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CITY OF CHESTER.

In the Civil War between Charles
the First and the Parliament,
Chester was besieged by the troops
of the latter; it was stoutly defended
by Lord Byron, who did not sur-
render till the garrison had suffered
privations such as no other city had
experienced in those days. About
a century afterwards, the last mili-
tary event of importance, which is
recorded of Chester, took place: it
was fortified in 1745, against the |
Pretender.

back courts of all these houses are level with the rows; but to go into any of these four streets, it is necessary to descend a flight of several steps."

Chester has long been celebrated for these "rows" they are indeed the most marked and distinguishing feature of the city.

There has been much speculation among antiquaries as to the origin of these rows; and it is generally supposed that they were first erected as galleries, from which the citizens might defend themselves against That part of Chester which is those sudden inroads of armed strictly called the city is sur- | cavalry, to which they were so rounded by a wall which marks the much exposed in ancient days, in limits of the ancient city, and serves consequence of their position on the now as a healthful and favourite frontier of the English and Welsh. walk of the inhabitants. The form The motives of health and conof the city and its internal arrange- venience are also urged by one of ment sufficiently indicate its Roman the writers in that celebrated work, origin. It has the figure which the the Vale Royal of England, as they Romans gave to their camps-an quaintly called Cheshire, two hunoblong: it has four gates, four prin- dred years ago; and, as he says, cipal streets, diverging at right because the conflicts of the citizens angles from a common centre, and with their enemies continued a long extending towards the cardinal time, "it was needful for them to points, till each is terminated by a leave a space before the doors of gate. These streets are respectively these their upper buildings, upon named Eastgate Street, Northgate which they might stand in safety Street,Bridgegate Street, and Water- from the violence of their enemies' gate Street; the two first are con- horses, and withal defend their tinued in the same direction to some houses from spoil, and stand with distance beyond the walls, under advantage to encounter their enedifferent names. mies when they made incursions." Pennant is of a different opinion: he refers them to a Roman origin. "These rows appear to me," he says, "to have been the same with the ancient vestibules, and to have been a form of building preserved from the time when the city was possessed by the Romans. They were built before the doors, midway between the streets of the houses, and were the places where dependents waited for the coming out 'of their patrons, and under which they might walk away the tedious minutes of expectation. The shops beneath

"The structure of the four principal streets," says Pennant, "is without parallel. They run direct from east to west, and north to south, and are excavated and sunk many feet beneath the surface. The carriages are driven far below the level of the kitchens, on a line with ranges of shops; over which, on each side of the streets, passengers walk from end to end, secure from wet or heat, in galleries (or rows as they are called), purloined from the first floor of each house, open in front and balustraded. The

and

ST. PAUL'S CROSS AND OLD
ST. PAUL'S.

THE famous St. Paul's Cross was a
pulpit of wood, mounted upon stone
steps, and covered with lead, situated
on the north side of the cathedral,
and towards the east end. The age
of the first Paul's cross is unknown:
but we read of its existence in the

the rows were the cryptæ apothece (the vaults and storehouses), for the wares necessary to the owners of the houses. The streets," he adds, "were once considerably deeper, as is apparent from the shops, whose floors lie far below the present pavement. In digging foundations for houses, the Roman pavement is often discovered at the depth of four feet beneath the sur-year 1259, in the reign of King face. The lesser streets and alleys which run into the principal streets, sloped to the bottom of the latter, as is particularly visible in Bridge Street, but these are destitute of the galleries or rows."

Whatever may be the origin of this peculiarity in the four principal streets of Chester, it can hardly be commended on the score of beauty; nor, in spite of the praises of the local historians, is it a source of much convenience to the inhabitants, however highly they may value it as a remnant of past ages, and on account of its singularity. The writer in the Vale Royal says, that this mode of building "proves itself to be of most excellent use, for the dry and easy passage of all sorts of people upon their necessary occasions;" but this partial protection from the weather is dearly purchased at the sacrifice of greater advantages. As is observed in Malte-Brun's geography, "the manner in which these streets are built may be uncommon, but it is by no means convenient; the shops are small and narrow, the porticos low, irregular, and supported by massive columns." We may add, that, in former days, rows were not peculiar to Chester. Speaking of Bridgenorth, Leland says, "There is one very fayne street goes from north to south, and on each syde this street the houses be gallered, soe that men may passe dry by them if it raine, accordinge to some streets in Chester cyttie."

Henry the Third, and of its having been rebuilt in the fifteenth century, after being defaced by a storm of thunder and lightning. The chief purpose for which it was used, was as a place for the delivery of sermons every Sunday, in the forenoon, by clergymen appointed by the Bishop of London. For keeping up these, many liberal benefactions were be stowed; and, as some of the clergy had to travel from the Universities, or elsewhere, the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen ordered, in the year 1607, that every one that should preach there should at his pleasure, be freely entertained for five days' space, with sweet and convenient lodging."

Various sermons, preached upon this spot, by eminent men, during the stirring times of English his tory, are on record. Here, in 4547, Bishop Latimer preached three Sundays following. Here, on the 16th July, 1553, Ridley, Bishop of London, preached; and here, in 1588, Queen Elizabeth caused a sermon of thanksgiving to be deli vered for the preservation of her subjects from the Invincible Ar mada.

We are informed too, that on the 17th of November, 1595, (the anniversary of her Majesty's birth day,) "the Pulpit Cross, in St. Paul's Churchyard, was new repaired, painted, and partly enclosed with wall of brick. Doctor Fletcher, bishop of London, preached there in praise of the Queen, and prayed for

her Majesty, before the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens, in their best liveries. Which sermon being ended, upon the church-leades the trumpets sounded, the cornets winded, and the quiristers sung an antheme. On the steeple many lights were burned, the Tower shot off her ordinance, the bels were rung, bone-fires made, &e."

Nor was St. Paul's Cross set apart for the uses of instruction alone. It was made to answer the ambitious ends of Richard the Third, in seeking his bad eminence. In it Jane Shore did penance; there the cause of Henry the Eighth's first queen was assailed, and the titles of Mary and Elizabeth were disputed.

The last sermon said to have been preached at this Cross, was before James the First, who came on horseback, in great state, from Whiteball, on Mid-Lent Sunday, 1620. He was met, at his entrance into the city, by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, who presented him with a purse of gold. At St. Paul's he was received by the clergy in their robes. Divine service was performed, accompanied with an organ, cornets, and sackbuts; after which his Majesty went to a place prepared for his reception, where Dr. John King, bishop of London, preached a most excellent and learned sermon, upon a text given him by the King,-Psalm cii. 13, 14: Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Sion: for it is time that Thou have mercy upon her; yea, the time is come. And why? Thy servants think upon her stones: and it pitieth them to see her in the dust.

The object of the sermon was the repairing of the Cathedral; and, at the conclusion of the discourse, the king and the principal persons retired to the bishop's palace to consult on the matter.

It seems that, at that time, St. Paul's Cathedral had fallen

into great decay. It was an extremely ancient structure, having been commenced by Maurice, a bishop of London, whom William the Conqueror nominated to that see. It met with many difficulties before its completion, and suffered much from fire and other injuries; but in 1312, when a measure was taken of that stately and magnifi cent church, the length was about 700 feet, and the height, including the tower and spire, upwards of 520 feet. The church was in the form of a long cross. The greatest calamity which befel it, previous to its entire destruction at the fire of London, was on the 4th of June, 1561, when the great spire was struck by lightning, which broke out a little below the cross at the top, and burnt downwards to the battlements' stone-work and rafters with such fury, that, in four hours, the whole roof was consumed.

Although something was done towards covering in the building, the restoration of the steeple continued to be neglected until the reign of James the First, when, in order to promote the repair of the decayed fabric, that monarch paid a visit to the church. The result was, that the king issued a commis. sion for a general benevolence throughout the kingdom; but the collection advanced slowly until about the year 1631, soon after which (in 1633), Inigo Jones began the work.

However beautiful may have been the portion of building, considered in itself, which was added by this great architect, he has been blamed for having grafted a Grecian portico on a Gothic structure. But it was not doomed to survive long. The great fire of London, in 1666, reduced the whole to ashes. It had previously undergone considerable injury in the times of the civil dis cord; and St. Paul's Cross had,

during the mayoralty of Sir Isaac Pennington, been pulled down.

Nothwithstanding many discouragements, the commencement of a new and splendid cathedral was soon undertaken. King Charles the Second issued a commission, and contributed £1000 per annum towards this good object. Aid was granted by parliament, by means of a duty laid, from time to time, on all coals imported at the port of London; part of the amount going towards the building of St. Paul's, the remainder towards that of the other churches which had been similarly destroyed.

The first stone of the present noble pile was laid in 1675, and it was finished in 1710. It is worthy of remark that, although it was thirty-five years in building, it was begun and completed by one architect, Sir Christopher Wren, and under one prelate, Henry Compton, bishop of London. It is also said that the same stone-mason (whose name was Strong) saw the laying of the first and last stone.

More than five hundred workmen were frequently employed in it at the same time.

St. Paul's was built according to a third design of the architect, the two former having been declined. A singular circumstance is mentioned relative to the beginning of the work while Sir Christopher was setting out the dimensions of the dome, he ordered a common labourer to bring him a flat stone: he happened to bring a broken piece of a grave-stone, on which was the word RESURGAM. This was not lost on the great architect: he caught the idea of the Phenix, rising from its ashes, which he placed on the south portico, with that word cut

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NAMES OF STREETS.
CRUTCHED FRIARS, MINORIES,

AND SAVAGE GARDENS.

THE first-mentioned street is so called from the monastery of the Crossed, or Crutched, Friars, an ancient order of monks who, having derived their origin from a religi ous body in Italy, distinguished by the badge of the cross, settled in London in 1298. Their dress at first was grey, with a cross of scarlet cloth worked on it; but one of the latter popes ordained that they should thenceforth wear a tunic with a scapular, and over all a mantle of blue, and that instead of having a cross embroidered on their clothes, they should always carry a silver cross in their hands. This is said to have been an abuse arising from the vanity of the superior; for they originally bore only a cross of iron, and did not assume the silver one till 1462.

Matthew Paris describes the first coming of these Friars, and speaks of their order generally with a degree of contempt. "In the twentyninth year of King Henry the Third," says he, "there came to the synod of the Bishop of Rochester, some friars appearing to be of a new order; namely, Cross-bearers, or 1 Crouched; so called, because they carried their crosses on staves. They gained a habitation from the wealthy men, showing an unheardof privilege granted them by the pope: viz., that no one should be allowed to reprove their order, ot reproach or command them: they had also power granted to them to excommunicate such as should do so. All wise and discreet persons were astonished that so many new orders should daily to start up with out aid, and that so many learned men, despising the rules of the blessed Benedict, and of the most magnificent St. Austin, should sud-| denly fly to new and unheard-of

establishments: notwithstanding it had been enacted in general council, who admitted and authorized preachers and minors* that from that time no new orders should be invented, or if invented, should not be admitted, lest those which were already received, should suffer contempt."

Their settlement on this spot, in the street named from them, the only footing they were ever allowed to have in London, was gained for them by two citizens, Ralph Hosier, and William Saberns, who bought a piece of ground of the neighbouring priory of the Holy Trinity, for that purpose, and afterwards themselves became Friars of the Cross. The last prior, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, was Robert Stretham, whose scandalously immoral life, according to Stowe, hastened the dissolution of this monastery. The house itself stood at the corner of Crutched Friars; and the ground extended over a great part of Tower Hill, the site of the old Navy Office, and of the present Trinity Corporation House. The church belonging to the monastery occupied a large portion of what is now called Savage+ Gardens, and was of considerable size, consisting of a middle and side aisle, body and choir, in addition to side chapels, and several altars. On its destruction, the site first

*The Minoresses, or Nuns of the order of St. Clare, having been invited into England by Blanche, queen of Navarre, were founded by Edmund, brother of King Edward the First, in 1293; they had an abbey

on the site of the street thence called the Minories.

So called from Viscount Savage, who resided there, and whose relative, Thomas Lord Colchester, of the Savage family, gave the name to Colchester-street, near the same spot. In Savage-gardens also dwelt Viscount Brouncker, the first President of the Royal Society, and Master of St. Katherine's; Sir Denny Ashburnham, and the famous Sir Cloudesley Shovel.

became a carpenter's yard, and the Friars' hall a glass-house, which house, says Stowe, burst out in a terrible fire in 1575; and having in it about 40,000 billets of wood, was consumed to the stone walls, which were so thick as to prevent the fire spreading further. The remaining space of the old monastery was built upon by Sir Thomas Wyatt the elder, in the reign of Henry the Eighth; and the mansion, afterwards inhabited by Lord Lumley, was called Lumley House. No traces of this or of the convent now exist.

There are, however, on a neighbouring spot, and in the same parish of St. Olave's, some very an cient and curious dwellings, well worthy of notice, called Milburn's Alms-houses. This charitable foundation was erected and endowed by Alderman Sir John Milburn, in 1535, in Woodroff lane, (now Cooper's row,) leading to Tower Hill. All the houses have Gothic doors and windows, and stand partly towards the street, and partly in an adjoining court or yard, which is a portion, probably, of the friary church-yard. The gateway leading to it is also of Gothic construction, and has above it, on a square stone, a low-relief of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, who appears supported by seven angels on a cloud. A Latin inscription records the name and pious design of the founder.

There are at present sixteen tenements, the occupants receiving their dwelling rent-free, and 2s. 4d. a week each, the first of every month. The management is vested in the Drapers' Company, of which Milburn was a member. By his original constitution, the almspeople belonging to this charity, then styled beadsmen, were to come daily into the friars' church, close adjoining,

and to seat themselves near their

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