Picturesque Sketches of London, Past and Present

t had witnessed its ancient splendour, we are still enabled, through old records and time-honoured chronicles, to obt

the hospitality of the Lord Mayor. I have before mentioned that James I. dined privately with Sir John Watts, the Lord Mayor in 1607, and was afterwards made free of the Clothworkers' Company; but I do not find that he ever visited Guild

im by chopping off his head; to know that those echoes had been broken by the gentle voice of Anne Askew, when she boldly declared her creed, and was for her sincerity sent by the Defender of the Faith to the stake; that there Throgmorton nobly defended himself, and that, in those "evil days," a jury of strong-souled citizens were daring enough to acq

ming tongue, they still stand, like giant oaks which bolt and blaze have blackened, venerable in their ruins-grey and weather-beaten landmarks, that point out the spot where the ba

high, and battl

ike cords of golden light along the tracery of the architecture, though they did reveal the modern flat roof and the unsightly upper windows. The rude drinking-horns, and oaken peg-cups, and wooden trenchers were well replaced by the glittering glass and ornamental china which graced every table. And romantic as it may have been to have carved a baron of beef with the dagger which, a day or two before, had cut a Christian throat, we preferred the mo

al da?s. The massy chandeliers (high overhead), though rich in colours as the gaudy plumage of the humming-bird, had a dull and diapered look; and, in our eyes, appeared somewhat too heavy-a waste of beauty placed beyond the reach

decks of the war-ship they commanded in a stormy sea; soldiers, who would never run, though a bomb-shell exploded at their feet; city lieutenants, who had shed no other blood than that of the grape, though they had bravely stood before many a "Kentish fire;" clergymen, with classic countenances, who glanced on the tables as they passed, as if, amid their spiritual avocations, they had still time to turn their eyes "upon the good things of this world;" finely-clad young gentlemen, who marched along with a swing and a sw

d to the gr

takers of

ly greeting between many of the old citizens, who seemed as if they but seldom met now, and who turned with pride to introduce their sons and daughters, trained up to tread the paths in which they had walk

clearing of the tables was an amusing sight. Here came No. 60, with a mountain of plates before him, from which projected the drumsticks of turkeys and the legs of geese; here a fish's, there a pheasant's tail; rui

instead of the plain crimson draper

th huntsman, h

ancient armour and blazoned ba

he soft hazel eye of England, a look from which goes at once to the heart; lips that lay like roses resting upon each other; hair so bright and soft, that the richest silk would be coarse in comparison, though spun by the worms that fed on the mulberry-trees of Eden. Ever and anon forms swam by us more graceful than swans-beautiful as silver clouds sailing side by side over the noiseless blue of heaven. Here one coquetted with her fan; there another played with her bouquet; a third sat with her

in London, (the title-page of which is wanting), I find the

consequence made across the meadows, in a line from Moorfields to Barnes, near Kingsland, 'a retiring-house of Sir George Whitmore,' who was then one of the aldermen; the banks being thrown down, and bridges fourteen feet wide thrown over the ditches.

gold chains, every horseman attended by a footman with truncheons and torches. Each company was preceded by a pendant of its arms; and four

) covered with Turkey carpets. In the middle were two chairs under a cloth of state, and before them was placed a table six yards long: two y

oor, were two tables for lords and ladies; while in the west end of the hall was a long table for his majest

attired in furs and liveries, who, standing at about two yards' distance from each other, passed the dishes

nish or side-table; the other three were of all sorts of hot flesh and fish, boiled, roasted, and baked, to the number of one hundred and twenty dishes: after

se of Commons whom he had accused of high treason, and believed to be shrouded in the City. The populace greeted him with exclamations for the

tector's fiery spirit passed away in an accompanying storm of thunder and lightning. Then Charles II. regained the throne,

gn, from Ned Ward's London Spy. We have never before seen it quoted, nor do we ever remember meeting with so truthful a description of

ipped myself in order to bear with little damage the hustles and affronts of the unmannerly nobility, of whose wild pastimes and unlucky attacks I had no little apprehension. When I had thus carefully sheltered myself under my ancient drabberries, I ventured to move tow

h whom they were chiefly filled, (and) which the mob soon pelted into so dirty a condition with their kennel-ammunition, that some of them looked as filthy as the cover-cloth of a led-horse that had travelled from Margate to London in the midst of winter; the ladies at every volley quitting their posts, and retreating into dining-rooms, as safer garrisons to defend them from the assaults of their mischievous enemies;

vices of the City, namely, Fraud, Usury, Seeming-sanctity, and Hypocrisy. As soon as this was past, the industrious rabble, who hate idleness, procured a dead cat, covered all over with dirt, in which pickle it was handed about b

o put the City in mind how apt they are to abuse the old gentleman, and not dispose of him to such good uses as the laws of man require. * * * When this pageant was past, the ingenious rabble had got a leather-apron, which they tied full of mud, as hard as

woman. * * * The rabble had got bullocks' horns, which they filled with kennel-water, and poured it down people's necks, and int

gine, as if he were cutting tobacco, but did not; a woman turning a wheel, as if she spun, but did not; a boy as if he was dressing an old woman's hat, but was not; which was designed, as I suppose, to reflect upon the frauds and failings of the Ci

are rich enough to serve as sheriffs have more than half climbed into the civic chair; and only such as have filled that high office are eligible for the mayoralty. The person named is generally elected, and it is seldom that a poll takes place; but if

sing him from his comfortable slumber. He does not always sit in state with his mace-bearer before him, and his toast-master behind, drinking bumpers of champa

ourts a year as Conservator of the Thames; besides being a justice of the peace for Southwark, a trustee of St. Paul's, and a governor both of Greenwich Hospital and King's College. As to the number of affidavits and other documents he has to sign for the colonies, and of foreigners, "bearde

e tenth part of them to be from ladies, and not answered! what abuse he gets privat

hich is 152 feet long, 50 wide, and 55 feet high. But it is in the crypt where we see the true architecture of the building uninjured, where the clustered pillars

mples, solemn,

s, and roof'd by

ssador did London when he saw the snow fall. I asked my friend the meaning and design of setting [up] those two lubberly preposterous figures; for I supposed they had some peculiar end in it. 'Truly,' says my friend, 'I am wholly ignorant of what they intended by them, unless they were set up to shew the City what huge loobies their forefathers were, or else to frighten stubborn apprentice

er of people doing, that seem as busy as

amongst them, though they have to do with a great many. All those tongue-plodders who are chattering within the bar, are picking the pockets of those that stand without. You may know the sufferers by their pale f

s on so pleasing a countenance, as if, like a god, he viewed with pleasure t

re always to be on the winning side. For you must know,' says he, 'these courts are like public gaming

n get it. It is a very reasonable establishment for the prevention of poor people's ruin, who lie at the mercy of a parcel of rascally tallymen, and such-like unconscionable traders, who build their own welfare upon the miseries

ifferences about rebuilding the City; also a full-length portrait of Queen Anne. We feel disappointed that there are so few relics of old London on the hundreds of feet of bare walls that Guildhall and the courts within it contain-there could hardly be found a more appropriate place for the display of old city antiquities. I

's a will th

atest poems ever written. Here, too, awaiting a joyful resurrection, rests John Fox, the author of the Book of Martyrs; Speed, the historian and topographer. Many of the actors at the Fortune Theatre, in Whitecross Street, are also buried here. Oliver Cromwell was marrie

S'S, CRI

red. Part of the ancient City-wall is still remaining on the south and east sides of the churchyard;