Walks in London, vol. I
Hare, Augustus J. C.
1878
Chapter IV: St. Paul's and its Surroundings.
Chapter IV: St. Paul's and its Surroundings.
We have now arrived where, black and grand, occupies the platform on the top of the hill. Sublimely grandiose in its general outlines, it has a peculiar sooty dignity all its own, which, externally, raises it immeasurably above the fresh modern-looking at Rome. As G. A. Sala says, in of his capital papers, it is really the better for Here and there only is the original grey of the stone seen through the overlying blackness, which in early spring is intensified by the green grass and trees of the churchyard which surrounds the eastern part of the building. When you are near it, the mighty dome is lost, but you have always an inward all-pervading impression of its existence, as you have seen it a times rising in dark majesty over the city; or as, lighted up by the sun, it is sometimes visible from the river, when all minor objects are obliterated in mist. And, apart from the dome, the noble proportions of every pillar and cornice of the great church cannot fail to strike those who linger to look at them, while even the | ||||||||||||||||
129 | soot-begrimed garlands, which would be offensive were they clean, have here an indescribable stateliness. | |||||||||||||||
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When Sir Christopher Wren was laying the foundations of the present cathedral, he found relics of different ages at successive depths beneath the site of his church --, Saxon coffins and tombs; secondly, British graves, with the wooden and ivory pins which fastened the shrouds of those who lay in them; thirdly, Roman lamps, lacrymatories, and urns, proving the existence of a Roman cemetery on the spot.[n.129.1] It has never with any certainty been ascertained when the church was built here, but, according to Bede, it was erected by Ethelbert, King of Kent, and his nephew Sebert, King of the East Angles, and was the church where Bishop Mellitus refused the sacrament to the pagan princes. | ||||||||||||||||
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has been burnt times; thrice by fire from heaven. It attained its final magnificence when, in the century, it was a vista of Gothic arches, feet in length. At the east end was the shrine of St. Erkenwald, its bishop, the son of King Offa, containing a great sapphire which had the reputation of curing diseases of the eye. In the centre of the nave was the tomb of Sir John Beauchamp, son of the great Earl of Warwick, and Constable of Dover--a tomb which was popularly known as that of Duke Humphrey (of Gloucester), really buried at St. Albans. The rest of the church was crowded with monuments. Against the south wall were the tombs of Bishops of London, Eustace de Fauconberge, Justice of Common Pleas in the reign of John, and Henry de Wengham, Chancellor of Henry III. In St. Dunstan's Chapel was the fine tomb of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln (), who left his name to . Kemp, Bishop of London, who built Paul's Cross Pulpit, also had | ||||||||||||||||
131 | a chapel of his own. In the north aisle were the tombs of Ralph de Hengham, judge in the time of Edward I.; of Sir Simon Burley, tutor and guardian to Richard II. (a noble figure in armour in a tomb with Gothic arches); and, ascending to a far earlier time, of Sebba, King of the East Angles, in the century; and of Ethelred the Unready (), son of Edgar and Elfrida, in whose grave his grandson Edward Atheling is also believed to have been buried. | |||||||||||||||
The choir of was as entirely surrounded by important tombs as those of Canterbury and are now. On the left were the shrine of Bishop Roger Niger; the oratory of Roger de Waltham, canon in the time of Edward II.; and the magnificent tomb of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (), son, father, and uncle of kings, upon which he was represented with his wife Blanche, who died of the plague, , and in which his wife, Constance, [n.131.1] was also buried. On the right was the tomb of Sir Nicholas Bacon (), father of the Lord Chancellor Bacon; and the gorgeous monument of Sir Christopher Hatton, Lord Chancellor (), of the great fashionable tombs of Elizabeth's time, which took so much room as only to allow of tablets to Sir Philip Sydney and his father-in-law, Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's secretary, thus occasioning Stow's epigram:--
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In the south aisle of the choir were monuments to Dean Colet, founder of School, and to Dr. Donne, | ||||||||||||||||
132 | the poet, also Dean of . In the north choir aisle, behind the tomb of John of Gaunt, Vandyke was buried in .[n.132.1] | |||||||||||||||
Against the wall of old at the S.W. corner was the parish church of St. Gregory, which was pulled down c. . It was the existence of this building which caused Fuller to describe old as being The north cloister, or was surrounded by the frescoes of the Dance of Death, the executed for John Carpenter, town-clerk of London in the reign of Henry V. Here was the long-remembered epitaph: A chapel founded by Thomas-à--Becket's father, Gilbert, rose in the midst of the cloister, where he was buried with his family in a tomb which was always visited by a new Lord Mayor when he attended service in : it was destroyed with the cloister in by Edward, Duke of Somerset. | ||||||||||||||||
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It was in the old that King John, in , acknowledged the supremacy of the Pope. There () Wickliffe was cited to appear and answer for his heresies before Courtenay, Bishop of London, and came attended and protected by John of Gaunt, and a long train of illustrious persons. There John of Gaunt's son, afterwards Henry IV., wept by his father's grave, and there with mocking solemnity he exposed the body of Richard II. after his murder at Pontefract, and-
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In the English martyr, William Sawtre, was stripped of all his priestly vestments in before being sent to the stake at Smithfield. Hither, after the death of Henry V., came his widow, Katherine de Valois, in a state litter with her child upon her knee, and the little Henry VI. was led into the choir by the Duke Protector and the Duke of Exeter that he might be seen by the people. Here the body of the same unhappy king was exhibited that his death might be believed. Here also the bodies of Warwick the king-maker and his brother were exposed for days. On Shrove-Tuesday, , the Protestant Bible was publicly burnt in by Cardinal Wolsey. | ||||||||||||||||
Early in the century had been desecrated to such an extent as to have become known rather as an exchange and house of merchandise than as a church. Its central aisle, says Bishop Earle,[n.133.1] resounded to
writes Dekker, in , The simony in was famous even in Chaucer's time. His parson is described as who-
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In the north aisle was the so called from the placards beginning with which it was defiled. Its situation is pointed out by a passage in Hall's satires.
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That people were in the habit of bringing burthens into the church is proved by the inscription over the poor-box-
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The middle aisle of the nave, called or from the tomb there, was the fashionable promenade of London, and was the popular name for
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A Corinthian portico, of which the stone was laid by Laud, was built by Inigo Jones, to lessen this confusion, being intended, says Dryden, as It is believed that Charles I. meant this portico merely as the instalment of a new cathedral, but his attention was otherwise occupied, and under the Commonwealth, the. soldiers of Cromwell stabled their horses in the nave. With the Restoration it was intended to restore the old church, but, in the words of Dryden,--
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Christopher Wren, son of a Dean of Windsor, was chosen as the architect of the new church, and on , was laid the stone of the , which was finished in years. When he was occupied on , Wren was consulted as to the repairs of Ely Cathedral, a building which took such hold upon his mind, that, in spite of the difference of styles, an architect may detect his admiration for the great church of the eastern counties in many details of , not always with advantage, as in the case of the meaningless arches which break the simplicity of the cornice in the pillars of the dome. The whole cost, , was | ||||||||||||||||
136 | paid by a tax on every chaldron of coal brought into the Port of London, on which account it is said that the cathedral has a special claim of its own to its smoky exterior. It will be admitted that, though in general effect there is nothing in the same style of architecture which exceeds the exterior of , it has not a single deserving of attention, except the Phoenix over the south portico, which was executed by , and commemorates the curious fact narrated in the
that the very stone which Sir Christopher Wren directed a mason to bring from the rubbish of the old church to serve as a mark for the centre of the dome in his plans, was inscribed with the single word
--I shall rise again. The other ornaments and statues are chiefly by , a most inferior sculptor. Those who find greater faults must, however, remember that , as it now stands, is not according to the design of Wren, the rejection of which cost him bitter tears. Even in his after work he met with so many rubs and ruffles, and was so insufficiently paid, that the Duchess of Marlborough said, in allusion to his scaffold labours,
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That the west front of the cathedral does not exactly face is due to the fact that too many houses were already built to allow of it, the commissioners for reconstructing the city having made their plans before anything was decided about the new cathedral. The , in front of the church, has gained a certain picturesqueness through age, and the fine old | ||||||||||||||||
| railing of wrought Lamberhurst iron which surrounds it. It is historically interesting here as commemorating the frequent state visits of Queen Anne to the church to return public thanks for the repeated victories of the Duke of Marlborough. Lately the effect of the west front has, in the opinion of many, been much injured by the removal of the iron railing of the churchyard which (though not | ||||||||||||||||
138 | part of Wren's design) was invaluable for comparison and measurement, and which fully carried out the old Gothic theory that a slight and partial concealment only gives additional dignity to a really grand building. Besides, the railing was in itself fine, and (part of it remains at the sides) cost above . II,. It must, however, be conceded that the railing was put up in opposition to the wish of Wren, who objected to its height as concealing the base of the cathedral and the western flight of steps; and that its destruction was chiefly due to the wish of Dean Milman, who abused it as a
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It may be interesting to those who are acquainted with the great churches to compare their proportions on the spot
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The of is not without a grandeur of its own, but in detail it is bare, cold, and uninteresting, though Wren intended to have lined the dome with mosaics, and to have placed a grand baldacchino in the choir. Though a comparison with inevitably forces itself upon those who are familiar with the great Roman basilica, there can scarcely be a greater contrast than between the buildings. There, all is blazing with precious marbles; here, there is no colour except from the poor glass of the eastern windows, or where a tattered banner waves above a hero's monument. In the blue depths of the | ||||||||||||||||
139 | misty dome, the London fog loves to linger, and hides the remains of some feeble frescoes by Thornhill, Hogarth's father-in-law. In , as in , the statues on the monuments destroy the natural proportion of the arches by their monstrous size, but they have seldom any beauty or grace to excuse them. The week-day services [n.139.1]
are thinly attended, and, from the nave, it seems as if the knot of worshippers near the choir were lost in the immensity, and the peals of the organ and the voices of the choristers were vibrating through an arcaded solitude. In , Dr. Newton, as Dean of , conceded to the wish of Sir Joshua Reynolds, then President of the Academy, that the unsightly blank spaces on the walls of the cathedral should be filled with works by academicians. Sir Joshua himself promised the Nativity, West the Delivery of the Law by Moses. Barry, Dance, Cipriani, and Angelica Kaufmann were selected by the Academy for the other works. But when Dr. Terrick, then Bishop of London, heard of the intention, he peremptorily refused his consent. -- he wrote to Bishop Newton, It was then proposed only to put up the works of West and Reynolds-the Foundation of the Law and Gospel-over the doors of the north and south aisles, but the concession was absolutely refused, and the cathedral was left in its bareness.[n.139.2] | |||||||||||||||
The central space under the dome is now employed for the Sunday Evening Service, a use which Dean Milman considered
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the north porch is an inscription to Sir Christopher Wren, ending with the -- The oratories at the sides of the nave were added against the wishes of Wren, at the instance of the Duke of York, who secretly wished to have them ready for Roman Catholic services, as soon as an opportunity occurred. They have been greatly condemned, as interfering in the lines of the building on the outside, but do not affect the interior. of them is appropriated as a Baptistery. That which opens from the south aisle, long the Bishop's Consistory Court, contains the monument, by , of Arthur, Duke of Wellington, the noblest tomb erected in England since Torregiano was working at . The aged Duke lies, like a Scaliger of Verona, deeply sleeping upon a lofty bronze sarcophagus. Around the base are the names of his victories. At the sides of the canopy, which is supported by noble pillars of the best period of the Renaissance, are grand figures in bronze, of Courage suppressing Cowardice, and Virtue suppressing Vice. The whole was to have been surmounted, like the great tomb of Can Grande, by an equestrian statue; but this was opposed by Dean Milman, and the artist, the greatest sculptor of our time, was snatched away before his | ||||||||||||||||
141 | work was completed, and before England had awaked to realise that it possessed a worthy follower of Michael Angelo. | |||||||||||||||
The narrow effect of the choir is much increased by the organ galleries on either side the entrance, and the carved stalls by Grinling Gibbons, for which he received The organ () is by Dr. Schmydt, who constructed that at the Temple. | ||||||||||||||||
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The monuments are mostly merely commemorative, and are nearly all feeble and meretricious, in many cases absolutely ludicrous. Beneath the dome are the which were erected in the cathedral. Those of Howard and Johnson, on either side of the entrance to the choir, are , whose works had such extraordinary renown in the last century. The prison key which is held by Howard and the scroll in the hand of Johnson [n.141.1] The statue on the right in a Roman toga and tunic, bare-legged and | ||||||||||||||||
142 | sandalled, is intended for Howard, who died, , at Cherson in Russian Tartary, whither he went in the benevolent hope of discovering a remedy for the Plague. | |||||||||||||||
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The statue of Dr. Johnson (buried at ) was erected at the urgent desire of Sir Joshua Reynolds. The figure, representing a half-naked muscular athlete, is utterly uncharacteristic, yet its associations are interesting. | ||||||||||||||||
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The pedestal, on which the statue stands, bears a long Latin inscription by Dr. Parr, which aptly describes Johnson as
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The next monument erected was that by to Sir Joshua Reynolds-- Then came the monument, by , of Sir William Jones, who [n.143.1] After these statues followed a series of the heroes of Nelson's naval victories and of Indian warriors and statesmen. Few of these call for attention except from their absurdity, yet, as many visitors make the round of the church, we may notice (omitting reliefs invisible from their high position, and beginning at the south-west door, where the banners from Inkerman hang) those of-
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The most interesting portion of the church is the , where, at the eastern extremity, are gathered nearly all the remains of the tombs which were saved from the old . Here repose the head and half the body of (), Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in the reign of Elizabeth and father of Francis, Lord Bacon. Other fragments represent William Cokain, ; William Hewit, ; and John Wolley and his wife, , There are tablets to physician to James I. and Charles I., ; and to Brian, Bishop of Chester, . The tomb of John Martin, bookseller, and his wife, , was probably the monument erected in the crypt of new . The east end of the crypt is used for service as a chapel: its mosaic pavement is the work of the female penitents at Wokingham. Only figure from the old has been lately given a place in the new church. In the Dean's Aisle now stands erect the strange figure from the monument of , whose sermons, in the words of Dr. Milman, held the congregation and caused of his poetical panegyrists to write- Donne's friend, Sir Henry Wootton, said of this statue, The Dean is represented in | ||||||||||||||||
147 | a winding-sheet. By the suggestion of his friend Dr. Fox, he stripped himself in his study, draped himself in his shroud, and, standing upon an urn, which he had procured for the purpose, closed his eyes, and so stood for a portrait, which was afterwards the object of his perpetual conttemplation, and which after his death in was reproduced in stone by , the famous sculptor. The present position of the statue unfortunately renders abortive the concluding lines of the Latin epitaph, which refer to the eastward position of the figure. | |||||||||||||||
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Dryden calls Donne- and Izaak Walton describes him as- | ||||||||||||||||
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In the Crypt, not far from the old tombs, the revered Dean Milman, the great historian of the church (best known, perhaps, by his his | ||||||||||||||||
148 | and his contributions to ), is now buried under a simple tomb ornamented with a raised cross. In a recess on the south is the slab tomb of Sir Christopher Wren, and near him, in other chapels, Robert Mylne, the architect of old , and John Rennie, the architect of . Beneath the pavement lies Sir Joshua Reynolds (), who had an almost royal funeral in , dukes and.marquises contending for.the honour of being his pall-bearers. Around him are buried his disciples and followers- Lawrence (), Barry (), Opie (), West (), Fuseli () ; but the most remarkable grave is that of William Mallory Turner, whose dying request was that he might be buried as near as possible to Sir Joshua. | |||||||||||||||
Where the heavy pillars and arches gather thick beneath the dome, in spite of his memorable words at the battle of the Nile- --is the grave of . Followed to the grave by the sons of his sovereign, he was buried here in , when Dean Milman, who was present, They tore to pieces the largest of the flags of the , which waved above his grave; the rest were buried with his coffin.[n.148.1] | ||||||||||||||||
The sarcophagus of Nelson was designed and executed for Cardinal Wolsey by the famous , and was intended to contain the body of Henry VIII. in the tombhouse at Windsor. It encloses the coffin made from the mast of the ship , which was presented to Nelson, | ||||||||||||||||
149 | after the battle of the Nile, by Ben Hallowell, captain of the , that, when he was tired of life, he might On either side of Nelson repose the minor heroes of Trafalgar, () and ; also lies near him, but outside the surrounding arches. | |||||||||||||||
A huge sarcophagus of porphyry resting on lions is the tomb where , was laid in , in the presence of spectators, Dean Milman, who had been present at Nelson's funeral, then reading the service. Beyond the tomb of Nelson, in a ghastly ghost-befitting chamber hung with the velvet which surrounded his lying in state at , and on which, by --the flickering torchlight, we see emblazoned the many Orders presented to him by foreign sovereigns, is the funeral car of Wellington, modelled and constructed in weeks, at an expense of,, from the guns taken in his different campaigns. | ||||||||||||||||
In the south-west pier of the dome a staircase ascends by steps to the highest point of the cathedral. No feeble person. should attempt the fatigue, and, except to architects, the undertaking is scarcely worth while. An easy ascent leads to the immense passages of the triforium, in which, opening from the gallery above the south aisle, is the , founded by Bishop Compton, who crowned William and Mary, Archbishop Seeker refusing to do so. It contains the bishop's portrait, and some carving by Gibbons. | ||||||||||||||||
At the corner of the gallery, on the left, a very narrow stair leads to the , of enormous size, with a pendulum feet long, constructed by in . | ||||||||||||||||
150 | Ever since, the oaken seats behind it have been occupied by a changing crowd, waiting with anxious curiosity to see the hammer strike its bell, and tremulously hoping to tremble at the vibration. | |||||||||||||||
Returning, another long ascent leads to the , below the windows of the cupola, where visitors are requested to sit down upon a matted seat, that they may be shown how a low whisper uttered against the wall can be distinctly heard from the other side of the dome. Hence we reach the , outside the base of the dome, whence we may ascend to the at its summit. This last ascent is interesting, as being between the outer and inner domes, and showing how completely different in construction is from the other. The view from the gallery is vast, but generally, beyond a certain distance, it is shrouded in smoke. Sometimes, stands aloft in a clear atmosphere, while beneath the fog rolls like a sea, through which the steeples and towers are just visible Hence may study the anatomy of the towers which Wren was obliged to build after the Fire in a space of time which would only have properly sufficed for the construction of . The same characteristics, more and more painfully diluted, but always slightly varied, occur in each. Bow Church, St. Magnus, St. Bride, and St. Vedast are the best. | ||||||||||||||||
The (of ), which hangs in the south tower, bears the inscription It only tolls on the deaths and funerals of the royal family, of Bishops of London, Deans of St. Pauls, and Lord Mayors who die in their mayoralty. | ||||||||||||||||
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Lily the grammarian, who died of the Plague, is buried on the north side of the , opposite the school to whose celebrity he so much contributed. Father Garnet was executed in , , on an accusation of having shared in the conspiracy of the Gunpowder Plot, and died with the protest of innocence on his lips. Not years ago a large elm at the northeast corner of the graveyard marked the site of Cross, a canopied cross standing on stone steps, whence open-air sermons, denounced and ridiculed when they were re-introduced by Wesley and Whitefield, were preached every Sunday afternoon till the time of the Commonwealth.
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It was at Cross that Jane Shore did public penance, as is touchingly described by Holinshed- | ||||||||||||||||
Here Dr. Shaw suggested the kingship of Richard III. with fatal consequences to himself. Here likewise Tindall's translation of the Bible was publicly burnt, by order of Bishop Stokesley, and here the Pope's sentence on Martin Luther was pronounced in a sermon by Bishop Fisher in the presence of Wolsey, who himself here exposed the imposture of the rood of Boxley. Hence Ridley denounced both the royal sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, as bastards, and then Elizabeth, immediately on her accession, showed her appreciation of the importance of for of her acts was to select a safe preacher for the next Sunday's sermon, Here the great queen listened to the thanksgiving sermon of Dr. Pierce, Bishop of Salisbury (), for the defeat of the Armada. James I. was among those who sate beneath the preachers at Paul's Cross, and Charles . heard a sermon here on the occasion of the birth of his son, afterwards Charles II. The eminent preachers selected for the public sermons were entertained by the Mayor and Corporation at a kind of inn, called An order of Parliament caused the destruction of in . | ||||||||||||||||
An ugly Grecian portico immediately behind the cathedral marks , founded in by Dean Colet, the friend of Erasmus, for poor children--a number chosen as being that of the fishes taken by St. Peter. Colet dedicated his foundation to the Child Jesus, so that, says Strype, Erasmus has left an interesting description of Dean Colet's school, and relates how over the master's chair was a figure of the Child Jesus [n.153.1] | ||||||||||||||||
Over the figure was the inscription-
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John Milton was educated at School from his to his year. The existing buildings are quite modern, but the founder is commemorated over the doors of the school by his motto, and at the end of the schoolroom in a bust by . | ||||||||||||||||
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It was for Dean Colet's School that Lily composed the Latin verses called from their words, containing rules for distinguishing the genders of nouns. In the Mercers' Company purchased acres of ground in Hammersmith, whither it is intended to remove the school. | ||||||||||||||||
It was in front of the school in that George Jeffreys, the famous judge, then a schoolboy, after watching the judges go to dine with the | ||||||||||||||||
155 | Lord Mayor, astonished his father, who was about to bind him apprentice to a mercer, by swearing that he too would day be the guest of the Mayor, and would die Lord Chancellor-so that the Lord Mayor's coach had the Bloody Assizes to answer for. | |||||||||||||||
Near School stood, before the Fire, a belfry-tower containing the famous won at dice by Sir Giles Partridge from Henry VIII. | ||||||||||||||||
South of is the , and close beside is built by Dean Church, . This is the especial district of ecclesiastical law, , so called from the Doctors of Civil Law here living and together in a collegiate manner. Several of its Courts have been removed to , but the , by which marriage licences are granted, and the are still held here. At the foot of , facing , is the , a red brick building surrounding sides of a court, with a well-designed outer staircase. It occupies the site of Derby House, built by Thomas, that Earl of Derby who married the Countess of Richmond, mother of Henry VII. Here, where are kept, the sword, dagger, and turquoise ring of James IV. of Scotland, slain at Flodden Field, are preserved. In the chambers of the Herald's College preside kings, namely,-- | ||||||||||||||||
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What is now called was surrounded before the Fire by shops of booksellers, who have since betaken themselves to , , and , on the north of the Church, so called, says Stow, At the corner of and was, till , the of much literary celebrity, where authors and booksellers of the last century were greatly wont to congregate. Here also the club of the was held, which was much frequented by physicians of the last century. In the room which bore the name of the club, the famous Dr. Buchan, author of used to see his patients, a man It was at the Chapter Coffee House that the famous could be hired for and a cup of coffee to hold service anywhere within the boundary. | ||||||||||||||||
(so called from the rosary makers?) is | ||||||||||||||||
157 | still the booksellers' paradise. Its entrance is' guarded by the establishments of Messrs. Blackwood and Nelson, and a mighty bust of Aldus presides over the narrow busy pavement, while every window at the sides is filled with books, chiefly Bibles, Prayer-Books, and religious tracts. The | |||||||||||||||
| Church of St. Michael le Quern, , destroyed in the Fire, derived its name from, the use in the adjacent market of the handmill of Scripture: it continued to be employed for the grinding of malt till the time of the Commonwealth. John Leland, the antiquary, was buried in this church. | ||||||||||||||||
, leading into , being close to the Corn-market, marks the residence of the makers of bakers' baskets, in the century. Here,, built in the wall, is a stone with a relief of a boy sitting on a panyer, inscribed-
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, close to this (so called from an old cook of the tavern, whose portrait was painted by Gains. borough), has a curious old coffee-room of Queen Anne's time. The head of that queen painted on a window of the tavern has given a name to Queen's Head Passage. | ||||||||||||||||
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At the bottom of leads into , where till lately stood (on the west of ) the , whither Dryden's body was brought by Dr. Garth, to whom it was indebted for suitable burial, where he was honoured by [n.158.1] and whence () it was followed by more than a coaches to . The buildings of the College (which originally met at Linacre's house in Knightrider Street) were erected by Wren (), | ||||||||||||||||
159 | and were conspicuous from their dome, surmounted by a golden ball.
The original name of this street was Eldenesse Lane; it derives its present appellation from the inn or palace of the Earls of Warwick. This Warwick Inn was in the possession of Cecily Duchess of Warwick c. . years later, when the greater estates of the realm were called up to London, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the
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Midway down on the east side is the (rebuilt), where () the holy Archbishop Leighton died peacefully in his sleep, thereby fulfilling his often expressed desire that he might not trouble his friends in his death. | ||||||||||||||||
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Opposite the Bell, closing an alley on the left, stood the Oxford Arms, of the most curious old hostelries in | ||||||||||||||||
160 | England, demolished in . It belonged to the Dean and Chapter of , and was restored immediately after the Great Fire, on the exact plan of an older inn on the site, which was then destroyed. In the of -, we find the words- | |||||||||||||||
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The leases of the property forbade the closing of a door leading to the houses of the residentiary Canons of , by which Roman Catholics who frequented the Inn escaped during the riots of . The great court of the Inn, constantly crowded with waggons and filled with people, horses, donkeys, dogs, geese-life of every kind-presented a series of Teniers pictures in its double tiers of blackened, balustraded, open galleries, with figures hanging over them, with clothes of every form and hue suspended from pillar to pillar, and with outside staircases, where children sate to chatter and play in the shadow of the immensely broad eaves which supported the steep red roofs. Amongst those who lived here in former days was John Roberts the bookseller, and from hence he sent forth his squibs and libels on Pope. On the wall of the last house (left), where enters , Warwick the King-maker is commemorated in a very curious relief, of , of an armed knight with shield and sword. | ||||||||||||||||
The neighbourhood of Newgate has always been St. Nicholas's Shambles originally | ||||||||||||||||
161 | stood here, which took their name from the old Church of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, destroyed at the Dissolution, and till the Great Fire the market continued to be held in the middle of the street in open stalls, which were a great nuisance to the neighbourhood, and gave the name of to the present , from the filth which they accumulated. After the Fire a markethouse was erected in the open space between and , where the ivy-covered houses of the Prebends of , commemorated in ,[n.161.1] | |||||||||||||||
stood amidst orchards, whose apples were a great temptation to London street-boys, and frequently proved fatal to them, as is shown by the coroners' inquests of centuries ago. Newgate Market continued to be the principal meatmarket of London till the recent erection of that in Smithfield-
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A curious relic in , which has lately disappeared, was the sculpture over the entrance to Bull Head Court, representing William Evans, the giant porter of Charles I., with Sir Jeffrey Hudson, the dwarf of Henrietta Maria, who could travel in his pocket-Evans was feet inches in height, Hudson feet inches; but the dwarf was so fiery that he killed Mr. Crofts, who ventured to laugh at him, in a duel, and he commanded a troop of horse in the king's service. | ||||||||||||||||
On the north side of , through an open screen, are seen some of the modern buildings of , erected in by , the architect of St. Dunstan's in the West. The foundation of was of the last acts of Edward VI., who died days after. He was so touched by an affecting sermon which he heard from Bishop Ridley on , upon the duty of providing for the sick and needy, that after the service was over he sent for the bishop, thanked him for his advice, and, after inquiring what class of persons was in most need of being benefited, founded a hospital for destitute and fatherless children. The buildings, which had belonged to the Grey Friars, and which were set apart for this purpose, had been given to the City of London by Henry VIII. at the Dissolution. | ||||||||||||||||
The monastery of Grey Friars, which was of the most important religious houses in London, was founded by the Franciscans who came over to England in the reign of Henry III. Its buildings were raised by the charity of various pious benefactors, and its glorious church was given by Margaret, wife of Edward I. It became a favourite burial-place of the queens of England, as well as | ||||||||||||||||
163 | the usual place of interment for the foreign attendants of the Plantagenet Queens Consort. Here were the tombs of Beatrix, Duchess of Brittany, daughter of Henry III., who died when she came over to the coronation of Edward I. in ; of the generous Queen Margaret, -- -- wife and widow of Edward I.,[n.163.1] and of her niece the wicked Queen Isabella, wife of Edward II. Joan of the Tower, wife of David Bruce, King of Scotland, and daughter of Edward II., driven to seek a refuge in England by the infidelities of her husband, died in the arms of her sister-in-law Queen Philippa, in , and was buried by her mother's side. Near her was laid Isabel, Countess of Bedford, the eldest and favourite daughter of Edward III., who was separated from her husband Ingelram de Coucy by the wars between France and England. Other tombs were those of Baron Fitzwarren and his wife Isabel, sometime Queen of Man; Sir Robert Tresilian, Chief Justice of England, executed at Tyburn, ; Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, beheaded ; John Philpot, Lord Mayor, ; Sir Nicholas Brember, Lord Mayor, ; John, Duc de Bourbon, taken prisoner at Agincourt, who died after a captivity of eighteen years, ; and Thomas Burdett, , who was beheaded for having too vigorously lamented over a favourite buck of his, which had been killed by Edward IV. Here also () was buried who [n.163.2] the accomplished Sir Kenelm Digby, who was laid in the magnificent tomb | |||||||||||||||
164 | where he had buried his wayward wife, the beautiful Venetia Stanley,[n.164.1] lamented in the verses of Ben Jonson. | |||||||||||||||
All the monuments in Grey Friars, many of them of marble and alabaster, and extremely magnificent, were sold for by Sir Martin Bowes, goldsmith and alderman, a destruction which signifies little now, as they would all have perished otherwise in the Great Fire. Even the name of Grey Friars became extinct when was founded, and nothing remains of the monastery except some low brick arches of the western cloister on the left of the entrance. | ||||||||||||||||
The Hospital is approached from by a brick gate-way surmounted by a statue of Edward VI. in his robes. The courts, used as playgrounds by the boys, are handsome and spacious. There are boys lodged and boarded in the surrounding buildings; and belonging to the same foundation is the preparatory school of boys and the school of or girls at Hertford. The boys sleep in dormitories crowded with little beds, and wash in lavatories. A line in their swimming-bath marks the junction of parishes-Christ Church, St. Sepulchre's, and St. Bartholomew's. | ||||||||||||||||
London smoke has already given a venerable aspect to the noble , feet in length, and the long oak tables are really old. In the centre of the side wall is a pulpit whence graces are read, and the lessons of the day in the morning. The walls are decorated beyond the pulpit by the arms of the Presidents, below the pulpit by the arms of the Treasurers, beginning with those of Grafton, Treasurer in , the year after the foundation. The raised seats at the end | ||||||||||||||||
165 | of the hall are intended for spectators admitted by ticket to witness the at P.M. on the Thursdays in Lent, a very curious sight. Above is an old picture of Edward VI. giving a charter to the Hospital. The other pictures include- | |||||||||||||||
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The was founded by the famous Sir Richard Whittington, who flourished in the time of Richard II. and Henry IV., and, in the latter reign, was times Lord Mayor. | ||||||||||||||||
The boys educated at are generally called from their dress, which recalls that of the citizens of the time of Edward VI., and consists of a blue gown, red leathern girdle, yellow stockings, and bands. The classes of the school are called and Among eminent Blue-Coat boys were Bishop Stillingfleet, Camden the Antiquary, Campion the Jesuit, Mitchell the translator of Aristophanes, Charles Lamb, Bishop Middleton, Jeremiah Markland, Richardson the novelist, and above all Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who was educated here under James Boyer and who said, when he heard of his head-master's death, that
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In Passage was the Restaurant of a better class opened in London (c. ) where a dinner could be ordered. | ||||||||||||||||
Where (now chiefly devoted to butchers) is crossed by and the stood the New Gate, of the principal gates of the City, which was also celebrated as a prison. Its story, over the arch, was, according to custom, Ellwood the Quaker narrates the horrors of the nights in the gate-prison where all were crowded into room, and In fact, in the Plague, persons died over Newgate alone. | ||||||||||||||||
The gate-house was the origin of the existing , which now looms, grim and grimy, at the end of , and whose very name is fraught with reminiscences of Claude Duval, Dick Turpin, Jack Sheppard, Greenacre, Courvoisier, Franz Miller, and others celebrated in the annals of crime. The Prison was | ||||||||||||||||
167 | rebuilt, -, under , architect of the .
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Close by is the , for the trial of prisoners within miles of . Over it is a dining-room, where the judges dine when business is over, whence the line-
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The space between Newgate and the is called the , from having been the scene of the horrible punishment of pressing to death for when arraigned for treason. Persons sentenced to this were stretched naked on the floor of a dark room, and were fed with just sufficient bread and water to sustain life, a heavy weight of iron being laid upon the body, and increased till the victim either answered or died. In Major Strangways was thus pressed to death for refusing to plead, when accused of the murder of John Fussel; and the punishment existed as late as , being voluntarily undergone by some offenders as the only means of preserving their estates to their children. | ||||||||||||||||
Jonathan Wild, infamous even in the annals of crime, lived at No. , the house south of Ship Court in the . He used to receive stolen goods and restore them to their owners for a consideration, the larger share of which he appropriated. If thieves opposed his rapacity, he, knowing all their secrets, was able to bring | ||||||||||||||||
169 | about their capture. At his trial he delivered to the judge a list of robbers, housebreakers, and returned convicts, whom he was proud of having been instrumental in hanging. He was hung himself on . Green Anchor Court in the (now destroyed) was the miserable residence of Oliver Goldsmith in . | |||||||||||||||
Opposite Newgate is , formerly chiefly modern, but with a remarkable porch which has a beautiful fan-tracery roof. It is much to be lamented that, in a recent the silly church-wardens have substituted an oriel window for the niche over the entrance, containing the statue of Sir John Popham, Chancellor of Normandy and Treasurer of the King's household, who was buried in the cloister of the Charterhouse in the time of Edward IV.; this statue was of the landmarks of the City.[n.169.1] The perpendicular tower is very handsome, but spoilt by its heavy pinnacles. | ||||||||||||||||
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In the old church the unfortunate Thomas Fienes, Lord Dacre of the South, was buried, who was executed at Tyburn, , for accidentally killing John Busbrig, a keeper, in a poaching fray in Laughton Park. The interior of the present building is Georgian commonplace. Many, however, are the Americans who visit it, to see a grey grave-stone with an almost obliterated epitaph, which began- for it covers the remains of Captain John Smith (-), | ||||||||||||||||
170 | and author of many works upon the History of Virginia. The Turks' Heads which are still visible on his shield of arms were granted by Sigismund, Duke of Transylvania, in honour of his having, in single combats, overcome Turks and cut off their heads, in the wars of Hungary in . A ballad entitled tells how Smith killed of these Turks by a box on the ear, and how he tore out the tongue of a lion which came to devour him! | |||||||||||||||
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John Rogers, the Smithfield martyr, was vicar of St. Sepulchre's, having previously been chaplain to the merchant-adventurers of Antwerp, where he became the friend of Tyndale, the translator of the Bible, whose work was finally carried out by him after Tyndale's death. | ||||||||||||||||
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It is the bell of St. Sepulchre's which is tolled when prisoners in Newgate are executed, and by an old custom a nosegay was presented at this church to every prisoner who was on his way to Tyburn. The church clock still regulates the hour of executions, and the church bellman used to go under the walls of Newgate on the night before an execution and ring his bell and recite-
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Footnotes: [n.129.1] Parentalia (by Wren's grandson), p. 226. [n.131.1] Walsingham. [n.132.1] For the other tombs of St. Paul's see Weever's Funeral Monuments. [n.133.1] Microcosmographia. [] Moser's Europ. Mag., July, 1817. [n.139.1] The services are at 10 A.M. and 3.30 P.M. [n.139.2] See Leslie and Taylor's Life of Sir J. Reynolds. [n.141.1] Allan Cunningham's Life of Bacon. [n.143.1] Dean Milman. [n.148.1] The Times, Jan, 10, 8006. [n.153.1] 0 my most sweet Lord Jesus, who, whilst as yet a child in the twelfth year of thine age, didst so discourse with the doctors in the temple at Jerusalem as that they all marvelled with amazement at thy super-excellent wisdom; I beseech thee that--in this thy school, by the tutors and patrons whereof I am daily taught in letters and instruction,--I may be enabled chiefly to know thee, 0 Jesus, who art the only true wisdom; and afterwards to have knowledge both to worship and to imitate thee; and also in this brief life so to walk in the way of thy doctrine, following in thy footsteps, that, as thou hast attained mete glory, I also departing out of this life, happily may attain to some part thereof. Amen. --Knight's Life of Cole, xi. 446. [n.158.1] See The London Spy. [n.161.1] Stow. [n.163.1] The heart of his mother, Queen Eleanor, who died at Ambresbury; was also preserved here. [n.163.2] Clarendon. [n.164.1] Aubrey. [n.169.1] See The Builder, Aug. 21, 1875. |
