losse, I wylle saye but little; yett as a touche thereof, I would wylle you to remember, when you go treasure-seeking in Pawle's Vaults, or taking another's inheritance, that it is written, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's howse," &c. I pray you gett one of yo' fraternitie of ye Black-Friars to exercise thereupon y1 you may knowe how to beare you at present, and to conduct you in future. Farewell.

"CAPTAIN FIREBRACE MATCHLOCK." "To Master Jael Straitlace, Milliner, dwellynge at ye Golden Goose, above the Portico at ye Western ende of Pawle's."

To return to Judith Fitz-Lawrence; on the road to Stanmore Park, Fleetwit contrived to awaken such an interest in her heart, as to procure from her a promise, that when the King should be restored, and Sir Edward should again safely inherit the halls of his ancestors, her hand and fortune should be his; but that, until the consummation of those events, she would return to a French Convent, not denying that she wished for a speedy termination of her seclusion. In the mean time, when they had parted from her at the sea-side, Fleetwit solicited to be entertained by Sir Edward, as

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he was glad of any opportunity to get rid of his former dissolute and uncertain course of life; and it was under the banners of the unfortunate Charles I. and his son, that he evinced the character of a brave soldier was by no means inappropriate to him. He shared the exile of his masters, and he partook of their triumphant return; soon after which, he went over to France, and brought home his promised bride; to whom he was united in the Cathedral of St. Paul, on the seventeenth anniversary of his first releasing her from the Parliamentary guards of the Church-yard. He then caused the remains of Gabriel Fitz-Lawrence to be honourably interred, and placed over them a stone, carved with the holy Gridiron; which was, however, demolished in the Great Fire of London, that levelled the fane which contained it. But Master Fleetwit best commemorated the foregoing circumstances, by erecting a messuage on the site of the Bishop of London's Palace, upon which he carved the united emblems of Fitz-Lawrence and Straitlace; though it is generally supposed that his sign represented a Goose striking the bars of a Gridiron with her foot, to ridicule those ancient London Music-houses, which were known

by the device of the Swan and Harp. It is indeed certain that the present building was famous for musical performances two years before the Great Fire; and this spot, although the destruction of 1666 swept away Fleetwit's memorial, still records the foregoing narrative, by a house bearing the well-known sign of

THE GOOSE AND GRIDIRON.

139

THE ROYAL GEORGE:

A LEGEND OF FLEET-STREET.

CHAPTER THE FIRST.

-Taking off his Cloak and George, he deliver'd his George to the Bishop, saying, Remember!'— 'twas said, 'to send it to the Prince.'

HOWELL'S MEDULLA HISTORIE ANGLICANE.

THE amiable and loyal Evelyn, in his very interesting Diary, laments it as one of the most unhappy consequences of that military and puritanical government introduced by the Civil Wars, that most of the London pulpits were usurped by strange fanatical preachers, "Sec

taries of all sorts, and blasphemous and ignorant mechanics." Then indeed there was no lack of sermons, lectures, exercises, expositions, prayer meetings, and similar edifications; for at all times of the day the Church-doors of some Parish were to be found open, and a congregation assembled, composed of expounding soldiers, off duty; idle tradesmen, neglecting their occupations; hucksters and mechanics, who had left their callings for a call; and sanctified serving-men, who spent nearly half of their time in a conventicle, and generously divided the remainder, almost equally, between themselves and their employers. In the mean time, the pious and established Ministers of the London Churches were exposed to considerable privation and poverty, by being thus displaced from their livings. They "could not dig, and to beg they were ashamed;" so that nothing might have supported them, but that fervent and well-regulated piety which many of them possessed in such an eminent degree, and the private relief and shelter which they received, from the few loyal and honest hearts that were yet remaining.

Nor did the Churches themselves escape much better than their pastors. It is true that many