The Guildhall--the mean-looking Hotel de Ville of London---was originally (says Stow) situated more to the east side of , to which it gave name. Richard de Reynere, a sheriff in the reign of Richard I, (), gave to the church of St. Mary, at sney, near Oxford, certain ground rents in Aldenmanbury, as appears by an entry in the Register of the Court of Hustings of the . In Stow's time the hall had been turned into a carpenter's yard.

The present (which the meanest Flemish city would despise) was

builded new,

from a little cottage it grew into a great house.

A few years afterwards of the porches, the Mayor's Chamber, and the Council Chamber were built. In (Henry VII.), Sir John Shaw, mayor, knighted on Bosworth Field, built the kitchens, since which time the City feasts, before that held at Merchant Taylors' and Grocers' Hall, were annually held here. In , Sir Nicholas Alwin, mayor in , left to purchase tapestry for

gaudy

In the Great Fire, when all the roofs and outbuildings were destroyed, an eye-witness describes itself still standing firm, probably because it was framed with solid oak.

Mr. Vincent, a minister, in his printed in the year , says:

And amongst other things that night, the sight of

Guildhall

was a fearful spectacle, which stood the whole body of it together in view for several hours together, after the fire had taken it, without flames (I suppose because the timber was such solid oake), like a bright shining coal, as if it had been a palace of gold, or a great building of burnished brass.

Pepys has some curious notes about the new .

Sir Richard Ford,

tells me, speaking of the new street

that is to be made from

Guildhall

down to

Cheapside

, that the ground is already, most of it, bought; and tells me of

one

. particular, of a man that hath a piece of ground lying in the very middle of the street that must be; which, when the street is cut out of it,

there will remain ground enough of each side to build a house to front the street. He demanded

seven hundred pounds

for the ground, and to be excused paying anything for the melioration of the rest of his ground that he was to keep. The Court consented to give him

£ 700

, only not to abate him the consideration, which the man denied; but told them, and so they agreed, that he would excuse the City the

£ 700

, that he might have the benefit of the melioration without paying anything for it. So much some will get by having the City burned. Ground, by this means, that was not fourpence a foot afore, will now, when houses are built, be worth

fifteen shillings

a foot.

In the (Charles II., ), we find notice that

the Committee of the Common Council of London for making the new street called

King Street

, between

Guildhall

and

Cheapside

, will sit twice a week at

Guildhall

, to treat with persons concerned; enquiry to be made by jury, according to the Act for Rebuilding the City, of the value of land of such persons as refuse to appear.

The Great Hall is feet long, feet broad, and about feet high. The interior sides, in

Stow describes the statues over the great south porch of King Henry VI.'s time as bearing the following emblems: the tables of the Commandments, a whip, a sword, and a pot. By their ancient habits and the coronets on their heads, he presumed them to be the statues of benefactors of London. The statue of our Saviour had disappeared, but the bearded figures remaining, he conjectured, were good Bishop William and the Conqueror himself. lesser figures, on each side the porch, seemed to be noble and pious ladies, of them probably the Empress Maud, another the good Queen Philippa, who once interceded for the City. These figures were taken down during Dance's injudicious alterations in . They lay neglected in a cellar until Alderman Boydell obtained leave of the Corporation to give them to Banks, the sculptor, who had taste enough to appreciate the simple earnestness of the Gothic work. At his death they were given again to the City. These figures were removed from the old screen in , and were not replaced in the new .

Stow, in relation to the statues, and to the general demolition of

images

these verses following

Though most the Images be pulled downe,

And none be thought remain in Towne,

I am sure there be in London yet

Seven images, such, and in such a place

As few or none I think will hit,

Yet every day they show their face;

And thousands see them every yeare,

But few, I thinke, can tell me where;

Where Jesus Christ aloft doth stand,

Law and Learning on either hand,

Discipline in the Devil's necke,

And hard by her are three direct;

There Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance stand;

Where find ye the like in all this Land?

The true renovation of this great City hall commenced in the year , when Mr. Horace Jones, the architect to the City of London, was entrusted with the erection of an open oak roof, with a central louvre and tapering metal spire. The new roof is as nearly as possible framed to resemble the roof destroyed in the Great Fire. Many southern

[extra_illustrations.1.386.1]  was, till its restoration in the year , a mere receptacle for the planks, benches, and trestles used at the City banquets.

This crypt is by far the finest and most extensive undercroft remaining in London, and is a true portion of the ancient hall (erected in

1411

) which escaped the Great Fire of

1666

. It extends half the length beneath the

Guildhall

, from east to west, and is divided nearly equally by a wall, having an ancient pointed door. The crypt is divided into aisles by clustered columns, from which spring the stone-ribbed groins of the vaulting, composed partly of chalk and stone, the principal intersections being covered with carved bosses of flowers, heads, and shields. The north and south aisles had formerly mullioned windows, long walled up. At the eastern end is a fine Early English arched entrance, in fair preservation; and in the southeastern angle is an octangular recess, which formerly was ceiled by an elegantly groined roof, height

thirteen

feet. The vaulting, with

four

centred arches, is very striking, and is probably some of the earliest of the sort, which seems peculiar to this country. Though called the Tudor arch, the time of its introduction was Lancastrian (see Weale's

London,

p.

159

). In

1851

the stone-work was rubbed down and cleaned, and the clustered shafts and capitals were repaired; and on the visit of Queen Victoria to

Guildhall

,

July 9, 1851

, a banquet was served to her Majesty and suite in this crypt, which was characteristically decorated for the occasion. Opposite the north entrance is a large antique bowl of Egyptian red granite, which was presented to the Corporation by Major Cookson, in

1802

, as a memorial of the British achievements in Egypt.

There was something very picturesque,

Brayley,

in the old

Guildhall

entrance. On each side of the flight of steps was an octangular turreted gallery, balustraded, having an office in each, appropriated to the hall-keeper; these galleries assumed the appearance of arbours, from being each surrounded by

six

palm-trees in iron-work, the foliage of which gave support to a large balcony, having in front a clock (with

three

dials) elaborately ornamented, and underneath a representation of the sun, resplendent with gilding; the clock-frame was of oak. At the angles were the cardinal virtues, and on the top a curious figure of Time, with a young child in his arms. On brackets to the right and left of the balcony were the gigantic figures of Gog and Magog, as beforemen- tioned, giving, by their. vast size and singular costume, an unique character to the whole. At the sides of the steps, under the hall-keeper's office, were

two

dark cells, or cages, in which unruly apprentices were occasionally confined, by order of the City Chamberlain; these were called

Little Ease,

from not being of sufficient height for a big boy to stand upright in them.

[extra_illustrations.1.386.2] , those honest giants of who have looked down on many a good dinner with imperturbable self-denial, have been the unconscious occasion of much inkshed. Who did they represent, and were they really carried about in Lord Mayor's Shows, was discussed by many generations of angry antiquaries. In Strype's time, when there were pictures of Queen Anne, King William and his consort Mary, at the east end of the hall, the pantomime giants of renown stood by the steps going up to the Mayor's Court. The holding a poleaxe with a spiked ball, Strype considered, represented a Briton; the other, with a halbert, he opined to be a Saxon. Both of them wore garlands. What was denied to great and learned was disclosed to the poor and simple. , the bookseller, or of his writers, came into possession of a little guide-book sold to visitors to the in ; this set Mr. Fairholt, a most diligent antiquary, on the right track, and he soon settled the matter for ever Gog and Magog were really Corineus and Gogmagog. The former, a companion of Brutus the Trojan, killed, as the story goes, Gog-magog, the aboriginal giant.

Our sketch of City pageants has already shown that years ago giants named Corineus and Gogmagog (which ought to have put our antiquaries earlier on the right scent) formed part of the procession. In Thomas Jordan, the City poet, in his own account of the ceremonial, especially mentions giants feet high, in several chariots,

talking and

Alderman Beckford. (From the Portrait in the Guildhall Collection).

Chatham Portrait

taking tobacco as they ride along,

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 (the Great Fire) as happened to their predecessors.

Gog and Magog

In the middle of the last century, says Mr. Fairholt, in his the was occupied by shopkeepers, after the fashion of our bazaars; and Thomas Boreman, bookseller,

near the Giants, in

Guildhall

,

gigantick history,

The author of this little volume then gives his version of the tale of the encounter,

wherein the giants were all destroyed, save Goemagog, the hugest among them, who, being in height

twelve

cubits, was reserved alive, that Corineus might try his strength with him in single combat. Corineus desired nothing more than such a match; but the old giant, in a wrestle, caught him aloft and broke

three

of his ribs. Upon this, Corineus, being desperately enraged, collected all his strength, heaved up Goemagog by main force, and bearing him on his shoulders to the next high rock, threw him headlong, all shattered, into the sea, and left his name on the cliff, which has ever since been called Lan-Goemagog, that is to say, the Giant's Leap. Thus perished Goemagog, commonly called Gogmagog, the last of the giants.

The early popularity of this tale is testified by its occurrence in the curious history of the Fitz- Warines, composed, in the century, in Anglo-Norman, no doubt by a writer who resided on the Welsh border, and who, in describing a visit paid by William the Conqueror there, speaks of that sovereign asking the history of a burnt and ruined town, and an old Briton thus giving it him: --

None inhabited these parts except very foul people, great giants, whose king was called Goemagog. These heard of the arrival of Brutus, and went out to encounter him, and at last all the giants were killed except Goemagog.

Dance's entrance to the courts was made exactly opposite the grand south entrance. large tasteless cenotaphs, more fit for the Pantheon of London, , than for anywhere else, are erected in Guildhall--to the north, those of Beckford, the Earl of Clarendon, and Nelson; on the south, that of William Pitt.

[extra_illustrations.1.387.2]  the bold opposer of the arbitrary measures of a mistaken court and a misguided Parliament, is by Moore, a sculptor who lived in . It represents the alderman in the act of delivering the celebrated speech which is engraved on the pedestal, and which, as Horace Walpole (who delighted in the mischief) says, made the king uncertain Whether to sit still and silent, or to pick up his robes and hurry into his private room. At the angles of the pedestal are female figures, Liberty and Commerce, mourning for the alderman.

[extra_illustrations.1.387.3]  by [extra_illustrations.1.387.4]  (executed in for guineas, is of a higher style than Beckford's, and, like its companion, it is a period of political excitement turned into stone. If it were the custom to delay the erection of statues to eminent men years after their death, how many would ever be erected? The usual cold allegory, in this instance, is atoned for by some dignity of mind. The great earl (a Roman senator, of course), his left hand on a helm, is placing his right hand affectionately on the plump shoulders of Commerce, who, as a blushing young , is being presented to him by the City of London, who wears a mural crown, probably because London has no walls. In the foreground is the sculptor's everlasting Britannia, seated on her small but serviceable steed, the lion,

Nelson's fame is very imperfectly honoured by a pile of allegory, erected in by the entirely forgotten Mr. James Smith, for his deplorable mass of stone consists of a huge figure of Neptune looking at Britannia, who is mournfully contemplating a very small profile relief of the departed hero, on a small dusty medallion about the size of a maid-servant's locket. To crown all this tame stuff there are some flags and trophies, and a pyramid, on which the City of London (female figure) is writing the words

Nile, Copenhagen, Trafalgar.

Facing his father, the gouty old Roman of the true rock, stands [extra_illustrations.1.388.1]  lean arrogant, and with the nose

on which he dangled the Opposition

a majestic figure

The Court of Aldermen is a richly-gilded room with a stucco ceiling, painted with allegorical figures of the hereditary virtues of the City of London- Justice, Prudence, Temperance, and Fortitudeby that over-rated painter, Hogarth's father-in-law, Sir James Thornhill, who was presented by the Corporation with a gold cup, value In the cornices are emblazoned the arms of all the mayors since (the year of the Gordon riots). Each alderman's chair bears his name and arms.

The apartment, says a writer in Knight's as its name tells us, is used for the sittings of the Court of Aldermen, who, in judicial matters, form the bench of magistrates for the City, and in their more directly corporate capacity try the validity of ward elections, and claims to freedom; who admit and swear brokers, superintend prisons, order prosecutions, and perform a variety of other analogous duties; a descent, certainly, from the high position of the ancient

ealdormen,

barons

Each of the wards into which the City is divided elects alderman, with the exception ot Cripplegate Within and Cripplegate Without, which together send but ; add to them an alderman for , or, as it is sometimes called, Bridge Ward Without, and we have the entire number of , including the mayor. They are elected for life at ward-motes, by such householders as are at the same time freemen, and paying not less than to the local taxes. The fine for the rejection of the office is . Generally speaking, the aldermen consist of those persons who, as common councilmen, have won the good opinion of their fellows, and who are presumed to be fitted for the higher offices.

Talking of the ancient aldermen, Kemble, in his learned work, says:--

The new constitution introduced by Cnut reduced the ealdorman to a subordinate position. Over several counties was now placed

one

eorl, or earl, in the northern sense a jarl, with power analogous to that of the Frankish dukes. The word ealdorman itself was used by the Danes to denote a class-gentle indeed, but very inferior to the princely officers who had previously borne that title. It is under Cnut, and the following Danish kings, that we gradually lose sight of the old ealdormen. The king rules by his

A City Apprentice.--16th Century

earls and his huscarlas, and the ealdormen vanish from the counties. From this time the king's writs are directed to the earl, the bishop, and the sheriff of the county, but in no

one

of them does the title of the ealdorman any longer occur; while those sent to the towns are directed to the bishop and the portgerefa, or prefect of the city. Gradually the old title ceases altogether, except in the cities, where it denotes an inferior judicature, much as it does among ourselves at the present day.

The courts for the City

1

. The Court of Common Council.

2

. The Court of the Lord Maior, and his brethren the Aldermen.

3

. The Court of Hustings.

4

. The Court of Orphans.

5

. The Court of the Sheriffs.

6

. The Court of the Wardmote.

7

. The Court of Hallmote.

8

. The Court of Requests, commonly called the Court of Conscience.

9

. The Chamberlain's Court for Apprentices, and making them free.

In the Court of Exchequer, formerly the Court of King's Bench (where the Mayor's Court is still held), Stow describes of the windows put up by Whittington's executors, as containing a blazon of the mayor, seated; in, parti-coloured habit, and with his hood on. At the back of the judge's seat there used to be paintings of Prudence, Justice, Religion, and Fortitude. Here there is a large picture, by Alaux, of Paris, presented by Louis Philippe, representing his reception of an address from the City, on his visit to England, in . This part of the treasures also contains several portraits of George III. and Queen Charlotte, by Reynolds' rival, Ramsay (son of Allan Ramsay the poet), and William III. and Queen Mary, by Van der Vaart. There is a pair of classical subjects-Minerva, by Westall, and Apollo washing his locks in the Castalian Fountains, by Gavin Hamilton.

The greater portion of the judicial business of the Corporation is carried on here; that business, as a whole, comprising in its civil jurisdiction,

first

, the Court of Hustings, the Supreme Court of Record in London, and which is frequently resorted to in outlawry, and other cases where an expeditious judgment is desired; secondly, the Lord Mayor's Court, which has cognisance of all personal and mixed actions at common law, which is a court of equity, and also a criminal court in matters pertaining to the customs of London; and, thirdly, the Sheriffs' Court, which has a common law jurisdiction only. We may add that the jurisdiction of both courts is confined to the City and liberties, or, in other words, to those portions of incorporated London known respectively, in corporate language, as Within the Walls and Without. The criminal jurisdiction includes the London Sessions, held generally

eight

times a year, with the Recorder as the acting judge, for the trial of felonies, & c.; the

Southwark

Sessions, held in

Southwark

four

times a year; and the

eight

Courts of Conservancy of the River.

Passing into the Chamberlain's Office, we find a portrait of Mr. Thomas Tomkins, by Reynolds; and if it be asked who is Mr. Thomas Tomkins, we have only to say, in the words of the inscription on another great man,

Look around!

In other rooms of the are the following interesting pictures:--Opie's Reynolds' portrait of the great Lord Camden; studies of a and a by Northcote; the by Boydell; by Smirke; and portraits of Sir Robert Clayton, Sir Matthew Hale, and Alderman Waithman. These pictures are curious as marking various progressive periods of English art.

A large folding-screen, painted, it is said, by Copley, represents the Lord Mayor Beckford delivering the City sword to George III., at ; interesting for its portraits, and record of the costume of the period; presented by Alderman Salomons to the City in . Here once hung a

[extra_illustrations.1.390.1]  (says Brayley) is a compact and well-proportioned apartment, appropriately fitted up for the assembly of the Court of Common Council, which consists of the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and deputies from the City wards; the middle part is formed into a square by Tuscan arches, sustaining a cupola, by which the light is admitted. Here is a splendid collection of paintings, and some statuary: for the former the City is chiefly indebted to the munificence of the late Mr. Alderman John Boydell, who was Lord Mayor in . The principal picture,

Against the south wall are portraits of Lord Heathfield, after Sir Joshua Reynolds; the Marquis

Within an elevated niche of dark-coloured marble, at the upper end of the room, is a fine statue, in white marble, by Chantrey, of George III., which was executed at the cost to the City of He is represented in his royal robes, with his right hand extended, as in the act of answering an address, the scroll of which he is holding in the left hand. At the western angles of the chamber are busts, in white marble, of Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson, by Mrs. Damer; and the Duke of Wellington, by Turnerelli.

The members of the Council (says Knight) are elected by the same class as the aldermen, but in very varying and--in comparison with the size and importance of the wards-inconsequential numbers. Bassishaw and Wards have the smallest representation- members-and those of Farringdon Within and Without the largest-namely, and . The entire number of the Council is . Their meetings are held under the presidency of the Lord Mayor; and the aldermen have also the right of being present. The other chief officers of the municipality, as the Recorder, Chamberlain, Judges of the Sheriffs' Courts, Common Serjeant, the City Pleaders, Town Clerk, & c., also attend.

[extra_illustrations.1.392.2]  pulled down in , once called London College, and dedicated to

our Lady Mary Magdalen and All Saints,

a fair and large library,

[extra_illustrations.1.392.3]  (says Mr. Overall, the librarian), which lies at the east end of the , occupies the site of some old and dilapidated houses formerly fronting , and extending back to the . The total frontage of the new buildings to this street is feet, and the depth upwards of feet. The structure consists mainly of rooms, or halls, placed over the other, with reading, committee, and muniment rooms surrounding them. Of these halls the museum occupies the lower site, the floor being level with the ancient crypt of the , with which it will directly communicate, and is consequently somewhat below the present level of . This room, divided into naves and aisles, is feet long and feet wide, and has a clear height of feet. The large fireproof muniment rooms on this floor, entered from the museum, are intended to hold the valuable archives of the City.

The library above the museum is a hall feet in length, feet wide, and feet in height, divided, like the museum, into naves and aisles, the latter being fitted up with handsome oak bookcases, forming bays, into which the furniture can be moved when the nave is required on state occasions as a reception-hall of the principal features in the whole design of this building being its adaptability to both the purpose of a library and a series of reception-rooms when required. The hall is exceedingly light, the clerestory over the arcade of the nave, with the large windows at the north and south ends of the room, together with those in the aisles, transmitting a flood of light to every corner of the room. The oak roof--the arched ribs of which are supported by the arms of the great City Companies, with the addition of those of the Leathersellers and Broderers, and also the Royal and City arms--has its several timbers richly moulded, and

Among the choicest books are the following:-- , to the Henry II. (-). Edited by Mr. Riley.--, Richard I., . Treats of old laws of London. Translated by Riley.--, so called from the writer, who was Townclerk of London. Contains transcripts of Charters from William the Conqueror to Edward IV.- , Edward III., , to Henry VII. Contains the early statutes of the realm, the ancient customs and ordinances of the City of London. At folio are entered instructions to the citizens of London as to their conduct before the Justices Itinerant at the Tower. -- (by Andrew Horn). Contains transcripts of charters, statutes, & c.-The celebrated .. Names of all the courts of law within the realm; the arms of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, & c., for ; the liberties, customs, and charters of the Cinque Ports; the Queen's Prerogative in the Salt Shores; the liberties of .

A series of letter books. These books commence about yearsbefore the and about years before the they contain almost the only records of those courts prior to the commencement of such journals and repertories. --- A collection of correspondence, & c., between the sovereigns, various eminent states. men, the Lord Mayors and the Courts of Aldermen and Common Council, on matters relating to the government of the City and country at large.

Fire Decrees. Decrees made by virtue of an Act for erecting a judicature for determination of differences touching houses burnt or demolished by reason of the late fire which happened in London.

Of the many historical events that have taken place in the , we will now recapitulate a few. Chaucer was connected with of the most tumultuous scenes in the of Richard II.'s time. In the City, worn out with the king's tyranny and exactions, selected John of Northampton mayor in place of the king's favourite, Sir Nicholas Brember. A tumult arose when Brember endeavoured to hinder the election, which ended with a body of troops under Sir Robert Knolles interposing and installing the king's nominee. John of Northampton was at once packed off to Corfe Castle, and Chaucer fled to the Continent. He returned to London in , and was elected member for Kent. But the king had not forgotten his conduct at the , and he was at once deprived of the Comptrollership of the Customs in the Port of London, and sent to the Tower. Here he petitioned the government.

Having alluded to the delicious hours he was wont to spend enjoying the blissful seasons, and contrasted them with his penance in the dark prison, cut off from friendship and acquaintances,

forsaken of all that any word dare speak

Although I had little in respect (comparison) among others great and worthy, yet had I a fair parcel, as methought for the time, in furthering of my sustenance; and had riches sufficient to waive need; and had dignity to be reverenced in worship; power methought that I had to keep from mine enemies; and meseemed to shine in glory of renown. Every

one

of those joys is turned into his contrary; for riches, now have I poverty; for dignity, now am imprisoned; instead of power, wretchedness I suffer; and for glory of renown, I am now despised and fully hated.

It was at the , a few weeks after the death of Edward IV., and while the princes were

the deep revolving witty Buckingham,

Buck. Withal, I did infer your lineaments, Being the right idea of your father, Both in your form and nobleness of mind: Laid open all your victories in Scotland, Your discipline in war, wisdom in peace, Your bounty, virtue, fair humility; Indeed, left nothing fitting for your purpose Untouch'd, or slightly handled, in discourse; And, when my oratory drew toward end, I bade them that did love their country's good Cry, God save Richard, England's royal king!

Glo.And did they so?

Buck.No, so God help me, they spake not a word; But, like dumb statues or breathing stones, Stared each on other, and look'd deadly pale. Which when I saw I reprehended them, And ask'd the mayor what meant this wilful silence? His answer was, the people were not us'd To be spoke to but by the recorder. Then he was urg'd to tell my tale again- Thus saith the duke, thus hath the duke inferr'd ; But nothing spoke in warrant from himself. When he had done, some followers of mine own At lower end o' the hall, hurl'd up their caps, And some ten voices cried, God save King Richard! And thus I took the vantage of those few- Thanks, gentle citizens and friends, quoth I; This general applause and cheerful shout, Argues your wisdom, and your love to Richard : And even here brake off, and came away.

Anne Askew, tried at the in Henry VIII.'s reign, was the daughter of Sir William Askew, a Lincolnshire gentleman, and had been married to a Papist, who had turned her out of doors on her becoming a Protestant. On coming to London to sue for a separation, this lady had been favourably received by the queen and the court ladies, to whom she had denounced transubstantiation, and distributed tracts. Bishop Bonner soon had her in his clutches, and she was cruelly put to the rack in order to induce her to betray the court ladies who had helped her in prison. She pleaded that her servant had only begged money for her from the City apprentices.

On my being brought to trial at

Guildhall

,

they said to me there that I was a heretic, and condemned by the law, if I would stand in mine opinion. I answered, that I was no heretic, neither yet deserved I any death by the law of God. But as concerning the faith which I uttered and wrote to the council, I would not deny it, because I knew it true. Then would they needs know if I would deny the sacrament to be Christ's body and blood. I said, Yea; for the same Son of God who was born of the Virgin Mary is now glorious in heaven, and will come again from thence at the latter day. And as for that ye call your God, it is a piece of bread. For more proof thereof, mark it when you list; if it lie in the box three months it will be mouldy, and so turn to nothing that is good. Whereupon I am persuaded that it cannot be God.

After that they willed me to have a priest, at which I smiled. Then they asked me if it were not good. I said I would confess my faults unto God, for I was sure he would hear me with favour. And so I was condemned. And this was the ground of my sentence: my belief, which I wrote to the council, that the sacramental bread was left us to be received with thanksgiving in remembrance of Christ's death, the only remedy of our souls' recovery, and that thereby we also receive the whole benefits and fruits of his most glorious passion. Then would they know whether the bread in the box were God or no. I said, God is a Spirit, and will be worshipped in spirit and truth. Then they demanded, Will you plainly deny Christ to be in the sacrament? I answered, That I believe faithfully the eternal Son of God not to dwell there; in witness whereof I recited Daniel iii., Acts vii. and xvii., and Matthew xxiv., concluding thus: I neither wish death nor yet fear his might; God have the praise thereof, with thanks.

[extra_illustrations.1.394.1]  with other martyrs, . Bonner, the Chancellor Wriothesley, and many nobles were present on state seats near St. Bartholomew's gate, and their only anxiety was lest the gunpowder hung in bags at the martyrs' necks should injure them when it exploded. Shaxton, the ex-Bishop of Salisbury, who had saved his life by apostacy, preached a sermon to the martyrs before the flames were put to the fagots.

In (towards the close of the life of Henry VIII.), [extra_illustrations.1.394.2]  was tried for treason at the . He was accused of aiming at dethroning the king, and getting the young prince into his hands; also for adding the arms of Edward the Confessor to his escutcheon. The earl, persecuted by the Seymours, says Lord Herbert,

was of a deep understanding, sharp wit, and deep courage, defended himself many ways sometimes denying their accusations as false, and together weakening the credit of his adversaries; sometimes interpreting the words he said in a far other sense than that in which they

were represented.

Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, another sufferer, was the son of a Papist who had refused to take the oath of supremacy, and had been imprisoned in the Tower by Henry VIII. Nicholas, his son, a Protestant, appointed sewer to the burly tyrant, had fought by the king's side in France. During the reign of Edward VI. Throckmorton distinguished himself at the battle of Pinkie, and was knighted by the young king, who made him under-treasurer of the Mint. At Edward's death Throckmorton sent Mary's goldsmith to inform her of her accession. Though no doubt firmly attached to the Princess Elizabeth, Throckmorton took no public part in the Wyatt rebellion; yet, days after his friend Wyatt's execution, Throckmorton was tried for conspiracy to kill the queen.

The trial itself is so interesting as a specimen of intellectual energy, that we subjoin a scene or :--

Serjeant Stamford: Methinks those things which others have confessed, together with your own confession, will weigh shrewdly. But what have you to say as to the rising in Kent, and Wyatt's attempt against the Queen's royal person in her palace?

Chief Justice Bromley: Why do you not read to him Wyatt's accusation, which makes him a sharer in his treasons?

Sir R. Southwell: Wyatt has grievously accused you, and in many things which have been confirmed by others.

Sir N. Throckmorton: Whatever Wyatt said of me, in hopes to save his life, he unsaid it at his death; for, since I came into the hall, I heard one say, whom I do not know, that Wyatt on the scaffold cleared not only the Lady Elizabeth and the Earl of Devonshire, but also all the gentlemen in the Tower, saying none of them knew anything of his commotion, of which number I take myself to be one.

Sir N. Hare: Nevertheless, he said that all he had written and confessed before the Council was true.

Sir N. Throckmorton: Nay sir, by your patience, Wyatt did not say so; that was Master Doctor's addition.

Sir R. Southwell: It seems you have good intelligence.

Sir N. Throckmorton: Almighty God provided this revelation for me this very day, since I came hither for I have been in close prison for eight and fifty days, where I could hear nothing but what the birds told me who flew over my head.

Serjeant Stamford told him the judges did not sit there to make disputations, but to declare the law; and of those judges (Hare) having confirmed the observation, by telling Throckmorton he had heard both the law and the reason, if he could but understand it, he cried out passionately:

O merciful God! O eternal Father! who seest all things, what manner of proceedings are these? To what purpose was the Statute of Repeal made in the last Parliament, where I heard some of you here present, and several others of the Queen's learned counsel, grievously inveigh against the cruel and bloody laws of Henry VIII., and some laws made in the late King's time? Some termed them Draco's laws, which were written in blood; others said they were more intolerable than any laws made by Dionysius or any other tyrant. In a word, as many men, so many bitter names and terms those laws.

Let us now but look with impartial eyes, and consider thoroughly with ourselves, whether, as you, the judges, handle the statute of Edward III. with your equity and constructions, we are not now in a much worse condition than when we were yoked with those cruel laws. Those laws, grievous and captious as they were, yet had the very property of laws, according to

St. Paul's

description, for they admonished us, and discovered our sins plainly to us, and when a man is warned he is half armed; but these laws, as they are handled, are very baits to catch us, and only prepared for that purpose. They are no laws at all, for at

first

sight they assure us that we are delivered from our old bondage, and live in more security; but when it pleases the higher powers to call any man's life and sayings in question, then there are such constructions, interpretations, and extensions reserved to the judges and their equity, that the party tried, as I am now, will find himself in a much worse case than when those cruel laws were in force. But I require you, honest men, who are to try my life, to consider these things. It is clear these judges are inclined rather to the times than to the truth, for their judgments are repugnant to the law, repugnant to their own principles, and repugnant to the opinions of their godly and learned predecessors.

We rejoice to say that, in spite of all the efforts of his enemies, this gentleman escaped the scaffold, and lived to enjoy happier times.

Lastly, we come to of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators; not of the most guilty, yet undoubtedly cognisant of the mischief brewing,

On the , Garnet, the Superior of the English Jesuits (whose cruel execution in we have already described), was tried at the , and found guilty of having taken part in organising the Gunpowder Plot. He was found concealed at Hendlip, the mansion of a Roman Catholic gentleman, near Worcester.

[extra_illustrations.1.395.1]  Prints----

[extra_illustrations.1.386.1] The fine crypt under the Guildhall

[extra_illustrations.1.386.2] The Gog and Magog

[extra_illustrations.1.387.2] The monument to Beckford

[extra_illustrations.1.387.3] The monument of the Earl of Chatham

[extra_illustrations.1.387.4] Bacon

[extra_illustrations.1.388.1] William Pitt

[extra_illustrations.1.390.1] The Common Council room

[extra_illustrations.1.392.1] Guildhall School of Music

[extra_illustrations.1.392.2] The chapel at the east end of the Guildhall,

[extra_illustrations.1.392.3] The New Library and Museum

[extra_illustrations.1.393.1] Lord Mayor's Day decorations-1855

[extra_illustrations.1.394.1] Anne Askew was burnt at Smithfield

[extra_illustrations.1.394.2] the Earl of Surrey

[extra_illustrations.1.395.1] These additions, marked p. 395 are not alluded to in text