probably the chief reasons for the indignation expressed by the Londoners at the treatment of their bishop. They may have liked Wycliffe much, but they hated Lancaster more, and an opportunity soon occurred which enabled them to manifest their resentment against Lord Percy and the Duke. The former, as Lord Marshal, had illegally, and in defiance of privilege, caused a popular citizen, one John de la Mere, to be arrested and imprisoned in the Marshalsea; whereupon a number of riotous Londoners went to the Marshal's house, and, not finding him there, partly pulled down the building. Remembering that they also had a score to settle with the Duke of Lancaster, the Lord Marshal's friend, they returned across the river, and hurried along Fleet Street to the Duke's palace of the Savoy, in which they fancied that the Marshal had taken refuge. Here they demanded that he should be given up; and an unfortunate priest coming out to remonstrate with them, and indiscreetly saying that the man who had been imprisoned was a traitor, the mob declared that the priest was the Lord Marshal in disguise, and summarily knocked him on the head and killed him.

A report of the violence of the rioters reached the Bishop of London, who went forth with his attendants, and by earnest entreaty and persuasion induced the mob to refrain from further depredations; but they had been ready for any mischief, and probably were glad of an excuse to attack the Duke of Lancaster. They had already begun to demolish his

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palace of the Savoy, to make havoc of its fine rooms, its costly library, and stately furniture, the Duke himself being out dining in the City. They gained little by their violence, however, though the riot was so alarming that an insurrection was feared, and the commotion reached to the very doors of Parliament. One of the last audiences given by the great Edward III. was at his palace at Shene, to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London, who were persuaded by the Princess of Wales, widow of the Black Prince, to submit themselves to the Duke, and to crave pardon for their grievous offence. The citizens were enjoined to choose another mayor and aldermen; but the opposition to the Duke of Lancaster continued to be manifested. On the death of Edward, a deputation of the wealthiest and most powerful of the City magnates rode over to the old royal palace at Kennington to visit the widow of the late Prince of Wales and her son Richard, who resided there.

The boy was not yet eleven years old, and his personal beauty was the boast of the Londoners, who were ready to worship him because of the memory of his father. John of Gaunt, therefore, who was rightly or wrongly supposed to be ready to supplant him, was more unpopular than ever, and neither he nor any of his brothers (the late king's sons) were made regents, or placed by the barons among the twelve permanent councillors.

The Duke took matters calmly enough, and retired to his castle at Kenilworth, and then, as

I.J

PIRACY AS A DIVERSION.

39

titular King of Castile, got together a fleet and did a little piracy and filibustering on the English coast. But we are drifting more than a cable's length from the Highway of Letters, the fashionable resort at the western end of the City.

LYDGATE CONTEMPLATING THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE. (From Richard Pynson's edition of "The Fall of Princes," 1513.)

CHAPTER II.

The Strand-Char-Ing Cross-Wycliffe's Writings-The Translation of the Bible--Effect on Letters-" Vox Clamantis "-Langland "Piers Plowman "-Papal Authority-Wat Tyler-Insurgents in Fleet Street-Wreck of the Temple Buildings-Ruin of the Savoy--The "Moral Gower"-The "Philosophical Strode "Gower and the Young King-"Confessio Amantis "-Henry of Lancaster-Gibbet and Stake in Fleet Street-St. Dunstan'sWhite Friars-Conduits-Fewter Lane-John Lydgate-Revival of English Literature- Occleve-Pecock-Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester-Outdoor Sports-Football in Fleet Street-Shire Lane The Maypole near Temple Bar-"London Lyckpenny" -John Harding-Thomas Fabyan-John Shirley.

BEYOND the Temple were the palace of the Savoy and mansions, which stood on the north bank or strand of the Thames, their fronts to the river, and their pleasant gardens leading to the water gates and landing stages, where state barges and galleys, with gilt and

II.] ALONG FLEET STREET TO CHAR-ING.

41

carven prows and gorgeous canopies, waited for the rowers to convey bishops and nobles along the silent. highway to Westminster, Lambhithe, Bridewell, Belinsgate, or the Tower. On the north side of the Strand, beyond Temple Bar, nearly all was open country when Edward the First set up the cross to mark the last spot at which the body of his beloved Queen, Eleanor, rested on the funeral journey from Waltham Abbey to Westminster. The place then named Charing was not even a village, but a meadow. Char-Ing means Char Meadow, and the name remained when it became a small village in the midst of open fields. Perhaps it was a field or meadow in which wood was burnt in pits to convert it into char-coal for fuel. It is certainly not derived from "Chère Reine," as some romancists would have us believe, for it was named Char-Ing at an earlier period than that of the death of Eleanor.

What an interesting train must have passed along Fleet Street on that slow sad journey! There was no regular causeway, no road divided from the foot-way in Fleet Street, except, perhaps, by a few rough wooden posts. In the Strand the horse-road was worse than any now to be seen in England, nor was there any great improvement made for many years afterwards.

Fleet Street and its vicinity had shown credentials for being called "the Highway of Letters" before Wycliffe and his companions disappeared from the scene. The great reformer had begun to write pamphlets, commentaries, and tracts, in English instead of