and neglect of timely reparations, are at present, and for some years past have been, so miry and foul as is not only very noisome, dangerous, and inconvenient to the inhabitants thereabout, but to all the king's liege people riding and traveling to and from the said cities." The following "common highways and new-built streets" are particularly ordered to be immediately repaired, new-paved, or otherwise amended, namely, "the street or way from the end of Petty France to St. James's House, and one other street from St. James's House up to the Highway (the present St. James's-street), and one other street in St. James's Fields, commonly called the Pall Mall, and also one other street beginning from the Mews up to Piccadilly (the present Haymarket), and from thence toward the Stone Bridge to the furthermost building near the Bull, at the corner of Air-street." The number of hackneycoaches now allowed to be licensed, it appears from another clause of the act, was four hundred, or one hundred more than in 1654.1 Another clause, on the ground that "great quantities of seacoal ashes, dust, dirt, and other filth, of late times have been and daily are thrown into the streets, lanes, and alleys" of the capital, directs the inhabitants to sweep the streets before their respective houses twice a-week, under a penalty of 3s. 4d. for every instance of neglect. Every person whose house fronted the street was also ordered to "hang out candles or lights in lanterns or otherwise in some part of his house next the street" every night, between Michaelmas and Lady-day, from dark until nine o'clock in the evening, under the penalty of 1s. So that at this time the streets of London were not lighted at all during the summer months, and not after nine o'clock even in winter. Finally, a list is given of streets which the lord mayor and city authorities are authorized to receive subscriptions for repairing, as being "so narrow that they are incommodious to coaches, carts, and passengers, and prejudicial to commerce and trading :" these were, "the street or passage at or near the Stocks in London, the street and passage from Fleet Conduit to St. Paul's Church in London, the passage through the White Hart Inn from the Strand into Covent Garden, the street and passage by and near Exeter House and the Savoy (being obstructed by See ante, p. 537. a rail and the unevenness of the ground thereabout), the passage and street of St. Martin's-lane out of the Strand, the passage or street of Field-lane, commonly called Jack-an-apes-lane, going between Chancery-lane and Lincoln's Inn Fields, the passage and gatehouse of Cheapside into St. Paul's Church-yard, the passage against St. Dunstan's Church in the west (being obstructed by a wall), the street and passage by and near the west end of the Poultry in London, and the passage at Temple Bar." After the great fire, in 1666, various additional streets in the part of the city that had to be rebuilt were ordered to be widened by two other acts (the 18 and 19 Car. II., c. 8, s. 21, 22; and the 22 Car. II., c. 11, s. 1). This terrible visitation, and the pestilence by which it was preceded, instead of half destroying and depopulating the metropolis, only gave a new impulse to its increase both in size and in number of inhabitants. After a few years the portion of it that had been laid waste rose again from its ruins greatly improved in many respects-with the old, narrow. and crooked streets for the most part straightened and made comparatively spacious and airy, and with the substitution everywhere of houses of brick, separated by substantial party-walls, for the former tenements of wood that offered one continued dry forest to whatever chance spark might at any time fall among them. New buildings also continued to in after the Restoration, and a new gold and silver coinage immediately struck, similar to that of the preceding reign. In this first coinage of Charles II. the pieces were formed by the ancient method of hammering; the minters who had been employed in coining Cromwell's milled money having, it is supposed, withdrawn or concealed themselves, in apprehension of punishment, and probably also carried their machinery away with them. Milled money, however, was again coined in 1662, and of a sort superior to any that had as yet been pro duced, having graining or letters upon the rim, an improvement which had not appeared upon the milled money either of Queen Elizabeth or of Charles I. The new gold coin called the guinea was first struck in 1662, without graining on the rim, and with graining in 1664. It was so called as being made of gold brought from Guinea by the African Company, who, as an encouragement to them to bring over gold to be coined, were permitted by their charter to have their stamp of an elephant impressed upon whatever pieces should be struck from the metal they imported. On all the English money of Charles II., coined after 1662, spread faster than ever beyond the ancient limits. In 1674 an order in council was issued to restrain such extension-for the last time, it is believed, that that exercise of the prerogative was attempted. The increase of the west end continued to proceed at so great a rate that, in the first year of the next reign (1685), acts of parliament were passed erecting two new parishes in that quarter: the one, that of St. Anne's, Westminster, consisting principally of streets that had recently been erected on a piece of ground formerly called Kemp's Field; the other, that of St. James's, Westminster, comprehending Jermyn-street and other neighboring streets, lately erected on what used to be called St. James's Fields. Both these districts had been till now included in the parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Sir William Petty, we may observe, in his Political Arithmetic, published in 1687, estimates the population of London at 696,000. He founds his calculation on the number of burials within the bills of mortality, the annual average of which he makes to be 23,212; and on the assumption that one person in every thirty died in the course of the year. Ten years later, Gregory King, calculating from the number of houses as ascertained from the hearthmoney returns, made the population of London to amount only to about 530,000. This estimate is probably as much too low as that of Petty may be too high. The money of the Commonwealth was all called GUINEA. CHARLES II. got into circulation. In 1684, the last year of his reign, Charles coined farthings of tin, with only a bit of copper in the middle. The figure, still retained, of Britannia sitting on a globe, holding in her right hand an olive-branch, and in her left a spear and shield, first appears on the copper coinage of this reign-having been modeled, it is said, after the celebrated court beauty, Miss Stewart, afterward Duchess of Richmond. his head is made to look to the left, being the op- | called in after only a very small portion of it had posite 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 ways on their respective coinages. Private halfpence and farthings of copper and brass, such as were formerly common,' had again come into use in the time of the Commonwealth; and they continued to circulate after the Restoration till they were supplanted by an issue of the same descriptions of money from the Royal Mint in 1672 -a previous coinage of the year 1665 having been 1 See ante, p. 539. The money of James II. is of the same kind with that of his brother. His only farthings and halfpence, like those struck by Charles in the last year of his reign, are of tin, with a bit of copper in the | land about the close of the period; and for the center. After his abdication he coined money in introduction of this improvement in the art of Ireland out of old brass guns and kitchen utensils, paper-making we were probably indebted to the and attempted to make it current as sterling silver. refugees. The manufacture of glass was also greatAfterward even the brass failed, and he was obliged ly improved by foreign artisans whom the Duke of to fabricate crowns, halfcrowns, shillings, and six- Buckingham brought from Venice about 1670. pences out of pewter. HALFPENNY. JAMES II. With a view to extend the woolen-cloth manufacture the great staple of the country-the exportation of wool and all materials used in scouring wool continued to be prohibited during the whole of the period. A singular law was passed in 1666 (the 18 Car. II., c. 4) for the encouragement of the woolen manufacture, by which it was directed that no person should be buried in any sort of grave-dress not entirely composed of wool, under a penalty of five pounds, to be paid to the poor of the parish; and this having been found inadequate, another was passed in 1678 (the 30 Car. II., c. 3), which required persons in holy orders to take an affidavit in every case from a relative of the deceased, at the time of the interment, showing that the statute had been observed. In 1666 a person from the Netherlands came over with several of his countrymen, and set up an establishment for dyeing and dressing white woolen cloths, in which we had been surpassed by foreigners. About the same time, or perhaps a few years afterward, an improved weaving-machine, called the Dutch loom, was brought into England from Holland.1 The most important circumstances that occurred during the present period which materially affected the progress of the useful arts was the revocation of the edict of Nantes, by Louis XIV., in 1685,' which compelled many thousands of French artisans to seek refuge in England. A numerous body of these emigrants settled in Spitalfields as silk-weavers; and their superior taste, skill, and ingenuity were displayed in the richness and variety of the silks, brocades, satins, and lutestrings which the 1 The following extract, from a work published in 1677, will perhaps looms of England soon afterward produced. Fine be interesting to those who have a technical knowledge of the wooleu paper for writing, which had been formerly import- manufacture: Every 2 lbs. of wool, which is worth about 20d., will ed, chiefly from France, was manufactured in Eng-worth about 3s. 4d., will make a yard of broadcloth worth about 11s. 1 See ante, p. 763. make a yard of kersey worth about 5s. or 6s.; and every 4 lbs. of wool," or 12s."-Ancient Trades Decayed. Guernsey and Jersey, with the other Channel | trade. About 1680 it is noticed that there had Islands, were partially exempted from an act pass-been "engines of late invented that do weave only ed in 1660, prohibiting the exportation of wool from narrow ribands;" but these were of such inferior England, being allowed to receive under license quality that none but hawkers and pedlers would 3300 tods of uncombed wool, the weight of each tod have any thing to do with them. not to exceed thirty-two pounds. The manufacture of stockings and hosiery, for which these islands have since been celebrated, soon became very flourishing; and it is said that those engaged in this branch of industry in other parts of England, particularly in Somersetshire, complained of the privileges their competitors enjoyed in being allowed to import wool in the raw state. By an act passed in 1662 the importation of foreign bone-lace, cut-work, embroidery, fringe, bandstrings, buttons, and needle-work was prohibited, on the ground that many persons obtained a living in England by making these articles, in which they used a large quantity of silk. In the metallic manufactures we have to notice the introduction of the art of tinning plate-iron from Germany, by Andrew Yarranton, an ingenious man who was sent over by a company to learn the process. He brought some German workmen back with him, and the manufacture was proceeding very successfully, when, as it is stated, a person enjoying favor at court having made himself acquainted with Yarranton's process, obtained a patent, and the first undertakers were obliged to abandon their enterprise. The first wire-mill in England is said to have been erected during this period by a Dutchman, at Sheen (Richmond), in Surrey. A yellow metal resembling gold was also made for the first time. The inventor being under the patron In 1666 an act was passed for encouraging the manufacture and making of linen cloth and tapestry, and extraordinary encouragement was offered to those who set up the trade of hemp-dressing, or any others connected with the manufacture of linen. Foreigners, after being engaged in these trades for the space of three years, were to be considered as natural-born subjects on taking the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. In 1669 certain French Protestants settled at Ipswich, and manufactured fine linens, which were sold as high as 15s. an ell. During the present period the manufacture of linens, introduced by the Scotch into the north of Ireland, was gradually rising into import-age of Prince Rupert (Duke of Cumberland), the ance. The printing of calicoes was commenced in London in 1676, in imitation of the fabrics of India, which were now in very general use. A writer of the day remarks that, "instead of green say, that was wont to be used for children's frocks, is now used painted and Indian and striped calico, and instead of a perpetuano or a shallon to line men's coats with, is used sometimes a glazed calico, which, in the whole, is not 12d. cheaper and abundantly worse." 2 London continued to be almost the only place in which the silk manufacture was carried on, though a writer in 1678 observes that there was to be found here and there a silk-weaver (of late years) in small cities and market-towns." In reply to a petition of the weavers, complaining of the importation of silk goods from India, the East India Company put forth a statement, in 1681, showing that since they had begun importing raw silk the manufacture in England had increased three fourths. By an act passed in 1662, silk-throwsters were required to serve an apprenticeship of seven years to their 2 Ancient Trades Decayed. 115 Car. II., c. 15. name given to this material was "prince's metal," by which name it is still known. A floating-machine, worked by horses, for towing large ships against wind and tide, and a diving-machine, were among the mechanical inventions which obtained Prince Rupert's patronage. The latter was soon turned to profitable account, Sir William Phipps employing it in bringing up treasure from a Spanish ship which had been lost in the West Indies. Since the cities and incorporated towns had been gradually losing their exclusive privileges, the number of persons living by trade and industry had greatly increased. During the present period complaints are made of "petty shopkeepers living in country villages ;" and it is stated by one writer that "now, in every country village where is, it may be, not above ten houses, there is a shopkeeper, and one that never served an apprenticeship to a shopkeeping trade whatsoever." They are described as "not dealers in pins only," but as carrying on a good trade. The "ruin" of cities and market-towns was predicted from this cause. THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND THE FINE ARTS. HE age of the Civil War and of the Commonwealth does not present an absolute blank in the history of our highest literature; but, unless we accept the Areopagitica of Milton, the Liberty of Prophesying, and a few other controversial or theological treatises of Jeremy Taylor, and the successive apocalypses of the imperturbable dreamer of Norwich,' 1 See ante, p 596. no work of genius of the first class appeared in England in the twenty years from the meeting of the Long Parliament to the Restoration, and the literary productions having any enduring life in them at all that are to be assigned to that space make but a very scanty sprinkling. It was a time when men wrote and thought as they acted, merely for the passing moment. The unprinted plays of Beaumont and Fletcher, indeed, were now sent to the press, as well as other dramatic works written in the last age, the theaters, by which they used to be published in another way, being shut up—a significant intimation, rather than any thing else, that the great age of the drama was at an end. A new play continued to drop occasionally from the commonplace pen of Shirley-almost the solitary successor of the Shakspeares, the Fletchers, the Jon |