ing cattle to Smithfield market. A sufficient evidence of the concern the legislature began to take in the police as well as the government of the metropolis. The streets of London were become so filthy at this time, that the parliament, in the year 1389, issued a proclamation, ordaining, "that no person whatsoever should presume to lay any dung, guts, garbage, offals, or other ordure, in any street, ditch, &c. upon the penalty of twenty pounds, to be recovered by an information in chancery." The parliament further to inforce the law against nuisances, afterwards ordained, "That all the filth of a certain lay-stall upon the bank of the river Thames, be forthwith removed; and that the butchers of London should, before the ensuing Easter, erect a house, or houses, in a proper place, to receive all their ordure; thence to be carried in boats into the middle of the said river, and to be thrown in at the turn of the tide at high water. And that no person should presume to throw any muck, rubbish, laystage, or other ordure, in at the sides of the said river, or lay any filth or nastiness on the banks of the same, between the palace of Westminster and the Tower of London, on the penalty of ten pounds." In this reign a great number of trading guilds or companies were incorporated. The Weavers' company is, without doubt, of great antiquity; and was probably the first in being, before corporations, in the legal and modern sense of the word, existed. Mr. Madox, in his Firma Burgi, relates, that the Weavers, Bakers, and Sadlers, wore the most ancient guilds or fellowships in London; which is natural enough, since food and cloathing are most immediately necessary to mankind. In the ninth year of Richard II. a company of linen weavers, consisting of such as had been brought over from the Netherlands by Edward III. was first established; but they were so much molested by the Weavers company of London, that in the end they never arrived to any consider able degree of success. Other companies were patronised and incorporated at different times, namely, the Goldsmiths, the Skinners, the Grocers, antiently called Pepperers, the Mercers, and the Salters. The The polite arts seem also not to have been neglected, this being the era of the finishing that noble structure, Westminster Hall*; and to shew the improved state of trade, in the year 1397 the mayor and commonality of London purchased the great range of building, since named Blackwell Hall, for the reception and sale of woollen cloths, to which purpose it has been ever since applied. Richard having imprudently absented himself from the kingdom, to quell an insurrection in Ireland, Henry of Lancaster, under pretence of claiming his patrimonial estate, raised an army, and laid violent hands on the crown. Richard II. was deposed, and the consequent horrors arising from that deposition are finely described by the inimitable Shakespeare, in the prophetic exclamation of the worthy bishop of Carlisle, the only patriot who dared to shew his loyalty in parliament during so depraved and so rebellious an age: My lord of Hereford here, whom you call king, Shall here inhabit, and this land be call'd Prevent, resist it, let it not be so, Lest children's children cry against you-wo! LONDON Richard the second rebuilt Westminster Hall in its present form in 1397; and in 1399 kept his Christmas in it, with his characteristical magnificence. Twenty-eight oxen, three hundred sheep, and fowls without number, were daily consumed. The number of his guests each day were ten thousand. We need not wonder then, that Richard kept VOL. I. No. 4. M twq LONDON, TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. THE unopposed usurper of Richard's throne, Henry IV. considering the slender title he had to his dignity, not being the nearest heir, thought it his interest to conciliate the affection of those to whom he owed his exaltation; among others it was not thought prudent to neglect the metropolis; therefore as soon as the festivities of his coronation were ended, he urged the parliament, in 1400, to pass sundry laws highly beneficial to the citizens. The blank charters which were extorted from them by the late king's ministers were publicly burnt at Cheapside conduit; and certain statutes of Edward III. which seemed rather oppressive, were. repealed; an extension of privilege, also, to merchants, relative to the package of goods, was granted, and the markets for provision, particularly fish, were subjected to many regulations*. In the year 1401 the city obtained a fresh charter, which conferred on the corporation and their successors, for ever, the custody of Newgate and Ludgate, as well as all the gates and posterns in the city; and at the same time they were constituted officers for collecting the tolls and customs in Cheap, Billingsgate, and Smithfield: besides tonage or fee, for weighing sundry commodities particularly enumerated. two thousand cooks, they certainly were decply learned in their profession; witness the Forme of Cury, compiled about 1390, by the master Books of this luxurious monarch, in which are preserved receipts for the most exquisite dishes of the time. The Meuse at Charing Cross has been in use for keeping the king's falcons, at least from the time of Richard II. In that reign the accomplished Sir Simon Burley, knight of the garter, was keeper of the king's falcons at the Meuse, near Charing Crofs. This office was, by Charles II. granted to his son by Nell Gwyn, Charles duke of St. Alban's, and the heirs male of his body. In the reign of Henry VIII. the king's horses were kept here. In 1534, an accident by fire destroyed the building, with a great quantity of hay, and several great horses. It was rebuilt in the reign of Edward VI. and queen Mary. In the year 1732 the present handsome edifice arose. Pennant. * Stat. 1 Hen. IV. c. 15, 16. We We find, that in the year 1404, the woollen manufacture was hastening to become the staple of the country, and a law passed that," all woollen cloths made in London, should be marked with a leaden seal affixed to each piece, to distinguish them from those of inferior texture, and prevent imposition in the sale." The general purposes of commerce began very materially to expand, and the restrictions upon the Lombards and other foreign merchants were gradually taken off; so that mutual jealousies subsided, and general trade assumed interests hitherto unknown. The country traders who had, till this time, been restrained from disposing of their property within the city, except to London merchants, were now allowed to vend their goods in a more liberal manner, and an English mercantile company denominated, The Brotherhood of St. Thomas à Becket, the most ancient that can be traced; and which had been established towards the close of the thirteenth century, in 1406 received a charter of confirma. tion, under which it long flourished to the mutual interest of the adventurers and the country *. The city obtained, likewise, the advantage of a decision in her favour in opposition to Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury, and other interested persons, concerning the conservancy of the Thames, which was fully established †. As far as concerns the affairs of London, the remainder of Henry's reign produced nothing memorable, except the foundation of the venerable structure which serves as the Guildhall, erected by Sir Thomas Knowles, Lord Mayor, 1411, and the renewal of a market, afterwards denominated Stocks Market, on the spot where now the Mansion House is situated. Previously to his decease Henry had lost much of his popularity; and the extravagant conduct of his son, whilst • Anderson's Commerce. + It is remarkable that this prelate who felt no pity or remorse at adjudging to the stake poor Sautré for having the sense not to swallow a palpable theological absurdity, could enter seriously into the right of property of the fry in the Thames, and maintain a tedious and expensive litigation to obtain it! Hunter. Prince of Wales; did not at first shew him worthy of the monarchy he was destined to fill; but never did prince more nobly expiate his youthful excesses, by a government worthy of his virtue; nor more ably exhibit the qualities of a wise, good, and great king. We regret the age of bigotry in which he lived, when the sanguinary severity of an unrelenting prelate, the unamiable Arundel, was exercised in the abominable prosecution of Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, the most valiant and virtuous noblemen of his day. We avert from the horrid scene, and view the more masterly portrait of the renowned HERO OF AGINCOURT! Henry the fifth's reign was an era of happiness to London. Her streets vied in splendor and loyalty on his victorious return from conquest; a similar display of honour was bestowed on the emperor Sigismund, who paid Henry a visit at his own court, some time after, as a mediator for peace between England and France. The internal improvements of the city during this period were also very considerable. A new gate was built leading to the waste in Finsbury manor, since called Moorfields, and the edifice Moorgate. Holborn, one of the great inlets to the city was first paved; and lanterns hung up to light the streets. In 1419 Leadenhall was erected at the sole expence of the liberal minded Sir Simon Eyre, during the mayoralty of the famous Sir Richard Whittington, who himself had been a generous benefactor of several public works to the city; Leadenhall was intended by Sir Simon as a public granary in cases of scarcity; no information has been obtained why it failed in its destination. The country was deprived of this glorious and excellent king by death, in 1422, leaving an infant heir only eight months old. During the Protectorate of the great duke of Bedford, in the infancy of Henry VI. London experienced the benefit of his government by the many embellishments which she received. The prison of Newgate, which was previously a miserable dungeon, was rebuilt by Sir Richard Whittington, who also founded a college of priests called after his name, with an almshouse; |