the least regard to his word, his promises, or his oaths." In the reign of Edward 1. we find the City divided into twenty-four wards, the supreme magistrate of each of which had the ancient Saxon title of Alderman; and each ward chose some of the inhabitants as common council-men, who were sworn into their office: these were to be consulted by the aldermen; and their advice followed in all public affairs belonging to the City.

In Edward the Third's reign, the City obtained great additions to its privileges; among other immunities granted was one, that the mayor should be constantly one of the judges of oyer and terminer for the trial of criminals in Newgate; by a second charter, Southwark was granted to the citizens, and a few years afterwards a privilege was granted for a gold or silver mace to be carried before the chief magistrate as well as the title of lord added to that of mayor. In 1348, London suffered dreadfully by a pestilence, and so great was the mortality that the common places of burial for the dead were not found sufficient. On the site of the present Charter-house, no less than 50,000 are said to have been interred.

From Richard II. to Henry V.

In the fifth year of Richard II. the rebellion took place which was headed by Wat Tyler. London suffered severely by it, as the rebels burnt or destroyed an immense deal of property.

It was in this reign, 1218, that the forest of Middlesex was disforested, and parcels of the land purchased by the citizens, for the purposes of building, by which the suburbs of the City becaine enlarged to a considerable extent beyond the walls. Lord Lyttleton, in his History of Henry the Second, mentions that it was full of yew trees, the growth of which was particularly encouraged in those days, and for many centuries after, because the wood of them was esteemed the best for making bows.

In 1392, the king on some trivial pretext, for the purpose of gaining money, degraded the mayor and sheriffs, and fined the citizens in the sum of 3000 marks, and afterwards in an additional one of 18,000l. which they certainly deserved by the disgusting servility they manifested on the occasion. In 1396, he repeated these exactions with additional severity, so that when Henry of Bolingbroke was invited to assume the crown, he was received with open arms. Henry the Fourth extended the pri vileges of the City in several instances. In his reign a dreadful plague carried off no less than 30,000 of the inhabitants, whereby corn became so cheap, that wheat sold for 3s. 4d. the quarter. In the same year, 1409, John Bradby or Badby was placed in a cask, and burnt in Smithfield for adhering to the doctrines of Wickliffe. In the reign of Henry the Fifth, the citizens chiefly distinguished themselves by the splendid cavalcade with which they conducted that brave prince through the City, on his return from the field of Agincourt. În 1416, Sir Henry Barton, mayor, first ordered lan-' thorns to be hung out to illuminate the streets by night. In 1419, Sir Thomas Eyre compassionating the distress of the poor in times of scarcity, built Leaden-hall at his own expence, and gave it to the City to be employed as a public granary. It is now used as a market for poultry, meat, hides, and leather. In this year Sir Richard Whittington was mayor for the third time; some idea may be formed of his wealth from the following cir cumstance: having invited Henry and his Queen to an entertainment at Guildhall, immediately after the conquest of France, he caused a fire to be made of odoriferous woods, in which he burnt bonds of the king's to the amount of 60,000. which Henry had borrowed to pay his army in France; he then told the king that he had taken in and discharged those debts, and made him a present of them.

Besides this act of public good, he founded and endowed several charities.

From Henry V. to Queen Elizabeth.

From the first institution of the mayoralty till 1554, the procession to Westminster, where the Lord Mayor takes the oath, had been constantly made on horseback. But in this year Sir John Norman, draper, being mayor, caused a barge to be made at his own expence, and in that was rowed to Westminster, attended by those companies which had barges, in a superb manner. Edward the Fourth granted a new charter of confirmatiou to the citizens, and extended their privileges. The year 1473 was remarkable for the alteration which was made in the election of the mayor and sheriffs; for it was ordained, by an act of Common Council, "That for the future the choice of mayor and sheriffs should be in the masters, wardens, and live. ries of the city corporations;" which is continued to the present time. About this period a fresh pestilence broke out, and raged for nearly a twelvemonth. In the beginning of the reign of Henry the Seventh, the sweating sickness first appeared, carrying off great numbers within four-and-twenty hours. The conduct of this prince to the citizens was most base and oppressive; for though they had voluntarily raised money for him several times to a great amount, he plundered them in the most shameful manner. In the reign of Henry the Eighth, about the year 1518, the sweating sickness made its second appearance, and carried off a considerable proportion of the population. Its third appearance was in 1528, when the greater part of those attacked died in the short space of five or six hours afterwards. The year 1525 was marked by a singular boldness in the lord mayor, aldermen, and common council, who not only combated the designs of Wolsey to exact supplies for his

master without parliamentary consent, but even successfully opposed the practice of what was termed benevolence, by which Henry's-predecessors had been so often benefited. The plague again. raged about this time. At the grand dissolution of monasteries, &c. which took place about 1537, it is almost incredible how many magnificent churches, cloisters, dormitories, libraries, and other buildings, as well in the metropolis as elsewhere, which had been erected at an immense expence of money and labour, were unroofed and ruined. In Edward the Sixth's reign the city gained very extensive privileges.

State of London under Queen Elizabeth.

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth commerce received a new impulse by the erection of a building for the meeting of merchants to transact their bu siness. (See the account of the Royal Exchange.) In 1588, when the country was threatened by the Spaniards with invasion, the city unanimously resolved not only to raise ten thousand troops, but voted sixteen of the largest ships in the river Thames, and four pinn..ces, or light frigates: they were fitted out in a proper manner, with the utmost expedition, and the charge defrayed both of men and ships during the time they continued in the queen's service Indeed it must be allowed, notwithstanding the nauseous servility which the city annals so often present, that the citizens have never been backward in contributing to the necessities of the state on urgent occasions. In 1594, they fitted out six ships of war, and raised 405 men for her majesty's service. Twice in the next year they raised 1000 men. And in 1597, when the rumour was spread of another invasion by the Spaniards, they produced 6000, and equipped 16 men of war. Yet, extraordinary as it may seem, the various services they rendered did not obtain them through this

whole reign a single accession to their privileges. Almost the whole commerce of England, however, at this period was centered in London; for it appears that the customs of that port were seven times greater than those of all the rest of the kingdom; and although the citizens were taxed in a much higher proportion than the people in the country, yet it has been seen they were willing, in cases of emergency, to be rated above their proportion, which had formerly been estimated at a tenth, when others paid only a fifteenth.

From James I. to the Fire of London.

The plague which had broken out many times in Queen Elizabeth's reign appeared afresh in 1603, on the aceession of James the First to the throne, and made such dreadful devastation, that between March and December it swept away no less than 30, 61 persons: and though its greatest violence ceased the following year, it did not entirely leave the metropolis till 161. In this reign London received very considerable improvement; the New River being brought to Islington from Amwell, in the neighbourhood of Ware, in 1613, (vide New River.) In the ensuing year Smithfield was paved, and in 1615 the sides of the principal streets which had before been laid with pebbles, were now paved with broad free-stone and flags. From the beginning of his reign, Charles and the city were at variance. Disputes arose in relation to ship-money, loans, and other grievances. The city was deprived of some advantages gained in the preceding reign, and amerced 30,000. By the king's tyrannical conduct, the citizens entered heartily into the measures of the parliament against him, and fortified their city with forts, joined by a line of communication, formed by a rampart of earth, which on all sides surrounded London, Westminster, and Southwark. Shortly after Charles's exc