The History of London Part 28

~chancel~: the east end of a church in which is the altar, separated from the rest of the church by a screen or railings. (Latin _cancelli_, a grating.)

~transept~: the part of a cathedral projecting on either side.

Cathedrals are generally built in the shape of a cross; the transept is the arms of the cross in the ground plan.

53. THE TERROR OF FIRE. PART II.

~Astronomer~: one who studies the stars or heavenly bodies.

~John Evelyn~ (born 1620, died 1706), a gentleman of the reign of Charles II., was made one of the commissioners for the restoration of London after the Great Fire. He wrote a diary, which is not so amusing as that of Pepys (_see_ Chapter LI.)

~St. Dunstan-in-the-East~, in Tower Street, was the first church restored by Wren after the fire.

~John Dryden~ (born 1631, died 1700): one of the greatest English poets.

He was a supporter of the house of Stuart, and was made poet laureate.

~obnoxious~: exposed to.

54. ROGUES AND VAGABONDS.

~Vagabonds~: wanderers who have no settled home.

~Wapping~: called Wapping Wash (or Marsh) in the time of Queen Elizabeth, when it was first drained and banked in, lies on the north bank of the Thames, in Middles.e.x, near the Thames Tunnel.

~Lambeth~, facing Westminster, on the south bank of the river, is low-lying, and was called in Saxon times Lambhythe, meaning loamy or muddy landing place.

~Bermondsey~ (_ey_--island), on the south bank of the Thames, one mile S.E. of St. Paul's, is a centre of the leather and wool trade.

~Rotherhithe~ (or Redriff), on the south bank of the Thames, lies east of Bermondsey and faces Wapping. The south end of the Thames Tunnel is in Rotherhithe.

~stringent~: strict.

~impotent~: powerless, unable to work.

~stocks~: a wooden frame in which the legs of criminals were confined.

~The Barbican~: a street near the site of the old Aldersgate. Barbican means defensive works for a gate. ~Turnmill Street~ is near Farringdon railway station.

55. UNDER GEORGE II. PART I. THE WEALTH OF LONDON.

~Essayists~: people who write essays; that is, short compositions on any subject.

~picturesqueness~: beauty and grace; qualities which might be supposed to make anything a good subject for a _picture_.

~ruffles~: pieces of some white material plaited and attached as a frill to the collar and sleeves of garments.

~ostentation~: making a great show.

~Puritanism~: the more sober style of life and thought introduced by the Puritans, who were a religious party in the times of Elizabeth and the Stuarts, and were desirous of a purer and simpler doctrine and mode of living.

56. UNDER GEORGE II. PART II.

~Predecessors~: those that went before them.

~cruciform~: in the form of a cross. The ground plan of many churches is shaped like a cross.

~St. Stephen's, Walbrook~, stands behind the Mansion House, where the Walbrook used to flow.

~lectureship~: the office of a lecturer, one who gives lectures, discourses, or (as in this case) sermons. Money was left to pay for these sermons, that is, the lectureships were ~endowed~.

~harbouring~: sheltering.

~organisers~: those who get up and arrange anything.

~Haymarket~ (obviously once a hay market) is near Trafalgar Square, and ~Coventry Street~ near Leicester Square.

~innovations~: novelties, new things.

57. UNDER GEORGE II. PART III.

~Broad Street~: between the Royal Exchange and Liverpool Street.

~Whitecross Street~ is near the Barbican, Aldersgate Street; ~Whitechapel~, in which is ~Middles.e.x Street~ (commonly known as Petticoat Lane), is reached through Aldgate.

~Hogarth~ (born 1697, died 1764): a celebrated English painter, chiefly famous for moral, satirical and humorous pictures drawn from everyday life.

~asphalt~: a kind of mineral pitchy substance which melts in heat and can be laid down so as to form a hard, smooth roadway.

~Vauxhall~: in Surrey, in the parish of Lambeth, on the south of the Thames. There was once an old manor house here called Faukes or Fox Hall.

~Bermondsey Spa~: so called from a mineral spring discovered there in 1770. (Spa, a place where there is a mineral spring, gets its name from a celebrated watering-place in Belgium of that name.)

~punch~: a drink containing five ingredients--water, spirits, sugar, lemon-juice, spice.

58. UNDER GEORGE II. PART IV.

~Decorous~: behaving in a decent and respectable way.

~appreciation~: estimate, judgment about.

~congregation~: gathering together.

~Benjamin Franklin~ (born 1706, died 1790): a native of Boston, U.S.A., who lived for some time in England. As a scientist he is famous for electrical experiments; as a politician, for the share he took in upholding the independence of the American States.