The year 1689 began a new era in the history of London, regarded from other aspects than the constitutional. It was as truly the beginning of another epoch as was the date of the accession of the Tudor kings. In the following century two fundamental changes were established: the one reorganized society within London ; the other altered the position of the capital with regard to the rest of the world.The mediaeval machinery for the control of trade and industry, that of ... Read More

At the end of the sixteenth century the man who walked out of the city at Temple Bar found himself in a street of gabled houses, which led without interruption to Charing Cross.   On the site indicated by modern Essex Street, with gardens fronting the Thames, was Essex House, in the place of the ancient inn of the bishops of Exeter.   Bishop Edmond Lacy had built there a great hall in the reign of Henry VI.; it had passed into lay possession ... Read More

In the game which was played in England from 1642 to 1660 London was a card of the first importance. To either side to hold the city meant access to great wealth. The trained bands were a military force not to be despised; and the city mob, while it was sometimes an uncertain and embarrassing ally, was always a dreaded enemy. The position of London as a maker of public opinion was almost equal to her place in the finance of the ... Read More