Chapter I: Preface

Abundant as is the mass of material for the study of history and manners in the sixteenth century,[1] there is even a greater abundance for the history, political and social, of the century of the Stuarts. There are, however, two difficulties to be faced in such an inquiry. The first is that the history of London is far more closely connected with the history of the nation during the seventeenth than during the sixteenth century. It may, indeed, be advanced that at no time, not even when London deposed Richard II. and set up Henry IV., was the City so closely involved in all the events of the time as in the seventeenth century. The City at that time reached the highest point of its political importance, an importance which vanished in the century that followed.

Therefore the historian of London has before him the broad fact that for sixty years, viz. from the accession of Charles I. to the expulsion of James II., he should be pursuing the history of the country. In this place, however, there is not space for such a history; it has already been well told by many historians; and I have neither the time nor the competence to write the history of this most eventful period. I have therefore found it necessary to assume a certain knowledge of events and to speak of their sequence with reference especially to the attitude of the City; the forces which acted on the people; their ideas; their resolution and tenacity under Charles I.; their servility and obedience under Charles II.; and their final rejection of the doctrines of passive resistance, Divine right, and obedience which made the departure of James possible, and opened the door for constitutional government and the liberties of the people.

The second difficulty is, that while the century contains an immense mass of material in the shape of plays, poems, fiction, pamphlets, sermons, travels, sketches, biographies, trials, reports, proclamations, ordinances, speeches, and every other conceivable document for the restoration of the century, the period was sharply divided into two by the Civil Wars and the Protectorate, the latter being at best a stop-gap, while events were following each other and the mind of the nation was developing. It was, in fact, a revolutionary change which took place. The change was deepened by the Great Fire of 1666, after which a new London arose, not so picturesque, perhaps, as the former London, but reflecting the ideas of the time in its churches, which, from Mass houses became preaching rooms; and in its houses, which offered substantial comfort, more light, loftier rooms, standing in wider and better ordered streets, agreeing with the increase of wealth and the improvement in the general conditions of life. The first half of the century is, in fact, a continuation of the Elizabethan period with decay in literature and development in religion; the second half belongs to the eighteenth century, where we find a development of the last forty years of the seventeenth.

I have endeavoured to meet this difficulty by making such a selection from the things belonging to the daily life as have not been dwelt upon in the study of the sixteenth century with those points which, while they were developed or dropped in the eighteenth, have not been in that volume considered at length.

The events of the greatest importance to the City, apart from those which belong to the whole nation, were the repeated visitations of Plague, and the Great Fire. The former came and went; it destroyed the people, chiefly the common people, by thousands; its immediate effect was a dearth of craftsmen and servants, a rise in wages, and an improvement in the standard of life in the lower levels. The lessons which it taught and continually enforced were learned most imperfectly. They were simple—the admission into the courts and lanes of the crowded City of light and air; the invention of some system of sanitation which would replace the old cesspool and the public latrine; and the introduction of a plentiful supply of water for the washing of the people, as well as for their drink and for the flooding of the streets. Somewhere or other—it must be between Dowgate and Mincing Lane—there is still existing under ground the great Roman Cloaca; it is an additional proof of the desertion and desolation of the City after the Romans went away that the Cloaca was forgotten, choked up, and its mouth covered over; the creation of the foreshore covered it up. Had it been found, say, in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, the whole modern sanitary system might have been invented and developed by its means, and so the Plague would have been stayed. I have attempted to present an adequate account of the Plague from contemporary evidence. As regards the Fire I have essayed a restoration of the City before and after that event.

Turning to events political, I have already stated the difficulties which confront the historian of London in this century. The reader will not look here for a detailed history of the Civil War or the Protectorate. I hope, however, that he will find some indication of the way in which the people of London regarded the events which were working out their redemption for them, in ways which were unexpected, by trials which were hard to bear, and after a time when all seemed lost.

Considering London alone, the Restoration seems to me to have been a natural, a wholesome, and a most fortunate reaction against the successive rule of Presbyterian, Independent, and Captain or Colonel. It must have become quite clear even to men like Milton, who was one of the last to lift his voice against the return of a king, that a Commonwealth was too far in advance of the people, and that a military despotism was intolerable.

In the same way the Revolution was a swing back of the pendulum; it was quite as natural and as salutary as the rebellion against Charles and the Restoration of his son. I read this lesson clearly in the history of London, and I assume it for the history of the country.

Meantime let it be remembered that the seventeenth century secured the country for two hundred years, _i.e._ to the present day at least, and, so far as can be prophesied, for an indefinite period yet to come, from the personal interference of the sovereign. That is an enormous gain to the country. We are no longer called upon to discuss the Prerogative. The attempted encroachments of George III. appear as mere trifles compared with the monstrous claims of Charles the First and the almost incredible acts of tyranny recorded of his son and successor. And in the achievement of this great result London in the seventeenth century played a noble part and earned the deepest gratitude of all those who came, or shall come, after.

WALTER BESANT.

CONTENTS

STUART SOVEREIGNS

CHAP. PAGE

1. JAMES I. 3

2. CHARLES I. 22

3. THE CITY AND THE CIVIL WAR 53

4. THE COMMONWEALTH 64

5. THE RESTORATION 74

6. THE REIGN 82

7. JAMES II. 103

8. WILLIAM III. 117

9. QUEEN ANNE 127

RELIGION, GOVERNMENT, AND TRADE

1. RELIGION 137

2. THE CHURCH AND DISSENT 154

3. SUPERSTITIONS 159

4. SANCTUARY 168

5. CITY GOVERNMENT AND USAGES 172

6. TRADE 190

7. IRISH ESTATES 206

THE GREAT PLAGUE AND FIRE

1. THE PLAGUE 215

2. PLAGUE AND MEDICINE 233

3. ASPECT OF THE CITY BEFORE THE FIRE 240

4. THE FIRE OF LONDON 244

5. CONTEMPORARY EVIDENCE 258

6. LONDON AFTER THE FIRE 269

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

1. FOOD AND DRINK 287

2. DRESS AND MANNERS 298

3. WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS 308

4. PLACES OF RESORT 311

5. THEATRE AND ART 318

6. SPORT AND AMUSEMENTS 328

7. COACHES 338

8. PUNISHMENT AND CRIME 345

9. PUBLIC MORALITY 355

10. GENERAL NOTES 359

APPENDICES

1. THE COURT 365

2. LIST OF LONDON CLERGY EJECTED 371

3. ALMSHOUSES 374

4. COMPOSITION OF THE LORDS AND COMMONS 376

5. ENLARGEMENT OF THE STREETS 377

6. THE NEW BUILDINGS OF LONDON 380

7. GARDENS 383

INDEX 387

KEY TO OGILBY AND MORGAN’S MAP OF LONDON, 1677 397

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Charles I. _Frontispiece_

James I. 3

Triumphal Arch erected at the time of the Coronation of James I. 4

The Gunpowder Conspirators 7

Gunpowder Treason 8

King James I. Entertaining the Spanish Ambassador at Whitehall 10

Henry, Prince of Wales 11

A Facsimile of the Order for the Burning of the Book of Sports 14

The Destruction of Cheapside Cross and the Burning of the Book
of Sports 16

Charles I. 22

Cheapside—Queen Henrietta Maria’s Entry into London 23

Henrietta Maria 26

George Villiers, First Duke (Second Creation) of Buckingham 30

King Charles I. Thrown Overboard 36

“England’s Miraculous Preservation Emblematically Described” 38

“The True Maner of the Execution of Thomas Earle of Strafford” 39

Thomas Wentworth, First Earl of Strafford 40

A Plan of London and Westminster after the Fire 41

A Soldier of the Time of King James the First armed with a
Caliver 45

The Trial of King Charles I. _Facing page_ 46

Sir Thomas Fairfax and his Wife 48

Trial of King Charles I. 49

Execution of Charles I. 51

Prince Rupert 60

Cromwell Dissolving Parliament 65

Hackney Coachman 66

Oliver Cromwell 67

General Monk, First Duke of Albemarle 69

View of General Monk’s House in Grub Street 70

Letter from General Monk to the Speaker of Parliament (facsimile) 71

Mob at Temple Bar 74

The Coronation of Charles II. in Westminster Abbey _Facing page_ 76

Charles II. 77

Incidents in the Rebellion of the Fifth Monarchy Men under
Thomas Venner, and the Execution of their Leaders 79

Hungerford Market, near York Buildings, Strand _Facing page_ 88

“The Solemn Mock Procession of the Pope, Cardinalls, Jesuits,
Fryers, etc., through ye City of London” 90

Lord Mayor and Aldermen 93

Nell Gwynne 101

The Coronation of James II. in Westminster Abbey _Facing page_ 102

Titus Oates Flogged at the Cart Tail 103

Titus Oates in the Pillory 104

Duke of Monmouth 105

The Execution of Monmouth 106

James II. 109

The Seven Bishops on the Way to the Tower 111

Parliament in the reign of James II. 112

Judge Jeffreys 113

The Arrest of Jeffreys 115

Entry of the Prince of Orange into London _Facing page_ 116

William III. 119

Mary II. 120

London Street Cries 123

Queen Anne 127

Thanksgiving Service in St. Paul’s 129

Henry Sacheverell, D.D. 132

St. Paul’s Cross 138

William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury 140

A Trimmer 142

Execution of William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury 143

John Bunyan’s Meeting-house, Zoar-street, Gravel-lane,
Southwark 154

Touching for King’s Evil 165

St. Bartholomew’s 170

Warwick House, Cloth Fair 173

Craven House, Drury Lane 174

Arundel House 175

Cornhill, London 180

Watchman—Bellman 181

The Apprentices’ Enforced Toilet _Facing page_ 188

Custom House 191

“The Soveraigne of the Seas” 192

The First Royal Exchange—Exterior and Interior _Facing page_ 196

Coins of the Period _Facing page_ 200

Old Grocers’ Hall used for Bank of England 201

A Perspective View of the Bank of England 203

Paul Pindar’s House _Facing page_ 211

Lord Craven 219

Rescued from the Plague _Facing page_ 220

Samuel Pepys 221

Daniel Defoe 224

Part of Cheapside with the Cross, etc., as they Appeared in
1660 241

The Great Fire of London 245

The Cathedral Church of St. Paul as it was before ye Fire of
London 247

A View of the Monument of London, in Remembrance of the
Dreadful Fire in 1666 249

A Plan of the City and Liberties of London after the Dreadful
Conflagration in the Year 1666 _Between pages_ 252 and 253

Sir Christopher Wren 254

Sir John Evelyn’s Plan for Rebuilding the City of London after
the Great Fire in 1666 255

Sir Christopher Wren’s Plan for Rebuilding the City of London
after the Dreadful Conflagration in 1666 255

John Evelyn 259

The Great Fire of London _Facing page_ 260

Temple Bar, the West side 263

London after the Fire _Between pages_ 268 and 269

Somerset Palace, 1650 270

Durham House, Salisbury House, and Worcester House 271

The Charter House Hospital 273

Newgate, 1650 277

Remains of Prince Rupert’s Palace, Beech Street 279

St. Ethelburga within Bishopsgate 281

Specimen of Armorial Architecture 282

House in Great St. Helen’s formerly the Residence of Sir Jno.
Lawrance, Lord Mayor of London A.D. 1665 288

Tavern Scene 292

Two Costume Portraits 298

An English Lady of Quality—Lady of the Court of England 300

Citizen’s Wife—Citizen’s Daughter 301

English Gentlewoman—Noble Gentlewoman of England 303

Maypole Dance in the Time of Charles I. 305

Merchant’s Daughter—Merchant’s Wife of London 306

Procession in the City 306

“Corpe Bearer” 309

St. James’s Park 313

Interior of St. Paul’s 316

Inside of the Duke’s Theatre, Lincoln’s Inn Fields 320

Inside of the Red Bull Playhouse 322

Musical Instruments of the Period _Facing page_ 326

Sports of the Period _Facing page_ 328

Dress of the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of London in 1640 333

Coaches in St. James’s Park 339

SOVEREIGNS