demur upon it; a conference is then demanded in the Painted Chamber,
where certain members deputed from each house meet, and debate the
affair, while the Lords sit covered at a table, and the Commons
stand without their hats. If they disagree, the affair is dropped;
but if they come to an agreement, it is at length brought, with all
the other bills that have passed both houses, to receive the royal
assent, in the house, where the King being seated in the chair of
state, the Clerk of the crown reads the title of each bill; and as
he reads, the Clerk of the Parliament, according to the instructions
he hath received from his Majesty, pronounces the royal assent; if
it be a public bill by saying, _Le Roy le veut_, _i. e._ The King
will have it so; or if a private bill, _Soit fait comme il est
désiré_; _i. e._ Be it done as is desired. But if his Majesty does
not approve the bill, the answer is, _Le Roy s’avisera_: that is,
The King will consider of it.
Money bills always begin in the house of Commons; because the
greatest part of the supplies are raised by the people, and for this
reason the Commons will not allow the Lords to alter them; and on
the presenting these bills to his Majesty, the answer is, _Le Roy
remercie ses loyaux sujets, accepte leur benevolence, & aussi le
veut_: that is, The King thanks his loyal subjects, accepts of their
benevolence, and therefore grants his consent.
A bill for a general pardon has but one reading in each house;
because they must take it as the King will please to give it: and
when this bill is passed, the answer is, _Les Prélats, Seigneurs, &
Communes, en ce parlement assemblez, au nom du tous vos autre
sujets, remercient_ _très humblement vôtre Majesté, & prient Dieu
vous donner en santé, bonne vie & longue_: that is, The Bishops,
Lords, and Commons in this Parliament assembled, in the name of all
your other subjects, most humbly thank your Majesty, and beseech God
to grant you a long and healthful life.
The King, without his personal presence, may, by a commission
granted to some of his Nobles, give his royal assent to any bill
that requires haste.
When his Majesty prorogues or dissolves the Parliament, he generally
comes in person, and being seated with the crown on his head, sends
the Black Rod for all the house of Commons to come to the bar of the
house of Lords; and then the speech being read by the Lord
Chancellor, he, by the King’s special command, pronounces the
Parliament prorogued or dissolved.
The Parliament was formerly dissolved at the death of the King; but
to prevent tumults and confusion, it is now expressly provided by a
solemn act, That a Parliament sitting, or in being at the King’s
demise, shall continue; and if not sitting shall meet expressly, for
keeping the peace of the realm, and preserving the succession. See
_House of_ LORDS.
COMPASS _alley_, Spitalfields market.*
COMPTER _alley_, near Compter court.
COMPTER _court_, near Tooley street.
COMPTER _lane_, St. Margaret’s hill.
COMPTERS, two prisons, for the confinement of all who are arrested
within the city and liberties; one in the Poultry, belonging to one
of the Sheriffs of London, and another in Wood street, Cheapside,
which belongs to the other Sheriff. Both these prisons are of the
same nature, and have the like officers, each being a place of
security both for debtors and criminals.
Under the Sheriffs there are the following officers in each Compter,
who give security to the Sheriff, for the faithful discharge of
their respective trusts.
I. The principal officer, next to the Sheriff, is the Secondary, who
returns writs, marks warrants, and impannels juries for the courts
both above and below, and also for the sessions.
II. The Clerk of the Papers: whose office is to impannel juries, for
the Sheriffs court; and who enters upon judgment, and makes out all
processes for the Sheriffs court.
III. Four Clerks Sitters, who enter actions, take bail, receive
verdicts after trial, &c.
IV. Sixteen Serjeants at mace, each of whom has his yeoman, or
follower. Their office is to arrest persons for debt, to execute all
processes, to serve writs, executions upon actions, and summonses
from above, as well as from the courts below. Each of these
serjeants give 400_l._ security to the Sheriff, for the due
execution of his office. Four of these serjeants, and as many yeomen
out of each Compter, wait upon their respective Sheriffs daily; and
during the time of sessions, double the number. At which time in the
morning they bring the prisoners down from Newgate to the sessions
house; put them in the dock; and after waiting all day, return the
prisoners back to the jail at night: they also attend at the
execution of prisoners. Upon their days of waiting, they always wear
blue cloth gowns, which are given them annually by the Sheriffs.
To each Compter also belong a Master keeper, two turnkeys, and other
servants.
The prisoners in the common side, in both Compters, receive daily
relief from the Sheriffs table, of all the broken meat and bread;
and there are also several benefactions made by charitable persons,
settled upon the Compters for their relief. _Maitland._
COMPTING HOUSE _court_, Christ’s hospital.
COMPTON _street_, 1. St. John’s street, near Clerkenwell.† 2. Soho.†
CONDUIT _alley_, Quakers street.
CONDUIT _close_, Phenix street.
CONDUIT _court_, Long Acre.
CONDUIT _street_, 1. New Bond street, runs from New Bond street
eastward to Swallow street. 2. Red Lion street, Holborn.
CONNOWAY’S _court_, Nightingale lane, in Limehouse.†
_Court of_ CONSCIENCE, also called the _Court of Requests_, was first
instituted in the reign of Henry VIII. by an act of Common Council,
for the recovery of small debts, under the value of 40_s._ and has
since been confirmed by several acts of parliament. It is of great
use to such poor debtors as are not able to pay their debts
immediately; and also of great benefit to such poor persons as have
small debts owing to them, and are unable to enter into a more
expensive suit. The Lord Mayor and court of Aldermen appoint monthly
such Aldermen and Commoners to sit as Commissioners in this court as
they think fit, and these, or any three of them, compose a court,
kept in Guildhall every Wednesday and Saturday, from eleven till two
o’clock, to hear and determine such causes as are brought before
them. They have the power of administering an oath to the creditor,
of examining witnesses, and of making such orders between the
plaintiff and defendant, the creditor and debtor, as they think most
agreeable to equity and conscience; and if the debtor be unable to
pay the whole sum at once, they appoint it to be paid monthly in
such proportions as they judge to be in his power; but if he
neglects paying monthly into court the small sums appointed, he may
be served with an execution, and carried to prison; or if the person
cannot be found, his goods may be seized.
A cause may be brought and determined in this court for the value of
10_d_. viz. 6_d_. for the plaint and summons, and 4_d_. for the
order; but if the defendant does not appear the second court day
after the summons, an attachment may be awarded against him.
If any citizen shall be arrested for a debt under 40_s._ this court
will grant a summons for the plaintiff in the action; and if he does
not appear on the first court day after the summons is left at his
house, the court will grant an attachment against him, force him to
take his debt, and pay the defendant his costs; and if any attorney
in London shall presume to proceed in any such suit, after notice to
the contrary, or shall refuse to obey the order of this court, upon
complaint thereof to the court of Aldermen, they will suspend such
person from his practice.
The fees taken by the clerks of the court of conscience at Guildhall
are as follow: For every plaint 2_d_. For every appearance 2_d_. For
every order 4_d_. For every remittance to the common law 4_d_. For
every precept or warrant to commit to prison 6_d_. For every search
2_d_. For every satisfaction acknowledged on an order 6_d_. For
warning any person within the liberties 6_d_. For serving any
precept or warrant 6_d_.
Besides the court of conscience held at Guildhall for the city,
there is one in Bedford court, near Covent garden; another in
Fulwood’s rents, High Holborn; another in St. Margaret’s hill,
Southwark; and another in Whitechapel.
_Court of_ CONSERVACY; a court held eight times in the year before the
Lord Mayor, at such places and times as his Lordship shall think
proper to appoint, within the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Kent and
Surry, in which several counties he has the power of summoning
juries, who, for the better preservation of the fishery of the
Thames, and the regulation of the fishermen, are upon oath to make
inquisition of all offences committed in and upon that river from
Staines bridge in the west, to Yenfleet in the east, and to present
all who are found guilty of a breach of certain articles, relating
to unlawful methods of fishing, and the destruction of the young
fry. See WATER BAILIFF.
CONSTABLE’S _alley_, Hoxton.†
CONEY _court_, Gray’s Inn.
COOKS, a company incorporated by Edward IV. in the year 1480, by which
patent every member of the company is to be presented to the Lord
Mayor, before he is admitted into the freedom. They have two
Masters, two Wardens, twenty-five Assistants, and seventy-eight
Liverymen, who upon their admission pay each a fine of 10_l._ They
have an old convenient hall in Aldersgate street.
COOK’S _alley_, Bedfordbury.†
COOK’S _court_, 1. Camomile street.† 2. Searle’s street.†
COOPERS, a company incorporated by letters patent granted by Henry
VII. in the year 1501; and in the succeeding reign impowered to
search and gauge all beer, ale, and soap vessels within the city of
London, and two miles round its suburbs, for which they were allowed
a farthing for each cask. They are governed by a Master, three
Wardens, and twenty Assistants, and have a livery of 244 of their
members, whose fine of admission is 15_l._ Their hall is in
Basinghall street. _Maitland._
COOPER’S _alley_, 1. Wapping dock.† 2. Whitechapel. 3. Whitecross
street, Cripplegate.†
COOPER’S _court_, 1. East Smithfield.† 2. Portpool lane.†
COOPER’S _rents_, East Smithfield.†
COOPER’S _square_, Goodman’s fields.
COOPER’S _yard_, 1. Lower Shadwell.† 2. Green Bank.† 3. Wapping.† 4.
Petticoat lane.†
_English_ COPPER OFFICE, in Bush lane, Canon street, belongs to a
company incorporated by letters patent of the third of William and
Mary in 1691, by the name of _The Governor and Company of Copper
Miners in England_; which was confirmed by Queen Anne in the year
1710; and by subsequent grants their power of working of mines was
extended to all parts of Ireland and New England.
This corporation consists of a Governor, Deputy Governor, and
eighteen Assistants. _Maitland._
COPPICE _row_, or CODPIECE _row_, Petty France, Westminster.
COPT HALL, the seat of John Conyers, Esq; is situated in Essex,
between Epping and the forest, and being built on an eminence above
Waltham Abbey, is seen at a great distance.
COPTHALL _court_, a very handsome well-built court in Throgmorton
street.
COPTICK’S _court_, Poppin’s alley, Fleet street.†
CORAL _court_, Near Southampton street, in the Strand.
CORBET’S _court_, 1. Brown’s lane, Spitalfields.† 2. Gracechurch
street.†
CORBET’S _yard_, Back street, Lambeth.†
CORDWAINERS, or SHOEMAKERS. This company was incorporated by letters
patent granted by King Henry IV. in the year 1410, by the name of
_Cordwainers and Coblers_, the latter of which names was then far
from being a despicable term, as it signified not only a shoemaker,
but a dealer in shoes; and it does not appear that the word
shoemaker was then in use.
Mr. Stow observes, that King Richard II. marrying the daughter of
Wenceslaus King of Bohemia, the English by her example wore long
peaked shoes tied to their knees with silk laces, or silver chains
gilt. This preposterous fashion occasioned the passing of an act of
parliament, in the reign of Edward IV. in which it was enacted, that
no cordwainer or cobler within the city of London, or three miles of
it, should make any shoes, galoshes or huseans, that is, boots or
buskins, with any pyke or poleyn, exceeding the length of two
inches, to be adjudged by the Wardens or Governors of the same
mystery in London: nor should they presume to sell, or put upon the
legs or feet of any person, any shoes, boots or buskins on Sundays,
or on the feasts of the nativity and ascension of our Lord, or on
_Corpus Christi_ day, on the penalty of paying twenty shillings for
each offence.
By a late charter, this company is stiled, _The Master, Wardens and
Commonalty of the mystery of Cordwainers of the city of London_.
They are governed by a Master, four Wardens, and sixteen Assistants,
and have 180 liverymen, whose fine on admission is 10_l._
CORDWAINERS _Hall_, is situated on the north side of Great Distaff
lane, and is a handsome brick building. The large hall is adorned
with the pictures of King William, and Queen Mary his consort.
CORDWAINERS _court_, Great Distaff lane.☐
CORDWAINERS STREET WARD, took its name from the employment of its
principal inhabitants, who were cordwainers, or shoemakers,
curriers, and other workers in leather. It is bounded on the north
by Cheap ward; on the west by Bread street ward; on the south by
Vintry ward, and on the east by Wallbrook ward.
The principal streets and lanes in this ward are, Bow lane, Queen
street, Budge row, Little St. Thomas Apostle’s, Pancrass lane, with
a small part of Watling street and Basing lane; and the most
remarkable buildings are the parish churches of St. Antholin, St.
Mary Aldermary, and St. Mary le Bow.
This ward has an Alderman, and nine Common Council men, fourteen
wardmote inquest men, eight scavengers, eight constables, and a
beadle. The jurymen returned by the wardmote inquest for this ward,
serve in the courts in Guildhall in the month of December.
_Maitland._
CORK _alley_, Turnmill street.
CORK _street_, Burlington Gardens.
CORKCUTTERS _alley_, Long ditch.
CORNER _court_, Spitalfields market.
CORN EXCHANGE, a very handsome building on the east side of Mark lane.
Next the street is an ascent of three steps to a range of eight
lofty Doric columns, those at the corners being coupled; between
them are iron rails, and three iron gates. These columns, with two
others on the inside, support a plain building two stories high,
which contains two coffee houses, to which there are ascents by a
flight of handsome stone steps on each hand underneath the edifice.
On entering the iron gates you pass by these steps into a small
square paved all over with broad stones; this is surrounded by a
colonade, composed of six columns on each side, and four at the
ends, reckoning the corners twice. Above the entablature is a
handsome balustrade surrounding the whole square, with an elegant
vase placed over each column. The space around within the colonade
is very broad, with sash windows on the top, to give the greater
light to the cornfactors who sit round the court below. Each has a
kind of desk before him, on which are several handfuls of corn, and
from these small samples, are every market day sold many thousand
quarters.
CORNHILL, extends from the end of Bishopsgate street to the Mansion
house.
CORNHILL WARD, is so called from the principal street in it, which was
named Cornhill from the corn market anciently kept there. This ward
is bounded on the north by Broad street ward; on the east by
Bishopsgate ward; on the south by Langborne ward; and on the west by
Cheap ward.
This ward contains only one principal street, which is Cornhill. Its
most remarkable buildings are, the Royal Exchange, and the parish
churches of St. Michael, and St. Peter.
It is governed by an Alderman and six Common Council men, including
the Deputy; to which are added, sixteen wardmote inquest men, four
scavengers, four constables, and a beadle. The jury returned by the
wardmote inquest serve in the several courts of Guildhall in the
month of January. _Maitland._
CORONER, an officer of great antiquity, who is to enquire into the
causes of all sudden deaths, where there is the least suspicion of
murder, and for that purpose he impannels a jury, to whom he gives a
charge, and takes evidence upon oath. The Lord Mayor for the time
being is coroner of the city; but he appoints a deputy for the
discharge of that office. The coroner’s jury have a right to examine
the body of the deceased, and to call in the assistance of
physicians or surgeons. They are to try the supposed murderer; and
if they acquit him of all guilt, and concern in the death of the
deceased, he is set at liberty; but if they find him guilty, their
sentence is not final; the supposed murderer being sent to prison to
take his trial at the Old Bailey. The coroner is likewise to enquire
into the escape of a murderer, and also concerning found treasure,
deodands, and wrecks at sea.
There are several other coroners, who hold courts out of the
liberties of the city, as for Westminster, the Tower Hamlets, &c.
CORONER’S _court_, Cross lane.
CORPORATION _lane_, Bridewell walk, Clerkenwell.
CORTEN’S _yard_, New North street.†
CORTES’S _gardens_, Shoreditch.†
COTE’S _yard_, Skinner street, Bishopsgate street without.†
COTTERELL’S _Almshouse_, situated in Chapel yard, Hog lane, Soho, was
endowed by Sir Charles Cotterell, with a perpetual annuity of 20_l._
a year, towards the support of eight poor women.
COTTON LIBRARY, consisting of a curious collection of valuable
manuscripts, relating to the antiquities of Great Britain and
Ireland, &c. was collected by that excellent antiquary Sir Robert
Cotton, who left it to his son Sir Thomas, and after his decease to
Sir John Cotton, his grandson, who giving it to the public, an act
of parliament was passed in the year 1701, for securing it, for the
benefit of the public. Pursuant to which the library, together with
the coins, medals and other rarities, were, upon the death of Sir
John Cotton, vested in trustees, who appointed a librarian, well
read in antiquities; but on the 23d of October 1731, this valuable
collection suffered greatly by fire; by which ninety nine volumes
were destroyed, and an hundred and eleven much damaged.
Before this misfortune, the Cotton library consisted of 958 volumes
of original charters, grants, instruments, registers of monasteries,
remains of Saxon laws; the letters of Sovereign Princes,
transactions between this and other kingdoms and states, the book of
Genesis, said to have been written by Origen, in the second century,
and to be the most ancient Greek copy extant; and the curious
Alexandrean manuscript of the Old and New Testament, in Greek
capitals, said to have been written in the third century.
For the care of this library, seven trustees were appointed, viz.
the Lord Chancellor, or Keeper, the Speaker of the house of Commons,
and the Lord Chief Justice of the court of King’s Bench, for the
time being; with four others, nominated by the heir male of the
Cotton family. The books were deposited in the Old Dormitory at
Westminster, but agreeably to a late act of parliament they are now
placed with Sir Hans Sloane’s Museum in Montague House, Bloomsbury.
See the article BRITISH MUSEUM.
COTTON’S _Wharf_, Bridge yard passage, Southwark.†
COVELY’S _alley_, Grey Eagle street, Spitalfields.†
COVENT GARDEN, received its name from its being formerly a garden
belonging to the Abbot and Monks of the convent of Westminster,
whence it was called Convent Garden, of which the present name is a
corruption. At the dissolution of religious houses it fell to the
Crown, and was given first to Edward Duke of Somerset; but soon
after, upon his attainder, it reverted again to the Crown, and
Edward VI. granted it in 1552 to John Earl of Bedford, together with
a field, named the Seven Acres, which being now built into a street,
is from its length called Long Acre.
Covent Garden would have been without dispute one of the finest
squares in Europe, had it been finished on the plan designed for it,
by that excellent architect Inigo Jones. The piazza is grand and
noble; besides the convenience of walking dry under it in wet
weather, the superstructure it supports is light and elegant. In the
middle is a handsome column supporting four sun dials, and on the
west side of the square, is the church, erected by Inigo Jones, and
esteemed by the best judges one of the most simple, and at the same
time most perfect pieces of architecture, that the art of man can
produce. But the market before it diminishes the beauty of the
square.
COVENT GARDEN _Church_, was erected in the year 1640, as a chapel of
ease to St. Martin’s in the Fields, at the expence of Francis Earl
of Bedford, for the convenience of his tenants, who were then vastly
increased.
This church is remarkable for its majestic simplicity, and the gates
on each side are suitable to the structure and very elegant. This
church never fails to attract the eye of the most incurious, and, as
we observed before, if Inigo Jones’s original design had been
compleated, it would have had a most noble effect.
[Illustration:
_Covent Garden._
]
In 1645, the precinct of Covent Garden was separated from St.
Martin’s, and constituted an independent parish, which was confirmed
after the restoration in 1660, by the appellation of St. Paul’s
Covent Garden, when the patronage was vested in the Earl of Bedford:
and as it escaped the fire in 1666, which did not reach so far, it
remains as it came from the hands of the great architect.
In the front is a plain, but noble portico of the Tuscan order,
executed in the most masterly manner; the columns are massy, and the
intercolumniation large, which has an air of noble simplicity, that
if compared with the most ornamented Gothic structures, shews the
superiority of the Roman architecture in its plainest form, over the
finest barbarism. The building, tho’ as plain as possible, is
happily proportioned; the walls are of brick covered with plaister,
and the corners of stone; the roof is flat, and though of great
extent, is supported by the walls alone, without columns. The
pavement is stone; the windows are of the Tuscan form like the
portico, and the altar piece is adorned with eight fluted columns of
the Corinthian order, painted in imitation of porphyry. But this by
some is thought a defect, the lightness of the altar piece in their
opinion giving the church an air of heaviness.
COVENT GARDEN _Market_, Covent Garden.
COVENTRY _court_, Coventry street.
COVENTRY _street_, Hay Market.
COVERLEAD _fields_ Spitalfields.
COULSDON, a village in Surry, near Croydon, which anciently belonged
to the abbey of Chertsey.
COUNCIL _Office_, in the Cock-pit. See the article PRIVY COUNCIL.
COUNSELLORS _alley_, Great Pearl street.
COUNTER _alley_, 1. Grocer’s alley, in the Poultry.☐ 2. Southwark.
COUNTER _lane_, St. Margaret’s hill.
COUNTINGHOUSE _yard_, Christ’s hospital.
COURTS. See the several courts held in London under their respective
names; those of the government, under the articles ADMIRALTY,
ARCHES, CHANCERY, COMMON PLEAS, DELEGATES, _Dutchy of_ LANCASTER,
KING’S BENCH, &c. and those of the corporation under the articles
CHAMBERLAIN, COMMON COUNCIL, CONSCIENCE, CONSERVACY, CORONER,
ESCHEATOR, HUSTINGS, &c.
COURT _street_, Whitechapel.
COUZEN’S _lane_, Thames street.†
COUZEN’S _rents_, Rosemary lane.†
COUZEN’S _yard_, Blue Anchor alley, Rosemary lane.†
COW _alley_, Freeschool street.*
COW _court_, 1. Jamaica street.* 2. Old street.* 3. Rotherhith wall.
COW _cross_, near West Smithfield.*
COW _lane_, 1. Cow yard, Artichoke lane.* 2. Liquorpond street,
Leather lane.* 3. New Gravel lane.* 4. Snow hill.* 5. Trinity
street, Rotherhith.*
COWDEN’S _rents_, Little Trinity lane.†
COWLEY _street_, by Wood street, Westminster.†
COWLEY’S _rents_, Long alley, Moorfields.†
COWLING _street_, behind the Abbey, Westminster.†
COWPER’S _bridge_, Old Horselydown.†
COWPER’S _court_, 1. East Smithfield.† 2. Portpool lane.†
COWPER’S _rents_, East Smithfield.†
COWPER’S _square_, Goodman’s fields.†
COX’S _alley_, Leather lane, Holborn.†
COX _hole_, Spring street.†
COX’S _court_. 1. Aldersgate street.† 2. Kent street.† 3. Shore
ditch.†
COX’S _entry_, Leather lane.†
COX’S _garden_, Wapping Wall.†
COX’S _key_, near Thames street.†
COX’S _key entry_, Thames street.†
COX’S _rents_, 1. St. Catharine’s.† Crow alley, Whitecross street.†
COX’S _square_, Spitalfields.†
COX’S _wharf_, Tooley street.†
COX’S _yard_, Pennington street.†
COXAN _court_, Dorset street, Shoreditch.†
CRAB _court_, 1. New Gravel lane. 2. Ratcliff Highway. 3. Woolpack
alley, Houndsditch.
CRABTREE _lane_, Castle street. ‡
CRABTREE _orchard_, Clare market.
CRACKBRAIN _court_, Rosemary lane.║