 of Gresham's life, but in 1564 he lost his only 
 son, whom he had looked on as the inheritor of 
 his fortune and in some sort of his honours. 
 It was soon after this sad event that he projected 
 the scheme of the Exchange, and it has been 
 thought that if his son had lived he might not 
 have exercised so much generosity as he sub- 
 sequently did. 
 
 Gresham had long lamented that while the 
 merchants of Antwerp had a spacious and com- 
 modious covered Bourse, where they could 
 assemble to negotiate their business, English- 
 men had to meet for the purpose in the open 
 street. Indeed, his father, Sir Eichard, had pro- 
 jected some suitable erection more than twenty 
 years previously ; so that although the death of 
 Gresham's son might have stimulated the zeal 
 of the bereaved father, and made him more 
 promptly lavish in his generosity, the idea of 
 
 G 2
 
 84 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 the Exchange could have been nothing new to 
 him. 
 
 " On 'Change ! " What a common phrase it is 
 to describe a meeting-place for the transaction 
 of business ! Of course, in a commercial city it 
 is necessary that there should be an established 
 resort, where, at a certain hour, certain persons 
 maybe met; where, if one man wants to charter 
 a ship, and a ship-owner has a vessel that will 
 suit him, the bargain may be struck; where 
 contracts for various sorts of merchandise may 
 be made ; and where Bills of Exchange, as re- 
 presentatives of money, may be bought or sold. 
 "On 'Change," also, prices are discussed, and 
 commercial news circulates. The Exchange is 
 
 O ' 
 
 in fact, a focus of mercantile life wherever it 
 exists, and notably so in the City of London. 
 
 There can be little doubt that Gresham was 
 one of the wealthiest of citizens. He had two 
 or three country mansions of great splendour, 
 and a town house in Lombard Street, where his 
 business was transacted. Subsequently he had 
 a magnificent house in Bishopsgate Street. In 
 Queen Elizabeth's time many mansions of the
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 85 
 
 nobility and wealthy people were in that part 
 of London, now wholly devoted to counting- 
 houses, shops and warehouses. Indeed, what 
 is now called the West-end was then quite 
 country. The Strand, which had watercourses 
 covered with bridges running through it, had 
 splendid buildings, with terraces and gardens on 
 the banks of the Thames. These were the 
 residences of the nobility, who always had their 
 own barges, in which they were rowed from 
 place to place by servants in gorgeous liveries 
 so that it was convenient to have steps from 
 their own gardens leading to the river. Only 
 about the time of Edward VI. were houses 
 built on the opposite or north side of the road ; 
 and these houses are described as having beauti- 
 ful gardens also, with numerous apple-trees in 
 them, stretching towards meadow-land, where 
 cattle grazed and milkmaids had much employ- 
 ment. It was open country beyond, and the 
 view extended to the hills of Highgate and 
 Hampstead. Fancy what a picturesque London 
 it must have been in those days ! 
 
 The names of several streets branching off
 
 86 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 from the Strand, such as Norfolk, Essex, Salis- 
 bury, Buckingham, and others, remind us of 
 far different times and manners, when noblemen 
 bearing those titles had princely dwellings near 
 the river, which was a highway from one part 
 of London to another, and also to a number of 
 country places on its banks. Many of these 
 beautiful districts are still favourite resorts ; 
 only times are altered, and we go to them now 
 by railway or steamboat. Yet many of the old 
 houses and old trees that we pass, if they could 
 but think and talk, might tell us stories of the 
 old days through which they have existed, and 
 the generations they have survived. 
 
 Gresham's town house, however, was not near 
 the river, though it probably rivalled in mag- 
 nificence the great houses at the Strand. It was 
 in his mansion in Bishopsgate Street that he 
 entertained Queen Elizabeth when she visited the 
 Exchange, and ordered it to be called " Koyal." 
 She had already had experience of Gresham's 
 courtier-like devotion as a host, for only in the 
 preceding year she had been his guest at his 
 country house at Osterley, when an incident
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 87 
 
 occurred that showed his determination to please 
 her. 
 
 The Queen had remarked that the court of 
 his house was too large, and that it would look 
 better if divided into two. Instantly Sir Thomas 
 despatched messengers to procure workmen, and 
 in the night-time a wall was run up in the 
 middle ; so that in the morning the Queen, to 
 her surprise, found the work which she had 
 suggested actually achieved. 
 
 It was in the beginning of the year 1565 
 counting the new style that Gresham made the 
 proposal to the Court of Aldermen that if they 
 would provide him with a suitable plot of 
 ground he would build the Bourse or Exchange 
 which was so much wanted. Often, by-the- 
 by, in reading of those times we come upon a 
 sort of double date which puzzles people who 
 do not know what it means. Thus the event 
 we are considering is often mentioned as happen- 
 ing in the year ] 564-5. Until the alteration of 
 style which took place in the eighteenth century, 
 and which was necessary to make the measure- 
 ment of the year astronomically correct, it
 
 88 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 seemed the habit to consider that the old year 
 ran on until the vernal equinox, which takes 
 place in March. This is why the second figure 
 is necessary to indicate to modern readers what 
 was meant, or we might easily make the mistake 
 of a year in regard to events occurring in 
 January, February, or March. 
 
 Now the inconvenience of transacting busi- 
 ness in all weathers in the open air had long 
 been felt ; besides, it was a time of great tribu- 
 lation to foreign traders in consequence of the 
 wars in France and the Low Countries, and this 
 circumstance had perhaps something to do with 
 hastening on affairs. Driven from their own 
 country, often by religious persecution, these men 
 came to England, where they knew protestants 
 would be safe, bringing money with them and 
 very often skill in various arts. Not only did 
 they seem surprised that the English merchants 
 had no proper accommodation, but their coming 
 increasing the number of merchants made the 
 want of a suitable building all the more incon- 
 venient. So you see it was a very good time 
 for Sir Thomas Gresham to make his proposal.
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. S9 
 
 The Court of Aldermen readily entered into 
 the scheme and set about raising the necessary 
 money by a subscription, to which no less than 
 seven hundred and fifty citizens contributed. 
 Certain houses in Cornhill and Broad Street, with 
 three alleys, were purchased by the citizens of 
 London, the houses pulled down and the 
 materials carted away ; and when the plot of 
 ground was made clear it was formally given in 
 the name of the whole body of citizens to " Sir 
 Thomas Gresham Knight agent to the Queen's 
 Highness thereupon to build a bourse or place 
 for merchants to assemble in at his own proper 
 charges. And he on the 7th June (1566) laying 
 the first stone of the foundation being brick 
 accompanied with some aldermen, every one of 
 them laid a piece of gold, which the workmen 
 took up, and forthwith followed upon the same 
 with such diligence, that by the month of Novem- 
 ber in the year 1567 the same was covered 
 with slate, and shortly alter fully finished." 
 
 These are the words of the quaint old chron- 
 icler Stow; and there is no doubt that Gresham 
 undertook all the risk and responsibility of the
 
 
 
 90 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 building. It is believed, however, that he was 
 somewhat assisted lay his friend Clough, who was 
 also a rich man ; but if so it was by a bequest 
 rather than a donation, and apparently without 
 any desire on the testator's part to have such 
 assistance publicly acknowledged. The two men 
 had been intimately associated in a variety of 
 undertakings for many years. 
 
 Gresham, who was always shrewd and practi- 
 cal, set about the work he had undertaken in the 
 most business-like manner. The freestone used 
 in the building was brought from one of his 
 estates, and the timber from another ; and quite 
 within the memory of man the remains of large 
 saw-pits employed in sawing the timber for the 
 Exchange were to be distinguished at Battis- 
 ford Tye. Certain stones of a peculiar sort, the 
 slates, iron work, glass, and wainscot seem in a 
 great measure to have been brought from Ant- 
 werp ; and Gresham's architect was a Fleming 
 named Henrich. Many of the common 
 labourers also came from the Low Countries, 
 Gresham having stipulated that he should be 
 allowed to engage foreigners.
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 91 
 
 This aroused the jealousy of the English 
 workmen, and some rioting ensued ; but Gres- 
 ham knew the Flemings well, and it is little 
 likely that he would have chosen them for his 
 workmen without good reason. It is a very old 
 story that of the English being jealous of 
 foreigners, and not believing that they had any- 
 thing to learn from them ; and perhaps the 
 mass of the people were not aware that their 
 new Exchange was a close imitation of Ant- 
 werp Bourse. 
 
 There are pictures still extant of the first 
 exchange in which the resemblance can be traced ; 
 but one peculiarity has always belonged to the 
 English edifice, and that is the association of the 
 grasshopper with it. This was Gresham's crest, 
 of which he seemed very proud. It was the 
 sign of his house in Lombard Street ; he used 
 it constantly as a seal ; and he not only decorated 
 the four corners of the exchange with it, but 
 the lofty square tower which could be seen from 
 a distance was surmounted by a ball and grass- 
 hopper. 
 
 There has been a great deal of curiosity, and
 
 92 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 even controversy, about this crest. There was a 
 silly tradition, which for some time prevailed, 
 that Gresham had been a deserted child on the 
 point of perishing from neglect, when attention 
 was aroused to him by the chirping of a grass- 
 hopper, and that he had adopted the crest out of 
 gratitude to the little creature. But this story 
 is utterly without foundation, because it is 
 clearly proved not only that the Greshams were 
 people of some consequence for generations 
 before Sir Thomas was born, but that they had 
 habitually used the crest in question. In all 
 probability it was adopted as a sort of pun on 
 the name Gresham, which would not need much 
 alteration to mean in the old Anglo-Saxon " grass 
 home." A home in the grass is certainly that of 
 the grasshopper ; and perhaps even the surname 
 of Gresham itself may have originated from 
 some grassy locality. When you study heraldry 
 which to those who love history and biogra- 
 phy is a most interesting subject you will find 
 many instances of what the French call armes 
 parlantes, the English canting heraldry, in which 
 the crest or some part of the arms has refer-
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 93 
 
 ence to the name of the person entitled to use 
 it. Pride in their crest seems to have been 
 quite ingrained in the Gresham family, for 
 Isabella, Lady Gresham, the second wife of Sir 
 Eichard, and consequently stepmother to Sir 
 Thomas, among other legacies was able to be- 
 queath to him " a counterpoint (counterpane) 
 of fine imagery with grasshoppers " and like- 
 wise two carpets with the family crest woven in 
 them. 
 
 The original Exchange was so constructed 
 as to have a number of shops besides the ample 
 covered walks and rooms for the merchants, and 
 no doubt Gresham calculated on the rents paid 
 for these shops proving good interest for his 
 outlay. But for some time he was disappointed ; 
 the shops let but slowly, and it is thought that 
 the famous visit of Queen Elizabeth was plan- 
 ned in order that her presence might have a 
 good effect. Gresham himself visited those few 
 shopkeepers who had taken shops, entreating 
 them to set out their wares to the best advan- 
 tage, and put wax lights in the windows of as 
 many shops as they could, in readine-ss for the
 
 94 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 Queen's visit, promising that in return they 
 should be rent free for a year. 
 
 The Exchange was absolutely finished and 
 used by merchants in 1569, though the Queen's 
 visit was not until 1571. It was on a January 
 day in this year that Queen Elizabeth came in 
 great state and attended by her chief nobility 
 to Gresham's House in Bishopsgate Street, 
 where she dined. The dinner hour of course was 
 early, according to the custom of the time, and 
 it was after dinner that the Queen with great 
 pomp examined the new Exchange, and visited 
 the shops where the wares were set off to ad- 
 vantage by wax light. It is to be hoped she 
 made some purchases, or if she did not that the 
 courtiers who followed in her train patronized 
 the new traders, otherwise after all their trouble 
 they must have been rather disheartened. How- 
 ever this might be, her Majesty desired by pro- 
 clamation with herald and trumpet, that the 
 building should be called the Royal Exchange 
 and " not otherwise." 
 
 Reading of that eventful day one feels curious 
 about many things. Gresham was in high
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 95 
 
 favour with the Queen, but she had given him 
 one proof of her trust in him that could not 
 have been very agreeable. She had entrusted to 
 him the custody of a poor lady who had the 
 misfortune for such to her it was to belong 
 to the Tudor family. This was the Lady Mary 
 Grey, sister of Lady Jane Grey who died on the 
 scaffold, great grand-daughter of Henry the 
 Seventh and consequently cousin to Queen Eliza- 
 beth. She had offended the Queen by her 
 marriage, and had been forcibly separated from 
 her husband ; her sister, Lady Catherine, having 
 heen subjected to similar treatment for a similar 
 offence. The cruel treatment of these ladies 
 was without any just excuse ; though it was 
 accounted for by the dread of them or their 
 children as future pretenders to the crown. In 
 all history it would be hard to find three more 
 unfortunate sisters than these three ladies. 
 
 At the time Elizabeth visited the Exchange, 
 and dined at Gresham's house in Bishopsgate 
 Street, the Lady Mary Grey was a prisoner 
 there. One would like to know if any grace 
 were awarded her on the occasion, or any oppor-
 
 96 STORIES OP THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 tunity given the captive to plead her cause. 
 Probably not. Probably she remained in some 
 apartment far away from the banquet hall, out 
 of sight and out of mind of the revellers, though 
 perhaps not too remote to hear the stir and 
 bustle of the memorable occasion. 
 
 The Royal Exchange was decorated with 
 many statues of kings and queens ; and a statue 
 of Gresham was also erected there. It is a 
 curious circumstance that when the Royal Ex- 
 change was burnt to the ground in the great 
 fire of London in 16G6 the statue of Gresham, 
 " though fallen from its niche, remained entire, 
 when all those of the kings since the Conquest 
 were broken to pieces." 
 
 Much as the citizens must have had on their 
 hands to restore after the great fire, they 
 promptly set about rebuilding their Exchange. 
 The first stone of the new edifice was laid on 
 the Cth May 1667, and on the 23rd of October 
 in the same year Charles the Second went with 
 his "kettle-drums and trumpets" in royal state 
 to lay the base of one of the columns, and after- 
 wards was regaled sumptuously by the city
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 97 
 
 magnates. It is pleasant to add that he gave 
 20 in gold to be distributed among the work- 
 people, a sum equivalent to four or five times 
 as much now. In the uncovered quadrangle of 
 the new building a statue of Charles the 
 Second was placed ; but the statue of Sir 
 Thomas Gresham, the original founder, instead of 
 being given a place of honour, was put under 
 the north piazza, and so neglected that it was 
 commonly covered with placards and adver- 
 tisements. 
 
 The Exchange erected in the reign of Charles 
 the Second was destined like its predecesor to be 
 consumed by lire. On the night of "Wednesday, 
 January the 10th, 1838, it fell a victim to the 
 flames, involving, in the destruction of shops 
 and warehouses attached to it, incalculable loss. 
 A circumstance is related in connection with 
 this fire which must have had a strange effect 
 at the time. The clock of the Exchange at 
 certain hours chimed certain tunes. The tune for 
 Wednesday was the well-known one attached to the 
 Scotch song " There is nae luck about the house,' ' 
 and while the fire was raging the bells rang out 
 
 H
 
 98 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 the sadly appropriate air and then fell one after 
 another into the ruin beneath. 
 
 "We must now briefly describe the present 
 Royal Exchange, which as yet is too new to have 
 many historical associations. Yet like its prede- 
 cessors the building was inaugurated by royalty, 
 the first stone having been laid by the late 
 lamented Prince Consort, on January 17th, 1842, 
 and the edifice opened by her Majesty Queen 
 Victoria, October the 28th, 1844. Both events 
 were of course occasions of much state and cere- 
 mony. This noble edifice was built from designs 
 by the architect William Tite, and consists .of 
 an open court or quadrangle surrounded by a 
 colonnade. A marble statue of Her Majesty by 
 the late J. G. Lough, a work expressive of regal 
 dignity, seems fitly to preside over the scene, 
 while statues of Gresham, Queen Elizabeth and 
 Sir Hugh Middleton are appropriately placed. 
 It is worthy of note that certain small stones 
 called the " Turkey stones" are used as pavement, 
 being the original stones employed by Gresham, 
 and probably brought by him from Antwerp. 
 
 On the architrave of the north facade of
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 99 
 
 the Exchange are inscriptions divided by a 
 moulding. " The earth is the Lord's and the 
 fulness thereof" was suggested by the Prince 
 Consort. The inscription on the left of the 
 spectator is the well-known city motto, " Domine 
 dirige nos," and that on the right is " Honor 
 Deo." The central compartment is occupied by 
 the motto of Sir Thomas Gresham : 
 
 "EORTUN A MY." 
 
 Behind the Royal Exchange is a statue in 
 bronze of George Peabody, the American Phil- 
 anthropist, by his countryman Story. 
 
 Lloyd's Subscription Rooms occupy a very 
 important part of the Royal Exchange, and are 
 intimately associated with the mercantile busi- 
 ness of London. The entrance to them is in 
 the area, near the Eastern Gate. A wide flight 
 of stairs leads to a spacious vestibule, where are 
 placed a marble statue of the Prince Consort by 
 Lough, and one of Huskisson by Gibson, R.A. 
 On the wall is a tablet erected as a testimonial 
 to the proprietors of the Times for the energy 
 and public spirit displayed in the exposure of a 
 
 H ?
 
 100 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 fraudulent conspiracy. In this vestibule are the 
 entrances to the three principal subscription 
 rooms, the Underwriters', the Merchants' and 
 the Captains' rooms. 
 
 Though the building has been twice destroyed 
 by fire the spot is the same as that which by 
 Gresham's munificence was dedicated to com- 
 merce three centuries ago. Other merchant 
 princes have trod the well-worn Turkey stones, 
 many generations of men have arisen and passed 
 away, but the "merchant adventurer" of the 
 sixteenth century, the skilful financier, and 
 worthy favourite of at least three Tudor 
 sovereigns still lives in our memory as a muni- 
 ficent benefactor worthy of fame and lasting 
 honour. The grasshopper still designates the 
 original founder, with, to fancy's eye, a proud 
 supremacy. Little likely indeed is it that while 
 London lasts Gresham should ever be forgotten. 
 
 Sir Thomas Gresham died suddenly, apparently 
 of apoplexy, on the 21st November, 1579, in the 
 sixty-first year of his age. Coming from the 
 Exchange to his house in Bishopsgate Street 
 he fell down, was taken up speechless and
 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 101 
 
 shortly afterwards died. He was buried in St. 
 Helen's Church, Bishopsgate Street, where his 
 son Eichard had been interred. His widow, 
 who is represented as having been very avari- 
 cious, neglected to put even an inscription on 
 his tomb, though he left her exceedingly rich. 
 It was not until 1736 that, by order of the 
 churchwardens, there was cut on the black 
 marble slab which covered the alabaster tomb 
 the following memorial : 
 
 "Sir THOMAS GEESHAM, Knight, 
 Buryd December \th, 1579." 
 
 The tomb may still be seen. It is said, how- 
 ever, that the obsequies were very solemn and 
 splendid, and were attended by a hundred poor 
 men and a hundred poor women for whom 
 rather costly mourning was provided. 
 
 Gresham left large sums of money by his 
 will for various benevolent purposes ; and he 
 founded a college that was called by his name. 
 Perhaps his widow thought that with so many 
 memorials of his life he did not need any 
 epitaph; perhaps she could not make up her
 
 102 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 mind what inscription to choose, and so died 
 without coming to a decision. To be sure, as 
 she lived seventeen years after her husband, it 
 was a long time to take in making up her mind, 
 but as she is not here to explain the reason for 
 her neglect we may as well give her the benefit 
 of the doubt.
 
 103 
 
 THE TOWER. 
 
 N old writer, famous for 
 his learning and his wit, 
 says in allusion to the 
 Pyramids of Egypt that 
 " they are so old they 
 have forgotten, their 
 founder ; " and a similar 
 remark may justly be 
 applied to the Tower of London. Authentic 
 history goes back eight hundred years to the 
 days of William the Conqueror, in whose reign 
 without doubt great additions were made to the 
 Tower ; but tradition assigns to it a more hoary 
 antiquity, and many old chronicles give to Julius 
 Caesar the credit of the first erection. What 
 food for the imagination there is in the conquest 
 of England by the Eomans ! In reading of it
 
 104 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 we want to know so much more than historian 
 has ever told, and we go on questioning the 
 dumb evidences which remain till they seem 
 almost to find a tongue ! 
 
 The probability is that the Eomans did dig 
 the deep foundations of the building, and did 
 erect a strong fortress, that might prove if need 
 be a citadel of defence, and a vantage ground to 
 protect the water way of the Thames. To this 
 may have been added the most important parts 
 of the Tower, mainly from the designs of the 
 Norman monk Gundulf, in the eleventh century ; 
 and under the direction of King Henry the 
 Third in the thirteenth century. On both 
 occasions the work was very costly and the 
 people grumbled at the taxes which were levied 
 to meet the expense. But William the Con- 
 queror was not much concerned at impotent 
 discontent, and Henry the Third had so much 
 the passion of an architect that he was sur- 
 named " the Builder." 
 
 One of the traditions connected with the 
 Tower was that the mortar with which it was 
 cemented was moistened by the blood of beasts.
 
 THE TOWER. 105 
 
 An idle story no doubt, but one more likely to 
 have been invented in connection with the 
 Romans, than to have arisen in Christian times. 
 It is worthy of remark that this tradition was 
 extant long before the Tower became the scene 
 of murder and judicial death. 
 
 To describe all that is known of the erec- 
 tion of the Tower of London its walls of many 
 feet thickness, its numerous compartments, its 
 State chambers, and its dismal dungeons, would 
 alone make a volume ; and one which, after all, 
 would give but a feeble idea of the place unless 
 it were closely interwoven with the history of 
 England for many centuries. In mediaeval times 
 it was a common thing for the dungeons of 
 State prisoners to be under the roof of a palace, 
 and for hundreds of years the Tower of London 
 was used alike as a royal residence and a State 
 prison. Often, too, it was considered a citadel 
 to be defended ; as when during Richard Cceur 
 de Lion's absence in the Holy Land, Long- 
 champ held the Tower against the rebellious 
 John and his partisans. Again, Henry the Third 
 and his Queen took refuge in the Tower from
 
 106 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 De Montford and the associated Barons. And 
 here it may be mentioned that it was Henry 
 the Third who first introduced wild beasts into 
 this stronghold. Three leopards had been pre- 
 sented to him by the Emperor Frederick, and for 
 safe keeping they were brought to the Tower. 
 
 In those days but few people travelled, and 
 pictorial art was in so low a state that accurate 
 delineations of such creatures must have been 
 very rare. We can fancy, therefore, what an 
 interesting sight these animals must have been, 
 and can understand how, for centuries, the cus- 
 tom was kept up of caging lions and tigers in 
 a compartment called the Lion Tower. Quite 
 within the memory of elderly people, wild beasts 
 were kept in the Tower, and were considered 
 one of the sights of London for country people 
 to visit. But that was before the Zoological 
 Gardens were established ; and all humane people 
 and lovers of animals must, I think, rejoice that 
 wild creatures are now more kindly treated than 
 it was possible for them to be under the former 
 conditions. Poor things ! confinement must be 
 hard for them under any circumstances, and they
 
 THE TOWER. 107 
 
 pay dearly for the opportunity they give us of 
 studying their habits. 
 
 It is very likely that the cant phrase of " see- 
 ing the lions " originated at the time when 
 visiting the lions in the Tower was thought 
 quite an event by country people ; the creatures 
 being found so surprising, that in the course of 
 time any strange and wonderful thing got the 
 nickname of " a lion." 
 
 The Tower was used not only as a palace and 
 a prison, but as a place of justice if so it de- 
 served to be called in days when law was often 
 very undefined, and when the wise and right were 
 apt to be warped aside by bribery and corrup- 
 tion of many sorts. Here, too, deliberate murder 
 was more than once committed. The room is still 
 shown in which the sons of Edward the Fourth 
 were said to have been smothered by the orders 
 of their usurping uncle Richard the Third. It is 
 true that some historians have thrown doubt on 
 the story of the " murder of the Princes in the 
 Tower," but the prevailing opinion is that the 
 bones discovered in the Tower in 1674 were 
 those of the unfortunate children. In the
 
 108 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 Tower, also, Sir Thomas Overbury was certainly 
 murdered in the reign of James I. 
 
 Here Anne Boleyn was received with the 
 pomp and deference becoming to a Queen ; and 
 here, three years later, she came as a prisoner, 
 only to be released by death. Here the hap- 
 less Lady Jane Grey received homage as " the 
 nine days' Queen ; " and here she lingered for 
 months as a prisoner before she also mounted 
 the scaffold and closed her noble life, leaving for 
 all time a blameless and heroic memory. Here 
 Cranmer, Ridley and Latimer were imprisoned 
 before their martyrdom. Here the poet-prince, 
 Charles of Orleans, spent twenty-five years of 
 his life, till that time after his capture the 
 enormous ransom fixed on his head was paid. 
 Here Edward Courtney spent the flower of his 
 youth, for no sin, but for the misfortune of 
 being too near the throne. Here the great 
 Elizabeth became a prisoner to her sister Mary, 
 and it is related that as she stepped on shore 
 she turned and said, with much solemnity, 
 "Here landeth as true a subject, being a pri- 
 soner, as ever landed at these stairs ; and before
 
 THE TOWER. 109 
 
 Thee, God, I speak it." A few, very few 
 years, and Mary was no more; and the some 
 time prisoner was the great Queen, stong enough 
 to guide safely the State, like the helmsman a 
 ship, through perils many and varied. 
 
 But perhaps if we remember all the bearings 
 of his history the Tower never contained a more 
 remarkable inmate than Sir Walter Raleigh. 
 His great and varied talents and acquirements, 
 his romantic and adventurous life, his high pros- 
 perity and deep adversity, his courage and energy 
 in the days of action, and his courage and 
 patience in pain and degradation render his life 
 a study alike profitable and interesting. 
 
 Ealeigh was born in the year 1552 at Hayes 
 in the parish of Budley in Devonshire. His 
 father, though not rich, was a gentleman of good 
 family, and Walter was started in life with that 
 best endowment, a good education. After due 
 preparatory training, he was entered a com- 
 moner at Oriel College, Oxford, where he greatly 
 distinguished himself, being considered, as it 
 is quaintly recorded, "a worthy proficient in 
 oratory and philosophy." As early, however, as
 
 110 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 his eighteenth year he joined a band of gentle- 
 men volunteers whom Queen Elizabeth autho- 
 rized to serve in France, and assist the Hugue- 
 nots then contending for liberty of worship. He 
 was absent for years, taking part in several 
 memorable engagements, studying the science of 
 war as it was then understood, and storing his 
 mind with the observation of men and manners. 
 Though still very young when he returned to 
 England, he was soon recognized as a man likely 
 to be a leader. 
 
 There is a story told, which may or may not 
 be true, of his happening to be near Queen Eliza- 
 beth when her progress in walking was impeded 
 by the miry state of the pathway, and of the 
 young courtier promptly stripping off his rich 
 cloak and flinging it down for the Queen to step 
 on. There seems nothing unlikely in the inci- 
 dent thus recorded. Our Plantagenet and Tudor 
 sovereigns when popular were accustomed to 
 be served on bended knee, and with an almost 
 slavish adulation ; but apart from the loyalty of 
 a subject to his Queen, the action was that of a 
 gallant gentleman to a lady, and was no doubt
 
 THE TOWER. Ill 
 
 one that Elizabeth would have appreciated. 
 However this may be, he soon became a favourite, 
 for Queen Elizabeth had in a remarkable degree 
 the faculty of discerning merit. 
 
 That he was ambitious, there is no doubt, and 
 a just ambition is never to be blamed. It is 
 recorded that in the early days of his court 
 favour he scratched with a diamond on the pane 
 of a window which the Queen was likely to see, 
 
 " Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall," 
 
 and that Her Majesty completed the couplet by 
 adding, 
 
 " If thy heart fails thee climb not at all." 
 
 " However," says Fuller, " he at last climbed up 
 by the stairs of his own desert." And indeed 
 his merits were truly great, though he was not 
 without faults. 
 
 There are many indications that Raleigh was 
 a very far-seeing; politician. Through life he 
 was the unflinching enemy of Spain, perceiving 
 always that it was a power which by avowed 
 antagonism, no less than by cunning measures, 
 was opposed to the freedom of thought and
 
 112 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 action, which Englishmen had fought and suf- 
 fered to secure, and which was but the stepping 
 stone to the wiser laws and fuller liberty which 
 we now enjoy. This passionate hatred of the 
 Spaniard, or rather of the policy which the 
 Spanish Government represented, accounts for 
 some blamable actions in Raleigh's life though 
 it does not excuse them ; yet in judging of his 
 severity towards enemies we must remember 
 how much less was thought of the sacredness of 
 human life in the sixteenth century than happily 
 is the case at present. 
 
 Raleigh's detestation of Spain and Spanish 
 influence was closely allied to another mastering 
 passion of his life. This was his desire to 
 explore and colonize in America, then and long 
 afterwards called the New World. After serv- 
 ing in France and the Netherlands to uphold 
 the Protestant cause he made an unsuccessful 
 attempt to establish a colony in North America, 
 and on his return home in 1579, he entered the 
 Queen's army and proceeded to Ireland to quell 
 the rebellion there, the Spaniards helping the 
 rebels.
 
 THE TOWER. 113 
 
 But the desire for adventure across the Ocean 
 still possessed him. After careful study of such 
 rude maps of the newly discovered continent as 
 then existed, and after consultation with seamen 
 and authorities on whom he could rely, he was 
 persuaded that there remained much undis- 
 covered land north of the Gulf of Florida. He 
 procured the assent of the Queen in Council to 
 the expedition he was planning, and she gave 
 him letters patent granting to him and his heirs 
 property in such lands as he might discover. 
 This time he was successful he returned home 
 in triumph, was knighted by the Queen, and 
 rewarded by a patent for licensing the sale of 
 wine throughout the country; while Elizabeth 
 directed that the state which had been added to 
 her possessions should be called Virginia the 
 name it bears to this day. As Ealeigh had fitted 
 out two ships for the expedition at his own cost 
 he must have well deserved such reimburse- 
 ment. 
 
 Afterwards he organized other expeditions, 
 and had compensation for the outlay perhaps in 
 the fine estate in Ireland which was granted him 
 
 i
 
 114 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 out of the forfeited lands. Moreover, he is said 
 to have had rich prizes captured from the Span- 
 iards, and we hear of him as sumptuously attired, 
 his tall and handsome person sparkling with 
 jewels of great value. 
 
 For many succeeding years Raleigh was a 
 prominent figure at the English court. He 
 entered Parliament, and distinguished him- 
 self in a variety of ways. Colonization in 
 America proceeded tinder his auspices, and 
 through some of the expeditions of the time 
 tobacco and the potato were introduced into 
 Europe. The first cultivation of the potato on 
 this side of the Atlantic is said to have been on 
 Sir Walter's estates in Ireland. There is an 
 amusing story told of a servant of his being 
 dreadfully frightened on first seeing Ealeigh 
 smoke tobacco, the man believing his master to 
 be on fire. 
 
 The defeat of the Spanish Armada is too 
 great a subject to be more than glanced at here. 
 Every reader of English history remembers 
 the event, but it requires no little knowledge of 
 the complications of the time to fully understand
 
 THE TOWER. 115 
 
 its importance. The attempted invasion was a 
 desperate scheme to overthrow liberty in Eng- 
 land and re-establish Popery, and rarely has any 
 country had such an opportunity of showing 
 the true character and patriotism of its people 
 as England had then. From the Queen to the 
 humblest of her subjects the enthusiasm of the 
 nation was unbounded ; all with one accord were 
 determined to resist the haughty, bigoted, and 
 cruel Spaniards to the death. When the Queen 
 asked from the Citv of London the aid of five 
 
 v 
 
 thousand men and fifteen ships, it voted thirty 
 ships and ten thousand men; and nobles and 
 men of fortune fitted out ships at their own 
 expense to oppose the enemy. Ealeigh was of 
 the number who did this in a liberal and patri- 
 otic spirit, few men of that day perhaps so well 
 understanding the importance of the crisis. 
 
 Macaulay in one of his stirring ballads tells 
 how the beacons were lighted all over England 
 to warn people of the approach of the Armada. 
 You must remember there were no railroads, no 
 electric telegraphs in those days, and in the usual 
 course news travelled only as fast as a horseman 
 
 i 2
 
 116 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 could carry it. Therefore it was arranged that 
 when the enemy was known to be approaching 1 , 
 signal fires should be lighted on hill tops near 
 the coast ; these were seen at the distance of 
 many miles, and when recognized were responded 
 to by similar beacon flames which in their turn 
 were seen more inland and repeated ; so that in 
 a short time the whole country was apprised of 
 its danger and up in arms. 
 
 " From Eddy stone to Berwick bounds, from Lynn to Milford 
 
 Bay, 
 
 That time of slumber was as bright and busy as the day ; 
 For swift to east and swift to west the ghastly war- flame spread: 
 High on St. Michael's Mount it shone ; it shone on Beachy 
 
 Head. 
 Far on the deep the Spaniards saw, along each southern 
 
 shire 
 Cape beyond cape, in endless range, those twinkling points of 
 
 fire. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The sentinel on Whitehall gate looked forth into the night 
 And saw o'erhanging Richmond Hill the streaks of blood-red 
 
 light. 
 Then bugle's note and cannon's roar the death-like silence 
 
 broke, 
 
 And with one start, and with one cry the royal city woke. 
 At once on all her stately gates arose the answering fires ; 
 At once the wild alarum clashed from all her reeling spires." 
 
 So says Macaulay; and even his glowing 
 poetry does not exaggerate the enthusiasm of
 
 THE TOWER. 117 
 
 the people, or the spirited manner in which they 
 showed their patriotism. 
 
 It does not need a very great stretch of imagi- 
 nation to picture Ealeigh's delight at the de- 
 feat of the Armada. Perhaps for the first time 
 he felt assured that England would come out 
 finally victorious over cruel tyranny and oppres- 
 sion, however hard the struggle yet might prove 
 to he. 
 
 The next few years of Ealeigh's life were full 
 of change. He offended the Queen and was 
 for a time banished the court, but after his mar- 
 riage to one of her Maids of Honour he was 
 comparatively restored to favour. He resided 
 for some time on his Irish property, and during 
 this time renewed his intimacy with Spenser, the 
 author of "The Fairy Queen." In 1595 he 
 again sailed for the New World in search of the 
 fabled El Dorado, where it had been rumoured 
 there were mines of inexhaustible wealth. He 
 left his ships at the mouth of the Orinoco, and 
 sailed up the river four hundred miles in boats. 
 It is pleasant to know that he treated the 
 Indians with humanity and kindness, which
 
 113 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 strongly contrasted with the savage cruelty 
 which they had experienced from the Spaniards. 
 Indeed, his name was remembered with grati- 
 tude by them long after he had departed. 
 
 The rainy season approaching, however, he 
 was obliged to return without having discovered 
 the land of wealth ; but he had acquired geo- 
 graphical knowledge which was most valuable 
 to future explorers, and he returned to England 
 more convinced than ever of the importance 
 of establishing colonies in America. In 1596 
 Raleigh had a high command in the expedition 
 which resulted in the destruction of the Spanish 
 Fleet in the harbour of Cadiz, a naval achieve- 
 ment which was considered due to his skill and 
 judgment. Soon afterwards he became a Rear- 
 Admiral, and for the remainder of Queen Eliza- 
 beth's reign the tide of his prosperity set steadily 
 in. But Secretary Cecil hated him with the 
 persistent hatred of envy ; and finding Eliza- 
 beth, even in her old age, too shrewd to alter 
 her estimate of Raleigh's worth, he set himself 
 to undermine the hero with her successor. 
 
 "When the great Queen died, and the Scottish
 
 THE TOWER. 119 
 
 James ascended the throne, that policy which 
 must always remain the glory of England was 
 at once reversed. There was to be no more help 
 to the Low Countries against the tyranny of 
 Spain, and no more resistance of the aggression 
 of that power in the Old World or New sup- 
 posing always that it did not threaten England 
 with a fresh Armada. Negotiations which 
 happily came to nothing were set on foot for 
 the marriage of an English prince with a 
 Spanish Infanta, James being greatly tempted 
 thereto by the promise of an enormous dowry 
 with the bride. 
 
 It is to the honour of the Queen, Anne of Den- 
 mark, wife of James the First, that she was not 
 tempted by the glittering bait, was never in 
 favour of the match. Moreover, she was the 
 persistent friend of Ealeigh, however powerless 
 to serve him. 
 
 It is impossible to understand the cabals 
 which led to Ealeigh's long imprisonment in the 
 Tower without realizing the conflict which raged 
 between the two political parties in the early days 
 of the new King's reign. Narrow minded and
 
 120 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 pusillanimous, James had no sympathy with the 
 oppressed, and no chivalry of feeling to hinder his 
 alliance with the oppressor. But there were a 
 few finer spirits, of whom perhaps Baleigh was 
 the chief, that chafed at the degradation of 
 breaking promises to allies and fawning upon 
 the powerful Spaniard. Though little is said 
 on the subject, it is likely enough that he was 
 indiscreet in his speech, and so became a sort of 
 scapegoat, but there really is no evidence that he 
 had anything to do with what in history is 
 called the Arabella Plot. Lord Cobham, who 
 was his accuser, recanted over and over a^ain, 
 though it was to his supposed complicity that 
 Baleigh owed his condemnation and long im- 
 prisonment in the Tower. 
 
 It must be remembered that James the First 
 was distinctly the legitimate heir to the throne 
 of England. By both his parents, Mary Queen 
 of Scots and her husband Darnley, James was 
 descended from Margaret Tudor, the daughter of 
 Henry the Seventh ; but Darnley had a younger 
 brother who was the father of Arabella Stuart. 
 The only plea in her favour and it was a very
 
 THE TOWER. 121 
 
 flimsy one was that James was an alien by 
 birth. 
 
 It was a great misfortune for this poor young 
 lady that she was so nearly allied to royalty, for 
 she was clever and amiable, and popular with all 
 who knew her, and for her own part only de- 
 sired the natural freedom of a subject. None 
 knew better than herself that she had no right 
 to the throne of her cousin the King, but she 
 could not help crack-brained people talking trea- 
 son in connection with her name. Among these 
 was Lord Cobham, who, when himself accused 
 of treason, implicated Raleigh in the supposed 
 "plot." Raleigh, as well as Lord Cobham, was 
 imprisoned in the Tower ; but, of course, the 
 two were not allowed to meet. When Cecil 
 Raleigh's bitter enemy came to the Tower to 
 receive the final depositions of Cobham, the 
 latter retracted every word of his accusation 
 positively declaring that Raleigh had never 
 asserted Arabella's claims, or spoken of Spanish 
 help in the matter. 
 
 Remembering Raleigh's avowed enmity to 
 Spain, it is really preposterous to suppose that
 
 122 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 he should have planned any scheme in conjunc- 
 tion with that power. 
 
 About this time, while he was in confine- 
 ment in the Tower, a report was spread that 
 "Raleigh attempted suicide, but there is not any 
 proof that such was the fact. Raleigh at this 
 time was full of strength and vigour, and hope 
 of many earthly things not at all a man likely 
 to be led into such a sin ; though had he pur- 
 posed it, he was of too resolute a character to 
 have failed. The probability is that the rumour 
 of his death for at first it was that was 
 spread by his enemies to ascertain how the na- 
 tion would receive such news, and thus, in some 
 measure, to learn how far it would be safe to 
 make him a victim. 
 
 But the circumstances which led to Raleigh's 
 long imprisonment in the Tower, if fairly nar- 
 rated, would themselves make a book. Lord 
 Cobham seems to have been one of those con- 
 temptible persons who, boastful and arrogant 
 in prosperity, are cravens in adversity. He 
 asserted things one day and denied them the 
 next, in the hope of saving himself; so that no
 
 THE TOWER. 123 
 
 sensible person could place any reliance on what 
 he said. It was this vacillation which com- 
 promised Raleigh, and gave Cecil and others the 
 opportunity to injure him. There is also reason 
 to believe that some supposed copies of letters 
 of his are forgeries. 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, and the other so-called 
 conspirators, were taken to Winchester in No- 
 vember, 1603, to be tried for high treason, and 
 were found guilty and condemned to death. 
 James even signed the death-warrants of three ; 
 and Markham, Grey and Cobham were brought 
 to the scaffold, but respited after each respec- 
 tively had gone through the bitterness of the 
 last preparations for death. Ealeigh was to 
 have died three days later, but his sentence was 
 commuted to imprisonment in the Tower during 
 the King's pleasure. A like sentence was pro- 
 nounced on the Lords Grey and Cobham, but the 
 latter appears, after some time, to have escaped, 
 and to have died in extreme poverty, wanting 
 the very necessaries of life. Lord Grey was 
 more carefully kept, and survived as a prisoner
 
 124 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 till 1G14. Sir Griffin Markham was banished 
 from England. 
 
 The estates of the conspirators were confis- 
 cated to the King, though a certain allowance 
 was made for their support in the Tower ; 
 and now began that long term of imprisonment 
 which must for ever associate the name of Ea- 
 leigh the scholar and poet, the seaman and 
 soldier and statesman with the old Fortress. 
 It is true he was allowed the solace of his wife's 
 companionship, and he was permitted to see 
 certain of his friends, but the history of those 
 twelve years is pathetic in the extreme. One 
 by one his calamities accumulated. As you may 
 remember, Queen Elizabeth, in reward for his 
 services, granted him a wine patent a power 
 of granting licenses which was a considerable 
 source of income to him ; this was taken away. 
 Then his mansion of Durham House was con- 
 fiscated; and next, James wanting an estate to 
 bestow on his new favourite, Eobert Carr, seized 
 on Sherborne Castle, though Ealeigh had settled 
 the succession of this beautiful place on his 
 elder son. The King found, or pretended to
 
 SIB W. lULEtGH IN THE TOWER.
 
 THE TOWER. 125 
 
 find, some flaw in the settlement, and insisted 
 on having the estate ; and when Lady Raleigh 
 threw herself at the Monarch's feet imploring 
 him not to take "the bread from her children's 
 mouths," he was insensible to her distress, and 
 roughly answered in his broad Scotch dialect 
 
 " Madam, I maun ha' it ; I maun ha' it for 
 Carr." 
 
 Poor Lady Raleigh seems to have chafed 
 under the great trouble more than her husband 
 did. With greater truth than most men he 
 might exclaim, " My mind to me a kingdom is ; " 
 and with his books and chemical apparatus he 
 for a long time endured his imprisonment bravely 
 so bravely that his wife scarcely understood 
 his fortitude and almost reproached him with it. 
 
 It was during his long confinement that his 
 scientific researches were most remarkable. 
 Happily he was not wholly debarred from pro- 
 secuting studies that every one saw might lead 
 to results beneficial to mankind. Certain it is 
 that he concocted a potion called "The Great 
 Cordial," which for several generations was held 
 in high esteem. The reigning Queen believed
 
 126 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 that it had saved her life, and both Charles the 
 First and Charles the Second had great faith in 
 it. But his most precious discovery was the 
 means of extracting the brine from sea water, 
 and thus obviating the too common misery of a 
 sea voyage in days when navigation was far 
 more uncertain, and sea voyages were much 
 longer than they are at present. Unhappily the 
 secret of the process died with him only to be 
 recovered in recent times. 
 
 The fame of the prisoner spread far and wide. 
 Great ladies come to visit him and beg for his 
 cordial, and the heir apparent to the throne, 
 Prince Henry, delighted in his society. It was 
 said to have been expressly for him that Raleigh 
 began his History of the World, a splendid 
 fragment which remains to this day a monu- 
 ment of his learning and genius. In fact there 
 appears to have existed a genuine attachment 
 between the two, far more like that of master 
 and beloved pupil than that of a commoner and 
 royalty. The Prince was full of enthusiasm for 
 heroic deeds, and loved to hear Raleigh's account 
 of his adventures, and once, when leaving the
 
 THE TOWER. 127 
 
 Tower, he was heard to exclaim, " No man but 
 my father would keep such a bird in a cage." 
 
 But this promising young Prince died sud- 
 denly, and the shock and sorrow to Ealeigh 
 were great indeed. The next son of James, he 
 who afterwards came to the throne as Charles 
 the Pirst, stepped into his brother's place at the 
 English Court, but we do not hear of any special 
 sympathy shown by him towards the illustrious 
 prisoner. 
 
 Years passed by and there was no sign of 
 Ealeigh's release being at hand. His health had 
 often suffered seriously from his confinement, 
 from anxiety of mind and from hardships 
 which, though a prisoner, he ought to have 
 been spared. 
 
 At one time he was even turned out of his 
 still-room, denied his usual " walk," and locked 
 up in his room long before night. Lady Ealeigh 
 and their two sons, Walter and Carew, were sent 
 away from the Tower, and in a hundred ways 
 the imprisonment was now made more painful 
 than ever. 
 
 Dwelling in a stone room, with insufficient
 
 128 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 fire, no wonder the active man, accustomed to 
 out-of-door exercise, sea breezes, and warm 
 climates, broke down in health. Indeed his 
 sufferings were so acute that even his enemies 
 had some compassion on him, sending a physi- 
 cian to see him. The doctor declared his lodg- 
 ing to be too cold for any man to sleep in, and 
 described the state of the patient as one of great 
 distress. Raleigh seemed every second or third 
 night to lose the use of his limbs, perhaps for 
 two or three hours, and even his tongue became 
 so numbed that he could not speak. Though 
 under judicious treatment he in a great measure 
 recovered, he acquired an ague to which he was 
 always subject. 
 
 The physician's report occasioned the neces- 
 sary change, and henceforth Raleigh was allowed 
 to live in the Garden House among his books, 
 retorts, and scientific instruments. Probably it 
 was at this time that he wrote many of the 
 poems which have been preserved, and the follow- 
 ing verse of a little piece which is called a hymn 
 may fairly be considered to represent his prevail- 
 ing state of mind.
 
 THE TOWER. 129 
 
 " Else, oil, my Soul, with thy desires to Heaven, 
 
 And with Divinest contemplation use 
 Thy time, where Time's eternity is given, 
 
 And let vain thoughts no more thy thoughts abuse; 
 But down in darkness let them lie : 
 To live thy better, let thy worse thoughts die ! " 
 
 Even as a prisoner Sir Walter Ealeigh was to 
 a certain extent a power in the State. From 
 the Tower he sent forth writings on Ships and the 
 Sea Service and various important subjects, such 
 as probably no other man then living could have 
 produced. It was well known that he still sighed 
 after action, and had not lost his faith in the 
 wonderful riches to be found in the New World. 
 His pen, his voice, his personal influence had 
 weight even in his prison, and in March, 1615, 
 he obtained his release from the Tower with 
 the avowed object of organizing an expedition 
 to Guiana not, however, without bribing the 
 uncles of the then favourite George Villiers 
 It was an age of terrible corruption, when 
 court favour was almost openly bought and 
 sold. 
 
 No sooner was Ealeigh a free man than he 
 urged the expediency of carrying out his plans, 
 
 K
 
 130 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 offering out of the wreck of his fortune to bear 
 the chief burthen of the expense. Obtaining 
 the royal sanction, and a commission under the 
 privy seal, he set sail in command of a squadron 
 of thirteen ships. His aim was to colonize 
 Guiana in South America, and enrich England 
 with its mineral wealth. But Ealeigh was now 
 upwards of sixty years of age ; it was evident 
 that his constitution had been shattered by the 
 hardships of his long imprisonment, and on reach- 
 ing Guiana he became so ill that he could pro- 
 ceed no further. He, however, deputed Captain 
 Keymis to sail on up the river Orinoco in search 
 of treasure. This proceeding brought the expe- 
 dition in conflict with the Spaniards, and though 
 Keymis was successful in an engagement and 
 took the town of St. Thomas, so far from the 
 victory being an advantage, it led to embroilment 
 of the two governments ; for it had been an 
 understood thing, that the English were not to 
 interfere with the Spanish settlements. 
 
 In the attack on St. Thomas, Ealeigh's elder 
 son and namesake was killed. He was a vouth of 
 
 I 
 
 great promise, and with not a little of his father's
 
 THE TOWER. 131 
 
 ardour and impetuosity of character ; he was in 
 fact reckless of his life, and thus lost it. 
 
 One would think that even Raleigh's bitterest 
 enemies must have been touched by compassion 
 for him under his accumulated sorrows. As for 
 the unhappy Key mis, his mind gave way under 
 the disappointment of his failure and perhaps 
 some stinging reproaches from Raleigh and he 
 committed suicide. Raleigh the great admiral 
 returned to England worn out in body and sick 
 of heart, to find, of course, that ill news had 
 travelled before him, and that the failure of the 
 expedition was looked upon as a capital crime. 
 Just then a treaty was on foot for a marriage of 
 Prince Charles with the Spanisli Infanta 
 though, as we know, it never took place and 
 the English Government was intent before all 
 things on conciliating Spain. Philip's Ambas- 
 sador was instructed to urge the punishment of 
 Raleigh, ostensibly for the attack on St. Thomas, 
 but really because he had always been recognized 
 as the unswerving enemy of Spain. Arrived at 
 Plymouth, Raleigh was arrested, brought to 
 
 K 2
 
 132 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 London, and once more committed a prisoner to 
 the Tower. 
 
 Here he was very narrowly watched, in the 
 hope of detecting something in his correspon- 
 dence which could be brought forward as a new 
 fault ; but the Government failing in this, it was 
 determined that the sentence passed on him 
 fifteen years before should now be carried out. 
 The lawyers, however, urged that it was a very 
 novel case, and that the prisoner should be 
 allowed to plead for himself, why the sentence 
 should not be executed. Accordingly, on the 
 28th October, 1618, he was brought from the 
 Tower to the Court of King's Bench, where the 
 record of his conviction was read. Raleigh knew 
 well that he must die, for he was aware 
 that the King of Spain was clamouring for his 
 death but he pleaded, nevertheless, that the 
 former sentence must have been annulled when 
 he received the king's commission to proceed to 
 Guiana with full power of a Marshal. "By 
 that commission," he observed, " I gained new 
 life and vigour; for he that hath power over 
 the lives of others, must surely be master of his
 
 THE TOWER. 133 
 
 own." Yet the Chief Justice overruled all his 
 arguments and pathetic pleading, admitted that 
 the prisoner was not called to execution in cold 
 blood on the old sentence, but asserted that " new 
 offences had stirred up his Majesty's justice to 
 revive what the law had formerly granted." 
 
 Execution was ordered for the next day, 
 October 29th, 1618, and though Ealeigh pleaded 
 hard for a brief respite, in order to settle some 
 of his worldly affairs, the favour was denied 
 him. Instead of returning to the Tower, he 
 was taken to the Gate House at Westminster, 
 where, in the evening, he took leave of his devoted 
 wife. At eight o'clock next morning he was 
 led to the scaffold in Palace Yard, where a great 
 concourse of people were assembled. When Sir 
 Walter appeared, he saluted the " lords, knights, 
 and gentlemen," and spoke on the scaffold as a 
 Christian and a patriot. The dying man forgave 
 his enemies, but defended himself to the last 
 from the charges which had brought him to the 
 block. The morning being sharp, and some delay 
 arising, the sheriff asked if he would like to 
 warm himself at a fire, " No, good Mr. Sheriff,"
 
 134 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 said he, " let us dispatch, for within this quarter 
 of an hour mine ague will come upon me, and if 
 I be not dead before then, mine enemies will 
 say I quake for fear." 
 
 Then he poised the axe, and felt its edge, say- 
 ing with a smile, " This is a sharp medicine, but 
 it will cure all diseases." Seeing that, after he 
 had laid his head on the block, the headsman 
 hesitated, he exclaimed " What dost thou fear ? 
 Strike, man." 
 
 Thus fell in the sixty-seventh year of his 
 age Walter Raleigh the soldier and sailor, and 
 statesman, the poet and historian, a man possess- 
 ing noble qualities, and leaving a name that will 
 for ever be illustrious. 
 
 The Lady Arabella Stuart, the innocent cause 
 of so much suffering to others, and so hapless 
 in her own life, was long a prisoner in the Tower 
 and for no deeper offence than marrying with- 
 out the King's consent. Those were days in 
 which the mere will of the Sovereign was in such 
 matters law. She was forcibly separated from 
 her husband, and after many fruitless attempts 
 at escape and reunion, her mind gave way, and
 
 THE TOWER. 135 
 
 she died in the Tower more from what is called 
 a broken heart than from palpable disease. Hers 
 is a long history and one full of painful interest. 
 
 There is no sign that Raleigh was of a re- 
 vengeful nature ; but perhaps before he died he 
 felt the force of the retribution which had over- 
 taken his old enemy Eobert Carr. That some- 
 time favourite of James the First, created first 
 Lord Eochester and then Earl of Somerset, be- 
 came, with his worthless wife, a prisoner in the 
 Tower, charged with instigating the murder of 
 Sir Thomas Overbury. He, the despoiler for 
 whose sake Sherborne Castle had been confis- 
 cated, was in his turn disgraced and impoverished 
 but the bad pair deserved their fate and lived 
 and died unpitied. 
 
 Sir "Walter Ealeigh's only surviving son 
 Carew born in the Tower in 1604, lived till 
 1666, seeing many vicissitudes of fortune. He 
 seems to have been an accomplished gentleman, 
 who travelled on the continent in his youth. 
 He revered his father's memory and vindicated 
 it with his pen. He was buried in his father's 
 grave in St. Margaret's, Westminster.
 
 130 
 
 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON 
 
 THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON. 
 
 A.D. 1665. 
 
 SS] HEEE is a clause in the 
 
 m_ 
 
 11 Litany of the Church 
 of England in which we 
 ask especially to be de- 
 livered from " plague, 
 pestilence and famine ; 
 from battle and murder 
 and from sudden death," 
 and when we remember the ravages and terrible 
 sufferings which from time to time Pestilence 
 has occasioned, we feel how fitly it is placed 
 among those great calamities from which we 
 beseech Grod to spare us. 
 
 Every student of the Bible is aware how 
 often the "noisome pestilence" was chronicled 
 as a chastisement on the nations, or threatened
 
 THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON. 137 
 
 as one ; and profane history records with painful 
 minuteness many visitations which have devas- 
 tated and depopulated cities. " The Pestilence 
 that walketh in darkness" has come to mankind 
 at different epochs in different forms, but in its 
 most malignant character it has for ages past 
 been known as " The Plague." 
 
 Thucydides gives a vivid description of the 
 plague which in the time of Pericles broke 
 out in Athens. It was believed to have origi- 
 nated in Ethiopia ; and then spread through 
 Egypt and Persia till it reached the coast of 
 Greece. The mortality in Athens was enormous, 
 the city being overcrowded in consequence of 
 the war that was raging. Men and women ap- 
 parently in excellent health were suddenly 
 stricken ; some died quickly, others lingered for 
 days in agony ; and, if they finally recovered, it 
 was often with memory gone, or a body muti- 
 lated by the loss of hand or foot. Paganism 
 was no support to a people under such an afflic- 
 tion ; finding that their gods were unable or un- 
 willing to relieve their sufferings, the dying 
 appear to have passed away without hope, while
 
 138 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 those who escaped plunged into excesses, which 
 they called pleasure, to drown thought, and with 
 the avowed object of snatching temporal enjoy- 
 ment even though death might be hovering 
 near. 
 
 Yeiy differently the Eomans seem to have 
 felt in the early days of the Christian Church, 
 when towards the close of the sixth century 
 Rome was devastated by a pestilence. Gregory 
 the First, deservedly called the Great, was then 
 Pope, and he ordered a solemn penitential ser- 
 vice to be held in St. Peter's to implore 
 Almighty God to stay the plague. It was be- 
 lieved that in the preparatory procession the 
 Pontiff saw, as in a vision, the figure of the 
 Archangel Michael standing at the top of a for- 
 tress, and in the act of sheathing his sword as a 
 symbol that the pestilence would be stayed. 
 This tradition is still credited in the Roman 
 Catholic Church, and to commemorate it a statue 
 of the Archangel was erected, in the act de- 
 scribed, just at the spot where the vision was 
 presented. The fortress had been the Mauso- 
 leum of Hadrian, but for many centuries it has
 
 THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON. 139 
 
 been called the Castle of St. Angelo, on account 
 of this episode in its history. It is still one of 
 the famous sights of Borne, and the figure of 
 the Angel sheathing his sword, as seen in re- 
 lief against the pure blue sky of Italy, is most 
 impressive. 
 
 It was this same Gregory the Great of whom 
 it is recorded that, before his elevation to the 
 Papacy, on seeing some beautiful fair-haired 
 slaves in the slave-market of Eome he inquired 
 from what country they came, and on being told 
 they were Angles as the English were then 
 called he exclaimed, they would be angels if 
 they were Christians. He did not forget the 
 incident, and when he became Pope he sent 
 Augustine to England to preach and plant 
 Christianity. 
 
 This Pope Gregory also introduced the musi- 
 cal chant which still goes by his name, and he 
 was in many respects one of the great lights 
 of his age. 
 
 The next memorable visitation of pestilence 
 in Italy was that of Florence, commemorated by 
 Boccaccio, and which took place about the middle
 
 140 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 of the fourteenth century. More than a hun- 
 dred years later, Milan was similarly afflicted, 
 but on this occasion Carlo Borromeo, the noble- 
 hearted Archbishop, so distinguished himself 
 that he has left a deathless memory behind him. 
 While still young he had proved himself a wise 
 benefactor as the founder of hospitals and 
 schools, and as the reformer of abuses ; but when 
 the plague broke out in his diocese he visited 
 the sick, and relieved their necessities in person, 
 selling even the furniture of his house for the 
 purpose, and setting a brave example to his 
 clergy, and to all those who from selfish fear 
 fled from danger, leaving the stricken sufferers 
 to die in lonely misery. It is a time of trial 
 like this which separates the generous and self- 
 denying from the mean and cruel. 
 
 There was another terrible pestilence in 1633, 
 said to have been occasioned by the miseries con- 
 sequent on the wars of Gustavus Adolphus, and 
 of which we have a periodical reminder when 
 the Passion Play is acted at Ober-Ammergau. 
 This little Bavarian village was almost depopu- 
 lated, and the few surviving mourners besought
 
 THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON. 141 
 
 Almighty God to have mercy on them, and made 
 a vow that if the pestilence was stayed they 
 would have every ten years a theatrical repre- 
 sentation "for thankful remembrance and edify- 
 ing contemplation, and by the help of the Crea- 
 tor " of " the sufferings of Jesus the Saviour of 
 the World." We are told that their prayer was 
 heard, " for not a single person died of the plague 
 after the vow was made, though ' many were 
 smitten by it." 
 
 Whatever we may think of the " edification " 
 to be derived from the spectacle of a Passion 
 Play, there is no doubt that these simple peas- 
 ants regarded the performance much more in the 
 light of a religious service than a profanation : 
 and we must remember that miracle plays or 
 plays on sacred subjects were very common in 
 the middle ages. 
 
 It is, however, with the Great Plague of Lon- 
 don, which broke out in 1065, that we have to 
 do. English history records many previous visi- 
 tations of the pestilence, but nothing so terrible 
 as this. Pepys, in his Diary, mentions, as early 
 as 1663 and 1664, the rumours afloat of the
 
 142 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 Plague raging in Holland, and precautions were 
 taken by instituting a strict quarantine with 
 regard to ships coming from infected seaports in 
 November, 1663. But it is likely enough that 
 the law was often evaded, and one unprincipled 
 person who, for greed or pleasure landed in Eng- 
 land without due precautions having been taken, 
 might have spread the disease through a large 
 community. 
 
 In those days people were less instructed than 
 they are now with regard to those habits of life 
 which promote health, or encourage sickness. 
 There is good reason to believe that the mass 
 of the people were not very cleanly, one reason 
 having been that they wore heavier fabrics for 
 garments than they do at present, and conse- 
 quently their clothes, lasting much longer than 
 thinner materials would have done, were less 
 often changed. Thus the seeds of infection 
 must frequently have lingered about the raiment 
 of persons, and caused an outbreak of the malady 
 when they were brought in contact with any one 
 liable to receive it. Then, though London was 
 more amply supplied with water than most cities,
 
 THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON. 143 
 
 its inhabitants seem not to have used it very 
 freely ; but above all, the necessity of ventilation 
 and proper drainage was but little understood. 
 All these circumstances encouraged the Plague, 
 a disease so dreadful that corruption of the body 
 might almost be said to begin before life was 
 extinct. 
 
 In September, 1664, Pepys records the news 
 of a Dutch ship of three or four hundred tons 
 burthen having been cast ashore at Grottenburgh, 
 the entire crew being dead of the plague ; and 
 there is no doubt that it raged on the continent, 
 and that there were even many isolated cases 
 in England long before the outbreak which 
 almost depopulated London. All through the 
 spring, people watched the bills of mortality 
 that is the weekly account of the number of 
 deaths with painful interest, and spread the re- 
 port of every case of plague that was mentioned. 
 Week by week the deaths increased, and towards 
 the end of May, when warm summer weather 
 set in, there was an outburst of plague in St. 
 Giles's, which quickly spread to adjacent parishes. 
 The district of Whitehall, where Charles the
 
 144 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 Second held his court, was threatened, and the 
 city, in spite of many careful precautions, was 
 very soon infected. 
 
 Now began the general flight of all those 
 who were able to escape from the Metropolis 
 and its neighbourhood. The nobility and 
 gentry, who mostly had country houses of their 
 own, were the first to flee, and the Royal Family 
 soon followed their example. Indeed, all who 
 had means at their disposal took refuge in the 
 country. Certainly the most illustrious Eng- 
 lishman then living was of the number who 
 thus fled ; for John Milton with his family with- 
 drew into Buckinghamshire, to a house engaged 
 for him by a Quaker friend. Probably he was 
 only just in time to escape danger, for in a few 
 weeks the Lord Mayor refused to grant certi- 
 ficates of health, without which people were 
 not permitted to leave the city ; while at the 
 same time the dwellers in country towns were 
 resolute in turning back infected people. It 
 was indeed a terrible time, when the dread which 
 prompted self-defence generally triumphed over 
 better feelings.
 
 THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON. 145 
 
 It is recorded that at this period the blind 
 poet showed "Paradise Lost" to his Quaker 
 friend Ellwood, and it is probable that the 
 great poem was only then recently completed. 
 
 Of course the absence of all the wealthiest 
 people from London caused a great stoppage of 
 trade. Establishments were broken up, and it 
 was said that not less than forty thousand ser- 
 vants were thrown out of employment. A still 
 greater number of artisans and labourers were 
 reduced to want. It is true that the rich gave 
 large sums in charity. The King subscribed 
 1000 per week, and the City 600, to mitigate 
 the distress ; and the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 the Queen Dowager, and many of the nobilit}' 
 were extremely munificent but still the dis- 
 tress which prevailed was very great. Unhap- 
 pily the plague spread most rapidly among the 
 poor who, weakened by their privations, were the 
 least able to resist its attacks ; but by them it was 
 soon communicated to a higher rank, and before 
 the end of June its ravages were so disastrous 
 that the civil authorities thought it time to act 
 upon the powers with which they were invested
 
 146 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 They divided parishes into districts, and 
 apportioned to each district a number of officers, 
 namely searchers, examiners, watchmen, and 
 nurses. They commanded that wherever the 
 disease appeared the fact should be made known 
 to the public by a red cross, one foot in length, 
 being painted on the door with the words, 
 " Lord have mercy upon us" above it. From the 
 moment this sign appeared the house was closed. 
 For the space of one month no inmate was al- 
 lowed to leave it, and thus whole families herded 
 together were left to communicate the disease 
 one to another. Many people, rendered despe- 
 rate by this tyranny, either attempted to escape 
 stealthily or to corrupt the watchmen whose 
 duty it was to prevent their exit. No doubt 
 some succeeded, and, with the Thames so near 
 at hand, managed to escape, carrying the conta- 
 gion with them. 
 
 Arrangements were made for the disposal of 
 the dead. In the day officers were on the watch 
 to remove the bodies of those who died in the 
 street for so sudden frequently was the seizure 
 that death in the street was a quite common
 
 THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON. 147 
 
 occurrence. At night the pest-cart went round, 
 accompanied by links and the tinkling of a 
 bell, and often with the mournful cry " Bring 
 out your dead ! " Coffins were not used ; 
 mourners were not permitted to follow the re- 
 mains of those they loved, nor was any funeral 
 service read. The cart proceeded without delay 
 to the nearest churchyard, where a large deep pit 
 was dug, capable of holding many bodies. Here 
 the cart was tilted, and the dead shot into the 
 earth with as little ceremony as if they were 
 but stones. When the churchyards were full, 
 pits were dug in some other places. In times 
 of general disaster the worst traits of human 
 nature too often become apparent, and dreadful 
 stories are told of the needless brutality of the 
 men engaged in burying the dead. No doubt 
 they were taken from a very low class, and in 
 those days the lower classes were shockingly 
 ignorant, and the new occupation of these men 
 very soon hardened their hearts. 
 
 In July and August, as usual the two hottest 
 months of the year, the weather was most oppres- 
 sive, and the ravages of the pestilence became 
 
 L 2
 
 148 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 more and more terrible. Even men of strong 
 mind and clear intellects became unnerved, 
 while weaker characters seemed to lose all self- 
 control. The most absurd rumours were cir- 
 culated and believed. Among others, perhaps, 
 the old idea was revived that malicious people 
 brought the bad air of Turkey to England in 
 bottles, which they opened in order to spread the 
 disease. This was a notion which prevailed at 
 an earlier period, when the plague had appeared 
 in a milder form. The idea was extremely ab- 
 surd, but Turkey was the home of the plague ; 
 and most probably it was first brought to Eng- 
 land in the merchandise of the Levant traders. 
 
 Of course in the terrible summer of 1665 all 
 communication with shipping was prohibited, 
 and quite a little fleet of homeward-bound ships 
 lay moored at the Nore and Medway, waiting 
 for the pestilence to abate. Some coasting 
 vessels bearing corn, butter, and eggs, were 
 allowed to discharge their cargoes ; and vessels 
 from abroad sometimes managed to elude the 
 vigilance of those in authority. Coals which 
 were greatly in demand, as the doctors ordered
 
 THS PLAGUE
 
 THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LOJJDON. 149 
 
 large fires to be kept burning even in the 
 hottest weather rose to the enormous price of 
 4 per chaldron. Allowing for the difference in 
 the value of money this would be something 
 like 6 or S per ton. 
 
 It is a curious fact that, as was the case at 
 the time of the pestilence in Eome, people 
 fancied they saw a sword in the heavens. They 
 declared it was of gigantic size extending from 
 Westminster to the Tower ; and a comet which 
 had appeared the preceding winter was remem- 
 bered as a harbinger of evil. A strange star 
 was also reported to have been seen, and these 
 signs in the heavens were thought of with awe. 
 Certain fanatics, believing themselves inspired, 
 prophesied yet further calamities ; and one of 
 them, Solomon Eagle, almost unclothed, bearing 
 on his head a pan of burning coals, walked 
 through the streets declaring the judgments of 
 God were on a sinful people, and that London in 
 forty days would be destroyed. 
 
 It soon became impossible to carry out the 
 orders of the magistrates. The nights were not 
 long enough to bury all the dead in the first
 
 150 
 
 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 horrible manner, and burials in coffins now took 
 place at all hours of the day. Also it was found 
 that the very poor must perish from want if 
 they were not permitted to leave their homes to 
 seek relief. Those who had money often drew 
 in their provisions at an upper window but 
 nothing from an infected house could be received 
 without fumigation. Every letter was subjected 
 to this process sulphur being chiefly used, 
 though hops, pepper, and frankincense, were also 
 employed. Gunpowder likewise was exploded 
 to purify the air. 
 
 London, indeed, presented a terrible picture of 
 desolation. In the chief thoroughfares the grass 
 grew freely ; in some places whole rows of 
 houses were tenantless ; in others the red cross 
 proclaimed the affliction within. From these, 
 appalling cries of woe were often heard. The 
 few persons who ventured to walk in the streets 
 did so in the middle of the road, and when 
 there was a prospect of their meeting each 
 other they moved on one side to avoid contact. 
 
 In September, when the weather was a little 
 cooler, people began to hope that the mortality
 
 THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON. 151 
 
 would decrease; but they were disappointed. 
 Indeed the disease became, if possible, more malig- 
 nant. The Privy Council now ordered coal 
 fires to be lighted in every street and alley of 
 London and Westminster one great fire to 
 every twelve houses. These were kept burning 
 three nights and days at the end of which 
 time they were extinguished by heavy rain. 
 
 The next week there was a happy diminution 
 in the deaths, and the survivors rejoiced in the 
 belief that the fires had swept away the pesti- 
 lential miasma ; but the following week the 
 deaths again rose, carrying off no less than ten 
 thousand victims the largest number yet swept 
 away in seven days. But the autumnal equinox 
 was now at hand, and the high winds, customary 
 at this period, blew with their wonted vigour, 
 and purified the air the disease became less 
 malignant, the burials per week decreased from 
 thousands to hundreds, and in December more 
 than seventy districts were declared free from the 
 plague. Thousands of people gladly returned 
 to their homes, and in the following February, 
 the King and his court were again established at
 
 152 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 Whitehall. Isolated cases of plague, it is true, 
 occurred for some years ; but the population, 
 thinned as it was by a hundred thousand deaths 
 from the pestilence, soon resumed its old habits 
 and congregated for business and pleasure. The 
 grass in the thoroughfares was trodden down 
 by a busy multitude, and we can understand 
 what a mixture of sadness and rejoicing there 
 must have been in the meeting of long-parted 
 friends. Few households, indeed, could there 
 have been in which there had not been some 
 loss, and many must have been the thrilling tales 
 survivors had to tell. 
 
 Pepys, in his " Diary," relates a touching inci- 
 dent of parents who, having lost all their children 
 but one, and believing themselves doomed to die, 
 " did desire only to save the life of this little 
 child ; and so prevailed to have it received stark 
 naked into the arms of a friend, who brought it 
 (having put it into new fresh clothes) to Green- 
 wich ; where, upon hearing the story, we did 
 agree it should be permitted to be received and 
 kept in the town." 
 
 But I am sure there must have been hundreds
 
 THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON. 153 
 
 of cases of parental devotion which were 
 never recorded. Imagination cannot picture the 
 dreadful scenes of suffering which must have 
 been acted out in those closed houses on which 
 the fatal seal was set. Sometimes even a large 
 family was entirely swept away, and the pest- 
 cart, night after night, received its burthen 
 sometimes a mourner or two remained still to 
 be imprisoned in the house whence the beloved 
 ones had been so hurriedly removed. For long 
 years to come stories of the plague must have 
 been current in every household. 
 
 Daniel Defoe, the author of " Eobinson Crusoe," 
 was but a child at the time, but he must have 
 heard incidents recorded and descriptions of the 
 visitation given which sank deep into his mind. 
 Only on this supposition can we realize, what is 
 the truth, that his " Journal of the Plague in 
 London " is but a work of imagination. But so 
 vivid and truth-like is it, that for a long time it 
 was received as a veritable history. Probably, 
 though the personages introduced are fictitious, 
 the incidents narrated are founded on fact, and 
 all competent judges declare that, fiction though
 
 154 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 it be, it gives the most true and vivid picture 
 of the Great Plague that exists. 
 
 More than two hundred years have passed 
 since the dreadful visitation. Let us not pre- 
 sume on this long immunity, but still devoutly 
 pray that from " plague, pestilence, and famine." 
 our Merciful Grod will still deliver us !
 
 155 
 
 THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 
 
 A.I). 1000. 
 
 T has been aptly said 
 that " fire is an ex- 
 cellent servant but a 
 terrible master," and 
 even a very slight burn 
 will make us agree with 
 the truth thus declared. 
 But perhaps it is only a 
 vast conflagration which sets us thinking of the 
 power of an element which beyond all others is 
 destructive ; for even when most useful, and kept 
 within due bounds, it still consumes that which 
 feeds it in other words destroys. 
 
 In the early ages of the world fire, more than 
 anything else, seems to have impressed the ima- 
 gination of the heathen nations; witness the
 
 156 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 sect of Fire-worshippers founded by Zoroaster, 
 and the mythological story of Prometheus. In 
 his wrath with mankind Jupiter was supposed to 
 have deprived the earth of fire ; but Prometheus 
 stole fire from the chariot of the sun, and 
 brought it back to the earth at the end of a 
 ferula, or hollow wand. When we remember 
 the little knowledge that at that time was dif- 
 fused among the mass of mankind we can under- 
 stand how pretty fables of this sort took hold of 
 the popular imagination. The few wise men 
 then no doubt received them as we do now as 
 types and symbols. 
 
 But ia truth there has always been something 
 mysterious and stimulating to the mind in the 
 subject of fire. Science teaches a great deal 
 about the laws of heat and combustion, but 
 when all is known that can be known, the 
 " devouring element " still remains unchanged in 
 its attributes. To think even of a great con- 
 flagration is appalling when we attempt to fol- 
 low out in fancy its absolute and most apparent 
 consequences. 
 
 In picturing the Great Fire of London we
 
 THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 157 
 
 must remember that in Charles the Second's reign, 
 when it happened, the houses were chiefly of 
 wood and thatched, and that most of the streets 
 were very narrow. Indeed the sign-boards men- 
 tioned in the account of London Bridge, and 
 which were so universal in the streets, often al- 
 most touched each other on opposite sides, and 
 must have acted like great matches to set fresh 
 houses on fire ; especially as many of them were 
 pitched. We have to add, that the month of 
 August had been especially hot and dry, so that 
 every out-of-door combustible was parched and 
 ready to catch the flames. 
 
 We owe much to those two famous diarists 
 Evelyn and Pepys for their graphic accounts of 
 many domestic events of the period ; but per- 
 haps in no descriptions have they been more 
 minute than when recording the outbreak and 
 progress of the Great Fire. This is what Pepys 
 says under the date Sept. 3rd : 
 
 " Lord's Day. Some of our maids sitting up 
 late last night to get things ready against our 
 feast to-day, Jane called us up about three in the 
 morning to tell us of a great fire they saw in
 
 158 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 the city. So I rose and went to her window ; 
 and thought it to be on the back side of Mark 
 Lane at the farthest, but being unused to such 
 fires as followed I thought it far enough off; 
 and so went to bed again and to sleep. About 
 seven rose again to dress myself, and then looked 
 out at the window, and saw the fire not so much 
 as it was but further off. . . . By-and-by Jane 
 comes and tells me that she hears that above 
 three hundred houses have been burned down 
 to-night by the fire we saw and that it is now 
 burning down all Fish Street by London Bridge." 
 Then the writer describes going to the Tower, 
 and getting upon one of the high places, taking 
 Sir J. Robinson's little son with him, to have a 
 view of the dreadful sight. Thence he saw the 
 houses on London Bridge that were on fire. 
 From the Lieutenant of the Tower he heard 
 that the fire began at the King's baker's in Pud- 
 ding Lane, and that besides most part of Fish 
 Street it had already burnt down St. Magnus's 
 Church. In a little while Pepys went to the 
 waterside taking a boat to proceed up the 
 river. He comments on the rush of people
 
 THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 159 
 
 anxious to save their goods, and bringing them 
 to the bank till every boat no doubt was en- 
 gaged. All attempts to extinguish the flames 
 seemed a mockery ; for the high wind that was 
 blowing drove them on in an irresistible 
 manner, and carried flakes of fire a great 
 distance. In the confusion domestic animals 
 must have fared badly ; and there is a piteous 
 description of the poor pigeons, which many 
 people seem to have kept, dropping down into 
 the flames. Unwilling to leave the houses, they 
 hovered about till their wings were burnt ; and 
 then, of course, they were helpless. 
 
 Mr. Pepys was well-known at Court in conse- 
 quence of his connection with naval affairs, and 
 he took the wise step of proceeding by water to 
 Whitehall and stating the urgency of the case to 
 some of the officials there. The result was that 
 he had an interview with the King and the 
 Duke of York, in which he entreated the King 
 to give orders that certain houses should be 
 pulled down, as the only possible means of stop- 
 ping the fire. The King seemed much troubled 
 as well he might be and after some consultation
 
 160 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 he commanded Mr. Pepys to go to the Lord 
 Mayor from him, with instructions to spare no 
 houses but to pull them do\vn before the fire in 
 every direction. The Duke of York added that 
 if he wanted more soldiers to enforce his orders 
 he should have them. 
 
 Then the diarist describes his return to the 
 City : how he met with a friend who lent him 
 his coach, in which he was driven as far as St. 
 Paul's. There he got out, probably because fur- 
 ther progress except on foot was impossible for 
 he says, " I walked along Watling Street as well 
 as I could, every creature coming away loaded 
 with goods to save, and here and there sick 
 people carried away in beds. Extraordinary good 
 <K>ods carried in carts and on backs. At last met 
 
 o 
 
 my Lord Mayor in Canning Street, like a man 
 spent, with a handkercher about his neck." 
 When Pepys gave him the King's orders he 
 seemed quite overpowered and exclaimed, " What 
 can I do ? I am spent ; people will not obey me. 
 I have been pulling down houses ; but the fire 
 overtakes us faster than we can do it." 
 
 The poor Lord Mayor was evidently at his
 
 THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 161 
 
 wit's end, and quite knocked up, for he had not 
 been to bed all night ; but it is to be hoped that 
 he rallied sufficiently to go on with his duties. 
 By this time people were filling the churches 
 with their property, little suspecting how many 
 of these massive structures would be consumed ; 
 but the fire still spread both east and west, and 
 those who a few hours before had thought their 
 dwellings secure from the flames began now to 
 tremble, and in hot haste to remove their goods 
 to any shelter they could find. In many cases 
 furniture was removed twice if not three times, 
 the place at first deemed safe being in a few 
 hours in danger. 
 
 Later in the day Mr. Pepys was again on the 
 river, where he met the King and the Duke of 
 York in their barge, and proceeded with them to 
 Queenhithe. The peremptory order still was to 
 pull down houses as the only means of stopping 
 the flames the principle being just the same 
 as that which dictates cutting away a tract of 
 grass before the fire when in dry seasons the 
 vast prairies of America take fire. When a 
 great conflagration gets the mastery over ordi- 
 
 M
 
 162 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 nary endeavours to stay it there is nothing to 
 be done save to deprive it of fuel. 
 
 We can, however, make allowance for people, 
 many of whom were too ignorant to understand 
 the necessity of the proceeding, when they 
 showed reluctance to sacrifice houses as yet ap- 
 parently safe, and I do not suppose it is possible 
 in any description to exaggerate the horror 
 and confusion which prevailed. Evelyn declares 
 that many people were so overcome with misery 
 and despair that they made hardly any efforts to 
 lessen the calamity, but the generality, of course, 
 struggled hard to save their property. Boats 
 and barges were laden with goods, and it was 
 remarked that nearly every house above the 
 very meanest must have contained a pair of 
 Virginells, so many were seen to be rescued. 
 Virginells were a musical instrument, much used 
 in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, of the 
 nature of a spinet or harpsichord, but now 
 quite superseded by the piano. It is pleasant to 
 think that our ancestors had in so many instances 
 the refining influence of music in their homes. 
 
 Mr. Pepys, whose house was in Axe Yard, the
 
 THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 163 
 
 very heart of the City, seems at first not to have 
 feared for his own premises, but the second day 
 of the fire he grew so alarmed that he began 
 removing his valuables ; and we have a curious 
 picture of the times in his account of his bags 
 of gold, amounting to a good deal more than 
 2,000, lying idle and hidden, and his vexation 
 at his wealth being seen. In those days the 
 necessaries of life were so much cheaper than 
 they are at present that Pepys' money-bags 
 really represented more wealth than is stated, 
 but we see it was not producing any interest. 
 
 By Monday, the 4th, it was computed there 
 were above ten thousand houses in flames, and 
 the heat was so terrible that no one could now 
 approach the conflagration. The flare of it was 
 seen for forty miles in all directions ; and the 
 smoke was like a canopy that obscured the sky, 
 so that one writer describes travellers riding for 
 six miles at noonday beneath the shadow of it. 
 The fire now reached the Temple on the west 
 and Tower Street on the east, including, besides 
 Fenchurch Street and Gracechurch Street which 
 had been the earlier prey, Fleet Street, Ludgate 
 
 M 2
 
 164 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 Hill, the Old Bailey, Newgate, Watling Street, 
 Warwick Lane, Thames Street, and Billingsgate. 
 A number of churches, as well as St. Paul's, 
 were consumed. The Eoyal Exchange, as 
 already mentioned, was destroyed, and the 
 Eev. Thomas Vincent graphically describes a 
 curious and impressive sight. He says 
 
 " The sight of Guildhall was a fearful spec- 
 tacle which stood the whole body of it together 
 in view for several hours after the fire had taken 
 it, without flames (I suppose because the timber 
 was such solid oak) in a bright shining coal, as if 
 it had been a palace of gold, or a great building 
 of burnished brass." 
 
 It is, indeed, by no means very easy to com- 
 bine in thought the roaring noise, the dazzling 
 light, and burning heat experienced by the two 
 hundred thousand people whom the calamity 
 made homeless. The stones of St. Paul's are 
 described as flying about like shot. From the 
 bend of the river the fire naturally took the 
 form of a bow, and Vincent, in a tract which he 
 wrote called " God's Terrible Advice to the City 
 by Plague and Fire," speaks of it as a dreadful
 
 THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 165 
 
 bow " which had God's arrow in it with a 
 flaming point." When we remember that the 
 plague had raged only the previous year, and 
 that it was yet breaking out occasionally in the 
 suburbs, and that the country was in the midst of 
 a war with the French and Dutch, we can under- 
 stand in some degree the affliction of the nation. 
 By Tuesday, the 5th, the fire had reached 
 Holborn and the entrance of Smithfield. But 
 now the wind had lulled, and there was more 
 hope of staying the progress of the flames. 
 Instead of pulling down houses by mechanical 
 means they were now blown up with gunpowder, 
 " a measure," says Evelyn, " some stout seamen 
 proposed early enough to have saved near the 
 whole city ; but this some tenacious and avari- 
 cious men, aldermen, &c., would not permit, 
 because their houses must have been the first." 
 At midday, on the 5th, the flames westward 
 began to abate, and though towards Cripple- 
 gate the fire still burned fiercely ; it gave way 
 ultimately to the plan of blowing up houses 
 before it. Of course, such a vast conflagration 
 took many days to die out, and on the 7th,
 
 160 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 Evelyn records the " extraordinary difficulty" of 
 walking among the ruins and " clambering 
 over heaps of yet smoking rubbish . . . the 
 ground under my feet so hot that it even burnt 
 the soles of my shoes." 
 
 Meanwhile the misery of the homeless multi- 
 tude was very great. The King issued a pro- 
 clamation for their relief, but they were too 
 numerous to be properly housed, and they were 
 glad of the shelter of tents and huts in the 
 open country all round London. In the excite- 
 ment and painful agitation of men's minds we 
 cannot wonder that they listened to the idle 
 tales which were circulated. The report spread 
 that our enemies had set fire to the town, 
 and were preparing to take advantage of the 
 distress to land. However, they made no 
 such attempt, and though the belief long 
 prevailed that the Papists had occasioned the 
 calamity there was no real foundation for the 
 calumny. 
 
 Summing up the extent of the disaster, we 
 have to record eighty-eight churches and thirteen 
 thousand two hundred houses that were con-
 
 THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 167 
 
 sumed, the loss of property being estimated at 
 7,385,000. 
 
 There is so much to regret in the character of 
 Charles the Second that it is pleasant to do him 
 justice when we can, and his conduct on the 
 occasion of the great fire seems to have been 
 admirable. He was on horseback or on foot for 
 many hours every day, giving orders for the 
 measures necessary to be taken, and forwarding 
 them by commands and example and threats, 
 and by the liberal distribution of money from 
 a hundred-pound bag which he carried with 
 him. 
 
 But dreadful as the calamity of the great fire 
 must have seemed at the time, Grod tempered it 
 with a hidden blessing. London that had often 
 been devasted by plague, and in the preceding 
 year in so marked and terrible a manner, has 
 never since been so afflicted. There is little 
 doubt that nothing short of fire could have 
 destroyed the germs of disease which hung about 
 the infected tenements, ready again to burst 
 out under often recurring conditions. In other 
 respects the City was unfavourable to health,
 
 168 STORIES OF THE CITT OF LONDON. 
 
 the streets being very narrow, and the generality 
 of the houses crowded and incommodious. 
 
 There is something very gratifying to an 
 English man or woman in reading of the energy 
 displayed by the citizens at this period. " They 
 beheld," says Sprat, " the ashes of their houses, 
 gates, and temples without the least expression of 
 pusillanimity. If philosophers had done this 
 it had well become their profession of wisdom ; 
 if gentlemen, the nobleness of their breeding 
 and blood would have required it ; but that such 
 greatness of heart should be found amongst the 
 poor artizans and the obscure multitude is no 
 doubt one of the most honourable events that 
 ever happened." 
 
 Very few lives were lost in the fire, and this 
 circumstance must have been looked on as a 
 special mercy. Then another happy circumstance 
 was that England had at hand the great archi- 
 tect, Christopher Wren, who within three days of 
 the fire submitted to the King his plan for 
 rebuilding the City. Unfortunately, however, it 
 was not carried out, for 'the selfishness and 
 narrow-mindedness of individuals prevented
 
 THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 169 
 
 most of the improvements Wren had designed ; 
 but still the new London was a finer city than 
 the old, and much safer, in consequence of the 
 new houses being built of brick and stone 
 instead of wood. 
 
 Sir Christopher Wren knighted a few years 
 after the fire is perhaps best known as the 
 architect of our noble cathedral, St. Paul's ; 
 which, however, is still uncompleted. But he 
 built fifty-one other London churches, besides 
 numerous public buildings generally on the 
 sites of edifices which had been consumed by the 
 flames. He designed a monument to be erected 
 on the spot where the great fire broke out, but 
 the present structure is so different from that 
 he originally planned that it scarcely deserves to 
 be called his. 
 
 The popular opinion that the fire had been 
 the work of Popish incendiaries was so strong, 
 that when the Monument was first erected 
 it bore an inscription to the effect that the fire 
 had been caused by " the treachery and malice 
 of the Popish faction." When James the Second 
 came to the throne the words were erased ; but
 
 170 STORIES OP THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 unhappily the slander was restored and cut in 
 deep characters in the time of William the Third. 
 In the earlier part of the present century, how- 
 ever, the inscription was finally removed. It 
 had always fostered ill-feelings ; and it was to 
 that perpetuated falsehood that Pope alluded in 
 his famous couplet : 
 
 " Where London's column, pointing to the skies, 
 Like a tall bully, lifts its head and lies." 
 
 Another great poet, Dryden, has described the 
 memorable fire of London with much force in 
 his poem "Annus Mirabilis," the " Year of Won- 
 ders." Alluding to the dismay of the citizens 
 roused from their slumbers, he says : 
 
 " Now streets grow throng'd and busy as the day ; 
 
 Some run for buckets to the hallowed quire ; 
 Some cut the pipes, and some the engines play ; 
 
 And some more bold mount ladders to the fire. 
 
 In vain ; for from the east a Belgian wind 
 
 His hostile breath through the dry rafters sent, 
 
 The flames impell'd soon left their foes behind, 
 And forward with a wanton fury went. 
 
 A quay of fire ran all along the shore, 
 
 And lighten'd all the river with a blaze ; 
 And waken'd tides began again to roar 
 
 And wondering fish in shining waters gaze.
 
 THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 171 
 
 Old Father Thames rais'd up his reverend head, 
 But feared the fate of Simois would return : * 
 
 Deep in his ooze he sought his sedgy bed 
 And shrunk his waters back into his urn. 
 
 The fire, meantime, walks in a broader gross, 
 
 To either hand his wings he opens wide ; 
 He wades the streets, and straight he reaches cross, 
 
 And plays his longing flames on th' other side. 
 
 At first they warm, then scorch, and then they take; 
 
 Now with long necks from side to side they feed; 
 At length grown strong their mother fire forsake, 
 
 And a new colony of flames succeed. 
 
 To every nobler portion of the town 
 
 The curling billows roll their restless tide, 
 
 In parties now they struggle up and down 
 As armies unopposed for prey divide. 
 
 One mighty squadron with a side wind sped, 
 Through narrow lanes his cumber'd fire does haste, 
 
 By powerful charms of gold and silver led 
 
 The Lombard bankers and the 'Change to waste." 
 
 There are several more stanzas of the 
 " Annus Mirabilis " devoted to the description 
 of the fire of which no doubt Dryden was an 
 
 * That is, feared he would be dried up.
 
 172 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 eye-witness. We owe much to poets who 
 put into vigorous language the thoughts of 
 the many. These may feel keenly though 
 they have not the power of expressing their 
 emotions.
 
 173 
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 
 
 A.D. 1780. 
 
 LTHOUGH more than 
 a century elapsed be- 
 tween the erection of 
 the Monument with its 
 slanderous inscription 
 and the Eiots of Lon- 
 don in 1780, there was 
 a certain continuity be- 
 tween the two events. The spirit of bitter 
 animosity towards Papists had never slumbered 
 among the nation at large, and now for many 
 generations English Eomanists had been looked 
 on with aversion and distrust by the generality 
 of their Protestant countrymen. Still there were 
 a few tolerant and enlightened persons who 
 lamented laws that perpetuated enmity and
 
 174 STORIES OP THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 pressed heavily on a number of innocent 
 families. 
 
 In the reign of William the Third a most 
 severe law had been passed which restricted the 
 liberty of Papists in a very cruel and arbitrary 
 manner. It prohibited them from keeping 
 schools, or taking upon themselves the educa- 
 tion or government of youth in any other man- 
 ner, under pain of perpetual imprisonment ; it 
 prevented them from inheriting property to 
 which they were lawful heirs, and even from 
 purchasing land ; it made the very observance of 
 their religious ceremonies difficult and hazard- 
 ous. In point of fact, these laws were so shock- 
 ing and unjust that they were constantly evaded ; 
 for only worthless people could be found to act 
 as spies and informers. Still it was a dreadful 
 thing for a man to be afraid of educating his 
 children in his own faith, or to know that he 
 was liable to be dispossessed of his rights, if 
 the next heir chose to call himself a Protestant. 
 
 Among those who thought such restrictions 
 cruel and unwise was a member of Parliament, 
 Sir George Saville, who in 177S brought in a
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 175 
 
 bill to repeal the harshest clauses in the Act of 
 William the Third. It was passed without 
 opposition, to the great satisfaction of all just 
 and liberal-minded people ; but was looked on 
 very differently by the prejudiced and ignorant 
 masses. 
 
 In those days the masses were very ignorant, 
 a large proportion of the humbler classes not 
 being able to read or write. People of this sort 
 have, as a rule, only narrow sympathies and very 
 little reasoning power ; as an old song says : 
 
 " Eemember when the judgment's weak 
 The prejudice is strong." 
 
 And when the very ignorant take up an idea in 
 an obstinate manner it is one of the hardest 
 things in the world to make them change it. 
 
 Now, a hundred years ago the generality of 
 people read very little ; but probably they talked 
 among themselves a great deal. Stones of the 
 persecution of Protestants when the Eoman 
 Catholics were in power had been handed down 
 from father to son for many generations, until 
 hatred of Popery was so widely spread that even 
 dull minds were fired with apprehension of evils
 
 176 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 to come, should the English Roman Catholics 
 be allowed liberty of action. This class were 
 enraged at the passing of Sir George Saville's 
 bill, which they denounced in the bitterest terms. 
 
 Meetings were held, at which no doubt the 
 speakers fanned each other's fury, and angry 
 pamphlets were circulated all over the country, 
 the Scotch being the first to resort to violent 
 measures. And yet Scotland was not included 
 in Sir George Saville's bill ; only had the Scotch 
 Catholics been promised relief. As early as 
 January, 1779, there were riots in Edinburgh, 
 when the mob destroyed two Roman Catholic 
 chapels, and a house where some priests lived. 
 In Glasgow there was no chapel of the sort to 
 denounce ; but finding an earthenware manu- 
 facturer who was a Catholic they demolished 
 his house and property, driving him and his 
 family away with insult. 
 
 Meanwhile there was a member of Parliament, 
 Lord George Gordon, who appears to have been 
 one of those weak-minded men whom no amount 
 of education could thoroughly enlighten. He 
 was a brother of the Duke of Gordon, and had
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 177 
 
 doubtless had all the advantages of education 
 becoming his station; but now, at nine-and- 
 twenty, he was as unreasoning a fanatic as many 
 of the ignorant herd he was destined so fatally 
 to influence. 
 
 Lord George Gordon had long been noted for 
 his eccentric dress and strange behaviour, though 
 
 o * o 
 
 up to this period he had probably been considered 
 only a harmless oddity and nobody's enemy but 
 his own. But that is rather a silly expression, 
 for those weak and foolish people who are called 
 " nobody's enemy but their own " often do a 
 vast deal of mischief to others besides them- 
 selves. At an early age he had entered the 
 Navy, but had left it in consequence of discon- 
 tent, and an altercation about his promotion. 
 After he obtained a seat in Parliament he dis- 
 tinguished himself by attacking all classes of 
 politicians, sometimes, it must be owned, with a 
 sort of cleverness ; so that after a time the say- 
 ing got about that there were three parties in 
 the House, namely, the Ministers, the Opposition, 
 and Lord George Gordon. 
 
 This was the man who denounced Sir George 
 
 N
 
 178 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 Saville's bill of relief in the most violent and 
 unreasonable manner. Soon he became the 
 popular idol of the common people, his support 
 greatly increasing the prevailing excitement. A 
 Society was formed called the Protestant Associ- 
 ation, of which he became the President, and to 
 which, so many persons subscribed that there 
 was no lack of money to print and to aid the 
 circulation of pamphlets, and get up petitions 
 asking the repeal of Sir George Saville's bill. 
 In the spring of 1780 Lord George presented 
 several of these petitions to Parliament, he 
 having at an earlier stage of the movement pro- 
 cured an interview with the King himself, in 
 which he had urged, in fanatical language, the 
 reimposing of pains and penalties on the Roman 
 Catholics. 
 
 Probably because George the Third had given 
 him no hope of royal assistance, he had the 
 audacity to insinuate that the King was at heart 
 a papist, and to declare in Parliament that the 
 mass of the Scotch nation were of that opinion. 
 It is rather surprising that at this stage of his 
 proceedings he was not stopped in his course,
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 179 
 
 for less disloyal words had often been counted 
 treason ; but it really appears that the members 
 already looked upon him as a wild, unreasonable 
 visionary, with whom it was waste of time to 
 argue, and actually allowed themselves to be 
 amused by his buffoonery. He talked of coming 
 down to the House with a hundred and fifty 
 thousand men at his back, and in the spring of 
 1780 he conceived the idea of a petition, the 
 signatures to which should make it long enough 
 to reach from the Speaker's chair to Whitehall. 
 
 At a meeting of the Protestant Association 
 he announced his intention of presenting this 
 petition on the 2nd of June, conditionally that 
 the whole body of the Association and their 
 friends should go in procession to present the 
 petition ; or, at any rate, that a number not less 
 than twenty thousand should do so. Every one 
 was to wear a blue cockade in his hat to distin- 
 guish him, and they were to meet in St. George's 
 Fields. 
 
 On the 26th of May Lord George announced 
 to the House of Commons that on the appointed 
 day he should present the petition, accompanied 
 
 N 2
 
 ISO STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 by all those who had signed it. The signatures, 
 however, in numerous instances, were only marks 
 that is, crosses affixed opposite the names, 
 when the persons indicated were unable them- 
 selves to write. This circumstance may give an 
 idea of the ignorance which prevailed among 
 the mob of people who thought they were quali- 
 fied to direct the legislation of their country ! 
 
 According to Lord George Gordon's instruc- 
 tions, when Friday, June 2nd, arrived, a vast 
 multitude assembled at the spot appointed. 
 Their number has been variously estimated, but 
 probably the crowd consisted of not less than 
 sixty thousand men. They began to gather by 
 ten o'clock in the morning, and marshalled 
 themselves in ranks, waiting for their leader. 
 "About eleven o'clock," says the "Annual Regis- 
 ter," " Lord George arrived, and gave directions 
 in what manner he would have them proceed, 
 and about twelve, one party was ordered to go 
 round over London Bridge, another over Black- 
 friars, and a third to follow him over West- 
 minster." A roll of parchment, which was the 
 petition, was borne before them, being carried
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. ] 81 
 
 on his head by a very tall man with a porter's 
 knot, most probably to help him. They pro- 
 ceeded with perfect decorum six abreast, and the 
 whole body reunited before the Houses of Par- 
 liament about half-past two o'clock, when they 
 raised a great shout. 
 
 But however peaceably inclined many of the 
 petitioners might be, the crowd had been joined 
 on its way by not a few vagabonds and pick- 
 pockets, and a number of heedless youths who 
 were only alive to the prospect of noisy excite- 
 ment. It very soon became apparent that the 
 unruly section was getting the upper hand. 
 Not content with flaunting their own blue cock- 
 ades and shouting " No Popery," they waylaid 
 members of Parliament, and insisted on their 
 wearing the cockades, and joining in the party 
 cry. 
 
 The mob took possession of the avenues lead- 
 ing to the Houses of Parliament, and indeed 
 twice attempted to force the doors. The Arch- 
 bishop of York was insulted with groans and 
 hisses and hootings. Lord Mansfield had the 
 panels of his carriage beaten in, and narrowly
 
 182 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON 
 
 escaped with life; Lord Bathurst, the President 
 of the Council, was pushed about and kicked 
 violently. The Duke of Northumberland was 
 robbed of his watch, and the Bishop of Lincoln 
 was so roughly treated that he probably owed his 
 life to the circumstance of finding shelter in a 
 house, where he changed his dress, and afterwards 
 escaped over the leads of some neighbouring 
 houses. The Bishop of Lichfield also had his 
 gown rent. 
 
 The Lords Townshend and Hillborough were 
 insulted, and so maltreated that, as the " Annual 
 Eegister " says, they were " sent into the House 
 without their bags and with their hair hanging 
 loose on their shoulders." In those days gentle- 
 men wore their hair very long and powdered ; 
 and the ends of the hair were gathered into a 
 little black silk bag at the nape of the neck. 
 Those who had not long hair wore artificial, and 
 when you hear mention made of a " bag- wig," 
 it is this style of wearing the hair which is meant. 
 Long after it went out of fashion for general 
 use, it remained a part of court dress ; and 
 quite as lately as fifty years ago, a few old
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 183 
 
 gentlemen were to be seen who had never relin- 
 quished the fashion of their youth, and con- 
 stantly wore the " bag-wig." There are plenty 
 of pictures extant portraying it. 
 
 It would make a long list to enumerate the 
 various Peers who were maltreated by the mob. 
 Lord Stormont was in their hands for nearly half 
 an hour, being rescued at last by a gentleman 
 who addressed the rioters with some temporary 
 success ; but no permanent impression was made, 
 and the crowd continued to behave more like 
 wild beasts than sane human creatures. 
 
 We can fancy what a scene must have pre- 
 sented itself inside the Houses of Parliament 
 when the members, with disordered hair and torn 
 clothes, and in many instances bearing even more 
 serious evidences of violence, at last forced their 
 entrance. All were in an angry and excited 
 state, all clamoured for something to be done, 
 though no one seemed clearly to know what 
 measures should be taken. Numbers were speak- 
 ing at the same time, so that little could be 
 distinctly understood, especially as the hooting 
 and shouting outside were deafening.
 
 184 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 Meanwhile Lord George Gordon must have 
 added fuel to the fire instead of allaying it, by 
 coming several times to the top of the gallery 
 stairs and addressing the people, telling them of 
 the bad treatment their petition was likely to 
 meet with. Moreover, he mentioned several 
 members who were opposed to it, especially Mr. 
 Burke, the member for Bristol. He said, indeed, 
 that there was some talk of the petition being 
 taken into consideration on the following Tues- 
 day, but that, for his own part, he did not like 
 delays, as Parliament might be prorogued by 
 that time. Afterwards he made a still more 
 inflammatory speech, encouraging the idea that 
 the King, dismayed by the numbers who were 
 assembled, would himself interfere on their 
 behalf. 
 
 General Conway and several other members 
 warned him in strong language of the mischief 
 he was doing by such harangues, and Colonel 
 Gordon, a near relation, went up to him and 
 addressed him in the following manner : 
 
 " My Lord George, do you intend to bring 
 your rascally adherents into the House of Com-
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 185 
 
 mons ? If you do, the first man of them that 
 enters, I will plunge my sword, not into his, but 
 into your body." 
 
 While Lord George was making his second 
 speech another of his relations, General Grant, 
 came behind him and endeavoured to draw him 
 away, entreating him not to lead this mass of 
 people into danger. But his words did more 
 harm than good, for Lord George, instead of 
 answering him, proceeded to say, in addressing 
 the mob, " You see in this effort to persuade me 
 from my duty before your eyes an instance of 
 the difficulties I have to encounter from such 
 wise men of this world as my honourable friend 
 behind my back." 
 
 Alderman Sawbridge and some others now 
 tried to persuade the people to clear the lobby 
 to which they had forced an entrance but with- 
 out success ; and matters were so serious that 
 soon afterwards a party of Guards and Horse 
 arrived to enforce order. Justice Addington, 
 who appeared at the head of the troops, was 
 received with hisses, but on his assuring the 
 people that he would order the soldiers away if
 
 186 STORIES Oe THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 only they would promise to disperse, he gained 
 their good opinion. The cavalry galloped off, 
 and about six hundred of the petitioners departed, 
 but not till they had given three cheers for the 
 magistrate. 
 
 "When something like order was restored, Lord 
 George introduced his petition, declaring it had 
 nearly a hundred and twenty thousand signa- 
 tures. After going through the necessary for- 
 malities, he moved that it should be taken into 
 immediate consideration. After some debate 
 the House divided, and there appeared six for the 
 petition and a hundred and ninety-two against it. 
 Soon afterwards the House broke up, the mob 
 were presumed to disperse, and the Guards were 
 ordered home. 
 
 But though order was restored in Westmin- 
 ster, the mob was by no means quieted. It 
 divided into parties, one body marching to the 
 Bavarian Eoman Catholic Chapel, near Lincoln's 
 Inn Fields, another to the Sardinian Chapel, in 
 "Warwick Street, Golden Square, both of which 
 they almost entirely destroyed before the soldiers 
 who were sent for could arrive. However, the
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 187 
 
 rioters were in some measure quelled, thirteen of 
 them being taken. It should be observed that 
 both these chapels had been allowed to exist by 
 treaties. 
 
 The next day, Saturday, affairs seemed less 
 alarming; but on the afternoon of Sunday, the 
 4th, the rioters again assembled in great force, 
 and proceeded, not only to attack the chapels, but 
 the dwelling-houses of the Eomanists in and 
 about Moorfields. They stripped the chapels of 
 all ornaments, and tore up altars, pews and 
 pulpits to make bonfires of them, leaving no- 
 thing but the bare walls and the houses they 
 robbed of their furniture. 
 
 On the Monday the mob again collected, and 
 paraded with some of their spoils to Lord George 
 Gordon's house in Welbeck Street, evidently to 
 show him what they had done, and afterwards 
 burnt them in some fields near at hand. A hun- 
 dred years ago Welbeck Street was on the out- 
 skirts of London, instead of being as now in the 
 midst of the metropolis. 
 
 You may naturally wonder that the Govern- 
 ment did not speedily put a stop to such out-
 
 188 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 rageous proceedings, but it was not lawful 
 for the soldiers to fire on the people without the 
 authority of the civil magistrates, and the cere- 
 mony of reading the Riot Act of Parliament, 
 which justified using the military to quell dis- 
 turbance of the peace; and probably for two 
 reasons the magistrates were slow to take violent 
 measures. In the first place, they were anxious, 
 if possible, to avoid bloodshed ; and, in the 
 next, it is not likely they forgot the fate of Mr. 
 Gillam, a magistrate who, only a dozen years 
 before, that is in 1768, had been tried for his 
 life because he gave orders to the soldiers to 
 lire on the crowd on the occasion of riots in St. 
 George's Fields. He had borne with the rioters 
 for a long time, and the riot act had been twice 
 read before the firing, and it is hard to under- 
 stand how he could have been even blamed. 
 But the remembrance of this circumstance must 
 have intimidated the magistrates in 1780. It 
 is also probable that they did not yet perceive 
 the gravity of the occasion. The soldiers were 
 called out, it is true, but, not being allowed to 
 defend themselves, they were absolutely insulted
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 1S9 
 
 and maltreated by the mob, the rioters pulling 
 their noses and spitting in their faces. 
 
 Moreover, at a Cabinet Council held at St. 
 James's this Monday morning, the Lord Chief 
 Justice Mansfield had treated the riot as a com- 
 paratively trivial affair, and no decided measure 
 had been taken except to offer a reward of five 
 hundred pounds for the discovery of the rioters 
 who had destroyed the Bavarian and Sardinian 
 Chapels. Even when, later in the day, Strahan 
 the printer called on him to express his appre- 
 hensions, and no doubt to describe much that was 
 happening, he could not be made to see the affair 
 in its true light. Little could the Chief Justice 
 have imagined the victim he himself was speedily 
 to be. 
 
 Doubtless many other people were of Lord 
 Mansfield's opinion, and thought that surely 
 now the tumult would subside ; otherwise we 
 cannot fancy they would have had the heart to 
 go through the ceremony of attending the draw- 
 ing-room, however loyal they might have felt. 
 With London in the hands of the rabble, the 
 state and pageantry of the Court seemed out of
 
 190 STORIES OV THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 place. But the 4th of June was the King's 
 birthday, and falling on a Sunday it was 
 kept in the usual manner on the following 
 day. George the Third was, at that time 
 especially, a much-beloved king, and his birth- 
 day was always kept as a festival. As was 
 usual, he held a drawing-room, and an ode 
 written by the Poet Laureate was chanted in his 
 honour. But while the carriages and sedan- 
 chairs of the nobility were taking them to Court, 
 the "blue cockades" were busy doing infinite 
 mischief in other parts of the town. They 
 wreaked their vengeance on some tradesmen who 
 had given evidence against the rioters that were 
 committed to Newgate by plundering their 
 shops ; and a detachment of the mob made its 
 way to Leicester Fields to attack the house 
 of Sir George Saville, the author of the bill for 
 the relief of the Papists This they stripped 
 of its furniture and then set fire to the 
 building. 
 
 On the morning of Tuesday the 6th both 
 Houses of Parliament met. A detachment of 
 foot-guards was placed in Westminster Hall ;
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 191 
 
 but the mob, well aware that they would not fire 
 without the riot act being read, waylaid the 
 Peers and Commoners, and insulted and mal- 
 treated them just as they had done on the 
 Friday. They dragged Lord Sandwich from 
 his carriage, which they demolished, and ill- 
 treated him, though he was rescued by a Justice 
 of the Peace, who appeared with a party of sol- 
 diers. Mr. Hyde, the Justice, rode among the 
 crowd with the cavalry, hoping to disperse the 
 offenders ; but the soldiers were so fearful of 
 exceeding the law that they would not even 
 strike the mob with the flat of their swords. 
 One almost fears that the soldiers who were 
 for the most part far more ignorant than 
 the soldiers of the present day must have 
 sympathized in some measure with the rioters. 
 
 Mr. Hyde paid dearly for his generous and 
 patriotic conduct, for the mob raised the cry of 
 " To Hyde's house, ahoy ! " and proceeding to 
 St. Martin's Lane, where he lived, they speedily 
 pulled down his house. 
 
 There was great indignation in the House of 
 Commons when Lord George appeared wearing
 
 192 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 the hateful blue cockade. One member, indeed, 
 Colonel Herbert, declared his resolve not to sit 
 and vote in the House while the noble Lord wore 
 the ensign of riot in his hat, and vowed that if 
 his lordship did not remove it he would do it 
 for him. Lord George seemed cowed by this 
 threat, for he took the cockade from his hat and 
 put it in his pocket. No doubt by this time he 
 was alarmed at the turn affairs had taken, and 
 began to perceive that they had passed quite 
 beyond his control. He had issued a hand-bill 
 on the part of the Protestant Association dis- 
 avowing any share in the riots, but it made no 
 impression on the mob. 
 
 The orator Edmund Burke and Sir George 
 Saville seemed to have the clearest heads in the 
 House of Commons. They recommended all 
 parties to unite and persuade ministers to take 
 strong measures ; but the majority of members 
 appeared frightened, and carried a resolution to 
 the effect that the famous petition should be 
 taken into consideration when the disorders had 
 subsided. There was some talk of committing 
 Lord George to the Tower, but whilst this
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 193 
 
 measure was under discussion there was alarming 
 news from the city, and the House adjourned 
 in a hurry. 
 
 The mob was now more dangerous and un- 
 governable than ever. The more respectable 
 members of the Protestant Association, however 
 fanatical their opinions might be, were not 
 thieves nor despoilers, and in consternation at 
 the destruction which had taken place, had with- 
 drawn from the scene. They were frightened 
 at the disturbance, though they could not have 
 been ignorant that they had helped to occasion 
 it. The rioters now consisted mainly of pick- 
 pockets and burglars, and the vilest dregs of the 
 populace wretched beings without conscience 
 and for the most part as ignorant as savages ; 
 though it is to be feared there were not a few 
 youths who were led to take part in the work 
 of destruction from a mere unreasoning love of 
 excitement. 
 
 While the House of Commons was sitting 
 the rioters attacked the house of the Prime 
 Minister, Lord North, but happily some soldiers 
 succeeded in saving the mansion. Foiled in
 
 194 STORIES OF THE CITY OP LONDON. 
 
 this attempt the mob now marched on to 
 Newgate, vowing they would break open the 
 prison and release their fellows who had been 
 imprisoned there since Friday. They were 
 armed with crow-bars and pickaxes and heavy 
 sledge hammers, and on the governor refusing to 
 give up their comrades they attacked his door 
 and windows and when these gave way flung 
 the furniture out of the window and set fire to 
 his dwelling by throwing fire-brands and com- 
 bustibles into it. While it was burning they 
 attacked the strong door of the prison with 
 their tools ; but finding it did not yield they 
 brought heaps of the governor's furniture which 
 they piled against the door and then set on fire. 
 Prom the governor's house the flames spread 
 to the prison chapel, and thence to some pas- 
 sages leading to the wards. On perceiving this 
 the mob raised shouts and yells of triumph, 
 which were mingled with shouts and cries from 
 the prisoners, some of whom were delighting in 
 the expectation of release, while others were 
 dreading that they should perish by fire. The 
 rioters had broken into the governor's cellar
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 195 
 
 and were maddening themselves with wine and 
 spirits till their ferocity knew no bounds. 
 
 Many of the mob had themselves at one time 
 or another been prisoners in Newgate, and were 
 well acquainted with its interior, and led on by 
 them the crowd made a rush through the gaps 
 caused by the fire, and soon found themselves 
 masters of the place. Three hundred criminals, 
 four of whom were under sentence of death, were 
 thus released not one being left behind, and 
 not one perishing in the flames. They joined 
 the roaring multitude, and shouted their rejoic- 
 ing at seeing the new strong prison consumed 
 by fire. Newgate prison had been lately rebuilt 
 at a vast expense, but by the next morning, 
 nothing remained of it but the blackened walls. 
 
 When we consider the severity of the English 
 laws a century ago, when men were hanged for 
 petty thefts and offences, that now are only 
 punished by a short imprisonment, it seems pro- 
 bable that the released criminals were not any 
 viler than the mob they joined, but at any rate 
 they added to its number. Even in the case of 
 the four men under sentence of death, it by no 
 
 o 2
 
 196 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 means follows that they were murderers or cul- 
 prits of the deepest dye. And it is told that one 
 of them when the riots were quelled gave him- 
 self up again to justice. One feels curious to 
 know whether he was so weary of life that he was 
 willing to resign it, or whether he foresaw that 
 he should be pardoned, as speedily was the case. 
 After burning Newgate the next proceeding 
 of the mob was to break open Clerkenwell prison 
 and release the prisoners there, who of course 
 swelled the crowd. Aided by this reinforcement 
 they attacked the houses of two very active 
 magistrates, Mr. Cox and Sir John Fielding, and 
 then with increasing fury proceeded to Blooms- 
 bury Square, where Lord Mansfield resided. 
 Already, they felt themselves so completely mas- 
 ters of London, that they compelled the terri- 
 fied citizens to illuminate their houses and hang 
 out flags and banners with the inscription, " No 
 Popery," upon them. Even the Jews wrote on 
 their doors, " This house is Protestant." Business 
 was almost entirely suspended, shops with few 
 exceptions being closed from Tyburn to White- 
 chapel ; and the more courageous people armed
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 197 
 
 themselves with whatever weapons they could 
 command. Many houses looked like places pre- 
 pared for a siege. 
 
 A friend narrates that two of his grand parents 
 were married in London during the week of the 
 Gordon Riots. "When all arrangements are 
 made, and guests invited, it is troublesome to 
 put off a wedding ; thus the ceremony was duly 
 performed, notwithstanding the terrible state of 
 the town. It would, however, have been impos- 
 sible after leaving the church to pass with safety 
 through the streets, in only the ordinary manner ; 
 so the wedding party assumed the blue cockades 
 instead of white favours, and covered the post 
 chaise containing the bridal pair with placards 
 of " No Popery." Thus in the guise of violent 
 partizans did they escape into the country. 
 
 Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice of 
 England, was one of the ablest and most consci- 
 entious men ever raised to his exalted position. 
 He was emphatically a "just judge," and it 
 was because he had administered the law im- 
 partially to churchmen and dissenters, to quakers 
 and to Eoman Catholics ; and especially because
 
 198 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 he had refused to convict a priest for exercising 
 the offices of his religion that the mob were 
 incensed against him. 
 
 It was about midnight when the rioters, in- 
 furiated with spirits and beer which they had 
 extorted from publicans arrived at Lord Mans- 
 field's house in Bloomsbury Square, which was 
 then a fashionable part of London. Of course, 
 a private residence could offer but little resist- 
 ance to the attacks of such a multitude, and 
 Lord Mansfield, now seventy -five years of age, 
 and Lady Mansfield had barely time to escape 
 by a back-door before the mob effected an 
 entrance by demolishing the doors and windows. 
 Then they proceeded to throw out the furniture, 
 pictures and books, which were speedily made 
 into bonfires. 
 
 Lord Mansfield had one of the finest libraries 
 in England, and its destruction by an ignorant 
 rabble, who were quite incapable of estimating 
 its value may be justly considered as a national 
 loss. It had been the collection of a long life, 
 and comprised not only law books but valuable 
 works of general literature. And besides the
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 199 
 
 books many important papers and deeds were 
 consumed, and a vast collection of letters from 
 eminent men which Lord Mansfield was said to 
 have preserved to aid him. in writing the 
 memoirs of his own times, a task which he had 
 hoped to perform. When furniture, pictures, 
 wearing apparel, books, and papers were con- 
 sumed, the mob set fire to the house, having first 
 broken into the wine cellar and added to their 
 intoxication by drinking the fine wines they 
 found there. 
 
 It is a most surprising fact that early in these 
 savage proceedings, though a party of foot 
 guards appeared on the scene, they remained 
 quite inactive ; and when a friend of Lord 
 Mansfield's remonstrated with them they de- 
 clared that without the orders of a magistrate 
 they dared not act, and that the magistrates had 
 all fled from the scene in terror! Imagine 
 what it must have been to witness the wholesale 
 destruction of property that was taking place 
 by a party of ferocious ruffians armed with 
 sledge-hammers, iron bars and many other for- 
 midable weapons; while combustibles were
 
 200 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 kindled in all the rooms ; and at the same time 
 a party of soldiers with muskets in their hands 
 looking calmly on awaiting the necessary order 
 to quiet the tumult ! Certainly some one in 
 authority must have been greatly and gravely 
 to blame. When at last a magistrate was found 
 and the soldiers were ordered to fire, the work 
 of destruction was done, and probably the men 
 who were killed and wounded were so stupefied 
 with drink that they were hardly conscious ot 
 the retribution. The whole story of these riots 
 is a very painful one. An ignorant and vicious 
 rabble, powerful only from their brute strength, 
 were in reality masters of London for several 
 day?, while the class who should have controlled 
 them seemed paralyzed by fear. 
 
 On "Wednesday the 7th, the consternation of 
 well-disposed people seemed at its height. They 
 barricaded their houses, chalked " No Popery " 
 on their doors, and hung out blue streamers 
 blue being the colour of the Protestant Associ- 
 ation. But protestant zeal had now nothing to 
 do with the mob, which was only bent on plun- 
 der and destruction. Some of the rioters were
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 201 
 
 armed with iron bars which had been the rail- 
 ings in front of Lord Mansfield's house, and 
 they went about stripping the houses tenanted 
 by quiet respectable people, or levying contribu- 
 tions of money from them. One man who rode 
 on horseback claimed gold and would take 
 nothing less. 
 
 Not satisfied with having destroyed Lord 
 Mansfield's town house a party of rioters pro- 
 ceeded to his residence near Highgate, intending 
 to burn that also, but happily they were met by 
 a detachment of cavalry who turned them back. 
 They had also intended to sack the Bank of 
 England, but found it guarded by infantry, who 
 fired on them, killing and wounding a great 
 number. They were however apparently but 
 little daunted, for they broke open several prisons, 
 including the King's Bench, the Fleet and the 
 Marshalsea, of course setting free the prisoners. 
 They plundered the toll-houses at Blackfriars 
 Bridge and then burnt them down, and had so 
 systematized their proceedings that they had a 
 list of the public buildings they intended to 
 destroy, the Mansion House, the Royal Ex-
 
 202 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 change and the British Museum being among 
 them. Happily their plans were frustrated with 
 regard to these buildings. They even threatened 
 to break open Bedlam and release its miserable 
 and dangerous inmates. 
 
 One more dreadful scene, however, had yet to 
 be enacted. Mr. Langdale, who had a large dis- 
 tillery on Holborn Bridge was a Roman Catholic. 
 Probably his stores of spirits were the temptation 
 to violence, though his religion was made the ex- 
 cuse for it. The rioters broke open his premises, 
 staved in his hogsheads of spirits, filled pails 
 and even their hats with the liquor, drank deeply 
 of it, and passed it on to the mob 'outside till 
 the kennels ran with gin and brandy and pure 
 alcohol; and even wretched women and chil- 
 dren, as well as men, were seen on their knees 
 sucking up the intoxicating fluid. Some of these 
 miserable beings, helpless from drunkenness, 
 perished in the flames, for as usual the plundered 
 premises were set on fire and, flooded as they 
 were by the spirit that was spilt, the flames at 
 once sprang up high and spread in all direc- 
 tions.
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 203 
 
 It was about this time that, as Dr. Johnson 
 recorded, there were thirty-six fires burning at 
 the same time. Happily it was calm summer 
 weather, for had the wind been high the flames 
 must have spread, and the historian would prob- 
 ably have had to record another great fire of 
 London. 
 
 Meanwhile the timidity and irresolution of 
 the Government had been disastrous. It was 
 said that the Ministers even stooped to curry 
 favour with the mob by allowing their servants 
 to flaunt the blue cockade. But on this Wed- 
 nesday the 7th, the Government seemed to 
 imbibe vigour. It is greatly to the credit of 
 George the Third that he showed much more 
 courage and determination than his Ministers 
 on this occasion. He called a council at which 
 he presided, and asked what steps the Govern- 
 ment was going to take to suppress the fright- 
 ful tumult. The whole Cabinet appeared con- 
 fused at the question, and instead of answering 
 it promptly, begged leave to remind the King 
 of the verdicts which had been passed against 
 officers who discharged military duties against
 
 204 STORIES OK THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 the rioters in 1768. It was the prevailing 
 opinion that it was not lawful to attack the 
 mob, whatever it might do, until an hour after 
 reading the Riot Act. This was quite a per- 
 version of the meaning of the Act, but even had 
 such belief been well founded, it was no excuse 
 for the recent neglect, for officers were ready to 
 perform their duty at command, and had sat for 
 hours on their horses surrounded by troops, 
 watching the wild excesses of the mob and the 
 destruction of property, but waiting for autho- 
 rity to fire. 
 
 Wedderburn, the Attorney-General, afterwards 
 Lord Loughborough, was the first to answer the 
 King's question in a satisfactory manner. He 
 declared that not a single hour after reading the 
 Act was required for the dispersion of the mob, 
 and that in such extreme cases as so many recent 
 ones had been not even the reading of the Act 
 was necessary if a military force was required to 
 prevent the firing of a dwelling-house the act 
 being felony. 
 
 Encouraged by this high legal decision, the 
 King declared it had always been his opinion
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 205 
 
 that such was the law and that now he would 
 act with decision. There should, he said, be at 
 least one magistrate in the kingdom who would 
 do his duty. The opinion of the Attorney- 
 General and the firmness of the King seemed 
 to give the council courage. A proclamation 
 was issued requiring all householders and their 
 families to keep within doors, while the King's 
 officers suppressed the riot by military force. 
 
 This proclamation was speedily followed by 
 the despatch of soldiers to various quarters of 
 the town. Now began scenes only less horrible 
 than the preceding ones. The first body of 
 troops called into operation was the Northum- 
 berland militia, who had entered London by a 
 forced march only that day. They were led 
 against the rioters at Langdale's distillery, where 
 already there had been great loss of life. 
 Another party proceeded to Blackfriars Bridge, 
 where numbers perished by falling from the 
 parapet into the river. Other troops marched 
 off to other districts to restore order, and when- 
 ever the mob failed to disperse the word of com- 
 mand was given and the troops fired in volleys.
 
 206 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 Remembering how narrow many of the London 
 streets then were it is easy to understand that 
 many of the crowd might he eager to escape and 
 yet could not do so. But on the other hand time 
 had been allowed for well-disposed persons to 
 remain at home, and those who failed to obey 
 suffered the dreadful consequences. It must in- 
 deed have been horrible for quiet citizens who had 
 obeyed the proclamation to remain in their closed 
 houses with shutters barred to listen to the 
 tramp of soldiers, the hooting of the crowd, and 
 the firing of muskets with military precision, 
 followed by the shrieks of the wounded. 
 But the five days of terror through which they 
 had passed must have made them deeply thankful 
 that the Government was defending them at last, 
 and in many instances bodies of civilians armed 
 themselves and came forth to assist the troops. 
 Not less than twenty-five thousand soldiers 
 were now assembled in London and the suburbs, 
 all ready to act as occasion might require, and 
 this display of force, together with the energy of 
 the authorities, now thoroughly aroused, so 
 quelled the turbulent mass that by night the
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 207 
 
 town was perfectly quiet. The streets indeed 
 seemed even more still than usual, for wearied 
 with the recent excitement people were thank- 
 ful to rest. In many places blood ran in the 
 kennels, for it was^ computed that two hundred 
 men were shot in the streets, and two hundred 
 and fifty were carried to the hospitals seriously 
 wounded, of whom subsequently nearly a hun- 
 dred died. Of course there must have been many 
 more slightly injured who managed to escape. 
 
 On the next morning, Thursday the 8th of 
 June, it has been said " the city looked in places 
 as if it had been sacked by an invading army." 
 Firemen were busy among the smoking ruins of 
 prisons and other buildings trying to extinguish 
 the still smouldering remains ; while men and 
 women the latter often with children in their 
 arms were lying about on doorsteps and on 
 bulks and stalls sleeping off the fumes of the pre- 
 vious day's drunkenness. Troops were stationed 
 in the parks, at the .Royal Exchange and some 
 other important places, but most of the shops 
 still continued closed, and no public business 
 was transacted except at the Bank of England.
 
 208 STORIES OF THE CITY OP LONDON. 
 
 On the morning of Friday the 9th the law 
 courts resumed their sittings, and shops once 
 more were generally opened. On this day Lord 
 George Gordon, the author of all the disasters, 
 was committed to the Tower on a Secretary of 
 State's warrant. When he was arrested at his 
 house in Welbeck Street he made no resistance, 
 only observing to the officers, " If you are sure 
 it is I you want, I am ready to attend you." 
 He was charged with high treason, and a strong 
 guard escorted him to that famous stronghold. 
 Perhaps it had been thought that there would be 
 some attempt to rescue him, but his adherents 
 were now quite subdued, and as spiritless as 
 himself. 
 
 When the Parliament met on the 19th for it 
 had been adjourned during the riot the King 
 delivered a speech, in which he justified the 
 measures he had taken to suppress the distur- 
 bance. But no one thought such justification 
 necessary ; people only lamented that military 
 force had not been employed earlier. Addresses 
 were moved in each house thanking the King 
 for his paternal care of the public interest, and
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 209 
 
 they were warmly carried, for the King had been 
 the first to see the exigence of the case and to 
 act with the needful spirit. 
 
 It is surprising that any sensible person could 
 have been found who disapproved of the manner 
 in which the riots had at last been put down ; 
 but there must have been some dissentient 
 opinion, or Lord Mansfield would not have 
 thought it necessary in the House of Peers to 
 defend the employment of the military as he did. 
 In speaking of the legality of the measure he 
 made an allusion to the loss of his library which 
 must have been pathetic. 
 
 " I have not," he said, " consulted books, in- 
 deed I have no books to consult. His Majesty 
 and those who have advised him, I repeat it, 
 have acted in strict conformity to the common 
 law. The military have been called in, and very 
 wisely called in not as soldiers, but as citizens. 
 No matter whether their coats be red or brown, 
 they were employed, not to subvert but to pre- 
 serve the laws and constitution which we all so 
 highly prize." 
 
 This famous speech has become an authority
 
 210 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 on the question of the legality of employing 
 soldiers to suppress a riot. It expresses the 
 simple law on the subject. Soldiers are to be 
 employed where civil authority fails, but only 
 under civil authority. When a mob begins to 
 destroy property the act becomes felony, and a 
 magistrate is justified in reading the Riot Act, 
 and if the crowd does not instantly disperse, in 
 ordering the military to fire upon it. 
 
 The day after the assembling of Parliament 
 the Commons entered into consideration of the 
 great Protestant petition, and very strong was 
 the discussion which ensued. The outcome of 
 it, however, was that the cruel restrictions on the 
 Roman Catholics were not re-enacted. 
 
 In the course of a few weeks rioters to the 
 number of one hundred and thirty-five were 
 tried several of them being women. Those 
 who had been imprisoned in the city were tried 
 at the regular Old Bailey sessions ; the others 
 on the Surrey side of the river by a royal com- 
 mission. About one half were found guilty ; 
 and of those thus convicted twenty-one were 
 executed and the remainder transported for life.
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 211 
 
 Among those sentenced 1 to death was Edward 
 Dennis, the common hangman, who however for 
 some reason or another was reprieved. The 
 trial of Lord George Gordon was postponed un- 
 til the beginning of the following year. 
 
 It is dreadful to reflect on the ignominious 
 death of so many wretched people, among whom 
 were women, but it is also dreadful to picture 
 to ourselves the scenes of terror and destruction 
 for which the culprits suffered. Their trials 
 were conducted with calmness and decorum, 
 and according to the law of England, as it then 
 existed, by their theft and violence and especi- 
 ally by their setting fire to buildings they had 
 incurred the penalty of death. It is computed 
 that seventy-two private houses were consumed 
 by fire, besides the four gaols, during this week 
 of terror. 
 
 When an estimate was made of the loss sus- 
 tained, both Lord Mansfield and Sir George 
 Saville declined to accept compensation for the 
 destruction of their valuable property. 
 
 The trial of Lord George Gordon took place 
 on February 5th, 1781. He was arraigned for 
 
 p 2
 
 212 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 high treason as " George Gordon Esq commonly 
 called Lord George Gordon," because he was a 
 commoner not a peer, the title by which he was 
 known being what is called a courtesy title 
 accorded to him as the son of a, duke. The 
 prisoner was defended with great eloquence by 
 Mr., afterwards Lord, Erskine, and the presid- 
 ing judge was William Earl of Mansfield, who 
 had been so wronged by the rioters. 
 
 But it was in keeping with Lord Mansfield's 
 greatness of character that he allowed no per- 
 sonal enmity to appear on this memorable occa- 
 sion. On the contrary, in his charge to the jury 
 he dwelt so forcibly on all the points of law that 
 were in the prisoner's favour, and summed up 
 the evidence so clearly, that the jury after half 
 an hour's deliberation pronounced the prisoner 
 " not guilty" 
 
 No doubt this verdict disappointed many of 
 those people who were still smarting under the 
 remembrance of all they had suffered during the 
 riots, and who believed quite truly that Lord 
 George had been the original instigator of the 
 disturbance. But technically the lawyers were
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 213 
 
 right in their expounding of the law. His pre- 
 senting the petition was not illegal, and how- 
 ever morally he was responsible for what followed 
 he was not so legally. 
 
 Perhaps the worst point against him was the 
 fact of his having given letters of protection to 
 certain persons worded in the following man- 
 ner : 
 
 " All true friends to Protestants will be par- 
 ticular, and do no injury to the property of any 
 true Protestant, as I am well assured the pro- 
 prietor of this house is a staunch and worthy 
 friend to the cause. 
 
 "G. GORDON." 
 
 This certainly was very like giving the au- 
 thority of a leader to injure those who were not 
 Protestants. 
 
 However he was not without sympathizers, 
 for some persons thought he had been made the 
 scape-goat of the magistrates, who by neglecting 
 their duty had allowed the rioters to proceed in 
 their depredations instead of suppressing the 
 tumult at an early stage.
 
 214 STORIES OP THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 As years passed on the eccentricities of Lord 
 George Gordon increased, and the wonder is that 
 his family did not put him under restraint. In 
 1786, he was excommunicated hy the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury for his refusal to appear as 
 a witness in an ecclesiastical court, the sentence 
 being pronounced in the church of St. Mary-le- 
 bonne, on the 7th of April in that year. 
 
 In 1788 he was tried and found guilty of 
 libelling the Queen of France, the French Am- 
 bassador and the English law and crown officers. 
 On this he withdrew to Holland, but the magis- 
 trates of Amsterdam sent him back to England. 
 He was committed to Newgate in accordance 
 with the sentence pronounced on him for libel, 
 and there spent the short remainder of his life. 
 He died of fever, November the 1st, 1793. 
 
 Some years previously he had changed his 
 religion, giving up the Christian faith, notwith- 
 standing his former zeal for the Protestant cause. 
 Chroniclers of the time say he became a Jew ; 
 and conformed strictly to all the Jewish observ- 
 ances. This he might do, but the Jews are a 
 nation, a race, a peculiar people, and in reality
 
 THE GORDON RIOTS. 215 
 
 no " gentile " can become one of them. The 
 circumstance, however, is but another proof of a 
 certain weakness of mind, so nearly allied to 
 insanity, that one is inclined to close the history 
 of Lord George .Gordon with more of pity than 
 censure. But the riots which still bear his 
 name taught a terrible lesson, showing how fear- 
 ful a thing it is for ignorant brute force, excited 
 by angry and unreasoning passion, to get the 
 upper hand even for an hour.
 
 21G 
 
 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 
 
 WITH PERSONAL BECOLLECTIONS OF THE 
 ENGINEER. 
 
 T cannot be quite easy 
 lor young persons of the 
 present day to imagine 
 the London of fifty or 
 sixty years ago, and the 
 manner of life its citi- 
 zens led ; for to do so 
 requires nearly as much 
 mental effort as is necessary to realize the des- 
 criptions of far more distant times. At the 
 period when Marc Isambard Brunei conceived 
 the idea of the Thames Tunnel, there was no 
 such thing as railway travelling ; no uniform 
 penny postage, and a score of conveniences now 
 iu general use were then unknown. Above all
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 217 
 
 the mighty engineering works which within the 
 last half century have become new wonders of 
 the world had no existence. It is necessary to 
 understand and remember all this, when con- 
 sidering the genius and character of a man who 
 was in many respects even more interesting than 
 his works. 
 
 Marc Isambard Brunei was by birth a French- 
 man, having been born at the village of Hoc- 
 queville in Normandy, April 25th, 1769. His 
 father was a small landed proprietor, and, with 
 something of the ambition which in many other 
 countries is felt by the same class, he originally 
 intended his son for the church. But the youth 
 had no predilection for a clerical career, while 
 he very early evinced remarkable talent for all 
 sorts of mechanical contrivances. In fact he 
 was only happy carpentering and constructing. 
 There seems to have been no thought of indulg- 
 ing him entirely in the choice of a profession 
 but a sort of compromise was effected. The 
 father gave up the cherished idea of his son 
 becoming a priest, and the son consented to 
 enter the French Navy.
 
 218 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 To qualify himself for the service, he studied 
 mathematics, in which he made astonishing pro- 
 gress in a short space of time. It is said that 
 he never required to read a proposition in Euclid 
 more than once ; and when he was introduced 
 to the naval officer under whom he was about to 
 serve, it was an opportunity for proving his 
 powers of observation and memory. 
 
 There happened to be a quadrant on the 
 table, and though from his reading he was ac- 
 quainted with the nature of the instrument, he 
 had never seen one before ; he did not dare to 
 touch it, but by walking round the table and 
 carefully looking at it, he was able to construct 
 an instrument which he used all the time he 
 was in the Navy. He was by this time accom- 
 plished in both drawing and penmanship ; the 
 latter as executed by him was to use a common 
 expression like a copper-plate engraving in its 
 neatness and precision. It was not by any 
 means small writing, and least of all was it like 
 the ordinary writing of the French ; beautiful 
 it was to look at, with a peculiar character of its 
 own and as easy to read as print. As it became
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 219 
 
 his habit to give written instructions to those 
 who were employed by him in his great achieve- 
 ments this rare handwriting was a great advan- 
 tage. 
 
 His accomplishment in drawing may be esti- 
 mated by the fact that he could draw an exact 
 circle with his hand, and then determine the 
 centre of it with perfect precision. Only a very 
 few great artists have been able to do this. 
 
 Brunei, however, was not destined to remain 
 long in the Navy. The Great French Bevolu- 
 tion broke out, and all who belonged to the 
 better classes were more or less in danger. 
 Brunei was in the Eoyal Navy, and was besides 
 just well enough born to be called an "aristo- 
 crat." Happening to be in Paris at the time that 
 the revolutionary assembly voted the death of 
 the unfortunate Louis the Sixteenth, he became 
 a marked man in consequence of a few words he 
 uttered at a caft. They were expressive , of 
 strong condemnation of the proceedings of the 
 Assembly ; and to make matters worse he was 
 heard to call to his dog in derision as a " citi- 
 zen." It was just at the time when all titles
 
 220 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 were abolished, and the noblest in the land, and 
 the lowest and most ignorant were alike called 
 " citizens." Brunei's defence of the unhappy 
 King and his " viens citoyen ! " to his dog nearly 
 brought him to the guillotine. 
 
 At this time Brunei was in his twenty-fourth 
 year and engaged to be married to a young Eng- 
 lish lady Miss Sophia Kingdom whose ac- 
 quaintance he had made while she was at school 
 at Rouen. I, who am telling you this story, 
 knew them both in their old age, and have 
 heard them speak with much emotion of that 
 troubled time. Brunei managed to escape to 
 America doubtless in full confidence that Miss 
 Kingdom being English would be safe. Such, 
 however, was not the case. Her engagement to 
 the proscribed man compromised her, and it was 
 several months before her friends could rescue 
 her. Girl as she was she was confined in a prison, 
 and always believed that she owed her release at 
 last to the pity of the jailor's wife. 
 
 During the voyage to America, Brunei made 
 the acquaintance of a gentleman who was en- 
 gaged to make certain surveys in connection
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 221 
 
 with the Hudson, and gladly accepted from him 
 the situation of his assistant. In this employ- 
 ment Brunei so distinguished himself that on 
 his return to New York he was very soon 
 engaged as engineer in the construction of 
 various sorts of machinery, and as architect in 
 the erection of public buildings. He made im- 
 provements in the printing press, and in the 
 machinery for the boring of ordnance. The 
 first theatre at New York was built after his 
 designs ; it was subsequently burned down but 
 is said to have been famous for its symmetry 
 and beauty. 
 
 In this manner seven years passed away. 
 Great and dreadful events had happened in 
 France, and Brunei had no desire to return to 
 his own .country, then passing under the sway 
 of Bonaparte. But he did desire to make Miss 
 Kingdom his wife, and to find in her country 
 his home. Indeed he had long felt enthusiasm 
 about England, for it is related of him that 
 when a schoolboy he was lost in admiration of 
 her manufacturing skill. His chief recreation 
 at Eouen was watching the ships at the quays.
 
 222 STORIES OF THE CITY OP LONDON. 
 
 One day some large iron castings were landed, 
 which seemed to take him by surprise. He 
 found, in answer to his inquiries, that they were 
 parts of an engine to pump by steam and were 
 intended t for the Paris waterworks. " England 
 England ! " cried the boy, " what a country it 
 must be to make such machines as these ! I 
 must see it when I am a man." 
 
 Accordingly his boyish wish was gratified ; 
 he left America, and arrived in England in the 
 year 1800. The reputation of his talents had 
 preceded him, and henceforth they were devoted 
 to his adopted country as energetically as if he 
 had been truly her son. The betrothed pair 
 were so aged and altered by the trials they had 
 encountered that neither would have known the 
 other had they met as strangers. This they 
 said when telling of those old times forty years 
 afterwards. 
 
 Brunei's first great invention by which England 
 profited, was that for improvement in the machi- 
 nery for making blocks for the Navy. Many 
 difficulties had to be surmounted, and the rights 
 of a patent to be respected, so that it was not
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 223 
 
 until the year 1808 that his machinery came 
 into full operation. By it six men can do the 
 work of sixty under the old method ; and his 
 invention was the origin of many mechanical 
 improvements that save labour. 
 
 Brunei's block machinery at once saved the 
 government 20,000 per annum, and he asked 
 that sum as his reward. It was not accorded ; 
 two thirds of a year's saving having been the 
 award. His reputation however as a first class 
 engineer was now established, and works of 
 great importance succeeded each other with 
 rapidity. The first double-acting marine steam 
 engine was his invention. 
 
 But the project into which perhaps more than 
 all others he threw his best energies was that of 
 connecting the northern and southern banks of 
 the Thames below Bridge in such a manner that 
 navigation would not be impeded; and this 
 could only be done by means of a tunnel. 
 
 Now before we can rightly estimate Brunei's 
 genius and work we have to remember that the 
 idea of the Thames Tunnel, had been in his 
 mind for many years before he could find a suffi-
 
 224 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 cient number of persons with faith in him to 
 provide the necessary funds for his undertaking, 
 and so form a Company. Perhaps we ought not 
 to wonder at the public being slow to believe in 
 the possibility of such a work being completed ; 
 for there had been much talk of a similar 
 thing at the close of the last century, when it 
 had been pronounced impracticable by a skilful 
 engineer. Notwithstanding this opinion, some- 
 thing of the sort had been attempted a few 
 years later, but after considerable labour the work 
 had been abandoned which failure of course 
 only confirmed belief in the engineer's opinion. 
 But though Brunei believed that he should 
 accomplish his object, he in no way underrated 
 the difficulties he should have to encounter. 
 The greatest of these unquestionably was the 
 nature of the soil which forms the bed of the 
 Thames. Geologists knew that beyond a par- 
 ticular depth a sort of quicksand would be 
 reached ; it was therefore necessary to keep well 
 above so insecure a foundation. In fact the 
 nearer to the bottom of the river the tunnel 
 could be made the stronger it would be, besides
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 225 
 
 the advantage of the road-way to it being the 
 less steep. 
 
 It was early in the year 1824 that the Thames 
 Tunnel Company was formed, and the work 
 actually commenced. This was done by sink- 
 ing a shaft at Rotherhithe, on the Surrey side of 
 the river. This gigantic shaft was built up on 
 the spot where it was desired it should sink. At 
 a hundred and fifty feet distant from the river 
 the bricklayers built up a round frame three feet 
 thick and a hundred and fifty feet in circum- 
 ference. This was strengthened by iron rods 
 passing up the centre of the thickness, and was 
 raised in the first instance to the height of forty- 
 two feet. Then workmen began to excavate 
 from the inside, the earth being raised to the 
 top of the shaft by steam power. Of course 
 when sufficient earth had been removed the 
 masonry began to sink into the ground, and we 
 can imagine the gradual descent of this mighty 
 structure to have been a really grand sight. 
 As however one tier was lost to view, another 
 was added to the top, until the shaft was sixty- 
 five feet in height. 
 
 Q
 
 226 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 By means of a smaller shaft the workmen 
 bored to eighty feet, but at that depth the ground 
 suddenly gave way, while sand and water were 
 blown up violently. This proved the truth of 
 the geologists' statement. It was at the depth of 
 sixty-three feet from the surface that the Tunnel 
 was commenced. 
 
 Meanwhile there had been constructed the 
 shield on which Brunei relied for his success. 
 Like many other great men he was a keen ob- 
 server, and never disdained a lesson from the 
 simple operations of nature. He had noticed 
 the manner in which the teredo, or ship-worm, 
 did the mischief which caused it to be named 
 by Linnaeus Calamitas navium. This little crea- 
 ture can gnaw through the hardest wood, but 
 is itself protected by an entire shell. " He has 
 his shield," said Brunei, "and I will have mine." 
 
 Brunei's shield was a huge fabric of iron, 
 which was pushed forward six inches at a time, 
 and supported the bed of the river while the 
 workmen undermined it. The shield consisted of 
 twelve divisions, each containing three cells the 
 alternate divisions being one a little before the
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 227 
 
 other. The entire front was defended by boards, 
 called " poling boards," which could be moved 
 one at a time. The men began by pulling 
 down the top poling board, and excavating for 
 six inches. They then replaced the board and re- 
 moved the next in order, and cut away the earth 
 in like manner until the entire space in front 
 of the shield was cleared. By means of screw 
 machinery the shield was then pushed forward, 
 and the operation of beginning at the top poling 
 board, and cutting away six inches was repeated. 
 
 As the shield advanced, supporting the bed of 
 the river, men worked diligently in its rear, 
 forming the strong brick walls of the top, sides, 
 and bottom, the shield still holding up the earth 
 overhead. The tunnel formed a double arch- 
 way, each archway being fifteen feet high and 
 wide enough for a single carriage-way and foot- 
 path. But the brickwork was so thick that the 
 excavation required was twenty-two and a half 
 feet high and thirty-eight feet broad. Following 
 the shield was a stage in each archway for the 
 convenience of the men in the upper cells. 
 
 Sinking the shaft, however, and making neces- 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 sary preparations for the most difficult part of 
 the work took so much time that it was not till 
 January, 1826, that the Tunnel itself was really 
 commenced. The first nine feet showed only 
 firm clay, but then the workmen came to watery 
 sand which made all progress difficult, and but 
 for many precautions dangerous. There were 
 thirty-two days of great anxiety, but by the 
 middle of March substantial soil was again 
 reached, and the work went on very steadily 
 until September, when two hundred and sixty- 
 feet of the tunnel had been completed. 
 
 On the 14th of that month Brunei terrified 
 the Directors by informing them that he ex- 
 pected the river would break in with the 
 next tide. He had discovered a cavity above 
 the top of the shield. His prediction was 
 exactly fulfilled, but so admirable had been the 
 precautions taken that no harm was done. A 
 few weeks later a similar accident occurred ; 
 and on the 2nd of January, 1827, during the 
 removal of one of the poling boards, the tide 
 forced a quantity of loose clay through the 
 shield. Still there was not much mischief done,
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 229 
 
 and no irruption of the river followed. By 
 this time three hundred and fifty feet were 
 accomplished, and the work went on satisfac- 
 torily for the next three months, although the 
 ground was suspiciously moist. 
 
 In April it was found desirable to examine 
 the bed of the river by means of a diving-bell, 
 and some depressions were found and filled up 
 with bags of clay. On this occasion a shovel 
 and hammer were accidentally left in the river, 
 and some time afterwards, during an influx of 
 loose earth through the shield, were recovered, 
 they having sunk eighteen feet. This circum- 
 stance may give some idea of the watery un- 
 stable nature of the soil through which the shield 
 had to force its way, the workmen making all 
 water-tight as they proceeded. But a greater 
 calamity than any yet experienced was now 
 near at hand. 
 
 About the middle of May some vessels were 
 moored just above the Tunnel, and the obstruc- 
 tion they occasioned caused a great washing 
 away of the soil beneath them. On the 18th 
 of this month there was such a great and
 
 230 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 sudden influx of sand and water that several of 
 the men in the Tunnel barely escaped with life. 
 The water and sludge rushed through in such 
 overwhelming volumes that the stream was 
 soon up to their waists, while the sudden rush 
 of air, or else the water, extinguished all the 
 lights. Left in perfect darkness and with a 
 roar of waters so deafening that they could 
 scarcely hear one another speak it is marvellous 
 that they ever reached the stairway of the shaft. 
 The fear was that the staircase would blow 
 up, and Mr. I. K. Brunei, the engineer's son 
 and valuable assistant, ordered the men to use 
 all expedition; nor were they a moment too 
 soon, for hardly had they reached the second 
 flight of stairs, when the first which they had 
 just mounted gave way. Indeed one poor man 
 was still struggling in the water, but Mr. I. K. 
 Brunei, young and active, with great presence of 
 mind slid down one of the iron ties, and with 
 the assistance of Mr. Grravett, who followed his 
 example, fastened a rope round the man's waist 
 and he was soon drawn out of danger. When 
 the roll was called happily not one was missing.
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 231 
 
 The diving-bell was now again used, and the 
 hole in the bed of the river discovered. Three 
 thousand bags of clay, and a number of small 
 hazel rods were used to close the chasm and a 
 lighter loaded with old iron was sunk above 
 them, but it was not till the 21st of the next 
 month that the water which had rushed into 
 the Tunnel was got under, and not till the 
 middle of August that the soil was sufficiently 
 cleared away for the engineer to examine 
 thoroughly the effects of the disaster. The 
 structure of the Tunnel was found quite sound, 
 though the shield and some of the brickwork 
 showed the violence of the rush of water. 
 
 The work was now recommenced ; but its 
 difficulties increased rather than diminished. 
 The farther the men proceeded the more foul 
 the air became, so that it was no uncommon 
 thing for the labourers to be seized with sudden 
 illness and brought to the upper world in a 
 state of insensibility. To their honour how- 
 ever be it said, that for the most part they felt 
 enthusiasm in their work, and devotion to 
 Brunei, whom they found a kind and con-
 
 232 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 siderate master. They seemed to have a share 
 in the glory of the undertaking and by all 
 accounts worked with a will. 
 
 By the beginning of the year 1828 the 
 middle of the river was reached ; the men, 
 working in relays day and night made rapid 
 progress, but a terrible disaster was now near at 
 hand. At six o'clock in the morning of 
 January 12th there was the usual change of 
 men and the fresh gang began to work in their 
 customary manner. Suddenly, when they had 
 only proceeded about a foot downwards, on 
 exposing the next few inches the earth swelled 
 and a vast quantity of soil burst through the 
 opening. This was quickly followed by a rush 
 of water, which was so violent that it forced the 
 man out of the. frame or cell of the shield that 
 was opposite to the opening. Mr. I. K. 
 Brunei, who was superintending the work at the 
 time, saw after a brief survey that it was hopeless 
 to attempt stopping the rush of water from inside 
 the tunnel, and ordered the men to retire. In 
 a letter to the directors of the Company young 
 Brunei thus describes the scene which followed
 
 THK THAMKB TCNNRI.
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 233 
 
 and led to the loss of several lives. Evidently 
 he and the three men to whom he alludes had 
 been the last to linger in the rear. 
 
 "At this moment the agitation of the air by 
 the rush of the water was such as to extinguish 
 all the lights, and the water had gained the 
 height of the middle of our waists. I was at 
 that moment giving directions to the three men 
 in what manner they ought to proceed in the 
 dark to effect their escape, when they and I were 
 knocked down and covered by a part of the 
 timber stage. I struggled under water for some 
 time, and at length extricated myself from the 
 stage ; and by swimming and being forced by 
 the water I gained the eastern arch, where I got 
 a better footing, and was enabled by laying hold 
 of the railway rope to pause a little, in the hope 
 of encouraging the men who had been knocked 
 down at the same time with myself. This I 
 endeavoured to do by calling to them. Before 
 I reached the shaft the water had risen so 
 rapidly that I was out of my depth, and there- 
 fore swam to the visitors' stairs the stairs of 
 the workmen being occupied by those who had
 
 234 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 so far escaped. My knee was so injured by the 
 timber stage, that I could scarcely swim or get 
 up the stairs, but the rush of the water carried 
 me up the shaft. The three men who had been 
 knocked down with me were unable to extricate 
 themselves, and I am grieved to say they are 
 lost ; and I believe also two old men and one 
 young man in other parts of the work." 
 
 The scene must have been very terrible. 
 Eighteen men were at one time struggling for 
 their lives, some of them being taken out of 
 the water in a fainting state, and all in one of 
 exhaustion. The roar of the flood which poured 
 through the tunnel and up the steps was deafen- 
 ing, and the distress of the wives and relatives 
 of the workmen who hastened to the spot heart- 
 rending. 
 
 This calamity, so much more serious than the 
 former ones, was of course disheartening to the 
 Company who had furnished the money for the 
 undertaking, though Brunei never lost faith in 
 himself. The first thing to be done was to 
 mend the rent in the bed of the river ; and this 
 was accomplished by dropping down four thou-
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 235 
 
 sand tons of soil, chiefly clay in bags. When the 
 water was sufficiently cleared away for the en- 
 gineer to examine the Tunnel he had at least 
 the satisfaction of seeing the work uninjured by 
 the trial it had encountered, and in all respects 
 as substantial as ever. Nevertheless his anguish 
 of mind was very great, for there seemed no 
 possibility of proceeding with his work, the 
 darling hope of his mind. 
 
 From the first there had been a host of people 
 who were incredulous as to the possibility of the 
 work ever being completed ; and to them every 
 disaster had been a sort of triumph. One ac- 
 quaintance of Brunei's had gone so far as to 
 say he would " eat the shield if ever it came out 
 on the Middlesex side of the river," and even 
 in general society the Tunnel was a subject of 
 conversation on which people differed, very often 
 with all the warmth of partisans. But now it 
 was the general opinion that the case was hope- 
 less. The Company were in despair, and the 
 work was perforce stopped for want of funds. 
 
 Tor seven weary years no stroke of work was 
 done ; but though the engineer was past the
 
 236 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 prime of life, and though his many successes 
 might well have made him content with the 
 fame he had won, he never faltered in his aim, 
 or relaxed his endeavours to complete the Tun- 
 nel. His unflagging energies were rewarded, 
 In January, 1835, the work was renewed, Gov- 
 ernment having consented to advance the neces- 
 sary funds. But the progress was more slow 
 and difficult than ever, chiefly in consequence of 
 the saturation of the soil from the former inun- 
 dations. In fact the bed of the river had con- 
 stantly to be artificially made solid in advance 
 of the shield, and then time given for it to 
 settle. The old shield also had been injured 
 by the water and had to be replaced by a new 
 one a difficult, and perilous operation, as may 
 be understood when we consider that it alone 
 supported above, and kept back in front the 
 immense pressure of the river and its bed. 
 
 So difficult indeed was this undertaking con- 
 sidered that again Brunei had to encounter all 
 the discouragement of friends and acquaintances, 
 the prevailing opinion of engineers even being 
 that the " thing was impracticable." Yet the
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 237 
 
 Tunnel could not proceed until this " impractic- 
 able " thing was accomplished. No doubt they 
 meant well, but really people for the most part 
 behaved as if Brunei were engaged on some 
 wasteful work which ought to be thwarted and 
 hindered by breaking his spirit hurling at 
 
 him 
 
 " the bitter taunt and jest 
 That Folly, in its mischievous unrest, 
 Seizes with vacant laugh, and blindly flings 
 At dazzling genius on her soaring wings." 
 
 But the so-called " impracticable " was accom- 
 plished : the new shield replaced its predecessor 
 without any disturbance of the ground, or any 
 fatal accident. Brunei's spirit was not broken, 
 though there is too much reason to fear his 
 bodily health suffered from the strain to which 
 it was subjected. During the seven years from 
 January, 1835, to the time the Tunnel was com- 
 pleted he never slept more than two hours at a 
 time. 
 
 Lady Brunei herself told me of their way of 
 life. They resided at Eotherhithe, near the shaft, 
 and every two hours through day and night a 
 sample of the earth excavated was submitted to
 
 238 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 the engineer for examination, and according to 
 its character were the written instructions given 
 for the next two hours of work. At night there 
 were writing materials always ready in his bed- 
 room, and a bell was so hung as to ring near the 
 bed. There was also machinery arranged in the 
 nature of a lift by means of which the sample 
 of soil ascended, and by which in return the 
 letter of instructions was conveyed. 
 
 Think of this broken rest going on month 
 after month and year after year ! After a time 
 indeed the habit of waking every two hours was 
 formed, and Lady Brunei assured me that for 
 months after the Tunnel was completed, she and 
 her husband found it impossible to sleep for a 
 greater length of time; but nevertheless it 
 must have been a great trial to a man in the 
 decline of life. For it was not merely that he 
 had to awake and then go to sleep again ; but 
 he had to arise and exercise his most wide-awake 
 faculties, the life and death of his devoted work- 
 men, and all the momentous issues of failure or 
 success depending on the sagacity of his in- 
 structions.
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 239 
 
 Although the Government had advanced 
 money for the work of the Tunnel to proceed, 
 the expenses were so heavy and progress was 
 necessarily so slow, that Brunei had much 
 anxiety about the money that would still he 
 required being forthcoming. Indeed, the Lords 
 of the Treasury at one time declined making 
 further advances without the sanction of 
 Parliament. Fortunately, however, the com- 
 mittee which was appointed decided that the 
 work should not be abandoned for want of funds, 
 and all went on satisfactorily till August, 1837, 
 when another irruption occurred, though with- 
 out such sad consequences as the last. Still the 
 water rose to within seven feet of the crown of 
 the arch ; but there had been time to make the 
 work secure, and the men were able to retire in 
 an orderly manner along a platform which in 
 view of such a possible emergency Brunei had 
 had constructed a few weeks previously. 
 
 When the water was coming in, a boat had 
 been used to convey materials for stopping up 
 the frames, and after the men had retired, two 
 or three of the assistant engineers were curious
 
 240 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 to see as closely as they could the state of the 
 works and began using the boat for that pur- 
 pose. After passing the six hundred feet mark 
 in the tunnel the line attached to the boat ran 
 out, and they returned to lengthen it. To this 
 circumstance, under Divine Providence, they 
 owed their lives, for while they were lengthen- 
 ing the rope the water surged, and it was calcu- 
 lated that not less than a million gallons of 
 water rushed into the tunnel in a minute. 
 
 Two other irruptions occurred, one on the 
 2nd of November, 1837, and the other on the 
 6th of March, 1838 ; but nevertheless so much of 
 the work was done, and so many difficulties had 
 been overcome, that the few who had always 
 been hopeful of success were now confident of 
 it, and even the incredulous and desponding for 
 the most part ceased to predict failure. 
 
 There was, however, one more disaster to 
 be encountered. On the 4th of April, 1840, about 
 eight o'clock in the morning a quantity of gravel 
 and water rushed into the frame, carrying away 
 some of the poling-boards, and knocking 
 the men out of the shield. The first impulse
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 241 
 
 of the workmen was to run away, but finding 
 that the water did not follow them, they gained 
 courage and returned. By great exertions the 
 rush of earth was stopped, though not until six 
 thousand cubic feet of ground had fallen in to 
 encumber the tunnel. The noise this catastrophe 
 occasioned resembled loud thunder, and the ex- 
 plosive force of the falling mass extinguished 
 the lights in the tunnel. Fortunately the acci- 
 dent happened at low water. Had it occurred at 
 high tide the consequences would have been far 
 more serious. 
 
 The diary of the engineer would show two 
 or three more disasters which, though less im- 
 portant than those I have recorded, were suffi- 
 ciently vexatious and retarded the work when they 
 occurred. But on the 13th of August, 1841, 
 Brunei passed from the Middlesex side of the 
 river through the shield into the tunnel ! It 
 must have been to him a moment of supreme 
 delight and triumph ; and the hearty cheering 
 of the workmen as they greeted his appearance 
 showed how warmlv thev felt on the occasion. 
 
 */ M 
 
 They had a right to share in the glory. "We 
 
 R
 
 242 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 may be sure they were picked men who were 
 entrusted with duties so important that the 
 smallest neglect of duty, or an approach to neg- 
 ligence in their work would have had the most 
 terrible consequences. Being what they were 
 they could estimate the inventive genius, the 
 skill, the untiring energy, the patience under 
 difficulties and the ever watchful care of them- 
 selves which had distinguished their master. 
 
 The Tunnel was now virtually completed, 
 though much had still to be done in making the 
 necessary approaches before it could be pro- 
 fitably used. The length of the Tunnel is 
 twelve hundred feet, and its cost was somewhere 
 about six hundred thousand pounds ; a large 
 sum no doubt, but very much less than some of 
 our bridges have cost; and it must be re- 
 membered that the Tunnel was constructed at a 
 point where it would have been impossible to 
 erect a bridge without impeding navigation. 
 
 Soon after the shield had arrived at the 
 Wapping side of the river Brunei sent a 
 message to the acquaintance who had promised 
 to " eat it " if ever it arrived there : " His
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 243 
 
 compliments and the shield was awaiting Mr. 
 So-and-so's digestion, whenever he liked it for 
 dinner," or words to that effect. "Let those 
 laugh who win " is an old proverb, and it was 
 Brunei's turn to laugh heartily now. 
 
 In 1841 Marc Isambard Brunei received the 
 honour of Knighthood ; a distinction he valued 
 highly, though more I think because it made 
 his beloved wife " Lady " than on his own 
 account. It was in the following year that I 
 had the pleasure and privilege of knowing them 
 and listening to their account of early trials and 
 romantic episodes in their lives. I had written 
 something about the Tunnel which made them 
 know that I was interested in all they could tell 
 me ; and though Brunei was far too great a man 
 to be vain, he had a certain simplicity in his 
 nature which indeed is often allied to greatness, 
 and I think he did not conceal that the Thames 
 Tunnel was the darling creation of his mind, 
 and a theme of which it would be hard to weary 
 him. I was young and they were old, but I 
 believe I was a good listener, and full of 
 sympathy and homage. That must have been
 
 244 STORIES or THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 why they told me so much of their early life 
 the French prison, and the jailor's wife and the 
 long years of separation. 
 
 It was pathetic to see this old couple, who 
 usually sat side by side, and to hear from them- 
 selves the story of their eventful lives. One bio- 
 grapher has said of Sir Isambard Brunei, that if 
 he had not been famous as an engineer he pro- 
 bably would have been as a philanthropist; and 
 I can quite understand this opinion. I have seen 
 the tears on his aged cheeks, when his wife was 
 relating something sorrowful and when he 
 has been telling something in which she was 
 perhaps concerned I have seen him take her 
 withered hand and press it to his lips. " Now 
 Lady Brunei," I recollect his reading from his 
 diary with an emphasis on the title. To have 
 been " knighted by our fair young Queen " and 
 Victoria then was young and very fair he felt to 
 be a recompense for many trials. The phrase 
 quoted was a familiar one in their house in Great 
 George Street, Westminster, occurring, as it did, 
 in some verses a niece of Lady Brunei's had 
 written on the occasion.
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 245 
 
 In 1842 Brunei, now seventy-three years of 
 age, had a stroke of paralysis, and though to a 
 certain degree he rallied from it, he never really 
 recovered. His writing was no longer clear and 
 beautiful, but showed the trembling hand of 
 infirmity and old age. Nevertheless he was 
 able to head a simple procession which marked 
 the formal opening of the Thames Tunnel on 
 the 25th of March, 1843. 
 
 Medals were struck to commemorate the 
 event, and a few friends were admitted by ticket 
 to witness his arrival at the shaft after passing 
 through the Tunnel. I was of the number, 
 being one of the first half dozen who shook 
 hands with him on his exit from the archway, 
 when the barriers which hitherto had kept back 
 the public were thrown down. 
 
 How well I remember the scene ! An old 
 gentleman a little under the middle height, of 
 a figure that is called thick-set, with a fine head 
 and ponderous brow that seemed a weight to 
 keep down height, walking a little in advance 
 of his companions and leaning on a stick or 
 umbrella. There was none of the pageantry we
 
 246 STORIES OF THE CITT OF LONDON. 
 
 are apt to associate with processions only a few 
 gentlemen in frock-coats ; but to watch them 
 advancing from Hie dimly lighted archway into 
 the bright light of a spring day, kindled warm 
 emotions in many hearts. It was a mere 
 ceremony, but how much it meant, and how it 
 called to mind the troubles and trials of the 
 last twenty years ! It was an hour of triumph, 
 but the creator of the great work was now the 
 feeble old man fatigued and overcome by that 
 walk of twelve hundred feet. Yet was he ever 
 most grateful that he had been permitted to 
 embody his idea and complete his darling scheme. 
 
 Gradually his health failed more and more, 
 but he lived till 1849. On December the 12th 
 of that year died Sir Marc Isambard Brunei, 
 frill of honours and beloved and respected most 
 by those who knew him best. 
 
 He was Yice-President of the Eoyal Society 
 and corresponding member of the Institute of 
 France. He left a son and two daughters. 
 His son, Isambard Kingdom Brunei, was also a 
 distinguished engineer, who died only a few 
 years ago.
 
 THE THAMES TUNNEL. 247 
 
 After all the labour bestowed and difficulties 
 surmounted the Thames Tunnel has never been 
 used in exactly the manner Brunei proposed. His 
 great work was indeed completed, but the expense 
 of making the carriage-way approaches was found 
 to be so great, that the necessary money was 
 never forthcoming. Perhaps the fact that the sys- 
 tem of railway traffic was developing in an extra- 
 ordinary manner, may have made people more 
 indifferent to the uses of the Tunnel than they 
 would otherwise have been, and for many years 
 it was only traversed by foot passengers. At 
 length, in July, 1866, it was transferred to a rail- 
 way company, who found it worth while to con- 
 struct the necessary approaches, and to lay down 
 rails ; and for many years there has been con- 
 stant traffic through the Tunnel's double arch- 
 way. Thus the engineer's hope of supplying a 
 great want, and of connecting the two shores of 
 the Thames, has been fully realized. 
 
 Many persons, no doubt, who are rapidly 
 whirled those twelve hundred feet by the might 
 of the snorting " iron horse," think of the river 
 flowing above them, and of the mighty ships
 
 248 STORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 whose keels may be but a few yards above their 
 heads ; but perhaps only a few of them realize 
 the skill and energy, and inventive genius which 
 produced a work which is still the admiration 
 of engineers, and one of the sights of London 
 which intelligent foreigners rarely fail to visit. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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