houses were no longer suffered to be built of wood; and the plague, which till then had paid it frequent visits, left not a pestilential symptom in the city; evincing the truth of that common, though just remark in the history of human affairs, that those incidents which are regarded as the heaviest misfortunes, in their event prove favourable and necessary circumstances to future happiness. The first house that was rebuilt after the Fire now stands nearly opposite the London Stone, in Cannon Street.

Another considerable ferment was excited in the Metropolis, by the proclamation for suppressing conventicles, issued in July, 1669; and confirmed by act of parliament in April, 1670. At this time, "Conventicles abounded in all parts of the city; it having been thought hard to hinder men from worshipping God any where, as they could, when there were no churches nor ministers to look after them." The new act was principally a revival of a former one, but with additional and more severe clauses, which were executed so strictly during the mayoralty of Sir Samuel Starling," and put things in such disorder, that many of the trading men of the city began to talk of removing, with their stocks, over to Holland; but the King ordered a stop to be put to further severities." The Quakers were more particularly tenacious of the public right of toleration than most other sects; and after their meeting-houses had been shut up by order, they held their assemblies in the streets before the closed doors.

The commencement of the year 1672, was distinguished by the infamous measure of shutting up the Exchequer, from which the bankruptcy and ruin of many of the prin cipal bankers, merchants, and traders of London, almost immediately ensued.

In 1678, the Metropolis was strongly agitated by the enquiry that had been made into the reality of the Popish Plot, which had been first broached by the infamous Titus Oates and Dr. Tongue, in September, 1678; and had received an apparent confirmation through the mysterious murder of the protestant justice Sir Edmundbury Godfrey in the following month.

Among the attempts to enslave the people was the invasion of the chartered rights of the whole kingdom, by writs

of quo warranto; and many towns and boroughs had already surrendered their dearest privileges, rather than enter into a contest with despotic power. The right of having those persons nominated for sheriffs of London who were most at the will of the crown, was liable to be annually contested, a more decisive blow was therefore meditated against the city, and Sir Robert Sawyer, the attorney general, by the advice and authority of Sir Edmund Sanders, undertook to procure the forfeiture of the city charters, on the most unjustifiable pretexts. The alarmed citizens immediately summoned a court of common council, to deliberate on what measures were most proper to pursue in such an exigency. A petition was drawn up, and carried to the King at Windsor, by the Lord Mayor, at the head of a deputation from the council; in which petition they acknowledged their own misgovernment, and his Majesty's lenity; solicited his pardon, and promised constant loyalty and obedience; and humbly begged his Majesty's commands and direction. When the King had read the petition, the lord keeper, North, by his Majesty's order, after reproaching the citizens for not having been more early in their application, told them, that the King would not reject their suit on certain conditions, which he named.

On the return of the Lord Mayor to the city, a court of common council was immediately summoned to determine whether or not these stipulations should be accepted; and violent debates ensued on the question: the friends of liberty declared they would sacrifice all that was dear to them rather than yield to such slavish conditions; nevertheless, their opposition was at length rendered nugatory by a majority of eighteen. By a commission under the great seal, the King appointed the Lord Mayor, Sir William Pritchard, and the sheriffs, Peter Daniel and Samuel Dashwood, Esquires, to hold their respective offices, during pleasure; at the same time he displaced the recorder, Sir George Treby, and preferred Mr. Thomas Jenner to the vacant place.

In 1683, the Rye-House Plot was made the pretext for effecting the destruction of these eminent patriots, Russel and Sydney," two names," says Mr. Fox," that will, it

is hoped, be for ever dear to every English heart: when their memory shall cease to be an object of respect and veneration, it requires no spirit of prophecy to foretel that English liberty will be fast approaching to its final consummation." William, Lord Russel, was beheaded in Lincoln's Inn Fields, on the twenty-first of July; and Algernon Sydney, on Tower Hill, on the seventh of Decem ber. They both died with exemplary firmness; "their deportment was such as might be expected from men who knew themselves to be suffering, not for their crimes, but their virtues."

The great increase in the population and domestic traffic of the Metropolis, led to that useful establishment, the Penny Post (now the Two-penny Post), which was first set up by an upholsterer, named Murray, in the year

1683.

On the accession of James II. in 1684, Titus Oates was tried by Judge Jefferies, in the Court of King's Bench, for perjury on two points of his evidence against the Papists: his conviction had been predetermined, and he was sentenced to be stript of his canonical habits; to be fined two thousand marks; to stand five times a year in the pillory, in different parts of London and Westminster; to be closely imprisoned for life; and as a prelude to the whole, to stand in the pillory at Westminster Hall, and at the Royal Exchange, on successive days; on the third day to be whipt from Aldgate to Newgate; and on the fifth, to be whipt from Newgate to Tyburn. The scourging was executed with merciless severity: Rapin says, with such cruelty as was unknown to the English nation,' and Oates swooned several times with the excess of the pain, whilst tied to the cart. Dangerfield, too, was twice pilloried and whipped from Aldgate to Tyburn, for his concern in the discovery of the Meal-Tub Plot.

London thus witnessed execution after execution, and among the sufferers was Alderman Cornish, who was unjustly accused of having been concerned in the plot for which Russel bled on the scaffold; but whose principal crime was that of opposing the arbitrary measures of the Court. So fell a spirit of rancour marked the proceedings against this upright magistrate, that his committal, trial,

and execution, were all comprised within the narrow compass of ten days; and to increase the terror resulting from the measures pursued by James and his merciless co-adjutor, Jefferies, who had been recently appointed Lord High Chancellor, this ill-fated gentleman was ordered to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, before his own door, opposite the end of King Street, Cheapside.

The protection given to the Papists at this period, was so undisguised and decided, that the host was carried in procession through the streets of London, and " monks," says Rapin, " appeared in the habits of their order at Whitehall and St. James's, and scrupled not to tell the Protestants, that they hoped, in a little time, to walk in procession through Cheapside.' A camp of 15,000 men was also formed upon Hounslow Heath, in which the King had a small chapel, wherein mass was daily celebrated. All vacant preferments were likewise given to the Papists; and, in many instances, Protestant incumbents were de prived of their benefices, to make room for Catholic priests.

In 1688, on the abdication of James, one of the chief sacrifices to popular rage was the atrocious Jefferies, who, on James's departure, had endeavoured to provide for his personal safety, by obscuring himself in Wapping, in the disguise of a sailor, till an opportunity might offer of retreating to Hamburgh; he was, however, discovered; and, after suffering the reproaches and bruises of the mob, was dragged before the Lord Mayor. He was consigned to the Tower, where he died in a few days, in consequence of the bruises he had received; or, as otherwise reported, of excessive drinking; by which he disappointed the public wish that he might atone for his manifold offences by an ignominious execution. Jefferies was buried in St. Mary's, Aldermanbury. A few years ago, when that church was undergoing repair, the coffin of this " infamous judge" was discovered; and for a short time exposed to the curiosity, and still unrelenting execrations of the public. It was then finally closed up, it is hoped never more to be disturbed. It is sufficient that "the memory of the wicked shall rot."

In the year 1692, on the eighth of September, the shock

of an Earthquake was felt in the City and parts adjacent, but did no particular damage.

The year 1703 was remarkable for a dreadful Storm of Wind, which arose about ten o'clock during the night of the twenty-sixth of November, and continued to rage with extreme violence till seven the next morning, when it gradually moderated. The devastation was most extensive, and every part of the kingdom experienced its ravages. The damage sustained by the City of London alone was estimated at two millions sterling; and vast loss was also sustained in other parts of the Metropolis. Upwards of two thousand stacks of chimnies were blown down; and the streets were covered with broken tiles and slates from the roofs of houses. The lead on the tops of several churches was rolled up like skins of parchment; and at Westminster Abbey, Christ's Hospital, St. Andrew's, Holborn, and many other places, it was carried off from the buildings. The roof of the guard room at Whitehall was carried entirely away; two new built turrets on the church of St. Mary, Aldermary, one of the pinnacles of St. Saviour's, Southwark, and the four on the tower of St. Michael's, Crooked Lane, were wholly blown down; the vanes and spindles of the weathercocks were bent in many places; several houses near Moorfields were levelled with the ground, as were about twenty others in the out-parts, with a great number of brick walls, and gable ends of houses innumerable. Twenty-one persons were killed by the fall of the ruins, and about two hundred others were greatly maimed. All the ships in the river Thames, between London Bridge and Limehouse, except four, were broken from their moorings, and thrown on shore; upwards of four hundred wherries were entirely lost; more than sixty barges were driven foul of London Bridge, and as many more were either sunk or staved between the bridge and Hammersmith: these events were attended with the loss of many lives. The destruction at sea far exceeded that on land; and in this dismal night, twelve men of war, with upwards of eighteen hundred men on board, perished within sight of their own shore; great numbers of merchantmen were also lost; and the whole of the damage was so great, that its amount defied computation.

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