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 PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM PICKERING, 177, PICCADILLY 
 
 AND TO BE HAD OF 
 
 Mjjnr, It. njm ? dfafe, ClwrtemmlL
 
 LONDON : 
 
 GILBERT & R1VINGTON, PRINTERS, 
 ST. JOHN'S SQUARE.
 
 c 
 
 ,, 
 
 TO 
 
 WILLIAM PETIT GRIFFITH, ESQ., F.S.A. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 WITH feelings of respect I beg to dedicate the 
 following pages to you, recognizing in yourself one, to whom the 
 inhabitants of Clerkenwell are deeply indebted, for saving from 
 positive defacement, if not from absolute removal, the Gate 
 .of the Priory of St. John, almost the only remnant of that once 
 proud pile, of- the history of which you know so much, and to 
 whose kindness I am so deeply indebted, in permitting me to 
 avail myself of your long and laboriously acquired knowledge. 
 
 I have the honour, Sir, to subscribe myself, 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 BENJAMIN FOSTER. 
 
 ST. JOHN'S GATE, 
 December, 1851. 
 
 -o 
 
 62970?
 
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 " FOR thou shalt fall ; and like the fierce dark age 
 
 That saw thee in thy strength, no more shalt be 
 Remember'd, save when mentioned in the page 
 Of brilliant fiction, or dim history ; 
 For 'tis the doom of all things man, tower, tree 
 To dwell their time on earth, and then decay ! " 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 o- 
 

 
 O- 
 
 -O 
 
 PERHAPS there is no locality in England more replete with 
 intense interest than Clerkenwell ; almost every street is teeming 
 with associations of a bygone time. But of all the monuments 
 that remain to us in the district, none have more often been the 
 subject of antiquarian inquiry than the old Gate of the Priory of 
 St. John of Jerusalem. Since the Author's residence in it, 
 frequent inquiries have been addressed to him for information 
 relative to its history. He has, therefore, undertaken the present 
 work with the view of affording, in a single volume, and at a 
 moderate cost, such authentic particulars regarding it as he 
 thinks will be found to be of general interest. The reader must 
 be aware, that in a book of this kind mere compilation must be 
 the principal groundwork. A clear and correct chronology, 
 concisely arranged, of the most important events connected with 
 the rise, progress, and fall of this interesting monastic establish- 
 ment, will be found its greatest recommendation. Unused to 
 the art of book-making, the Author has every thing to fear from 
 the criticism it may be subject to ; but something also to hope 
 from the kindness wherewith some will doubtless regard it. If 
 perseverance in research, and diligence in inquiry, be deemed
 
 o 
 tiiii 
 
 necessary qualifications in any one who undertakes a work of 
 this kind, the Author trusts that the reader will give him credit 
 for having exercised them in the present instance. 
 
 In committing this trifle to the press, the Author has spared 
 neither expense nor trouble in its production. The artistic and 
 typographical portion will attest their own excellence. He 
 would take the present opportunity of thanking those who have 
 so kindly assisted and encouraged his views. To the Rev. Dr. 
 Hughes his thanks are due for the facilities afforded in examining 
 the ancient Crypt and Church of St. John ; to William Petit 
 Griffith, Esq., he is much indebted for the information relative 
 to the architecture and many statistics connected with his sub- 
 ject ; and to William Rivington, Esq., for his critical revision 
 and kind suggestions in the progress of the work through the 
 press. 
 
 To conclude in the words of Dr. Johnson, who has in modern 
 times given a kind of classical interest to St. John^s Gate, 
 " This has been a work of labour to me ; but it has been a 
 pleasant one. It has recalled to my recollection time and places 
 long past and lost sight of, but never to be forgotten."
 
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 fist of 
 
 Abbs, Major Wm. The Hall, Pinner, Middlesex. 
 Abbott, Mr. St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell. 
 Acut, Mr. C. Bath Street, City Road. 
 Adams and Son, Messrs. F. B. St. John's Square. 
 Akam, Mr. W. Wilderness Row, Clerkenwell. 
 Akers, Mr. H. Rahere Street, Goswell Road. 
 Alexander, Mr. Bath Street, City Road. 
 Allen, Mr. B. Penton Grove, Pentonville. 
 Arnold, Mr. E. Tabernacle Walk, Finsbury. 
 Ashfield, Mr. W. Baine's Row, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Barnett, Mr. H. Gloucester Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Bates, Mr. J. Ampthill, Bedfordshire. 
 Bennett, G. Esq. Theatre Royal Sadler's Wells. 
 Bennett, Mr. G. Warden Place, Clerkenwell. 
 Bennett, Mr. W. St. James's Walk, Clerkenwell. 
 Benskin, Mr. City Road. 
 
 Berry, Mr. A. St. John's Square, Clerkenwell. 
 Bishop,. Mr. J. Threadneedle Street. 
 Black, Mr. J. Albion Street, King's Cross. 
 Blackburn, Mr. J. Ripon, Yorkshire. 
 Bland, Mr. T. Aylesbury Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Blizard, Mr. J. Aylesbury Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Bodger, Mr. W. Cross Street, Hatton Garden. 
 Bolt, Mr. J. St. John's Square, Clerkenwell 
 
 (2 copies). 
 
 Boss, Mr. F. Seckford Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Boulter,Mr.E. Northampton Square, Clerkenwell. 
 Boulter, Mr. E. R. jun. ditto. 
 Bowden, Mr. J. Ampthill, Bedfordshire. 
 Boyce, Mr. S. Park Street, Camden Town. 
 Brittain, Mr. J. Bowling Green Lane, Clerkenwell. 
 Brooke, Mr. H. D. Leadenhall Market. 
 Brookes, Mr. J. Berkley Court, Clerkenwell. 
 Brooks, Mr. R. Bow Lane. 
 
 o- 
 
 Brunton, Mrs. Lampton Terrace, East Green- 
 wich. 
 
 Buckland, Mr. H. Corporation Row, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Buckler, Mr. C. St. John's Square, Clerkenwell, 
 
 Buckmaster, Mr. J. Hung erf or d Market. 
 
 Budd, Mr. G. Goswell Street. 
 
 Bull, Mr. W. St. John's Square, Clerkenwell 
 (2 copies). 
 
 Bullock, J. Esq. Triangle, Hackney. 
 
 Byrne, Mr. J. Albany Road, Camberwell. 
 
 Caldwell, Mr. J. Dean Street, Soho. 
 
 Carr, Mr. R. Houndsditch. 
 
 Carruthers, J. Esq. Navarino Terrace, Dalston. 
 
 Chapman, Mr. St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Charles, Mr. F. Lyceum Theatre. 
 
 Chatelain, the Chevalier Ernst de, Graf ton Place, 
 
 Euston Square. 
 
 Cherry, Mr. W. Houghton Conquest, Beds. 
 Clarke, Mr. G. Wenlock Street, Hoxton. 
 Clarke, Mr. J. Castle Street, Marylebone. 
 Clarke, Mr. S. St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell. 
 Clegg, Mr. W. Little Russell Street, Covent 
 
 Garden. 
 
 Codling, Mr. R. Great Chart Street, Hoxton. 
 Colam, Mr. Charterhouse Street. 
 Constable, Mr. B. Whitecross Street. 
 Costello, Mr. J. L. Kirby Street, Hatton 
 
 Garden. 
 
 Cowell, Mr. High Street, Islington. 
 Craven, D. Esq. Bedford Street, Bedford Row. 
 Crick, Mrs. St. John's Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Danby, Mr. G. Wigmore Street, Cavendish 
 Square. 
 
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 Davis, Mr. J. John's Row, St. Luke's. 
 Davison, Mr. H. St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell 
 
 (2 copies). 
 
 Death, Mr. W. Aylesbury Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Dentry, Mr. J. S. Whiskin Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Dixon, Mr. J. H. Tollington Villa, Hornsey. 
 Dixon, Mr. R. Aylesbury Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Dodd, J. Esq. Church Street, Stoke Newington. 
 
 Edwards, J. Esq. Lothbury, City. 
 Edwards, Mr. T. Tower Hill. 
 Elder, Mr. R. Houndsditch. 
 Ellmore, Mrs. Sleaford, Lincolnshire. 
 
 Farnell, Mr. G. S. Wood Street, City. 
 
 Figges, Mr. T. Wilton Cottages, Dalston. 
 
 Folkard, Mr. A. Silver Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Forman, Mr. G. East Smithfield. 
 
 Forman, Mr. J. ditto. 
 
 Forman, Miss, ditto. 
 
 Foster, Miss H. Paradise Street, Finsbury 
 
 (2 copies). 
 Foster, Mr. W. Dorchester Street, New North 
 
 Road. 
 
 Griffith, W. P. Esq. F.S.A. St. John's Square. 
 Gall, Mr. T. King's Square, Goswell Road. 
 Gardiner, T. and J. Esqrs. Newgate Street 
 
 (4 copies). 
 
 Gates, Mr. T. Vine Street, Hatton Garden. 
 Gavin, E. A. Esq. Dover Street, Piccadilly. 
 Gay, A. W. Esq. Bedford Row, Holborn. 
 Gibson, Mr. J. Southgate Road, Kingsland. 
 Gilbert, Mrs. Philadelphia, Sheffield (2 copies). 
 Gilbert, Misses, ditto (2 copies). 
 Glenny, Mr. E. Albemarle Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Goodwin, Mr. G. Red Lion Street, Clerkenwell 
 
 (2 copies). 
 
 Gordon, Miss A. Seckford Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Green, Mr. A. G. New Street Square. 
 Greenwood, Mr. A. Brick Lane, Spitalfields. 
 Gregg, Mr. J. King's Square, St. Luke's. 
 Gregson, Mr. W. J. High Street, Bloomsbury. 
 
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 Grimble, Clarke and Co. Messrs. Albany Street 
 
 (4 copies). 
 
 Grimshaw, Mr. Dorrington Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Gyles, Mr. E. G. St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Hall, R. Esq. St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Hall, Mr. W. H. St. John's Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Harding, T. F. Esq. Mylne Street, Myddelton 
 Square. 
 
 Handy, Mr. H. Tottenham Court Road. 
 
 Hardy, Mr. A. G. Holford Square. 
 
 Harris, Mr. W. T. St. John's Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Harrison, Mr. St. John's Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Hedgin, Esq. Thayer Street, Manchester 
 Square (4 copies). 
 
 Hewitt, Mr. T. St. John's Street. 
 
 HiU, C. Esq. High Street, Aldgate. 
 
 Hillman, W. E. Esq. Moorgate Street, City. 
 
 Hobbs, Mr. W. White Conduit Street, Penton- 
 ville. 
 
 Holland, Mr. J. St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Hotton, Mr. W. St. John's Square, Clerkenwell. 
 
 How, T. Esq. St. John's Street, Clerkenwell 
 (2 copies). 
 
 Howden, J. Esq. Chesterfield Street. 
 
 Hudden, Messrs. St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell 
 (2 copies). 
 
 Hughes, Rev. Dr. H. Rector of St. John's, Rec- 
 tory, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Hullah, R. A. Esq. Berners Street, Oxford Street. 
 
 Hunt, Mrs. Claremont Terrace, New Road. 
 
 Johnson, Mr. J. St. Martin's Lane. 
 Jolin, P. Esq. Coppice Row, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Keats, Mr. A. King Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Kemp, Mr. Hoxton. 
 
 Kemp, Mr. J. Hatton Garden. 
 
 Kennedy, Mr. G. Cambridge Terrace, Hackney. 
 
 Kennedy, Mr. W. H. ditto. 
 
 Kennedy, Mr. W. H. jun. ditto. 
 
 Keys, Mr. W. Barbican, City. 
 
 Kingcombe, Mr. G. High Street, Camden Town.
 
 G- 
 
 tist nf 
 
 Lambert, Mr. J. Upper Clifton Street, Finsbury. 
 Larner, Mr. A. Holloway. 
 Lea, B. W. Esq. Lonsdale Square, Islington. 
 Leese, Mr. E. Munster Street, Regent's Park 
 
 (2 copies). 
 
 Leland, Esq. Adelaide Road, Hampstead. 
 Lenard, Mr. E. St. John's Street, ClerJcenwell. 
 Lenard, Mr. G. ditto. 
 Levi, J. Esq. Tavistock Square. 
 Lings, Mr. W. Jewin Street, City. 
 Loader, Mr. T. Farringdon Street, City. 
 Lock, Mr. G. Albemarle Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Lulham, Mr. G. Aylesbury Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Macgill, Mr. T. Deptford. 
 
 Mackay, Mr. St. Andrew's Road, Newington. 
 
 MacMillan, Mr. D. St. John's Square, Clerken- 
 well. 
 
 MacMillan, Mrs. D. ditto. 
 
 Madgwick, E. Esq. St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Marsh, J. Esq. St. John's Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Marshall, Mr. S. St. John's Square, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Marston, H. Esq. Gumming Street, Pentonville. 
 
 Mathews, J. Esq. Mylone Street, Pentonville. 
 
 Mayes, Mr. J. St. John's Square, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Mellor, Mrs. Charrington Street. 
 
 Mendham, G. Esq. Red Lion Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Meredith, W. Esq. Portman Square. 
 
 Merrick, Mr. Red Lion Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Miller, Mr. D. P. Bow Street. 
 
 Mintor, Mr. R. Coppice Row, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Money, Mr. J. C. Owen's Row, St. John's Street 
 Road. 
 
 More, R. Esq. Old Street, St. Luke's (4 copies). 
 
 Neely, Mr. J. Shacklewell. 
 Newman, Mr. E. J. Strand. 
 Newman, Mr. J. Theberton Street. 
 Nicholson, R. Esq. Strand. 
 
 O'Caroll, W. D. Esq. Portman Square (2 copies). 
 Osman, Mr. Southampton Street, Nine Elms. 
 Otway, C. Esq. Dean Street, Soho (4 copies). 
 
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 Page, Mr. A. Corporation Row, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Palmer, W. F. Esq. Wilmington Square. 
 
 Palmer, Mrs. St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Pembroke, Mr. W. High Street, Deptford. 
 
 Penniket, Mr. King's Cross. 
 
 Peters, Mr. J. Crispin Street, Spitalfields. 
 
 Pingston, Mr. C. St. John's Lane. 
 
 Ponder, W. Esq. Bridgewater Square. 
 
 Poole, Mr. Clerkenwell Green. 
 
 Pope, Mr. H. East Smithfield. 
 
 Pope, Mr. J. E. Bow Street. 
 
 Porter, Mr. J. Cross Street, Islington. 
 
 Porter, Mr. J. Deptford. 
 
 Punt, J. Esq. King's Square. 
 
 Punt, Mrs. J. ditto. 
 
 Ralfe, J. Esq. Liquorpond Street. 
 
 Rampling, Esq. Cannon Street, Preston. 
 
 Ramsden, Mr. E. Burley Street, Leeds, York- 
 shire. 
 
 Ramsden, Mr. R. High Harrogate, Yorkshire. 
 
 Ramsden, Mr. R. H. St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Ramsey, Mr. W. Red Lion Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Redfern, Mr. E. Turnmi.ll Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Reid and Co. Messrs. Liquorpond Street (12 
 copies). 
 
 Reynolds, Mr. G. Fleet Street. 
 
 Riordian, Mr. T. Bingley Place, Pentonville. 
 
 Rivington, Mr. W. 52, St. John's Square. 
 
 Roberts, Mr. R. St. John's Street. 
 
 Roberts, Mr. W. Great Leonard Street, Finsbury. 
 
 Robinson, Mr. G. Lower Road, Islington. 
 
 Rogers, Mr. J. M. Ampthill, Beds (2 copies). 
 
 Rowley, Mr. A. St. John's Square. 
 
 Rowsell, Mr. W. John's Row, St. Luke's. 
 
 Russell, Mr. Sutton Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Sanders, Mr. C. St. John's Square, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Sanders, Mrs. C. ditto. 
 
 Satchwell, Mr. W. Banner Street, St. Luke's. 
 
 Simpson, J. Esq. Weybridge, Surrey. 
 
 Smilie, Mr. W. Doughty Street. 
 
 Smith, Mr. F. A. Cursitor Street, Chancery Lane. 
 
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 Smith, Mr. J. Paradise Street, Finsbury. 
 
 Smith, Mr. T. Goswell Road. 
 
 Smith and Son, St. John's Square, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Soulby, Mr. F. Stafford Place, Pimlico. 
 
 Stephens, Mr. J. Aldermanbury. 
 
 Stephens, Mr. S. Watting Street, City (2 copies). 
 
 Sterling, Mr. Navarino Terrace, Dalston. 
 
 Stimpson, Mr. G. St. Paul's Street, New North 
 Road. 
 
 Stone, Mr. T. Aylesbury Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Stott, Mr. J. S. Halifax, Yorkshire. 
 
 Sunley, Mr. R. Goswell Road. 
 
 Sutch, Mr. W. Islington. 
 
 Swales, Mr. F. W. John's Row, St. Luke's. 
 
 Swan, H. Esq. Great Knightrider Street, Doc- 
 tors' Commons. 
 
 Sweetman, H. Esq. St. John's Street, Clerken- 
 well. 
 
 Thomas, Mr. R. St. John's Street Road. 
 Thornton, Mr. F. Goswell Road. 
 Thorp, Mr. C. St. John's Street Road. 
 Tiffin, Mr. J. B. Bedford Street, Covent Garden. 
 Titmuss, D. Esq. Claremont Square. 
 Towsey, Mr. S. St. John's Square, Clerkenwell. 
 Trevillion, Mr. Pitt's Place, Bankside. 
 Tyssen, R. D. Esq. F.S.A. Manor House, 
 Hackney. 
 
 Vandenburgh, Mr. F. W. St. John's Square, 
 Clerkenwell. 
 
 Wakley, T. Esq. M.P. Harefield Park. 
 Wakeling and Son, Esqrs. Wakeling Terrace, 
 
 Barnsbury (6 copies). 
 Walt'ord, W. Esq. Aldersgate Street. 
 Waller, Mr. J. D. St. John's Square, Clerkenwell. 
 Watson, Esq. Charlotte Street, Portman 
 
 Square. 
 
 Welsh, Mr. E. St. John's Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Western, Mr. A. Clerkenwell Close. 
 Whitling, E. Esq. Dalston Place, Dalston. 
 Wickins, Mr. S. Banner Street, St. Luke's 
 
 (2 copies). 
 
 Williams, Mr. G. St. John's Square, Clerkenwell. 
 Williams, Mr. W. Whitecross Street. 
 Williamson, Mr. Langton Avenue, St. Luke's. 
 Willson, Mr. Chiswell Street. 
 Willson, Mr. E. St. John's Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Willson, Mr. W. Aylesbury Street, Clerkenwell. 
 Wood, Mr. J. High Street, Islington. 
 Wortham, Mr. J. Gainford Street, Islington. 
 Wright, Mr. J. Albany Road, Camberwell. 
 Wright, Mr. J. Kennington Lane. 
 
 Yeoman, Mr. T. Whit-more Place, Hoxton. 
 Younger, Mr. J. St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell. 
 
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 MID all the changes of busy, 
 ruthless time, the untiring march of art and 
 science, while the sylvan lane has given 
 place to the crowded street, and the village 
 green has been transformed into an ill-paved 
 space, bounded by the fetid churchyard and 
 hall of justice, while the field of Smooth l 
 has been converted into an intolerable 
 nuisance to swell a city's corporation, 
 while the busy clang of the artisan's ham- 
 mer, and the. humming wheel of the inge- 
 
 1 The original name of Smithfield. 
 B 
 
 O 
 
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 2 Sntrntatinii. 
 
 nious mechanic have sounded and revolved in countless revolu- 
 tions, whilst martial glory has given place to mercantile great- 
 ness, and the crampt, cabined, and confined city of Elizabeth 
 has flung its brachial extremities to distant villages, identifying 
 them in one great whole, while giant docks have swallowed 
 up whole parishes, and forests of masts appear where once 
 grew forest trees, where the tall chimney monopolizes the place 
 of stately poplar and gothic spire, where the stagnant, black, 
 and lately-covered ditch usurps the bed of what was once a 
 fair and limpid stream, amid all the changes, social, moral, 
 political, and theological, still stands almost the only remnant 
 of monastic architecture that once adorned the metropolis, the 
 Grand South Gate of the Priory of St. John of Jerusalem in 
 
 England. 
 
 " They dreamt not of a perishable home 
 
 Who thus could build." 
 
 And although the forefinger of old time has left its indelible 
 imprint on its front, and the modern hand of utilitarianism has 
 adapted its resources to the conveniences of an hostelry, yet 
 throughout all there is an air of venerable grandeur about the 
 old portal ; and one cannot look upon such a relic without being 
 carried back to the age of chivalry, to the time when the waving 
 pennon and polished corslet fluttered and reflected in the morn- 
 ing sun, inspiring notions of honour and deathless glory, to the 
 time when the courtyard would ring with the heavy tread of the 
 mailed warrior, and the ponderous gate would creak upon its 
 heavy hinges sluggishly opening to admit the proud prior, the 
 chivalric cavalcade, or the ascetic monk, when the religion 
 of the time inculcated and practised a charity exhibited in 
 the eleemosynary distribution of alms at the Hospital Gate,
 
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 Mrnhrrtiiitr. 3 
 
 when the whole air of the neighbourhood was redolent of 
 pious ejaculations and knightly vauntings, when the warder 
 on the topmost turret could look across the amphitheatric 
 valley of London, and gaze on as many as fifty religious 
 establishments within the boundary hills of Surrey, Kent, and 
 Middlesex. 
 
 To the antiquarian, St. John's Grate possesses no mean 
 attraction, outliving, as it has, the assaults of time, escaping the 
 demolition consequent upon the Reformation, standing proudly 
 erect while the devouring element swept across the devoted city, 
 lighting up its battlemented turrets in bold relief, when the 
 charred and blackened beam, the burnt and smouldering ruin of 
 the once fair city lay 
 
 " In one red burial blent," 
 
 when the choicest specimens of its ecclesiastical architecture 
 were destroyed, when the lately plague-spotted, but now panic- 
 stricken and prostrate city sent forth fearful and imploring 
 plaints to the skies ; even amid this frightful ravage and direful 
 devastation stood the old Gate, looming giant-like in sullen 
 majesty, made more impressive by the surrounding desolation. 
 Time with its noiseless wheels rolled heavily along ; the ruined 
 city sprang phoenix-like from its ashes ; the mighty genius of 
 Wren again adorned it with the bright creation of his teeming 
 and ever-fertile brain, the magnificent Cathedral shot with tower- 
 ing grandeur to the sky, asserting a dignity and assuming a 
 presidency over a metropolis as yet the greatest the world e'er 
 saw, our old Gate still maintained its rank amongst the public 
 buildings ; and now, the time when the connecting link in the 
 
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 4 Mrnfotutinu. 
 
 chain of historic, chivalric, and literary associations was forged 
 and riveted by that leviathan of literature Dr. Samuel Johnson 
 taking up his abode here, he who, bringing the whole artillery 
 of his lexicographic art to bear, has reared a standard of 
 diction to which the English must ever reverently bow. 
 Here, too, poor Oliver Goldsmith, the simple-hearted child of 
 
 nature, 
 
 " Who traversed realms alone, 
 
 And found no spot of earth to call his own," 
 
 with the biographic Boswell, the inimitable David Garrick, 
 Savage, Cave, and all the distinguished literati of that period 
 met. But, alas, for the degeneracy (or the necessities, we 
 know not which) of the age ! gin has usurped the place of 
 genius; where crusaders met, cream of the valley is retailed; 
 where romance flourished, rum is sold ! and the once stalwart 
 warder of the Gate has merged into the landlord of the 
 
 tavern. 
 
 " To what base uses may we not return ! " 
 
 We cannot regard such a building as a mere curiosity-seeker 
 would, who, raising his eye and sagaciously shaking his head, 
 flippantly observes, " Ah ! they knew how to build in those 
 days." " Architecture," Wren has observed, " has its political 
 use. Public buildings being the ornament of a country, it 
 establishes a nation, draws people and commerce, makes the 
 people love their native country, which passion is the origin of 
 ah 1 great actions in a commonwealth."" 
 
 Although our Gate cannot perhaps be regarded as a choice 
 specimen of architecture, yet it is sufficient to show at once 
 
 6 6
 
 
 
 the purpose, intent, and feelings of our rude ancestors, its 
 sheer strength indicating vigour and energy of character. Its 
 present appearance, although much neutralized by the smaller 
 buildings clustering around its base, sufficiently attests the 
 nature of those men who were once its lords and masters ; and 
 although they were, as a body, frequently guided by crafty 
 men, who governed them by terror or by delusion, yet these 
 enduring monuments show the existence of some great and 
 powerful impulse, which led the people to achieve mighty 
 things. There was a higher principle at work amongst them, 
 however abused and perverted, than that of individual selfish- 
 ness. The social principle was built upon some sort of re- 
 verence engendered by the then surrounding institutions of the 
 country. 
 
 The great political struggle and social turmoil which a 
 country must encounter, emerging from barbarism into feudalism, 
 and from thence to a greater freedom of action and fuller 
 liberty of thought, must be evident. Institutions and laws bend 
 and become subservient to the exigencies of the time, and 
 adapt themselves to the wants, wishes, and feelings of modern 
 society; not so the edifices wherein such institutions were 
 founded, and such laws dispensed, they still remain intact, 
 giving proof of the tastes and impulses that then guided men ; 
 and fully prove that, whatever time may have elapsed and changes 
 have transpired, there is yet enough in modern civilization to 
 preserve a strong identity of men of the past with those of 
 the present day. We are now learning to respect the great 
 and important lessons inculcated by the contemplation of the 
 remnants of buildings such as these : civil and religious liberty 
 
 0-
 
 O Q 
 
 6 Stttrototinii. 
 
 having advanced so rapidly within the last few years, we can 
 now look upon objects of a bygone time, and attach just as 
 much value to them as antiquarians may, viewed as they now 
 are, not with the false fanatical feeling of overbearing zealots, 
 but with the calm dispassionate spirit of reasonable men, regard- 
 ing and cherishing the good they once possessed, and carefully 
 avoiding the vices of which they were the victims. It was from 
 viewing our religious establishments through a distorted and 
 bigoted medium, that the noblest ecclesiastical structures were 
 plundered and defaced. Aided by the rabble, who always .regard 
 with a feeling of hostile superstition those prodigious edifices, 
 whose magnificence amazes and whose grandeur awes them, 
 and by the soldiery, whose habits of indiscriminate ravage were 
 exasperated by Puritan animosity, the coarse zealots, to whom 
 the work of destruction was entrusted, set about their task in 
 delighted earnest. Cromwell, at Peterborough, in pursuance of 
 "the thorough Reformation," set the example of desecrating the 
 cathedral. At Canterbury, the soldiers and people overthrew 
 the communion-table, tore the velvet covering; violated the 
 monuments of the dead; broke down the rarest windows in 
 Christendom ; destroyed the organ, the ancient woodwork, and 
 the brazen eagle which supported the Bible ; tore up or took 
 away the service-books and vestments, and strewed the pave- 
 ment with fragments. Observing in the arras-hangings of the 
 choir some figures of the Saviour, they drew their daggers, and, 
 with many oaths and execrations, pierced them through and 
 through. A statue of the same, in a niche of the exterior, was 
 exposed to similar outrage: they discharged their muskets at 
 it, "triumphing much" when the shot took effect upon the 
 head and face of the figures. Still worse enormities are re- 
 
 6
 
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 Sntrntatinn. 7 
 
 ported to have occurred during the occupation of Lichfield by 
 the profligate followers of Sir John Gell. The carvings, the 
 rich windows, the curious pavements, the costly tombs, the 
 records belonging to the close and city, were all destroyed 
 or mutilated. In Scotland also, the impetuous John Knox 
 is reported to have fired some of the abbey buildings with his 
 own hand, exclaiming, that " to destroy the rooks, you must 
 burn down the rookery." 
 
 " Through the arch'd beauty of the sculptured porch, 
 Into the calm and consecrated church, 
 See where they come, with loud, unholy feet, 
 The soldier ruffians, and the impious cheat ! 
 No more soft movement from the tranquil throng, 
 Who erst to peace and worship pass'd along ! 
 No more sweet echoes, floating far and dim, 
 From the full choir and organ-chanted hymn ! 
 Fierce wrangling oaths the startled air receives, 
 And, lo! God's temple is a den of thieves!'" 
 
 We cannot leave this subject without calling the attention 
 of our readers to the old Priory Gate of St. John, one of 
 the important landmarks in the history of our country. " Such 
 are the antiquities of a great nation : worm-eaten and full 
 of canker-holes though they be ; yet are they teeming with 
 life, and will be fresh and beautiful as long as civilization 
 endures : such is the effect upon every generous mind. The 
 study of the ' ancient records 1 of our native land, the richest 
 treasures that we have derived from a long line of ancestors, 
 are our antiquities : they carry us back to dim periods that 
 have bequeathed to us no written explanations of the origin 
 and the uses of their indestructible monuments. Vast mounds,
 
 o- 
 
 -o 
 
 gigantic temples, mystic towers, belong to ages not of bar- 
 barism, but of civilization, different from our own. These 
 remnants of History which have casually escaped the shipwreck 
 of time (so Bacon defines antiquities), are among the best riches 
 of the freight of knowledge ; not merely curiosities, but of 
 intrinsic worth." 
 
 Stone discovered by Benjamin Fo 
 
 O 
 
 o
 
 o 
 
 f 
 
 MONG the first causes of rais- 
 ing the benighted, barbarous, and 
 brutalized nations of Europe from 
 anarchy and confusion to order and polite- 
 ness, may be traced that of the esta- 
 blishment of Chivalry; we allude not to 
 that primitive Chivalry which suggests the 
 recognition of right and the redress of 
 wrong, which is more or less inherent in 
 all humanity, but to that code of honour 
 formed, founded, and fostered by the in- 
 stitutions of knighthood, and made more 
 fully effective by the bonding of brother- 
 hoods; such, for instance, as the religio- 
 military orders of the Hospitallers, the 
 
 0-
 
 Q 
 
 10 ^rinrtf null <0nh 
 
 Templars, and the Teutonic Knights ', all of which owed 
 their origin to the Crusades, and evinced by their organiza- 
 tion a faithful characteristic reflex of the then state of society. 
 It has been asserted that the Crusades did not originate 
 in Chivalry : we have scarcely the hardihood to contradict 
 the proposition ; but they certainly were twin- born they 
 commenced in the same century, and undoubtedly drew their 
 origin from the same source. If one was not the cause of 
 the other, they were evidently the effects of the same cause. 
 The first Crusade the most important of them, and which 
 may be considered to have given a tone and character to 
 all the succeeding ones, does not present a single vestige of 
 what is usually understood by the term Chivalry, not a trace of 
 what the imagination rather than the knowledge of Burke 
 describes as embodying " the generous loyalty to rank and sex, 
 the proud submission, the dignified obedience, and that sub- 
 ordination of the heart which kept alive, even in servitude itself, 
 the spirit of an exalted freedom; that sensibility of principle, 
 that chastity of honour, which felt a stain like a wound, which 
 inspired courage whilst it mitigated ferocity, which ennobled 
 whatever it touched, and under which vice itself lost half its 
 evil by losing all its grossness." Valour, humanity, courtesy, 
 justice, honour, were the characteristics of Chivalry ; and to 
 these were added religion, which, by infusing a large portion of 
 enthusiastic zeal, carried them all to a romantic excess, wonder- 
 fully suited to the genius of the age, and productive of the 
 greatest and most permanent effects both upon policy and 
 manners. War was carried on with less ferocity, when hu- 
 
 1 The Teutonic order founded A. D. 1190 in Palestine, and at first called 
 Knights of the Virgin Mary. They must be all Germans. 
 
 o o
 
 o- - 
 
 of it. Snjjtt nf SwnaaUm. u 
 
 manity, no less than courage, came to be deemed the ornament 
 of knighthood, and knighthood a distinction superior to royalty, 
 and an honour which princes were proud to receive from the 
 hands of private gentlemen 2 ; more gentle and polished manners 
 were introduced, when courtesy was recommended as the most 
 amiable of knightly virtues, and every knight devoted himself to 
 the service of some lady ; and violence and oppression decreased, 
 when it was accounted meritorious to check and to punish them. 
 A scrupulous adherence to truth, with the most religious atten- 
 
 2 The young warrior was armed for the first time with certain ceremonies 
 proper to inspire martial ardour ; the previous discipline and solemnities of 
 initiation were many and singular. The novice in chivalry was educated in 
 the house of some knight, commonly a person of high rank, whom he served 
 first in the character of page, and afterwards of squire ; nor was he admitted 
 to the supreme honour of knighthood until he had given many striking 
 proofs of his valour and address. The ceremony of initiation was very 
 solemn. Severe fastings, and nights spent in a church or chapel in prayer 
 and confession of sins, and the receiving of the sacrament with devotion, 
 bathing and putting on white robes, as emblems of that purity of manners 
 required by the laws of chivalry, were necessary preparations for this 
 ceremony. When the candidate for knighthood had gone through all these 
 and other introductory formalities, he fell at the feet of the person from 
 whom he expected that honour, and on his knees delivered to him his sword. 
 After answering suitable questions, the usual oath was administered to him, 
 namely, to serve his prince, defend the faith, protect the persons and reputa- 
 tions of virtuous ladies, and to rescue, at the hazard of his life, widows^ 
 orphans, and all unhappy persons groaning under injustice or oppression. 
 Then the knights and ladies, who assisted at the ceremony, adorned the 
 candidate with the armour and ensigns of chivalry, beginning with putting on 
 the spurs, and ending with girding him with the sword. Seeing him thus 
 accoutred, the king, or nobleman, who was to confer the honour of knight- 
 hood, gave him the accolade, or dubbing, by three gentle strokes with the 
 flat part of the sword on the shoulder, or with the palm of his hand on the 
 neck, saying, " In the name of God, St. Michael, and St. George, I make 
 thee a knight! be thou loyal, brave, and hardy." M4m. sur I'Ancienne 
 Chevalerie, par M. de la Carne de St. Palaye. 
 
 c 2 
 
 6
 
 p -o 
 
 12 ^rinnj null 
 
 tion to fulfil every engagement, but particularly those between 
 the sexes, as more easily violated, became the distinguishing 
 character of a gentleman ; because Chivalry was regarded as the 
 school of honour, and inculcated the most delicate sensibility 
 with respect to that point. And valour, seconded by so many 
 motives of love, religion, and virtue, became altogether irre- 
 sistible. That the spirit of Chivalry often rose to an extravagant 
 height, and had sometimes a pernicious tendency, must, how- 
 ever, be allowed. In Spain, under the influence of a romantic 
 gallantry, it gave birth to a series of wild adventures, which 
 have been deservedly ridiculed ; in the train of Norman am- 
 bition, it extinguished the liberties of England, and deluged 
 Italy in blood; and, as the engine of papal power, desolated 
 Asia, under the banner of the Cross. But these violences, 
 resulting from accidental circumstances, ought not to be con- 
 sidered as arguments against an institution laudable in itself, 
 and necessary at the time of its establishment. And they who 
 pretend to despise it the advocates of ancient barbarism and 
 ancient rusticity ought to remember, that Chivalry not only 
 first taught mankind to carry the civilities of peace into the 
 operations of war, and to mingle politeness with the use, of the 
 sword, but roused the human soul from its lethargy, invigorating 
 the human character even while it softened it, and produced 
 exploits which antiquity cannot parallel. Nor ought they to 
 forget, that it gave variety and elegance, and communicated an 
 increase of pleasure to the intercourse of life, by making woman 
 a more essential part of society ; and is therefore entitled to our 
 gratitude, though the point of honour and the refinements in 
 gallantry its more doubtful effects should be excluded from 
 the improvements in modern manners. But the beneficial effects 
 
 6
 
 G- 
 
 nf it. 3njjn of StrtiBttUra. 13 
 
 of Chivalry were strongly counteracted by other institutions of a 
 less social kind. Some persons of both sexes, of most religions 
 and countries, have in all ages secluded themselves from the 
 world, in order to acquire a reputation for superior sanctity, or 
 to indulge a melancholy turn of mind, affecting to hold converse 
 only with the Divinity. The number of these solitary devotees, 
 however, in ancient times, was few ; and the spirit of religious 
 seclusion, among the heathen, was confined chiefly to high 
 southern latitudes, where the heat of the climate favours the 
 indolence of the cloister. But the case has been very different 
 in more modern ages; for although the monastic life had its 
 origin among the Christians in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, 
 it rapidly spread not only over the whole of Asia and Africa, but 
 also over Europe, and penetrated to the most remote corners of 
 the North and West, almost at the same time that it reached 
 the extremities of the East and South, to the great hurt of 
 population and industry, and the obstruction of the natural 
 progress of society. 
 
 We trust we may be excused for thus enlarging upon a 
 matter that may appear somewhat foreign to our prefaced 
 purpose ; but seeing that the establishment of which we are 
 about to speak was reared by men who imbibed so largely the 
 principles involved in ancient Chivalry, it may not be deemed 
 irrelevant in thus introducing our subject, and in attempting to 
 describe even the most insignificant minutiae of their once proud 
 pile. We think we are none the less qualified for the task by 
 taking a cursory glance of that system of which these men 
 formed so prominent a part ; and of that fanatical movement 
 which brought into existence bodies of men, who, however 
 
 O- 
 
 -
 
 14 rinrt anir 
 
 humble in their origin, yet attained a position and wielded a 
 power to which the Church itself crouched, and which even 
 royalty readily respected. The greatest moral movements that 
 have taken place, the bloodiest revolutions that have ever been 
 effected, the mightiest thought of the profoundest philosophy, 
 the acknowledged truism of the purest ethics, or the most 
 sanguinary edicts of wicked tyrannies, have frequently sprung 
 from, and been brought about by, the most insignificant of men. 
 So the first Crusade, undertaken with the design of rescuing the 
 Holy Land from the infidel, was moved by a mendicant monk, 
 urged with all the ardour that religious fanaticism alone could 
 use, and enforced by an almost apparent superhuman agency. 
 The Crusades (the first at least) were like the creature who 
 projected them wholly irrational ; sound reason was the quality 
 of all others the least estimated ; and the chivalric valour, which 
 both the age and the enterprise demanded, was considered 
 debased if mingled with the least touch of discretion. Indeed, 
 so wild, visionary, and improvident were the first attempts to 
 rescue the holy sepulchre, that none, save the blind enthusiast 
 or the infatuated fatalist, could have shared in so great an 
 absurdity. It may be as well to notice the state of society in 
 the East at that time, and the passion for pilgrimage which 
 then prevailed in Europe. Those places that are endeared to 
 our memories by any transaction of magnitude, those spots 
 that are revered from having been the birthplace or residence of 
 our greatest and noblest, we naturally regard with veneration 
 and delight. Hence the enthusiasm with which our literati still 
 view the ruins of Athens and Rome; hence the feeling with 
 which we proudly visit the shrines of our native land be it the 
 soft-flowing Avon, where our gentle Shakspeare lisped in tuneful
 
 o 
 
 nf It. Snjitt nf SraanUm. 15 
 
 numbers ; or the modest dwelling in Artillery-walk, where the 
 sublime imaginings of glorious John Milton produced his Para- 
 dise, or pictured his Pandemonium; or excursionize we to 
 Eydal Mount, and listen to the " wood-notes wild" of Words- 
 worth ; or glance we at the humble cottage at Sloperton, where 
 the Bard of Erin 3 now lies insensible to his own soft strain, and 
 whose harp, all unattuned, no more sweet music can discourse ; 
 or turn we north of the Tweed, and every spot is identified with 
 an interest that a Scott alone could give, or the poetry of a 
 Burns perpetuate. If such feelings now possess us, if such sym- 
 pathies are now enlisted, can we be surprised at the superstitious 
 devotion with which Christians, from the earliest ages of the 
 Church, were accustomed to visit that country where their 
 religion had taken its rise, and that city in which the Messiah 
 had died for the redemption of those who believe in His Name ? 
 Pilgrimages to the shrines of saints and martyrs were also 
 common : but as this distant pilgrimage could not be performed 
 without considerable expense, fatigue, and danger, it appeared 
 more meritorious than all others, and came to be considered as 
 an expiation for almost every crime ; and an opinion which 
 prevailed over Europe towards the close of the tenth, and the 
 beginning of the eleventh century, increased the number and 
 the ardour of the credulous devotees that undertook this tedious 
 journey. The thousand years mentioned by St. John in his 
 Book of Revelation were supposed to be accomplished, and the 
 end of the world at hand. A general consternation seized the 
 minds of Christians. Many relinquished their possessions, 
 abandoned their friends and families, and hurried with precipita- 
 
 3 The author is informed that Thomas Moore, the Irish poet, lies bedridden 
 and all but unconscious, at this time.
 
 o P 
 
 16 rinri unit 
 
 tion to the Holy Land, where they imagined Christ would 
 suddenly appear to judge the quick and the dead. But the 
 Christians, although ultimately undeceived in regard to the day 
 of judgment, had the mortification, in these pious journeys, to 
 see the holy sepulchre, and the other places made sacred by the 
 presence of the Saviour, fallen into the hands of infidels. The 
 followers and the countrymen of Mahomet had early made them- 
 selves masters of Palestine, which the Greek empire, far in its 
 decline, was unable to protect against so warlike an enemy. 
 They gave little disturbance, however, to those zealous pilgrims 
 who daily flocked to Jerusalem ; nay, they allowed every one, 
 after paying a moderate tribute, to visit the holy sepulchre, to 
 perform his religious duties, and return in peace ; but the Turks 
 a Tartar tribe who had also embraced Mahometanism having 
 wrested Syria from the Saracens about the middle of the 
 eleventh century, and made themselves masters of Jerusalem, 
 pilgrims were thenceforth exposed to outrages of every kind 
 from these fierce barbarians. And this change, coinciding with 
 the panic of the consummation of all things, and the supposed 
 appearance of Christ on Mount Sion, filled Europe with alarm 
 and indignation. Every pilgrim who returned from Palestine, 
 related the dangers he had encountered in visiting the holy city ; 
 and described, with exaggeration, the cruelty and vexations of 
 the Turks, who, to use the language of those zealots, not only 
 profaned the sepulchre of the Lord by their presence, but derided 
 the sacred mysteries in the very place of their completion, and 
 where the Son of God was speedily expected to hold His great 
 tribunal. While the minds of men were thus roused, a fanatical 
 monk, commonly known by the name of Peter the Hermit, a 
 native of Amiens, in Picardy, revived the project of Gregory 
 
 6 - - 6
 
 
 
 nf It. Snjjtt nf Smuhm. 17 
 
 VII., of leading all the forces of Christendom against the in- 
 fidels, and of driving them out of the Holy Land. He had made 
 the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and was so deeply affected with the 
 danger to which that act of piety exposed Christians, that he 
 ran from province to province, on his return, with a crucifix in 
 his hand, exciting princes and people to this holy war ; and 
 wherever he came, he kindled the same enthusiastic ardour for 
 it with which he himself was animated. Urban II., who had at 
 first been doubtful of the success of such a project, at length 
 entered into Peter's views, and summoned at Placentia a council, 
 which was obliged to be held in the open fields, no hall being 
 sufficient to contain the multitude. It consisted of four thousand 
 ecclesiastics, and thirty thousand laymen, who all declared for 
 the war against the infidels ; but none of them heartily engaged 
 in the enterprise. Urban therefore found it necessary to call 
 another council the same year at Clermont, in Auvergne, where 
 the greatest prelates, nobles, and princes attended; and when 
 the pope and the hermit had concluded their pathetic exhorta- 
 tions, the whole assembly, as if impelled by an immediate in- 
 spiration, exclaimed with one voice, " It is the will of God ! it 
 is the will of God ! " words which were deemed so memorable, 
 and believed to be so much the result of a Divine influence, that 
 they were employed as the motto on the sacred standard, and as 
 the signal of rendezvous and battle, in all the future exploits of 
 the champions of the Cross the aymbol chosen by the devoted 
 combatants, in allusion to the death of Christ, as the badge of 
 union, and affixed to their right shoulder : hence their expedition 
 received the name of a crusade 4 . Persons of all ranks flew 
 
 4 Theod. Ruinart. in Vit. Urban! II. Baron. Annal. Eccles. torn. xi. 
 
 D
 
 o 
 
 18 $rinq Ettft 
 
 to arms with the utmost ardour. Not only the gallant nobles of 
 that age, with their martial followers, whom the boldness of a 
 romantic enterprise might have been apt to allure, but men in 
 the more humble and pacific stations of life, ecclesiastics of 
 every order, and even women, concealing their sex beneath the 
 disguise of armour, engaged with emulation in an undertaking 
 which was deemed so sacred and meritorious. The greatest 
 criminals were forward in a service which they regarded as a 
 propitiation for all their crimes. If they succeeded, they hoped 
 to make their fortune in this world ; and if they died, they were 
 promised a crown of glory in the world to come. Devotion, 
 passion, prejudice, and habit, all contributed to the same end ; 
 and the combination of so many causes produced that wonderful 
 emigration, which made the Princess Anna Comnena say, " that 
 Europe, loosened from its foundations, and impelled by its 
 moving principle, seemed in one united body to precipitate itself 
 upon Asia V The number of adventurers soon became so great, 
 that their more experienced leaders Hugh, Count of Verman- 
 dois, brother to the French king ; Robert, Duke of Normandy ; 
 Raymond, Count of Thoulouse ; Godfrey of Bouillon, Prince of 
 Brabant ; and Stephen, Count of Blois grew apprehensive 
 that the greatness of the armament would defeat its purpose. 
 They therefore permitted an undisciplined multitude, computed 
 at three hundred thousand men, to go before them, under the 
 command of Peter the Hermit, Walter the Moneyless, and other 
 wild fanatics. Peter and his army before which he walked 
 with sandals on his feet, a rope about his waist, and every other 
 mark of monkish austerity took the road to Constantinople 
 
 5 Alexias, lib. x.
 
 o 
 
 nf it Snhtt nf 
 
 through Hungary and Bulgaria. Godescald, a German priest, 
 and his banditti took the same route ; and trusting that Heaven 
 by supernatural means would supply all their necessities, they 
 made no provision for subsistence on their march; but they 
 soon found themselves obliged to obtain by plunder what they 
 had vainly expected from miracles. Want is ingenious in sug- 
 gesting pretences for its supply. Their fury first discharged 
 itself upon the Jews. As the soldiers of Christ, they thought 
 themselves authorized to take vengeance upon his murderers; 
 they accordingly fell upon those unhappy people, and put to the 
 sword, without mercy, such as would not submit to baptism, 
 seizing their effects as lawful prize. In Bavaria alone twelve 
 thousand Jews were massacred, and many thousands in the 
 other provinces of Germany. But Jews not being every where 
 to be found, these pious robbers, who had 'tasted the sweets of 
 plunder, and were under no military regulations, pillaged without 
 distinction, until the inhabitants of the countries through which 
 they passed rose and cut them almost all off. The Hermit, 
 however, and the remnant of his army, consisting of twenty 
 thousand starving wretches, at length reached Constantinople, 
 where he received a fresh supply of German and Italian vaga- 
 bonds, who were guilty of the greatest disorders, pillaging even 
 the churches 6 . Alexis Comnenus, the Greek emperor, who had 
 applied to the Latins for succour against the Turks, entertained 
 a hope, and but a feeble one, of obtaining such an aid as might 
 enable him to repulse the enemy. He was, therefore, astonished 
 to see his dominions overwhelmed by an inundation of licentious 
 barbarians, strangers alike to order and discipline ; and to hear 
 
 6 Maimbourg, Hist, des Croisades, torn. i. 
 l> 2
 
 o - o 
 
 20 rinrt mtft 
 
 of the multitudes that were following under different leaders. 
 He contented himself, however, with getting rid as soon as 
 possible of such troublesome guests, by furnishing them with 
 vessels to transport themselves to the other side of the Bos- 
 phorus; and general Peter soon saw himself in the plains of 
 Asia, at the head of a Christian army, ready to give battle to 
 the infidels. Soliman, sultan of Nice, fell upon the disorderly 
 crowd, and slaughtered them almost without resistance. Walter 
 the Moneyless and many other leaders of equal distinction were 
 slain ; but Peter the Hermit found his way back to Constanti- 
 nople, where he was considered as a maniac, who had enlisted 
 a multitude of madmen to follow him 7 . Such was the fate of 
 the first Crusade ; although varied success attended the after 
 efforts of Bohemond, son of Eobert Guiscard, whose soldiers, 
 in connexion with those of the other leaders of the Crusade, 
 amounted, when mustered on the banks of the Bosphorus, 
 to the incredible number of one hundred thousand horsemen 
 and six hundred thousand foot. Had they been united 
 under one head, or been commanded by leaders who observed 
 any concert in their operations, they were enough to have 
 conquered all Asia. But these pious adventurers became 
 much diminished by the detachments they made and the dis- 
 asters they suffered ; and when they arrived before Jeru- 
 salem, they did not exceed, according to the testimony of 
 most historians, twenty thousand foot, and fifteen hundred 
 horse ; while the garrison of Jerusalem consisted of forty thou- 
 sand men. Mean as the besieging army might have been 
 numerically, they were not the men to turn back : they had seen 
 
 7 Anna Comnena, ubi sup. 
 
 O - 6
 
 c 
 
 nf It. 3nlm nf Snusabm. 21 
 
 Jerusalem ; they had sworn to rescue the fair plain of Palestine 
 from the pagan. 
 
 It was a lovely morning in the summer of 1099 when this 
 gallant and devoted band, consisting of warriors, priests, women, 
 and children, were recompensed for all their toil by a sight of 
 Jerusalem ! They had passed Emmaus, that place of sacred 
 association, when the Holy City burst upon their view, re- 
 vealing itself at once and golden in the swift rising sun of 
 the East. The name Jerusalem ! escaped from every lip : 
 some knelt and prayed, some threw themselves prostrate and 
 kissed the earth, some gazed and trembled, all had " much 
 ado," says the quaint and emphatic Fuller, " to manage so great 
 a gladness 8 ." 
 
 The siege of Jerusalem commenced on the 7th of June, 
 1099 ; and on the 15th day of July the banner of the Cross 
 floated on the walls. The renowned Godfrey of Bouillon was 
 the first who sprang into the breach, and eight days after 
 he was elected king of Jerusalem. The garrison and inhabit- 
 ants were put to the sword without distinction : arms pro- 
 tected not the brave, nor submission the timid. No age or 
 sex was spared : infants perished by the same sword that 
 pierced their mothers while imploring mercy. The streets of 
 Jerusalem were covered with heaps of slain, and the shrieks 
 of agony or despair still resounded from every house, when 
 these triumphant warriors, glutted with slaughter, threw aside 
 
 8 By no writer have the effects of the Crusades, their design and influence 
 on modern civilization, been more beautifully explained than by M. Guizot, 
 in his admirable " Lectures on European Civilization." 
 
 6 6
 
 o - o 
 
 22 ^rtiirtj nnir <0nt? nf it Snjjn nf 
 
 their arms, yet streaming with blood, and advanced with naked 
 feet and bended knees to the sepulchre of the Prince of 
 Peace; sung anthems to that Eedeemer who had purchased 
 their salvation by his death ; and, while dead to the calamities 
 of their fellow-creatures, dissolved in tears for the sufferings of 
 the Messiah ! 
 
 " Lo, steel-clad War his gorgeous standard rears ! 
 The red-cross squadrons madly rage, 
 And mow through infancy and age ; 
 Then kiss the sacred dust, and melt in tears." 
 
 So inconsistent is human nature with itself, and so easily, as the 
 philosophic Hume remarks, does the most effeminate superstition 
 associate both with the most heroic courage and with the fiercest 
 barbarity. 
 
 There were in the whole seven Crusades, commencing in the 
 year 1096, and terminating in 1291 ; yet these romantic ex- 
 peditions, though barbarous and destructive in themselves, were 
 followed by many important consequences, equally conducive to 
 the welfare of the community and of the individual. 
 
 Spandrel of Door-case, entrance to West To-wer, St. John's Gate. 
 
 o o
 
 o- 
 
 S early 
 as the 
 year 
 1048 
 an Hos- 
 pital was instituted 
 in Jerusalem for the 
 relief of Pilgrims. 
 This Hospital, founded by 
 some pious Italian merchants, 
 had weathered all the storms 
 of the Turkish invasion of 
 Palestine, and a monastery 
 having been attached to it, 
 dedicated to St. John the 
 Almoner 1 , the monks of which 
 made it their business to at- 
 tend to sick and poor pilgrims, it became in 
 
 1 This St. John was neither the Evangelist nor the 
 Baptist, but a certain Cypriot, surnamed the Charitable, 
 who had been Patriarch, of Alexandria. (Hallam's 
 Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 54.) In the seventh century, 
 when Jerusalem first fell into the hands of the Saracens, 
 he sent money and provisions to the afflicted Christians, 
 and supplied such as fled into Egypt. (Butler's Lives 
 of the Saints, vol. i. p. 274, ed. 1812.) Subsequently, 
 when the order became military, the knights renounced 
 the patronage of the Almoner, and placed themselves 
 under the more august tutelage of St. John the Baptist. 
 (Mill's Hist, of the Crusades, vol. i. p. 347.) 
 
 o- 
 
 o
 
 o 
 
 24 
 
 these troubled times a most valuable institution for the Christians 
 who visited Jerusalem. On the advance of the crusading army, 
 the monks of St. John, along with the principal Christians of the 
 place, were thrown into prison. Released by the conquerors after 
 the capture of Jerusalem, the good monks made themselves con- 
 spicuous by their kind offices to the wounded Crusaders : in grati- 
 tude for their pious services, endowments and immunities were 
 conferred on them by Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine. 
 The Hospital of Jerusalem became rich and famous, and monastic 
 institutions bearing their name were founded in various cities of 
 Europe. On the death of their abbot, Gerrard, a French- 
 man, in 1118, Raymond du Pay, a crusader, who had been 
 wounded at the siege of Jerusalem, and had experienced the 
 benefits of the Hospital, was chosen his successor. Raymond, 
 combining his old profession of a soldier with his new duties as 
 head of an ecclesiastical corporation, conceived the idea of 
 changing the Monks Hospitallers into a military body ; the 
 order of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John was accordingly 
 founded ; the declared objects of the institution being to make 
 war upon the infidels, and to afford relief and comfort to the 
 pilgrims to the Holy City 2 . Under these auspices arose tne order 
 of " Hospitallers, or Brothers of St. John of Jerusalem.' 1 '' They 
 
 2 The origin of the Knights Templars was not very dissimilar : even after 
 the conquest of Palestine by the Crusaders, pilgrims from Europe were 
 frequently plundered and robbed by the Turks on their way to Jerusalem. 
 To defend travellers from the attacks of these roving bands of infidels, some 
 French knights, who had taken part in the first Crusade, formed an associa- 
 tion of a religious character, abjuring worldly possessions, vowing implicit 
 obedience to their elected chief, and renouncing every end of life, except the 
 defence of the Christian Faith against the infidel. The nine knights who 
 were the first members of the association had quarters assigned them near the 
 Temple at Jerusalem, hence the name of the order. 
 
 O
 
 ____ . 
 
 
 
 nf it. 3ntjti nf Snusabra. 25 
 
 assumed as their dress a long, black, coarse mantle or shirt, with 
 a white cross on the breast. Their humility was of the deepest 
 kind : the poor and rich they recognized as lords and masters ; 
 to them they were liberal and compassionate in the extreme, 
 while to themselves they were rigid and austere : the finest flour 
 went to compose the food which they gave to the poor ; what 
 remained after they were satisfied, mingled with clay, was the 
 repast of the monks. As long as the brotherhood were poor, 
 they retained their humility ; but wealth began to flow in upon 
 them. Duke Godfrey, enamoured of their virtue, bestowed on 
 them his lordship of Montboire, in Brabant, with all its appur- 
 tenances ; and his brother and successor, Baldwin, gave them a 
 share of all the booty taken from the infidels. These examples 
 were followed by other Christian princes; so that within the 
 space of a very few years, the Hospital of St. John was in 
 possession of numerous manors both in the East and in Europe, 
 which were placed under the management of members of their 
 society; a total remission of all burthens to which they had 
 been subjected was granted them ; and they found no difficulty in 
 obtaining all they required. Permission was given them to elect 
 their own head without the interference of any temporal or 
 spiritual power whatever ; they were freed from the obligation 
 of paying tithes to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and confirmed 
 in all the donations made or to be made to them. The Brother- 
 hood of the Hospital was now greatly advanced in consideration, 
 and reckoned among its members many gallant knights, who 
 laid aside their arms and devoted themselves to the humble 
 office of ministering to the sick and needy. The clergy and 
 laity were admitted members of the Order, and both were alike 
 bound to yield the most implicit obedience to the commands of 
 
 E 
 
 o
 
 c - - o 
 
 26 rinri nnfr (ft at? 
 
 their superior. It is evident the society did not for some time 
 assume its military character ; but in all probability the vast re- 
 nown acquired by the Templars for their valiant and meritorious 
 conduct, principally induced the Hospitallers to associate with 
 their hitherto monastic character that of the military ; they were 
 also prompted to this step by the strong bias given by the 
 soldier-like qualities of their first Master, Raymond du Pay, who, 
 upon his early connexion with the society, was recognized by the 
 simple title of Director (Procurator) of the Hospital ; and it was 
 not till some time after that he assumed the title of Grand 
 Master: such change, no doubt, was found necessary, as the 
 especial duty of the Grand Master was to lead the troops into 
 battle. Brompton, the English historian, who wrote in the 
 twelfth century, asserts that " the founders of the Order of the 
 Templars had originally been members of that of St. John : " 
 most likely such was the case, as we find that the Templars were 
 not known as a society till seventy years after the Hospitallers 
 had been established. At all times the tendance of the poor 
 and sick formed a part of the duties of the Brethren of the 
 Hospital; and this was always a marked distinction between 
 them and the rival Order of the Temple, whose only ta"sk was 
 that of fighting against the infidels. During the first nine 
 years that elapsed after the institution of their Order, the 
 Knights of the Temple lived in poverty, religiously devoting all 
 the money which was sent to them from Europe to the advan- 
 tage of the Holy Land and the service of pilgrims. They had 
 no peculiar habit 3 ; their raiment was such as the charity of the 
 
 3 It was afterwards appointed that a white mantle should be the distinguish- 
 ing dress of the Brothers of the Temple ; and such it remained till the ponti- 
 ficate of Pope Eugenius III., who, in 1146, added a red cross, to be worn at 
 

 
 O- 
 
 of It. Snjjtt nf tott0abm. 27 
 
 faithful bestowed upon them; and although knights, and con- 
 stantly engaged in warfare against the infidels, their poverty and 
 moderation were such, that Hugh des Payens and his com- 
 panion Godfrey of St. Omer had but one war-horse between 
 them a circumstance which they afterwards in their brilliant 
 period commemorated by their seal, which represents two 
 knights mounted on one horse ; a device chosen, as well as their 
 pious inscription, " Non nobis, Domine ! non nobis, sed nomini 
 tuo da gloriam !" (Not to us, O Lord ! not to us, but to Thy 
 Name give the glory !) with the view of inculcating humility on 
 the Brethren, now beginning to wax haughty and insolent. The 
 military annals of no country or time exhibit deeds that can 
 surpass, few even that can rival, the prodigies of valour con- 
 tinually performed by these warrior monks ; but with wealth 
 corruption as usual flowed in. The one Order possessed nine 
 thousand manors, and the other (the Hospitallers of St. John) 
 nineteen thousand, in the fairest provinces of Christendom : it 
 would be too much to expect that humility would long continue 
 to characterize either. The first evidence of the evil spirit that 
 was at work in their hearts, was exhibited in their mutual 
 quarrels, which at last grew to such a height, that they actually 
 turned their arms against each other ; and on one occasion, in 
 1259, fought a pitched battle, in which the Knights Hospitallers 
 were the conquerors, and scarcely left a Templar alive to carry 
 to his brethren the intelligence of their discomfiture. It is true, 
 the rival bodies made common cause occasionally for mutual 
 purposes ; yet it is evident the feeling most prevalent with them 
 
 the breast, as a symbol of the martyrdom to which they stood constantly 
 exposed. The cross worn on the black mantles of the Knights Hospitallers of 
 St. John was, as we have stated, white. 
 
 E 2 
 
 . O
 
 28 ^riortf ani 
 
 was that of the greatest jealousy and envy. The indulgence 
 in such vicious propensities brought its usual consequences; 
 namely, disunity, and, consequently, want of strength ; for after 
 all their prowess and great valour, the dearly-purchased city of 
 Jerusalem was wrested from them after an eighty-seven years 1 
 possession, and the crescent once more unfurled itself, and 
 floated over the sacred banner of the Cross. The Hospital- 
 lers still retained their arms, and highly distinguished them- 
 selves in the year 1191 by taking, after a desperate siege, the 
 city of Ptolemais *, which afforded them a last residence in the 
 sacred territory ; for, after nearly two hundred years' occupancy, 
 the whole was wrested from Christian dominion in 1292 s . The 
 Master and Brethren of the Hospital then fled to the island of 
 Cyprus for safety. The monarch of that place, out of com- 
 passion, allowed them the seaport of Limisson to reside in. 
 Humbled as they were by their recent discomfiture, their en- 
 thusiasm of fighting for the Cross deserted them for a time, and 
 turning their attention to the more internal arrangements of the 
 Order, they enacted several necessary and salutary alterations. 
 
 4 Acca (or, as the Franks call it, Acra, or Acre) was anciently called 
 Ace, or Accho, then Ptolemais, and afterwards St. John d'Acre, while it was 
 in the possession of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. 
 
 5 Many of the inhabitants had previously retired to the island of Cyprus : 
 those who remained behind were massacred by the infidels, and reduced to 
 the most deplorable state. The following singular circumstance is recorded 
 on the occasion. A noble abbess, fearing that herself and her nuns might 
 suffer violation from the brutality of the conquerors, proposed to her flock to 
 
 . cut and mangle their faces, that by the destruction of their beauty they might 
 preserve their purity. To this she not only excited them by words, but by 
 her own example, which they immediately imitated. The Turks, finding 
 them such spectacles of horror, instead of the beauties they expected, cruelly 
 put them to the sword. Thus fell these heroic ladies by the means they 
 laudably used to preserve their chastity. 
 
 o - -- b
 
 o- 
 
 nf It. 3nm nf 
 
 But the old spirit of Chivalry and enterprise was not dead 
 within them, and they lacked but opportunity for its display, 
 which was at length afforded them ; for, under the conduct of 
 their Grand Master, Foulques de Villart, they in the year 1308 
 attacked Rhodes, which, with seven neighbouring islands, fell 
 into their hands. Thus they again became possessed of terri- 
 tory, affluence, and power ; and the title under which they had 
 achieved so much good, and under which so much valour had 
 been exhibited, departed from them like a dream, and they 
 adopted in its stead a name more expressive of their fighting 
 propensities, but certainly less reflective of that piety and 
 charitableness that formed their first strong characteristic. 
 The Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem became 
 the Knights of Rhodes ; and with their new designation ceased 
 all their association with, and recollection of, the Holy Land. 
 But they were not destined long to enjoy their conquest 
 in peace, for in the year following they were assailed by the 
 Turks; but Ame, the fourth Earl of Savoy, rendered them 
 powerful assistance, and they successfully defended themselves. 
 The sultan Mahomet II. as vainly besieged them in 1481 ; and 
 although several times besieged by the infidels, yet for more 
 than two centuries did they retain the sovereignty of their con- 
 quests. But they were again scattered ; for in 1522, Soliman 
 II., the Magnificent, having determined upon their absolute 
 destruction, assembled an army of three hundred thousand 
 men, and entirely overpowered them. The small number of 
 knights who survived the murderous siege of Rhodes 6 , with 
 about four thousand soldiers and Catholic inhabitants of the 
 
 8 The Rhodians lost upwards of ninety-three thousand of their men, and the 
 Turks a much greater number. 
 
 Q
 
 O 
 
 30 ^rinq iro& 
 
 island, embarked on board the ships belonging to the Order on 
 the 1st of January, 1523. They were allowed to carry with 
 them their archives and their relics of saints, such things being 
 altogether valueless in the eyes of the Turkish conquerors. The 
 Grand Master was the last to embark ; and then, seeing all his 
 faithful followers in safety, he gave the word, and the ships 
 stood away from Rhodes, which he had so nobly defended. A 
 dreadful tempest scattered this melancholy fleet ; but the ships, 
 one by one, found refuge in different parts of the neighbouring 
 island of Candia (the ancient Crete), which then belonged to 
 the republic of Venice. From mixed motives of jealousy and 
 selfishness, the Venetians had looked on with perfect indifference 
 while the Turks were taking Rhodes, which island might be 
 considered as the bulwark of Christianity, of their fair posses- 
 sions in Candia, and of the colonies of Venice in other parts 
 of the Levant, and which in policy, as well as in honour, they 
 ought to have succoured and assisted. Irritated at these recol- 
 lections, I/Isle Adam 7 , then Grand Master, hastened to quit 
 Candia, prophesying what would be its fate from the spreading 
 power of the Turks, and the want of union among Christians. 
 This prediction was verified in the course of the following 
 century, when Candia was taken, as Rhodes had been before it 8 . 
 Towards the end of April, the vessels of the Order, which had been 
 again dispersed by storms, met, with one or two exceptions, in 
 the port of Messina ; and in the friendly island of Sicily, where 
 the Knights had vast possessions, the Grand Master prepared his 
 representations to the Pope and the great Christian sovereigns, 
 
 7 From the time of Foulques de Villart down to that of L'Isle Adam, there 
 were eighteen Grand Masters. 
 
 8 Candia was completely conquered, after a ten years' war, in 1669. 
 
 o o
 
 o o 
 
 nf It. njjn nf SnnsnUm. 31 
 
 whom he implored to appoint another island in the Mediterra- 
 nean for the future residence of the Hospitallers, or, what was 
 dearer to his heart, to aid him in the re-conquest of Rhodes. 
 The plague breaking out at Messina, LTIsle Adam went with his 
 sadly reduced fleet to the Bay of Naples, and after spending 
 some time there in the neighbourhood of the ancient city of 
 Baia, he sailed to Civita Vecchia, on the Roman coast, whence 
 he repaired by land to Rome. The Pope appointed the city of 
 Viterbo as the temporary residence of the knights, and allowed 
 them to leave their ships in the port of Civita Vecchia. The 
 energy of the old Grand Master was badly seconded by pontiff 
 and by princes, who were either lukewarm, or so absorbed by 
 their own projects of aggrandizement in Europe, as not to have 
 a thought to spare for an island under the shores of Asia. The 
 great enterprise of retaking Rhodes was therefore given up ; and 
 after seven years of uncertainty, disappointment, and intrigue, 
 the Hospitallers were fain to accept from the Emperor Charles V. 
 Malta, with its dependent island Goza, and the town of Tripoli, 
 on the Barbary coast. In September, 1530, the effects, titles, 
 and servants of the Order, together with good store of arms, 
 ammunition, and provisions were shipped for Malta ; and on the 
 26th of October following, old Lisle Adam landed at that 
 singular island, where he was received with regal honours. Im- 
 mediately upon his arrival, the Knights gave into his hands, in 
 quality of their chief, all monarchical power ; after which he 
 took formal possession of the sovereignty of the island. Thus 
 the name and circumstances of the once famed Knights of St. 
 John became again changed ; and in the space of two hundred 
 and thirty-eight years they had been severally known as the 
 Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of 
 
 o 6
 
 o o 
 
 32 ^rinq ntifr 
 
 Rhodes, and finally Knights of Malta. The Knights, however, 
 had not been long at Malta, when internal dissensions threatened 
 them with utter ruin 9 ; and besides an accumulation of events 
 occurred which shook the Order to its very centre. The un- 
 regretted downfall of one proud body (the Knights Templars, 
 whose possessions had now become the property of the Knights 
 of St. John ') had already taken place. The Reformation had 
 been slowly but surely working its way ; the want of sympathy 
 with the commonalty, the positive suppression of the Order in 
 England, and the seizure of all t-heir estates by Henry VIII., had 
 taken place. These events, with other crosses, shook the health 
 of the sturdy old ITIsle, who died in August, 1534; and the 
 
 9 A private quarrel arose between a Florentine and a French knight of the 
 "language" of Provence : in a duel, to which it led, the Italian killed the 
 Frenchman ; upon which the French, pretending the Florentine had used 
 foul play, fell upon him and his friends sword in hand. Retreating before 
 superior numbers, the Italians took sanctuary in the palace of their patron 
 the Prior of Rome ; but before they reached that place of safet\ r , several of 
 them were sorely wounded. Maddened by this outrage, more than sixty 
 Italian knights or laymen rushed out from the Prior's residence, attacked the 
 knights of Provence, and soon provoked a general engagement with all the 
 French "languages." To make the struggle about equal, the knights of 
 Aragon and Castile joined the Italians. Night fell on a scene of carnage ; 
 and the darkness of it was horribly illuminated by flashes of artillery and 
 musketry. It was not without the greatest difficulty that the Grand Master 
 put down this civil war. The vengeance he afterwards took of the leaders in 
 this mad affray seems to have been sufficiently severe ; for twelve knights 
 were degraded and expelled, and many others were put in sacks, and thrown 
 into the sea, after the fashion in which the Turks disposed of their unfaithful 
 wives. 
 
 1 Philip, king of France, started accusations against the Templars of the 
 most outrageous kind, with the ultimate view of seizing the extensive posses- 
 sions which the Order held in his dominions. Scarcely any public sympathy 
 was manifested in their behalf; and they fell, at once the victims of their own 
 corruption and the cupidity of others. 
 
 o o
 
 o- -o 
 
 nf It. Snjjti nf SnusaUra. 33 
 
 Knights, not without reason, inscribed on his monument, " Hie 
 jacet virtus victrix fortunce."" 1 To describe all the exploits of the 
 Knights of Malta would be to write a history of the maritime 
 wars of the Mediterranean ; for during more than a century 
 they shared in nearly every great naval battle fought by the 
 Christians against the Mohammedans. Their galleys accom- 
 panied the famed expeditions of the Emperor Charles V. to 
 Algiers and Tunis ; they made many descents on the African 
 coast by themselves ; and for many years the Knights, by keep- 
 ing in check the Mohammedan corsairs, were of essential service 
 to the Christian world : but when, after successfully resisting a 
 most formidable attack from the Turkish troops of Solyman, they 
 gradually fell into a mode of life very different from that which had 
 previously characterized them, and which was suddenly brought 
 to a very ignominious conclusion, by the appearance of Napoleon, 
 leading his Egyptian expedition, in 1798, and by his landing 
 without opposition, through the mingled treachery and cowardice 
 of the Knights, who, however, received their reward 2 , the 
 Order itself was then virtually abolished. 
 
 In this slight sketch, we have traced the progress of two of 
 the most remarkable institutions the world has ever seen, rising 
 from the humblest origin to the greatest magnitude ; yet with all 
 their rules, their ramifications, their force of arms, religious 
 
 8 It is not unworthy of notice, as evidence of the amazing strength of the 
 place, as well as of the feeling of the French officers at so disgraceful a 
 surrender, that one of them, Caffarelli, said to Napoleon, as they examined the 
 works, " It is well, general, that some one was within to open the gate for us ; 
 we should have had some difficulty in entering, had the place been altogether 
 empty." 
 
 F 
 
 i 6
 
 , _^____ "* 
 
 : ~^ 
 
 34 |^rinrt[ nufo Mi nf it. Snjin nf HerttitUiK, 
 
 character, and romantic associations, they have fallen to rise no 
 more. Even history has not informed us which was the principal 
 cause of the downfall of the Templars, the cupidity of the King of 
 France, or the immoralities of the Order : certain it is they were 
 most cruelly used. Persecution has begotten a sympathy and 
 created a feeling for them that perhaps our severer judgments may 
 not sanction. The Hospitallers (the greater body of the two) have 
 literally died out, died of absolute inanity : their requiem has been 
 sung from the impregnable rock of Malta ; the Mediterranean 
 has mingled in the moan ; and the once stalwart Knights 
 Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem are amongst the things 
 that were. 
 
 " As ocean rolls its billows to the shore, 
 The distant waves impelling those before ; 
 As leaves luxuriant, which the woods supply, 
 In summer flourish, and in autumn die ; 
 So generations pass : at Nature's call 
 They rise successive, and successive fall."
 
 o- 
 
 -o 
 
 ALTHOUGH it is 
 now impossible to fix 
 upon the exact date 
 in which the Priory 
 of St. John of Jeru- 
 salem was founded in 
 Clerkenwell, yet there 
 are many circum- 
 
 F 2 
 
 o- 
 
 O
 
 - O 
 
 36 riun unit 
 
 stances confirming us in the belief, that it was about the year 1100. 
 Neither can we, after so long a lapse of time, positively decide 
 which of the two large religious establishments viz., the 
 Nunnery of St. Mary, once occupying the site St. Jameses Church 
 now stands upon, or the Priory of St. John may claim priority : 
 in all probability, they were both founded at the same time ; it is 
 at least certain that both emanated from the pious zeal and muni- 
 ficent liberality of the same founders, Jordan Brisset, and Muriel 
 his wife. Dugdale, than whom we have not a better authority, 
 states, that, in the first charter given to the Nunnery by Jordan 
 Brisset, " he gave to Robert his chaplain fourteen acres of 
 land, &c., free from all encumbrances, so that the Hospitallers 
 might claim nothing of them :" and yet, in the " Registrum 
 Munimentorum, &c. Prioratus Hospitalis Sancti Johannis Jeru- 
 salem in Anglia," which is still preserved in the Cotton Library, 
 he proves quite the contrary, stating that " Lord Jordan 
 Brisset founded, in the reign of Henry I., about the year of our 
 Lord 1100, the House and Hospital of St. John of Clerkenwell. 
 He was the founder also of the Nuns 1 House of Clerkenwell, 
 and purchased of them ten acres of land (on which he founded 
 the same house and hospital), and for these ten acres gave to 
 the same nuns twenty acres in his lordship of Willinghall, in the 
 county of Kent, &c." Although the Register of the Priory is 
 preserved in the Cotton Library, and contains vast information 
 and important particulars of its various endowments, and from 
 which its landed possessions appear to have been widely spread 
 over Middlesex, no subsequent writers have attempted to recon- 
 cile these flat and positive contradictions. I think we may 
 thereby justly infer they were founded at one and the same 
 period. The land, then termed " forest land," was granted to 
 
 Q
 
 G- O 
 
 nf It. Snlju nf SnttBaUm. 37 
 
 Jordan Brisset, by William Rums, as a reward for services 
 rendered to his father, William of Normandy. Very soon after 
 its establishment, the Hospital became one of the largest and 
 most important in the metropolis or its environs ; and all 
 writers concur in the fact, that it was most palatial-like in its 
 arrangement, and beautifully ornamented in appearance. From 
 the situation of many of the beautiful ruins now existing in our 
 country, it is evident that most of the religious fraternities 
 understood tolerably well the nature of the locality in which to 
 found their establishments ; and the Knights Hospitallers were 
 certainly not far behind in a full and due appreciation of the 
 advantages of such a spot as Clerkenwell, rising gently from the 
 banks of our own old Thames, watered by innumerable springs 
 of the purest water, with the clear, pellucid river Fleet (then 
 called the " River of Wells") gracefully meandering along their 
 western boundary, and the background of deep umbrageous 
 foliage bearing away to the north, consisting of undulating hill 
 and dale, bounded by, and terminating in, the beautiful uplands 
 of Highgate and Hampstead (then a part of the great forest of 
 Middlesex). 
 
 " In lowly dale, fast by a river's side, 
 With woody hill, o'er hill encompass'd round, 
 It was, I ween, a lovely spot of ground! " 
 
 We think such a spot must have had more than ordinary 
 attraction. 
 
 In the year 1185, the Priory Church was dedicated by Hera- 
 clius, patriarch of Jerusalem, who happened to be in England at 
 
 o 1 6
 
 o 
 
 38 ^rinrtj 
 
 that time, conducting an embassy made to the sovereigns of the 
 West, soliciting assistance in furtherance of the Crusade. He 
 was accompanied by Roger de Moulines, the seventh Grand 
 Master of the Hospitallers, and also by Arnauld of Troye, 
 Grand Master of the Templars, who, being seized with a violent 
 distemper, died at Verona on the way. In the same year, 
 Heraclius also dedicated the New Temple Church in Fleet 
 Street, so called because the Templars, before the building of 
 this house, had their Temple in " Oldbourne." From the dedi- 
 cation in 1 187, a steady augmentation of wealth and power seems 
 to have attended the establishment in Clerkenwell. The founders 
 had long since passed away to 
 
 " That bourne from whence no traveller returns." 
 
 On the authority of the " Register" of St. John's Hospital, 
 Jordan Brisset, the founder, is said to have died on the 15th 
 December, 1110, and, according to several writers, is said to 
 have been buried within the Priory. Muriel, co -foundress with 
 her husband, is stated to have died on the 1st May, 1112, and 
 to have been buried in the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. 
 But Weever says that Jordan Brisset died the 1 7th September, 
 about the year 1124, and Muriel his wife on the 1st May next 
 following. Both he and the indefatigable Stowe, however, con- 
 cur in stating they were both interred in the Chapter-house of 
 the Nunnery, and in no part of the Hospital. At this distance 
 of time it matters but little (except to the zealous antiquary) 
 where they rest ; they have passed 
 
 " The margin of the inky flood, 
 Mournful and calm ! " 
 
 6 o
 
 
 
 nf It. 3nl)tt nf 
 
 
 Their dust has commingled with its kindred dust ; 
 
 " No trophy, sword, or hatchment o'er their bones ! " 
 
 their names live but in the musty records of Museum manu- 
 script or time-worn tome ; and all the visible remains of their 
 once great structure is part of a Parish Church, their grand 
 and gloomy Gate, and coffin-full Crypt. 
 
 Crypt beneatn St. John's Church. 
 
 Wealth still rolled in upon the Order; and through the 
 bounty of prince and private person, they rose to so high an 
 estate and such great riches, (to use the words of Camden,) that 
 " after a sort they wallowed in wealth. 11 At about the date we 
 write of, this great body possessed in Christendom alone nine- 
 teen thousand manors or lordships. With their immense wealth, 
 importance and position followed. Their Prior was prime baron 
 
 O-
 
 o o 
 
 40 ^rinrt| utifo 
 
 of the land : and their power was so great, they could even pre- 
 scribe places in the state for those whose liberality created some 
 call upon their gratitude. " But above all their benefactors, 1 '' 
 Weever tells us, " they held themselves most bound to Roger de 
 Mowbray, whose liberalise to their Order was so great, that 
 by a common consent in their Chapter they made a decree, that 
 himselfe might remit and pardon any of the Brotherhood whom- 
 soever, in case he had trespassed against any of the statutes and 
 ordinances of the Order, confessing, and acknowledging withal his 
 offence and errour. And also, the Knights of this Order granted 
 in token of thankfulnesse to John de Mowbray, lord of the isle 
 of Axholme, the successor of the foresaid Roger, that himselfe 
 and his successours, in every of their councils and assemblies, as 
 well in England as beyond seas, should be received and enter- 
 tained alwaies in the second place, next the king !" In 1211, 
 Joan, Lady Grey, relict of a Sir Robert Grey, of Hampton, left by 
 her will the whole manor and manor-house of Hampton to the 
 Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. Doubtless they 
 had many calls upon their resources ; and although greatly 
 aggrandizing themselves, we are not to suppose the purposes of 
 their foundation were entirely lost sight of, or the Crusade* for the 
 Cross forgotten ; for, in the year 1237, we find a body of Knights, 
 consisting of three hundred, preceded by Theodric their Prior, 
 at the head of a considerable body of armed stipendiaries, leaving 
 the house in Clerkenwell for the Holy Land. They marched 
 with the banner of St. John proudly unfurled before them, and 
 as they passed over London Bridge, saluted, with hood in hand, 
 the crowds congregated to see their departure, recommend- 
 ing themselves and their cause to the prayers of the people. 
 During the Grand Mastership of Bertrand de Texis (fourteenth 
 
 o 6
 
 nf $t Snjm nf Snusnhm. 41 
 
 Grand Master), a considerable number of knights enrolled them- 
 selves under the banner of Don James the First of Arragon, and 
 engaged in the war which that monarch waged with the Moors 
 of Valencia. They performed such deeds of valour at the siege 
 of that city, that after its surrender the king recompensed them 
 with a grant of several towns and dependencies, in absolute 
 property to the Order. In the " Register" before alluded to, 
 along with its list of Priors and other curious matters in con- 
 nexion with the Hospital, is the following extraordinary gift 
 made by the Prior to the Nunnery Church : " Brother Roger 
 de Vere, Prior, gave to the Church of Clerkenwell (i. e. the 
 Nunnery Church) one of the six waterpots in which Jesus changed 
 the water into wine ! in the year of our Lord 1269, and died on the 
 15th February, in the year of our Lord 1270." Alice, or Alicia, 
 de Barrowe, in the year 1 271, gave the entire lordship of High- 
 bury and Newton to the Priory of St. John of Jerusalem 1 . 
 They had before gained considerable possessions in Islington. 
 The Lords Priors made the manor-house here their refuge, or 
 country seat, and in all probability added greatly to its splen- 
 dour, as the site long after its destruction was called Highbury 
 Castle. At a Council held at Vienna in 1324, it was decided 
 that " all the lands of the Templars (lest the same should be 
 put to profane uses) should be given to the Knights Hos- 
 pitallers of the Order of St. John Baptist, called St. John 
 of Jerusalem." The downfall of the Templars but increased the 
 pomp, pride, and power of the Hospitallers. In the reign of 
 Edward the Second, the revenues of the Templars in England 
 were granted by act of parliament to 'the Hospitallers. Edward 
 
 1 Dugdale, Monast. II. 543. 
 
 G 
 
 O
 
 
 
 42 ^rinq unit 
 
 the Third confirmed the grant made by his predecessor ; and, 
 according to Stow, they (the Knights) in the same reign granted 
 for a certain rent "the said Temple, with the appurtenances 
 thereunto adjoining, to the students of the common laws of 
 England, in whose possession the same hath ever since re- 
 mained." But evil days were in store for the haughty Knights 
 of St. John; for in the year 1881, the discontents of the people 
 being inflamed to desperation by the impolitic measures of their 
 rulers, the celebrated insurrection conducted by Wat Tyler 
 broke forth, and was attended with most disastrous consequences 
 to this wealthy and powerful Order. The dislike to the Order 
 itself was no doubt much augmented by the injudicious inter- 
 ference of the then Lord Prior, Sir Robert Hales. Although 
 the commons rose en masse against the tyranny of their op- 
 pressors, they had no personal dislike to the youthful King 
 Richard ; for having sent word that he must needs come and see 
 them, which Richard was anxious and willing to do, " there 
 were some," says Hollingshed, "that thought it best that he 
 should go to them, and know what their meaning was ; but Simon 
 de Sudburie, the Archbishop of Canturburie, that was Lord 
 Chancellor, and also Sir Robert Hales, Lord of St. John's, and 
 as then Lord Treasurer, spake earnestlie against that aduise, 
 and would not by anie means that the King should go to such a 
 lot of bare-legged ribalds. After the commons understood that 
 the King would not come to them by means of the contrarie 
 aduise given to him by those two persons, the Lord Chancellor 
 and the Lord Treasurer, they were maruellousllie moued against 
 them, and sware that they would not rest till they had got 
 them, and chopped off their heads, calling them trators to 
 the King and realme."" 1 The commons, as they are termed
 
 O 
 
 -o 
 
 nf it njin nf 
 
 43 
 
 by Stow, on the 13th of June, and being the Feast of Corpus 
 Christi, divided themselves into three bodies. An immense 
 assembly attacked and fired the great Priory, causing it to 
 burn for the space of seven days, not suffering any one to 
 
 O- 
 
 St. John s Priory on fire. 
 
 quench it; while another party, estimated by Hollingshed at 
 twenty thousand strong, " tooke in hand to ruinate" the Prior's 
 country seat, and marched to Highbury for that purpose. 
 The mansion was of such strength and solidity, that they were 
 obliged to demolish many parts which the fire could not con- 
 sume. Ere their arrival, the Lord Prior, Sir Robert Hales, 
 had taken refuge in the Tower, along with the young King 
 and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The insurgents acquired a 
 
 G 2
 
 - 
 
 44 
 
 -o 
 
 power under such leaders as Wat Tyler which they evidently 
 knew not how to use. They committed many acts of violence ; 
 and their first business on getting possession of the Tower 
 was the realization of their oath relative to the Prior of St. 
 John's (who was described as a most valiant knight) ; for after 
 being insultingly used by the mob, he and the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, together with John Legg, one of the King's 
 serjeants-at-arms, and his confessor, a Franciscan friar named 
 William Appledone, were beheaded on Tower Hill. This was 
 the greatest calamity that ever befell this house, from the period 
 of its rise till its final dissolution. The work of restoration soon 
 commenced : the house was not, however, fully restored till one 
 hundred and twenty-three years afterwards. Whether or not 
 Highbury Castle was restored by the Knights to its pristine 
 grandeur, or ever again rose from its ashes is unknown, but we 
 have it on record that the Priory was not entirely rebuilt until 
 the year 1504, when the finishing hand was put to it by Sir 
 Thomas Docwra, then Prior. 
 
 Arms of the Hospital and Sir Thomas Docwra, Prior, in North Front o{ Gate 
 
 o-
 
 O G 
 
 nf It. Snjm nf 3ntr0abm. 45 
 
 In 1401, Grendon, Prior of the Hospital, who "took upon 
 him to go to Rhodes to fight, according to his vow, in defence 
 of the holy mother Church, against Turks and Saracens," ob- 
 tained letters from King Henry the Sixth, commendatory to all 
 foreign princes, and characteristic of the high respect then 
 entertained towards the head of this house. In 1437, Henry 
 the Sixth held at the Hospital a council, in which Humphrey, 
 Duke of Gloucester, and others, were appointed his commission 
 of regency. There are several documents extant, in which the 
 power and importance of this branch of the Order is manifest, 
 among which are several showing the continual call made upon 
 them for assistance and succour from the different Grand 
 Masters at Rhodes. In a Chapter held here on the llth of 
 January, 1514, Sir Thomas Docwra being then Prior, a lease 
 was granted to Cardinal Wolsey of the manor of Hampton, the 
 Cardinal having commissioned the most eminent physicians in 
 England, and even called in the aid of learned doctors from 
 Padua, to select the most healthy spot within twenty miles of 
 London, for the purpose of erecting a palace suitable to his rank 
 and ambition. This curious document, which is given entire 
 in the Gentleman's Magazine for January, 1834, is from the 
 Cottonian Manuscript in the British Museum, and among other 
 conditions therein mentioned is one to this effect : " And the 
 seid Priour and his brethern for them and their successours 
 graunten the seid Archebusshop and his assignes yerely during 
 the seid terme shal have and take at their libertie foure loades 
 of woode and tymber able for pyles for the reparacion and 
 sustentacion of the were called Hampton Were, the same 
 woods and tymber to be felled and conveyed at the costes 
 of the said Archebusshop and of his assignes, in and fro Seynt 
 
 O
 
 o 
 
 46 ^rinnj 
 
 Johns Woode in the seid countie of Midd. 11 At length arrived 
 the time when the haughty spirit of the Hospitaller was to 
 be humbled, and the corporate body to which he belonged 
 dissolved. They had 
 
 " Ventured, 
 
 Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, 
 
 This many summers on a sea of glory; 
 
 But far beyond their depth." 
 
 That arch despoiler Henry the Eighth had already fixed his 
 eye upon their wealth. Many monastic establishments had 
 already ceased to exist; and although this presented other 
 features than that of a mere monastery, still it was doomed ; the 
 fiat had gone forth, and positive annihilation was the verdict. 
 Its long-established consequence could not save it from the 
 general fate : the tyrant Henry was not the man to hold his 
 hand, having already seized and appropriated many similar houses. 
 It may be worth remarking, that the act (32nd Henry VIII., 
 1540) passed through the Commons 1 House for the suppression 
 of this monastery, exceeded all others for expedition, it having 
 been read the first time on the 22nd, the second on the 26th, 
 and the third on the 29th, of the same month of April 2 . The 
 annual revenues of this great foundation at the time* of its 
 dissolution amounted, according to Dugdale and Speed, to 
 2385 12s. 8rf., but according to Stow to 3385 19s. 8d. I 
 think we may observe with Malcom, " that when this leviathan 
 of plunder (Henry) seized these revenues, we cannot be at a loss 
 for his motive. 
 
 
 
 2 Burnet's Hist, of the Reformation. 
 
 : O
 
 o- 
 
 nf $t. 3njm nf Snnnhm. 47 
 
 " Tyrannic cruelty, voluptuous pride, 
 Insatiable licentiousness and guilt, 
 So share this monarch, we can ne'er decide 
 On what one vice his ruling wish was built." 
 
 From the foundation of this house till its dissolution, there 
 were, according to Newcourt, thirty-seven- Priors, commencing 
 with Garnerius de Neapoli, and ending with Sir William Weston. 
 He was the younger brother to Sir Richard Weston, one of the 
 Gentlemen of the King's Privy Chamber, and Master of the 
 Court of Wards. It appears Sir William was favoured much 
 beyond the heads of other religious houses ; for the King pur- 
 posed to allow him ^1000 per annum out of the wreck of his 
 former priory. The King's bounty to him was useless ; he did 
 not live to enjoy it, dying of a broken heart. To use the 
 simple and emphatic language of Weever " So it fortuned that 
 upon the 7th of May (1540), being Ascension-day, and the same 
 day of the dissolution of the house, he was dissolved by death, 
 which strooke him to the heart at the first time when he heard of 
 the dissolution of his order." He was buried in the chancel of 
 the church, which had belonged to the recently dissolved nunnery 
 of St. Mary : a splendid marble monument was erected to his 
 memory, an engraving and full description of which is given in 
 Cromwell's History of Clerkenwell (p. 188). Consequent upon 
 the dissolution, an immediate distribution of hospital property 
 took place. Sir John Dudleie, Sir Simeon Siemer, Sir Thomas 
 Pointings, Sir George Carew (knights), Anthonie Kingston and 
 Richard Cromwell (esquires), who had been the challengers in a 
 great justing at Westminster on the 1st of May, J540, had so 
 pleased the King, that he afterwards gave to each of the above 
 challengers, as a "rewarde for their valiantness," a hundred 
 

 
 marks per annum and a house to dwell in, out of the said lands, 
 for ever. The manor of Highbury (before alluded to), the 
 country-seat of the Priors 3 , was bestowed upon Thomas Crom- 
 well, afterwards Earl of Essex, upon whose attainder and death 
 it reverted to the crown. Five years subsequent to the sup- 
 pression, the site and precinct of the Priory was granted to John 
 Lord Lisle for his services as Lord High Admiral, 
 lead, bells, stones, glass, iron, and other things of the church 
 were specially reserved to the King's Majesty. Throughout all 
 the division and devastation committed by Henry, the buildings 
 were preserved from "down pulling" (as Stow terms it) ' 
 long as he reigned, and was used as a storehouse for the King 1 ; 
 toils and tents for hunting, and for the wars, fee." After the 
 death of Henry, the Priory church fell a sacrifice to the pr< 
 Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector to the young King Edwar< 
 the Sixth, who destroyed greater portions of the buildings f 
 the purpose of erecting a magnificent palace for himself, whi 
 he called Somerset House. Speaking of the Priory Church, 
 Stow thus describes it: "In the third of King Edward the 
 Sixth, the church for the most part, to wit, the body and sid. 
 isles with the great bell-tower, (a most curious peece of worke- 
 manshippe, grauen, guilt, and inameled, to the great beautifying 
 of the cittie, and passing all others that I have seene,) was unde: 
 mined, and blowne up with gunpowder: the stone thereof was 
 imployed in building the Lord Protector's house at the Strand." 
 
 Small thanks are due to the Duke of Somerset for the Gate 
 now standing; the probability is it was retained for its utility, 
 
 3 Now Highbury House, built by John Dawes, Esq., in the year 1781. 
 
 O
 
 o 
 
 nf It. Snljti nf %nmim. 49 
 
 forming, as it doubtless did at that time, a barrier to the 
 interior property. Upon the death of Edward and the elevation 
 of Mary to the throne, the Priory experienced some slight and 
 fitful return to its former greatness ; for Mary, in her zeal to 
 establish Roman Catholicism, dispatched an envoy to Malta, 
 with a letter to the Grand Master, Giovanni d'Oneda, requesting 
 him to send two knights to England to take possession of those 
 estates which her father Henry had unjustly torn from them. 
 Part of the quire which remained, with some side chapels, was 
 by Cardinal Pool (or Pole) closed up at the west end, and other- 
 wise repaired. Sir Thomas Tresham, knight, was then made 
 Prior ; and several Brother Knights were again established in 
 the Priory, Queen Mary by charter confirming the same, and 
 again incorporating the Order ; giving them a seal, and granting 
 them the "House," the "Gate-house," the "Church," and all 
 the boundary garden within the precincts of the Hospital, also 
 great St. John ? s Wood, near " Marybone," in Middlesex, and 
 the manors of Purfleet, Witham, Temple Roden, and Chingford, 
 in Essex, and the manors, lands, and tenements in divers 
 counties in England which of old did belong to the Priory. But 
 the Order was again suppressed in the first year of Elizabeth. 
 We cannot tell how long the so lately elected Prior survived their 
 second suppression ; but after his death he was buried in Ruston 
 Church, Northamptonshire, where there is a monument erected 
 to his memory. 
 
 In the year 1604 a grant was made by James the First to 
 Sir Roger Wilbraham, for his life, of the Grand South Gate of 
 the Priory ; and by letters patent of the same monarch, dated 
 May 9th, 1607, the site or house of the late Hospital, with all 
 
 H 
 O
 
 -o 
 
 50 
 
 nub 
 
 St. John's Priory, from HolJa 
 
 the precinct of the said house, containing about five acres, was 
 granted to Balph Freeman and his heirs. The Choir passed by 
 deed into the hands of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, son of 
 the Earl of Exeter. In the reign of Charles the First it became 
 the property of Eobert Bruce, Earl of Elgin, consequent upon 
 his marriage with the Lady Diana, daughter to Thomas Earl of 
 Exeter. The son of the Earl of Elgin was created Earl of 
 Aylesbury, and the building was then converted into a private 
 chapel for the use of the Earl, and for many years after was 
 called Aylesbury Chapel. The estates remained in the hands 
 of this distinguished family above a hundred years, with but 
 little of interest, unless we except the following futile attempt to 
 resuscitate Roman Catholicism on the spot that so long had
 
 o 
 
 nf It. Snjnt nf SjnuwUm. 51 
 
 fostered it. Cromwell, in his History of Clerkenwell (p. 86), 
 thus describes the event : " The reign of James II. affords a 
 rather curious incident in the ecclesiastical history of our parish. 
 This was no other than the temporary revival of a Boman 
 Catholic convent in St. John's Square ; no mention of which, the 
 author has reason to believe, has ever been before the public, 
 and for his knowledge of which he is indebted (through the 
 medium of a literary friend) to a manuscript preserved in the 
 library of Ampleforth College a community of English Bene- 
 dictines near York. From this manuscript it appears, that in 
 the reign spoken of, a certain ' Father Corker" 1 was ' resident in 
 England to the Elector of Colen' (Cologne) ; and that, having 
 first set up a chapel in the Savoy, from which, owing to a dis- 
 pute with the Jesuits, he was persuaded by the King to remove, 
 he went to St. John's, corruptly called St. Jone's, and there 
 built a mighty pretty convent, which the Eevolution of 1688 
 pulled down to the ground, to his very great loss, for as he 
 was Dean of the Rosary, he melted down the great gold chalice 
 and patten to help towards this building, supplying the want of 
 them with one of silver just of that make. He counted this 
 convent for the conversion of souls amongst those things which 
 the holy Fathers of the Church allow the church treasure to be 
 spent on. This convent seems to have cost the Benedictines 
 several considerable sums of money : frequent entries appear 
 in their account-books of that period of amounts paid towards 
 its erection, &c. It is always styled in these books ' The 
 Factory,' or, 'The Factory in Clerkenwell.' In the year 1721, 
 the estate was finally purchased by Simon Michell, and in 1723 
 he repaired and enlarged the chapel. He also built the present 
 west front, and re-roofed the whole: he then disposed of the 
 
 H 2 
 O O
 
 52 rinri aui (15 ah 
 
 church, vaults, vestry-room, the ground adjacent, with two 
 messuages in St. John's Street, for the sum of 2950, to the 
 Commissioners for Building Fifty new Churches. The building, 
 after enrolment in Chancery, and consecration by Edmund 
 Gibson, Lord Bishop of London, was declared to be a parish- 
 church for ever, and formally styled ' The Church of St. John, 
 Clerkenwell, in the county of Middlesex. 1 A deal of litigation 
 followed, consequent upon the constitution of the parish : the 
 authorities of St. James's not consenting to take part in the new 
 settlement, and denying the power of Queen Anne's Commission 
 to divide the parish." It would not be pertinent to our subject 
 to trace all the vexatious law proceedings attending these 
 differences ; the particulars may be found at large in Cromwell's 
 History of the Parish, quoting from whom, we will quit that 
 portion of our Work treating of the ecclesiastical arrangements 
 of St. John's parish. " For more than twelve years there were 
 suits, actions, informations, mandamuses, between the opposed 
 ecclesiastical powers, relative to the officers attempted to be 
 appointed by the Commissioners for the parish of their creation. 
 The consequence finally was, that no officers, except the church- 
 wardens, were, or now are, elected for the parish of St. John. 
 St. James's and St. John's are recognized in different acts of 
 the legislature as parishes and as districts ; and in two acts St. 
 James's is styled both a parish and a district of that parish. The 
 minister of the little territory of St. John's has the ecclesiastical 
 rank of rector ; while the minister of St. James's, who is by 
 election minister of all Clerkenwell, being chosen by the 
 general voice of the inhabitants, has the humbler style (as the 
 word is now understood) of curate. The curate is by law entitled 
 to receive all the surplice fees of St. John's for its rector's per-
 
 nf It. 3nlm nf 
 
 formance of the duty. The inhabitants of both districts have an 
 equal right to vote in vestry. The residents of St. John's assist 
 to elect the minister of St. James's, but the residents of St. 
 James's have no voice in choosing the minister of St. John's ; 
 while the churchwardens of St. James's have to the full all the 
 customary powers of such officers, the powers of the church- 
 wardens of St. John's are confined to the church and cemetery ; 
 and while the entire parish contributes alike to the support of its 
 poor, by virtue of one common assessment, the overseers of the 
 poor are legally restricted to the residents of St. James's. The 
 patronage of the rectory of St. John's was, by the act of Queen 
 Anne, provisionally given to the Crown, until the separation it 
 contemplated from the parent parish should take place, when it 
 would devolve to the inhabitants ; but that separation not 
 having been effected, it has been ever since in the hands of the 
 Lord Chancellor. Its emoluments arise out of two-thirds of the 
 pew rents, and the annual allowance of eighty guineas from 
 Queen Anne's Bounty." 
 
 Old Baptismal Bowl and Head of Beadle's Staff belonging to the Parish of St. John. 
 
 o 
 
 o
 
 0- 
 
 
 
 HE real- 
 ization of 
 that lite- 
 rary as- 
 sociation, 
 of which 
 
 we may certainly 
 feel proud, was ef- 
 fected in the begin- 
 ning of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, from the circumstance 
 of Edward Cave occupying 
 St. John's Gate as a residence 
 and printing-office, and its 
 becoming in consequence the 
 rendezvous of the literati of 
 that period. It is gratifying to observe 
 vj) that here 
 
 "The pen did supersede the sword," 
 
 and from that spot whence knights had sallied 
 for crusading purposes, the first crusade 
 against ignorance, bigotry, and intolerance 
 was made by the serial literature of our 
 country; for here, in January, 1731, was 
 published that excellent work the Gentle- 
 man's Magazine, which still maintains its 
 proud pre-eminence among our monthly 
 publications; and from which the word 
 
 
 

 
 o 
 
 ^rinq nttn Mi nf It. Snljn nf Smrsnbnt. 55 
 
 " Magazine," as applied to periodical literature, originated. It 
 may not be out of place to gratify our readers with some account 
 of the man who projected the miscellany that has had such a 
 long and successful career, and whose characteristic woodcut of 
 the Gate upon the cover shows a recognition of the spot that 
 gave it birth. We take the following from the pen of Dr. Samuel 
 Johnson, published in vol. xxv. of the Gentleman's Magazine. 
 
 " Edward Cave was born at Newton in Warwickshire, February 
 29th, 1691. It was fortunate for Edward Cave that, having a 
 disposition to literary attainments, he was not cut off by the 
 poverty of his parents from opportunities of cultivating his 
 faculties. The school of Eugby, in which he had, by the rules 
 of its foundation, a right to be instructed, was then in high 
 reputation, under the Rev. Mr. Holyock, to whose care most of 
 the neighbouring families, even of the highest rank, entrusted 
 their sons. He had judgment to discover, and for some time gene- 
 rosity to encourage, the genius of young Cave ; and was so well 
 pleased with his quick progress in the school, that he declared 
 his resolution to breed him for the university, and recommend 
 him as servitor to some of his scholars of high rank. But 
 prosperity which depends upon the caprice of others is of short 
 duration ! Cave's superiority in literature exalted him to an 
 invidious familiarity with boys who were far above him in rank 
 and expectations ; and as in unequal associations it always 
 happens, whatever unlucky prank was played was imputed to 
 Cave. When any mischief, great or small, was done, though 
 perhaps others boasted of the stratagem when it was successful ; 
 yet, upon detection or miscarriage, the fault was sure to fall upon 
 
 poor Cave. 
 
 i 
 
 O
 
 o 
 
 56 ^rinq anfr f at* 
 
 " At last his mistress, by some invisible means, lost a favourite 
 cock. Cave was, with little examination, stigmatized as the 
 thief or murderer ; not because he was more apparently criminal 
 than others, but because he was more easily reached by 
 vindictive justice. From that time Mr. Holyock withdrew 
 his kindness from him, and treated him with harshness, 
 which the crime in its utmost aggravation could scarcely 
 deserve, and which surely he would have forborne, had he 
 considered how hardly the habitual influence of birth and 
 fortune is resisted ; and how frequently men, not wholly without 
 sense or virtue, are betrayed to acts more atrocious than 
 the robbery of a hen-roost, by a desire of pleasing their 
 superiors. These reflections his master never made, or made 
 without effect ; for under pretence that Cave obstructed the 
 discipline of the school by selling clandestine assistance and 
 supplying exercises to idlers, he was oppressed with unreason- 
 able tasks, that there might be an opportunity of quarrelling 
 with his failure; and when his diligence had surmounted 
 them, no regard was paid to the performance. Cave bore this 
 persecution for a while, and then left the school, and the hope 
 of a literary education, to seek some other means of gaining a 
 livelihood. 
 
 " He was first placed with a collector of the excise. He used 
 to recount with some pleasure a journey or two which he rode 
 with him as clerk, and relate the victories that he gained over 
 the excisemen in grammatical disputations. But the insolence 
 of his mistress, who employed him in servile drudgery, quickly 
 disgusted him; and he went up to London in quest of more 
 suitable employment. 
 
 o-
 
 Q- -O 
 
 nf $t Snlju nf Snnanhin. 57 
 
 "He wa,s recommended to a timber-merchant at Bankside, 
 and while he was there on liking, is said to have given hopes of 
 great mercantile abilities. But this place he soon left, I know 
 not for what reason, and was bound apprentice to Mr. Collins, a 
 printer of some reputation, and deputy alderman. 
 
 " This was a trade for which men were formerly qualified by a 
 literary education, and which was pleasing to Cave, because it 
 furnished some employment for his scholastic attainments. 
 Here, therefore, he resolved to settle, though his master and 
 mistress lived in perpetual discord, and their house could be 
 no comfortable habitation. From the inconvenience of these 
 domestic tumults he was soon released, having in two years 
 attained so much skill in his art, and gained so much the con- 
 fidence of his master, that he was sent, without any super- 
 intendent, to conduct a printing-house at Norwich, and publish 
 a weekly newspaper. In this undertaking he met with some 
 opposition, which produced a public controversy, and procured 
 young Cave reputation as a writer. 
 
 " His master died before his apprenticeship was expired ; and 
 as he was not able to bear the perverseness of his mistress, he 
 quitted her house upon a stipulated allowance, and married a 
 young widow, with whom he lived at Bow. When his appren- 
 ticeship was over, he worked as a journeyman at the printing- 
 house of Mr. Barber, a man much distinguished and employed by 
 the Tories, whose principles had at that time so much prevalence 
 with Cave, that he was for some years a writer in ' Mint's 
 Journal,' which (though he afterwards obtained by his wife's 
 interest a small place in the Post Office) he for some time con- 
 
 i 
 
 6
 
 o -o 
 
 58 ^rinrtj nttfr <0nh 
 
 tinued: but as interest is powerful, and conversation, however 
 mean, in time persuasive, he by degrees inclined to another 
 party, in which, however, he was always moderate, though steady 
 and determined. 
 
 " When he was admitted into the Post Office, he still con- 
 tinued, at his intervals of attendance, to exercise his trade, or to 
 employ himself with some typographical business. He corrected 
 the ' Gradus ad Parnassum,' and was liberally rewarded by the 
 Company of Stationers. He wrote an account of the criminals, 
 which had for some time a considerable sale, and published many 
 little pamphlets, that accident brought into his hands, of which 
 it would be very difficult to recover the memory. By the corre- 
 spondence which his place in the Post Office facilitated, he 
 procured country newspapers, and sold their intelligence to a 
 journalist of London for a guinea a week. 
 
 " He was afterwards raised to the office of clerk of the franks, 
 in which he acted with great spirit and firmness, and often 
 stopped franks which were given by members of parliament to 
 their friends, because he thought such extension of peculiar 
 right illegal. This raised many complaints ; and having stopped, 
 among others, a frank given to the old Duchess of Marlbbrough 
 by Mr. Walter Plummer, he was cited before the House for a 
 breach of privilege, and accused, I suppose very unjustly, of 
 opening letters to detect them. He was treated with great 
 harshness and severity, but declining their questions by pleading 
 his oath of secrecy, was at last dismissed. And it must be 
 recorded to his honour, that when he was ejected from his office, 
 he did not think himself discharged from his trust, but con- 
 
 o - 6
 
 o o 
 
 nf it. Snljit nf SBrmbm. 59 
 
 tinned to refuse, to his nearest friends, any information about 
 the management of the office. 
 
 " By this constancy of diligence and diversification of employ- 
 ment, he in time collected a sum sufficient for the purchase of a 
 small printing-office, and began the 4 Gentleman's Magazine,' a 
 periodical pamphlet, of which the scheme is known wherever the 
 English language is spoken. To this undertaking he owed the 
 affluence in which he passed the last twenty years of his life, and 
 the fortune which he left behind him, which, though large, had 
 been yet larger, had he not rashly and wantonly impaired it by 
 innumerable projects, of which I know not that ever one 
 succeeded. 
 
 " When he formed the project, he was far from expecting the 
 success which he found ; and others had so little prospect of its 
 consequence, that, though he had for several years talked of his 
 plan among printers and booksellers, none of them thought it 
 worth the trial. That they were not restrained by their virtue 
 from the execution of another man's design, was apparent, as soon 
 as that design began to be gainful ; for in a few years a multitude 
 of magazines arose and perished, only ' The London Magazine,' 
 supported by a powerful association of booksellers, and circulated 
 with all the art and all the cunning of the trade, exempted 
 itself from the general fate of Cave's invaders, and obtained, 
 though not an equal, yet a considerable sale. 
 
 " Cave now began to aspire to popularity ; and being a greater 
 lover of poetry than any other art, he sometimes offered subjects 
 for poems, and proposed prizes for the best performances. The 
 
 i 2
 
 o o 
 
 60 ' rinn unit <0at? 
 
 first prize was 50, for which, being but newly acquainted with 
 wealth, and thinking the influence of 50 extremely great, he 
 expected the first authors of the kingdom to appear as compe- 
 titors, and offered the allotment of the prize to the Universities. 
 But when the time came, no name was seen among the writers 
 that had ever been seen before; the Universities and several 
 private men rejected the province of assigning the prize. At all 
 this Mr. Cave wondered for a while ; but his natural judgment 
 and a wider acquaintance with the world soon cured him of his 
 astonishment, as of many other prejudices and errors. Nor have 
 many men been raised by accident or industry to sudden riches, 
 that retained less of the meanness of their former state. 
 
 " He continued to improve his magazine, and had the satisfac- 
 tion of seeing its success proportionate to his diligence, till in the 
 year 1751 his wife died of an asthma; with which, though he 
 seemed not at first much affected, yet in a few days he lost his 
 sleep and his appetite, and, lingering two years, fell, by drinking 
 acid liquors, into a diarrhoaa, and afterwards into a kind of 
 lethargic insensibility, in which one of the last acts of reason he 
 exerted, was fondly to press the hand that is now writing this 
 little narrative. He died on January 10, 1754, set. 63, having 
 just concluded the twenty-third annual collection. 
 
 "He was a man of large stature, not only tall, but bulky, and 
 was, when young, of remarkable strength and activity. He was 
 generally healthful, and capable of much labour and long ap- 
 plication ; but in the latter years of his life was afflicted with 
 the gout, which he endeavoured to cure or alleviate by a total 
 abstinence both from strong liquors and animal food. From 
 
 O
 
 c- -o 
 
 1 
 
 nf It. Sojjtt if Strtwalm 61 
 
 animal food he abstained about four years, and from strong 
 liquors much longer ; but the gout continued unconquered, per- 
 haps unabated. 
 
 " His resolution and perseverance were very uncommon : 
 whatever he undertook, neither expense nor fatigue were able to 
 repress him ; but his constancy was calm, and to those who did 
 not know him appeared faint and languid ; but he always went 
 forward, though he moved slowly. 
 
 " The same chilness of mind was observable in his conversa- 
 tion : he was watching the minutest accent of those whom he 
 disgusted by seeming inattention ; and his visitant was surprised 
 when he came a second time by preparations to execute the 
 scheme which he supposed never to have been heard. 
 
 " He was, consistently with his general tranquillity of mind, a 
 tenacious maintainer, though not a clamorous demander, of his 
 right. In youth, having summoned his fellow-journeymen to 
 concert measures against the oppression of their masters, he 
 mounted a kind of rostrum, and harangued them so efficaciously, 
 that they determined to resist all future invasions. And when 
 the Stamp officers demanded to stamp the last half-sheet of the 
 magazines, Mr. Cave alone defeated their claim, to which the 
 proprietors of the rival magazines would meanly have submitted. 
 
 " He was a friend rather easy and constant, than zealous and 
 active ; yet many instances might be given, both where his 
 money and his diligence were employed liberally for others. 
 His enmity was in the like manner cool and deliberate; but
 
 o- 
 
 62 
 
 though cool, it was not insidious, and though deliberate, not 
 pertinacious. 
 
 " His mental faculties were slow : he saw little at a time, but 
 that little he saw with great exactness. He was long in finding 
 the right, but seldom failed to find it at last. His affections 
 were not easily gained, and his opinion not quickly discovered. 
 His reserve, as it might hide his faults, concealed his virtues ; 
 but such he was, as they who best knew him have most 
 lamented." 
 
 Nichols, in his " Biographical Memoirs," gives a good deal of 
 valuable information and interesting anecdote relative to Edward 
 Cave. He says " that from his first connexion with the 
 Norwich newspaper, he had conceived a strong idea of publishing 
 the" parliamentary debates. In 1728 he experienced great in- 
 convenience and expense, having been ordered into the custody 
 of the serjeant-at-arms for supplying information for the above 
 purpose. After a confinement of several days, on stating his 
 sorrow for the offence, and pleading that he had a wife and 
 family who suffered much by his imprisonment, he was dis- 
 charged with a reprimand, on paying the accustomed fees. But 
 in July, 1736, he boldly ventured to put into practice wfiat he 
 had so long contemplated viz. the inserting in the ' Gentleman's 
 Magazine' the parliamentary debates." His method of proceeding 
 is thus related by Sir John Hawkins in his Life of Dr. Samuel 
 Johnson : " Taking with him a friend or two, he found means 
 to procure for them and himself admission into the gallery of the 
 House of Commons, or to some concealed station in the other 
 House ; and then they privately took down notes of the several 
 
 o-
 
 O ; 
 
 nf it. 3njnt of Sntunbm. 63 
 
 speeches, and the general tendency and substance of the argu- 
 ments. Thus furnished, Cave and his associates would adjourn 
 to a neighbouring tavern, and compare and adjust their notes ; 
 by means whereof, and the help of their memories, they became 
 enabled to fix at least the substance of what they had so lately 
 heard and remarked. The reducing this crude matter into form 
 was the work of a future day and of an atyer hand Guthrie, 
 the historian, a writer for the booksellers, whom Cave retained 
 for the purpose." But these debates were not given till the end 
 of the session, and then only with the initial and final letters of 
 each speaker. These proceedings running counter to the rule 
 or privileges of the House, the caution of Cave suggested to him 
 a popular fiction; for in June, 1738, he prefaced the debates by 
 what he chose to call " An Appendix to Captain Lemuel Gul- 
 liver's Account of the famous Empire of Lilliput;" and the 
 proceedings in Parliament were given under the title of " Debates 
 in the Senate of Great Lilliput." Cave, in the latter part of his 
 life, manifested his good fortune by "buying" (as Sir John 
 Hawkins, who is not the most liberal biographer, says) " an old 
 coach, and a pair of older horses ; and, that he might avoid the 
 suspicion of pride in setting up an equipage, he displayed to the 
 world the source of his affluence, by a representation of St. 
 John's Gate, instead of his arms, on the door-panel. This he 
 told me was the reason of distinguishing his carriage from others, 
 by what some might think a whimsical device, and also for 
 causing it to be engraven on all his plate." 
 
 To Cave we are indebted for that bright galaxy of talent and 
 halo of genius that concentrated round and enlightened the 
 gloomy portal of St. John's. The necessities of the reckless 
 
 -O
 
 o 
 
 64 rinrij ntifo 
 
 spendthrift, but highly-gifted Richard Savage, brought him 
 here, placing him under obligations to Cave. Here, too, Dr. 
 Samuel Johnson (the giant of literature) first gave to the world 
 a spice of his quality/' Boswell says, that when Dr. Johnson 
 first saw St. John's Gate, he beheld it with reverence :" alluding 
 to that kind of feeling engendered in the breast of a young 
 author for the magazine or publication which first entertain 
 him or gave him opportunity to see himself in print, 
 performance in the "Gentleman's Magazine," which for many 
 years was his principal source of employment and support, was a 
 copy of Latin complimentary verses in March, 1738. 
 
 The misconduct and misfortune of Richard Savage reduced 
 him to the lowest depths of want and misery. As a writer for 
 his bread, his visits to St. John's Gate brought him and Johnson 
 much together. Johnson, it appears, had a room set apart for 
 him there. Hawkins says, that, when he penned" the debates, 
 
 O- 
 
 Dr. Johnson's Chair. 
 
 O
 
 O : 
 
 of It. Snjjii of Snusabra. 65 
 
 " they were written at those seasons when he was able to raise 
 his imagination to such a pitch of fervour as bordered upon 
 enthusiasm ; which that he might the better do, his practice was 
 to shut himself up in a room assigned him at St. John's Gate, to 
 which he would not suffer any one to approach, except the com- 
 positor or Cave's boy for matter, which, as fast as he composed, 
 he tumbled out at the door." 
 
 Poverty for a long time pursued Johnson. The following 
 (from Boswell) is a striking proof of his extreme indigence when 
 he published the Life of Savage, in 1744. Soon after this pub- 
 lication, which was anonymous, Mr. Walter Harte, dining with 
 Mr. Cave at St. John's Gate, took occasion to speak very 
 handsomely of the work. Cave told Harte, when they met, that 
 he had made a man very happy the other day at his house by 
 the encomiums he bestowed on the author of Savage's Life. 
 " How could that be ?" says Harte, " none were present but you 
 and I." Cave replied, " You might observe I sent a plate of 
 victuals behind the screen. There skulked the biographer, one 
 Johnson, whose dress was so shabby that he durst not make his 
 appearance. He overheard our conversation; and your ap- 
 plauding his performance delighted him exceedingly." 
 
 The inimitable David Garrick became a frequenter of the Gate 
 through the intimacy of Johnson with him. We are informed 
 by Hawkins, that "Cave had no great relish for mirth, but he 
 could bear it ; and having been told by Johnson that his friend 
 had talents for the theatre, and was come to London with a view 
 to the profession of an actor, expressed a wish to see him in some 
 comic character. Garrick readily complied, and, as Cave himself 
 
 O
 
 o 
 
 66 Itorit ml 
 
 told me, with a little preparation of the room over the great arch 
 of St. John's Gate, and with the assistance of a few journeymen 
 printers, who were called together for the purpose of reading 
 the other parts, represented, with all the graces of comic humour, 
 the principal character in Fielding's farce of the ' Mock Doctor.' " 
 
 The simple and loveable Goldsmith, Lauder, the unprincipled 
 detractor of the sublime Milton, and many members of both 
 Houses of Parliament, continually met at the old Gate ; and 
 its literary fame may be said to have rivalled its chivalric. 
 
 Immediately subsequent to Cave's death, the house became a 
 tavern '. To follow the varied circumstances of such a meta- 
 morphosis would not be interesting to our readers. Suffice it to 
 say, the house has been several times subject to a change of 
 proprietors ; most of them attaching as much value to it as the 
 receipts per month would justify. The old Hall has rung with 
 the jocund laugh and joyous song ; ponderous humidity, in the 
 shape of stout and porter, has been imbibed ; libations of the 
 vinous juice have been more aristocratically disposed of ; societies 
 have gathered within its ancient walls; the stanch and right 
 valiant members of the ancient Lumber Troop, with all the 
 
 "Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war," 
 
 1 I have not been able to ascertain tbe exact time at which the house 
 became a tavern, although taking a deal of trouble for that purpose. 
 Northouck in his "History of London," published in 1773, states that "the 
 arch had been long encumbered with a billiard-room, which filled all the 
 upper part from the spring of the arch ; but this has lately been cleared away, 
 and the arch being repaired is now restored to its original dimensions." 
 Doubtless the billiard-room was in connexion with the tavern. 
 
 6 6
 
 O 
 
 nf It. 3njni nf tombm. 67 
 
 have visited the modern mock-heroic Knights of St. John 2 , whose 
 love of glory was only exceeded by their love of grog, and whose 
 hope of deathless fame was neutralized by the desire to dine 
 together quarterly. Philanthropy has also formed a Brother- 
 hood here ; and although no Holy Land now calls for a crusade 
 against the infidel, yet have they formed a crusade against 
 
 " Poverty, hunger, and dirt ! " 
 
 penetrating into the abodes of misery and wretchedness, and by 
 a timely pecuniary assistance frequently rescuing even from the 
 jaws of death many of their fellow-creatures. The inclemencies 
 of the winter season are likewise much softened by the distribu- 
 tion of bread and coals. Since their commencement they have 
 expended some thousands of pounds for such laudable purposes. 
 Their meetings are held every Tuesday evening ; and an aug- 
 mentation of their members would increase their sphere of 
 usefulness 3 . 
 
 2 This society at one time was very strong in numbers, and highly respect- 
 able. It was mock-heroic in its character, convivial and harmonic in practice ; 
 and there was perhaps some degree of poetry in its origin. It was founded 
 in 1826 by Wm. Humphries, Esq., in conjunction with Mr. Hoar (then 
 proprietor), Cureton, Esq., the zealous antiquarian and numismatist, 
 Theodosius Purland, Esq., and other gentlemen, who by their talent, genius, 
 and social manners, brought it into great popularity. The society has out- 
 lived its poetic attractions, and by degrees seems quietly to have dropt into 
 its grave. 
 
 3 Recently the west side of the Gate was used as a Dispensing Hospital ; 
 it was restored by the Sovereign Ordei', which is composed of foreign and 
 English noblemen. Indigent patients were relieved there twice a week. 
 The charity was so beneficent and extensive in its character, that in the first 
 year of its establishment two thousand and sixty-two poor persons experienced 
 its benefits. It is to be regretted that such a benevolent institution did not 
 
 K 2
 
 o- 
 
 68 
 
 O 
 
 Weet side of St. John's Gate. 
 
 On the 1st of January, 1845, the new Metropolitan Buildings 
 Act came into operation; and in accordance with clause 40, 
 (which requires that the District Surveyor shall apply forthwith 
 to the Official Referees, to authorize a survey to be made of all 
 buildings within the limits of the Act, which through neglect or 
 other causes are in so ruinous a condition that passengers are 
 endangered thereby,) a survey was made, and a notice given to 
 the then owner of St. JolnTs Grate to repair it. The decom- 
 position of the stone casing to the several sides of the building 
 
 meet with that support from the neighbourhood it so much deserved, which 
 had it received, its usefulness might still have been seen, felt, and appreciated 
 in so poor and populous a locality as Clerkenwell. 
 
 Q- 
 
 -O
 
 o 
 
 nf It. Soljtt nf Smsahm. 69 
 
 had rendered it dangerous to passers-by ; and it appeared that 
 the substantial repairs alone were of so expensive a character, 
 as to prevent the occupant from devoting any attention to a 
 careful reparation of the exterior : in fact, (who would believe 
 it ?) the covering of the Gate with compo was suggested. The 
 knowledge of the facts was laid before the Freemasons of the 
 Church, a society for the recovery, maintenance, and furtherance 
 of the true principles and practice of architecture, when a 
 Committee was immediately appointed to prevent the spoliation 
 of the building by cement, and to adopt measures for its careful 
 reparation. Such Committee immediately turned their serious 
 attention to the matter : and through the instrumentality of 
 W. P. Griffith, Esq., who first directed public notice to the 
 subject, the building was saved from the desecration threatened. 
 An address from the Committee to the " nobility, gentry, and 
 all who feel an interest in preserving the arts and monuments of 
 the middle ages," was issued in March, 1 845 ; and although not 
 responded to in that liberal spirit that might have been antici- 
 pated from the higher classes, yet such an interest was exhibited 
 by the inhabitants of the locality, that they rushed to the 
 rescue, and a considerable sum of money was collected for the 
 restoration. A design showing the restoration of the Gate was 
 presented to the subscribers, a list of whom was also printed, 
 with a balance-sheet, giving a detailed statement of all expenses 
 to that date incurred. The Committee, in issuing that state- 
 ment in April, 1847, while congratulating the public upon their 
 achievements, " viz. in saving St. John's Gate from being dis- 
 figured by ' compo, 1 in inducing the owners to preserve and repair 
 the old stone-work, and in nearly restoring the north, and partly 
 the south, front," they the Committee felt convinced that the 
 
 o 6
 
 0- 
 
 -0 
 
 70 f rinq null dfatt nf It. Snjju nf 3tnwflUra. 
 
 public would not permit the restoration to stop there, but would 
 come forward and assist in finally completing the work in hand. 
 Although a good deal was done towards the restoration, much re- 
 mained to be done to realize the important and necessary 
 repairs contemplated by the Committee in 1845, as set forth in 
 their original prospectus. The further subscription will be 
 devoted to the reparation of the decorative portions of the 
 Gate. The sum of 165 5s. 6d., subscribed by the public, 
 have already been expended in furtherance of the restoration ; 
 and subscriptions are still received by W. P. Griffith, Esq., 
 St. John's Square, who, irrespective of his invaluable assistance 
 as Honorary Secretary to the Committee, has gratuitously given 
 his professional service in surveying and personally superintending 
 the repairs in connexion with restoration. Subscriptions are 
 also received by the Author, who is the present occupant of the 
 Gate; and however small the contribution may be, it would 
 be respectfully received and duly accounted for. 
 
 The Arms of France and England on the South Front. 
 

 
 o- 
 
 -o 
 
 
 HAVING run through the different as- 
 sociations with, and circumstances attending 
 the old Gate and Priory, we now bring this 
 little work to a close with a slight de- 
 scription of those remains which time and 
 modern improvement have yet left. The 
 Gateway possesses a beautiful specimen of 
 groining of the fifteenth century, adorned 
 with sculptured bosses and moulded ribs 
 springing from angular columns with moulded 
 capitals. The bosses are ornamented with 
 shields bearing the arms of the Priory and 
 Prior Docwra, and upon the central boss or 
 
 -O
 
 . : : o 
 
 72 ^rinrtj imfr <0nh 
 
 keystone is the paschal lamb. The south front, which has a double 
 projection, and is that by which the Hospital was approached 
 from the city, must have been most imposing. There are nume- 
 rous small windows in the centre and towers : there is a principal 
 one over the crown of the arch in each front, in the wide and ob- 
 tusely pointed style. The south, or principal front, has the arms 
 of France and England (page 70), and the north front those of 
 St. John's Priory and Sir Thomas Docwra (page 44). Under the 
 Gateway, on the east side, is a modern painting in oil, occupying 
 the entire width of the arch, and containing twenty-four square 
 yards of canvas, the subject " Knights about the time of Edward 
 the Fourth leaving the Hospital for a grand Jousting" (page 75). 
 It has been placed there by the present proprietor. In the 
 west side of the Gateway is to be seen a splendid specimen of 
 ancient carving in oak, formerly the head of a doorway, dis- 
 covered in 1813, when that part of the building was converted 
 into a watch-house for St. John's parish. This has been laud- 
 ably preserved, and is now as perfect as when fresh from the 
 hand of the artisan. It has been wainscotted over, leaving an 
 aperture through which it may be inspected. This part of the 
 building is now a coal-shed. Similar shields are likewise ob- 
 servable in the spandrels of a low door-case, forming an entrance 
 to the west tower from the north side of the Gate. The same 
 spandrels are occupied by other figures, of which our cut is 
 illustrative, and which the 'Gentleman's Magazine' for 1788 
 says are intended to represent "a cock and hawk" and a "hen 
 and lion" (page 22). This entrance conducts to the top of the 
 turrets, and was the entrance to Cave's printing-office. It is 
 evident the soil must have accumulated much since the building- 
 was constructed, as in entering the Gateway from the south, on 
 
 C'
 
 O C 
 
 nf $t Snm nf 3ttttsaUra. 73 
 
 the left is the fixed iron shaft of one of the top hinges on which 
 the Gate swung, and is about even with the elbow of a person of 
 ordinary stature : the original pavement was more than three feet 
 below the present level. Some few years ago, the original solid 
 oak stairs were removed from the base of the west tower, and a 
 staircase of a more modern character constructed about two- 
 thirds of the height ; the remaining third still retains the original 
 solid oak referred to, and is now, I should think, the most 
 ancient portion of the internal fittings of the Gate. The east 
 basement is the bar of the tavern : an iron column supports an 
 angle of the building, the lower portion having been cut away to 
 effect an entrance to the bar, which is capacious, and the ceiling 
 of which is beautifully moulded, as indeed are several other 
 rooms in the Gate. The stairs in this part of the house are of 
 the Elizabethan time. The principal room over the arch, called 
 the Hall, has been entirely despoiled of its architectural beauty : 
 common square wooden window-frames are substituted for stone 
 mullions ; a modern flat ceiling supplies the place of a groined 
 roof ; and the walls are defaced by an anti-gothic paper. It is 
 the intention of the present occupant, with the consent and 
 assistance of the proprietors, to restore it to somewhat of its 
 original appearance, as indicated in our engraving of " y e Hall " 
 (page 35). In the Hall are several warlike weapons, some 
 ancient ; there are also two figures in armour, one said to 
 represent Sir Thomas Docwra, the other, Sir William Weston. 
 A handsome bust of Mr. William Till J , on an elaborate 
 
 1 This gentleman, who is since dead, was the celebrated Medallist of Great 
 Russell Street, Covent Garden. He was much respected by all who had the 
 honour of his acquaintance. He was one of the principal members of the 
 Society of the Knights of St. John already alluded to, and rendered them 
 
 L 
 
 o
 
 G- 
 
 74 ^rinn[ unit 
 
 bracket, adorns the mantel. The view from the top of the 
 turret is somewhat extensive, and gives a tolerably good idea 
 of the extent of London. 
 
 We again come to the base of the building. The room now 
 used as a parlour (page 71), and supposed to have been the 
 one occupied by Dr. Johnson, is not properly part of the 
 Gate, but a portion of an attached house on the north side 
 of the Gate, and has no pretension to any other character 
 than that of a comfortable, old-fashioned room. In it is still 
 retained the old chair (page 64) said to be Dr. Johnson's. 
 There are likewise several very interesting prints, more or 
 less connected with the house and its associations. There is 
 an autograph letter of Sir Thomas Docwra framed : also a 
 series of heads, fifty-four in number, of the Grand Masters of 
 the Knights Hospitallers of St. John. The cellars are roomy 
 and uncouth, the communication with the modern cellarage 
 under the attached house being effected by actually cutting 
 through a wall (the face of the Gate) ten feet seven inches thick. 
 The thickness of the upper walls is nearly four feet : they are 
 not, as might be imagined, of solid stone, but of hard red brick, 
 
 essential service, publishing and dedicating to them a similar work to this, 
 and also presenting to them the Arms of the Priory and those of Sir Thomas 
 Docwra cast in bronze, which bronze had been Greek and Roman coins of from 
 two to three hundred years before the birth of Christ ; such castings are now in 
 the mantels of the hall and parlour of the house. The Society, in testimony 
 of his worth, placed his bust within the hall, with the following inscription : 
 " This bust of Mr. William Till was by the unanimous vote of the Chapter of 
 the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem placed in this Hall as a mark of their 
 esteem and high respect for the attachment he has invariably shown to, and 
 the services he has rendered the Society. 3rd March, 1836." 
 
 6
 
 -o 
 
 nf It. njju nf 
 
 75 
 
 with a stone casing of about nine or ten inches deep. The 
 Gate covers a considerable portion of ground, and must, in its 
 palmy days have been very imposing in appearance. The view 
 we give of the west end (page 68), taken from the premises now 
 occupied by Mr. Davison, while it exhibits the magnitude of 
 the building, likewise shows the neutralizing effect of the smaller 
 edifices attached to it. There have been numerous discoveries 
 made during the last twenty years, through excavating for 
 drains, foundations for new houses, &c. Among these may be 
 cited the original pavement below the Gate, already referred to ; 
 the Priory Walls, viz., on the south side and on the west and 
 north sides, may still be traced. A very interesting relic the 
 writer discovered in a vault attached to the Gate. It is the 
 
 T. -2 

 
 - 
 
 76 ^rinq nttfr (Me 
 
 fragment of a chimney-mantel : the stone is Ryegate firestone, 
 and it has been subject to the action of fire, most likely at the 
 fire in 1381 (page 8). 
 
 In the year 1780 the north postern-gate of the Priory in 
 Jerusalem Passage was removed ; and since its demolition 
 several discoveries have taken place, showing the boundary- 
 walls to have run between the houses now standing in the 
 Square, and those on the north side of Aylesbury Street and 
 Clerkenwell Green. The remaining matter of interest is that 
 portion of the old Priory still extant in the church which was 
 grafted upon the chancel and side-aisles of the ancient edifice, 
 and beneath which may be seen the crypt (p. 39) in an excellent 
 state of preservation ; the capitals of the columns, ribbed mould- 
 ings, lancet-windows, small and deeply splayed, are bold speci- 
 mens of the period : suspended from the key-stone of each arch 
 is an iron ring, formerly intended for a lamp. On the south side 
 is a small chapel worthy of notice. The Crypt and Church may 
 be viewed, by applying to the Parish-clerk. This Crypt is also 
 remarkable as being the scene of the imposture upon the public 
 known as the " Cock Lane Ghost," which imposition is fully 
 described in most publications of that day, who mention Dr. 
 Johnson as among the number deceived, and also as one of the 
 first to discover and expose the affair. In 1845 the Church was 
 altered and repaired under the direction of W. P. Griffith, Esq., 
 who discovered, upon removing some of the pews, that they stood 
 upon fragments of the ancient Priory. Beneath the pews are 
 capitals of the clustered columns, with long-flowing palm-leaves : 
 these, as well as portions of the groining, and the bases of the 
 columns, were gilt (gold upon blue) : the upper member was hori- 

 
 o 
 
 nf it. 3njm nf toralw. 77 
 
 zontally fluted like the Athenian bases. In 1849 an excavation 
 was made in front of the Church, and the Crypt was found to 
 have extended much further westward. A further proof of the 
 extent of the Priory Church is visible in Jerusalem Court, where 
 are several remains of the south-side chapels, with the original 
 buttresses projecting from the houses now occupying the site. 
 These dwellings are one hundred and fifty years old. The 
 Church, with its modern adaptations, has a very warm and 
 comfortable appearance. There are several monumental tablets, 
 some of an artistic character. The turret-clock now in use 
 originally belonged to old St. Jameses Church. The head of 
 the beadle's staff also belonged to that establishment, and was 
 used in James the Second's time : it has the following in- 
 scription "Ann Dom. 1685. Ann of Eegni Regis lacobi." 
 It is silver-headed ; and a further inscription informs us it was 
 made at " y e charge of y e inhabitants of y e east liberty of St. 
 John of Jerusalem. 1 " The portable baptismal bowl (p. 53) is 
 likewise of an antique character, and formerly supplied the place 
 of the font now in use : it has a Scriptural quotation round 
 its rim, with the name of the parish, and the following in Latin 
 " Deo et Sacris." 
 
 During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many noble 
 families of distinction resided in the vicinity of St. John's. 
 Bishop Burnet's residence is still to be seen, forming now an 
 entrance to Ledbury Place, St. John's Square ; it adjoins a 
 house occupied by the late Dr. Adam Clarke. 
 
 In conclusion, we cannot but think the reflective mind must 
 be struck with the many changes to which this very interesting 
 
 o 6
 
 o- 
 
 -o 
 
 78 
 
 iwft 
 
 nf 
 
 nf 
 
 locality has been subjected during the last eight hundred years ; 
 from the dark era when our rude ancestors recognized in the 
 prowess of the sword alone the principle of right, to the present 
 happy period, when clime, caste, complexion, and degree are 
 scarcely known but in their physical developments. And, as the 
 long past has subserved but for the present, so may the present, 
 with its high intellect, art, and science, carve out for itself and 
 posterity a destiny that humanity may rejoice in. Thus re- 
 garding the past for its many useful teachings, and with hopeful 
 anticipations for the future, may we chorus 
 
 " O hallo w'd memories of the past ! 
 
 Ye legends old and fair ! 
 Still be your light upon us cast, 
 
 Your music on the air. 
 In vain shall man deny, 
 
 Or bid your mission cease, 
 While stars yet prophesy 
 
 Of love and hope and peace." 
 
 O
 
 o 
 
 Contents. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 St. John's Gate, one of the few remains of our monastic architecture, its antiquity 
 and interesting associations. The destruction that similar buildings have been 
 subject to 1 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The establishment of Chivalry and Knighthood; their effects on civilization. 
 The First Crusade projected by Peter the Hermit. Subsequent Crusades, and 
 ultimate subjugation of the Holy Land. Godfrey of Bouillon made King of 
 Jerusalem 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Establishment of an Hospital in Jerusalem. The origin of the Knights Hospital- 
 lers and Templars ; exploits, bravery, wealth, and envy of both bodies ; their 
 expulsion from the Holy Land, and the occupation of Cyprus, Rhodes, and 
 Malta by the Hospitallers. Destruction of the Templars, and extinction of the 
 Knights of St. John 23 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Priory of St. John of Jerusalem founded in England by Jordan Brisset ; 
 its delightful situation ; continued augmentation of wealth ; increase of 
 pride and power. The Kentish Rebels under Wat Tyler destroy the Priory. 
 The Prior beheaded on Tower Hill. Rebuilding of the Priory. The 
 Reformation. Seizure and division of the property by Henry VIII. At- 
 tempted resuscitation of the Order in Clerkenwell. The constitution of the 
 parish of St. John 35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 St. John's Gate a Printing Office, occupied by Edward Cave, projector of the 
 Gentleman's Magazine. Biography of Cave ; Parliamentary Speeches first 
 printed by him at St. John's Gate. Johnson, Goldsmith, Savage, and the 
 literati assemble there. Garrick's first essay at acting in London in the Hall 
 
 6 6
 
 o 
 
 PAGE 
 
 at the Gate. Johnson employed by Cave. Johnson dining behind the screen 
 to hide his shabby apparel. The house converted into a Tavern ; Societies 
 attached thereto. Threatened removal of the Gate ; its repairs. Account of 
 money collected and expended for that purpose 54 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Description of St. John's Gate as it now is, and other remains of the Priory, with 
 many interesting discoveries of late years 71 
 
 FRONTISPIECE Proposed Restoration of St. John's Gate, South Front. 
 TITLE PAGE, emblematic of Chivalry. 
 
 South Side of St. John's Gate, with a Knight in armour 1 
 
 Stone discovered by B. Foster, in vault east side of Gate H 
 
 Knights departing for the Holy Land 9 
 
 Spandrel of Door-case, entrance to West Tower, St. John's Gate 22 
 
 Emblems of Chivalry and part of Stairs, St. John's Gate '.'3 
 
 Crusader Knight on Tomb 34 
 
 Y e Hall (intended restoration) 35 
 
 Crypt beneath St. John's Church 39 
 
 St. John's Priory on fire * . 43 
 
 Arms of the Hospital, and Sir Thomas Docwra, North Front of Gate .... 44 
 
 St. John's Priory, after Hollar 50 
 
 Baptismal Bowl and Head of Beadle's Staff, belonging to St. John's . . . . 53 
 
 Head of Dr. Johnson, with Initial Letter 64 
 
 Dr. Johnson's Chair, in the Parlour, St. John's Gate 64 
 
 West side of St. John's Gate, from Mr. Davison's premises 68 
 
 Arms of France and England on South Front 70 
 
 Interior of the Parlour, St. John's Gate 71 
 
 Interior View of the Arch, showing the Groining ........... 75 
 
 Tomb and Broken Spear ^8 
 
 O 6
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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