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diff --git a/old/62134-0.txt b/old/62134-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 70425cc..0000000 --- a/old/62134-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,21538 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's London in the Time of the Tudors, by Sir Walter Besant - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: London in the Time of the Tudors - -Author: Sir Walter Besant - -Release Date: May 14, 2020 [EBook #62134] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LONDON IN THE TIME OF THE TUDORS *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Robert Tonsing, 'Junet' for -finding, scanning and re-creating Agas' map, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - +--------------------------------------------------------------+ - | _UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_ | - | PRICE =30/= NET EACH | - | | - | L O N D O N | - | IN THE TIME OF THE STUARTS | - | | - | _With 116 Illustrations and a Reproduction of Ogilby’s Map | - | of London in 1677._ | - | | - | “It is a mine in which the student, alike of topography | - | and of manners and customs, may dig and dig again with the | - | certainty of finding something new and interesting.”—_The | - | Times._ | - | | - | “The pen of the ready writer here is fluent; the picture | - | wants nothing in completeness. The records of the city and | - | the kingdom have been ransacked for facts and documents, | - | and they are marshalled with consummate skill.”—_Pall Mall | - | Gazette._ | - | --------------- | - | L O N D O N | - | IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY | - | | - | _With 104 Illustrations and a Reproduction of Rocque’s Map | - | of London in 1741–5._ | - | | - | “The book is engrossing, and its manner delightful.”—_The | - | Times._ | - | | - | “Of facts and figures such as these this valuable book | - | will be found full to overflowing, and it is calculated | - | therefore to interest all kinds of readers, from the | - | student to the dilettante, from the romancer in search of | - | matter to the most voracious student of Tit-Bits.”—_The | - | Athenæum._ | - | --------------- | - | L O N D O N | - | IN MEDIÆVAL TIMES. _In preparation._ | - +--------------------------------------------------------------+ - - - - -►The Survey of London◄ - - LONDON - IN THE TIME OF THE TUDORS - - -[Illustration: _Spooner & Co._ _Frontispiece._ - -QUEEN ELIZABETH (1533–1603) -From the painting by Gerard at Burleigh House.] - - - - - LONDON - IN THE TIME OF THE TUDORS - - BY - SIR WALTER BESANT - - [Illustration] - - LONDON - ADAM & CHARLES BLACK - 1904 - - - - - CONTENTS - - TUDOR SOVEREIGNS - - CHAP. PAGE - - 1. HENRY VII. 3 - - 2. HENRY VIII. 17 - - 3. EDWARD VI. 45 - - 4. MARY 52 - - 5. ELIZABETH 65 - - 6. THE QUEEN IN SPLENDOUR 85 - - - RELIGION - - 1. THE DISSOLUTION AND THE MARTYRS 109 - - 2. THE PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION 143 - - 3. SUPERSTITION 162 - - - ELIZABETHAN LONDON - - 1. WITH STOW 171 - - 2. CONTEMPORARY EVIDENCE 185 - - 3. THE CITIZENS 196 - - - GOVERNMENT AND TRADE OF THE CITY - - 1. THE MAYOR 209 - - 2. TRADE 216 - - 3. LITERATURE AND ART 244 - - 4. GOG AND MAGOG 263 - - - SOCIAL LIFE - - 1. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 269 - - 2. FOOD AND DRINK 292 - - 3. DRESS—WEDDINGS 303 - - 4. SOLDIERS 316 - - 5. THE ’PRENTICE 323 - - 6. THE LONDON INNS 333 - - 7. THEATRES AND SPORTS 342 - - 8. THE POOR 366 - - 9. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT 379 - - - APPENDICES 397 - - - INDEX 421 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - -Queen Elizabeth _Frontispiece_ - -Henry VII. 3 - -Perkin Warbeck 7 - -Katherine of Aragon and Arthur, Prince of Wales 10 - -The Exchequer in the time of Henry VII. 11 - -The Children of King Henry VII. _Facing page_ 12 - -Screen in Henry VII.’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey 14 - -Interior of Henry VII.’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey 15 - -Henry VIII. when young 17 - -Henry VIII. 18 - -Katherine of Aragon 19 - -Henry VIII. as a Musician 22 - -Cardinal Wolsey 25 - -Eastcheap Market 27 - -The King in Parliament 29 - -Henry VIII. granting the Barber-Surgeons’ Charter 31 - -The Burning of Anne Askew 33 - -Dean Colet 34 - -Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex 35 - -Dean Colet’s House, Stepney 36 - -A Procession 37 - -Henry VIII., Princess Mary, and Will Somers _Facing page_ 38 - -Embarkation of Henry VIII. at Dover 41 - -Edward VI. 45 - -Edward VI. (three-quarter length) 47 - -Edward VI. granting Charter to Bridewell _Facing page_ 48 - -The Coronation Procession of Edward VI. 50 - -Mary Tudor 52 - -Lady Jane Grey 55 - -St. Peter ad Vincula, overlooking Tower Green 57 - -Execution of Lady Jane Grey _Facing page_ 58 - -The Persecution of John Bradford 60 - -The Martyrdom of John Bradford 60 - -Interior of the Bell Tower 61 - -Philip II. of Spain _Facing page_ 62 - -Queen Elizabeth 65 - -Queen Elizabeth 67 - -_Feus de Joye_ in honour of Queen Elizabeth’s Entry into London 69 - -Queen Elizabeth 71 - -Queen Elizabeth 72 - -Queen Elizabeth (full length) 73 - -Sir Philip Sidney and his brother Lord Lisle 75 - -The Spanish Armada (the first engagement) _Facing page_ 76 - -View of the House of Peers 79 - -Lord Burghley 81 - -Hampton Court 85 - -Nonsuch House 89 - -Coaches of Queen Elizabeth 91 - -Royal Procession to St. Paul’s 93 - -Queen Elizabeth going in Procession to St. Paul’s _Facing page_ 94 - -The Tower 97 - -Westminster 98 - -A Hunting Scene 101 - -Queen Elizabeth’s Funeral _Facing page_ 102 - -The Palace of Greenwich 104 - -Queen Elizabeth 105 - -Carthusian Martyrs 113 - -Sir Thomas More 115 - -Martyrs at Smithfield 121 - -Westminster Abbey 123 - -Bishop Gardiner 125 - -Queen Elizabeth at Prayer 129 - -Protestant Prisoners 133 - -Hugh Latimer 134 - -Bishop Ridley 135 - -Thomas Cranmer 137 - -The Burning of John Rogers 139 - -The Martyrdom of Archbishop Cranmer 141 - -Queen Elizabeth’s Tomb 147 - -Popish Plots and Treasons _Facing pages_ 148 and 149 - -Knight seizing an Archbishop 149 - -A Royal Picnic 153 - -Old St. Paul’s 157 - -The Tower of London 173 - -Cloisters of St. Katherine’s 175 - -St. Paul’s Church 177 - -Latimer preaching before Edward VI. at Westminster 178 - -Baynard’s Castle 179 - -West Cheap in Elizabethan London 182 - -Cold Harbour 184 - -Bridewell Palace and Entrance to the Fleet River 186 - -Londinium Feracissimi Angliae Regni Metropolis 187 - -Plan of the City of Westminster 189 - -Plan of the City of London in the time of Elizabeth 189 - -Parish of St. Giles in the Fields _Between pages_ 190 and 191 - -Bishopsgate 192 - -Plan of Islington 193 - -Earl of Somerset and his Wife 196 - -Shop and Solar, Clare Market 199 - -Tottenham Court _Facing page_ 200 - -Queen Elizabeth’s Bath 204 - -Mayor and Aldermen 209 - -London Bridge 213 - -The Custom House 216 - -Panorama of London and Westminster _Between pages_ 218 and 219 - -Sir Thomas Gresham 221 - -Christ’s Hospital 223 - -Sir Francis Drake 226 - -Drake’s _Golden Hind_ 227 - -A Merchant of the Steelyard 231 - -Medals struck in Commemoration of the Armada _Facing page_ 232 - -Panorama of London—London Bridge _Between pages_ 234 and 235 - -The Tower in 1553 239 - -Near Paul’s Wharf 241 - -Tradesmen of the Tudor Period 242 - -Old Temple Bar in time of James I. 245 - -Sir Francis Bacon 248 - -William Shakespeare 249 - -Edmund Spenser 251 - -Ben Jonson 259 - -Holbein 261 - -Staple Inn, Holborn 277 - -The More Family _Facing page_ 282 - -A Ship of the time of Henry VIII. 289 - -Tittle-Tattle; or, the several Branches of Gossiping 295 - -Marriage Feast of Sir H. Unton 301 - -Lady Hunsdon in a Farthingale 303 - -Lady in the Court of Queen Elizabeth 304 - -Noble Matron of England 304 - -English Lady of Quality 305 - -English Nobleman 305 - -Wealthy Merchant of London 308 - -Page Boy of the time of Edward VI. 309 - -Sir William Russell 310 - -Court of Wards and Liveries in the time of Elizabeth _Facing page_ 310 - -Robert de Vere 311 - -John Clinch, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas 311 - -Sir Edward Coke, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench 311 - -The Christening of Prince Arthur 313 - -Burial in the Fields 314 - -Soldiers of the Tudor Period 316 - -Yeoman of the Guard 318 - -A Knight in Armour 319 - -Pikeman 320 - -Musketeer 321 - -Sign of the Boar’s Head, East Cheap 339 - -The Bear Garden and the Globe Theatre 342 - -Bankside, Southwark, in 1648, with a view of Holland’s Leaguer - _Facing page_ 346 - -Panorama of London—the Tower and Greenwich _Between pages_ 350 and 351 - -Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester 357 - -A Fête at Horselydown 361 - -The Dancing Picture 364 - -The Pillory 381 - -Engravings taken from Henry VIII.’s Armour 383 - -Billingsgate 385 - -The Cucking-Stool 389 - - - - - TUDOR SOVEREIGNS - - - - - CHAPTER I - - HENRY VII - - -[Illustration: HENRY VII. (1457–1509) - -From the painting in the National Portrait Gallery, London.] - -On stepping out of the fifteenth into the sixteenth century one becomes -conscious of a change; no such change was felt in passing from the -twelfth to the thirteenth century, or from the fourteenth to the -fifteenth. The world of Henry the Sixth was the same world as that of -Edward the First; it was also the same as that of Henry the Second. -For four hundred years no sudden, perceptible, or radical change took -place either in manners and customs, language, arts, or ideas. There -had, of course, been outbreaks; there had been passionate longings for -change; men before their time, like Wyclyf, had advanced new ideas -which sprang up like grass and presently withered away; there had -been changes in religious thought, but there was no change, so far, -in religious institutions. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, -however, we who know the coming events can see the change impending, -change already begun. Whether the Bishops and Clergy, the Monks and -Friars, were also conscious of impending change, I know not. It seems -as if they must have been uneasy, as in France men were uneasy long -before the Revolution. On the other hand, Rome still loomed large -in the imagination of the world: the Rock on which the Church was -established; the Throne from which there was no appeal; the hand that -held the Keys. We have now, however, to chronicle the part, the large -part, played by London in this great century of Revolution. - -After forty years of Civil War,—with murders, exactions, executions, -treacheries, and perjuries innumerable, with the ruin of trade, with -the extinction of ancient families, with the loss of all the French -conquests,—the City, no less than the country at large, welcomed the -accession of a Prince who promised order and tranquillity at least. Of -all the numerous descendants of Edward the Third who might once have -called themselves heirs to the Crown before the Duke of Richmond, there -remained but two or three. Of the Lancastrians Henry alone was left, -and his title was derived from a branch legitimised. The two brothers -of Henry V. had no children; the only son of Henry VI. was dead. On -the Yorkist side Edward’s two sons were dead; Richard’s only son was -dead; there remained the young Earl of Warwick, son of Clarence. -He was the one dangerous person at the time of Henry’s accession. -Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, was not the heir to the Yorkist -claims—this was certainly the eldest daughter of Edward the Fourth; -but he was the son of George, Duke of Clarence, and the last male -descendant of the York line. He was now fifteen years of age, and had -been kept in some kind of confinement at a place called Sheriff Hutton -Castle, in the County of York. Considering the practice of the time, -and the reputation of Richard III., one wonders at his forbearance -in not murdering the boy. Henry sent him—it was his first act after -his victory—to the Tower for better safety. Grafton[1] calls this -unfortunate Prince “the yongling borne to perpetual captivitie.” He is -said to have been a simple youth, wholly ignorant of the world. Though, -as we shall see later on, Henry found it expedient to treat this young -Prince after the manner of his time. A dead Prince can never become a -Pretender. - -And no other fate was possible in the long-run for one whom -conspirators might put up at any moment as the rightful claimant of the -Crown. The unfortunate youth was only one of a long chain of possible -claimants, all of whom paid the penalty of their inheritance by death. -Among them were Edward’s infant Princes; his own father; Henry’s son, -Edward, Prince of Wales; and later on Lady Jane Grey, and Mary Queen of -Scots. - -In the same castle of Sheriff Hutton, in similar confinement, was -the Lady Elizabeth, Edward the Fourth’s elder daughter, whom Richard -proposed to marry with the sanction of the Pope, his own wife, Anne, -having strangely and mysteriously come to her death. Bosworth Field put -a stop to that monstrous design. According to Grafton, the purpose of -Richard was well known to the world, and was everywhere detested and -condemned. - -Henry rode to London immediately after his victory. At Shoreditch he -was received by the Mayor, Sheriffs, and Aldermen, clothed in violet -and bearing a gift of a thousand marks. He then went on to St. Paul’s -and there deposited three standards—on one was the image of St. George, -on another a “red fierie dragon beaten upon white and greene sarcenet,” -and on the third was painted “a dun cow upon yellow _tarterne_.” He -also heard a Te Deum. - -Four weeks after Henry’s entrance into the City there broke out, quite -suddenly, with no previous warning, a most deadly pestilence known as -the sweating sickness. This dreadful epidemic began with a “burning -sweat that invaded the body and vexed the blood, and with a most ardent -heat infested the stomach and the head grievously.” If any person could -bear the heat and pain for twenty-four hours, he recovered, but might -have a relapse; not one in a hundred, however, of those that took the -infection survived. Within a few days it killed two Mayors, namely, Sir -Thomas Hill and Sir William Stocker; and six Aldermen. The sickness -seems to have been swifter, and more deadly while it lasted, than even -the Plague or the Epidemic of 1349. But it went away after a time as -quickly as it had appeared. - -Henry’s coronation was celebrated on the 13th of October. His -predecessor had disguised the weakness of his title by the -splendour of his coronation. Henry, on the other hand, made but a -mean display—perhaps to show that he was not dependent on show or -magnificence. Stanley perceives in this absence of ostentation a kind -of acknowledgment that his title to the Crown rested more upon his -victory than his descent. This opinion seems to me wholly fanciful; -Henry would never at any moment acknowledge that his title was weak. -On the other hand, he stoutly claimed, through his mother, to be the -nearest heir in the Lancastrian line. His known dislike to ostentation -is quite a sufficient reason to account for the comparative poverty of -the Coronation show—at which, however, one new feature was introduced, -namely, the bodyguard of the King’s person, known as the Yeomen of the -Guard. The King’s belief in the strength of his own title was shown in -his treatment of the Lady Elizabeth. He had solemnly promised to marry -her; he did so in January 1486, five months after his victory; but he -was extremely loth to crown her, lest some should say that the Queen -was Queen by right, and not merely the Queen consort. The coronation of -the Queen was postponed for two years. The celebration, however, when -it did take place, was accompanied by a great deal of splendour. - -The business of Lambert Simnel shows the real peril of the King’s -position. The experience of the last forty years had taught the people -a most dangerous habit. They were ready to fly to arms on the smallest -provocation. Who was Henry, “the unknown Welshman,” as Richard called -him, that he should be allowed to sit in peace upon a throne from -which three occupants had been dragged down, two by murder and one -by battle? But the occasion of the rising was ridiculous. The young -Earl of Warwick was in the Tower; it was possible to see him—Henry, in -fact, made him ride through the City for all the world to see. Yet the -followers of Lambert Simnel proclaimed that he was Edward Plantagenet, -Earl of Warwick. Lambert’s father was a joiner of Oxford; Sir Richard -Symon, a priest, was his tutor. The boy, who in 1486 was about eleven -years of age, was of handsome appearance and of naturally good manners. - -After the defeat of his cause, Lambert and the priest who had done the -mischief were taken. The priest was consigned to an ecclesiastical -prison for the rest of his natural life; the boy was pardoned—they -could not execute a child—and contemptuously thrust into the King’s -kitchen as a little scullion. He afterwards rose to be one of the -King’s falconers—the only example in history of a Pretender turning -out an honest man in the end. Can we not see the people about the -Court gazing curiously upon the handsome scullion in his white jacket, -white cap, and white shoes, going to and fro upon his duties, washing -pans with zeal and scraping trenchers? The boy had a lovely face, and -manners very far beyond his station. Can we not hear them whispering -that this young man had once been as good as King, and knew what it was -to exercise royal authority? - -The Earl of Warwick was still, however, allowed to live. - -The King, who was magnanimous when it was politic, could also exhibit -the opposite quality on occasion. He had never found it easy to forgive -Edward’s Queen for submitting herself and her daughters to Richard -after she had consented to Henry’s attempt upon the Crown, on the -condition of his marrying the eldest. He laid the matter before his -Council, who determined that Elizabeth, late Queen, should forfeit all -her lands and possessions, and should continue for the rest of her life -in honourable confinement in the Abbey of Bermondsey. Here, in fact, -she died, not long afterwards, the second Queen who breathed her last -in that House. - -One Pretender removed, another arose. Perkin Warbeck professed, as we -know, to be the younger son of Edward IV., namely, Richard, Duke of -York, who, it was pretended, had escaped from the Tower. The strange -adventures of Perkin are told in every history of England. He is -connected with that of London on three occasions. The first was after -his abortive attempt to land in Kent. The Kentish men, refusing to join -him, attacked his followers, drove some of them back to their ships, -and took prisoners a hundred and sixty men with four Captains. These -prisoners were all brought to London roped together, a curious sight -to see. Those who lived on London Bridge saw many strange sights, but -seldom anything more strange than these poor prisoners, who were not -Englishmen but aliens, thus tied together. They were all hanged, every -one: some on the seashore, where their bodies might warn other aliens -not to come filibustering into England; and the rest at Tyburn. - -[Illustration: PERKIN WARBECK (1474–1499) - -From a drawing in the Municipal Library, Arras.] - -The Cornish Rebellion was an episode in the history of the Perkin -Warbeck business. The men of Cornwall refused to pay taxes and resolved -to march upon London. Led by Lord Audley they advanced through -Salisbury and Winchester into Kent: they were there opposed, and moved -towards London, finally lying at Blackheath. The battle that followed -was chiefly fought at the bridge at Deptford Strand. Two thousand -of the rebels were killed; fifteen hundred were taken; Lord Audley -was beheaded; two demagogues who had instigated the rising, namely, -Flammock an attorney, and Joseph a farrier, were hanged; the rest were -not pursued or punished. - -The City, meantime, showed its loyalty by a loan of £4000 to the King -and by putting London into a state of defence. Six Aldermen and a -number of representatives from the Livery Companies were deputed to -attend to the City ordnance; houses built close to the wall were taken -down; the Mayor was allowed an additional twelve men, and the Sheriffs -forty serjeants and forty valets to keep the peace. - -Among those appointed to guard the City gates was Alderman Fabyan the -Chronicler. - -The next episode in Perkin’s career which touches London is that ride -which he undertook, very much against his will, from Westminster to the -Tower. Everybody knows how he gave himself up to the Prior of Shene. -The King granted him his life, but he imposed certain conditions. He -was placed in the stocks opposite the entrance to Westminster Hall, -where he sat the whole day long, receiving “innumerable reproaches, -mocks and scornings.” The day after he was carried through London -on horseback, in sham triumph. They were ingenious in those days in -their methods of putting offenders to open shame. At an earlier date -the traitor Turberville had to ride in shameful guise; and when Lord -Audley, Captain of the Cornish Rebels, was led out to execution, he -was attired in a paper robe painted with his arms, the robe being -slashed and torn. No doubt Perkin was handsomely attired in coloured -paper, with a tinsel crown upon his head; no doubt, too, he bestrode -a villainous hack, while all the ’prentices of London ran after him, -laughing and mocking. They placed him on a scaffold by the Standard in -Chepe and kept him there all day long. In the course of the day he read -aloud his own confession, which is a very curious document. - - “First it is to be knowne, that I was borne in the towne of Turneie - in Flanders, and my father’s name is John Osbecke, which said - John Osbecke was controller of the said towne of Turneie, and my - moother’s name is Katherine de Faro ... againste my will they - made me to learn Englishe and taught me what I shoulde do or say. - And after this they called me Duke of Yorke.... And upon this the - said Water, Stephen Poitron, John Tiler, Hubert Burgh, with manie - others, as the aforesaid earles, entered into this false quarrell. - And within short time after the French king sent an ambassador into - Ireland, whose name was Loit Lucas, and maister Stephen Friham, to - advertise me to come into France. And thense I went into France, - and from thense into Flanders, and from Flanders into Ireland, and - from Ireland into Scotland and so into England.” (Grafton.) - -The last occasion of his public appearance was on the day when he was -hanged. After his two days’ enjoyment of pillory he was taken to the -Tower and was contemptuously told that he would have to end his days -there in confinement. Here he soon brought an end upon himself. He -found in the Tower the young Earl of Warwick, who, as we have seen, -was a very simple young man. Perhaps Perkin understood very well that, -even if his own pretensions were hopelessly discredited, with the -real Earl of Warwick, Clarence’s undoubted son, grandson of the great -Earl, the last male representative of the House of York, there would -be the chance of a far greater rising than either Simnel’s or his own. -He was already sick of prison; the chances of a rising seemed worth -taking, with all its perils and dangers; he was probably desperate and -reckless. He accordingly bribed his keepers with promises to connive at -the escape of the Earl and himself. One has an instinctive feeling that -they only pretended to connive; that the course of the plot was daily -communicated to the Governor of the Tower, and by him to the King; -that the wretched man was encouraged and urged on in order to give an -opening for the greatly desired destruction of the Earl as well as his -own. However that may be, in the end Perkin and a fellow-conspirator, -one John Atwater, were placed on hurdles and drawn to Tyburn, where -they received the attentions reserved for traitors. Perkin died, it is -said, confessing his guilt. Guilty or not guilty, it was a convenient -way of ridding the King not only of an impudent pretender, but also -of a dangerous rival. Edward Plantagenet was beheaded on Tower Hill: -his end is said to have been suggested by the King of Spain before the -betrothal of Prince Arthur to Katherine of Aragon. It was sixteen years -after his accession that Henry caused the unlucky youth to be beheaded; -and now no rival was left to disturb the security of Henry’s crown. - -There was, however, still a third personation, passed over by most -historians, this time by a native of London. The new Pretender was -named Ralph Wilford, the son of a shoemaker. He fell into the hands -of a scoundrel named Patrick, an Augustine friar, who taught him what -to say and how to say it. The two began to go about the country in -Kent, and to whisper among the simple country folk the same story that -Lambert Simnel had told. This lad was none other than the Earl of -Warwick. When the friar found that the thing was receiving, here and -there, a little credence, he began to back up the boy, and even went -into the pulpit and preached on the subject. But this time the matter -was not allowed to get to a head. There was no rebellion: both the -rebels were arrested, the young man was hanged at St. Thomas Waterings, -and the friar was put into prison for the rest of his natural life. - -In the year 1500 was a “great death” in London and in other parts. -The “great death” was due to an outbreak of plague; not the sweating -sickness, which also returned later, but apparently some form of the -old plague, the “Black Death.” It is one of the many visitations which -fell upon the City, afflicted it for a time, filled the churchyards -with dead bodies, then passed away and was forgotten. Twenty thousand -persons, according to Fabyan, were carried off in London alone. The -King retired to Calais till the worst was over. - -On the 14th November 1501, Prince Arthur, then a little over fifteen -years of age, was married to Katherine of Aragon, who was then three -years older. They were married in St. Paul’s Cathedral. Holinshed says -that a long stage was erected, 6 feet high, leading from the west doors -to the Choir; that at the end was raised a Mount on which there was -room for eight persons, with steps to go up and down; and that on this -platform stood the King and Queen and the bridegroom, and on it also -the Mayor and Aldermen were allowed a place. - -[Illustration: KATHERINE OF ARAGON AND ARTHUR, PRINCE OF WALES - -C. Butler’s Collection.] - -After the ceremony a splendid feast was held, with dancing and -disguisings. Holinshed concludes his account of the wedding by an -anecdote which, if true, proves that the Princess was truly the wife of -Arthur. The day after, the Royal party went to Westminster, where there -were tournaments and great rejoicings. The Prince died five months -afterwards. Another royal wedding, held on the 25th January 1502, -caused even greater rejoicing. It was that of the Princess Margaret -with the King of Scotland; a marriage which promised peace and goodwill -between the two nations; a promise which has been fulfilled in a manner -unexpected, by the failure of the male line of Tudors. One observes -how strong the desire of Henry VII. was to conciliate the goodwill -of London. He borrowed money from the City over and over again, but -he always repaid these loans. The exactions that we find recorded -are chiefly those of his old age—when he was fifty-two years of age, -which was old for that time, when he had grown covetous. He could be -ostentatious when show was wanted, witness the marriage of Prince -Arthur with Katherine. He could also entertain with regal splendour, -witness the Christmas cheer he offered to the Mayor and Aldermen. - - “Henry VII., in the ninth Year of his Reign, holding his Feast - of Christmas at Westminster, on the twelfth Day, feasted Ralph - Anstry, then Mayor of London, and his Brethren the Aldermen, with - other Commoners in great number; and, after Dinner, dubbing the - Mayor Knight, caused him with his Brethren to stay and behold the - Disguisings and other Disports in the Night following, shewed in - the great Hall, which was richly hanged with Arras, and staged - about on both sides; which Disports being ended, in the Morning, - the King, the Queen, the Embassadors, and other Estates, being set - at a Table of Stone, sixty knights and esquires served sixty Dishes - to the King’s Mess, and as many to the Queen’s (neither Flesh nor - Fish), and served the Mayor with twenty-four Dishes to his Mess, - of the same manner, with sundry Wines in most plenteous wise. And, - finally, the King and Queen being conveyed, with great Lights, into - the Palace, the Mayor, with his Company, in Barges, returned and - came to London by Break of the next day.” (Maitland, vol. i. p. - 218.) - -[Illustration: THE EXCHEQUER IN THE TIME OF HENRY VII. - -From a print in the British Museum.] - -Henry VII. was respected and feared, rather than loved. He kept his -word; if he borrowed he paid back; he was not savage or murderous; -and he was a great lover of the fine arts. But the chief glory of his -reign is that he enforced order throughout the realm: it is his chief -glory, because order is a most difficult thing to enforce at a time -when the people have been flying to arms on every possible occasion -for forty years. In the rising of Lambert Simnel; in that of Perkin -Warbeck; in the strange determination of the Cornishmen to march upon -London,—one can see the natural result of a long civil war. Men become, -very easily, ready to refer everything to the arbitration of battle; -in such arbitration anything may happen. It was such arbitration that -set Edward up and pulled Henry down, and then reversed the arrangement. -It was such arbitration that placed the crown on Henry Tudor’s head. -Why should not young Perkin step into a throne as Richard, Duke of -York? Henry accepted the arbitrament of battle, defeated his rival, and -dispersed the rebel armies one after the other. One would think that -the spirit of rebellion would be quickly daunted by so many reverses. -It was not so; for nearly a hundred years later there were rebellions. -They broke out again and again: the people could not lose that trick of -flying to arms; the barons could not understand that their power was -gone; the memory still survived of princes dragged down, and princes -set up, as Fortune turned the way of Victory. - -Henry, like all the Tudors, was arbitrary: he had no intention of being -ruled by the City; by his agents Empson and Dudley he levied fines -right and left upon the wealthier merchants; he put the Mayor and the -Sheriffs in the Marshalsea on a trumped-up charge, and they had to pay -a fine of £1400 before he would let them out. He seized Christopher -Hawes, Alderman, and put him also in prison, but the poor man died of -terror and grief. He imprisoned William Capel, Alderman, who refused -to pay a fine of £2000 for his liberty, and remained in prison till -the King died. Lawrence Aylmer, ex-Mayor, was also imprisoned in the -Compter, where he remained till the King’s death. Henry understood very -clearly that with a full Treasury many things are possible that are -impossible with empty coffers. He accumulated, therefore, a tremendous -hoard: it is said to have amounted to one million eight hundred -thousand pounds in money, plate, and jewels. - -The events which belong especially to London in this reign, as we -have seen, were not numerous, nor were they of enduring importance. -As regards building, the King pulled down a chapel and a house—the -house where Chaucer once lived—at the west end of Westminster Abbey, -and built the Chapel called after his name; the Cross of Westchepe -was finished and put up; Baynard’s Castle was rebuilt, “not after the -former manner with embellishments and Towers,” but more convenient. It -was the time when the castle was passing into the country house; it -became now a large and handsome palace, built round two courts facing -the river, much like those palaces built along the Strand, but without -any garden except the courts. - -[Illustration: _Three Children of K. Henry VII and Elizabeth his -Queen. - -I. Prince Arthur II. P^r. Henry III. P^s. Margaret - -From the Royal Collection at Kensington Palace. - -From E. Gardner’s Collection. _p. 12._] - -The City showed more than its usual jealousy of strangers when in -1486 it passed an Ordinance that “no apprentice should be taken nor -Freedom given, but to such as were gentlemen born, agreeable to the -clause in the oath given to every Freeman at the time he was made -Free.”... “You shall take no Apprentice but if he be free born.” -These are Maitland’s words. The statement is surely absurd. For -suppose such a regulation to hold good for the wholesale distributing -Companies, how could it be sustained in the case of the Craft -Companies? Did a gentleman’s son ever become a working blacksmith or -a journeyman saddler? Another kind of jealousy was shown by the City -when they passed an Act which prohibited any citizen under penalty -of £100 (one-third to be given the Informer) for taking any goods or -merchandise to any Fair or Market within the Kingdom, for the term of -seven years. What did it mean? That the country merchants should come -to London for their wares? Parliament set aside this Regulation the -following year. - -A sanitary edict was passed to the effect that no animals should be -killed within the City. There is no information as to the length of -time that this edict was obeyed, if it were ever obeyed at all. - -In 1503 the King showed his opinion of the authority of the City -when he granted a Charter to the Company of Merchant Taylors which -practically placed them outside the jurisdiction of the Mayor. Some of -the other Companies, perceiving that, if this new independence were -granted everywhere, there would be an end of the City, joined in a -petition to Parliament for placing them formally under the authority of -the Mayor and Aldermen. The City got a Charter from the King in 1505. -The Charter, which cost 5000 marks, was especially levelled against -recent encroachments of foreigners in buying and selling, and was drawn -up to the same effect, and partly in the same words, as the Fifth and -last Charter of King Edward the Third. Thus the conclusion of Edward’s -Charter was as follows:— - - “We ... have granted to the said Mayor, etc., that no strangers - shall from henceforth sell any Wares in the same City or Suburbs - thereof by Retail, nor shall keep any House, nor be any Broker in - the said City or Suburbs thereof, saving always the merchants of - High Almaine, etc.” - -Henry’s Charter was as follows:— - - “That of all Time, of which the Memory of Man is not to the - contrary, for the Commonweal of the Realm and City aforesaid, - it hath been used, and by Authority of Parliament approved and - confirmed, that no Stranger from the Liberty of the City may buy or - sell, from any Stranger from the Liberties of the same City, any - Merchandize or Wares within the Liberties of the same City, upon - Forfeiture of the same.” - -A curious story of this reign relates how the King, to use a homely -proverb, cut off his nose to spite his face. For the conduct of -Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, in acknowledging the Pretender, so -incensed him against the Flemings that he banished them all. No doubt -he inflicted hardship upon the Flemings, but he also—which he had not -intended—deprived the Merchant Adventurers of London of their principal -trade. The Hanseatic Merchants, perceiving the possible advantage -to themselves, imported vast quantities of Flemish produce. Then -the ’prentices rose and broke into the _Gildhalla Teutonicorum_—the -Steelyard—pillaging the rooms and warehouses. There was a free fight in -Thames Street, and after a time the rioters were dispersed. Some were -taken prisoners and a few hanged. As nothing more is said about the -Flemings, one supposes that they all came back again. - -[Illustration: SCREEN IN HENRY VII.’s CHAPEL, WESTMINSTER ABBEY - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -There had been grave complaints about the perjuries of Juries in the -City. The Jurymen took bribes to favour one cause or the other. It was -therefore enacted:— - - “That, for the future, no Person or Persons be impannelled or sworn - into any jury or Inquest in any of the City Courts, unless he be - worth forty Marks; and if the Cause to be tried amount to that Sum, - then no Person shall be admitted as a Juror worth less than one - hundred Marks; and every Person so qualified, refusing to serve - as a Juryman, for the first Default to forfeit one Shilling, the - second two, and every one after to double the Sum, for the Use of - the City.” - - “And when upon Trial it shall be found, that a Petty Jury have - brought in an unjust Verdict, then every Member of the same to - Forfeit twenty pounds, or more, according to the Discretion of the - Court of Lord-Mayor and Aldermen; and also each Person so offending - to suffer six Months’ imprisonment, or less, at the Discretion of - the said Mayor and Aldermen, without Bail or Mainprize, and for - ever after to be rendered incapable of serving in any jury.” - - “And if upon Enquiry it be found, that any Juror has taken Money as - a Bribe, or other Reward, or Promise of Reward, to favour either - Plaintiff or Defendant in the Cause to be tried by him then, and - in every such case, the Person so offending to forfeit and pay to - the Party by him thus injured ten times the Value of such Sum or - Reward by him taken, and also to suffer imprisonment as already - mentioned, and besides, to be disabled from ever serving in that - Capacity; and that every Person or Persons guilty of bribing any - Juror, shall likewise forfeit ten times the value given, and suffer - imprisonment as aforesaid.” (Maitland, vol. i. p. 219.) - -[Illustration: INTERIOR OF HENRY VII.’s CHAPEL, WESTMINSTER ABBEY - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -Fortifications commanding roads and approaches to the City were erected -in the year 1496, especially on the south side, in order to defend the -City against the Cornish rebels. It is quite possible that some of -them remained, and that some of the supposed works of 1642 were only a -restoration or a rebuilding of forts and bastions on the same places. - -In the year 1498 many gardens in Finsbury Fields were thrown into a -spacious Field for the use of the London Archers or Trained bands. This -field is now the Artillery Ground with Bunhill Fields Cemetery. In 1501 -the Lord Mayor erected Kitchens and Offices in the Guildhall, by means -of which he entertained the Aldermen and the principal citizens. - -Towards the end of his reign, the King, finding himself afflicted with -an incurable disease, took steps in the nature of atonement for his -sins. He issued a general pardon to all men for offences committed -against his laws—thieves, murderers, and certain others excepted. He -paid the fees of prisoners who were kept in gaol for want of money to -discharge their fees; he also paid the debts of all those who were -confined in the “counters” of Ludgate, _i.e._ the free men of the City, -for sums of forty shillings and under; and some he relieved that were -confined for as much as ten pounds. “Hereupon,” says Holinshed, “there -were processions daily in every City and parish to pray to Almighty God -for his restoring to health and long continuance in the same.” But in -vain; for the disease continued and the King died. - -Here is a note on the first visit of Henry the Eighth to the City:— - - “Prince Henry, who afterwards succeeded his father on the throne - as King Henry VIII., but was at the time a child of seven years, - paid a visit to the City (30 Oct. 1498), where he received a hearty - welcome, and was presented by the Recorder, on behalf of the - citizens, with a pair of gilt goblets. In reply to the Recorder, - who in presenting this ‘litell and powre’ gift, promised to - remember his grace with a better at some future time, the prince - made the following short speech:— - - ‘Fader Maire, I thank you and your Brethren here present of this - greate and kynd remembraunce which I trist in tyme comyng to - deserve. And for asmoche as I can not give unto you according - thankes, I shall pray the Kynges Grace to thank you, and for my - partye I shall not forget yor kyndnesse.’” (Sharpe, _London and the - Kingdom_, vol. i. p. 334.) - -The funeral of the King was most sumptuous. - - “His corpse was conveyed from Richmond to St. Paul’s on the 9th - May, being met on its way at St. George’s Bar, in Southwark, - by the mayor, aldermen, and a suite of 104 commoners, all in - black clothing and all on horseback. The streets were lined with - other members of the companies bearing torches, the lowest craft - occupying the first place. Next after the freemen of the city came - the ‘strangers’—Easterlings, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Venetians, - Genoese, Florentines and ‘Lukeners’—on horseback and on foot, - also bearing torches. These took up their position in Gracechurch - Street. Cornhill was occupied by the lower crafts, ordered in such - a way that ‘the most worshipful crafts’ stood next unto ‘Paules.’ - A similar order was preserved the next day, when the corpse was - removed from Saint Paul’s to Westminster. The lowest crafts were - placed nearest to the Cathedral, and the most worshipful next - to Temple Bar, where the civic escort terminated. The mayor and - aldermen proceeded to Westminster by water, to attend the ‘masse - and offering.’ The mayor, with his mace in his hand, made his - offering next after the Lord Chamberlain; those aldermen who had - passed the chair offered next after the Knights of the Garter, and - before all ‘knights for the body’; whilst the aldermen who had - not yet served as mayor made their offering after the knights.” - (_Ibid._ p. 341.) - - - - - CHAPTER II - - HENRY VIII - - -[Illustration: _Spooner & Co._ - -HENRY VIII. WHEN YOUNG (1491–1547) - -From a portrait by Holbein.] - -London has now changed its character: the old quarrels and rivalries of -Baron, Alderman, or Lord of the Manor with merchant, of merchant with -craftsman, of master with servant, have ceased. The Lord of the Manor -has disappeared in the City; the craft companies have at last gained -their share in the government of the City, but, so far to their own -advantage, they are entirely ruled by the employers and masters who -belong to them, so that the craftsmen themselves are no better off than -before. The authority of the King over the City is greater now than -at any preceding time, but it will be restrained in the future not so -much by charters, by bribes and gifts, as by the power of the Commons. -The trade of the City, which had so grievously suffered by the Civil -wars, is reviving again under the peace and order of the Tudor Princes, -though it will be once more injured by the religious dissensions. -Lastly, the City, like the rest of the country, is already feeling the -restlessness that belongs to a period of change. At Henry’s accession, -men were beginning to be conscious of a larger world: wider thoughts -possessed them; the old learning, the old Arts, were rising again from -the grave; the crystallised institutions, hitherto fondly thought to -be an essential part of religion, were ready to be broken up. Even the -most narrow City merchant, whose heart was in his money-bags, whose -soul was to be saved by a trental of masses, an anniversary, or a -chantry, felt the uneasiness of the time, and yearned for a simpler -Faith as well as for wider markets across the newly-traversed seas. -I propose to consider the events of this reign, which were of such -vast importance to London as well as the country at large, by subjects -instead of in chronological order as hitherto. - -[Illustration: HENRY VIII. (1491–1547) - -From the portrait by Holbein in Windsor Castle.] - -[Illustration: KATHERINE OF ARAGON (1485–1536) - -From the painting in the National Portrait Gallery, London.] - -And I will first take the relations of the City and the King. - -They began with a manifest desire of the young King to conciliate -the City. Evidently in answer to some petition or representation, he -banished all “foreign” beggars, _i.e._ those who were not natives of -London; and ordered them to return to their own parishes. It is easy -to understand what happened: the “foreign” beggars, in obedience to -the proclamation, retired to their holes and corners; the streets were -free from them for some days; the Mayor and Sheriffs congratulated -themselves; then after a decent interval, and gradually, the beggars -ventured out again. The difficulty, in a word, of dealing with rogues -and vagrants and masterless men was already overwhelming. In the time -of Elizabeth it became a real, a threatening, danger to the town. We -must remember that one effect of a long war, especially a civil war, -which calls out a much larger proportion of the people than a foreign -war, is to throw upon the roads, at the close of it, a vast number of -those who have tasted the joys of idleness and henceforth will not -work. They would rather be flogged and hanged than work. They cannot -work. They have forgotten how to work. They rob on the high road; they -murder in the remote farm-houses; in the winter, and when they grow -old, they make for the towns, and they beg in the streets. However, -Henry greatly pleased the City by his order, and for a time there was -improvement. He then took a much more important step towards winning -the affection of the City. He committed Empson and Dudley to the Tower. -They were accused of a conspiracy against the Government—in reality -they had been the approved agents of the late King; but this it would -have been inconvenient to confess. They were therefore found guilty -and executed—these unfortunately too willing tools of a rapacious -sovereign. Henry offered restitution to all who had suffered at their -hands. It was found on subsequent inquiry that six men, all of whom had -been struck off the lists for perjury, had managed to get replaced, and -had been busy at work for Empson and Dudley in raking up false charges -against Aldermen or in taking bribes for concealing offences. These -persons, as being servants and not principals, were treated leniently. -They were set in pillory, and then driven out of the City. - -The loyalty of the City showed itself on the day of the Coronation when -the King, with his newly married Queen, rode in magnificent procession -from the Tower to Westminster, where the Crowning was performed with a -splendour which surpassed that of all previous occasions. - -On St. John’s Eve 1510 the King, disguised as one of his own yeomen, -went into the City in order to witness the finest show of the year, the -procession of the City Watch. He was so well pleased with the sight -that on St. Peter’s Eve following he brought his Queen and Court to -Cheapside to see the procession again:— - - “The March was begun by the City musick, followed by the - Lord-Mayor’s officers in Party-coloured Liveries; then the - Sword-Bearer on Horseback, in beautiful Armour, preceded the - Lord-Mayor, mounted on a stately Horse richly trapped, attended - by a Giant, and two Pages on Horseback, three Pageants, - Morrice-dancers, and Footmen; next came the Sheriffs, preceded by - their Officers, and attended by their Giants, Pages, Pageants, - and Morrice-Dancers. Then marched a great body of Demi-Lancers, - in bright Armour, on stately Horses; next followed a Body of - Carabineers, in white Fustian Coats, with a symbol of the City Arms - on their Backs and Breasts; then marched a Division of Archers, - with their Bows bent, and Shafts of Arrows by their Side; next - followed a Party of Pikemen in their Corslets and Helmets; after - them a Body of Halberdeers in Corslets and Helmets; and the March - was closed by a great Party of Billmen, with Helmets and Aprons of - Mail; and the whole Body, consisting of about two thousand Men, - had between every Division a certain Number of Musicians, who were - answered in their proper Places by the like Number of Drums, with - Standards and Ensigns as veteran troops. This nocturnal March was - illuminated by Nine hundred and forty Cressets; two hundred whereof - were defrayed at the City Expence, five hundred at that of the - Companies, and two hundred and forty by the City Constables. The - March began at the Conduit at the west end of Cheapside, and passed - through Cheapside, Cornhill, and Leadenhall Street, to Aldgate; - whence it returned by Fenchurch Street, Gracechurch Street, - Cornhill, and so back to the Conduit. During this March, the Houses - on each side the said streets were decorated with Greens and - Flowers, wrought into Garlands, and intermixed with a great number - of Lamps.” (Maitland, vol. i. p. 222.) - -There is no more pleasant page in the whole of history than that which -relates the first years of King Henry’s reign. He was young; he was -strong; he was married to a woman whom he loved; he was tall, like -his grandfather King Edward, and of goodly countenance, like his -grandmother Elizabeth Woodville; he was a lover of arts, like his -father; and of learning, like his grandmother Margaret, Countess of -Richmond; he was brave, like all his race; he was masterful, as became -a king as well as a Tudor; he was skilful in all manly exercises. Add -to all this that at the time of his accession he was the richest man -in Europe. This accomplished Prince, according to Holinshed, used, -even in his progresses, to exercise himself every day in shooting, -singing, dancing, wrestling, casting the bar, playing on the recorders, -the flute, the virginals, or writing songs and ballads and setting -them to music. His songs are principally amorous. He wrote anthems, -one of which is extant. The words are taken from the Song of Solomon -(Vulgate). His verse is melodious and pretty:— - - “O my hart and O my hart - My hart it is so sore! - Since I must nedys from my love depart - And know no cause wherfore.” - -Or a song of constancy:— - - “Grene grouth the holy, so doth the ivie - Thow winter’s blastys blow never so hye. - As the holy growith grene and never chaungyth hew - So I am—ever hath bene—unto my lady trew. - Grene grouth, etc. - - As the holy grouth grene with ivie all alone - Whose flowerys cannot be seen and grene wode levys be gone, - Now unto my lady, promyse to her I make - From all other only to her I me betake. - Adew myne owne lady, adew my specyall - Who hath my hart trewly, be sure, and ever shall. - Grene grouth, etc.” - -And the song which became so popular, “Pastyme with good Company.” This -song was actually taken by Latimer as a text for a sermon before Edward -the Sixth:— - - “Pastyme with good companye - I love and shall untyll I dye; - Gruche who list—but none denye, - So God be plesyd thus leve wyll I; - For my Pastance - Hunt, syng, and dance, - My hart is sette; - All goodly sport for my comfort - Who shall be let? - - Youth must have some dalliance, - Of good or yll sum pastance; - Companye me thynkes then best - All thoughts and fansys to dejest; - For idleness - Is chief mistress - Of vices all; - Then who can say - But myrth and play - Is best of all? - - Company with honeste - Is vertu—vices to flee; - Company is good and ill, - But every man hath hys fre wyll; - The best ensew, - The worst eschew, - My Mynde shall be - Vertu to use, - Vice to refuse, - Thus shall I use me.” - -[Illustration: HENRY VIII. AS A MUSICIAN - -From a Royal MS. in British Museum.] - -At the outset there was nothing but feasting, jousts, feats of arms, -masques, devices, pageants, and mummeries. At the feasts the King -was lavish and free of hand; at the tilting the King challenged all -and won the prize; at the masques and mummeries he was the best of -all the actors; at the dance he was the most graceful and the most -unwearied. There are long pages in contemporary history on this festive -and splendid life at the Court, when as yet all the world was young -to Henry, and no one had been executed except Empson and Dudley. The -following extract from Holinshed shows the things in which he gloried, -and the nature of a Court Pageant:— - - “Then there was a device or a pageant upon wheels brought in, out - of the which pageant issued out a gentleman richlie apparelled, - that shewed how in a garden of pleasure there was an arbor of gold - wherein were lords and ladies, much desirous to shew pastime to - the queene and ladies, if they might be licenced so to doo; who - was answered by the queene, how she and all other there were verie - desirous to see them and their pastime. Then a great cloth of arras - that did hang before the same pageant was taken away, and the - pageant brought more neere. It was curiouslie made and pleasant to - beholde, it was solemne and rich: for every post or piller thereof - was covered with frised gold, therein were trees of hawthorne, - eglantine, rosiers, vines, and other pleasant floures of diverse - colours, with gillofers, and other hearbs, all made of sattin, - damaske, silver and gold, accordinglie as the naturall trees, - hearbs, or floures ought to be. In this arbor were six ladies, - all apparelled in white satin and greene, set and embrodered full - of H. & K. of Gold, knit together with laces of gold of damaske, - and all their garments were replenished with glittering spangels - gilt over, on their heads are bonets all opened at the foure - quarters overfrised with flat gold of damaske, and orrellets were - of rolles, wreathed on lampas doucke holow, so that the gold shewed - through the lampas doucke: the fassis of their head set full of new - devised fashions. In this garden also was the king and five with - him apparelled in garments of purple sattin, all of cuts with H. - & K. everie edge garnished with frised gold, and everie garment - full of posies, made of letters of fine gold in bullion as thicke - as they might be, and everie person had his name in like letters - of massie gold. The first Cureloial, the second Bon Voloire, the - third Bon Espoir, the fourth Valiant Desire, the fifth Bon Foy, - the sixt Amour Loial, their hosen, cape, and coats were full of - posies, with H. & K. of fine gold in bullion, so that the ground - could scarse appeere, and yet was in everie void place spangles of - gold. When time was come, the said pageant was brought foorth into - presence, and then descended a lord and a ladie by couples, and - then the minstrels which were disguised also dansed, and the lords - and ladies dansed, that it was a pleasure to behold. In the meane - season the pageant was conveyed to the end of the palace, there to - tarie till the danses were finished, and so to have received the - lords and ladies againe: but suddenlie the rude people ran to the - pageant, and rent, tare, and spoiled the pageant so that the lord - steward nor the head officers could not cause them to absteine, - except that they should have foughten and drawen blood and so was - this pageant broken. Then the king with the queene and the ladies - returned to his chamber, where they had a great banket, and so this - triumph ended with mirth and gladnes.” (Holinshed, vol. iii. p. - 560.) - -On the proclamation of war against France, the City was ordered to -furnish a contingent of 300 men fully armed and equipped. There seems -to have been no difficulty in getting the men. The money for their -outfit was subscribed by the Companies, who raised £405, and so the men -were despatched, clad in white with St. George’s Cross and Sword, and a -rose in front and back. - -In June 1516 Cardinal Wolsey addressed an admonition to the City: -they must look to the maintenance of order; there was sedition among -them; the statute of apparel was neglected; vagabonds and masterless -men made the City their resort—an instructive commentary on the -King’s ordinances of seven years before. The sedition of which Wolsey -complained was due to the intense jealousy with which the people of -London always regarded the immigration of aliens. They were always -coming in, and the freemen—the old City families—were always dying out -or going away. In 1500, and again in 1516, orders were issued for all -freemen to return with their families to the City on pain of losing -their freedom. Had they, then, already begun the custom of living in -the suburbs and going into town every morning? The case against the -foreigners is strongly put by Grafton:— - - “In this season the Genowayes, Frenchmen and other straungers, - sayd and boasted themselves to be in suche favor with the king and - hys counsayle, that they set naught by the rulers of the city: - and the multitude of straungers was so great about London, that - the poore English artificers could scarce get any lyvyng: and - most of al the straungers were so prowde, that they disdayned, - mocked, and oppressed the Englishmen, which was the beginning of - the grudge. For among all other thinges there was a carpenter in - London called Wylliamson which boughte two stocke Doves in Chepe, - and as he was about to pay for them, a Frenchman tooke them out - of his hande, and sayde they were not meat for a Carpenter: well - sayde the Englisheman I have bought them, and now payde for them, - and therefore I will have them; nay sayde the Frenchman I will have - them for my Lorde the Ambassador, and so for better or worse, the - Frenchman called the Englishman knave and went away with the stock - Doves. The straungers came to the French Ambassador, and surmised - a complaint against the poore Carpenter, and the Ambassador came - to my Lord Maior, and sayde so much, that the Carpenter was sent - to prison: and yet not contented with this so complayned to the - king’s counsayle, that the king’s commaundement was layde on him. - And when syr John Baker and other worshipfull persons sued to - the Ambassador for him, he aunswered by the body of God that the - Englishe knave should loose his lyfe, for he sayde no Englisheman - should denie what the Frenchmen requyred, and other aunswere had - they none. Also a Frenchman that had slayne a man, should abjure - the realme and had a crosse in his hande, and then sodainely came - a great sort of Frenchman about him, and one of them sayde to the - Constable that led him, syr is thys crosse the price to kill an - Englisheman. The Constable was somewhat astonied and aunswered - not. Then sayde another Frenchman, on that price we would be - banished all by the masse, this saiying was noted to be spoken - spitefully. Howbeit the Frenchmen were not alonly oppressors of the - Englishemen, for a Lombard called Frances de Bard, entised a man’s - wyfe in Lombarde Streete to come to his Chamber with her husband’s - plate, which thing she did. After when her husband knew it, he - demanded hys wife, but answere was made he should not have her; - then he demanded his plate, and in like manner answere was made - that he should neyther have plate nor wife. And when he had sued - an action against the straunger in the Guyldehall, the stranger - so faced the Englishman that he faynted in his sute. And then the - Lombard arrested the poore man for his wyfes boord, while he kept - her from her husband in his chamber. This mocke was much noted, and - for these and many other oppressions done by them, there encreased - such a malice in the Englishmen’s hartes: that at the last it brast - out.” (Grafton’s _Chronicles_, vol. ii. p. 289.) - -He goes on to relate that a certain John Lincoln, a broker, desired a -priest named Dr. Standish to move the Mayor and Aldermen at his Spital -sermon on Easter Monday to take part with the Commonalty against the -aliens. Standish refused. John Lincoln then went to a certain Dr. Bele, -Canon in St. Mary Spital, and represented the grievous case of the -people. - -... “lamentably declared to him, how miserably the common artificers -lyved, and scarce could get any worke to find them, their wives and -children, for there were such a number of artificers straungers, that -toke away all their living in manner.” - -Then followed the tumult known as Evil May Day. Dr. Bele preached -the Spital Sermon of Easter Tuesday. He first read Lincoln’s letter -representing the condition of the craftsmen thus oppressed by the -aliens, and then taking for his text the words, “Caelum caeli Domino -Terram autem dedit Filiis hominum”—the Heavens to the Lord of Heaven, -but the Earth hath he given to the Sons of Men—he plainly told the -people that England was their own, and that Englishmen ought to keep -their country for themselves, as birds defend their nests. Thus -encouraged, the people began to assault and molest the foreigners in -the City. Some of them were sent to Newgate for the offence; but they -continued. Then there ran about the City a rumour that on May Day -all the foreigners would be murdered, and many of them, hearing this -rumour, fled. The rumour reached the King, who ordered Cardinal Wolsey -to inquire into it. Thereupon the Mayor called together the Council. -Some were of opinion that a strong watch should be set and kept up -all night; others thought that it would be better to order every one -to be indoors from nine in the evening till nine in the morning. Both -opinions were sent to the Cardinal, who chose the latter. Accordingly -the order was proclaimed. But it was not obeyed. Some time after nine, -Alderman Sir John Mundy found a company of young men in Cheapside -playing at Bucklers. He ordered them to desist and to go home. One of -them asked why? For answer the Alderman seized him and ordered him to -be taken to the Compter. Then the tumult began. The ’prentices raised -the cry of “Clubs! Clubs!” and flocked together; the man was rescued; -the people crowded in from every quarter; they marched, a thousand -strong, to Newgate, where they took out the Lord Mayor’s prisoners, and -to the Compter, where they did the same; at St. Martin’s they broke -open doors and windows and “spoiled everything.” And they spent the -rest of the night in pulling down the houses of foreigners. When they -grew tired of this sport, they gradually broke up and went home, but on -the way the Mayor’s men arrested some three hundred of them and sent -them to the Tower. Another hundred rioters were arrested next day. -Dr. Bele was also sent to the Tower. Then began the trials. Lincoln -and some twenty or thirty others were found guilty and sentenced to -be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Ten pairs of gallows were set up in -different parts of the City for their execution. Lincoln, however, was -the only one who suffered. For the rest a reprieve was granted. Then -the affair was concluded in a becoming and solemn manner:— - - “Thursday the xxij day of May, the king came into Westminster - Hall, for whome at the upper ende was set a cloth of estate, and - the place hanged with arras. With him was the Cardinall, the Dukes - of Norfolke and Suffolke, the Earles of Shrewsbury, of Essex, - Wilshire and of Surrey, with manye Lordes and other of the kinges - Counsale. The Maior and Aldermen, and all the chief of the City, - were there in their best livery (according as the Cardinall had - them appoynted) by ix of the clocke. Then the king commaunded that - all the prisoners should be brought forth. Then came in the poore - yonglings and olde false knaves bound in ropes all along, one after - another in their shirtes, and every one a Halter about his necke, - to the number of foure hundred men and xj women. And when all were - come before the kinges presence, the Cardinall sore layd to the - Maior and commonaltie their negligence, and to the prisoners he - declared that they had deserved death for their offence: then all - the prisoners together cryed mercy gracious Lorde, mercy. Then the - Lordes altogether besought his grace of mercy, at whose request - the king pardoned them all. And then the Cardinall gave unto them - a good exhortation to the great gladnesse of the heerers. And when - the generall pardon was pronounced, all the prisoners showted at - once, and altogether cast up their Halters unto the Hall rooffe, so - that the king might perceyve they were none of the discretest sort. - Here is to be noted that dyvers offenders which were not taken, - heeryng that the king was inclined to mercys, came well apparayled - to Westminster, and sodainlye stryped them into their shirtes with - halters, and came in among the prisoners willingly, to be partakers - of the kinges pardon, by the which doyng, it was well knowen that - one John Gelson yoman of the Crowne was the first that beganne to - spoyle, and exhorted other to do the same, and because he fled and - was not taken, he came in the rope with the other prisoners, and so - had his pardon. This companie was after called the blacke Wagon. - Then were all the Galowes within the Citie taken downe, and many a - good prayer sayde for the king, and the Citizens tooke more heede - to their servants.” (Grafton’s _Chronicles_, vol. ii. p. 294.) - -[Illustration: CARDINAL WOLSEY (1471–1530) - -From the painting in the National Portrait Gallery, London.] - -A singular story belongs to the arrival of the French embassy charged -with negotiating the marriage of the King’s infant daughter and the -Dauphin. The ambassadors were escorted by a company of their own King’s -bodyguard and another of the English King’s bodyguard. They were met at -Blackheath by the Earl of Surrey, richly apparelled, and a hundred and -sixty gentlemen; four hundred archers followed; they were lodged in the -merchants’ houses and banqueted at Taylors’ Hall. And then, says the -historian, “the French hardermen opened their wares and made Taylors’ -Hall like to the paunde of a mart. At this doing many an Englishman -grudged but it avayled not.” In other words, a lot of French hucksters, -under cover of the embassy, brought over smuggled goods and sold them -in the Taylors’ Hall at a lower price than the English makers could -afford. - -The reception of the Emperor Charles by Henry in this year was as -royally magnificent as even Henry himself could desire. The procession -was like others of the same period and may be omitted. - -In 1524 a curious proclamation was made by the Mayor. Evidently papers -or letters of importance had been lost. - - “My lorde the maire streihtly chargith and commaundith on the king - or soveraigne lordis behalf that if any maner of person or persons - that have founde a hat with certeyn lettres and other billes and - writinges therin enclosed, which lettres been directed to our said - sovereign from the parties of beyond the see, let hym or theym - bryng the said hat, lettres, and writinges unto my saide lorde - the maire in all the hast possible and they shalbe well rewarded - for their labour, and that no maner of person kepe the said hat, - lettres, and writinges nor noon of them after this proclamacioun - made, uppon payn of deth, and God save the king.” (Sharpe, _London - and the Kingdom_, vol. i. p. 373.) - -[Illustration: EASTCHEAP MARKET - -From an old drawing in British Museum.] - -Two cases, that of Sir George Monoux and that of Paul Wythypol, -prove that the City offices were not at this time always regarded as -desirable. In the former case, Sir George Monoux, Alderman and Draper, -was elected (1523) Mayor for the second time, and refused to serve. -He was fined £1000, and it was ordained by the Court of Aldermen that -any one in future who should refuse to serve as Mayor should be fined -that amount. In this case Monoux was permitted to retire, probably on -account of ill-health. The second case, which happened in 1537, was -that of Paul Wythypol, merchant-taylor. He was a man of some position -in the City: he had been one of the Commoners sent to confer with -Wolsey on the “amicable” loan (Sharpe, _London and the Kingdom_, vol. -i. p. 377); he attended the Coronation banquet of Anne Boleyn; he was -afterwards M.P. for the City, 1529–1536. They elected him Alderman -for Farringdon Within. For some reason he was anxious not to serve; -rather than pay the fine he got the King to interfere on his behalf. -Such interference was clearly an infringement of the City liberties; -the Mayor and Aldermen consulted Wolsey, who advised them to seek an -interview with the King, then at Greenwich. This they did, and went -down to Greenwich. When they arrived they were taken into the King’s -great chamber, where they waited till evening, when the King received -them privately. What passed is not known, but in the end Wythypol -remained out of office for a year afterwards. At the end of that time -he was again elected Alderman, and was ordered to take office or to -swear that his property did not amount to £1000. He refused and was -committed to Newgate, the King no longer offering to help him. Three -weeks later he appeared before the Court and offered to pay a fine of -£40 for three years’ exemption from office. The Court refused this -offer and sent him back to prison. Three months later—Wythypol must -have been a very stubborn person—he again appeared before the Court, -and was ordered to take up office at once or else swear that his -property was not worth £1000. If he did not, he was to be fined in a -sum to be assessed by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council. He did -not take office, and it is therefore tolerably certain that he paid a -heavy fine. - -In the year 1529 sat the memorable Court presided over by Cardinals -Campeggio and Wolsey, which was to try the validity of Henry’s marriage -with his brother’s widow. It was held in the great hall of the -Dominican Friars. No more important case was ever tried in an English -Court of Law, nor one which had wider or deeper consequences. Upon this -case depended the national Faith; the nation’s fidelity to the Pope; -its continued adhesion to the ecclesiastical order as it had developed -during fifteen hundred years. This trial belongs to the national -history. - -In October of that year (1529) the King, enraged by the Legate’s delay -in the marriage business, deprived Wolsey of the Seals, seized his -furniture and plate, and ordered him to leave London. In November -of the same year, at a Parliament held in the Palace of Bridewell, -a Bill was passed by the Lords disabling the Cardinal from being -restored to his dignities. In February 1530 Wolsey was restored to his -Archbishopric but without his palace, which the King kept for himself; -he was summoned to London on a charge of treason, but he fell ill and -died on the way. - -No Englishman before or after Wolsey has ever maintained so much state -and splendour; no Englishman has ever affected the popular imagination -so much as Cardinal Wolsey. Contemporary writers exhaust themselves in -dwelling upon the more than regal Court kept up by this priest. It is -like reading of the Court of a great king. We must, however, remember, -that all this state was not the ostentation of the man so much as, -first, the glorification of the Church and of the ecclesiastical -dignities, and next, a visible proof of the greatness of the King in -having so rich a subject. - -Between 1527 and 1534 there were disputes on the subject of tithes and -offerings to the clergy. At this time began the dissolution of the -Monasteries, to which we will return presently. - -[Illustration: THE KING IN PARLIAMENT - -From a print in the British Museum.] - -So far as regards the relations between the King and the City. Let -us now return to the City itself. We have already seen that the -intervals of freedom from plague were growing shorter. In this reign -of thirty-eight years there was a return of the sweating sickness in -1518; a return of the plague, which lasted from 1519 to 1522; another -appearance of the sweating sickness in 1528; and another attack of -the plague in 1543. It seems strange that no physician should have -connected the frequency and violence of the disease with the foulness -and narrowness of the streets. From the beginning of the sixteenth -century to the Great Fire of 1666, London, crowded and confined, -abounded with courts and slums of the worst possible kind; it swarmed -with rogues and tramps and masterless men who lived as they could, -like swine. There were no great fires to cleanse the City. The -condition of the ground, with its numberless cesspools, its narrow -lanes into which, despite laws, everything was thrown; its frequent -laystalls; the refuse and remains of all the workshops; the putrefying -blood of the slaughtered beasts sinking into the earth,—must have -been truly terrible had the people realised it; but they did not. -Fluid matter sank into the earth and worked its wicked will unseen and -unsuspected; the rains washed the surface; no man saw farther than the -front of his own house; therefore when pestilence appeared among them -it did not creep, according to its ancient wont, from house to house, -but it flew swiftly with wings outspread over street and lane and court. - -Steps were taken to protect and to improve the medical profession. It -was ordained in 1512 that no one should practise medicine or surgery -within the City or for seven miles outside the City walls without a -license from the Bishop of London or the Dean of St. Paul’s; the said -license only to be obtained by examination before the Bishop or the -Dean by four of the Faculty. Two years later surgeons were exempted -from serving on juries, bearing arms, or serving as constables. In 1519 -the Physicians obtained a Charter of Incorporation, by which they were -allowed a common seal; to elect a President annually; to purchase and -hold land; and to govern all persons practising physic within seven -miles of London. The College of Physicians, observe, was at first only -considered as one of the City Companies: it had jurisdiction over -London and over seven miles round London, but no more. The positions of -both Physicians and Surgeons were enormously improved by these Acts of -Parliament. - -There were in this reign, for the admiration of the people, an -extraordinary number of executions, both of noble lords and hapless -ladies, as well as of divines, monks, friars, gentlemen, gentlewomen, -and the common sort, for treason, heresy, and the crimes which are -the most commonly brought before the attention of justice. What reign -before this would exhibit such a list as the following? Two Queens, -Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard; of others, the Marquis of Exeter, -the Earl of Surrey, the Earl of Kildare, the Duke of Buckingham, -Lord Rochford, Lady Rochford, Lady Salisbury, Fisher, More, Empson, -Dudley, Cromwell. Of abbots, priors, monks, friars, doctors, priests, -for refusing the oath of the King’s supremacy a great number; of -lesser persons for heresy or treason another goodly company. Some -were beheaded—those were fortunate; others were burned, not being so -fortunate; the rest were drawn on hurdles, and treated in the manner we -have already seen. - -The dissolution of the Religious Houses, the changes in the Articles -of Religion, and their effect upon the City of London, will be found -in another place (see p. 109). In this chapter a few cases are given -to illustrate the changes of thought and the general excitement in the -minds of men. - -There is, first, the case of Lambert. He was a learned man and a -schoolmaster who denied the Real Presence in the Sacrament. The -case had been already brought before the Archbishop, who had given -a sentence against Lambert. The King, who ardently believed in the -Real Presence, announced his intention of arguing publicly with this -heretic. The argument was actually held in Westminster Hall in the -presence of a great number of people. In the end the King, apparently, -got the worst of it, for we find him becoming judge as well as -disputant, and ordering the unfortunate man to recant or burn. Lambert -would not recant—the pride and stubbornness of these heretics were -wonderful; in some cases, perhaps in this, the man stood for a party: -he would not recant for the sake of his friends as well as himself. He -was burned. - -[Illustration: HENRY VIII. GRANTING THE BARBER-SURGEONS’ CHARTER - -After the picture by Holbein in Barber-Surgeons’ Hall, London.] - -The case of Anne Askew is remarkable for the introduction of torture, -which was then unusual either with criminals or heretics. She was so -miserably tortured—yet perhaps the torture was intended as a merciful -act, in the hope of rescuing her from worse than earthly flames—that -she could not stand or walk. She, like Lambert, suffered for denying -the Real Presence. She was a gentlewoman of very good understanding. - -The Holy Maid of Kent, Elizabeth Barton, was a woman of a much lower -order. She was hysterical and weak-minded. At the present day she would -be looked after and gently cared for. She had fits and convulsions, -during which her face and her body were drawn, and she talked rambling -nonsense. That she was unintelligible was quite enough to make the -ignorant country folk flock about her, listening for inspired words in -her hysterical ejaculations. She passed among them for one to whom God -had sent a new revelation of His Will and Intentions. She was taken to -see Bishops Fisher and More, who do not seem to have regarded her as a -person of the slightest importance. But certain priests—it is said so; -one may believe it or not—obtained influence over her and persuaded -her to prophesy—no doubt she believed what they told her—that if the -King took another wife he would not remain King for another year. Henry -was not the man to be turned aside from his fixed purpose by such a -gross cheat. He arrested the Maid and her accomplices. They were all -brought to the Star Chamber and examined; they all confessed. They were -then exposed on a scaffold at St. Paul’s and publicly confirmed their -confessions. Her confederates included six ecclesiastics, of whom two -were monks of Canterbury and one a Friar Observaunt; two were private -gentlemen; one was a serving-man. Confession made, they were taken -back to the Tower and their case laid before Parliament, which met -after Christmas. They were all sentenced to the same traitor’s death -and, after being kept in prison for three months, were carried out to -Tyburn. The last words of the girl if they are correctly reported are -very pathetic and to the purpose. But they look as if they had been -written for her. - - “Hether am I come to die, and I have not beene the onele cause of - mine owne death, which most justly I have deserved, but also I am - the cause of the death of all these persons which at thys time here - suffer: and yet to saye the truth I am not so much to be blamed, - consydering it was well known unto these learned men that I was - a poore wenche, without learnyng, and therefore they might have - easily perceyved that the thinges that were done by me could not - proceede in no suche sort, but their capacities and learning coulde - right well judge from whence they were proceeded, and that they - were altogether fayned: but because the things which I fayned was - profitable unto them, and therefore they much praised mee and bare - me in hande that it was the holy ghost, and not that I did them, - and then being puffed up with their prayses, fell into a certaine - pride and foolish phantasie with my self, and thought I might fayne - what I would, which thing hath brought me to this case, and for the - which now I crye God and the King’s highnesse most hartely mercie, - and desire all you good people to pray to God to have mercie on me, - and all them that here suffer with me.” - -One cannot refrain in this place from remarking on the change which -has come over the temper of the people as regards the sacred person -of the priest. Henry the Seventh would not send to execution even -those mischievous priests who invented and carried out the impudent -personations. Yet his son, thirty years later, sends to block, stake or -gallows, bishops, abbots, priors, priests, monks, and friars, by the -dozen. - -The story of Richard Hun illustrates the condition of popular feeling -which made these executions of ecclesiastics possible. He was a -citizen of good position and considerable wealth, a merchant-taylor by -calling; he was greatly respected by the poorer sort on account of -his charitable disposition. “He was a good almesman and relieved the -needy.” It happened that one of his children, an infant, died and was -buried. The curate asked for the “bearing sheet” as a “mortuary.”[2] -Richard Hun replied that the child had no property in the sheet. The -reply shows either bad feeling towards the curate or bad feeling -towards the clergy generally. Most likely it was the latter, as the -sequel shows. - -[Illustration: The order and manner of the burning of _Anne Askew_, -_John Lacels_, _John Adams_, _Nicholas Belenian_, with certaine of the -Councell sitting in Smithfield.] - -The priest cited him before the spiritual court. He replied by counsel, -suing the curate in a praemunire. In return Hun was arrested on a -charge of Lollardry and put into Lambeth Palace. And here shortly -afterwards he was found dead. He had hanged himself, said the Bishop -and Chancellor. The people began to murmur. Hanged himself? Why should -so good a man hang himself? A coroner’s inquest was held upon the body. -The jury indicted the Chancellor and two men, the bell-ringer and the -summoner, for murdering Richard Hun. The King’s attorney, however, -would go no further in the matter. By the Bishop’s orders the body was -burned at Smithfield. But the murder—if it was a murder—of Richard Hun -was not forgotten. Nor was it forgotten that without a trial his body -was burned as a heretic’s. These things lay in the minds of the people. -And they rankled. - -[Illustration: DEAN COLET (1467–1519) - -From an engraved portrait in Holland’s _Heroologia_.] - -In the reign of Henry VI. (1447), four new grammar schools had been -established in the City: viz. in the parishes of All Hallows the -Great; St. Andrew’s Holborn; St. Peter’s Cornhill; and in St. Thomas -Acons’ Hospital. Nine years later, five other parish schools had been -founded or restored, namely, that of St. Paul’s; of St. Martin’s; of -St. Mary le Bow; of St. Dunstan’s in the East; and of St. Anthony’s -Hospital. All these schools seem to have fallen more or less into decay -during the next hundred years. But very little indeed is known as to -the condition of education during this period. There is, however, no -doubt that in the year 1509 the Dean of St. Paul’s, John Colet, found -the condition of St. Paul’s School very much decayed. He was himself -a man of large means, being the son of a rich merchant who had been -Sheriff in 1477, Mayor in 1486, and Alderman, first of Farringdon Ward -Without, and afterwards of Castle Baynard and Cornhill successively. -The Dean resolved upon building a new school and endowing it. He -therefore bought a piece of land on the east side of the Cathedral; -there placed a school and entrusted the revenues with which he endowed -it to the Mercers’ Company, saying, that though there was nothing -sacred in human affairs, he yet found the “least corruption” among -them. Later on, the Merchant Taylors founded a school; the Mercers -founded another school; and John Carpenter, Clerk, founded the City of -London School. The educational endowments founded by London citizens -amount to nearly a hundred. - -[Illustration: THOMAS CROMWELL, EARL OF ESSEX (1485(?)-1540)] - -The enclosure of common lands has always been a temptation to those -who live in the neighbourhood and a grievance to those who are thus -robbed of their common property. Both in the north and south of London -there stretched wide common lands in which the people possessed rights -of pasture, cutting wood, and other things. Many of these common lands -still remain, though greatly shorn of their former proportions. On -the north Hampstead Heath is all that is left of land which began -at Moorfields and stretched northwards as far as Muswell Hill and -Highgate and eastward to include the Forests of Epping and Hainault. -In a map of London of the sixteenth century these common lands must -be laid down as a special and very fortunate possession of the City, -where people could in a few minutes find themselves in pure country -air. Early in the century, however, there were murmurings on account of -the enclosure of the fields north of London. “Before this time,” says -Grafton, “the townes about London, as Islington, Hoxton, Shordyche, -and other, had enclosed the common fields with hedges and ditches -that neyther the yonge men of the City might shoote, nor the auncient -persons might walk for their pleasure in the fields, except eyther -their bowes and arrows were broken or taken away, or the honest and -substantiall persons arrested or indicted, saiving that no Londoner -should goe oute of the City but in the high wayes.” It is not stated -how long this grievance lasted; probably it grew gradually: field after -field was cut off; one enclosure after another was made; until the -Londoners rubbed their eyes and asked each other what had become of -their ancient grounds—especially the delightful fields called the Moor, -on whose shallow ponds they skated and slid in winter, and where they -practised the long bow, while the elders looked on, in the summer. They -were gone: in their place were fields hedged and ditched, with narrow -lanes in which two people might walk abreast. How long they looked -on considering this phenomenon we know not. At length, however, the -pent-up waters overflowed. “Suddenly this yere” (1514) a great number -of people assembled in the City, and a “Turner” attired in a fool’s -coat ran about among them crying, “Shovels and Spades.” Everybody knew -what was meant. In an incredibly short time the whole population of -the City were outside the walls, armed with shovels and spades. Then -the ditches were filled in, and hedges cut down, and the fields laid -open again. The King’s Council, hearing of the tumult, came to the Grey -Friars and sent for the Mayor to ascertain the meaning, for a tumult in -the City might become a very serious thing indeed. When, however, they -heard the cause and meaning of it they “dissimuled” the matter with a -reasonable admonition to attempt no more violence, and went home again. -But the fields were not hedged in or ditched round any more. - -[Illustration: DEAN COLET’S HOUSE, STEPNEY] - -In 1532 there was held a general Muster of all the citizens aged -from sixteen to sixty. The City, never slow to display its strength -and wealth, turned out in great force. The men mustered at Mile End, -probably because it was the nearest place which afforded a broad -space for marshalling the troops. They were dressed in white uniforms -with white caps and white feathers; the Mayor, Sheriffs, Aldermen, -and Recorder wore white armour, having black velvet jackets with the -City arms embroidered on them, and gold chains. Before each Alderman -marched four halberdiers, each with a gilt halberd. Before the Lord -Mayor marched sixteen men in white satin jackets, with chains of gold -and long gilt halberds; four footmen in white satin; and two pages -in crimson velvet, with gold brocade waistcoats; two stately horses -carrying, the one the Mayor’s helmet, the other the Mayor’s pole-axe. - -[Illustration: _a Description of the Solemn JUSTS held at Westminster -the 13^{th} day of February in the first year of King HENRY y^e VIII, -in honor of his Queen KATHERIN upon the Birth of their eldest Son -Prince HENRY, A.D. 1510. taken from the Original Roll now in the -College of Armes, London._ - -PROCESSION. TIME OF HENRY VIII. - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -All citizens of distinction on such occasions wore white satin -jackets and gold chains. The vast expenditure of money on a single -day’s pageant such as this, was quite common at this time and in the -preceding age. It may perhaps be explained by certain considerations. -Thus: it was an age of great show and external splendour; the -magnificence of dress, festivals, masques, ridings, and pageants, -is difficult to realise in this sober time. Wealth, rank, position, -privileges, were in fact marked by display. We have seen the splendour -of the Baron who rode to his town house with an army of 500 followers -all richly dressed. And it has been observed that it was not wholly the -mere love of magnificence that caused a nobleman or an ecclesiastic -to keep up this great state. So, in preparing this martial show, -with 15,000 men of arms all fully and richly equipped, the Mayor and -Aldermen intended to illustrate to the King and his Ministers the power -of the City, the wealth of the City, and the resolution of the City to -defend their liberties. And I have no doubt that this intention was -thoroughly understood by Henry and taken to heart. The March began at -nine in the morning. The troops marched through Aldgate, through the -City, and so to Westminster by Fleet Street and the Strand—a little -over four miles. At five in the evening the last company marched past -the King. That part of the business therefore must have lasted about -six hours. - -In the matter of the King’s divorce the City, or the populace, had -taken a very strong side in favour of Queen Katherine. It may indeed -be true that the King’s conscience was awakened after all these years -of marriage as to the legality of marrying his brother’s widow: he saw -perhaps in the failure of male heirs a sign of the Divine displeasure; -that may be: it is not possible to understand all the motives which -guide a man. To the outside world the simplest motive seems always the -certain motive. Katherine was no longer young, no longer beautiful. -Anne Boleyn was both. When the second marriage was announced, the -citizens were greatly displeased: partly on account of their sympathy -with Katherine, partly because they remembered that Anne was the -grand-daughter of a mayor, one of themselves. No honour is ever felt -to be conferred upon the people by the marriage of a Prince with one -of themselves, but quite the reverse. Edward IV. and James II. are -examples, as well as Henry VIII. So much did the citizens show their -disgust, that at an Easter sermon some of them went out of the church -before the prayers for the Queen were read. The King sent word to the -Mayor about it. He called the guilds together and bade them cease -murmuring against the King’s marriage, and cause their journeymen and -apprentices and even their wives to offend no more. - -On the 29th of May the Queen passed from Greenwich to the Tower, and -on the 31st from the Tower to Westminster. The City hastened on this -occasion to show their loyalty by preparing a splendid reception for -the Queen. The Pageant is described below. - -The Princess Elizabeth was born in September of the same year (1533). -In the spring of the following year Parliament passed an Act of -Succession declaring that she, and not Mary, was heir to the Crown; the -whole of the citizens took the oath in acknowledgment of this Act. If -any were so hardy as to refuse, they were executed. - -[Illustration: HENRY VIII., PRINCESS MARY, AND WILL SOMERS - -From Earl Spencer’s Collection. _p. 38._] - -Of Pageants and Ridings no reign ever saw so many, nor was the City -ever more honoured in the part which it was invited to take in them. -Here, for instance, is a list of the more important: the Coronation -in 1509; the reception of the French Ambassadors in 1518; that of the -Legate Cardinal Campeggio; that of the Emperor Charles in 1522; the -Coronation of Anne Boleyn;—every one an occasion for the display of -sumptuous raiment, tapestry, gold chains and allegorical groups. Two -of these functions stand out above all others: the Coronation of Anne -and the Christening of her child. Let us take the account of the Water -Pageant as furnished by Grafton:— - - “The xix day of May the Maior and his brethren all in Scarlet, and - such as were knightes had collers of Esses and the remnaunt havyng - good chaynes, and the counsayle of the Citie with them assembled - at saint Marie Hyll, and at one of the clocke dissended to the - Newstayre to their Barge, which was garnished with many goodly - Banners and instruments, which continually made goodly armony. - After that the Maior and his brethren were in their Barge seing - that al the companies to the number of fiftie Barges were readie to - wayte upon them. They gave commaundement to the companies that no - Barge should rowe neerer to another then twise the length of the - Barge upon a great paine. And to see the order kept, there were - three light Wheryes prepared, and in every one of them two officers - to call on them to keepe their order, after which commaundement - given they set foorth in order as hereafter is described. First - before the Maior’s Barge was a Foyst or Wafter full of ordynaunce, - in which Foyst was a great Dragon contynually moovyng, and casting - wilde fyre: and round about the sayde Foyst stood terrible monsters - and wilde men casting fire, and making hideous noyses: next after - the Foyst a good distaunce came the Maior’s Barge, on whose right - hand was the Batchelers’ Barge, in the which were Trumpets and - divers other melodious Instruments. The deckes of the sayde Barge - and the sailyardes and the top Castels were hanged with riche cloth - of Golde and silke. At the foreship and the sterne were two great - banners riche beaten with the armes of the King and the Quene, and - on the top Castell also was a long streamer newely beaten with the - sayde armes. - - At three of the clock the Queene appered in riche clothe of Gold - and entered into her Barge accompanied with divers Ladies and - gentlewomen, and incontinent the Citizens set forwardes in their - order, their Musicians continually plaiyng, and the Batchelers’ - Barge goyng on the Queenes right hande, which she toke great - pleasure to behold. About the Queenes Barge were many Noblemen, - as the Duke of Suffolke, the Marques Dorset, the Erie of Wilshire - her father, the Erles of Arrondell, Darby, Rutland, Worcester, - Huntyngton, Sussex, Oxford, and many Bishoppes and noblemen, every - one in his Barge which was a goodly sight to behold. Shee thus - being accompanied rowed toward the Tower, and in the meane waye the - shippes which were commaunded to lye on the shore for lettyng of - the Barges shot divers peales of Gonnes, and or shee landed there - was a marvailous shot out of the Tower as ever was harde there. - And at her landing there met with her the Lorde Chamberlaine with - the officers of armes and brought her to the king, which received - her with lovyng countenance at the posterne by the waterside, and - kyssed her, and then she turned back againe and thanked the Maior - and the citizens with many goodly words and so entered the Tower.” - (Grafton’s _Chronicles_, vol. ii. p. 448.) - -The Insurrection in the North, called the Pilgrimage of Grace, the most -dangerous rising in this reign, caused the King to look to the City for -assistance. The Mayor sent him 300 men fully armed and equipped. - -The Mayor took another step in the interests of the Crown and of order. -Although the suppression of the Houses was only begun, the intention of -the King was manifest, and the rising in the North showed the temper of -some part of the people. It is probable that in the City the popular -voice was with the King. But there was a minority consisting of some -of the monks and friars ejected, some of the people who had lost their -occupation and their service, some partisans of the old order; and -these were dangerous. The Court of Aldermen, therefore, deprived every -priest, monk, friar, and religious person of every kind, of all weapons -except their meat knives. A rising of the Religious, maddened with rage -and fear, joined by one knows not how many of lay partisans, hot-heads -and ribalds always anxious for a row, might have been a very serious -thing indeed. We may be quite sure that there were many within and -without the walls who would have desired nothing so much as the sack -and pillage of the rich merchants’ houses in the sacred name of the -Holy Church. Perhaps one of the reasons of the City’s acquiescence in -the destruction of the Religious Houses was the knowledge that such a -rebellion would have produced some kind of alliance with the rogues and -vagabonds of their lanes and slums. - -The execution of Anne Boleyn and the succession of Henry’s queens may -be passed over here as belonging to the national history. - -In June and July 1536 a Convocation was held at St. Paul’s, presided -over by Cromwell, the King’s Vicar-General. A more important assembly -was never held in this country. For this Convocation separated the -Church of England altogether from Rome: it held that the King, as -Supreme Head of the Church, ought to disregard all citations from -the Pope. Once before the Pope’s citations had been disregarded and -scoffed at, viz. by John; but that was on his own authority, apart -from his Clergy and his people. In this case Henry kept up the show of -consultation with his Clergy. Not he, but Convocation, decided that he -was wholly independent of the Pope. - -In the year 1543 the plague appeared and carried off a great many. The -City Authorities ordered all infected houses to be marked with a cross; -all infected persons who recovered were to remain in quarantine for a -month; all straw and rushes from infected houses were to be carried -away and burned; and infected clothes were to be carried out of the -City. Dogs, except watch-dogs, were to be killed. It proved, happily, -to be a short though sharp visitation. - -In 1544 the City sent 1000 men to aid Henry in his war with France, -in two contingents of 500 each; and in the following year a third -contingent of 2000 men was sent to France. In 1545 a tax for -two-fifteenths was imposed for the purpose of bringing water from -Hackney, Muswell Hill, and Hoxton, into the City. The conclusion of the -war with France in 1546 was celebrated by a Procession which was solemn -and magnificent. It marched from St. Paul’s to Leadenhall Chapel and -back again. First came men carrying the silver crosses of the Parish -Churches; then all the Parish Clerks, Choristers and Priests in London; -then the Choir of St. Paul’s, in their school caps: they were followed -by the City Companies in their liveries. Last of all marched the Lord -Mayor and Aldermen in scarlet robes. - -Peace, however, brought with it an invasion of disbanded soldiers, -riotous, and given to acts of robbery and violence. They were -accompanied by their camp-followers, whose character may be guessed. -The Mayor gave orders that the old soldiers should be allowed to beg -for a certain number of days, but that the vagabond followers should be -driven out of the City. So I suppose they got rid of a few while the -greater number remained behind—an addition to the rogues and beggars of -the City, who had already become a most dangerous element. (See p. 366.) - -[Illustration: EMBARKATION OF HENRY VIII. AT DOVER] - -In the last year of Henry’s reign (1546) he bestowed an endowment of -500 marks a year on the City Poorhouses on condition that the City -itself raised as much. He also gave the City, only a few days before -his death, the Hospital of St. Bartholomew, to be called the House of -the Poor; the House of the Grey Friars, and the House or Hospital of -Bethlehem. Henry died on the 28th of January 1547 at his Palace of -Whitehall. - -I will now discuss a few more incidents in the history of this reign. - -In 1511 Roger Acheley, Mayor, caused the City Granary of Leadenhall to -be stored with grain for prevention in time of scarcity. This Mayor -also caused Moor fields to be levelled, and bridges and causeways to be -erected thereon. - -In 1512 the Sheriffs were, by Act of Parliament, empowered to empanel -Juries for the City Courts. Every Juryman was to be a citizen worth -100 marks. If he failed to appear upon the first summons he was to -forfeit one shilling and eightpence; for the second, three shillings -and fourpence—and so on, the penalty being doubled for each occasion. - -In 1517 the Court of Conscience was first established. Two Aldermen -and four “discreet” Commoners were appointed every month to sit at -the Guildhall twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday, to hear causes -between citizens and freemen of debts not exceeding forty shillings. -The Act was passed for two years only; but as it proved highly -serviceable it was continued by repeated Acts of Council until the -Court was confirmed by James I. - -In 1519 the King by Charter removed the Sessions of Peace from St. -Martin’s le Grand to the Guildhall, to the great contentment of the -citizens. - -In 1519 the Tower Ditch, between Aldgate and the Tower Postern, was -scoured and cleansed—the work cost £95:3:4. The Chief Ditcher was paid -7d. a day; the second Ditcher 6d.; the rest 5d.; the “Vagabonds,” -_i.e._ men pressed into the work, got a penny and their food. It -follows from this that the wage of a working man was then 5d. or 6d. a -day. The pay of a chantry priest was in most cases £6 a year, or about -4d. a day. So that the craftsman received, to support himself and his -family, very little more than the priest for the support of himself. -This fact shows that even the despised chantry priest occupied a much -higher social position than the craftsman. - -In 1525 Wolsey proposed to levy a tax of one-sixth of all the goods -and chattels of the laity, and a fourth of those of the clergy. -There was so much indignation at this tax that the King gave way, -sending a letter to the Mayor in which he stated that he would never -exact anything of his people by compulsion, but would rely on their -benevolence. It appeared, however, when Wolsey sent for the Mayor and -Aldermen to confer with them upon the subject, that the City was not -disposed to grant any benevolence at all, relying on a statute of -Richard III. abolishing such benevolences. It was in vain that Wolsey -pointed out to them the facts that Richard was a murderer and a tyrant: -the City stood by the Law, and the benevolence was dropped. - -In 1526 occurs an early example of the boycott. The City found that -certain foreign merchants had purchased license to import woad contrary -to law. It was therefore resolved that no London citizen should have -any dealings with any foreign merchant who should import woad. - -About the year 1527 there was an attempt made by Wolsey to pass laws in -the teeth of the simple rule of supply and demand. The war with Spain -caused great losses to the manufacturers of cloth, who were obliged to -dismiss their servants and to stop the production. Wolsey thereupon -sent for the principal merchants of the City and ordered them to go -on buying from the manufacturers as usual; in other words, to ruin -themselves and their own servants in order to prevent the dismissal of -the factory hands. Should they disobey, the great Cardinal threatened -to remove the cloth market from Blackwell Hall to Westminster. -“However,” Maitland remarks quietly, “it was neither in the power -of the King, nor in that of his Minister, to execute the aforesaid -injunction: wherefore commerce continued on the same footing as before, -till the conclusion of a Peace.” - -In 1529, after the meeting of Convocation already mentioned, a -Proclamation was passed in London prohibiting all commercial -intercourse with Rome. - -In the same year the City recovered the right of the Great Beam. The -King had taken over this important right with all the profits belonging -to it and had conveyed it to Sir William Sidney. For ten years the -City had been endeavouring to recover their rights even by bribing, -but without success. In 1531 a compromise was arrived at, by which -Sir William Sidney continued to hold the Beam at an annual rent, and -by Royal Charter the right was once more conveyed to the Mayor and -Corporation, the Grocers’ Company having the privilege of appointing -the weighers. - -Another attempt was made to regulate the price of food. It was -complained that butchers who were not freemen had put up stalls along -Leadenhall Street where they sold their meat before the doors of the -houses. The Mayor made them all go into Leadenhall Market, where they -had to pay rent to the Corporation. He also fixed the price of beef -at a half-penny a pound, and of mutton at three-farthings. As a whole -sheep could be bought for 2s. 10d., it would seem as if the whole sheep -weighed only 45 lbs. It was discovered, however, that the regulation -only made meat dearer. Therefore it was not enforced. At this time -French wine was sold at 8d. a gallon; Malmsey and other sweet wines at -a shilling. - -In 1542 occurred the business of George Ferrers. He was M.P. for -Plymouth, and he was arrested for debt in the City and lodged in the -Compter, a manifest infringement of the privileges of the House. The -Serjeant-at-Arms was therefore ordered by the House to proceed to the -City and to demand the release of the prisoner. The Sheriffs—Rowland -Hill and Henry Suckley—in their zeal for the privileges of Parliament, -not only refused to obey, but abused the serjeant and maltreated him. -Upon which he returned to Westminster and informed the House of what -had been done. The House therefore ordered the serjeant to return -and to demand the prisoner without writ or warrant. Meanwhile the -Sheriffs had learned the meaning of their action and were beginning -to feel uncomfortable. They released the prisoner and, accompanied -by the creditor, one White, they attended at the Bar of the House. -The Sheriffs and the creditor and one of their clerks were sent to -the Tower; the arresting clerk and four others to Newgate. And in -this melancholy plight they continued for some days, until they were -released by the intercession of the Mayor. This was an example to all -future Sheriffs not to take too much upon themselves. - -About this time also the principal streets of the suburbs were first -completely paved: viz. Holborn, High Street, Aldgate as far as -Whitechapel Church, Chancery Lane, Gray’s Inn Lane, Shoe Lane, Fetter -Lane, White Cross Street, Chiswell Street, Grub Street, Shoreditch, -Goswell Street, St. John’s Street, Cannon Street, Wych Street, -Holy Well Street (by Clement Danes), the Strand; Petty France in -Westminster; Water Lane in Fleet Street; Long Lane in Smithfield; and -Butcher Row without Temple Bar. The paving was not yet the flat slab of -stone introduced later, but the round cobble stone, with a channel or -gutter running down the middle. - -In 1543 an Act was passed empowering the City to bring water from -Hampstead and Muswell Hill, and two years later a conduit was set up in -Lothbury with water from Hoxton Fields. (Appendix I.) - -The death of Henry left the City in a condition of the greatest -confusion and disorder. The streets were full of returned soldiers, and -of the idle vagabonds who follow the army: in holes and corners there -were lurking unfrocked friars and people turned out of their work in -the Religious Houses; there were no hospitals for the sick; none for -the blind; none for the insane. If these were the fruits of the King’s -supremacy, then, men whispered to each other, it were better to return -to the old superstitions. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - EDWARD VI - - -The City presents few points of interest during this reign which do not -belong to the national history. The Progress of the Reformation is the -subject which more especially belongs to and interests the world in -this young King’s short reign. - -[Illustration: EDWARD VI. (1537–1553) - -From a portrait by Holbein at Windsor Castle.] - -There can be no doubt whatever that just as in the reign of Richard -II. the City was saturated with Lollardry, so in the last years of -Henry VIII. it was filled with the new ideas. The connection with the -Pope severed; the religious Orders clean swept away; the reading of -the Bible rapidly spreading; the teaching and example of men like -Cranmer, Latimer, Rogers, Ridley, Hooper, and others; the derision -poured upon the old things such as pilgrimages, image worship, repeated -services and monasticism; the popular attack on the Religious by such -writers as Fish in the _Supplicacyon of Beggars_ and Barnabe Googe in -his _Popish Kingdom_; the lectures and sermons carefully composed with -the design of overthrowing and casting contempt upon the old Faith; -the natural instinct of men to see in new ideas a certain remedy for -old ills;—these things made it inevitable that the new thoughts should -spread and take root. We hear no more, for instance, of the Mayor -disarming men who had been monks and friars. - -The new ideas, again, appealed to the nobler and more generous part of -humanity. To stand erect before the Creator without the intervention -of a priest; no longer to be called upon to believe that which the -Bible would not allow to be believed; the introduction of Reason into -the domain of Doctrine; the abandonment of childish pilgrimages to the -tombs of fallible and sinful mortals; the abolition of the doctrine -that pardons, indulgences, Heaven itself, can be bought with money; no -longer to believe that fasting and the observance of days may avail -to salvation;—these things caught hold of men’s minds and ran rapidly -from class to class. And then there was the reading of the Bible for -themselves by the folk who could do no more than read. There are no -means of deciding how far the old English Version had been read and -passed from hand to hand. - -In the reign of Edward VI. we see the first-fruits of the new ideas. -Already, however, there were signs of change other than those ordered -and authorised by the most autocratic of sovereigns. The Mayor -abolished the service of the Boy Bishop at St. Paul’s; sober citizens -were haled before the courts charged with blaspheming the mass; men -rose in their places and made a noise in church during celebration; -one, a boy, threw his cap at the Host during the time of elevation: -“at this tyme” (_Grey Friars Chron._) “was moche spekyng agayn the -Sacrament of the Auter, that some called it Jack of the boxe, with -divers other shameful names.” - -Thus the new reign began. - -It was a time of great uncertainty and trouble in religious matters. We -see the citizens, ignorant of Greek, disputing over the interpretation -of a text; over the conditions of salvation; over matters too high -for them—one grows hot and says things that ought not to be said. The -informer in the crowd—there is always an informer—steals away and -lays information. Then the hasty citizen is lucky if he gets off with -a fine. They whisper thus and thus concerning the intentions of the -Protector and the opinions of the Archbishop. It is rumoured that the -new Bishop of this or that will not be consecrated in his robes; it is -rumoured that there will be more changes in the Articles of Religion; -it is rumoured that there will be a vast rising of the ejected priests -and the starving friars; it is rumoured that they have already risen in -the East and in the West. The air is full of rumours. Trade is very -bad. There is no money anywhere; the coinage is debased: a shilling -is worth no more than sixpence; a groat is twopence; a penny is a -half-penny; and the price of provisions is certainly double what it -was! It is a strange, perplexed time. - -[Illustration: EDWARD VI. (1537–1553) - -From a portrait by Holbein at Windsor Castle.] - -There were other events connected with the City besides these constant -alarms about the change of Faith. Traitors were executed, notably the -two Seymours; rebels were drawn, hanged and quartered, notably the four -Captains of the Cornish Rising; the sweating sickness appeared again -in 1550 and lasted for six months, carrying off men only and sparing -women and children. The cloister of St. Paul’s, commonly called the -Dance of Death, and the Charnel House of St. Paul’s, were destroyed and -carried away; there were risings in Cornwall, Norfolk, and Yorkshire; -a woman named Joan of Kent was burned at Smithfield for heresy; then -happened the famous murder of Arden of Faversham, for which his wife, -his maid, and one of the murderers were all burned; three men and one -woman hanged; a Dutchman named George of Paris was burned for heresy in -Smithfield. - -An important acquisition, however, was gained by the City in 1550. The -Borough of Southwark consisted of three manors, the Guildable Manor, -the King’s Manor, and the Great Liberty Manor. Edward III. had granted -the first of these to the City. Edward IV. had confirmed and amplified -this grant, giving the City the right of holding a yearly Fair in the -month of September together with a Court of Pie Powder. The City next -claimed the right of holding a market twice a week in Southwark. On -this claim there were disputes. Finally the City bought all the rights -of the Crown in Southwark for the sum of £647:2:1. They thus obtained -a recognised right to hold four weekly markets, and to administer the -whole borough excepting the two prisons of the Marshalsea and the -King’s Bench, and the Duke of Suffolk’s House. - -A very curious difference was made between the new Ward of Bridge -Without, then founded, and the other wards. It is this: that in the -election of Aldermen the people of the Ward have never had any voice -and have never taken any part. And they are not represented in the -Common Council. - -In one respect the civic history of this reign is very fine—the -citizens grappled manfully with the question of the poor and the -sick. We have seen how Henry gave them Grey Friars, Bartholomew’s, -and Bethlehem. In aid of the former they levied on the City a tax of -one-half of a fifteenth, _i.e._ a thirtieth. And the memory of the -old Religious Fraternities lingered still, for we find them founding -a Brotherhood for the Relief of the Poor, to which Sir John Gresham, -then Mayor, and most of the Aldermen belonged. Nor was this all. They -obtained by purchase, at the cost of £2500, the Hospital of St. Thomas -in Southwark. - -After the poor, the children. Grey Friars House was taken in hand and -altered to convert it into a school. In a few months 400 children were -admitted. This was the work of Sir Richard Dobbs as Mayor. When Ridley -was lying in prison, shortly before his death he wrote to Dobbs in -these words:—“Oh Dobbs, Dobbs, Alderman and Knight, thou in thy year -didst win my heart for evermore, for that honourable act, that most -blessed work of God, of the erection and setting up of Christ’s Holy -Hospitals and truly Religious Houses which by thee and through thee -were begun.” - -After the sick and the children come those who cannot work and those -who will not work. In 1553 the young King consented to give his disused -Palace of Bridewell for the purpose of turning it into a Work-house -or hospital for those who could work no longer, and for a House of -Correction to those who would not work (see also p. 368). The King -gave also 700 marks and all the beds and bedding of the Palace of the -Savoy. The very last act of Edward VI. was a Charter of Incorporation, -appointing the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, Governors of these -Royal Hospitals in the City. - -[Illustration: EDWARD VI. GRANTING CHARTER TO BRIDEWELL - -From E. Gardner’s Collection. _p. 48._] - -In the first year of Edward the House of Commons passed an Act which -showed that the old spirit of independence and the desire to form -Unions were not dead among the craftsmen of London. They enacted:— - - “That if any Artificers, Workmen, or Labourers do conspire, - covenant, or promise together, that they shall not make or do - their work but at a certain Price or Rate, or shall not enterprize - nor take upon them to finish that work which another hath begun, - or shall do but a certain work in a day, or shall not work but - at certain Hours or Times; that then every Person so conspiring, - covenanting, or offending, being thereof convicted by Witnesses, - Confession, or otherwise, shall forfeit for the first offence - £10 or twenty days’ Imprisonment; for the second offence £20 or - Pillory; and for a third offence £40 or to sit on the Pillory, - and to have one Ear cut off, besides being rendered infamous and - incapable of ever giving Evidence upon Oath.” (Maitland, vol. i. p. - 239.) - -The Act is explained to apply especially to butchers, bakers, brewers, -poulterers, cooks, etc.—in a word, to those who provided the daily -necessaries of life. - -In 1548 the Marching Watch was revived by Sir John Gresham, after being -in abeyance for many years. It was London’s finest show. (See p. 362.) - -The Deposition and trial of the Protector are matters of national -history. The part taken by the City is not generally recorded by the -historian. It is told by Maitland:— - - “The Earl of _Warwick_, and divers Lords of the Privy-Council, - being highly dissatisfied with the Administration of _Edward - Seymer_, Duke of _Somerset_, the Protector, withdrew from Court, - associated, and armed themselves and Domesticks, and secured - the Tower of _London_ by a Stratagem of the Lord Treasurer’s, - without the Effusion of Blood; and, having removed the Governor, - substituted one of their Friends to succeed him. Having luckily - succeeded in their first Attempt, _Warwick_ removed into the City, - and lodged at the House of _John York_, one of the Sheriffs of - _London_. - - Upon advice of these proceedings at _London_, the Protector was - so greatly intimidated, that he instantly removed with the King - from _Hampton-Court_ to _Windsor_, and began strongly to fortify - the Castle. In the Interim the Lords at _London_ had a Conference - with the Lord-Mayor and Aldermen, whom they earnestly importuned - to provide a Power sufficient for Defence of the City: Which being - assented to, the several Companies were ordered alternately to - mount Guard, to be ready to oppose all Attempts that might be - made against them. They likewise desired a Supply of five hundred - Men, to enable them to bring the Protector to Justice. To which - Answer was returned, That nothing could be done in that Affair - without consulting the Common-Council; to which End, the Lord-Mayor - summoned all the Members thereof to assemble the next Day in - _Guildhall_. - - In the mean time the Lords convened in the Mayor’s House; where - after having drawn up a trifling charge against the Protector, - they caused it to be proclaimed in divers parts of the City. - After which they conferred with the Mayor and Aldermen in the - Council-Chamber (before they met the Commons) and, having come - to several Resolutions, the Mayor and Aldermen repaired to the - Common-Council; where, in a full Assembly, they produced a Letter - from the King, commanding them immediately to send him five hundred - Men completely armed to _Windsor_. However, _Robert Brook_, the - Recorder, earnestly exhorted them rather to supply the Lords with - that Number, by whose assistance they would be enabled to call the - Protector to an Account, and thereby redress the Grievances of an - injured Nation; without which the City was not only in Danger of - being ruined, but likewise the whole Kingdom to become a Prey to - his insatiable Avarice. This Speech, instead of having the desired - Effect, occasioned a profound Silence; which greatly amazing the - Orator, he reassumed his Discourse, and seriously pressed them for - an Answer: Whereupon _George Stadlow_, a prudent and judicious - Citizen, rose up, and spoke as followeth:— - - ‘I remember,’ sayth he, ‘in a Story written in Fabian’s Chronicle, - of the Warre betweene the King and his Barons, which was in the - time of King _Henry_ III. and the same Time the Barons, as our - Lordes do now, demaunded Ayde of the Maior and Citie of _London_, - and that in a rightful Cause for the Commonweale, which was for - the Execution of divers good Lawes, whereunto the King before - had geven his Consent, and after would not suffer them to take - Place; and the Citie did ayde the Lords, and it came to an open - Battayl, wherein the Lordes prevayled, and toke the King and his - sonne Prisoners, and upon certaine Condycions the Lordes restored - againe the King and his Sonne to their Liberties; and, amonge other - Condycions, this was one, That the King should not only graunt his - Pardon to the Lordes, but also to the Citezens of _London_; which - was graunted, yea, and the same was ratified by Act of Parliament: - But what followed of it? Was it forgotten? No, surely, nor forgiven - during the King’s life; the Lyberties of the City were taken away, - Straungers appointed to be our Heades and Gouvernors, the Citezens - geven away Bodye and Goodes, and from one Persecution to another - were most miserably afflicted. Such it is to enter into the Wrath - of a Prince, as _Solomon_ sayth, _The Wrath and Indignation of a - Prince is Death_. Wherefore, forasmuch as this Ayd is requyred of - the King’s Majestie, whose Voyce we ought to hearken unto, for he - is our high Shepherd, rather than unto the Lords; and yet I would - not with the Lords to be clearly shaken off, but that they with - us, and we with them, may joyne in Sute, and make our most humble - Petition to the King’s Majestie, that it would please his Highness - to heere suche Complaynt against the Government of the Lorde - Protector, as maye be justly alleged and proved; and, I doubt not, - but this Matter will be pacefied, that neither shall the King, nor - yet the Lordes, have Cause to seeke for further Ayde, neyther we to - offend any of them bothe.’” (Maitland, vol. i. p. 240.) - -[Illustration: THE CORONATION PROCESSION OF EDWARD VI.] - -It would seem that the nobles had resumed the old custom of having a -great train of followers. For at the departure of Mary Queen of Scots -from London, where she had been entertained for four days, the Duke -of Northumberland attended her with a hundred mounted men, of whom -forty were dressed in black velvet, with velvet hats and feathers, -and had gold chains about their necks. The Earl of Pembroke was there -with a hundred and twenty men, also in hats and feathers; and the -Lord Treasurer had a hundred gentlemen and yeomen. The last glimpse -which London had of the young King was when Sir Hugh Willoughby sailed -down the river on that voyage which was to discover a N.E. passage -through the ice and snow of North Siberia. The ships were dressed -with streamers; trumpeters stood in the bows; guns were fired for a -farewell salute as they passed Greenwich Palace, and the dying Prince -was brought out for one more look upon the glory of his realm in the -courage and enterprise of his subjects. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - MARY - - -The proclamation of Lady Jane Grey as Queen, the short-lived and -ill-fated period of that usurpation, belong to the history of the -country, not to that of London. - -[Illustration: MARY TUDOR (1516–1558) - -From a woodcut of the portrait by Antonio Moro, in Prado, Madrid.] - -It was on the evening of the 3rd of August that Mary made her entry -into the City accompanied by her half-sister Elizabeth. She came -from Newhall in Essex where, a few days before, she had received a -deputation from the City with a present of £500 in gold. At the Bars -of Aldgate she was met by the Mayor, who gave her the City Sword. The -order of the procession is related by a contemporary as follows:— - - “First, the citizens’ children walked before her magnificently - dressed; after followed gentlemen habited in velvets of all sorts, - some black, others in white, yellow, violet and carnation; others - wore satins or taffety, and some damasks of all colours, having - plenty of gold buttons; afterwards followed the Mayor, with the - City Companies, and the chiefs or masters of the several trades; - after them, the Lords, richly habited, and the most considerable - knights; next came the ladies, married and single, in the midst of - whom was the Queen herself, mounted on a small white ambling nag, - the housings of which were fringed with gold thread; about her - were six lacqueys, habited in vests of cloth of gold. The Queen - herself was dressed in violet velvet, and was then about forty - years of age, and ‘rather fresh-coloured.’ Before her were six - lords bareheaded, each carrying in his hand a golden mace, and some - others bearing the arms and crown. Behind her followed the archers, - as well of the first as the second guard.... She was followed by - her sister, named Madame Elizabeth, in truth a beautiful princess, - who was also accompanied by ladies both married and single. Then - might you hear the firing of divers pieces of artillery, bombards - and canons, and many rejoicings made in the City of London; and - afterwards the Queen, being in triumph and royal magnificence in - her palace and castle of Oycemestre [Westminster], took it into - her head to go and hear mass at Paules, that is to say, at the - church of St. Paul, and she was attended by six hundred guards, - besides the cere, that is to say the servants of lords and nobles.” - (_Antiquarian Repertory._) - -On the 10th of August the remains of the late King were buried -according to the forms of the Book of Common Prayer. It was not long, -however, before every one understood clearly the mind of the Queen. - -On the 1st of October Mary rode through the City to Westminster for her -Coronation. Sharpe notes the significant fact that the daily service -at St. Paul’s was not held because all the priests not suspended for -Protestantism were wanted at Westminster Abbey. - -Queen Mary was crowned with every possible care to return to the old -ritual. Fresh oil, blessed by the Bishop of Arras, had been brought -over; she was afraid that St. Edward’s Chair had been polluted by her -brother, the Protestant, sitting in it; she had therefore another chair -sent by the Pope. The death of Edward took place on the 6th of July -1553, the Coronation of Mary on the 1st of October. The Queen must have -requested the Pope to send her the chair immediately on her accession -if that chair had arrived within eighty-five days. - -In November Lady Jane Grey, her husband, two of his brothers, and -Cranmer, were tried at the Guildhall and sentenced to death; but -execution was delayed. Probably in the case of Lady Jane Grey the -sentence would never have been carried out had it not been for Wyatt’s -Rebellion in January 1554. The ostensible cause was the Spanish match, -which was regarded with the greatest dislike and suspicion by the whole -people—“Yea, and thereat allmost eche man was abashed, looking daylie -for worse matters to grow shortly after.” When the Rebellion broke -out the City stood loyally by the Queen: the Companies set watch; no -munitions of war were allowed to go out of the City; chains were set -up at the Bridge foot; and 500 men were hurriedly raised and equipped. -Mary herself showed the courage of her race. She rode into the City and -met the citizens at the Guildhall, making them a very spirited speech. -She spoke in a loud voice so that everyone should hear. No action -in her reign shows her nearly so well as this natural and courageous -speech. - -The following is Mary’s speech as given by Maitland:— - - “In my owne Person I am come unto you, to tell you that which - yourselves already doe see and know; I mean, the traiterous and - seditious Number of the _Kentish Rebels_, that are assembled - against Us and You: Their Pretence, as they say, is to resist a - Marriage between Us and the Prince of _Spain_. Of all their Plots, - pretended Quarrels and evil-contrived Articles, you have been made - privy.... What I am, loving Subjects, you right well know, your - Queene, to whom at my Coronation, when I was wedded to the Realme, - and to the Lawes of the same (the Spousal Ring whereof I have on - my Finger, which never hitherto was, nor hereafter shall be left - off), ye promised your Allegeance and Obedience unto me; and that - I am the right and true Inheritor to the _English_ Crown, I not - only take all _Christendome_ to Witness, but also your Acts of - Parliaments confirming the same. - - And this I say further unto you in the Word of a Prince, I cannot - tell how naturally a Mother loveth her Children, for I was never - the Mother of any; but certainly, if a Prince and Governour may as - naturally love their Subjects, as the Mother doth her Child, then - assure yourselves, that I, being your Soveraigne Lady and Queene, - doe as earnestly and tenderly love and favour you; and I, thus - loving you, cannot but thinke, that you as heartily and faithfully - love me againe; and so, this Love bound together in the Knot of - Concord, we shall be able, I doubt not, to give these Rebels a - short and speedy Overthrow.... - - But if, as my Progenitors have done before, it might please God - that I might leave some Fruit of my Body to be your Governour, I - trust you would not only rejoice thereat, but also I know it would - be to your great Comfort; and certainly if I either did know or - thinke that this Marriage should either turne to the Danger or Loss - of any of you, my loving Subjects, or to the Detriment of any Part - of the Royal Estate of this _English_ Realme, I would never consent - thereunto, neither would I ever marry, whilst I lived. - - Wherefore, good Subjects, plucke up your Hearts, and, like true - Men, stand fast with your lawful Prince against these Rebels, both - ours and yours, and fear them not, for I assure you, I do not, and - will leave with you my Lord _Howard_ and my Lord Treasurer, to be - assistant with my Lord-Maior, for the Safe-guard of the City from - Spoile and Sackage, which is the onely Scope of this rebellious - Company.” (Maitland, vol. i. p. 249.) - -The failure of the revolt was due to the spirited and prompt action of -the City. - -All this belongs to the history of the country. Yet we cannot pass -over the execution of Lady Jane Grey. It is the most melancholy of -all the many tragedies which belong to the Tower during the fifteenth -and sixteenth centuries. Perhaps it seemed necessary at the time, in -order to prevent other risings like that of Wyatt, in the same way that -it had seemed necessary to Henry VII. that the young Earl of Warwick -should be removed; and later to Elizabeth that Mary Queen of Scots -should no longer be an occasion of conspiracy. At the same time it is -wonderful that it should have been thought even possible to bring to -the scaffold this girl of sixteen who had been made to play a part. -The story of her execution and of her noble words, told with simple -directness by Holinshed, cannot be read without tears:— - - “By this time was there a scaffold made upon the greene over - against the White Tower, for the ladie Jane to die upon, who being - nothing at all abashed, neither with feare of hir owne death, which - then approched, neither with the sight of the dead carcasse of - hir husband when he was brought into the chapell, came forth, the - lieutenant leading hir, with countenance nothing abashed, nor hir - eies anything moistened with teares, with a booke in hir hand, - wherein she praied untill she came to the said scaffold. Whereon - when she was mounted, this noble yoong lady as she was indued with - singular gifts both of learning and knowledge so was she as patient - and mild as anie lambe at hir execution, and a little before hir - death uttered these words:— - - ‘Good people I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned - to the same. My offence against the queenes highness was onelie in - consent to the device of other, which now is deemed treason: but - it was never of my seeking, but by counsell of those who should - seem to have further understanding of things than I, which knew - little of the law and much lesse of the titles to the crowne. - But touching the procurement and desire thereof by me, or on my - behalfe, I doo wash my hands in innocencie thereof before God, - and the face of all you (good Christian people) this daie.’ And - therewith she wroong her hands wherein she had hir booke. Then - (said she) ‘I praie you all good Christian people, to beare me - witnesse that I die a true Christian woman and that I looke to be - saved by none other meanes, but onlie by the mercie of God, in the - bloud of his onlie sonne Jesus Christ: and I confesse that when I - did know the word of God, I neglected the same, and loved myselfe - and the world, and therefore this plague and punishment is justlie - and worthlie happened unto me for my sins, and yet I thanke God of - his goodnesse, that he hath given me a time and respit to repent. - And now, good people, while I am alive I praie you assist me with - your praiers.’ Then kneeling downe she said the psalme of _Miserere - mei Deus_ in English, and then stood up and gave hir maid (called - mistress Ellin) hir gloves and handkercher, and hir booke she also - gave to maister Bridges the lieutenant of the Tower, and so untied - her gowne: and the executioner pressed to helpe her off with it, - but she desired him to let hir alone, and turned hir toward hir - two gentlewomen, who helped hir off therewith, and with hir other - attires, and they gave hir a faire handkercher to put about hir - eies. Then the executioner kneeled downe and asked her forgiveness, - whom she forgave most willinglie. Then he willed her to stand upon - the straw, which doone, she saw the blocke and then she said, I - praie you dispatch me quickly. Then she kneeled down saieng, Will - you take it off before I laie me downe? Whereunto the executioner - answered, No, Madame. Then tied she the handkercher about her eies - and feeling for the blocke she said, Where is it? Where is it? One - of the standers by guided her thereunto and she laid downe hir head - upon the blocke and then stretched forth her bodie and said, Lord, - into thy hands I commend my spirit; and so finished hir life.” - (Holinshed, vol. iv. p. 22.) - -[Illustration: LADY JANE GREY (1537–1554) - -After the portrait in the Collection of the Earl of Stamford and -Warrington] - -Mary’s first Parliament met with the celebration of mass, which was -ominous; but it was not too compliant: it was ready to restore the -situation as it was in the last years of Henry VIII.; it was unwilling -to submit to Rome; and it refused absolutely to restore the Church -property. Further, it presented a petition against the proposed foreign -marriage. Mary’s second Parliament, more obedient to the will of the -Queen, gave its consent to the proposed marriage, but refused to -re-enact the statute for the burning of heretics. Her third Parliament -went a step farther: it re-enacted the statute for the burning of -heretics; it agreed to reconciliation with Rome; but it refused, like -its predecessors, to sanction the surrender of Church lands. They were -ready to obey their sovereign in matters of faith: the soul may always -be left to the care of the Church; but property—property—that, if you -please, belongs to the Lay mind. Convocation, on the other hand, was -very thorough: it denounced the Book of Common Prayer; it demanded -the suppression of the Catechism; it recommended violent measures -against the clergy who should deny the Real Presence and against those -who should not put away their wives. This meant Revolution. Hosts of -priests, and those who still survived from the monasteries, rejoiced -to say mass once more, even in the ruined and desecrated churches that -were left to them. It meant Restoration. Priests sprang up everywhere -from the ground—how had they lived for ten years? Priests in the -villages and the parish churches put on their old robes; dragged out -the censing vessels; replaced the Host. Ex-monks who had been pensioned -from the monasteries; ex-friars who had received no pensions but had -been simply turned into the street; ecclesiastics from abroad;—all -came, eager to revive the forbidden worship. They looked around them -ruefully at the dishonoured shrines and the ruined chapels: it would -take centuries to make everything as it had been; but still—one must -try. - -Meantime, think, if you can, of the deadly hatred which these priests -must have felt towards those who had done these mischiefs; think of -the silent satisfaction with which even the best of them would witness -the execution of one who had been a leader—a Hooper or a Latimer—in -bringing about this destruction. But the destruction was stayed. Holy -Church was back again, and of course for ever. The Great Rebellion, -they thought, was ended. As for the beneficed clergy in possession, -many conformed for fear and for safety; very few indeed gave up their -wives; happy were the contumacious if their contumacy brought no worse -consequence than to beg their bread on the road; happy if it did not -lead to a speedy trial, conviction, and the certainty of becoming a -fiery example. They might have made up their minds at the outset that -Mercy was not a quality for which Mary would be conspicuous. Before the -Fires of Smithfield began there were the executions for the Rebellion -of Wyatt. It was an excellent opportunity for winning the hearts of -the people; Lady Jane Grey’s party never had the smallest chance: she -herself might have been allowed to be at liberty with no danger to the -Queen, while to execute her boy-husband was as barbarous and useless -as to execute herself. Fifty persons, however, officers, knights, and -gentlemen, were put to death in consequence of the Rebellion. Four -hundred common men were hanged about London. Fifty were hanged on -gibbets, and there left to hang a great part of the summer. - -[Illustration: ST. PETER AD VINCULA, OVERLOOKING TOWER GREEN - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -Meantime, the people of London—partly exasperated by the sight of -these gibbets; partly hating the Spanish marriage; partly hating the -break-up of the Reformation—showed their minds in every possible way. -They shot at preachers of Papistry; they dressed up a cat like a Roman -Priest, and hanged it on a gallows in Cheapside; they found a girl -who pretended to receive messages from a spirit. It was called the -Spirit in the Wall. When the Eucharist was carried through Smithfield -a man tried to knock the holy elements out of the priest’s hands. And -on Easter Day a priest saying mass in St. Margaret’s, Westminster, was -attacked by a man with a knife. - -The Marian Persecution began in January 1555. The Queen issued a -proclamation that bonfires should be lit in various places in the City -to show the people’s joy and gladness for the abolition of heresies. -This was the signal for the martyrdoms. John Rogers, Prebendary of -St. Paul’s, was burned, to begin with, at Smithfield; Hooper, at -Gloucester; Ferrar at St. David’s; Rowland Taylor at Hadleigh; Lawrence -Saunders at Coventry; William Flower at Westminster; John Cardmaker at -Smithfield; John Bradford at Smithfield. It is enough to state that -the martyrs of this Persecution were two hundred and eighty-eight in -number: including five Bishops, twenty-one clergy, fifty-five women, -four children, and two hundred and three laymen. Of the laymen, only -eight were gentlemen. I will invite consideration of this fact later on. - -The flames of martyrdom lasted till within a month of Mary’s end. It is -difficult to understand how the Bishops could believe that the burning -of this kind of heretic stamped out heresy. Hundreds, nay, thousands, -of families went in perpetual mourning for the death of brother or -cousin, a martyr faithful to the end. The Bishops might have understood -the signs of the times: they might have seen the Mayor and Aldermen -trying vainly to show conviction rather than obedience in attending -all the processions and functions of the Church at which the people -looked on sullenly and with murmurs; they might have listened to the -wisdom of Cardinal Pole, who pointed out to the Queen and the Council -that these severities were destructive to the Catholic Faith in the -country. The Persecution reads like the revenge of a revengeful woman. -“Burn! Burn! Burn!” she cries. “To avenge the tears of my mother; to -avenge the unhappiness of my childhood; to avenge the act that made me -illegitimate; to avenge the marriage of Anne Boleyn. Burn! Burn! Burn!” - -Everybody knows the eager hopes and expectation with which Mary looked -forward to the birth of a child. The tales of the common people about -the Queen’s supposed pregnancy are illustrated by a story in Holinshed. - - “There came to see me, whome I did both heare and see, one Isabel - Malt, a woman dwelling in Aldersgate Street in Horne allie, not - farre from the house where this present book was printed, who - before witnesse made this declaration unto us, that she being - delivered of a man-child upon Whitsuntide in the morning, which was - the eleventh daie of June Anno 1555, there came to hir the Lord - North, and another lord to her unknowne, dwelling then about old - Fish Street, demanding of hir if she would part with hir child, and - would swear that she never knew nor had no such child. Which if - she would, hir sonne (they said) should be well provided for, she - should take no care for it, with manie faire offers if she would - part with the child. After that came other women also, of whome one - (she said) should have been the rocker: but she in no wise would - let go hir sonne, who at the writing hereof, being alive and called - Timothie Malt, was of the age of thirteene yeares and upward. Thus - much (I saie) I heard of the woman hirself. What credit is to be - given to hir relation, I deale not withall, but leave it to the - libertie of the reader to believe it they that list: to them that - list not, I have no further warrant to assure them.” (Vol. iv. p. - 83.) - -[Illustration: _W.A. Mansell & Co._ - -EXECUTION OF LADY JANE GREY - -From the painting by Paul Delaroche in the Tate Gallery, London. - -_p. 58._] - -The same Chronicler gives us a glimpse of the divided state of -the popular mind on the occasion of the removal of Dr. Sands, -Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, to London, to be tried for heresy. As he -left Cambridge the Papists came out to jeer at him, and his friends -to mourn for him. When he got to London, one like a milk-wife hurled -a stone at him, which struck him in the breast. When he came to Tower -Hill a woman cried out, “Fie on thee, thou knave, thou traitor, thou -heretic!” For which she was upbraided by another woman who called out, -“Good gentleman: God be thy comfort and give thee strength to stand in -God’s cause even to the end!” When, after some weeks, they brought him -from the Tower to the Marshalsea the people had gone round already, and -“poperie was unsaverie.” Everywhere they prayed to God to comfort him -and to strengthen him in the truth. In the Marshalsea, Sands fell into -the hands of a Protestant keeper, who gave him all the indulgence he -could. And in the end he escaped into Holland, and there stayed till -the death of Mary. - -The examples of Henry the Seventh’s reign were not likely to be lost so -soon. A lad of eighteen named William Fetherstone, a miller’s son, was -reported to be at Eltham in Kent giving himself out for King Edward, -who, he declared, was not dead at all. Was the boy mad? It is not -known. He himself declared that he had been made to say this: it is -quite possible that certain hot-headed Protestants thought to set up -King Edward again, and so to get back the new religion. Such a thing -can never be attempted without encouragement—perhaps the lad was soft -and easily moulded. Being brought before the Council he rambled in his -talk; wherefore he was committed to the Marshalsea as a lunatic. That -conclusion did not prevent them from whipping the boy all round the -Palace at Westminster and all the way from Westminster to Smithfield. -They then packed him off to his birthplace in the North, where he might -have rested in peace; but the unlucky wretch began to talk again about -Edward VI., who, he said, was still alive. Therefore they brought him -up to London and hanged him at Tyburn. - -[Illustration: Certaine Bishops talking with Master Bradford in prison.] - -[Illustration: The description of the burning of Master Iohn Bradford -Preacher, and Iohn Lease a Prentice.] - -To return to the other points connected with London during this reign. -They are not many. One of the difficulties was the rush into London of -Spaniards who came over after the marriage of Philip and Mary. It is -interesting to note how with every consort of foreign origin the people -of the country to which he or she belonged flocked over to London in -multitudes. After the Norman Conquest came troops of Normans; after the -accession of Henry II. came Angevins; after the arrival of Eleanor of -Provence came men of Provence; and now came Spaniards. Was London, -then, always considered a Promised Land to those who lived outside? -It was but a poor Land of Promise in these years, when all the world -was torn by civil and religious wars. However, the Spaniards were -everywhere: “a man should have mete in the streets for one Englishman -above iiij Spanyardes”; the Court was crammed with Spaniards; and -Philip, so far from attempting to win the hearts of the English nobles, -held himself aloof with Castilian ceremony. We hear little more of -the Spaniards after Philip’s departure: probably they found London an -unfavourable soil for a permanent settlement and withdrew; the Spanish -element as shown in the names of the Londoners at the present day, or -in the Parish Registers, is small indeed. - -[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE BELL TOWER, WHERE PRINCESS ELIZABETH WAS -IMPRISONED BY HER SISTER QUEEN MARY - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -The jealousy of foreigners, especially of Spaniards, caused trouble in -the City throughout this reign. There were rumours that thousands of -Spaniards were coming over; the old jealousy of the Hanseatic League -was renewed: the Mayor gave orders that work should not be given to -foreigners; they were forbidden to open shops in the City; they were -not allowed to keep school; their shutters were forcibly closed. One -feels that the situation of the foreigner in the City was anything but -pleasant, especially if he were a Spaniard. - -The submission of Juries to the Judges was expected in matters of -treason, if not in other things. The case of Nicholas Throgmorton, -charged with high treason and complicity in the Rebellion of Wyatt, -proves this. Doubtless it was in opposition to the Judge’s charge -that the Jury brought in a verdict of Not Guilty. For this they were -summoned before the Star Chamber, where four of the twelve made -submission; the remaining eight were sent to prison, where they -remained for six months. They were then brought before the Star Chamber -again, where they defended their finding as being in accordance with -their own consciences. As if Juries in matters of treason could have -consciences! So they were sent back to prison, and only got out by -paying a fine—some of £44, some of £60 apiece. - -In 1556 the City gave Mary a loan of £6000. - -War with France was declared in June 1557. The City was instructed -to put its munitions of war on a sound and serviceable footing. -It complied, and raised a force of 500 men, which joined the army -commanded by Lord Pembroke. In less than a month the Queen sent a -letter to the Mayor informing him of the departure of Philip and -commanding him to raise another force of 1000 men. After a good deal -of protest and grumbling, and after vain appeals to the liberties and -franchises of the City respecting the sending of men on active service, -submission was made and the men were got together. This was early in -August. But it does not seem that they were sent. On 27th August the -French were defeated at St. Quentin. Towards the end of the year it was -known that Calais was in a dangerous position. On 2nd January a message -arrived from the Queen, ordering the despatch of 500 men at once. They -were wanted for the relief of Calais. But Calais fell on the 7th. Then -the City was called upon to furnish another 2000 men. On the 13th the -Queen wrote to say that a violent storm had crippled her fleet—the men -were to be kept back, but in readiness. Then it was heard that Philip’s -forces were on their way to Flanders, under the Duke of Savoy, and that -the Channel was kept open by a Spanish fleet. A regiment of 500 was -therefore sent off to Dover in order to be shipped for Dunkirk. - -In March 1558 Mary raised a loan of £20,000 on the security of the -Crown lands, from the City Companies. The greater Companies contributed -£16,983:6:3, the rest being made up by the smaller Companies. The -Mercers gave £3275; the smaller Companies sums varying from £50 to £300. - -For the better regulation of trade an Act of Parliament was passed in -1554 by which non-residents were not allowed to sell their wares in any -town. - - “Whereas the Cities, Boroughs, Towns Corporate and Market Towns, - did heretofore flourish, where Youth were well educated, and - civilly brought up, and were highly serviceable to the Government; - but were brought to great Decay, and were like to come to utter - Ruin and Destruction, by Reason that Persons dwelling out of the - said Cities and Towns came and took away the Relief and Subsistence - of the said Cities and Towns by selling their Wares there: For - Remedy whereof, be it enacted, That no Person or Persons dwelling - any where out of the said Cities or Towns (the Liberties of the two - Universities only excepted) shall hereafter sell, or cause to be - sold, by Retail, any Woollen and Linnen Cloth (except of their - own making), or any Haberdashery, Grocery, or Mercery Ware, at - or within any of the said Cities, Boroughs, Towns Corporate, or - Market Towns within this Realm (except in open Fairs), on Pain to - forfeit and lose, for every Time so offending, six shillings and - eight Pence, and the whole Wares so sold, offered or profered to be - sold.” (Maitland, vol. i. p. 251.) - -[Illustration: PHILIP II. OF SPAIN (1527–1598) - -From the painting by Alonso Sanchez Coello in the Berlin Museum.] - -An attempt was made to reduce the number of Taverns in London and -Westminster. There were to be no more than forty in the City and three -in Westminster. But the law was not enforced nor obeyed. - -In this reign we first hear of the abuse of prisons. One of the two -Compters then stood in Bread Street. The warden or keeper, one Richard -Husbands, was accused of maltreating his prisoners barbarously; also -of receiving men and women of criminal and disreputable character, -and giving them lodging within the prison for fourpence a night. The -Corporation therefore built a larger and more convenient compter in -Wood Street, to which they removed the prisoners, appointing a new -keeper in place of Husbands. - -In January 1557 one Christopher Draper, Alderman of Cordwainer Street -Ward, employed a man to walk nightly about the streets of the Ward, -ringing a bell and calling on the people to take care of their fires -and lights; to help the poor; and to pray for the dead. This was the -origin of the office of Bellman. - -In this year arrived the first Ambassador from Russia. He was wrecked -on the coast of Scotland. The Russia Company sent officers into Holland -with money and necessaries, and with orders to bring him to London. -On his arrival he was met by eighty merchants on horseback, richly -accoutred and with gold chains round their necks, and was taken to a -house in Highgate, where he was royally entertained for the night. -Next day he rode into the City and was received by the Mayor and Lord -Montague, who escorted him to his quarters in Fenchurch Street. During -the whole of his stay his charges were defrayed by the Russia Company. - -The profuse expenditure expected of the Mayor and Sheriffs during their -year of office, made many citizens who ought to have filled these -posts, retire into the country rather than put themselves to such great -expense. - -The Common Council took up the matter: in a very curious array of -ordinances it was provided among other things - - “That thenceforth the Mayor should have no more than one course - either at Dinner or Supper; and that on a Festival, being a Flesh - Day, to consist of no more than seven Dishes, whether hot or cold; - and on every Festival, being a Fish Day, eight Dishes; and on every - common Flesh Day, six Dishes; and on every common Fish Day, seven - Dishes, exclusive of Brawn, Collops with Eggs, Sallads, Pottage, - Butter, Cheese, Eggs, Herrings, Sprats and Shrimps, together with - all sorts of Shell-fish and Fruits: That the Aldermen and Sheriffs - should have one Dish less than the above-mentioned; and all the - City Companies at their several Entertainments the same number of - Dishes as the Aldermen and Sheriffs; but with this Restriction, to - have neither Swan, Crane, nor Bustard, upon the Penalty of forty - Shillings; etc. etc. etc.” - -On the 17th of November 1558 Mary died. The bonfires which hailed the -accession of her sister were fires of rejoicing over the death of the -unhappy Queen. The whole City was united in joy, with the exception of -the Bishops and the Priests. Not only was religion concerned, but the -domination of Spain; the immigration of Spaniards; the humiliation of -the country. The general rejoicing was marked by the keeping the day -of Elizabeth’s accession as a holiday for a hundred and fifty years to -come. - - - - - CHAPTER V - - ELIZABETH - - -[Illustration: _Walker & Cockerell._ - -QUEEN ELIZABETH (1533–1603) - -From a painting, attributed to Zuccaro, in the National Portrait -Gallery, London.] - -“My Lady Elizabeth,” the Venetian Ambassador writes in the lifetime -of Queen Mary, “the daughter of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn, was -born in 1533 (in the month of September—so that she is at present -twenty-three years of age). She is a lady of great elegance both of -body and mind, although her face may be called rather pleasing than -beautiful; she is tall and well made; her complexion fine though rather -sallow; her eyes, but, above all, her hands, which she takes care not -to conceal, are of superior beauty. In her knowledge of the Greek and -Italian languages she surpasses the Queen. She excels the Queen in the -knowledge of languages; for, in addition to Latin, she has acquired no -small acquaintance with Greek. She speaks Italian, which the Queen does -not. In this language she takes such delight, that in the presence of -Italians it is her ambition not to converse in any other. Her spirits -and understanding are admirable, as she has proved by her conduct in -the midst of suspicion and danger, when she concealed her religion and -comported herself like a good Catholic. She is proud and dignified -in her manners; for, though her mother’s condition is well-known to -her, she is also aware that this mother of hers was united to the King -in wedlock, with the sanction of the Holy Church and the concurrence -of the Primate of the realm; and though misled with regard to her -religion, she is conscious of having acted with good faith; nor can -this latter circumstance reflect upon her birth, since she was born in -the same faith as that professed by the Queen. Her father’s affection -she shared at least in equal measure with her sister; it is said -that she resembles her father more than the Queen does, and the King -considered them equally in his will, settling on both of them 10,000 -_scudi_ per annum. Yet with this allowance she is always in debt. -And she would be much more so if she did not studiously abstain from -enlarging her establishment, and so giving greater offence to the -Queen. For indeed there is not a knight or a gentleman in the kingdom -who has not sought her service, either for himself or for some son or -brother; such is the affection and love that she commands. This is one -reason why her expenses are increased. She always alleges her poverty -as an excuse to those who wish to enter her service, and by this means -she has cleverly contrived to excite compassion, and at the same time -a greater affection; because there is no one to whom it does not -appear strange that she—the daughter of a king—should be treated in so -miserable a manner. She is allowed to live in one of her houses about -twelve miles distant from London, but she is surrounded by a number of -guards and spies, who watch her narrowly and report every movement to -the Queen. Moreover, the Queen, though she hates her most sincerely, -yet treats her in public with every outward sign of affection and -regard, and never converses with her but on pleasing and agreeable -subjects. She has also contrived to ingratiate herself with the King of -Spain, through whose influence the Queen is prevented from bastardising -her, as she certainly has it in her power to do by means of an Act of -Parliament, which would exclude her from the throne. It is believed -that but for this interference of the King, the Queen would without -more remorse chastise her in the severest manner; for whatever plots -against the Queen are discovered, my Lady Elizabeth or some of her -people may always be sure to be mentioned among the persons concerned -in them.” - -Attention has already been called to the rejoicings of the people on -the death of Mary and the uplifting of that long-continued cloud. The -bells of the City were rung; bonfires were lit; loaded tables open for -all comers were spread in the streets—yea, even in that dark night of -November. A week later the new Queen rode from Hatfield to the Charter -House, where she stayed for five days; on the 28th she rode in state -to the Tower; here she remained till the 5th of December, when she -went by water to Somerset House. On the 17th of December, the body of -Mary was laid in Westminster Abbey, with the Roman Catholic Service; -on the 12th of January, the Queen returned to the Tower, and thence -on the following day she rode to Westminster. The reader has probably -remarked, in the course of this history, that neither King nor Queen, -nor Mayor nor people, ever paid the slightest regard for weather or for -season. A Royal Riding with Pageants and red cloth and tapestry, and a -procession in boats, was undertaken as readily in January, when there -is generally hard frost; in April, when there is generally east wind; -in July, when there is generally the heat of summer; or in October, -when there is generally fine weather with the repose of autumn. Season -and weather, sunshine or frost, made no difference. In her desire to -win the hearts of the people, Elizabeth probably paid no heed to the -weather, whether it was cold or not. - -[Illustration: _Walker & Cockerell._ - -QUEEN ELIZABETH (1533–1603) - -From a painting in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Painter -unknown.] - -We have remarked a great change in the temper and attitude of the City -towards the Sovereign. We hear from time to time murmurings about the -City liberties; but nothing of importance. The reasons are several: -the Tudor sovereigns carefully respected those liberties which, so -to speak, made the most show; they abstained from interference with -the City elections; they would not interfere with the City Courts. As -regards the point of real importance to themselves—the raising of money -and men—their demands were generally arbitrary; witness the calls of -Mary for men and still more men. Another cause for cheerful loyalty -was that when the religious discussions were at length appeased, it -was incumbent on everybody to do his utmost for the Protestant Cause, -which became the National Cause. For these reasons we find the City -cheerfully giving to Elizabeth what it reluctantly gave, or refused to -give, to Henry the Third or Richard the Second. - -It was understood by those who welcomed the Queen so joyously that -her first care must be the restoration of the Reformed Faith. Every -craftsman who threw up his cap expected so much. Fortunately, the -events of the last reign had turned the hearts of most people wholly -away from the mass. Elizabeth was fully informed as to the opinion of -the majority of her subjects; as for her own opinion, it is said that -she favoured the old Church. Perhaps so; that is to say, she would -rather, as a matter of choice, listen to the Roman Mass than to the -English Litany—it is certainly more beautiful; at the same time, one -cannot but believe that she was sincere in making her choice and in -keeping steadfast to it. Her kindness to the Catholic Faith was shown -in the relaxation of persecution. She would not at first persecute any -for believing what she herself publicly professed not to believe. Her -first step, however, clearly showed the direction of future law. She -put forth a royal proclamation ordering the cessation of disputations -and sermons, and ordered in their place the reading of the Epistle -and Gospel for the Day, with the Ten Commandments, in the vulgar -tongue. She also appointed, in the first year of her reign, certain -Commissioners, whose duty it was to visit every diocese, for the -establishment of religion according to the new Act of Parliament. Those -for London were Sir Richard Sackville, knight; Robert Horne, Doctor of -Divinity; Doctor Huicke; and Master Savage. The Commissioners visited -every parish, calling before them persons of every sort, whom they -instructed and admonished. They suppressed all the Religious Houses -that Mary had established—the Abbey of Westminster, Syon House, the -House of Shene, the Black Friars of Smithfield and those of Greenwich. -They further pulled down all the new roods and images, and burned all -the vestments, altar cloths, banners, mass books, and rood lofts. In -fact, the people showed very plainly that their minds were all for the -Protestant religion. - -[Illustration: REPRESENTATION DES FEVS DE IOYE QVIFVRENT FAICTS SVR -LEAV DANS LONDRES A L’HONNEVR DE LA REYNE LA NVICT DVIOVR DE SON ENTREE - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -An Act of Uniformity followed, which forbade the use of any form of -public prayer other than that of the Prayer Book of Edward VI. with one -or two slight alterations. This book was replaced in the churches, and -service was conducted in accordance with it on Whit Sunday 1559. What -happened immediately after? A pulling out of Bibles from hiding-places; -a return to the old talk, restrained for five years for fear of -informers; an enjoyable plunge into the anti-Scriptural aspects of the -Roman Creed; and a rush for the ornaments, roods, tombs, the vestments -and the incense vessels and the candles in all the City churches. In -some cases the wafers, vestments, and altar cloths, books, banners, -and other ornaments of the churches were burned—things which had cost -thousands when they were renewed under Queen Mary. All this happened, -and an incredible amount of mischief was done before the destruction -was stopped. - -There appears to have been little strength of feeling or spirit of -martyrdom among the Roman Catholics in London. They submitted; more -than this, they made no attempt to maintain their religion; their -children, if not themselves, became wholly Anglican; such Roman -Catholic worship as survived lurked in holes and corners, or was -maintained secretly by a few nobles and gentlemen. Before long, -however, the Government had to deal with that advanced form of -Protestantism which had been brought over from the Continent. In 1565 -an order was issued that all the clergy were to wear the surplice. -A good number of them refused, and left their churches, with their -congregations. This was the beginning of Nonconformity. But Elizabeth -made no attempt to enforce obedience or to persecute those who -dissented. - -On the 25th of May 1570, the temper of the people was plainly indicated -by their reception of a Bull from the Pope, which was actually -found nailed to the door of the Bishop of London’s Palace in Paul’s -Churchyard. It was in Latin. Holinshed gives both text and translation. - - “Pius, Bishop, servant of God’s servants, etc. Queene Elizabeth - hath cleane put awaie the sacrifice of the masse, praiers, - fastings, choise or difference of meats and single life. She - invaded the kingdome, and by usurping monstrouslie the place of - the supreme head of the Church in all England, and the cheefe - authoritie and jurisdiction of the same, hath againe brought the - said realem into miserable destruction. Shee hath remooved the - noble men of England from the king’s councell. Shee hath made - hir councell of poore, darke, beggerlie fellows, and hath placed - them over the people. These councellors are not onlie poore and - beggerlie, but also heretikes. Unto hir all such as are the - woorst of the people resort, and are by hir received into safe - protection, etc. We make it knowne that Elizabeth aforesaid, and - as manie as stand on hir side in the matters abovenamed, have run - into the danger of our cursse. We make it also knowen that we have - deprived hir from that right shee pretended to have in the kingdome - aforesaid, and also from all and every hir authoritie, dignity, - and privilege. We charge and forbid all and every the nobles and - subjects, and people, and others aforesaid, that they be not so - hardie as to obey hir or hir will, or commandements or laws, - upon paine of the like accursse upon them. We pronounce that all - whosoever by anie occasion have taken their oth unto hir, are for - ever discharged of such their oth, and also from all fealtie and - service, which was due to hir by reason of hir government, etc.” - (vol. iv. p. 253). - -The crime was brought home to one John Felton, who on 4th August, -three months later, was arraigned at the Guildhall on the charge of -affixing the said Bull. Four days later he was drawn from Newgate to -St. Paul’s Churchyard and there duly hanged, cut down alive, bowelled, -and quartered. On the same day—which shows that their office was not an -easy one—the Sheriffs of London, after seeing the end of Felton, had -to accompany two young men, who had been found guilty of coining, to -Tyburn, where they suffered the same horrible punishment. - -[Illustration: _Walker & Cockerell._ - -QUEEN ELIZABETH (1533–1603) - -From a painting in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Painter -unknown.] - -Meantime the Catholic enemy never relaxed his attempt to effect the -reconversion, or, failing that, the subjugation, of this country. Not -by Bulls alone did he work. Seminary priests were sent over to work -secretly upon the people and so, it was hoped, gradually to make them -ready for conversion. After the tender mercies of the last reign one -would believe that the task was hopeless: one is persuaded that even -if the secret missionaries had been allowed to put an advertisement -in the windows openly proclaiming their object they could have done no -harm. But the Queen’s Council, whether wisely or not, were extremely -jealous of these priests. They charged the City Authorities to try -every means of laying hands on them: they were to arrest all persons -who did not attend church; and to banish all strangers who did not go -to church; they were to make every stranger subscribe the Articles. -A proclamation was issued ordering English parents to remove their -children from foreign colleges; declaring that to harbour Jesuit -priests was to harbour rebels; imposing a fine upon those who did not -attend church; which involved a strict watch upon all the parishes to -find out what persons kept away. The two chief conspirators moving -about England were two priests, named Campion and Parsons. Campion was -presently arrested and, after undergoing torture, was executed in the -usual manner. Parsons got back to the Continent, where he continued in -his machinations. Catholic historians are eloquent on the sufferings of -the Catholics during this reign; we must, however, acknowledge that the -conspiracies and intrigues of such men as Campion, Allen, and Parsons -went far to explain the persecution to which they were liable. - -[Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH (1533–1603) - -From the “Ermine” portrait in the possession of the Marquis of -Salisbury.] - -The failure of the Armada: the failure of Philip’s second attempt, -destroyed by tempest; the fact that the Catholic cause was now in -the minds of the people the Spanish cause, and therefore execrable; -the manifest proofs that the heart of the nation was sound for the -Queen and the Protestant religion;—did not put a stop to Catholic -spies and Catholic conspirators. The emissaries are always called -“Spanish,” though they were generally English by birth; it is probable -that Cardinal Allen found the emissaries, whose work Philip certainly -did not discourage. These emissaries were ecclesiastics, who came -over-disguised in every possible way. Those who were young called -themselves, or became, students at Oxford and Cambridge; those who -were older rode about the country disguised as simple gentlemen, -merchants, physicians; they worked secretly, everywhere with the -design of sapping the loyalty of the people towards the Queen and the -Protestant Faith. They did so at great peril, with the certainty of -tortures if they were caught; and their courage in facing the dangers -was so great that it elevates their conspiracies into the propaganda of -a sacred cause. The greatest exertions were made for their detection, -and chief among these was the means already mentioned of noting those -who did not go to church. However, it does not appear that many were -caught, and perhaps the numbers were exaggerated. Sharpe has found a -description of one whom they desired to arrest in 1596 (i. 550):— - - “A yonge man of meane and slender stature, aged about xxvj, with a - high collored face, red nose, a warte over his left eye, havinge - two greate teeth before, standinge out very apparant, he nameth - himselffe Edward Harrison, borne in Westmerland; apparelled in - a crane collored fustian dublet, rounde hose, after the frenche - facion, an olde paire of yollowe knit neather stockes, he escaped - without either cloake, girdle, garters or shoes.” - -[Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH (1533–1603) - -From the engraving by Isaac Oliver. A. Rischgitz’ Collection.] - -The constant discussion of religious matters and agitation on points of -Faith produced the natural phenomenon of religious enthusiasts, strange -sects, and mad beliefs. - -The growth of the Puritan spirit is shown by a letter written by the -Lord Mayor on the 14th of January 1583. A large number of people -were assembled one Sunday for Sport, _i.e._ Bear-baiting, in Paris -Gardens; they were standing round the pit on twelve scaffolds, when the -scaffolds all fell down at once, so that many were killed and wounded. -The Mayor wrote as follows to the Lord Treasurer:— - - “That it gave great occasion to acknowledge the hand of God, for - such abuse of his Sabbath-day; and moved him in Conscience to - beseech his Lordship to give Order for Redress of such Contempt - of God’s service. And that he had for that end treated with some - Justices of Peace of that County, who shewed themselves to have - very good Zeal, but alledged Want of Commission; which they humbly - referred to his honourable Wisdom.” (Maitland, vol. i. p. 267.) - -After Religion, Charity. The bequests to religious purposes had become -fewer and of smaller importance during the fifteenth century: they -were almost discontinued in the reign of Henry VII.; they ceased under -Henry VIII. and his son; and they hardly revived during the reign -of Mary. There can be no surer indication of the change of thought. -Under Elizabeth we have not only a complete change of thought but the -commencement of a new era in Charity. We now enter upon the period of -Endowed Charities. Not that they were before unknown, but that they -were grafted upon and formed part of Religious Endowments, as St. -Anthony’s School, which belonged to the Religious House of that name, -and Whittington’s Bedesmen, who formed part of Whittington’s College. -The Religious element now disappears except for the erection of a -chapel for the Bedesmen. The list of Charitable Endowments founded in -this century is large and very laudable. They consist of colleges, -schools, and almshouses, not in London only, but by London citizens for -their native places, for Oxford, and for Cambridge. - -[Illustration: SIR PHILIP SIDNEY AND HIS BROTHER LORD LISLE - -From the picture in the possession of Lord De L’Isle and Dudley, -Penshurst Place, Kent.] - -Of London as a City of Soldiers we hear much less under Elizabeth, -despite the contingent sent to fight the Spanish invader, than under -any king. London no longer sallies forth ten thousand strong for this -claimant or that. She finds, however, the money for ships, and on -occasion she raises and equips for foreign service, 400 men, 600 men, -1000 men, at the order of the Queen. - -The first appearance of Londoners under arms was a mere parade, to -which the City sent 1400 men. They were equipped by the twelve -principal Companies, who also supplied officers from their own body. -In 1562 the Queen asked the City for a force of 600 men. These were -raised. Next year she applied again for 1000 men for the holding of -Havre; only 400, however, were wanted. These sailed for Havre, but the -garrison being attacked by the plague there was no fighting, and the -town surrendered. - -In 1572 the Queen in a letter to the Mayor commanded him to raise a -large body of men, young and strong, for instruction in the Military -Arts. Accordingly the Companies chose young men to the number of 3000; -armed them; placed officers of experience over them, and instructed -them. This appears to have been the beginning of the London Trained -Bands. In May of the same year they were reviewed by the Queen. In -1574 the City was called upon to furnish 400 soldiers for the Queen’s -service. - -In 1578 the City was ordered to provide 2000 arquebusiers. Scarcely -had the order been received when there came another for 2000 men to be -raised and kept in readiness. - -On the 8th March 1587, the Queen sent a letter, followed by one from -the Privy Council, to the same effect, informing the Mayor that certain -intelligence had been received of warlike preparations being made in -foreign parts, and calling upon the City to provide a force of 10,000 -men fully armed and equipped, of whom 6000 were to be enrolled under -Captains and Ensigns and to be trained at times convenient. - -The men were raised in the following numbers from each ward:— - - Farringdon Ward Within 807 - Bassishaw 177 - Bread Street 386 - Dowgate 384 - Lime Street 99 - Farringdon Without 1264 - Aldgate Ward 347 - Billingsgate 365 - Aldersgate 232 - Cornhill 191 - Cheap 358 - Cordwainer 301 - Langbourne 349 - Coleman Street Ward 229 - Broad Street 373 - Bridge Ward Within 383 - Castle Baynard 551 - Queenhithe 404 - Tower Street 444 - Walbrook 290 - Vintry 364 - Portsoken 243 - Candlewick 215 - Cripplegate 925 - Bishopsgate 326 - —————— - Total 10,007 - -We may apply this total in order to make a guess at the population -of London in 1587. Thus supposing _x_ to be the percentage of the -population taken from each ward to fill the ranks, since the population -of each ward = the number taken, multiplied by 100, and divided by _x_, - -Therefore the whole population of the City - - = whole number taken, multiplied by 100, and divided by _x_ - = 1,000,700 ÷ _x_ - -If 10 per cent of the population were taken we should have a total of -100,070 or roughly 100,000. - -[Illustration: _W. A. Mansell & Co._ - -THE SPANISH ARMADA (THE FIRST ENGAGEMENT) - -From Pine’s engravings of the House of Lords tapestry hangings.] - -The City also supplied a fleet of sixteen ships, the largest in the -river, fully found, with four light pinnaces, and paid the men during -their services. It was with these ships that Drake ran into Cadiz and -Lisbon, destroyed a great quantity of shipping, and threw into the sea -the military materials that had been accumulated there. - -The Earl of Leicester, who was in command at Tilbury, received 1000 of -the London force only, and that on condition that they brought their -own provisions. - -The London men wore a uniform of white with white caps, and the City -arms in scarlet on back and front. Some carried arquebuses; some were -halberdiers; some were pikemen. They marched in companies according to -their arms. Their officers rode beside the men dressed in black velvet. -They were preceded by billmen, corresponding to the modern pioneers; by -a company of whifflers, i.e. trumpeters; and in the midst marched six -Ensigns in white satin faced with black sarsenet, and rich scarves. The -dress of officers and men was just as useless and unfit for continued -work as could well be devised. It is melancholy to find that the Earl -of Leicester, who was in command at Tilbury, held a very poor opinion -of the London contingent. “I see,” he writes to Walsingham, “that their -service will be little, except they have their own captains, and having -them I look for none at all by them when we shall meet the enemy.” -Most fortunately there was no enemy to meet, and the heroism of the -Londoners remains unchallenged. The Captain of the London Trained Bands -was Martin Bond, citizen, whose tomb remains at St. Helen’s Church. - -When the danger was over, the Aldermen looked to it that the price of -provisions should not be raised when the sick and wounded were brought -home. But it was some time before the welcome news was received of the -final dispersion of the invading fleet. The first public notification -was made in a sermon preached at Paul’s Cross by the Dean of St. -Paul’s, in the presence of the Mayor and Aldermen and the Livery -Companies in their best gowns. - -On the 18th November the Queen rode into the City in state and attended -a Thanksgiving Service. - -Sharpe calls attention to the fact that two at least of the great naval -commanders were well-known in the City:— - - “Both Frobisher and Hawkins owned property in the City, and in all - probability resided there, like their fellow-seaman and explorer, - Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who was living in Red Cross Street, in the - parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate, in 1583, the year that he met - his death at sea. The same parish claims Frobisher, whose remains - (excepting his entrails, which were interred at Plymouth, where - he died) lie buried in St. Giles’s Church, and to whom a mural - monument was erected by the Vestry in 1888, just three centuries - after the defeat of the Armada, to which he had contributed so - much. If Hawkins himself did not reside in the City, his widow had - a mansion house in Mincing Lane. He, too, had probably lived there; - for although he died and was buried at sea, a monument was erected - to his memory and to that of Katherine, his first wife, in the - church of St. Dunstan-in-the-East. There is one other—a citizen of - London and son of an alderman—whose name has been handed down as - having taken an active part in the defence of the kingdom at this - time, not at sea, but on land. A monument in the recently restored - church of St. Helen, Bishopsgate, tells us that Martin Bond, son of - Alderman William Bond, ‘was captaine in ye yeare 1588 at ye campe - at Tilbury, and after remained chief captaine of ye trained bands - of this Citty until his death.’ The monument represents him as - sitting in a tent guarded by two sentinels, with a page holding a - horse.” (Sharpe, vol. i. pp. 544–545.) - -In 1591 a further contingent of 400 men was ordered. In 1594 the -City was called upon to raise 450 men. In 1596 a message came to the -Mayor and Aldermen from the Queen. They were listening to a sermon -at Paul’s Cross. The letter commanded them to raise a thousand men -immediately. They rose and left the sermon, and instantly set to -work. Before eight of the clock they had raised their men. But the -order was countermanded, and the men were disbanded. On Easter Day -in the morning another message came to the same effect, and then—it -is a curious story—the Mayor and Aldermen went round to the churches -in the respective wards. Remember that on such a day every man in -the City would be in church. The Mayor shut the doors, picked his -men, and before noon had raised his thousand men. This order also was -countermanded, and the men returned home. A strange interruption of an -Easter morning’s service! - -In the same year the Queen asked for more men. Then the City Common -Council expostulated. On the sea service alone, they pointed out, the -City had spent 10,000 marks within the last few years. In 1597 they -raised first 500 men, then 300 more, and sent the Queen £60,000 on -mortgage. In 1598, on a new alarm of another Spanish invasion, the City -found sixteen ships and a force of 6000 men. - -It will thus be seen that during this reign the City furnished over -6000 fully equipped soldiers for active service; that it raised at -an hour’s notice, on two separate occasions, 1000 men ready for -immediate service; that it raised a force of Trained Bands 3000 -strong; that on occasion it could increase this number to 10,000; -that it could fit out for sea a fleet of twenty or thirty ships. -I do not think that the expenditure of the City on these military -services has ever been published, but it must have been very great. -A corresponding expenditure at the present time would be enormous; -it would be expressed in many millions. This simple fact both proves -and illustrates the tried loyalty of the City. The time, however, had -gone by when the Londoners could, and did, send out an army capable -of deposing one king and setting up another. That power and that -spirit died with the accession of the Tudors. In the beginning of -Elizabeth’s reign the citizens even prayed to be excused the practice -of arms even as a volunteer force, seeing that “the most parte of -those our apprentices and handy craftesmen who continually are kept at -work; who also, if they should have that libertie to be trayned and -drawn from their workes in these matters, wolde thereby fall into such -idleness and insolency that many would never be reduced agayne into any -good order or service.” - -[Illustration: _A_ View _of the_ House _of_ Peers, Queen Elizabeth _on -the Throne, the_ Commons _attending_. - -_Taken from a Painted Print in the Cottonian Library._ - -_The Knights of Shires & Burgesses (as they call them) which constitute -y^e lower house of Parliament presenting their Speaker._] - -We have seen repeated proofs that the City was never friendly towards -foreigners. At this time there were many causes beside the old trade -jealousy why the people should view strangers with an unfriendly eye. -During the last reign the City swarmed with Spaniards; from the very -first day of this long reign until the very last, Spain never ceased -plotting, conspiring, and carrying on war with the Queen and the new -Religion. In the foreign merchants’ houses the conspirators found a -refuge. There were, again, thousands of immigrants from Flanders or -Spain, flying from religious persecution; and though many of the people -settled down to steady industry, there were many who were by no means -the virtuous, law-abiding persons, such as the present age would expect -of Huguenots. - -From time to time, partly in order to allay the jealousy and terror -of the people, partly for the sake of getting at the facts, there was -a numbering of the strangers. Thus, in 1567, such a numbering showed -45 Scots; 428 French; 45 Spaniards and Portuguese; 140 Italians; -2030 Dutch; 44 Burgundians; two Danes; and one Liégeois: in all 2735 -persons. In 1580 another census of aliens was taken; wherein it was -shown that there were 2302 Dutch; 1838 French; 116 Italians; 1542 -English born of foreign parents; of other nations not specified -447; and of persons not certified 217: in all 6462. In 1593 a third -census showed 5259 strangers in London. These figures are not without -interest. In the first year we find a large number of Dutch; they are -fugitives. In the next we find that the whole number of strangers has -more than doubled: there has been a large accession of Huguenots; in -the third census the numbers have gone down a little. In our time a -great outcry has been raised over the invasion of the Town by 50,000 -Polish Jews; that means a proportion of one in a hundred. In 1560 there -were 6500 for a population of, say, 120,000, which means one in twenty -(approximately). Now, one in twenty is a large fraction out of the -general population. - -At one time the hatred of the Apprentices grew so irrepressible that a -conspiracy like that of Evil May Day was formed among the Apprentices, -with the design of murdering all the foreigners. The conspiracy was -happily discovered, and the conspirators laid by the heels in Newgate. -A Petition to the Queen against the grievous encroachments of aliens -will be found in Appendix III. - -[Illustration: WILLIAM CECIL, FIRST BARON BURGHLEY (1520–1598) - -From the painting by Marc Gheeraedts (?) in the National Portrait -Gallery, London.] - -The domestic history of Elizabeth’s reign is crammed full of hangings, -burnings, and the executions of traitors, with all the barbarity -of that punishment. There are so many, that in order to make this -remarkable shedding of blood intelligible, I have compiled a list of -the executions mentioned by Holinshed and Stow during one part of her -reign. The list will be found in Appendix X., (Executions, 1563–1586). -This list, which principally concerns London and is apparently -incomplete, even within its narrow limits shows that between the years -1563 and 1586, there were in all 64 executions at which 228 persons -suffered. Of these, seventy-one were rebels hanged on two occasions; -seventeen were executed for murder; three for military offences; -twelve for counterfeiting, clipping, or debasing the coinage; two for -counterfeiting the Queen’s signature; twenty-nine were pirates; two -were executed for witchcraft or conjuring; twelve for robbery; one for -adultery; three for heresy, and seventy-six for high treason. Among -the traitors were Dr. John Storey; Edmund Campion; William Parry; the -Babington conspirators; the Charnock conspirators; and many Roman -Catholic priests. There can be no doubt that the priests who came over -with secret designs for the conversion of the country constituted a -real and ever-present danger; if anything could justify the barbarities -committed upon them when they were caught these conspiracies were -enough. That the people at large did not condemn these barbarities -is proved by the fact that there was no feeling of sympathy for the -sufferers; that the common opinion was that for treason no punishment -could be too severe; and that the country after Elizabeth’s reign -was concluded was far more Protestant than at the beginning. The -conspiracies and secret goings in and out of Catholic priests came to -an end in the reign of James, for the best of all reasons, viz. that -there was no one left with whom a priest could conspire or whom he -could convert. Two women were burned for poisoning their husbands—a -most dreadful offence, and one which called for the direst terrors -of the law; one woman was burned for witchcraft; another was only -hanged for the same offence—but such differences in sentences are -not unknown at the present day. One more point occurs. Were the last -dying speeches correctly reported? If so, since they are always so -moving, and sometimes so eloquent, why did they elicit no response of -sympathy or indignation among the bystanders? When Thomas Appletree -was to be hanged for firing a gun accidentally into the Queen’s barge -(see p. 389), the people wept, and the culprit wept, but the justice -of the sentence was not questioned. Now in the Marian Persecution the -people looked on indignant and sympathetic, being restrained from -demonstrations by force and fear. Whether the dying speeches are -correctly reported or invented, matters very little. They show one -thing, that there was no unmanly terror observed at the last moment: -every one, guilty or innocent, mounted the ladder with an intrepid -countenance. Death has no terrors either for the arch-conspirator -Storey, or for the pirate hanged at Execution Dock. - -The privileges granted to the foreign merchants of the Steelyard and -the Hanseatic League were finally withdrawn by Queen Elizabeth. - -This withdrawal had been in preparation for nearly two hundred years. -In the time of Henry IV. English merchants began to trade in the -Baltic and with Norway and other parts. This aroused the jealousy -of the Hanseatic League, which seized upon several of the English -ships. Complaints were laid before the King, who withdrew such of -the privileges enjoyed by the League as interfered with the carrying -on of trade by his own merchants. He also granted a charter to the -merchants trading to the Eastlands. This charter was renewed and -enlarged by Edward IV. In the first and second of Philip and Mary a -charter was granted to the Russia Company—we have seen how the first -Russian Ambassador came to England in the reign of Mary. This Company -obtained a confirmation of their charter under Queen Elizabeth. Now, -although our people enjoyed many more privileges than of old, yet the -Hanseatic League still had the advantage over them by means of their -well-regulated Societies and their privileges, insomuch that when the -Queen wanted hemp, pitch, tar, powder, and other munitions of war, she -had to buy them of the foreign merchants at their own price. The Queen, -therefore, began to encourage her own people to become merchants: she -assisted them to form companies; she gave them Charters; she withdrew -all the privileges from the Hansa. Not the least of the debt which -England owes to this great Queen is her wisdom in the encouragement of -foreign trade. - -The strange and foolish rising of the Earl of Essex belongs to national -history. It was, however, met and repressed in the first outbreak by -the City. Not one person offered to join the Earl; he was proclaimed -traitor in Cheapside; the Bishop of London raised, in all haste, the -force which stopped him on Ludgate Hill. - -Towards the end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign there were great complaints -of hawkers and pedlars—in fact we begin to hear of the London Cries. -These street cries did great harm to London tradesmen. We have seen -that there were no shops at all originally, except in the appointed -markets; these hawkers, with their itinerant barrows and baskets, -brought the market into every part of London. Steps were taken to -prevent this nuisance; but they were unavailing. - -In 1580 the Queen issued a Proclamation against the building of new -houses and the further increase of London:— - - “To the preservation of her People in Health, which may seem - impossible to continue, though presently, by God’s Goodness, the - same is perceived to be in better Estate universally than hath - beene in Man’s Memorie; yet where there are such great Multitudes - of People brought to inhabite in small Roomes, whereof a great Part - are seene very poore, yea, such as must live of begging, or by - worse Means, and they heaped up together, and in a sort smothered - with many families of Children and Servants in one House or small - Tenement; it must needes followe, if any Plague or popular Sicknes - should, by God’s Permission, enter amongst those Multitudes, that - the same would not only spread itself and invade the whole Citie - and Confines, but that a great Mortalitie would ensue the same, - where her Majesties personal Presence is many times required. - - For Remedie whereof, as Time may now serve, until by some further - good Order be had in Parliament or otherwise, the same may be - remedied; her Majestie, by good and deliberate advice of her - Counsell, and being also thereto moved by the considerate opinions - of the Lord-Mayor, Aldermen, and other the grave wise men in and - about the Citie, doth charge and straightly command all manner of - Persons, of what Qualitie soever they be, to desist and forbeare - from any new Buildings of any House or Tenement within three miles - from any of the Gates of the sayde Citie of _London_, to serve - for Habitation or Lodging for any Person, where no former House - hath bene knowen to have bene in the Memorie of such as are now - living; and also to forbeare from letting or setting, or suffering - any more Families than one onely to be placed, or to inhabite from - henceforth in any one House that heretofore hath bene inhabited.” - -On the 6th of December 1586, a very solemn and tragic ceremony was -performed, first in Cheapside; then in Leadenhall; then at the end of -London Bridge, and lastly at the south end of Chancery Lane; where -the Mayor with the Aldermen, and attended by many of the Nobility and -eighty of the principal citizens in chains of gold, proclaimed the -sentence of death passed upon the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots. - -The importance of the act; the publicity given to it; the formalities -attending the Proclamation,—show the desire of the Queen and her -Council that the people should understand the dreadful necessity of -removing this cause of endless intrigue and conspiracy. - -One more trade regulation closes the history of London in the reign -of Elizabeth. A practice had grown up among hucksters and others of -setting up stalls in the streets in front of the shops, in consequence -of which the trade of the shopkeepers was greatly injured, insomuch -that many of them were obliged to employ these very people to sell -their wares for them. It was therefore ordered that no one should -erect any stall, or stand, before any house under a penalty of twenty -shillings. - -One of the last things done in the name of the Queen was the offer to -all Debtors in prison of freedom if they would volunteer to serve on -board the fleet newly raised for the suppression of Spanish pirates. - -On the death of the Queen, the City, which was always most truly loyal -and faithful to her, put up in most churches a tablet or a statue to -her memory. - -This brief and bald account of the relations between the Crown and the -City is not proffered as a history of London during the Tudor period. -This history will, it is hoped, be found in the following pages. I -have only hinted at the creation of the Trading Companies and the -connection of the great Sea Captains with London. The Poor Law of 1572; -the granting of monopolies; the wonderful outburst of Literature; -the troubles caused by the substitution of pasture for agriculture; -the growth of Puritanism and the beginnings of the High Church,—all -these things belong to the history of London. The diplomacy; the Court -intrigues; the rise and fall of Ministers; the anxieties concerning the -Succession,—these things do not belong to the history of London. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - THE QUEEN IN SPLENDOUR - - -The Court of Queen Elizabeth was almost as itinerant as that of Henry -the Second. The Queen understood thoroughly that for a sovereign to be -at once loyally served and wholesomely feared it is not enough to sit -still in one place. She must be seen by her people: they must realise -by ocular demonstration how great is her power and authority; they must -learn it by the sight of her person glittering with jewels and all -glorious with silk and velvet; by the splendour of her train; by the -noble lords who attend her; by the magnificence of the entertainment -she receives. Nearly every year of her long reign was marked by one or -more Progresses; some of her nobles she visited more than once: she was -the guest of Cecil at Theobalds on twelve different occasions, each -visit costing the host two or three thousand pounds; three times she -visited Leicester at Kenilworth. These Progresses, though they belong -not to the history of London, must be borne in mind in thinking of this -long and glorious reign. - -[Illustration: HAMPTON COURT - -From a print in the British Museum.] - -When Elizabeth was not travelling she resided at Whitehall, at St. -James’s, at Greenwich, at Hampton Court, Windsor, Richmond, Nonsuch, -Chelsea, Hunsdon. In moving from one palace to another a huge quantity -of plate and furniture had to be carried about. And during the change -of residence the City bells were set ringing. If the Queen went by -river, or from Westminster to Greenwich, she was attended by the barges -of the Mayor and the Companies, all newly painted and beautified: they -had artillery on board, and there was a great shooting of guns; also -there was “great and pleasant melodie of instruments which plaed in -most sweet and heavenly manner.” - -On the day before her coronation the Queen received the Pageant devised -in her honour by the City of London. - -A full account of this Pageant is preserved in a tract first printed -in 1604, and reproduced in Nichols’s _Progresses of Queen Elisabeth_. -It is too long to quote in full. The following, therefore, is greatly -abridged from the original:— - - “Entryng the Citie was of the People received marveylous entirely, - as appeared by the assemblie, prayers, wishes, welcomminges, cryes, - tender woordes, and all other signs, which argue a wonderfull - earnest love of most obedient subjectes towarde theyr soveraigne. - And on thother side, her Grace, by holding up her hand and merie - countenance to such as stode farre of, and most tender and gentle - language to those that stode nigh to her Grace, did declare - herselfe no leswe thankefully to receive her Peoples good wyll - than they lovingly offered it unto her. To all that wyshed her - Grace well, she gave heartie thankes, and to such as bade God - save her Grace, she sayde agayne God save them all, and thanked - them with all her heart: so that on eyther syde there was nothing - but gladnes, nothing but prayer, nothing but comfort. The Quenes - Majestie rejoysed marveilously to see that so exceadingly shewed - towarde her Grace, which all good Princes have ever desyred. I - meane so earnest love of subjectes, so evidently declared even to - her Grace’s owne person, being carried in the middest of them.”... - “Thus therefore the Quenes Majestie passed from the Towre till she - came to Fanchurche, the people on eche side joyously beholdyng the - viewe of so gracious a Ladye theyr Quene, and her Grace no lesse - gladly notyng and observing the same. Nere unto Fanchurch was - erected a scaffolde richely furnished, whereon stode a noyes of - instrumentes and a chylde in costly apparell, which was appoynted - to welcome the Quenes Majestie in the hole Cities behalfe. Against - which place when her Grace came, of her owne wyll she commaunded - the chariot to be stayde, and that the noyes might be appeased - tyll the chylde had uttered his welcome oration, which he spake in - English meter as here followeth:— - - ‘O pereles Soveraygne Quene, behold what this thy Town - Hath thee presented with at thy fyrst entraunce here: - Behold with how riche hope she ledeth thee to thy Crown, - Beholde with what two gyftes she comforteth thy chere. - - The first is blessing tonges which many a welcome say, - Which pray thou mayst do wel, which praise thee to the sky, - Which wish to thee long lyfe, which blesse this happy day - Which to thy kingdomes heapes, all that in tonges can lye. - - The second is true hertes which love thee from their roote, - Whose sute is tryumphe now, and ruleth all the game. - Which faithfulness have wone, and all untruthe driven out, - Which skip for joy when as they heare thy happy name. - - Welcome therefore, O Quene, as much as herte can thinke; - Welcome agayn, O Quene, as much as tong can tell; - Welcome to joyous tonges, and hartes that will not shrink. - God thee preserve we praye and wishe thee ever well.’ - - At which wordes of the last line the hole People gave a great - shout, wishing with one assent, as the chylde had said. And the - Quenes Majestie thanked most heartely both the Citie for this her - gentle receiving at the first, and also the People for confirming - the same.” - -In Gracious (Gracechurch Street) was erected a “gorgeous and sumptuous -Arke”:— - - “A stage was made whiche extended from th’one syde of the streate - to th’other, richely vawted with battlementes conteining three - portes, and over the middlemost was avaunced three severall stages - in degrees. Upon the lowest stage was made one seate Royall, - wherein were placed two personages representyng Kyng Henrie the - Seventh, and Elyzabeth his wyfe, doughter of Kyng Edward the - Fourth, eyther of these two Princes sitting under one cloth of - estate in their seates, no otherwyse divided, but that th’one of - them, whiche was King Henrie the Seventh, proceeding out of the - House of Lancastre, was enclosed in a Redde Rose, and th’other, - which was Quene Elizabeth, being heire to the House of Yorke, - enclosed with a Whyte Rose, eche of them Royally crowned, and - decently apparailled as apperteinted to Princes, with Sceptours - in their hands, and one vawt surmounting their heades, wherein - aptly were placed two tables, eche conteining the title of those - two Princes. And these personages were so set, that the one of - them joined handes with th’other, with the ring of matrimonie - perceived on the finger. Out of the which two Roses sprang two - branches gathered into one, which were directed upward to the - second stage or degree, wherein was placed one, representing the - valiant and noble Prynce, King Henry the Eight, which sprong out of - the former stock, crowned with a Crown Imperial, and by him sate - one representing the right worthy Ladie Quene Ann, wife to the said - King Henry the Eight, and Mother to our most soveraign Ladie Quene - Elizabeth that now is, both apparelled with Sceptours and Diademes, - and other furniture due to the state of a King and Queene, and two - tables surmounting their heades, wherein were written their names - and titles. From their seate also proceaded upwardes one braunche - directed to the thirde and uppermost stage or degree, wherein - lykewyse was planted a seate Royall, in the whiche was sette one - representyng the Queenes most excellent Majestie Elizabeth nowe our - moste dradde Soveraigne Ladie, crowned and apparalled as th’other - Prynces were. Out of the forepart of this Pageaunt was made a - standyng for a chylde, whiche at the Quenes Majesties comeing - declared unto her the hole meaning of the said Pageaunt. The two - sides of the same were filled with loud noyses of musicke. And all - emptie places thereof were furnished with sentences concerning - unitie. And the hole Pageant garnished with Redde Roses and White, - and in the forefront of the same Pageant in a faire Wreathe, was - written the name and title of the same, which was, ‘The uniting of - the two Howses of Lancastre and Yorke.’ Thys Pageant was grounded - upon the Quenes Majesties name. For like as the long warre between - the two Houses of Yorke and Lancastre then ended, when Elizabeth - doughter to Edward the Fourth matched in marriage with Henry the - Seventhe, heyre to the Howse of Lancastre: so since that the Quenes - Majesties name was Elizabeth, and forsomuch as she is the onelye - heire of Henrye the Eighth, which came of bowthe the howses, as the - knitting up of concorde, it was devised, that like as Elizabeth was - the first occasion of concorde, so she, another Elizabeth, myght - maintaine the same among her subjectes, so that unitie was the ende - whereat the whole devise shotte as the Ouenes Majesties name moved - the first grounde. - - The childe appoynted in the standing above named to open the - meaning of the said Pageant, spake these wordes unto her Grace:— - - ‘The two Princes that sit under one cloth of state, - The Man in the Redde Rose, the Whoman in the White, - Henry the VII. and Quene Elizabeth his Mate, - By ring of marriage as Man and Wife unite. - - Both heires to both their bloodes, to Lancastre the Kyng, - The Queene to Yorke, in one the two Howses did knit: - Of whom as heire to both, Henry the Eighth did spring, - In whose seat, his true heire, thou, Quene Elizabeth doth sit. - - Therefore as civill warre, and fuede of blood did cease - When these two Houses were united into one, - So now that jarrs shall stint, and quietnes encrease, - We trust, O noble Quene, thou wilt be cause alone.’ - -The which also were written in Latin verse, and both drawn in two -tables upon the forefront of the saide Pageant. - -[Illustration: NONSUCH HOUSE - -From an old print.] - -These verses and other pretie sentences were drawen in voide places -of thys Pageant, all tending to one ende, that quietness might be -mainteyned, and all dissention displaced, and that by the Quenes -Majestie, heire to agrement and agreing in name with her, which tofore -had joyned those Houses, which had been th’occasion of much debate and -civill warre within thys Realme, as may appeare to such as will searche -Cronicles, but be not to be touched in thys treatise, openly declaring -her Graces passage through the Citie, and what provisyon the Citie -made therfore. And ere the Quenes Majestie came wythin hearing of -thys Pageaunt, she sent certaine, as also at all other Pageauntes, to -require the People to be silent. For her Majestie was disposed to heare -all that shoulde be sayde unto her. When the Quenes Majestie had hearde -the chylde’s oration, and understoode the meanyng of the Pageant at -large, she marched forward toward Cornehill, alway received with lyke -rejoysing of the People: and there, as her Grace passed by the Conduit, -which was curiously trimmed agaynst that tyme with riche banners -adourned, and a noyse of loude instrumentes upon the top thereof, she -espyed the seconde Pageant: and because she feared for the People’s -noyse that she shoulde not heare the child which dyd expound the same, -she enquired what that Pageant was ere that she came to it: and there -understoode that there was a chylde representing her Majesties person, -placed in a seate of Government, supported by certayn vertues, which -suppressed their contrarie vyces under their feete, and so forthe.”... -“Against Soper Lane ende was extended from th’one side of the streate -to th’other a Pageant, which had three gates, all open. Over the -middlemost whereof wer erected three severall stages, whereon sate -eight children, as hereafter followeth: On the uppermost one childe, -on the middle three, on the lowest foure, eche having the proper name -of the blessing that they did represent written in a table, and placed -above their heades. In the forefront of this Pageant, before the -children which did represent the blessings, was a convenient standing, -cast out for a chylde to stand, which did expownd the sayd Pageant -unto the Quenes Majestie as was done in th’other tofore. Everie of -these children wer appointed and apparelled according unto the blessing -which he did represent. And on the forepart of the sayde Pageant was -written, in fayre letters, the name of the said Pageant, in this maner -following:— - - ‘The eight Beatitudes expressed in the V chapter of the Gospel of - St. Matthew - applyed to our Soveraigne Lady Quene Elizabeth.’ - -Over the two syde portes was placed a noyse of instrumentes. And -all voyde places in the Pageant were furnished with prety sayinges, -commending and touching the meaning of the said Pageant, which was -the promises and blessinges of Almightie God to his People.”... “At -the Standard in Cheape, which was dressed fayre agaynste the tyme, -was placed a noyse of trumpettes, with banners and other furniture. -The Crosse lykewyse was also made fayre and well trimmed. And neare -unto the same, uppon the porche of Saint Peter’s church dore, stode -the waites of the Citie, which did geve a pleasant noyse with their -instrumentes as the Quenes Majestie did passe by, whiche on every saide -cast her countenance and wished well to all her most loving people. -Sone after that her Grace passed the Crosse, she had espyed the Pageant -erected at the Little Conduit in Cheape, and incontinent required to -know what it might signifye. And it was tolde her Grace, that there was -placed Tyme. ‘Tyme?’ quoth she, ‘and Tyme hath brought me hether.’ And -so forth the hole matter was opened to her Grace: as hereafter shalbe -declared in the description of the Pageant. But in the opening when her -Grace understode that the Byble in Englyse shoulde be delivered unto -her by Trueth which was therin represented by a chylde: she thanked the -Citie for that gyft, and sayde that she would oftentymes reade over -that booke, commaunding Sir John Parrat, one of the Knightes which -helde up her canapy, to goe before, and to receive the booke. But -learning that it shoulde be delivered unto her Grace downe by a silken -lace, she caused him to staye, and so passed forward till she came -agaynste the Aldermen in the hyghe ende of Cheape tofore the Little -Conduite, where the companies of the Citie ended, whiche beganne at -Fanchurche and stoode along the streates, one by another enclosed with -rayles, hanged with clothes, and themselves well apparelled with many -riche furres, and their livery whodes uppon their shoulders, in comely -and semely maner, having before them sondry persones well apparelled -in silkes and chaines of golde, as wyflers and garders of the sayd -companies, beside a number of riche hangings, as well of tapistrie, -arras, clothes of golde, silver, velvet, damaske, sattin, and other -silkes, plentifullye hanged all the way as the Quenes Highnes passed -from the Towre through the Citie. Out at the windowes and penthouses -of every house did hang a number of ryche and costlye banners and -streamers, tyll her Grace came to the upper ende of Cheape. And there, -by appoyntment, the Right Worshipfull Maister Ranulph Cholmeley, -Recorder of the Citie, presented to the Quenes Majestie a purse of -crimeson sattin richely wrought with gold, wherin the Citie gave unto -the Quenes Majestie a thousand markes in gold, as maister Recorder did -declare brieflie unto the Quenes Majestie: whose woordes tended to this -ende, that the Lorde Maior, his brethren, and Comminaltie of the Citie, -to declare their gladnes and good wille towardes the Quenes Majestie -dyd present her Grace with that golde, desyering her Grace to continue -theyr good and gracious Queen, and not to esteeme the value of the -gift, but the mynd of the gevers. The Quenes Majestie, with both her -handes, tooke the purse, and answered to hym againe mervelous pithilie: -and so pithilie, that the standers by, as they embraced entirely her -gracious answer, so they mervailed at the cowching thereof: which was -in wordes truely reported these: ‘I thanke my Lorde Maior, his Brethren -and you all. And wheras your request is that I shoulde continue your -good Ladie and Quene, be ye ensured, that I will be as good unto you -as ever Quene was to her People. No wille in me can lacke, neither doe -I trust shall ther lacke any power. And perswade your selves, that -for the safetie and quietnes of you all I will not spare, if need be, -to spend my blood. God thanke you all.’ Which answere of so noble an -hearted Pryncesse, if it moved a mervaylous showte and rejoysing, it -is nothyng to be mervayled at, since both the heartines thereof was -so wonderfull and the woordes so joyntly knytte. When her Grace hadde -thus answered the Recorder, she marched toward the Little Conduit, -where was erected a Pageant with square proporcion standynge directly -before the same Conduite, with battlementes accordyngelye. And in the -same Pageant was advaunced two hylles or mountaynes of convenient -heyghte. The one of them beyng on the North syde of the same Pageaunt, -was made cragged, barreyn, and stonye: in the whiche was erected -one tree, artificiallye made, all withered and deade, with braunches -accordinglye. And under the same tree, at the foote thereof, sate one -in homely and rude apparell, crokedlye, and in mourning maner, havynge -over hys headde, in a table, written in Laten and Englyshe, hys name, -whiche was, ‘Ruinosa Respublica,’ ‘A Decayed Commonweale.’ And upon the -same withered tree were fixed certayne tables, wherein were written -proper sentences, expressing the causes of the decaye of a Commonweale. -The other hylle, on the South syde, was made fayre, fresh grene, and -beawtifull, the grounde thereof full of flowers and beawtie: and on the -same was erected also one tree very fresh and fayre, under the whiche -stoode uprighte one freshe personage, well apparayled and appoynted, -whose name also was written bothe in Englyshe and Latin, whiche was, -‘Respublica bene instituta,’ ‘A florishyng Commonweale.’ And uppon the -same tree also were fixed certayne tables, conteyning sentences which -expressed the causes of a flourishing Commonweale. In the middle, -between the sayde hylles, was made artificially one hollow place or -cave, with doore and locke enclosed: oute of the whiche, a lyttle -before the Quenes Highness commynge thither, issued one personage, -whose name was Tyme, apparaylled as an olde man, with a sythe in his -hande, havynge wynges artificiallye made, leadinge a personage of -lesser stature than himselfe, whiche was fynely and well apparaylled, -all cladde in whyte silke, and directlye over her head was set her name -and tytle, in Latin and Englyshe, ‘Temporis filia,’ ‘The Daughter of -Tyme.’ Which two so appoynted, went forwarde toward the South syde of -the Pageant. And on her brest was written her propre name, whiche was -‘Veritas,’ ‘Trueth,’ who helde a booke in her hande, upon the whiche -was written, ‘Verbum Veritatis,’ ‘The Woorde of Trueth.’ And out of the -South syde of the Pageaunt was cast a standynge for a childe, which -shoulde enterprete the same Pageant. Against whom when the Quenes -Majestie came, he spake unto her Grace these woordes:— - - ‘This olde man with the sythe olde Father Tyme they call, - And her his daughter Truth, which holdeth yonder boke: - Whom he out of his rocke hath brought forth to us all, - From hence for many yeres she durst not once out loke. - - The ruthful wight that sitteth ynder the barren tree, - Resembleth to us the fourme when Commonweales decay: - But when they be in state tryumphant, you may see - By him in freshe attyre that sitteth under the baye. - - Now since that Time again his daughter Truth hath brought - We trust, O worthy Quene, thou wilt this Truth embrace: - And since thou understandst the good estate and nought, - We trust wealth thou wilt plant, and barrenness displace. - - But for to heale the sore, and cure that is not seene, - Which thing the boke of Truth doth teache in writing playn, - She doth present to thee the same, O worthy Quene, - For that, that wordes do flye, but wryting doth remayn.’ - -[Illustration: COACHES OF QUEEN ELIZABETH - -From _Archæologia_.] - -When the childe had thus ended his speache, he reached his booke -towardes the Quenes Majestie, whiche, a little before, Trueth had let -downe unto him from the hill: whiche Sir John Parrat was received, -and delivered unto the Quene. But she, as soone as she had receyved -the booke, kissed it, and with both her handes helde up the same, and -so laid it upon her breast, with great thankes to the Citie thereof. -And so went forward towardes Paules Churchyarde.... When she was come -over against Paules Scole, a childe appointed by the scolemaster -thereof pronounced a certein oration in Latin, and certein verses, -which also wer there written.”... “In this maner, the people on either -side rejoysing, her Grace went forwarde, towarde the Conduite in -Flete-street, where was the fifte and last Pageaunt erected, in forme -following: From the Conduite, which was bewtified with painting, unto -the North side of the strete, was erected a stage, embattelled with -foure towres, and in the same a square platte rising with degrees, and -uppon the uppermost degree was placed a chaire, or seate royall, and -behynde the same seate, in curious and artificiall maner, was erected -a tree of reasonable height, and so farre advaunced above the seate as -it did well and semelye shadow the same, without endomaging the syght -of any part of the Pageant: and the same tree was bewtified with leaves -as greene as arte could devise, being of a convenient greatnes, and -conteining therupon the fruite of the date, and on the toppe of the -same tree, in a table, was set the name thereof, which was ‘A palme -tree’: and in the aforesaide seate, or chaire, was placed a semelie -and mete personage, richlie apparelled in Parliament robes, with a -sceptre in her hand, as a Quene crowned with an open crowne, whose name -and title was in a table fixed over her head, in this sort: ‘Debora -the judge and restorer of the House of Israel, Judic. iv.’ And the -other degrees, on either side, were furnished with vi personages: two -representing the Nobilitie, two the Clergie, and two the Comminaltye. -And before these personages was written, in a table, ‘Debora with her -estates, consulting for the good Government of Israel.’ At the feete of -these, and the lowest part of the Pageant, was ordeined a convenient -rome for a childe to open the meaning of the Pageant. When the Quenes -Majestie drew nere unto this Pageant, and perceived, as in the other, -the childe readie to speake, her Grace required silence, and commaunded -her chariot to be removed nigher, that she myght plainlie heare the -childe speake, whych said as hereafter foloweth:— - - ‘Jaben of Canaan King had long by force of armes - Opprest the Israleites which for God’s People went: - But God minding at last for to redresse their harmes, - The worthy Deborah as judge among them sent. - - In war she, through God’s aide, did put her foes to fright, - And with the dint of sworde the hande of bondage brast; - In peace she, through God’s aide, did alway mainteine right, - And judges Israell till fourty yeres were past. - - A worthie President, O worthie Queen, thou hast, - A worthie woman judge, a woman sent for staie. - And that the like to us endure alway thou maist, - Thy loving subjectes will with true hearts and tonges prai.’ - -Which verses were written upon the Pageant: and the same in Latin also. -The voide places of the Pageant were filled with pretie sentences -concerning the same matter. Thys ground of this last Pageant was, -that forsomuch as the next Pageant before had set before her Grace’s -eyes the florishing and desolate states of a Commonweale, she might -by this be put in remembrance to consult for the worthy Government of -her People: considering God oftimes sent women nobly to rule among -men: as Debora, whych governed Israell in peas the space of xl years: -and that it behoved both men and women so ruling to use advise of good -counsell. When the Quenes Majestie had passed this Pageant, she marched -toward Templebarre: but at St Dunstones church, where the children of -thospitall wer appointed to stand with their governours, her Grace -perceiving a childe offred to make an oration unto her, stayed her -chariot and did cast up her eyes to heaven, as who should saye: ‘I here -see thys mercyfull worke towarde the poore, whom I muste in the middest -of my royaltie nedes remembre!’ And so turned her face towarde the -childe, which, in Latin, pronounced an oracion. The childe, after he -had ended his oracion, kissed the paper wherein the same was written, -and reached it to the Quenes Majestie, whych received it graciouslye -both with woordes and countenance, declaring her gracious mynde -towarde theyr reliefe. From thence her Grace came to Temple Barre, -which was dressed fynelye with the two ymages of Gotmagot the Albione, -and Corineus the Briton, two gyantes bigge in stature, furnished -accordingly: which held in their handes, even above the gate, a table, -wherin was writen, in Latin verses, the effect of all the Pageantes -which the Citie before had erected. Which versis wer also written in -Englishe meter, in a lesse table, as hereafter foloweth:— - - ‘Behold here in one view thou mayst see all that payne, - O Princesse, to this thy people the onely stay: - What echewhere thou hast seen in this wide town again - This one arche whatsoever the rest conteynd doth say. - - The first arche, as true heyre unto thy father dere, - Did set thee in the throne where thy graundfather satte: - The second did confirme thy seate as Princesse here. - Vertues now bearing swaye, and Vyces bet down flatte. - - The third, if that thou wouldst goe on as thou began, - Declared thee to be blessed on every syde; - The fourth did open Trueth and also taught thee whan - The Commonweale stoode well, and when it did thence slide. - - The fifth as Debora, declared thee to be sent, - From Heaven, a long comfort to us thy subjectes all: - Therefore goe on, O Quene, on whom our hope is bent, - And take with thee this wishe of thy town as finall: - - Live long, and as long raygne, adourning thy countrie - With Vertues, and mayntayne thy people’s hope of thee: - For thus, thus Heaven is won: thus must you pearce the sky. - This is by Vertue wrought, all other must nedes dye.’ - -[Illustration: ROYAL PROCESSION TO ST. PAUL’S - -From a picture painted in 1616, in the possession of the Society of -Antiquaries. E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -[Illustration: - -_W. A. Mansell & Co._ - -QUEEN ELIZABETH GOING IN PROCESSION FROM SOMERSET HOUSE TO ST. PAUL’S -CHURCH, TO RETURN THANKS FOR THE DEFEAT OF THE SPANISH ARMADA, NOVEMBER -24, 1588 - -From an engraving in British Museum.] - -On the South side was appoynted by the Citie a noyse of singing -children: and one childe richely attyred as a poet, which gave the -Quenes Majestie her farewell, in the name of the hole Citie, by these -wordes:— - - ‘As at thyne entraunce first, O Prince of high renown, - Thou wast presented with tonges and heartes for thy fayre; - So now, sith thou must nedes depart out of this towne, - This citie sendeth thee firme hope and earnest prayer. - - For all men hope in thee, that all vertues shall reygne, - For all men hope that thou none errour wilt support, - For all men hope that thou wilt trueth restore agayne, - And mend that is amisse, to all good mennes comfort. - - And for this hope they pray thou mayst continue long - Our Quene amongst us here, all vyce for to supplant: - And for this hope they pray, that God may make thee strong - As by His grace puissant so in his trueth constant. - - Farewell, O worthy Quene, and as our hope is sure - That into Errour’s place thou wilt now Truth restore: - So trust we that thou wilt our Soveraigne Quene endure, - And loving Lady stand, from henceforth evermore.’ - -Whyle these woordes were in saying, and certeine wishes therein repeted -for maintenaunce of Trueth and rooting out of Errour, she now and -then helde up her handes to heavenwarde, and willed the people to say -Amen. When the child had ended she said, ‘Be ye well assured I will -stande your good Quene.’ At whiche saying her Grace departed forth -through Temple Barre towarde Westminster with no lesse shoutyng and -crying of the People, then she entred the Citie, with a noyse of -ordinance, whiche the Towre shot of at her Grace’s entraunce first into -Towre-streate. The childes saying was also in Latin verses, wrytten in -a table which was hanged up there. Thus the Quenes Hyghnesse passed -through the Citie, whiche, without any forreyne persone, of itselfe -beawtifyed itselfe, and receyved her Grace at all places, as hath -been before mentioned, with most tender obedience and love, due to -so gracious a Quene and Soveraigne Ladie. And her Grace lykewise of -her side, in all her Grace’s passage, shewed herselfe generally an -ymage of a woorthye Ladie and Governour: but privately these especiall -poyntes wer noted in her Grace as synges of a most princelyke courage, -wherby her loving subjectes maye ground a sure hope for the rest of her -gracious doinges hereafter.” - -The most beautiful thing about the accession and coronation of -Elizabeth was the moment when she passed out of the gates of the Tower, -where once before she had lain in daily expectation of death. Her -carriage waited for her. She stood looking round her; in the clear, -cold, winter light she saw the City rising before her with its spires -and gables—her City—filled with hearts that longed above all things for -the restoration of the new Faith. And she raised her eyes to heaven and -cried:— - - “O Lord, Almighty and Everlasting God, I give Thee most humble - thanks, that Thou hast been so merciful unto me as to spare me to - behold this joyful day; and I acknowledge that Thou hast dealt - wonderfully and mercifully with me. As Thou didst with thy servant - Daniel the prophet, whom Thou deliveredst out of the den from the - cruelty of the raging lions, even so was I overwhelmed, and only - by Thee delivered. To Thee, therefore, only be thanks, honour, and - praise for ever. Amen.” - -The Service in the Abbey was the Coronation Mass; but the Litany was -read in English, and the Gospel and Epistle both in Latin and in -English. All the Bench of Bishops were absent except one; and the Abbot -of Westminster took his part in the Service for the last time. Yet a -few weeks and all England knew that the Reformation had come back to -them. For this gift the people never ceased to love and venerate Queen -Elizabeth. There has been no English sovereign save Queen Victoria who -was so wholly and unfeignedly loved by the English people as she. This -is a commonplace, but it is well, in such a work as this, to remind -ourselves how the citizens of London, one and all, and throughout her -long reign, were ready to fight and to die for their beloved Queen. -She was sometimes hard; she was always inflexible; she was sometimes -vindictive; but above all things people delight in a strong king. Henry -the First; Henry the Second; Edward the First; Henry the Fifth; Henry -the Eighth; Elizabeth; William the Third,—have been the best loved of -all the English sovereigns, because of their strength and courage. In -the woman’s heart of the Maiden Queen lay all the courage and all the -strength of her masterful father. - -The new opinions made rapid and, for the most part, unchecked advance. -It was observed how, at the burial of a certain gentlewoman in St. -Thomas Acons, no priests or singing clerks were present, but in their -stead the new preachers in their gowns, who neither spoke nor sang -until they came to the church, and when the body was lowered into the -grave, a Collect was read in English, instead of Latin, and a chapter -of St. Paul was read—probably the same chapter which is now read at -funerals. The spirit of the time was also marked by a Proclamation -forbidding the players of whatever Company to play any more for a -certain time. - -[Illustration: THE TOWER - -From Visscher’s _Panorama of London_.] - -It has been observed that there were few noblemen left in the City: -we observe, however, that Lord Wentworth when he was acquitted for -the loss of Calais, went to live at Whittington College. At the -funeral service held for the death of King Henry II. of France the -sermon, preached by the Bishop-elect of Hereford, turned upon Funeral -Ceremonies, pointing out the simplicity of the Primitive Church—a -sermon pointing to change; after the sermon the Communion was -administered both of wine and of bread. - -In August, on St. Bartholomew’s Day, there was a great burning of -roods, copes, crosses, altar cloths, rood cloths, books, banners, and -other church gear, in London. In May, six months after the Queen’s -accession, the English service was ordered to be held in all the -churches. And the Mayor and Aldermen who had been accustomed to go in -procession to St. Paul’s, there to pray at the tomb of Bishop William, -with other ceremonies, changed this practice into hearing a sermon. -Early in 1560 we find the people all together singing a Psalm in metre, -the custom having been brought from abroad by the Protestant refugees. -By this time the Protestant form of worship seems to have been firmly -established, though it wanted the Spanish Armada and the risings and -conspiracies in favour of the old Faith to make it impossible that the -great mass of the people should desire a return. - -[Illustration: WESTMINSTER - -From an engraving by Hollar.] - -Meantime not only by her Progresses, but by her evenings on the river, -her presence at jousts and tilts, her personal reviewing of troops and -trained-bands, Queen Elizabeth kept herself continually in evidence. -(_See_ Appendix IV.) The people crowded after her, especially on the -river, where in her honour they fired off guns and blew trumpets, beat -drums, played lutes, and threw squibs into the air. The Queen even -took part in the rough national sports, sitting for whole afternoons -with the Foreign Ambassadors, looking on at the baiting of bears and -bulls, and hawking was a favourite amusement of hers. A description of -Whitehall Palace and its treasures is given by the German traveller -Hentzner. - - “In Whitehall are the following things worthy of observation:— - - I. The Royal Library, well stored with Greek, Latin, Italian, - and French books: amongst the rest, a little one in French, upon - parchment, in the handwriting of the present reigning Queen - Elizabeth, thus inscribed: ‘To the most High, Puissant, and - Redoubted Prince, Henry VIII. of the Name, King of England, France, - and Ireland, Defender of the Faith: Elizabeth his most humble - daughter, Health & Obedience.’ All these books are bound in velvet - of different colours, though chiefly red, with clasps of gold and - silver: some of pearls and precious stones set in their bindings. - - II. Two little silver cabinets of exquisite work, in which the - Queen keeps her paper, and which she uses for writing-boxes. - - III. The Queen’s bed, ingeniously composed of woods of different - colours, with quilts of silk, velvet, gold, silver, and embroidery. - - IV. A little chest, ornamented all over with pearls, in which - the Queen keeps her bracelets, ear-rings, and other things of - extraordinary value. - - V. Christ’s Passion in painted glass. - - VI. Portraits: among which are Queen Elizabeth at sixteen years - old; Henry, Richard, Edward, Kings of England; Rosamond; Lucrece; - a Grecian Bride, in her nuptial habit; the Genealogy of the Kings - of England; a picture of King Edward VI. representing at first - sight something quite deformed, till, by looking through a small - hole in the cover, which is put over it, you see it in its true - proportions; Charles V., Emperor; Charles Emanuel Duke of Savoy, - and Catherine of Spain his wife; Ferdinand Duke of Florence, with - his Daughters; one of Philip King of Spain when he came into - England and married Mary; Henry VII., Henry VIII. and his Mother; - besides many more of illustrious men and women, and a picture of - the Siege of Malta. - - VII. A small hermitage, half hid in rock, finely carved in wood. - - VIII. Variety of emblems, on paper, cut in the shape of shields, - with mottoes, used by the nobility at tilts and tournaments, hung - up here for a memorial. - - IX. Different instruments of music, upon one of which two persons - may perform at the same time. - - X. A piece of clock-work, an Aethiop riding upon a rhinoceros, with - four attendants, who all make their obeisance when it strikes the - hour: these are all put into motion, by winding up the machine. At - the entrance into the park from Whitehall is this inscription:— - - The Fisherman who has been wounded learns though late to beware - But the unfortunate Actaeon always presses on. - The chaste Virgin naturally pitied: - But the powerful Goddess revenged the wrong. - Let Actaeon fall a prey to his dogs - An example to Youth - A disgrace to those that belong to him. - May Diana live the care of Heaven - The delight of mortals - The security of those that belong to her. - - In a garden joining to this Palace, there is a Jet d’eau with a - sun-dial, which, while strangers are looking at, a quantity of - water, forced by a wheel, which the gardiner turns at a distance, - through a number of little pipes, plentifully sprinkles those that - are standing round.” - -The entertainment of a noble visitor was hospitable and generous. This -is shown in the case of John Casimir, Count Palatine of the Rhine and -Duke of Bavaria. He arrived about seven of the clock on the evening of -22nd January 1579. He landed at the Tower, and was there received by -divers noblemen and others, who conveyed him by cresset and torchlight -to the house of Sir Thomas Gresham in Bishopsgate Street, where he -was received with the sounding of trumpets, drums, fifes, and other -instruments, and a great concourse of people; here he rested for -some days. He was then taken by some of the nobility to the Queen at -Westminster, and lodged at Somerset House. The week after he hunted -at Hampton Court. On Sunday the first of February he was entertained -with a great tilting at Westminster; on Monday with a sword-fight at -barriers. On Tuesday he dined with the Mayor; on Wednesday with the -Duchess of Suffolk at the Barbican; on Thursday at the Steelyard. On -February the 8th he was made a Knight of the Garter. And when he went -away he took with him presents worth 3000 crowns. - -The tiltings at Westminster attracted an immense number of spectators: -in the year 1581 so great was the concourse and so crowded were the -scaffolds that they broke down, and many persons were injured or killed. - -April the 4th, 1581, was a day to be remembered. On that day the Queen -came from Greenwich by water to Deptford, where there was moored a -certain ship newly returned from a voyage round the world, the first -made by an Englishman. The ship was called _The Golden Hind_, the -Captain, Francis Drake. The Queen examined the ship, questioned the -Captain, looked at the charts, and saw the things collected and brought -home. Then she graciously dined on board, and after dinner conferred -the honour of knighthood upon the Captain. An immense number of persons -were gathered to see the Queen, and to gaze upon the ship which had -been all round the world. A wooden bridge on which one hundred persons -were standing broke, but happily none were killed. The ship was laid -up in Deptford Dockyard, till she was cut to pieces by visitors taking -each a piece of her timbers away. When she was at length broken up, a -chair was made out of the wood, and given by a Mr. John Davis to the -University of Oxford. - -The observance of the Maundy was held in great state:— - -First, the Hall was prepared with a long table on each side, and forms -set by them; on the edges of which tables and under those forms were -laid carpets and cushions for her Majesty to kneel, when she washed -the poor. There was also another table laid across the upper end of -the Hall, where the Chaplain stood. A little beneath the middle of the -Hall a stool and “cushion of estate” were placed for her Majesty to -kneel at during service time. This done, the holy-water basons, alms, -and other things, being brought into the Hall, and the Chaplain and the -poor women, the recipients of the Queen’s bounty, having taken their -places, the Yeoman of the Laundry, armed with a fair towel, and taking -a silver bason filled with warm water and flowers, washed their feet, -all, one after another, wiped the same with his towel, and so, making -a cross a little above the toes, kissed them. After them followed the -Sub-Almoner, doing likewise, and after him the Almoner himself also; -so that the feet of the poor folk were three times washed before the -Queen appeared. When she came into the Hall, they sang certain psalms -and read certain prayers, together with the Gospel of Christ’s washing -His disciples’ feet; then thirty-nine gentlewomen [in accordance -with the Queen’s age—this account refers to the year 1572] presented -themselves with aprons and towels to wait upon her Majesty; and she, -kneeling down upon the cushions and carpets under the feet of the poor -women, first washed one foot of every one of them in so many several -basons of warm water, and sweet flowers, brought to her severally by -the said ladies and gentlewomen, then wiped, crossed, and kissed them, -as the Almoner and others had done before. When her Majesty had thus -gone through the whole number of thirty-nine (of which twenty sat on -the one side of the Hall and nineteen on the other) she began again -with the first, and gave to each one certain yards of broad cloth. -This done, she again began with the first, giving to each in turn a -pair of shoes. Fourthly, to each of them she gave a wooden platter, -wherein were laid a side of salmon, with an equal weight of ling, six -red herring, and two loaves of bread. Fifthly, she began with the -first again, and gave to each of them a white wooden bason filled with -wine. Sixthly, she received of each Waiting Gentlewoman her towel and -apron, and gave one towel and apron to each poor woman. After this the -Treasurer of the Chamber came to her Majesty with thirty-nine small -white purses wherein were also thirty-nine pence according to the -number of the years of her Majesty’s age; and of him she received and -distributed them severally; which done, she received of him the same -number of red leather purses, each containing twenty shillings, for the -redemption of her Majesty’s gown, which, by ancient custom, should have -been given to some one of them at her pleasure; the Queen, however, -had changed that reward into money, to be equally divided amongst them -all, namely, twenty shillings apiece; and those she also delivered -particularly to each one of the whole company; and “so, taking her -ease upon the cushion of state, and hearing the choir a little while, -her Majesty withdrew herself and the company departed; for it was by -that time the sun-setting.” This account is taken from that of William -Lambarde an Antiquary, who is quoted by John Nichols in his _Progresses -of Queen Elizabeth_ (vol. i.). - -[Illustration: “HOW TO FLEE THE HEARON” - -From Turberville’s _Booke of Falconrie_, 1575.] - -The custom of making New Year’s gifts to the Queen was duly honoured -every year. The list of the gifts for 1562 as presented by Nichols -contains the names of all the noble lords and great ladies in the -kingdom, the Bishops, and the Court: nearly two hundred in number. -These gifts are of all kinds: gold boxes; purses of money; embroidered -sleeves; sugar loaves; ginger; sweetmeats; a smock of silk; -handkerchiefs “garnished with gold, silver, and silk”; carved coffers; -sleeves embroidered with gold; silk hose—two such gifts; fine glass; -gilt cups; tankards, bowls, spoons, and salts; and so on. On the other -hand, the gifts which the Queen had to make constantly to Ambassadors, -to her officers, to the christening and marriage feasts of the people -about the Court, would seem to run away with most of these presents. It -is worthy of note that in all the long list of gifts of 1562 there is -not one single picture or statue. - -[Illustration: The Chariott drawne by foure Horses upon which chariot -stood the Coffin covered wth purple velvett and upon that the -representation. The Canapy borne by six Knights. - -QUEEN ELIZABETH’S FUNERAL - -A section from a contemporary MS. scroll in British Museum.] - -The following is Hentzner’s account of the Queen’s Court at Greenwich -(Nichols vol. ii.):— - - “We next arrived at the Royal Palace of Greenwich, reported to - have been originally built by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, - and to have received very magnificent additions from Henry - VII. It was here Elizabeth, the present Queen, was born, and - here she generally resides, particularly in Summer, for the - delightfulness of its situation. We were admitted, by an - order Mr. Rogers procured from the Lord Chamberlain, into - the Presence Chamber, hung with rich tapestry, and the floor - after the English fashion strewed with hay, through which the - Queen commonly passes on her way to Chapel; at the door stood - a Gentleman dressed in velvet, with a gold chain, whose - office was to introduce to the Queen any person of distinction - that came to wait on her; it was Sunday, when there is usually - the greatest attendance of Nobility. In the same Hall were the - Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, a great number - of Counselors of State, Officers of the Crown, and Gentlemen, - who waited the Queen’s coming out: which she did from her - own apartment when it was time to go to prayers, attended in - the following manner: First went Gentlemen, Barons, Earls, - Knights of the Garter, all richly dressed and bareheaded; next - came the Chancellor, bearing the seals in a red silke purse, - between two; one of which carried the Royal Sceptre, the other - the Sword of State, in a red scabbard, studded with golden - fleurs-de-lis, the point upwards; next came the Queen, in the - sixty-fifth year of her age, as we are told, very majestic: her - face oblong, fair, but wrinkled; her eyes small, yet black and - pleasant; her nose a little hooked; her lips narrow and her - teeth black (defect the English seem subject to from their too - great use of sugar); she had in her ears two pearls, with very - rich drops; she wore false hair and that red; upon her head - she had a small crown, reported to be made of some of the gold - of the celebrated Lunebourg Table. Her bosom was uncovered, as - all the English Ladies have it till they marry; and she had on - a necklace of exceeding fine jewels; her hands were small, her - fingers long, and her stature neither tall nor low; her air - was stately, her manner of speaking mild and obliging. That - day she was dressed in white silk, bordered with pearls of the - size of beans, and over it a mantle of black silk, shot with - silver threads; her train was very long, the end of it borne - by a Marchioness; instead of a chain, she had an oblong collar - of gold and jewels. As she went along in all this state and - magnificence, she spoke very graciously, first to one, then - to another, whether foreign ministers or those who attended - for different reasons, in English, French, and Italian; for, - besides being well skilled in Greek, Latin, and the languages - I have mentioned, she is mistress of Spanish, Scotch, and - Dutch; whoever speaks to her, it is kneeling; now and then she - raises some with her hand. While we were there, W. Slawata, - a Bohemian Baron, had letters to present to her; and she, - after pulling off her glove, gave him her right hand to kiss, - sparkling with rings and jewels, a mark of particular favour; - wherever she turned her face as she was going along, everybody - fell down on their knees. The ladies of the Court followed - next to her, very handsome and well-shaped, and for the most - part dressed in white; she was guarded on each side by the - Gentlemen Pensioners, fifty in number, with gilt battle-axes. - In the anti-chapel next the Hall, where we were, petitions were - presented to her, and she received them most graciously, which - occasioned the acclamation of ‘Long live Queen Elizabeth!’ - She answered it with, ‘I thank you, my good people.’ In the - Chapel was excellent music; as soon as it and the service was - over, which scarce exceeded half an hour, the Queen returned - in the same state and order, and prepared to go to dinner. But - while she was still at prayers, we saw her table set out with - the following solemnity: A Gentleman entred the room bearing - a rod, and along with him another who had a table-cloth, - which, after they had both kneeled three times with the utmost - veneration, he spread upon the table, and after kneeling again - they both retired. Then came two others, one with the rod - again, the other with a salt-cellar, a plate, and bread; when - they had both kneeled, as the others had done, and placed what - was brought upon the table, they too retired with the same - ceremonies performed by the first. At last came an unmarried - lady (we were told she was a Countess) and along with her a - married one, bearing a tasting knife; the former was dressed in - white silk, who, when she had prostrated herself three times - in the most graceful manner, approached the table, and rubbed - the plates with bread and salt, with as much awe as if the - Queen had been present; when they had waited there a little - while, the Yeomen of the Guard entered, bare-headed, cloathed - in scarlet, with a golden rose upon their backs, bringing in - at each turn a course of twenty-four dishes, served in plate, - most of it gilt; these dishes were received by a gentleman in - the same order they were brought, and placed upon the table, - while the lady-taster gave to each of the guards a mouthful to - eat, of the particular dish he had brought, for fear of any - poison. During the time that this guard, which consists of the - tallest and stoutest men that can be found in all England, - being carefully selected for the service, were bringing dinner, - twelve trumpets and two kettle-drums made the hall ring for - half an hour together. At the end of this ceremonial, a number - of unmarried ladies appeared, who, with particular solemnity, - lifted the meat off the table, and conveyed it into the Queen’s - inner and more private chamber, where, after she has chosen for - herself, the rest goes to the Ladies of the Court. The Queen - dines and sups alone, with very few attendants; and it is very - seldom that anybody, foreigner or native, is admitted at that - time, and then only at the intercession of somebody in power.” - -[Illustration: THE PALACE OF GREENWICH (PLACENTIA)] - -[Illustration: - -_Walker & Cockerell._ - -QUEEN ELIZABETH (1533–1603) - -From a painting in the National Portrait Gallery. Painter unknown, but -probably Marc Gheeraedts.] - -The great popularity of the Queen, and the affection with which she -was regarded by all classes, is shown by the following Proclamation -issued in the year 1563, relating to persons making portraits of Queen -Elizabeth:— - - “Forasmuch as thrugh the natural desire that all sorts of - subjects and peple, both noble and mean, have to procure the - portrait and picture of the Queen’s Majestie, great nomber - of Paynters, and some Printers and gravers, have alredy and - doe dayly attempt to make in divers manners portraietures of - hir Majestie in paynting, graving, and prynting, wherein is - evidently shewn that hytherto none hath sufficiently expressed - the naturall representation of hir Majesties person, favor, - or grace, but for the most part have also erred therein, as - thereof dayly complaints are made amongst hir Majesties loving - subjectes, in so much that for redres hereof hir Majestie - hath lately bene so instantly and so importunately sued unto - by the Lords of hir Consell and others of hir nobility, in - respect of the great disorder herein used, not only to be - content that some speciall conning payntor might be permitted - by access to hir Majestie to take the natural representation - of hir Majestie, whereof she hath bene allwise of her own - right disposition very unwillyng, but also to prohibit all - manner of other persons to draw, paynt, grave, or pourtrayet - hir Majesties personage or visage for a time, untill by some - perfect patron and example the same may be by others followed. - Therfor hir Majestie, being herein as it were overcome with - the contynuall requests of so many of hir Nobility and - Lords, whom she cannot well deny, is pleased that for their - contentations, some coning person mete therefor shall shortly - make a pourtrait of hir person or visage to be participated to - others for satisfaction of hir loving subjects, and furthermore - commandeth all manner of persons in the mean tyme to forbear - from payntyng, graving, printing, or making of any pourtraits - of hir Majestie, until some speciali person that shall be by - hir allowed shall have first finished a pourtraiture thereof, - after which fynished, hir Majestie will be content that all - other painters, printers, or gravers, that shall be known men - of understanding, and so thereto licensed by the hed officers - of the plaices where they shall dwell (as reason it is that - every person should not without consideration attempt the same) - shall and maye at their pleasures follow the sayd patron or - first portraiture. And for that hir Majestie perceiveth that a - grete nomber of hir loving subjects are much greved and take - great offence with the errors and deformities allredy committed - by sondry persons in this behalf, she straitly chargeth all hir - officers and ministers to see to the due observation hereof, - and as soon as may be to reform the errors already committed, - and in the meantime to forbid and prohibit the shewing or - publication of such as are apparently deformed, until they may - be reformed which are reformable.” - - - - - RELIGION - - - - - CHAPTER I - - THE DISSOLUTION AND THE MARTYRS - - -In speaking of the Dissolution of the Religious Houses it must be -understood that I am considering this momentous step with reference to -London only. The influences of the Continental movement; the lessons -of history; the turn taken by theological controversy; the unedifying -spectacle of Rome in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; the -talk of scholars; the strength of the conservatism which rallied -about the Church at first; the apparent power of the Church, which -seemed, indeed, able to crush every opponent, whatever his rank and -station;—these things moved not, consciously at least, the man of -London. He became acquiescent in the changes imposed upon him by -other considerations. And I believe that had not his acquiescence -been understood as certain to follow, these changes would not have -been attempted. Henry VIII. was the most masterful sovereign of -his time; but a king cannot outrage and trample upon the settled -religious faith of his subjects. The Old Faith had gone to pieces when -Constantine proclaimed the New. The New, in its turn, now grown old and -incrustated, and hidden by a thousand additions, superstitions, and -superfluities, was in its turn ready for departure, in Northern Europe -at least, when Henry effected the separation from Rome which began the -Reformation in England. - -Among an ignorant and an uncritical people the ancient Faith passed -unquestioned—was it not the Faith of all those in authority? Its -doctrines were supported less by teaching than by outward forms, -ceremonies, pageants, splendours and traditional conventions. In every -church the story of the Gospels was partly represented, but overlaid -with stories of the Saints; the Christian virtues were never, even -at the lowest point of Church History, forgotten, yet their practice -had become crystallised; almsgiving was part of the Rule of every -Religious Order, but it was indiscriminate; mercy towards the criminal -had become a refuge for those who continued in their evil practices -under cover of Sanctuary; the tradition of austerity no longer brought -respect to the Benedictine; the tradition of self-sacrifice no longer -brought love to the Franciscan: to the former, as to the College of -All Souls, Oxford, the members were _bene nati_, and, I believe, for -the most part _bene morati_ and _moderate docti_; in the more secluded -religious communities discipline was relaxed and scandals had crept -in; for a hundred years and more the people had been gradually ceasing -to endow the Religious Houses with bequests. At the commencement of -the sixteenth century they had wholly ceased the practice, formerly -universal. Monk and Nun; Friar and Sister; Hermit, Anchorite, Anchress, -now received no more bequests; of all the Religious Orders none had -fallen into disrepute so hopelessly as the Franciscans: they were -selling the lead off the roofs of their stately churches; they were -selling their sacred vessels of silver gilt; their boxes, hung up in -the shops—if the shopkeepers admitted them—received no more offerings; -they were insulted in the streets; their numbers were dwindling daily. -Now all these things were like an open book in which those who passed -along the way might read daily, and did read unconsciously, so that -their minds were moulded and directed, they could not tell why or how. - -As for the spread of the ideas called Lollardry, one knows not how far -they survived the persecution under Henry V. and the disturbances of -the Civil Wars. But such ideas, whose strength lies in the exercise -of reason, so far as men can reason, do not easily die; the case of -Richard Hun (p. 32) shows that they were still alive. The socialistic -side of Lollardry had vanished, but some, at least, of the religious -side survived. - -Yet the old things went on apparently undisturbed. Nothing could -surpass the external splendour of a Cardinal Archbishop: no authority -was greater in appearance than his. The rich endowments of the greater -Abbeys made the Houses magnificent and the Brethren proud, generous, -and profuse in hospitality and in alms. Who could be more dignified -than the Abbot of St. Peter’s, Westminster? Still the Church seemed to -rule in everything: the Fraternities continued; they still attracted -members; they still marched in procession, each with its chaplain and -its singing men, its banners and its brethren, through the streets on -its appointed day; the City Companies were incorporated as Religious as -well as Trade Societies; the Manger and the Holy Tomb still adorned the -churches on the great Festivals; the Angel still flew over the people -from the roof on the Day of Pentecost; the pictures on the wall in -every church recorded the martyrdom of the Saint of Dedication and the -miracles which commanded his canonisation. No one could have dreamed, -no one could have prophesied, when the scholarly young King thundered -against Luther that the old order was drawing to its allotted end, and -that for Rome, as well as Northern Europe, Reform was at hand. - -In many ways the Church had long lost its former hold. No longer were -the architects Churchmen; no longer were the bridge builders a distinct -fraternity; the lawyers were clerks, indeed, but not in Holy Orders; -the King’s Ministers were no longer necessarily of the Clergy; scholars -were no longer of necessity ordained priests or deacons; physicians -were laymen; the clergy were allowed to practise surgery, provided -that they did not use fire or steel—in other words, did not conduct -operations; in trade the lending of money—formerly in the hands of the -Jews and afterwards in those of the so-called “Caursini,” Italians -licensed by the Popes—was now recognised as necessary, and was carried -on more or less openly by merchants; in a word, the daily life of the -world, which had been shot through and through, like a piece of silk -with its coloured threads, by Religion, had long been emancipating -itself, by slow and gradual steps, from the control of the Church and -the interference of the priest. - -How much these things were understood at the time it is not necessary -to inquire. Probably the people, who knew no history, had been -unconsciously moulded and changed, and were far from realising the -great gulf which now divided them from their ancestors. - -Yet there were other signs of change, could they have been rightly -interpreted. Scholars, like Erasmus, openly derided the adoration of -relics; some of them, under new Pagan influence, denied the Christian -faith itself; the scholars of France, like Rabelais and Étienne Dolet, -scoffed at the Pope and the Papal pretensions; yet Rabelais did not -dare to publish in his lifetime the most daring and the most deadly -part of his work. - -Add to these things the long-standing disaffection towards the -Roman authority. For centuries the Pope had been attempting fresh -encroachments, claiming new powers, demanding more contributions. -All travellers to Rome brought back the same story of corruption and -laxity; men asked themselves why they should submit to the oppression -of an Italian prince. In 1529 the House of Commons drew up a petition -in which, while they did not ask for a change of doctrine, they -complained of the independent legislation claimed by Convocation, the -number of officers, the exorbitant fees of ecclesiastical courts, the -granting of benefices to children, pluralities, non-residence and other -grievances. Surely such a man as Wolsey must have discerned in all -these symptoms a warning, clear and loud, that their house must be set -in order. Perhaps not, however: nothing is more difficult than for the -ecclesiastical mind to see, outside its fences of doctrine and usage, -the questioning people, and to hear and understand the awakened mind. - -The action of Henry, which, on the face of it, seems the most masterful -thing ever attempted by a king, was, on the contrary, approved and -accepted by the great mass of the people; especially by the people of -London, by the scholars, and by the clergy. There were few who emulated -the constancy of the unfortunate Carthusians or the martyrdom of More -and Fisher; the old order crumbled and fell to pieces at a touch; -out of the débris, among the fallen monarchs of the forest, rose up -a tangled mass of vegetation, from which the nobler kinds had to be -separated by trial and proof, by persecution and by cultivation. - -The first direct step towards the Reformation was, assuredly, not -considered as such. It was the suppression by Cardinal Wolsey of -certain small houses with whose revenues he endowed his Colleges. - -The second direct step was the Petition of the House of Commons, which -also passed the Upper House, in 1529. - -In January 1531 the House of Commons, in demanding of the clergy the -payment of £118,000—an enormous sum, representing more than a million -of our money—gave Henry the title of Head of the Church. This was -before the break with Rome; so far it meant only that the civil power -should be superior to the ecclesiastical. - -Then followed the Bill for the abolition of _annales_ or payment to the -Pope of the first year’s income of benefice or see. This was at first -held _in terrorem_ over the head of the Pope. - -The divorce of Katherine and the King’s marriage with Anne Boleyn -in spite of the opposition of the Pope completed the separation. -Henceforth the King was Head of the Church within his own realm. - -It was to show to the whole world that he was in earnest and that he -meant indeed to be Head of the Church, that Henry caused the execution -of the Carthusian monks, of Bishop Fisher, and Sir Thomas More. All -Christendom shuddered when those holy men were dragged forth to suffer -the degrading and horrible death of traitors; yet all Christendom -recognised that there was a King in England who would brook no -interference, who knew his own mind, and would work his own will. - -I need not follow the course and the development of the Reformation, -for its history belongs to the whole country. As regards London, two or -three points present themselves for consideration: as, for instance, -the condition of the Houses; the manners and morality of the Religious; -and the mind of the people. - -Let us consider these points from the position of a contemporary -Londoner, so far as is possible. First, as to the condition of the -Houses. - -The enormous wealth of the Church could not fail to impress every one -with the incongruity of ecclesiastical professions and practices. -The sight of those scores of able-bodied men, most of them with no -pretensions to be considered scholars, or divines, or even gentlemen—a -qualification which, at the time, might have been sufficient -justification for living on the work of others—but men of low origin -and of narrow attainments, lounging about the streets and in the -taverns—some, as the friars, with no apparent duties at all; some, -like the chantry priests, with half an hour’s work every day; many -of them without the least pretence to piety or virtue—could not but -become a powerful aid in the popular approval of the Dissolution. In -London alone, a very large part of the City belonged to the Church. -The streets swarmed with ecclesiastics who, in the midst of a busy and -industrial population, seemed idle and useless. - -In the Italian _Relations of England_ the writer speaks of the vast -wealth of the Church and the power of the ecclesiastics. “I for my -part,” he says, “believe that the English priests would desire nothing -better than what they have got, were it not they are obliged to assist -the Crown in time of war, and also to keep many poor gentlemen, who are -left beggars in consequence of the inheritance devolving to the eldest -son. And if the Bishops were to decline this expense they would be -considered infamous, nor do I believe that they would be safe in their -own churches.” - -[Illustration: CARTHUSIAN MARTYRS - -From a historical print in the British Museum.] - -There is surely some confusion here. It is true that younger sons -attached themselves to the following of the great Lords Spiritual as -well as Temporal, but I have nowhere else found it stated that it was -the duty of the Church to keep them. Also many of them, as we have -seen, had City connections and embarked in trade. For “Church” we -should perhaps read “the Monastic Houses.” - -If we come to consider the condition of the Religious on the score -of morality, all that can be said concerning those of London is that -we hear nothing against them. It is true that the details of the -Visitations of London have not been revealed. But there could not -have been anything very bad, or it would have been laid hold of and -enlarged upon, and pointed out for the execration of the people, by the -preachers of the new religion. - -Froude, in his paper on the Dissolution of the Monasteries, argues -that the evidence of immorality on the part of certain Religious -Houses is overwhelming. His case against that of St. Albans is -certainly convincing, so far as that House alone is concerned. And -it is difficult not to believe that in other cases about the country -the evidence of the visitors, even granting that their own private -character left a good deal to be desired, is much too detailed for pure -invention. - -But, as regards the Religious of London, I am not aware that there is -any evidence to prove that they were either notoriously or secretly -corrupt or luxurious. Considering the pristine standard of the Rule, -they were doubtless degenerate, just as in a College of Oxford or -Cambridge fifty years ago, the Fellows who should have carried on -the lamp of learning spent their time in the study of Port and the -practice of Whist. Father Gasquet argues in favour of the whole body -of nuns—London or country—when he cites the case of Sister Joan. In -the year 1535 the Archbishop of York visited a certain convent in his -diocese and learned that one of the nuns had been guilty of unchastity. -He inflicted upon her a sentence of great severity: she was to be -kept in prison for two years, without speaking to any one but the -Prioress; she was to fast altogether on Wednesday and Friday; and on -every Friday she was to be taken to the Chapter House, there to receive -discipline—_i.e._ to be whipped. Is it possible, Father Gasquet asks, -that the nunneries of England could be grossly and openly immoral—even -secretly immoral—when such a severe punishment was meted out to an -offender by the visiting archbishop? One might point out that a severe -punishment may tell of two things: either of horror at a rare and -heinous offence, or of a determination, by severe measures, to put down -a too frequent breaking of the vows of chastity. - -Concerning, therefore, the morals of the London Religious, there has -been no special charge, so far as I know, brought against the whole -body. We may remember, however, that the number of persons bound by -vows of celibacy was very large; that even at the present time, when -there is certainly more self-restraint, it would be impossible for -these vows to be kept by so large a proportion of the people; and that -the clergy, in morals and in practice, have never been more than a -little in advance of the laity. - -The many acts of unchastity of which one reads in the books were -perhaps scattered and solitary instances. I refer, however, to -certain documents which prove, not the common prevalence of vice, but -relaxation of the Rule. They are a collection of papers, the charges of -Langland, Bishop of Lincoln, early in the sixteenth century, published -in _Archæologia_ (vol. xlvii.). They point to laxity, not to vice. - -[Illustration: SIR THOMAS MORE (1478–1535) - -From the painting by Holbein in the National Portrait Gallery, London.] - -The first is a charge to the Abbess and Convent of Elstow, near -Bedford. In this House the Sisters, instead of assembling in the -Fratry for their meals, were accustomed to gather together in what -they called their “Households”; apparently messes of two or more, at -which secular men, women, and children were allowed to be present. This -has to be amended. Henceforth they may repair to the Misericorde, but -only one or two at a time, and then under charge of an elderly sister. -Their attendance at the services in the “Quire” has become irregular, -henceforth they are all to attend every service; they are not to look -about the church upon the people during service, for which purpose -a door is to be constructed shutting off the choir. They had become -irregular about their dress, henceforth they are not to wear their -dresses cut low. As for the Lady Abbess, she herself is ordered to get -up and attend matins with the rest, and not to break her fast nor to -sup with the steward or any secular man. - -Clearly, a House requiring reformation, yet not blameworthy of the -grosser sins. - -There was the Priory of Studley, a Benedictine Nunnery in the Parish of -Beckley, Oxfordshire, the burial-place of the British Saint Donanverdh, -and one of the residences of Richard of Almayn, brother of Henry. The -Prioress is warned to dismiss a certain steward, named Marten Whighill; -she is not to suffer her ladies to become godmothers, nor to go out -on visits to their kinsfolk “onles it be for their comforte in tyme -of ther syknesse, and yett nott then onlesse it shal seme to you, -ladye priores, to be behoveful and necessarye, seeing that undre such -pretence muche insolency have bene used in religion.” Considering, -further, that the House is in great debt, the Prioress is to grant no -more corrodies, _i.e._ right of board and lodging in the House; to have -fewer servants; and to live “in a scarcer manour.” She is to look more -carefully after the food of the Sisters; she is to see that they wear -their robes; and she is to admit more ladies. - -The Prioress of Cotham, in Lincolnshire, is to see that there is more -order in the singing of the novices. This House has grown very lax. The -kinsfolk of the Sisters were no longer to be admitted; the Chaplain was -not to be allowed the key of the church; the Lord of Misrule was not to -be admitted at Christmas. Then, some of the Sisters had been allowed to -go out into the world under pretence of pilgrimage, which license had -caused great scandals. Henceforth they were not to be allowed out of -the House for the night, nor out of the House at all unless accompanied -by a devout Sister. Again, the Sisters had been allowed to go on visits -to Thornton, Newsome, Hull (where there were other nunneries), and the -Bishop speaks strongly of the reproach, rebuke, and shame which the -rumours of their conduct had brought upon them. This House is the worst -case of the four. Certain persons named are absolutely forbidden within -the walls. Sir John Warde, Sir Richard Calverley, Sir William Johnson, -the Parson of Skotton, and Sir William Sele, are those who have brought -upon themselves by their misconduct this prohibition. Lastly, since the -House had been reduced to miserable poverty, the Prioress must diminish -her servants, grant no more corrodies, sell no more plate, and get the -necessary repairs effected as speedily as possible. - -The last of the charges is one to the Abbot of Missenden, in -Buckinghamshire. This House, also, has fallen into poverty; there must -be a diminished number of servants and a simpler table; there must -be no more granting of corrodies; the House must be put into repair. -There was no school for the novices; a man learned in grammar must be -appointed at once; the boys must be kept apart; in future the monks -must not be allowed to wander about outside, day and night, as had been -the case. And no women were to be admitted either by day or by night. -John Compton was to be turned out of the monastery at once—he was -probably the steward; and Dom John Slithurst was to be put in prison -and kept there. - -These accounts indicate very clearly the decay of discipline in the -Houses. The Prioress eats and drinks with her steward; the Sisters -entertain their kinsfolk within the walls; the church plate is sold to -pay debts; the Sisters get outside on any pretext—then come scandals. -Certain persons are so much mixed up with these scandals that they must -never be allowed within the House at all; the Sisters adopt as much of -the fashions of the world as they can; they shirk the services; they -relieve the monotony of their lives by going on pilgrimages. As to the -monks they get out alone, all night long. What scandals made the Bishop -so determined upon keeping women out of the House altogether? And -what had Dom Slithurst done, more than his fellows, that he was to be -clapped into prison and kept there? - -It will be replied that these are all Houses in the country. That is -quite true; yet I think that, considering the attacks on the Religious; -the decay of the Friars; the withdrawal of bequests from monks and -friars alike,—the London Houses must have been open at least to charges -of laxity; and I would not press against them anything more severe. In -the admonition of the Dean of St. Paul’s to the Nuns of St. Helen’s, -laxity, not vice, was the principal complaint. Those who believe that -graver charges might be brought may read the famous accusation against -the Abbot of St. Albans—a thing, to my mind, impossible to get over. -True, St. Albans is not London, which is a saving clause. - -Enough about the condition of the Houses and the morality of the -Religious. I hear certain whispers where men congregate: they -murmur—_tacenda_. I have no proof that they are true; but I understand -that the holiness of the Religious is no longer accepted as a matter of -course; it is enough for one that this is so. The work of the Houses -is done when the people no longer desire the prayers of brethren -_inclusi_, and sisters immured; and no longer expect the pristine -devotion of the Friars. - -The suppression of the Religious Houses and its immediate effects in -London are passed over by Stow, in his _Survey_, with great brevity. -It is a pity; we should like so much to have a clear understanding of -how the people at large received these measures. Now this historian was -born in 1525; he could remember, therefore, not only the Dissolution, -but also the condition of the City under the old _régime_. It is much -to be lamented, further, that though he could find time and space to -give whole pages to the Coronation of Anne Boleyn, he could not give -more than a brief note on the suppression of one House after another. -He remembered the Franciscans going in and about everywhere in their -grey gowns; the Dominicans in black; the Carmelites in white; he -remembered the riding apparel of the monks; he remembered—he notices, -in fact—the hospitality of the richer houses; he remembered the stately -churches towering above the humble parish churches, as Westminster -above St. Margaret’s; St. Augustine’s over Peter le Poor; the Holy -Trinity over St. Catherine Cree; their peals of bells; their organs; -their treasures of gold and silver plate; their church furniture, -sumptuous with cloth of gold and velvet. He remembered the splendour, -wealth, authority, and power of the old ecclesiastics. Their authority -seemed rooted in the solid rock, never to be destroyed; and he -remembered how this substantial ecclesiastical structure vanished at -a word, at a touch, leaving behind it nothing but ruined cloisters; -churches desecrated; carvings and marbles broken up. In his old age he -sat alone and marvelled over these things. But he spoke not. Perhaps -it was dangerous, even for a historian, to speak—Stow had already been -accused of being a favourer, at least, of the old Order; regrets were -accounted traitorous; sympathy with the outcast monk was heresy—or, -which was as dangerous, was _lèse Majesté_. Not every one desired -the crown of martyrdom: to most people it was disagreeable to be -burned—one would avoid this method of extinction if possible; almost -as disagreeable was it to be dragged on a hurdle, half hanged, cut -down, and then quartered. So Stow wrote nothing about the old time as -compared with that which followed. - -In a single passage, however, Stow does allow us to understand -something of his opinion as to the whole business. No doubt many people -looked about for some mark of the Divine displeasure upon those who -took an active part in the Dissolution. To this day, certain persons -whisper about the families which succeeded to the monastic houses; if -anything happens to them it is put down to the vengeance which must -be expected to follow upon the sacrilegious occupation of monastic -property; nothing is said, of course, as to the long prosperity which -has attended most of the families which still occupy the old monastic -lands. - - “About such time as Cardinall Wolsey was determined to erect - his new Colledges in Oxford and Ipswich, he obtayned licence - and authoritie of Pope Clement the Seventh to suppresse about - the number of fortie Monasteries of good fame, and bountifull - hospitalitie, wherin the King bearing with all his doings, neyther - Bishop nor temporall Lorde in this Realme durst saye any worde to - the contrarie. - - In the executing of this business, five persons were his chiefe - instruments, who on a time made a demaunde to the Prior and - Convent of the Monasterie of Daintrie, for occupying of certayne - of theyr groundes, but the Monkes refusing to satisfie their - requests, streightway they picked a quarrel agaynst the house, - and gave information to the Cardinall agaynste them, who taking a - small occasion, commaunded the house to bee dissolved, and to bee - converted to hys new Colledge, but of thys irreligious robberie, - done of no conscience, but to patch up pride, whiche private wealth - coulde not furnishe, what punishmente hath since ensued at God’s - hande (sayeth myne Author) partly ourselves have seene, for of - those fyve persons, two fell at discorde betweene themselves, and - the one slewe the other, for the which the survivor was hanged; - the thirde drowned himselfe in a well; the fourth beeing well - knowne, and valued worth two hundred pounde, became in three - yeares so poore, that hee begged to hys dying day; and the fifth - called Doctor Allane, beeyng chiefe executor of these doyngs, was - cruelly maymed in Irelande, even at suche tyme as hee was a Bishop; - the Cardinall falling after into the King’s greevous displeasure, - was deposed, and dyed miserably; the Colledges whiche hee meante - to have made so glorious a building, came never to good effect; - and Pope Clement himselve, by whose authoritie these houses were - throwne downe to the ground was after enclosed in a dangerous siege - within the Castell of Saint Angell in Rome by the Emperialles; the - Citie of Rome was pitifully sacked; and himselfe narrowly escaped - with his life.” - -I have repeatedly spoken of the falling off in bequests to the various -Religious Orders during the hundred years preceding the Reformation. -The fact, indeed, seems to be most important in considering the -attitude of the citizens. That it is a fact may be proved by the -following table, compiled from the _Calendar of Wills_. I have already -made some extracts from the Wills in proof of the change of popular -opinion in this respect; this table considers the fact from another -point of view. - -Of course we have not, in these pages, all the Wills, nor anything -more than a small fraction of the Wills made by the Citizens during -the centuries covered by the contents of these two volumes. But they -may be taken as representative wills, in whatever manner they present -contemporary opinion. Now, as regards bequests to Religious Houses, I -have made the following analysis. I take three periods. (1) from 1250 -to 1350; (2) from 1350 to 1450; (3) from 1450 to the Dissolution, say -1538; covering nearly three centuries. During these three periods the -following is the number of bequests:— - - 1. To the various Orders of Friars for 1250–1350 20 - 1350–1450 12 - 1450–1540 4 - - 2. To the Charter House for the 1st period, not founded. - 2nd „ 31 - 3rd „ 14 - - 3. To the Grey Friars for the 1st period, bequests included among the - various Orders. - 2nd „ 20 - 3rd „ none - - 4. To the Black Friars 1st period, included among various Orders. - 2nd „ 10 - 3rd „ 1 - - 5. To the Holy Trinity Priory for the 1st period 17 - 2nd „ 46 (?) - - 6. To Eastminster for the 1st period, not yet founded. - 2nd „ 7 - 3rd „ 2 - - 7. To St. Helen’s for the 1st period 18 - 2nd „ 12 - 3rd „ none - - 8. Crutched Friars for the 1st period 13 - 2nd „ 10 - 3rd „ 1 - - 9. Carmelite or White Friars, 1st period 15 - 2nd „ 11 - 3rd „ 1 - - 10. Austin Friars for 1st period 13 - 2nd „ 13 - 3rd „ for masses 2 - - 11. St. Bartholomew’s for 1st period 14 - 2nd „ 13 - 3rd „ 2 - - 12. Haliwell for 1st period 12 - 2nd „ 20 - 3rd „ 2 - - 13. Minoresses for 1st period 9 - 2nd „ 18 - 3rd „ 3 - -These figures show most unmistakably that the monastic life was no -longer regarded as it had been by the people of London. By the friars -especially, _i.e._ by those who could read the signs of the time, it -must have been understood that the end was very near. Not the alleged -immorality of the Religious, but the decay of their numbers, the -wasting of their property, the withdrawal of support by the laity, -might have warned those under vows that a change was nigh at hand. I do -not suppose that many of them heard this warning. Who could believe, -standing in the great church, glittering with lights, with gold and -silver, rich with colour, splendid with carved work, that the axe was -already laid to the root? - -The people of London were not, it is true, consulted. Henry was not -the kind of man to consult the illiterate on points of Theology or -Spiritual Government. They were, however, filled with a vague unrest -of new ideas; we know not what survivals of the old Lollardry lingered -and were whispered about, or spoken openly; we know not how widely the -ballads and satirical verses against monks and friars were repeated -and sung and made the subject of merriment in the taverns. We do know, -however, that the King ordered and that the people of London obeyed. -I think it incredible that even the most masterful of English kings -should have dared to force changes so radical upon an unwilling city. -London was never remarkable for meekness, and in matters religious was -never uncertain. The King must have known that the people of London, -at least, would be with him. London, therefore, obeyed; the people -looked on while the Pope of Rome vanished; they made no protest when -they saw Monks, Nuns, and Friars turned out of doors and their Houses -closed; they looked on without a murmur even when the Carthusians -were dragged to a horrible doom. Was this callousness? Was it fear? -Was it acquiescence in the Revolution, with the hope of larger things -to follow? For my own part, looking at the attitude of the citizens -during the successive reigns of Henry, Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, I -think there can be no doubt as to the general opinion at the time, and -that it was from the outset in favour of the Dissolution of the Houses -and the Dispersion of the Religious; in favour of denying the authority -of the Pope; eager for the free readings of the Holy Scriptures in the -vulgar tongue and for the right of that private interpretation which -seems so easy to the illiterate. As regards ritual, the changes, as -will be explained later, were gradual; the introduction of distinctive -Protestant doctrine was not brought about in a day; the genesis of the -Puritanic spirit does not belong to the Revolution under Henry. - -[Illustration: MARTYRS AT SMITHFIELD - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -Let us endeavour to realise something of the extraordinary change which -the Suppression of the Houses brought about in London. Fortunately the -work was carried on by successive Acts, covering a period of fifteen -years or so; it was not until 1548, for instance, that the whole of the -chantries, colleges, etc., were suppressed. - -The point of departure is, naturally, the expulsion and the dispersion -of the Religious of all Orders. At this point most historians stop. Yet -this was only the beginning. - -Consider, then, the number of those turned out of the London Houses. -We may arrive at an approximation of the number by the following -considerations. There were 202 Houses, not counting Friaries, dissolved -in 1538–1540. - -They contained, in all, 3221 Monks and Canons. This gives an average of -16 Brethren to each House. Now there were in London some twenty Houses -great and small—say from St. Peter’s, Westminster, to Jesus Commons. In -the same proportion there would thus be 300 Monks and Canons. In the -same proportion, also, there would be about a fourth of that number of -Nuns. Now, these monks and nuns were not sent out into a cold world -empty-handed. Not at all. They received pensions. The nuns of St. -Helen’s, for instance, received pensions of £2:14:4 each. The chantry -priests of the same place, whose stipends had been £6:13:4 and £7 -respectively, obtained pensions of £5 each. We must, in fact, put aside -altogether the generally received notion of the Dissolution as an Act -which drove thousands of holy men and women out of their homes—abodes -of piety and virtue—to starve. There was no starvation at all: the -pensions though small were intended to be sufficient; we have therefore -the fact that some 400 Religious of London were made to lay down the -habit of their Profession and to go forth into the world on pensions -large enough to maintain them. What became of them? Many of the older -monks and nuns doubtless felt acutely the change of habit; the loss of -the former life—its quiet, its self-centred interests, its community; -some of the younger men, we cannot doubt, willingly turned themselves -to secular pursuits; some lived quietly, keeping up privately, two or -three together, some manner of religious life; some were concealed -in the country and a few, perhaps, in town, and led the life of the -Rule in a clandestine manner; some, again, the restraint of their vows -being withdrawn, ran into excesses and fell into the mire; some haunted -taverns, to the disgrace of their former calling. But of suffering or -privation I cannot discover that there was much, if any, either for -monks or nuns. It is pretended that the pensions were irregularly paid. -The evidence seems to me insufficient; in regard to the nuns of St. -Helen’s, we have positive evidence pointing in the opposite direction. - -The greatest sufferers were, as we have seen, the friars. For them -there was no pity; for them there were no pensions; no one believed in -them any longer; their day was done. There appeared, a short time ago, -a book written by one who had been for twelve years a friar: he came -out of the House; he laid down his frock and renounced his vows; and -he wrote a book in which he described the life of his late brethren. -It is not an exaggerated or an ill-natured book; it is simply a plain -statement of the manner of life led by the friars of these days. -Looking through its pages one begins unconsciously to consider the -friars of the early sixteenth century—the friars in their last days—by -the light of this revelation. Now the modern friar is a man of some -education and some culture. Take away his education and his culture in -order to get at the friar of the Tudor time. Place him in a time much -rougher and coarser in manners; give him nothing to do: no work either -of mental or physical kind; and to the general futility and unreality -of life in a modern friary add the temptations, almost irresistible to -the uneducated mind of the ordinary friar, of the world around him. In -this way one may succeed, perhaps, in understanding the reasons for the -unpopularity of the friars. - -[Illustration: The North Prospect of Westminster Abbey - -From an engraving by G. Collins. A. Rischgitz’ Collection.] - -It is generally stated that riches flowed in upon the friars as a -consequence of the respect in which they were held. That is not the -case: they were never rich. They owned a few houses built within the -limits of their own precinct, the rent of which went to maintain the -fabric of the church, and the service. For themselves the friars -possessed no great buildings, except the Church, the Library, and the -Hall: and they lived on charity at the end of their time as at the -beginning. Wyclyf makes much of their churches. “Freres bylden mony -grete churches and costily houses, and cloystris as hit were castels -and that withoute nede. Grete houses make not men holy, and onely by -holiness is God wel served.” - -The friars were not rich, but they were proud: they arrogated power and -sanctity for their very robe. Those who died in the Franciscan habit -could never, they said, be carried away by the devil. Walsingham, who -had, perhaps, the jealousy of a monk, thus wrote of them:— - - “The friars, unmindful of their profession, have even forgotten - to what end their Orders were instituted; for the holy men their - lawgivers desired them to be poor and free of all kind of temporal - possessions, that they should not have anything which they might - fear to lose on account of saying the truth. But now they are - envious of possessors, approve the crimes of the great, induce - the commonalty into error, and praise the sins of both; and with - the intent of acquiring possessions, they who had renounced - possessions, with the intent of gathering money, they who had sworn - to persevere in poverty, call good evil and evil good, leading - astray princes by adulation, the people by lies, and drawing both - with themselves out of the straight path.” - -They disappeared. What became of them? It is impossible to say. Some -of the Sisters went to Flanders; some of those who were in priests’ -orders obtained benefices; some took up honest work; for many, work was -impossible. If a man gets to thirty or so without doing any work, it -becomes impossible that he should ever do any work. - -The Brethren, however, were not the only people who lived upon -the revenues of the House. Every Monastic Foundation had its own -establishment and was complete in itself. Of course, the superfluity -of officers and the general waste of work were, from a modern point of -view, deplorable. Every House had its mill, its brewery, its bakery, -its still-rooms, its gardens, orchards, fish-ponds, vineyards; its -servants of all kinds, including bailiffs, serjeants, scriveners, -illuminators, carvers, gilders, singing men, singing schools, huntsmen, -farmers, carpenters, plumbers, gardeners, agriculturists, sextons, -gate-porters, rent-collectors, lawyers, stewards, and one knows not -what besides. When the House was closed all these people were turned -adrift, certainly, without pensions. Thousands of families, for these -people were not under vows and were married, were suddenly deprived of -their means of livelihood. What could they do? The ordinary craftsmen -would make shift: their Companies helped them; but the better sort, -the scriveners, limners, illuminators, painters, carvers, gilders; the -bailiffs, lawyers, stewards,—what could they do? For fifteen years -London was flooded with the people of the monasteries turned adrift to -find a means of living; they were not people who swelled the ranks of -the vagabond and the masterless; they were respectable and honest folk. -Their struggles and their sufferings, if we could get at them, must -have been very real and, in many cases, very terrible. - -There were, next, the people who lived by the making and selling -of things no longer wanted under the new order. There were the -makers of ecclesiastical vestments and robes; altar cloths; wax -tapers; instruments required in the celebration of Mass; crosses and -crucifixes; beads, reliquaries, images, and all the “properties” -required for the old Faith. Also all those who sold tapers, beads, -crosses, images, relics, books of hours, mass books, censers and -every kind of church vessel. One has only to look at the shops in the -vicinity of a French cathedral to understand the extent of the business -when not a single cathedral, but a hundred and fifty parish churches, -and monastic chapels, had to be provided for, and when all the people, -with one consent, acquiesced in the doctrines, and practised the ritual -of the Church. - -[Illustration: STEPHEN GARDINER, BISHOP OF WINCHESTER (1483(?)-1555) - -From an engraving of the portrait in Trinity Hall, Cambridge.] - -All these people, thus deprived of their livelihood, were skilled -craftsmen. When their occupation was gone, when embroidered -altar-cloths, copes and vestments stiff with cloth of gold, carven -images, sacred pictures, beads and crosses and crucifixes, were no -longer wanted, what could they do? If, at the present day, any single -branch of industry is suddenly destroyed, what happens? It is too late -for the people concerned to learn another trade. What happened to these -unfortunates it is impossible to guess. One thing we know, namely, in -general terms, that London was in a miserable condition for a quarter -of a century after the Dissolution of the Houses; and we may fairly -conclude that not bad trade alone, but also the great number of poor -and forlorn creatures who had been hurled by the Reformation from -comfort to penury, was one cause of the depression. - -Or, if we consider the immediate external effects of the Suppression; -think of the unwonted silence, when all the bells of all the Monastic -Houses were taken down: instead of the melodious pealing from forty -chapels, there was left only the sorry tinkle of the parish bell. - -From the streets disappeared all the friars: those of St. Francis, -of St. Dominic, of St. Augustine, the Carmelites, and those with the -Iron Cross. The old familiar figures had been diminishing in numbers, -but they were still visible when the end came: still they went about, -opening their money-boxes in the shops, and finding nothing. Afterwards -one met, flitting along the streets, stray and forlorn figures clad -like craftsmen, but knowing no craft; sturdy beggars who would not -work; men and women turned out into the stony-hearted streets, filled -with rage and bitterness; looking always for the restoration of the -old Order and their own return to the quiet house of ease and comfort. -Gone, too, were the servants of the Houses; they had been known by the -badge upon their shoulders; gone was the vast army of chantry priests, -subdeacons, and ecclesiastics, with all the minor Orders. When Queen -Mary restored the ancient Faith the priests appeared again, leaping -out from unknown dens and secret places, ready to resume suddenly the -restored service before the newly adorned altar. And as London always -attracted the masterless and the vagabond and the criminal, so from -all parts of England flocked to the City those whom the Reformation -had sent out homeless and penniless. The clergy, for their part, lost -the greater part of their fees. The baptisms, marriages, and funerals, -it is true, continued, but the fees for masses to be said for the -dead—the most important part of the fees—the endowments of chantries, -post obits, and memorial days, were all swept away. There were many -chantry priests in every parish church. Why, only a few years before -the Reformation, on the death of Lady Jane Seymour, Sir Richard Gresham -ordered 1200 masses to be sung in the City churches for the repose of -her soul. And when prayers for the dead were forbidden, and what had -been an aristocratic Heaven, open especially to the rich because they -could buy their entrance by masses, became a democratic Heaven, open -to the poor and lowly as much as to the high and mighty, the loss to -the clergy from this source was very great. There was also another -loss in the abolition of pilgrimage, and another in the abolition of -confession, penance, and extreme unction. - -As for the people, they had their losses to deplore as well as their -gains to rejoice over. They were deprived, for instance, of the most -splendid and gorgeous spectacle open to them, the services of the -Church with the rolling music of the organ, the singing of the choir, -the chanting of the priests; with the illumination of the altar; the -fragrance of the incense; the pictures on the wall; the brilliant side -chapels; the many votive candles; the sculptured saints; and all that -appealed to the eye and to the ear. That service had been performed -by moving figures, they seemed not men, in wondrous robes set off -by the bright lights. It was a service at which the hearts of men -and women with imagination were daily, keenly, sincerely moved and -led heavenward. All this they had to give up. In its place they were -offered a cold and quiet service with a sermon an hour long, appealing -to their reason and bidding them base their faith on logic and argument -instead of the authority and the Voice of the Church, inviting them to -trust in right doctrine rather than in the Fold of Christ. The service -had been the chief instructor in art, music, and æsthetics. When it was -gone what had they left? There were no more pictures for the people; -there was no more grand and solemn music for them; only the tinkling -of the mandoline in the tavern, or the “noise” of the whifflers who -marched before a prisoner; there was nothing else for them. Mary’s -martyrs made them hate the name of Catholic; they pelted her chaplains -in the street; they hung up a dog, head shorn, to mock the tonsure; -they hung up a cat with a wafer in its paws to mock the Elevation -of the Host. Yet though they were no longer Catholics it cannot be -maintained that they had got very far in Protestantism. - -Some of the ancient forms remained: it still continued the duty of -every Christian, as it has always been the duty of every follower -of the Roman Church, to attend service on Sunday morning, and to -communicate on the great festivals of Easter, Christmas, Trinity, -and Whit Sunday. The fast days remained: no flesh could be sold; the -butchers’ shops were closed; none could be eaten on Fridays or in Lent; -there were some who followed the ancient austerities so far as to -fast on Wednesday as well. All classes, high and low, rich and poor, -were constantly engaged in reading the New Testament for proofs of -new doctrine, and the Old Testament for examples and for warnings. In -every ale-house the men wrangled on points of doctrine over their pots; -the women in the doorways discussed obscure points in the teaching of -St. Paul; there were none so ignorant as not to be able to formulate -a whole body of doctrines; in every barber’s shop there was a Bible; -already men had begun to set up strange and absurd teachings, in their -ignorant and fond attempts to discern the Truth in a weak translation; -already some had begun to go about in sad-coloured garments, without -ornament, colour, or decoration, even with texts ostentatiously bound -round their hats or their sleeves, like the phylacteries of the -Pharisees. - -In London the better sort of people towards the end of the century -became infected with Puritanism. Puritans were known by their outward -and visible signs: they wore texts on their arms; they hated starch -and had limp cuffs; they wore no hatbands; they would not curl their -hair, but carried it lank; those who were shopkeepers always had -a Bible open on the counter; they hated the theatre and all other -amusements; in church they would have no organ; they used strange -words, calling, for instance, godfather and godmother “witnesses”; they -spoke of Christ-tide instead of Christmas; whole trades in London went -“solid” for Puritanism, _e.g._ the feathermen of Blackfriars; they -were intolerant and fanatic; they desired above all things to abolish -Episcopacy. They showed their opinions by their manner of singing, -which was without the accompaniment of organs, and by slowly drawling -their words. The Puritans would not greatly care for irreverence in St. -Paul’s: they gave no reverence to a consecrated place; yet they went to -church in order to worship and to hear godly sermons. Therefore they -could not look on unmoved when they saw St. Paul’s crowded with people -who went there in order to transact business, to buy and sell, to talk, -to quarrel, to fight, to make assignations or to keep them, to display -fine dress, to be hired in service. - -To a certain class, the larger class, otherwise the thing would have -been impossible; these changes were welcomed with the greatest joy -because they declared and emphasised the revolution of religious -thought. For the majority the pendulum had swung round from the faith -and trust in the Fold of the Church, to the sense of individual -responsibility. The pendulum is always swinging backwards and forwards. -In our own time we have witnessed a partial return to the belief in a -Fold. The cold service with its long sermon of doctrine; the private -study of the Scriptures; the exercise of individual judgment, free -though unlettered, upon points of doubt and apparent contradiction;—all -formed part of the same movement and appealed to the majority. - -At the same time there was another section to whom these things were -hateful and horrible and blasphemous. This was the class which was -ready to forget the old grievances, the intolerable burden of Church -property; the multitudes who lived in sloth, as it appeared; the wide -difference between practice and profession; and thought only, as so -many at the present day think, of the haven of safety promised to the -faithful; the beauty, splendour, and stateliness of the service; the -ecstasy of the believer; the yielding of spirit before the Ineffable -Presence; the visible power and authority of the Roman Catholic Church. -These people looked and prayed daily for a return of the old Faith; -they were recusants under Elizabeth; they concealed the priests who -came over to concoct their conspiracies; they were Romanists first and -Englishmen next, until the horrors of the persecution in Flanders, of -the massacres in France, and the designs of the Spaniards upon England, -made them Englishmen first and Catholics next. - -[Illustration: - -_A. Rischgitz._ - -QUEEN ELIZABETH AT PRAYER - -Frontispiece to _Christian Prayers_, 1569. From a copy in the Lambeth -Palace Library, which probably belonged to the Queen herself.] - -An irreparable loss to the world was the wholesale destruction of the -libraries. Printing, an invention of no longer standing than fifty -years, had as yet produced comparatively few books. When, for instance, -the learned Anthony Brockby had written his book _Ad Fratres_ against -the King’s Supremacy, he did not get it printed, but had a duplicate -copy made, which he presented to the Franciscans, his brothers. By -far the greater part of theology, philosophy, science, and literature -remained in MS., and these MSS. formed the Monastic Libraries. When the -Houses were suppressed, those who obtained them as a gift from the King -for the most part cared nothing about the books: they were dispersed -without any consideration for their use or value; if they were well -bound, the covers were pulled off and the books thrown away, or turned -into waste paper. Thus John Bale writes (_Antiq. English Franciscans_):— - - “Covetousness was at that time so busy about private interest, that - public wealth was not anywhere regarded. A number of them which - purchased those superstitious Mansions reserved of those Library - Books some to serve their Jakes, some to scowr their candlesticks, - and some to rub their Boots, and some they sold the Grocers and - Soap sellers, and some they sent over sea to the Bookbinders: - not in small number, but, at times, whole ships full. Yea, the - Universities of this Realm are not all clear in this Fact; but - cursed is the belly which seeks to be fed with so ungodly gains, - and so deeply shameth his natural country. I know a Merchant man - (which shall at this time be nameless) that bought the Contents of - two noble Libraries for forty shillings price; a shame it is to be - spoken. This stuff hath he occupied, instead of grey paper, by the - space of more than these ten years, and yet he hath store enough - for as many years to come. A prodigious example is this, and to be - abhorred of all men which love their nation as they should do. Yea, - what may bring our realm to more shame and rebuke than to have it - noised abroad that we are despisers of learning? I judge this to be - true, and utter it with heaviness, that neither the Britons under - the Romans and Saxons, nor yet the English people under the Danes - and Normans had ever such damage of their learned Monuments as we - have seen in our time. Our posterity may well curse this wicked - fact of our age, this unreasonable spoil of England’s most noble - Antiquities.”... “How many admirable manuscripts of the Fathers, - Schoolmen, and Commentators were destroyed by this means? What - number of historians of all ages and Countries? The Holy Scriptures - themselves, as much as these Gospellers pretended to regard them, - underwent the fate of the rest. If a Book had a cross on it it - was condemned for Popery, and those with lines and circles were - interpreted the Black Art and destroyed for Conjuring. And thus, as - Fuller goes on, Divinity was profaned, Mathematicks suffered for - Corespondence with Evil Spirits, Physick was maimed, and a Riot - committed on the Law itself.” - -One change, one result, of the Suppression, everybody can understand. -This was the closing of the Hospitals. London was full of Hospitals, -but they were Religious Houses. St. Bartholomew’s, attached to the -Priory; St. Thomas’, Southwark; St. Mary Spital; Elsing Spital for the -blind; St. Mary of Bethlehem for the insane; the House on Tower Hill -also for the insane; the House of St. Augustine Papey for old priests; -the Infirmary in every Monastic House;—all these provided for the sick -poor. I have no doubt, though on the subject I have no information, -that the Companies, which certainly took care of their sick and their -infirm, must have done so through the existing Hospitals. When the -Houses were closed, what became of the sick? It is commonly believed -that they were turned into the street, no one caring for them. This -was certainly not the case. The Companies cared for their own; the -City cared for its freemen and their families; would the City, which -maintained a debtors’ prison for its freemen, so that they should not -be confined with the general herd, suffer its sick and poor to starve? -There was a residuum of those who were not free, namely, the vagabonds -and masterless men and women. For them there was a time of great -misery; when they were ill there was no one to visit them; no hospital -where they might be taken; no hands to minister and alleviate; no voice -to console and to fortify. And we know nothing, and cannot estimate the -suffering because there were no journalists to publish the things they -saw; and the sick and poor lay unheeded and starved, and died unknown -and uncared for in the dirt and misery of the Tudor slum. - -There is no doubt, also, that the open house kept by such a monastery -as the Holy Trinity, where the poor received every day the broken meat -and a great deal more, was greatly missed and deplored by the whole -company of the masterless. What with daily open house at the greater -monasteries, the broken meats of the smaller, the doles and charities -of the parish, the “mind days” with their loaves and gifts to the -poor, bequeathed by rich citizens, a family which objected to work -might rub along in solid and well-fed comfort all the year round. And -this resource, looked upon as certain and unfailing like a perennial -spring, was suddenly stopped. Then all these people had to work, or -to beg, or to rob. The streets became pestered with sturdy beggars: -the by-places of Elizabethan Literature present most vivid pictures of -the companies of beggars, impostors, rogues and vagabonds. They were -the people whom the monks and nuns had fed without asking questions; -the folk who would not work; the people turned out of the monasteries; -ex-friars; ex-chantry priests; former makers of images, crucifixes, -beads, candlesticks and the rest: these were the people who felt most -bitterly the abolition of indiscriminate charity and the cruel choice -offered them under the new order of work; mendicancy with the whip, or -crime with the gallows. - -Out of all these evils and sufferings was born, like a sweet flower on -a heap of rubbish, the Spirit of modern Charity. - -The Church had taken over to herself the whole of Mediæval charity. Did -a citizen desire to help the poor, he gave money for the purpose to the -Church. If a poor man wanted help, it was not to a merchant that he -went, but to a monastery. - -For charity, that is, for pity, for almsgiving, the world has always -felt the most profound respect. The most popular of mediæval saints was -the hard and austere Bishop of whom the world remembered that he had -once divided his cloak with a beggar. There were six churches dedicated -to St. Martin in the City of London alone. - -And when the friars first came over, and men, wondering, saw that they -did not lock themselves up in their cloister to pray for the world -like the other Religious, but that they went about among the people -ministering, comforting, preaching, consoling; that they found no den -too revolting, no disease too loathsome, no criminal too base, for -their ministrations; then, indeed, there was an outburst of gratitude, -of joy, of respect, of awe for men so saintly. They were considered the -veritable children of God. - -But it was not to be thought that the poor sinners outside the -monastery should imitate their example. Nay, St. Francis, their -founder, had himself separated his Order from the world, they were -called out from the rest of humanity, they were kept separate by -vows of celibacy, poverty, obedience. Modern charity as yet did not -exist, as we now understand it, only the respect for charity as an -ecclesiastical institution. - -I believe that the early followers of St. Francis perceived the weak -point of this separation from the world. We can hear one wiser than -the rest saying, “There is danger that the early zeal may decline. All -things human have in them the germs of decay; if there comes a time -when our brethren shrink from the task they have undertaken, if their -vows become a sham, their prayers a form, their work a pretence and -a profession, then it would have been better for the world had St. -Francis never existed, because we shall have taken from the layman the -duty of personal service and killed it by our own neglect.” - -To meet this danger, not to take renunciation and self-sacrifice wholly -out of the world, they created another Order, that called the _Fratres -de Saccâ_. This Order contained men and women of the world, married -men and married women; they were allowed to go about their daily work; -those who were single were not forbidden to marry; they took vows, but -not those of celibacy nor of poverty. - -When the Houses were suppressed, all the institutions which they had -supported were suppressed as well. Yet it did not immediately occur -to the people that the burden of the poor, which they had long since -willingly laid upon the Church, was now laid upon themselves. When -the City took over the House of the Grey Friars; the House of St. -Bartholomew; the House of St. Mary Bethlehem; the Palace of Bridewell; -the House of St. Thomas,—it seemed to take the place of the Church -and to attempt, by way of taxation, all that the Monastic Houses had -tried, or professed, to do from their own resources. We hear of sundry -collections for the poor; we do not hear of work among the poor, or of -responsibility for the poor, for a hundred years and more after the -Reformation. - -I am not, happily, called upon in this place to attack, or to defend, -the Dissolution. I have only to consider its effect upon London. And -as regards the London Houses, I repeat, I can find no scandals. The -judgment of the people, though that was not asked or regarded, seems to -have arrived at a very clear understanding as to the actual spiritual -value, apart from any pretension or profession, of the life of -seclusion and celibacy. It was a very low estimate. On the other hand, -the City does not seem to have been openly hostile to the Religious. -They were an institution; these holy men were their own kin; the -Monastic Houses were a part of the daily life. - -There were violent things published against monks and friars at this -time, but they were written by vehement partisans and were forced -upon the people. For example, the work of Barnabe Googe with his -_Popish Kingdom_. Had there been any active hatred against them it -would have shown itself by the acts and deeds of the ’prentices, who -always reflected, roughly but surely, the direction of the current of -contemporary opinion. Such slight indications of feeling on the subject -as are afforded by the literature in the next generation point to -reverence as regards the nuns; while as regards monks and friars they -are clean forgotten—a sure sign that they were not very actively hated. -At the same time it does seem most remarkable that the treatment of -the Carthusians, who must have been regarded as innocent victims and -martyrs, unless they were represented as political traitors, should not -have excited any popular indignation. One can only suppose that the -spectacle of a prisoner drawn on a hurdle, hanged, and quartered, was -so familiar, that people hardly troubled to ask who the sufferer was, -or for what crime he suffered. - -Let us now pass on to speak of certain Martyrs and Confessors. It is by -this time needless to point out that the constancy shown by a Ridley -and a Latimer for the Protestant form of doctrine was fully equalled -by that of those who passed through the way of fire for the ancient -faith. There was, however, this difference, that the Catholic martyrs -were monks, priests, and men of mark like Fisher and More, while the -Protestants included a vast number of men and women from the lower -ranks—from the uneducated, who yet dared to hold a belief of their own -based, as they thought, on private judgment,—really on the training of -the sermons that they had heard. - -[Illustration: Twenty two PROTESTANTS _taken into Custody on account -of their Religion and brought in one Band with Cords round their Arms, -from Colchester to London, by order of Bloody Queen Mary_.] - -The case of Dr. Forest, Confessor to Queen Katherine, must not be -forgotten when one speaks of the martyrs of this time. Forest, an -old man, was committed to gaol, where he lay for two years among the -common malefactors, because he refused to acknowledge the supremacy of -the King. After two years of Newgate, two years in a close, stifling, -and noisome prison, the venerable priest was informed that he was to -be hanged over a fire and so slowly done to death. No more terrible -form of death was known in England, where the horrors of the French -and German capital punishments were never practised. It was the same -punishment as had been meted out to Oldcastle, and it was inflicted -on Forest for the same reason: to show the hatred and abhorrence of -the judges for the doctrines he taught. When the unfortunate Katherine -heard of the sentence she wrote to him. The letter, too long for -reproduction in these pages, together with Forest’s reply, may be found -in _The Antiquities of the English Franciscans_: they are probably -genuine and are very pitiful. The Queen, however, was spared the misery -of hearing of her Confessor’s torturing death: he was respited and -continued to lie in prison. Two years after the Queen’s death, and when -he had been confined in Newgate for four years, Forest was brought out -for execution. - -[Illustration: HUGH LATIMER (1485(?)-1555) - -From the painting in the National Portrait Gallery, London.] - -On the 22nd of May 1518 they placed the old man on a sledge and dragged -him from Newgate to Smithfield, where he was hung in chains from a -gallows over a fire. This was the most terrible of all deaths. In -ordinary cases, the sufferer, bound to a thick stake with iron chains, -was enclosed up to the middle, and perhaps higher, with dry faggots: it -would seem that the fierce flames enveloping the victim caused death by -suffocation in a very few moments. Latimer, for instance, died in this -manner almost immediately; if, however, the flames were blown away, the -lower parts of the body might be slowly burned before death ensued: -this was the case with Ridley. When, however, the sufferer was simply -dangled over a fire, the flames blown this way and that, the agony -might last for hours. - -In the case of Forest, the bystanders took pity on the old man and -threw the gallows into the fire, so that an end was soon made. “In -what state,” asked Latimer before the fire was lit, “will you die?” -Whereupon the old man replied in a loud voice: “If an angel should -come down from heaven to teach men any other doctrine than what I have -received and believed from my youth, I would not believe him; and if -my body should be cut joint after joint, member after member, hanged, -burned, or whatever pain might be done to me, yet would I never turn -from my old profession.” A brave old man! - -[Illustration: BISHOP RIDLEY (1500(?)-1555) - -From the painting in the National Portrait Gallery, London] - -After the Carthusians the principal sufferers seem to have been the -Observant Friars, of whom a large number suffered for refusing to -acknowledge the King’s supremacy. We may read in the _Antiquities of -the English Franciscans_ a great many stories of these sufferings. One -hopes that there is exaggeration. For some, according to this book, -were carried about the country in chains; some were racked and then -strangled; some were starved to death; miracles attended the death of -some: the whole prison, in one case, became filled with a heavenly and -miraculous light; and an earthquake, in another case, testified to the -Divine displeasure at another martyrdom. - -On the 22nd day of June 1534, three days after the execution of the -three Carthusians, Exmew, Middlemore, and Newdigate, was beheaded that -illustrious Catholic martyr, John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, for -maintaining the Pope’s supremacy; and a fortnight later, that still -more illustrious martyr, Thomas More. The witty and pleasant manner of -his conversation was kept up to the last. Grafton thus speaks of his -last moments:— - - “Besides his learning he had a great wit, and in talking verie - pleasant and merie conceited, and that even to the last hower; - insomuch that at hys comming to the Tower, one of the officers - demanded his upper garment for his fee (meaning hys Gowne) and - he aunswered, he should haue it, and toke him his cap, saying it - was the uppermost garment that he had. Likewise even going to his - death at the Tower gate a pore woman called to him and besought - him to declare that he had certayn evidence of hers in the time - that he was in office (which after he was apprehended she could - not come by) and that he would intreat she might have them agayne, - or else she was undone. He aunswered good woman have pacience a - little while, for the King is so good unto me that even within - this half houre he will discharge me of all businesses, and help - thee himselfe. Also when he went up the stayres on the Scaffolde, - he desired one of the Shriefes officers to give him his hand to - help him up, and sayde, when I come downe agayne, let me shift for - myself as well as I can. Also the hangman kneeled downe to him - asking him forgivenesse of his death (as the manner is) to whome he - sayde I forgive thee, but I promise thee that thou shalt never have - honestie of the stryking of my head, my neck is so short. Also even - when he should lay downe his head on the block, he having a great - gray beard, striked out his beard and sayde to the hangman, I pray - you let me lay my beard over the block least ye should cut it.” - (_Chronicle of England_, Grafton, vol. ii. p. 454.) - -The martyrdom of the Carthusians was the most significant, the most -revengeful, the most audacious act of the new Head of the Church, the -Act by which he defied, once for all, the whole power of the Pope, of -Spain, and even of France. The world trembled, people looked for some -supernatural manifestation, some unmistakable sign of the Divine wrath: -none came, and they understood that here was an act of open war, and -that the Divine will as to the issue had not been pronounced. - -Let us pass to the Marian Persecution. I have called attention to the -fact that the greater number of the martyrs belonged to the middle -class and to the rank or status of craftsmen. Thus, Christopher Wade -was a linen weaver; Thomas Wats a linen draper; John Warren was an -upholsterer; John Ardeley was a husbandman; Robert Bromley was a -grocer; Thomas Ormond was a fuller; Williams a weaver; Margery Polley -widow of a craftsman; Dirick Carver a brewer; John Laneden a rustic; -John Tudson an artificer; Joan Warne a maidservant. There were wives -and widows among them, “simple women,” artificers and ’prentices, -maid-servants and girls. - -[Illustration: THOMAS CRANMER (1489–1556) - -From the portrait in Jesus College, Cambridge. A. Rischgitz’ -Collection.] - -It was the sight of their own people suffering a cruel death which made -the name of Rome hateful and horrible for three hundred years and more. -It was the sight of the constancy of the martyrs which laid the firm -foundations of the Protestant Faith. For none of them flinched before -the flames, none of them feared the pains which the Lord God in His -mercy and wisdom had ordered them to endure for the sake of the Cause. -What was to be expected when a shoemaker such as John Noyes could die -triumphant and rejoicing? - - “On the next-day morning he was brought to the stake, where were - ready against his coming the foresaid justice, master Thurston, one - master Waller, then being under-sheriff, and master Thomas Lovel, - being high-constable, as is before expressed; the which commanded - men to make ready all things meet for that sinful purpose. Now the - fire in most places of the street was put out, saving a smoke which - was espied by the said Thomas Lovel proceeding from the top of a - chimney, to which house the sheriff and Grannow his man went, and - brake open the door, and thereby got fire, and brought the same to - the place of execution. When John Noyes came to the place where - he should be burnt, he kneeled down and said the 50th Psalm, with - other prayers; and then they, making haste, bound him to the stake. - And being bound, the said John Noyes said, ‘Fear not them that can - kill the body, but fear him that can kill both body and soul, and - cast it into everlasting fire.’ - - When he saw his sister weeping, and making moan for him, he bade - her that she should not weep for him, but weep for her sins. - - Then one Nicholas Cadman, a valiant champion in the Pope’s affairs, - brought a faggot and set against him; and the said John Noyes took - up the faggot and kissed it, and said, ‘Blessed be the time that - ever I was born to come to this.’ - - Then he delivered his Psalter to the under-sheriff, desiring him to - be good to his wife and children, and to deliver to her that same - book; and the sheriff promised him that he would, notwithstanding - he never as yet performed his promise. Then the said John Noyes - said to the people, ‘They say, they can make God of a piece of - bread; believe them not!’ - - Then said he, ‘Good people, bear witness that I do believe to be - saved by the merits and passion of Jesus Christ, and not by mine - own deeds.’ And so the fire was kindled, and burnt about him. Then - he said, ‘Lord have mercy upon me! Christ have mercy upon me! Son - of David have mercy upon me!’ - - And so he yielded up his life. And when his body was burned, they - made a pit to bury the coals and ashes, and amongst the same they - found one of his feet that was unburnt, whole up to the ankle, with - the hose on; and that they buried with the rest.” - -Or, to take the case of Cicely Ormes. She was a very simple woman, -the wife of a worsted weaver who lived in Norwich. She was present at -the martyrdom of Simon Miller and Elizabeth Cooper, and there, being -affected with their constancy, she declared that she would pledge them -with the same cup from which they drank:— - - “She was burnt the 23d day of September, between seven and eight of - the clock in the morning, the said two sheriffs being there, and of - people to the number of two hundred. When she came to the stake, - she kneeled down, and made her prayers to God; that being done, she - rose up and said:— - - ‘Good people! I believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the - Holy Ghost, three persons and one God. This do I not, nor will I - recant; but I recant utterly from the bottom of my heart the doings - of the Pope of Rome, and all his popish priests and shavelings. I - utterly refuse and never will have to do with them again, by God’s - grace. And, good people! I would you should not report of me that - I believe to be saved in that I offer myself here unto the death - for the Lord’s cause, but I believe to be saved by the death and - passion of Christ; and this my death is and shall be a witness of - my faith unto you all here present. Good people! as many of you as - believe as I believe, pray for me.’ - - Then she came to the stake, and laid her hand on it, and said, - ‘Welcome the cross of Christ.’ Which being done, she, looking on - her hand, and seeing it blacked with the stake, wiped it upon her - smock; for she was burnt at the same stake that Simon Miller and - Elizabeth Cooper was burnt at. Then, after she had touched it with - her hand, she came and kissed it, and said, ‘Welcome the sweet - cross of Christ’; and so gave herself to be bound thereto. After - the tormentors had kindled the fire to her, she said, ‘My soul doth - magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour.’ And - in so saying, she set her hands together right against her breast, - casting her eyes and head upward; and so stood, heaving up her - hands by little and little, till the very sinews of her arms did - brast in sonder, and then they fell. But she yielded her life unto - the Lord as quietly as if she had been in a slumber, or as one - feeling no pain; so wonderfully did the Lord work with her: His - name therefore be praised for evermore.” - -Remember that the example was not only an admonition to those who saw -her death: it was related by the spectators; it was spread through the -length and breadth of the land; it was written down by Foxe, in whose -hands it certainly lost nothing of eloquence or of dramatic effect, -and it has been read ever since by countless people. Not the martyrdom -of Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer and the rest of the bishops, priests -and scholars, so much as those of the “very simple” women, the plain -craftsmen, built up the Protestant Faith, scattered the Spanish Fleets, -and changed the Englishman of the sixteenth century, so that he of the -seventeenth became possible. - -[Illustration: The burning of M. Iohn Rogers, vicar of Saint Pulchers, -and Reader of Paules in London.] - -The bare list of burnings in London alone, not nearly complete, as -enumerated by Henry Machyn in his _Diary_ (1550–1563), conveys a sense -of the overwhelming horror which filled England during this reign, -perhaps clearer than a laboured treatise on the Lives and Deaths of -the Martyrs. In reading the list we can see the crowds flocking to -Smithfield: all their sympathies are with the sufferer; they see him -dragged on his hurdle, undressed to the shirt and tied to the stake; -they see that he flinches not nor offers to retract; the faggots are -piled about him, Heaven grant they be of dry wood; from the flames and -through the smoke they hear the voice of the martyr praising God and -praying till the end comes, when his tongue swells up in his mouth and -he can speak no more, or is suffocated with the smoke, or with the -intensity of his agony his heart stops and merciful Death seizes him. -Then the crowd go home again; they dare not speak to each other; but -they remember. - - “1555. The iiij day of Feybruary the bysshope of London went into - Nugatt and odur docturs to dysgratt (degrade) Hoper, and Rogers - sumtyme vycker of sant Polkers. The sam day was Rogers cared - be-twyn x and xj of the cloke into Smythfeld and bornyd, for - aronyus opinions, with a grett compene of the gard. - - 1555. The xvj day of Marche was a veyver (weaver) bornyd in - Smyth-feld dwellynge in Sordyche, for herese, by viij of the cloke - in the mornyng, ys nam was Tomkins. - - 1555. The xiiij day of Aprell, the wyche was Ester day at sant - Margatt parryche at Westmynster after masse was done, one of - the menysters, a prest of the abbay, dyd helpe hym that was the - menyster to the pepull who wher reseyvyng of the blessyd sacrement - of the Lord Jhesus Cryst, ther cam in-to the chyrche a man that - was a monke of Elly, the wyche was marryed to a wyff: the sam day - ther that sam man saud to the menyster, What doyst thow gyff them? - and as sone as he had spokyn he druw his wod-knyffe, and hyt the - prest on the hed and struck hym on the hand, and cloyffe ys hand a - grett way and after on the harme a grett wond; and ther was syche - a cry and showtt as has not byne; and after he was taken and cared - to presun, and after examyned wher-for he dyd ytt. The xxiij day - of Aprell was the sam man cared to Westmynster that dyd hurt the - prest, and had ys hand stryken of at the post, and after he was - bornyd aganst sant Margett chyrche with-owt the cherche-yerde. - - 1555. The sam day of May was arraigned iiij men at Powlles a-for - none and after-non, of Essex, and thay wher cast for heresse and - all iiij cast to be bornyd and so cared unto Nugat. - - 1555. The xxv day of May were arraigned at St. Paul’s for heresy, - before the bishop, master Cardmaker sometime vicar of St. Bride’s - in Fleet-street, and one John Warren a cloth-worker in Walbrook and - a-nodur of ... and cast to be brent and carried back to Nugatt. - - 1555. The xxx day of May was burnt in Smythfeld master Cardmaker - sum-tyme veker of sant Bryd, and master Varren clothworker, - dwellyng aganst sant John in Walbroke, an hupholster, and ys wyff - behyng in [Newgate]. - - 1555. The x day of Juin was delevered owt of Nugatt vij men to be - cared into Essex and Suffoke to borne. - - 1555. The furst day of July whent into Smythfield to borne master - Bradford, a grett precher by Kyng Edward’s days, and a talow - chandler’s prentice dwellyng by Nugatt, by viij of the cloke in the - mornyng, with a grett compene of pepull. - - 1555. The viij day of July were three more delivered out of Nugate - and sent into the country to be burned for heretics. - - 1555. The xij day of July was bornyd y Canturbery iiij men for - herese, ij prestes and ij laye men. - - 1555. The ij day of August was a shumaker bornyd ay sant Edmundbere - in Suffoke for herese. - - 1555. The viij day of August, between iiij and v in the morning, - was a presoner delevered into the shreyff of Medyllsex to be cared - unto Uxbryge to be bornyd; yt was the markett day—owt of Nugatt - delevered. - - 1555. The xxiij day of August was bornyd ay Stratford of bowe, in - the conte of Mydyllsex, a woman, wife of John Waren, clothworker, a - huphulster over against sant Johns in Walbroke; the whyche ... John - her hosband was bornyd with on Cardmaker in Smythfield for herese - boyth; and the sam woman had a sune taken at her bornyng and cared - to Nugatt to his syster, for they will born boyth. - - 1555. The xxxj day of August whent out of Nugatt a man of Essex - unto Barnett for herese, by the shreyff of Medyllsex, to borne ther. - - 1555. The same day were burnt at Oxford for heresy doctor Latimer, - late Bishop of Worcester, and doctor Ridley, late bysshope of - London; they were some tyme grett prychers as ever was; and at ther - bornyng dyd pryche doctur Smyth, sumtyme the master of Vetyngtun - colege. - - 1555. The xviij day of Dessember be-twyn 8 & 9 of the cloke in the - mornyng was cared into Smythfeld to be bornyd on master Philpot, - archdeacon of Winchester, gentyllman, for herese. - -[Illustration: The description of Doctour Cranmer, howe he was plucked -downe from the stage, by Friers and Papists, for the true Confession of -hys Faith.] - -[Illustration: The burning of the Archbishop of Canturbury, Doctor -Thomas _Cranmer, in the Towne-ditch at Oxford, with his hand first -thrust into the_ fire, wherewith he subscribed before.] - - 1556. The xxij day of January whent into Smythfeld to berne betwyn - vij and viij in the mornyng v men and ij women; on of the men was a - gentyllman of the ender tempull, ys nam master Gren; and they wer - all bornyd by ix at iij postes; and ther wher a commonment thrughe - London over nyght that no yong folke shuld come ther, for ther the - grettest number was as has byne sene at shyche a tyme. - - 1556. The xxj day of Marche was bornyd at Oxford doctur Cranmer, - late archebysshope of Canturbere. - - 1556. The xv day of May was cared in a care from Nugatt thrug - London unto Strettford-a-bow to borne ij men; the on blyne, the - thodur lame; and ij tall men, the one was a penter, the thodur - a clothworker; the penter ys nam was Huw Loveroke, dwellyng in - Seythin lane; the blynd man dwellyng in sant Thomas apostylles. - - 1556. The xxvij day of June rod from Nugatt unto Stretford-a-bowe - in iiij cares xiij, xj men and ij women, and ther bornyd to iiij - postes, and ther wher a xx M. pepull. - - 1557. The iij day of April five persons out of Essex were condemned - for herese, iij men and ij women (one woman with a staff in her - hand), to be bornyd in Smythfeld. - - 1557. The vj day of Aprell was bornyd in Smythfeld v, iij men and - im women, for herese; on was a barber dwellyng in Lym-strett; and - on woman was the wyff of the Crane at the Crussyd-frers be-syd the - Towre-hylle, kepyng of a in ther. - - 1557. The xiiij day of May was bornyd in Chepe-syd and odur places - in London serten melle that was not sweet; and thay sayd that hey - had putt in lyme and sand to deseyffe the pepull and he was had to - the conter. - - 1557. The sam mornyng was bornyd be-yond sant George’s parryche iij - men for heresee, a dyssyd Nuwhyngtun. - - 1557. The xviij day of June was ij cared to be bornyd beyonde sant - Gorgeus, almost at Nuwhyngtyn for herese and odur matters. - - 1557. The xxij day of December were burned in Smyth-feld ij, one - ser John Ruffe the frere and a Skott, and a woman for herese.” - (_Diary of Henry Machyn._) - - - - - CHAPTER II - - THE PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION - - -The question as to the proportion of Protestants to Catholics at the -accession of Elizabeth, and at her death, has received various answers, -depending upon the religion of the respondent. Lingard, the fairest -of all the Catholic writers, estimates the number of Catholics at -one-half the whole population. This was thirty years before Elizabeth’s -accession. Dr. Allen thought they were two-thirds (Strype, iii. 415). -A great many of the better class were Catholics. Venner (1649) says -that fifty years before, all physicians were Catholics. This may have -been caused by study in Italian schools of medicine. A good many people -in London attended mass at some Ambassador’s chapel. The Spaniards -when the Armada was projected relied upon the opinion that the half -of England would join them. The North of England was filled with -Catholics, yet they did not join the Rebellion of 1569. One-fourth of -the population of Cheshire were Catholics; on the other hand, there is -testimony to the effect that the number of Catholics had enormously -decreased in the first thirty years of Elizabeth’s reign. In 1569 there -were in London twelve to fifteen places where mass was regularly said. -In 1594 a Jesuit speaks of the “little sparkle of Catholic religion -yet reserved amongst us” as soon to be extinguished. The common-sense -view of the case seems to be this. The people of London who, as we have -seen, were filled with Lollardry from the beginning of the fifteenth -century; who welcomed the Dissolution of the Religious Houses; who -rejoiced at such a shadow of free thought as Henry afforded them; who -shuddered with horror at the flames of Smithfield;—were overjoyed at -the return of the Protestant Faith. But it would be wrong to suppose -that all the scholars, all who had lived among the better-class priests -and friars, went over to the new Faith; they did not: a large number of -gentlewomen remained steadfast; the Government showed its good sense -by taking no notice, or as little as possible, of recusants. Burleigh -advised against punishing these people by death; best not make martyrs; -there was no true method of lessening their numbers “but by preaching -and by education of the younger under good schoolmasters.” - -In a word, if it is intended to make any form of faith decay, there is -no need of persecution: it has only to be surrounded by disabilities. -If a Roman Catholic could hold no municipal office, and no State -office, could not enter a grammar school or the university, could not -take a degree, could not become a lawyer, could not sit in either -House, could not serve in the army or the navy, then the Roman Catholic -religion would fall rapidly into decay. This is exactly what happened; -at the present moment, though all disabilities have been removed, the -proportion of Catholics in England and Scotland is certainly not more -than one in twenty. The “old” Catholics were those wealthy families -which could continue in spite of all disabilities, a few noble houses -and a few county people. Similar results attended the disabilities of -the Nonconformists. Dissent survived its disabilities among people who -cared nothing for office, people at the lower end of society, people -for the most part of small trade. Among the better class, Dissent lost -ground and mostly disappeared till the abolition of disabilities. - -It is commonly believed that in the parish churches there was but one -step from the mass to the Reformed service. This was not so (see an -article by Mr. T. T. Micklethwaite on “Parish Churches in the year -1548,” _Arch. Journ._ xxxv.). The Dissolution of the Religious Houses -made at first very little difference in the churches. The guilds were -suppressed, and therefore the lights which they kept up; the endowed -lights were also suppressed; but people went on endowing new lights -for the parish churches. In the year 1547 certain rules or injunctions -were issued which commanded that all images which had been made the -object of pilgrimage should be destroyed; that no lights should be set -up before any picture except two wax tapers on the altar, and these -because Christ is the Light of the World. Images which had not been -abused were to remain “for remembrance only.” The English Bible and -the Paraphrases of Erasmus on the Gospel were to be set up in every -church where the people could have access to them. Shrines, pictures of -miracles, and glass depicting miracles, were to be destroyed; a pulpit -was to be provided, and an alms chest to be placed by the altar. - -As regards the services, changes were gradual. The High Mass continued, -but the Gospel and Epistle were read in English, and a chapter from the -New Testament was read after lessons at Matins and after Magnificat -at Evensong. The English Litany was sung after High Mass. The Pater -Noster, Creed, and Ten Commandments were sometimes publicly rehearsed -in English, and Communion was refused to those who did not know them. - -In the year 1548 the “Order of Communion” was put forth; in 1549 the -Prayer Book appeared. Mr. Micklethwaite has drawn up an account of -the parish church of 1548 before the Reformed Prayer Book, and with -the alterations made in the service up to that date. The principal -entrance was by the south door; in the porch was a basin of holy water; -the font stood sometimes in the middle of the nave, sometimes against -the west side of one of the pillars; it had a cover which could be -locked down. Near it was a locker in which were kept the oils, salt, -etc., required for the old rite of baptism. - - “At the beginning of the sixteenth century all but very poor parish - churches seem to have been furnished with pews, but the whole area - was not filled with them, as at a later date. Old pews west of the - doors are very rare, but they are found sometimes, as at Brington, - Northants. Generally all this space was left clear, and there - was a clear area of at least one bay, and often much more at the - west end. A church with aisles had nearly always four blocks of - pews, and the passages were broad alleys, that in the middle being - often more than a third of the width of the nave, and the side - passages were not much less. The appropriation of special places - to individuals seems to have been usual, and even that bugbear of - modern ecclesiastical reformers, the lock-up pew or closet, was not - unknown. These in parish churches were generally chantry chapels, - arranged for private services at their own altars and for use as - pews during the public services.” - -The pulpit had no fixed position: it was made movable; one of that -period still remains at Westminster. It was ordered in 1547 that the -priests and choir should kneel in the midst of the church and sing -or say the Litany; the Litany desk came into use afterwards. The -confessional had been continued in certain London churches: at St. -Margaret Patens there was the “shrivyng pew”; at St. Christopher le -Stock the “Shriving House.” The usual custom was for the penitent to -kneel or stand before the priest, who sat in a chair. The Bible and the -Paraphrases of Erasmus were chained to a desk somewhere in the nave. - -The Rood screen, which was a music gallery, carried a loft and the -organ when there was one. The loft contained desks for singers; it was -also provided with pricks for candles. The great cross rose above the -loft. In the chancel stood the high altar; when there were no aisles -two smaller altars stood one on either side. Above the altar was a -reredos of carved work; at the ends of which hung curtains. There -was generally a super altar. On the high altar stood the cross, with -figures, reliquaries, and images to adorn it. Also they laid on the -altar the Textus or Book of the Gospels, with the paxbrede or tablet -for the kiss of peace. There were generally two lights on the altar. - - “It is convenient to mention here the other lights, which were kept - in 1548, by the retention of the ceremonies with which they were - connected. These were the two tapers carried by boys in processions - at High Mass, and at other services when solemnly performed; the - herse light, used at Matins or Tenebres on the last three days of - Holy Week; the paschal candle, which stood in a tall candlestick, - or hung in a bason on the north side of the high altar, and was - lighted with much ceremony on Easter Eve, and burned at all the - principal services throughout Paschal tide; the torches carried in - the procession on Corpus Christi Day; the lantern carried before - the Sacrament when it was taken to the sick; the large standing - tapers which were placed round a corpse during the funeral service; - and the candle used at baptism. Most of the lights, which a little - earlier had been common round tombs, were endowed, and as such had - been taken away, but the custom of survivors placing lights round - the graves of their departed friends would probably be continued - still for a few years.” - -Chapels were the most usual places for tombs, but they are found in -every part of the church. The various forms of them are too familiar -to require description, but the use of colour gave them much more -decorative importance in an interior than they have now. Many were -painted, and others were covered with rich cloths. Flat gravestones -had often carpets laid over them, and raised tombs had palls of -cloth of gold or other costly stuff. The church of Dunstable still -possesses such a pall: it is of crimson velvet, richly embroidered. -Tapestries and cloths of various kinds were very much used, especially -in chancels, as curtains and carpets, and as coverings for seats and -desks and the like. Every church also had special hangings for Lent, -when images and pictures were covered up generally with white or -blue cloths, marked with crosses and the emblems of the Passion. The -Lenten veil between the choir and the high altar seems also to have -been retained in 1547, but in 1548 Cranmer and his party had partly -succeeded in doing away with it. All parts of the church were more or -less adorned with imagery and pictures on walls, in windows, or on -furniture. None had been ordered to be taken away except such as had -been superstitiously abused, or which were representations of “feigned -miracles.” - - “When the priest took the Sacrament to the sick he was accompanied - by clerks, who carried a cross, bell, and light. The Sacrament - itself was enclosed in a pyx, and with it was taken a cup in which - the priest dipped his fingers after giving the communion. The - chrismatory was generally a little box of metal containing three - little bottles for the three oils, which seem generally to have - been kept together. For use at funerals, every church had a cross, - a bier, and a handbell, the last being a good-sized bell which was - rung before the corpse as it was being carried to the church. It - was also used for ‘crying’ obits about the parish, and asking for - prayers for the deceased. Some churches had what was called the - common coffin, which was used to carry bodies to the church, the - most general custom being to bury without coffin. And they had - palls and torches for funerals, for the use of which a charge was - made according to the quality of the pall and the ‘waste’ of the - torches. At weddings it was the custom to hold a large square cloth - of silk or other material, called the care cloth, over the heads - of the bride and bridegroom whilst they received the benediction, - and it was kept for that use amongst the church goods. At St. - Margaret’s, Westminster, we find also a crown or circlet for - brides, which appears to have been a thing of some value.” - -It will be seen from these quotations that the parish church contained -in essentials the whole of the Catholic ritual except the parts which -were ordered to be read in English. At the same time by reading, by -hearing sermons, by the newly awakened spirit of examination and -discussion, the people were preparing for more drastic changes. When -they came there was no violent revolution, and though many remained -faithful to the old creed, the bulk of the people in London were -Protestant at heart. The weak point of the Reformation was that as yet -no one was sure that it was stable and assured. Nor was there any such -assurance till the defeat of the Spanish Armada and fifty years of the -Maiden Queen had turned Protestantism into patriotism. - -It is apparent (see _Archæologia_, vol. xlv.) that the ancient -vestments were worn in some of the churches after the Reformation, -until they fell to pieces. At the church of St. Christopher le Stock -they were worn until the third year of Elizabeth, when being worn out, -and no funds existing to replace them, the simple surplice was used. -Twelve tables hung on the wall of the church: one containing the Ten -Commandments; eleven containing prayers to the saints. The Reformers, -therefore, did not introduce a new thing when they hung up the Table of -the Commandments. - -[Illustration: - -_S. B. Bolas & Co., London._ - -TOMB OF QUEEN ELIZABETH IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY] - -It used to be a custom in many City churches to ring the bell at 5 -A.M.; not the “apprentice bell,” but a continuation and a survival of -the ancient practice to call the people to the early service. Thus, at -St. Margaret’s, Lothbury, in 1573, it was “resolved that after every -workday we shall have morning prayer at five o’clock; also to have -a lecture every Wednesday and Friday, beginning at five o’clock and -ending at six o’clock, the bell to toll half an hour after five every -afternoon.” The books show a good deal of whipping of men and women. -They were chiefly wanderers, tramps, and their great offence was in -carrying the plague about the country. - -The services of the church could be made Lutheran in their character -or Puritanic. The great difference was in the manner of singing. The -Puritans sang in a plain tune all together; the Protestants “tossed” -the Psalms from one side to the other with music of the organ. -Congregational singing was one of the most important changes introduced -by the Reformation. In September 1559 the new morning prayer “after -Geneva fashion” was introduced at St. Antholin’s, the bell ringing at 5 -A.M. - -There were still some processions kept up. On St. Andrew’s Day a -procession was conducted at St. Paul’s with one priest out of every -parish in the City, and on the 25th of September the boys of St. -Anthony’s school marched together from Mile End down Cornhill with -streamers and flags, whifflers and drums. - -In the church of St. Christopher le Stock we find that certain old -customs were preserved: the church was decorated at Christmas with -holly and ivy; at Easter with “rosemary, bay, and strawings.” - -The parish system seems to have been well worked; the streets were kept -clean; evildoers were not allowed to harbour within the limits; taxes -were collected; the sick were watched and tended. - -The efforts of the more sober leaders were directed to change, it -is true, but to gradual not revolutionary change. The restraint -of the zealous, however, was in some churches very difficult; -certain quarters of the City were far more Protestant than others: -Blackfriars, for instance, became an early centre of Puritanism; at St. -Martin’s-in-the-Fields, on the other hand, we find the church-wardens -quietly obeying every new ordinance, but keeping the old things in -boxes ready for a possible return to the old order. The Dissolution -of the Houses brought with it certain unexpected accompaniments. The -servants of the Commissioners took away the sacred vestments and -used them either for their own common wear or for saddlecloths, thus -inflicting wanton insults on the faithful and bringing into contempt, -with the desecration of the vestments, the very doctrines of which -they were symbolical. Again, there were the relics and the images -which the people had so long adored; it is true that the Church would -not acknowledge the adoration of an image, but that was the practice -of the common people, as it is at this day in every Roman Catholic -Church. Thus sacred objects came to be treated with the utmost scorn: -reliquaries were emptied and the relics thrown away; images of the -Virgin were deprived of their lovely vestments, and sent about the -country, shapeless lumps of wood, or brought to London to be publicly -burned. In some cases an ancient and venerable fraud was discovered -and pitilessly exposed. Who could resist contempt for the priests and -monks who had for many generations of simple believers made the head on -the Holy Rood of Boxley incline benignantly and roll its eyes upon the -kneeling multitude? With all these aids to disbelief who can wonder -if the wave of Protestant indignation mounted steadily higher; if the -fiery spirit of Reform seized upon town and country, upon the sober -merchant and the hot-headed ’prentice? We hear of the young men reading -the Bible aloud in the churches, shouting the words they read; of girls -who carried the English Primer with them to church and studied it -during the singing of Matins; of men who insulted the Consecration of -the Host; who attacked the priest who carried it through the streets. -It is certain that London itself, almost from the beginning, was for -the Reformation. (_See_ Appendix V.) - -[Illustration: - - POPISH PLOTS - AND - TREASONS - - _From the beginning of the Reign of Queen_ Elizabeth. - _Illustrated with Emblems and explain’d in Verse._ - - _Figure 1._ - - The _Pope_ aloft on Armed Shoulders Rides, - And in vain Hopes the English spoils divides; - His _Leaden Bull_ ’gainst good _Eliza_, roares, - And Scatters dire Rebellion round our Shoars. - The Priest _Blesses_ the Villians, Chears them on, - And promises Heav’ns Crown, when her Crown’s won. - But God doth blast their Troops, their Counsels mock - And brings bold Traitors to th’ deserved _Block_. - - _Figure 2._ - - _Don John_, who under Spain did with proud Hand - The then unsever’d _Neitherlands_ Command, - Contrives for Englands Conquest, and does Hope - To Gain it by Donation from the Pope. - Yet to Amuse our Queen does still pretend - _Perpetual peace_, and needs will seem a friend; - But Heav’n looks through those Juggles and in’s prime, - Grief Cuts off Him and’s Hopes All at a time. - - _Figure 3._ - - Spains _King_, and _Romes_ Triple-Crown’d Pelate Joyn, - And with them both bold _Stukely_ does Combine - _Ireland_ to conquer, And the Pope has sent, - For that Blest work, an _Holy Regiment_; - But in their way at _Barbary_ they call, - Where at one Blow the _Moors_ destroy them All, - See here, what such Ambitious Traitors Gain, - The shame of Christians is by _Pagans_ Slain. - - _Figure 4._ - - The Priests, with _Crosses_ Ensigne-like displaid, - Prompt bloody _Desmond_ to those spoiles he made - On Irish Protestants, and from afar - Blow Triumphs to Rebellions Holy War; - But against Providence all Arts are vain, - The Crafty, in their Craft are over-tane; - Behold where _kill’d_ the Stubborn _Traitor_ lies, - Whilst to the _Woods_ his _Ghostly Father_ flies. - - _Figure 5._ - - What trusty Janizaries are Monks to _Rome_. - From their dark Cells the blackest Treasons come. - By the Popes License horrid Crimes they Act, - And Guild with piety each Treacherous Fact. - A seminary Priest, like Comets Blaze, - Doth always Blood-shed and Rebellion Raise, - But still the fatal Gibbet’s ready fixt - For such, where Treason’s with Religion mixt. - - _Figure 6._ - - Mad _Sommervil_, by Cruel Priests inspir’d - To do whatever mischiefe they requir’d, - Swears that he instantly will be the death - Of good and Gracious Queen _Elizabeth_. - Assaults her Guards, but Heav’ns protecting pow’r - Defeats his rage makes him a Prisoner: - Where to avoid a just, though shameful Death, - Self-strangling hands do Stop his loathsome breath. - - _Figure 7._ - - Whilst _Spains_ Embassador here Leiger lies, - Designs are laid the English to surprize; - Two Catalogues his Secretary had Got - The better two effect the Hellish Plot. - One all our Havens Names, where Foes might Land, - To’ther what Papists were to lend an hand. - For this base Trick he’s forc’d to pack to _Spain_ - Whilst Tyrburn greets confederates that remain. - - _First are describ’d the Cursed plots they laid. - And on the side their wretched ends displayd._ - - _Figure 8._ - - View here a Miracle——A Priest Conveys, - In Spanish Bottom o’re the path-less Seas, - Close treacherous Notes, whilst a Dutch Ship comes by - And streight Engag’d her well-known Enemy; - The Conscious Priest his Guilty Papers tears, - And over-board the scatter’d fragments bears; - But the just winds do force them back o’th’ Decks, - And peice-meal all the lurking plot detects. - - FOR CONTINUATION SEE BACK OF THE OTHER HALF OF THE ILLUSTRATION.] - -[Illustration: - - _The Popes bull_ - - IN NOMINE - DOMINI - _incipit Omne - Malum_. -] - -[Illustration: _W. A. Mansell & Co._ - -“POPISH PLOTS AND TREASONS.” - -For descriptions in rhyme see back.] - -[Illustration: CONTINUED FROM BACK OF FIRST HALF OF ILLUSTRATION. - - _Figure 9._ - - The Jesuites vile Doctrines do Convince - _Parry_ ’Tis Merit for to kill his Prince. - The fatal Dagger he prepares with Art, - And means to sheath it in her Royal Heart. - Oft he attemps, and is as oft put by, - By the Majestick Terrors of her Eye; - At last his Cursed Intentions he Confest - And So his welcom’d a fit Tyburn Guest; - - _Figure 10._ - - Here _Babington_ and all his desperate Band, - Ready prepar’d for Royal Murder stand, - His Motto seems to glory in the Deed, - _These my Companions are whom dangers lead_. - Cowardly Traitors, so many Combine - To Cut off one poor Ladies vital Twine; - In vain,—Heaven’s her Guard, and as for you; - Behold, the Hangman gives you all your due. - - _Figure 11._ - - Nor was’t with _Spain_ alone, Great _Betty_’s Strife; - Now _France_ attempts upon her pretious Life; - The Guises cause th’ Ambassador to Bribe - _Moody_, and others of the Roman Tribe, - To Cut her off. To which they soon Consent - But watchful Heav’n does that Guilt prevent. - _Stafford_ doth to the Councel All disclose, - And Home with shame perfidious _Mounsieur_ goes. - - _Figure 12._ - - _Spain’s_ proud _Armado_, whom the Pope did Bless, - Attacques our Isle, Confident of success. - But Heav’ns just Blast doth Scatter all their force, - They fly and quite round _Scotland_ take their Course: - So many taken, burnt, and Sunk i’th’ Main, - Scarce one in Ten did e’re get home Again; - Thus _England_ like _Noahs_ Ark, amidst the Waves - Indulgent providence from Danger saves. - - _Figure 13._ - - And now a private horrid Treason veiw - Hatcht by the Pope, the Devil, and a Jew - _Lopez_ a Doctor must by Poison do - What all their Plots have fail’d in hitherto - _What will you give me then_; the _Judas_ Cries - Full _fifty thousand Crowns_, t’other replies, - Tis done—but hold, the wretch shall miss his hope, - The Treasons known, and his Reward’s the Rope; - - _Figure 14._ - - The Great _Tyrone_ that did so oft embrew - _Ireland_ with Blood, and Popish Plots Renew. - Here vanquisht Swears upon his bended Knee - To the Queens Deputy fidelity - Yet breaks that vow, and loaded with the Guilt - Of perjuries and Blood which he had spilt. - Being forc’d at last to fly his Native Land, - Carries in’s Breast a sting, a Scourge in’s _hand_. - - _Figure 15._ - - No Sooner _James_ had blest the English Throne, - But Traiterous Priests Conspire to pull him down. - _Watson_ the poisonous Maximes does Instill, - And draws some Nobles to Join in the Ill: - But Princes then appear the most divine, - When they with unexpected Mercy Shine. - Just as the Fatal Ax attempts the Stroke, - Pardon steps in and does the Blow Revoke - - _Figure 16._ - - In this Curs’d Powder-plot we plainly see - The Quintessence of Romish Cruelty - King Lords and Commons at one Hellish Blast - Had been destroy’d, and half our Land laid wast, - See _Faux_ with his dark Lanthorn ready stands - To Light the fatal Train with desperate hands, - But Heavens All-seeing eye defeats their desire, - And saves us as a Brand snatcht from the fire; - - • • • • • - - And now let us, with chearful Hymns of praise, - And Hearts inflamed with love _an Altar_ raise - Of Gratitude to God, who doth advance - His out-streatcht Arm in our Deliverance, - Tis only He, that doth protect his Sheep, - Tis he alone doth this poor Island keep - from Romish _Wolves_, which would us soon devour, - If not Defended by his mighty power - Tis he that doth our _Church_ with freedome Crown, - And beats the Popish _Superstitions_ down - Under her _feet_, and may they never rise, - Nor in vile _Darkness_ Reinvolve our Eyes; - Since Heaven whose mercies ever are most tender - Hath both restor’d our _faith_ and Faiths _Defender_ - - • • • • • - - Let us to both a strict Adherence pay, - And for their _preservation_ ever pray. - Since thus _Truths_ happy _Bark_ hath reach’d our shore, - O may it _never, never_ Leaves us more. - - Sold by _John Garret_ at his Shop, at the _Exchange-Staires_ - in _Cornhill_ where you may have choice - of all Sorts of Large and Small Maps: Drawing - Books, Coppy books, and Pictures for Gentlewomens - works; and also very good originals - of French and Dutch Prints. -] - -A pressing difficulty, in the opening years of Elizabeth, was the -illiterate and immoral condition of the clergy. So many refused the -oath of supremacy that it became necessary to create lay readers. -Indeed, the condition of England, including London, was calculated to -fill the minds of the most ardent Protestants with dismay. During the -first fifteen years of the reign, the House of Commons complained to -the Queen that men were ordained who were infamous in their lives and -conversation; the Bishop of London complained that even the Bishops -were “sunk and lamentably disvalued by the meanest of the peoples”; the -County of Essex represented that the new clergy were ignorant, riotous -and drunkards; the Lords in Council represented to the Archbishop of -Canterbury the evil lives of the clergy. Out of all the clergy in the -City of London there were but nineteen preachers. Yet in 1559 Elizabeth -ordered that there should be a sermon once a month on doctrine. And in -1586 the Bishop of London ordered the clergy to write one Sermon every -week. It is said that the clergy fell so low in esteem as to be treated -like outcasts, incurably drunken, ignorant, and licentious. - -[Illustration: KNIGHT SEIZING AN ARCHBISHOP - -From an illuminated MS. in British Museum.] - -With the general charges against the Elizabethan Clergy it appears -unnecessary to bring forward specific acts which may very well be taken -to be isolated cases, in no way proving general corruption. There are, -however, a few which seem to show the general condition of things. - -In 1562, a priest was carted through the City for saying mass. - -In 1554 priests, who would not leave their wives, did penance in St. -Paul’s, and were beaten over the head with rods. - -In 1561 the Queen, who never approved the marriage of priests, ordered -those who were married not to bring their wives into Colleges. - -In the same year there were found to be many conjurors in Westminster -including priests, one of whom was put in pillory. - -In 1557 the priest of St. Ethelburga was pilloried for sedition, and -had his ears nailed to the pillory. - -In 1559 there was a great burning of copes, censers, crosses, altar -cloths, rood cloths, books, banners, etc. - -In 1560 a priest was hanged for cutting a purse; it was his second -offence. - -The priest who sold his wife to a butcher, and was carried through the -streets for an open shame, must hardly, one hopes, be quoted as an -example. We picture him as a drunken and dissolute hog, lost to all -sense of decency. The other priest who for an act of immorality was -also carried about the streets may have been more common. When all the -clergy married as a matter of course such scandals ceased. - -As I have reproduced certain charges against the clergy and Religious -of the old Faith, it is but fair to give an example of the bad -character of one, at least, belonging to the clergy of the Reformation. -The following letter is addressed to the Lady Bowes:— - -“Right Worshipfull, - -I understand that one Raphe Cleaton ys curate of the chappell at -Buxton; his wages are, out of his neighbour’s benevolence, about V^{LI} -yearely; Sir Charles Cavendishe had the tythes there this last years, -ether of his owne right or my Lord’s, as th’ inhabitants saye. The -minister aforenamed differeth little from those of the worste sorte, -and hath dipt his finger both in manslaughter and p’jurie, etc. The -placings or displacing of the curate there resteth in Mr. Salker, -commissarie of Bakewell, of which churche Buxton is a chappell of ease. - -I humbly thanke your Worship for your letter to the justices at the -cessions; for Sir Peter Fretchvell, togither with Mr. Bainbrigg, -were verie earnest against the badd vicar of Hope; and lykewyse Sir -Jermane Poole, and all the benche, savinge Justice Bentley, who used -some vaine (talk) on his behalfe, and affirmed that my Lady Bowes had -been disprooved before Mr. Lord of Shrowesburie in reports touching -the vicar of Hope; but such answere was made therto as his mouthe -was stopped; yet the latter daie, when all the justic’s but himselffe -and one other were rysen, he wold have had the said vicar lycensed to -sell ale in his vicaredge, althoe the whole benche had comanded the -contrarye; whereof Sir Jermane Poole being adv’tised, retyrned to the -benchs (contradicting his speeche) whoe, with Mr. Bainbrigge, made -their warrant to bringe before them, him, or anie other person that -shall, for him, or in his vicaridge, brue, or sell ale, etc. He ys not -to bee punished by the Justices for the multytude of his women, untyll -the basterds whereof he is the reputed father bee brought in. I am -the more boulde to wryte so longe of this sorrie matter, in respect -you maye take so much better knowledge of Sir Jo. Bentley, and his -p’tialytie in so vile a cause; and esteeme and judge of him according -to that wisdome and good discretion. Thus, humbly cravinge p’don, I -comitt your good Wors. to the everlasting Lorde, who ever keepe you.” -This is quoted by N. Drake in _Shakespeare and his Times_, vol. i. p. -92. - -And here is Ben Jonson’s portrait of the City Parson—none too -flattering:— - - “He is the prelate of the parish here - And governs all the dames, appoints the cheer, - Writes down the bills of fare, pricks all the guests, - Makes all the matches and the marriage feasts - Within the Ward; draws all the parish wills, - Designs the legacies, and strokes the gills - Of the chief mourners; and, whoever lacks, - Of all the kindred, he hath first his blacks. - Thus holds he weddings up and burials, - As his main tithing; with the gossips’ stalls, - Their pews; he’s top still at the public mess; - Comforts the widow and the fatherless, - In funeral sack; sits ’bove the alderman; - For of the wardmote quest, he better can - The mystery than the Levitic law; - That piece of clerkship doth his vestry awe. - He is as he conceives himself, a fine, - Well furnished, and apparelled divine.” - -Harrison, however, speaks up for the credit of the Reformed Clergy. - -The observance of Lent was maintained by law, but with difficulty, and -the law was continually broken. It was a distinguishing mark of the -Puritan to eat flesh on the forbidden days. Queen Elizabeth ordered -that no flesh should be eaten on “fish days,” namely, the forty days of -Lent, Ember Days, Rogation Days, and Fridays. Licenses, however, were -granted for those who either on account of bodily infirmity, or any -other cause, were forbidden to fast. The license cost, for a nobleman -or his wife, 26s. 8d. per annum; for a knight or his wife, 13s. 4d. per -annum; and for those of lower degree, 6s. 8d. per annum. - -Thus began the evasion of the law. Butchers were licensed to kill for -those privileged to eat flesh. In 1581 the House of Lords call upon the -Mayor to explain why forty butchers are allowed to kill during Lent, -and how it is that the eating of flesh at that season is common in the -City. The Mayor replies that the facts are otherwise, and that the -number of licensed butchers is only five, viz. two for either Shambles -and one for Southwark. - -In 1552 only three butchers are licensed. Evidently the Mayor tries -strong measures. But there are more complaints from the Lords. - -In 1586 the House of Lords again send representations to the Mayor. - -In 1587 the Mayor, evidently wishing to shift responsibility, says -that it is difficult to restrain butchers. Perhaps the House of Lords -will undertake the duty of licensing. The House of Lords declines to -undertake the work of the Mayor. - -In 1590 the Mayor complains of butchers being licensed in privileged -places. What does this mean? - -In 1591 he gives licenses to six butchers. He then finds out what we -have been suspecting all along, that cattle and sheep were killed -outside his jurisdiction, and that flesh was brought into the City by -the gates. He also proves that within the City itself a great deal more -meat is killed than was wanted for Shrovetide. Here we have a proof of -the Puritanic spirit. The unlicensed butchers, on the eve of Lent, kill -a great deal more than is wanted for Shrovetide; the licensed butchers -go on killing. Do they sell to none but persons who have paid for the -privilege? And every day carcases are brought in at the gates wrapped -up in some kind of cloth for disguise. - -In 1615 the Mayor gives up the attempt. He says that all butchers kill -and sell meat in Lent, on Fridays, and that the people buy it freely on -Fridays and on the other forbidden days. - -Still there is maintained the pretence of an enforced fast during Lent -until the Civil War, after which there are no more attempts to make -the people fast, while many of the better class, clergy and others, -continue to abstain from meat on the forbidden days. - -There are grave complaints, both before and after the Reformation, -about the behaviour of the people in church. The complaints point to -two widely different causes. The first cause, that which operated -before the Reformation, was undoubtedly the formalism into which -religion had fallen. To be present at Mass, merely to be present, to -kneel at the right time, was the whole of religion. Sir Thomas More, a -most devout Catholic, complains bitterly of the irreverence of people -at church service. Outward behaviour, he says, “is a plain express -mirror or image of the mind, inasmuch as by the eyes, by the cheeks, -by the eyelids, by the brows, by the hands, by the feet, and finally -by the gesture of the whole body, right well appeareth how madly and -fondly the mind is set and disposed.” He applies this observation to -himself and the congregation. Sometimes “we solemnly get to and fro, -and other whiles fairly and softly set us down again.” “When we have to -kneel we do it upon one knee, or we have one cushion to kneel upon and -another to support the elbows. We never pretend to listen: we pare our -nails; we claw our head.” - -[Illustration: A ROYAL PICNIC - -From Turberville’s _Book of Hunting_, 1575.] - -The second cause was the rise of the new Religion. It was inevitable -that with the destruction of the old forms a period of irreverence -should set in. The churches quickly began to show signs of neglect. -The windows were broken, the doors were unhinged, the walls fell into -decay, the very roofs were in some places stripped of their lead. -“The Book of God,” says Stubbes, “was rent ragged, and all be-torn.” -Some of the churches were used for stabling horses. Armed men met in -the churchyard, and wrangled, or shot pigeons with hand-guns over the -graves. Pedlars sold their wares in the church porches during service. -Morrice-dancers excited inattention and wantonness by their presence -in costume, so as to be ready for the frolics which generally followed -prayers. “Many there are,” said Sandys, preaching before Elizabeth even -after her reforms, “that hear not a sermon in seven years, I might say -in seventeen.” The friends of the new doctrine expected that all the -evils of the time would be instantly remedied. But the work of reform -was extremely gradual. - -A third reason is offered for the irreverence of the people during -service, this time during the Anglican service. Many people walked -about, talked and laughed. This, however, was to show their contempt -for the new order; they were secretly attached to the ancient Faith; -they betrayed their sympathies, not only by this intolerance, but also -by crossing themselves and telling their beads in secret. - -Many of the ancient customs remained. It was long before the people, -in London, could be persuaded to give up their old customs. Sunday -remained the weekly holiday: the people held on Sundays their wakes, -ales, rush-bearings, May games, bear-baitings, dancing, piping, -picnics, and gaming; they continued so to “break the Sabbath”—which -was first made part of the Christian week by the Puritans—until well -into the seventeenth century. After the Commonwealth I think that there -were very few traces of old customs lingering in the country, and only -those, such as the hanging of garlands in the chancel when a maiden -died, which carried with them no doctrinal significance and could prove -no occasion for drunkenness and debauchery. - -Before the coming of the Puritans the funerals continued with much -of the old ritual. The body was laid out in such state as the family -circumstances allowed: tapers were burned round it by night and by day; -the church bells still rang for the prayers of the people, though they -were taught that to pray for the dead was a vain thing; the priests who -visited the house of the dead repeated the Lord’s Prayer; if on the -way to the churchyard the procession passed a cross, they stopped and -knelt, and made prayers; the body was laid in the grave wrapped in a -shroud, without a coffin; it was covered by a pall, which was decorated -with crosses. Those of the ancient Faith would persuade the clergymen, -if they could, to omit the service; if he persisted, they left the -grave and walked away. Nothing was a stronger tie to the old Religion -than its burial service, and its assurance that the dead who died in -the Church were assured of Heaven after due purgatory, and that the -prayers of the living were of avail to shorten the pains of prison. - -Machyn, the City Chronicler of this period, thus describes the -simplicity of a Protestant funeral:— - - “The iij day of Aprell was browth unto saint Thomas of Acurs in - Chepe from lytyll sant Barthellmuw in Lothberes masteres ... and - ther was a gret compene of pepull, ij and ij together, and nodur - prest nor clarke, the nuw prychers in ther gowne lyke leymen, - nodur syngyng nor sayhyng tyll they came to the grave, and a-for - she was pute into the grayff a collect in Englys, and then put - into the grayff, and after took some heythe, and caste yt on the - corse and red a thynge ... for the sam, and contenent cast the - heth into the grave, and contenent red the pystyll of sant Poll to - the Stesselonyans the chapter, and after thay song pater noster in - Englys, boyth prychers and odur and women of a nuw fassyon, and - after on of them whent into the pulpytt and made a sermon.” - -The following note by Machyn presents one of the last appearances of -the old Sanctuary customs:— - - “The vi day of December the abbot of Westminster went a procession - with his convent; before him went all the sanctuary men with crosse - keys upon their garments, and after whent iij for murder: one was - the Lord Dacre’s sone of the Northe was wypyd with a shett abowt - him for Kyllyng of on master West, sqwyre, dwellyng besyd ...; and - anodur theyff that dyd long to one of master comtroller ... dyd - kylle Recherd Eggyllston the comtroller’s tayller, and killed him - in the Lord Acurs, the bak-syd Charyng-crosse; and a boy that kyld - a byge boye that sold papers and pryntyd bokes, with horlyng of a - stone and yt hym under the ere in Westmynster Hall; the boy was one - of the chylderyn that was at the sckoll ther in the abbey; the boy - was a hossear [hosier] sune a-boyff London-stone.” (_Diary of Henry - Machyn_, p. 121.) - -The good old institution of Sanctuary died hard. Even after it was -supposed to have been finished and put away it continued to linger. -Abbot Feckenham made a vigorous appeal for its preservation. “All -princes,” he said, “and all Lawmakers, Solon in Athens, Lycurgus -in Lacedemon, all have had _loca refugii_, places of succour and -safe-guard for such as have transgressed laws and deserved corporal -pains. Since, therefore, ye mean not to destroy all sanctuaries, and if -your purpose be to maintain any, or if any be worthy to be continued, -Westminster, of all others, is most worthy, and that for four causes: -the first is, the antiquity and continuance of sanctuary there; -the second, the dignity of the person by whom it was ordained; the -third, the worthiness of the place itself; the fourth, the profit and -commodity that you have received thereby.” - -It is a common charge against the Dissolution of the Religious Houses -that the old custom of open tables for all comers fell into disuse. -The disuse is not without exceptions. The Houses being suppressed, of -course the hospitality disappeared; but the practice was still kept up -by some of the Bishops: Archbishop Parker, for instance, fed every day -a number of poor people who waited outside the gates of Lambeth for the -broken meats; while any one who chose to come in, whether at dinner or -at supper, was received and entertained either at the Steward’s or the -Almoner’s table. Order was observed; no loud talking was permitted; and -the discourse was directed towards framing men’s manners to Religion. -Whether the practice of indiscriminate doles should have been kept up -is another question, and one that cannot be asked of the sixteenth -century. The state and dignity maintained by this Archbishop were -almost worthy of Cardinal Wolsey: the Queen gave him a patent for forty -retainers, but his household consisted of five times that number, all -living with him and dining at his table in Lambeth Palace. - -The Church House was an ecclesiastical edifice which has now entirely -passed away. I know nothing about the Church House except what is found -in the _Archæological Journal_, vol. xl. p. 8. - -“Not a single undoubted specimen has been spared to us, though it is -not improbable that the half-timbered building attached to the west end -of the church at Langdon, in Essex, and now called the Priest House, is -really one of these. We have evidence from all parts of the country -that they were once very common. There is, indeed, hardly an old -churchwarden’s account-book which goes back beyond the changes of the -sixteenth century that does not contain some reference to a building of -this kind. They continued in being and to be used for church purposes -long after the Reformation. The example at All Saints, Derby, stood in -the churchyard and was in existence in 1747.”... “We must picture to -ourselves then a long, low room with an ample fireplace, or rather a -big open chimney occupying one end with a cast hearth. Here the cooking -was done, and here the water boiled for brewing the church ale. There -was a large oak table in the middle with benches around, and a lean-to -building on one side to act as a cellar. This, I think, is not an -inaccurate sketch of a building which played no unimportant part in our -rural economy and rural pleasures. All the details are wanting, and -we can only fill them in by drawing on the imagination. We know that -almost all our churches were made beautiful by religious painting on -the walls. I should not be surprised if we some day discovered that -the church-house came in for its share of art, and that pictures, not -religious in the narrow sense, but grotesque and humorous, sometimes -covered the walls. It was in the church-house that the ales were held. -They were provided for in various ways, but usually by the farmers, -each of whom was wont to give his quota of malt. There was no malt -tax in those days, and as a consequence there was a malt-kiln in -almost every village. These ales were held at various times. There -was almost always one on the Feast of the Dedication of the Church. -Whitsuntide was also a very favourite time; but they seem to have been -held at any convenient time when money was wanted for the church.... -Philip Stubbes, the author of the _Anatomie of Abuses_, only knew the -Church Ales in their decline. He was, Anthony Wood informs us, a most -rigid Calvinist, a bitter enemy to Popery, so that his picture must -be received with allowances for exaggeration. His account of them is -certainly not a flattering one. He tells us that ‘The Churche Wardens -... of every parishe, with the consent of the whole parishe, provide -halfe a score or twentie quarters of mault, wherof some they buye -of the churche stocke, and some is given them of the parishioners -themselves, everyone conferryng some-what, accordyng to his abilitie; -which mault beeyng made into very strong ale or beere is sette to sale, -either in the churche or some other place assigned to that purpose. -Then, when this ... is sette abroche, well is he that can gette soonest -to it and spend the most at it; for he that sitteth the closest to it -and spendes the moste at it, he is counted the godliest man of all the -rest, and moste in God’s favour, because it is spent uppon His church -forsoth. But who, either for want can not, or otherwise for feare of -God’s wrath will not sticke to it, he is counted none destitute both -of vertue and godlines.... In this kind of practise they continue six -weekes, a quarter of a yere, yea helfe a yeare together, swillyng -and gullyng, night and daie, till they be as dronke as rattes, and as -blockishe as beastes.... That money ... if all be true which they saie -... they repair their churches and chappels with it, they buie bookes -for service, cuppes for the celebration of the sacrements, surplesses -for Sir John, and such other necessaries.’” - -[Illustration: OLD ST. PAUL’S BEFORE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE STEEPLE] - -The burning of St. Paul’s steeple created a great sensation, and was -by some regarded as an act of God’s wrath for the recent changes. -Maitland[3] quotes an original letter describing the disaster:— - - “A.D. 1561, on Wednesday the 4th of June, as appears by a Letter - before me from Mr. Richard Jones to Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, - Ambassador from Queen Elizabeth to the Court of France, - communicated by the honourable Mr. Yorke, it rained all the Day, - and, towards Four of the Clock in the Afternoon, it began to - thunder terribly: ‘When suddenly a Thunder-bolt, with a great - Thunder following, hit within a Yard of the very top of the - Steeple, which forthwith shewed his Effect, and appeared a little - Fire, like unto the Light of a Torch, which, increasing towards - the Weather-cock, caused the same within a quarter of an hour to - fall down; whereby the Wind, which was great, and the more vehement - by reason of the opening of the Steeple and Height thereof, caused - the Flame so to augment, and burn the Steeple, which no Man could - succour, as within an Hour the high Steeple of Paul’s, which was - so long in building, and so renowned, was utterly consumed to the - very Battlements; which being of some Breadth and Strength, as was - needful to uphold such a weight, received most part of the Timber - which fell from the Spire, and began to burn with such Vehemence, - as all the Timber was burnt, the Iron and Bells melted and fallen - down upon the stairs within a short space. This was judged to be - the end of the effect of the lightning; when forthwith the East - and West roofs of the Church, partly kindled with the timber which - fell from the Battlements, and with the heating of the Fire whiles - it remained within the Stone Steeple, were on Fire, and ceased not - to burn so extremely, as could not be provided for by no means, - till that not only those ends, but the north and south ails, before - one of the Clock after Midnight, were consumed, and not a piece of - Timber left, nor Lead unmolten, upon any of the higher and cross - Roofs and Battlements. The side Ails, tho’ they were a little - touched, by reason of their Crowns, remained safe, Thanks be to - God. And this is all that is happened by this Misfortune, and the - Church within is untouched. Your Lordship may guess what Stir and - Removing there was in St. Paul’s Church-yard, especially towards - the North door, where divers Houses were pulled down, and much - lamentation on all sides. On the East End a Pinnacle fell down and - ruined a House, wherein there were seven Persons not hurt, but the - good man of the House a little. Many other turmoils there were, as - in like Cases it happens; which, as it grieves me to hear, so I - am loth to write the same. The French here are not sorry for the - Matter. All good and honest Men are sorry for it, and impute it to - a terrible remembrance of God’s Anger towards us for our Offences. - This is enough and too much of so grievous a matter; and yet I - thought I should perhaps satisfy your Lordship in writing thereof - thus largely. - - R. JONES.’ - - LONDON, _June 5th, 1561_.” - -As might have been expected of a time when all the world was thinking -and talking about religious doctrine, the unlearned as well as the -learned, but with much more confidence and presumption, arguing -entirely on the meaning of texts, passages, and detached clauses, there -were fanatics in plenty. I have made a selection from the cases before -me. - -“William Hacket gave out that he was Jesus Christ, come to judge the -World; which was soon proclaimed throughout the City of London by -Edmond Coppinger and Henry Arthington, two of his Disciples; who, going -from Hacket’s Lodgings, at Broken-Wharf, thro’ Watling-Street and the -Old-Change, amidst an excessive Multitude, to Cheapside, they mounted -an empty cart near the end of Gutter Lane, and proclaimed Mercy from -Heaven to all such as should repent and believe that Christ (William -Hacket) was come with his Fan in his hand to judge the Earth, and to -establish the Gospel in Europe, and that he was then to be seen, with -his glorious Body, at one Walker’s, at Broken-Wharf; and that they -were Prophets, the one of Mercy, and the other of Judgment, sent by -God Himself as Witnesses, and to assist in the present great Work. -The first of whom incessantly proclaimed Mercy and Joys inexpressible -to all such as should receive this acceptable Message; and the last -denounced terrible Judgments against the Obdurate, which should -not only immediately fall upon the Incredulous in this City, but -that likewise all such were condemned to eternal Punishments; and, -in a particular and very treasonable Manner, thundered out bitter -invectives against the Queen and her Ministry; wherefore they were all -apprehended, and Hacket, the pretended Messiah, soon after tried and -convicted at the Old-Baily of Treason; whence he was carried to the -Place of Execution in Cheapside, where, instead of shewing the least -Sorrow for his Crimes, he committed the most horrid and execrable -Blasphemies against God, and detestable imprecations against the Queen -and her Ministers; and his associate, Coppinger, refusing all Manner -of sustenance, died the next Day in Bridewell, as did Arthington, his -Companion, some Time after in Wood Street Compter.” Evidently three -enthusiasts all equally mad and equally obstinate. - -Later on, also, was the case of Anne Burnell (Sharpe, i. 552):— - -“The strain which the continuation of the war and the threatened -renewal of a Spanish invasion imposed upon the inhabitants of London -at large was a great one, and appears to have affected the mind of a -weak and hysterical woman, Anne Burnell. She gave out that she was a -daughter of the King of Spain, and that the arms of England and Spain -were to be seen, like stigmata, upon her back, as was vouched for by -her servant, Alice Digges. After medical examination, which proved her -statement to be ‘false and proceedinge of some lewde and imposterouse -pretence,’ she and her maid were ordered to be whipt,—‘ther backes only -beeinge layd bare,’—at the cart’s tail through the City on a market -day, ‘with a note in writinge uppon the hinder part of their heades -shewinge the cawse of their saide punishmente.’” - -Again, there was the case of William Geffery and John Moore. These two -unfortunate creatures were perfectly mad, and ought to have been locked -up in Bethlehem. Said William Geffery to the other lunatic, “Christ -is not in Heaven, John. He is on earth and like unto us.” “He is,” -John replied, “and thou thyself, William Geffery, art none other than -Christ.” “That,” said William, “is perfectly correct.” They therefore -clapped John Moore in Bethlehem and William Geffery in the Marshalsea. -This should have been enough. But it was not the fashion of the time -ever to have enough of punishing. They therefore tied Geffery to the -cart tail and flogged him all the way from the Marshalsea to Bethlehem, -a matter of two miles. At the gate of Bethlehem the cart was stopped. -Then John Moore was brought out, and Geffery was flogged again until he -confessed his error and acknowledged that Christ was in Heaven and that -he himself was nothing but a sinful man. They then stripped John Moore -and tied him to the cart tail; at first he took the punishment smiling, -but before going an arrow’s shot he begged them to stop, and confessed -that he was wrong. So they both went back: John Moore to Bethlehem and -William Geffery to the Marshalsea, and we hear no more of them. - -The Anabaptists were another perverse people who met with no mercy. On -3rd April 1575 there was found a congregation of Anabaptists in a house -outside Aldgate Bars. Twenty-seven in all were arrested. On the 15th -of May four of them, bearing faggots to show that they deserved death, -recanted at Paul’s Cross; on 22nd July two of them were burned at -Smithfield, “who died in great horror, with roaring and crying.” Their -recantation shows the doctrines they held. - - “Whereas I.I.T.R.H. being seduced by the devil, the spirit of - error, and by false teachers his ministers, have fallen into - certain most detestable and damnable heresies, namelie:— - - 1. That Christ tooke not flesh of the substance of the blessed - Virgin Marie. - - 2. That infants of the faithful ought not be baptized. - - 3. That a Christian man may not be a magistrate, or beare the sword - or office of authoritie. - - 4. That it is not lawful for a Christian to take an oth. Now by - the Grace of God, and through conference with good and learned - ministers of Christ His church, I doo understand and acknowledge - the same to be most damnable and detestable heresies, and doo aske - God here before His church mercie for my said former errors, and - doo forsake them, recant and renounce them, and abjure them from - the botome of my heart, professing that I certainly believe: - - 1. That Christ tooke flesh of the substance of the blessed Virgin - Marie. - - 2. That infants of the faithfull ought to be baptized. - - 3. That a Christian man may be a magistrate, or beare the sword or - office of authoritie. - - 4. That it is lawful for a Christian man to take an oth. And - further that I confess that the whole doctrine and religion - established and published in this realme of England, as also that - which is received and preached in the Dutch Church, from henceforth - utterlie abandoning and forsaking all and every anabaptistical - error. This is my faith now, in the which I doo purpose and trust - to stand firme and stedfast to the end. And that I may soo doo, I - beseech you all to praie with me, and for me, to God the heavenlie - father, in the name of his son our Saviour Jesus Christ.” - -Before this, one man and ten women were tried in the Consistory of St. -Paul’s and sentenced to be burned, but one woman having been converted, -they resolved on banishing the rest, who were Dutch. Accordingly the -nine women were led by the sheriff, and the man was tied to a cart tail -and whipped all the way from Newgate to the river, where they were -shipped. And there was a certain sect called the Family of Love, which -gave some trouble through their obstinacy. In the year 1575 five of -them recanted; in 1580 the sect were thought of sufficient importance -to justify a proclamation against them. The tenets of the people do -not appear, but they were accused of holding it laudable to deny their -connection with their own sect, which made it impossible to convict -them by their own confession. - -The case of Matthew Hamont, plough-wright, may conclude these cases -of strange hallucinations and the conclusions of a disordered brain. -He was a common man of no education, who took to thinking and reading -about doctrines which he could not understand. He finally arrived at -the conclusion that the New Testament, with the Gospels, is but an -invention of man, that Christ was a mere man, and so on, shrinking -from nothing. This poor lunatic they gravely tried, and because he had -spoken words against the Queen, they first cut off both his ears, and -then, after giving him a week of pain from his wounds, they burned him -for a heretic. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - SUPERSTITION - - -After Religion stalks her caricature, Superstition. Now the credulities -of London in the Elizabethan age were many and wonderful. - -Everybody, for instance, at that time believed in _witchcraft_. Yet -there was not wanting an occasional protest. - -“I saie, that there is none which acknowledgeth God to be onlie -omnipotent ... but will denie that the elements are obedient to -witches, and at their commendement; or that they may at their pleasure -send raine, haile, tempests, thunder, lightning.... Such faithlesse -people are also persuaded that neither hale nor snowe, thunder nor -lightening, raine nor tempestuous winds, come from the heavens at the -commandement of God, but are raised by the cunning and power of witches -and conjurers; inasmuch as a clap of thunder or a gale of wind is no -sooner heard, but wither they run to ring bells, or crie out to burne -witches, or else burne consecrated things, hoping by the smoke thereof -to drive the devill out of the aire.” - -Witchcraft and magic were, however, recognised by the Government as -real things. It was thought desirable in 1542 to pass an Act against -these practices. - -“It shall be felony to practise, or cause to be practised conjurations, -with craft, enchantment or sorcery, to get money: or to consume any -person in his body, members, or goods; or to provoke any person to -unlawful love; or for the despight of Christ or lucre of money to pull -down any cross; or to declare where goods stolen,” etc. - -This Act of Henry VIII. was repeated or confirmed by Elizabeth twenty -years later, and by James I. in 1603. Cranmer, in 1549, ordered the -clergy to inquire “whether you know of any that use charms, sorcery, -enchantment, witchcrafts, soothsaying, or any like craft invented by -the devil.” And in 1558 Bishop Jewel, preaching before the Queen, said, -“It may please your Grace to understand that witches and sorcerers -within these last few years are marvellously increased within your -Grace’s realm. Your subjects pine away even to the death; their colour -fadeth; their flesh rotteth; their speech is benumbed; their senses are -bereft.” - -The precautions used against witchcraft do not belong to London, where -the belief in the superstition took a less active form than in the -country. A pebble with a natural hole in it, a horseshoe picked up by -accident and nailed up over the door, a hare’s foot in the pocket, a -bit of witchwood, were simple precautions against the witch. I do not -think that these superstitions were much followed in London, though -there are examples that the terror of the witch prevailed in the City -as well as in the country. - -It is remarkable that the spread of education and the toleration of -fine thoughts in religion did not destroy this horrible superstition. -On the contrary it increased, and the seventeenth century, when the -greatest amount of religious freedom was practised if not allowed, only -made the belief in witchcraft more profound. - -Who could choose but to believe when Ben Jonson himself could write of -witches as follows? - - “Within a gloomy dimble she doth dwell, - Down in a pit o’ergrown with brakes and briars, - Close by the ruins of a shaken abbey, - Torn with an earthquake down into the ground, - ’Mongst graves and grots, near an old charnel-house - Where you shall find her sitting in her form, - As fearful and melancholie as that - She is about: with caterpillars’ kells, - And knotty cobwebs, rounded in with spells. - Thence she steals forth to relief in the fogs, - And rotten mists, upon the fens and bogs, - Down to the drowned lands of Lincolnshire: - To make ewes cast their lambs, swine eat their farrow, - The housewives’ tun not work, nor the milk churn! - Writhe children’s wrists, and suck their breath in sleep: - Get vials of their blood! and where the sea - Casts up his slimy ooze, search for a weed - To open locks with, and to rivet charms, - Planted about her in the wicked feat - Of all her mischiefs, which are manifold.” - -We may illustrate this belief by the case of Joan Cason or Freeman (she -was the wife of one Freeman). She was indicted and solemnly tried by a -jury on the charge of being a witch, and of having killed by witchcraft -one Jane Cooke, aged three years. - -The principal evidence was Sarah Cooke, mother of the child. She kept -an alehouse. She was one day drawing a pot of ale for a stranger when -he remarked the languishing condition of her child, and suggested -that it was bewitched. “Take,” he said, “a tile from the house of the -suspected person, lay it in the fire, and if she really is a witch -the tile will sparkle round the cradle.” Wonderful to relate, Sarah -Cooke took a tile from the woman’s house, laid it in the fire, and -it did “sparkle round the house.” At that moment Joan Cason herself -looked in, gazed upon the child, and went away. Four hours after the -child died. What more was wanted? There was evidence corroborative. -In the lifetime of the man Freeman there was something like a rat seen -about her house, something that squeaked. In the end Joan was hanged, -protesting her innocence, but confessing ill conduct with one Mason, -who had died of the plague. - -There is also the case of Simon Penbrooke, living in St. George’s -Parish, Southwark. He was suspected to be a conjurer, and was summoned -before a court holden in the church of St. Mary Overies either for that -or for some other case. As he was talking to a proctor, presumably -about his defence, he suddenly fell dead, just as the Judge entered the -church. Of course the Judge remarked that it was the just judgment of -God towards those that used sorcery, “and a great example to admonish -others to fear the justice of God.” They found upon him certain -“develish” books of conjuration, with a tin man and other fearful -things. And they were reminded of Leviticus xx. 6, “If anie soule turne -himselfe after such as woorke with spirits and after soothsaiers, saith -the Lorde, I will put my face against that soule, and will cut him off -from among my people.” - -Another form of witchcraft was that of the professional conjurer. There -was, for instance, the case of William Randoll, who was charged with -conjuring to know where treasure was hid in the earth. Four others were -charged with assisting at the conjuration. One has no doubt of the -fact or of the means employed. Randoll used, of course, the well-known -bent stick, the “verge de Jacob,” which is still employed all over the -world for the discovery of water, though its properties and powers in -revealing the existence of metals have been of late neglected, and are -now nearly forgotten. The whole of the accused were condemned to death, -but in the end Randoll alone was executed. There was said at the time -to be five hundred professed conjurers in the country. - -The origin of touching for the King’s Evil is recounted by Stow in his -_Annals_ in the following manner:— - -“A young woman was afflicted with this disorder in a very alarming -manner, and to a most disgusting degree, feeling uneasiness and pain -consequent upon it in her sleep, dreamt that she should be cured by -the simple operation of having the part washed by the King’s hand. -Application was consequently made to Edward, by her friends, who very -humanely consented to perform the unpleasant request. A bason of water -was brought, with which he carefully softened the tumours till they -broke, and the contents discharged; the sign of the cross wound up the -charm; and the female retired, with the assurance of his protection -during the remainder of the cure, which was effected within a week.” - -Of talismans and amulets the sixteenth century had many. The word -talisman is an Arabic corruption of the Greek, _i.e._ the influence -of a planet or Zodiacal sign upon a person born under it. It was a -symbolical figure drawn or engraved. It was supposed at once to procure -love and to avert danger. The amulet derived from Latin _amolior_, -to do away with, or baffle, averted danger of all kinds. Amber kept -children from danger; a child’s caul made lawyers prosper; the Evil Eye -was averted by certain well-known symbols, including the locust; the -closed hand, the pine cone, and other objects were amulets. The German -Jew at the point of death tied his head round with knotted leather. -The Turks cured apoplexy by encircling the head with a parchment strip -painted with signs of the Zodiac. Spells were of all kinds. - -Among the superstitions of the time must not be forgotten that -favourite form of superstition known as astrology, which still -flourishes, though it is not so commonly practised and believed as -formerly. Many of the Fathers of the Church denounced astrology, yet -astrologers continued. After the Reformation they became more open -in their profession and more daring in their pretensions. The names -of Nostradamus, Cornelius Agrippa, William Lilly, Robert Fludd, John -Dee, and Simon Former, occur as leaders among the astrologers, some of -whom were also alchemists. Some of the English professors of astrology -were pupils of Cornelius Agrippa in London and at Pavia; others went -to study the science at Strasburg. Judicial astrology was in great -vogue in London for two hundred years after the Reformation; hundreds -of people gained their livelihood by casting nativities for children -in which their future was foretold. The story of Dryden and his son’s -nativity is well known. The astrologers picked out lucky days for the -commencement of any kind of business; they told fortunes; they resolved -questions; they recovered stolen goods; they predicted future events. -It is, however, apparent from their own writings that they had little -confidence in the stars, and that the popular part of astrology, -at least, was for the most part guesswork, not without fraud. The -astrologers of London in the sixteenth century formed themselves into a -Society. In the year 1550 a certain Dr. Gell preached a sermon before -the Society of Astrologers. Ashmole also mentions his own attendance -at certain astrological banquets. But about the Society itself very -little is known. Newton pointed out that the sun and stars were only -other earths which could have no power over the destiny of men. But the -superstition decayed very slowly. - -Dr. Dee’s _Diary_ is a _locus classicus_ for the superstitions of his -time—the last quarter of the sixteenth century. - -He hears knockings in his chamber, with a voice like the shrieking of -an owl, but more drawn out and more soft. He is offered a sight in a -crystal and he “saw”—what did he see? He does not tell us. - -A friend is strangely troubled by a “spiritual creature” about -midnight. Robert Gardiner reveals to him a great philosophical secret, -which is received with common prayer. He hears of an alchemist who -gives away “great lumps” of the philosopher’s stone. He dreams that he -is to be bereft of his books. - -There was trouble with Anne his nurse. She was tempted by a wicked -spirit who possessed her. He prayed with her; he anointed her with -“holy oil” twice, the wicked spirit resisting. Despite the power of -the oil Anne threw herself into the well, but was dragged out in time. -Three weeks later she evaded her keeper and cut her throat. - -In 1596 Dee received a message from the Queen; he was to do what he -would in philosophy and alchemy; no one should hinder him. And so on to -the end of the _Diary_. - -In the autumn of 1899 there was found in the garden of Lincoln’s -Inn a thin leaden tablet about four inches square. On one side were -eighty-one small squares, arranged in a large square, each with a -number engraved upon it. On the other side were three names—Hasmodar, -Scherchemosh, and Scharhahan, with a symbol to each. The explanation -is as follows:—The square is a charm; the number eighty-one is the -number of the Moon, each planet having its own number in the “science” -of astrology. The arrangement of the numbers in the eighty-one squares -is such that added up vertically or horizontally or diagonally the sum -shall always be the same. In this case it is 369. Why 369 I cannot -explain. On the other side the three names are the three spirits of the -Moon, each with its hieroglyph. - -The writing is an expression of an invitation or a command to the -spirits to work mischief on an unfortunate man. Had the sorcerer -desired good fortune he would have used a silver plate. In either case -it was necessary to bury the plate in some secret place, unseen and -unsuspected. - -The following story is gravely told by Philip Stubbes. Perhaps he did -not believe it himself; but it is certain that he meant his readers to -believe it. - -“This gentlewoman beeyng a very riche Merchaunte mannes daughter: upon -a tyme was invited to a Bridall or Wedding, whiche was solemnized in -that Toune, againste whiche daie she made great preparation, for the -plumyng of herself in gorgious arraie, that as her body was moste -beautifull, faire, and proper, so her attire in every respecte might -bee corespondent to the same. For the accomplishment whereof, she -curled her haire, she died her lockes, and laied them out after the -best maner, she coloured her face with waters and Ointmentes; but in no -case could she gette any (so curious and daintie she was) that could -starche and sette her Ruffes and Neckerchers to her mynde; wherefore -she sent for a couple of Laundresses, who did the best thei could to -please her humours, but in anywise thei could not. Then fell she to -sweare and teare, to cursse and banne, castyng the Ruffes under feete, -and wishyng that the Devill might take her when she weare any of those -Neckerchers againe. In the meane tyme (through the sufferaunce of God) -the Devill, transformyng himself into the forme of a young man, as -brave and proper as she in every pointe in outward appearance, came -in, fainyng himself to bee a woer or suter unto her. And seyng her thus -agonized, and in suche a peltyng chase, he demaunded of her the cause -thereof, who straight waie tolde hym how she was abused in the settyng -of her Ruffes, which thyng beeyng heard of hym, he promised to please -her minde, and thereto tooke in hande the setting of her Ruffes, whiche -he performed to her greate contentation, and likyng, in so muche as -she lokyng her self in a glasse (as the Devill bad her) became greatly -inamoured with hym. This dooen, the yong man kissed her, in the doyng -whereof he writhe her necke in sunder, so she died miserably, her -bodie beyng metamorphosed into blacke and blewe colours most ugglesome -to behold, and her face (whiche before was so amorous) became moste -deformed, and fearfull to looke upon. This being knowen, preparaunce -was made for her burial, a riche coffin was provided, and her fearfull -bodie was laied therein, and it covered verie sumpteously. Foure men -immediatly assaied to lifte up the corps, but could not move it, then -sixe attempted the like, but could not once stirre it from the place -where it stoode. Whereat the standers by marveilyng, caused the Coffin -to bee opened, to see the cause thereof. Where thei founde the bodie -to be taken awaie, and a blacke Catte verie leane and deformed sittyng -in the Coffin, setting of greate Ruffes, and frizlyng of haire, to the -greate feare and wonder of all beholders. This wofull spectacle have I -offered to their viewe, that by looking into it, instead of their other -looking Glasses thei might see their own filthinesse, and avoyde the -like offence, for feare of the same, or worser judgment: whiche God -graunt thei maie doe.” - - - - - ELIZABETHAN LONDON - - - - - CHAPTER I - - WITH STOW - - -Let us climb the steps that lead to the City Wall at the Tower postern, -and make a circuit by means of the Wall. We walk on the five-foot way -designed for the archers. It is grass-grown between the stones. On the -battlements the wall-flower grows luxuriously with the green fumitory -and the red flowers of the kiss-me-quick. Looking over the Wall we -perceive that the ditch is nearly filled up: all kinds of rubbish have -been shot into it; there are small ponds of water here and there, -and on the opposite bank are gardens in patches and what we call -allotments. “Alas!” says our guide, who continually laments the past, -“I remember when the ditch was full, and when the boys came to bathe -in it and were sometimes drowned in it. Then fish abounded and men -angled from the bank.” We begin our walk. “I remember,” our guide goes -on, talking while he leads the way, “running along the Wall when I was -a boy, nearly sixty years ago. It was a favourite pastime to run from -gate to gate. That was before the suppression of the Religious.” He -sighed—Was he then regretting that event? “All the Houses were standing -then. One thought they would stand for ever. Yet the axe was already -laid to the tree: there was internal decay and external contempt, -though we boys knew nothing of it. The friars in vain searched the -boxes put up for them in the shops: no one would give them alms; if -they went into a house, no one would give them so much as a crust -of bread; there were but fifteen left in Grey Friars, and they were -selling their vessels of silver and gold when they were called upon to -surrender. But still their churches made a brave show. All day long -the bells were ringing—’twas a city of bells. They rang from cathedral -and parish church; from monastery and nunnery; from college of priests -and from chapel and from spital. They rang for festivals and fasts; -for pageants and ridings; for births and deaths; for marriages and -funerals; for the election of City officers; for the King’s birthday; -for the day and the hour; they rang in the baby; they rang out the -passing soul; they rang merrily in honour of the bride; they rang for -work to begin and for work to cease; the streets echoed the ringing -of bells all day long; for miles round London you could hear with the -singing of the larks the ringing of the bells. - -“A third part of the City belonged to the Houses and the Church. -Why, thousands of honest people lived by working for St. Paul’s and -the parish churches and the monks and nuns. Look around you now.” -We were close to Aldgate. Stow pointed to the south-east. Near -the Tower stood a venerable church in a precinct surrounded by a -stone wall and containing a cloister, houses round it, a garden, a -school-house, and a burial-ground. “Behold the last of them!” he said. -“St. Katherine’s, the smallest of all the Foundations, still exists; -but changed—Ah!—changed. Where are the rest?” On the north of St. -Katherine’s was another precinct marked out by a wall, and within it -broken walls, broken windows, and rough timber store-houses. “There -was once Eastminster,” said Stow. “Who is mindful of our Lady of Grace -and her Cistercians? They are forgotten. Look Citywards. Yon ruins are -those of the Crutched Friars. What is left to mark their abode of two -hundred years and more? Their hall was converted into a glass-house -and is burned down; their church contains now a carpenter’s shop and -a tennis court. Turn your eyes more to the north. Those are the ruins -of St. Helen’s Nunnery: their chapel is part of the parish church; -their hall is now the Hall of the Leathersellers’ Company; their -gardens also belong to that honourable Company. Or yonder, where you -may behold the precinct of the Holy Trinity Priory. The Prior was also -Alderman of Portsoken Ward and rode among the other Aldermen, but in -habit ecclesiastical, as I myself have seen. The House kept open table -for rich and poor; a noble and hospitable House it was, but in the end -decayed by reason of too great hospitality. The church was pulled down -and levelled with the ground—_Proh Pudor!_—the courts remain, but with -other buildings; and now is that venerable and regal Foundation clean -forgotten. Behold”—he pointed outside the Wall—“the place where the -_Sorores Minores_, the sisters of St. Clare, lived for many years. The -walls of their refectory still stand; on the site of their cloister is -a fair and large store-house for armours and habiliments of war, with -work-houses serving unto the same purpose. Alas! Poor Sisters! To this -end has come their House of Peace and Prayer.” - -“Nevertheless, Master Stow, the City is more prosperous than before.” - -“I know not; I know not,” he said impatiently. “What do I know about -wealth and prosperity? Let us go on.” So he left off talking about the -churches and monasteries and pointed to the houses beyond the Wall. -“The suburbs,” he said, “have not greatly increased of late years. -There has been too much plague among us. And, indeed, it would seem -that we are never to be rid of plague. The Queen’s Council forbade -the building of new houses. As well forbid the rising of the tide. -There are now—as you can plainly see—a line of cottages on both sides -of the road as far as Whitechapel Church. But who is to hinder? There -is a line of houses along the riverside as far as Ratcliffe and even -Limehouse, where once were elms so noble. But who is there to hinder? -Masterless men are they, and sea-faring men and common cheats and -rogues, who live beside the river, beyond the jurisdiction of the Mayor -and safe from the wholesome cart tail and the penance of pillory. - -[Illustration: A True and Exact Draught of the TOWER LIBERTIES, -survey’d in the Year 1597 by _Gulielmus Haiward_ and _J. Gascoyne_. - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -“Pleasant it was, in those old days,” he went on, “to overlook the -quiet nuns from the Wall. There were no whispers against those holy -Sisters, and no scandals. We loved to look upon them in their gardens -quiet and peaceful. They prayed for the City, the nuns of St. Clare, -of St. Helen’s, and of Holywell. Now every man prays for himself. -There were also the monks in their cloisters, walking and reading and -meditating. Some there were who called the monks devourers and drones. -I know not. Their prayers were asked for the dead and for the living. -No one prays now for the dead, and no one asks where they lie or how -they fare. Drones and devourers! They were gentlemen all by birth,—why -should they work?” - -It was, indeed, surprising to see the ruins of the Houses, nor had I -understood, until I walked round the Wall and observed the ruins, how -many there were, or how great was the destruction when the masterful -King turned out the monks and nuns and gave their houses to his -favourites and his courtiers. “They have taken” said Stow, “all they -wanted of the stones. What are left will vanish little by little.” - -“But the memory will continue.” - -“Nay, in the minds of scholars, not of the people. Things of the past -are soon forgotten. No one will teach the children about the Houses of -monks and friars. If they teach them anything at all, it will be as -Barnabe Googe taught his generation when he gathered into one volume -all that could be alleged or invented against those holy men, if they -were holy,” he added, correcting himself. “Indeed a man must pay heed -unto his words. I have been, myself, charged with Romish leanings -because I remember things that are past and gone. What do the young -folk now understand of what they have lost, because they never saw it? -I am now old, and in age the mind flies back willingly to the days of -youth.” - -Within the Wall we saw the ruins of the Crutched Friars, of St. -Helen’s, of the Holy Priory, of the Austin Friars, of the Papey, of -Elsing Spital, of St. James’s in the Wall, of the Grey Friars and of -the Black Friars; without the Wall there were the ruins of Eastminster, -of the Clares, of St. Mary Spital, of Holywell, of the Church House, of -the Knights Hospitallers, of Clerkenwell Nunnery, of St. Bartholomew’s -Priory, and of the White Friars. - -“The poets, doubtless,” I said, “and with them the divines, meditate -among these ruins.” - -“Alas! No. The poets write songs of love and sing them; or they go -forth to the wars and sing of them. The times are brisk. It is as if -the world was waking up from sleep: there are new things everywhere; -we live in the present; our ships go forth to distant lands; there is -a new world, a Terra Incognita, to be explored and conquered; it is no -time for meditation. When the cloister was broken down meditation fled -beyond the seas. We live to fight and to get rich, and to watch against -the wiles of Pope and Spaniard.” - -[Illustration: EAST VIEW OF CLOISTERS OF COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ST. -KATHERINE - -Taken down in July 1755.] - -“Do these ruins then inspire no regret?” - -“None. The people are forgetting fast. Only old men sometimes speak -of what they remember; when the last stones have been taken away, the -very names will tell them nothing. Even the names are changing. Soon -all will be lost and forgotten. Strange! Four hundred years those monks -lived among us, and after fifty years they are already clean forgotten -as much as if they had never lived.” - -At Bishopsgate, Stow pointed northward. “Houses,” he said, “are -stretching along the northern road, but slowly. Among the ruins of -Holywell stands a Play house, and outside it is another. What will -be the end of this passion for the theatre, I know not. Formerly, an -interlude in an Inn yard, a masque in a Company’s Hall, and so enough. -Now have ye every day a play set forth upon a stage, with songs and -music, and boys dressed up as women.” - -He shook his head and led on, still following the Wall. Within the -City on this north side there were many large and fair gardens, some -belonging to Companies which here have their Halls, and some to -merchants’ houses, and some that once belonged to the Monastic Houses. -They were set with fruit-trees and with beds of flowers and sweet -herbs. Among the gardens stood collections of craftsmen’s cottages and -workshops, and the churches with their small green churchyards were -almost hidden by the trees. This part of London truly had a rural look -by reason of these gardens. - -We passed Moorgate, the old church of the Papey close to the Wall, -and further along, also close to the Wall, the church of All Hallows; -we came to Cripplegate with its church outside the Wall. And passing -a bend to the south, continued our walk. On the other side of the -ditch was another double line of houses. “This is Aldersgate,” said -Stow. “The way leads to the Charter House and beyond to the village -of Iseldon. You can now see the ruins of the House of the Knights -Hospitallers; their noble gate yet stands, and part of their church. -Beyond was the Priory of St. Bartholomew. From the Wall you may behold -their cloisters; the chancel of their church is now a parish church. -Close at hand is Smithfield. What things have been done at Smithfield! -I was thirty years of age when Queen Mary burned her martyrs. There had -been burnings before her time, but she outdid them all. Sir, she was -ill-advised: she thought to make the people go back to the old Religion -through fear. She might have led them back through love. I have seen -the burning of those stubborn folk. Old and young, men and women, nay -children, have I seen standing in the faggots, praying aloud while the -flames mounted up and licked their hands and their faces. Mostly they -died quickly, being smothered with the smoke; but sometimes the flames -were blown away, and we saw the blackened body still in agony, and the -lips that moved to the end in prayer. And we saw how the Lord answered, -giving fortitude to endure or even, if we knew it, painlessness in -the midst of fire. To see father, brother, neighbour, so die without -fear, and as if joyously enduring torture in order to reach the gates -of Heaven,—Believe me, sir, this it was that made the people what they -are, and completed Henry’s work.” - -We came to Newgate. “Behold!” he said, “the cat, emblem of Whittington, -who rebuilt this gate and prison. Here is Christ’s Hospital, which once -was the House of the Grey Friars. It is London’s chiefest glory: here -shall you find boys ruled with wisdom and taught godliness, who would -otherwise have joined the throngs of the masterless, and roamed about -the streets and roads.” And so on to Ludgate, where we left the Wall. -“See,” said Stow, “there are houses with many palaces of nobles all -the way from Bridewell to the King’s House at Westminster. And now, -good sir, we leave the Wall, and we will visit the City within the -Wall.” - -[Illustration: ST. PAUL’S CHURCH - -From Visscher’s _Panorama of London_.] - -He led me by Ludgate into the precinct of St. Paul’s, surrounded by -a stone wall; the Cathedral looked battered and worn by the tooth of -time; the spire, once the glory of the City, was gone never to be -replaced; the stonework was black in parts from the smoke of the sea -coal; the tracery was mouldering; about the towers of the west flew the -swifts crying. “There are kites on the roof,” said Stow, “which keep -the City clean and devour the offal.” - -[Illustration: LATIMER PREACHING BEFORE EDWARD VI. AT WESTMINSTER - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -At Paul’s Cross there was a preaching by some reverend divine: a crowd -of women sat on benches listening; a few men were there, but it was in -working hours. The preacher argued some difficult point of doctrine, -comparing texts and turning over the leaves of his small brown Geneva -Bible. I observed that his hearers listened with a critical air. “For -fifty years,” said Stow, looking on with contempt, “they have been -arguing and disputing on matters of doctrine and nothing settled yet; -in the old time we were told what to believe, and we were stayed and -comforted by our belief. These people prove one thing to-day and -another thing to-morrow. They are pulled this way and that by the -power of texts which they think they understand. Let us go into the -Cathedral.” - -[Illustration: SOUTH FRONT OF BAYNARD’S CASTLE, ABOUT 1640] - -Outside, in the churchyard, everything was destroyed that formerly made -the place venerable and beautiful: Pardon churchyard; the “Clochard;” -the cloister with the Dance of Death; Sherrington’s Library; the -college of the minor canons. Only Paul’s Cross remained. And the -Cathedral, rising up alone and gaunt, bereft of her daughters, seemed -mournful and lonely. “Perhaps,” said Stow, “a new church is wanted for -the new Faith. St. Paul’s was not built for Protestants. They know not -how to treat the church. Look at yonder fellows!” He pointed to two -porters who bore boxes on their heads, and entering at the North doors -tramped noisily through the Cathedral, going out at the South. “They -have made a right of way, a short way, through the church. Saw one ever -the like? Through the church itself!” - -We went in; the nave was a kind of noisy Exchange, yet not for -merchants. It was full of people loudly talking of all kinds of -business; ladies were there. “They make their assignations in the -church,” said Stow. Gallants richly dressed swaggered up and down the -middle aisle; servants stood waiting to be hired; scriveners had their -stools and tables, and were busy writing letters; men disputed over -their affairs, yea, and quarrelled loudly. The chancel was walled off -and separated from the nave and transepts. The old glory had departed -from the once splendid interior: of all the chapels, shrines, altars, -chantries, paintings, lights, carved marbles, work in ivory, gold -and silver, nothing was left. Only bare whitewashed walls and a few -plain tombs; even the painted glass, wherever it could be reached, -was broken. While we looked around the organ began to play; it was -accompanied by other instruments, chiefly wind instruments. With the -music ascended the voices of the choir, the pure sweet voices of the -boys. My old guide’s eyes grew humid. “No,” he said, “they have not -taken all away. The music remains with us, to remind us that Heaven -is left although we have whitewashed the paintings that revealed its -glories.” - -We left the precinct by the North gate, which opens upon the back of -St. Michael le Querne, and turned eastward into Chepe. The breadth -of this great market had contracted since the reign of Edward the -Third. The houses on the south side were much higher and better built, -with timber frames and much carving and gilding. On the north side -the lanes, which were formerly broad spaces for stands and sheds for -the market, were now narrow, with houses on either hand: there were -also houses on that side, but not continuous; here were Grocers’ Hall -and Mercers’ Hall. Round the Standard and the Cross were stalls kept -by women; the poulterers still had their shops in the Poultry, and -apothecaries sold their drugs and herbs in Bucklersbury. - -It was now evening, and supper time. My guide led me to the tavern -called the Rose, in the Poultry. There was a goodly company assembled -in the great room. Here there was music, and the drawers ran about -with supper and with wine. A capon with a flask of Malmsey warmed the -heart of my old guide. After supper we took tobacco and more wine, -while boys sang madrigals very sweetly. The close of a summer day in -the City of London brings with it a cessation of the noise of hammers -and the ringing of anvils and the grinding of waggons and the shouts of -those who quarrel over their work. The City became quiet; there was the -tinkling of guitar and lute from the taverns and the houses; the voices -of those who sang; the merry laugh of maidens, and the sober voice of -age. - -“Come,” said Stow, “there remains the Royal Exchange. This we will see -and so an end until to-morrow.” - -The Royal Exchange was lit up with candles. The upper walk or -_pawne_[4] I found to be a collection of shops, all as light as day. -Music was playing and the place was full of people; not the sober -merchants, but the City madams and their daughters, the gallants, and -the ’prentices. “In the summer,” said Stow, “the place is open till -nine of the clock, in the winter till ten. Many come here just as they -go to Paul’s in the morning, because they have no other place to go to -and no money to spend in the tavern. Know you not the lines? - - ‘Though little coin thy purseless pockets line, - Yet with great company thou’st taken up; - For often with Duke Humphrey thou dost dine; - And often with Sir Thomas Gresham sup.’” - -Other walks, many other walks, I have taken about London in company -of good old John Stow: we have walked together along Thames Street, -which is surely the very heart of the City, and in Chepe, and among -the gardens of the northern part. In these walks about the streets, -even then so old and so venerable, the old man waxed eloquent over the -houses of the past where the great nobles had each his palace, which -was also a barrack in the City of London. It was not only in and about -Thames Street: all over the City he led me, prattling in his kindly -garrulity. “There were kings’ palaces here once,” he said: “the Tower -Royal where Richard’s mother dwelt; and the King’s Wardrobe—I can show -you that; and Baynard’s Castle, which is now rebuilt and remains a -noble house; and Crosby Hall, where the third Richard sojourned for a -while; and the Stone House in Lombard Street that they call King John’s -Palace, but I know not with what truth; and Cold Harbour where Prince -Hal once lived; and the Savoy which was John of Gaunt’s. And there -were the town houses of the noblemen. What a stately house was that of -the Northumberlands outside Aldgate! It is now a printing-house. And -they had another house in Aldgate Ward with broad gardens, now turned -into bowling-greens. And there is the house called the Erber on the -east side of Dowgate. The Earl of Warwick had it, then the Duke of -Clarence had it, and when it was rebuilt Francis Drake had it. There is -Gresham’s Mansion in Broad Street, which has become a noble college for -the instruction of youths in the liberal arts, so that some say that -London will become like unto Oxford or Cambridge. And Whittington’s -house beside the church of St. Michael, now an almshouse, which was -once also a college for priests. And there is the house which once -belonged to Sir Robert Large, when Caxton was his ’prentice, at the -corner of Old Jewry; formerly it was a Jews’ Synagogue, and afterwards -the House of the Brethren of the Sack. Alas! most of these houses -are now in decay and inhabited by poor folk. The nobles come no more -to town.” Yet he showed me the house of Sir Francis Walsingham, the -Queen’s Secretary. It was in Seething Lane. “We look for these palaces -now, along the river, between Bridewell and Westminster,” he said. - -[Illustration: WEST CHEPE IN ELIZABETHAN LONDON] - -My old guide looked at the people as they passed with a peculiar -benevolence, especially upon the young. “I have myself been a -’prentice,” he said; “I know the rubs and crosses of that time; an -impatient master, long hours of work, hard fare, hot blood that longs -to be up and doing. Many there are who have in their latter days broken -their indentures and fled to sail the seas with Oxenham or Drake; many -have gone into the service of the adventurous Companies. I remember -very well, very well,” he sighed, “the joys of the time, the dancing -on a summer evening, the wrestling, the fighting, the pageants and -ridings in the streets. Life lies all before the ’prentice. What boots -it to be my Lord Mayor when life is wellnigh spent?” - -“Sir,” my guide added, “I have shown you our City. Go now, alone, and -watch the ways of the people: mark the wealth of our merchants; look at -the Port crowded with ships and the Quays cumbered with merchandise; -talk with the mariners, and observe the spirit that is in them all. -Like all old men I lament the past; but I needs must rejoice in the -quickening of these latter days. And so, good sir, farewell.” - -[Illustration: A VIEW OF COLD HARBOUR IN THAMES STREET, ABOUT 1600] - - - - - CHAPTER II - - CONTEMPORARY EVIDENCE - - -Let us supplement this discourse by contemporary evidence. - -There is an anonymous map of London in the sixteenth century called -“Londinium Feracissimi Angliæ Regni Metropolis.” It is in some respects -more exact than the better known map attributed to Agas. The streets, -gardens, and fields are laid down with greater precision, and there is -no serious attempt to combine, as Agas does, a picture, or a panorama, -with a map. At the same time, the surveyor has been unable to resist -the fashion of his time to consider the map as laid down from a -bird’s-eye view, so that he thinks it necessary to give something of -elevation. - -I will take that part of the map which lies outside the walls. The -precinct of St. Katherine stands beside the Tower with its chapel, -court, and gardens; there are a few houses near it, apparently -farmhouses; the convent of Eastminster had entirely vanished. Nothing -indicates the site of the Nunnery in the Minories; yet there were ruins -of these buildings standing here till the end of the last century; -outside Bishopsgate houses extended past St. Mary Spital, some of whose -buildings were still, apparently, standing. On the west side St. Mary -of Bethlehem stood, exactly on the site of Liverpool Street Station, -but not covering nearly so large an area; it appears to have occupied a -single court and was probably what we should now consider a very pretty -little cottage, like St. Edmund’s Hall, Oxford. - -Outside Cripplegate the houses begin again, leaving, between, the -lower Moorfields dotted with ponds; there are houses lining the road -outside Aldersgate. The courts are still standing of St. Bartholomew’s -Priory, Charter House, St. John’s Priory, and the Clerkenwell Nunnery; -Smithfield is surrounded with houses; Bridewell with its two square -courts stands upon the river bank; Fleet Street is irregular in shape, -the houses being nowhere in line; the courts of Whitefriars are still -remaining. The Strand has all its great houses facing the river; their -backs open upon a broad street with a line of mean houses on the north -side. On the south of the river there is a line of houses on the High -Street; a line of houses along the river bank on either side; and -another one running near Bermondsey Abbey. - -Within the walls we observe that some of the Religious Houses have -quite disappeared; Crutched Friars, for instance; there is a vacant -space which is probably one of the courts of St. Helen’s; the Priory -of the Holy Trinity preserves its courts, but there is no sign of -the church; there are still visible the courts and gardens of Austin -Friars; there is still the great court of the Grey Friars; but the -buildings of Blackfriars seem to have vanished entirely. - -[Illustration: BRIDEWELL PALACE AND THE ENTRANCE TO THE FLEET RIVER AS -THEY APPEARED IN 1660 - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -But Sir Thomas More has left us a description of London in his time. It -is a description in terms too vague, yet interesting. He calls the City -Amaurote and the Thames he calls the Anyder. - -“The River Anyder riseth four and twenty miles above Amaurote, out of -a little spring: but being increased by other small floods and brooks -that run into it: and, among others, two somewhat bigger ones. Before -the City, it is half a mile broad (hardly so much now as it was in -former days being pent in and straitned to a narrower space, by the -later buildings on each side): and further, broader. By all that space -that lyeth between the Sea and the City, and a good sort of land also -above, the water ebbs and flows six hours together, with a swift tide; -when the sea flows in to the length of thirty miles, it fills all the -Anyder with salt water, and drives back the fresh water of the river; -and somewhat further, it hangeth the sweetness of fresh water with -saltness: but a little beyond that, the river waxeth sweet, and runneth -foreby the City fresh and pleasant; and when the sea ebbs and goes back -again, this fresh water follows it almost to the very fall into the sea. - -[Illustration: LONDINIUM FERACISSIMI ANGLIÆ REGNI METROPOLIS] - -They have also another river, which indeed is not very great, but it -runneth gently and pleasantly: for it riseth even out of the same hill -that the City standeth upon, and runneth down slope through the midst -of the City into Anyder.” [This may be the river of the Wells; in -More’s time the Walbrook was probably covered over.] “And because it -ariseth a little without the City, the Amaurotians have enclosed the -head spring of it with strong fences and bulwarks; and so have joined -it to the City: this done, to the intent that the waters should not be -stopped nor turned away, nor poisoned, if their enemies should chance -to come upon them. From thence the water is derived and brought down in -Chanals or Brooks divers ways into the lower parts of the City. Where -that cannot be done by reason that the place will not suffer it, then -they gather the Rain Water in great Cisterns which doth them as good -service.” [This, it seems, was all the supply of Water the City had in -that age, which is now much more plentifully served.] “Then next for -the situation and Walls. That it stood by the side of a low Hill, in -fashion almost square. The breadth of it began a little beneath the -top of the Hill, and still continued by the space of two miles, until -it came to the river Anyder. The length of it, which lyeth by the -river-side, was somewhat more. - -The City is compassed about with an high and thick wall, full of -Turrets and Bulwarks. A dry Ditch, but deep and broad and overgrown -with bushes, briers, and thorns, goeth about three sides or quarters of -the City. To the fourth side, the River itself serveth for a Ditch. - -The streets be appointed and set forth very commodious and handsome, -both for carriage and also against the winds. The Streets be full -twenty foot broad. The Houses be of fair and gorgeous Buildings: and in -the street-side, they stand joined together in a long Row through the -whole Street, without any partition or separation. On the bankside of -the Houses, through the whole length of the Street, lye large Gardens -which be closed in round about with the back parts of the Street. Every -House hath two doors, one to the street, and a Postern Door on the -backside into the Garden. These doors be made with two leaves, never -locked nor bolted: so easie to be opened, that they will follow the -least drawing of a finger, and shut again of themselves. - -[Illustration: PLAN OF THE CITY OF WESTMINSTER IN THE TIME OF ELIZABETH] - -[Illustration: PLAN OF THE CITY OF LONDON IN THE TIME OF ELIZABETH] - -They set great store by their gardens. In these they have Vineyards -and all manner of Fruits, Herbs, and Flowers, so pleasant, so well -furnished, and so finely kept, that I never saw anything more fruitful, -nor better trimmed in any place: and their study and diligence -herein cometh not only of pleasure, but also of a certain strife -and contention that is betwixt street and street, concerning the -trimming, husbanding, and flourishing, of their Gardens, every man -for his own part: and verily, you shall not lightly find in all the -City anything that is more commodious, either for the Profit of the -Citizens, or for pleasure. And therefore it may seem, that the first -founder of the City minded nothing so much as he did these Gardens. -They say, that King Utopus himself, even at his first beginning, -appointed and drew forth the platform of the City into this fashion and -figure that it hath now, by his gallant garnishing and the beautiful -setting forth of it. Whereunto he saw that one man’s age would not -suffice, that he left to his posterity. - -Their Chronicles, which they keep written with all diligent -circumspection, containing the history of 1760 years, even from the -first conquest of the Island, record and witness, that the Houses -in the beginning were very low, and likely homely cottages, or poor -shepherds’ houses, made at all adventures of every rude piece of wood -that came first to hand: with Mud-walls, and ridged Roofs thatched over -with straw. But now the Houses be curiously builded after a gorgeous -and gallant sort, with three stories, one over another. - -The outside of the walls be made of either hard Flint, or of Plaister, -or else of Brick: and the Inner-sides be well strengthened with -Timber-Work. - -The Roofs be plain and flat, covered with a certain kind of Plaister -that is of no cost: and yet so tempered that no fire can hurt or perish -it: and notwithstandeth the violence of the weather, better than any -lead. - -They keep the wind out of their windows with glass: for it is there -much used: and some were also with fine linnen dipped in oyl or amber: -and that for two commodities: for by this means more light cometh in, -and the wind is better kept out.” (_Utopia._) - -The following notes on England were written by one Stephen Perlin in -1558. The tract was translated for, and published in, the _Antiquarian -Repertory_ (vol. iv.):— - -“The English in general are cheerful and great lovers of music, for -there is no church, however small, but has musical service performed in -it. They are likewise great drunkards; for if an Englishman would treat -you, he will say in his language, _yis dring a quarta rim gasquim cim -hespaignol, oim malvoysi_; that is, will you drink a quart of Gascoigne -wine, another of Spanish, and another Malmsy. In drinking or eating -they will say to you above an hundred times, _drind iou_, which is, I -am going to drink to you; and you should answer them in their language, -_iplaigiu_, which means, I pledge you. If you would thank them in their -language you must say, _god tanque artelay_, which is to say, I thank -you with all my heart. When they are drunk, they will swear blood and -death that you shall drink all that is in your cup, and will say thus -to you, _bigod sol drind iou agoud oin_. Now remember, if you please, -that in this land they commonly make use of silver vessels when -they drink wine, and they will say to you at table, _goud chere_, which -is good cheer. The servants wait on their master bareheaded, and leave -their caps on the buffet. It is to be noted, that in this excellent -kingdom there is, as I have said, no kind of order; the people are -reprobates, and thorough enemies to good manners and letters, for they -don’t know whether they belong to God or the Devil, which St. Paul had -reprehended in so many people, saying, be not transported with divers -sorts of winds, but be constant and steady to your belief. - -[Illustration: REFERENCES. - - _1. The first S^T. GILES CHURCH._ - - _2. Remains of the Walls, antiently enclosing the Hospital - precincts._ - - _3. Site of the Gallows and afterwards of the Pound._ - - _4. Way to Uxbridge. now OXFORD S^T._ - - _5._ ELDE-STRATE, _since called HOG-LANE_. - - _6._ LE-LANE _now MONMOUTH S^T._ - - _7. Site of the_ SEVEN DIALS _formerly called COCK and PYE FIELDS_. - - _8._ ELM CLOSE _since called LONG-ACRE_. - - _9. Site of_ LINCOLNS INN FIELDS _formerly called FICKETS-FIELDS_. - - A VIEW - _of part of the Northwest Suburbs_ - OF LONDON, - _as they appeared, anno 1570. - Including the whole of the parish of - S^T. GILES in the FIELDS - and its immediate Neighbourhood, its_ - PAROCHIAL CHURCHES, - _erected at different periods &c._ - - THE PARISH OF S^t. Giles in the Fields, LONDON. - -_The part of the North West Suburbs of London, since called Saint -Giles’s, was about the time of the Norman Conquest an un-built tract of -country, or but thinly scattered with habitations.—The parish derived -its name if not its origin from the ancient Hospital for Lepers, which -was built on the site of the present church by MATILDA queen of King -Henry I. and dedicated to Saint Giles: before which time there had only -been a small Chapel or Oratory on the spot.—It is described in old -records, as abounding with gardens and dwellings in the flourishing -times of Saint Giles’s Hospital but declined in population and -buildings after the suppression of that establishment, and remained -but an inconsiderable village till the end of the reign of Elizabeth, -after which period it was rapidly built on, and became distinguished -for the number and rank of its inhabitants. The great increase of S^t. -Giles’s Parish occasioned the separation of S^t. George’s Bloomsbury -Parish from it anno 1734.—The above view (which is partly supplied by -the great Plan of London by Ralph Aggas, and partly from authorities -furnished by parochial documents) was taken anno 1570._] - -In this country, all the shops of every trade are open, like those -of the barbers in France, and have many glass windows, as well below -as above in the chambers, for in the chambers there are many glazed -casements, and that in all the tradesmen’s houses in almost every town; -and those houses are like the barbers’ shops in France, as well above -as below, and glazed at their openings. In the windows, as well in -cities as villages, are plenty of flowers, and at the taverns plenty of -hay upon their wooden floors, and many cushions of tapestry, on which -travellers seat themselves. There are many bishopricks in this kingdom, -as I think sixteen, and some archbishopricks, of which one is esteemed -the principal, which is Cantorbie, called in English Cantorberi, where -there is a very fine church, of which St. Thomas is patron. England -is remarkable for all sorts of fruits, as apricots, peaches, and -quantities of nuts.” - -In the year 1598 a German traveller, Paul Hentzner by name, visited -London. This is what he says about the streets:— - -“The streets in this city are very handsome and clean; but that which -is named from the goldsmiths who inhabit it, surpasses all the rest: -there is in it a gilt tower, with a fountain that plays. Near it on the -farther side is a handsome house, built by a goldsmith, and presented -by him to the city. There are besides to be seen in this street, as in -all others where there are goldsmiths’ shops, all sorts of gold and -silver vessels exposed to sale, as well as ancient and modern medals, -in such quantities as must surprise a man the first time he sees and -considers them.” (_See_ Appendix VI.) - -Stow furnishes a very clear account of the condition of the suburbs in -his own time. Thus, he says that outside the Wall in the East there -were no houses at all east of St. Katherine’s along the river until the -middle of the sixteenth century, but that during the latter half of -the century there had sprung up a “continual street, or filthy strait -passage, with alleys of small tenements built, inhabited by sailors; -victuallers, along by the river of Thames, almost to Ratcliff, a good -mile from the Tower.” - -He says, further, that in his time had arisen quite a new suburb -between East Smithfield and Limehouse; and that good houses had been -recently built between Ratcliff and Blackwall. - -Outside Aldgate he mentions a “large street replenished with buildings -to Hog Lane and the bars. Without the bars both sides of the street -were ‘pestered’ with cottages and alleys, even up to Whitechapel -Church and almost half a mile beyond it into the common field.” Note, -therefore, that close to Aldgate, just beyond Whitechapel Church, was a -common which was thus encroached upon and settled on by squatters and -by those who made enclosures and placed laystalls, etc., upon them. -The whole of the common was thus taken up; “in some places it scarce -remaineth a sufficient highway for the meeting of carriages and droves -of people,” a fact to be remembered and accounted for. - -[Illustration: BISHOPSGATE] - -Going on to Bishopsgate and its highway. Outside the gate stood St. -Botolph’s Church; next to it the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem; -opposite certain houses; then, the liberty of Norton Folgate, belonging -to the canons of St. Paul’s; then the site of the Holywell Nunnery; -all along the road to St. Leonard’s, Shoreditch, except for the site -of St. Mary Spital, a “continual building of small and base tenements, -for the most part lately erected.” Among the cottages Stow points to a -certain row whose history was perhaps that of many others. The row of -cottages were almshouses belonging to St. Mary Spital; the occupants -were appointed by that House; they paid a yearly rent of one penny, in -acknowledgment of ownership; and on Christmas Day they were feasted by -the Prior. When the Hospital was suppressed the cottages, for want of -repairs, fell into decay; the new owners of the land would not take -over the responsibility of the charitable endowment; they neither -repaired the houses nor did they invite the tenants to a Christmas -feast. On the other hand, they did not collect the rent of a penny. -They were then sold, although they ought to have been continued as -almhouses to one Russell, who rebuilt them and gave them his own name, -and let them to tenants in the usual way. - -The church of St. Leonard’s contained monuments to the memory of three -noble families at least: the Westmoreland Nevilles; the Blounts, Lords -Mountjoy; and that of Manners, Earls of Rutland. The reason of their -tombs and monuments being found in the church must be sought in the -history of the manors lying north of Shoreditch. - -[Illustration: PLAN OF ISLINGTON - -From a print in the British Museum. By the courtesy of the late Marquis -of Salisbury.] - -On the north side of the City the Moor Fields continued for a long time -as waste ground, seldom visited; in 1415, however, Thomas Fawconer, -Mayor, broke through the City Wall and built the postern called -Moorgate; he constructed causeways over the Moor; cleansed and repaired -the dykes or ditches with which the Moor was intersected: so that the -place was drained and made into a pleasant walk for the citizens, -either on summer evenings, or on their way to Iselden and Hoxton. -Sixty years later brickfields were opened in the Moor, and bricks made -for the repair of the City Wall. Then citizens began to make and to -enclose gardens in the Moor; in 1498 these were all taken away and an -archery-field made in their place. In 1512 more dykes were made for the -drainage of the Moor, and in 1527 conduits were constructed to carry -the waters over the Tower Ditch into the Walbrook. The point is that in -the sixteenth century the whole of the ground lying between Moorgate -and Bishopsgate was unoccupied by houses. The map already referred to -shows the road running north from Moorgate, and the Moor itself crossed -by causeways: in the east a broad ditch crossed by bridges falls into -the Tower Ditch. - -The Moor formerly extended beyond Cripplegate and as far as the Fleet -River; it was built upon by the Religious Houses; St. Bartholomew’s -Priory and Hospital; the Charter House; the Priory of St. John; and -the Nunnery of Clerkenwell. Between these houses and the wall were St. -Giles’s Church, St. Botolph’s Church, Fore Street, Whitecross Street, -and other streets, making a suburb with a population in the sixteenth -century of 1800 householders, or 9000 souls. The last bit of the Moor -left on the north-west of the City was brickfield. - -We now come to the western suburb: the earliest settled and the most -thickly populated of all. Fleet Street and the streets north of it, -however, belonged to the Ward of Farringdon Without. - -We are now in a position to show other reasons why the extension of the -City was so slow and so limited. - -All round the City lay manors and estates belonging for the most part -to the Church. St. Paul’s Cathedral possessed a great many of these -manors; the Bishop possessed many; St. Peter’s, Westminster, possessed -many. Finsbury, Shoreditch, Hoxton, Iselden, St. Pancras, Willesden, -belonged to St. Paul’s. The manor of St. Peter stretched all the way -from Millbank to the Fleet River, and from the Thames to Holborn. These -estates belonged to the Church; when the City received the County of -Middlesex to farm, it did not receive these manors, and the owners had -their rights. Foremost among these rights was that they were outside -the jurisdiction of the City; the land could not be built upon without -permission of the owners; what the City got was the inclusion of that -part of the land outside the Wall which was bounded and defined by -the Bars: that is to say, it included, without the Wall—(1) The Ward -of Portsoken, formerly the lands of the Cnihten Gild; (2) The Common -Land of Whitechapel; (3) The Common Land of the Moor as far as to the -Fleet River, and (4) The Ward of Farringdon Without. Why did it go no -farther? Because at every point beyond these limits the manors of the -Church were met. At first the encroachments of the City authorities -into the manors met with no opposition; perhaps the ecclesiastics felt -that it was well to have the people on their lands well governed; on -one occasion the City acquired rights by taking a manor on lease, as -that of Mora di Halliwell in 1315. In other cases the ecclesiastics -interfered and made it impossible for more houses to be built on their -lands, save on their own terms, and without acknowledgment by the City -Authority. - -For these reasons, therefore,—the limited jurisdiction of the City; the -steady opposition of the ecclesiastical owners of the manors outside; -and the slow growth of the population,—there was little increase save -in the direction of Bishopsgate Street Without, where the City had a -lease of the manor, until the Dissolution of the Religious Houses and -the change of owners in the manors. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - THE CITIZENS - - -There was never a time when the sober citizen was more sober, more -responsible, more filled with a sense of his authority and dignity. -“The man,” says the wise king, “who is diligent in business shall stand -before princes.” - -[Illustration: EARL OF SOMERSET AND HIS WIFE - -From a print in the British Museum.] - -They did stand before princes, these merchants of London; as their -prosperity leaped up increasingly year after year, they became the -creditors, at least, of princes, for Elizabeth borrowed freely and -repaid unwillingly—yet in spite of this too notorious weakness, she -retained to the end the deepest affection of her people. - -It has been a matter of reproach to the City that it seemed at this -time wholly given over to trade and the interests of trade. To reproach -a city which has always been a trading city with caring chiefly for the -interests of trade seems somewhat unreasonable. But is it true that -London has ever been wholly devoted to trade? I cannot find such a time -in the whole long history of the City: certainly not in the reign of -Elizabeth, when London cheerfully raised her men and her ships for the -repulse of the Armada; and cheerfully gave the Queen whatever money she -asked for; at the same time, while trade became larger than before, -while the individual merchants became of more importance, the City -certainly lost some of its political importance and was less dreaded, -while it was more caressed, by the Sovereign. - -It was, moreover, with the better class, a deeply religious age; -men were not afraid or ashamed of proclaiming, or of showing, their -religion. When Francis Drake saw the Atlantic on one side and the -Pacific on the other, he fell on his knees in the sight of the company -and prayed aloud, that God would suffer him to sail upon that unknown -sea: if a cutpurse was hanged, he never failed to make a moving speech, -deeply religious, while on the ladder. All classes preserved as yet the -Catholic practice of going often to church; they studied the Bible; -they made their ’prentices attend services; they listened patiently -to sermons; doctrine was considered a vital point. By the end of the -sixteenth century those who favoured the old Faith were either dead -or silenced; to the common people the old Faith meant a return to the -flames in Smithfield; torture at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition -if any should haply fall into Spanish hands; and slavery under the -Spanish King should he achieve the conquest of the country; whereas the -new Faith meant freedom of thought, increased wealth, advancing trade, -fighting the Spaniard and capturing the Spanish galleons. Religion, -therefore, was allied with prosperity. - -I have spoken of the sober guise of the London merchant. That sober -guise belonged to the places where the merchant was mostly found: to -the Royal Exchange, for instance, or Thames Street, beside the quays -and warehouses. We must not think that there was no longer brightness -of colour and even splendour in the streets. The rich liveries of the -great nobles were chiefly seen on the river—remember that the front -of the Palace faced the river, that the back belonged to the Strand, -and that the river was London’s principal highway. Their varlets -lolled about on the river stairs or escorted their master in his -barge, but hardly belonged to the City. A Court gallant was dressed -as extravagantly as he could afford, or as his estate would bear. He -carried manors on his back, broad acres in his velvet cloak, with -golden buckles and lace trimming, a year’s rents in his fantastic -doublet slashed and puffed, in his silken hose, in his splendid sword, -his scabbard and the handle set with gold, in his rings, his scents, -his gloves and in his chains. But the Court gallant seldom showed on -Thames Street. - -In Norman and Plantagenet London there were no shops, nor was there -anything sold in the streets except in the market-places, and the -streets set aside for retail trade. But in the Tudor time Street Cries -had already begun. We find, for instance, the following pleasant -verses:— - - “Who liveth so merry in all this land - As doth the poor widow that selleth the sand? - And ever shee singeth as I can guesse, - Will you buy any sand, any sand, mistress? - - The broom-man maketh his living most sweet, - With carrying of broomes from street to street; - Who would desire a pleasanter thing, - Than all the day long to doe nothing but sing? - - The chimney-sweeper all the long day, - He singeth and sweepeth the soote away; - Yet when he comes home altho’ he be weary, - With his sweet wife he maketh full merry. - - The cobbler he sits cobbling till none, - And cobbleth his shoes till they be done; - Yet doth he not feare, and so doth say, - For he knows his worke will soone decay. - - Who liveth so merry and maketh such sport - As those that be of the poorest sort? - The poorest sort wheresoever they be, - They gather together by one, two, and three. - - Broomes for old shoes! pouch-rings, bootes and buskings! - Will yee buy any new broomes? - New oysters! new oysters! new new cockels! - Cockels nye! fresh herrings! Will yee buy any straw? - Hay yee any kitchen stuffe, maides? - Pippins fine, cherrie ripe, ripe, ripe! - Cherrie ripe! etc. - - Hay any wood to cleave? - Give eare to the clocke! - Beware your locke! - Your fire and your light! - And God give you good night! - One o’clocke!” - -Sumptuary laws were constantly renewed and continually broken. Yet the -mass of the people obeyed the unwritten law by which a man’s station -was shown by his dress. For more on this subject see the Chapter on -Dress. - -The ordering of the household was strict. Early hours were kept; in -summer servants and apprentices were up at five; in winter at six -or seven; there were rules as to attendance at morning and evening -prayers; there was to be no quarrelling; no striking; no profane -language. - -It is said that coaches were introduced in this reign; but there had -always been coaches, _i.e._ wheeled conveyances of a kind. Such a -carriage, belonging to the fourteenth century, is figured in J. J. -Jusserand’s _English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages_—a cumbrous -unwieldy thing, yet still a coach. What really happened in this century -was the introduction of a much more convenient kind of coach from -Holland. - -Stow laments the mud and the splashing in the streets. “The coachman -rideth behind the horse tails, lasheth them, and looketh not behind -him; the drayman sitteth and sleepeth on his dray and letteth his horse -lead him home.” Most of the City streets, however, were so narrow and -so much obstructed by houses standing out, for as yet there was no -alignment except in streets like Chepe, which were highways and market -streets, that no wheeled vehicle could pass at all. - -[Illustration: SHOP AND SOLAR, CLARE MARKET, NOW DEMOLISHED - -From a photograph taken in 1895.] - -There was very little more lighting at night than there had been in the -preceding centuries. If a London dame ventured out of the house after -dark, the ’prentice carried a link before her. Some of the old shops or -sheds with “solars” over them remained in Stow’s time; the last of them -stood in Clare Market, and was pulled down a few years ago. See the -accompanying photograph of it. Stow says that stalls had become sheds, -_i.e._ roofed stalls; and then shops, _i.e._ enclosed stalls; and then -“fair houses.” He instances a block of houses called Goldsmiths’ Row, -between Bread Street and the Cross, which contained ten dwelling-houses -and fourteen shops, “all in one frame, uniformly built.” They were four -stories high. The shops seem to have been open, but perhaps the upper -part was protected with a shutter or with glass. - -Inland communication was conducted by means of carts and coaches. -Harrison[5] complains of the new fashion: “Our Princes and the -Nobilitie have their cariage commonlie made by carts, wherby it commeth -to passe that when the Queene’s Majestie dooth remove from anie one -place to another, there are usuallie 400 carewanes, which amount to the -summe of 2400 horses, appointed out of the counties adjoining, whereby -hir cariage is conveied safelie unto the appointed place. Hereby also -the ancient use of sumpter horses is in maner utterlie relinquished, -which causeth the traines of our princes in their progresses to shew -far lesse than those of the kings of other nations.” - -During this long reign, in spite of plague and pestilence, the -population of London increased, and the suburbs extended, as we have -seen, in all directions. The increase of population was due (1) to -the increase of trade in London, which required a great accession of -ship-builders, boat-builders, makers of the various gear required for -ships, seamen, lightermen, porters, stevedores, and the like; (2) to -the large number of immigrants from France and the Low Countries; and -(3) to the number of persons released from the Religious Houses. That -is to say, this last is generally represented as one of the causes. To -me it seems as if the influence of these people on the population of -London must be regarded as quite insignificant. There were some 8000 -monks, nuns, and friars who were sent into the world. Many of those who -were in priests’ orders obtained places in parish churches, conforming -by degrees to the changes of doctrine; the monks and nuns had pensions; -many of the latter went abroad; of the friars many were absorbed in the -general population; a certain number, one knows not how many, refused -to work, and joined the company of rogues and masterless men, but there -seems nothing to show how many of them settled in London. - -Here is a simple calculation of the population in 1564. There was a -great plague in that year. The total number of deaths in the City for -the year is stated to have been 23,660, of whom 20,136 died of plague. -This leaves 3524 deaths from ordinary causes. Now, if the average -mortality of the City was twenty in the thousand, we should have a -population of 176,200. If, which is more likely, the average mortality -was twenty-five in the thousand the population was 140,960. In the time -of King James, but after much devastation by the plague, the population -of London was estimated at 130,000. - -[Illustration: TOTTENHAM COURT - -By the courtesy of the late Marquis of Salisbury. - -For further particulars regarding this plan see Appendix XI.] - -It has been said that there is no street in London in which one cannot -find a church and a tree. It is indeed remarkable to observe the -large number of trees still existing and flourishing in the City of -London, especially since the City churchyards have been converted into -gardens. Of the old private gardens there are now left but few: one -in St. Helen’s Place; one behind the Rectory of St. Andrew’s by the -Wardrobe; the Drapers’ Gardens, much curtailed; and the churchyards -above mentioned, which have been converted into gardens. In the -sixteenth century, however, London was still full of gardens, in the -north part of the City much more than in the south. Every house had -its garden behind; for the most part narrow, yet carefully cultivated -and full of trees and flowers. If you take the part of London that -has been least meddled with, the north-west corner of the City, for -instance—that part bounded by London Wall on the North; by Monkwell -and Noble Streets on the West; by Gresham Street on the South; and by -Moorgate on the East—you will find that the blocks between the older -streets are intersected everywhere by courts, alleys, narrow lanes and -buildings. These were all, including the ancient churches, taken out -of the gardens. Formerly, for instance, between Basinghall Street and -Coleman Street there were very long gardens behind the houses; these -have been used for lanes of connection, and for workmen’s houses, such -as Lilypot Lane and Oat Lane. Hidden away behind the houses is Sadler’s -Hall; here also, hidden away behind houses, is Haberdashers’ Hall; here -were the courtyards of inns, which formed among the gardens convenient -ground for their great open courts and their stables. In this way the -gardens of London gradually disappeared. In the sixteenth century, -however, there were a great many still left: London presented an -appearance of greenery and waving branches wherever one turned off the -main roads. The chief authority on the gardens of the time is Harrison, -who tells us what herbs, fruits, and roots were then grown, as well as -the medicinal plants then so much cultivated. - -Harrison[6] says, speaking of the flower gardens:— - - “If you look into our gardens annexed to our houses, how - wonderfullie is their beauty increased, not onelie with floures - which Colmella calleth _Terrena sydera_, saying, ‘Pingit et in - varios terrestria sydera flores,’ and varietie of curious and - costlie workmanship, but also with rare and medicinable hearbes - sought up in the land within these fortie yeares; so that in - comparison of this present, the ancient gardens were but dunghills - and laistowes to such as did possess them. - - And even as it fareth with our gardens so dooth it with our - orchards, which were never furnished with so good fruit, nor with - such varietie as at this present. For beside that we have most - delicate apples, plummes, peares, walnuts, filberds, etc., and - those of sundrie sorts, planted within fortie yeares passed, in - comparison of which most of the old trees are nothing woorth; so - have we no less store of strange fruit, as abricotes, almonds, - peaches, figges, corne-trees in noblemen’s orchards. I have seen - capers, orenges, and lemmons, and heard of wild olives growing - here, beside other strange trees, brought from far, whose names I - know not. So that England for these commodities was never better - furnished, neither anie nation under their clime more plentifullie - indued with these and other blessings from the most high God, who - grant us grace withall to use the same to His honour and glorie! - and not as instruments and provocations unto further excesse and - vanitie, wherewith His displeasure may be kindled, least these - His benefits doo turne unto thornes and briers unto us for our - annoiance and punishment which He hath bestowed upon us for our - consolation and comfort.” - -The London garden was not only a place of recreation in the summer; -it also furnished flowers for the pretty custom of decorating the -rooms and strewing the floors; the gardens furnished pot herbs for -the kitchen and sweet herbs for the walls and floors; branches also -of fragrant woods, such as fir and pine, were hung up on the walls. I -know not if this is a common custom still maintained in America; but -in Hawthorne’s house at Concord the rooms are still decorated and made -fragrant with branches of pine such as the writer used in his lifetime. -The floor of the great hall was strewn with rushes, brought chiefly -from the upper reaches and low-lying grounds of the river. These rushes -were of various kinds: some of them were grasses, such as that called -mat-weed, of which beds were made as well as floors strewn. - -The chief authorities on the London garden are Bacon in his _Essays_, -and Gerard in his _Herbal_. Francis Bacon wrote his essays in Gray’s -Inn, whose garden he laid out and planted by request of the Benchers. -His essay on the garden was written, as he says himself, for the -climate of London. - - “And because the breath of flowers is far sweeter in the air (where - it comes and goes like the warbling of music) than in the hand, - therefore nothing is more fit for that delight than to know what - be the flowers and plants that do best perfume the air. Roses, - damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells, so that you may - walk by a whole row of them, and find nothing of their sweetness, - yea, though it be in a morning’s dew. Bays likewise yield no - smell as they grow, rosemary little, nor sweet marjoram. That - which above all others yields the sweetest smell in the air is - the violet, especially the white double violet, which comes twice - a year, about the middle of April and about Bartholomew-tide. - Next to that is the musk-rose; then the strawberry leaves dying, - which yield a most excellent cordial smell. Then the flower of the - vines; it is a little dust like the dust of a bent, which grows - upon the cluster in the first coming forth. Then sweetbriar, then - wall-flowers, which are very delightful to be set under a parlour - or lower chamber window. Then pinks and gilliflowers, especially - the matted pink and clove gilliflowers. Then the flowers of the - lime-tree. Then the honeysuckles, so they be somewhat afar off; of - bean-flowers I speak not, because they are field-flowers. But those - which perfume the air most delightfully, not passed by as the rest, - but being trodden upon and crushed, are three—that is, burnet, wild - thyme, and water-mints. Therefore you are to set whole alleys of - them, to have the pleasure when you walk or tread.” - -In Ordish’s _Shakespeare’s London_ will be found an excellent analysis -of Gerard’s _Herbal_ as it deals with the gardens of the City and its -suburbs. In it also is an enumeration of the principal gardens of the -time, especially those of the Inns of Court. To these may be added -the gardens belonging to those of the City Companies whose Halls were -in the north part of the City, and those not yet built over which had -once formed part of the monastic precincts, not to speak of the private -gardens which were in many cases—such as the house of Sir Thomas -Gresham in Broad Street—large and spacious. (_See_ Appendix VII.) - -The allusions to London and to City customs in Shakespeare are -numerous, but not, as a rule, instructive. That is to say, he speaks -of streets and places which we know from other sources. The Tower, -the Bridge, Smithfield, Fish Street, St. Magnus Corner, the Savoy, -the Tower Royal (King Richard’s Palace), Westminster Hall, Eastcheap, -Bankside, the Temple, Cheapside, London Stone, Baynard’s Castle, -Blackfriars, Paris Garden, are mentioned with the familiarity of one -who lived in the City and knew all the streets intimately. It is -pleasant to find them playing their parts in the immortal plays, but, -as I said above, they teach us nothing. - -In 1568, to escape the cruelties of Alva, a vast number of Flemings -came across the sea and were received hospitably. In order to prevent -their arrival proving an injury to the crafts of London, they were -scattered about, finding homes in Norwich, Colchester, Maidstone, -Sandwich, and Southampton, as well as in London. In the next generation -they appear to have been completely merged in the English population, -and the custom, common among persons of foreign descent, of anglicising -their names has made it very difficult to discover the Flemish origin -of a family. The earlier Flemish settlers in England were regarded with -hatred. It would seem that another colony of Flemings came over before -this immigration in the year 1568; they were settled in Suffolk. In -1594 a good many Portuguese came over as retainers to Don Antonio, and -settled here. Among them was the Balthazar who became confectioner to -King James and founded almshouses at Tottenham. There were Italians, -probably connected with the Italian trade, for the “Lombardi,” the -Pope’s men, were gone; they had a service at the Mercers’ Chapel every -Sunday. There were also a great many “Dutch,” among whom were numbered -the Flemings. Thus, in 1567, a census was taken of “foreigners” in -London. There were found to be 4851 altogether, of whom 3838 were -Dutch, and 720 French. A few years later the French Ambassador reports -that there were 13,700 strangers in London, of whom a third were going -to be turned out. - -Of the hatred and suspicion entertained towards foreigners by Londoners -we have many proofs. “They scoff and laugh at foreigners,” says the -Duke of Wurtemberg, “and, moreover, one dares not oppose them, else -the street boys and apprentices collect together in immense crowds and -strike to the right and left unmercifully without regard to person.” -Isaac Casaubon in James the First’s reign complained that he had never -been so badly treated as by the people of London: they threw stones -at his windows; they pelted his children and himself with stones. The -Venetian Ambassador of 1497 testifies to the same effect; in 1557 his -successor says that it is impossible to live in London on account of -the insolence with which foreigners are treated. - -At the same time it must be remembered that there were quarters -assigned to foreigners, and that the people must have been accustomed -to see these residents going about the streets. Perhaps they were -only insolent to foreign nobles, and those whose dress and language -were not familiar to them. The Hanse merchants had their house beside -Dowgate, Petty Almaigne; the Flemings had theirs on the east side of -the Bridge, Petty Flanders: the French had a place in Bishopsgate Ward -called Petty France. It was in Petty Flanders that certain Jews resided -under the guise of Flemings, just as in the fourteenth century they -passed themselves off as Lombards. The Flemings built the Exchange: it -was designed after the Antwerp Bourse, by a Fleming; the workmen were -specially brought over, and appear to have been unmolested. - -[Illustration: - -_W Knight del^t._ _J^s. Basire sculp._ - -INTERIOR VIEW OF QUEEN ELIZABETH’S BATH - -From _Archæologia_.] - -In February 1831 there was swept away, with all the buildings in the -place called the King’s Mews, where Trafalgar Square now is, a small -building called Queen Elizabeth’s Bath. It was a square building of -fine brick. It was certainly a Bath, and had a groined roof ascribed by -Mr. William Knight who sketched it to the fifteenth century. It was an -interesting building of which nothing seems known. Nobody has noticed -it except a writer in _Archæologia_ (vol. xxv.), who gives a plan -and drawing of the curious place. Like the Sanctuary at Westminster -it would have been entirely forgotten but for the hand of a single -antiquary, who rescued it from oblivion at the last moment. - - - - - GOVERNMENT AND TRADE OF THE CITY - - - - - CHAPTER I - - THE MAYOR - - -[Illustration: MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF THE PERIOD - -From an MS. in British Museum.] - -In the year 1500 a change of some importance was effected by Sir John -Shaw, Mayor of that year. Before his time the civic feasts had been -held at the Hall of the Grocers or the Taylors. Sir John Shaw built -kitchens and offices at the Guildhall and began the custom of holding -the Lord Mayor’s feast in that place. - -The election of Sheriffs was formerly conducted by the citizens, who, -by the Charter of King Henry IV., could appoint Sheriffs from their -own body “according to the tenor of the Charters granted by the King’s -progenitors and not in any other way” (_Liber Albus_, p. 148), and -in the first book of the same work the manner of the election of the -Sheriff is described in greater detail (_Liber Albus_, 1861 edition, p. -39):— - -“As concerning the election of Sheriffs,—the Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen, -and Commons, are to be assembled on the day of Saint Matthew the -Apostle [21 September], in such manner as is ordained on the election -of the Mayor; and in the first place, the Mayor shall choose, of his -own free will, a reputable man, free of the City, to be one of the -Sheriffs for the ensuing year; for whom he is willing to answer as -to one half of the ferm[7] of the City due to the King, if he who is -so elected by the Mayor shall prove not sufficient. But if the Mayor -elect him by counsel and with the assent of the Aldermen, they also -ought to be answerable with him. And those who are elected for the -Common Council, themselves, and the others summoned by the Mayor for -this purpose, as before declared, shall choose another Sheriff, for the -commonalty; for whom all the commonalty is bound to be answerable as to -the other half of the ferm so due to the King, in case he shall prove -not sufficient.” - -The custom is illustrated by the following story concerning the -election of William Massam as Sheriff by Sir Edward Osborne, the Mayor:— - -“In this year, one day in the month of July, there were two great -feasts at London, one at Grocers’ Hall, another at Haberdashers’ Hall -(as perhaps there was in all the rest upon some public occasion). Sir -Edward Osborne, Mayor, and divers of his brethren the Aldermen, with -the Recorder, were at Haberdashers’ Hall, where the said Mayor, after -the second course was come in, toke the great standing cup, the gift -of Sir William Garret, being full of hypocrase; and silence being -commanded through all the tables, all men being bare-headed, my Lord -openly with a convenient loud voice, used these words:—‘Mr. Recorder -of London, and you my good brethren the Aldermen, bear witness, that I -do drink unto Mr. Alderman Massam, as Sheriff of London and Middlesex, -from Michaelmas next coming, for one whole year; and I do beseech God -to give him as quiet and peaceable a year, with as good and gracious -favour of her Majesty, as I myself, and my brethren the Sheriffs now -being, have hitherto had, and as I trust shall have.’ This spoken, all -men desired the same. - -The Sword-bearer in haste went to the Grocers’ feast, where Mr. -Alderman Massam was at dinner, and did openly declare the words that my -Lord Mayor had used; whereunto silence made, and all being hush, the -Alderman answered very modestly in this sort:— - -‘First, I thank God, who, through His great goodness, hath called me -from a very poor and mean degree unto this worshipful state. Secondly, -I thank her Majesty for her gracious goodness in allowing to us these -great and ample franchises. And, thirdly, I thank my Lord Mayor for -having so honourable an opinion of this my Company of Grocers, so as -to make choice of me, being a poor Member of the same.’ And this said, -both he and all the Company pledged my Lord, and gave him thanks.” - -The Lord Mayor’s Show in the sixteenth century, conducted partly on -horseback, and partly by water, was a far finer pageant than any -that our generation has been enabled to witness. The following is a -contemporary account:— - -“The day of St. Simon and Jude, he (the Mayor) entrethe into his -estate and offyce; and the next daie following he goeth by water to -Westmynster in most tryumphlyke maner. His barge beinge garnished with -the armes of the citie; and nere the sayd barge goeth a shyppbote of -the Queenes Majestie, beinge trymed upp, and rigged lyke a shippe of -warre, with dyvers peces of ordinance, standards, penons, and targetts -of the proper armes of the sayd Mayor, the armes of the Citie, of his -company; and of the merchaunts adventurers, or of the staple, or of -the company of the newe trades; next before hym goeth the barge of -the lyvery of his owne company, decked with their owne proper armes, -then the bachelers’ barge, and soo all the companies in London, in -order, every one havinge their owne proper barge garnished with the -armes of their company. And so passinge alonge the Thamise, landeth at -Westmynster, where he taketh his othe in Thexcheker, beffore the judge -there (whiche is one of the chiefe judges of England), whiche done, he -returneth by water as afforsayd, and landeth at powles wharfe, where -he and the reste of the Aldermen take their horses, and in great pompe -passe through the greate streete of the citie, called Cheapside. And -fyrste of all cometh ij great estandarts, one havinge the armes of -the citie, and the other the armes of the Mayor’s Company; next them -ij drommes and a flute, then an ensigne of the citie, and then about -IXX or IXXX poore men marchinge ij and two togeather in blewe gownes, -with redd sleeves and capps, every one bearinge a pyke and a target, -whereon is paynted the armes of all them that have byn Mayor of the -same company that this newe mayor is of. Then ij banners, one of the -kynges armes, the other of the Mayor’s owne proper armes. Then a sett -of hautboits playinge, and after them certayne wyfflers, in velvett -cotes, and chaynes of golde, with white staves in their handes, then -the pageant of tryumphe rychly decked, whereuppon by certayne fygures -and wrytinges, some matter touchinge justice, and the office of a -maiestrate is represented. Then xvj trompeters, viij and viij in a -company, havinge banners of the Mayor’s company. Then certayne wyfflers -in velvet cotes and chaynes, with white staves as afordsayde. Then the -bachelers ij and two together, in longe gownen, with crymson hoodes -on their shoulders of sattyn; which bachelers are chosen every yeare -of the same company that the Mayor is of (but not of the lyvery) and -serve as gentlemen on that and other festivall daies, to wayte on the -Mayor, beinge in nomber accordinge to the quantetie of the company, -sometimes sixty or one hundred. After them xij trompeters more, with -banners of the Mayor’s company, then the dromme and flute of the citie, -and an ensigne of the Mayor’s company, and after, the waytes of the -citie in blewe gownes, redd sleeves and cappes, every one havinge his -silver coller about his neck. Then they of the liverey in their longe -gownes, every one havinge his hood on his lefte shoulder, halfe black -and halfe redd, the nomber of them is accordinge to the greatnes of the -companye whereof they are. After them followe Sheriffes officers, and -then the Mayor’s officers, with other officers of the citie, as the -comon sargent, and the chamberlayne; next before the Mayore goeth the -sword-bearer, having on his headd the cappe of honor, and the sworde of -the citie in his right hande, in a riche skabarde, sett with pearle, -and on his left hand goeth the comon cryer of the citie, with his great -mace on his shoulder, all gilt. The Mayor elect in a long gowne of -skarlet, and on his lefte shoulder a hood of black velvet, and a riche -coller of gold of SS. about his neck, and with him rydeth the olde -Mayor also, in his skarlet gowne, hood of velvet, and a chayne of golde -about his neck. Then all the Aldermen ij and ij together (amongst whom -is the Recorder) all in skarlet gownes; and those that have byn Mayors, -have chaynes of gold, the other have black velvett tippetts. The ij -Shereffes come last of all, in their black skarlet fownes and chaynes -of golde. - -In this order they passe alonge through the citie, to the Guyldhall, -where they dyne that daie, to the number of 1000 persons, all at -the charge of the Mayor and the ij Shereffes. This feast costeth -£400, whereof the Mayor payeth £200 and eche of the Shereffes £100. -Immediately after dyner, they go to the churche of St. Paule, every -one of the aforesaid poore men bearrynge staffe torches and targetts, -whiche torches are lighted when it is late, before they come from -evenynge prayer.” (Drake, _Shakespeare and his Times_, vol. ii. p. 164.) - -The very pretty story of Edward Osborne and the rescue of his master’s -daughter is narrated by Maitland as belonging to the year 1559, but the -date does not matter. - -Sir William Hewitt, citizen and clothworker, Mayor in 1559, lived -on London Bridge. He was himself the son of a country gentleman of -Yorkshire; he had for apprentice one Edward Osborne, also son of a -country gentleman, Richard Osborne, of Ashford, Kent. Hewitt had three -sons and one daughter. It happened one day, the child being yet an -infant, that the maid playing with her at the open window let her -fall out of the window into the river below. The ’prentice Osborne, -fortunately seeing the accident, boldly jumped into the river and -saved the child. Years after, when the child was grown up, Hewitt, one -of the richest of London merchants, refused to give her in marriage to -the Earl of Shrewsbury and other noble suitors, but gave her to the man -who had saved her life. Sir Edward Osborne, as he afterwards became, -Mayor in 1583, was the ancestor of the Dukes of Leeds. - -[Illustration: LONDON BRIDGE - -From Visscher’s _Panorama of London_.] - -Until recently it was customary for the Lord Mayor to go on Sundays in -state to one or other of the City churches. - -On these occasions the Lord Mayor was accompanied by the sheriffs and -officials of the Corporation, and escorted by the mace-bearer and -sword-bearer, the latter wearing the cap of maintenance, and carrying -the state sword. It was usual for the Alderman of the Ward to be -present with any other alderman that pleased to come, and as many as -came brought with them their ward beadles, carrying the ward maces. - -Towards the latter part of the sixteenth century the practice of -carrying the sword into church before the Lord Mayor became customary. -It is not clear when this practice first began, but after the Fire of -London and the rebuilding of the City it became the universal custom, -and so continued until a comparatively recent period, when the exodus -of the citizens made it not only inconvenient but an absolute tax upon -the officers of the Corporation if the Lord Mayor attended church in -state with his sword borne before him. - -But for the time that it lasted, that is rather more than two -centuries, it necessitated the introduction into the City churches -of a convenient stand or case upon which the City sword was placed. -The State visits of the Lord Mayor having been discontinued in -the mayoralty of Sir Robert Fowler, the consequence is that the -sword-stands have ceased to have any use. Those stands which had -artistic merit will no doubt be preserved. - -It may be taken as certain that these sword-cases or stands were not -in use before the reign of Queen Elizabeth. There were many schedules -of ecclesiastical furniture in existence prior to that date, but in -none of them is there any mention of such an article as a sword-case, -or sheath, or stand, although the list of articles is most minute. The -earliest mention is in the Account Books of St. Michael’s, Cornhill, -published by Mr. Alfred I. Waterlow. - -Under date 1574, that is, in the sixteenth year of Queen Elizabeth’s -reign, there is the following entry:— - -“Paid for guylding of the case for my Lord Mayor’s swearde ... 9s.” - -Hawes was a resident in the parish, and was Lord Mayor in the year -1574–1575. He had had a new pew made for him just outside the chancel -screen a year or two before, on his being appointed Alderman of -Cornhill Ward, and the pew was further fitted with a gilded sword-case -on his being made Lord Mayor. - -The worthy Machyn has a note on a Civic hunting which reads pleasantly:— - - “The xviij day of September my lord mare and my masters the - althermen and mony worshephull men, and dyvers of the masturs and - wardens of the xij compenys, rod to the condutt hedes for to se - them, after the old coustum; and a fore dener they hundyd and hare - and kyllyd, and so to dener to the hed of the condyth, for ther was - a nombur, and had good chere of the chamburlayn; and after dener - to hontyng of the fox, and ther was a goodly cry for a mylle, and - after the hondys kyllyd the fox at the end of sant Gylles and theyr - was a grett cry at the deth, and blohyng of hornes; and so rod - thrugh London, my lord mare Harper with all ys compene home to ys - owne plase in Lumberd Street.” - - - - - CHAPTER II - - TRADE - - -The Tudor period begins with the lowest point reached in town and -country of a decline and decay that had been steadily persistent for -nearly two hundred years. The prosperity of a trading city depends upon -the prosperity of its markets. There were many causes for this decay. -The famines, of which there were four, in the fourteenth and fifteenth -centuries; the Hundred Years’ War; the Civil Wars; the weakness of -the fleet and the piracies in the Channel; the growth of the power of -Parliament and the consequent decay of local independence; the feeble -government of Edward II. and Henry VI.; the fearful devastation of the -Black Death; the changes in the manorial system;—all these things -together contributed to the decay of trade over the whole country. To -quote a writer on the fifteenth century. Denton, in his _England in -the Fifteenth Century_, says that the decay of England commenced soon -after the death of Edward I. It continued, showing an increased rate of -decay, after the death of Edward II. - -[Illustration: SOUTH VIEW OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE IN THE REIGN OF -ELIZABETH. BURNT IN THE GREAT FIRE, 1666 - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -The country parishes everywhere, on the northern and the Welsh march, -on the southern seaboard, and in the Eastern Counties, had to be -exempted from payment of taxes on account of poverty; lands were -untilled; there was loss of sheep and cattle; agriculture was at a -standstill for fear of pirates. Or the country parishes were actually -deserted: the people, ruined, had left the farms and the clearings; the -churches were allowed to fall into ruin; Monastic Houses were desolate -and empty because the Brethren had no longer any rents. - -In the towns there were open spaces within the walls where houses had -once stood. One has only to visit King’s Lynn in Winchelsea for an -example of this decay. - -Even in London, it has been observed, for more than a hundred years -after the Rebellion of Jack Straw there stood in Fleet Street the -blackened ruins of two forges which that rebel’s followers had burned. -In all that time there was not found any who thought it worth while to -rebuild the forge. - -In London during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, although the -time was one of commercial decline, there were still rich merchants. -It is in a time of decay that the merchants make complaints of aliens; -that they clamour for protection; that they demand the import and -the export of merchandise in English ships; that they would prohibit -the sending of gold and silver out of the country; let the foreign -merchants be paid in kind. - -The melancholy condition of the country at the beginning of the -sixteenth century is described most vividly by Cunningham:— - -“There is less mention made of decay in the first thirty years of the -sixteenth century; but the facts were again brought forcibly forward -when the Parliament of Henry VIII. began to put pressure on the -owners of houses to repair their property and to remove the rubbish -that endangered life in the towns. Norwich had never recovered from -the fire of 1508; the empty spaces at Lynn Bishop allowed the sea to -do damage in other parts of the town. Many houses were ruined and -the streets were dangerous for traffic in Nottingham, Shrewsbury, -Ludlow, Bridgenorth, Queenborough, Northampton and Gloucester; there -were vacant spaces heaped with filth, and tottering houses in York, -Lincoln, Canterbury, Coventry, Bath, Chichester, Salisbury, Winchester, -Bristol, Scarborough, Hereford, Colchester, Rochester, Portsmouth, -Poole, Lyme, Feversham, Worcester, Stafford, Buckingham, Pontefract, -Grantham, Exeter, Ipswich, Southampton, Great Yarmouth, Oxford, Great -Wycombe, Guildford, Stratford, Hull, Newcastle, Bedford, Leicester -and Berwick; as well as in Shaston, Sherborne, Bridport, Dorchester, -Weymouth, Plymouth, Barnstaple, Tavistock, Dartmouth, Launceston, -Lostwithiel, Liskeard, Bodmin, Truro, Helston, Bridgewater, Taunton, -Somerton, Ilchester, Maldon and Warwick. There were similar dangers to -the inhabitants of Great Grimsby, Cambridge, the Cinque Ports, Lewes; -and even in the more remote provinces things were as bad, for Chester, -Tenby, Haverfordwest, Pembroke, Caermarthen, Montgomery, Cardiff, -Swansea, Cowbridge, New Radnor, Presteign, Brecknock, Abergavenny, -Usk, Caerlon, Newport in Monmouthshire, Lancaster, Preston, Liverpool -and Wigan, were taken in hand in 1544. In trying to interpret this -evidence, however, we must remember that we are reading of attempts -to repair, not of complaints of new decline; the mere fact that such -attempts were made was perhaps an indication that things had reached -their worst; and we are perhaps justified in inferring from the double -mention of some few towns that a real improvement was effected in the -others.” (_The Growth of English Industry._) - -There is thus abundant evidence concerning the decay of trade. -Cunningham speaks of the decay of the craft gilds and their -mismanagement. This may be considered a part of the general decay and -a consequence. At first, the craft gilds exercised police control over -their members and so secured good order; the old authority and power -of the alderman in his ward had been practically taken over by the -gilds; each master had his apprentices living with him and forming part -of his own household. Yet the apprentices made the riot in 1517 long -remembered as Evil May Day. Another of their objects was the production -of honest and good work. Yet in 1437 and again in 1503 it was enacted -that no ruler of gilds or fraternities should make any ordinances which -were not approved by the Chancellor of the Justices of Assize. The -third object was the securing of fair conditions for those who worked -in the trade. Yet consider the grievances of the journeymen in 1536:— - -“Previous Acts relating to craft abuses are recited and the statute -proceeds: ‘Sithen which several acts established and made, divers -masters, wardens and fellowships of crafts, have by cautel and subtle -means practised and compassed to defraud and delude the said good and -wholesome statutes, causing divers apprentices or young men immediately -after their years be expired, or that they be made free of their -occupation or fellowship, to be sworn upon their holy Evangelist at -their first entry, that they nor any of them after their years or term -expired shall not set up, nor open any shop, house, nor cellar, nor -occupy as freeman without the assent and license of the master, wardens -or fellowship of their occupations, upon pain of forfeiting their -freedom or other like penalty; by reason whereof the said ’prentices -and journeymen be put to as much or more charges thereby than they -beforetime were put unto for the obtaining and entering of their -freedom, to the great hurt and impoverishment of the said ’prentices -and journeymen and other their friends.’ Such restrictions naturally -resulted in the withdrawal of the journeymen to set up shops in suburbs -or villages where the gild had no jurisdiction; and from this they were -not precluded, in all probability, by the terms of their oath. This -might often be their only chance of getting employment, as the masters -were apparently inclined to overstock their shops with apprentices, -rather than be at the expense of retaining a full proportion of -journeymen.” (_The Growth of English Industry._) - -[Illustration: - - 1. The Palace of Westminster. - 2. St. Stephen’s Chapel. - 3. Westminster Hall. - 4. Westminster Abbey. - 5. Old Palace Yard. - 6. The Clock Tower. - 7. The Gate House. - 8. St. Margaret’s Church. - 9. The King’s Stairs. - 10. Star Chamber. - 11. Lambeth Palace. - 12. Stangate Horse Ferry. - 13. St. James’s Hospital. - 14. St. James’s. - 15. Whitehall. - 16. Holbein’s Gate. - 17. Scotland Yard. - 18. Charing Cross. - 19. King’s Mews. - 20. St. Martin’s Church. - 21. St. Mary’s Hospital. - 22. St. Giles’s Church. - 23. Convent Garden. - 24. The Strand. - 25. York House. - 26. Durham House. - 27. Savoy Palace. - 28. Somerset Place. - 29. St. Mary le Strand. - 30. St. Clement Dane. - 31. Lincoln’s Inn. - 32. Lincoln’s Inn Fields. - 33. Gray’s Inn. - 34. Ely House. - 35. Fetter Lane. - 36. Rolls Place. - 37. St. Dunstan’s Church. - 38. The Temple Church. - 39. The Temple. - 40. Fleet Street. - 41. Grey Friars. - 42. Palace of Bridewell. - 43. St. Bride’s. - 44. St. Andrew’s Church. - 45. St. Sepulchre’s Church. - 46. Fleet Ditch. - 47. St. John’s Hospital. - 48. Smithfield. - 49. St. James’s, Clerkenwell. - 50. Newgate. - 51. Ludgate. - 52. Blackfriars. - 53. The Wardrobe. - 54. Baynard Castle. - 55. St. Paul’s Cathedral. - 56. St. Paul’s Cross. - 57. St. Bartholomew’s the Great. - 58. Grey Friars. - 59. Queen Hythe. - 60. The Standard. - 61. Rochester House. - 62. The Stews. - 63. Bank Side. - -From the Panorama of “London, Westminster, and Southwark, in 1543.” By -Anthony Van den Vyngaerde. (Sutherland Collection, Bodleian Library. -Oxford.) _For continuation see pp. 234 and 350._ _pp. 219, 219._ ] - -In 1545 Henry VIII. ordained the confiscation of the property of all -colleges, fraternities, brotherhoods and gilds. This measure, sweeping -in its terms, was not generally carried out. In 1547 the advisers -of Edward VI. swept away all the craft gilds in England except the -Companies of London and a few gilds in country towns. The statute -provided that artisans might work where they pleased whether they were -free of the town or not. - -Trade, therefore, had entered upon new conditions; this was inevitable, -owing to the many changes—the revolutionary changes which created so -wide a gulf between the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries. - -With these preliminaries we can now proceed to the revival and -expansion of trade and the development of enterprise in the sixteenth -century, but more especially during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. - -The endowment of the City with a Bourse is generally attributed to -the perception by Sir Thomas Gresham of the need for such a place -of meeting,[8] though the matter had been mooted and the opinion of -merchants taken thirty years before. - -In the year 1537, Sir Richard Gresham, the father of Sir Thomas -Gresham, whose business had taken him to Antwerp, when he saw the -Bourse frequented daily by merchants, wrote a letter to Cromwell in -which he suggested the erection of a Bourse in Lombard Street, as the -place most frequented by merchants. As nothing came of the proposal -he wrote again in the following year with an estimate of the cost, -viz. £2000. If, he said, the Lord Privy Seal would induce Alderman Sir -George Monoux to part with certain property at cost price he, Gresham, -would undertake to raise £1000 towards the building before he went out -of office. Whereupon the King addressed a letter to Monoux desiring -him to dispose of certain property in Lombard Street, which was wanted -for the commonweal of the merchants. Monoux, with Gresham’s consent, -referred the matter to arbitration. A yearly sum of twenty marks to be -paid by the City was offered. Monoux at first refused to take it, but -afterwards, at the King’s request, consented. Then, for some unknown -reason, nothing more was done. The matter was left over for many years. - -At this time Thomas Gresham (son of Sir Richard by his first wife, -Audrey, daughter of William Lynne of Southwick, Northampton) was -nineteen years of age, and still serving his apprenticeship to his -uncle, Sir John Gresham, Mercer. He was received into the Company in -1543. In the same year he was acting for the King at Antwerp. In 1551 -he was appointed Royal Agent or King’s merchant, which caused him to -reside at Antwerp during many months, and at frequent intervals. On -the accession of Mary he was dismissed, but his services were speedily -discovered to be necessary, and he was reappointed. Elizabeth continued -his appointment. - -In 1561 his factor, Richard Clough, wrote to him from Antwerp -expressing his astonishment that London should have gone on so long -without a Bourse:— - -“Considering what a City London is; and that in so many years the same -found not the means to make a Burse, but merchants must be contented -to stand and walk in the rain, more like pedlars than Merchants. In -this Country, said he (meaning Antwerp), and in all other, there is -no kind of people that have occasion to meet but ye have a place for -that purpose; indeed and if your business were done (here) and that I -might have the leisure to go about it, and that I would be a means to -Mr. Secretary to have his favour therein, I would not doubt but to make -so fair a burse in London as the great burse is in Antwerp, without -soliciting of any Man more than he shall be well disposed to give.” - -Gresham remembered the attempt made by his father in 1538 and its -failure; he resolved to take up the matter again, and in some way -introduced it to the Court of Aldermen, who asked him, through one of -their body, what he proposed to give himself towards the undertaking. -This was in 1563, two years after Clough wrote his letter. Gresham took -time to consider. In 1565 he sent in the offer. He would himself erect -a “comely burse” if the City would provide a suitable site. - -The site was found on the north side of Cornhill. Two alleys, Swan -Alley and New St. Christopher’s, were purchased for £3532: the -materials of the houses sold for £478. Subscriptions were invited and -came in readily. On the 7th of June 1566 Sir Thomas was able to lay the -foundation stone. Every one of the aldermen laid his stone or brick, -with a piece of gold for the workmen. - -The architect and the design came from Flanders. The Clerk of the Work, -Henryk, was a Fleming, and most of the workmen were foreigners, special -permission being granted for their employment. The City gave 100,000 -bricks; the stone-work came from abroad, and “to this day” (Sharpe) -“the Royal Exchange is paved with small blocks of Turkish hone-stones, -believed to have been imported by Sir Thomas Gresham and to have been -relaid after the fires of 1666 and 1838.” - -Observe, therefore, that to the City belonged the site, but that the -Exchange itself was the property of Gresham. - -By the 22nd of December 1568 the Burse was so far complete as to -allow of merchants meeting within its walls; but it was not till the -23rd of January 1571 that the Queen herself visited it in state, and -gave it the name of the Royal Exchange. From the beginning a part of -the Exchange was set aside for Marine Insurance, not a new thing, -because it had long been the practice of the Lombard merchants in the -thirteenth century to give such insurances. - -The Royal Exchange became a place of recreation as well as of business. -The citizens walked here on the evenings of Sundays and Holy days, -where the City waits played from 7 P.M. till 8 P.M. up to the Feast of -Pentecost, then they played from 8 P.M. till 9 P.M. until Michaelmas. -In 1576 it was ordered that no games of football should be played -within the Royal Exchange. - -[Illustration: SIR THOMAS GRESHAM (1519(?)-1579)] - -The Exchange remained the property of Sir Thomas Gresham until his -death, when he bequeathed the building together with his mansion in -Broad Street, after the death of his wife, on certain conditions, to -the City and the Mercers’ Company in trust, viz.:— - -“The Citizens, for their Moiety of the said Edifice, are from Time -to Time to appoint four Persons duly qualified to read Lectures of -Divinity, Astronomy, Musick, and Geometry, in his Mansion-house -[afterwards Gresham College], and to pay annually to each of the said -Lecturers a Salary or Stipend of fifty Pounds. And also to pay yearly -to his eight Alms-People in _Broad-Street_ (whom the Mayor and Citizens -have likewise the Power of chusing) the sum of six Pounds thirteen -Shillings and four Pence each. And besides, to pay annually to the -Prisons of _Newgate_, _Ludgate_, _Kings-Bench_, _Marshalsey_, and -_Wood-Street Compter_, the Sum of ten Pounds each. - -And the Mercers, for their Half, are, from Time to Time, to chuse -three persons well accomplished, to read Lectures of Law, Physick, and -Rhetorick, in the aforesaid Mansion-House called _Gresham-College_, -with the same salaries to each of the Lecturers as to the -above-mentioned. The said Company of Mercers are likewise obliged -to pay the sum of one hundred Pounds per Ann. for four quarterly -Dinners to be provided at their Hall, for the Entertainment of the -whole Company; and also to pay to _Christ’s_, _St. Bartholomews_, the -_Spital_, _Bethlehem_, and _St. Thomas’s_ Hospitals, and the _Poultry -Compter_, the Sum of ten Pounds per Ann. each.” (Maitland, vol. i. pp. -256–257.) - -The reversion fell in on the death of Lady Gresham in 1596, when the -City and the Company took steps to carry out the Trust. Gresham House -became Gresham College, and so continued until the year 1767, when the -Crown took over the building for an Excise office, giving the City £500 -a year perpetual annuity. For some time the lectures ceased; when they -were renewed they were delivered in the City of London School until the -building of the present Gresham College in Basinghall Street. - -We have become accustomed to consider the enterprise and restless -spirit of adventure which makes the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries -so full of interest, as finding their sole field in the New World -and in voyages such as those of Drake and Cavendish; and in heroes -such as Frobisher, Gilbert, and Raleigh. We forget the expeditions of -Willoughby and Burroughs to find a north-east passage; the courage of -Chancellor, who opened up trade with Russia; the travels of Jenkinson, -who first crossed Russia and sailed over the Caspian Sea; the brave -Captains of the Levant Company, who fought their way through the -Barbary corsairs and the galleys of Spain; those faithful servants -of the same Company, Newbery, Fitch, and Leedes, who discovered the -long-forgotten overland route to India; the voyages of the first ships -of the East India Company in seas unknown, among a people strange and -suspicious; the persistent attempts to open up the African trade; we -have forgotten—if we ever learned—how, all over the world, along the -shores of the Baltic, in Arctic seas, round the Cape of Good Hope, in -the Far East, in North-West America and in the West Indies, the sails -of England carried the gallant adventurers whose very numbers make -their names difficult to be remembered; across the unknown plains of -Russia, across the Great Syrian desert, unvisited by Christians since -the days of Bohemond and Baldwin, down the Great River, even the river -Euphrates; in the Courts of the Great Mogul, in Malay land, among the -Red Indians of North America,—everywhere, visible to all, were found -the men of the Western Queen, as great a name to the Czar of Muscovy as -to Philip of Spain. - -[Illustration: _Christ’s Hospital._] - -In Hakluyt may be found written by Anthony Jenkinson, one of the most -determined and most daring of the trading travellers of this time, -a list of the countries which he had visited in six years. It is as -follows:— - - “The names of such countries as I Anthony Jenkinson have travelled - unto, from the second of October 1546, at which time I made my - first voyage out of England, untill the yeere of our Lord 1572, - when I returned last out of Russia. - - First, I passed into Flanders, and travelled through all the base - countries, and from thence from Germanie, passing over the Alpes - I travelled into Italy, and from thence made my journey through - Piemont into France, throughout all which realme I have thoroughly - journied. - - I have also travelled through the kingdomes of Spaine and - Portingal, I have sailed through the Levant seas every way, and - have bene in all the chiefe Islands within the same sea, as Rhodes, - Malta, Sicilia, Cyprus, Candie, and divers others. - - I have bene in many partes of Grecia, Morea, Achaia, and where the - olde citie of Corinth stoode. - - I have travelled through a great part of Turkie, Syria, and divers - other countries in Asia minor. - - I have passed over the mountaines of Libanus to Damasco, and - travelled through Samaria, Galile, Philistine or Palestine, unto - Jerusalem and so through all the Holy land. - - I have been in divers places of Affrica, as Algiers, Col, Bon, - Tripolis, the gollet within the Gulf of Tunis. - - I have sailed farre Northward within the Mare glaciale, where - we have had continuall day; and sight of the Sunne ten weekes - together, and that navigation was in Norway, Lapland, Samogitia; - and other very strange places. - - I have travelled through all the ample dominions of the Emperour - of Russia and Moscovis, which extende from the North sea, and the - confines of Norway and Lapland, even to the Mare Caspium. - - I have bene in divers countries neere about the Caspian sea, - Gentiles, and Mahometans, as Cazan, Cremia, Rezan, Cheremisi, - Mordouiti, Vachin, Nagaia, with divers others of strange customs - and religions. - - I have sailed over the Caspian Sea, and discovered all the regions - thereabout adjacent, as Chircassi, Comul, Shascal, Shiruan, with - many others. - - I have travelled 40 daies journey beyond the said sea, towards - the Oriental India and Cathaia, through divers deserts and - wildernesses, and passed through 5 kingdomes of the Tartars, and - all the land of Turkeman and Zagatay, and so to the great city of - Boghar in Bactria, not without great perils and dangers sundry - times. - - After all this, in An. 1562 I passed againe over the Caspian sea - another way, and landed in Armenia, at a citie called Derbent, - built by Alexander the Great, and from thence travelled through - Media, Parthia, Hircania, into Persia to the court of the great - Sophie, called Shaw Tomasso, unto whom I delivered letters from the - Queenes Majestie, and remained in his court 8 months, and returning - homeward, passed through divers other countries. Finally, I made - two voyages more after that out of England into Russia, the one in - the yeere 1566, and the other in the yeere 1571. And thus being - weary and growing old, I am content to take my seat in mine owne - house, chiefly comforting myselfe, in that my service hath bene - honourably accepted and rewarded of her majestie and the rest by - whom I have beene employed.” - -And now it was that stories of danger from frost and from storm; of -cruelties endured at the hands of savages, and pirates; of captivity -among Moors; of tortures inflicted by the accursed Inquisition; of -hairbreadth escapes; of wanderings over lands never before seen; of -great treasures lying ready for the bold adventurer,—ran up and down -the City. The ’prentice told what he had heard to fellow ’prentice; the -sailors told the boys upon the wharves; the ship after her successful -voyage came up to the Pool with cloth of gold for sails and dressed -with flying streamers. Above all, the imagination of the youth was -fired more by the splendid stones of danger and of battle and of escape -from captivity than by the prospect of great riches. Do you know how -John Fox escaped from Alexandria? For my own part I do not know any -story better told or more certain to inspire the lads who heard it with -a burning desire to be with such a company and to be doing such things. -It is from Hakluyt (ii. 133), and I venture to relate it here and in -his own words, to show the kind of story which quickened the pulse and -fired the blood of the London youth. - - “Nowe these eight being armed with such weapons as they thought - well of, thinking themselves sufficient champions to encounter - a stronger enemie, and comming unto the prison, Fox opened the - gates and doores thereof, and called forth all the prisoners, whom - he set, some to ramming up the gate, some to the dressing up of - a certaine gallie, which was the best in all the roade, and was - called the captaine of Alexandria, whereinto some carried mastes, - sailes, oares, and other such furniture as doth belong unto a - gallie. - - At the prison were certaine warders, whom John Fox and his - companie slew; in the killing of whom, there were eight more of - the Turks, which perceived them, and got them to the toppe of the - prison; unto whom John Fox, and his company, were faine to come by - ladders, where they found a hot skirmish. For some of them were - there slaine, some wounded, and some but scarred, and not hurt. - As John Fox was thrise shot through his appareil, and not hurt, - Peter Unticaro, and the other two, that had armed them with the - duckats, were slaine, as not able to weild themselves, being so - pestered with the weight and uneasie carying of the wicked and - prophane treasure; and also divers Christians were as well hurt - about that skirmish as Turkes slaine. Amongst the Turkes was one - thrust thorowe, who (let us not say that it was ill fortune) fell - off from the toppe of the prison wall, and made such a lowing, that - the inhabitants thereabout (as here and there scattering stoode a - house or two) came and dawed him, so that they understood the case, - how that the prisoners were paying their ransomes; wherewith they - raised both Alexandria which lay on the west side of the roade, and - a Castle which was at the Cities end, next to the roade, and also - an other Fortresse which lay on the north side of the roade; so - that nowe they had no way to escape, but one, which by man’s reason - (the two holdes lying so upon the mouth of the roade) might seeme - impossible to be a way for them. So was the read sea impossible - for the Israelites to passe through, the hils and rockes lay so - on the one side, and their enemies compassed them on the other. - So was it impossible that the wals of Jericho should fall downe, - being neither undermined, nor yet rammed at with engines, nor yet - any man’s wisdome, pollicie, or helpe set or put thereunto. Such - impossibilities can our God make possible. He that helde the Lyons - jawes from rending Daniel asunder, yea, or yet from once touching - him to his hurt; can not He hold the roring canons of this hellish - force? He that kept the fiers rage in the hot burning oven, from - the three children, that praised His name, can not He keepe the - fiers flaming blastes from among His elect? - - Now is the roade fraught with lustie souldiers, laborers, and - mariners, who are faine to stand to their tackling, in setting - to every man his hand, some to the carying in of victuals, some - munitions, some oares, and some one thing, some another, but most - are keeping their enemie from the wall of the road. But to be - short, there was no time mispent, no man idle, nor any man’s labour - ill bestowed, or in vaine. So that in short time, this gally was - ready trimmed up. Whereinto every man leaped in all haste, hoyssing - up the sayles lustily, yeelding themselves to His mercie and grace, - in whose hands are both winde and weather. - - Now is this gally on flote, and out of the safetie of the roade; - now have the two Castles full power upon the gally, now is there - no remedy but to sinke; how can it be avoided? the Canons let flie - from both sides, and the gally is even in the middest, and betweene - them both. What man can devise to save it? there is no man, but - would thinke it must needs be sunke. - - There was not one of them that feared the shotts, which went - thundring round about their eares, nor yet were once scarred or - touched, with five and forty shot, which came from the Castles. - Here did God hold foorth His buckler, He shieldeth now this gally, - and hath tried their faith to the uttermost. Now commeth His - speciall helpe; yea, even when man thinks them past all helpe, then - commeth He Himselfe downe from heaven with His mightie power, then - is His present remedie most readie prest. For they saile away, - being not once touched with the glaunce of a shot, and are quickly - out of the Turkish canons reach. Then might they see them comming - downe by heapes to the water side, in companies like unto swarmes - of bees, making shew to come after them with gallies, in bustling - themselves to dresse up the gallies, which would be a swift peece - of worke for them to doe, for that they had neither oares, mastes, - sailes, gables, nor anything else ready in any gally. But yet they - are carying them unto them, some into one gally, and some into - another, so that, being such a confusion amongst them, without any - certaine guide, it were a thing impossible to overtake them; beside - that, there was no man that would take charge of a gally, the - weather was so rough, and there was such an amasedness [amazedness] - amongst them.” - -[Illustration: SIR FRANCIS DRAKE (1540(?)-1596) - -From an engraving by Elstracke in the British Museum.] - -The effect on London of the magnificent expeditions of the English was -startling. Think what these things meant. The country for a long time -could look back upon nothing but defeat, humiliation, civil war, and -religious dissensions. There were no military achievements, no naval -victories; no increase of trade; never was the nation more depressed -and humbled than at the death of Queen Mary and the accession of -Elizabeth. - -[Illustration: DRAKE’S “GOLDEN HIND,” IN WHICH HE SAILED ROUND THE -WORLD, 1577–1580] - -Then—almost suddenly—all was changed. More than the old spirit came -back to the Londoners, the descendants of the men who had followed -Philpot the Mayor to the destruction of the Scottish pirate. Not only -the sea dogs of Devon, but those of Wapping, Ratcliffe, Redriff, and -the Cinque Ports went forth to fight the Spaniard wherever they could -find him. Think of the career of Frobisher. Three times he essayed -the north-west passage to Cathay; he commanded one of Drake’s ships -in his expedition to the West Indies; he fought against the Armada; -he was wounded, and died from wounds received at the siege of Crozan -in Brittany. Forty years on the sea, sword in hand, sailed this brave -captain. London possesses his body, which lies in St. Giles’s Church, -Cripplegate. There was also Cavendish, the gentleman filibuster, who -captured the richest prize ever known, and came home, his sails of -damask, his sailors clad in silk, and his masts gleaming with cloth -of gold. Or there was the defeat, the flight after battle against -overwhelming odds, which affected the imagination even more than -victory. Such was Sir John Hawkins’s fight at San Juan de Ulloa, five -ships against thirteen. Even death, when death came splendidly, moved -the hearts of the young men to brave deeds. Was there ever death finer -than that of Sir Humphrey Gilbert? The last time he was seen by the -people on the other ship, his companion, he was sitting on the high -poop, his Bible in his hand. “We are as near to Heaven,” said the old -captain, “by sea as by land.” Night fell and the men on the _Hind_ -saw the light of the _Squirrel_ suddenly disappear. She had gone down -with all on board. And while speaking of splendid deaths, there was -that of Sir Richard Grenville. In his ship the _Revenge_, with five -other vessels, he was met by a Spanish fleet of fifty-three ships; his -companions fled, and the _Revenge_ alone fought them all:— - - “And the sun went down, and the stars came out, far over the summer - sea, - But never a moment ceased the fight of the one and the fifty-three. - Ship after ship, the whole night long, their high-built galleons - came, - Ship after ship, the whole night long, with her battle-thunder and - flame: - Ship after ship, the whole night long, drew back with her dead and - her shame. - For some were sunk and many were shatter’d, and so could fight us - no more— - God of battles, was ever a battle like this in the world before?” - -But at length he was captured with his crippled ship and his diminished -crew. - - “But he rose upon their decks, and he cried: - ‘I have fought for Queen and Faith, like a valiant man and true: - I have only done my duty as a man is bound to do: - With a joyful spirit, I, Sir Richard Grenville, die!’ - And he fell upon their decks, and he died.” - -The ship in which Drake sailed round the world (_The Golden Hind_), -when it became unfit for service, was laid up near the “Mast Dock” at -Deptford, where it remained for a long series of years an object of -curiosity and wonder. Hentzner, in 1598, says he saw here the ship -of that noble pirate, Francis Drake. From a passage in one of Ben -Jonson’s plays it appears to have become a resort for holiday people, -the cabin being then converted into a banqueting house. Drake’s ship at -Deptford is spoken of as one of the “sights” in some verses prefixed -to the redoubtable Tom Coryat’s _Crudities_, 1611. When the young Duke -of Saxe-Weimar saw the ship in 1613, but very little remained of it. -It was then lying by the river-side in shallow water, in a dock; the -lower part only was left, the upper part being all gone, for almost -everybody who went there, and especially sailors, were in the habit -of carrying off some portion of it. Philipott, _History of Kent_, -1659, says that in a very short time nothing was left of her. And in -Moryson’s _Itinerary_, 1617, it is noticed as follows—“Not farre from -hence (Deptford), upon the shore, lie the broken ribs of the ship in -which Sir Francis Drake sailed round the world, reserved for a monument -of that great action.” A chair, made out of the wood, is to be seen in -the gallery of the Bodleian Library at Oxford. - -Let us take a contemporary poet, to see how Drake’s own generation was -affected by his exploits:— - - “Awake, each Muse, awake! - Not one I need, but all - To sing of Francis Drake - And his companions tall. - One Muse may chance do well, - Where little is to tell; - But nine are all too few - To tell what he did do, - His friends and soldiers all. - - Drake was made generall - By sea and eke by land, - And Christopher Carlisle - Did next unto him stand. - Brave Winter too, was there, - And Captain Fourbisher, - And Knowles, and many mo, - Did all together go - To lend a helping hand. - - Three thousand Volunteers - Were numbered with the rest, - And sailors, as appears, - To guide them to the West, - To quell the Spaniard’s pride, - Which could not be denied; - But which could not be seene - By our most noble Queene - And stomach’d with the best. - - In more than twenty ships - They sailed from the port. - In speed they did eclipse, - And took St. Jago’s fort: - It was a glorious day, - Before they came away, - The day of our Queen’s birth, - They kept with joy and mirth - In well beseeming sort. - - Santo Domingo next - They took and also spoiled. - The Spaniard he was vext - To be so easy foiled. - No force could them resist; - They did as they list. - The Spaniards bought the town, - And paid the ducats down - For which they long had toiled. - - From thence to Carthagene - They carried victory: - Upon the Spanish main - The city rich doth lye. - They took it by assault: - The Spaniards were in fault; - But they could not oppose - The valour of such foes, - And yeelded presently. - - To Terra Florida - They did direct their course, - And ever by the way - They proved their skill and force. - With fear the Spaniards shook - While all their towne they took. - For barrels of bright gold - The towne our English sold, - And shewed therefore remorse. - - And now they have returned - To Plymouth back once more, - And glory they have earned - Enough to put in store. - Our Queen with great delight - Beheld the joyous sight, - And thanked them every one - For what they thus had done - By sea and on the shore. - - Now, welcome all and some, - Now welcome to our isle, - For Francis Drake is come - To London with Carlisle: - And many more with him - That ventured life and limb, - And fighting side by side - Did quell the Spaniard’s pride, - To cause our Queen to smile.” - -And if the following truly represents the spirit of the sailors, what a -promising and cheerful spirit it was! - - “Lustely, lustely, lustely let us saile forth, - The winde trim doth serve us, it blowes from the north. - - All thinges we have ready, and nothing we want - To furnish our ship that rideth here by: - Victuals and weapons, thei be nothing skant, - Like worthie mariners ourselves we will trie. - Lustely, lustely, etc. - - Her flagges be new trimmed, set flaunting alofte, - Our ship for swift swimmyng, oh, she doeth excell; - Wee feare no enemies, we have escaped them ofte; - Of all ships that swimmeth she beareth the bell. - Lustely, lustely, etc. - - And here is a maister excelleth in skill, - And our maister’s mate he is not to seeke; - And here is a boteswaine will do his good will, - And here is a ship boye, we never had leeke. - Lustely, lustely, etc. - - If fortune then faile ot, and our next vioage prove, - Wee will returne merely, and make good cheere, - And holde all together, as friends linkt in love: - The cannes shal be filled with wine, ale, and beere. - Lustely, lustely, etc.” - -But enough of songs, we must return to the more serious aspects of -Trading England. When merchants first began to carry on foreign trade -in association it is impossible to ascertain. But as we find “Men -of the Emperor” and “Men of Rouen” in London in Saxon times, it is -probable that foreign trade was from the beginning carried on by -members of companies. These members traded each for himself; but they -were associated for protection, and of necessity an “interloper”—as -the private trader was afterwards called—could not carry his wares -to a foreign city when he knew not the language, or the customs, nor -could claim the privileges accorded to the Companies. On the other -hand, behind the members stood a powerful corporation; this gave the -merchants credit; this procured for them respect and protection; -this provided the machinery of warehouses, markets, interpreters, -and information as to laws, regulations, prices, demand, supply, -privileges, and all the special points required to be mastered if trade -were to be successful. - -The first foreign trading Company, then, was exactly like a Trades -Guild, in which only members could follow the trade, which had its own -quarter, made its own laws for itself, elected its own officers, yet -every member worked for himself. - -The longest lived and the most important of the mediæval companies was -the Hanseatic League, already mentioned at p. 82. - -[Illustration: - -_F. Hausstaengl_ - -A MERCHANT OF THE STEELYARD - -From the portrait by Holbein at Windsor Castle.] - -The earliest association of London merchants for foreign trade is that -called the Staplers’ Company. They claimed to have existed long before -the Merchant Adventurers. There is, however, a great deal of mystery -attached to their early history. Thus, if they were associated for -exporting the staple wares, such as wool, lead, tin, and skins, how -far did they overlap the Hanseatics? And were they all foreigners? The -latter question seems answered by the law of 1253, which prohibited -English merchants from exporting staple goods. Again, was this law -strictly enforced? In 1362, more than a hundred years later, it was -repealed. - -The Merchants of the Staple are sometimes confused with the Fraternity -of St. Thomas à Becket, from whom sprung a much more important body—the -Merchant Adventurers. The reason of the decay of the Staplers was the -growth of English industries, which forbade the exports of the most -important of the staples—wool. The Staplers, however, continued their -trade, having their headquarters at Antwerp, Brussels, Louvain, Calais, -and Bruges, successively. It will be remembered that Edward III. -established the Staple of Wool at Westminster; the name of Staple Inn -preserved the fact that the merchants had houses on that site. - -About the year 1358 the Fraternity of Thomas Becket received privileges -from Louis, Count of Flanders, for fixing their staple of English -woollen cloth at Bruges. This Fraternity gave rise to the Mercers’ -Company founded under Edward the Third. The Saint, son of a London -mercer, was especially regarded as the protector of the Company. The -Brotherhood was not at first possessed of exclusive rights, but if -we suppose that they were backed by the richest traders in London, -namely, the Mercers and the Drapers, and that no other London trader -would compete with them, it is quite probable that they feared no -competition. They got a Charter in 1406 when Henry the Fourth gave them -the right of choosing their own governors; they then began to arrogate -to themselves exclusive rights, which were confirmed by another -Charter of 1436. So wealthy and powerful did they become that when, -in 1444, they removed their headquarters from Middleburg to Antwerp, -the magistrates and citizens met them outside the town, and offered -them an entertainment. Their Secretary, John Wheeler (_Treatise of -Commerce_, 1601), says that the “English Nation” were the real founders -of Antwerp’s wealth. There were troubles as to the attempts of private -merchants to trade; in 1497 it was provided by Act of Parliament that -every Englishman should have free entrance to foreign marts on payment -of ten marks, presumably to the Fraternity. Again, in 1505, a new -Charter changed their name to that of the “Merchant Adventurers of -England.” Under this Charter they held in their hands the export trade -in woollen cloths, and were authorised to hold courts and to admit -other merchants for a fee of ten marks to trade with them in Flanders, -Holland, Brabant, Zeeland, and the countries adjacent under the -Archduke’s government. The Merchant Adventurers became a power in the -land; so great a power, indeed, that when Charles the Fifth proposed to -establish the Inquisition in Antwerp, he was dissuaded by the Merchant -Adventurers, who threatened to leave the City if he persisted. It is -said that the Company then employed 50,000 persons in the Netherlands. -At this time their limits comprised all the ports from the river Somme -to the German ports within the Baltic. They exported white and coloured -cloths to the value of one million sterling every year, and imported, -among other things, wine, copper, steel, gunpowder (could we not make -our own gunpowder?), silk, velvets, cloth of gold. This business was -well nigh ruined by King James the First when he granted a monopoly for -the sale of cloths dyed at home to Sir William Cockaine, Alderman. (See -_London in the Time of the Stuarts_, p. 194.) - -[Illustration: - -_W. A. Mansell & Co._ - -MEDALS STRUCK IN COMMEMORATION OF THE ARMADA - -From medals in the British Museum. - -_p._ 232.] - -As the Merchant Adventurers grew richer it became necessary, according -to the bad practice of the time, to bribe statesmen for a continuance -of their privileges; they also increased the fees for admission. The -troubles between Holland and England in the seventeenth century drove -the Adventurers to Hamburg, where they remained, and were called the -Hamburg Company. - -The vast enlargement of trade and enterprise under Elizabeth was well -begun under her father. In 1511 ships began to sail from the ports of -London, Southampton, and Bristol to Sicily, Candia, Chio, Cyprus, and -Tripoli; they took out woollen cloths and hides, and they brought back -rhubarb, silk, corselets, malmsey, oil, cotton, carpets, and spices. -An English merchant was appointed Consul at Candia; another merchant, -a foreigner, was made Consul at Chio; in the year 1535 a ship took out -from London a hundred persons who were settled by the English merchants -as factors at the various centres of trade. Trade openings were made on -the Coast of Guinea and with Morocco; ships sailed to Newfoundland and -to Brazil. In the year 1583 was formed the first of the new Companies -for trading purposes. This Company had an interesting but a disastrous -beginning. It was started with a capital of £6000 in 240 shares of £25 -each; its original idea was to find a north-east passage to China and -to open trade with the Chinese. Three vessels were fitted out under the -command of Sir Hugh Willoughby. Would you know how the fleet started? -Hakluyt tells the story:— - - “It was thought best by the opinion of them all, that by the - twentieth of May, the Captaines and Mariners should take shipping, - and depart from Radcliffe, upon the ebbe, if it pleased God. - They having saluted their acquiaintance, one his wife, another - his children, another his kinsfolkes, and another his friends - deerer then his kinsfolkes, were present and ready at the day - appoynted; and having wayed ancre, they departed with the turning - of the water, and sailing easily, came first to Greenewich. The - greater shippes are towed downe with boates, and oares, and the - mariners being all apparelled in Watchet or skie coloured cloth, - rowed amaine, and made way with diligence. And being come neere - to Greenewich (where the Court then lay) presently upon the newes - thereof, the Courtiers came running out, and the common people - flockt together, standing very thicke upon the shoare; the privie - Counsel, they lookt out at the windowes of the Court, and the - rest ranne up to the toppes of the towers; the shippes hereupon - discharge their Ordinance, and shot off their pieces after the - maner of warre, and of the sea, insomuch that the tops of the - hilles sounded therewith, the valleys and waters gave an echo, and - the Mariners they shouted in such sort, that the skie rang againe - with the noyse thereof. One stoode in the poope of the ship, and - by his gestures bid farewell to his friends in the best maner - hee could. Another walkes upon the hatches, another climbes the - shrowds, another stands upon the maine yard, and another in the top - of the shippe. To be short, it was a very triumph (after a sort) - in all respects to the beholders. But (alas) the good King Edward - (in respect of whom principally all this was prepared) hee onely - by reason of his sickenesse was absent from this shewe, and not - long after the departure of these ships, the lamentable and most - sorrowfull accident of his death followed.” - -Other accounts of this incident represent the King as being carried out -to see this gallant spectacle, the last he was to see upon earth. - -The little fleet met with bad weather off the coast of Spitzbergen; two -of them, including the captain’s ship, ran into a harbour of Lapland, -where the whole company were frozen to death; the third got into -the White Sea and so to Archangel; the captain, Richard Chancellor, -procured sledges and travelled to Moscow, where he obtained from the -Czar permission to trade on the northern coast of Russia. Thus was -founded the Russia Company. A few years later one of the agents of the -Russia Company was despatched as an Ambassador from the English Court -to the Czar, who in his turn sent an Ambassador to Whitehall. On his -voyage the Russian Ambassador was wrecked on the coast of Scotland. -The Russia Company, hearing of the disaster, sent a deputation with a -supply of everything that the Ambassador might want. On his approach to -the City he was met by a company of eighty merchants on horseback, who -escorted him to Highgate, where he lay that night, and on the next day -was met by Lord Montague, representing the Queen, with 300 knights and -esquires and 140 merchants of the Russia Company. Rooms were found for -him in Gracechurch Street, where many costly gifts awaited him. - -The history of this Company deserves to be written at length on -account of the enterprise and intelligence of its agents. Indeed, -justice has never been done to the agents and factors of the great -London Companies. It was not the Directors, sitting at home at their -long table, who created the Indian Empire; maintained and widened the -English trade; carried the English flag over lands unknown and to -peoples unheard of; it was not the Directors who opened up routes, -stood before capricious despots, marked the resources of new countries -and reported on their wants. These things were done by the factors and -the agents, who encountered all risks, facing possibly prison, torture, -disease, and sometimes a cruel death, for the enlargement of trade and -the enrichment of their masters. They were the pioneers; sometimes they -were the Forlorn Hope of the English trade and wealth. No Company, not -even the East India Company, was better served by its agents than the -Russia Company. They obtained from the Czar important privileges; they -could trade in any part of Russia without safe conduct or licenses; -they could not be arrested for debt; they could appoint their own -officers and servants; and they had jurisdiction over all Englishmen -resident in Russia. In other words, they had a monopoly of the Russian -Trade. - -The Company showed a clear comprehension of these advantages; they -continued to attempt the north-east passage; they sent ships laden -with merchandise to Archangel, whence their agents travelled over -Russia; they even opened communications with Persia by means of their -agent Anthony Jenkinson, who has already in his own words given us an -account of his adventurous career. When he sailed from the Volga -to Astrakhan, he passed over the Caspian to the town of Boghaz, where -he found traders from the Far East. He sent home a map of Russia, the -first published in England. This way of trade, however, proved too -dangerous on account of Cossack pirates who infested the Caspian Sea -and robbed the Company’s ships. However, the Company, anxious to secure -these advantages, procured an Act of Parliament granting them the -exclusive trade with the countries of Persia, Armenia, and Media, as -well as Russia. - -[Illustration: - - 47. St. John’s Hospital. - 48. Smithfield. - 49. St. James’s, Clerkenwell. - 54. Baynard Castle. - 55. St. Paul’s Cathedral. - 58. Grey Friars. - 59. Queen Hythe. - 60. St. Martin’s le Grand. - 61. Aldersgate. - 62. Jew’s Cemetery. - 63. Cheapside. - 64. The Standard. - 65. Cross, Cheapside. - 66. Rochester House. - 67. Winchester House. - 68. St. Mary’s Overie. - 70. St. Thomas’s Hospital. - 71. St. George’s Church. - 72. Kent Road. - 73. Suffolk House. - 74. St. Giles’s, Cripplegate. - 75. Cripplegate. - 76. The Barbican. - 77. St. Albans, Wood Street. - 78. Bow Church. - 79. Broken Wharf. - 80. The Cranes. - 81. The Steel Yard. - 82. Cold Harbour. - 83. Fishmongers’ Hall. - 84. St. Thomas of Acons. - 85. Guildhall. - 86. Moorgate. - 87. Austin Friars. - 88. Bishopsgate. - 89. Church of St. Magnus. - 90. London Bridge. - 91. St. Thomas’s Chapel. - 92. Bridge House. - 93. St. Olaves Church. - 94. St. Agnes’s le Clare. - 95. Hoxton. - 96. St. Botolph, Bishopsgate. - 97. Leadenhall. - 98. Botolph Wharf. - 99. Billingsgate. - 100. St. Mary Spittal. - 101. Walls of London. - 127. High Street, Southwark. - -From the Panorama of “London, Westminster, and Southwark, in 1543.” By -Anthony Van den Vyngaerde. (Sutherland Collection, Bodleian Library, -Oxford.) _For continuation see pp. 350 and 351._] - -Internal troubles in Russia, such as the taking of Moscow by the -Tartars, caused the Company a loss of 400,000 roubles. Pirates in the -Baltic, and other misfortunes, greatly reduced the Company, but they -persevered in their voyages of discovery, once more attempting the -north-east passage, which was expected to do so much for them. They -did not succeed, but they discovered the deep sea fisheries, and they -brought home immense quantities of fish-oil and of dried salmon. They -suffered from the Dutch, who followed in their wake; they obtained -from the King of Denmark permission to put in at any of his seaports -in Iceland or Norway; they lost their exclusive rights in Russia, but -only for a time; they found themselves cut out by the Dutch, whose -vessels carried more merchandise; with the authority of James the -First, they sent armed vessels and seized on Spitzbergen in the King’s -name, calling it King James’s Newland. They had to fight for their -conquest, driving off Dutch, French, and Biscay sail with four English -“interlopers.” The Dutch, however, would not admit the pretensions -of Crown or Company, sending their ships protected by men-of-war to -fish, despite the protests of the English. There was fighting in the -high latitudes for some years, while even the English ports refused -to recognise the exclusive right of the Company. Finally, the whales -became so scarce about Spitzbergen that the trade ceased to be worth -fighting about. - -We will continue the history of the Company in brief, though it runs -far beyond the limits of our period. In the year 1620 the route by the -Caspian was reopened by Hobbs, an agent to the Company, who took that -way from Moscow to Ispahan. In 1623 a new treaty was concluded between -James the First and the Czar, in which privileges, but not exclusive -rights, were conferred upon the Company. A deadly blow was inflicted -on the Company by the execution of Charles, an event naturally viewed -by all sovereigns with the deepest indignation. The English merchants, -who were masters of the Russian trade, were driven out and supplanted -by the Dutch; and it was not until the year 1669 that the Company was -allowed to trade with Russia on the same footing as the Dutch. - -The real importance of the Company was decaying when it admitted any -one as a member on payment of a fine of £5. The conveyance of raw silk -from Persia through Russia remained their privilege until troubles -broke out in Persia in 1746, which stopped the trade; they still -carried on their trade with Archangel, but when the Baltic became a -peaceful highway, this shorter route to Russia destroyed the Archangel -trade. The Russia Company did not, it is true, acquire for the British -Empire any accession of territory; but its services in exploring new -routes, opening up new lines of trade, putting Great Britain into -communication with foreign powers previously strangers, can hardly be -exaggerated, while it fostered and encouraged and developed that spirit -of enterprise, adventure, and restlessness which, since the seventeenth -century, has covered half the globe with one people and one religion. - -A distinction must be drawn between “regulated companies” and -Joint-Stock Companies. In the former, every man traded for himself, -subject to the regulations of the Company, like a Guild. In the -“Russia,” “Turkey,” and “Eastland” Companies no one but a member could -carry on that kind of trade. In the Joint-Stock Companies shareholders -need not be traders and could sell or transfer their shares. - -The Eastland Company was first chartered in 1579. It was privileged to -enjoy the sole trade over all those parts of the Baltic shore which -did not belong to the Russia Company. Now there had been carried -on, from time immemorial, a trade with the Baltic ports by private -adventurers who wanted no charter. Many of these, no doubt, took up -their membership with the new Company, but there were some who would -not, or could not. These traders, driven away from their own markets, -made loud complaints, in reply to which a proclamation was issued -ordering that no one outside the Company was to export to these parts -the merchandise in which the Eastland Company traded; provided always -that the importation of corn and grain was left free. The provision -looks like a compromise, but when we ask how corn and grain were to be -imported except in ships, and that, if these ships were English, they -would hardly go out in ballast, one fails to see that the enemies of -the Eastlanders got much by their proclamation. In 1672 the whole of -Scandinavia was thrown open to all comers; and the entrance-fee to the -Company was reduced to £2. The opinion of Sir Josiah Child probably -settled the fate of the Company. He said that the Eastland Company had -only enabled the Dutch to get ten times as much trade in the Baltic as -was carried on by the English. - -In the year 1581 the Turkey Company received its Charter from Queen -Elizabeth. It was a Charter for a limited time, seven years, and it -could be revoked at a year’s notice. The Company began very well; -they built large and strong ships to face the storms of the Bay, for -which they received the thanks of the Council; they introduced eastern -commodities at a much cheaper price; but they sometimes paid dearly for -their cargoes when they had to fight the corsairs of Barbary and the -galleys of Spain, and to face the fiercest animosity of the Venetians. -In 1583 some of the agents of the Company, stationed at the Aleppo -House, made their way with merchandise to Bagdad, to the Persian -Gulf, and thence to India and the Far East. They obtained, therefore, -a new Charter giving them power to trade over India as well as the -Sultan’s dominions. The entrance-fee was fixed at £25 for persons under -twenty-six years of age, at £50 for those over twenty-six, and at £1 -for apprentices. - -The Company now became extremely prosperous, carrying on a most -extensive trade. This trade, by a later order under Charles II., was -kept entirely in the hands of the City of London, no one, unless -a resident and a freeman, being admitted into the Company. On the -foundation of the East India Company there arose disputes as to the -infringement of rights. This quarrel ended without any decision. - -The trade of the Turkey Company declined during the seventeenth century -from many causes, one of which was the rivalry of the French and their -success in underselling the English goods. The Company finally closed -its history in the year 1825. - -The Levant Company was another trading Company established under -Elizabeth. By opening up direct communication with the Levant, England -procured all the productions of the East without the intervention of -Venice. Only one more vessel was sent to London from Venice after the -establishment of the Company, and this with a rich cargo and many -passengers was wrecked and destroyed on the Isle of Wight. - -For the repulse of the Spanish Armada, London contributed thirty-eight -vessels, and the Society of Merchant Adventurers, ten. In 1591, or -perhaps in 1589, the first voyage from London to the East Indies was -undertaken. The expedition of 1591 consisted of three ships, of which -one was never heard of again; and the other two lost many men from -sickness. The expedition, however, led to the formation of the East -India Company in A.D. 1600, with a capital of £72,000 in 1440 shares -of £50 each. Their first fleet, consisting of five ships and 480 men, -reached Sumatra and the Straits of Malacca, where they captured a -Portuguese ship of 900 tons laden with calicoes. They settled a factory -at Bantam and sailed homewards, returning to port in two years and -seven months after starting. - -The trade of the country was greatly advanced by the immigration of -many Flemings, Dutch, Walloons, and French Huguenots, who brought over -with them their own trades. They were judiciously distributed about -the country, care being taken that they should neither interfere with -the trade of the place nor crowd too much together. Thus at Sandwich -alone there were 350 Flemish families in the year 1582; they carried -on the manufactory of bags. In Norwich, Dutch and Walloons settled and -made serges and silks and bombazines. Bone lace was taken to Honiton -from Antwerp. In London the Flemings settled at Bermondsey, where they -made felt hats and did joiners’ work; at Bow, where they had dye-works; -at Wandsworth, where they worked in brass; at Mortlake and Fulham, -where they made tapestry. In other places workers in steel and iron, -window-glass painters, cloth fullers, cloth-makers, and many other -craftsmen were planted and carried on profitable industries. Among -other things, sail-making was introduced into England for the first -time. The pawnbroker’s shop was also opened in this reign. It began -with the establishment of seven banks in as many towns, to be known as -“Banks for the relief of Common Necessity,” which should lend money on -pledges. This Bank is alluded to by Shakespeare when Sir John Falstaff -urges his hostess to pawn her cups and her hangings. “Glass,” he says, -“glass is your only drinking: and for thy walls, a pretty slight -drollery, or the story of the Prodigal or the Germans hunting in water -work, is worth a thousand of these bed hangings and these fly-bitten -tapestries.” - -The monopoly system by which the Court rewarded favourites at the -expense of trade and the people was regarded by Elizabeth with favour, -as an easy way of bestowing favours costing herself nothing. Many of -her monopolies she withdrew as manifestly injurious to trade, yet she -left many which weighed heavily upon the enterprise of the country. -These monopolies were multiplied in the next two reigns, and greatly -assisted to bring about the unpopularity of Charles. - -Cunningham is of opinion that the borrowing of money for trading -purposes was not a common practice; he bases this opinion on the very -high rate of interest demanded by the usurer. There can be no doubt -that usury was strictly forbidden by the Church, by the Ordinances of -the City of London, and by public opinion. Yet a case quoted by him -(_Growth of Trade_, p. 325) shows that men not only wanted to borrow -from time to time, but that Christians, not Jews, were willing to lend -on interest. In that case the lender wanted interest for a loan of £10 -for three months, which amounted to 80 per cent per annum. The usurer -could not get his claim allowed. Yet it is difficult to understand how -business could be carried on at all except in an elementary way, if -there was neither credit nor borrowing. But was the rate of interest -too high for trading on borrowed money? There is every reason to -believe that the profits of trade were enormous. Malyns, in his _Centre -of the Circle of Commerce_, gives a table showing the profits of the -trade in spices, silk, indigo, etc., early in the seventeenth century. -They range from 150 to 250 per cent, _i.e._ goods bought at £100 would -sell for £250 up to £350. Of course there must be set off against this -apparently huge profit, losses by wrecks and pirates and the expense -of the shipping. Borrowing, Cunningham thinks, was necessary to meet -taxation. Since taxes were not regular, but irregular; and could not be -provided for because no one knew when a tallage would be imposed or how -large a percentage would be demanded, the merchant or the landowner, -though perfectly solvent, might not be able to lay his hand at once on -the amount demanded. A person of to-day whose estate might be worth -£120,000 would find it, very possibly, difficult to meet, within a few -days, the King’s demand of one-fifteenth, that is £8000. If he could -not realise in time he must borrow. If all the usury was confined to -the lending of money to meet a sudden tax, or to a monastery for the -building of a church, or for a baron to raise a force, what becomes -of the popular hatred of the Jews, first as money-lenders, and of -the Caursini and the Italians who were licensed by the Pope, next? -And if there was no borrowing by the merchants, what was the meaning -of that crowd which, after the massacre of the Jews in York Castle, -rushed to the Cathedral, where they brought out the Jews’ bonds—their -own bonds—and burned them all? Cunningham, in a note, enumerates the -demands of certain Russians against the Jews of the present day. -These demands express the popular belief concerning their practice, -not the truth. One would most unwillingly accept prejudice for proof, -especially in the case of the race which has endured so much prejudice -for so many centuries. Cunningham says, very justly, that the real -objection against the Jews was that they made their money by lending -it on security, which left them no risks which could be foreseen. The -common people, however, did not understand the objection; they saw that -the Jews practised a trade which the Church and the State would not -allow to Christians; they saw that the Jews grew rich rapidly; that -they were protected by the King; that they waxed insolent and sometimes -insulted the Christian religion; and if they lent a Christian money -they demanded an enormous, a ruinous, interest for it. Deep, indeed, -must have been the popular hatred of the Jews, since Shakespeare could -stir the blood of his audience by the spectacle of a Jewish usurer, -three hundred years after there had been Jews in the land. - -[Illustration: THE TOWER IN 1553 - -From a drawing by Wyngaerde. E. Gardner’s Collection] - -The business of the daily life, as well as that of the mercantile life, -cannot, in fact, be carried on without money-lending. Works cannot -be undertaken; credit cannot be secured; cargoes cannot be bought; -ships cannot be laden; unless money can be obtained by advance. The -banishment of the Jews; the disappearance of the Italians; took away -the usurers and money-lenders by profession. There were as yet no -banks to make advances on security; and money-lending was still, as it -remains to this day, an occupation held in the greatest loathing. The -money-lender, therefore, disguised his calling. Thus Hall (_Society in -the Elizabethan Age_) furnishes a sketch of the usurer of the period. -His name was George Stoddart; by trade he was ostensibly a grocer, but -really a money-lender. His bargains took the form of bets. Thus he -sends J. Klynt his furred nightgown for 4s. 5d., to be paid on the day -of Klynt’s marriage: he gives R. Leds a ring called a ryboys, which -he values at £1:13:4, to be paid on the day of his marriage or else -at his hour of death. For a rapier he charges 40d., to be paid at his -day of marriage or else not. He gives a man £400 on the condition that -during his lifetime the borrower shall pay him £80 a year. He lived -for ten years, and so doubled that small capital of £400. It would be -interesting to know what, if any, great City fortunes were made by this -style of money-lending. - -The increase of trade and of shipping in the Port of London is -indicated by a passage in Camden, when he speaks of the multitudes of -ships “as a very wood of trees, disbranched to make glades and to let -in the light: so shaded is it with masts and sails.” - -The watermen of London were those who lived by the river and the port. -John Taylor, the water poet, says that 40,000 people lived by the -labour of the oar and scull. In 1613 there was a petition from the -Company of Watermen against the erection of a theatre on the London or -Middlesex side of the river, because it drew away so many people who -otherwise would have been carried across the river to the theatres on -the south bank. John Taylor shows us that many of these watermen had -been sailors:— - - “I did briefly declare part of the services that watermen had - done in Queen Elizabeth’s reign of famous memory, in the voyage - to Portugal with the right honourable and never to be forgotten - Earl of Essex; then after that, how it pleased God, in that great - deliverance in the year 1588, to make watermen good serviceable - instruments with their loss of lives and limbs to defend their - prince and country. Moreover, many of them served with Sir Francis - Drake, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Martin Frobisher, and others. Besides, - in Cadiz action, the Island Voyage, in Ireland, in the Low - Countries, and in the narrow seas they have been, as in duty they - were bound, at continual command, so that every summer 1500 or 2000 - of them were employed to the places aforesaid.... - - Afterwards the players began to play on the Bankside, and to leave - playing in London and Middlesex, for the most part, then there went - such great concourse of people by water that the small number of - watermen remaining at home were not able to carry them, by reason - of the court, the terms, the players, and other employments, so - that we were enforced and encouraged, hoping that this golden - stirring world would have lasted ever, to take and entertain men - and boys ... so that the number of watermen, and those that live - and are maintained by them, and by the only labour of the oar and - the scull, betwixt the bridge of Windsor and Gravesend, cannot be - fewer than forty thousand; the cause of the greater half of which - multitude, hath been the players playing on the bankside, for I - have known three companies besides the bear-baiting at once there, - to wit, the Globe, the Rose, and the Swan.” - -Loud complaints being made by the artificers of London that foreign -goods were underselling theirs, the King in 1461 prohibited the -importation or sale of the following articles—the list of which shows -some of the manufactures at that time established in London:— - -[Illustration: NEAR PAUL’S WHARF - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -“Any manner girdles, nor any harness wrought for girdles, points, laces -of lether, purses, pouches, pins, gloves, knives, hangers, tailors’ -shears, scissors, andirons, cobordis, tongs, fire forks, gridirons; -stocks, locks, keyes, hinges and garnets, spurs; painted papers, -painted focers, paynted images, painted clothes, any between gold or -between silver, wrought in papers for painters; saddles, saddle-trees, -horse harness, boocis, bits, stirrups, buckles, chains, laten nails -with iron shanks, terrets, standing candlesticks, hanging candlesticks, -holy water stoops, chafing dishes, hanging lavers, curtain rings, cards -for wool, clasps for gloves, buckles for shoes, brooches, bells (except -bells for hawks), spoons of tin and lead, chains of wire as well as -of laten as of iron, gratis, horns and lantern horns, or any of these -aforesaid wares, ready and wrought, pertaining to the said crafts above -specified or any of them uppon payne of forfeture of all the wares.” -(Capper’s _Port and Trade of London_.) We have seen (p. 13) how Henry -VII. passed an Act forbidding any stranger, _i.e._ foreigner, to buy -or sell merchandise in the City; in his reign also was passed an Act -to compel the country people to resort to the City. For it was ordered -that no citizen should carry goods to any market or fair out of the -City. The people of the country represented to Parliament the great -hardship of being obliged to travel all the way to London in order to -procure things that could only be bought in London, viz. chalices, -books, vestments, and other church ornaments, victuals for Lent, linen -cloths, woollen cloths, brass, pewter, bedding, iron, flax, wax, and -other things. The Parliament interfered and the order was removed. - -[Illustration: TRADESMEN OF THE PERIOD - -From a contemporary print.] - -Under Henry VII. commercial treaties were concluded with the Danes and -with the Florentines. There was a quarrel with Burgundy and a cessation -of commercial relations for three years. In 1497 (12 Hen. VII.) was -passed an Act entitled “Every Englishman shall have free recourse to -certain foreign marts, without exaction to be taken by any English -fraternity.” The meaning of the Act was this: the Merchant Adventurers’ -Company had arrogated to themselves the right of refusing the right of -trade in any foreign port until a fine or fee of £40 should first be -paid to themselves. The Act defined the extent of English foreign trade -at the time. The Merchant Adventurers sent their vessels to Spain, -Portugal, Brittany, Flanders, Holland, Ireland, Normandy, France, -Venice, Dantzic, Eastland, Friesland, and other parts. The Parliament -allowed the fine, but limited it to ten marks, or £6:13:4. We have seen -the jealousy and hatred of foreigners shown by the envious outbreak of -“Evil May Day” in 1517 (p. 24). The complaints or the justification -of the rioters was that there were so many foreigners employed as -craftsmen that the English could get no work; that foreign merchants -brought in all silk, cloth of gold, wine, etc., and that no one, -almost, bought of an Englishman; that the foreign merchants exported -so much wool, tin, and lead, that English adventurers could not make -a living; that they forestalled the market, buying up everything all -round the City, so that nothing of value came to the City markets, -while some of them imported all kinds of goods that were made in this -country, such as nails, locks, baskets, cupboards, stools, tables, -chests, girdles, saddles, and printed cloths. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - LITERATURE AND ART - - -The earliest transcribers of MSS., that is to say, publishers of books, -the monks, not only transcribed MSS., but they sold their copies, -the sale of books forming part of the monastic revenues. These books -were either plain copies for common use, as the service books and -the school books, or they were illuminated, bound with decorations -of gold and silver, costing very large sums. When, however, as -happened in the fifteenth century, the demand for books increased, -while the revenues, and therefore the numbers, of the religious in -the monasteries decreased, the multiplication of books fell into the -hands of laymen. In some cases the monks themselves employed laymen as -transcribers. There grew up various branches of the book trade: the -maker of parchment, pens, ink, colours for illumination; the writers, -the binders, the illuminators, and the sellers. As regards the value -of books at any time, it is impossible to estimate it, because we must -first learn the purchasing power of money, which is very difficult -to ascertain; _e.g._ the price of wheat, sheep, fowls, etc., is a -very fallacious test, because we do not know the standards of the -time. The wage test is the safest guide. For instance, six pounds -a year was thought sufficient pay for the maintenance of a chantry -priest—a man considered superior to the ordinary craftsman, yet not -very high in the social scale. In addition we must know the whole -conditions of production; the cost of materials, the time taken by -transcribers for a page or a sheet, the demand, the competition, and -everything else connected with the work. Some of these points have -been cleared up, but most of them can never be cleared up. It must be -sufficient to understand that there was a large demand for books, and -that many collections of books were formed by princes and prelates -and monasteries. It was a providential circumstance that the art of -printing was well advanced at the time of the Dissolution of the -Religious Houses. Otherwise the losses, which were great indeed, might -have been very much greater, even irreparable. - -The first printers in the City of London were Caxton’s workmen, -Wynkyn de Worde and Richard Pynson. The former set up his press in -Fleet Street, “over against the Conduit,” which stood at the end of -Shoe Lane; the latter, outside Temple Bar. In the course of the -century, however, the number of printers rapidly increased, and in -the reign of Elizabeth the number of books published in any branch -was extraordinary. Nothing can show more conclusively the general -avidity for learning and for the possession of books in every branch -of knowledge. When, indeed, we consider that the yearly output of -books in Great Britain and America now amounts to some 10,000 (a large -number of them new editions), which at an average of 1000 each means -10,000,000 volumes among a population of 120,000,000, who nearly all -read, without counting India, which alone contains millions of readers, -and when we remember that the whole reading public of England amounted -to a few thousands, it is clear that the Elizabethan output was beyond -comparison greater in proportion than our own. - -[Illustration: OLD TEMPLE BAR IN THE TIME OF JAMES I. - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -It could not be long before a censorship of the Press was established. -In 1526 the printing of books against the Catholic Faith was -prohibited. Later on, that of books defending the Catholic Faith was in -turn prohibited. - -It was in 1557 that the very singular powers were conferred upon the -Company of Stationers of suppressing and prohibiting books either -seditious or heretical. These powers were absolute and subject to no -appeal. Why the Company of Stationers was entrusted with powers which -belonged to the Bishop of London and the Ecclesiastical Courts does -not appear. However, the Company exercised this authority for two -years, when Queen Elizabeth ordered that no book should be printed -without a license being first obtained. She then, illogically, granted -monopolies to certain printers and booksellers for the sale of certain -books specified: to one for the sale of Bibles; to another for sale -of catechism; to a third for that of music-books; and so on. To the -Stationers she granted the monopoly of psalters, primers, almanacks, A -B C, the “little Catechism,” and Nowell’s English and Latin Catechism. -The printer, however, was already separating from the bookseller. As -yet there was no such thing recognised as the author’s rights over his -own property. In many cases he did not wish his name to appear; the -publisher did what he pleased with the MS. - -Among the early booksellers was Richard Grafton, who was printer, -bookseller, and author as well. He reprinted and continued Hall’s -_Chronicles_. Other publishers and booksellers of the sixteenth century -were Robert Redman, who quarrelled with Richard Pynson; Henry Pepwell, -who died in 1539; John Day, for whom John Foxe, who wrote the _Book -of Martyrs_, worked. He issued a Church music book. He also published -Bibles, Sermons, and A B C’s. Day had shops successively in Holborn, -Aldersgate Street, and St. Paul’s Churchyard. William Middleton, whose -shop was in Fleet Street, near St. Dunstan’s Church, was both printer -and bookseller. He published Heywood’s _Four P’s_, and an edition of -Froissart. - -Henry Smyth, Redman’s son-in-law, was the publisher of Littleton’s -_Tenures_. Richard Tottell, whose shop was within Temple Bar, published -Tusser’s _Hundred Good Points of Agriculture_, Grafton’s _Abridgment -of the Chronicles of England_, and Stow’s _Summary of the Chronicles -of England_. Harrison of St. Paul’s Churchyard published Shakespeare’s -_Venus and Adonis_ in 1593, but it was printed by Richard Field, a -fellow-townsman of the poet. In 1594 Harrison published _The Rape of -Lucrece_. The publication of the plays, however, belongs mostly to the -seventeenth century. But _Romeo and Juliet_, _Richard II._, _Richard -III_, _Henry IV._ Part I., _Love’s Labours Lost_, were published -at this time, and in 1600 _Henry IV._ Part II., _Much Ado About -Nothing_, _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_, _The Merchant of Venice_, _Titus -Andronicus_, and _Henry V._ all came out. In all, eleven of the plays -were published in the sixteenth and the rest in the seventeenth century. - -There was an astonishing number of printers and booksellers. Thus, in -addition to the names mentioned above, we may note those of Middleton, -Richard Field, Harrison, father and son, William Leake, Wise, Aspley, -Ling, and Nathaniel Butler, Ponsonby, Edward White, Cadman, Burby, -Warde, William Barley, Humphrey Hooper, John Budge, Thorpe, and Norton. - -Already the bitterness of the author against the publisher has begun. -Drayton speaks of the booksellers as “a company of base knaves, whom -I scorn and kick at.” Complaint was made concerning a book called _A -Petite Palace of Petties his Pleasure_ (1576), that the printer had -suppressed the name of the author, and his preface, and had substituted -his own name with a preface by himself. Again, the authors complained -of the advertising tricks employed to increase the sale of a book. -Thus, Ben Jonson addresses his bookseller:— - - “‘Thou, that mak’st gaine thy end, and wisely well - Call’st a book good, or bad, as it doth sell, - Use mine so, too: I give thee leave. But crave - For luck’s sake it thus much favours have, - To lie upon thy stall till it be sought; - Not offer’d, as it made suit to be bought: - Nor have my title-leaf on post, or walls, - Or in cleft-sticks, advanced to make calls - For termers or some clerk-like serving-man, - Who scarce can spell th’ hard names: whose knight scarce can; - If, without these vile arts it will not sell, - Send it to Bucklersbury, there ‘twill well.’” - -Unfortunately, also, the bitterness of the author against the -bookseller was accompanied by bitterness against his fellow-craftsmen. -Thus Barnaby Rich says:— - -“‘One of the diseases of this age is the multitude of books, that doth -so overcharge the world that it is not able to digest the abundance of -idle matter that is every day hatched and brought into the world, that -are as divers in their forms as their authors be in their faces. It is -but a thriftless and a thankless occupation, this writing of books: -a man were better to sit singing in a cobbler’s shop, for his pay is -certain a penny a patch, but a book-writer, if he gets sometimes a few -commendations of the judicious, he shall be sure to reap a thousand -reproaches of the malicious.’” (W. Roberts, _Earlier History of English -Bookselling_.) - -This brief view of bookselling in the sixteenth century may be taken -to include also the first twenty years of the seventeenth, after which -certain changes appear in the trade and in the relations of author and -publisher. - -Little has been said, so far, concerning the connection of London -with literature. The history of literature belongs to the nation, not -to London. Yet London could even before the Elizabethan age boast of -Chaucer, Gower, Skelton, Lydgate, all of whom, at some time in their -lives, resided in London. And what a list, what a splendid list, is -presented of the London poets in the reign of Gloriana! This list -alone, without counting the poets who went before or the poets who -came after, is sufficient in itself to place England in the forefront -of modern literature. Consider some of the names. Shakespeare, Ben -Jonson, Marlowe, Massinger, Beaumont, Fletcher, Ford, Peele, Marston, -Sackvile, Sylvester, Spenser, Raleigh—one could go on till the page -became a catalogue. I have counted two hundred and forty Elizabethan -poets whose names, with many of their works, have survived to the -present day. In the same proportion we, who can hardly number sixty -poets, ought to have now 5000. But in that time expression assumed the -form of poetry first and the drama afterwards; men who had a thing to -say, or a theory to state, said it in poetry, just as a man who had a -tale to tell presented it in the form of a drama. Not that poetry or -the drama were the only things. The Elizabethan age was rich in every -form and branch of literature; it had books of chivalry, as _The Seven -Champions_; story books, as _The Gesta Romanorum_; jest books, as -Skogan’s, Tarleton’s, Skelton’s, Peele’s; pastoral romances, as _The -Arcadia_; “picaresque” novels, as those of Nash and Dekker; histories, -as those of Holinshed, Stow, Grafton; essays, as those of Bacon, -Ascham, Sir Thomas Browne; satires, as those of Hall and Marston; -translations from the French and the Italian. Not even in these days -is there a better, larger, fresher supply of new literature. It was -above all fresh; everything was new; people did not look backwards in -literature; they lived in the present; at no other time in the history -of the world was the present more delightful; more full of hope, more -full of joy, more full of daring. There was a new religion, not yet -crystallised into Puritanism: a religion in which every man, for the -first time after more than a thousand years, stood up before his -Maker without an interposing priest; there was a new learning, full of -wonder and of delight; there were new arts; there was a new world, a -larger world, full of mysteries and monsters and undiscovered marvels; -there was a new pride sprung up among the people; new adventures were -possible; there were new roads to riches; England held a nobler place -among the nations; everything seemed possible; the wildest extravagance -was permitted in talk, in song, in the drama, in enterprise. Companies -could be formed to go anywhere, and to do everything. Countries there -were everywhere to be conquered, or, at least, to trade with; no longer -did ocean set bounds, no longer did continents stretch forth forbidding -capes: the nobler spirits were arriving at a clearer grasp and -understanding of what lay before them; the machinations of Spaniard, -Pope, and Priest were, it seemed, finally defeated; everything was -ready for the work of such men as Raleigh and Drake. Then, alas! -Gloriana died, and the world of poetry sank sadly back into prose, and -that for the most part of the tamest and the most creeping; an age -followed when King and people were no longer in touch; when foreign -politics were a betrayal and a surrender; when the whole dream of the -King was not to extend and enrich his realm, but to encroach upon the -people’s liberties, and the whole power of the people was required to -resist the encroachments of the King. How mean and miserable is the -policy of Charles compared with that of Elizabeth! How paltry are the -pretensions of King and Archbishop! How wretched, save for the figure -of the great Protector, is the history of the seventeenth century, -compared with the history of the sixteenth under the great Queen! - -[Illustration: SIR FRANCIS BACON (1561–1626) - -From the painting by Paul Van Somer in the National Portrait Gallery, -London.] - -[Illustration: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564–1616) - -From the Chandos portrait in the National Portrait Gallery, London.] - -Harrison furnishes a contemporary opinion on “the new veine of -writing”:— - - “This further is not to be omitted, to the singular commendation - of both sorts and sexes of our courtiers here in England, that - there are verie few of them, which have not the use and skill of - sundrie speaches, beside an excellent veine of writing before time - not regarded. Trulie it is a rare thing with us now, to hear of a - courtier which hath but his owne language. And to saie how many - gentlewomen and ladies there are, that beside sound knowledge of - the Greeke and Latine toongs, are thereto no lesse skilful in the - Spanish, Italian, and French or in some one of them, it resteth - not in me; sith I am persuaded, that as the noblemen and gentlemen - do surmount in this behalfe, so these come verie little or nothing - at all behind them for their parts, which industrie God continue, - and accomplish that which otherwise is wanting.”... “The ladies of - the court employ themselves in continuall reading either of the - holie scriptures, or histories of our owne or forren nations about - us, and diverse in writing volumes of their owne, or translating - of other mens into our English and Latine toongs.”... “Finallie, - to avoid idlenesse, and prevent sundrie transgressions, otherwise - likelie to be committed and doone, such order is taken, that - everie office hath either a bible, or the booke of the acts and - monuments of the church of England, or both, beside some histories - and chronicles lieing therein, for the exercise of such as come - into the same; whereby the stranger that entereth into the court - of England upon the sudden, shall rather imagine himselve to come - into some public schools of the universities, where manie give eare - to one that readeth, than unto a princes palace if you conferre - the same with those of other nations. Would to God all honorable - personages would take example of hir graces godlie, dealing in - this behalfe, and shew their conformitie unto these hir so good - beginnings which if they would, then should manie grievous offenses - (wherewith God is highlie displeased) be cut off and restreined, - which now doo reigne exceedinglie, in most noble and gentlemen’s - houses, whereof they see no paterne within hur graces gates.” - (Holinshed’s _Chronicles_.) - -Leaving the great masters, let us consider a little the more popular -literature of the day; the kind which has its run among the people -and is forgotten; the current literature, the books of the time, the -works which were bought and read by those of the citizens who read at -all, probably as large a proportion as we should find at the present -day, when the newspaper is the only reading of multitudes. It is -not difficult to arrive at what constituted a library. There were -religious books, such as Hooper’s _Sermons_; there were collections of -songs, such as _The Court of Venus_, against which the clergy spoke -vehemently; books of chivalry and novels in great numbers, such as -_Bevis of Hampton_, _Guy of Warwick_, _Arthur of the Round Table_, -_Huon of Bordeaux_, _Oliver of the Castle_, _Four Sons of Aymon_, -_The Witless Devices of Gargantua_ and _Howleglas_. There were the -English stories, _Robin Hood_, _Adam Bell_, _Friar Rushe_, _The Foole -of Gotham_. There were satires and fables; _Æsop_, Erasmus’s _Praise -of Folly_, _The Schoolhouse of Women_, _The Defense of Women_, _Piers -Plowman_, _Raynolde the Fox_, _The Palace of Pleasure_. There were -translations, as _Virgil_, _Seneca_, and _Apulosius_; there were books -of instruction, as _The Boke of Carvynge_, _The Boke of Cokerye_, -_The Boke of Nurture for Men servants_, _The Boke of Fortune_, _The -Boke of Curtesey_, _The Boke of Chesse_, and _The Hundred Points of -Good Husserye_. These titles are taken from actual lists before me; -the presses were extremely active and the output of books was very -considerable during the whole of Elizabeth’s long reign. In a word, -there was as great a variety of books for the reader’s choice as there -is now, setting aside the modern books in science; there were poets by -the hundred, dramatists, novelists of all kinds, historians, preachers, -moralists, and essayists. It would take too much space and time were I -to attempt an estimate or an account of the Elizabethan literature. - -[Illustration: EDMUND SPENSER (1552(?)-1599) - -From an engraving by George Vertue.] - -There was, however, one form of literature then playing a very -important part in the education of the people which has been too much -neglected by those who write of the sixteenth century. It was the -ballad. In the last century, if a man had a thing to say, he wrote a -pamphlet; at present if he has a thing to say and desires that the -people at large should hear it, he either casts it into the form of a -novel, or he sends it to the papers as a letter or as a communication. -The Elizabethan, on the other hand, cast it into the form of verse; -the ballad expressed the popular opinion; by means of the ballad -that opinion was formed and taught; by means of the ballad events -were recorded and remembered. Every event produced its own ballad. I -have before me a list of a hundred ballads, taken at random from the -registers of the Stationers’ Company, published for the Shakespeare -Society in 1849 by Payne Collier. From these registers it is evident -that the ballad, as sung in private houses, in taverns, at fairs, and -where people congregated; in the streets, in the markets, and at the -Carrefours where stood the Cross and the Conduit, taught and led the -people as the Press now teaches and leads them. There was a great -competition in the production of new ballads; the printers vied with -each other in getting the latest or the most striking event turned -into ballad form and put upon the market. These ballads were written -on every conceivable subject. In order to illustrate their importance -I have compiled the following list roughly classified. The titles in -almost all cases indicate the contents and aim of the ballad. Some of -them are very well written. - - I.—RELIGIOUS - - O Lord who harte in Heaven so high. - The XV. Chapter of St. Paule. - Blessed are the Dead which dye in the Lord. - King Joseas. - Lo! here I lye a sinner. - The Just and Patient Job. - Godly, constant, wyse, Susannah. - Wisdom would I wish to have. - The Lamentation of a Damned Soul. - The Woman taken in Adultery. - Mercy’s Fort. - - II.—MORAL - - Persuading Men from Swearing. - Against Covetousness. - Old Age and Youth. - The House of a Harlot. - Rustrius and Sapience. - Manners for Matrons. - The Cuckoo. - A Rule for Women to bring up their Daughters. - Have Pity on the Poor. - The Abuses of Wyne, Dyce, and Women. - - III.—POLITICAL - - Lady Jane’s Lament (_i.e._ Lady Jane Grey). - Guyn the chefe of that greedy garrison. - How a Mayde should sweep your House Clean (the “Mayde” is Queen Elizabeth). - News out of Kent. - Lady Englonde. - - IV.—TOPICAL - - On the Loss of the _Greyhound_ - (with Sir T. Finch and two hundred men). - Burnyng of Paule’s. - - “Lament each over the blazing fire - That downe from Heaven came, - And burned S. Powles his lofty spyre - With lightning’s furious flame. - Lament, I say, - Both night and day, - Sith London’s sin did cause the same.” - - V.—GENERAL - - Tom Long the Carrier. - Come merry home, John. - Patient Grissel. - The Bachelor. - - “Hough! For the Bachelor! Merry doth he live, - All the day long he can daunce sing and playe: - His troubles are like to water in a sieve, - The more it floweth in, the more it will away: - This is the verie truth I doe declare and saye. - Maryed men for him may sit, sighe, and grone, - He is well content and letteth well alone.” - - Give place ye Ladies. - - “Her rosial colour comes and goes - With such a comely grace! - More ruddie, too, than doth the rose, - Within her lively face.” - - Cruelness of Wicked Women. - A Fairing. - The Hunt is Up. - The Ballad of Broomes. - - “New broomes, greene broomes, will you buy any? - Come, maidens, come quickly, let me take a penny.” - - The Ballad of Milkmaids. - - (The Milkmaids did not like being called Malkins. The name Malkin - is a diminutive of Mary, and was used in the sense of slattern or - country wench.) - - “Passe not for rybalds which mylke maydes defame, - And call them not Malkins, poor Malkins by name: - Their trade is as good as anie we knowe - And that it is so I will presently showe. - Downe & Downe &c.” - - A Merry Rhyme concerning Butchers, Graysors, - Schole maisters and Tankard Bearers. - Ruffle, Sleeves and Hose. - The Nut Brown Mayd. - Row well ye marynors. - God send me a wyfe that will do as I say. - -This list might be multiplied indefinitely. Enough has been given to -show that the ballad was the principal medium by which the people were -moved and taught. One would not underrate the power of the sermon. -At no time, not even in the seventeenth century, was the sermon more -powerful than under Elizabeth; but the sermon chiefly treated of -doctrine and the ballads taught morals and the conduct of life. Nay, -in these cases, which were many, when a ballad secular, amatory, -scandalous, or immoral, had become popular, the clergy took it in hand -and moralised it: _i.e._ presented a religious parody of it, which they -persuaded the people to sing instead of the first version. For example, -here is part of a “moralised” ballad:— - - “To pass the place where pleasure is - It ought to please one fantasie, - If that the pleasure be amis, - And to God’s Work plaine contrarie, - Or else we sinne, we sinne, - And hell we winne, - Great panic therein - All remedie gone. - Except in Christ alone, alone.” - -We must not forget to take account in this brief review of the topical -writings of the day of the difference of dialect. It is not too much -to say that a Norfolk countryman would not understand a Kentish lad; -and that a Yorkshire man would talk a strange tongue to a man of the -Midlands. Caxton says, writing a little earlier:— - - “Englishe that is spoken in one shire varyeth from another; - insomuch, that in my dayes happened, that certain merchaunts were - in a ship in Tamyse, for to have sailed over the see into Zelande, - and for lacke of wynde they taryed att Forland, and went to land - for to refresh them; and one of them, named Sheffelde, a mercer, - came into a hows, and axed for mete, and specially he axed for - egges; the good wyfe answerde that she could speke no French. And - the merchaunt was angry, for he also could speake no French; but - wolde have egges, and she understode hym not. And thenne at last - another sayd, that he would have ceyren; thenne the good wyfe said, - that she understode him.” - -In the year 1592 was published a book in prose and verse by Richard -Johnson, entitled _The Nine Worthies of London_, inscribed to Sir -William Webbe, Lord Mayor of London. Its wide popularity proves that -it presents some, at least, of the ideas current among the people. -To begin with, the “Nine Worthies” are not by any means, with one -exception, those ancient citizens whom we should now consider of the -greatest renown. We do not find here the names of Thomas à Becket, -Whittington, Philpot, or Gresham. The things worthy to be remembered -are neither enterprise in trade, nor vigilance in guarding the -liberties of the City, nor the acquisition of wealth, nor charities -and endowments. The only thing worthy to be remembered, even among -citizens of London, is prowess of arms. The “Nine Worthies” come out, -one after the other, and relate their own achievements. It is certain -that Richard Johnson did not himself select these men for honourable -mention, because they are clearly referred to in a passage of the -_Paradise of daintie Devices_:— - - “The Worthies nine that were of might, - By travaile wonne immortal praise; - If they had lived like carpet knights, - Consuming idly all their dayes, - Their praises had been with them dead, - Where now abroad their fame is spread.” - -The work is reprinted in the _Harleian Miscellany_, vol. viii., from -which I take the following extracts: first, William Walworth (p. 443):— - - “But when I saw the rebells’ pride encrease, - And none controll and counterchecke their rage; - ’Twere service good (thought I) to purchase peace, - And malice of contentious brags asswage; - With this conceyt, all fear had taken flight. - And I alone prest to the traitor’s sight. - - Their multitude could not amaze my minde, - Their bloudie weapons did not make me shrink; - True valour hath his constancie assignde, - The eagle at the sunne will never winke; - Amongst their troupes, incenst with mortall hate, - I did arest Wat Tiler on the pate. - - The stroke was given with so good a will, - I made the rebell coutch unto the earth; - His fellows that beheld (’tis strange) were still; - It mar’d the manner of their former mirth; - I left him not, but, ere I did depart, - I stab’d my dagger to his damned heart.” - -Second, Henry Picard, or Pilchard, who entertained the four kings of -England, Scotland, France, and Cyprus, with the Black Prince (p. 445):— - - “When Edward triumpht for his victories, - And held three crownes within his conquering hand, - He brought rich trophies from his enemies, - That were erected in this happie land; - We all rejoyc’d and gave our God the praise, - That was the authour of those fortunate dayes. - - And as from Dover, with the prince his sonne, - The king of Cypres, France, and Scots, did passe, - All captive prisoners to this mightie one, - Five thousand men and I the leader was; - All well prepared as to defend a fort; - Went forth to welcome him in martiall sort. - - The riches of our armour, and the cost, - Each one bestows in honour of that day, - Were here to be exprest but labour lost; - Silke coates and chaines of golde bare little sway; - And thus we marcht accepted of our king - To whom our comming seem’d a gracious thing. - - But when the citie pearde within our sights, - I carv’d a boune submisse upon my knee; - To have his grace, those kings, with earles and knights, - A day or two to banquet it with me; - The king admirde, yet thankfully replide, - ‘Unto my house both I and these will ride.’” - -Third, William Sevenoake, who went over to France with Henry V. as a -lad just out of his apprenticeship, and there fought with the Dauphin -(p. 447):— - - “The Dolphyne then of France, a comelie knight, - Disguised, came by chaunce into a place, - Where I, well wearied with the heate of fight, - Had layd me downe, for warre had ceast his chace; - And with reproachful words, as layzie swaine - He did salute me, ere I long had layne. - - I, knowing that he was mine enemie, - A bragging French-man (for we tearm’d them so) - Ill brookt the proud disgrace he gave to me - And therefore, lent the Dolphyne such a blowe, - As warm’d his courage well to lay about, - Till he was breathlesse, though he were so stout. - - At last the noble prince did aske my name, - My birth, my calling, and my fortunes past; - With admiration he did heare the same, - And so a bagge of crownes to me he cast; - And when he went away, he saide to mee, - ‘Sevenoake, be prowd, the Dolphyne fought with thee.’” - -Fourth, Thomas White, who founded schools and almshouses (p. 449):— - - “I cannot sing of armes and blood-red warres, - Nor was my collur mixt with Mars his hew; - I honour those that ended countrey jarres, - For herein subjects shew that they are trew; - But privately at home I shewde my selfe, - To be no lover of vaine worldly pelfe. - - My deedes have tongues to speak, though I surcease, - My orators the learned strive to bee, - Because I twined paulmes in time of peace, - And gave such gifts, that made faire learning free; - My care did build them bowers of sweet content, - Where many wise their golden time have spent. - - A noyse of gratefull thankes within mine eares, - Descending from their studies, glads my heart, - That I began to wish with private teares, - There lived more that were of White’s desert; - But now I looke, and spie that time is balde, - And Vertue comes not, being seldome calde.” - -Fifth, John Bonham, citizen and mercer, who went to Denmark with his -merchandise, there was received at Court and distinguished himself at -a tournament—the only occasion on record of a merchant fighting in a -tournament—and finally led an army to victory over the Great Solyman, -who made him a knight after the defeat of the Turk:— - - “Then, at a parley he admirde me so; - He made me knight and let his armie go.” - -Sixth, Christopher Croker. Alas! the world has forgotten Christopher. -He was a vintner’s ’prentice. He was loved by Doll Stodie, his master’s -daughter; and he burned to give her a better position; he joined the -army of the Black Prince in France; distinguished himself there; went -with him to Spain, and returned a knight:— - - “And when Don Peter, driven out of Spaine, - By an usurping bastard of his line, - He craved some helpe his crowne to re-obtaine, - That in his former glorie he might shine; - Our king ten thousand sever’d from his host; - My selfe was one, I speake it not in boast. - - With these Don Peter put the bastard downe, - Each citie yielded at our first approch; - It was not long ere he had got the crowne; - And taught his wicked brother to encroch; - In these affaires so well I shewed my might, - That for my labour I was made a knight. - - Thus labour never looseth his reward; - And he that seeks for honour sure shall speed; - What craven mind was ever in regard? - Or where consisteth manhood but in deed? - I speake it, that confirm’d it by my life, - And in the end, Doll Stodie was my wife.” - -Seventh, John Hawkwood, the Prince of Mercenaries. He, too, belonged to -the Black Prince and was knighted by him. - -Eighth, Hugh Caverley, silk weaver, who also became a knight in France -and signalised himself afterwards by slaying a monstrous wild boar -which devastated Poland. - -Ninth, and last, Henry Maleverer, grocer, Knight Crusader and Custodian -of Jacob’s Well:— - - “And thus with love, with honour, and with fame, - I did return to London whence I came.” - -It is a curious list, and shows what legends of former citizens had -grown up in the minds of the people. They had clean forgotten the old -Patron Saints of London, St. Erkenwald and St. Thomas à Becket; they -had forgotten Philpot and his splendid achievement over the pirates -of the North Sea; they had forgotten Waleys, Mayor of Bordeaux and of -London; they had forgotten Dick Whittington; they had even forgotten -Gresham, and in place of the men who had made London and brought -wealth, prosperity, and freedom to the town, they remembered mythical -adventures and traditions of battle and of victory. One would like to -know more about the popular belief in “London Worthies.” - -The wholesale destruction of MSS. and mediæval libraries, at the -Suppression of the Religious Houses, though doubtless a heavy loss from -an artistic point of view, considering the loss of illuminated books, -may be considered as compensated by the increased activity of the -press and the reconstruction of the library. What was actually lost to -literature? John Bale tells us, Manuscripts of the Fathers, Schoolmen, -and Commentators. Was this a loss? It is quite certain that the -monkish commentators regarded their text from a point of view no longer -held: the Holy Scriptures, they said, were lost. The manuscript copies -were very likely lost, but the press multiplied copies. I think that -the greatest loss to literature was the loss of certain chronicles, -of which we have so many left, which relate the history of current -events as the monkish scribe heard and understood them. In any case, -the destruction of so many books made it impossible, henceforward, to -consider a library as made up chiefly of manuscripts; the press rapidly -restored the books that were wanted; and gave the world a library -filled with printed books, while the old commentators were clean -forgotten. - -The age of great folios and mighty scholars was the seventeenth, -rather than the sixteenth, century. In the sixteenth, scholars were -busy in putting forth new editions of the classics. Men like Dolet and -Rabelais were not ashamed to correct for the press. The voluminous -commentator came afterwards. Meantime, it is remarkable that we had -no Rabelais among our writers. He, formerly a friar, came out of the -cloister, his head filled with the old learning and eager for the new. -His great book became at once popular, and was eagerly passed from hand -to hand. The origins of his chapters have quite recently been explored -and discovered in Mr. W. F. Smith’s excellent translation. They are -shown to be chiefly extracts from gloss and commentary, burlesqued, -imitated, and held up to the ridicule and scorn of scholars. The common -people understood only the bubbling mirth and laughter, coupled with -the spontaneous unseemliness of the page; the scholar understood the -allegory and the purpose of the writer; the ecclesiastic alone, and -one of the older type, understood the true nature of the overwhelming -contempt and hatred of the order that was passing away—contempt and -hatred thinly veiled and concealed except for those who knew the gloss -and commentary of the past. We have no Rabelais; among all our friars -there was no scholar; among our ejected monks, if there were scholars, -they stuck by their order; among all the priests, monks, and friars, -who joined in the Reformation, there was not one who so despised the -old faith as to make it the theme of such a book as that of Rabelais. -Hatred there was in plenty, after the fires of Smithfield: hatred which -continued to flourish in our literature and still lingers; but not the -full bitterness of hatred, fear, contempt, and restlessness which fill -the pages of Rabelais, Étienne Dolet, and Bonaventure des Periers. - -Painting in London practically began with the Tudors, and was brought -over to the City by Flemish and Dutch painters. Among these we find -the names of Lucas and Gerard Horenbout, Volpe, Gerbud Flick, Johannes -Corvus, Levina Terling, Susanna Horenbout, and Alice Carmillion. But -the great name of Holbein towers above all the rest. This painter was -born at Augsburg about 1497, went to Basle in 1516, and came to London -in 1526. He continued in London, with the exception of three visits to -Basle, until his death in 1543, residing first in a lodging on London -Bridge, and next in a house in the parish of St. Andrew Undershaft, -where he died. - -As regards his contemporaries and successors, we are indebted to -the researches of the late John Gough Nichols for information on -this point. They are embodied in a paper published by the Society of -Antiquaries (xxxix. p. 19). - -[Illustration: BEN JONSON (1573(?)-1637) - -From the painting in the National Portrait Gallery, London, after -Gerard Honthorst.] - -The earliest Court Painter to Henry VIII. was one John Browne. He -was appointed in 1511 a Serjeant Painter with a salary of twopence -a day and four ells of cloth, valued at 6s. 8d. an ell, annually. -Three pounds a year is not a large salary, but probably he was paid -in addition for any work which he might do; thus, he was paid forty -shillings for a painted tabard of sarsenet provided by him for -Nottingham Pursuivant. In 1522 he was elected Alderman for Farringdon -Without, and in 1525 he was discharged from office without having been -either Sheriff or Mayor. He gave by will to the Painter Stainers’ -Company his house for their hall: the present Hall stands upon the site -of Browne’s bequest. - -John Browne was succeeded as Serjeant Painter by Andrew Wright. This -painter received £30 for painting and decorating the King’s barge. He -had a manufactory of “pink,” a vegetable pigment used by painters at -that time; it was the Italian _giallo santo_ and the French _stel de -grain_. Wright died in 1543. - -Vincent Volpe, a contemporary of the two preceding, supplied, in 1514, -streamers and banners for the King’s great ship, the _Henry Grace à -Dieu_. He is called in 1530 the “King’s Painter.” It is suggested that -it was Volpe who painted some of the military pictures at Hampton -Court. He also received money for the decoration of the King’s barge. -The “King’s Painter” seems to have held a higher rank than the Serjeant -Painter, for Volpe’s salary was £10 a year. - -Two other Flemish artists, Lucas and Gerard Horenbout, were also in -the receipt of salaries from the King; their father was also, perhaps, -a painter and a Fleming. Their sister Susanna was a painter of -miniatures. She was the wife, first, of Henry Parker the King’s bowman, -and, secondly, of a sculptor named Worsley. - -An Italian named Antonio Toto was a native of Florence, the son of a -painter and the pupil of Ridolpho. He was architect as well as painter. -His principal building was the strange palace of Nonsuch (see p. 89). -Toto was, like Andrew Wright, a Serjeant Painter. For the coronation of -Edward VI. he provided the tabards for the heralds; he also took charge -of the masques. - -Another Italian attached to Henry’s Court was Bartolomo Penni. The -names of three women have been given above: Alice Carmillion was in -Henry’s service; Levina Terling in Edward’s, Mary’s, and Elizabeth’s -successively. - -Holbein’s most illustrious successor among his contemporaries was -Guillim Streets, or Strettes. Among other paintings by this admirable -artist was one of the marriage of Queen Mary. The picture, however, is -lost. - -Nicholas Lyzarde was Serjeant Painter to Queen Elizabeth. He died in -1571. - -The names Antonio Moro and Joost van Cleef may also be added to those -of the painters who lived in London during the sixteenth century. - -The decay of the London schools and of learning in general, which -undoubtedly began in the fifteenth century and continued until far -into the following century, is difficult to understand. One can only -form theories and make guesses. The fact cannot be disputed. There -were forces at work which have not been recorded. The Lollardry of the -late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries seems to have been in -great measure forgotten. Yet, as I have pointed out and proved, the -custom of making bequests to the Religious Houses declined and decayed -until it quite died away, long before the Reformation. The old spirit -of revolt left behind it a steady and persistent and growing spirit -of dissatisfaction. Perhaps this spirit was shown in the decay of the -monastic schools. We have seen how, in 1477, four of the London clergy -asked, and obtained, permission to found additional schools in four -parishes. The new schools could do little; the Reformation accelerated -the decay of learning partly by the abolition of the monastic schools; -partly by the vast reduction in the number of ecclesiastics; partly -by the loss of the endowments by which learning had been encouraged -and maintained: an increased trade, with foreign enterprise, also -attracted the younger men in numbers continually increasing. So few -were the undergraduates of Oxford that in Queen Mary’s reign only three -took a degree in Divinity during the space of six years; in Civil Law -only eleven; in Physic six; in Arts an average of about twenty-three. -Anthony à Wood writes: “There were none that had any heart to put their -children to any school, any farther than to learn to write—to make them -Apprentices or Lawyers.” - -[Illustration: - -_Spooner & Co._ - -HOLBEIN (1497–1543) - -From the portrait by himself at Hampton Court.] - -I would enumerate among the causes of the general decay in learning: -(1) the unsettled nature of religious opinions; (2) the changed ideas -concerning education; (3) the destruction of the Houses, which, if -they turned out few scholars, offered a quiet home for the studious; -(4) the advance in trade and enterprise, which attracted the youth of -London far more than study; (5) the contempt into which the mass of -the Protestant clergy had fallen; (6) a feeling of uneasiness about -scholarship, lest it should bring one to the stake, of which there had -been presented many terrifying examples. - -Of music there is a much nobler record. Never before had the people -been such great lovers of music, and such admirable proficients. In -every barber’s shop was hung a zither or a guitar; anybody played; -everybody sang. Henry VIII. himself was a composer of no mean -capability, and a performer equal to any. Elizabeth upon the virginals -was unequalled. Many of the anthems and madrigals of the period survive -to this day and are still sung. The music of the Chapel Royal was -held to be better than anything of the kind in Western Europe. Would -that the musical tastes and traditions of London had been preserved! -They were destroyed by the Puritans. They were destroyed slowly but -effectively. At the Restoration it was still the custom for gentlemen -to play and sing; but not, apparently, for the trading and lower -classes; during the last century, neither gentlefolk nor any other folk -could play or sing; music ceased to be cultivated by the people. Nor -have we yet, even, begun to be a people given to music; it is still -comparatively rare to find boys who are taught to play any instrument; -at no public school is it thought to be an essential part of education. -Perhaps the twentieth century may witness a revival of the national -love for music. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - GOG AND MAGOG - - -It seems impossible to ascertain why these names were bestowed upon the -City Giants. The prophet Ezekiel (chs. xxxviii. and xxxix.) prophesies -against “Gog, the land of Magog, the Chief Prince of Meshech, and -Tubal.” In the Book of Revelation (xx. 8) Satan goes out “to deceive -the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and -Magog.” How were these names applied to City Giants? It was a common -thing to have a City Giant who was carried in processions; there -were giants at Chester, Salisbury, and Coventry; there were giants -at Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Douai, Lille, and Brussels. The giants -were in every case connected in some way with the legendary history -of the City. But while every city had its own giant, who was brought -out on festive occasions, this did not prevent the construction of -other giants. Thus, after the victory of Agincourt, when Henry V. -was received by a pageant of extraordinary splendour, a giant and a -giantess stood on the Southwark end of London Bridge to greet him. -The giant carried in his right hand an axe, and in the left the City -keys, as if he were the porter of the town. In 1432, when Henry VI. -came to England after his Coronation in France, there was another giant -at London Bridge. He stood with drawn sword, and had at his side the -following verses written out large:— - - “All those that be enemies to the King, - I shall them clothe with confusion, - Make him mighty by virtuous living, - His mortal foes to oppress and bear them down; - And bid him to increase as Christ’s champion. - All mischiefs from him to abridge, - With grace of God, at the entry of this Bridge.” - _Lord Mayor’s Pageants._ - -In 1547, when the boy-king Edward passed through the City, among the -figures presented to him were two representing Valentine and Orson. - -In 1554, when Philip came to London, there was a great pageant to -receive him with the Queen. At the drawbridge of the Tower there were -placed the two giants, Corineus and Gogmagog, holding between them a -scroll inscribed with Latin verses. - -In January 1559, when Queen Elizabeth rode through the City she was -received with a pageant of great splendour. At Temple Bar the last show -was that of the two City Giants, Corineus and Gogmagog, who had between -them a recapitulation of the whole pageant. Here the singing children -made a “noise,” while one of them, attired like a poet, bade the Queen -farewell in the name of the City. - -The giants seem to have been omitted from the Royal pageants and -processions of the seventeenth century. - -In 1605 the Lord Mayor’s Pageant was adorned by the presence of the -giants. - -“The first Pageant was ‘The Shippe called the Royall Exchange,’ in -which takes place a short poetical dialogue between the master, mate -and boy, who congratulate themselves on the fortunate termination of -their voyage at this auspicious time, the master ending the dialogue by -a punning allusion to the Mayor’s name, when he declared his intention - - ‘To make this up a cheerful _Holi-day_.’ - -Neptune and Amphitrite appear upon a lion and camel; and Corineus and -Gogmagog, two huge giants, ‘for the more grace and beauty of the show,’ -were fettered by chains of gold to ‘Britains Mount,’ the principal -pageant; which they appeared to draw, and upon which children were -seated, representing Britannia; ‘Brute’s divided kingdoms,’ Leogria, -Cambria, and Albania; ‘Brute’ himself, his sons Locrine, Camber, and -Albanact; Troya Nova, or London; and the Rivers Thames, Severn, and -Humber, who each declaim in short speeches, the purport of which is -that as England, Wales, and Scotland were first sundered by Brutus to -supply his three sons with a kingdom each, they are now again happily -united in ‘our second Brute,’ King James the first.” (Fairholt, _Lord -Mayor’s Pageants_.) - -The giants disappeared from the Lord Mayor’s Pageants soon after this. -In 1633, Clod, a country-man, in Shirley’s _Contention for Honour and -Riches_, says:— - -“When the word is given, you march to Guildhall, with every man his -spoon in his pocket, where you look upon the giants, and feed like -Saracens, till you have no stomach to Paul’s in the afternoon.” -(_Ibid._) - -In the Lord Mayor’s Pageant for 1673 the giants came out again. This -pageant was designed by Thomas Jordan. It appears to have been their -first appearance after the Fire. - -“I must not omit to tell you, that marching in the van of these five -pageants, are two exceeding rarities to be taken notice of; that is, -there are two extreme great giants, each of them at least fifteen foot -high, that do sit and are drawn by horses in two several chariots, -moving, talking, and taking tobacco as they ride along, to the great -admiration and delight of all the spectators; at the conclusion of -the show they are to be set up in Guildhall, where they may be daily -seen all the year, and I hope never to be demolished by such dismal -violence as happened to their predecessors; which are raised at the -peculiar and proper cost of the city.” (_Ibid._) - -It would seem that in many of the pageants it was not thought necessary -to set down the fact that the giants formed part, for in Henley’s -Orations (1730–1755) there is one on the Lord Mayor’s Show which -contains the following passage: “On that day, the two giants have the -priviledge, if they think it proper, to walk out and keep holiday; one -on each side of the great horse would aggrandize the solemnity, shew -consisting often in bulk.” (_Ibid._) - -In Stow’s description of the setting of the watch on Midsummer’s Eve, -he says: “The Mayor had, beside his giants, three pageants, whereas -the Sheriffs had only two, besides their giants.” In Marston’s _Dutch -Courtezan_, acted 1605, an allusion is made to the giants: “yet all -will scarce make me so high as one of the gyant’s stilts that stalks -before my Lord Mayor’s Pageants.” - -George Wither (1661) calls the giants “Big-boned Colbrant and great -Brandsmore.” - - “The giants at Guildhall ... - • • • • • - Where they have had a place to them assigned - At public meetings, now time out of mind.” - -The last appearance of the giants in a procession was in 1837, when -they graced the Lord Mayor’s Show. - -The legends of the City Giants were two in number. The first related -how Brutus, one of the Trojan heroes, wandering after the Fall of Troy, -like Æneas, came to Britain, which he found full of giants. He fought -with these giants and destroyed them all except two, named Gog and -Magog, whom he brought to his new City of London and chained to the -palace gates. Another legend relates how Corineus, brother of Brutus, -fought the giants Gog and Magog, and, being himself stronger than his -unwieldy antagonists, threw them headlong into the sea. The two giants -of Guildhall, according to this legend, were Corineus and Gogmagog. The -names of Gog and Magog were certainly taken either from Ezekiel or the -Book of Revelation, and were applied to the giants after Corineus had -been forgotten, as the names of princes over an infidel people: they -were represented, not as tutelary giants, but as conquered giants. It -will be observed that one is represented as a Roman, with helmet and -shield, sword, spear, and armour, while the other is apparelled, after -the artist’s imagination, as an ancient Briton. - -They were originally made of wicker-work; after the Great Fire, which -destroyed them, they were reconstructed of the same materials, but in -1707 they were made of wood, as we now see them. - - - - - SOCIAL LIFE - - CHAPTER I - - MANNERS AND CUSTOMS - - -In this chapter we can make a large use of contemporary literature. -Thus, the first consideration in treating of the manners and customs of -the people is naturally the position of the wife and the consideration -shown to her. I do not think that in any country could either the -position of the wife or the consideration for her surpass what was then -in vogue in London. This point Emanuel van Meteren, writing in 1575, -makes abundantly clear, even while he contends the exact opposite, viz. -that the wife is entirely in the power of the husband. For he shows -that whatever the law may be—he does not quote the law—the practice is -that the wife has entire liberty; and custom, _i.e._ public opinion, -against which no husband would dare to move, secures her that liberty. -This is what he says:— - -“Wives in England are entirely in the power of their husbands, -their lives only excepted. Therefore when they marry, they give up -the surname of their father and of the family from which they are -descended, and take the surname of their husbands, except in the -case of duchesses, countesses, and baronesses, who, when they marry -gentlemen of inferior degree, retain their first name and title, which, -for the ambition of the said ladies, is rather allowed than commended. -But although the women are entirely in the power of their husbands -except for their lives, yet they are not kept so strictly as they are -in Spain, or elsewhere. Nor are they shut up, but they have the free -management of the house or housekeeping, after the fashion of those of -the Netherlands and others their neighbours. They go to market to buy -what they like best to eat. They are well-dressed, fond of taking it -easy, and commonly leave the care of household matters and drudgery -to their servants. They sit before their doors, decked out in fine -clothes, in order to see and be seen by the passers-by. In all banquets -and feasts they are shown the greatest honour; they are placed at -the upper end of the table, where they are the first served; at the -lower end they help the men. All the rest of their time they employ -in walking and riding, in playing at cards or otherwise, in visiting -their friends and keeping company, conversing with their equals (whom -they term gossips) and their neighbours, and making merry with them at -child-births, christenings, churchings, and funerals; and all this with -the permission and knowledge of their husbands, as such is the custom. -Although the husbands often recommend to them the pains, industry, -and care of the German or Dutch women, who do what the men ought to -do both in the house and in the shops, for which services in England -men are employed, nevertheless the women usually persist in retaining -their customs. This is why England is called the Paradise of married -women. The girls who are not yet married are kept much more rigorously -and strictly than in the Low Countries. The women are beautiful, fair, -well-dressed and modest, which is seen there more than elsewhere, as -they go about the streets without any covering either of mantle, hood, -veil, or the like. Married women only wear a hat both on the street -and in the house; those unmarried go without a hat, although ladies of -distinction have lately learnt to cover their faces with silken masks -or vizards, and feathers,—for indeed they change very easily, and that -every year, to the astonishment of many.” - -If this was the ordinary life of the London merchant’s wife, the -following is the contemporary ideal (Gervase Markham):— - -“Next unto her sanctity and holiness of life, it is meet that our -English Housewife be a woman of great modesty and temperance, as well -inwardly as outwardly; inwardly, as in her behaviour and carriage -towards her husband, wherein she shall shun all violence of rage, -passion and humour, coveting less to direct than to be directed, -appearing ever unto him pleasant, amiable and delightful; and tho’ -occasion of mishaps, or the mis-government of his will may induce her -to contrary thoughts, yet vertuously to suppress them, and with a -mild sufferance rather to call him home from his error, than with the -strength of anger to abate the least spark of his evil, calling into -her mind, that evil and uncomely language is deformed, though uttered -even to servants; but most monstrous and ugly, when it appears before -the presence of a husband; outwardly, as in her apparel, and dyet, both -which she shall proportion according to the competency of her husband’s -estate and calling, making her circle rather strait than large; for it -is a rule, if we extend to the uttermost, we take away increase; if -we go a hair’s breadth beyond, we enter into consumption; but if we -preserve any part, we build strong forts against the adversaries of -fortune, provided that such preservation be honest and conscionable; -for as lavish prodigality is brutish, so miserable covetousness is -hellish. Let therefore the Housewife’s garments be comely and strong, -made as well to preserve the health, as to adorn the person, altogether -without toyish garnishes, or the gloss of bright colours, and as far -from the vanity of new and fantastick fashions, as near to the comely -imitation of modest matrons. Let her dyet be wholesome and cleanly, -prepared at due hours, and cook’d with care and diligence, let it -be rather to satisfie nature, than her affections, and apter to -kill hunger than revive new appetites; let it proceed more from the -provision of her own yard, than the furniture of the markets; and let -it be rather esteemed for the familiar acquaintance she hath with it, -than for the strangeness and rarity it bringeth from other countries. - -To conclude, our English Housewife must be of chaste thoughts, stout -courage, patient, untired, watchful, diligent, witty, pleasant, -constant in friendship, full of good neighbourhood, wise in discourse, -but not frequent therein, sharp and quick of speech, but not bitter -or talkative, secret in her affairs, comfortable in her counsels, and -generally skilful in the worthy knowledges which do belong to her -vocation.” - -But to set against this is the testimony of the Elizabethan satirist -Philip Stubbes. - -The principal occupation of the women, he tells us—their daily life—is -to lie in bed till nine or ten in the morning; to spend two hours in -dressing themselves; then to go to dinner; then, “their heads pretely -mizzeled with wine,” they walk abroad for a time; or they sit at their -open doors showing their braveries to passers-by; or they pretend -business in the town and carry a basket, “under what pretence pretie -concerts are practised.” Or again they have those gardens in the fields -outside already alluded to, whither they repair with a boy and a basket -and meet their lovers. - - - A WOMAN’S DAY - - “Daily till ten a clocke a bed she lyes, - And then againe her Lady-ship doth rise, - Her Maid must make a fire, and attend - To make her ready; then for wine sheele send, - (A morning pinte), she sayes her stomach’s weake, - And counterfeits as if shee could not speake, - Vntill eleuen, or a little past, - About which time, euer she breakes her fast; - Then (very sullen) she wil pout and loure, - And sit down by the fire some halfe an houre. - At twelue a clocke her dinner time she keepes, - Then gets into her chaire, and there she sleepes - Perhaps til foure, or somewhat thereabout; - And when that lazie humour is worne out, - She cals her dog, and takes him in her lap, - Or fals a beating of her maid (perhap) - Or hath a gossip come to tell a tale, - Or else at me sheele curse, and sweare, and rale, - Or walk a turne or two about the Hall, - And so to supper and to bed: heeres all - This paines she takes; and yet I do abuse her: - But no wise man, I thinke, so kind would vse her....” - STUBBES, _Anatomie of Abuses_, Part ii. p. 274. - -In the streets a lady of condition was preceded by a lackey carrying a -stick or wand. Gentlemen were followed by their servants carrying the -master’s sword. The servants were dressed in blue with the master’s -badge in silver on the left arm. The men kept on their hats indoors -except in warm weather. The nobles, who were mostly poor, joined -with the merchant adventurers in their foreign enterprises; many of -the merchants were consulted by the Sovereign and held positions of -trust—for example, Gresham; yet the separation of City and Court was -already beginning, as is shown by the repeated sneers of the dramatists -at the vulgarity and ostentation of the City Madams. We get occasional -glimpses of the lower class women and girls; they were rough in their -manners and coarse in their conversation; we find them dancing in the -street to the music of the tabor and the pipe; we also see them playing -at ball up and down the street, like the ’prentices. They lived, like -the men, on strong meat and beer; they were therefore physically -strong, perhaps as strong as the young men their lovers. The richer -sort of citizens had country gardens, generally small enclosures, -either in or north of Moorfields, whither they resorted in the long -summer evenings; their wives, it is said, used the gardens in the -morning for assignations and the carrying on of intrigues. - -In the morning the haunt of the gallants was St. Paul’s Cathedral. -(_See_ Appendix VIII.) They walked up and down the middle of the nave, -called then the “Mediterranean,” exhibiting their new cloaks and their -new feathers. After a few turns up and down, or when the clock struck -eleven, they left the place and disappeared, going to some of the -shops, the tobacconist’s, or the bookseller’s, where they took tobacco -and talked about the new books. They then repaired to an ordinary and -spent two or three hours over dinner, after which they went back to St. -Paul’s and spent there the whole afternoon. - -The merchant had his Exchange; the citizen his tavern; the gallant had -the apothecary’s shop, where he bought and smoked his tobacco. For -daily discourse and business the scholar, the divine, the poet, the -wit, had the bookseller’s shop. “He will sit you,” said Ben Jonson, “a -whole afternoon in a bookseller’s shop, reading the Greek, Italian, -and Spanish.” He would read, and he would talk. Remember that in the -year 1590 or thereabouts the art of printing had only been in use a -hundred years; all the books were new books; every poet was printed -or translated for the first time; the booksellers’ shops contained -editions, always new, of ancient classics; of living poets; of foreign -writers; there was far greater interest in a new book than our age can -understand: as we have seen there were in London alone at least 240 -poets, known and acknowledged, whose names are still remembered, and -whose poems still remain Anthologies, and there was interest among the -reading world in every one of them. There may have been jealousies: -poets have always been a jealous folk; but there was appreciation, and -there was generosity. And the bookseller’s shop was the place where all -who valued new books could meet and talk of books—what talk is more -delightful? What criticism more sincere than that between those who -themselves belong to letters in an age when literature knows not yet -the meaning of the words exhaustion or decay? - -Mr. Ordish (_Shakespeare’s London_, p. 233) has compiled a list of -Elizabethan booksellers from the title-pages of the Shakespeare -quartos. Such a list was well worth making, though it cannot be -considered more than a small instalment. Indeed, the literary output -was so enormous during the latter half of the sixteenth century, that -the number of booksellers must have been proportionately greater than -at present. - -The following were some of the signs:— - -I. In St. Paul’s Churchyard— - - At the sign of the Angel, the Fox, the Flower de Luce and the - Crown, the Greyhound, the Green Dragon, the Holy Ghost, the Gun - (Edward White), the Pied Bull, the Spread Eagle. - -II. By St. Dunstan’s in the West— - - At the sign of the White Hart; at the shop under the Dial. - -III. In Paternoster Row— - - At the sign of the Sun. - -IV. Cornhill— - - At the sign of the Cat and Parrots. - -V. In Carter Lane, near the Paul Head. - -Plays and masques were performed on Sunday as well as any other day; -the feeling, however, was growing rapidly in favour of a stricter -attention to the Sunday, which was confused with the Sabbath. In other -words, the Puritans were fast increasing in numbers and in importance. - -If amusement was wanted it might also be sought in the street, where -the juggler with his music and his tumbler had his regular round. He -was distinguished by his thin, coloured cloak and his yellow breeches -trimmed with blue. For a modest fee he performed for any who summoned -him. Another form of amusement, suitable to those who could not afford -to pay the itinerant juggler, and had to consider the expenditure in -candles, was to sit round the fire in the evening and tell stories. - - “... some mery fit - Of Mayde-Marian, or else of Robin Hood.” - -As for the girls:— - - “Then is it pleasure the yonge maides amonge, - To watch by the fier the winter-nights longe; - And in the ashes some playes for to marke, - And cover wardes for fault of other warke; - To taste white shevers, to make prophet-roles; - And, after talke, oft times to fille the boles.” - -In the private houses there was a great deal of whipping; gentlemen -had their servants whipped in the porter’s lodge; to be whipped was -no disgrace, but a natural part of servitude, no more to be deplored -than the necessity of death; ladies whipped their maid-servants, their -sons and their daughters; when a child had been whipped the rod was -tied to her girdle, with what we should perhaps consider an excess of -admonition. Children knelt before their parents until bidden to rise. -On their knees, too, they asked for their father’s blessing. If we -may believe Caxton, who died in 1491, and therefore hardly belongs to -the Tudor period, there was a great falling off in the behaviour of -children in his own recollection. It is a mark of increasing years -to compare things of the present with things of the past to the -disparagement of the former. - - “I see that the children ben borne within the sayd cyte encrease - and prouffyte not like their faders and olders; but for mooste - parte, after that they ben comeyn to theyr perfight yeres of - discretion and rypnes of age, kno well that theyre faders haue - lefte to them grete quantite of goodes, yet scarcely among ten two - thrive. O blessed Lord! when I remember this, I am al abashed; - I cannot judge the cause; but fayrer ne wyser, ne bet bespeken - children in theyre youth ben no wher than ther ben in London; but - at ther ful ryping, there is no carnel, ne good word found en, but - chaff for the most part.” - -As for the boys of the household, they either went to one of the City -schools or they were instructed by a tutor at home. Probably the latter -was unusual when schools were ready to hand. In country places the -tutor was common, and his position was anything but pleasant. - -“Such is the most base and ridiculous parsimony of many of our -Gentlemen (if I may so terme them) that if they can procure some poore -Batchelor of Art from the Universitie to teach their children to say -grace, will be content upon the promise of ten pounds a yeere at his -first comming, to be pleased with five; the rest to be set off in hope -of the next advouson (which perhaps was sold before the young man was -born). Or if it chance to fall in his time, his lady or master tels -him, ‘Indeed, Sir, we are beholden unto you for your paines; such a -living is lately falne, but I had before made a promise of it to my -butler or bailiffe, for his true and extraordinary service.’ - -Is it not commonly seen, that the most Gentlemen will give better -wages, and deale more bountifully with a fellow who can but a dogge, -or reclaime a hawke, than upon an honest, learned, and well qualified -man to bring up their children? It may be, hence it is, that dogges -are able to make syllogismes in the fields, when their young masters -can conclude nothing at home, if occasion of argument or discourse be -offered at the table.” - -Did the great City merchant ever maintain the domestic chaplain? I have -found no instance of such a servant in the household of a citizen. -Bishop Hall assigns the domestic chaplains to the country gentleman:— - - “A gentle squire would gladly entertain - Into his house some trencher-chappelain; - Some willing man that might instruct his sons, - And that would stand to good conditions. - First, that he lie upon the truckle-bed, - While his young maister lieth o’er his head; - Second, that he do, on no default, - Ever presume to sit above the salt; - Third, that he never change his trencher twice; - Fourth, that he use all common courtesies; - Sit bare at meals, and one half rise and wait; - Last, that he never his young master beat; - But he must aske his mother to define, - How manie jerks she would his breech should line. - All these observ’d he could contented be, - To give five markes, and winter livery.” - JOSEPH HALL, _Satires_. - -As regards the ’prentices, they were considered as servants not only -in the shop and warehouse, but also at home, where they waited at -dinner, and followed the ladies to church and when they went abroad in -the evening, carrying a lantern and a stout cudgel. For the servants, -properly so called, the following regulations will show the manner of -their service (Drake, ii.):— - - “Imprimis, That no servant bee absent from praier, at morning or - evening, without a lawfull excuse, to be alledged within one day - after, upon payne to forfeit for every tyme 2d. - - 2. Item, that none sweare any othe, uppon paine for every othe 1d. - - 3. Item, That no man leave any doore open, that he findeth shut, - without there bee cause, upon payne for every time 1d. - - 4. Item, That none of the men be in bed, from our Lady-day to - Michaelmas, after 6 of the clock, in the morning; nor out of his - bed after 10 of the clock at night; nor, from Michaelmas till our - Lady-day, in bed after 7 in the morning; nor out after 9 at night, - without reasonable cause, on paine of 2d. - - 5. Item, That no man’s bed be unmade, nor fire or candle-box - uncleane, after 8 of the clock in the morning, on paine of 1d. - - • • • • • - - 7. Item, That no man teach any of the children any unhonest - speeche, or bandie word, or other, on paine of 4d. - - 8. Item, That no man waite at the table, without a trencher in his - hand, except it be uppon some good cause, on paine of 1d. - - 9. Item, If any man breake a glasse, hee shal answer the price - thereof out of his wages and, if it bee not known who breake it, - the buttler shall pay for it on paine of 12d. - - 10. Item, The table must be covered halfe an hour before 11 at - dinner, and 6 at supper, or before, on paine of 2d. - - 11. Item, That meate bee readie at 11, or before, at supper, on - paine of 6d. - - 12. That none be absent, without leave or good cause, the whole - day, or any part of it, on paine of 4d. - - 13. Item, that no man strike his fellow, on paine of losse of - service; nor revile or threaten, or provoke another to strike, on - paine of 12d. - - 14. Item, That no man come to the kitchen without reasonable cause, - on paine of 1d. and the cook likewyse to forfeit 1d. - - 15. Item, That none toy with the maids on paine of 4d. - - 16. Item, That no man weare foule shirt on Sunday, nor broken hose - or shooes, or dublett without buttons, on paine of 1d. - - 17. Item, That when any strainger goeth hence, the chamber be drest - up againe within 4 hours after, on paine of 1d. - - 18. Item, That the hall bee made cleane every day, by eight in the - winter, and seaven in the sommer, on paine of him that should do it - to forfet 1d. - - 19. That the court-gate bee shutt each meale, and not opened during - dinner and supper, without just cause, on paine the porter to - forfet for every time 1d. - - 20. Item, That all stayrs in the house, and other rooms that neede - shall require, bee made cleane on Fryday after dinner, on paine of - forfeyture of every one on whome it shall belong unto 3d. - - All which sommes shalbe duly paide each quarter-day out of their - wages, and bestowed on the poore or other godly use.” - -The London merchant’s house in the sixteenth century steadily improved -in solid comfort and even in magnificence. No one will ever be able to -restore completely, or even approximately, the London of that century. -We do not know the numbers of the great houses; we know only in part -their constitutions, their pictures; their art; their carved work. In -the streets lying off the main avenues of retail trade, especially -in those streets near the riverside, a house was frequently at once -a place of residence and a warehouse. One may look upon a street in -Hildesheim, for instance, and be reminded of Bishopsgate Street, -Aldgate, or Leadenhall Street in the time of Queen Elizabeth. That is -to say, the greater number of houses were timbered with tiled roofs; -the fronts all covered with carvings painted and gilded; there were -scattered here and there substantial stone houses; there were still -many houses whose gateway opened from some narrow city lane upon a -spacious court, above which stood the hall; the lady’s bower; the rooms -for apprentices and servants; and, behind all, the garden. Such a house -on a large scale was Gray’s Inn; on a lesser scale Barnard’s Inn and -the smaller inns. The College of Heralds still shows the general size -of the court; Doctor’s Commons until fifty years ago also illustrated -the old fashion of building. Bricks were coming into use, but, in the -City of London, slowly. There were still many narrow and noisome courts -where the hovels were of wood—making a constant danger of fire and -filled with all manner of decaying abominations—a constant cause of -disease. - -By this time all the windows were provided with glass; many of the -poorer sort, however, were furnished with the cheap glass which -contained the round lumps called bull’s eyes. The shops in the -market-places had glass in the upper part, but the lower part still -remained open, and was shut at night with a shutter. The goods were -exposed outside the window, and the ’prentices stood beside them -bawling, “What d’ye lack? What d’ye lack?” - -In the more important houses the old custom of living in the great hall -was still kept up. In all houses the servants and apprentices sat down -with the master and his family. - -The floors were still strewn with rushes, but these, on account of -the cost of renewing, were seldom changed, so that underneath them, -as Erasmus discovered, lay unmolested an “ancient collection of beer, -grease, fragments of fish, and everything that is nasty.” - -The furniture of the rooms was very different from that of our own -times. The following account is taken from _Archæologia_ (vol. xxx. p. -2):— - -“The Furniture of the different rooms is very similar, varying -principally in number and quality of the articles; consisting of -sets of hangings, tables with tressels, joined forms, joined stools, -court-cupboards, carpets, cushions, and a few chairs; also andirons, -and other fire utensils, and several pairs of virginals in different -rooms, besides a pair of organs in the chapel, and ‘an instrument -musicall’ in the chamber of presence. The carpets, which are numerous, -would scarcely appear to have been used according to modern custom -for the floors of the apartments, Hentzner having informed us, that -the presence-chamber of Queen Elizabeth herself was strewed with hay -(_i.e._ rushes) but they were principally coverings for the tables, -stools, and court-cupboards; though they may have been occasionally -used to cover some select part of a room, as in the presence-chamber, -for instance, where a Turkey carpet is mentioned, five yards and a half -long, and two yards and three-quarters broad. - -[Illustration: STAPLE INN, HOLBORN] - -The court-cupboards, which are generally considered to have been -moveable closets, answering the purpose of a sideboard, were frequently -much ornamented, and such an article may still be seen in old mansions, -and in collections of old furniture. They were covered with carpets or -cupboard cloths, and set out with cups, salvers, and plate. Some of -these carpets were very handsome. In one of the inventories in that -valuable authority for researches of this nature, the _History of -Hengrave_, is mentioned, ‘One carpet of black velvet, for the little -bord, laced and fringed with silver and gould, lyned with taffita.’ -Some of these carpets also had cloths to lay over them, probably, when -not in use, in order to protect them. In the same Inventory cushions -are mentioned which in richness exceed those of the Archbishop, as -‘two long cushions of plain black velvet, embroidered with roses, with -gould and pearle all over, with tassels of gold and silk’; but the -nature of his archi-episcopal office probably induced him to avoid too -much splendour in his household. There is, however, in the chamber of -presence a cushion of cloth of baudkin,[9] and in other apartments, -several cushions of velvet and damask. The chair of cloth of gold and -silver in the gallery was probably a State chair; and, indeed, from -the paucity of these articles, they would seem to be intended only for -persons of higher rank. From the ‘latten andirons’ in the chamber of -presence being valued at forty shillings, it may be inferred that they -were ornamented, and in some cases we know they were richly carved. -Iachimo, describing the chamber of Imogen, says:— - - ‘Her andirons— - I had forgot them—were two winking Cupids - Of silver, each on one foot standing, nicely - Depending on their brands.’ - -The pictures are chiefly portraits of royal personages, the principal -noblemen and officers of state, and the promoters of the Reformation, -but the list is interesting to shew the Archbishop’s selection. In some -of the bed-rooms are truckle-beds (trundle-beds as they are called in -some of the inventories of this age); these would seem to have been -small beds generally appropriated to attendants, and placed at the foot -or side of the standing or principal bed, and occasionally made to run -under it during the day. The Host in the _Merry Wives of Windsor_, -in answer to an inquiry after Sir John Falstaff, says, ‘There’s his -chamber, his house, his castle, his standing-bed and truckle-bed.’ -Hudibras also makes the distinction:— - - ‘If he that in the field is slain, - Be in the bed of honour lain. - He that is beaten may be said, - To lie in honour’s truckle-bed.’ - -In my Lord’s chamber the bed is a field-bed, but this sort of bed may -have been so called from being a folding-bed, as field-stool from -fauld-stool, and not as being a camp-bed or _lit de champ_. The ‘grene -satten of bridgs’ in the vestrye was satin of Bruges; and ’dornix,’ of -which there are some articles mentioned, is used for ‘Tournay,’ and -applied to the manufacture of that place. The ‘Grene saie,’ in the -‘Grene Galery,’ and elsewhere, was probably not silk, but a species -of fine cloth (sagum), one of the earliest productions of our woollen -manufacture, the material of stockings, which were objected to by -William Rufus, as being, from the price, too common for a king.” - -We may supplement this account by Harrison’s description (Holinshed, i. -317):— - -“The furniture of our houses also exceedeth, and is growne in maner -even to passing delicacie; for herein I doo not speake of the nobilitie -and gentry onlie, but likewise of the lowest sort in most places of -our south countrie, that have aniething at all to take to. Certes -in noblemen’s houses it is not rare to see abundance of Arras, rich -hangings of tapistrie, silver vessell, and so much other plate, as may -furnish sundry cupbords, to the summe often times of a thousand or -two thousand pounds at the least: whereby the value of this and the -rest of their stuffe dooth grow to be almost inestimable. Likewise -in the houses of knights, gentlemen, merchantmen, and some other -wealthie citizens, it is not geson to behold generallie their great -provision of tapistrie, Turkie worke, pewter, brasse, fine linen, and -thereto costlie cupbords of plate, worth five or six hundred or a -thousand pounds, to be deemed by estimation. But as herein all these -sorts doo far exceed their elders and predecessors, and in neatnesse -and curiositie the merchant all other; so in time past, the costlie -furniture staied there, whereas now it is descended yet lower even -unto the inferior artificers and manie farmers, who by vertue of their -old and not of their new leases have for the most part learned also to -garnish their cupbords with plate, their joined beds with tapestrie and -silke hangings, and their tables with carpets and fine naperie, whereby -the wealth of our countrie (God be praised therefore and give us grace -to imploie it well) dooth infinetlie appeare. Neither doo I speak -this in reprooch of anie man, God is my judge, but to showe that I do -rejoise rather to see how God has blessed us with His good gifts; and -whilest I behold how that in a time wherein all things are growen to -most excessive prices, and what commoditie soever is to be had is daily -plucked from the communaltie by such as looke into every trade, we do -yet find the meanes to obtein and achive such furniture as heretofore -hath beene unpossible. There are old men yet dwelling in the village -where I remaine, which hath noted three things to be marvellously -altered in England within their sound remembrance; and other three -things too much increased. One is, the multitude of chimnies lately -erected, whereas in their yoong daies there were not above two or -three, of so many in most uplandish towns of the realme (the religious -houses and manour places of their lordes alwaies excepted, and -peradventure some great personages), but each one made his fire against -a reredosse in the hall where he dined and dressed his meat. - -The second is the great (although not generall) amendment of lodging, -for (said they) our fathers (yea and we ourselves also) have lien full -oft upon straw pallets, on rough mats covered onlie with a sheet under -coverlets made of dagswain or hopharlots (I use their owne terms) and -a good round log under their heads insteed of a bolster or pillow. If -it were so that our fathers or the good man of the house, had within -seven yeares after his marriage purchased a matteres or flockebed, and -thereto a sacke of chaffe to reste his head upon, he thought himselfe -to be well lodged as the lord of the towne, that peradventure laie -seldom in a bed of downe or whole fethers: so well were they contented, -and with such base kind of furniture: which also is not verie much -amended as yet in some parts of Bedfordshire, and elsewhere further off -from our southerne parts. Pillowes (said they) were thought meet onelie -for women in childbed. As for servants, if they had anie sheet above -them it was well, for seldom had they anie under their bodies, to keep -them from the pricking straws that ran oft through the canvas of the -pallet and rased their hardened hides. - -The third thing they tell of, is the exchange of vessell, as of -treene[10] platters into pewter, and wooden spoones into silver or -tin. For so common were all sorts of treene stuffe in old time, that -a man should hardlie find foure peeces of pewter (of which one was -peradventure a salt) in a good farmer’s house and yet for all this -frugalitie (if it may so be justly called) they were scarse able to -live and paie their rents at their daies without selling of a cow, -or an horsse, or more, although they paid but foure pounds at the -uttermost by the year. Such also was their povertie that if some one od -farmer or husbandman had beene at the alehouse a thing greatlie used -in those daies, amongst six or seven of his neighbours, and there in -a braverie to show what store he had, did cast downe his pursse, and -therein a noble or six shillings in silver unto them (for few such men -then cared for gold bicause it was not so readie paiment and they -were oft inforced to give a penie for the exchange of an angell), -it was verie likelie that all the rest could not laie downe so much -against it; whereas in my time, although peradventure foure pounds of -old rent be improved to fortie, fiftie, or an hundred pounds, yet will -the farmer as another palme or date tree thinke his gaines verie small -toward the end of his terme, if he have not six or seven yeares rent -lieng by him, therewith to purchase a new lease, beside a faire garnish -of pewter on his cupbord, with so much more in od vessel going about -the house, three or foure featherbeds, so many counterlids and carpets -of tapistrie, a silver salt, a bowle for wine (if not an whole neast) -and a dozzen of spoones to furnish up the sute.” - -Or, again, to take another contemporary authority (Hall, _Society in -the Elizabethan Age_):— - -“The furniture of an Elizabethan House is illustrated by an inventory -of the Household ‘stuffe, goodes and cattelles’ belonging to Sir Henry -Parker knight (1557–60). This inventory shows two chairs only for -the whole house; eight stools and forms; two square framed tables; -one joined table to say mass on; a pair of ‘playing tables’; twelve -bedsteads; tapestry and hangings; featherbeds; blankets; bolsters; -testors; curtains; counterpoints (counterpanes); seven cupboards; -three carpets; andirons, fire shovels, tongs; thirteen candlesticks; -certain cushions of tapestry, velvet, white satin and ‘Brydges’ satin; -three great chests; utensils for the kitchen; the Brewhouse and the -Bargehouse. The Hall was hung round with tapestry; its permanent -furniture consisted of two square tables and one great chair of black -velvet in which the Justice of the Peace heard cases. When the tables -were spread for dinner or supper, forms were brought in. The ‘Great -Chamber,’ formerly called the Lady’s Bower, contained the forms used at -meals in the Hall, one stool of black velvet for my Lady; and nothing -else! In the bedrooms there were the beds and their blankets and -nothing else; not a chair or a table; nothing but the bed—what does one -want in a bedroom but the bed to sleep upon? For decorations one room -had over the chimney a ‘steyned cloth with Marie and Gabriell.’ Another -had curtains of sarcenet; another, of red and green say; another, ‘old -tapestrye worke of imagery.’ In one chamber we find a bason and ewer -of pewter—was this the only means of washing in the whole house? In -the buttery were a dozen of fine trenchers ‘cased’; six glasses; six -plates for fruits; a ‘garnish’ of pewter vessels; two pewter plates for -tarts. Nothing is said of knives—did each person still carry his own? -Even then there must have been carving knives. Forks were not as yet in -common use, and nothing is said about spoons.” - -The inventory of a farmer’s goods about the same time, given in the -same work, shows among the household gear, two pewter dishes, three -pewter platters, two saucers, four trencher platters, six trencher -dishes, two brass kettles, two candlesticks and a chafing dish, eight -bowls of wood, twelve trenchers, and twelve trencher spoons; but still -nothing about knives. Nor in any of the numerous inventories and -accounts given in this book is any mention made of knives. We see, -however, in the tables laid upon trestles, the single chair, the forms -and stools, the fine tapestry of the Hall, the carpets of the Great -Chamber, the testers and the curtains of the bed which stands alone -in the bedroom, a compound of state and simplicity; of meanness and -richness. Furniture in the modern sense had not yet appeared in the -house. - -To quote from Shakespeare, Gremio, in the _Taming of the Shrew_, thus -speaks of his furniture:— - - “My house within the city - Is richly furnished with plate and gold; - Basins and ewers to lave her dainty hands; - My hangings all of Tyrian tapestry; - In ivory coffers I have stuff’d my crowns; - In cypress chests my arras counterpoints, - Costly apparel, tents, and canopies, - Fine linen, Turkish cushions boss’d with pearl, - Valance of Venice gold in needlework, - Pewter and brass and all things that belong - To house or housekeeping.” - -Or take the following note of a lady’s room:— - -“Her bed-chamber was garnished with such diversities of sweete herbes, -such varietie of fragrant flowers, such chaunge of odoriferous smelles, -so perfumed with sweete odours, so stored with sweete waters, so -beautified with tapestry, and decked so artificially, that I want -memorie to rehearse it, and cunning to expresse it, so that it seemed -her Chamber was rather some terresstriall Paradise, than a mansion for -such a matelesse mystresse; rather a tabernacle for some Goddesse, than -a lodging for such a loathsome carcase.” - -The Tudor age was strong in small points of ceremony and etiquette, -which descended even to details of housework. For instance, the -ceremony to be observed in making the King’s Bed, a thing which we -might suppose left to a housemaid, was carefully laid down:— - -“Furste a groome or a page to take a torche and to goo to the warderobe -of the kynges bedd, and brynge theym of the warderobe with the kynges -stuff unto the chambr for makyng of the same bedde. Where as sught to -be a gentylman-usher iiij yeomen of the chambr for to make the same -bedde. The groome to stande at the bedds feete with his torche. They -of the warderobe opennyng the kinges stuff of hys bedde upon a fayre -sheets betwen the sayde groome and the bedds fote, iij yeomen or two -at the lefte in every syde of the bedde. The gentylman usher and parte -commaundyng theym what they shall doo. A yoman with a dagger to searche -the strawe of the kynges bedde that there be none untreuth therin. And -this yoman to caste up the bedde of downe upon that, and oon of theym -to tomble over yt for the serche thereof. Then they to bete and tufte -the sayde bedde, and to laye oon then the bolster without touchyng -of the bedd where as it aught to lye. Then they of the warderobe to -delyver theym a fusty and takyng the saye thereof. All theys yomen to -laye theyr hands theroon at oone, that they touch not the bedd, tyll -yt be layed as it sholde be by the commaundement of the usher. And so -the furste sheet in lyke wyse, and then to trusse in both sheete and -fustyan rownde about the bedde of downe. The warderoper to delyver -the second sheete unto two yomen, they to crosse it over theyr arme, -and to stryke the bedde as the ussher shall more playnly sheweun to -theym. Then every yoman layeing hande upon the sheete to laye the same -sheete upon the bedde. And so the other fustyan upon or ij with -suche coverynge as shall content the kynge. Thus doon the ij yomen next -to the bedde to laye down agene the overmore fustyan, the yoman of the -warderobe delverynge theym a pane sheete, the sayde yoman therewythall -to cover the sayde bedde: and so then to laye down the overmost sheets -from the beddes heed. And then the say ij yomen to lay all the overmost -clothes of a quarter of the bedde. Then the warderoper to delyver unto -theym such pyllowes as shall please the kynge. The sayd yoman to laye -theym upon the bolster and the heed sheet with whych the sayde yoman -shall cover the sayd pyllowes. And so to trusse the endes of the said -sheete under every end of the bolster. And then the sayd warderoper to -delyver unto them ij lytle small pyllowes werwythall the squyres for -the bodye or gentylman usher shall give te saye to the warderoper, and -to the yoman whyche have layde on hande upon the sayd bedde. And then -the sayd ij yomen to lay upon the sayde bedde toward the bolster as yt -was bifore. They makyng a crosse and kissynge yt where there handes -were. Then ij yomen next to the feete to make the seers as the usher -shall teche theym. And so then every one of them sticke up the aungel -about the bedde, and to lette downe the corteyns of the sayd bedde or -sparver. - -[Illustration: THE MORE FAMILY - -From a picture in the possession of Major-General F. E. Sotheby.] - -Item, a squyer for the bodye or gentylman-usher aught to sett the -kynges sword at hys beddes heede. - -Item, a squyer for the bodye aught to charge a secret groome or page -to have the kepynge of the sayde bedde with a lyght, unto the tyme the -kynge be disposed to goo to yt. - -Item, a groome or page aught to take a torche whyle the bedde ys yn -makyng to feche a loof of brede, a pott with ale, a pott wyth wine for -them that maketh the bedde, and every man. - -Item, the gentylman-ussher aught to forbede that no manner of man do -sett eny dysshe uppon the kinge’s bedde for fere of hurtyng of the -kyng’s ryche counterpoynt that lyeth therupon. And that the sayd ussher -take goode heede, that noon man wipe or rubbe their handes uppon none -arras of the kynges, wherby they myght be hurted, in the chambr where -the kyng ys specially, and in all other.” - -The wealth of the English was not so much illustrated, as it was -proved, by their immense stores of silver and silver-gilt plate. The -people bought all the plate that they could afford; they put their -savings, so to speak, in silver plate, as we put them in stocks and -shares. Polydore Vergil says that there were few whose tables were not -loaded with spoons, cups, and salt-cellars of silver. At the marriage -feast of Prince Arthur there was in the great hall a cupboard five -stages in height, set with plate valued at £1200, say £15,000 of our -money; while in the chamber where the Princess dined there was a -cupboard of gold plate valued at £20,000 or £240,000 in our money. -Cardinal Wolsey must have spent enormous sums upon plate. There -were two banqueting rooms, in each of which was a cupboard extended -along the whole length of the apartment, piled to the top with plate, -and every guest chamber was provided with silver ewers, basins, and -candlesticks. Of silver spoons or dishes there were none; the dishes -were of pewter and the plates of wood, even in the greatest houses. - -Lastly, on the subject of furniture, let me quote from another paper in -_Archæologia_, vol. xxxvi. p. 284:— - -“The furniture of the hall is excessively scanty and plain, consisting -of but a single table and two forms, of the total value of 4s. 6d. In -the parlour, however, is a much greater abundance of furniture, as, -in addition to the main table, there is the side table and another -small table, a chair and six stools with embroidered cushions, besides -footstools; while for the decoration of the room we find a portrait -of Henry VIII. and hangings of green saye, and, for the amusement of -the family and guests, a pair of virginals, a base lute, and a guitar, -with chess and backgammon boards for those not musically inclined. The -children’s chamber, or nursery as we should call it, is comfortably -provided with bedding and nursery requisites, and contains a cupboard, -two coffers, and a great wicker hamper, as receptacles for the clothes, -etc. The allowance of blankets appears but small, being only one pair -to a bed, either in the nursery or in the bedroom of the master of -the house. The latter room is provided with a walnut-tree bedstead, -adorned with green fringe, and having a coverlet of tapestry, a walnut -table, chairs and stools, curtains for the windows of green saye, -a warming-pan, and, as a ready means of defence against thieves or -intruders, a pole-axe. In an inner closet, leading out of this room, -are four stills, for the use of the lady of the house. - -Sir William More’s own closet is so well appointed that it might -almost serve as a model for the morning-room of a country squire of -the present day. On the walls hang maps of the World, of France, of -England, and of Scotland, and a picture of Judith, a little chronicle, -and a perpetual almanac in frames. Among the accessories are a globe, a -slate to write on, and a counterboard and cast of counters, with which -to make calculations and cast accounts, in the manner then in vogue. On -the desk are a pair of scales and a set of weights, a pair of scissors, -a penknife, a whetstone, a pair of compasses, a foot-rule, a hammer, a -seal of many seals, and an inkstand of pewter, with a pounce-box, and -pens both of bone and steel. Around the room is a collection of about -120 volumes of books; among them are some of the best chronicles of the -time, as Fabyan, Langton, Harding, Carion, etc.; translations from the -classics, as well as some in their original language; for magisterial -business there are the statutes of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Mary, -and all the statutes before, as well as the _New Book of Justices_, -and other legal works; for medical use we find a _Book of Physic_, the -_Glass of Health_, and a book against the Sweat, as well as a _Book -of Medicines for Horses_; while for lighter reading there are such -books as Chaucer, Lydgate, Skelton, and others, not only in English but -also in French and Italian; and for religious study, besides a Bible -and Testaments in various languages, the _Scala Perfectionis_, _Flores -Bibliae_, etc. The whole catalogue is worthy of attentive perusal by -the bibliographical antiquary, and affords the titles of some English -works which are not, I believe, at present known. - -In the closet of the lady of the house are a few more books, -principally of prayers, a large collection of trunks and boxes, a -number of glass vessels of various forms and uses, and a few of enamel -or china, with trenchers, knives, shears, graters, snuffers, moulds, -brushes, and other miscellaneous properties of a good housewife.” - -Water was carried about the City from the conduits by water-carriers -called “Cobbs,” who carried it in large tankards, each holding about -three gallons. - -The palmy time of tobacco extended over the fifty years after its -introduction. During this time the use of tobacco penetrated all ranks -and classes of society. The grave divine, the soldier, the lawyer, the -gallant about town, the merchant, the craftsman, the ’prentice, all -used pipes. At the theatre the young fellow called for his pipe and for -tobacco and began to smoke: presently he rose and walking over to the -boxes presented his pipe to any lady of his acquaintance. - -People went to bed with tobacco box and pipe and candle on a table by -the bedside in case they might wake up in the night and feel inclined -for tobacco. After supper in a middle-class family, all the men and -women smoked together. Nay, it is even stated that the very children -in school took a pipe of tobacco instead of breakfast, the master -smoking with them and instructing them how to bring the smoke through -the nostrils in the fashion of the day. Tobacco was bought and sold in -pennyworths. - -Every man carried a “tobacco box, steel, and touch.” Early in the -seventeenth century there are said to have been 7000 tobacconists’ -shops in London. This seems incredible; perhaps there were 7000 shops -in which tobacco was sold. For instance, all apothecaries sold tobacco. -Many of the tobacco shops were of handsome appearance. A tobacco shop -had a maple block for cutting the leaf; tongs for holding the coals, -and a fire of juniper at which the pipes were lighted. Tobacco was -so cheap that a man might fill his pocket with it for twopence. Yet -over £300,000 a year was spent in London on tobacco, while there were -some—but this is impossible—who were reported to spend, habitually, -£400 a year upon tobacco alone; that is, 48,000 pocketsful every year, -or 130 pocketsful every day; which is absurd. - -Expletives and oaths are changed with every generation. The -Elizabethans had, no doubt, a great many, of which the following -represent but a few. The old Catholic oaths “By’r Lady,” “By the -Mass,” and so forth, vanished with the Reformation. We now find a lot -of meaningless ejaculations, such as “God’s Wounds,” “God’s Fools,” -“God’s Dines,” “Cocke’s Bones,” “Deuce take me,” “Bones a God,” -and “Bones a me.” The now familiar “Damn” makes its appearance in -literature; but indeed it had flourished in the mouths of the people -for many generations. There is nothing really remarkable about the -swearing of the Elizabethan period. - -Every merchant formerly carried a signet-ring, on which was engraved, -not his coat-of-arms, but his mark or signet. Thus, a curious -signet-ring was found lying in the bed of the river while digging -the foundations of London Bridge. At first it was believed to be Sir -Thomas Gresham’s, but that seems now to be impossible. It is engraved -in _The London and Middlesex Notebook_ (p. 195). The device contains -the initials of the owner, with an arrangement of lines probably not -intended to have any meaning except that they should be recognised as -forming part of Sir Thomas Gresham’s signet. Armed with this ring as an -introduction, a messenger could buy and sell for the merchant—it being -presumed that the ring never left its owner save to be used as a letter -of recommendation and introduction. Sometimes the signet-ring was worn -on the thumb. Other merchants’ devices are figured in the “Notebook.” - -Foreigners have revealed to us some very curious and rather startling -peculiarities of the custom of kissing as practised by our ancestors. -Thus as early as 1466 a Bohemian nobleman named Leo von Rozmital -visited England, and in the Journal of his Travel (1577) it is noted -that “it is the custom there, that on the arrival of a distinguished -stranger from foreign parts, maids and matrons go to the inn and -welcome him with gifts. Another custom is observed there, which is -that, when guests arrive at an inn, the hostess with all her family go -out to meet and receive them; and the guests are required to kiss them -all, and this among the English was the same as shaking hands among -other nations.” Erasmus, in 1499, wrote a Latin letter from England -to his friend Fausto Anfrelini, an Italian poet, exhorting him in a -strain of playful levity to think no more of his gout, but to betake -himself to England; for (he remarks) “here are girls with angels’ -faces, so kind and obliging, that you would far prefer them to all -your Muses. Besides, there is a custom here never to be sufficiently -recommended. Wherever you come you are received with a kiss by all; -when you take your leave you are dismissed with kisses; you return, -kisses are repeated. They come to visit you, kisses again; they leave -you, you kiss them all round. Should they meet you anywhere, kisses in -abundance; in fine, wherever you move, there is nothing but kisses.” In -1527 Cardinal Wolsey was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary to France. -He was accompanied by George Cavendish, his gentleman usher, who wrote -a Life of the Cardinal. Cavendish had gone forward to prepare his -lord’s lodging. He says: “And I being there (at the Sire de Créqui’s -Castle at Moreuil, about twelve miles from Amiens) tarrying a while, my -lady Créqui issued out of her chamber into her dining chamber, where I -attended her coming, who received me very gently like her noble estate, -having a traine of twelve gentlewomen. And when she and her traine was -come all out, she saide unto me, ‘For as much,’ quoth she, ‘as ye be an -Englishman whose custome is to kisse all ladies and gentlemen in your -country without offense, although it is not soe here with us in this -realme, yet I will be so bould as kisse you, and soe ye shall doe all -my maids.’ By meanes whereof I kissed her and all her maides.” In the -narrative of the visit of the Spanish nobleman, the Duke de Najera, -in 1543–44, we are told that “after the dancing was finished (which -lasted several hours) the Queen entred again into her chamber, having -previously called one of the noblemen who spoke Spanish, to offer in -her name, some presents to the Duke, who again kissed her hand; and on -his requesting the same favour of the Princess Mary, she would by no -means permit it, but offered him her lips, and the Duke saluted her, -and did the same to all the other ladies.” A Greek traveller, Nicander -Nucius, came to England in 1545, and remarks: “They display great -simplicity and absence of jealousy in their usages towards females. For -not only do those who are of the same family and household kiss them on -the mouth with salutations and embraces, but even those too who have -never seen them. And to themselves this appears by no means indecent.” -Again, when the Constable of Castile appeared at the Court of Whitehall -on Saturday afternoon, 18th August 1604, after kissing Her Majesty’s -hands he requested permission to salute the ladies of honour (twenty in -number, standing in a row, and beautiful exceedingly) according to the -custom of the country, and any neglect of which is taken as an affront. -Whereupon the Queen having given him leave, His Excellency complied -with the custom, much to the satisfaction of the ladies. - -In Shakespeare’s _Henry VIII._, at the Cardinal’s banquet, the King -says to Anne Bullen:— - - “Sweetheart, - I were unmannerly, to take you out, - And not to kiss you.” - -In dancing it appears to have been the customary fee of a lady’s -partner. A further illustration of the custom may be seen. Foreigners -of the male sex, and especially Frenchmen, are in the more frequent -habit of kissing each other, and probably not the ladies. Misson, a -Frenchman who travelled in England about 1697, says: “The people of -England, when they meet, never salute one another, otherwise than by -giving one another their hands, and shaking them heartily; they no more -dream of pulling off their hats, than the women do of pulling off their -headcloths.” - -The sin of great cities we may pass over; that of early marriage is -still, as it was in Stubbes’ time, a very terrible evil; the sin of -drunkenness is with us still, and is present in every country. The -side of charity that consists in giving doles to the poor was then -neglected, and is now destroyed. We still suffer from money-lenders, -though they can no longer conduct us to a life-long prison. - - “Beleeve mee,” says Stubbes, “it greeveth mee to heare (walking in - the streats) the pitiful cryes, and miserable complaints of poore - prisoners in durance for debt, and like so to continue all their - life, destitute of libertie, meat, drink (though of the meanest - sorte), and clothing to their backs, lying in filthie strawe, and - lothsome dung, wursse than anie dogge, voide of all charitable - consolation and brotherly comfort in this World, wishing and - thyrsting after death to set them at libertie, and loose them from - their shackles, giues, and yron bands.” (Stubbes.) - -As for the boys of this century, I have always thought their favourite -haunt was the river, or the river-side. On the river they rowed about -among the fishermen, and the swans above Bridge; the Queen’s Barge -swept past them with its trumpets and its hangings gorgeous to behold; -the Lord Mayor and the Companies were borne along before them in state -and splendour such as we have forgotten—surely nothing could have been -more splendid than these barges with their long lines of flashing oars -and their bows gilt and carved, and the carved work of the covered -seat of state, and the servants in their green and gold. Below Bridge, -in the Port, they rowed in and out among the ships as boys will about -Portsmouth Harbour now; the name of each ship with her port was written -on her lofty stern. The figure-head of each was bright as paint and -gold would make it. If they were allowed to go on board there were -sailors full of yarns, with strange things to show as well as to tell. -If they went as far down as Deptford, there was Drake’s ship, the ship -which had gone all round the world—all round the world! If they stayed -ashore, there were taverns in Wapping and St. Katherine’s, where they -could snatch the fearful joy of seeing the sailors drink and fight, the -foreign sailors and the English sailors, and the sailors from the North -Country, and those of London and the Cinque Ports. The river and the -river-side were famous schools to fill the minds of London boys with an -ardour for adventure; a yearning for the way of war; a burning desire -to cross the seas and visit far countries; and a thirst for geography; -and all the London boys of every class regularly attended the classes -of this Academy. - -The theatre, of course, offers a fine field for the Elizabethan -satirist, Stubbes. He cannot find words strong enough to condemn the -playgoer. Then there is that other source and fount of laughter, the -Lord of Misrule. - - “First, all the wilde-heds of the Parish, conuenting togither, - chuse them a Graund Captain (of all mischeefe) whome they innoble - with the title of ‘my Lord of Mis-rule,’ and him they crowne with - great solemnitie, and adopt for their King. This king anointed - chuseth forth twentie, fortie, threescore or a hundred lustie - Guttes, like to himself, to waighte vppon his lordly Maiestie, and - to guarde his noble person. Then, euerie one of these his men, - he inuesteth with his liuerues of green, yellow, or some other - light wanton colour; And as though that were not baudie (gaudie) - enough, I should say, they bedecke them selues with scarfs, - ribons, and laces hanged all over with golde rings, precious - stones, and other jewels: this doon, they tye about either leg - xx. or xl. bels, with rich handkerchiefs in their hands, and - sometimes laid a crosse ouer their shoulders and necks, borrowed - for the most parte of their pretie Mopsies and loouing Besses, - for bussing them in the dark. Thus al things set in order, then - haue they their Hobby-horses, dragons and other antiques, togither - with their baudie Pipers and thundering Drummers to strike vp - the deuils daunce withall. Then marche these heathen company - towards the church and Churchyard, their pipers pipeing, their - drummers thundring, their stumps dauncing, their bels iyngling, - their handkerchiefs swinging about their heds like madmen, their - hobbie horses and other monsters skirmishing amongst the route: - and in this sorte they go to the Church (I say) and into the - Church (though the Minister be at prair or preaching), dancing and - swinging their handkerchiefs ouer their heds in the Church, like - deuils incarnate, with such a confuse noise, that no man can hear - his own voice. Then, the foolish people they looke, they stare, - they laugh, they fleer, and mount vpon fourmes and pewes to see - these goodly pageants solemnized in this sort. Then, after this, - about the Church they goe againe and againe, and so foorth into the - churchyard, where they haue commonly their Sommer-haules, their - bowers, arbors, and banqueting houses set vp, wherin they feast, - banquet and daunce al that day and (peradventure) all the night - too. And thus these terrestriall furies spend the Sabaoth day.” - (Stubbes, _Anatomie of Abuses_, edit, by Furnivall.) - -[Illustration: A SHIP OF THE TIME OF HENRY VIII.] - -The custom of church ales is described by Stubbes with his customary -vigour:— - - “In certaine Townes where drunken _Bachus_ beares all the sway, - against a Christmas, an Easter, Whitsonday, or some other time, - the Church-wardens (for so they call them) of euery parish, with - the consent of the whole Parish, prouide half a score of twenty - quarters of mault, wherof some they buy of the Church-stock, and - some is giuen them of the Parishioners them selves, euery one - conferring somewhat, according to his abilitie; which mault, beeing - made into very strong ale or beere, it is set to sale, either in - the Church, or some other place assigned to that purpose. - - Then, when the _Nippitatum_, this Huf-cap (as they call it) and - this _nectar_ of lyfe, is set abroche, wel is he that can get - the soonest to it, and spend the most at it; for he that fitteth - the closest to it, and spends the moste at it, he is counted the - godliest man of all the rest; but who either cannot, for pinching - pouertie, or otherwise, wil not stick to it, he is counted one - destitute bothe of vertue and godlynes. In so much as you shall - haue many poor men make hard shift for money to spend ther at, - for it beeing put into this _Corban_, they are perswaded it is - meritorious, and a good seruice to God. In this kinde of practise - they continue six weeks, a quarter of a year, yea, half a year - togither, swilling and gulling, night and day, till they be as - drunke as Apes, and as blockish as beasts.” (Stubbes, _Ibid._) - -They pretend, he says, to repair their churches with money so got:— - - “But who seeth not that they bestow this money vpon nothing lesse - than in building and repayring of Churches and Oratories? For in - most places lye they not like swyn coates? their windowes rent, - their dores broken, their walles fall downe, the roofe all bare, - and what not out of order? Who seeth not the booke of God, rent, - ragged, and all betorn, couered in dust, so as this _Epitaphe_ may - be writ with ones finger vppon it, _ecce nunc in puluere dormio_? - (Alas;) behold I sleep in dust and oblyuion, not once scarse looked - vppon, much less red vpon, and the least of all preached vppon.” - (Stubbes, _Ibid._) - -Of wakes and feasts and “the horrible vice of pestiferous dancing” we -need say little. Nor of music, “how it allureth to vanitie”; nor of -cards, dice, tennis, and bowls, all of which we still practise; nor of -the bear-baiting which we have now discontinued. Of the reading of bad -books we may still complain after the manner of Stubbes. In a word, his -_Book of Lamentations_ would serve with slight alterations for to-day -as well as his own age. - -On the exchange of English goods for foreign trifles, I find a note in -Furnivall’s edition of Stubbes’ _Anatomy_:— - - “Thou must carry beside, leather, tallow, beef, bacon, bell-metal - and everything: - And for these good commodities, trifles into England thou must - bring, - As bugles to make bables, coloured bones, glass beads to make - bracelets withal, - For every day gentlewomen of England do ask for such trifles from - stall to stall: - And you must bring more, as amber, jet, coral, crystal, and every - such bable - That is slight, pretty, and pleasant: they care not to have it - profitable. - And if they demand wherefore your wares and merchandise agree, - You must say ‘jet will take up a straw: amber will make one fat: - Coral will look pale when you be sick, and crystal staunch blood,’ - So with lying, flattering and glosing, you must utter your ware, - And you shall win me to your will, if you can deceitfully swear. - - • • • • • - - _Lucre._ Then, Signor Mercatore, I am forthwith to send ye - From hence to search for some new toys in Barbary and in Turkey; - Such trifles as you think will please wantons best, - For you know in this country ’tis their chiefest request. - - _Mercatore._ Indeed, de gentlewomans here buy so much vain toys - Dat we strangers laugh-a to tink wherein dey have their joys.” - -The suppressing of the Religious Houses produced, for a time, a great -deal of hardship and difficulty. For not only were the friars turned -out into the streets, but all the people living upon the monasteries -were deprived of their daily bread; many of these unfortunates took -to the road and became tramps, vagabonds, masterless men and thieves; -many took refuge in those parts of London which were outside the -jurisdiction of the City. London, indeed, was the place which the -masterless man regarded as a veritable Paradise. They flocked up to -London from all quarters; they were constantly being turned out and as -constantly coming back again. When Queen Elizabeth once drove out to -the country cottage of Islington, she was mobbed by a gang of vagabonds -who accosted her with clamours; they harboured in the brick kilns -there. In some parts close to London, as Hyde Park Corner and Lincoln’s -Inn Fields, no one would venture after dark. Men took arms into their -bedrooms at night, ready for use. Generally it seems that they hung -a drawn sword at the bedside. The ’prentices, however, were the best -protectors to a house. They slept in the shop, if there were a shop; -or if there were no shop they slept somewhere on the ground floor, as -is evident from the edifying revelations of “Meriton Latron,” in which -it is shown how easily the ’prentices could get out at night for these -riotous and profligate meetings and drinkings. I suppose it matters -nothing that this writer belongs to the next century. In such small -matters the world is conservative. According to this authority, it was -common for ’prentices to rob their masters, exchanging with each other -or holding a kind of auction in their taverns at night. The time when -the City was most free from crimes was when the men had been called out -to follow the flag and fight. The worst time was after the war, when -they all came back again to their old haunts, thirsting for their old -amusements and more disinclined for work than ever. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - FOOD AND DRINK - - -The manner and times of taking food under the Tudors may be summed up -as follows:— - -For breakfast, those who made a meal before dinner at all, took, -in the country, pottage, and, in town, “muskadel and eggs,” or -bread-and-butter with a draught of small ale. The Princess Mary, in -1533, used to eat so much meat for breakfast that she terrified her -physicians. It does not appear, however, that the workpeople took -anything at all unless it were a draught of small ale before their -dinner at ten. The hour of dinner varied during the century from ten -till twelve. For children there was “nuntion” or luncheon before dinner -and a “bever” or slight repast between dinner and supper. Venner -recommends no breakfast at all, but to wait for dinner. If, however, -one cannot wait, then he advises poached eggs, with salt, pepper, -a little vinegar, bread-and-butter and claret. When Cosmo, Duke of -Tuscany, came to the country he visited Colonel John Nevill, and had -breakfast with him, drinking Italian wine. - -The dinners were plentiful and varied. A salad was served first, then -the beef and mutton; next fowls, and fish; game followed, woodcock -being the most plentiful; and pastry and sweets came last. Honey was -poured over the meat. The most important part of the meal, however, was -the “banquet” or dessert which followed: at this part of the dinner an -amazing quantity of sweetmeats was taken; for this every one adjourned -to another room in winter; to the garden in summer. - -In the winter fresh meat was not always to be had: most people laid in -large quantities of beef in October and November, which they salted. -The markets, however, made up for the absence of fresh meat by the -abundance of all kinds of birds which were brought into London; they -were trapped, or shot with sling and stone, in the marshes along the -lower reaches of the Thames. Pork could be had all the year round. -Fresh fish was generally plentiful, but it was sometimes dear. At such -times the people fell back upon stockfish, which was often bad and -the cause of much disease. Herrings were brought by sea from Yarmouth -in barrels, and partly salted, as they are at this day. They were a -favourite form of food, and were made into pasties highly spiced. - -The food of the sixteenth century was more stimulating than our own: -the only drink was fermented and alcoholic, even the small beer which -was the national beverage; there was no tea or coffee; vast quantities -of wine were taken; there were nearly a hundred different kinds, more -than half being French. Wine of Bordeaux was sold at 8d. the gallon; -Spanish wine at 1s. In drinking sack, the cup was half filled with -sugar. Indeed, sugar or honey was taken with everything: with roast -meat, with wine, and in the form of sweetmeats; so that the teeth of -most people were black in consequence. - -A diet so stimulating could not fail to produce its effects in causing -the people to be more easily moved to wrath, to love, to pity, to -jealousy—than a diet composed of tea and coffee. There can be no doubt -whatever that all classes of men and women were far readier with hand -and tongue than at present; swifter to wrath; more prone to sudden -outbursts; more quick with dagger or sword. - -Their tables were set out on trestles for the dinner and removed after -dinner. People sat on stools; the floor was strewn with rushes; the -tables, not the floors, were covered with rich carpets. - -A piece of the table furniture which has long since disappeared was -the Roundel. It is supposed to have been used for fruit. A set of -Roundels, not quite perfect, is described in _Archæologia_ (vol. -xxxix.). They are circular and of wood, the upper side perfectly plain; -the lower side is partly covered with black paint or dye and partly -white. A legend, in rhyme, runs round the outer edge, and within is a -figure with a number. The figure and letters are gilt. In this example -nine trenchers out of the twelve represent the Courtier, the Country -gentleman, the Lawyer, and so forth—characters of the time, the verses -being taken from a book called _The XII. Wonders of the World_. - -It is pleasing to learn from Harrison of the reform introduced in his -own time by the revival of the custom of taking vegetables of all kinds -and plentifully. He says:— - -“Such herbes, fruits, and roots also as grow yeerlie out of the ground, -of seed, have been verie plentifull in this land, in the time of the -first Edward, and after his daies; but in processe of time they grew -also to be neglected, so that from Henrie the fourth till the latter -end of Henrie the seventh, and beginning of Henrie the eight, there was -little or no use of them in England, but they remained either unknowne, -or supposed as food more meet for hogs and savage beasts to feed upon -than mankind. Whereas in my time their use is not onlie resumed among -the poore commons, I mean of melons, pompions, gourds, cucumbers, -radishes, skirets, parsneps, carrets, cabbages, nauewes, turneps, and -all kinds of salad herbs, but also fed upon as deintie dishes at the -tables of delicate merchants, gentlemen, and the nobilitie, who make -their provision yearlie for new seeds out of strange countries, from -whence they have them aboundantlie.” (Holinshed’s _Chronicles_.) - -The Flemings commenced the first market-gardens. Lettuce was served as -a separate dish, and eaten at supper before meat. Capers were usually -eaten boiled with oil and vinegar, as a salad. Eschalots were used to -smear the plate before putting meat on it. Carrots had been introduced -by the Flemings. Rhubarb, then called Patience, came from China about -1573. The common people ate turnip-leaves as a salad, and roasted the -root in wood-ashes. Watercress was believed to restore the bloom to -young ladies’ cheeks. - -They used mustard and horse-radish; they took anchovies with wine; -they took olives with wine; they had boiled oysters; boiled radishes, -artichokes raw or boiled; they poured honey or spread sugar over their -beef and mutton; they served pork in many ways, but if roasted, then -with green sauce of sorrel; salmon they stuck with cloves; they ate -porpoises; turkeys were roasted with cloves; peacocks they roasted -while they were still under a year old; pigeons they stuffed with sour -grapes or unripe gooseberries; rabbits were cheap and plentiful; pies -of all kinds were very popular. They made salad out of barberries in -pickle or with lettuces as in modern fashion. In the ordinaries and -taverns there were no wine-glasses: people drank out of green pots made -of white clay. They took supper at six; this was a smaller meal than -dinner, but yet a plentiful meal. In a word, the Elizabethan Englishman -lived much as the modern Frenchman lives: he took two meals a day and -no more. In the principal ordinaries and inns musicians attended; even -in the cheaper ones a viol de gamba was kept for everybody who could -play; men dined for choice at the ordinary, which was a great deal -cheaper than the tavern; it was not customary for the ladies to appear -at taverns. An inn was known by its painted lattice; all kinds of -wine could be had at most taverns, but foreign wines were sold to the -general public by apothecaries. Waiters wore aprons. In private houses, -but not at ordinaries and taverns, the silver fork had been introduced. - - “The laudable use of forks, - Brought into custom here, as they are in Italy, - To th’ sparing o’ napkins.” - -And in Ben Jonson’s _Volpone_, - - “Then must you learn the use - And handling of your silver fork at meals.” - -I have found inventories of household goods as late as the end of -the seventeenth century without any mention of forks. I am inclined, -therefore, to believe that they came into use very slowly, and that -the old fashion of eating with a knife, fingers, and bread, lasted in -country houses at least until the end of the seventeenth century. It -is a survival of the old manner of eating which makes the lower class -“eat with their knives.” Let me add that in my own recollection the -practice has almost entirely disappeared. Forty years ago one could not -take dinner at a tavern or an eating-house without seeing some of the -company helping themselves with their knives. - -[Illustration: Tittle-Tattle; Or, the several Branches of Gossipping. - -From a satirical print in the British Museum.] - -Here is the bill of a dinner given to the Lord Treasurer, the -Chancellor, the Lord Chief Baron, and others not named, on 4th June -1573:— - - _s._ _d._ - Imprimis Bread, ale, and beer 13 4 - Item Two sorloines of beef 10 0 - „ Four gees 7 0 - „ Four joyntes of veale 6 8 - „ Six capons 13 8 - „ Three quarters of lambe 4 0 - „ A dozen of chickens 5 0 - „ A dozen of rabbites 4 8 - „ Half a dozen quayles 6 8 - „ For butter 4 0 - „ For eggs 1 0 - „ For vinegar, vergis barberius and mustard 1 0 - „ For spices 1 0 - „ For fruite 6 0 - „ For rose water and swete water 0 8 - „ For scrill and parsley 0 6 - „ For White Wine 1 4 - „ For flowers and strong herbes 0 6 - „ For sacke 1 0 - „ For fier 5 0 - „ For cook’s wages 6 0 - „ For boote hier 1 4 - „ For occupying plate, naperie and other necessaries 5 0 - -Unfortunately these bills never contain the whole. It is of course -impossible to believe that one shilling and fourpence represents the -whole of the wine consumed on this occasion. - -Ben Jonson thus ridicules the care and thought expended upon feasting:— - - “A master-cook! why, he’s the man of men - For a professor! he designs, he draws, - He paints, he carves, he builds, he fortifies, - Makes citadels of curious fowl and fish, - Some he dry-dishes, some moats round with broths: - Mounts marrow-bones, cuts fifty-angled custards, - Rears bulwark pies, and for his outer works - He raiseth ramparts of immortal crust; - And teacheth all the tactics at one dinner: - What ranks, what files, to put his dishes in: - The whole art military. Then he knows - The influence of the stars upon his meats, - And all their seasons, tempers, qualities, - And so to fit his relishes and sauces. - He had nature in a pot, ’bove all the chymists, - Or airy brethren of the Rosie-cross. - He is an architect, an engineer, - A soldier, a physician, a philosopher, - A general mathematician.” - -And again in his dream of luxurious living:— - - “We will be brave, Puff, now we have the med’cine. - My meat shall all come in, in Indian shells, - Dishes of agate set in gold, and studded - With emeralds, sapphires, hyacinths, and rubies. - The tongues of carps, dormice, and camels’ heels, - Boil’d in the spirit of sol, and dissolv’d pearl, - Apicius’ diet, ’gainst the epilepsy; - And I will eat these broths with spoons of amber, - Headed with diamond and carbuncle. - My foot-boy shall eat pheasants, calver’d salmons, - Knots, godwits, lampreys: I myself will have - The beards of barbels served instead of salads.” - _The Alchemist._ - -And this for a more sober supper, yet not without its points of -excellence:— - - “Yet shall you have to rectify your palate, - An olive, capers, or some better salad - Ushering the mutton; with a short legg’d hen, - If we can get her full of eggs, and then, - Limons, and wine for sauce; to these, a coney - Is not to be despar’d of for our money; - And though fowl now be scarce, yet there are clerks, - The sky not falling, think we may have larks, - I’ll tell you of more, and lie, so you will come: - Of partridge, pheasant, woodcock, of which some - May yet be there; and godwit if we can: - Knat, rail, and ruf too, howsoe’er, my man - Shall read a piece of Virgil, Tacitus, - Livy, or of some better book to us, - Of which we’ll speak our minds, amidst our meat; - And I’ll profess no verses to repeat. - To this, if aught appear, which I not know of, - That will the pastry, not my paper, show of. - Digestive cheese, and fruit there sure will be; - But that which most doth take my muse and me, - Is a pure cup of rich Canary wine, - Which is the Mermaid’s now, but shall be mine: - Of which had Horace or Anacreon tasted, - Their lives, as do their lines, till now had lasted. - Tobacco, nectar, or the Thespian spring, - Are all but Luther’s beer to this I sing.” - -The greatest attention was paid to the service of the table: not only, -for instance, must the carving be performed in manner peculiar to each -kind of creature, but each creature had its own verb signifying its -carving. The terms used for carving are curious and now completely -forgotten:— - -“Breke that deer; lesche that brawn; rere that goose; lyfte that -swanne; sauce that capon; spoil that hen; fruche that chekyn; unbrace -that mallard; unlace that conye; desmembre that heron; display that -crane; dysfygure that pecocke; unjoint that byterrne; untache that -curlewe; allay that desande; wynge that patryche; wynge that quail; -mynce that plover; thye that pygyon; border that pastie; thye that -woodcocke; thye all maner of small birds; tymbre that fyre; tyere that -egge; chyne that samon; strynge that lampreye; splatte that pyke; sauce -that plaice; sauce that tench; splay that breme; syde that haddock; -tuske that berbell; culpon that trout; fyne that cheven; transene that -ele; traunche that sturgeon; under-traunch that porpus; tayme that -crabbe; barbe that lobster. Here endeth the goodlye termes of kervynge.” - -The way in which the table was to be served was presented, in general -terms, as follows:— - - “Slow be the servers in serving, alwaye, - But swift be they after, taking meate away; - A special custom used is them amonge, - No good dishe to suffer on borde to be longe. - If the dishe be pleasante, whether fleshe or fishe, - Ten hande at once swarme in the dishe; - And if it be fleshe, ten knives shalt thou see - Mangling the fleshe, and in the platter flee; - Put there thy hands in peryl without fayle - Without a gauntlet or a glove of mayle.” - _Antiquary’s Portfolio_, p. 130. - -And next in minute detail. Thus including the reception of a guest. Let -us first remember that the plates were commonly of bread, but sometimes -of wood. When they were of bread, the loaves were first carefully -pared; then the butler placed the salt-cellar before the principal -guest, and in front of the salt-cellar, upon the carving knives, he -was to place the bread. But before Grace this was to be removed, and -replaced in thick slices one upon the other. - - “Thenne the karver or sewer most asserve every disshe in his degree - after order, and course of service, as folowith:— - - First, mustard and brawne, swete wine served thereto. - Potage. - Befe and moton, swan or geese. - Grete pies, capon or fesaunt, leche or fretours. - - Thenne if potage be chaungebill after tyme and season of the yere, - as falleth, as here is rehersid: by exampel for befe and moton ye - shall take - - Pestelles, or chynys of porke, or els - Tonge of befe, or - Tonge of the harte powdered, - Befe stewed, - Chekyns boylyd and bacon. - - Then against the secunde cours be redy, and come into the place, - the kerver must avoyde and take upp the service of the first cours, - begynnynge at the lowest mete forst, and all broke cromys, bonys, - and trenchours, before the secunde cours and service be served. - - Thenne the secunde cours shall be served in manner and forme as - ensample thereof, hereafter folowyng:— - - Potage-pigge Lamme stewed - Conye Kidde roosted - Crane Veneson roosted - Heronseue Heronseue - Bitoure Bitoure - Egrete Pigeons - Curlewe Rabetts - Wodecock A bake meat - Petrigge Stokke dovys stewed - Plover Cony - Snytys Mallard - Qualys Gelys - Fretours Wodecock - Leche Great byrdys - - After the secunde cours served, kerved, and spente, it must be - sene cuppys to be filled, trenchours to be voyded, thenne by goode - avysement the tabill must be take uppe in manner as folowith: - first, when tyme foloweth, the panter or boteler muste gader - uppe the sponys: after that done by leyser, the sewer or carver - shall begyne at the lowest ende, and in order take upp the lowest - messe, after the syde tabill be avoyded and take upp: and thenne - to procede to the principal tabill, and there honestly and clenly - avoyde and withdrawe all the service of the high tabill: therto the - kerver must be redy, and redely have avoyded togeder in all the - broke brede, trenchours, comys lying upon the tabill, levyng none - other thyng, save the salte selar, hole brede (if any be lefte), - and cuppys. After this done by good deliberacion and avysement, - the kerver shall take the service of the principall messe in - order and rule, begynnynge at the lowest and so procede in rule - unto the laste. And thereuppon the kerver to have redy a voyder, - and to avoyde all men’s trenchours, broke brede in another clene - disshe voyder, and cromys, which with the kervyng knyf shall be - avoyded from the tabill, and thus procede untill the table be - voyded. Thenne the kerver shall go into the cuppibord, and redresse - and ordeyne wafers into toweyles of raynes (table-cloth) or fine - napkyns, which moste be cowched fayre and honestly uppon the - tabill, and thenne serve the principall messe first, and thorowe - the tabill, i or ij if it so require. Therto moste be servid swete - wine: and in feriall tyme, serve cheese, scraped with sugar and - sauge levis, or else that it be fayre kerved hole: or frute as the - season of the year geveth, strawberys, chevys, peyres, appelis: and - in wynter, wardens, costardys roste, rosted on fisshe days with - blanche powder, and so serve it forth. - - Thenne after wafers and frute spended, all manner of thynge shall - be take uppe, and avoyded, except the principall salte seler, - hole brede, and kervyng knyves, the which shall be redressed in - manner and fourme as they were first sette on the table: the which - principall servitours of the panter or botery, havynge his towaile, - shall take upp and bear it into his office, in lykewise as he first - brought it unto the tabill. Thenne the principall servitours, as - kerver and sewer, most have redy a longe towayle applied double - to be cowched uppon the principall ende of the tabill: and that - towelle must be justely drawn thorowe the tabill unto the lower - ende: and if servitours to awayte thereuppon, that it be mustly - cowchd and spred: after that done, there must be ordeyned basyns - and ewers, with water hot or colde as tyme of the yere requireth, - and to be sette upon the tabill, and to stonde unto the grace be - said: and incontynent after grace saide, the servitours to be redy - to awayte and attende to give water: first, to the principall - messe, and after that to the seconde: incontynent after this done, - the towayle and tabillclothis muste be drawen, cowched and sprad, - and so by littill space taken uppe in the myddis of the tabill, and - so to be delyvered to the office of the pantery or botery. - - Thenne uprysing, servitours must attende to avoyde tabills, - trestellis, formys, and stoolys, and to redresse bankers and - quyssyons: then the butler shall avoyde the cupborde, begynnynge at - the loweste, procede in rule to the hyeste, and bere it into his - office. Thenne after mete, it most be awayted and well entended by - servitours, if drinke be asked: and if ther be knyght or lady, or - grete gentilwoman, they shall be servid upon knee with brede and - wyne. - - Thenne it mot be sene if strangers shall be broght to chamber, - and that the chamber be clenly apparelled and dressed accordyng - to the tyme of yere: as in winter tyme fyre: in sommer tyme the - bedde covered with pylowes and bed shetys, in case they wolle - rest: and after this done, they moste have cheer of _neweltees_ - in the chamber, as juncates, cherys, pepyns, and such neweltees - as the tyme of yere requereth, and swete wynes, Ypocrasse, Tyre, - Mustadell, bastard beruage, of the beste that may be had to the - honour and laude of the principall of the house.” - -After the dinner was eaten what remained was taken down for the -servants, and whatever was left over when these had finished was -bestowed upon the poor who sat outside the doors waiting their turn. -The drink was served in silver cups and bowls, or else in goblets of -Venetian glass from Murano; the poorer sort had pots of earthenware -bound or set in silver and perhaps pewter. As a rule not more than two -or three dishes were served at a gentleman’s table where there was no -company. This, however, was not the case when a feast was provided, -or by the merchants for themselves. Then such meat as is killed and -provided by the butcher was rejected as not worthy of the occasion. - - “In such cases also geliffes of all colours mixed with a varietie - in the representation of sundrie floures, herbs, trees, formes of - beasts, fish, foules, and fruits, and thereunto marchpaine wrought - with no small curiositie, tarts of diverse hewes and sundrie - denominations, conserves of old fruites forren and home bred, - suckets, codinacs, marmilats, marchpaine, sugerbread, gingerbread, - florentines, wild foule, venison of all sorts, and sundrie - outlandish confections, altogither seasoned with suger (which - Plinie calleth Mel ex arundinibus, a devise not common nor greatlie - used in old time at the table, but onlie in medicine, although - it grew in Arabia, India and Sicilia), doo generally beare the - swaie, besides infinite devises of our owne not possible for me to - remember.” (Holinshed, vol. i. p. 167.) - -Every kind of wine was served at these banquets, _e.g._ the fifty-six -various kinds of “small wines” as Claret, White, Red, French, etc.; -but also of the thirty kinds of Italian, German, Spanish, Canary, etc. -And besides these here were the artificial drinks such as Hypocras and -Wormwood wine, besides ale and beer. - -The craftsman lived in great plenty: his diet was commonly beef, -mutton, veal and pork; besides which he had brawn, bacon, pies of -fruit, fowls, cheese, butter and eggs. At weddings, purifications, -and so forth, the friends contributed each a dish of some kind, and -the feasting that went on was incredible. At table the custom among -the gentry and better sort was to observe great silence during the -dinner, and on no account to show any sign of being the worse for the -wine they had taken. Enough grain was grown in the country to supply -it with bread; a good deal of bread was made of oats and rye; in times -of dearth beans, peas, and lentils were ground up. Of home-made drinks -besides ale and beer there were cider, perry, and, especially among the -Welsh, mead or metheglin. - - “There is a kind of swish swash made also in Essex, and diverse - other places, with honicombs and water, which the homelie countrie - wives, putting some pepper and a little other spice among, call - mead, verie good in mine opinion for such as love to be loose - bodied at large, or a little eased of the cough, otherwise it - differeth so much from the true metheglin, as chalke from cheese. - Truelie it is nothing else but the washing of the combes, when - the honie is wroong out, and one of the best things that I know - belonging thereto is, that they spend but little labour and lesse - cost in making of the same, and therefore no great losse if it were - never occupied.” (Holinshed, vol. i. p. 170.) - -An oyster feast in the morning seems unusual and unexpected in a -town of working men. We may read, however, how, on 30th July 1557, -a company of citizens met in the cellar of Master Smyth and Master -Gytton in Amber Lane, at eight o’clock in the morning. They devoured -between them half a bushel of oysters, sitting upon hogsheads by -candlelight; the oysters were accompanied by onions—was there no bread, -or bread-and-butter? Only onions? And they drank with their oysters -and onions copious bowls of red ale, claret, muscadel, and malmsey. -It hardly seems a good beginning of the day so far as concerns work. -In these degenerate days a repast of oysters and onions, with ale and -muscadel, claret and malmsey, would prove a fatal feast indeed. - -[Illustration: - -_Walker & Cockerell._ - -MARRIAGE FEAST OF SIR H. UNTON - -A detail from a painting in the National Portrait Gallery, London.] - -Here is a note on an Elizabethan ordinary:— - - “It seemed that all who came thither had clocks in their bellies, - for they all strucke into the dyning-roome much at aboute the - very minute of feeding. Our traveller had all the eyes (that - came in) throwne upon him (as being a stranger), and he as much - tooke especiall notice of them. In obseruing of whom and of the - place, he found that an ordinary was the onely Rendeuouz for the - most ingenious, most terse, most trauaild and most phantastick - gallant: the very Exchange for newes out of all countries; the - only booke-sellers’ shop for conference of the best editions, - that if a woman (to be a Lady) would cast away herselfe upon a - knight, there a man should heare a catalogue of most of the richest - London widowes; and last that it was a schoole where they were all - fellowes of one forme, and that a country gentleman was of as great - comming as the proudest justice that sat there on the bench aboue - him; for hee that had the graine of the table with his bencher payd - no more then he that placed himselfe beneath the salt. - - The bolder hauing cleered the table, cardes and dice are served - up to the boord; they that are full of coyne draw; they that haue - little stand by and give ayme; the shuffle and cut on one side, - the bones rattle on the other; long have they not plaide, but - oathes fly up and downe the roome like haile-shot; if the poore - dumb dice be but a little out of the square line of white, the - pox and a thousand plagues breake their neckes out at a window.” - (_Antiquary_, vol. xv.) - -The following is contemporary evidence. It is taken from the -_Antiquarian Repertory_ (vol. iv. p. 512), 1558:— - - “The people of London consume great quantities of beer, double and - single [strong and small], and do not drink it out of glasses, but - from earthen pots with silver handles and covers, and this even in - houses of persons of middling fortunes; for as to the poor, the - covers of their pots are only pewter, and in some places, such as - villages, their pots for beer are made only of wood. - - They eat much whiter bread than that commonly made in France, - altho’ it was in my time as cheap as it is sold there. With their - beer they have a custom of eating very soft saffron cakes, in which - there are likewise raisins, which give a relish to the beer, of - which there was formerly at Rye some as good as I ever drank. The - houses of the people of this country are as well furnished as any - in the world. Likewise, in this country you will scarcely find any - nobleman, some of whose relations have not been beheaded.” - -A few more notes on food. They drank brewis, that is, the pot liquor -with bread in it; they were fond of pigs’ faces washed and dressed -by the housewife; they bought tripe in Eastcheap, and poultry in -Gracechurch Street; they drank wines with strange names: Pedro Ximenes, -Charnico, Eleatica. The clerks took their dinner at the cooks’ shops -by messes of so many; the portion of the whole mess was served in a -dish and one divided the food, after which they helped themselves by -seniority; a yeoman’s fare was bread, beef, and beer. The poor man was -served from the basket which stood in the hall and received broken -meats. The Sheriffs sent such baskets and other food to the prisons. -The citizens’ proverbial Sunday dinner was neck of beef. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - DRESS—WEDDINGS - - -In the Elizabethan age, the poet, satirists, and preachers are so -full of the subject of feminine fashions that it becomes of great -importance. The increase of wealth and the growing power of the middle -class give a greater prominence to women’s dress, while the improvement -in the streets and the roads, the introduction of coaches and the -development of outdoor amusements, theatres, shows, masques, gardens, -and water-parties bring the wives and daughters of London more into the -open. - -[Illustration: Farthingale. Lady Runsdon. - -From Planché’s _Cyclopædia of Costume_.] - -It was a time of great expenditure upon clothes; the fashions were rich -and costly; the custom was to make what we should call an ostentatious -display of wealth. Ben Jonson and the dramatists are full of the -extravagance of City madams. Not only did the ladies wear rich dresses; -they prided themselves upon possessing a great number—as many as they -could afford; in every house there was a room called the Wardrobe, in -which the clothes of the household were hung up and carefully watched -and kept from moth and decay. - -At the beginning of her reign the Queen, who set the fashion, wore a -small ruff, with a kerchief about her neck; a kind of coat of black -velvet and ermine fastened at the throat only; with a waistcoat and -kirtle below of white silk or silver embroidered with black; on the -shoulders were humps, and the sleeves were large. Stubbes abuses the -fashion because it is “proper only to a man, yet they blush not to -wear it.” The cap or coif was adorned with strings of pearls. Lawn and -cambric ruffs came in shortly after Elizabeth’s accession. A Flemish -woman named Van der Plasse came over and set up as a starcher of ruffs. -The mere mention of starch made Stubbes furiously angry; the ruff was a -“master devil”; the devil himself invented starch. - -[Illustration: - -LADY IN THE COURT OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, 1559. NOBLE MATRON OF ENGLAND, -1577. - -From _Collection of Ancient and Modern Dresses_, 1772.] - -The custom of wearing whalebone to imprison the figure down to the hips -also began early in the reign; a long stomacher descended in front, and -from the hips stood out the farthingale, horizontally; a hideous thing -which was perpetuated in the hoop for two hundred years. As for the -gowns they were made, to the indignation of the satirist, “of silk, -of velvet, of grograin, of taffata, and of fine cloth, ten, twenty, -or forty shillings a yard”; they were decorated with lace two fingers -broad, or with velvet edged with lace. The petticoats were also of the -finest stuff, fringed with silk, and in addition, they had a kirtle -also of fine stuff and fringed with lace and silk. It appears therefore -that they had first a gown which was pulled back and showed the kirtle, -which itself was pulled back and disclosed the petticoat. - -[Illustration: - -ENGLISH LADY OF QUALITY, 1588 ENGLISH NOBLEMAN, 1559 - -From _Collection of Ancient and Modern Dresses_, 1772.] - -Their stockings were made of the finest cloth, yarn, or worsted; silk -stockings were presented to the Queen in her third year; knitted -worsted stockings were introduced from Italy; the stockings of the fine -ladies were “curiously indented in every point with quicks, clocks, and -open seams.” They wore cork shoes made, like the petticoats and kirtle, -of anything that was costly and rare and could be embroidered. - -The fashions of wearing the hair were endless. It was curled in -innumerable curls; it was crisped; it was built up over a cushion; it -was laid out over the forehead; it was ornamented with jewels, gold, -wreaths of silver and gold, and kept in place with hairpins; the women -wore over their hair French hoods, hats, and caps; they wore cauls -made of net-wire and cloth of gold and tinsel; they wore “lattice” caps -with horns; and every merchant’s wife or mean gentlewoman indulged in -these extravagant fashions. - - “The cappe on hyre heade - Is lyke a sowes mawe; - Such another facion - I thynke never Jewe sawe. - Then fyne geare on the foreheade - After the newe trycke, - Though it coste a crowne or two, - What then? They may not stycke. - If theyr heyr wyl not take colour, - Then must they buy newe, - And laye it out in tussocks; - This thynge is too true, - At each syde a tussocke - As bygge as a ball. - Hyr face faire payned - To make it shine bright - And her bosom all bare, - Hyr mydle braced in - As small as a wande; - And some buy water of qyre - At the paste wyf’s hande.” - -As for the merchants’ wives, their dress is described in the following -lines:— - - “You wore - Satin on solemn days, a chain of gold, - A velvet hood, rich borders, and sometimes - A dainty miniver cap, a silver pin, - Headed with a pearl worth threepence.” - -It was a common practice to entice little children into private places -and unfrequented courts there to cut off their long hair to be made up -into false hair for women. Long and beautiful hair was in great request -by the fashionable dames of the time. Brides especially went to the -altar with flowing locks, the longer the better. - - “Come, come, my Lord, untie your folded thoughts, - And let them dangle loose as a bride’s hair.” - -In a word, the Elizabethan fine lady was very fine indeed; much more -artificial than her grandmother, and much less beautiful therefore. -She painted her face; she dyed her hair, sometimes changing the colour -from time to time, a practice which explains the different colour -of the hair in Queen Mary’s portraits. She used perfumes copiously; -she carried a large feather fan with a costly handle of silver or -ivory. She also carried a mirror hanging from her girdle with which to -contemplate the thing she loved best—her own face, made up, painted, -and set in the frame of ruff and cap; strings of pearls were round -the cap and a gold chain round the throat. And she frequented, but -secretly, the wise women—there were scores of them in the city—who -knew secrets ineffable—secrets that were like magic; perhaps they -were magic—for the improvement and preservation of the complexion, -the brightness of the eyes, the gloss of the hair, the softness and -smoothness of the arm and the throat, and everything that was open to -the gaze of man. Ben Jonson preserves as in a phonograph the words and -voice of the wise woman. - - FOR LADIES’ COMPLEXIONS - - “_Wit._ They have - Water of gourds, of radish, the white beans, - Flowers of glass, of thistles, rose-marine, - Raw honey, mustard seed, and bread dough baked, - The crums of bread, goat’s-milk, and whites of eggs, - Camphire, and lily-roots, the fat of swans, - Marrow of veal, white pigeons, and pine-kernals, - The seeds of nettles, purseline, and hare’s-gall: - Lemons, thin-skinn’d—— - - _Lady E._ How her ladyship has studied - All excellent things! - - _Wit._ But ordinary, madam: - No, the true rarities are the alvagada - And argentata of queen Isabella. - - _Lady T._ Ay, what are their ingredients, gentle madam? - - _Wit._ Your allum scagliola, or pol di pedra: - And zuccarino: turpentine of Abezzo, - Wash’d in nine waters: soda dilevants, - Or your fern ashes: benjamin di gotta: - Grasso di serpe: porceletto marino: - Oils of lentisco: zucche mugia: make - The admirable varnish for the face, - Gives the right lustre: but two drops rubb’d on - With a piece of scarlet, makes a lady of sixty - Look as sixteen. But above all, the water - Of the white hen, of the lady Estifania’s. - - _Lady T._ O, ay, that same, good madam, I have heard of: - How is it done? - - _Wit._ Madam, you take your hen, - Plume it, and skin it, cleanse it o’ the inwards: - Then chop it bones and all: add to four ounces: - Of carravicins, pipitas, soap of Cyprus, - Make the decoction, strain it: then distil it, - And keep it in your gallipot well gliddered: - Three drops preserves from wrinkles, warts, spots, moles, - Blemish, or sun-burnings: and keeps the skin - In decimo sexto, ever bright and smooth, - As any looking-glass: and indeed is call’d - A ceruse, neither cold or heat, oglio reale: - And mix’d with oil of myrrh and the red gilliflower, - Call’d cataputia, and flowers of rovistico, - Makes the best muta or dye of the whole world.” - -The stuffs worn by gentlemen were taffeta; mockado—an inferior velvet; -grogram—a cheaper taffeta; quellio for the ruff; tamin; sendall; and -many others which are now mere words. The poorer women, not to be -outdone more than was necessary, bought the same clothes, made in the -same style, of the fripperer, or broker, who dealt in second-hand -clothes. Now the great danger of buying second-hand clothes was that -you might at the same time buy the plague. - -Men were never so affected and so splendid in their dress as in the -sixteenth century. They wore earrings; they wore costly brooches in -their hats; the great nobles wore strings of pearls; they had thumb -rings; they carried jewelled daggers; they carried a case of toothpicks -with them; they carried their own napkins to the taverns; they had a -favourite lock of hair, which they curled and treated tenderly, tying a -rose to it or a bunch of ribbons; they wore their hair and their beards -in fantastic ways, either after the French, Italian, or Spanish manner. -As for the younger men, they played the usual tricks. That is to say, -they tried to make the waist small; they wore “grulled calves”; they -“bleached their hands at midnight, gumming and triding their beards.” -Sleeves were slashed; girdles were hung with mirrors; the head was set -in a ruff; high-heeled shoes raised the stature; men’s cloaks were of -velvet trimmed with lace; buttons, buckles, and clasps were of gold; -the hats were adorned with feathers. - -[Illustration: WEALTHY MERCHANT OF LONDON, 1588 - -From _Collection of Ancient and Modern Dresses_, 1772.] - -Tavern life in the time of the Tudors was picturesque and pleasant. -The taverns were frequented not only by gallants and merchants, but -by ladies. Suppers, it is true, were given to bona robas; the viol de -gamba played for companies not always the most respectable; but there -were rooms which the City madams used as a resort for parties of their -own friends; and that without any question of offence. - -[Illustration: PAGE BOY, TIME OF EDWARD VI - -From _Collection of Ancient and Modern Dresses_, 1772.] - -The City Trained Bands were gorgeous in white doublets, with the City -arms before and behind; the men-servants wore gorgeous liveries. Dress -to a certain extent indicated class. Law and Divinity wore black. -Furred gowns and satin sleeves marked the Sheriff or the Alderman. The -plain citizen wore a cloak of brown or chocolate colour; the craftsman -wore a doublet of cloth, or leather, with a leather belt, and in winter -an overcoat down to the knees or the ankles. The following is the -description of a runaway page:— - - “One doblet of yelow million fustian, th’one halfe therof buttoned - with peche-colour buttons, and th’other halfe laced downewardes; - one payer of peche-colour hose, laced with smale tawnye lace; a - graye hat with a copper edge rounde aboute it, with a bande p’cell - of the same hatt; a payer of watchet (blue) stockings. Likewise he - hath twoe clokes; th’one of vessey collor, garded with twoe gards - of black clothe and twisted lace of carnacion colour, and lyned - with crymsone bayes; and th’other is a red shipp russet colour, - striped about th’cape, and downe the fore face, twisted with two - rows of twisted lace, russet and gold buttons afore and uppon the - sholdier, being of the clothe itselfe, set with the said twisted - lace, and the buttons of russet silke and golde.” - -[Illustration: Sir William Russell. 1590. - -From Planché’s _Cyclopœdia of Costume_.] - -’Prentices wore a dress very much like that of the Blue Coat Boys, -but with a flat cap. A citizen’s servant wore a blue livery. Knots of -ribbons were tied on the shoes. The women gathered round the conduit -and the bakehouse for gossip. The tradesmen issued their own tokens -which passed current. Girls who served in the shops were taken on -Sundays by their sweethearts to Islington or Pimlico. Shops were -furnished with cudgels for the use of ’prentices in case of a fight. -The cudgels were called by various endearing names, but the favourite -name was a “Plymouth Cloak.” Clothes were washed at the riverside on -wood or a flat stone. The love of fine dress is charged as a fault of -the fair Londoners. Why they should be blamed for desiring what all -men desire, viz. the appearance of bravery and splendour, is hard to -understand. The sumptuary laws which were passed from time to time -appear to have been intended not so much to prevent the gratification -of this instinctive desire as to make different classes proclaim their -rank and station by their dress. A tradesman, in fact, must not appear -as a gentleman; nor a craftsman as a master. In a word, there was a -constant feeling that rank should be indicated by outward apparel, and -that every one should proclaim his station by his garments. Thus the -Act of 1464 ordered - - “That none below the dignity of a lord or knight of the garter, or - their wives, should be allowed to wear purple, or any manner of - cloth of gold, velvet or sable furs, under a penalty of 20 marks. - That none below knights, bachelors, mayors, and aldermen, and their - wives, should wear satin or ermine, under a penalty of 10 marks. - That none but such as had possessions to the amount of 40s. per - annum should be permitted to wear fustian, bustian, or scarlet - cloth, and no fur, but black or white lamb, on forfeiture of 40s. - - That no yeoman, nor any under that degree, should be allowed to - stuff or bolster their doublets, to wear short cloaks or jackets, - or shoes with pikes passing the length of eleven inches, under a - penalty of 20s. - - That no husbandman should use broad cloth at above 11s. a yard, nor - hose above 14d. a pair: nor their wives kerchiefs whereof the price - should exceed 12d. nor girdles harnessed with silver, upon pain of - forfeiting at every default 40d. - - And because foreign kerchiefs were brought into the country, and - sold at such extravagant prices, it was ordained that any one - selling lawne, nyfell, umple, or other manner of kerchief whereof - the price should exceed 10s. the seller should forfeit a mark for - every one that he sold above that price.” - -[Illustration: COURT OF WARDS AND LIVERIES IN THE TIME OF ELIZABETH - -From Planché’s _Cyclopædia of Costume_. - - The person at the head of the table appears to be Lord Burghley; - on either side of him is a judge, who may have been there as - assessors. The next on the left side is Thomas Seckford, who held - the office of Surveyor from 1580 to 1589. The one opposite may be - Richard Kingsmill, Attorney from 1582 to 1589. The third on the - left side may be George Goring, Receiver-General from 1583 to 1593. - The opposite person with a book open may be William Tooke, Auditor - 1551 to 1588. The three persons at the lower end of the table are - clerks. At the left hand side next the end is the Usher with a rod. - In 1578 Marmaduke Servant held this office. Opposite to him on the - other side stands the Messenger, who in 1565 was Leonard Taylor. - This picture was probably made about 1585.] - -To those who take the worthy Philip Stubbes quite seriously and -literally, the Elizabethan age will appear more than commonly wicked -and unscrupulous; to those who are ready to make allowance for -the exaggerated indignation of the satirist, the narrowness of the -Puritan, and the real and genuine craving after equity, justice, and -honesty, it will become manifest that the age contained, like every -other age, grave abuses, great injustices, and much small meanness -and trickery. Laws were passed attempting to restrain the tricks of -clothiers, tanners, shoemakers, and “brokers,” _i.e._ pawnbrokers and -marine store-dealers. These laws failed, as all such laws must fail, -because men who wish to cheat will cheat in spite of any laws that may -be passed. In truth there is very little in Stubbes but does not belong -to every town and every age. He laments the pride of the age. So does -every satirist. Especially he laments Pride of Apparel. Take their hats -for instance:— - - “Sometimes they use them sharp on the crowne, pearking up like a - spere, or shafte of a steeple, standing a quarter of a yard above - the crowne of their heades; some more, some lesse, as please the - phantasies of their inconstant mindes. Othersome be flat and broad - on the crowne, like the battlementes of a house. An other sort have - round crownes, sometymes with one kinde of bande, sometymes with - an other; now blacke, now white, now russet, now red, now grene, - now yellowe, now this, nowe that, never content with one colour or - fashion two daies to an ende.... - - And as the fashions bee rare and straunge, so is the stuffe wherof - their hattes be made, divers also; for some are of silke, some - of velvet, some of taffatie, some of sarcenet, some of wooll, - and, whiche is more curious, some of a certaine kind of fine - haire.... And so common a thinge it is, that everie servingman, - countrieman, and other, even all indifferently, do weare of these - hattes. For he is of no account or estimation amongst men, if hee - have not a velvet or a taffatie hatte, and that muste bee pincked - and cunningly carved of the beste fashion. And good profitable - hattes bee these, for the longer you weare them the fewer holes - they haue. Besides this, of late there is a new fashion of wearyng - their hattes sprung up amongst them, which they father upon the - Frenchmen, namely, to weare them without bandes; but how unseemely - (I will not saie how assie) a fashion that is, let the wise judge; - notwithstanding, howe ever it be, if it please them, it shall not - displease me. And an other sort (as phantasticall as the rest) are - content with no kinde of hat without a greate bunche of feathers - of divers and sundrie colours, peakyng on top of their heades, not - unlike (I dare not saie) Cockescombes, but as sternes of pride and - ensigns of vanitie.” (Stubbes, 1836 edition, p. 38.) - -[Illustration: - -Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford. John Clinch, Chief Justice of the -Common Pleas. 1584. Sir Edward Coke, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. -1613. - -From Planché’s _Cyclopædia of Costume_.] - -Marriages took place at an earlier age than is now common, both for -men and for women. An unmarried girl of twenty was regarded as an old -maid. Thus in the _Crowne Garland of Golden Roses_ the maiden laments -her virginity:— - - “Twenty winters have I seen, - And as many summers greene, - ’Tis long enough to breed despaire - So long a maidenhead to beare; - ’Tis a burden of such waight - That I would faine be eas’d of’t straight; - But alasse! I am afraid - I shall live and die a maid.” - -The betrothal took place forty days before the wedding:— - - “A contract of eternal bond of love, - Confirmed by mutual joinder of your hands, - Attested by the holy close of lips, - Strengthened by interchangement of your rings; - And all the ceremony of this compact - Seal’d in my function, by my testimony.” - -To make the betrothal binding there were, therefore, four points to be -observed: (1) The joining of hands; (2) the exchange of kisses; (3) the -exchange of rings; (4) the testimony of witnesses. - -After the betrothal, the wedding:— - - “The procession accompanying a rural bride, of some consequence, - or of the middle rank, to church was as follows:—The bride, being - attired in a gown of sheep’s russet, and a kirtle of fine worsted, - her hair attired with a ‘billement of gold’ (decorated with long - chains of gold), and her hair as yellow as gold hanging down behind - her, which was curiously combed and plaited, was led to the church - between two sweet boys, with bride laces and rosemary tied about - their silken sleeves. There was carried before her a fair bride-cup - of silver, gilt, filled with hippocras and garnished with a goodly - branch of rosemary, which stands for constancy. The cup was hung - about with silken ribbands of all colours. Musicians followed, then - a group of maidens, some bearing bride-cakes, others garlands of - wheat finely gilded; and thus they passed on to the church.” - -The wedding customs were very pretty. The bride, like all unmarried -women, wore a dress which exposed a portion of her bosom—you may -see how far the exposure went by looking at any portrait of Queen -Elizabeth; she wore her hair flowing. Some girls married very early, -even at fifteen, which was considered quite old enough to undertake the -duties of a wife. On the way to and from the church, wheat was thrown -on the head of the bride, just as rice is thrown now, as a symbol of -fruitfulness to follow. The wedding guests wore scarves, gloves, and -favours; cake—the bride-cake—was taken to the Church and distributed -after the ceremony; brooches were also given to the young men and -maidens present. Then the cup of wine was sent round: the “knitting” -cup, or the “contracting” cup; and then, carrying in her hand a piece -of gilt rosemary, the bride led the way home, where, for three days, -festivities, masques, mumming, music, dancing, feasting, and drinking -were carried on. In some of the churches special pews were provided -for newly married couples, who sat in them and listened, while the -preacher discoursed on “The Bride’s Bush” or “The Wedding Garment -Beautified.” - -In 1584 the Puritans got in a Bill permitting to marry at all seasons -and on every day of the year. It had been the endeavour of the Bishops -to keep Lent as a season in which there was to be no marrying or giving -in marriage. Meantime, the keeping of Lent remained, if only as an -outward sign of revolt against the Puritans. - -When there was a christening it was conducted in the mother’s bedroom. -After the service, the sponsors presented “Postle Spoons”; then, of -course, they sat down to a solid feast, or, at least, a drink—nothing -could be done without a drink; comfits were handed round with the wine, -and it was not unusual for some of the guests to go away royally drunk. - -[Illustration: THE CHRISTENING OF PRINCE ARTHUR - -From a historical print in the British Museum.] - -An example of a marriage feast is that of one Coke, citizen, with the -daughter of Mr. Nicolls, Master of London Bridge. My Lord Mayor and -all the Aldermen, with many ladies and other worshipful men and women, -were present at the wedding. Mr. Bacon, an eminent divine, preached -the wedding sermon. After the discourse the company went home to the -Bridge House to dinner, where was as good cheer as ever was known—Stow -says so, and he knew very well—with all manner of music and dancing, -and at night a masque till midnight. But this was only half the feast, -for next day the wedding was again kept at the Bridge House with great -cheer. After supper more mumming, after that more masques. One was in -cloth of gold, the next consisted of friars, and the third of nuns. -First the friars and the nuns danced separately, one company after the -other, and then they danced together. - -At a funeral the mourners first assembled at the house where lay -the coffin. Here the clergyman made a speech on the virtues of the -deceased. On the coffin stood a jug or pot of wine which was passed -round as a loving-cup. Then every one laid branches on the coffin; -money was given to the children; to the mourners ribbons, scarves, and -gloves were distributed; rosemary was laid in the coffin and placed -in the mourners’ hats; as for what followed, we may take the funerals -described by Machyn. First, the Company to which the deceased belonged, -attended in their livery; the Company of Clerks attended the funerals -of the better class and sang over the grave; black gowns were given -to as many poor men and poor women as the condition of the deceased -permitted. When a great citizen died, like Master Husee, “squire and -a grett marchand ventorer and of Muskovia and haberdasher,” he was -followed by a hundred mourners; he had five pennons of arms, and a -“cotte armur,” and “two heralds of arms, Master Clarenshux and Master -Somerset.” He was attended by the Choir of St. Paul’s and by the -Company of Clerks; they buried him at St. Martin’s, Ludgate Hill; the -church was hung with black and with escutcheons of arms; the Reader of -St. Paul’s preached “both days.” - -[Illustration: The order and maner of burying in the Fields such as -dyed in prison, and namely, of William Wiseman.] - -Master Flammock, grocer, who died in 1560, was apparently a Puritan. -Many gowns were bestowed by his executors; he was taken to the church -without singing or clerks, and was buried with a psalm, “after -Genevay,” and a sermon. - -Lady Dobbes, the wife of Sir Richard Dobbes, was buried with a pennon -of armes and four dozen and five escutcheons; many black gowns were -given. “Master Recherdson mad the sermon, and the clarkes syngyng and a -dolle of money of xx nobulles, and a grete dinner after and the compane -of the Skynners in ther leverey.” - -Master Hulson, scrivener, was one of the Masters in Bridewell; so the -Masters of Bridewell attended his funeral with green staves in their -hands, and all their children, “and there was great syngyng as ever was -heard.” And when we have added that after most of these notes occur -this passage, “And all dune to the place, fir there was a great dener,” -we have said all that need be said about a civic funeral. - -One detail is not mentioned by Machyn. This is the custom observed till -quite recently in Yorkshire, of hanging a garland or wreath of ribbons -in the chancel of a church when a girl died unmarried. This custom had -many forms, one or other of which was certainly observed in London. It -was considered unlucky to carry away a piece of ribbon; if the wreath -dropped to pieces, all the pieces were buried in the churchyard. - -Persons of distinction continued to be buried within the walls of the -church. - -Some Companies and some parish churches still preserve funeral palls -which have been presented to them at various times for the use of the -members and parishioners. Thus, in May 1848, Mr. William Wansey, Prime -Warden of the Fishmongers’ Company, exhibited a funeral pall of most -beautiful and elaborate workmanship, formed of cloth of gold richly -embroidered. - - “This interesting relic has been preserved in the possession of the - Fishmongers’ Company, having doubtless been originally used at the - interments of its more distinguished members. No account of the - acquisition of this fine specimen of decoration, or of the precise - period when it was executed, has been preserved, and the earlier - records of the Company were destroyed in the fire of London; its - date may be attributed to the earlier part of the sixteenth, or - the close of the previous century. The designs which decorate the - head and foot of the pall are precisely similar, and the two sides - likewise correspond exactly in design. On the former is presented - St. Peter, the patron of fishermen, receiving from the Saviour - the keys of heaven and hell; the embroideries on the two sides - represent St. Peter enthroned, crowned with the tiara, with angels - kneeling one on either side, throwing their censers towards him. On - each side of this subject is introduced an escutcheon of the arms - of the Company, with supporters. Nothing can exceed the delicacy - of execution displayed in this remarkable specimen of needle-work: - the countenances are full of expression, and the colours are - generally remarkable for freshness and brilliancy. Another funeral - pall of great beauty is in the possession of the Saddlers’ Company, - and has been accurately represented in Mr. Shaw’s _Dresses and - Decorations_.” (_Archæologia_, xxxi.) - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - SOLDIERS - - -[Illustration: SOLDIERS OF THE PERIOD - -From Meyrick’s _Inquiry into Antient Armour_.] - -“By an Act of Parliament, 27 Henry II., 1181, called ‘An Assize -of Arms,’ confirmed and enlarged by 13 Edward I., 1285, every -man, according to his estate and degree, was obliged to provide a -determinate quantity of such arms and armour as were then in use.[11] -Constables were provided to see that their arms were correct, and -proper persons, at stated periods, were appointed to _muster and train_ -them. - -Every Freeman that had in chattels or rent to the value of sixteen -marks was to have a coat of mail (_loricam_), a helmet (_cassidem_), -a shield, and a lance; and so in proportion to his wealth. Another -Assize of Arms was passed 36 Henry III., 1252, and in 1285 the Statute -of Winchester. These made some alterations in the qualification and -in the weapon. By 27 Edward I., 1298, armed horses were ordered to be -provided. The Statute of 4 and 5 Philip and Mary, c. 3, 1537, changed -the weapons for those of more modern construction. It also provided -that all persons having an estate valued at £1000 or more should, -after the 1st of May 1558, keep six horses and ten light horses, -with furniture, etc. By the 33 Henry VIII., c. 5, Commissioners were -appointed to see that the inhabitants of cities and boroughs were -properly provided with arms, etc. Thus cities, according to their -wealth or position, were obliged to have ready so many trained men. -In 1335 the City of London provided twenty-five men in arms and 500 -archers for the war against France. In 1360, 1400 to serve in France. -Henry VIII. called upon the City to supply him with 1500 men in July -1545. The French threatening the Isle of Wight, on the 4th of August -1545, the citizens sent 1000 soldiers to Dover. In 1557 Queen Mary -caused a levy to be made of 1000 horsemen, 4000 footmen, and 2000 -pioneers, to assist Philip of Spain against the King of France. In -1558 another was made to protect Calais; and in 1560 another to assist -the Queen’s Troops against the French, who were besieging Leith, -in Scotland. In 1562 a large number were sent to serve at Havre de -Grace. Orders were received from the Council in 1578 to keep 2000 men -in readiness. The Lord Mayor, in 1580, issued a precept assessing -the Companies for providing and furnishing 1000 men. The Stationers’ -Company had to provide twenty men, thirteen shot, and seven pikemen. -The cost of their provision, furnishing, and training was £20:10:4; and -for powder and other charges, £11:3s. In 1585, 4000 men, with armour, -ensigns, drums, fifes, and other furniture for the wars, the greater -part being shot, mustered at Mile End, 14th April, and were reviewed -by Queen Elizabeth, 18th May. In 1596 the City twice raised, in less -than twelve hours, 1000 men, completely armed, for the relief of the -French, besieged by the Spaniards, in Calais. In 1589, 1000 men were -provided, fully equipped, to assist in placing Henry of Navarre on the -French throne. In 1600, 500 men for service in Ireland. In 1624, 2000 -for the Low Countries. In 1638–40, 200 men in all, for service against -the Scots.” - -There was an ancient and time-honoured march, known as the “old English -march,” which fell into disuse some time before the accession of -Charles the First, when Sir Edward Cecil, Lord Wimbledon, persuaded -the King to issue a warrant, ordering it to be revived. The point -raised is extremely interesting. The Warrant runs thus—it is dated 7th -Feb. 1632:—“Whereas the ancient custome of Nations hath ever bene to -use one certaine and constant forme of march in the warres, whereby -to be distinguished one from another: and whereas the march of this -our English Nation, so famous in all honourable achievements and -glorious warres of this our Kingdome in forraigne parts (being, by the -approbation of Strangers themselves, confessed and acknowledged the -best of all Marches) was, through the negligence and carelessness of -drummers, and by long discontinuance, so altered and changed from the -ancient gravitie and majestie thereof, as it was in danger utterly to -have bene lost and forgotten. It pleased our late deare brother prince -Henry to revive and rectifie the same, by ordayning an establishment -of one certaine Measure which was beaten in his presence at Greenwich, -anno 1610. In confirmation whereof, wee are graciously pleased, at the -instance and humble sute of our right trusty, etc., Edward, Viscount -Wimbledon, etc., to set down and ordaine this present establishment -hereunder expressed. Willing and commanding all drummers within our -Kingdome of England and principalitie of Wales exactly and precisely to -observe the same as well in this our Kingdome as abroad in the service -of any forraigne prince or state without any addition or alteration -whatsoever. To the end that so ancient, famous, and commendable a -custome may be preserved as a patterne and precedent to all posteritie.” - -[Illustration: YEOMAN OF THE GUARD, TIME OF HENRY VIII. - -E. Gardner’s Collection.] - -About the time of Henry the Seventh we first find mention made of coat- -and conduct-money, a clothing allowance and subsistence for men on -joining the army, which was sometimes advanced by the counties where -the men were raised, to be afterwards repaid by the Government. These -charges varied according to the times. In 1492 the conduct-money was -calculated at the rate of 6d. for every twenty miles each soldier -should march, to be reckoned from his residence to the place of joining -the army; each soldier to swear to the number of the miles marched by -him. In 1574 it was fixed at a halfpenny per mile. In 1627, coat-money -to have been settled at 12s. 6d., and conduct-money at 8d. per diem, -accounting twelve miles for a day’s march. In 1640 it was 8d. per diem, -but the day’s march was not less than fifteen miles. - -In dress and weapons armour had not yet disappeared, but it was much -less cumbrous. The corselet, with a morion, or open head-piece, and -thigh guards were still in general use; but plates of armour were -frequently fastened to any ordinary tunic for the defence of the -shoulders, arms, and chest. The pike-men, with their twenty-foot -pikes, wore corselets, and were much disinclined to march more than -five or six miles a day, owing to the weight of their dresses and -weapons. The bill-men were in lighter armour, and their weapons were -shorter than the pike, but very effective against cavalry. The bill -was a hook-shaped blade fastened to a wooden staff, with a projecting -prong at the end and back. Pike-men and bill-men were employed in -protecting archers from cavalry and in covering such field-guns as -were in use. Civic guards and watchmen were armed with bills. The -archers wore a buff-padded jacket, with sometimes an under-shirt of -light chain-armour. A jerkin, of leather or cloth, was indiscriminately -worn by all ranks. The firearms were of two kinds, leaving out of view -artillery. The first could be fired with a rest, and the second were -practically very light artillery. The harquebus and the small petronel -belonged to the first class, and the culverin, the long petronel, and -the muschite (from the French mosquet, a hawk) to the second. Two -men were required to handle the weapons of the second class. They -had long barrels. They were fired with a match, the barrels resting -on an iron fork sticking in the ground. The harquebus was originally -a musket-stock with a bow fixed to it; but the term was now used to -mean the long-barrelled hand-gun with a touch hole and priming pan and -trigger on the right side, which was rapidly driving out other weapons -and rendering armour useless. - -[Illustration: A KNIGHT IN ARMOUR - -From Meyrick’s _Inquiry into Antient Armour_.] - -[Illustration: PIKEMAN - -From Grose’s _Military Antiquities_.] - -Musters of the citizens were frequent in the reign of Henry the Eighth -and Queen Elizabeth.[12] A history of the muster of the citizens on the -8th of May 1539, the 31st of Henry the Eighth, is given at length in -the _Records of the Corporation_, Journal 14, folio 166. “They marched -from Mile end to Whitehall, and from thence to Leadenhall, Sir Wm. -Forman, Knt., Lord Mayor was in bright harness, whereof the curass, the -maynsers, gaunteletts and other parts were gilt upon the crests and -bordures, and with that he had a coat of black velvet with a rich cross -embroidered, and a great massy chain of gold about his neck, and on his -head a cap of black velvet with a rich jewel, he had a goodly jennett -richly trapped, with embroidery of gold set upon crimson velvet. About -him attended 4 foot men, all apparelled in white satin hose and all -puffed over with white sarcenet.” In 1559, July 2 and 3, according to -_Stow’s Chronicle_, edit. 1615, p. 639, “the Citizens mustered before -Queen Elizabeth in Greenwich Park, 1400 men being present; 800 pikemen -in fine corselets; 400 harquebuts in shirts of maile, with morins; and -200 halberters in Alman rivets.” A large number of the citizens were -also present. The price of armour at this date, as given in several -records, was for “a Corslett, 30s.; Harquebus complete, 8s.; a Murrion, -6s. 8d.; Almaine rivette, 10s.; a musket, flask, touch-box and tassels, -17s. 6d.; Gunpowder, 12d. per pound.” - -Here, for instance (_Archæologia_, vol. xxxii. p. 32), is an account of -a muster before Henry the Eighth. - -“Than the sayd lorde mayor and hys brethren assemblyd thym selffs -ageyn, and after longe consultac’on, they fyrst determyned, that -no alyen, although he were a denyzen, shuld mustre, but onely mere -Englysshmen; ffurther they thought yt not convenyent that all the hole -number of Englysshmen shulde mustre and goo owte of the cytye for -especyall consyderac’ons; nor that suche as had jakks, brygandynes, -or cotes of fence, shulde goo yn the mustre, but onely they appoynted -syche whiche were hable p’sones, & hadde whyte harnes with whyte -cotes, bowes, arrowes, halberds, bills or polaxes; and none other -except soche as bare moryse pykes or handgonnes, whiche onely hadde -plents and sculls, with whyte cotes and whyte cappes with fethers; -and all thys company was comaunded to be yn whyte hose and clenly -shodde. Whan yt was knowen that the Kyng hymselff wolde se the Mustre, -to se howe gladly ev’y man p’pared hym, what desyre ev’y man had -to do hys prince s’rvice yt was a joyfull syght to beholde of ev’y -Inglysshman. Than ev’y man of substance provyded hymself a cote of -sylke, & garnished theyre bassenetts with turbes of sylke sett with -broches, ouches and fethers; some had theyre harnes and polaxes -gylted, some had theyr breastplates cov’yd with sylvr bullyon—ev’y man -devysed to doo hys best to s’ve hys prynce and of thys sorte the most -parte had chaynes of golde. The meaner sorte were yn cotes of white -cotton, clenly hosed and shodde with the armes of the cytye before & -behynde. The constables were all yn jouetts of whyte sylke over theyre -harnes, with battayl axes gylt, & chaynes abowte theyre necks. The -sayd lorde mayor, aldermen, recorder, shryves, & such as hadde bene -shryeves, were yn whyte harnes, & o’vr that cotes of black velvet, -with the armes of the cytye rychely pyrled and embroderyd upon the -same, with great chaynes of golde about theyre necks, mountyd on good -horsses well styrryng & rychely trapped, with battell axes yn theyre -handes, & cappes of velvett yn theyre heddes; and ev’y alderman had -iiij halberdars yn whyte sylke or buffe cotes attendyng on thej, with -gylt halbards, and the mayer had xvj apparrellyd as you shall here -hereafter; all theys were captayns of the bataylls, as you shall -p’ceyve yn theyre settyng forward. The chamberlayn and councellors -of the cytye, & the aldermens deputyes whiche were assigned to be -wyffelers on horsebacke, were all yn cotes of whyte damask over theyr -harnes, mountyd on good horsses, well trappyd, with great chaynes -abowte theyre necks, and propre javilyns or battle axes yn theyre -handes, with cappes of velvett on theyre heddes with ryche ouches. The -wyffelers on fote were iiij C. propre lyght p’sones app’ellyd yn whyte -sylke or buffe jerkyns, without harnes, or whyte hose and whyte shoes, -every man havyng a slaugh sworde or a javelyn to kepe the people yn -araye, with chaynes abowte theyre necks and fethers yn theyre cappes. -The mynstrells also were all yn whyte, and so were the standard berers, -which were the tallyst men yn ev’y warde, all app’ellyd yn sylke, for -whome were made XXX newe standards with the devyses of the Cytye.... To -see howe full of lordes, ladyes, and gentilwomen the wyndowes yn every -strete were, and howe the strets of the cytye were replenysshed with -people, many men wolde have thought that they that musteryd had rather -byn straungers than cytezens, consydering that the stretes everywhere -were so full of people, whiche was to straungers a great mervell. To -reporte what good order the cytezens kept yn passing forward; what -payne the wyffelers bothe on horseback & fote tooke yn keepyng the -soulders yn araye; howe ryche the juells, chaynes, and app’ell were; -how many goodly, talle, & comley men were there, & the nombre of -the same, my wytt ys insuffycyent to exp’sse or my penne to write. -Wherfore, I remytt theys poynts to theym that sawe and nombret them, -and desyeryng them to remember the nombre that passed yn the muster, -and not to forget yn theyr accompt theym that taryed at home or stode -yn the stretes, for the one without the other sheweth not the hole -puyssance of the cytye. But, whatsoever was doon and what payne so ever -was takyn, all was to the cytezens a great gladness.” - -[Illustration: MUSKETEER - -From Grose’s _Military Antiquities_.] - -It will thus be seen that military array had arrived at a new and -quite another kind of splendour. Armour had not gone out, but it was -less cumbrous, and people believed less in its value. It availed to a -certain extent against sword and pike, but not at all against bullet. -The pikemen who carried pikes eighteen or twenty feet in length wore a -breastplate; the billmen had lighter armour, their weapon was a hook or -a staff. Both pikemen and billmen were employed in covering field-guns -against cavalry. Watchmen also carried bills. The firearms were the -harquebus or arquebus; the small petronel; the culverin; the long -petronel and the musket. The larger kinds were fired with the barrel -resting on a fork stuck in the ground. Swords and daggers were, of -course, carried, and gentlemen wore expensive chain and plate armour. - -Henry VIII. had a wonderful suit of armour made in Germany. It was -engraved with illustrations from the lives of martyrs and saints, some -of which are reproduced on p. 382, from the illustrations given in -_Archæologia_. - - - - - CHAPTER V - - THE ’PRENTICE - - -This chapter is inserted in the Tudor period because the ’Prentice in -that century arrived at the height of his power and importance, chiefly -as a disturber of the peace. The following pages sum up the regulations -on the subject from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, both -inclusive. - -The importance of the apprentice system caused many ordinances and -regulations to be passed from time to time. Thus in 1406 no persons -were allowed to put out their children as apprentices who had not -land to the value of 20 shillings a year, a regulation intended, in a -populous town, to keep up the _status_ of trades and crafts. The Act -was, however, found impossible to work, and was repealed in 1429 “to -the great satisfaction of the citizens.” Later on, in 1486, another -attempt was made to restrict the Freedom of the City, and to keep out -“mean and improper” persons by an ordinance that no apprentice should -be taken nor freedom given except to such as were “gentlemen born”—this -is Maitland’s statement—“agreeable to the clause in the oath given -to every freeman at the time he was made free, in these words, ‘Ye -shall take none apprentice but if he be freeborn: that is to say, no -Bondman’s son, nor the son of any alien.’” It does not appear, however, -from the oath, that the freeman was required to be a gentleman unless -every freeborn person is a gentleman. How could a blacksmith or a -journeyman saddler be a gentleman? - -In 1527 the Common Council passed a stringent rule as to the treatment -of Apprentices:— - -“‘If hereafter any Freeman or Freewoman of this City take any -Apprentice, and within the Term of seven Years suffer the same -Apprentice to go at his large Liberty and Pleasure; and within or -after the said Term agree with his said Apprentice for a certain Sum -of Money, or otherwise, for his said service, and within or after the -End of the said Term, the said Freeman present the said Apprentice to -the Chamberlain of the City, and by good Deliberation, and upon his -Oath made to the same City, the same Freeman or Freewoman assureth and -affirmeth to the said Chamberlain, that the said Apprentice hath fully -served his said Term as Apprentice: Or if any Freeman or Freewoman of -this City take any Apprentice which at the Time of the said taking hath -any Wife: Or, if any Freeman or Freewoman of this City, give any Wages -to his or her Apprentice, or suffer the said Apprentices to take any -Part of their own Getting of Gains: Or if any Freeman or Freewoman of -this City hereafter colour any foreign Goods, or from henceforth buy or -sell for any Person or Persons, or with or to any Person or Persons, -being foreign or Foreigners, Cloths, Silks, Wine, Oils, or any other -Goods or Merchandize, whatsoever they be, whether he take any Thing or -Things for his or their Wages or Labour, or not: Or if any Person or -Persons being Free of this City, by any Colour or deceitful Means, from -henceforth do buy, sell, or receive of any Apprentice within this City, -any Money, Goods, Merchandize, or Wares, without the Assent or Licence -of his Master or Mistress; and upon Examination duly proved before the -Chamberlain of the said City for the Time being, and the same reported -by the Mouth of the said Chamberlain, at a Court to be holden by the -Mayor and the Aldermen of the same City in their Council-Chamber: That -as well the said Master, as the said Apprentice, shall for evermore be -disfranchised. _God save the King!_’” (Maitland, vol. i. pp. 229–230.) - -To which was added an admonition to the Apprentices:— - -“‘Ye shall constantly and devoutly on your Knees, every Day, serve God, -Morning and Evening, and make Conscience in the due Hearing of the Word -preached, and endeavour the right Practice thereof on your Life and -Conversation. You shall do diligent and faithful Service to your Master -for the Time of your Apprenticeship, and deal truly in what you shall -be trusted. You shall often read over the Covenants of your Indenture, -and see and endeavour yourself to perform the same, to the utmost of -your Power. You shall avoid all evil Company, and all Occasions which -may tend to draw you to the same; and make speedy Return when you shall -be sent of your Masters and Mistresses Business. You shall be of fair, -gentle, and lowly Speech and Behaviour towards all Men, and especially -to all your Governors. And according to your Carriage, expect your -Reward, for Good or Ill, from God and your Friends.’” (Maitland, vol. -i. p. 230.) - -The history of “Evil May Day” (p. 24) is an illustration of the growing -turbulence of the ‘Prentices and the relaxation of order and discipline -in the City generally. The wards, in fact, had become too thickly -populated for the old and simple rule of a peripatetic alderman and -his sergeants: the turbulence was a sign of their weakness; yet three -hundred years were to pass before an efficient night and day police -could be established as the only remedy. - -In the year 1582 an ordinance concerning the apparel of the ‘Prentice -shows still more clearly that he was getting out of hand. It was -enacted by the Lord Mayor and Common Council:— - -“That from henceforth no Apprentice whatsoever should presume: 1. To -wear any Apparel but what he receives from his Master. 2. To wear no -Hat within the City and Liberty thereof, nor any thing instead thereof, -than a Woollen Cap, without any Silk in or about the same. 3. To wear -no Ruffles, Cuffs, loose Collar, nor other thing than a Ruff at the -Collar, and that only of a Yard and a half long. 4. To wear no Doublets -but what were made of canvas, Fustian, Sackcloth, English Leather, or -Woollen Cloth, and without being enriched with any manner of Gold, -Silver, or Silk. 5. To wear no other coloured Cloth, or Kersey, in Hose -or Stockings, than White, Blue, or Russet. 6. To wear little Breeches, -of the same Stuffs as the Doublets, and without being stitched, laced -or bordered. 7. To wear a plain upper Coat of Cloth or Leather, without -Pinking, Stitching, Edging or Silk about it. 8. To wear no other -Surtout than a Cloth Gown or Cloak, lined or faced with Cloth, Cotton -or Bays, with a fixed round Collar, without Stitching, Guarding, Lace -or Silk. 9. To wear no Pumps, Slippers, nor Shoes, but of English -Leather, without being pinked, edged or stitched, nor Girdles nor -Garters, other than of Crewel, Woollen, Thread or Leather, without -being garnished. 10. To wear no Sword, Dagger, or other Weapon, but a -Knife; nor a Ring, Jewel of Gold, nor Silver, nor Silk in any Part of -the Apparel. - -It was likewise further enacted, That every Apprentice offending -against any of the above-mentioned items, was for the first offence -to be punished at the discretion of his Master; for the second to be -publicly whipped at the Hall of his Company; and for the third to serve -six months longer than specified in his indentures. And every Master -conniving at the crimes of his Apprentice committed against the tenor -of the premises, should, for every such offence, forfeit to the poor -of the parish wherein he dwelt six shillings and eightpence. It was -also farther ordained, That no Apprentice should frequent, or go to any -dancing, fencing, or musical schools; nor keep any chest, press, or -other place for the keeping of apparel or goods, but in his Master’s -House, under the penalties aforesaid. And every such Master permitting -or allowing his Apprentice to offend in any of the said cases, to -forfeit as in the case of forbidden apparel.” (Maitland, vol. i. p. -267.) - -Maitland, after praising this wise ordinance, laments that in his time, -the middle of the eighteenth century, there could not be some such good -law passed to restrain the “more destructive practices of our modern -Apprentices,” viz. keeping mistresses, keeping horses, frequenting -tavern clubs and playhouses, and “their great excesses in clothes, -Linen, periwigs, gold and silver watches, etc.” He does not tell us -where they got the money for these expensive luxuries, but in the -_Confession of Latroun Meriton_ (1650) the way is fully explained: it -was, namely, by robbing their masters. In the year 1595 there were more -troubles caused by the ’Prentices. The Queen ordered sharp measures to -be taken:— - -“‘And because such Assemblies and Routs were compounded of sundry Sorts -of base People; some known Apprentices, such as were of base manual -Occupations; some others, wandering idle Persons, of Condition, Rogues, -and Vagabonds; and some colouring their wandering by the Name of -Soldiers returning from the Wars, etc., therefore she had notified her -Pleasure to her Council, to prescribe certain Orders to be published -in and about the said City, which she would have streightly observed; -and, for that Purpose, that she meant to have a Provost-Marshal, with -sufficient Authority to apprehend all such as should not be readily -reformed and corrected by the ordinary Officers of Justice, and them -without Delay to execute upon the Gallows by Order of Martial Law. At -our Manor of Greenwich, the 4th of July, 1595.’” (Maitland, vol. i. pp. -278–279.) - -Sir Thomas Welford, accordingly, was appointed Provost-Marshal. He -patrolled the streets with a number of horsemen armed with pistols: he -arrested many of the rioters, who were tried at the Guildhall. Five of -them were executed on Tower Hill, and the rioting ceased. - -Of the Apprentices’ riot against the Spanish Ambassador in 1641 we have -heard in another place (_London in the Time of the Stuarts_, p. 38). -The Lord Mayor had a good deal of trouble in appeasing the Ambassador, -who said that he “hardly knew how to call that a City or even a Society -of rational creatures which was seemingly divested both of Humanity and -Government.” - -At the outbreak of Civil War the ’Prentices were on the side of the -Parliament and enjoyed many opportunities of demonstrating their -views and opinions, not only without reproach, but rather with the -approbation of the Parliamentary party, the leaders of which encouraged -the young fellows to enlist in their army, as, for example, by the -following Proclamation:— - -“‘Whereas in Times of common Danger and Necessity the Interests of -private Persons ought to give way to publick, it is ordained and -declared by the Lords and Commons in Parliament, That such Apprentices -as have been, or shall be listed to serve as Soldiers, for the Defence -of the Religion and Liberty of the Kingdom, his Majesty’s Royal Person, -the Parliament, and the City of London, their Sureties, and such as -stand engaged for them, shall be secured against their Masters, their -Executors, and Administrators, from all Loss and Inconvenience by -Forfeiture of Bonds, Covenants, Infranchisement, or other Ways: And -that, after this publick Service ended, the Masters of such Apprentices -shall be commanded and required to receive them again into their -Service, without imposing upon them any Punishment, Loss, or Prejudice, -for their Absence in the Defence of the Commonwealth. - -‘And the Lords and Commons do further declare, That if it shall appear, -that the Masters of such Apprentices have received any considerable -Loss by the Absence of their Apprentices, they will take Care that -reasonable Satisfaction be made unto them out of the publick Stock of -the Kingdom, according to Justice and Indifferency.’” (Maitland, vol. -i. p. 361.) - -In 1647 two Petitions of the “Young men and apprentices” were drawn -up and presented to the House of Lords by the two factions in the -City, that in the interest of the King being signed by 10,000 hands, -instigated, says Maitland, by their masters. - -The action and attitude of the City on this occasion belong to its -general history. - -The custom and practice as concerns apprentices in the eighteenth -century are laid down by Strype in his account of the duties and rules -of the Chamberlain’s Court. - -“Before him, the said Chamberlain, all Apprentices are enrolled, and -made free; insomuch that none can set up Shop, or follow a Trade -within the City or Liberties, if not a Freeman, and sworn before him; -neither can any one turn over an Apprentice, but by his License. To -him all Complaints are brought for Differences betwixt Apprentices -and their Masters, who reconciles their Differences, and may punish, -by Imprisonment, those that disobey his Summons, or any Apprentice -that misdemeans himself to his Master or Mistress; but, upon the -Apprentice’s acknowledging his Fault, and begging Pardon, with Promise -never to offend any more, his Fault is forgiven. - -Such Apprentices as have justly served their Term of seven Years, and -not broken their Indentures by Marrying, etc., are made free. - -Upon the Admission of every Person into the Freedom of this City, the -Chamberlain causeth an Oath to be administered unto him, to be true to -the King, the Government, and observe and keep the Customs of the City; -which said Oath hath been mentioned before, Chap. XXIII. - -If any Master shall refuse to make his Apprentice free, when the Term -of his Indenture is expired, upon Complaint made to the Chamberlain, -he will cause such Master to be summoned before him, and if he cannot -shew good Cause to the Contrary, will make the Apprentice free. And -if an Apprentice shall be unruly or disorderly in his Master’s House, -or commit any notorious Fault, upon Complaint made thereof, the -Chamberlain will send one of his Officers for such Apprentice, and send -him to Bridewell, or otherwise punish him according to the Nature of -the Offence. - -If any Master shall misuse his Apprentice, by unreasonable Beating, -not allowing him Necessaries, or by neglecting to instruct him, or the -like, upon Complaint thereof made, the Chamberlain will send a Summons -for the Master to appear before him; and upon due Hearing both Parties, -will relieve the Apprentice, if his Allegations be proved to be just, -or else leave the Apprentice to take his remedy against his Master in -the Lord Mayor’s Court. And if the Master refuse to appear according -to his Summons, the Lord Mayor and Recorder, upon Complaint thereof -made unto them, will grant a Warrant to take him, and compel him to -appear. - -When an Apprentice, by the Consent of his Master, is to be turned -over to another Master of the same trade, it must be done before the -Chamberlain. And it is observed, that, if an Apprentice be turned over -by the Company only of which the Master is free, it is no Obligation -on the second Master to keep such an Apprentice; nor is the Apprentice -compelled thereby to serve the second Master, but may depart at -Pleasure, by suing out his Indentures against the first Master. Which -may be done without the Privity or Knowledge of the second Master. And, -therefore, it is absolutely necessary, that all Apprentices should -be turned over before the Chamberlain. And thereby the first Master -is discharged from him, and the second obliged to keep him; and the -Apprentice will be obliged to serve the second Master, the full Term of -his Indentures, although the same were made for nine Years, or more. -It is the Interest of every Master and Apprentice, when any Difference -happens between them, to refer the Matter to the Chamberlain; who will -freely hear both Parties, and decide the Controversy, for 3s. Charge, -viz. 1s. to the Officer for the Summons, and 2s. to the Clerk for the -Order: Whereas, if they proceed at Law for Relief, it may probably cost -both Parties six Pounds, or more, in Charges; and the Conclusion may be -less satisfactory, than if decided by the Chamberlain. - - THE FEES DUE TO THE CITY FOR MAKING FREE, AND THE ENROLLING - APPRENTICES. - - An Apprentice made free, and not enrolled, the Master pays 00 13 2 - The Apprentice pays 00 02 00 - If turned over before the Chamberlain, the Master or - Mistress must pay extraordinary 00 02 00 - - And, by Virtue of the late Act for Orphans, over and above - these usual Fees, - An Apprentice, when bound, must pay 00 02 06 - And when admitted a Freeman 00 05 00 - -If an Apprentice shall omit to take his Freedom, within convenient Time -after the Expiration of his Indentures, the Chamberlain may impose upon -the Apprentice such a Fine, in Reason, as he shall think fit, for this -Neglect, without just Cause to the Contrary. - -Every Freeman ought to take particular Care not to make an Apprentice -free of London, by testifying for his true Service, unless such -Apprentice shall have really served him. For, if he shall privately -turn his Apprentice over to a Foreigner, and let his Apprentice -serve such a Foreigner, and yet testify to the Chamberlain, that the -Apprentice served a Freeman; in such Case, both the Master and the -Apprentice may be disfranchised, and fined at the Discretion of the -Recorder, and the Chamberlain, and may cause the Freeman’s Shop to be -shut up.” (Strype, vol. ii. pp. 475–476.) - -As regards the ancient costume of an Apprentice, I again quote Stow and -Strype:— - -“The ancient Habit of the Apprentices of London was a flat round Cap, -Hair close cut, narrow falling Bands, coarse side Coats, close Hose, -Cloth Stockings, and other such severe Apparel. When this Garb had -been urged by some to the Disparagement of Apprentices, as a Token -of Servitude, one, many a Year ago, undertaking the Defence of these -Apprentices, wrote thus, that this imported the commendable Thrift of -the Citizens, and was only the Mark of an Apprentice’s Vocation and -Calling (and which anciently, no Question, was the ordinary Habit of a -Citizen), which Point of ancient Discipline, he said, the grave common -Lawyers do still retain in their Profession; for the Professors of -that Learning, we see, do at this Present retain the party-coloured -Coats of Serving-men at their Serjeants’ Feasts; and he wished, that -the Remembrance of this ancient Livery might be preserved by the grave -Citizens, in setting apart a particular Time or Day for the Feast of -their Apprenticeship, when they should wear their former Apprentice’s -Garb; making Profession in this Way, that they gloried in the Ensigns -of their honest Apprenticeship. - -In the Time of Queen Mary, the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth, as well -as many Years before, all Apprentices wore blue Clokes in the Summer, -and blue Gowns in the Winter. But it was not lawful for any Man, either -Servant or other, to wear their Gowns lower than the Calves of their -Legs, except they were above threescore Years of Age; but, the Length -of Clokes being not limited, they made them down to their shoes. Their -Breeches and Stockings were usually of white broad Cloth, viz. round -Slops, and their Stockings sewed up close thereto, as if they were all -but one Piece. They also wore flat Caps both then and many Years after, -as well Apprentices as Journey-men and others, both at Home and Abroad; -whom the Pages of the Court in Derision called Flat-Caps. - -When Apprentices and Journeymen attended upon their Masters and -Mistresses in the Night they went before them carrying a Lanthorn and -Candle in their hands, and a great long Club on their Necks; and many -well-grown sturdy Apprentices used to wear long Daggers in the Day-Time -on their Backs or Sides. - -Anciently it was the general Use and Custom of all Apprentices in -London (Mercers only excepted, being commonly Merchants, and of better -Rank, as it seems,) to carry Water Tankards, to serve their Masters’ -Houses with Water, fetched either from the Thames, or the common -Conduits of London. - -It was a great matter, in former Times, to give 10£ to bind a youth -Apprentice; but, in King James the First’s Time, they gave 20, 40, 60 -and sometimes 100£ with an Apprentice; but now these prices are vastly -enhanced, to 500, 600, or 800£.” (Strype, vol. ii.) - -The question in 1628 arose, and was solemnly argued, whether an -Apprentice, who is certainly bound to obedience, who must perform -servile offices, who is corrected by his master, clothed by his -master, and fed by his master, is or is not in a state of bondage or a -bondsman. The question was resolved by Philipot, Somerset Herald, to -the effect that he could not be considered a bondsman. The reason we -may pass over. But Strype’s remarks are interesting:— - -“So that Apprenticeship in London is no Dishonour, nor Degradation; -but rather an Honour, and a Degree. He is very hardy that shall embase -honest Industry with disgraceful Censures, and too unjust, who shall -not cherish and encourage it with Praise and Worship, as the ancient -Policy of England did and doth, in constituting Corporations, and -adorning the Companies with Banners of Arms, and especial Members -thereof with Notes of Nobility. And, as it is an Honour, so it is a -Degree, or Order of good regular Subjects; out of whose, as it were, -Noviceship or Colleges, Citizens are supplied from Time to Time. -We call them Colleges, according to the old Roman Law Phrase, or -Fellowships of Men. For so indeed they are, comprehended within several -Corporations, or Bodies of free Persons, intended to be consociated -together for commerce, according to Conscience and Justice, and -named Companies. So that Apprentices, according to the Esteem of our -Commonwealth, when first they come to be Apprentices, first begin to -be Somebody, who before were young Men without any Vocation in the -World. And so by other Ascents or steps come to be Freemen of London, -or Citizens; thence to be of their Companies Liveries, Governors of -Companies, as Wardens and Masters; and Governors in the City, as -Common-Council-Men, Aldermen’s Deputies, Sheriffs, and Aldermen; and, -lastly, the principal Governors, or Heads of the City, that is, Lord -Mayors. And some also have been advanced, from being Citizens, to be -Counsellors of State to the Prince. - -It is further evident, that Apprenticeship doth not deprive of Gentry; -for no Man loseth his Right to bear Arms, or to write Gentleman, unless -he be attainted in Law for such a Cause; the Conviction whereof doth -immediately procure Corruption in Blood; which in this Case no Man yet -hath dreamt of. The Apprentice hath no more lost his Title and Right -to Gentry, than he hath done to any Goods, Chattels, Lands, Royalties, -or any Thing else, which, if he had never been any Apprentice, either -had, might, or ought to have come unto him. The Rights of Blood are -more inherent than the Rights of Fortune, according to the Law Rule, -_Jura Sanguinum nullo jure civili dirimi possunt_, i.e. The Law of -Bloods cannot be destroyed by any civil Right. That Gentry is a Right -of Blood, may appear by this, that no Man can truly alienate the same, -or vest another in it, tho’ legally he may, in Case of Adoption, which -is but a human Invention, in Imitation of Nature; and, in the Truth of -the Thing, no Alienation at all, but a Fiction, or an Acceptation in -Law, as if it were such. Gentry is a Quality of Blood, as Virtue and -Learning are of one Mind. - -This is the Sum of what that learned Herald argued, in Confutation of -that Opinion, that Apprenticeship extinguisheth Gentry. And he sent -this his discourse to the Gentleman who desired his Judgment herein; -whence, no Question, he received full Satisfaction. And the Herald took -the more Pains in confuting this false Conceit, that it was a Thing -unbeseeming a Gentleman to be an Apprentice to a Citizen or Burgess; -because it had filled England with more Vices, and sacrificed more -serviceable Bodies to odious Ends, and more Souls to sinful Lives, than -perhaps any one other uncivil Opinion whatsoever. For they who held -it better to rob by Land or Sea, than to beg or labour, did daily fee -and feel, that out of Apprentices rose such as set upon them, standing -out for lives as Malefactors; when they, a Shame and Sorrow to their -Kindred, underwent a Fortune too unworthy.” (Strype, vol. ii. pp. -435–436.) - -Apprentices in certain cases ought to be discharged:— - -“One was discharged from his Master, because his Master held no shop, -and withdrew himself from the City. Another, because his Master did not -teach him. Another, because his Master was in Ludgate, and entrusted -him not. Another, because not enrolled within a Year. Another, because -his Master was distracted in his Mind. Another, because his Master was -so poor that he could not exhibit to him. Another, because his Master -diverted himself to other Occupations than his own Mystery. Another, -because the Master was a Leper. Another, because the Wife, after the -Death of her Husband, taught him not. And lastly, another, because his -Master inordinately chastised him.” (Strype, vol. ii. p. 438.) - -The decay of order among Apprentices may finish these notes on the -class:— - -“I come, in the next place, to treat of Attornies’ Clerks, Apprentices, -inferior Tradesmen, Coachmen, Porters, Servants, and the lowest Class -of Men in this town, which are far the most numerous: And, first, of -the Lawyers’ Clerks and Apprentices, I find it a general Complaint, -that they are under no Manner of Government; before their Times are -half out, they set up for Gentlemen, they dress, they drink, they -game, frequent the Playhouses, and intrigue with the Women; and it is -a common Thing with Clerks to bully their Masters, and desert their -service for whole Days and Nights, whenever they see fit. And indeed -People consider little else at this Day, in the Choice of Clerks or -Apprentices, but the sums they are to have with them; one, two, or -three Hundred Pounds are given with a Clerk or Apprentice, who may be -looked upon rather as a Boarder than a Servant. He takes little Care of -his Master’s Business, and the Master as little to instruct him in the -Mystery of his Profession.” (Strype, vol. ii. p. 559.) - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - THE LONDON INNS - - -The town was full of inns; more especially they were established -without the gates and in the Borough. A great change had come over the -Inns: formerly the inn was a place of lodging; some of them, as the -Inns of Court, Barnard’s Inn, Gray’s Inn, Staple Inn, were colleges -of residence; the business of providing food and drink belonged to -the tavern and the cook’s shop. We have now come to the time when the -inn itself provided food. Fortunately, there remain two very useful -descriptions of the Inns of this time. One of them is by Harrison in -Holinshed, and the other by Fynes Moryson. First, let us take that of -Harrison:— - -“Those townes that we call thorowfaires have great and sumptuous innes -builded in them for the receiving of such travellers and strangers -as passe to and fro. The manner of harbouring wherein, is not like -to that as some other countries, in which the host or goodman of -the house dooth chalenge a lordlie authoritie over his ghests, but -clene otherwise, sith everie man may use his inne as his owne house -in England, and have for his monie how great or little varietie of -vittels, and what other service himselfe shall thinke expedient to call -for. Our innes are also verie well furnished with naperie, bedding, -and tapisserie, especiallie with naperie: for beside the linen used at -the tables, which is commonlie washed dailie, is such and so much as -belongeth unto the estate and calling of the ghest. Ech commer is sure -to lie in cleane sheets, wherein no man hath beene lodged since they -came from the landresse, or out of the water wherein they were last -washed. If the traveller have an horsse, his bed doth cost him nothing, -but if he go on foot he is sure to pay a penie for the same: but -whether he be horseman or footman if his chamber be once appointed he -may carie the kaie with him, as of his own house so long as he lodgeth -there. If he loose oughts whilst he abideth in the inne, the host is -bound by a generall custome to restore the damage, so that there is no -greater security anie where for travellers than in the gretest ins of -England. Their horses in like sort are walked, dressed, and looked unto -by certeine hostelers or hired servants, appointed at the charges of -the good man of the house, who in hope of extraordinary reward will -deal verie diligently after outward appeerance in this their function -and calling. Herein neverthelesse are manie of them blameworthie, in -that they doo not onlie deceive the beast oftentimes of his allowance -of sundrie meanes, except their owners look well to them; but also make -such packs with slipper merchants which hunt after preie (for what -place is sure from evill and wicked persons) that manie an honest man -is spoiled of his goods as he travelleth to and fro, in which fear also -the counsell of the tapsters or drawers of drinke, and chamberleins -is not seldom behind or wanting. Certes I beleeve not that chapman or -traveller in England is robbed by the waie without the knowledge of -some of them, for when he commeth into the inne, and alighteth from his -horse, the hostler forthwith is verie busie to take downe his budget -or capcase in the yard from his sadle bow, which he peiseth slilie in -his hand to feel the weight thereof: or he miss of this pitch when the -ghest hath taken up his chamber, the chamberleine that looketh to the -making of the beds, will be sure to remove it from the place where the -owner hath set it as if it were to set it more conveniently somewhere -else, whereby he getteth an inkling whether it be monie or other short -wares and thereof giveth warning to such ghests as haunt the house and -are of his confederacy to the utter undoing of manie an honest yeoman -as he journieth by the waie. The tapster in like sort for his part -dooth marke his behaviour and what plentie of money he draweth when he -paieth the shot, to the like end; so that it shall be an hard matter -to escape all their subtil practises. Some thinke it a gay matter to -commit their budgets at their coming to the goodman of the house; but -thereby they oft bewraie themselves. For albeit their monie be safe for -the time that it is in his hands (for you shall not hear that a man -is robbed in his inn) yet after their departure the host can make no -warrantise of the same, sith his protection extendeth no further than -the gate of his owne house; and there cannot be a surer token unto such -as prie and watch for those booties, than to see any ghest deliver his -capcase in such maner. In all our innes we have plenty of ale, beere, -and sundrie kinds of wine, and such is the capacitie of some of them -that they are able to lodge two hundred or three hundred persons, and -their horses at ease, and thereto with a very short warning make such -provision for their diet as to him that is unacquainted withall may -seeme to be incredible. Howbeit of all in England there are no worse -ins than in London, and yet manie are there far better than the best -that I have heard of in anie forren countries, if all circumstances -be duly considered. But to leave this and go in hand with my purpose. -I will here set downe a table of the best thorowfaires and townes of -greatest travell in England, in some of which there are twelve or -sixteen such innes at the least, as I before did speak of. And it -is a world to see how ech owner of them contendeth with other for -goodnesse of interteinement of the ghests as about finesse and change -of linen, furniture of bedding, beautie of rooms, service at the table, -costlinesse of plate, strength of drinke, varietie of wines, or well -using of horses. Finallie there is not much omitted among them as the -gorgeousness of their verie signs at their doores wherein some doo -consume thirtie or fortie pounds, a mere vanitie in mine opinion, but -so vaine will they needs be and that not onelie to give some outward -token of the inne keeper’s welth, but also to procure good ghests -to the frequenting of their houses in hope there to be well used.” -(Holinshed’s _Chronicles_.) - -Concerning the customs in English Inns, Fynes Moryson thus writes:— - -“For as soon as a passenger comes to an Inne, the servants run to -him, and one takes his horse and walks him till he be cold, then -rubs him and gives him meate, yet I must say that they are not much -to be trusted in this last point, without the eye of the Master or -his servant to oversee them. Another servant gives the passenger his -private chamber, and kindles his fier, the third puls of his bootes and -makes them cleane. Then the Host or Hostesse visits him, and if he will -eate with the Hoste, or at a common table with others, his meale will -coste him six pence, or in some places but four pence (yet this course -is lesse honourable and not used by Gentlemen); but if he will eate in -his chamber, he commands what meats he will according to his appetite, -and as much as he thinkes fit for him and his company, yea, the kitchen -is open to him, to command the meat to be dressed as he likes best; -and when he sits at Table, the Host or Hostesse will accompany him, if -they have many Guests, will at least visit him, taking it for courtesie -to be bid sit downe; while he eates, if he have company especially, he -shall be offerd musicke, which he may freely take or refuse, and if he -be solitary the musicians will give him the good day with musicke in -the morning. It is the custom and no way disgraceful to set up part -of sypper for his breakfast. In the evening or in the morning after -breakfast (for the common sort use not to dine, but ride from breakfast -to supper time, yet comming early to the Inn for better resting of -their horses) he shall have a reckoning in writing, and if it seems -unreasonable the Host will satisfy him either for the due price, or by -abating part, especially if the servant deceive him in any way, which -one of experience will soon find. I will now only add that a Gentleman -and his Man shall spend as much as if he were accompanied with another -Gentleman and his Man, and if Gentlemen will in such sorte joyne -together to eate at one table the expenses will be much diminished. -Lastly, a Man cannot more freely command at home in his owne House than -he may doe in his Inne, and at parting if he give some few pence to the -Chamberlin and Ostler they wish him a happy journey.” - -And further:— - -“In all Innes, but especially in suspected places, let him take heed of -his chamber fellowes, and always have his sword by his side or by his -bedside; let him lay his purse under his pillow, but always folded with -his garters or something hee first useth in the morning, lest he forget -to put it on before he goe out of his chamber. And to the end he may -leave nothing behind him in his Innes, let the visiting of his chamber -and gathering his things together be the last thing he doth before hee -put his foote into the stirrup.” - -The list of Elizabethan taverns might be compiled at great length, but -the following signs celebrated in verse will suffice:— - - “Through the Royal Exchange as I walked - where gallants in sattin did shine: - At midst of the day they parted away - at several places to dine. - - The gentry went to the King’s Head, - the nobles went unto the Crown: - The knights unto the Golden Fleece - and the plowman to the Clown. - - The clergy will dine at the Miter, - the vintners at the Three Tuns: - The usurers to the Devil will go, - and the fryers unto the Nuns. - - The ladies will dine at the Feathers, - the Globe no captain will scorn: - The huntsmen will go to the Greyhound below, - and some townsmen to the Horn. - - The plummer will dine at the Fountain, - the cooks at the Holy Lamb: - The drunkards at noon to the Man in the Moon - and the cuckolds to the Ram. - - The rovers will dine at the Lyon, - the watermen at the Old Swan: - The bawds will to the Negro go - and the whores to the Naked Man. - - The keepers will to the White Hart, - the mariners unto the Ship: - The beggars they must take their way - to the Eg-shell and the Whip. - - The farier will to the Horse, - the blacksmith unto the Lock, - The butchers to the Bull will go, - and the carmen to Bridewell-Dock. - - The fishmongers unto the Dolphin, - the bakers to the Cheat-loaf: - The Turners unto the Tabel will go - where they may merrily quaff. - - The taylors will dine at the Sheers, - the shoo-makers will to the Boot: - The Welshmen they will take their way - and dine at the sign of the Goat. - - The hosiers will dine at the Leg, - and drapers at the sign of the Brush: - The fletchers to Robin Hood will go, - and the spendthrift to Beggar’s Bush. - - The pewterers to Quart Pot, - the coopers will dine at the Hoop: - The coblers to the Last will go, - and the bargemen to the Scoop. - - The carpenters will dine at the Axe, - the colliers will dine at the Sack: - Your fruiterer he to the Cherry-tree - good fellows no liquor will lack. - - The goldsmiths to the Three Cups, - their money they count as dross: - Your puritan to the Pewter Can, - and your papist to the Cross. - - The weavers will dine at the Shuttle, - the glovers will into the Glove: - The maidens all to the Maidenhead, - and true lovers unto the Dove. - - The sadlers will dine at the Saddle, - the painters to the Green Dragon: - The Dutchman will go to the sign of the Vrow, - where each man may drink his flagon. - - The chandlers will dine at the Scales, - the salters at the sign of the Bag: - The porters take pain at the Labour-in-vain, - and the horse-courser to the White Nag. - - Thus every man to his humour, - from the north unto the south: - But he that hath no money in his purse, - may dine at the sign of the Mouth. - - The swaggerers will dine at the Fencers: - but those that have lost their wits, - With Bedlam Tom let there be their home, - and the Drum the drummer best hits. - - The cheater will dine at the Chequer, - the pick-pocket at the Blind Ale-house: - Till taken and tride, up Holborn they ride, - and make their end at the gallows.” - -In a black-letter poem called “News from Bartholomew Fayre” occurs the -following short list of taverns:— - - “There hath been great sale and utterance of Wine, - Besides Beere, and Ale, and Ipocras fine, - In every country, region, and nation, - But chiefly in Billingsgate at the Salutation; - And at the Bore’s Head near London Stone; - The Swan at Dowgate, a tavern well knowne; - The Miter in Cheape, and then the Bull Head; - And many like places that make noses red; - The Bore’s Head in Old Fish Street; Three Cranes in the Vintry; - And now, of late, St. Martin’s in the Sentree; - The Windmill in Lothbury; the Ship at th’ Exchange; - King’s Head in New Fish Street, where roysterers do range; - The Mermaid in Cornhill; Red Lion in the Strand; - Three Tuns in Newgate Market; Old Fish Street at the Swan.” - -Heywood (1608) writes:— - - “The Gentry to the King’s Head, - The Nobles to the Crown, - The Knights unto the Golden Fleece, - And to the Plough the Clown. - The churchman to the Mitre - The shepherd to the Star, - The gardner hies him to the Rose, - To the Drum the man of war; - To the Feathers, ladies you; the Globe - The seaman doth not scorn; - The usurer to the Devil, and - The townsman to the Horn. - The huntsman to the White Hart, - To the ship the merchants go, - But you who do the Muses love, - The sign called River Po. - The banquerout to the World’s End, - The Fool to the Fortune Pie, - Unto the Mouth the oyster-wife, - The fiddler to the Pie. - The punk unto the Cockatrice, - The Drunkard to the Vine, - The Beggar to the Bush, then meet, - And with Duke Humphrey dine.” - -It was the custom at Taverns to send presents of wine from one room to -another with compliments. - -The taverns were to the sixteenth century what the coffee-houses were -to the eighteenth. Every man frequented his tavern: clubs were held -in the taverns; men of the same trade met in the taverns for evening -discourse; bargains and business affairs were conducted in taverns; -there were good and bad taverns; those like the Boar’s Head, East -Cheap, bore a bad character; that is to say, they were laden down by -the character of Doll Tearsheet; others, again, where Doll and her -friends were not admitted, were frequented by the most respectable -merchants and divines. Music was going on in most of them all day long; -and all day long the waiters, clad in blue and wearing white aprons, -ran about with flasks of wine and cups, and tobacco and pipes, calling -“Anon, Anon!” and stopping to chalk a score upon the wall. - -It is strange that Stow mentions neither the Boar’s Head, East Cheap, -which must have been a well-known tavern, or Shakespeare would not have -chosen it for the haunt of the Prince and Falstaff; nor the Mermaid, -the haunt of Ben Jonson and the poets. Presumably the worthy antiquary -would not have felt at home in the company of the wits. - -The Boar’s Head stood in that part of East Cheap now swept away. The -statue of King William IV. marks the site. It was not an ancient -tavern. There were no taverns formerly in East Cheap according to Stow; -the first mention of it is in the year 1537. The courtyard was large -enough for the performance of plays; at the back it looked out upon -St. Michael’s churchyard. The churchyard and church of St. Michael -were swept away to make the approach to new London Bridge. Between -St. Michael’s Lane, now Miles’s Lane, and a small alley, stood four -taverns in a row: the Chicken, the Boar’s Head, the Plough, and the -Three Kings. These taverns were thus in the midst of markets: the Grass -Market in front; the Fish Market on the east; the Meat Market on the -west. The tavern was rebuilt after the fire, in 1668: the new sign -then made for it may be seen in the Guildhall Museum; on each side of -the doorway was carved in wood a vine branch, rising three feet from -the ground, loaded with leaves and clusters, and on the top of each a -figure of Falstaff eight inches high. Before its demolition the house -had ceased to be a tavern. Here was held a club of which Boswell was a -member, in which every one assumed a Shakespearian character. It was -the custom to hold convivial meetings in this house. There Falstaff -and Dame Quickly and Doll Tearsheet and the whole merry company became -real. Goldsmith wrote his essay, “A Reverie,” in this tavern, and here -Washington Irving gave full play to his fancy, and restored the things -that never were to the place that never knew Prince Hal. - -[Illustration: SIGN OF THE BOAR’S HEAD IN EAST CHEAP] - -The Mermaid Tavern stood between Friday Street and Bread Street, with -an entrance from Cheapside as well. The tavern has been immortalised by -a poet of the seventeenth and one of the nineteenth century. - -Francis Beaumont, the former, writes to Ben Jonson:— - - “What things have we seen - Done at the Mermaid, heard words that have been - So nimble, and so full of subtle flame, - As if that every one from whence they came - Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest, - And had resolved to live a fool the rest - Of his dull life; then when there hath been thrown - Wit able enough to justify the town - For three days past; wit that might warrant be - For the whole city to talk foolishly - Till that were cancelled; and when that was gone, - We left an air behind us, which alone - Was able to make the two next companies - (Right witty, though but downright fools) more wise.” - -And Keats, the latter, writes:— - - “Souls of poets dead and gone, - What Elysium have ye known, - Happy field or mossy cavern - Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern? - Have ye tippled drink more fine - Than mine host’s Canary wine?” - -Or, as Fuller says of Shakespeare:— - -“Many were the wit-combates betwixt him and Ben Johnson, which two I -behold like a Spanish great gallion, and an English man of War; Master -Johnson (like the former) was built far higher in Learning; Solid, but -Slow in his performances. Shake-spear, with the English man-of-War, -lesser in bulk, but lighter in sailing, could turn with all tides, tack -about and take advantage of all winds, by the quickness of his Wit and -Invention.” - -Lists of old taverns are, as a rule, without interest; there are, -however, a few of the London taverns of historic importance. Two have -been mentioned. Thus, the Nag’s Head, at the corner of Friday Street, -was the pretended scene of the consecration of Parker, Archbishop of -Canterbury in 1559. - -At the north-west of St. Paul’s Churchyard was an ancient tavern known -as the Mitre. Here were given the concerts of the Society of Musicians; -and their arms, representing the lyre of Apollo, with the crest of the -Swan, being put up in the front of the house, caused the original sign -to be jocularly transformed into that of the Goose and Gridiron. The -Swan with Three Necks, meant originally the Swan with three “nicks” or -marks to denote ownership. The Belle Savage was originally the Bell, -but its landlord being a man named Savage, the house was emblazoned -with a bell and a savage man beside it. The Elephant and Castle -became the Pig and Tinder Box; the “Caton Fidele”—the Governor of -Calais—became the Cat and Fiddle. - -Fleet Street had many well-known taverns: like those in the City they -were mostly approached by narrow alleys leading out of the street, as -the Rainbow, Dick’s, and the Mitre. Dick’s stands on the site of the -printing office of Richard Tottle, law stationer in the reign of Henry -VIII. The Cock, later moved across the road, was one of the most famous -of the Fleet Street taverns. - -The “Devil” Tavern, however, was more famous even than the Mermaid. -Ben Jonson drew the company from the latter tavern to the Devil; he -lived at Temple Bar in order to be near the tavern. Here he founded the -Apollo Club and wrote his famous rules in Latin, which were translated -into English by one of his “sons,” Brome. Near the door was placed a -gilt bust of Apollo with a “Welcome” in flowing lines:— - - “Welcome all who lead or follow - To the oracle of Apollo: - Here he speaks out of his pottle, - Or the tripos, his tower bottle; - All his answers are divine, - Truth itself doth flow in wine. - Hang up all the poor hop-drinkers, - Cries old Sim, the king of skinkers; - He the life of life abuses - That sits watering with the Muses. - Those dull girls no good can mean us; - Wine—it is the milk of Venus, - And the poet’s horse accounted: - Ply it, and you all are mounted. - ’Tis the true Phœbian liquor, - Cheers the brains, makes wit the quicker; - Pays all debts, cures all diseases, - And at once three senses pleases. - Welcome all who lead or follow - To the oracle of Apollo!” - -The merchants conducted their business in the Royal Exchange, but the -tavern was the place where the lesser traders, and the shopkeepers, and -the people who came up from the country met, to arrange bargains and -business of all kinds over a flask of Canary. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - THEATRES - - -The latter half of the sixteenth century presents a remarkable -development of the Drama and of the Theatres in London. This -development was like the rising tide: it advanced with a force that was -irresistible. The Mayor and Aldermen did their best to drive out plays -and players from their boundaries; they went, but they established -themselves beyond the limits of the City jurisdiction. Preachers -denounced the theatre; moralists wrote pamphlets against it; yet it -flourished more and more. John Stockwood, preaching at Paul’s Cross, -says:— - -“Have we not houses of purpose, built with great charges for the -maintenance of them, and that without the liberties, as who shall -say, ‘There, let them say what they will, we will play.’ I know not -how I might, with the godly-learned especially, more discommend the -gorgeous playing place erected in the Fields, than term it, as they -please to have it called, a Theatre.” In the same sermon he asks: -“Wyll not a fylthye playe wyth the blast of a trumpette sooner call -thyther a thousande than an houres tolling of a bell bring to the -sermon a hundred? Nay, even heere in the Citie, without it be at this -place and some other certaine ordinarie audience, where shall you -find a reasonable company? Whereas if you resorte to the Theatre, the -Curtayne, and other places of players in the Citie, you shall on the -Lord’s Day have these places, with many other that I cannot reckon, so -full as possible they can throng.” - -[Illustration: THE BEAR GARDEN AND THE GLOBE THEATRE - -From Visscher’s _Panorama of London_.] - -The Londoners might change their religion, but they were not going to -change their sports. They were Protestant instead of Catholic; but they -kept up their bear-baiting, their bull-baiting, their archery, their -wrestlings, their fencing, their quarter-staff play, their running -at the quintain, their feats of tumbling, their Morris dances and -mummings, their plays and interludes. But the Reformation killed the -Miracle Play. The play of modern manners, or the tragedy, or the farce, -took the place of the religious play. And instead of acting on a stage -in a churchyard, the players now began to act in the broad and ample -courtyard of the inn, whose galleries afforded room for people to look -on. The authorities looked on the play from the beginning with eyes of -disfavour: the actor was considered a masterless man; he had no trade; -he was a strolling vagabond; he lived upon the largesse of those who -looked on at his performance; he was a buffoon who would assume any -character at will to make the people laugh and cry; he must be able to -dance and posture like the tumblers on the road. Again, all the idle -people in the City assembled to see the play; all the vicious people -crowded to take advantage of the throng; in the theatre every day arose -disorders and brawls; young men of sober parentage were seduced into -becoming players. Witness the words of Prynne:— - - “Our own experience can sufficiently inform us, that plays and - playhouses are the frequent causes of many murders, duels, - quarrels, debates; occasioned sometimes by reason of some - difference about a box, a seat, a place, upon the stage; sometimes - by intruding too boldly into some female’s company; sometimes by - reason of some amorous, scurrilous, or disgraceful words, that are - uttered of or to some female spectators; sometimes by reason of - some speeches or passages of the play, particularly applied to some - persons present or absent; sometimes by reason of some husband, or - co-rival’s jealousy, or affront, whose wife, or mistress, being - there in person, is perhaps solicited, abused, or jeared at in his - presence; sometimes by reason of the apprentices who resort to - playhouses, especially on Shrove Tuesday; sometimes by means of - other accidents and occasions. Many have been the murders, more - the quarrels, the duels, that have grown from our stage-plays, - whose large encomiums of rash valour, duels, fortitude, - generosity, impatientcy, homicides, tyranny, and revenge, do so - exasperate men’s raging passions, and make them so impatient of - the very smallest injury, that nothing can satisfy, can expiate, - but the offender’s blood. Hence it is that some players, some - play-haunters, now living, not satisfied with the murder of one, - have embrued their barbarous un-christian hands in the blood of - two, of three, if not of four several men. And so far are they - from ruing the odiousness of these their bloody deeds, that they - glory in the number of their murders as the very trophies of their - valour.” - -The Queen at the beginning of her reign issued a proclamation to -prevent players performing without license, and from handling politics -or religion. In 1572 the Mayor forbade the acting of plays in London -on the ground of the Plague and the danger of infection. Harrison says:— - - “Plaies are banished for a time out of London, lest the resort unto - them should ingender a plague, or rather disperse it, being already - begonne. Would to God these comon plaies were exiled altogether, - as seminaries of impiety, and their theatres pulled downe, as no - better then houses of bawdrie. It is an evident token of a wicked - time when plaiers waxe so riche that they can build suche houses. - As moche I wish also to our comon beare-baitings used oin the - sabaothe daies.” (Holinshed’s _Chronicles_.) - -In 1574 the first steps were taken towards the regulation of players -and plays. The preamble to the ordinances is set forth by Maitland, -with the ordinances themselves, as follows:— - -“The citizens in Common-Council observing, that the antient and -innocent Recreation of Stage-Plays or Interludes, which in former Days -ingenious Tradesmen and Gentlemen’s Servants sometimes practised, to -expose Vice, or to represent the noble Actions of their Ancestors, at -certain Festival Times, or in private Houses at Weddings, and at other -Splendid Entertainments, for their own Profit, was now in process of -Time become an Occupation; and that many there were that followed it -for a livelihood; and, which was worse, that it was become the Occasion -of much Sin and Evil; great Multitudes of People, especially Youth, in -Queen _Elizabeth’s_ Reign, resorting to these Plays; and being commonly -acted on _Sundays_ and _Festivals_, the Churches were forsaken, and the -Playhouses thronged, and great Disorders and Inconvenience were found -to ensue to the City thereby, forasmuch as it occasioned Frays and evil -Practices of Incontinency; Great Inns were used for this Purpose, which -had secret Chambers and Places, as well as open Stages and Galleries; -where Maids, especially Orphans, and good Citizen’s Children, under -Age, were inveigled and allured to privy and unmeet Contracts; and -where unchaste, uncomely and unshamefaced Speeches and Doings were -published; where there was an unthrifty Waste of the Money of the Poor; -sundry robberies, by picking and cutting Purses, uttering of popular -and seditious Matter, many corruptions of Youth, and other Enormities; -besides sundry Slaughters and Maimings of the Queen’s Subjects, by -falling of Scaffolds, Frames, and Stages, and by Engines, Weapons, and -Powder, used in the Plays; and believing that, in the time of God’s -Visitation by the Plague, such Assemblies of the People in Throngs -and Presses were very dangerous for spreading the Infection; they -regulated these Plays, lest the People, upon God’s gracious withdrawing -of the Sickness, should, with sudden forgetting of the Visitation, -without Fear of God’s Wrath, and without some Respect of those good and -politick Means (as the Words of the Act ran) that were ordained for the -Preservation of the Commonwealth and People in Health and good Order, -return to the undue Use of such Enormities. Therefore, for the lawful, -honest, comely Use of Plays, Pastimes, and Recreations in good Sort -permitted by the Authority of the Common Council, it was enacted:— - -‘I. That no Play should be openly played within the Liberty of the -City, wherein should be uttered any Words, Examples, or Doings of any -Unchastity, Sedition, or such-like unfit and uncomely Matter, upon -Pain of Imprisonment for the space of fourteen Days, and 5£ for every -such offence. II. That no Innkeeper, Tavernkeeper, or other Person -whatsoever, within the Liberties of the City, shall shew or play, or -cause to be shewed or played, within his House or Yard, any Play, which -shall not first be perused and allowed by the Lord Mayor and Court of -Aldermen’s Order. III. No Person shall suffer any Plays to be played -in his House or Yard, whereof he then shall have Rule, but only such -Persons, and in such Places, as, upon good Consideration, shall be -thereunto permitted and allowed by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen. IV. Nor -shall take and use any such Benefit or Advantage of such Permission, -until such person be bound to the Chamberlain of _London_, in certain -Sums, for the Keeping of good Order, and avoiding of Discords and -inconveniences. V. Neither shall use or exercise such Licence or -Permission at any Time, in which the same shall be by the Lord Mayor -and Aldermen restrained, or commanded to stay and cease, in any usual -Time of Divine Service on the _Sunday_ or Holiday, or receive any to -that Purpose in Time of Service, to the same, upon Pain to forfeit for -every Offence 5£. VI. And every Person to be licensed shall, during -the Time of such continuance of License, pay to the Use of the Poor in -Hospitals of the City, or of the Poor visited with Sickness, such Sums -and Payments, as between the Mayor and Aldermen, and the Person to be -licensed, shall be agreed upon; upon Pain that, on the Want of every -such Payment, such License shall be utterly void. VII. All sums and -Forfeitures to be incurred for any offence against this Act, and all -Forfeitures of Bonds, shall be employed to the Relief of the Poor of -the Hospitals, or of the Poor infected or diseased in the City: And the -Chamberlain, in his own Name, shall have and recover the same, to the -Purposes aforesaid, in the Court of the outer Chamber of _Guildhall_, -_London_, called _The Mayors Court_. - -‘Provided, That this Act shall not extend to Plays shewed in private -Houses, Lodgings of a Nobleman, Citizen, or Gentleman, which shall have -the same then played in his Presence for the Festivity of any Marriage, -Assembly of Friends, or other like Cause, without publick or common -collection of Money of the Auditors or Beholders.’” (Maitland, vol. i. -pp. 262–263.) - -Since the players could act no more in the City, there was nothing for -them but to go outside. In 1574, James Burbage and some of the Earl -of Leicester’s Company obtained the Queen’s license to act plays in -any part of England. After receiving this license Burbage proceeded -to build the first theatre, the house called simply “The Theatre.” -This theatre was built outside the jurisdiction of the City, close to -the remains of the Holywell Priory. After the Dissolution the church -of this House was pulled down with most of the buildings. Houses were -built upon its site, and the ruins themselves gradually disappeared. -At the south-west of these ruins, on a site now marked by Dean’s Mews, -Holywell Lane, Burbage built his theatre at a cost of £600, the money -being advanced by his father-in-law. The theatre was in shape either -circular or oval, probably the former. It was built for all kind of -shows and entertainments. If a large space was wanted the whole of -the area could be taken by the performers; raised galleries ran round -the house; for the performance of a play, a stage was erected in the -middle; from the nature of the case there could be no question of -any scenery. The house was built of wood and is said to have been -handsomely decorated; the central area was without a roof. There were -troubles and quarrels about the lease of the house, which was taken -down in the year 1598–99. The wood and timber of which the house was -built were removed to Bankside, where they were used for the erection -of the Globe Theatre. - -The second theatre of London was that called The Curtain. It is a fact -which illustrates the popularity of Finsbury Fields as a place of -resort that there should have been a second theatre erected so close to -the first. The Curtain Theatre was built on the south side of Holywell -Lane, Shoreditch. In the house, too, feats of arms, sword-play, -quarter-staff, and other games took place. - -The third theatre (if we count The Globe as a continuation of The -Theatre) was The Fortune, built near Golden Lane, Cripplegate. - -The strongest charge against the theatres was the license allowed -to the clowns or jesters, who between the pieces, or between the -Acts, played “jigs” or “drolls” accompanied by songs and dances, and -impromptu jokes which were topical, and, as may be imagined, broad -and coarse. We may easily imagine that the civic authorities, the -preachers, and the pamphleteers, who were always assailing the player -and driving him from place to place, were not spared when the Clown had -the stage all to himself, with hundreds of grinning faces in front of -him, all of whom were egging him on with laughter and applause to say -or do something more outrageous still, and loved nothing so much as to -see before them acted to the life some sour Puritan who could see only -“filthie and beastlie” stuff in the noblest play by Shakespeare, or in -any sport. - -Another favourite place of resort for the citizens, especially for -the more riotous sort, was Southwark, with its raised river-wall -or Bankside; its numerous inns and taverns; its low-lying fields -and its various amusements. There were amphitheatres for bear- and -bull-baiting; in the High Street itself there was a ring for the bull; -in Paris Gardens, on the east side of Blackfriars Bridge, were kept -bears and dogs for the favourite, almost the national, amusement; -there was a kind of sanctuary in Southwark: here were allowed to -reside the “Flemish Frows” still, in spite of Henry the Seventh’s -suppression; here were held May Day games; here was held every year -the pageant of St. George’s Day; and here, in the time of Henry VIII., -were collected together idlers, vagabonds, and rogues in great numbers. -In this place, the resort of all the young bloods and the wild element -of London, the players settled down in force. The Rose, The Hope, -The Globe, The Swan, all built about the same time, show the steady -popularity of the Drama, in spite of the Puritanic attacks upon it, -which seem to have done it no manner of harm. - -[Illustration: BANKSIDE, SOUTHWARK, IN 1648, WITH A VIEW OF HOLLAND’S -LEAGUER, ONE OF THE ANCIENT STEWS OR LICENSED BROTHELS SUPPRESSED -DURING THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII.] - -At one end of Bankside stood the ruins of the Monastic House and -the Clink Prison; then followed a single row of houses, at the back -of which were the Bull-Baiting Ground and the Bear Garden; then the -theatres already mentioned; also the Falcon Tavern, and Paris Gardens. -All these places were built on a low-lying and marshy ground planted -thickly with trees, intersected with ponds, ditches, and running -streams—for instance, the Pudding Mill stream ran round two-thirds of -Paris Gardens. For an account of the interior of a theatre and the -presentation of a play I quote an imaginary account, in my own words:— - -“The interior of the theatre was circular in shape. It contained three -galleries, one above the other: the lowest called the ‘rooms,’ for -seats in which we paid a shilling each, contained the better sorts. At -each side of the stage there were boxes, one of which contained the -music. The stage itself, a stout construction of timber, projected -far into the pit, or, as Stow called it, the ‘yarde.’ At the back was -another stage, supported on two columns, and giving the players a -gallery about ten or twelve feet high, the purpose of which we were -very soon to find out. On each side of the stage were seats for those -who paid an additional sixpence. Here were a dozen or twenty gallants, -either with pipes of tobacco, or playing cards or dice before the play -began. One of them would get up quickly with a pretence of impatience, -and push back his cloak so as to show the richness of his doublet -below. The young men, whether at the theatre, or in Paul’s Walk, or in -Chepe, seemed all intent upon showing the bravery of their attire: no -girls of our day could be more vain of their dress or more critical of -the dress worn by others. Some of them, however, I perceived among the -groundlings—that is, the people on the ‘yarde’—gazing about the house -upon the women in the galleries. Here there were many dressed very -finely, like ladies of quality, in satin gowns, lawn aprons, taffeta -petticoats, and gold threads in their hair. They seemed to rejoice in -being thus observed and gazed upon. When a young man had found a girl -to his taste, he went into the gallery, sat beside her, and treated her -to pippins, nuts, or wine. - -It was already one o’clock when we arrived. As we took our seats the -music played its first sounding or flourish. There was a great hubbub -in the place: hucksters went about with baskets, crying pippins, nuts, -and ale; in the ‘rooms’ booksellers’ boys hawked about new books; -everybody was talking together; everywhere the people were smoking -tobacco, playing cards, throwing dice, cheapening books, cracking nuts, -and calling for ale. The music played a second sounding. The hubbub -continued unabated. Then it played the third and last. Suddenly the -tumult ceased. The piece was about to begin. - -The stage was decorated with blue hangings of silk between the columns, -showing that the piece was to be—in part at least—a comedy. Across the -railed gallery at the back was stretched a painted canvas representing -a royal palace. When the scene was changed this canvas became the wall -of a city, and the actors would walk on the top of the wall; or a -street with houses; or a tavern with its red lattice and its red sign; -or a tented field. When night was intended, the blue hangings were -drawn up and exchanged for black. - -The hawkers retired and were quiet; the house settled down to listen, -and the Prologue began. Prologue appeared dressed in a long black -velvet cloak: he assumed a diffident and most respectful manner; he -bowed to the ground. - - ‘In Troy there lies the scene. From Isles of Greece - The princes orgulous, their high blood chaf’d, - Have to the port of Athens sent their ships.’ - -In this way the mind of the audience was prepared for what was to -follow. We needed no play-bill. The palace before us could be no other -than Priam’s Palace. If there was a field with tents, it must be the -battle-field and the camp of the Greeks; if there was a wall, it must -be the wall of Troy. And though the scenery was rough, it was enough. -One wants no more than the unmistakable suggestion; the poet and the -actor find the rest. Therefore, though the intrusive gallants lay on -the stage; though Troilus was dressed in the armour of Tudor time, and -Pandarus wore just such a doublet as old Stow himself, we were actually -at Troy. The boy who played Cressida was a lovely maiden. The narrow -stage was large enough for the Council of Kings, the wooing of lovers, -and the battle-field of heroes. Women unfaithful and perjured, lovers -trustful, warriors fierce, the alarms of war, fighting and slaying, -the sweet whispers of love were drowned by the blare of trumpets; the -loss of lover forgotten in the loss of a great captain; and among -the warriors and the kings and the lovers, the creeping creatures -who live upon the weaknesses and the sins of their betters, played -their parts upon these narrow boards before a silent and enraptured -house. For three hours we were kept out of our senses. There was no -need, I say, of better scenery: a quick shifting of the canvas showed -a battle-field, and turned the stage into a vast plain covered with -armies of Greeks and Romans. Soldiers innumerable, as thick as motes in -the sun, crossed the stage fighting, shouting, challenging each other. -While they fought, the trumpets blew and the drums beat, the wounded -fell, and the fight continued over these prostrate bodies till they -were carried off by their friends. The chiefs rushed to the front, -crossed swords, and rushed off again. ‘Come both you cogging Greeks!’ -said Troilus, while our cheeks flushed and our lips parted. If the -stage had been four times as broad, if the number of men in action -had been multiplied by ten, we could not have felt more vividly the -rage, the joy, the madness of the battle. When the play was finished, -the ale, the apples, and the nuts were passed round, and the noise -began again. Then the clown came in and began to sing, and the music -played—but oh, how poor it seemed after the great emotions of the play! -The old man plucked me by the sleeve and we went out, and with us most -of the better sort.” (_London_, pp. 237–239.) - -In addition to the foregoing, or as confirming and supplementing that -account, I quote the following from Drake’s _Shakespeare and his -Times_:— - -“The passion for the stage continued rapidly to increase, and before -the year 1590, not less than four or five theatres were in existence. -The patronage of dramatic representation made an equal progress at -Court; for though Elizabeth never, it is believed, attended a public -theatre, yet had she four companies of children who frequently -performed for her amusement, denominated the Children of St. Paul’s, -the Children of Westminster, the Children of the Chapel, and the -Children of Windsor. The public actors, too, who were sometimes, -in imitation of these appellations, called the Children of the -Revels, were, towards the close of Her Majesty’s reign especially, -in consequence of a greatly acquired superiority over their younger -brethren, often called upon to act before her at the royal theatre in -Whitehall. Exhibitions of this kind at Court were usual at Christmas, -on Twelfth Night, at Candlemas, and at Shrove-tide, throughout the -reigns of Elizabeth and James, and the plays of Shakspeare were -occasionally the entertainment of the night; thus we find _Love’s -Labour Lost_ to have been performed before our maiden Queen during -the Christmas-holydays, and _King Lear_ to have been exhibited -before King James on St. Stephen’s night. On these occasions, the -representation was generally at night, that it might not interfere -with the performances at the regular theatre, which took place early -in the afternoon; and we learn from the Council-books that the royal -remuneration, in the age of Elizabeth, for the exhibition of a single -play at Whitehall, amounted to ten pounds, of which twenty nobles, or -six pounds, thirteen shillings, and fourpence, formed the customary -fee; and three pounds, six shillings, and eightpence the free gift -or bounty. If, however, the performers were required to leave the -capital for any of the royal palaces in its neighbourhood, the fee, in -consequence of the public exhibition of the day being prevented, was -augmented to twenty pounds. - -The protection of the Drama by Elizabeth and her Ministers, though it -did not exempt the public players, except in one instance, from the -penalties of statutes against vagabonds, yet it induced during the -whole of her long reign numerous instances of private patronage from -the most opulent of her nobility and gentry, who, possessing the power -of licensing their own domestics as comedians, and, consequently, of -protecting them from the operation of the Act of Vagrancy, sheltered -various companies of performers, under the denomination of their -servants, or retainers—a privilege which was taken away, by Act of -Parliament, on the accession of James, and, as Mr. Chalmers observes, -‘put an end for ever to the scenic system of prior times.’” - -There were no fewer than fourteen companies of players, under private -patronage, who contributed to exhilarate the people of London and the -country. Of these, Drake furnishes a chronological enumeration. “Soon -after the accession of Elizabeth appeared Lord Leicester’s company, -the same which, in 1574, was finally incorporated by royal licence; -in 1572 was formed Sir Robert Lane’s company; in the same year Lord -Clinton’s; in 1575 companies were created by Lord Warwick, and the Lord -Chamberlain, the name of Shakspeare being enrolled among the servants -of the latter, who, in the first year of the subsequent reign, became -entitled to the appellation of His Majesty’s servants; in 1576, the -Earl of Sussex brought forward a theatrical body, and in 1577, Lord -Howard another, neither of which, however, attained much eminence; in -1578 the Earl of Essex mustered a company of players, and in 1579, Lord -Strange, and the Earl of Derby, followed his example; in 1591 the Lord -Admiral produced his set of comedians; in 1592 the Earl of Hertford -effected a similar arrangement; in 1593 Lord Pembroke protected an -association of actors, and at the close of Her Majesty’s reign the Earl -of Worcester had in pay also a company of theatrical performers.” - -As regards the management of his property in the play the author had -the choice of two methods. He might sell the copyright to the theatre. -In this case, to which authors frequently had recourse in the age -of Shakespeare, the dramatist sold outright the whole rights of the -piece, so that the proprietors of the theatre secured its performance -exclusively to their own company. If it was a popular piece, of course, -they were not anxious to publish it. If, however, the author kept the -piece in his own hands, he not only had the right of publication, but -he had, likewise, a claim upon the theatre for a benefit. This, towards -the termination of the sixteenth century, took place on the second day, -and was soon afterwards, as early indeed as 1612, postponed to the -third day. - -The price of a drama, when disposed of to the public players, was -twenty nobles, or six pounds, thirteen shillings, and fourpence; but -private companies would sometimes give more than that sum. - -The price of a play when published was sixpence, and the poet received -about forty shillings of an honorarium for a dedication. It has been -stated, however, that Shakespeare received but five pounds for his -_Hamlet_. - -[Illustration: - - 100. St. Mary Spittal. - 102. Houndsditch. - 103. Crutched Friars. - 104. Priory of Holy Trinity. - 105. Aldgate. - 106. St. Botolph, Aldgate. - 107. The Minories. - 108. The Postern Gate. - 109. Great Tower Hill. - 110. Place of Execution. - 111. Allhallow’s Church, Barking. - 112. The Custom House. - 113. Tower of London. - 114. The White Tower. - 115. Traitors’ Gate. - 116. Little Tower Hill. - 117. East Smithfield. - 118. Stepney. - 119. St. Catherine’s Church. - 120. St. Catherine’s Dock. - 121. St. Catherine’s Hospital. - 122. Isle of Dogs. - 123. Monastery of Bermondsey. - 124. Says Court, Deptford. - 125. Palace of Placentia. - 126. Greenwich. - -From the Panorama of “London, Westminster, and Southwark, in 1543.” By -Anthony Van den Wyngaerde. (Sutherland Collection, Bodleian Library, -Oxford.) _For continuation see pp. 234, 235._] - -Hentzner, the German traveller, thus speaks of the theatres:— - -“Without the City are some theatres, where English actors represent -almost every day Comedies and Tragedies to very numerous audiences; -these are concluded with variety of dances, accompanied by excellent -music and the excessive applause of those that are present. Not far -from one of these Theatres, which are all built of wood, lies the -Royal Barge, close to the river Thames; it has two splendid cabins, -beautifully ornamented with glass windows, painting and carving; it is -kept upon dry ground and sheltered from the weather.” - -The entertainment offered to the French Ambassador at the Court of -Henry VIII. at Greenwich shows that acting and dressing formed part of -a courtly entertainment. They began with tournaments and contests on -foot and horse; they went on to an interlude in Latin, the altars being -all richly dressed. - -“This being ended,” says the author of the _Life of Wolsey_, “there -came a great company of ladies and gentlemen, the chiefest beauties -in the realm of England, being as richly attired as cost could make, -or art devise, to set forth their gestures, proportions, or beauties, -that they seemed to the beholder rather like celestial angels than -terrestrial creatures, and in my judgment worthy of admiration, with -whom the gentlemen of France danced and masked; every man choosing his -lady as his fancy served; that done, and the maskers departed, came in -another masque of ladies and gentlewomen, so richly attired as I cannot -express; these ladies maskers tooke each of them one of the Frenchmen -to dance; and here note, that these noblewomen spoke all of them good -French, which delighted them much to hear the ladies speak to them in -their own language. Thus triumphantly did they spend the whole night -from five of the clock at the night into two or three of the clock in -the morning; at which time the gallants drew all to their lodgings to -take their rest.” - -There was a kind of show called a Prolusion. This appears to have been -a representation of some well-known event or legend. Thus in 1587 there -was a Prolusion set forth by Hugh Offley, merchant-adventurer and -leather-seller, one of the Sheriffs of the year 1588. It represented -King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. He chose 300 good -archers, personable men; and he dressed them in black satin doublets -and black velvet hose; every man carried a bow of yew and a dozen waxed -arrows. They marched in goodly array from Merchant Taylors to Mile End -Green. Queen Elizabeth in her chariot passed them, and stopped in order -to see the show. “In her whole life,” she said, “she had never seen a -finer company of archers.” They all fell on their knees and prayed God -to prosper and preserve Her Majesty. She thanked them and passed on her -way, while the archers proceeded to attack the sham forts which had -been set up, after which those who shot best took prizes, and Master -Hugh Offley provided a banquet for all. - -It is interesting to remember that the Theatre had to contend for the -place of honour with the stately and courtly Masque. All that artist -could do for decoration, or stage manager could devise for machinery, -or that poet could imagine or invent for fable, was pressed into the -service of the Masque. The dresses the players wore were most gorgeous; -the speeches were fine; the dances and the songs were most beautiful. -Real mountains contained real caves; Dryads ran out of the woods; -Naiads lay beside running streams; all the Gods and Goddesses of Ovid -took part in the action; there were thrones of gold and silver; there -were star-spangled skies; sea gods and river gods appeared; Tritons -blew their shells; mermaids swam about the sea-shell of mother-of-pearl -in which sat Venus herself. And all this time the Theatre itself had no -scenery and no stage management and no machinery. The Masque, however, -did not assume its full development till the next century. It will -be found more fully treated in the chapter on the Theatre and Art in -_London in the Time of the Stuarts_. Even more popular than the theatre -were the sports of bear-baiting, bull-baiting, wrestling, quarter-staff -and single-stick. The favourite place for these sports was the Paris -Garden beyond Bankside. - - “Yet everye Sondaye - They will surelye spende - One penye or two - The bearwardes lyvyng to mende. - At Paryse Garden eche Sondaye - A man shall not fayle - To fynde two or three hundreds - For the bearwardes vaile. - One halpenye a piece - They use for to give - When some have no more - In their purse, I believe.” - -You shall read contemporary accounts of bear-baiting and bull-baiting. - -“Some,” says John Houghton in 1694, “keep the bull on purpose for the -sport of baiting, cutting off the tips of his horns, and with pitch, -tow, and such like matter, fasten upon them the great horns of oxen, -with their tips cut off, and covered with leather, least they should -hurt the dogs. Because these papers go into several other countries, -I’ll say something of the manner of baiting the bull, which is, by -having a collar about his neck, fastened to a thick rope about three, -four, or five yards long, hung to a hook, so fastened to a stake that -it will turn round; with this the bull circulates to watch his enemy, -which is a mastiff dog (commonly used to the sport) with a short nose, -that his teeth may take the better hold; this dog, if right, will creep -upon his belly, that he may, if possible, get the bull by the nose, -which the bull as carefully strives to defend, by laying it close to -the ground, where his horns are also ready to do what in them lies to -toss the dog; and this is the true sport.” - -But if more dogs than one come at once, if they are cowardly and come -under his legs, he will, if he can, stamp their guts out. I believe I -have seen a dog tossed by a bull thirty, if not forty foot high; and -when they are tossed either higher or lower, the men above strive to -catch them on their shoulders, lest the fall might mischief the dogs. - -They commonly lay sand about, that if they fall upon the ground it may -be the easier. Notwithstanding this care, a great many dogs are killed, -more have their limbs broke, and some hold so fast, that by the bull’s -swinging them their teeth are often broke out. - -To perfect the history of bull-baiting, I must tell you, that the famed -dogs have crosses or roses of various coloured ribbon stuck with pitch -on their foreheads, and such like the ladies are very ready to bestow -on dogs or bull that do valiantly; and when ’tis stuck on the bull’s -forehead, that dog is hollowed that fetches it off, though the true -courage and art is to hold the bull by the nose ’till he roars, which a -courageous bull scorns to do. - -Often the men are tossed as well as the dogs; and men, bull, and dogs, -seem exceedingly pleased, and as earnest at the sport as if it were for -the lives or livelihoods. Many great wagers are laid on both sides, -and great journeys will men and dogs go for such a diversion. I knew -a gentleman that bought a bull in Hertfordshire on purpose to go a -progress with him, at a great charge, into most of the great towns in -the West of England. - -This is a sport the English much delight in; and not only the baser -sort, but the greatest lords and ladies.” - -And here is Laneham on the sport of bear-baiting:— - -“It waz a sport very pleazaunt of theez beasts; to see the bear with -hiz pink eyez leering after hiz enemiez approch, the nimbleness and -wayt of the dog to take hiz avauntage, and the fors and experiens of -the bear agayn to avoyd the assaults; if he were bitten in one place, -hoow he woold pynch in an oother too get free; that if he wear taken -onez, then what shyft with byting, with clawyng, with roring, tossing -and tumbling he woold woork too wynde hymself from them; and when he -waz lose, to shake his earz twyse or thryse wyth the blud and slauer -aboout his fiznamy, waz a matter of a goodly releef.” - -We have already heard Hentzner on theatres, he has a word to say also -on baiting:— - -“There is still another place, built in the form of a Theatre, which -serves for the baiting of bulls and bears; they are fastened behind, -and then worried by those great English dogs and mastiffs, but not -without great risk to the dogs from the teeth of the one and the -horns of the other, and it sometimes happens they are killed on the -spot; fresh ones are immediately supplied in the places of those -that are wounded or tired. To this entertainment often follows that -of whipping a blinded bear, which is performed by five or six men, -standing in a circle with whips which they exercise upon him without -any mercy; although he cannot escape from them because of his chain, he -nevertheless defends himself vigorously, throwing down all who come -within his reach and are not active enough to get out of it, tearing -the whips out of their hands and breaking them. At these spectacles, -and everywhere else, the English are constantly seen smoking the -Nicotean weed, which in America is called Tobaca, and generally in this -manner: they have pipes on purpose made of clay, into the farther end -of which they put the herb, so dry that it may be rubbed into powder, -and lighting it, they draw the smoke into their mouths, which they -puff out again through their nostrils, along with plenty of phlegm and -defluxion from the head. In these Theatres, fruits, such as apples, -pears, and nuts, according to the season, are carried about to be sold, -as well as wine and ale.” - -But besides these cruel forms of so-called “sport,” there were more -legitimate pleasures such as archery. - -“During the holy days in summer,” Fitz Stephen says, “the young men -exercise themselves in the sports of leaping, archery, etc.” The -practice of archery was maintained in the City after the longbow had -to give way before gun and cannon. As a pastime of the citizens only, -no account of London would be complete without reference to archery. -There were, as every one knows, two kinds of bow: the longbow and the -crossbow. The former, for various reasons—its superiority in readiness -of handling, lightness in carrying, range of flight and sureness of -aim, caused it to be much more generally adopted in our armies than -its rival. At Cressy, for instance, our men were armed with longbows, -and the French with crossbows; when the rain fell the longbows could -be easily covered up, the crossbow could not, so that the strings -were wetted and the power of the weapon greatly injured. Edward the -First, who had a great opinion of the longbow as the superior weapon, -ordered, on the threat of war with France, every sheriff of a county -to provide 500 white bows and as many bundles of arrows. Edward the -Third issued repeated proclamations ordering the practice of archery. -It would seem as if the word archery in the fourteenth century included -the crossbow as well as the longbow, for Edward the Second, in 1314 -(Riley, _Memorials_, p. 124), commanded the City of London to furnish -300 arbalesters “more powerful for defence,” and to provide them -with “haketons, bacinets, collerettes, arbalests and quarels.” (The -haketon was a jacket of quilted leather; the bacinet was a headpiece; -the collerette, an iron collar for the protection of the throat; the -arbalest is the crossbow; the quarel was the bolt.) - -Richard the Second ordered that every man in his household should -exercise himself as occasion should permit in archery. And in 1392 an -Act was passed obliging all servants to practise archery on holydays. -In 1417 Henry V. ascribed his victory at Agincourt chiefly to his -archers, and orders the Sheriffs of the counties to pluck from every -goose six wing-feathers for the improvement of the arrow. These -feathers were the second, third, and fourth of each wing. Edward IV. -ordered that Englishmen in Ireland and every Irishman living with -Englishmen should be provided with a bow of his own height, which was -to be made of yew, wych, hazel, ash, or alder. Butts were to be erected -in every township, and the inhabitants were to practise on every feast -day. The same king sent a thousand archers to the Duke of Burgundy, -who was to pay them sixpence a day, about five shillings of our money. -Nothing can prove more conclusively the estimation in which archers -were held. The same king provided for his war both guns and bows. A -great deal of yew was imported at this time; it came in the Venetian -ships from Dalmatia and the countries on the eastern shores of the -Adriatic. - -In the nineteenth year of Henry VII. the King finally decided for the -longbow against the crossbow, because “the longbow had been much used -in this realm, whereby honour and victory had been gotten against -outward enemies; the realm greatly defended; and much more the dread of -all Christian Princes by reason of the same.” Henry VII. himself shot -at the butts. - -There were at least five statutes issued by Henry VIII. ordering the -practice of archery, but forbidding the crossbow. - -The London Archers continued to hold their yearly contests in the -month of September, in spite of the fact that henceforth there would -be no use for the longbow in warfare. They formed a very fine corps, -had they been of any use; meantime, the City has always loved a show, -and a very fine show the Archers provided. Their captain was called -the Duke of Shoreditch; the captains of the different Companies were -called the Marquesses of Clerkenwell, Islington, Hoxton, and the Earl -of Pancras,[13] etc.; in the year 1583 they assembled at Merchant -Taylors Hall to the number of 3000 all sumptuously apparelled, “nine -hundred and forty-two having chains of gold about their necks.” They -were escorted by whifflers and bowmen to the number of 4000, besides -pages and footmen; and so marching through Broad Street, where the -Duke of Shoreditch lived, they proceeded by Moorfields and Finsbury to -Smithfield, where, after performing their evolutions, they shot at the -target for glory. - -The Finsbury Archers continued to exist and to hold their meetings -till well into the eighteenth century. Mr. Daines Barrington, writing -for the Society of Antiquaries in 1787, mentions that there were still -living two old men who had obtained prizes in these contests as late -as 1753, when they ceased. The same writer gives a map of the butts or -archers’ marks in Finsbury Fields as they were standing in the year -1787. The distance between the marks varies from 120 feet to 300 feet. -It may be assumed that 200 feet was a fairly average distance for an -arrow. The proper weight for an arrow was considered to be one ounce -only; it was to be winged by three feathers: two white being plucked -from the gander, and one gray taken from the goose; this difference in -colour showed the archer when the arrow was properly placed. - -The Artillery Company or Finsbury Archers, predecessors of the present -Artillery Company, enjoyed certain privileges as to dress, as to -shooting at birds, and immunity from the charge of murder should any -one be killed by these arrows, especially after they had cried “Fast!” -as a warning. - -It appears that bows and arrows were employed long after they left -the field of battle for shooting rabbits and crows, partly because -gunpowder was dear, but chiefly because the arrow makes no noise to -frighten the game away. The London Archers continued, in spite of the -fact that henceforth there would be no use of the longbow in warfare, -to hold their yearly contests in the month of September. - -The Honourable Artillery Company, before it received its letters -patent, had been in the habit of practising archery in the fields of -Islington, Hoxton, and Shoreditch. In these fields targets or butts -were fixed to shoot at. Two of these butts or targets were still in -existence in 1860: one at the end of Dorchester Street, Hoxton, on the -east side of the New North Road near the Canal Bridge, and the other in -the brickwork of the Canal Bridge above the towing-path. Two others had -been destroyed about the year 1845: one in the Britannia Fields, and -the other in the ground now called Wellington Square. That standing at -the end of Dorchester Road was called “Whitehall.” A drawing of it is -given in the _L. and M. Arch. Society_ (vol. ii. p. 15). - -The other sports, feasts, and festivals of the City remained in the -sixteenth century much as they had been before the change of Faith with -certain exceptions, such as the Boy Bishop, the Feast of All Fools in -the Church, and the Miracle Play with its profanity and coarseness. -These vanished. There remained the Feasts of Christmas and Easter; the -celebration of May Day; the Vigils of St. John, St. Peter, and St. -Paul; and the Midsummer Watch. There were also Shrove Tuesday, Hocking -Day, Whitsuntide, and Martinmas, with some others. The ceremonies of -a Christmas banquet are preserved in Gerard Leigh’s _Accidence of -Armory_, and have been reproduced by Nichols. The feast was that of the -year 1561. The place was the Temple. The person called Palaphilos was -the Constable and Marshall, Dudley, Earl of Leicester. - - “The next day I thought for my pastime to walk to this Temple, - and entring in at the gates, I found the building nothing costly; - but many comely Gentlemen of face and person, and thereto very - courteous, saw I pass to and fro, so as it seemed a Prince’s port - to be at hand; and passing forward, entred into a Church of antient - building, wherein were many monuments of noble personages armd in - knightly habit, with their cotes depainted in ancient shields, - whereat I took pleasure to behold. Thus gazing as one bereft - with the rare sight, there came unto me an Hereaught, by name - Palaphilos, a King of Armes, who curteously saluted me, saying, - ‘For that I was a stranger, and seeming by my demeanour a lover of - honour, I was his guest of right’: whose curtesy (as reason was) - I obeyed; answering ‘I was at his commandment.’ ‘Then,’ said he, - ‘ye shall go to mine own lodging here within the Palace, where we - will have such cheer as the time and country will yield us’: where, - I assure you, I was so entertained, as no where I met with better - cheer or company, etc. - - Thus talking we entred the Prince his Hall, where anon we heard the - noise of drum and fyfe. ‘What meaneth this drum?’ said I. Quoth - he, ‘This is to warn Gentlemen of the Houshold to repair to the - dresser; wherefore come on with me, and ye shall stand where ye may - best see the Hall served; and so from thence brought me into a long - gallery, that stretched itself along the Hall neer the Prince’s - table, where I saw the Prince set: a man of tall personage, a - manly countenance, somewhat brown of visage, strongly featured, - and thereto comely proportioned in all lineaments of body. At the - nether end of the same table were placed the Embassadors of sundry - Princes. Before him stood the carver, sewer, and cup-bearer, with - great number of gentlemen wayters attending his person; the ushers - making place to strangers of sundry regions that came to behold - the honour of this mighty Captain. After the placing of these - honourable guests, the Lord Steward, Treasurer, and Keeper of - Pallas Seal, with divers honourable personages of that Nobility, - were placed at a side-table neer adjoining the Prince on the - right hand, and at another table on the left side were placed the - Treasurer of the Household, Secretary, the Prince his Serjeant at - the Law, four Masters of the Revels, the King of Arms, the Dean of - the Chappel, and divers Gentlemen Pensioners to furnish the same. - At another table on the other side were set the Master of the Game, - and his Chief Ranger, Masters of Houshold, Clerks of the Green - Cloth and Check, with divers other strangers to furnish the same. - On the other side against them, began the table, the Lieutenant of - the Tower, accompanied with divers Captains of foot-bands and shot. - At the nether end of the Hall began the table, the High Butler, the - Panter, Clerks of the Kitchin, Master Cook of the Privy Kitchin, - furnished throughout with the souldiers and guard of the Prince; - all which, with number of inferior officers placed and served in - the Hall, besides the great resort of strangers I spare to write. - -[Illustration: ROBERT DUDLEY, EARL OF LEICESTER (1532(?)-1588) - -From the painting by Zuccaro in the National Portrait Gallery, London.] - - The Prince so served with tender meats, sweet fruits, and dainty - delicates confectioned with curious cookery, as it seemed wonder a - world to observe the provision; and at every course the trumpetters - blew the couragious blast of deadly war, with noise of drum and - fyfe, with the sweet harmony of violins, sackbutts, recorders, and - cornetts, with other instruments of music, as it seemed Apollo’s - harp had turned their stroke. Thus the Hall was served after the - most ancient order of the Island; in commendation whereof I say, - I have also seen the service of great Princes, in solemn seasons - and times of triumph, yet the order hereof was not inferior to - any. But to proceed, this Hereaught Palaphilos, even before the - second course came in, standing at the high table said in this - manner: ‘The mighty Palaphilos, Prince of Sophie, High Constable - Marshall of the Knights Templars, Patron of the Honourable Order of - Pegasus’; and therewith cryeth ‘A Largess.’ The Prince, praysing - the Hereaught, bountifully rewarded him with a chain to the value - of an hundred talents. - - I assure you, I languish for want of cunning, ripely to utter that - I saw so orderly handled appertaining to service; wherefore I - cease, and return to my purpose. - - The supper ended, and tables taken up, the High Constable rose, - and a while stood under the place of honour, where his achievement - was beautifully embroidered and devised of sundry matters, with - the Ambassadors of foreign nations, as he thought good, till - Palaphilos, King of Armes, came in, his Hereaught Marshal, and - Pursivant before him; and after followed his messenger and Caligate - Knight; who putting off his coronal, made his humble obeysance to - the Prince, by whom he was commanded to draw neer, and understand - his pleasure; saying to him, in few words, to this effect: - ‘Palaphilos, seeing it hath pleased the high Pallas to think me - to demerit the office of this place; and thereto this night past - vouchsafed to descend from heavens to increase my further honour, - by creating me Knight of her Order of Pegasus; as also commanded - me to join in the same Society such valiant Gentlemen throughout - her province whose living honour hath best deserved the same, - the choice whereof most aptly belongeth to your skill, being the - watchman of their doings and register of their deserts; I will - ye choose as well throughout our whole armyes, as elsewhere, of - such special gentlemen, as the gods hath appointed, the number of - twenty-four, and the names of them present us: commanding also - those chosen persons to appear in our presence in knightly habit, - that with conveniency we may proceed in our purpose. This done - Palaphilos obeying his Prince’s commandement, with twenty-four - knights, all apparelled in long white vestures, with each man a - scarf of Pallas colours, and them presented, with their names, to - the Prince; who allowed well his choice, and commanded him to do - his office. Who, after his duty to the Prince, bowed towards these - worthy personages, standing every man to his antienty, as he had - born armes in the field, and began to shew his Prince’s pleasure; - with the honour of the Order.” - -And here is a note from Stow on Christmas Customs:— - -“Against the feast of Christmas, every man’s house, as also their -parish churches, were decked with holm, ivie, bayes, and whatsoever the -season of the yeere aforded to be greene; the conduits and standards -in the streets were likewise garnished. Amongst the which, I read, -that in the yeere 1444, by tempest of thunder and lightning, on the -first of February at night, Paul’s steeple was fired, but with great -labour quenched, and toward the morning of Candlemas day, at the Leaden -Hall in Cornhill, a standard of tree, beeing set up in the midst of -the pavement fast in the ground, nayled full of holme and ivy, for -disport of Christmas to the people, was torne up and cast downe by the -malignant spirit (as was thought), and the stones of the pavement all -about were cast in the streetes, and into divers houses, so that the -people were wore agast at the great tempests.” - -Let us pass on to the great Festival of May Day. - - “Forth goeth all the court both most and lest, - To Fetch the floures fresh, and braunch and blome— - And namely hauthorn brought both page and grome - And than rejoysen in their great delite; - Eke ech at other throw the floures bright, - The primerose, the violete, and the gold. - With freshe garlants party blew and white.” - -Philip Stubbes says:—“Against Maie, Whitsondaie, or some other tyme -of the yeare, every parishe, towne, and village assemble themselves -together, bothe men, women, and children; and either goyng all -together, or deviding themselves into companies, they goe some to the -woodes and groves, some to the hilles and mountaines, some to one -place, some to another, where they spend all the night in pleasant -pastymes, and in the mornyng they returne bringing with them, birch, -bouwes, and braunches of trees to deck their assemblies withal. But -their chiefest jewel they bring from thence is their Maie poole, which -they bring home with greate veneration, as thus:—They have twentie or -fortie yoke of oxen, every oxe havyng a swete nosegaie of flowers tyed -on the tippe of his hornes, and these oxen drawe home the Maie poole -(this stinckyng idoll rather), which is covered all over with flowers -and hearbes, bounde rounde aboute with stringes from the top to the -bottome, and sometyme painted with variable colours, with two or three -hundred men, women, and children followyng it with greate devotion. -And thus being reared up, with handkerchiefes and flagges streamyng on -the toppe, they strawe the grounde aboute, binde greene boughs about -it, sett up sommer halles, bowers, and arbours hard by it; and then -fall they to banquet and feast, to leape and daunce aboute it, as the -heathen people did at the dedication of their idolles.... I have heard -it credibly reported,” he sarcastically adds, “by men of great gravity, -credite, and reputation, that of fourtie, three score, or a hundred -maides goyng to the wood over night, there have scarcely the third -parte of them returned home againe as they went.” (_The Anatomie of -Abuses_, 1836 edition, p. 171.) - -Herrick says:— - - “Get up ... and see - The dew bespangling herbe and tree; - Each flower has wept, and bow’d toward the east, - Above an hour since; ... it is sin, - Nay profanation, to keep in; - When as a thousand virgins on this day, - Spring sooner than the larks to fetch in May! - Come, my Corinna, come; and comming marke - How each field turns a street, each street a parke - Made green and trimmed with trees; see how - Devotion gives each house a bough, - Or branch; each porch, each doore ere this, - An arke or tabernacle is, - Made up of white-thorn neatly interwove, - As if here were those cooler shades of love. - - Can such delights be in the street, - And open fields, and we not see’t? - Come, we’ll abroad; and let’s obey - The Proclamation made for May, - And sin no more, as we have done, by staying. - - There’s not a budding boy, or girle, this day - But is got up, and gone to bring in May; - A deale of youth, ere this, is come - Back, and with white-thorn laden home. - Some have dispatcht their cakes and creame, - Before that we have left to dreame; - And some have wept, and woo’d, and plighted troth, - And chose their priest, ere we can cast off sloth; - Many a green gown has been given; - Many a kisse, both odde and even; - Many a glance too has been sent - From out the eye, Love’s firmament; - Many a jest told of the keyes betraying - This night, and locks pickt, ye w’are not a Maying!” - -Of the festive appearance of the streets in summer, and the hospitality -of the citizens, and the setting of the Midsummer Watch, Stow speaks at -length (Thoms’s edition, p. 39):— - -“In the months of June and July, on the vigils of festival days, and -on the same festival days in the evenings after the sun setting, there -were usually made bonfires in the streets, every man bestowing wood or -labour towards them; the wealthier sort also, before their doors, near -to the said bonfires, would set out tables on the vigils, furnished -with sweet bread and good drink, and on the festival days with meats -and drinks plentifully, whereunto they would invite their neighbours -and passengers also to sit and be merry with them in great familiarity, -praising God for His benefits bestowed on them. These were called -bonfires as well of good amity amongst neighbours that being before at -controversy were there, by the labour of others, reconciled, and made -of bitter enemies loving friends; and also for the virtue that a great -fire hath to purge the infection of the air. On the vigil of St. John -the Baptist, and on St. Peter and Paul the apostles, every man’s door -being shadowed with green birch, long fennel, St. John’s wort, orpin, -white lilies, and such like, garnished upon with garlands of beautiful -flowers, had also lamps of glass, with oil burning in them all the -night; some hung out branches of iron curiously wrought, containing -hundreds of lamps alight at once, which made a goodly show, namely in -New Fish Street, Thames Street, etc.” - -[Illustration: - -_Drawn by Grignon, photographed by D^r Diamond_ _J. Hale Keur Sr._ - -A FÊTE AT HORSELYDOWN IN 159O - -From a picture by G. Hoffnagle at Hatfield House.] - -At Whitsuntide 1900 I was at Treves. It is the custom on Whit Sunday -to hold a great procession in which, apparently, the whole population -takes part through the principal streets to the Cathedral. The girls -are dressed in white with white flowers in their hair; the younger -girls carry baskets filled with white flowers; men, women, and children -are all chanting as they go; groups of priests, boys in scarlet, -beadles and other ecclesiastical selections, adorn the procession. If -that were all I should not notice it in this place. But in addition -every street through which the procession passed was decorated with -branches. And here for the first time I understood the lines already -quoted, how - - “Each field turns a street, each street a parke - Made green and trimmed with trees; see how - Devotion gives each house a bough, - Or branch; each porch, each doore, ere this, - An arke or tabernacle is, - Made up of white-thorn neatly interwove.” - -For the decking of the house did not consist of a branch or a bunch -over a porch or a window, but the whole ground-floor of every house was -covered with great boughs closely placed side by side so as to look -like a lane of trees. Herrick did not exaggerate. - -Stow goes on to speak of the Marching Watch:— - -“Besides the standing Watches all in bright Harness, in every Ward -and Street in this city and Suburbs, there was also a Marching Watch, -that passed through the principal Streets thereof, to wit, from the -little conduit by Paul’s Gate to West Cheap, by the Stocks through -Cornhill, by Leaden Hall to Aldgate, then back down Fenchurch Street, -by Grasse church, about Grasse church conduit, and up Grasse church -street into Cornhill, and through it into West Cheap again, and so -broke up. The whole way ordered for this marching watch extendeth to -three thousand two hundred Taylor’s Yards of Assize; for the furniture -whereof with Lights, there were appointed seven hundred cressets, five -hundred of them being found by the Companies, the other two hundred -by the Chamber of London. Besides the which Lights every Constable in -London, in number more than two hundred and forty, had his Cresset; -the charge of every Cresset was in Light two shillings and fourpence, -and every cresset had two men, one to bear or hold it, another to bear -a Bag with Light, and to serve it, so that the Poor Men pertaining -to the Cressets, taking Wages, besides that every one had a strawen -Hat, with a Badge painted, and his breakfast, amounted in number to -almost two thousand. The marching Watch contained in number about two -thousand men, part of them being old Soldiers, of skill to be Captains, -Lieutenants, Serjeants, Corporals, etc., Wiflers, Drummers, and Fifes, -Standard and Ensign Bearers, Demilances on great Horses, Gunners with -hand guns, or half Hakes, Archers in coats of white Fustian, signed -on the breast and back with the Arms of the City, their Bows bent in -their Hands, with Sheafs of Arrows by their Sides; Pikemen in bright -Corslets, Burganets, etc., Halbards, the like the Billmen in Almain -Rivets, and Aprons of Mail in great Number. There were also divers -Pageants, Morris Dancers, Constables, the one-half, which was one -hundred and twenty on St. John’s Eve, the other half on St. Peter’s -Eve, in bright harness, some over Gilt, and every one a jornet of -Scarlet thereupon, and a Chain of Gold, his henchman following him, his -Minstrels before him, and his Cresset Light passing by him, the Waits -of the City, the Mayor’s officers for his Guard before him, all in a -livery of woosted, or Sea Jackets party-coloured, the Mayor himself -well mounted on Horseback, the Swordbearer before him in fair Armour -well mounted also, the Mayor’s Footmen, and the like Torch Bearers -about him, Henchmen twain upon great stirring Horses, following him. -The Sheriffs’ Watches came one after the other in like Order, but not -so large in Number as the Mayor’s; for where the Mayor had, besides his -Giant, three Pageants, each of the Sheriffs had, besides their Giants, -but two Pageants; each their Morris Dance, and one Henchman, their -Officers in jackets of woosted or Sea, party-coloured, differing from -the Mayor’s and each from other, but having harnessed Men a great many. - -This Midsummer Watch was thus accustomed yearly, time out of Mind, -until the year 1539, the 31st of Henry VIII., in which year, on the 8th -of May, a great Muster was made by the Citizens at the Mile’s End, all -in bright Harness, with Coats of White Silk, or Cloth and Chains of -Gold, in three great Battels, to the number of fifteen thousand, which -passed through London to Westminster, and so through the Sanctuary, and -round about the Park of St. James, and returned home through Oldborne. -King Henry, then considering the great Charges of the Citizens for the -Furniture of this unusual Muster, forbad the Marching Watch provided -for at Midsummer for that Year; which being once laid down, was not -raised again till the year 1548, the 2nd of Edward VI., Sir John -Gresham then being Mayor, who caused the Marching Watch, both on the -eve of St. John Baptist and of St. Peter the Apostle, to be revived and -set forth in as comely order as it hath been accustomed, which Watch -was also beautified by the number of more than three hundred Demilances -and light Horsemen, prepared by the citizens to be sent into Scotland -for the rescue of the town of Haddington, and others kept by the -Englishmen.” (Stow, vol. i.) - -As for dancing, never was there a time when it was more popular. -Everybody danced: the Queen at Whitehall danced the brawl; the -kitchen-maid in the street danced the ney. They danced the solemn -_pavane_, the _Cassamezzo galliard_, the _canary_ dance, the _Coranto_, -the _Cavolta_, the _jig_, the _galliard_, the _fancy_, and the _Ney_, -and perhaps many more. They played cards: they played at primiero, -trumpe, gleek, gresso, new cut, knave out of doors, ruff, noddy, most -and pace; they got through the long winter evenings mainly with the -help of cards. Bowling was a summer amusement; tournaments belonged -to the Court; hunting was an amusement for the richer sort; the -people also fought cocks, wrestled, practised archery, and played -quarter-staff. The old Catholic feasts and sports—such as the Feast of -Fools, the Boy Bishop, the Mysteries in the Churches, were abolished; -but in their own houses they had mumming and mummers; for the ladies -there was embroidery; there was also fine work of all kinds. And there -was a great demand for monsters: a pig with eight legs; strange fishes -caught in the river; a mermaid quite fresh, unfortunately dead, caught -off the Yarmouth Roads; a calf with two backs; a lobster with six -claws; these things were always on exhibition, for the most part, in -Fleet Street. Their Morris dances, their Maypoles, Whitsun Ales, their -fairs and wakes, and, in fact, every occasion for meeting together, -singing, feasting, and dancing, this Protestant city kept up. - -[Illustration: THE DANCING PICTURE - -By Holbein and Janet, in the possession of Major-General F. E. Sotheby.] - -Among the amusements of the people must not be forgotten the common -custom of telling stories. The long evenings when the family gathered -round the fire, the only light in the room, were tedious: they could -hardly go to bed much before eight, though they rose long before -daybreak. Story-telling was an amusement which had long ago pleased the -Saxons and the Danes, who recounted the great deeds of their ancestors -to wile away the winter evening. Perhaps many of the stories which -found their way into books during the sixteenth century served this -purpose, while the merry jests of Skogan, and Peele, and the rest, -certainly formed part of the story-teller’s _répertoire_. - -Another amusement was that of reading. We have already seen what an -immense field was opened up for those who loved books, by the shoals -which during Elizabeth’s reign were issued from the press. - -The first Lottery was set on foot in the year 1559. The drawing took -place at the west door of St. Paul’s, and continued daily from the -11th of January to the 6th of May following. The Lottery did not gain -its full power until the eighteenth century. It is sufficient here -to record the first appearance of this baleful institution, fruitful -mother of crime. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - THE POOR - - -Harrison says that there are “four kinds of poor: the poor by -impotence, as the fatherless child, the blind man, and the incurably -sick man; the poor by casualty, as the wounded soldier; the thriftless -poor, as the rioter that hath consumed all; the vagabond that will -abide nowhere; and, finally, the rogues and strumpet which are not -possible to be divided in sunder.” - -As regards the last sort. Harrison’s description tells everything that -is wanted. - -“Such as are idle beggars through their owne default are of two sorts, -and continue their estates either by casuall or meere voluntarie -meanes: those that are such by casuall means, are in the beginning -justlie to be referred either to the first or second sort of poore -afore mentioned; but degenerating into the thriftlesse sort, they doo -what they can to continue their miserie, and with such impediments as -they have to straie and wander about, as creatures abhorring all labour -and every honest exercise. Certes I call these casuall meanes, not in -respect of the originall of their povertie, but of the continuance of -the same, from whence they will not be delivered, such is their owne -ungratious lewdnesse and froward disposition. The voluntarie meanes -proceed from outward causes, as by making of corosives, and applieng -the same to the more fleshie parts of their bodies; and also laieng -of ratsbane, sperewort, crowfoot, and such like unto their whole -members, thereby to raise pitifull and odious sores and moove the -harts of the goers by such places where they lie, to yerne at their -miserie and bestow large almesse upon them. How artificiallie they -beg, what forcible speech, and how they select and choose out words of -vehemencie, whereby they doo in maner conjure or adjure the goer by to -pitie their cases, I passe over to remember, as judging the name of -God and Christ to be more conversant in the mouths of none; and yet -the presence of the heavenlie majestie further off from no men than -from this ungracious companie. Which maketh me to think that punishment -is farre meeter for them than liberalitie or almesse, and sith Christ -willeth us cheeflie to have a regard to Himselfe and His poore members. - -Unto this nest is another sort to be referred, more sturdie than the -rest, which having sound and perfect limbs, doo yet, notwithstanding, -sometime counterfeit the possession of all sorts of diseases. Divers -times in their apparell also they will be like serving-men or laborers; -oftentimes they can plaie the mariners, and seeke for ships which they -never lost. But in fine, they are thieves and caterpillars in the -common-wealth, and by the word of God not permitted to eat, sith they -doo but lick the sweat from the true labourers’ browes, and beereve -the godly poore of that whiche is due unto them, to mainteine their -excesse, consuming the charitie of well-disposed people bestowed upon -them, after a most wicked and detestable manner. - -It is not yet full threescore yeares since this trade began; but how it -hath prospered since that time, it is easie to judge, for they are now -supposed, of one sex and another, to amount unto about 10,000 persons; -as I have heard reported. Moreover, in counterfeiting the Egyptian -rogues, they have devised a language among themselves, which they name -Canting, but other pedlers French, a speech compact thirtie years since -of English, and a great number of od words of their own devising, -without all order or reason; and yet such is it as none but themselves -are able to understand. The first deviser thereof was hanged by the -necke, a just reward no doubt for his deserts, and a common end to all -of that profession.... - -The punishment that is ordeined for this kind of people is verie sharpe -and yet it can not restreine them from their gadding; wherefore the end -must needs be martiall law, to be exercised upon them, as upon theeves, -robbers, despisers of all lawes, and enimies to the common-wealth and -welfare of the land. What notable roberies, pilferies, murders, rapes, -and stealings of yoong children, burning, breaking and disfiguring -their lims to make them pitifull in the sight of the people, I need -not to rehearse; but for their idle roging about the countrie, the -law ordeineth this manner of correction. The roge being apprehended, -committed to prison, and tried in the next assises (whether they be of -gaole diliverie or sessions of the peace), if he happen to be convicted -for a vagabond either by inquest of office, or the testimonie of two -honest and credible witnesses upon their oths, he is then immediately -adjudged to be greeviously whipped and burned through the gristle of -the right eare, with a hot iron of the compasse of an inch about, as a -manifestation of his wicked life, and due punishment received for the -same. And this judgment is to be excuted upon him, except some honest -person woorth five pounds in the queenes books in goods, or twentie -shillings in lands, or some rich housholder to be allowed by the -justices will be bound in recognisance to reteine him in his service -for one whole yeare. If he be taken the second time, and proved to -have forsaken his said service, he shall then be whipped againe, bored -likewise through the other eare and set to service; from when if he -depart before a yeare be expired, and happen afterwards to be attached -againe, he is condemned to suffer paines of death as a fellon (except -before excepted), without benefit of clergy or sanctuarie, as by the -statute doth appeare. Among roges and idle persons finallie, we find to -be comprised all proctors that go up and down with conterfeit licenses, -coosiners, and such as gad about the countrie, using unlawfull games, -practisers of physiognomie and palmestrie, tellers of fortunes, -fensers, plaiers, minstrels, jugglers, pedlers, tinkers, pretensed -scholars, shipmen, prisoners gathering for fees, and others so oft as -they be taken without sufficient licence. From among which companie our -bearewards are not excepted and just cause; for I have read that they -have either voluntarilie, or for want of power to master their savege -beasts, beene occasion of the death and devoration of manie children in -sundrie countries by which they have passed, whose parents never knew -what was become of them.” (Holinshed, vol. i.) - -The great increase of rogues and vagabonds of all kinds led in the year -1561 to a proposition for a House of Correction. The plan or scheme of -which was drawn out at full length, is published in _Archæologia_ (vol. -xxi. p. 451). - -The House was to be strong and in two divisions: one for the men and -the other for the women. It was to be built and furnished by the -alms of the people where it was put up—in this case Westminster was -proposed. In furnishing, care must be taken that everything should -be simple, because “it is to be considered beforehand that ye shall -have to do with the most desperatest people of the earth, geven to all -spoyle and robbery and soch as will break from you and steale.” - -For work, it must be of a kind that they cannot steal or destroy. A -Mill, therefore, for the men, or a Lime Kiln; and for the women a Wheel -for cotton wool or woollen yarn. Of officers there must be six Masters: -a clerk; a porter and keeper; two beadles, and a miller. - -The rations for the inmates were to be as follows:—To every four women, -at every meal, one pound of beef, potage, bread and drink. To every two -men working in the mill, double this allowance. The allowance of bread -was to be sixteen ounces a day. The allowance of beer was to every -four women one “pottell” of single beer a day, but to the men double -that quantity. On fast days an equivalent of butter, cheese, herrings, -“pescodes,” and such like. - -There were to be two pairs of stocks and shackles for the refractory. -The Matron was to be a strong woman—the Elizabethan female of the baser -kind did not weaken her muscles and her nerves with tea; and, which is -very significant, it is added, “ye must be careful of fyer, for the -people are desperate and care not what mischief they do.” - -I do not know whether this proposed House of Correction was erected or -not. - -The present seems the best place and time to speak of systematic -attempts at Poor Relief. - -The relief of the poor was a duty enjoined on all men. Almsgiving -was considered especially a virtue becoming to kings and princes. -Alfred gave alms continually. The Monastic Houses never turned away a -beggar without a meal to speed him on his way. Rich and noble persons -kept open house at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide. Already the -custom was commenced of leaving lands or money to the church or to the -monastery saddled with the condition of alms to be bestowed on the -anniversary of the donor. By the laws of Ethelred, which probably only -confirmed a custom, the third part of the tithe due to the Church was -to be set aside for the use of the poor. In the Canons of Ælfric the -same proportion is enjoined to be so reserved. And in all the Monastic -Houses a certain part of the revenues was expended on the Almonry or -the Infirmary. - -The custom of giving indiscriminately to any vagrant who demanded -alms, created a class of “masterless” men who would do no work and -wandered about the country. It took some centuries of this growing evil -before men could be brought to connect vagrancy with indiscriminate -almsgiving. At first the efforts made to repress vagrancy were directed -towards compulsory work. No one dared to maintain, perhaps no one dared -to think, that it was wrong to give alms to a beggar merely because he -was a beggar; but every one understood that the labourer must somehow -be made to work. Had the Clergy and the Monastic Houses perceived the -truth, vagrancy might have been reduced to a few companies of outlaws -and marauders. But we cannot blame the clergy of the thirteenth century -for failing to understand what the clergy of the present century are -still unable to understand. When the law interfered, the situation was -wellnigh desperate. The Black Death of 1348–50 had made labour scarce -and wages high. The necessity of suppressing able-bodied begging and of -sending the able-bodied beggar back to his native place and his proper -work was forced upon the Government. The Labour Statutes endeavoured to -force men to work and to keep down wages. In the fourteenth century, -just as to-day, there was a natural limit imposed upon wages by the -price of grain and food. The rustic who understood nothing about this -limit, naturally desired higher and still higher wages; if he could not -get this increase in his own parish, he went elsewhere: he begged his -way; he found food at the monastery; he tasted the joys of food which -was got without any work for it; he therefore easily dropped into the -condition of the masterless man and the able-bodied beggar. - -In 1349 the law stepped in. No one must give alms, money, or food to -the able-bodied, so that for lack of bread they might be compelled to -work. The rustics, in order to escape the terrors of this law, ran -about the country from place to place. They pretended to be lame, -blind, dumb, paralysed; in this disguise they wandered about begging -with impunity unless they were detected. They pretended (case of -impostor—Riley) to go on pilgrimage: they joined companies of pilgrims, -begging by the way, and so got along for a time without working. -Therefore in 1388 other laws were framed. Nobody was allowed to beg at -all without a letter granting him a license; nobody was allowed to go -on pilgrimage without a license; nobody was to go anywhere outside his -own part of the country without a license. If any were found without -such warrant or permission they were clapped into the stocks. The Act -endeavoured to put a stop not only to able-bodied vagrancy, but also to -beggars who were crippled or afflicted, for they, too, were forbidden -to roam. - -The citizens of London were especially severe on masterless men. - -The law, at the same time, recognised the duty of relieving the -impotent, and the deserving poor, and the right of these to demand -relief. Wherever they were found they were compelled to go back to the -place to which they belonged by birth. - -Nothing could be better or more effectual than these laws if they could -have been enforced. But how were they to be enforced? Where were the -police who might patrol the roads? How were the villagers disposed -towards laws which made them accept whatever wages the Lord of the -Manor chose to give them? In the City of London what were the opinions -of the working class, of the craftsmen? And how could the Alderman in -his ward ascertain that every man was following his own craft? No doubt -the power of arresting, punishing, and sending to their own villages -the wandering rustic, had the effect of keeping down the number of the -beggars. In a short time, too, the natural increase of the population -relieved the scarcity of labour. Moreover the relief of the poor by -each parish was ordered by the setting aside of a portion of the tithe -for their benefit (a revival of the Saxon law); and in those cases -where the tithes went to a monastic house, the same portion should be -payable by the monks or nuns. The jealousy with which the religious -Orders were already regarded is shown by the enactment of this -provision by Richard II. and its confirmation by Henry IV. - -If the laws against grants of the fourteenth century had been enforced -there would have been an end of the evil. Unfortunately, they could -not be enforced. In the country there was no kind of Police; in London -the City had outgrown the old government by Aldermen and Ward, and -the people were overflowing the City boundaries and were beyond the -jurisdiction of the Mayor. Now the control of the county would not -be very effective, say, at Wapping or at Bermondsey, when the people -began to settle there. During the whole of the fifteenth century the -demand for able-bodied men for the war in France first, and the Civil -wars next, was so great that there seem to have been few vagrants -in the country. Indications, however, are by no means wanting of a -“masterless” element in London. - -The cessation of the wars threw a large number of men out of -employment; worse than this, it found them unwilling or unable to -settle down again to steady work. Other causes also operated to produce -the same result. The English nobles had ceased to maintain their large -retinues: no longer did an Earl of Warwick ride into London with seven -hundred gentlemen and men-at-arms; Sir Thomas More says expressly that -the men who formerly had been in this kind of service either starved -or became thieves. Again, the changes in the industrial condition of -the country threw many people out of work: lands formerly arable were -turned into pasture; sheep runs took the place of cornfields; one -shepherd was wanted instead of half-a-dozen labourers. There was again -a great rise in prices, owing to the influx of silver. In fifty years -provisions of all kinds were doubled in price while wages rose only -thirty per cent. Add to these causes the continuance of indiscriminate -almsgiving. - -The evil grew continually during the whole of the sixteenth century. - -Early in the sixteenth century the City of London began to pass -regulations against vagrants. They forbade able-bodied vagrants -to beg and citizens to give money to unlicensed beggars: in other -words, they revived and enforced the old laws. Great strictness was -ordered. Vagrants had the letter V fastened on their breasts, and -were driven through Cheapside to the music of a basin ringing before -them. Four surveyors were appointed to carry out these instructions. -There was also an officer appointed, called “Master and Chief Avoyder -and Keeper out of this City and the liberties of the same all the -mighty vagabonds and beggars and all other suspected persons, except -such as wear upon them the badge of the City.” The vagrants, when -apprehended, were whipped at the cart’s tail; they also had to wear -collars of iron about their necks. Those who were allowed to beg had -tokens of tin given to them by the Aldermen. As for the relief of -the deserving poor, there were the “Companies’ stores,” granaries of -wheat provided for emergencies; alms were asked for every Sunday at -the church doors; the old hospitals were suppressed at the Reformation -until St. Bartholomew’s and St. Mary of Bethlehem were granted to the -City by Henry VIII. and reopened as hospitals. The City did not show -to advantage in giving money to the poor; we must remember that for -many centuries charity had been understood as indiscriminate alms given -by the Church and by rich men. What private persons gave was for the -advantage of their souls. Latimer and Lever thundered in vain. Latimer -says:— - - “Now what shall we say of these rich citizens of London? What shall - I say of them? Shall I call them proud men of London, malicious - men of London, merciless men of London? No, no, I may not say - so; they will be offended with me then. Yet must I speak. For is - there not reigning in London as much pride, as much covetousness, - as much cruelty, as much oppression and as much superstition as - was in Nebo? Yes I think, and much more too.... But London was - never so ill as it is now. In times past men were full of pity and - compassion, but now there is no pity; for in London their brother - shall die in the streets for cold, he shall lie sick at the door - between stock and stock ... and perish there for hunger: was there - ever more unmercifulness in Nebo? I think not. In times past, - when any rich man died in London they were wont to help the poor - scholars of the Universities with exhibitions. When any man died, - they would bequeath great sums of money towards the relief of the - poor. When I was a scholar in Cambridge myself I heard very good - report of London, and knew many that had relief of the rich men of - London; but now I can hear no such good report, and yet I inquire - of it, and hearken for it; but now charity is waxen cold, none - helpeth the scholar, nor yet the poor.” - -Lever said:— - - “Nowe speakynge in the behalfe of these vile beggars, ... I wyl - tell the(e) that art a noble man, a worshipful man, an honest - welthye man, especially if thou be Maire, Sherif, Alderman, baily, - constable or any such officer, it is to thy great shame afore the - worlde, and to thy utter damnation afore God, to se these begging - as thei use to do in the streates. For there is never a one of - these but he lacketh eyther thy charitable almes to relieve his - neede, or els thy due correction to punysh his faute.... These sely - sols have been neglected throughout al England and especially in - London and Westminster: But now I trust that a good overseer, a - godly Byshop I meane, wyl see that they in these two cyties shall - have their neede releeved, and their faultes corrected, to the good - ensample of al other tounes and cities.” - -Then St. Thomas’s Hospital and Bridewell were obtained from the King. -The latter was designed as a House of Instruction and Correction. It -was to receive the child “unapt for learning”; the “sore and sick when -they be cured”; and persons who have lost their character and either -cannot work or cannot find any who will employ them. The children were -to be made to work; the others were to be taught certain trades. They -were to be such as would not interfere with the crafts carried on in -the City. - -The treatment of the poor began by being the work of the towns, each -town working out its own experimental methods. This was followed by -legislation in Parliament. - -The Act of 1573, of which we have read Harrison’s account, enjoined -boring through the ear and whipping, and at the third offence death. -The Middlesex Sessions Rolls show that these sentences were actually -carried out. Between 6th October and 14th December 1591, 71 vagrants -were sentenced at the Sessions to be branded and whipped. - -Who were vagrants? They were defined as proctors or procurators; -persons pretending to knowledge in “Phisnomye, Palmestrye, and other -abused Scyences,” masterless men; “fencers, bearewardes, players, -minstrels,”—not belonging to some noble lord; jugglers, pedlars, -tinkers, chapmen; labourers refusing customary wages; counterfeiters -of passes; scholars of Oxford and Cambridge who beg without license; -sailors not licensed; discharged prisoners without license; impotent -poor. But of these, players, bearwards, and pedlars were allowed to -carry on their calling subject to license. - -In every parish the Justices of the Peace were to make a register of -the names of the poor. Every month they were to search for strange poor. - -Justices in the country and Mayors in London were to assess and tax -the people for the relief of the poor; and those who refused to pay -were to be imprisoned. Three years later it was ordered that “stock” -of wool, flax, hemp, iron, or other stuff, should be provided for the -work of the poor. Between 1575 and 1597 other statutes were passed for -the prevention of increased settlement of poor families. No more houses -to be built within three miles of London westward except for people -assessed at £5 in goods or £3 in land. No tenement houses to be built, -and no inmates to be received. - -In 1597 there was great discussion in the House of Commons on the -whole subject of poor relief. Finally an Act was passed by which the -relief of the poor was placed in the hands of church-wardens and four -overseers of Poor elected every Easter. They had to teach children and -bind them apprentice; they provided work for the adult; they relieved -the impotent; they built hospitals; they levied rates; they made Houses -of Correction; they resorted to more whipping and to banishment, with -death for return. - -Next there is the interference of the Privy Council ordering the -Justices of the Peace to look after the vagrants and to report. Here is -a brief summary. - - 1573. Mayor has received a second letter from the Privy Council on - subject of vagrants. - - 1579. Common Council considered the work of the poor at Bridewell - and referred to Lords of the Council. - - 1583. Privy Council recommenced prevention of Irish beggars. - - 1594. City meets Justices of Middlesex on subject. - - _London_—1572. Mayor issued precept to Aldermen to inquire - about poor of every parish. Another precept to use the - church-wardens—thus to assess the whole ward—to make them pay who - had given nothing, and to make them pay more who had given too - little. - - In 1573. Assessments proving too little, collections were made in - churches. - - 1576. Each parish was to elect a surveyor who every night for a - week should help the constable, beadle, and church-wardens in - visiting the houses and sending away vagrants. - -Then followed a double method—relief and repression undertaken by the -parish and municipal authorities together. The vagrants were taken to -Bridewell, where the sick were picked out and sent to St. Thomas’s and -St. Bartholomew’s—thence returned to Bridewell—and made to work for -their diet. The parish looked after the rest of the poor. The children -were sent to Christ’s Hospital. The impotent were relieved. - -It seems as if so strict a system must have been successful. But it was -not. - -In 1601 the Act of 1579 was reconsidered and slightly altered. - - 1610. An Act for building one or more Houses of Correction in every - county was brought in. - -The supply of corn for the markets occupied Parliament a great deal -between 1610 and 1630. There were bad harvests, and general distress. -The Privy Council tried to prevent scarcity, to find work for the poor, -and to regulate trade in the interests of the working classes. Against -times of scarcity of fuel, a coalyard was established in London for the -poor. Watchmen were provided in time of plague. More almshouses existed -then than now for the old and impotent. - -It is customary to speak of the time immediately following the -Reformation as especially hard-hearted and uncharitable. For instance, -here is a certain passage, one of many, in Stubbes’s _Anatomie_, which -is certainly strong evidence of a lack of charity. It is as follows:— - -“There is a certayne citie in Ailgna (Anglia) called Munidnol -(Londinum) where as the poore lye in the streetes, upon pallets of -strawe, and wel if they have that too, or els in the mire and dirt, -as commonly it is seene, having neither house to put in their heades, -covering to keepe them from the colde, nor yet to hyde their shame -withall, nor a pennie to by them sustenaunce, nor any thing els, but -are suffered to dye in the streetes like dogges or beastes, without any -mercy or compassion shewed to them at all. And if any be sicke of the -plague (as they call it) or any other mortall disease, their maisters -and mistresses are so impudent (having made, it shoulde seeme, a league -with Sathan, a covenant with hell, and an obligation with the devil, -never to have to doe with the workes of mercie) as straight way they -throwe them out of their doores: and so being caried forth, either in -cartes or otherwise, or laied downe eyther in the streetes, or els -conveiyed to some olde house in the fields or gardens, where for want -of due sustentation, they ende their lives most miserably. Truely, -brother, if I had not seene it, I would scarsly have thought that the -like Turkishe crueltie had bene used in all the world.”[14] - -I would again call attention, however, to a point which has already -been mentioned in these pages. Before the suppression of the Religious -Houses these places had taken over and held in their own hands the -whole management of the poor, the sick, and the disabled, save those -whom the City Companies took under their own care. For centuries, -therefore, the people had been taught to regard the care of the sick -and old, and in a great manner the feeding of the poor, as belonging -especially to the Religious. It is part of the mediæval mind that the -poor do so belong to the monastic orders and not to the laity. When, -therefore, the Houses were suppressed, the modern spirit of Charity had -to be actually created in the hearts of the people. It was then that -the education in philanthropy began which has been going on ever since. - -This outburst of Stubbes is a first lesson in brotherly love. Another -part of the same lesson is his tirade against hard-hearted creditors, -which is quoted here, because it applies especially to the citizens of -London, tender and compassionate in some respects, but flinty-hearted -as regards the poor prisoners who cannot pay their debts:— - - “Believe me, it greeveth me to heare (walking in the streetes) - the pitifull cryes and miserable complayntes of poore prisoners - in durance for debte, and like so to continue all their life, - destitute of libertie, meate, drink (though of the meanest sort), - and clothing to their backes, lying in filthie straw and lothsome - dung, worse than anie dogge, voyde of all charitable consolation - and brotherly comfort in this world, wishing and thirsting after - deathe to set them at libertie, and loose them from their shackles, - gives, and iron bandes. Notwithstanding, these merciless tygers - (the usurers) are grown to such barbarous crueltie that they blush - not to say ‘tush, he shall eyther pay me the whole, or else lye - there till his heeles rotte from his buttocks; and, before I will - release him, I will make dice of his bones.’ But, take heed, thou - devil (for I dare not call thee Christian), least the Lord say to - thee, as hee sayd to that wicked servant (who, having great summes - forgiven him, would not forgive his brother his small debt, but, - catching him by the throate, sayd Paie that thou owest), Binde him - handes and feete, and cast him into utter darknesse, where shall - bee weeping and gnashing of teeth.” - -The charities of London consisted of Hospitals for the sick, -almshouses, schools, and doles for the poor. It was customary for great -men, ecclesiastics, and Religious Houses, to give every day large -quantities of food to the poor, whereby they were encouraged to remain -poor. Stow records many instances of this mischievous and promiscuous -charity. Henry II., for instance, to show his repentance for the death -of the Archbishop, fed every day 10,000 persons from the first of April -till the harvest, a time of year when food is dearest and scarcest. - -Let me follow Stow’s list of Foundations in chronological order. - -1. In very ancient times the Hospital of St. James for leprous women. - -2. In 1197 Domus Dei, or St. Mary Spital, outside Billingsgate. - -3. In 1247 the Hospital of St. Mary Bethlehem turned afterwards into a -lunatic asylum. - -4. 1322 Elsing Spital for 100 poor men. - -5. 1337 The College of St. Laurence Poultney. - -6. 1358 The Almshouses of Stodies Lane. - -7. 1367 John Lofken’s Hospital at Kingston-on-Thames. - -8. 1384 John Philpot’s Almshouses for 13 poor people. - -9. 1400 Thomas Knoles bequeathed his house as an almshouse. - -10. Whittington’s College (1421), an almshouse for 13 poor men. - -11. John Carpenter, almshouse for 4 poor men. - -12. Robert Chicheley money for a dinner to 2400 poor men and twopence -each on his “minde day.” - -13. Philip Malpas, numerous benefactions to prisoners, poor folk, -girls’ marriage portions, etc. - -14. Richard Rawson, girls’ marriage portions. - -15. Henry Keble, girls’ marriage portions and seven almshouses. - -16. John Colet, St. Paul’s School, 353 poor men’s children. - -17. John Tate enlarged and increased St. Anthony’s House and Almshouses. - -18. George Monox, almshouses for 13 poor people at Walthamstow. - -19. John Milbourne, almshouses for 14 poor people. - -20. John Allen left rents for the use of the poor. - -21. Andrew Judd, almshouses. - -22. Richard Hills, the Merchant Taylors’ School. - -23. Sir Thomas Gresham, almshouses. - -24. Sir Thomas Rowe, almshouses. - -25. Ambrose Nicolas, almshouses. - -26. John Fuller, almshouses. - -27. Dame Agnes Foster, enlargement of Ludgate Hill Prison. - -28. Avice Gibson, almshouses. - -29. Margaret Danne, money to be lent to young men beginning as -ironmongers. - -30. Dame Mary Ramsay, endowment of Christ’s Hospital. - -The following are later endowments. Thus Sir Thomas White, citizen and -Merchant Taylor, Mayor, purchased Gloucester Hall at Oxford; he founded -St. John’s College there; he erected schools at Bristol and Reading; -to Bristol he gave £2000 for the purchase of lands. This would produce -£120 a year, which was to be administered by the Mayor of Bristol. He -gave £800 to be lent to 16 poor Clothiers at £50 apiece as security for -ten years, and after that the money to pass to other towns, _i.e._ - - 1579 Reading - 1580 The Merchant Taylors’ Company - 1581 Gloucester - 1582 Worcester - 1583 Exeter - 1584 Salisbury - 1585 Westchester - 1586 Norwich - 1587 Southampton - 1588 Lincoln - 1589 Winchester - 1590 Oxford - 1591 Hereford - 1592 Cambridge - 1593 Shrewsbury - 1594 Lynn - 1595 Bath - 1596 Derby - 1597 Ipswich - 1598 Colchester - 1599 Newcastle. - -He gave to the City of Coventry £1400 with which to purchase lands to -the annual value of £70. Twelve poor men to have 40s. each free alms; -then four young men were to have loans of £10 for nine years. He did -the same thing for Northampton, for Leicester, and for Warwick. A -worthy benefactor, indeed! - -In 1560 Richard Hills gave £500 towards the purchase of a house called -the Manor of the Rose, where the Merchant Taylors founded their -school. At the same time William Lambert, Draper, Justice of the Peace -in Kent, founded an almshouse for the poor in East Greenwich called -Queen Elizabeth’s Almshouses. - -In 1568 Sir Thomas Rowe gave the City a new burial-ground by Bethlehem -Hospital; he also endowed a sermon every Whit Monday; gave £100 to be -lent to eight poor men; and founded an endowment for the support of ten -poor men, giving them four pounds a year. - -William Lambe was a benefactor to the City in the sixteenth century. -He was a cloth worker by trade. In the year 1543, on the suppression -of the Religious Houses, he obtained possession by purchase of the -smallest of them all, the Chapel or Hermitage standing at the corner -of the wall at the end of Monkwell Street. It was called St. James’s -in the Wall, and was endowed by Henry the Third. Lambe repaired or -rebuilt the Chapel, and placed in the former garden or in the ancient -buildings certain almshouses for bedesmen. In 1577 he died, leaving -this foundation and other sums of money to the Clothworkers. The Great -Fire spared a part of Lambe’s Chapel and Almshouses. - -Lambe also drew together several springs of water near the present -Foundling Hospital to a head, called after him Lamb’s Conduit, though -the name is now spelt without the “e.” He then conveyed the water by -leaden pipes to Snow Hill, where he rebuilt a ruinous conduit and laid -in the water. - -“He also founded a Free Grammar School at _Sutton Valens_, the Place of -his Nativity, in _Kent_, with a master at £20, and an Usher at £10 per -Ann. and an Alms-house for six poor people, endowed with £10 yearly. -He gave £10 per Ann. to the Free School at _Maidstone_ in _Kent_, for -the Education of needy Men’s Children; three hundred pounds to the poor -Clothiers in _Suffolk_, _Bridgnorth_ and _Ludlow_ in _Shropshire_. He -left to the Clothworkers’ Company his Dwelling-House, a little to the -South-West of _Cripplegate_, with Lands and Tenements to the value of -£30 per Ann. for paying a Minister to read Divine Service on _Sundays_, -_Wednesdays_, and _Fridays_, every week, in the Chapel adjoining to -his House, called St. _James_, in the Wall by _Cripplegate_; and for -Clothing twelve Men with a Frize Gown, one Lockram Shirt, and a good -strong pair of Winter Shoes; and twelve Women with a Frize Gown, a -Lockram Smock, and a good pair of Winter Shoes, all ready made for -wearing; to be given to such as are poor and honest, on the first of -October. He also gave £15 towards the Bells and Chimes of St. Giles’s -Without _Cripplegate_; £6:13:4 yearly to the Company of Stationers, -for the relief of twelve poor People of the Parish of St. _Faith_, -under _Paul’s_, at the rate of 12d. in Money, and 12d. in Bread, to -each of them, on every Friday through the year; £6 per Ann. and £100 -to purchase Land, for the Relief of Children in _Christ’s_ Hospital; -£4 to St. _Thomas’s_ Hospital in _Southwark_; besides some other -Charities to the Prisons, and for portioning poor Maids.” (Maitland, -vol. i. p. 264.) - -It will be seen that the building of almshouses was the favourite -method of charitable endowment. Schools were occasionally endowed -but not so commonly as almshouses. The sight of an old man broken -down, unable to earn his bread, is one which appeals to the most -hard-hearted. The necessity of educating the young was less understood, -for the simple reason that the children of the working class were -regarded as simply growing machines for labour, just as their fathers -were regarded as machines in active working order whose opinions or -wishes were never so much as asked, while any effort on their part -to express an opinion was put down at once. This view of the working -classes, which lasted till the middle of the nineteenth century, -explains a great deal of what we now consider apathy on the part of -those who should have known better; it explains among other things the -opposition to reform, and the jealousy and dread of the working class; -and it explains why so few schools were endowed in comparison with the -number of almshouses. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - CRIME AND PUNISHMENT - - -The divers kinds of punishment and the laws are set forth by Harrison -(Holinshed, vol. i.):— - -“The greatest and most greevous punishment used in England, for such -as offend against the state, is drawing from the prison to the place -of execution upon an hurdle or sled, where they are hanged till they -be halfe dead, and then taken downe and quartered alive, after that -their members and bowels are cut from their bodies and throwne into -a fire provided neere hand and within their one sight even for the -same purpose. Sometimes if the trespasse be not the more hainous, they -are suffered to hang till they be quite dead. And whensoever any of -the nobilitie are convicted of high treason by their peeres, that is -to saie, equals (for an inquest of yeomen passeth not upon them, but -onlie of the lords of the parliament) this maner of their death is -converted into the losse of their heads onlie, notwithstanding that the -sentence doo run after the former order. In triall of cases concerning -treason, fellonie, or anie other greevous crime not confessed, the -partie accused doth yeeld, if he be a nobleman, to be tried by an -inquest (as I have said) and his peeres; if a gentleman, by gentlemen; -and an inferiour by God and by the countrie, to wit the yeomanrie -(so combat or battle is not greatlie in use) and being condemned of -fellonie, manslaughter, etc., he is eftsoons hanged by the necke till -he be dead, and then cut downe and buried. But if he is convicted of -wilful murder, doone either upon pretended malice, or in anie notable -robberie, he is either hanged alive in chains neere the place where the -fact was committed (or else upon compassion taken first strangled with -a rope) and so continueth till his bonds consume to nothing. We have -use neither of the wheele nor of the barre, as in other countries, but -when wilful manslaughter is perpetrated, beside hanging, the offender -hath his right hand commonlie striken off before or neere unto the -place where the act was doone, after which he is led forth to the place -of execution, and there put to death according to the law.” (_See_ -Appendix X.) - -Felony was involved in various kinds of crime: such as breach of -prison; disfiguring the person; robbery in disguise; rape; conspiracy -against the prince; embezzlement of the master’s money; carrying -horses into Scotland; stealing hawks’ eggs; unnatural offences; -witchcraft, conjuring, sorcery, and digging up of crosses; prophesying -upon arms, cognizances, names and badges; casting of slanderous bills; -poisoning; desertion; clipping of coin; taking goods from dead men; -highway robbery; stealing of deer; forging documents, etc., these were -all, with some others, felony. - -“If a woman poison her husband she is burned alive, if the servant kill -his master he is to be executed for petie treason, he that poisoneth -a man is to be boiled to death either in water or lead, although the -partie die not of the practise; in cases of murther all the accessories -are to suffer paines of death accordingly. Perjury is punished by the -pillorie burning in the forehead with the letter P, the rewalting[15] -of the trees growing upon the grounds of the offendors and losse of all -his moveables. Manie trespasses also are punished by the cutting of -one or both eares from the head of the offendor, as the utterance of -seditious words against the magistrates, grain makers, petie robbers, -etc. Roges are burned through the eares, carriers of sheep out of the -land by the loss of their hands, such as kill by poison are either -boiled or skalded to death in lead or seething water. Heretikes are -burned quicke, harlots and their mates by carting, ducking, and dooing -of open penance in sheets, in churches and market steeds are often -put to rebuke.... Roges and vagabonds are often stocked and whipped, -scolds are ducked upon cucking stooles in the water. Such fellons as -stand mute and speak not at their arraignement are pressed to death -by huge weights laid upon a boord, that lieth over their brest, and a -sharpe stone under their backs, and these commonlie hold their peace, -thereby to save their goods unto their wives and children, which if -they were condemned should be confiscated to the prince. Theeves that -are saved by their bookes and cleargie, for the first offense, if they -have stolen nothing else but oxen, sheepe, monie, or such like, which -be no open robberies, as by the high waie side or assailing of any -man’s house in the night, without putting him in fear of his life, -or breaking up of his wals or doores, are burned in the left hand, -upon the brawne of the thumb with an hot iron, so that if they be -apprehended againe, that marke bewraieth them to have been arraigned of -fellonie before, whereby they are sure at that time to have no mercie. -I doo not read that this custom of saving by the book is used anywhere -else than in England, neither doo I find (after much diligent enquirie) -what Saxon prince ordained that law.... Our third annoiers of the -common-wealth are roges, which doo verie great mischief in all places -where they doo become. For whereas the rich onlie suffer injurie by -the first two, these spare neither riche nor poore; but whether it be -great game or small, all is fish that commeth to net with them, and yet -I saie that both they and the rest are trussed up apace. For there is -not one yeare commonlie, wherein three hundred or four hundred of them -are not devoured and eaten up by the gallowes in one place and other. -It appearth by Cardane (who writeth it upon the report of the bishop -of Lexouia) in the geniture of King Edward the sixt, how Henrie the -eight, executing his laws verie severelie against such idle persons, I -meane great theeves, pettie theeves and roges, did hang up threescore -and twelve thousand of them in his time. He seemed for a while greatlie -to have terrified the rest; but since his death the number of them is -so increased, yea although we have had no warres, which are a great -occasion of their breed (for it is the custom of the more idel sort, -having but once served or seen the other side of the sea under colour -of service to shake hand with labour, for ever, thinking it a disgrace -for himself to return unto his former trade) that except some better -order be taken, or the lawes be better made to be executed, such as -dwell in uplandish towns and little villages shall live but in small -safety and rest. For the better apprehension also of theeves and -mankillers, there is an old law in England very well provided, whereby -it is ordered, that if he that is robbed, or any man complaine and give -warning of slaughter or murder committed, the constable of the village -whereunto he cometh and crieth for succour, is to raise the parish -about him, and to search woods, groves, and all suspected houses and -places, where the trespasser may be, or is supposed to lurke; and not -finding him there, he is to give warning unto the next constable, and -so one constable after serch made to advertise another from parish to -parish, till they come to the same where the offender is harbored and -found. It is also provided, that if anie parish in this business doo -not his dutie, but suffereth the theefe (for the avoiding of trouble -sake) in carrieng him to the gaile, if he should be apprehended, or -other letting of their worke, to escape the same parish, is not onlie -to make fine to the king, but also the same with the whole hundred -wherein it standeth, to repaie the partie robbed his damages, and leave -his estate harmlesse. Certes this is a good law, howbeit I have knowne -by mine owne experience, fellons being taken to have escaped out of the -stocks, being rescued by other for want of watch and ward, that theeves -have been let passe, bicause the covetous and greedie parishoners would -neither take the paines, nor be at the charge to carrie them to prison, -if it were far off, that when hue and crie have beene made even to the -faces of some constables, they have said: ‘God restore your losse, I -have other business at this time!’ And by such meanes the meaning of -manie a good law is left unexecuted, malefactors imboldened, and manie -a poore man turned out of that which he hath swet and taken great -paines for, toward the maintenance of himself and his poore children -and familie.” (Holinshed, vol. i.) - -[Illustration: THE PILLORY - -From a historical print in the British Museum.] - -Among the punishments mentioned above was that of boiling alive. -One unfortunate, named Rose, a cook in the house of the Bishop of -Rochester, poisoned eighteen persons, of whom two died. He seems -to have done this wilfully. He was boiled to death. This fearful -punishment was inflicted by lowering the criminal slowly, inch by inch, -affixed to a post into a deep caldron full of boiling water. How long -the torture lasted before the heart stopped is not recorded. - -The penalty for bloodshed in the King’s Court was the loss of the right -hand. The ceremony observed for such a punishment made a ritual of a -remarkable and imposing ceremony. - -The offender, to quote Pike (_History of Crime_, vol. ii. p. 83), “was -brought in by the Marshal, and every stage of the proceedings was under -the direction of some member of the royal household. The first whose -services were required was the Serjeant of the Woodyard, who brought -in a block and cords, and bound the condemned hand in a convenient -position. The Master Cook was there with a dressing knife, which he -handed to the Serjeant of the Larder, who adjusted it, and held it -‘till the execution was done.’ The Serjeant of the Poultry was close -by with a cock, which was to have its head cut off on the block by the -knife used for the amputation of the hand, and the body of which was -afterwards to be used to ‘wrap about the stump.’ The Yeoman of the -Scullery stood near, watching a fire of coals, and the Serjeant Farrier -at his elbow to deliver the searing-irons to the surgeon. The chief -Surgeon seared the stump, and the Groom of the Salcery held vinegar -and cold water, to be used, perhaps, if the patient should faint. The -Serjeant of the Ewry and the Yeoman of the Chandry attended with basin, -cloths, and towels for the surgeon’s use. After the hand had been -struck off and the stump seared, the Serjeant of the Pantry offered -bread, and the Serjeant of the Cellar offered a pot of red wine, of -which the sufferer was to partake with what appetite he might.” - -[Illustration: - - _On the off hip of the Croupière_. - EXECUTION OF A SAINT - - _On the near side of the Croupière_. - MARTYRDOM OF A SAINT - - _On the off side of the Croupière_. - THE STORY OF ST. AGATHA - - _On the off side of the Croupière_. - FURTHER PUNISHMENT OF ST. AGATHA - - _On the near side of the Croupière_. - TORTURE OF ST. GEORGE - - _On the near hip of the Croupière_. - BEHEADING OF A FEMALE SAINT - -From the engravings upon Henry VIII.’s Armour in the Tower of London.] - -Pickpockets, still called cutpurses, abounded. They formed a distinct -profession; there was even a school for them. This educational -establishment was carried on by a certain man named Wotton, at a house -near Billingsgate, in the year 1585. Purses were worn at the girdle, -attached by a chain or by a leathern string, and the pickpocket could -be known by the horn thimble worn on the right thumb to protect it from -the knife with which he cut the purse. Maitland says (p. 269):— - - “Amongest our travells this one matter tumbled owt by the waye, - that one Wotton, a gentilman borne, kepte an Alehowse att Smarts - Keye neere Byllingsgate, and reared upp a newe trade of lyffe, - and in the same howse he procured all the Cuttpurses abowt this - Cittie to repair to his said howse. There was a Schole Howse sett - upp to learne younge boyes to cutt purses. There were hunge up two - devices, the one was a pockett, the other was a purse. The pocket - had in yt certen cownters, and was hunge abowte with hawkes bells, - and over the toppe did hannge a little sacringe bell; the purse - had silver in it; and he that could take owt a cownter without any - noyse was allowed to be a publique ffoyster, and he that could take - a peece of sylver owt of the purse without the noyse of any of the - bells, he was adjudged a judiciall Nypper. Note that a ffoyster is - a Pickpocte and a Nypper is termed a Pickepurse or a Cutpurse.” - -Among the many additions to Literature made during the Elizabethan age -we have as detailed a description of the rogues, vagabonds, and the -criminal class in London as we can desire. Their tricks and cheats; -their way of living; their language or slang, can all be read in books -of the time. Harrison, already quoted, furnishes a great deal; more -may be read in Awdeley, Harman and Rowlands, Dekker, etc. To spare the -curious reader a great deal of trouble, he is referred to Furnivall’s -_Rogues and Vagabonds of Shakspere’s Youth_. - -Harman’s account of these cheats and rogues is full of entertaining -anecdotes. For instance, there is the story of the robbery of his -cauldron by the “Upryght men,” and how he recovered it:— - - “I lately had standinge in my well house, which standeth on the - backeside of my house, a great cawdron of copper, beinge then full - of water, havinge in the same halfe a doson of pewter dishes, well - marked, and stamped with the connizance of my armes, whiche being - well noted when they were taken out, were set aside, the water - powred out, and my caudren taken awaye, being of such bygnes that - one man, unlesse he were of great strength, was not able far to - cary the same. Notwithstandynge, the same was one night within - this two yeares convayed more than half a myle from my house into - a commen or heth, and ther bestowed in a great firbushe. I then - immediatly the next day sent one of my men to London, and there - gave warning in Sothwarke, kent strete, and Barmesey streete, to - all the Tynckars there dwelling. That if any such Caudron came - thether to be sold, the bringar therof should be stayed, and - promised twenty shyllings for a reward. I gave also intelligence - to the water men that kept the ferres, that no such vessel should - be ether convayed to London or into essex, promysing the like - reward, to have understanding therof. This my doing was well - understand in many places about, and that the feare of espyinge - so troubled the conscience of the stealer, that my caudoren laye - untouched in the thicke firbushe more than halfe a yeare after, - which, by a great chaunce, was found by hunters for conneys; for - one chaunced to runne into the same bushe where my caudren was, - and being perceaved, one thrust his staffe into the same bushe, - and hyt my caudren a great blowe, the sound whereof dyd cause the - man to thinke and hope that there was some great treasure hidden, - wherby he thought to be the better whyle he lyved. And in farther - searching he found my caudren; so had I the same agayne unloked - for.” - -The Hooker or Angler was one who by day walked about the streets, -observing the windows and what was kept in them. At night he carried a -stick fitted with a hook. He opened the window from the outside, and -by means of his hook got out what he wanted. Once, says Harman, the -Hookers dragged from a bed, in which lay asleep a man and two boys, the -blankets and upper sheets, leaving them in their shirts. - -[Illustration: BILLINGESGATE] - -The Rogue professed a part and dressed up to it. Harman tells a story -of two rogues who wanted to break into a house but could not, because -it was of stone, with the mullions of the windows too close for them to -creep in. They had, however, a “horse-lock.” They woke up the tenant, -who had with him only an old woman, and begged for alms. He opened the -window and held out his hand with a penny in it. They seized his hand: -he naturally thrust out the other to succour the first; they seized -that as well, and clasped the two into the horse-lock, so that he was a -prisoner until he gave up all the money in the house. - -The “wild” Rogue is a variety distinguished by greater courage. Harman -quotes one as a beggar by inheritance. “His grandfather was a beggar; -his father was one; and he must needs be one by good reason.” - -The “Prygger of Prauncers” was a horse-stealer; the Pallyard of -Clapperdogen was one of the counterfeit sick men; he knew how to raise -blisters, and to create a sore place by means of spearwort or ratsbane. -The former raises a blister which passes away in a night; the latter a -sore place that is incurable. - -The Frater—in the name we seem to catch a memory of the extinct -Friar—carried at his girdle a black box, in which there was a licence -(forged) to beg. - -The Abram man was one who feigned to have been mad, and to have been -kept in Bedlam for a term of years. - -The Freshwater Mariner or Whipjack was a beggar who pretended to be a -sailor on his way to get a ship; or who had recently been shipwrecked; -or who had been robbed by pirates; and who showed a forged writing -signed, as it seemed, by men of substance and position confirming his -story. - -The Counterfeit Crank was a pretended epileptic. He carried a piece -of white soap, which he put into his mouth to represent the epileptic -foam. Harman draws a lively picture of such a man. He begged about the -Temple, his face covered with blood and his rags with mud and dirt. At -noon he repaired to the back of Clement’s Inn, where in a lane leading -to the fields he renewed the blood on his face from a bladder which he -had with him, and daubed his jerkin and hose again with mud. A certain -printer watched him: in the evening he took a boat across the river; -the printer followed him and caused him to be taken up in St. George’s -Fields as a common beggar. They took him to the Constable’s house, -where they stripped off his rags, showing him to be a healthy and -comely man with no sign of any disease; in his pockets they found the -sum of thirteen shillings, three pence, and a halfpenny; they gave him -an old cloak of the Constable’s, in which he sat by the fire and drank -three quarts of beer; after which he threw off the cloak and ran away -naked. But they found out where he lived, viz. in a “pretty house, well -stuffed, with a fair joined table, and a fair cupboard garnished with -pewter.” So they took him to Bridewell, where they painted him, first -in his disguise, and next in his proper attire. Then they whipped him -through London and brought him back to Bridewell, where he stayed till -they thought fit to let him go. - -The Dommerar pretended to be dumb: he carried a forged licence, and -generally pretended to have lost his tongue. One of them was, unluckily -for himself, caught by a surgeon, who proved that he had a tongue -though he had neatly folded it away somewhere; and as the fellow still -would not speak, the surgeon tortured him till he did. This done, they -haled him before the magistrate, who administered the usual medicine. - -The Drunken Tinker’s career may be dismissed; so may that of the -Pedlar; the Jackman made false writings and forgeries. - -The “Demander for Glymmar” was a woman who pretended to have been -burned out, and carried a begging licence. - -The Basket women carried laces, pins, needles and girdles for sale. -They bought coney skins and they stole linen from the hedges. - -The “Autem Morte” and the “Walking Morte” were also pedlars, and of -evil repute. - -The Doxy was the companion and the confederate of the Upright Man. - -The Dell, the Kynchen Morte, and the Kynchen Cove were boys and girls -in training for the life of the vagabond. - -Queen Elizabeth was fond of driving into the country as well as going -upon the river. One summer evening she rode out from Aldersgate, along -the road now called Goswell Road, towards the village of Iseldon or -Islington. Just outside the town she was surrounded and beset by a -number of beggars, to her great annoyance. Wherefore she sent her -running footman, Stone, to the Mayor and to the Recorder complaining -of this nuisance. The Recorder sent out warrants that same night to -the quarters complained of, and into Westminster, with the result that -seventy-four beggars were apprehended and sent to Bridewell, where they -were “punished” (_i.e._ soundly flogged). Some of them were found to be -very rich and usurers. - -The mob under Elizabeth did not venture in assemblies on acts of -violence. One or two exceptions must be made. Once an armed company, -headed by gentlemen, attacked Bridewell. Seeing that their object was -the release of certain unrepentant women whose profession concerned -the gentlemen only, it is probable that the whole of the rioters were -gentlemen. On another occasion the ’prentices rose against foreigners. -Instances of hatred between Spanish residents and citizens of London -are common in the pages of Machyn. Thus on October 15, 1554, a Spaniard -killed a servant of Sir George Gifford without Temple Bar. The cause -of the quarrel is not stated. Ten days afterwards the unfortunate -foreigner was hanged at Charing Cross. On the 4th of November following -there was a great fray at Charing Cross between Spaniards and English. -Not many were hurt, and those who began it were arrested, especially -a blackamoor. In January another Englishman was murdered by three -Spaniards, two of whom held him while the other ran him through. In -April was hanged a certain person, servant to a poulterer. He robbed a -Spaniard in Westminster Abbey, and for the offence was condemned to be -hanged for three days, and then to be buried under the gallows. He was -hanged in a gown of tawny frieze, and a doublet of tawny taffeta, with -hose lined with sarcenet. Before being turned off he railed at the Pope -and the Mass. - -Of street violence there was still a great deal, but not so much as -formerly. The following letter speaks for itself. - - “On Thursday laste (Feb. 13th 1587) as my Lorde Rytche was rydynge - in the streates, there was one Wyndam that stode in a dore, and - shotte a dagge at him, thynkynge to have slayne him; but God - provyded so for my L. Rytche that this Wyndam apoyntynge his - servant that mornynge to charge his dagge with 11 bulletts, the - fellow, doubtinge he mente to doe sum myschefe with it, charged - it only with powder and paper, and no bullett; and so this L.’s - lyfe was thereby saved, for otherwyse he had beene slayne. Wyndam - was presently taken by my Lord Rytche’s men, and, beynge broughte - before the Counsell, confessed his intende, but the cause of his - quarrell I knowne not; but he is commyted to the Towre. The same - daye also, as Sir John Conway was goynge in the streetes, Mr. - Lodovyke Grevell came sodenly uppon him, and stroke him on the - hedd with a sworde, and but for one of Sir John Conwaye’s men, - who warded the blow, he had cutt off his legges; yet did he hurte - him sumwhat on bothe his shynns; the Councelor sente for Lodovyke - Grevell and have commytted him to the Marchallcye.” (Drake, - _Shakespeare and his Times_, vol. ii.) - -The cucking-stool, trebucket, or tumbril, for the ducking of a scold, -was commonly found in every village. There were several kinds of it. -One was a chair set at the end of a braser which acted on a see-saw -principle; one a stump put into the ground at the edge of the water. -Another was a “standard” fixed at the entrance of a pond. To this -was attached a long pole, at the extremity of which was fastened the -chair. Such an one stood almost within the memory of man at the great -reservoir in the Green Park. Another kind was a sort of cart on four -wheels, with a braser, at the end of which was the chair. All over -Oxford these things are found, also at Wootton Bassett, Broad Water -Worthing, Leominster, Marlborough, Newbury, Scarborough, Warwick, -Ipswich. In 1777 a woman was ducked at Whitchurch. - -The trial of Ben Jonson, an account of which has been recovered by Mr. -John Cordy Jeafferson for the Middlesex County Record Society, began -with the inquest on the body of one James Feake, held in Holywell -Street, St. Leonard’s Shoreditch, in the thirty-ninth year of Queen -Elizabeth, and on the 10th day of December. The said James Feake was -killed in a brawl by one Gabriel Spencer, who struck him with his -sword in its scabbard in the right eye, so that he fell down, and -after languishing for three days, died of the wound. What was done to -Gabriel Spencer does not appear. Perhaps the case was treated as one of -self-defence. However, Gabriel Spencer presently met with his reward. -For in the month of September following, viz. in 1598, the said Gabriel -fell to quarrelling with a young man named Ben Jonson, in Shoreditch, -or Hoxton Fields; from words they quickly came to blows, and Gabriel -was pierced by Ben Jonson’s sword through the right side, so that he -died immediately. Jonson was thrown into prison and was tried for -manslaughter, not for murder. He pleaded guilty; he also pleaded his -clergy, read his “neck-verse,” and was released in accordance with the -statute 18 Eliz. c. 7, after being branded in the hand with what the -London people called the Tyburn T. - -I have found one instance, the earliest, of a kind of transportation. -Among Frobisher’s Company were six men condemned to death. Their -sentence was commuted into banishment. They were sent on board -Frobisher’s ship, to be landed on the shores of “Freezeland,” that -is Greenland or Labrador, with weapons and provisions. They were -instructed to win the good-will and friendship of the natives and to -inquire into their “estate.” In other words, to find out all that could -be learned concerning them. It is unfortunate that history makes no -further mention of these pioneers. - -[Illustration: THE CUCKING-STOOL. - -From an old print in the British Museum.] - -The story of Thomas Appletree: his terrible accident; his deadly peril; -his repentance; and his pardon, is pathetic. I suffer Stow to tell it -in his own words:— - -“The seventeenth day of July, the Queenes moste excellent Maiestie, -being in ye river of Thamis, betwixt hir Highnesse Mannour of -Greenewiche and Detteforde, in hur privie Barge, accompanyed with -Monsier Schemere the French Embassadour, the Earle of Lincolne, and -Maister Vizchamberlaine, etc., with whim she entred discourse about -waightie affaires; it chanced that one Thomas Appletree, a yong man -and servant to Maister Henrie Carie, with two or three children of hir -Maiesties Chappell, and one other named Barnard Acton, being in a Boate -on the Thamis, rowing up and downe betwixte the places above named, -the foresaide Thomas Appletree hadde a Caliver or Harquebuze, whych he -hadde three or foure times discharged with Bullet, shooting at randone -very rashly, who by greate misfortune shot one of the Watermen, being -the seconde man nexte unto the Bales of the saide Barge, labouring -with hys Oare (whyche sate wythin five feete of hir Highnesse), cleane -through bothe hys armes; the blowe was so greate and greevous, that it -moved him out of his place, and forced hym to crye and scritche oute -piteouslye, supposing hymselfe to be slain, and saying, he was shot -through the body. The man bleeding abundantly, as though he had had 100 -Daggers thrust into hym, the Queenes Maiestie showed such noble courage -as is moste wonderfull to be heard and spoken of, for beholding hym so -maimed, and bleding in such force, she never bashed thereat, but shewed -effectually a prudent and magnanimous heart, and moste courteously -comforting the pore man, she bad hym be of good cheere, and saide hee -should want nothing that might bee for his ease, commaunding hym to -be covered till such time as hee came to the shoare, till which time -hee lay bathing in his owne bloud, which might have been an occasion -to have terrified the eyes of the beholders. But such and so great -was the courage and magnanimitie of our dread and soveraigne Ladie, -that it never quailed. To be short, Thomas Appletree and the rest were -apprehended and brought before her honorable Counsell, who with great -gravitie and wisedome employed their times verie carefully, and with -greate diligence examined the saide Appletree and his companions, -and finding the case moste hainous and wicked, justly pronounced -againste him the sentence of death, and commit him to the Marshalsea in -Southwarke, from whence ye Tuisday following hee was brought through -the Citie with the Knight Marshalles men, ledde up to the Tower Hill, -and so to Radcliffe upp to Blackwall, and so downe to the waterside, -where was a Gibet sett upp, directly placed betwixte Detforde and -Greenewiche, for the execution of this malefactour, who in deed verie -pitifully bewayled the offence hee had committed, and as well in prison -as by the waie prepared himselfe verie penitently and willingly to -offer his body to the death. - -Thus verie godly hee purposed to finish his miserable and wretched -life, and so prepared himselfe to ascend and goe upp the Ladder, and -being on the same, he turned himselfe, and spake to the people as -followeth: Good people, I am come hither to die, but God is my Judge, I -never in my life intended hurt to the Queenes Most excellent Maiestie, -nor meant the harme of any creature, but I pray to God with all my -heart long to prosper and keepe her Highnes in health, who blesse and -defende her from all perilles and daungers, who prosper her in all her -affaires, and blesse her moste Honorable Counsell, giving them grace to -doe all things to the glorie of God, and the benefit of this realme; -but of all things I am moste sorie for my offence, and wofully bewaile -the same; and more, I am penitent and sorie for my good Maister, -Maister Henrie Carie, who hath been so grieved for my fault, suffering -rebuke for the same: I would to God I had never been borne that have -so grievously offended him. And with that the teares gusht oute of -his eyes verie faste. This saide, hee persuaded all men to serve God, -and to take an example by him, and every night and morning moved them -devoutly to say the Lord’s Prayer. And as the executioner had put the -rope about his necke, the people cried stay, stay, stay, and with that -came the right Honorable sir Christopher Hatton, Vizchamberlaine to -her highnes, who enquired what hee had confessed, and being certified, -as is before expressed, hee bailed his bonet, and declared, that the -Queenes Maiestie had sent him thither both to make the cause open to -them how hainous and greevous the offence of ye said Thomas Appletree -was, and further to signify to him her gracious pleasure; and so -continued his message, as ye may reade it printed by itself, and -annexed to this discourse. Which, when he had declared, the hangman -was commanded to take the roape from his necke. Appletree being come -downe from the Ladder, received his pardon, and gave God and the Prince -praise for so great a benefite as he had by her moste gracious bountie -received. This done, Maister Vizchamberlaine saide: Good people pray -for the Queenes Maiestie, and then was this prayer saide, which is -usually reade (for the preservation of her Maiestie) in the Church: O -Almighty and everlasting God, the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, -which dost fro’ thy throne behold all the dwellers of the earth, most -heartily we beseech thee with thy favour to behold our moste gracious -soveraigne lady Queen Elizabeth, etc. Whereunto all the people joyfully -accorded to saye Amen, crying, God save the Queen: casting up their -Cappes.” (Stow’s _Chronicles of England_.) - -One of the last cases of ordeal by battle belongs to the year 1571. - -“The eighteenth of June, in Trinitie terme, there was a combat -appointed to have been fought for a certeine manour and demaine -lands belonging thereunto in the Ile of Hartie, adjoining to the Ile -of Shepie in Kent. Simon Low and John Kime were plaintifs, and had -brought a writ of right against Thomas Paramore, who offered to defend -his right by battell. Whereupon the plaintiffs aforesaid accepted to -answer his challenge, offering likewise to defend their right to the -same manour and lands, and to prove by battell, that Paramore had no -right nor good title to have the same manour and lands. Hereupon the -said Thomas Paramore brought before the judges of the common plees of -Westminster, one George Thorne, a big, broad, strong set fellow; and -the plaintifs Henrie Nailer, maister of defense, and servant to the -right honourable the earle of Leicester, a proper slender man, and not -so tall as the other. Thorne cast downe a gantlet, which Nailer tooke -up, upon the sundaie before the battell should be tried. On the next -morow, the matter was staied, and the parties agreed, that Paramore -being in possession should have the land, and was bound in five hundred -pounds to consider the plaintifs, as upon hearing the matter the judges -should award. The queens majestie abhorring bloodshed, and (as the poet -very well saith) - - “Tristia sanguinei deuitans praelia campi” - -was the taker up of the matter, in this wise. It was thought good, -that for Paramore’s assurance, the order should be kept touching -the combat, and that the plaintifs Low and Kime should make default -of appearance; but that yet such as were sureties for Nailer their -champions appearance, should bring him in; and likewise those that were -sureties for Thorne, should bring in the same Thorne, in discharge of -their band; and that the court should sit in Tuthill Fields where was -prepared one plot of ground of one and twentie yards square, double -railed for the combat. Without the west square a stage being set up for -the judges, representing the court of the common plees. - -All the compasse without the lists was set with scaffolds one above -another, for people to stand and behold. There were behind the square -where the judges sat, two tents, the one for Nailer, the other for -Thorne. Thorne was there in the morning timelie, Nailer about seven -of the clock came through London, apparelled in a doublet, and gallie -gascoine breeches all of crimsin satin, cut and rased, a hat of blacke -velvet, with a red feather and band, before him drums and fifes -plaieng. The gantlet cast downe by George Thorne was borne before -the said Nailer upon a sword’s point, and his baston (a staffe of an -ell long, made taper wise, tipt with horne) with his shield of hard -leather was borne after him, as Askam a yeoman of the queenes gard. -He came into the place at Westminster and staieng not long before the -hall door, came back into the king’s street, and so along thorough the -Sanctuarie and Tuthill street into the field, where he staied till past -nine of the clocke, and then Sir Jerome Bowes brought him to his tent: -Thorne being in the tent with Sir Henrie Cheinie long before. - -About ten of the clocke, the court of common plees remooved, and came -to the place prepared. When the Lord chief Justice, with two other his -associates were set, then Low was called solemnlie to come in, or else -to lose his writ of right. Then after a certeine time, the suerties of -Henrie Nailer were called to bring in the said Nailer, champion for -Simon Low. And shortlie thereupon, Sir Jerome Bowes, leading Nailer by -the hand, entred with him the lists, bringing him downe that square by -which he entred, being on the left hand of the judges, and so about -till he came to the next square, just against the judges, and there -making courtesie, first with one leg and then with the other, passed -foorth till he came to the middle of the place, and then made the like -obeisance and so passing till they came to the barre, there he made -the like courtesie, and his shield was held up aloft over his head. -Nailer put off his netherstocks, and so barefoot and barelegged, save -his silke scauilones to the ankles, and his dublet sleeves tied up -above the elbow, and bareheaded, came in, as is aforesaid. Then were -the suerties of George Thorne called to bring in the same Thorne; and -immediately Sir Henry Cheinie entering at the upper end on the right -hand of the judges, used the like order in comming about by his side, -as Nailer had before on that other side; and so comming to the barre -with like obeisance, held up his shield. Proclamation was made that -none should touch the barres, nor presume to come within the same, -except such as were appointed. - -After all this solemne order was finished, the lord chiefe justice -rehearsing the maner of bringing the writ of right by Simon Low, of -the answer made thereunto by Paramore, of the proceeding therein, and -how Paramore had challenged to defend his right to the land by battell, -by his champion Thomas Thorne, and of the accepting the triall that -was by Low with his champion Henrie Nailer; and then for default of -appearance in Low he adjudged the land to Paramore, and dismissed the -champion, acquiting the suerties of their bands. He also willed Henrie -Nailer to render againe to George Thorne his gantlet. Whereto the -said Nailer answered, that his lordship might command him anie thing, -but willingly he would not render the said gantlet to Thorne except -he could win it. And further he challenged the said Thorne to play -with him half a score blowes, to shew some pastime to the lord chiefe -justice and to the other there assembled. But Thorne answered, that -he came to fight, and would not plaie. Then the lord chiefe justice -commending Nailer for his valiant courage, commanded them both quietlie -to depart the field, etc.” (Stow’s _Chronicles of England_.) - - - - - APPENDICES - - - - - APPENDIX I - - THAMES WATER - - -“Peter Morice, a Dutchman, in 1580 explained before the Lord Mayor -and Aldermen his invention for raising the Thames water high enough -to supply the upper parts of the City, and threw a jet of water over -the steeple of St. Magnus Church. Before this time no such thing had -been known in England. Whereupon the City granted him a lease for 500 -years of the Thames water, and the places where his mills stood, and -of one of the arches of old London Bridge, at 10s. yearly. Two years -afterwards they granted him another arch on the same terms. He received -large grants from the City to help him to complete this curious system -of hydraulic mechanism. In the Act for rebuilding the City after the -Great Fire it was provided that Thomas Morris should have power to -rebuild with timber his water-house for supplying the City (18 & 19 -Charles II. c. 8). The works continued in the family till 1701, when -they were sold for £36,000 to Richard Soames, and afterwards became the -property of a Company. On June 23rd, 1767, the fifth arch was granted -for the use of the Company. By Act of Parliament, 3 Geo. IV. cap. 109, -July 26th, 1822, the Acts relating to the Company were repealed. The -Company were to be paid £10,000, and their works to be removed by, or -at the expense of, the New River Company.” (_Remembrancia._) - -This invention and the subsequent supply of the whole City with water -laid on, killed the Company of Water-bearers. - -“The ‘Rules, Ordinances, and Statutes made by the Rulers, Wardens, and -Fellowship of the Brotherhood of Saint Cristofer of the Water-bearers -of London,’ are dated October 20th, 1496 (_Transactions of the London -and Middlesex Archæological Society_, vol. vi. p. 55). Their hall was -situated in Bishopsgate Street, near Sun Street, now numbered 143 and -144, Bishopsgate Street Without:—‘Robert Donkin, Citizen and Merchant -Taylor of London, left by his will, dated December 1st, 1570, that -messuage or howse which he purchased of the Company of Water-bearers on -the 9th of October, 1568.’” - - - - - APPENDIX II - - SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT’S ACADEMY - - -In 1570 Sir Humphrey Gilbert laid before the Queen a plan for an -Academy or University of London. - -His plan was as follows:— - -“Seeing that young gentlemen resort most freely to London there should -be an Academy, viz.:— - - 1. A master for G. and L., £40. - 2. Four Ushers at £20. - 3. One Hebrew at £50. - 4. One Logic and Rhetoric, £40. - Exercise and instruction in English. - 5. One Reader of Moral Phil., £100. - 6. „ „ „ Natural Phil., £40. - 7. Two mathematicians ea. at £100 {1. Arith., Geom., Fort. - {2. Cosmog., Astronomy, Navigation. - 8. Two Ushers at £40. - 9. Riding Master. - 10. Drill Master, £66:13:4. - 11. Physician £100, with a garden. - 12. Reader of Civil Law, £100. - 13. Reader of Divinity, £100. - 14. „ „ Law, £100. - 15. Teacher of French, £26; Spanish, £26; Italian, £26; Dutch, £26; - with Ushers at £10. - 16. Master of Defence, £36. - 17. Dancing and Vaulting School, £26. - 18. Music, £26. - 19. Steward, Cooks, Butlers, etc., £600. - 20. Minister and Clerks, £66:13:4. - 21. Teacher of Heraldry, £26. - 22. Librarian, £26. - 23. Treasurer, £100. - 24. Rector. - Amounting in all to £2966:13:4 a year. - -“By erecting this academie, there shall be hereafter an effect, no -gentleman within the Realm but good for something; whereas now the most -parts of them are good for nothing. Your Majesty and your successive -Courtes shall be for ever, instead of a nurserie of idlenes, become a -most noble Academy of Chevallrie, Policy, and Philosophie.” - - - - - APPENDIX III - - PETITION AGAINST ALIENS - - -“In most pitious and lamentable wise shewing and complaining unto your -most excellent highness, your humble, true and faithful subjects, -and contynualle orators, that is to sey, mercers, grocers, drapers, -goldsmythes, skynners, haberdassers, Taylers, ledyrsellers, pursers, -poyntmakers, glovers, powchemakers, Sadlers, Cutlers, pewterers, -Cowpers, gyrdlers, founders, Cordeners; vyntners, sporyars, joyners, -and all other Chapmen, retailers, occupiers of every craft, mystery, -and occupation, in all and every your Cities, ports, towns, and -boroughs within this noble realm of England. That where your said -realm and land is so inhabited with a great multitude, needy people, -strangers of divers nations, as Frenchmen, galymen, pycardis, flemings, -keteryckis, Spaynyars, Scottis, Lombards, and divers other nations, -that your liege people, Englishmen, cannot imagine nor tell wherto -nor to what occupation that they shalle use or put their children to -lerne or occupy within your said cities, boroughs, ports and towns of -this your said realm, with many other Chappmen and poor commons using -the said crafts, mysteries, and occupation in all and every shire of -this your said realm!... now it is so, most redoubted Sovereign lord, -that innumerable needy people of galymen, Frenchmen and other great -multitudes of alien strangers, do circuit, wander, go to and fro, in -every your Cities, ports, towns, and boroughs in all places, as well -within franchises, privileges, and liberties, as without, to every -man door, taking up standing, and there make their shows, markets and -sales of divers wares and merchandise to their own singular profits, -advantage, and advails, to the great disturbance, empoverishing, -hurt, loss, and utter undoing of your natural subjects and liege -people in all and every city, port, borough, town, and places of your -said realm: and also of more convenience for their advancement, the -said Aliens strangers use to hire them servants of their own nation, -or other strangers, or go about, wander, and retail in all cities, -ports, towns and boroughs, and all other places to bye, sell, retail, -and occupy seats and merchandise at their pleasure, without lawful -authority or license, contrary to the said acts and statutes afore -provided, and contrary to the Charters, liberties, constitutions, and -confirmations made, given, and granted by your said noble predecessor, -afore rehearsed: by means of which unlawful retailing so customably -haunted, used, and occupied, your liege people and natural subjects, -their wives, children, and servants, be utterly decayed, empoverished, -and undone, in this world, unless your excellent and benign grace of -your tender pity be unto your said subjects gracious at this time -showing in this behalf. And without a short remedy be had herein, your -said subjects be not able, nor shall not be of power to pay their -rents nor also to maintain their poor households and to bear lot and -scot and all other priests’ benevolences, and charges in time of need -and war for the defence of your grace and of this your said realm, -for the repressing, subduing, and vanquishing of your ancient enemies -Frenchmen, and all other their adherents and banished men outwards.” -(_Furnivall._) - - - - - APPENDIX IV - - THE ORDER OF PROCESSIONS - - - “Messengers of the Court. - Gentlemen of lesse note. - Esquiers. - Esquiers of the Body. - Clarkes of the Chancery. - Clarkes of the Signet. - Clarkes of the Privy Seale. - Clarkes of the Counsell. - Masters of the Chancery. - Knights Batchlers. - Knights Banneretts. - Trumpets soundinge. - Serjeants at Law. - Queenes Serjeants. - The Queen’s Attorney and the Queen’s Solicitor together. - The Baron of the Exchequer. - The Judges of the Common Pleas. - The Judges of the King’s Bench. - The Lorde Chiefe Justice of the Common Pleas, and the Lord Chiefe - Justice of the Exchequer. - The Lord Chief Justice of England, and the Master of the Rolls. - The Younger Sonnes of Nobility. - Knight of the Privy Counsell. - Knights of the Garter. - The Principall Secretary. - The Treasurer of the Queen’s House, and Controller of the Queen’s - House. - The Queen’s Clarke and Hat-bearer. - Two Heralds. - The Barons two and two. - Two Heralds. - The Bishops. - The Vicounts. - Two Heralds. - The Earls. - An Herald or King of Armes. - The Marques, etc. - Places for Dukes. - The Lord Chancellor of England. - The Lord Treasurer of England. - The Archbishop of Canterbury. - Clarenciaux King of Armes. - The Sergeants at Armes with Staves. - Bearer of the Capp Royal, and the Carrier of the Marshall Rod of - England. - The Sword bearer on either side him. - The Great Chamberleine of England. - The Steward of the Queenes House on the left side. - Then the Queene in her Chariotte. - The Four Querryes of the Stable come next, with the Queen’s - footmen: and without them all in a rancke wayted the Pentioners - with their Partisans. - Then the Master of the Horse. - Then the Chamberleine of the Queenes House. - Then the Vice-chamberleine with many Noblewomen, Ladyes and others. - -In this order passing to St. Peter’s Church, in Westminster: was there -met with the Queen’s Almoner, the Dean of Westminster with the Prebends -and all the Quier in their Copes.” - - - - - APPENDIX V - - THE CHANGES OF RITUAL - - -On 28th July 1900 was published in the _Athenæum_ of that date a paper -by the late Rev. Prebendary Kitto, Vicar of St. Martin’s in the Fields, -on the changes effected in the rites and ceremonies of that church -during the years 1537–1560 or thereabouts. This instructive document -was compiled from the accounts and papers preserved in the archives of -the church. - -Thus the ritual remained much the same during the reign of Henry -VIII. as it had been before the commencement of the Reformation. They -provided, as of old, candles, palms, incense; they hallowed sacred -coals for Easter Eve; they provided lights for the font, for the rood -loft, and for the altars; they set up the Easter sepulchre; they used -the great Paschal Candle, the tabernacle, and the pyx; they maintained -the side altars, and they not only repaired the vestments but they -received gifts of new vestments. They had obits and “minds,” celebrated -mass and kept up the images. - -In 1538 lights before images were forbidden; but a perpetual light was -maintained at the high altar. - -In 1539 the Parish sold the iron and latten candlesticks which had been -used for the images. - -In the same year a Bible was bought for the church. It cost 12s. 8d. - -In 1540 Henry is described under the title of “Defender of the Faith -and Supreme Head, under God, of the Church of England and Ireland.” - -In 1547 they sold all the wax they had in stock, according to the -injunction. - -In 1548 no more lights were allowed. The Parish sold the rest of their -candlesticks, and bought a Paraphrase of the Gospel and a Communion -Cup; they also whitewashed the church, in order, I suppose, to -obliterate the pictures. - -In 1549 the altars were stripped: there were to be no more flowers or -garlands, no incense and no lights. - -In 1550 they set up a box for the poor; sold their vestments; bought -white surplices, and put a green cloth over the “Communion Table.” - -In 1553 they sold the “old broken stuff of the Rood Loft” and made -“Communion Pews.” - -In the same year they were made to feel the mutability of things -religious, because everything had to be restored at great expense. -Their candlesticks, however, were of tin. They bought a cross for -processions; a mass-book, a holy water stoup with a sprinkle; a basket -for the holy bread; a pyx and all the other old vessels. Also, because -under Edward they had written texts on the walls, they were now ordered -to wipe them all out. - -In 1559 they began to go back again to the Edwardian time, but not -immediately. In 1560 the Bible was restored. - -It is worthy of note that the parish officers were a little uncertain, -after their melancholy experience, of the stability of things. They -therefore kept the vessels bought in the time of Queen Mary until 1569, -when, feeling somewhat reassured, they sold them all. - - - - - APPENDIX VI - - GOLDSMITHS’ ROW - - -“Opposite to the Cross in Cheapside, on the south side of the street, -there stood a superb pile of buildings, called Goldsmiths’ Row, -extending from the west to Bread Street. This Row was erected in 1491, -by Thomas Wood, Goldsmith, Sheriff of London. Stow describes it in -1598 as ‘the most beautiful frame of fair houses and shops that be -within the walls of London, or elsewhere in England. It containeth in -number ten fair dwelling-houses and fourteen shops, all in one frame, -uniformly builded four stories high, beautified toward the street -with the Goldsmith arms and the likeness of Woodmen (in memory of -the founder’s name) riding on monstrous beasts, all of which is cast -in lead, richly painted over and gilt.’ ‘This said front was again -new painted and gilt over in the year 1594, Sir Richard Martin being -then Mayor, and keeping the Mayoralty in one of them’ (Stow, edition -1633). ‘At this time the City greatly abounded in riches and splendour, -such as former ages were unacquainted with. Then it was beautiful -to behold the glorious appearance of Goldsmiths’ shops in the South -Row of Cheapside, which, in a continued course, reached from the Old -Change to Bucklersbury, exclusive of four shops only of other trades -in all that space’ (Maitland’s _History of London_, edition 1760, -vol. i. p. 301). King Charles the First in 1629 issued a Proclamation -ordering the Goldsmiths to plant themselves, for the use of their -trade, in Cheapside or Lombard Street. The Lords of the Council, in -1637, sent a letter to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen (_vide_ vii. 197), -ordering them to close every shop in Cheapside and Lombard Street that -did not carry on the trade of a Goldsmith, about twenty-four in all, -Grove and one Widow Hill, Stationers; Dover, a Milliner; Brown, a -Bandseller; Sanders, a Drugster; Medcalfe, a Cook; Edwards, a Girdler, -etc.—Rushworth’s ‘State Papers.’” (_Remembrancia_, p. 106, n. 1.) - - - - - APPENDIX VII - - LONDON PLANTS - - -In the _Archæologia_ may be found the following enumeration of plants -grown in an Elizabethan garden:— - - Adderstong—Ophioglossum. - Affodyll—Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus. Affodyll Daffadilly. - Appyl—Apple—Pyrus Malus; and garden varieties. - Asche tre—Ash—Fraxinus excelsior. - Auans—Geum urbanum, Avance or Avens. - Betony—Saachys Betonica. - Borage—Borrago officinalis. - Bryswort—Bruisewort, Brusewort or Brisewort—Bellis perenni. - Bugull—Bugle—Ajuga reptans. - Bygull—Bigold—Chrysanthemom segetum. - Calamynte—Calamintha officinalis. “The garden mynt.” - Camemyl—Chamomile—Anthemis nobilis. “Camamyll.” - Carsyndylls? “Cars or Carses—cress.” - Centory—Great Centuary. - Clarey—Clary—Salvia sclarea. - Comfery—Comfrey—Symphytum officinale. - Coryawnder—Coriander. - Cowslippe—Cowslip. - Dytawnder—Dittander and Dittany. - Egrimoyne—Egremoyne. - Elysauwder—Smyrnium Olusatrum. - Feldwort—Felwort and Fieldwort. - Floscampi? Campion? - Foxglove—Digitalis purpurea. - Fynel—Fennel. - Garleke—Garlick. - Gladyn—Iris foetidissima or Iris Pseudacorus. - Gromel—Gromwell. - Growdyswyly—Growndyswyly—Groundswyll. - Hasel tre—Hazel tree. - Haw thorn—Hawthorn. - Henbane—Hyoscyamus niger. - Herbe Ion. - Herbe Robert—Geranium Robertianum. - Herbe Water—Herb Walter. - Hertystonge—Hartystonge—Hart’s-tongue. - Holyhocke—Althaea rosea, or Malva sylvestris or Althaea officinalis. - Honysoke—Honeysuckle. - Horehound—Marrubium vulgare. - Horsel—Horselle—Horsehele. - Hyndesall?—Hind-heal. - Langbefe, generally supposed to be Helminthia echioides. - Lavyndull—Lavandula vera. - Leke—Leek. - Letows—Lettuce. - Lyly—Lily. - Lyverwort. - Merege. Cannot identify. - Moderwort—Motherwort. - Mouseer—Mouse ear. - Myntys—Mint. - Nepte—Nep or Neppe or Nept. - Oculus Christi—Salvia verbanaca. - Orage—Atriplex hortensis. - Orpy—Orpies. - Ownyns and Oynet. - Parrow? Cannot identify? mistake for Yarrow. - Pelyter—Pellitory. - Percely—Perselye —Parsley. - Pere—Pear. - Peruynke—Periwinkle. - Primrole—Primrose. - Polypody—Polypodium vulgare. - Pympernold—Pimpernel. - Radysche—Radish. - Redenay. Cannot identify. - Rewe—Rue. - Rose—Rosa, red and white. - Rybwort—Ribwort. - Saferowne—Saffron. - Sage—Salvia officinalis. - Sanycle—Sanicle. - Sauerey—Savory. - Scabyas—Scabious. - Seueny—Seniue. Common mustard or field senive. - Sowthrynwode—Southernwood. - Sperewort—Spearwort. - Spynage—Spinach. - Strowberys—Strawberries. - Stychewort—Stichewort. - Tansay—Tansy. - Totesayne—Tutsan—Hypericum Androsæmum. - Tuncarse—Town cress. - Tyme—Thyme. - Valeryan—a general name for Valeriana. - Verveyn—Vervain—Verbena officinalis. - Violet—Viola. Generally V. odorata. - Vynys and Vyne tre—Vine. - Walwort—Walwort or Danewort of Dwarf elder. - Warmot—Wormwood. - Waterlyly—Water lily. - Weybrede—Plantago major. - Woderofe—Woodruffe. - Wodesour—Woodsour. - Wurtys—Wortys. - Wyldtesyl—Teazel. - Ysope—Hyssop. “Ysopus is ysope.” - - (_Archæologia_, vol. 1. p. 167.) - - - - - APPENDIX VIII - - THE GALLANTS’ WALK IN ST. PAUL’S - - -“Your mediterranean isle is then the only gallery, wherein the pictures -of all your true fashionate and complemental Gulls are, and ought to -be hung up. Into that gallery carry your neat body: but take heed you -pick out such an hour, when the main shoal of islanders are swimming -up and down. And first observe your doors of entrance, and your exit: -not much unlike the players at the theatres: keeping your decorums, -even in phantasticality. As for example: if you prove to be a northern -gentleman, I would wish you to pass through the north door, more often -especially than any of the other: and so, according to your countries -take note of your entrances. - -Now for your venturing into the walk. Be circumspect, and wary what -pillar you come in at: and take heed in any case, as you love the -reputation of your honour, that you avoid the serving-man’s log, and -approach not within five fathom of that pillar: but bend your course -directly in the middle line, that the whole body of the church may -appear to be yours: where, in view of all, you may publish your suit -in what manner you affect most, either with the slide of your cloak -from the one shoulder: and then you must, as ’twere in anger, suddenly -snatch at the middle of the inside, if it be taffeta at the least: -and so by that means your costly lining is betrayed, or else by the -pretty advantage of compliment. But one note by the way I do especially -woo you to, the neglect of which makes many of our gallants cheap and -ordinary, that by no means you be seen above four turns: but in the -fifth make yourself away, either in some of the semsters’ shops, the -new tobacco-office, or amongst the booksellers, where, if you cannot -read, exercise your smoke, and inquire who has writ against this divine -weed, etc. For this withdrawing yourself a little will much benefit -your suit, which else, by too long walking, would be stale to the whole -spectators: but howsoever if Paul’s jacks be once up with their elbows, -and quarrelling to strike eleven: as soon as ever the clock has parted -them, and ended the fray with his hammer, let not the Duke’s gallery -contain you any longer, but pass away apace in open view: in which -departure, if by chance you either encounter, or aloof off throw your -inquisitive eye upon any knight or squire, being your familiar, salute -him not by his name of Sir such a one, or so: but call him Ned, or -Jack, etc. This will set off your estimation with great men: and if, -though there be a dozen companies between you, ’tis the better, he call -aloud to you, for that is most genteel, to know where he shall find -you at two o’clock: tell him at such an ordinary or such: and be sure -to name those that are dearest, and whither none but gallants resort. -After dinner you may appear again, having translated yourself out of -your English cloth cloak into a light Turkey grogram, if you have that -happiness of shifting: and then be seen, for a turn or two, to correct -your teeth with some quill or silver instrument, and to cleanse your -gums with a wrought handkerchief: it skills not whether you dined, or -no: that is best known to your stomach: or in what place you dined: -though it were with cheese, of your mother’s own making, in your -chamber, or study. - -Now if you chance to be a gallant not much crost among citizens: that -is, a gallant in the mercer’s books, exalted for satins and velvets: -if you be not so much blest to be crost (as I hold it the greatest -blessing in the world to be great in no man’s books): your Paul’s walk -is your only refuge: the Duke’s tomb is a sanctuary: and will keep -you alive from worms, and land-rats, that long to be feeding on your -carcass: there you may spend your legs in winter a whole afternoon: -converse, plot, and talk any thing: jest at your creditor, even to his -face: and in the evening, even by lamp-light, steal out: and so cozen a -whole covey of abominable catchpolls. Never be seen to mount the steps -into the quire, but upon a high festival day, to prefer the fashion of -your doublet: and especially if the singing-boys seem to take note of -you: for they are able to buzz your praises above their anthems, if -their voices have not lost their maidenheads: but be sure your silver -spurs dog your heels, and then the boys will swarm about you like so -many white butterflies: when you in the open quire shall draw forth a -perfumed embroidered purse, the glorious sight of which will entice -many countrymen from their devotion to wondering: and quoit silver into -the boys’ hands, that it may be heard above the first lesson, although -it be read in a voice as big as one of the great organs. - -This noble and notable act being performed, you are to vanish presently -out of the quire, and to appear again in the walk: but in any wise be -not observed to tread there long alone: for fear you be suspected to be -a gallant cashiered from the society of captains, and fighters.” (_The -Gull’s Horn Book._) - - - - - APPENDIX IX - - MONTHLY PROVISION TABLE THROUGH THE YEAR 1605 - - - +---+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ - | | | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | - | | | a | e | a | p | a | u | u | u | e | c | o | e | - | | | n.| b | r | r | y | n | l | g | p | t | v | c | - | | | . | . | . | i | . | e | y | u | t | . | . | . | - | | | | | | l | | . | . | s | . | | | | - | | | | | | . | | | | t | | | | | - | | | | | | | | | | . | | | | | - +---+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ - | | Rooe |...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Bucke |...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———|...|...|...| - | | Braune |———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Muttone |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Pigge |———|———|———|———|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Hare |———|———|———|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | M | Beefe |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | E | Veale |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | A | Lambe |———|...|———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...|———|———| - | T | Dowe |———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———| - | | Baconn |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Porcke |———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...|...|———|———|———| - | | Rabbetts |———|———|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Hinde |———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———| - | | Kidde |...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Stagges |...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...| - | | Gote |...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|...|———|———| - +---+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ - | | Bustarde |———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...|...|———|———|———| - | | Goose |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———| - | | Green Goose |...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|...|...|...|...| - | | Heron |———|...|———|...|...|———|———|———|...|———|———|...| - | | Egrett |———|...|...|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Widgeon |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———| - | | Curlewiake |———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Turkie |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Phesaunte |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Pullett |———|...|...|———|———|...|...|...|———|...|———|———| - | | Bayninge |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Ruffe |———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|...|...| - | | Plover |———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———| - | | Snipe |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———| - | | Partreges |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Larckes |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...|———|———| - | | Crayne |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Storcke |———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Shoveller |———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———| - | | Brue |———|...|...|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Curlewe |———|———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Gull |———|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|...|———| - | | Peacocke |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|———|———| - | | Henne |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———| - | | Redshanke |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Knotte |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Blankett |———|...|...|...|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Stockdoves |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Indecocke |———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Quales |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|———|———| - | | Thrush |...|———|———|...|...|———|...|...|...|———|———|———| - | | Pidgeons |...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|———|———| - | F | Stennts |...|———|———|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | O | Turtells |...|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | W | Goldnye |...|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | L | Jedcokes |...|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|...| - | | Pevetts |...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|...|...| - | | Sea Pie |...|...|...|...|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Pea Chicks |...|...|...|...|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Petterells |...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———|...|...|...| - | | Stares |...|...|...|...|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Churre |...|...|...|...|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Sparrows |———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Swanne |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Hernne |———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|...|...|———| - | | Bitter |———|———|———|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|...| - | | Mallarde |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———| - | | Cudberduce |———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———| - | | Cullver |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———| - | | Caponne |———|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|———|———| - | | Godwite |———|———|———|———|———|...|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Ree |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Dotterell |———|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...|...| - | | Teale |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Woodcocke |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———| - | | Plover |———|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Fellfaire |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———| - | | Finshes |———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Smalebirds |...|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———| - | | Chickens |...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...| - | | Chitt |...|...|...|...|———|...|———|———|...|...|...|...| - | | Kennecis |...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...| - | | Mewe |...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———|...|...|...| - | | Tearne |...|...|...|...|...|———|———|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Blackbirds |...|...|...|...|...|———|...|...|...|———|———|———| - | | Young Turkies|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|...|...|...|...| - | | Auk |...|...|...|...|...|...|———|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Martines |...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|...|...|...|...| - | | Crouces |...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|...|...|...| - | | Dunlings |...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|...|...|...| - | | Railes |...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|...|...| - | | Lapwine |...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|...| - | | Golne |...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|...| - +---+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ - | | Kennecis |...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Pearches |...|———|———|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Linge |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Tunny |———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Turbutt |———|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Whitinge |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Soles |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Lamprons |———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Carpe |———|...|...|...|...|———|...|...|———|———|———|———| - | | Tench |———|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...| - | | Oysters |———|———|———|———|...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Cockells |———|...|...|———|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———| - | | Codde |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Porposse |———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Haddocke |———|———|———|———|———|...|———|———|...|...|———|———| - | | Sealumpe |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...|———|———| - | | Place |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...| - | | Chevine |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...| - | | Pike |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Eles |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...|———|———| - | | Crabbs |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Crevices |———|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Styrgeon |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | F | Seals |———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | I | Thornebacke |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | S | Salmon |———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | H | Dace |...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Habberdine |...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Roche |...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Mussels |...|———|———|———|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———| - | | Crefishes |...|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Smeltes |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...|...| - | | Barbell |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...| - | | Breame |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Rudds |———|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|———| - | | Lobsters |———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———| - | | Praunes |———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———| - | | Herings White|...|...|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Herings Red |...|...|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Herringes |...|...|...|...|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Britt |...|...|...|———|...|———|———|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Conger |...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...| - | | Cunninge |...|...|...|———|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Goodgions |...|...|...|———|...|———|———|———|———|———|...|...| - | | Rochetts |...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...| - | | River Trout |...|...|...|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Trout |...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...| - | | Flounders |...|...|...|———|———|———|...|———|———|———|...|———| - | | Lamprais |...|...|...|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Mades |...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...| - | | Loche |...|...|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Gurnard |...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...| - | | Sprates |...|...|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Dabes |...|...|...|———|———|———|...|———|———|———|...|———| - | | Dory |...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|...|...| - | | Millett |...|...|...|———|———|———|———|———|...|...|...|...| - | | Perches |...|...|...|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Burbott |...|...|...|———|———|———|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Menewes |...|...|...|———|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...| - | | Mackarell |...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———|...|...|...|...| - | | Shads |...|...|...|...|———|...|———|———|...|...|...|...| - | | Mopps |...|...|...|...|...|———|...|———|———|———|...|———| - | | Breate |...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———|———|———|...| - | | Smalcod |...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———|———| - | | Shrimps |...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———| - | | Perrewinkell |...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|———| - +---+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ - -Maitland gives a Table of Prices for the years 1274, 1302, 1314, -1531, and 1550. Note that in the years 1314 and 1550 provisions were -excessively dear. - - +--------------------------+------------+---------+---------+-----------+-----------+ - | | 1274. | 1300 or | 1314. | 1531. | 1550. | - | | | 1302. | | | | - +--------------------------+------------+---------+---------+-----------+-----------+ - |A Fat Cock |... |1½d. |... |¾d. | ... | - |The best Hen |3½d. |... |1½d. |... | 9d. | - | „ Pullet |1¾d. |¾d. |... |... | 6d. | - | „ Capon |2d. |2½d. |2½d. |1s. | 1s. 4d. to| - | | | | | | 1s. 8d. | - | „ Goose (according |5d. or 4d. |4d. |3d. |... | 6d. to 9d.| - | to season) | | | | | | - | „ Wild Goose |4d. |... |... |... | ... | - | „ Pigeon |3 for 1d. |... |3 for 1d.|12 for 10d.| 12 for | - | | | | | | 1s. 2d. | - | „ Mallard |3½d. |1½d. |... |... | ... | - | „ Wild Duck |1¾d. |... |... |... | ... | - | „ Partridge |3½d. |1½d. |... |... | ... | - | „ Larks (per dozen)|12 for 1d. |... |... |12 for 5d. | 12 for 8d.| - | „ Pheasant |4d. |... |... |... | ... | - | „ Heron |6d. |6d. |... |... | 2s. 6d. | - | „ Plover |1d. |1d. |... |... | 4d. | - | „ Swan |3s. |3s. |... |... | 6s. 8d. | - | „ Crane |3s. |1s. |... |... | 6s. | - | „ Peacock |1d. |... |... |... | ... | - | „ Coney |4d. |... |... |... | ... | - | „ Hare |3½d. |... |... |... | ... | - | „ Kid (according |10d. or 6d. |... |... |... | ... | - | to season) | | | | | | - | „ Lamb |6d. or 4d. | 1s. 4d. |... |... | ... | - | | | or 4d. | | | | - | „ Plaice |1½d. |... |... |... | ... | - | „ Soles (per dozen)|3d. |... |... |... | ... | - | „ Mullet | 2d. | ... | ... | ... | ... | - | „ Haddock | 2d. | ... | ... | ... | ... | - | „ Conger | 1s. | ... | ... | ... | ... | - | „ Turbot | 6d. | ... | ... | ... | ... | - | „ Mackerel | 1d. | ... | ... | ... | ... | - | „ Gurnard | 1d. | ... | ... | ... | ... | - | „ Herring (accord- |6 for 1d. or| | | | | - | ing to season) | 12 for 1d. | ... | ... | ... | ... | - | „ Lamprey | 4d. | ... | ... | ... | ... | - | „ Oysters |2d. a gallon| ... | ... | ... | ... | - | „ Salmon (according| 5s. or 3s. | | | | | - | to season) | | ... | ... | ... | ... | - | „ Eels | 25 for 2d. | ... | ... | ... | ... | - | „ Smelts |100 for 1d. | ... | ... | ... | ... | - |A Quarter of Wheat | ... | 4s. | ... | ... |8s. to 13s.| - | „ Pease | ... | 2s. 6d. | ... | ... | 3s. to 5s.| - | „ Oats | ... | 2s. | ... | ... | 4s. | - |A Bull | ... | 7s. 6d. | ... | ... | ... | - |A Cow | ... | 6s. | 12s. | ... | ... | - |A Fat Sheep | ... | 1s. | ... | 2s. 10d. | 2s. 4d. to| - | | | | | | 4s. 4d | - |An Ewe | ... | 8d. | ... | ... | 1s. 8d. to| - | | | | | | 2s. 6d. | - |An Ox | ... | ... | £1:4s. | £1:6:8 | £2:5s. to | - | | | | or 16s. | | £1:8s. | - |A Hog | ... | ... | 3s. 4d. | 3s. 8d. | ... | - |Eggs | ... | ... |20 a 1d. | ... | ... | - +--------------------------+------------+---------+---------+-----------+-----------+ - - - - - APPENDIX X - - EXECUTIONS - - -The following is a list of executions which took place in the thirty -years ending 1586. It shows the various crimes which were then -considered capital:— - - 1563. A soldier executed at Newhaven for drawing his weapon without - orders. - 1563. A sergeant and soldier executed for drawing their weapons - against their captain. - 1569. Mestrell a Frenchman, and two Englishmen, hanged for - counterfeiting money. - 1569. Sixty rebels executed at Durham. - 1569. A ’prentice hanged for murdering his master. - 1569. Five rebels executed at York. - 1570. Thomas and Christopher Norton executed for treason. - 1570. John Throckmorton and five others executed for treason. - 1570. John Felton hanged for nailing the Pope’s Bull to the Bishop - of London’s Palace. - 1570. Two young men hanged for debasing coin. - 1570. Dr. John Storie hanged for high treason. - 1571. Rebecca Chamber burnt for poisoning her husband. - 1572. Barneie, Mather, and Rolfe, hanged for treason. - 1572. Martin Bullocke hanged for robbery and murder. - 1572. Duke of Norfolk beheaded for treason. - 1573. Percy, Earl of Northumberland, beheaded as a conspirator. - 1573. John Hall and Oswald Wilkinson hanged for treason. - 1573. A man hanged for murder. - 1573. George Browne hanged for murder. - 1573. Anne Sanders, Anne Drurie, and trustie Roger hanged as - accessories to murder. - 1573. Anthonie Browne hanged for felony. - 1574. Peter Burchet hanged for murder. - 1575. Two Dutch Anabaptists burnt at Smithfield. - 1575. Twenty-two pirates executed. - 1575. Thomas Greene, goldsmith, hanged for clipping coin. - 1576. A woman burnt at Tunbridge for poisoning her husband. - 1576. A man hanged at Maidstone as an accessory to poisoning. - 1577. Cuthbert Maine hanged as a Romanist. - 1577. John Nelson and Thomas Sherewood hanged for denying the - Queen’s supremacy. - 1577. John de Loy and five Englishmen executed at Norwich for - counterfeiting coin. - 1577. Seven Pirates hanged at Wapping. - 1577. An Irishman hanged on Mile End Green for murder. - 1580. A man named Glover hanged for murder. - 1580. Richard Dod hanged for murder. - 1580. William Randall hanged for conjuring. - 1581. A man hanged at St. Thomas Waterings for begging by a licence - signed by the Queen’s own hand counterfeited. - 1581. Edward Hance a seminary priest hanged. - 1581. Edmund Campion, Ralfe Sherwin, Alexander Briars, hanged for - high treason. - 1581. John Paine executed at Chelmsford for high treason. - 1581. Thomas Foord, John Shert, Robert Johnson, priests, hanged for - designs against Elizabeth. - 1582. Laurence Richardson and Thomas Catcham executed for Romanism. - 1582. Philip Prise hanged in Fleet Street for killing a Sheriff. - 1583. Thomas Worth and Alice Shepheard hanged in Shoolane for - killing a ’prentice. - 1583. Elias Shackar hanged at Bury St. Edmunds for spreading - seditious literature. - 1583. Ten priests hanged. - 1583. John Lewes burnt at Norwich for heresy. - 1583. John Slade and John Bodie hanged for high treason. - 1583. Ten horsedealers hanged at Smithfield for robbery. - 1583. Edward Arden hanged for treason. - 1583. William Carter hanged for high treason. - 1584. Francis Throckemorton hanged for treason. - 1584. William Parrie hanged for treason. - 1585. Thomas Awfeld and Thomas Weblie hanged for publishing - seditious matter. - 1586. Two seminary priests hanged at Tyburn. - 1586. A witch burnt at Smithfield. - 1586. A woman executed at Tyburn for adultery. - 1586. Two priests hanged at Tyburn for treason. - 1586. Jone Cason hanged for witchcraft. - 1586. A man named Foule hanged for robbing his wife. - 1586. Henry Elks hanged for counterfeiting the Queen’s signature. - 1586. Seven persons condemned for treason. - 1586. John Ballard, a priest, executed for conspiring with Anthony - Babington against Elizabeth. With him were executed John - Savage, Barnewell, Tichborne, Tilneie, Edward Abingdon, - Anthony Babington. - 1586. Thomas Salisbury executed for treason. With him suffered - Henry Dun, Edward Jones, Charnocke, Robert Gage, Jerom - Bellamie. - 1586. Three seminary priests hanged at Tyburn. - 1563–1586—76 Executed for high treason. - 71 Rebels. - 17 Murder. - 3 Military offences. - 12 Counterfeiting and clipping coin. - 2 Counterfeiting Queen’s signature. - 29 Pirates. - 2 Witchcraft and conjuring. - 3 Heresy. - 12 Robbery. - 1 Adultery. - - - - - APPENDIX XI - - PLAN OF TOTTENHAM COURT - - - (MARQUIS OF SALISBURY’S COLLECTION, HATFIELD HOUSE) - - (Endorsed 1) The plot of Toten’am Coorte. - (Endorsed 2) Ap. 1591 Totenham Cort. - -Below the plan is written:— - -“M^d. [memorandum] there doth belonge to the said Scite of Tottenham -Court two other Closes over and above the pastures mentioned in this -plotte; And not here mentioned by reason they lye so farr distaunt -from the said londes mentioned in this plott: Vĩz the one of the said -Closes doth lye in Kentishe Towne in the said Countie, distaunt one -Mile and more from the farthest part Northward of the ground mentioned -in the said plott, late in the Tenure of Widowe Glover: And the other -Close contayning 4 Acres by estimacõn doth lye in the parishe of St -Pancrasse in the said Countie now or late in the Tenure of Willm̃ -Bunche, distaunt from the South part of the saied landes mentioned in -the said plott one quarter of A myle: w^{ch} saied two Closes w^{th} -two Tenem^{ts} there (As I am enfourmed) are demised unto Serieaunt -[Serjeant] Haynes for certaine yeares yet enduring, by the right -Honourable Henry late Earle of Arundell, And Robert late Earle of -Leyester; yeelding yearley to the Cofferer of hir Ma^{ts} [Majesty’s] -housholde—lxvi^s viii^d. The charge of the new building of one of -the Tenem^{ts}, And the continuall Repairing thereof, hath (As I am -enfourmed) cost Serieaunt Haynes—xxxiii^{li} vi^s viii^d. And the new -building of the other, w^{th} the repairing thereof did coste Alexander -Glover late Hearde there—xx^{li} or thereabouts. - -Also I am enfourmed, that Serieaunt Haynes doth hold the said ffowre -Closes, lying next the said Parke pale, w^{th} thafter pasture of two -of the same Closes, beyng the middle Closes; yeelding yearlie ffiftie -loades of hay, to be delivered at the Muse, ffor and twords her Ma^{ts} -[Majesty’s] provision there, cleere above all charges; every loade -to contayne 18. hundred weight. And thafter pasture of the other two -Closes are to be used for the feede of her Ma^{ts} Cattell untill the -feaste of the Purification of o^r Lady following. - -Also I finde one Danyell Clerke one of her Ma^{ts} servaunts doth now -dwell in the Scite of the said howse, w^{ch} is A very slender building -of Timber and Bricke And hath beene of a larger building, then now it -is: ffor some little parte hath been pulled downe of late, to amend -some part of the howses now standing; w^{ch} has beene repaired of -late, by the said Alexander Glover Heard there: And other some part -being two Roomes, whereof the one Roome contayneth in breadth w^{th}in -the wall 15 foote; And in lengthe 24 foote; And thother Roome is 15 -foote broade, and in length 34 foote very greatlie decaied, w^{ch} will -coste to be repaired—lx^{li} at the least. And the said cheife howse, -one Stable, and two barnes, And A little Close called Ponde Close, -w^{th} the Ortcyard, And the two Closes called Murrells mentioned -in the platt are used to be fedd w^{th} her Ma^{ts} Cattell, At the -discretion of her Ma^{ts} Officers. - - 6^t Aprilis 1.5.9.1 - ̃p. me Willm̃ Nector.” - - - - - NOTE ON AGAS’S MAP AT THE END OF THE VOLUME - - -Ralph Agas was born about 1540. He was a land-surveyor, and his -chief claim to notice lies in the three maps or plans he made of -London, Oxford, and Cambridge. Of these the one reproduced in this -volume, entitled “A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, -the Borough of Southwark and parts adjacent,” was engraved by Edward -J. Francis, and edited by W. H. Overall, F.S.A. Mr. Overall made a -careful examination of all the facts, and believes that the original -map of Agas was not made earlier than the year 1591, though it has been -commonly supposed to have been made about 1560. Of the original, two -copies are extant—one in the Guildhall, and the other in the Pepysian -Collection at Magdalen College, Oxford. - -In 1737 G. Vertue published a copy of Agas’s map, altering the original -in many important particulars, which are enumerated by Mr. Overall in -his account of the map. Among these may be mentioned the water-bearers -seen off Tower Stairs and the Steelyard, filling their casks, which are -slung across the backs of horses, by the aid of a long-handled ladle. -In Vertue’s map this interesting detail is turned into a meaningless -one, namely, a man driving cows into the water with a whip. In Agas -the figures seen in the fields are in Elizabethan costume; in Vertue’s -map they are in the costume of William III.’s reign. Other particulars -omitted in Vertue are the royal barge in mid-stream off Baynard’s -Castle; the Martello Tower at the mouth of the Fleet; the Chapter -House and the Church of St. Gregory on the south side of St. Paul; -and various other points. By noting these details, Vertue’s spurious -reproduction can be at once distinguished from the genuine map of -Agas. - - - - - INDEX - - - Abergavenny, 218 - - Abram man, the, 386 - - Acheley, R., 42 - - Acton, Barnard, 389 - - Africa, trade with, 222 - - Agas, Ralph, 186, 417 - - Aldermen, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 26, 27, 37, 40, 77, 78, 90, 98, 210, 211, - 212, 259, 309, 313, 324, 342, 345, 371, 373, 397 - - Aldermen, Court of, 27, 28, 40, 220 - - Aldersgate Street, 58, 246 - - Aldersgate, Ward of, 76 - - Aldgate, Ward of, 76 - - Ale and beer, 292, 293, 300, 302, 334, 337, 368 - - Aliens, 13, 14, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26, 42, 59, 61, 80, 82, 203, 237, 238, - 242, 387, 399 - - Allen, Cardinal, 72, 73, 119, 143 - - Allen, J., 376 - - Almshouses, 375–378 - - Ambassadors, the French, 23, 24, 26, 39, 351, 389; - the Russian, 63, 234 - - Amusements—Archery, 193, 343, 354–356, 363; - bear-baiting, 74, 241, 343, 346, 347, 352–354; - bowls, 181, 290, 363; - bucklers, 25; - bull-baiting, 343, 346, 347, 352, 353; - cards, 290, 363; - cock-fighting, 363; - dancing, 20, 153, 182, 325, 343, 363; - dice, 290; - fighting, 183; - hawking, 98; - hunting, 100, 215, 363; - masques, 313; - May-day games, 347; - pigeon-shooting, 153; - quarter-staff, 343, 352, 363; - quintain, 343; - reading, 365; - single-stick, 352; - story-telling, 364, 365; - tennis, 290; - theatres (See _Drama, Theatres_); - tilting and tournaments, 100, 351, 363; - and women, 272; - wrestling, 183, 343, 352, 363 - - Anabaptists, 160, 161 - - Anfrelini, Fausto, 286 - - Anglers, 385 - - Anstry, Ralph, 10 - - Antwerp, 219–220, 232 - - Apollo Club, 340 - - Appletree, Thomas, 82, 389–391 - - Apprentices, 12, 13, 80, 199, 218, 275, 276, 291, 310, 323–332, 387 - - Apprentice bell, the, 147 - - Apsley, 246 - - Ardeley, J., 136 - - Arden of Faversham, 47 - - Armour, 318, 319, 322 - - Arthington, Henry, 158, 159 - - Arthur, Prince, 9 - - Artillery Company, 356 - - Artillery Ground, 16 - - Arundell, Earl of, 39 - - Ascham, 248 - - Ashmole, 165 - - Askew, Anne, 31 - - Astrology, 165 - - Atwater, John, 9 - - Audley, Lord, 7, 8 - - Autem Morte, the, 387 - - Awdeley, 384 - - Aylmer, Lawrence, 12 - - - Babington Conspiracy, the, 81 - - Bacon, Lord, 202, 248 - - Bainbrigg, 150 - - Bakewell, 150 - - Bale, John, 129, 130, 257 - - Ballads, 251, 252, 253 - - Balthazar, 203 - - Bankside, 203, 240, 346, 347, 352 - - Barbican, the, 100 - - Barges, 39, 86, 211, 259, 351, 389, 417 - - Barley, W., 246 - - “Barmesey” Street, 384 - - Barnard’s Inn, 276, 333 - - Barnet, 140 - - Barnstaple, 218 - - Barrington, Daines, 355 - - Barton, Elizabeth, 31, 32 - - Basinghall Street, 201 - - Basket woman, the, 387 - - Bassishaw, Ward of, 76 - - Bath, 217, 376 - - Bavaria, Duke of, 99, 100 - - Baynard’s Castle, 12, 35, 181, 203, 417; - Ward of, 76 - - Beaumont, F., 247, 339 - - Bedford, 217 - - Beds, 278, 281, 284, 333 - - Beggars and rogues, 19, 20, 29, 40, 41, 44, 147, 288, 291, 347, - 366–371, 380, 381, 385, 387 - - Bele, Dr., 24, 25 - - Bellmen, 63 - - Bentley, Justice, 150, 151 - - Bermondsey, 237, 370 - - Berwick, 218 - - Betrothal, 311, 312 - - Bible, the, 45, 46, 70, 121, 127, 144, 178, 197, 227, 285 - - Billingsgate, Ward of, 76 - - Bishopsgate Street, 99, 195, 397 - - Bishopsgate, Ward of, 76, 204 - - Bishop of London, 30 - - Black Death, 369 - - Blackfriars, 128, 148, 203 - - Blackheath, 7, 26 - - Black Waggon, the, 26 - - Blackwall, 191, 390 - - Blackwell Hall, 43 - - Bodmin, 218 - - Boleyn, Anne, 30, 38, 39, 40 - - Bond, Martin, 77, 78 - - Bonham, John, 256 - - Books, sale of, 244, 245, 246, 247, 272, 273 - - Booksellers and authors, 247 - - Borough, the, 333 - - Boswell, 339 - - Bow, 238 - - Bowes, Sir J., 392 - - Bowes, Lady, 150 - - Boxley, Holy Rood of, 148 - - Boy-Bishop, the, 46, 356, 364 - - Boycott, the, 42 - - Bradford, John, 58 - - Bread Street, 200, 339, 403 - - Bread Street, Ward of, 76 - - Brecknock, 218 - - Bricks, 276 - - Bridewell, 185, 315 - - Bridewell, Palace of, 28, 48, 132, 178 - - Bridge foot, 53 - - Bridge House, the, 313 - - Bridge, J., 246 - - Bridge Within, Ward of, 76 - - Bridge Without, Ward of, 48 - - Bridgewater, 218 - - Bridgnorth, 217, 377 - - Bridport, 218 - - Bristol, 217, 376 - - Britannia Fields, 356 - - Brixton, 150 - - Broad Street, 181, 202, 221, 355 - - Broad Street, Ward of, 76 - - Broad Water Worthing, 388 - - Brockby, Anthony, 129 - - Broken Wharf, 158 - - Brome, 340 - - Bromley, R., 136 - - Brook, Robert, 49 - - Browne, John, 259 - - Browne, Sir T., 248 - - Buckingham, 217 - - Buckingham, Duke of, 30 - - Bucklersbury, 180, 403 - - Bunhill Fields, 16 - - Burbage, James, 345, 346 - - Burby, C., 246 - - Burgundy, Margaret, Duchess of, 13 - - Burleigh, 85, 143 - - Burnell, Anne, 159 - - Burroughs, 222 - - Butchers, 151, 152 - - Butcher Row, 44 - - Butler, N., 246 - - - Cadman, 246 - - Caerleon, 218 - - Caermarthen, 218 - - Calais, 62 - - Cambridge, 218, 376 - - Camden, 240 - - Campeggio, Cardinal, 28, 39 - - Campion, Edmund, 72, 81 - - Candlewick, Ward of, 76 - - Cannon Street, 44 - - Canterbury, 140, 191, 217 - - Canting, 367 - - Capel, William, 12 - - Cardiff, 218 - - Cardmaker, J., 58, 140 - - Carey, Henry, 389 - - Carion, 284 - - Carmillion, Alice, 258, 260 - - Carpenter, John, 35, 375 - - Carpets, 277, 278, 281 - - Carter Lane, 273 - - Carthusian martyrs, the, 111, 112, 132, 136 - - Carver, D., 136 - - Carving, 297, 298 - - Casaubon, Isaac, 203 - - Cason, Joan, 163, 164 - - Caursini, 111 - - Cavendish, Sir Charles, 150 - - Cavendish, George, 286, 287 - - Cavendish, Thomas, 222, 227 - - Caverley, H., 257 - - Caxton, 182, 244, 254 - - Chancellor, Richard, 222, 234 - - Chancery Lane, 44, 83 - - Chaplains, domestic, 274 - - Chapter House, 417 - - Charing Cross, 155, 387 - - Charity, 74, 369, 374–378 - - Charnock Conspiracy, the, 81 - - Charter House, 67 - - Chaucer, 247 - - Cheapside (Cheap, Chepe), 8, 20, 23, 25, 83, 90, 91, 142, 154, 158, - 180, 181, 203, 211, 337, 339, 347, 362, 371, 403; - conduit in, 20, 90, 91; - Cross in, 180, 403; - Standard in, 90, 180 - - Cheap, Ward of, 76 - - Cheinie, Sir H., 392 - - Chelsea, 86 - - Chester, 218, 263 - - Chicheley, R., 375 - - Chichester, 217 - - Child, Sir Josiah, 236 - - Children of the Chapel, 349, 389 - - Children of St. Paul’s, 349 - - Children of the Revels, 349 - - Children of Westminster, 349 - - Children of Windsor, 349 - - Children, treatment of, 274, 285 - - Chiswell Street, 44 - - Cholmeley, Ranulph, 91 - - Christmas, 356–359 - - Churches, 70, 290; - behaviour in, 152–154, 272; - bells, 147, 148, 171, 172; - burials in, 315; - changes in, 144–146; - Feast of All Fools in, 356; - Lord Mayor’s attendance at, 214; - Mysteries in, 364; - processions in, 148; - ritual, 402; - services in, 144, 145, 148; - sword-stands in, 214; - treatment of, 153: - All Hallows, 176; - St. Andrew’s by the Wardrobe, 201; - St. Antholin’s, 148; - St. Augustine’s, 118; - St. Botolph’s, 192, 194; - St. Bride’s, 140; - St. Catherine Cree, 118; - Chapel Royal, 262; - St. Christopher le Stock, 145, 147, 148; - St. Dunstan’s in the East, 78; - St. Dunstan’s in the West, 94, 273; - St. Ethelburga’s, 150; - St. Giles’s, Cripplegate, 78, 176, 194, 227, 377; - St. Gregory’s, 417; - St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate, 77, 78; - Holy Trinity, 118; - Leadenhall Chapel, 40; - St. Leonard’s, Shoreditch, 192, 193; - St. Magnus, 397; - St. Margaret’s, Lothbury, 147; - St. Margaret Patens, 145; - St. Margaret’s, Westminster, 58, 118, 140, 146; - St. Mary Overies, 164; - St. Mary Spital, 24; - Mercer’s Chapel, 203; - St. Michael’s, Eastcheap, 182, 339; - St. Michael le Querne, 180; - the Papey, 176; - St. Paul’s Cathedral, 5, 9, 16, 40, 46, 47, 53, 98, 140, 150, 157, - 158, 177, 178, 180, 194, 212, 272, 358, 365, 407, 408; - St. Peter-le-Poor, 118; - St. Peter’s, Westminster, 194, 401; - St. Thomas Acon, 97, 154; - Westminster Abbey, 12, 20, 67, 96, 118, 387; - Whitechapel, 44, 192 - - Church ales, 290 - - Church House, the, 155–157 - - Cinque Ports, the, 218, 227 - - Citizens, Musters of, 37, 38, 320–322 - - City, the—and aliens, 13, 19, 23, 25, 42, 61, 80; - and apprentices, 12, 13; - and Cardinal Wolsey, 23; - and charity, 371; - and the companies, 17; - and country trade, 13; - and the drama, 342–345; - the Earl of Essex, 83; - and the Exchange, 220–222; - and its Fleet, 77; - fortified, 15; - and the freemen, 130; - and the French War, 23, 40, 62; - government of, 209–215, 370; - and the Great Beam, 43; - and Henry VII., 4, 7, 8, 10–13; - and Henry VIII., 16, 18–20, 38; - and Katherine of Aragon, 38; - and the manors, 194, 195; - and the markets, 48; - and the medical profession, 30; - and military service, 75–80; - and the monasteries, 40, 132; - and its offices, 27; - and the priests, 72; - prosperity of, 172; - and Protector Somerset, 49; - and Protestantism, 148, 149; - and Queen Elizabeth, 38, 84; - and Queen Mary, 52, 62; - and Roman Catholicism, 58; - and the Russian Ambassador, 63; - and sanitation, 13, 40, 42; - separation of, from the Court, 272; - and soldiers, 317; - and the Sovereign, 18, 68; - and the Spanish marriage, 57; - state of, at death of Henry VIII., 44; - and supplies of men and money, 42, 62, 75, 78; - and trade, 13, 197; - and vagrants, 370, 371 - - City Companies, the, 8, 13, 20, 23, 53, 62, 76, 86, 110, 130, 231, - 234, 314, 315, 374; - Joint-Stock, 236; - Regulated, 236; - Clothworkers, 377; - Drapers, 232; - Fishmongers, 315; - Grocers, 43; - Leathersellers, 172; - Mercers, 35, 62, 221, 222, 232; - Merchant Adventurers, 231–233, 237, 242; - Merchant Taylors, 13, 35, 376, 377; - Painter-Stainers, 259; - Staplers, 231, 232; - Stationers, 245, 246, 251, 317, 377; - Water-bearers, 397 - - City Constables, 20 - - City Courts, 42 - - City Granary, the, 42 - - City Offices, 63 - - City Watch, the, 20 - - Clare Market, 199 - - Clarence, Duke of, 181 - - Cleaton, Ralph, 150 - - Cleef, Joost van, 260 - - Clement VII., Pope, 118, 119 - - Clement’s Inn, 386 - - Clergy, the, 4, 28, 30, 32, 33, 40, 42, 53, 56, 57, 64, 126, 149–151, - 244, 261 - - Clerks, Company of, 314 - - Clinton, Lord, his Company, 350 - - Clochard, the, 180 - - Cloth, manufacture of, 43 - - Cloth Market, the, 43 - - Clough, Richard, 220 - - Cnihten Gild, 194 - - Coaches, 198–200 - - Coat-money, 318 - - Cockaine, Sir W., 233 - - Coinage, the, 47 - - Colchester, 203, 217, 376 - - Cold Harbour, 181 - - Coleman Street, 201; - Ward of, 76 - - Colet, John, 34, 35, 376 - - Collier, Payne, 251 - - Commissioners for religion, 68 - - Common Council, 24, 28, 48, 49, 63, 78, 323, 324, 373 - - Common lands, 35, 36, 37 - - Commons, House of, 43, 112, 149, 373 - - Companies’ Halls, 176, 202, 325; - Grocers’, 180, 209, 210; - Haberdashers’, 201, 210; - Mercers’ 180; - Merchant Taylors’, 26, 209, 351, 355; - Painter-Stainers’, 259; - Sadlers’, 201; - Water-bearers’, 397 - - Conscience, Court of, 42 - - Constables, 24 - - Convocation, 40, 56 - - Conway, Sir J., 388 - - Cooke, Sarah, 163, 164 - - Cooper, Elizabeth, 138 - - Coppinger, Edmond, 158, 159 - - Cordwainer Street, Ward of, 63, 76 - - Corineus, 95, 263–265 - - Cornelius Agrippa, 165 - - Cornhill, 16, 20, 148, 220, 273, 337, 358, 362; - Ward of, 35, 76, 214 - - Cornish Rebellion, the, 7, 15, 47 - - Corporation, the, 5, 43, 48, 77 - - Corvus, Johannes, 258 - - Coryat, Tom, 228 - - Cosmo, Duke of Tuscany, 292 - - Council, the King’s, 37, 72 - - Counterfeit Crank, the, 386 - - Coventry, 217, 263, 376 - - Cowbridge, 218 - - Craftsmen, 18, 42, 49, 136, 300, 301, 309 - - Cranmer, 46, 53, 142, 146, 162 - - Crimes, 81, 82, 367, 379–391 - - Cripplegate, Ward of, 76 - - Croker, C., 256 - - Cromwell, Thomas, 30, 40, 219 - - Crosby Hall, 181 - - Cucking-stool, the, 388 - - Cunningham, 217, 218, 238, 239 - - - Dacre, Lord, 155 - - Dance of Death, the, 47, 180 - - Danne, M., 376 - - Dartmouth, 218 - - Davis, John, 100 - - Day, John, 246 - - Dean of St. Paul’s, 30 - - Dean’s Mews, 346 - - Debtors, 43, 84, 288 - - Dee, John, 165, 166 - - Dekker, 248, 384 - - Dell, the, 387 - - Demander for Glymmar, the, 387 - - Denton, 217 - - Deptford, 7, 100, 228, 288, 389, 390 - - Derby, 156, 376 - - Derby, Earl of, 39; - his Company, 350 - - Des Periers, Bonaventure, 258 - - Dialects, 254 - - Dissent, 144 - - Distress, 374 - - Dobbs, Sir R., 48 - - Doctor’s Commons, 276 - - Dogs, 40 - - Dolet, Etienne, 111, 258 - - Dominican Friars, 28 - - Dommerar, the, 386 - - Donkin, Robert, 397 - - Dorchester, 218 - - Dorchester Street, 356 - - Dorset, Marquis of, 39 - - Dover, 62 - - Dowgate, Ward of, 76 - - Doxy, the, 387 - - Drake, Francis, 77, 100, 181, 197, 222, 227, 228, 240, 288 - - Drama, the, 248, 342, 343, 344, 347 - - Draper, Christopher, 63 - - Drapers’ Gardens, 201 - - Drayton, Michael, 47 - - Dress, 37, 38, 51, 53, 77, 102, 103, 104, 197, 198, 270–273, 303–312, - 318–320, 324, 325, 329, 338, 347, 362, 363, 377, 387, 392 - - Dryden, John, 165 - - Dudley, 12, 20, 30 - - Dunkirk, 62 - - Dunstable, 146 - - Dutch traders, 235 - - - Eastcheap, 203, 302, 338 - - East India Company, 222, 237 - - Eastland Company, 236 - - Education, 34, 35, 48, 221, 222, 260, 261, 274, 377, 398 - - Edward VI.—state of City at his accession, 47; - and the schools, 48; - last appearance in public, 51, 233, 234; - death and burial, 53 - - Elizabeth, Queen—Accession, 64, 67; - birth, 38, 65; - at Mary’s entry into London, 52, 53; - dress, 304; - appearance, 65, 66, 103, 104; - learning, 66, 104; - character, 66; - and Mary, 66; - enters London, 67; - and the City, 68, 76, 78, 84; - and religion, 68, 70, 72, 96, 98; - and aliens, 82; - encourages trade, 83; - and growth of London, 83; - and Mary, Queen of Scots, 83, 84; - and debtors, 84; - death, 84; - her progresses, 85; - her palaces, 86, 98, 99; - her coronation, 96; - and sports, 98; - and monopolies, 238; - and Thomas Appletree, 389–391; - and the drama, 343, 349, 351; - and the beggars, 387; - her hospitality, 99, 100; - and Sir F. Drake, 100; - and the Maundy, 100, 101; - her Court at Greenwich, 102–105; - her portraits, 105, 106 - - Elizabeth, Lady (wife of Henry VII.), 5, 6 - - Elstow, Convent of, 115 - - Eltham, 59 - - Emperor, the, 39 - - Empson, 12, 20, 30 - - Epping Forest, 36 - - Erasmus, 111, 144, 250, 276, 286 - - Erber, the, 181 - - Essex, Earl of, 26, 83; - his Company, 350 - - Evil May Day, 24, 218, 242, 324 - - Exchange, the Royal, 181, 197, 204, 219–222, 336, 341, 357, 403 - - Executions, 8, 9, 20, 25, 26, 30, 31, 32, 38, 40, 47, 54, 55, 56, 57, - 59, 72, 80, 81, 82, 132–142, 159–161, 164, 326, 367, 372, 379, 387, - 414, 415 - - Execution Dock, 82 - - Exeter, 217, 376 - - Exeter, Marquis of, 30 - - Exmew, 136 - - Explorers and adventurers, 222, 224–237 - - - Fabyan, Alderman, 8, 9, 284 - - Family of Love, the, 160 - - Famines, 216 - - Fanatics, 158–161 - - Farringdon Within, Ward of, 27, 76 - - Farringdon Without, Ward of, 35, 76, 194, 259 - - Fasting, 127, 151, 152 - - Fawconer, T., Mayor, 193 - - Feake, James, 388 - - Feast of Fools, 356, 364 - - Feckenham, Abbot, 155 - - Felton, John, 71 - - Fenchurch, 86 - - Fenchurch Street, 20, 63, 362 - - Ferrar, 58 - - Ferrers, George, 43, 44 - - Fetherstone, William, 59 - - Fetter Lane, 44 - - Feversham, 217 - - Field, Richard, 246 - - Finger-rings, 286 - - Finsbury, 194, 355 - - Finsbury archers, 355, 356 - - Finsbury Fields, 16, 346 - - Fish Market, 339 - - Fish Street, 58, 203 - - Fisher, Bishop, 30, 32, 111, 112, - 133, 136 - - Fitch, Ralph, 222 - - Fitz Stephen, 354 - - Flammock, Attorney, 7 - - Fleet River, 194, 417 - - Fleet Street, 38, 44, 93, 185, 194, 217, 244, 340, 364 - - Flemish immigrants, 80, 203, 204, 220, 237, 238, 258, 294, 347 - - Fletcher, 247 - - Flick, Gerbud, 258 - - Flower, William, 58 - - Fludd, Robert, 165 - - Food and drink, 42, 43, 63, 77, 180, 181, 212, 292–302, 312, 313, 334, - 335, 368, 409–413 - - Ford, 247 - - Fore Street, 194 - - Foreign goods, sale of, 13, 310 - - Forest, Dr., 133–135 - - Forks, 294, 295 - - Forman, Sir W., 320 - - Former, Simon, 165 - - Foster, Agnes, 376 - - Fowler, Sir R., 214 - - Fox, John, 225, 226 - - Foxe, John, 138, 246 - - Frater, the, 386 - - Fraternity of St. Thomas à Becket, 232 - - _Fratres de Sacca_, 132 - - Freemen, 130, 237, 317, 323, 327 - - French War of 1557, 62 - - Freshwater Mariners, the, 386 - - Fretchvell, Sir Peter, 150 - - Friars, the, 122–124, 126, 131, 135, 136, 291 - - Friday Street, 339, 340 - - Frobisher, Martin, 77, 78, 222, 227, 240, 388, 389 - - Fulham, 238 - - Fuller, John, 376 - - Fuller, Thomas, 340 - - Funerals, 154, 313–315 - - Furniture, 277–284, 293, 335 - - - Gardens, 201, 202, 272 - - Gardiner, Robert, 165 - - Garret, Sir W., 210 - - Gates, 8; - Aldersgate, 176, 185, 387; - Aldgate, 20, 38, 42, 44, 52, 160, 172, 181, 192, 362; - Billingsgate, 337, 375, 384; - Bishopsgate, 175, 185, 192; - Cripplegate, 185, 194, 346, 377; - Dowgate, 181, 204, 337; - Ludgate, 176; - Moorgate, 193; - St. George’s Bar, 16; - Temple Bar, 16, 44, 94, 95, 245, 246, 264, 340, 387; - Tower Postern, 171 - - Geffery, William, 159, 160 - - Gell, Dr., 165 - - Gentry, and apprenticeship, 330, 331 - - George of Paris, 47 - - Gerard’s _Herbal_, 202 - - Giants, 95, 263–265, 363 - - Gibson, Avice, 376 - - Gifford, Sir George, 387 - - Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 77, 222, 227 - - Gloucester, 58, 217, 376 - - Gog and Magog, 95, 263–265 - - _Golden Hind_, the, 228 - - Golden Lane, 346 - - Goldsmith, 339 - - Goldsmiths’ Row, 200, 403 - - Googe, Barnabe, 46, 132, 174 - - Goswell Road, 387 - - Goswell Street, 44 - - Gower, 247 - - Gracechurch Street, 16, 20, 87, 234, 302 - - Grafton, R., 4, 5, 23, 26, 36, 39, 246, 248 - - Grantham, 217 - - Grasschurch, 362 - - Grass Market, 339 - - Gravesend, 241 - - Gray’s Inn, 202, 276, 333 - - Gray’s Inn Lane, 44 - - Great Beam, the, 43 - - Great Grimsby, 218 - - Great Liberty Manor, 48 - - Great Wycombe, 217 - - Great Yarmouth, 217 - - Greenland, 389 - - Green Park, the, 388 - - Greenwich, 27, 38, 68, 100, 233, 320, 351, 377, 389, 390 - - Greenwich Palace, 51, 102 - - Grenville, Sir R., 228 - - Gresham, Lady, 220, 222 - - Gresham, Sir J., 48, 49, 220, 363 - - Gresham, Sir R., 126, 219 - - Gresham, Sir T., 99, 181, 202, 219–221, 254, 257, 272, 286, 376 - - Gresham Street, 201 - - Greville, Lodowick, 388 - - Grey, Lady Jane, 52–56 - - Groom of the Salcery, 382 - - Grub Street, 44 - - Guildable Manor, 48 - - Guildford, 217 - - Guildhall, 16, 24, 42, 49, 53, 71, 210, 212, 264, 265, 326, 345 - - Guilds, the, 38, 144, 218, 219 - - Gutter Lane, 159 - - - Hackett, William, 158, 159 - - Hackney, 40 - - Haddington, 363 - - Hadleigh, 58 - - Hainault, Forest of, 36 - - Hakluyt, 224–226, 233 - - Hall, 248 - - Hall, Bishop, 274 - - Hamburg Company, the, 233 - - Hamont, Matthew, 161 - - Hampstead, 44 - - Hampstead Heath, 35 - - Hampton Court, 49, 86, 100, 260 - - Hanseatic League, 13, 82, 231 - - Harding, 284 - - Harman, 384, 385 - - Harrison, William, 200, 246, 250, 279, 293, 333, 344, 366–368, 372, - 379, 384 - - Harty Island, 391 - - Hatfield, 67 - - Haverfordwest, 218 - - Havre, 76 - - Hawes, Christopher, 12 - - Hawes, Lord Mayor, 214 - - Hawkers and pedlars, 83 - - Hawkins, Sir John, 77, 78, 227, 240 - - Hawkwood, J., 257 - - Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 202 - - Helston, 218 - - Henley, orator, 265 - - Henry VII., 3–16; - and the Earl of Warwick, 4, 6; - enters London after Bosworth Field, 5; - coronation, 5; - and the Lady Elizabeth, 5, 6; - and the City, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13; - and Perkin Warbeck, 9; - and the plague, 9; - builds his chapel, 12; - and the Flemings, 13; - his funeral, 16 - - Henry VIII.—visits City, 16; - and the City, 18–20, 26, 27, 28, 38, 39, 40, 42; - his coronation, 20; - his character, 21, 22; - his poems, 21; - and aliens, 24, 26; - receives the Emperor, 26, 39; - and Katherine of Aragon, 28, 38, 112; - and Cardinal Wolsey, 28; - and religion, 31, 32, 40; - and the poorhouses, 41, 48; - death 41, 44; - and taxes, 42; - Head of the Church, 112 - - Henryk, 220 - - Hentzner, Paul, 98, 99, 102, 191, 228, 277, 350 - - Heralds, College of, 276 - - Hereford, 217, 376 - - Herrick, 359, 362 - - Hertford, the Earl of, his Company, 350 - - Hewitt, Sir W., 212, 214 - - Heywood, 338 - - Highgate, 36, 63, 234 - - High Street, 44 - - High Street, Borough, 186, 346 - - Hill, Rowland, 43 - - Hill, Sir T., 5 - - Hills, R., 376, 377 - - _Hind_, the, 227 - - His Majesty’s servants, 350 - - Hobbs, 235 - - Hog Lane, 192 - - Holbein, 258, 259 - - Holborn, 44, 194, 246, 337, 363 - - Holidays, 356 - - Holinshed, 9, 10, 16, 22, 58, 248, 250, 279, 293, 294, 333 - - Holywell, Lane, 346 - - Holy Well Street, 44, 388 - - Honiton, 237 - - Hookers, 385 - - Hooper, Bishop, 46, 58, 140, 250 - - Hooper, H., 246 - - Horenbout, Lucas, 258, 260; - Gerard, 258, 260; - Susanna, 258, 260 - - Horn Alley, 58 - - Horne, Robert, 68 - - Hospitality, 155, 369 - - Hospitals—St. Anthony’s, 34; - St. Augustine Papey, 130; - St. Bartholomew’s, 41, 130, 194, 222, 371, 373; - Bethlehem, 41, 130, 159, 160, 192, 222, 371, 375, 377; - Bridewell, 48, 372; - Charter House, 176; - Christ’s, 176, 222, 373, 376, 377; - Elsing Spital, 41, 130, 375; - St. James’s, 375; - John Lofken’s, 375; - St. Laurence Poultney, 375; - St. Mary Spital, 130, 222, 375; - Stodies Lane, 375; - St. Thomas Acon, 34; - St. Thomas’s, 48, 130, 222, 372, 373, 378; - Tower Hill, 130; - Whittington’s College, 74, 97 - - Households, management of, 198 - - Howard, Katherine, 30 - - Howard, Lord, 54; his Company, 350 - - Hoxton, 40, 193, 194, 356 - - Hoxton Fields, 44, 388 - - Huguenots, 237 - - Huicke, Doctor, 68 - - Hull, 217 - - Hun, Richard, 32–34, 110 - - Hunsdon, 86 - - Huntingdon, Earl of, 39 - - Husbands, R., 63 - - Hyde Park Corner, 291 - - - Ilchester, 218 - - Images, sacred, 144 - - Immigrants, 200, 203, 237, 238 - - Inns and taverns, 63, 180, 288, 294, 308, 309, 333–341, 343, 347, 384 - - Ipswich, 118, 217, 376, 388 - - Irving, Washington, 339 - - Iseldon. See _Islington_ - - Isle of Wight, the, 237 - - Islington (Iseldon), 176, 193, 194, 291, 310, 356, 387 - - - Jackman, the, 386 - - Jenkinson, A., 222, 224, 234, 235 - - Jewel, Bishop, 162 - - Jews, 204, 238–240 - - Joan of Kent, 47 - - Joan, Sister, 114 - - Johnson, Richard, 254 - - Jonson, Ben, 151, 163, 228, 247, 272, 294, 296, 297, 303, 307, 338, - 339, 340, 388 - - Jordan, Thomas, 264 - - Journeymen, 218, 219 - - Judd, A., 376 - - Jugglers, 273 - - Juries, 13, 14, 42, 61, 62 - - - Katherine of Aragon, 9, 38, 134 - - Keats, 340 - - Keble, A., 376 - - Kenilworth, 85 - - Kent Street, 384 - - Kentish Town, 416 - - Kildare, Earl of, 30 - - Kime, John, 391–393 - - King John’s Palace, 181 - - King’s bed, the, 282, 283 - - King’s Court, punishment in, 382, 384 - - King’s Evil, the, 164 - - King’s Lynn, 217 - - King’s Manor, 48 - - King’s Mews, the, 205 - - King’s Wardrobe, the, 181 - - Kingston on Thames, 375 - - Kissing, 286, 287, 312 - - Knight, William, 205 - - Knights of the Garter, 16 - - Knoles, Thomas, 375 - - Kynchen Cove, the, 387 - - Kynchen Morte, the, 387 - - - Labrador, 389 - - Lamb’s Conduit, 377 - - Lambarde, William, 102 - - Lambe, W., 377 - - Lambert, 31 - - Lambert, William, 377 - - Lambeth, 155 - - Lambeth Palace, 33 - - Lancaster, 218 - - Lane, Sir Robert, his Company, 350 - - Laneden, T., 136 - - Langbourne, Ward of, 76 - - Langdon, Essex, 155 - - Langland, Bishop, 115 - - Langton, 284 - - Large, Sir Robert, 182 - - Latimer, 21, 46, 133, 140, 371, 372 - - Launceston, 218 - - Leadenhall, 42, 83, 358, 362 - - Leadenhall Market, 43 - - Leadenhall Street, 20, 43 - - Leake, W., 246 - - Leedes, William, 222 - - Leicester, 218, 376 - - Leicester, Earl of, 77, 85, 356–358, 391; - his Company, 345, 351 - - Leigh, Gerard, 356 - - Lent, 151 - - Leominster, 388 - - Levant Company, the, 222, 237 - - Lever, 371, 372 - - Lewes, 218 - - Libraries, 129 - - Lilly, William, 165 - - Lilypot Lane, 201 - - Limehouse, 174, 191 - - Lime Street, 142 - - Lime Street, Ward of, 76 - - Lincoln, 217, 376 - - Lincoln, the Earl of, 389 - - Lincoln, John, 24–26 - - Lincoln’s Inn, 166 - - Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 291 - - Ling, 246 - - Lingard, 143 - - Liskeard, 218 - - Litany, the, 145 - - Literature, 244–258, 284, 285, 384 - - Liverpool, 218 - - Lofken, John, 375 - - Lollardry, 33, 45, 110, 260 - - Lombard Street, 24, 181, 215, 219, 403 - - Lombardi, 203, 221 - - London archers, 355 - - London, Bishop of, 246 - - London Bridge, 83, 203, 204, 259, 263, 313, 339, 397 - - London Cries, 83 - - London, growth of, 83 - - London, military state of, 75, 76 - - London, population of, 76, 77 - - London, Port of, 240 - - London Stone, 155, 203, 337 - - London Wall, 171–176, 188, 193, 201 - - London Worthies, the, 254–257 - - Long Lane, 44 - - Lord Admiral’s Company, the, 350 - - Lord Chamberlain, the, 16, 39, 327, 328, 329, 345; - his Company, 350 - - Lord Mayor, the, 5, 10, 12, 13, 16, 24, 26, 27, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, - 43, 44, 46, 49, 52, 53, 61, 62, 74, 78, 83, 86, 91, 98, 100, 151, - 152, 209–215, 264, 265, 313, 317, 324, 328, 342, 345, 373, 387, 397 - - Lord Mayor’s Show, 264, 265 - - Lord of Misrule, 288 - - Lostwithiel, 218 - - Lothbury, 44, 337 - - Lotteries, 365 - - Low, Simon, 391–393 - - Ludgate Hill, 83 - - Ludlow, 217, 377 - - Lunebourg Table, the, 103 - - Lydgate, 247 - - Lyme, 217 - - Lynn, 376 - - Lynn Bishop, 217 - - Lynne, William, 220 - - Lyzarde, N., 260 - - - Machyn, Henry, 139, 154, 215, 313, 387 - - Maidstone, 203, 377 - - Maitland, 13, 15, 43, 49, 54, 74, 157, 212, 323, 325, 344, 384 - - Maldon, 218 - - Maleverer, H., 257 - - Malpas, Philip, 375 - - Malt, Isabel, 58 - - Malt, Timothy, 59 - - Malyns, 238 - - Manorial system, the, 194, 216 - - Maps of London, 185, 194, 417 - - March, the old English, 317, 318 - - Marching Watch, the, 49, 362, 363 - - Margaret, Princess, 10 - - Marine Insurance, 221 - - Market gardens, 294 - - Markets and fairs, 48, 62, 63, 83 - - Markham, Gervase, 270 - - Marlborough, 388 - - Marlowe, 247 - - Marriages, 311, 312 - - Marshal, the, 382 - - Marston, 247, 248, 265 - - Martin, Sir R., 403 - - Mary, Queen—and the Act of Succession, 38; - enters London, 52, 53; - and the City, 52, 53, 54, 62; - coronation, 53; - the Spanish match, 53, 54, 59; - and Parliament, 56; - and the French War, 62; - loans, 62, 68; - death, 63; - burial, 67; - and monasteries, 68; - her appetite, 292 - - Mary, Queen of Scots, 51, 83 - - Masques, 351, 352 - - Massam, William, 210 - - Massinger, 247 - - Master-cook, the, 382 - - Maundy, the, 100 - - May Day, 358–360 - - Mead, 300 - - Meat Market, 339 - - Medicine, profession of, 30 - - Merchants, 196, 217, 271, 272, 276, 306, 341; - houses, 276 - - Meteren, E. van, 269 - - Micklethwaite, T. T., 144 - - Middlemore, 136 - - Middleton, William, 246 - - Midsummer Watch, 360, 363 - - Milbourne, J., 376 - - Mile End, 37, 148, 320 - - Mile End Green, 351 - - Miles Lane, 339 - - Millbank, 194 - - Miller, Simon, 138 - - Mincing Lane, 78 - - Miracle plays, 343, 356 - - Missenden, Abbey of, 116 - - Misson, 287 - - Monasteries, the—disrepute of, 110, 123; - dissolution of, 112, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 124, 125, 126-132, - 143, 144, 148, 155, 200; - wealth of, 112, 113, 119, 123, 172; - morality of, 114, 115, 116, 117; - libraries, 129, 257, 258; - hospitals, 130; - and the poor, 130, 131, 155, 172 - - Monastic Houses, 28, 30, 68, 369, 370, 374, 375; - Austin Friars, 120, 174, 186; - St. Bartholomew’s, 120, 132, 174, 176, 185, 194; - Bermondsey, 6, 186; - Black Friars, 68, 119, 186; - the Charter House, 119, 185, 194; - the Church House, 174; - Clerkenwell Nunnery, 185, 195; - Cotham Nunnery, 116; - Crutched Friars, 119, 142, 172, 174, 186; - Daventry, 118; - Eastminster, 119, 172, 174, 185; - Elsing Spital, 174; - Elstow, 115; - _Fratres de Sacca_, 182; - Grey Friars, 37, 119, 132, 171, 174, 176, 186; - St. Helen’s, 119, 122, 172, 174, 186; - Holy Trinity, 119, 130, 172, 174, 186; - Holywell, 120, 174, 192, 346; - St. James’ on the Wall, 174, 377; - Jesus Commons, 122; - St. John’s Priory, 185, 194; - St Katherine’s by the Tower, 172, 191; - Knights Hospitallers, 174, 176; - St. Mary of Bethlehem, 132, 185; - St. Mary Spital, 174, 185, 192, 193; - Minoresses, 120; - Papey, 174; - St. Peter’s, Westminster, 122; - Poor Clares, 172, 174; - Studley, 116; - St. Thomas’s, 132; - White Friars, 120, 174, 185 - - Money-lending, 238–240, 288 - - Monks, the ejected, 122 - - Monkwell Street, 201, 377 - - Monopolies, 233, 238 - - Monoux, Sir G., 27, 219, 376 - - Montague, Lord, 63, 234 - - Montgomery, 218 - - Moore, John, 159, 160 - - Moorfields, 36, 42, 185, 193, 194, 272, 355 - - Moorgate, 201 - - More, Bishop, 32 - - More, Sir T., 30, 111, 112, 133, 136, 152, 186–190, 371 - - More, Sir W., 284 - - Morice, Peter, 397 - - Moro, Antonio, 260 - - Morris, Thomas, 397 - - Mortlake, 238 - - Moryson, Fynes, 228, 333, 335 - - Mundy, Sir John, 24, 25 - - Music, 262, 277, 290, 294, 338, 340 - - Muswell Hill, 36, 40, 44 - - - Nailer, Henry, 391–393 - - Nash, 248 - - Nevill, Colonel John, 292 - - Newbery, John, 222 - - Newbury, 388 - - Newcastle, 217, 376 - - Newdigate, 136 - - New Fish Street, 337, 360 - - Newgate Market, 337 - - Newhall, Essex, 52 - - New North Road, 356 - - Newport, 218 - - New Radnor, 218 - - New St. Christopher’s Alley, 220 - - Newton, Sir J., 165 - - New Year’s gifts, 102 - - Nichols, J. G., 259 - - Nicolas, A., 376 - - Noblemen’s houses, 97 - - Noble Street, 201 - - Nonconformists, 59, 144 - - Nonsuch, 86, 260 - - Norfolk, Duke of, 26 - - North, Lord, 58 - - Northampton, 217, 376 - - Northumberland, Duke of, 51 - - Northumberland House, 181 - - Norton, 246 - - Norton Folgate, 192 - - Norwich, 203, 217, 237, 376 - - Nostradamus, 165 - - Nottingham, 217 - - Noyes, J., 137, 138 - - Nucius, Nicander, 287 - - - Oat Lane, 201 - - Observant Friars, 135, 136 - - Offley, H., 351 - - Old Baily, the, 159 - - Old Change, 158 - - Old Fish Street, 337 - - Old Jewry, 182 - - Ordeal by battle, 391–393 - - Order of Communion, the, 144 - - Ordinaries, 294, 301, 302 - - Ordish, M., 273 - - Ormes, Cicely, 138 - - Ormond, T., 136 - - Osborne, Richard, 212 - - Osborne, Sir E., 210, 212 - - Oxenham, Sir J., 182 - - Oxford, 6, 118, 142, 217, 376, 388 - - Oxford, Earl of, 39 - - Oxford, University of, 261 - - - Pageants, 20, 22, 23, 37–40, 51, 53, 63, 67, 86–96, 183, 211, 212, - 263–265, 362, 363, 400, 401 - - Painting, 258–260 - - Palls, 315 - - Paramore, Thomas, 391–393 - - Pardon Churchyard, 180 - - Paris Gardens, 74, 203, 346, 347, 352 - - Parishes, 148; - officers, 373; - All Hallows the Great, 34; - St. Andrew’s, Holborn, 34; - St. Andrew Undershaft, 259; - St. Dunstan’s in the East, 34; - St. Faith’s, 377; - St. Giles’s, Cripplegate, 77; - St. Leonard’s, Shoreditch, 388; - St. Martin’s, 34, 148; - St. Mary le Bow, 34; - St. Paul’s, 34; - St. Peter’s, Cornhill, 34 - - Parker, Archbishop, 155, 340 - - Parker, Henry, 260 - - Parker, Sir H., 281 - - Parliament, 38, 48, 56 - - Parrat, Sir John, 90, 93 - - Parry, William, 81 - - Parsons, 72 - - Paternoster Row, 273 - - Patrick, friar, 9 - - Paul’s Churchyard, 93 - - Paul’s Cross, 77, 78, 160, 178, 180, 342 - - Paul’s Gate, 362 - - Paul’s Walk, 347 - - Pawnbroking, 238 - - Peele, 247, 248, 365 - - Pembroke, 218 - - Pembroke, Earl of, 51, 62; - his Company, 350 - - Penbrooke, Simon, 164 - - Penni, B., 260 - - Pepwell, Henry, 246 - - Perlin, Stephen, 190, 191 - - Persecution, religious, 31, 33, 34, 47, 58, 112, 133–142, 160, 161 - - Petty Almaigne, 204 - - Petty Flanders, 204 - - Petty France, 44, 204 - - Philip of Spain, 61 - - Philpot, Archdeacon, 140 - - Philpot, John, 375 - - Philpot, Mayor, 227, 254, 257 - - Philpot, Somerset Herald, 330 - - Physicians, 143 - - Physicians, College of, 30 - - Picard, Henry, 255 - - Pickpockets, School of, 384 - - Pie Powder, Court of, 48 - - Pilchard, Henry, 255 - - Pilgrimage of Grace, the, 39 - - Pillory, the, 20 - - Pimlico, 310 - - “Pink,” 259 - - Pirates, 82, 217, 222, 236, 257 - - Plague, the, 9, 29, 40, 147, 200, 216, 344, 369, 374 - - Plants, London, 404, 405 - - Plate, 283, 284 - - Players, 97, 349, 350 - - Plays, ownership of, 350; - price of, 350 - - Plymouth, 43, 78, 218 - - Poetry, 175 - - Poets, Elizabethan, 247, 248 - - Pole, Cardinal, 58 - - Polley, M., 136 - - Ponsonby, 246 - - Pontefract, 217 - - Poole, 217 - - Poole, Sir J., 150, 151 - - Poor, the, 130, 131, 366–378; - poorhouses, 41, 48; - overseers of, 373; - relief of, 368, 371–375 - - Pope, the, claims of, 111; - and Queen Elizabeth, 70–72 - - Population, 200 - - Portsmouth, 217 - - Portsoken, Ward of, 76, 172, 194 - - Portuguese, 203 - - Poultry, the, 180 - - Prayer Book, the, 144 - - Press, censorship of, 245, 246 - - Presteign, 218 - - Preston, 218 - - Printing, 244–246, 272 - - Prisons—Bridewell, 48, 159, 327, 373, 386, 387; - Clink, 347; - Compters, 25, 43, 63; - Debtors’, 130, 288; - Houses of Correction, 368, 373, 374; - King’s Bench, 48, 222; - Ludgate, 16, 222, 331, 376; - Marshalsea, 12, 48, 59, 159, 160, 222, 388, 390; - St. Martin’s, 25; - Newgate, 24, 25, 28, 44, 71, 80, 133, 134, 140, 142, 160, 176, 222; - Poultry Compter, 25, 222; - the Tower, 6, 8, 25, 38, 44, 136, 388; - Wood Street Compter, 25, 159, 222 - - Privy Council, the, 373, 374 - - Protestantism, 98, 121, 127, 133, 136–142, 146, 148 - - Provost-Marshal, the, 326 - - Prygger of Prauncers, the, 386 - - Prynne, 343 - - Punishments, 147, 155, 159, 160, 161, 273, 274, 325, 367, 368, 370, - 371, 372, 373, 379–384, 386, 387, 388, 391 - - Puritans, 74, 121, 127, 128, 148, 262, 273, 312 - - Pynson, R., 244, 246 - - - Queenborough, 217 - - Queen Elizabeth’s Bath, 205 - - Queenhithe, Ward of, 76 - - - Rabelais, 111, 258 - - Raleigh, Sir W., 222, 247 - - Ramsay, M., 376 - - Randoll, William, 164 - - Ratcliff, 174, 191, 227, 233, 390 - - Rawson, R., 376 - - Reading, 376 - - Rebellions, 47, 53, 54, 62, 83 - - Recorder, the, 16, 37, 50, 91, 210, 328, 387 - - Recusants, 143 - - Red Cross Street, 77 - - Redman, Robert, 246 - - Redriff, 227 - - Reformation, the, 45, 46, 112 - - _Revenge_, the, 228 - - Rich, Barnaby, 247 - - Rich, Lord, 388 - - Richard of Almayn, 116 - - Richmond, 16 - - Richmond Palace, 86 - - Ridley, 46, 48, 133, 140 - - Riots, 13, 23–26, 37, 41, 57, 58, 243, 326, 387 - - Rochester, 217 - - Rochford, Lord, 30 - - Rochford, Lady, 30 - - Rogers, Dr. John, 46, 58, 140 - - Roman Catholics, 70, 143, 144 - - Roman Catholic emissaries, 71–74, 81 - - Roman Church, the, 4, 40, 112, 113 - - Rome, commerce with, 43 - - Roundels, 293 - - Rowe, Sir T., 376, 377 - - Rowlands, 384 - - Rozmital, Leo von, 286 - - Rushes, floors covered with, 276 - - Russia Company, the, 82, 234–236 - - Russia, trade with, 222 - - Rutland, Earl of, 39 - - - Sackvile, 247 - - Sackville, Sir R., 68 - - St. David’s, 58 - - St. Donanverdh, 116 - - St. Erkenwald, 257 - - St. George’s Fields, 386 - - St. Giles’, 215 - - St. Helen’s Place, 201 - - St. James’s Palace, 86 - - St. James’s Park, 363 - - St. John’s Street, 44 - - St. Katherine’s, 288 - - St. Katherine’s Precinct, 185 - - St. Magnus Corner, 203 - - St. Martin’s-le-Grand, 42 - - St. Michael’s Churchyard, 338 - - St. Michael’s Lane, 339 - - St. Pancras, 194 - - St. Paul’s Churchyard, 71, 180, 246, 273, 340 - - St. Peter, Manor of, 194 - - St. Quentin, 62 - - St. Thomas à Becket, 232, 254, 257, 375 - - Salisbury, 7, 217, 263, 376 - - Salisbury, Lady, 30 - - Sanctuary, 155 - - Sanctuary, Westminster, 363 - - Sands, Dr., 59 - - Sandwich, 203, 237 - - Sandys, 153 - - Sanitation, 13, 29, 30, 40, 42 - - Saunders, Lawrence, 58 - - Savage, Mr., 68 - - Savoy, Duke of, 62 - - Savoy, Palace of, 48, 181 - - Savoy, the, 203 - - Saxe-Weimar, Duke of, 228 - - Scarborough, 217, 388 - - Schools, 260, 261, 376–378; - St. Anthony’s, 74, 148; - of London, 35, 222; - Sir Humphrey Gilbert’s, 398; - Grammar Schools, 34, 35; - Gresham College, 181, 182, 221, 222; - Grey Friars, 48; - Merchant Taylors’, 376, 377; - St. Paul’s, 93, 376; - Westminster Abbey, 155; - Whittington College, 74 - - Seething Lane, 142, 182 - - Sentree, the, 337 - - Serjeant-at-Arms, 43 - - Serjeant of the Ewry, 382 - - Serjeant Farrier, 382 - - Serjeant of the Cellar, 382 - - Serjeant of the Larder, 382 - - Serjeant of the Pantry, 384 - - Serjeant of the Poultry, 382 - - Serjeant of the Woodyard, 382 - - Sermons, 149, 153, 154, 178, 254 - - Servants, 271, 273, 275, 276, 309 - - Sessions of Peace, 42 - - Sevenoake, W., 256 - - Seymour, Lady Jane, 126 - - Seymours, the, 47 - - Shakespeare, 203, 238, 246, 247, 278, 281, 282, 287, 338, 340, 346, - 349, 350 - - Sharpe, 53, 74, 77 - - Shaston, 218 - - Shaw, Sir John, 209 - - Shene, 8 - - Shene House, 68 - - Sheppey, Isle of, 391 - - Sherborne, 218 - - Sheriffs, 8, 12, 37, 42–44, 71, 210, 302, 309 - - Sheriff Hutton Castle, 4, 5 - - Sherrington’s Library, 180 - - Shipping, increase of, 240 - - Shirley, 264 - - Shoe Lane, 44, 244 - - Shops, 83, 84, 191, 198, 199, 200, 272, 276, 310, 403 - - Shop Signs, 273 - - Shoreditch, 5, 44, 192, 193, 194, 356, 388 - - Shrewsbury, 217, 376 - - Shrewsbury, Earl of, 26, 214 - - Sidney, Sir W., 43 - - Silk, trade in, 235 - - Simnel, Lambert, 6 - - Skelton, 247, 248 - - Skogan, 248, 365 - - Smithfield, 34, 44, 47, 58, 59, 68, 134, 139, 140, 142, 160, 176, 185, - 191, 203, 355 - - Smyth, Henry, 246 - - Soames, Richard, 397 - - Soldiers, 316–322 - - Somerset House, 67, 100 - - Somerset, Protector, 49, 51 - - Somerton, 218 - - Southampton, 203, 217, 233, 376 - - Southwark, 16, 48, 164, 346, 347, 378, 384, 390 - - Spain, plots from, 80; - immigrants from, 80 - - Spain, war with, 43 - - Spaniards in London, 59, 61 - - Spencer, Gabriel, 388 - - Spenser, Edmund, 247 - - Spital sermon, 24 - - _Squirrel_, the, 227 - - Stadlow, George, 49 - - Stafford, 217 - - Standish, Dr., 24 - - Staple Inn, 232, 333 - - Star Chamber, 32, 62 - - Steelyard, the, 13, 82, 100, 417 - - Stocker, Sir W., 5 - - Stocks, the, 362 - - Stockwood, John, 342 - - Stoddart, George, 240 - - Stodie, Doll, 256 - - Stone House, the, 181 - - Storey, Dr. John, 81 - - Stow, 117, 118, 171–183, 191, 248, 265, 313, 320, 338, 347, 358, 360, - 362, 375, 389, 390, 403 - - Strand, 38, 44, 186, 337 - - Strange, Lord, his Company, 350 - - Stratford, 217 - - Stratford-at-Bow, 140, 142 - - Streets—state of, 29, 30, 191, 199; - games in, 273; paving of, 44; - performances in, 273; - policing of, 63, 324 - - Street Cries, 198 - - Streets (Strettes) Guillim, 260 - - Strype, 327 - - Stubbes, Philip, 153, 156, 166, 271, 287, 288, 289, 290, 305, 310, - 359, 374, 375 - - Suburbs, 44, 200 - - Succession, Act of, of 1534, 38 - - Suckley, H., 43 - - Suffolk, Duchess of, 100 - - Suffolk, Duke of, 26, 39, 48 - - Sumptuary laws, 310 - - Sun Street, 397 - - Sunday, observance of, 154, 273, 289, 343, 344, 345, 352 - - Superstition, 162–167, 306, 307 - - Surrey, Earl of, 26, 30 - - Sussex, Earl of, 39; - his Company, 350 - - Sutton Valence, 377 - - Swan Alley, 220 - - Swansea, 218 - - Swearing, 285, 286 - - Sweating sickness, 5, 29, 47 - - Sword-stands, 214 - - Sylvester, 247 - - Symon, Sir R., 6 - - Syon House, 68 - - - Talismans, 164, 165 - - Tarleton, 248 - - Tate, John, 376 - - Taunton, 218 - - Tavistock, 218 - - Taxes, 40, 42, 48, 217, 372, 373 - - Taylor, John, 240 - - Taylor, Rowland, 58 - - Temple, the, 203, 356, 386 - - Tenby, 218 - - Terling, Levina, 258, 260 - - Thames, River, 11, 39, 67, 86, 100, 186, 194, 197, 211, 288, 351, 389, - 397 - - Thames Street, 13, 181, 197, 360 - - Theatres, 175, 176, 240, 273, 288, 289, 331, 342–365; - interior of, 348, 349; - Curtain, 343, 346; - Fortune, 346; - Globe, 241, 346, 347; - Hope, 347; - Rose, 241, 347; - Swan, 241, 347; - The Theatre, 343, 346; - Whitehall, 349 - - Theobalds, 85 - - Thorne, George, 391–393 - - Thorpe, 246 - - Throgmorton, Nicholas, 61, 62, 157 - - Tilbury, 77 - - Tithes, 28 - - Tobacco, 181, 285, 348, 354 - - Tombs, 146 - - Torture, 31, 72 - - Tothill Fields, 391 - - Toto, Antonio, 260 - - Tottell, Richard, 246, 340 - - Tottenham Court, 416 - - Tower, the, 25, 39, 49, 67, 96, 99, 203, 263 - - Tower Ditch, 42, 194 - - Tower Hill, 9, 59, 130, 326, 390 - - Tower Postern, 42 - - Tower Royal, the, 181, 203 - - Tower Stairs, 417 - - Tower Street, 96 - - Tower Street, Ward of, 76 - - Towns, dilapidated state of, 217, 218 - - Trade—revival of in sixteenth century, 18, 197, 219–237; - and the Spanish War, 43; - decay of, 216–219; - restrictions on, 62, 63, 84; - and Queen Elizabeth, 83; - foreign trade, 83, 230–237, 241–243; - and aliens, 237–242; - and monopolies, 233, 238; - money-lending, 238–240, 288; - commercial treaties, 242 - - Trafalgar Square, 205 - - Trained Bands, 16, 39, 76–78, 309 - - Trees, 201 - - Truro, 218 - - Tudson, J., 136 - - Tumblers, 273 - - Turberville, 8 - - Turkey Company, 236, 237 - - Tyburn, 7, 9, 32, 59, 71 - - - Uniformity, Act of, 69 - - Upright Men, the, 384, 387 - - Usk, 218 - - Usury, 238 - - Uxbridge, 140 - - - Vagrants, 370–373 - - Venner, 143 - - Vergil, Polydore, 283 - - Vestments, 146, 147, 148 - - Vintry, the, 337 - - Vintry, Ward of, 76 - - Volpe, Vincent, 258, 260 - - - Wade, Christopher, 136 - - Wages and salaries, 244, 259, 260, 296, 369 - - Walbrook, 140 - - Walbrook, River, 188, 194 - - Walbrook, Ward of, 76 - - Waleys, Mayor, 257 - - Walking Morte, the, 387 - - Walsingham, Sir F., 124, 182 - - Walthamstow, 376 - - Walworth, William, 255 - - Wandsworth, 238 - - Wapping, 227, 288, 370 - - Warbeck, Perkin, 6–9 - - Warde, 246 - - Wardrobe, 201 - - Warne, J., 136 - - Warren, J., 136 - - Warwick, 218, 376, 388 - - Warwick, the Earl of, 4, 6, 8, 9, 181; - his Company, 350 - - Watchmen, 374 - - Water Lane, 44 - - Watermen, 240, 241, 389 - - Water-supply, 40, 44, 188, 193, 194, 285, 377, 397 - - Watling Street, 158 - - Wats, T., 136 - - Webbe, Sir W., 254 - - Weddings, 304, 312, 313 - - Welford, Sir T., 326 - - Wellington Square, Hoxton, 356 - - Wells, river of the, 188 - - Wentworth, Lord, 97 - - Westchepe, Cross of, 12 - - Westchester, 376 - - Westminster, 38, 43, 44, 53, 58, 63, 67, 100, 211, 363, 368, 387 - - Westminster, Abbot of, 96 - - Westminster Hall, 8, 26, 31, 155, 203 - - Westminster Palace, 60 - - Weymouth, 218 - - Whale-fishing, 235 - - Wheeler, John, 232 - - Whipjack, 386 - - Whipping, 59 - - Whitchurch, 388 - - White, E., 246 - - White, Sir Thomas, 256, 376 - - Whitechapel, 194 - - White Cross Street, 44, 194 - - Whitehall, 86, 98, 99, 320 - - Whitsuntide, 360, 362 - - Whittington, 176, 182, 254, 257, 375 - - Wigan, 218 - - Wilford, Ralph, 9 - - Willesden, 194 - - William, Bishop, 98 - - Williams, the martyr, 136 - - Willoughby, Sir Hugh, 51, 222, 233 - - Wiltshire, Earl of, 26, 39 - - Wimbledon, Lord, 317 - - Winchelsea, 217 - - Winchester, 7, 217, 376 - - Windows, 276 - - Windsor, 51, 241 - - Windsor Castle, 86 - - Wine, 43, 180, 190, 210, 271, 292, 293, 294, 300, 334, 337 - - Wise, 246 - - Witchcraft, 82, 163–164 - - Wither, George, 265 - - Wolsey, Cardinal, 23, 24, 26, 27, 42, 43, 112, 118, 119, 155, 283, 286 - - Women—position of wives, 269, 270, 271; - dress, 270, 271; - ostentation of, 272; - amusements, 273; - and smoking, 285 - - Wood, Anthony à, 156, 261 - - Wood, Thomas, 403 - - Wootton Bassett, 388 - - Worcester, 217, 376 - - Worcester, Earl of, 39; - his Company, 350 - - Worsley, 260 - - Wotton, 384 - - Wright, Andrew, 259, 260 - - Wurtemberg, Duke of, 203 - - Wyatt’s Rebellion, 53, 54, 62 - - Wych Street, 44 - - Wyclyf, 4, 123 - - Wyndham, 388 - - Wynkyn de Worde, 244 - - Wythypool, P., 27, 28 - - - Yeoman of the Chandry, 382 - - Yeoman of the Scullery, 382 - - Yeomen of the Guard, 5 - - Yeomen of the Laundry, 100 - - York, 217 - - York Castle, 239 - - York, John, 49 - - - THE END - - _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_. - - -[Illustration: LONDON IN THE TIME OF THE TUDORS. A REPRODUCTION, -REDUCED, OF THE MAP BY RALPH AGAS, CIRCA 1560. - -_From a facsimile reproduction of the original map by Edward J. -Francis, in the possession of John C. Francis._ - -Lithographed by W. & A. K. Johnston Limited Edinburgh & London - -MAP ACCOMPANYING “LONDON IN THE TIME OF THE TUDORS BY SIR WALTER -BESANT, PUBLISHED BY ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, -1904] - -{Transcription: - This antient and famous City of London, was first founded by - _Brate_ the Trojan, in the year of the World two thousand, - eight hundred thirty & two, and before the Nativity of our - Saviour Christ, one thousand, one hundred and 30. So that since - the first building, it 2 thousand 6 hundred 60 & 3 years. And - afterward was repaired and enlarged by King _Lud._ but at the - present so flourisheth, that it containeth in length from the - East to the West about 3. English miles, from the North to the - South about 2 English miles. It is also so plentifully peopled, - that it is divided into a hundred and 22 Parishes within the - Liberties, besides 16 Parishes that are in the suburbs. It - is planted on a very good soyle: for on the one side it is - compassed with come & pasture ground, on the other side it is - inclosed with the river of Thames, which not only aboundeth in - all kind of fresh water-fish, but also is so navigable, that - it as well bringeth abundance of commodities from all parts - of the World, as also conveieth forth such commodities as the - plentifulnesse of our Contry doth yield us: which both augments - the fame thereof abroad, and also increaseth the riches thereof - at hom; so that as it is head and chief City of the whole - Realm, so it is likewise head and chief Chamber of the whole - Realm, as well for our outward and inward commodities. God - prosper it at his pleasure Amen. - - New Troy my name: when first my fame begun - By Trajan Brute: who then me placed here: - On fruitfull soyle, where pleasant Thames doth run - Sith Lud my Lord, my King and Lover dear, - Encreast my boundes and London (far that rings - Through Regions large) he called then my name - How famous since (I stately seat of Kings) - Have flourish’d aye: let others that proclaim. - And let me joy thus happy still to see - This vertuous Peer my Soveraign King to be.} - - - A Companion Volume to “London in the Time of the Tudors” -+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ -| | -| L O N D O N | -| | -| IN THE TIME OF THE STUARTS | -| | -| BY SIR WALTER BESANT | -| | -| _In One Volume, Demy 4to, Cloth, Gilt Top, 410 pages, containing | -| 115 Illustrations, mostly from Contemporary Prints, and a | -| reproduction of Ogilby and Morgan’s Map of London, 1677._ | -| | -| PRICE =30s.= NET | -+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ -| SOME PRESS OPINIONS | -| | -| ‘Most readable and interesting.... It is a mine in which the | -| student alike of topography and of manners and customs may dig | -| and dig again with the certainty of finding something new and | -| interesting.’—_The Times._ | -| | -| ‘No lover of London can fail to be grateful to the late Sir Walter | -| for his many carefully studied pictures of its ancient life, | -| pictures often quaint and amusing, and bearing always the mark | -| of earnest and minute research.... The general reader will find | -| in this volume a world of interesting suggestion.’—_The Daily | -| Chronicle._ | -| | -| ‘We are again reminded of the vast debt which London owes to the | -| late Sir Walter Besant by the appearance of this sumptuously | -| printed and beautifully illustrated book, the second volume of | -| his great Survey of London—unquestionably his _magnum opus_, upon | -| which his fame will chiefly rest.... A book which should be in | -| the library of every one who takes an intelligent interest in the | -| history and development of London.’—_The Daily Telegraph._ | -| | -| ‘A work of great interest, eminently readable, and full of curious, | -| interesting, and original matter.’—_Westminster Gazette._ | -| | -| ‘The pen of the ready writer here is fluent; the picture wants | -| nothing in completeness. The records of the city and the kingdom | -| have been ransacked for facts and documents, and they are here | -| marshalled with consummate skill. In surveying the political | -| history of London from James I. to Queen Anne, Sir Walter Besant | -| reveals himself as an unsparing and impartial historian, and in | -| this respect alone the work must command our admiration and our | -| praise. But there is also included the most vivid presentation of | -| the story of the Great Plague and the Great Fire that has ever been | -| brought between the covers of one book.’—_The Pall Mall Gazette._ | -| | -| ‘It is impossible to speak too highly of this endeavour to say all | -| that is worth saying about London, and to say it in a manner which | -| shall at once satisfy the historical student and attract public | -| attention.’—_Yorkshire Post._ | -| | -| ‘Much has hitherto been written, both by way of fact and fiction, | -| as well as by a blend of each, to describe London in its grievous | -| trials of pestilence and flame; but Sir Walter Besant has here | -| gathered together by far the most graphic and the most trustworthy | -| accounts that have hitherto been penned.’—_The Guardian._ | -| | -| ‘The whole work is one of singular interest because the subject | -| is treated with the lightness of touch and descriptive power not | -| always attained by antiquarian writers.’—_The Record._ | -| | -| ‘This handsome volume furnishes a fascinating record, both | -| pictorial and literary, of seventeenth century London, such as can | -| be found nowhere else. To the student it will be invaluable; to the | -| general reader with antiquarian interests and a taste for social | -| history, a never-failing source of delight.’—_The Contemporary | -| Review._ | -| | -| ‘There is not a dull page in the book, and the fact that the | -| treatment is somewhat discursive makes the volume more delightful. | -| We can give no idea of its variety and its charm, but every one | -| who wishes to know the London of two hundred and fifty years ago | -| will feel, as he opens this volume, that he has stepped back into | -| that world of great events, and will live again through its civil | -| discord, its Plague, and Fire, and its strange superstitions.’—_The | -| London Quarterly Review._ | -+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ -| PUBLISHED BY | -| ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK, 4, 5, & 6 SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W. | -+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ - - A Companion Volume to “London in the Time of the Tudors” -+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ -| | -| L O N D O N | -| | -| IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY | -| | -| BY SIR WALTER BESANT | -| | -| _In One Volume, Demy 4to, Cloth, Gilt Top, 680 pages, containing | -| 104 Illustrations, mostly from Contemporary Prints, and a Map._ | -| | -| PRICE =30s.= NET | -+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ -| SOME PRESS OPINIONS | -| | -| ‘Turn where you will in his pages, you get some interesting | -| glimpse which opens up the past and illumines the present.’—_The | -| Contemporary Review._ | -| | -| ‘A handsome and very interesting book is the result, for which the | -| curious reader and the student will alike be grateful.... Gives an | -| admirable impression of the times.’—_The Spectator._ | -| | -| ‘It is excellently planned and very ably and agreeably executed.... | -| The chief charm of this work is the pleasantness of the style in | -| which it is written—easy, clear, and individual. To the accuracy | -| of the ideal historian Sir Walter added the picturesqueness of the | -| popular novelist.’—_The Globe._ | -| | -| ‘It forms a sumptuous volume, and is marked, of course, by minute | -| research and enthusiastic interest. Will be a thoroughly engrossing | -| study for all those—and they are now many—to whom the past of the | -| Empire’s capital is a subject of the keenest fascination.’—_St. | -| James’s Gazette._ | -| | -| ‘To praise this book were superfluous. Sir Walter was ideally | -| suited for the task which he set himself. He was an antiquarian, | -| but not a Dryasdust; he had the topographical sense, but he spares | -| us measurements; he was pleasantly discursive; if he moralised he | -| was never tedious; he had the novelist’s eye for the romantic. | -| Above all, he loved and reverenced London. Though only a Londoner | -| by adoption, he bestowed upon the capital a more than filial | -| regard. Besant is the nineteenth century Stow, and something | -| more.... This remarkable volume.... It is a monument of faithful | -| and careful research.’—_The Daily Telegraph._ | -| | -| ‘Will be of the utmost value to every student of the life and | -| history of London.’—_The Standard._ | -| | -| ‘Altogether this posthumous work of the historian of London is one | -| of the most fascinating books which he ever wrote.’—_The Municipal | -| Journal._ | -| | -| ‘It is a wonderfully complete history.... Will probably stand to | -| all time as the brightest and most authoritative book on a period | -| which is bound, by its very evils, to have a fascination for the | -| student of customs and manners, and for the student of national | -| development.’—_The Liverpool Post._ | -| | -| ‘The book is engrossing and its manner delightful.’—_The Times._ | -| | -| ‘A work of great value and interest; ... profoundly | -| interesting.’—_The Westminster Gazette._ | -| | -| ‘Of facts and figures such as these this valuable book will be | -| found full to overflowing, and it is calculated, therefore, to | -| interest all kinds of readers, from the student to the dilettante, | -| from the romancer in search of matter to the most voracious student | -| of “Tit-Bits.”’—_The Athenæum._ | -| | -| ‘Stimulating, edifying, interesting, horrifying, in turns, the book | -| has not a dull moment.... As it is the best, it will surely prove | -| the most prized and popular of modern books on London.’—_Notes and | -| Queries._ | -| | -| ‘The work is copiously illustrated with reproductions of old | -| prints, and is altogether a delightful and fascinating guide to | -| the Metropolis at an eventful period of its history.’—_Pall Mall | -| Gazette._ | -| | -| ‘Of the present lordly quarto volume it may be said that it fairly | -| represents that “Survey” which Sir Walter Besant conceived, and | -| which he used to refer to as his _magnum opus_. It is a worthy | -| literary monument to his deep knowledge and love of London.’—_The | -| Academy._ | -| | -| ‘Besant’s interesting and valuable book.’—_Manchester Guardian._ | -| | -| ‘It is assuredly a delightful book to lose oneself in, and so to | -| think one’s way back into a simpler and perhaps, after all, a | -| merrier England.’—_The Bookman._ | -| | -| ‘A book to be treasured and studied.... The work as a whole is a | -| notable achievement, and will stand as the classical authority on | -| eighteenth century London.’—_The Speaker._ | -+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ -| PUBLISHED BY | -| ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK, 4, 5, & 6 SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W. | -+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ - - - FOOTNOTES: - - [1] Richard Grafton, Chronicler, born _circa_ 1572. - - [2] “Mortuary = a gift left by a man at his death to his parish - church for the recompence of his personal tythes and offerings - not duly paid in his lifetime” (_Johnson’s Dictionary_). - - [3] _History of London_, Book I. p. 255. - - [4] _Pawne_ = a gallery. - - [5] William Harrison, who wrote “The Description of England” - for Holinshed’s _Chronicles_. - - [6] Holinshed’s _Chronicles_. - - [7] Or fee-farm rent. - - [8] Many of these details were published for the first time in - Sharpe’s _London and the Kingdom_, i. 494 _et seq._ - - [9] A rich and precious stuff composed of silk with threads of - gold. - - [10] Treene = wooden, especially used of plates. - - [11] See _Remembrancia_, pp. 550–551. - - [12] See _Remembrancia_, p. 230. - - [13] These titles began with Henry VII., who seeing an - inhabitant of Shoreditch shoot with extraordinary skill, - dubbed him Duke of Shoreditch; this being copied by others, as - Marquesses, Earls, etc., drew such ridicule upon the Company as - finally brought contempt on the archery itself. - - [14] _The Anatomie of Abuses_, Turnbull’s edition 1836, p. 50. - - [15] Rewalt = to give up or surrender (_Century Dictionary_). - - -Transcriber’s Notes: - - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Text enclosed by ‘►◄’ is in blackletter font (►blackletter◄). - - Blank pages have been removed. - - A few obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. - - Otherwise spelling and hyphenation variations remain unchanged. - - Illustrations: internal caption-like text is replicated in the - external caption. More extensive text is replicated in a - {Transcription: ... } block. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of London in the Time of the Tudors, by -Sir Walter Besant - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LONDON IN THE TIME OF THE TUDORS *** - -***** This file should be named 62134-0.txt or 62134-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/1/3/62134/ - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Robert Tonsing, 'Junet' for -finding, scanning and re-creating Agas' map, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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