set up by one John or Thomas Londonstone, dwelling there against; but more likely it is, that such men have taken name of the stone, rather than the stone of them, as did John at Noke, Thomas at Stile, William at Wall, or at Well, &c.

Some

From these different notices of London Stone, Mr. Brayley considers it is apparent that it was formerly of much greater magnitude, and was held in far higher estimation than it is at present. It now, indeed, appears reduced to a fragment, not much larger than a bomb-shell,' and is enclosed in a sort of pedestal, which admits it to be seen through an aperture near the top. small portion of its decay may be attributed to the lapse of ages, but the chief mischief must have been committed by the hands of man. It was probably much mutilated after the Great Fire, when its 'large foundation' was seen; and again, when it was removed from the south side' of the street, in December, 1742, to the edge of the curb-stone on the north side. That it is now in existence at all is, in a great measure, due to the interposition of Mr Thomas Maiden, of Sherborne Lane, who, at the beginning of the year 1798, when St. Swithin's Church was about to undergo a complete repair, and this venerable relic had been nearly doomed to destruction as a nuisance by some of the parishioners, prevailed on one of the parish officers to give his consent that London Stone should be removed to the situation which it now occupies against the church wall.*

Roman remains discovered south of the river Thames.

From the various discoveries made in Southwark and its environs, it is evident the Romans frequented and had habitations this side of the Thames; in fact, their principal road from the continent passing through what is now Southwark, it is reasonable to suppose they would have a station in a situation where they could command a passage, or more than one passage, over so important a river as the Thames, and thus secure the communication between the road leading from their landing-place, in Kent, to that part part of the island which lay on the north side of the river.+

One of the earliest discoveries on record is by Sir William Dugdale, who says, "I myself, in the year 1658, saw, in those fields (on the back side of Winchester House) called Southwark Park, upon the sinking of divers cellars for some new buildings, at about two foot below the present levell of the ground, a Roman pavement, made of bricks, not above an inch and a half square; and adjoyning to it a more curious piece, of the like small bricks (in length about ten foot, and in bredth five) wrought in various colours; and in the midst thereof, betwixt certain

• Brayley's London, i. 101.

+ Manning and Bray's Surrey, iii. 655.

borders, in the fashion of wreathed columns, the form of a serpent, very lively expressed in that kind of Mosaique work.' Various tiles, &c. were discovered in 1820, in excavating the ground for the erection of a warehouse.

Dean Gale says, that in St. George's Fields, many Roman coins, tessellated works, and bricks were found; he himself had a large urn filled with bones, which he purchased of the men who were digging there.

In 1690, a Janus's head was found near St. Thomas's Watering Place;

One side represented the countenance of a man bearded, with the horns and ears of a ram; a jewel ornament hanging down on each side his head, which was crowned with laurel; on the opposite side was the countenance of a young woman in an ancient head attire, which, at the same time it covered the head, projected from it. It was entire, and seemed formerly to have been fixed to a square column, or to a terminus. It was a foot and a half high, and was in the possession of Dr. Woodward.†

In 1786, a vase and several coins were found in Park-street. Bagford, in his letter to Hearne, the antiquary before quoted, says,

On the left hand of Kent-street, on the road to London, in the garden ground, (which was a Roman military way, and is commonly made use of upon an extraordinary cavalcade, as it was particularly upon the entrance of king Charles II. at his return from Holland, and at such time is layd open,) they have found in digging, several Roman antiquities, with many of their coins both in silver and brass, some of which were much esteemed by the worthy Mr. Charlton. I have seen many of these antiquities

History of Embanking, p. 66.

+ Harris's Kent, i. 50.

myself, by the favour of my good friend, Mr. John Cannop, such as glass bottles with liquor in them, and divers old Roman utensils. To these must be added a great many Roman antiquities that were found in the grounds of Mr Ewer, at Clapham, in digging for gravel. They are still in being, and have been viewed by Mr. John Kemp; who, as he is a great judge in these affairs, so he owns that some of them are extraordinary, and such as he had not seen before.'

Opposite Bethlem Hospital, in St. George's Fields, a great quantity of Roman remains have been discovered at different periods. In 1810, pottery of various kinds, remains of tessellated pavements, some small vases, and a few coins were thrown up. At the back of St. Thomas's Street some Roman tiles were discovered in 1811; and in making a sewer along Union Street, in the years 1819-20-21-22-23, various curious lamps, lachrymatories, small glass vessels, fine coral ware, &c. were found. In the course of the years 1818 to 1822, in making various excavations in St. Saviour's Church-yard and its neighbourhood, much was discovered; a Mosaic pavement, vase, and unique coin of Antoninus Pius, within the church-yard; and a coin of Alexander Severus, and red stucco-floor, near Cure's College. These are in the possession of G. Gwilt, Esq. F. S. A.

Near Newington Church, in 1824, a portion of the Roman road from St. Thomas à Watering to Stangate was discovered, and a coin.

On the north side of Vauxhall Gardens, Defoe seems to consider was a Roman fort or camp. This, in some degree, has been authenticated; for, in digging the foundations of some houses, considerable quantities of the pottery, peculiar to that people, were discovered and thrown up. Amongst them was a small utensil, engraved below, of the size of the original.*

The last discovery we have to notice was made in 1825 and 1826; in excavating the foundation of Trinity Church, Newington, a human skeleton, vase, and sepulchral remains were found.

History of Lambeth, 367.

"It may be doubted," says Dr. Goldsmith, "whether the arts which the Romans planted among the Britous were not rather prejudicial than serviceable to them, as they only contributed to invite the invader, without furnishing the means of defence. If we consider the many public ways and villas of pleasure that were then among them, the many schools instituted for the instruction of youth, the numberless coins, statues, tessellated pavements, and other curiosities that were common at that time, we can have no doubt but that the Britons made a very considerable progress in the arts of peace, although they declined in those of war. But, perhaps, an attempt at once to introduce these advantages will ever be ineffectual. The arts of peace and refinement must arise by slow degrees in every country, and can never be propagated with the same rapidity by which new governments may be introduced."

CHAPTER III.

History of London from the departure of the Romans till the time of the Conquest.

WHEN Britain was deserted by the Romans in the early part of the fifth century, and the ancient inhabitants were left to conduct their own affairs, London once more became a British town. Though this period of British history is very obscure, it is an acknowledged fact, that Vortigern, a British chieftain, obtained the sovereignty of the southern part of the island, and made a notable use of his authority, by adopting those measures which terminated in the subjugation of what is now called England, by the Jutes, Saxons, and Angles, piratical tribes of adventurers from Germany, who had long been formidable enemies of the provincial Britons. Hengist, leader of the first of these bands of invaders, soon obtained possession of the county of Kent; and though he had been originally invited hither to assist Vortigern in repelling the attacks of the Picts and Scots, yet he, ere long, turned his arms against the Britons themselves. It appears from the Saxon Chronicle, that in 457, a British army having been defeated at Crecanford (Crayford) in Kent, retreated to London. About twenty years after this battle, Hengist made himself master of this city, and kept possession of it, probably, till his death, A. D. 498. It was then recaptured by the British king Ambrosius, the successor of Vortigern, and continued to belong to the Britons during a great part of the sixth century.

The Saxon kingdom of Essex having been established some years: and London, though in what manner, or at what particular period, has not been ascertained, becoming subject to that state, its walls and fortifications, doubtless, preserved it from the ravages that had been inflicted in most other parts of the island, whilst its favourable situation for commerce contributed to increase its population.

After the partial conversion of the East Saxons to Christianity, in the time of king Sebert, nephew to Ethelbert, king of Kent, the latter monarch, to whom all the country south of the river Humber was feudatory, erected a cathedral church on the site of St. Paul's, about the year 610; London having been chosen for a bishop's see by Augustine, the Apostle of the English,' and Mellitus, one of the companions of his mission, having been nominated first bishop in 604. Bede, in mentioning this fact, describes London as an emporium of many nations, who arrived thither by land and by sea."

毫

On the decease of Ethelbert, and Sebert, king of the East Saxons, in 616, their subjects relapsed into paganism; and the bishop was expelled from his see by the three sons of Sebert, to whom he had refused the communion of the Sacrament, unless they would also consent to be baptised.†

During the confused period of the Saxon Heptarchy, but very few notices of London seem to have been recorded. In 664, it was ravaged by the plague; and in 764, 798, and 801, it suffered greatly from fires: in that of 798, it was almost wholly burnt down, and numbers of the inhabitants perished in the flames.

It has been stated by Noorthouck, and other writers on the history of London, that on the dissolution of the Heptarchy, and union of the Saxon kingdom under Egbert, in 827, London was appointed to be the royal residence: Pennant says, that the great Alfred made it the capital of all England;' yet both these assertions are erroneous; for the seat of government, for more than two centuries after the period spoken of, was continued at Winchester, which, having long been the residence of the West Saxon sovereigns, became naturally the metropolis of the kingdom, after the Saxon states were rendered feudatory by Egbert. That London was still advancing in consequence, may, however, be presumed, from the circumstance of a Wittenagemot, or meeting of wise men, having been held here in 833, to consult on the best means of repelling the Danes, who had now begun to desolate the country by their ravages. At this assembly, Egbert bimself was present, together with Ethelwolf, his son; Withlaf,

Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. ch. 3. Bede's words are, Londinia civitas est, super ripam præsati fluminis [Thamesis] posita, et ipsa multorum emporium populorum terra marique venientium.'

+ Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. 5. Sim Dun. Hist. Brayley's London, i. 104.

§ Spel. Con. An 833