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STR THOMAS Rowe, Merchant Tailor," Mayor 1568, built a convenient room in St. Paul Church yard, to receive a number of auditors in sermon-time *. It was situated on the south side of the Cross, as appears by his name there fixed. He enclosed also this year, with a brick wall, a piece of ground near Bethlem, for a burying-place for such parishes in LONDON as wanted CHURCH YARDS +.

SIR WOLSTONE DIXIE, Skinner, Mayor 1585, is mentioned, as the inauguration of this Magistrate was rendered remarkable by the pageant that was exhibited upon the occasion, October 29 ‡.

This was for the Nobility, &c. frequenting the sermons at Paul's Cross, which were preached in the open air. There were, it is true, covered galleries surrounding the area; but by their construction, as far as it can be conjectured, we should suppose that they afforded but little shelter from the weather. These sermons were in many instances political, in others familiar: reproofs were here given, denunciations read, and sentences promulgated; so that it is no wonder that the place was crowded, and a retiring room deemed a convenience.

This is a proof that many parts of the ancient city of London were as closely built, and as crowded with houses, &c., as they are at present.

These seem to have been all the Chief Magistrates that in the course

•-

Moon, addressing the Chief Magistratę :-
From where the sun doth settle in his wain,
And yokes his horses to his fiery car,
And in his course gives life to Ceres' corn;
Even from the torrid zone behold I come,
A stranger, strangely mounted, as you see,
Seated upon a lusty Luzarn's back,
To offer to your honour (good my Lord!)
This emblem thus in show significant.

[Pointing to the Pageant, which exhi-
bited a beautiful girl gorgeously ap-
parelled, who personified LONDON.)
-The Moor continues

Lo lovely LONDON, rich and fortunate,
Fam'd thro' the world for peace and happi-

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And safe and easy passage, what she can,
And keeps her leaping fishes in her lap.
The soldier and the sailor frankly both
For London's aid are all in readiness
To venture out to fight by land and sea.
And this thrice reverend honourable dame,
Science, the sap of every commonwealth
Surnam'd Mechanical or Liberal,

Is vow'd to honour LONDON with her skill.

**

This may serve as a specimen of the Pro

This pageant, as a trait of the manners of the times, is, in description, extremely curious: it is absolutely theatrical, and has a much larger portion of good sense in it thau many pageants that are displayed in ether places in this age. Whether it was written by the City Poet, or a courtly author, we do not now: but it is certainly valuable, not only for the poetry, but because it describes the flourishing state of the metrologue to this MASQUE, which is considerably polis in the days of Elizabeth. It may be said, that the ingenious author has made a liberal use of the poetical licence, and dealt largely in fiction but this we deny, for two reasons; 1st, because the very exhibition of such a splendid spectacle showed the flourishing state of the city wherein it was displayed; and, 2d, because the historians and poets of the time (of the latter Spenser and Shakspeare, for instance, and Jonson shortly after,) have corroborated and conArmed him. The pageant opens with a speech from a character apparelled in a Moorish habit, and mounted upon the back of a LUZARN. (What kind of beast a Lugarn was we are yet to learn; but there is in he exordium something Miltonic.)

longer. The dramatis persona, represented by the CHILDREN of the Pageant, are, LonDON, MAGNANIMITY, LOYALTY, THE COUN TRY, THE THAMES, THE SOLDIER, THE SAILOR, SCIENCE, and first, second, third, and fourth NYMPHS, who have all appro priate speeches assigned to them; so that the piefe, as has been observed, becomes dramatic; and, while it displays the opulence of the city, also shows the drama in very advanced state.

The French carried these spectacles to a great excess, and, we think, anticipated them; for upon the entry of Louis the XIth

*Pointing to them.

+ Pointing to Scienge.

of the century had distinguished themselves by adding to the beauty, the splendor, or the convenience of the city of London. But although the possessors of the civic chair did not, in this instance, take the lead, many of the aldermen, merchants, and opulent citizens, exerted themselves in a manner highly honourable to their characters, and extremely advantageous to the metropolis. Of the effects of these exertions we shall presently have occasion to take notice; but must first recur to the date to which we have before adverted, viz. 1475, to show the cause that produced them.

From this period there seems to have been an emancipation of the civic mind; in consequence of which, commerce, rising superior to rivalry, and relieved from fears, rather than actual restraints,

into Tournay, in the year 1463, the most beautiful girl in the city descended from the top of the gate by a machine, and saluting the King, threw open her robe before her bosom, which displayed a heart, which part ed, and a large feur de lis issued forth. This she presented to the king, saying, "Sire, I am a virgin, and so is the city, for it never was taken, nor ever turned against the Kings of France, every one of its inhabitants having a fieur de lis in his heart +." In all the entries of the Kings of France, a maid arrayed in white used to address them, and present the keys of the town. This was a custom derived from the Germans, who thought that there was something divine in young virgins. At the gate of St. Denis, (Paris, many pieces in the nature of pa geants were occasionally represented. That displayed in the entry of Isabeau de Baviere, Queen of Charles the VIth, was the most remarkable. Sir James Penberton, Gold

smith, Mayor 1611, made a splendid display, winch was celebrated in a pamphlet called Chryso-Thriambos, the Triumphs of Gold; being a description of the shows at hus in auguration, at the charge of the Goldsmiths, written by Anthony Munday, Citizen and Draper; inprinted by William Juggard, Printer to the City. London's Jus Honorarium, we have before observed, was also published in the mayoralty Sir George Whitmore, 1631; being a description of the sandry triumphs, pageants, and shows, at his initiation. By Thomas Heywood.

Tournay was, however, taken by Henry the VIIIth, 24th September, 1514. Yet the gare still retained this mscription, "Thou hast never lost thy virginity."

↑ Monstrelet, Vok-ÍH, p. 101.
Tacitus, cap. 8.

began, from its grand emporium, LonDON, to float its barks upon more adventurous keels than it had hitherto launched upon the wide-extended ocean.

The spirit of the times is always guided by the spirit of the Monarch; and that of Henry the VIIth, after he had attained the throne, was by no means warlike. His frugal, or rather his avaricious propensities, under the influence of uncommon sagacity, soon induced him to prefer peace to war, for two reasons: the first was, that he had no taste for foreign acquisitions; in these he saw that visionary and uncertain glory was always attended with certain expense; and, secondly, because from the obstruction of commerce he contemplated a defalcation of revenue. So that in the beginning of his reign laying it down as a fixed principle never to engage in any war without an absolute necessity, he persevered in it to the conclusion. This prudent resolution, though in its operation the Monarch consulted his own ease and his own interest, rather than those of his subjects, was eventually of amazing advantage to the city of London; and, in conjunction with the influence of the political situation of Eu rope, laid that foundation of commercial permanence upon which the superstructure of even our present trade is erected. Cautious, regular *, patient, and parsimonious, Henry the Vith possessed qualities that would certainly have been useful in the counting-house, though he had not, in his disposition, liberality sufficient to have entitled him to the appellation of a ROYAL MER

CHANT.

The circumstance from which his

memory derives the greatest honour, was his endeavouring to improve the architectural taste of the age, and his consequent exhibition of so pure a spccimen of the best Gothic stile in his chapel at Westminster +, which, it must

* This Monarch, it is said, kept a book, in which, like some court registers of which we have read, he noted down, with his own hand, the qualities and characters of the persons whom he knew, in order that he might employ or reject them as occasion served. A favourite monkey, set on, as it was thonght, by one of his Chamberlains, one day destroyed this valuable manuscript; at which the King appeared exceedingly grieved. Bacon, p, 637.

+ Henry the VIth, it has frequently been observed, had few expensive propen

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be observed, was founded in the year 1502; a period when this fascinating species of building was in its meridian. It is impossible to behold this venerable vestige of ancient genius without almiration: yet, it has been said, perhaps

sities; but he seems to have taken some pleasure in architectural improvements, and occasionally to have spared neither pains nor expense in the indulgence of this laudable predilection.

It is a curious circumstance, that he built three houses for that sect of Franciscans called Conventuals, and three others for another sect of them called Observants, which the l'andalic taste of his son destroyed. He also, upon an enlarged and more magnificent plan,rebuilt Baynard's Castle, and enlarged the palace at Greenwich, which he named Plucentia. Upon his chapel at Westminster he is said to have (according to some historians) expended fourteen thousand pounds *; according to others, twenty thousand pounds. Perhaps truth may lie betwist the two extremes: however, it certainly cost a large sum for those days. This magnificent building was erected on the site of a chapel built by Henry the IIId, and of a tavern which had been long distinguished by the sign of the White Rose, the cognizance of the house of York. Whether he chose this particular spot for the pleasure of destroying this, one of the last vestiges of the family, is uncertain. The Red Rose tavern, which was opposite, remained for ages after; indeed it is said, that the Ship public-house, and some other wooden buildings, which have lately been taken down to make room for the new Gothic screen to the House of Commons, were part of this famous tavern. If we can get over the length of time, there certainly was nothing, either in their exterior or interior architecture, to contradict the assertion. The three houses seemed to have been one mansion, and in the centre one (the Ship) there was actually many symptoms of its having been long dedicated to conviviality; or, if we advert to the days of York and Lancaster's disputed sway," we should rather say, to party.

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The chapel at Windsor also owes its rise to Henry the VIIth. The palace of the Savoy, built in the reign of Henry the IIId, and which is the only metropolitan vestige of the castellated taste of architecture remaining, he appropriated to the purposes of an hospital, for which it was much litter. A general view of the Savoy from the River Thames, and of the Savoy Hospital in the Strand, with the Chapel, have been published by the Antiquarian Society.

It has been conjectured by an able calculator, that such a building would now cost at least five times that sam.

its beauty consists more in the workmanship than either in the plan or elevation. We think that elegance and art pervades and combines all these parts, and that it is one of those happy efforts of taste and true proportion, which, as the late Sir William Chambers observed of a part of the ancient Somerset House, always produces emotions of pleasure, though we cannot technically define the source from which they are derived *.

At the beginning of the reign of Henry the VIIith, a period which must, in its course, be noted for dilapidation rather than erection, a most extraordinary operation in fiscal arrangement took place upon the publication of a proclamation, encouraging those who had been oppressed by the Ministers of the late King to make their complaints, not so much with a view of obtaining satisfaction as REVENGE. This bulletin, as it would now perhaps be called, was levelled at those two Ministers, EDMUND DUDLEY and RICHARD EMPSON; both of whom, although they had offices in the city, resided in Westminster t.

*The tomb of Henry the VIIth, perfected by his executors, is said to have cost a thousand pounds, which, as money went then, might be thought a sumptuous monument, (Herbert, p. 2.) Yet this was exclusive of the sculptures in brass, which are extremely beautiful, and were executed during the Lie of the Monarch, by an Italian who had been disciple to Donato, or Donatella, who formed the gates of a church in Florence (casts from which are in the Royal Academy.) These Michael Angelo said were worthy to be the gates of Paradise.

The house of Dudley, it has been ascer tained, was near the west gate of the Abbey, upon the spot where several ancient buildings, one of which was lately occupied by the Clerk to the Dean and Chapter, now stand: he was of a respectable family, and eminent for his literary attainments. Fmpson's house, in Westminster, was probably a part of the Exchequer; another that he had in the city was called the Parsonage, in Fleet-steet, in the parish of St. Bride's . Dudley was a man of learning and an encourager of literature: he is said to have had a printing-press in the Almonry. While in confinement, he wrote a piece called "The Tree of the Com monwealth," which is still in manuscript.

This house was given to Wolsey by Henry the VIIIth.

If such an invitation was now held out against any Commissioners or Collectors of TAXES, we can, from experience of the disputes which their necessary exertions so frequently engender, very easily conceive the consequence, Complaints poured into the Court from every quarter of the metropolis, wherein it appears that their operations or extortions had either been more conspicuous, or more keenly felt, than in the country. But none of those could be substantiated; and these Ministers would have been convicted of nothing but a faithful, though perhaps rigorous, discharge of their duty, had not two sacrifices to the clamour that he had raised, been deemed necessary by the Monarch: therefore, after several respites, they were, in 1510, executed upon a charge which, had it been true, ought rather to have consigned them to Bethlem *.

This event we have thought proper to notice, as it was the first trait that Henry

It is difficult to conceive how ductile the human imagination is to times and circumstances; but still it seems to us more difficult to stretch the statute 25 Edw. III. to meet, or, more correctly speaking, to create, the case of these unfortunate men.

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They were charged, as appears in their indictments upon record, of a conspiracy against the King and State; of suinmoning, during the late King's illness, certain of their friends to be ready in arms at an hour's warning, and upon the King's death to hasten to London; whence it was inferred by the jury, that they either intended to seize the King's person, or to destroy him." Herbert, p. 4.-These sagacious gentlemen seem, in their zeal to condemn, to have forgotten two things: first, that to seize the person of the young Monarch, surrounded by his guards, his courtiers, and, at that time, idolized by the people, would have been rather a service of danger; to have destroyed him, by any means in their power, impossible; and, secondly, that both Dudley and Empson had sense enough to know that they were obnoxious to the people, and that, in the event of the death of their protector, Henry the VIIth, their lives were in much greater danger than that of the new Monarch, and that their houses stood a good chance of being plundered. To protect those, and their property, were unquestionably the reasons why they summoned their friends; though this act of caution was tortured into the shape of constructive treason, if the term shape can be applied to any thing so unsubstan

tial.

the VIIIth exhibited of that sanguinary and capricious disposition which was afterward so conspicuous, and which was attended with such important consequences to the metropolis, to the country, and to Europe. A taste for show, splendor, and an ostentatious display of inagnificence, was in his nind equally predominant. This, as the young Monarch was the glass in which the youth of England viewed themselves, soon dispersed all the frugal ideas that the avaricious habits and example of his father had elicited among the people * ; and as it afforded him the means of annihilating, with respect to his own' expenses and domestic arrangement, every trace of royal prudence, so the profusion of the Court banished parsimony from the City.

But although Henry the VIIIth was at this time, to the greatest excess, fond of external magnificence; though his attendant nobles, his officers of state, his gentlemen, his domestics, and his guards, were clad in habits the most splendid, and the higher order of them adorned with jewels, and other ornaments, the most superb and costly; yet his palace at Westminster was neither remarkable for external pomp, nor internal convenience. Judging from the few vestiges that the fire had, and

* Lord Herbert, and all other historians, agree, that Henry the VIIth left a sum a mounting to 1,800,0001. †, in specie, in secret places of his palace at Richmond, of which he alone kept the keys. "This," says that noble Lord, was doubtless a greater sum than any King of this realm before had in his coffers, and such as might be thought effec tively quadruple to so much in this age." (the age of Charles the IId:) which computation of his Lordship is extremely moderate, if we reflect upon the rate of living at that time, when the usual price of wheat (anno 1504) was but 5s. 8d. and ale not quite 3d. per gallon. (i. e. 8s. 6d. of our money,) per quarter,

Other authors have estimated this treasure so high as 5,300,0001.; a sum which, considering the value of money in those days, and taxing the parsimony of the King to its utmost height, and the national opulence as most extensive, is absolutely incredible. Sir William Petty, after the im portations of the precious metals from Spain and Portugal, estimated the whole money of England at only six millions.

be observed, was founded in the year 1502; a period when this fascinating species of building was in its meridian. 11 is impossible to behold this venerable vestige of ancient genius without a imiration: yet, it has been said, perhaps

sities; but he seems to have taken some pleasure in architectural improvements, and occasionally to have spared neither pains nor expense in the indulgence of this laudable predilection.

It is a curious circumstance, that he built

three houses for that sect of Franciscans

called Concentuals, and three others for another sect of them called Observants, which the l'andalic taste of his son destroyed. He also, upon an enlarged and more magnificent plan,rebuilt Baynard's Castle, and enlarged the palace at Greenwich, which he named Placentia. Upon his chapel at Westminster he is said to have (accor ling to some histo rians) expended fourteen thousand pounds *; according to others, twenty thousand pounds. Perhaps truth may lie betwixt the two extremes: however, it certainly cost a large sun for those days. This magnificent building was erected on the site of a chapel built by Henry the IIId, and of a tavern which had been long distinguished by the sign of the White Rose, the cognizance of the house of York. Whether he chose this particular spot for the pleasure of destroying this, one of the last vestiges of the family, is uncertain. The Red Rose tavern, which was opposite, remained for ages after; indeed it is said, that the Ship public-house, and some other wooden buildings, which have Jately been taken down to make room for the new Gothic screen to the House of Commons, were part of this famous tavern.

If we can

get over the length of time, there certainly was nothing, either in their exterior or interior architecture, to contradict the assertion. The three houses seemed to have been one

mansion, and in the centre one (the Ship) there was actually many symptoms of its having been long dedicated to conviviality; or, if we advert to the days of York and Lancaster's disputed sway," we should rather say, to party.

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The chapel at Windsor also owes its rise to Henry the VIth. The palace of the Savoy, built in the reign of Henry the IIId, and which is the only metropolitan vestige of the castellated taste of architecture remaining, he appropriated to the purposes of an hospital, for which it was much litter. A general view of the Savoy from the River Thames, and of the Savoy Hospital in the Strand, with the Chapel, have been pubished by the Antiquarian Society.

* It has been conjectured by an able calculator, that such a building would now cost at least five times that sam.

its beauty consists more in the workmanship than either in the plan or elevation. We think that elegance and art pervades and combines all these parts, and that it is one of those happy efforts of taste and true proportion, which, as the late Sir Williani Chambers observed of a part of the ancient Somerset House, always produces emotions of pleasure, though we cannot technically define the source from which they are derived *

At the beginning of the reign of Henry the Vifith, a period which must, in its course, be noted for dilapidation rather than erection, a most extraordinary operation in fiscal arrangement took place upon the publication of a proclamation, encouraging those who had been oppressed by the Ministers of the late King to make their complaints, not so much with a view of obtaining satisfaction as REVENGE. This bulletin, as it would now perhaps be called, was levelled at those two Ministers, EDMUND DUDLEY and RICHARD EMPSON; both of whom, although they had offices in the city, resided in Westminster t.

The tomb of Henry the VIIth, perfected by his exccutors, is said to have cost a thou sand pounds, which, as money went then, might be thought a sumptuous monument, (Herbert, p. 2.) Yet this was exclusive of the sculptures in brass, which are extremely beautiful, and were executed during the Lie of the Monarch, by an Italian who had been disciple to Donato, or Donatella, who formed the gates of a church in Florence (casts from which are in the Royal Academy.) These Michael Angelo said were worthy to be the gates of Paradise.

+ The house of Dudley, it has been ascertained, was near the west gate of the Abbey, upon the spot where several ancient buildings, one of which was lately occupied by the Clerk to the Dean and Chapter, now stand : he was of a respectable family, and eminent for his literary attainments. Fmpson's house, in Westminster, was probably a part of the Exchequer; another that he had in the city was cailed the Parsonage, in Fleet-steet, in the parish of St. Bride's . Dudley was a man of learning and an encourager of literature: he is said to have had a printing-press in the Almonry. While in confinement, he wrote a piece called "The Tree of the Com monwealth," which is still in manuscript.

This house was given to Wolsey by Henry the VIIIth,

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