The Course of the Fleet is nearly run, but, before closing this
account of the river, we should not forget the residence of the mighty
King-maker, the Earl of Warwick, whose pleasant gardens ran down to
the Fleet; and there, in Warwick Lane, after the great Fire, was
built the College of Physicians, described thus by Dr. Garth, in his
"Dispensary":--
"Not far from that most celebrated Place,
Where angry Justice shews her awful Face;
Where little Villains must submit to Fate,
That great ones may enjoy the World in State,
There stands a Dome, majestick to the sight,
And sumptuous Arches bear its oval height;
A golden Globe plac'd high with artful skill,
Seems, to the distant sight, a gilded Pill."
Here they were housed until 1825, and, from the Fleet, could be seen
the Apothecaries' Hall, in Water Lane, Blackfriars,
"Nigh where _Fleet Ditch_ descends in sable Streams
To wash his sooty _Naiads_ in the _Thames_;
There stands a Structure on a Rising Hill,
Where _Tyro's_ take their Freedom out to Kill."
Then there was the Monastery of the Dominicans, or Blackfriars, which
has given its name to a whole district; and there was a fortification,
or postern, on the little river, near Ludgate Hill; and, close to its
junction with the Thames, was Bridewell Bridge, so called from the
Royal Palace of that name, which, in its turn, received its cognomen
from another well, which went to form the "River of Wells," St.
Bridget's or Bride's Well. This bridge is shown in the frontispiece,
and was necessarily made very high in order to allow sailing craft to
go under it.
It was here that Pope, in his "Dunciad" (book ii.), thus sings:
"This labour past, by Bridewell all descend,
(As morning pray'r, and flagellation end)
To where Fleet-ditch with disemboguing streams
Rolls the large tribute of dead dogs to Thames,
The King of Dykes! than whom, no sluice of mud,
With deeper sable blots the silver flood.
'Here strip, my children! here at once leap in,
Here prove who best can dash thro' thick and thin.'"[76]
Ward bursts into song over Bridewell, thus:--
"'Twas once the Palace of a Prince,
If we may Books Confide in;
But given was, by him long since,
For Vagrants to Reside in."
[Illustration: BRIDEWELL BRIDGE.]
The Royal Palace of Bridewell stood on the site of the Castle of
Montfichet, who is believed to have come over with William the
Conqueror. Tradition assigns it a still earlier date, even Roman, but
then, I don't say there was not a Roman fortress here, but I cannot say
there was. Certainly Cardinal Wolsey lived here, and Henry VIII. held
occasional Court.
Strype, in his edition of Stow (1720) says that after the destruction
of Montfichet Castle and its Stone being given away:--
"This Tower or Castle being thus destroyed, stood, as it may
seem, in Place where now standeth the House called _Bridewell_.
For, notwithstanding the Destruction of the said Castle or
Tower, the House remained large, so that the Kings of this
Realm long after were lodged there and kept their Courts. For,
in the Ninth Year of _Henry_ the Third, the Courts of Law,
and Justice were kept in the King's House, wheresoever he was
lodged, and not else where. And that the Kings have been lodged,
and kept their Law Courts in this Place, I could shew you many
Authorities of Record....
"More, (as _Matthew Paris_ hath) about the Year 1210, King
_John_, in the Twelfth Year of his Reign, summoned a Parliament
at _S. Brides_ in _London_; where he exacted of the Clergy, and
Religious Persons the Sum of One Hundred Thousand Pounds; And
besides all this, the _White Monks_ were compelled to cancel
their Privileges, and to pay £4000 to the King, &c. This House
of _S. Brides_ (of later Time) being left, and not used by the
Kings, fell to Ruin; insomuch that the very Platform thereof
remained (for great part) waste, and as it were, but a Lay
Stall of Filth and Rubbish, only a fair Well remained there.
A great part whereof, namely, on the _West_, as hath been
said, was given to the Bishop of _Salisbury_; the other Part
toward the _East_ remained waste, until King _Henry_ the Eighth
builded a stately and beautiful House, thereupon, giving it to
Name, _Bridewell_, of the Parish and Well there. This House he
purposely builded for the Entertainment of the Emperor _Charles_
the Fifth;[77] who in the Year 1522 came into this City....
Being in Decay, and long disused, King Edward VI. gave it to the
City in the Seventh[78] Year of his Reign.
"It is seated near to _Blackfriars_; from which it is severed
by the Canal of the _Fleet-ditch_. It was obtained of the
King at first for an Harbour of poor Harbourless People, that
lay abroad in the Streets. It was soon after improved to be a
Workhouse, not only to give Lodging to poor, idle, wandring
Persons, Beggars, and others; but to find them Work, to help to
maintain themselves. But tho' this was granted in the Year 1553,
yet it seems, it was not before Two Years after, that the City
entred and took possession of it by _Gerard_ their Maior, having
obtained Queen _Mary's_ Confirmation.
"In the time of Queen _Elizabeth_, about the Year 1570 and
odd, one _John Pain_, a Citizen, invented a Mill to grind
Corn; which he got recommended to the Lord Maior, for the Use
of _Bridewell_. This Mill had Two Conveniences: One was, That
it would grind a greater Quantity considerably than any other
Mills of that Sort could do. And the other (which would render
it so useful to _Bridewell_) was, That the Lame, either in Arms
or Legs, might work at it, if they had but the Use of either.
And, accordingly, these Mills were termed _Hand-Mills_ or
_Foot-Mills_.
"This Mill he shewed to the Lord Maior, who saw it grind as much
Corn with the Labour of Two Men, as they did then at _Bridewell_
with Ten. That is to say, Two Men with Hands, two Bushels the
Hour; or Two Men with Feet, two Bushels the Hour. If they were
Lame in their Arms, then they might earn their Livings with
their Legs. If Lame in their Legs, then they might earn their
Livings with their Arms."
--This, perhaps, is the earliest mention of the treadmill, as a
punishment.
Still quoting Strype, (same edition):
"The Use of this Hospital now is for an House of Correction, and to
be a Place where all Strumpets, Night-walkers, Pickpockets, vagrant
and idle Persons, that are taken up for their ill Lives, as also
incorrigible and disobedient Servants, are committed by the Mayor and
Aldermen, who are Justices of the Peace within the said City; And
being so committed are forced to beat Hemp in publick View, with due
Correction of whipping, according to their Offence, for such a Time as
the President and Court shall see Cause."
Bridewell is well shown by Hogarth in the fourth picture of the
"Harlot's progress," where both men and women are seen "beetling"
hemp.[79]
In a very rare tract called "Mr. William Fullers Trip to Bridewell"
(1703) he gives a fairly graphic description of a prisoner's entry
therein. "As soon as I came there, the Word was _Strip, pull off your
Cloaths_, and with much intreaty, I prevail'd to keep on my Westcoat;
then I was set to a Block, a punny of Hemp was laid thereon, and _Ralph
Cumpton_ (a Journy Man in the Shop) presented me with a Beatle, bidding
me knock the Hemp with that, as fast as I could. This Beatle is of
Brazel,[80] and weigh'd about 12 pounds."
Previously to this, poor Fuller had to stand twice in the pillory, on
one of which occasions he was nearly killed by the mob, and when taken
to Bridewell, all black and blue as he was, he had a whipping:--"My
Hands were put in the Stocks, and then Mr. _Hemings_ the Whipper, began
to noint me with his Instrument, that had, I believe, about a dozen
Strings notted at the end, and with that I had Thirty Nine Stripes (so
that according to a certain Almanack Maker, who reckoned Dr. _Oates's_
Stripes by every String, I had twelve times Thirty Nine). I had given
the Rascal Half a Crown, but he afforded me very little favour, but
struck home at every stroak; I confess I could not forbear bawling
out, but good Sir _Robert_[81] knockt at last, and I was let out of the
Stocks."
The prisoners, if they chose, could find their own food, but they were
kept strictly at work as is quaintly put by Fuller--
"I had, in each Shop, the Thieves for my Fellow-labourers, and the
Journeymen, our Deputy Task Masters, were frequently calling to the
Prisoners, _Why don't you Work there, strike hard_: Then threaten,
and sometimes beat them with a small Cane. These Task-masters are so
accustomed to keeping their Prisoners hard at Work, that I have heard
themselves say, they have, frequently, (forgetting themselves) called
out, when they had no Prisoner in the Shop, as before, _Why don't you
work there_."
Ward (in the "London Spy") gives an almost too graphic account of this
prison, but expresses unmitigated disgust at the whipping of women,
which took place there, and solemnly protested against its continuance.
His description of a woman being flogged, is as follows:--
"My Friend Re-conducted me back into the first Quadrangle,
and led me up a pair of Stairs into a Spacious Chamber, where
the Court was sitting in great Grandeur and Order. A Grave
Gentleman, whose Awful Looks bespoke him some Honourable
Citizen, was mounted in the Judgement-Seat, Arm'd with a Hammer,
like a _Change-Broker_ at _Lloyd's Coffee House_, when selling
Goods by Inch of Candle, and a Woman under the Lash in the
next Room; where Folding doors were open'd, that the whole
Court might see the Punishment Inflicted; at last down went the
Hammer, and the Scourging ceas'd.... Another Accusation being
then deliver'd by a Flat-Cap against a poor Wench, who having
no Friend to speak in her behalf, Proclamation was made, _viz.
All you who are willing E----th T----ll, should have present
Punishment, pray hold up your hands._ Which was done accordingly:
[Illustration: WOMEN BEATING HEMP.]
And then she was order'd the Civility of the House, and was
forc'd to shew her tender Back and Breasts to the Grave Sages of
the August Assembly, who were mov'd by her Modest Mein, together
with the whiteness of her Skin, to give her but a gentle
Correction."
John Howard, in his "State of the Prisons in England and Wales" (ed.
1777) gives the following description of Bridewell:--
"This building was formerly a Palace, near St. Bridget's (St. Bride's)
Well; from whence it had the name; which, after it became a Prison,
was applied to other Prisons of the same sort. It was given to the
City by King Edward VI. in 1552.
"That part of Bridewell which relates to my subject has wards for men
and women quite separate.[82] The men's ward on the ground floor, is a
day room in which they beat hemp; and a night room over it. One of the
upper chambers is fitting up for an Infirmary.--The woman's ward is
a day room on the ground floor, in which they beat hemp; and a night
room over it. I was told that the chamber above this is to be fitted
up for an Infirmary. The sick, have, hitherto, been commonly sent to
St. Bartholomew's Hospital. All the Prisoners are kept within doors.
"The women's rooms are large, and have opposite windows, for fresh
air. Their Ward, as well as the men's, has plenty of water: and there
is a Hand-Ventilator on the outside, with a tube to each room of the
women's ward. This is of great service, when the rooms are crowded
with Prisoners, and the weather is warm.
[Illustration: PASS ROOM, BRIDEWELL, 1808.]
"The Prisoners are employed by a Hemp dresser, who has the profit
of their labour, an apartment in the Prison, and a salary of £14.
I generally found them at work: they are provided for, so as to be
able to perform it. The hours of work are, in winter, from eight to
four; in summer from six to six, deducting meal times. The Steward
is allowed eightpence a day for the maintenance of each Prisoner;
and contracts to supply them as follows:--On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday
and Thursday, a penny loaf, ten ounces of dressed beef without bone,
broth, and three pints of ten shilling beer; on Wednesday, Friday, and
Saturday, a penny loaf, four ounces of cheese, or some butter, a pint
of milk pottage, and three pints of ten shilling beer.... In winter
they have some firing. The night rooms are supplied with straw. No
other Prison in _London_ has any straw, or other bedding.... I found
there in 1776:--
March 13. Prisoners 20
May 1. " 7
Dec. 3. " 24."
It continued as a House of Correction for the City of London until its
abolition, with other Civic prisons by an Act of 40 and 41 Vict. cap.
21, entitled "An Act to amend the Law relating to Prisons in England."
But there was an exception made in its favour, and it still remains
a House of Correction in a mild way--thanks to the very kindly and
fatherly wishes and representations of the Civic Authorities.
The good old days of Apprenticing boys to some craft for seven years,
during which he was to serve his master faithfully, and in return, was
to be housed, fed, and taught his business, have all but passed away,
but not quite. There are still some refractory apprentices, as there
ever have been. We know the common saying of "Boys will be boys,"
which is applied in mitigation of juvenile indiscretion, but there is
also another apothegm, "Little boys, when they are naughty, must be
smacked, and sent to bed." Bridewell has always been a place where idle
or refractory City apprentices have had the opportunity of pondering
over the errors of their ways, and in passing this Act, a special
exemption was made, and there still exist six cells, which, I am sorry
to say, are frequently occupied by erring youths. It is all done in
the kindest, and most fatherly way. The City Chamberlain from the time
of the Indentures of the lad being signed, to giving him his Freedom,
acts as his guardian, to a great extent. Has the lad any complaint
to make against his master it is to the Chamberlain he must appeal,
and _vice versâ_. The Cause is heard _in camerâ_, and every effort is
made to reconcile the parties, but, as will sometimes happen with a
boy who is obstinate, sullen, or vicious, all attempts to bring him
to a better sense fail, then the Chamberlain, by virtue of his office
commits the boy to Bridewell, where he eats the bread, and drinks the
water, of affliction for a while, a treatment, which combined with
the confinement, hard work, and enforced sequestration from society,
largely aided by the good advice of the Chaplain, very seldom fails
to effect its object, and render that lad a decent member of the
commonweal. It just arrests him in his downward path, there is no
publicity, the thing is never chronicled in any Newspaper, as it might
be, supposing no Bridewell existed, and the case was brought before a
police magistrate--it need never be known outside his family circle,
and he escapes the taint of being a gaol bird.
Bridewell seems to have been long associated with apprentices, not all
of them "_Thomas Idles_," I am happy to say; and Hatton in "The New
View of London" (1708) writes, showing the tender care that the City of
London have always had for their poor:
"It is also an Hospital for Indigent Persons, and where 20
Art Masters (as they are called) being decayed Traders as
Shoemakers, Taylors, Flax-dressers, &c., have Houses, and their
Servants, or Apprentices (being about 140 in all) have Cloaths
at the House Charge, and their Masters having the Profit of
their Work do often advance by this means their own Fortunes,
and these Boys, having served their time faithfully, have not
only their Freedom, but also £10 each towards carrying on their
respective Trades, and many have even arrived from nothing to be
Governors."
This arrangement has, of course, had to "march with the times," and in
1860 the Master of the Rolls approved of, and sanctioned, a scheme of
the Charity Commissioners, whereby nearly all the funds appertaining
to Bridewell are utilized by two industrial schools called "King
Edward's Schools," most impartially divided--one at Witley, in Surrey,
affording accommodation for two hundred and forty boys, and another in
St. George's Fields, Lambeth, for two hundred and forty girls; so that,
even in these latter days, Bridewell still exists, and, if the spirits
of its numerous benefactors have the power to see the manner in which
their money is being spent, I fancy they would not grumble.
Before leaving the topic of Bridewell, as a prison, I must not fail to
mention a notorious, but naughty, old woman who lived in the time of
Charles II., commonly known as "Old Mother Cresswell." It is no slander
on her memory, to say that her sense of morality was exceedingly lax,
and she died in Bridewell. She evidently had saved some money, and with
that curious spirit which possesses some people, and produces adulatory
epitaphs, she would fain be better thought of after her death, than
she was estimated when alive, for, in her will, she left a legacy for
a sermon at her funeral, the preacher's remuneration to be £10, on one
condition, that he should say nothing but what was _well_ of her. A
clergyman having been found, he preached a sermon generally adapted to
the occasion, and wound up by saying: "By the will of the deceased, it
is expected that I should mention her, and say nothing but what was
_well_ of her. All that I shall say of her, however, is this: she was
born _well_, she lived _well_, and she died _well_; for she was born
with the name of Cress_well_, she lived in Clerken_well_, and she died
in Bride_well_."
There was a fine old Court-room, which is thus described in the
"Microcosm of London" (1808):
"The Court-room is an interesting piece of antiquity, as on its site
were held courts of justice, and probably _parliaments_, under our
early kings. At the upper end are the old arms of England; and it
is wainscotted with English Oak, ornamented with Carved work. This
Oak was formerly of the solemn colour which it attains by age, and
was relieved by the carving being gilt. It must have been no small
effort of _ingenuity_ to destroy at one stroke all this venerable,
time-honoured grandeur: it was, however, _happily_ achieved, by
daubing over with paint the fine veins and polish of the old oak,
to make a bad imitation of the pale modern wainscot; and other
decorations are added in similar _taste_.
"On the upper part of the walls are the names, in gold letters, of
benefactors to the hospital: the dates commence with 1565, and end
with 1713. This is said to have been the Court in which the sentence
of divorce was pronounced against Catherine of Arragon, which had been
concluded on in the opposite monastery of the Black Friars.
"From this room is the entrance into the hall, which is a very noble
one: at the upper end is a picture by Holbein,[83] representing Edward
VI. delivering the Charter of the hospital to Sir George Barnes,
then Lord Mayor; near him are William, Earl of Pembroke, and Thomas
Goodrich, Bishop of Ely. There are ten figures in the picture, besides
the king, whose portrait is painted with great truth and feeling: it
displays all that languor and debility which mark an approaching
dissolution, and which, unhappily, followed so soon after, together
with that of the painter; so that it has been sometimes doubted
whether the picture was really painted by Holbein--his portrait,
however, is introduced; it is the furthest figure in the corner on
the right hand, looking over the shoulders of the persons before him.
"On one side of this picture is a portrait of Charles II. sitting,
and, on the other, that of James II. standing; they are both painted
by Sir Peter Lely. Round the room are several portraits of the
Presidents and different benefactors, ending with that of Sir Richard
Carr Glyn. The walls of this room are covered with the names of those
who have been friends to the institution, written in letters of gold."
This Hall was pulled down in 1862.
[Footnote 76: See next page.]
[Footnote 77: Of Spain.]
[Footnote 78: A.D. 1553.]
[Footnote 79: A Beetle is a portion of a trunk of a tree, large
or small as occasion demanded, sometimes more than one man
could lift, _vide_ Shakspeare (2 _Hen. IV._ act i. sc. 2),
"Fillip me with a three-man beetle," _i.e._, one with three
handles. All exogenous fibres have to be crushed, in order to
release the fibre from the wooden core, and this, which is now
done by machinery, was then done by beetles, or wooden
hammers.]
[Footnote 80: Brazil wood.]
[Footnote 81: Sir Robert Jeffries the President and Justice at
Bridewell, when he knocked with a hammer the punishment
ceased.]
[Footnote 82: In Hogarth's picture both men and women are
working together.]
[Footnote 83: The writer is in error, as the event it
represents took place some ten years after Holbein's death. The
picture is now in Christ's Hospital.]
[Illustration]