under a penalty of 38. 4d. for every instance of neglect; and commanded every person whose house fronted the street to hang out candles in lanterns, or otherwise, in some part of his house next the street, every night between Michaelmas and Lady-day, from dusk until nine in the evening, under a penalty of one shilling. The same act authorised the lord mayor and City authorities to receive subscriptions for repairing certain streets, which were so narrow that they incommoded coaches, carts, and passengers, and were prejudicial to commerce and traffic. By other acts two new parishes were erected at the west-end: one, that of St. Anne's, Westminster, consisting principally of streets that had recently been built on a piece of ground called Kemp's Field; the other, that of St. James's, Westminster, comprehending Jermyn and other neighbouring streets, lately erected on ground called St. James's Fields. This proves the increase of London; but its size and importance were insignificant when compared with those of the present proud city.

After the Restoration the money of the Commonwealth was all called in, and a new gold and silver coinage was struck, similar to that of the reign of Charles I. There was, however, one marked difference in the coinage of these two periods. On all the English money of Charles II. his head is made to look to the left, being the opposite direction to that in which his father's head is placed; and ever since it has been observed as a rule to make two successive sovereigns look in opposite directions on their respective coinages. James II. coined gold pieces of the value of 5l.: after his abdication he coined money in Ireland out of old brass guns and kitchen utensils; and when brass failed him, he fabricated crowns, half-crowns, shillings, and sixpences out of pewter.

Manners and Customs.-The furniture of this period continued nearly the same as in the preceding; but it may be mentioned that the famous manufactory of Gobelins tapestry was established in France in 1677, and that specimens of it soon appeared on the walls of the palaces and mansions of our nobility. A great change took place in the female costume of the upper classes in the reign of Charles II.; but citizens' wives and countrywomen continued to wear the high-crowned hat, the French hood, the laced stomacher, and the yellow starched handkerchief. At this period it would appear, from the Diaries of Pepys and Evelyn, that ladies began to paint their faces, to have their hair "frizzed up to the ear," and to wear perukes and vizards. There were at this time three distinct fashions of male costume, which it is unnecessary to describe; it may be sufficient to say that in their superabundance of ornament and finery they were in direct opposition to the plain and humble garb of the Puritans.

It was not only in dress that the Royalists differed from the Puritans in manners, the two parties were no less strikingly contrasted. Swearing, which during the Commonwealth had been punished by a fine, and profligate conversation, were so common, that a young nobleman or man of family was accounted no gentleman nor person of honour who could not, in two hours' sitting, invent some new modish oath, or make lampoons and drolleries even on the sacred Scriptures; and the ladies themselves were as profligate as the king and his nobles; and would game, and swear, and drink, and sport with as easy a conscience as the most dissolute libertine. Combined with this spirit of licentiousness was a reckless disregard of human life. In the reign of Charles II. the rage for duelling increased beyond all former precedent. Fatal encounters were of daily occurrence, from the worst of causes, or for no cause at all. In a word, the whole head of society in the upper classes was sick, the whole heart faint with corruptions. But, notwithstanding the frivolity and profligacy of the higher classes, the bulk of the community still retained much of the good old English spirit. The Puritans generally, and some even of the Royalists, regarded with contempt the dissoluteness which had become so fashionable; and this was especially the case in the country, to which the contagion of the court had failed to reach. Persons of this class adhered to the primitive hours of their forefathers in rising, transacting business, and going to rest; and to the simplicity of life which had distinguished the English in former periods.

The chief amusements of this time were similar to those which had been in vogue before the days of the Commonwealth. Abhorrence of the drama had been one of the chief distinctions of Puritanism; and therefore a habit of play-going became a badge of loyalty after the Restoration. The theatres were reopened, and their benches crowded more eagerly than ever; they absorbed indeed the chief taste and talent of the country. All the sports of the reign of James I. and Charles I. were resuscitated; and to these were added foot-racing, and boat and yacht-racing. Skating, also, was newly introduced, or rather, perhaps, a revived amusement in England at this time; and was performed "after the manner of the Hollanders;" and most of the old holidays were still observed, according to the old English fashion.

CHAP. XIX.

THE PERIOD FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE REIGN OF GEORGE III.

WILLIAM, Prince of Orange, had been invited to England by a coalition of parties, and was welcomed with every sign of public rejoicing. The nobility and gentry thronged his palaces; the populace, gaily adorned with orange ribbons, exulted in the streets; and festivals, bonfires, and illuminations celebrated the auspicious

event.

But William was too wise a man to estimate these noisy demonstrations at more than their true value. He knew by how frail a

tie the various factions were held together; and that, whenever this should be broken, their mutual hatred and jealousy would revive, and he would find himself rather in the position of the leader of a party than of the king of the whole nation. He was the acknowledged sovereign of England and Scotland; but he soon began to experience the difficulty of governing a people who were more ready to command than to obey their superiors. His reign commenced with an attempt similar to that which had been the principal cause of all the disturbances of the preceding reign, and which had ultimately excluded the monarch from the throne. As he had been bred a Calvinist, and always expressed an abhorrence of persecution, the Presbyterians and other Protestant dissenters considered him as their peculiar protector, and entered into his interests with the utmost zeal. But for this very reason the friends of episcopacy became jealous of his proceedings, and employed all their influence in thwarting his measures. In his first Parliament William proposed a repeal of the Test Act, conceiving that the great dread of the Papists would be removed with the removal of a Roman Catholic king, and that the professions of good-will which had passed between the Established Church and the dissenters would lead to some amicable and lasting agreement. The repeal, however, was rejected by the Lords by a great majority; and at the same time the House eagerly grasped at a clause recommended by William, which went to dispense with the oaths of the bishops and Established clergy to the new government. But the dissenters in the Commons showed as little regard to the consciences of churchmen as the churchmen had shown to theirs; and an amendment was moved and carried in the Commons, obliging the established clergy to take the oaths of allegiance, under pain of suspension, to be followed in six months by deprivation. The Lords, in their turn, rejected this amendment; conferences ensued, and all that the Commons would allow was, that the king should have power to grant, during his pleasure, a third of their benefices to any twelve clergymen who should incur deprivation by refusing to take the oath. William was justly surprised at the religious animosities of his new subjects; but he still hoped to make all sects live peaceably together, as he had seen them do in Holland. He attempted to carry a bill of comprehension, by which he flattered himself that the church, the kirk, and the conventicle might by degrees be amalgamated; but both Lords and Commons united in defeating this project, though in the end they agreed upon a free toleration to all Christian sects except the Roman Catholic.

The fugitive King James met with a most brilliant reception at the court of Versailles; and the French monarch undertook to reestablish him on the throne of England. Ireland was to be made

the basis of his operations; and as that country was, for the most part, under the guidance of the Lord Lieutenant Tyrconnel, it still remained faithful to him. James soon sailed thither with a well-equipped fleet, arms for 10,000 men, abundance of ammunition, and 112,000l. in money, besides the most luxurious and magnificent equipment for his personal accommodation.

He landed at Kinsale; and was not only joyfully welcomed by the Roman Catholic population, who were now everywhere in the ascendant, but was even loyally greeted by the few Protestants who remained in that part of the country. In Dublin he made a triumphant entry.

After a great deal of angry discussion between the French ambassadors and generals who accompanied him and his Irish friends, whose views were often very different, it was agreed that James should proceed to the north, where the town of Londonderry, which was filled by fugitive Protestants from the surrounding country, was preparing for an heroic resistance. The fortifications, consisting of little more than a grass-grown wall, were so slight as to excite the laughter of the experienced foreign soldiers; the stock of food in the town was wholly inadequate for a population now amounting to seven or eight times its usual number; but even when their governor deserted them the citizens refused to surrender, and their intelligence, bravery, and unconquerable resolution supplied all deficiencies.

After resisting all the efforts of the besiegers, and enduring for more than three months almost unheard-of sufferings from famine, being reduced to support life upon tallow, hides, rats, and other loathsome food which only the agonies of starvation could induce human beings to swallow, they were at length relieved by the arrival of two ships from London laden with provisions, which succeeded, at their own imminent peril, in breaking through the boom thrown across their river by the enemy, who now raised the siege and retired.

In the Highlands of Scotland the partisans of King James had brought about a very general rising in his favour, though those best acquainted with the country considered it to have been rather occasioned by skilful management of the jealousies and animosities existing among the various clans than by any genuine interest taken by the chiefs in the cause of the deposed king. The war in Scotland, however, after many vicissitudes, ultimately terminated in favour of King William.

The struggle in Ireland was prolonged until William himself went over and met his rival James, who was encamped on the banks of the River Boyne, within a few miles of Drogheda.

The high qualities which characterised King William were never