Meantime let it be remembered that the seventeenth century secured the country for two hundred years, i.e. to the present day at least, and, so far as can be prophesied, for an indefinite period yet to come, from the personal interference of the sovereign. That is an enormous gain to the country. We are no longer called upon to discuss the Prerogative. The attempted encroachments of George III. appear as mere trifles compared with the monstrous claims of Charles the First and the almost incredible acts of tyranny recorded of his son and successor. And in the achievement of this great result London in the seventeenth century played a noble part and earned the deepest gratitude of all those who came, or shall come, after.
WALTER BESANT.
| PAGE |
|---|
| [Charles I.] | Frontispiece |
| [James I.] | 3 |
| [Triumphal Arch erected at the time of the Coronation of James I.] | 4 |
| [The Gunpowder Conspirators] | 7 |
| [Gunpowder Treason] | 8 |
| [King James I. Entertaining the Spanish Ambassador at Whitehall] | 10 |
| [Henry, Prince of Wales] | 11 |
| [A Facsimile of the Order for the Burning of the Book of Sports] | 14 |
| [The Destruction of Cheapside Cross and the Burning of the Book of Sports] | 16 |
| [Charles I.] | 22 |
| [Cheapside—Queen Henrietta Maria’s Entry into London] | 23 |
| [Henrietta Maria] | 26 |
| [George Villiers, First Duke (Second Creation) of Buckingham] | 30 |
| [King Charles I. Thrown Overboard] | 36 |
| [“England’s Miraculous Preservation Emblematically Described”] | 38 |
| [“The True Maner of the Execution of Thomas Earle of Strafford” ] | 39 |
| [Thomas Wentworth, First Earl of Strafford] | 40 |
| [A Plan of London and Westminster after the Fire] | 41 |
| [A Soldier of the Time of King James the First armed with a Caliver] | 45 |
| [The Trial of King Charles I.] | Facing page 46 |
| [Sir Thomas Fairfax and his Wife] | 48 |
| [Trial of King Charles I.] | 49 |
| [Execution of Charles I.] | 51 |
| [Prince Rupert] | 60 |
| [Cromwell Dissolving Parliament] | 65 |
| [Hackney Coachman] | 66 |
| [Oliver Cromwell] | 67 |
| [General Monk, First Duke of Albemarle] | 69 |
| [View of General Monk’s House in Grub Street] | 70 |
| [Letter from General Monk to the Speaker of Parliament (facsimile)] | 71 |
| [Mob at Temple Bar] | 74 |
| [The Coronation of Charles II. in Westminster Abbey] | Facing page 76 |
| [Charles II.] | 77 |
| [Incidents in the Rebellion of the Fifth Monarchy Men under Thomas Venner, and the Execution of their Leaders] | 79 |
| [Hungerford Market, near York Buildings, Strand] | Facing page 88 |
| [“The Solemn Mock Procession of the Pope, Cardinalls, Jesuits, Fryers, etc., through ye City of London”] | 90 |
| [Lord Mayor and Aldermen] | 93 |
| [Nell Gwynne] | 101 |
| [The Coronation of James II. in Westminster Abbey] | Facing page 102 |
| [Titus Oates Flogged at the Cart Tail] | 103 |
| [Titus Oates in the Pillory] | 104 |
| [Duke of Monmouth] | 105 |
| [The Execution of Monmouth] | 106 |
| [James II.] | 109 |
| [The Seven Bishops on the Way to the Tower] | 111 |
| [Parliament in the reign of James II.] | 112 |
| [Judge Jeffreys] | 113 |
| [The Arrest of Jeffreys] | 115 |
| [Entry of the Prince of Orange into London] | Facing page 116 |
| [William III.] | 119 |
| [Mary II.] | 120 |
| [London Street Cries] | 123 |
| [Queen Anne] | 127 |
| [Thanksgiving Service in St. Paul’s] | 129 |
| [Henry Sacheverell, D.D.] | 132 |
| [St. Paul’s Cross] | 138 |
| [William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury] | 140 |
| [A Trimmer] | 142 |
| [Execution of William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury] | 143 |
| [John Bunyan’s Meeting-house, Zoar-street, Gravel-lane, Southwark] | 154 |
| [Touching for King’s Evil] | 165 |
| [St. Bartholomew’s] | 170 |
| [Warwick House, Cloth Fair] | 173 |
| [Craven House, Drury Lane] | 174 |
| [Arundel House] | 175 |
| [Cornhill, London] | 180 |
| [Watchman—Bellman] | 181 |
| [The Apprentices’ Enforced Toilet] | Facing page 188 |
| [Custom House] | 191 |
| [“The Soveraigne of the Seas”] | 192 |
| [The First Royal Exchange—Exterior and Interior] | Facing page 196 |
| [Coins of the Period] | Facing page 200 |
| [Old Grocers’ Hall used for Bank of England] | 201 |
| [A Perspective View of the Bank of England] | 203 |
| [Paul Pindar’s House] | Facing page 211 |
| [Lord Craven] | 219 |
| [Rescued from the Plague] | Facing page 220 |
| [Samuel Pepys] | 221 |
| [Daniel Defoe] | 224 |
| [Part of Cheapside with the Cross, etc., as they Appeared in 1660] | 241 |
| [The Great Fire of London] | 245 |
| [The Cathedral Church of St. Paul as it was before ye Fire of London] | 247 |
| [A View of the Monument of London, in Remembrance of the Dreadful Fire in 1666] | 249 |
| [A Plan of the City and Liberties of London after the Dreadful Conflagration in the Year 1666] | Between pages 252 and 253 |
| [Sir Christopher Wren] | 254 |
| [Sir John Evelyn’s Plan for Rebuilding the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666] | 255 |
| [Sir Christopher Wren’s Plan for Rebuilding the City of London after the Dreadful Conflagration in 1666] | 255 |
| [John Evelyn] | 259 |
| [The Great Fire of London] | Facing page 260 |
| [Temple Bar, the West side] | 263 |
| [London after the Fire] | Between pages 268 and 269 |
| [Somerset Palace, 1650] | 270 |
| [Durham House, Salisbury House, and Worcester House] | 271 |
| [The Charter House Hospital] | 273 |
| [Newgate, 1650] | 277 |
| [Remains of Prince Rupert’s Palace, Beech Street] | 279 |
| [St. Ethelburga within Bishopsgate] | 281 |
| [Specimen of Armorial Architecture] | 282 |
| [House in Great St. Helen’s formerly the Residence of Sir Jno. Lawrance, Lord Mayor of London A.D. 1665] | 288 |
| [Tavern Scene] | 292 |
| [Two Costume Portraits] | 298 |
| [An English Lady of Quality—Lady of the Court of England] | 300 |
| [Citizen’s Wife—Citizen’s Daughter] | 301 |
| [English Gentlewoman—Noble Gentlewoman of England] | 303 |
| [Maypole Dance in the Time of Charles I.] | 305 |
| [Merchant’s Daughter—Merchant’s Wife of London] | 306 |
| [Procession in the City] | 306 |
| [“Corpe Bearer”] | 309 |
| [St. James’s Park] | 313 |
| [Interior of St. Paul’s] | 316 |
| [Inside of the Duke’s Theatre, Lincoln’s Inn Fields] | 320 |
| [Inside of the Red Bull Playhouse] | 322 |
| [Musical Instruments of the Period] | Facing page 326 |
| [Sports of the Period] | Facing page 328 |
| [Dress of the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of London in 1640] | 333 |
| [Coaches in St. James’s Park] | 339 |