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A HISTORY of the origin of important edifices would make an amusing and far from uninstructive work. In the strange variety of human motives that such a history would exhibit it would be almost difficult to say whether the habitual satirizers, or the lovers of their species, would find most matter for gratification. Are we asked for illustrations? Why, look where you will, and they rise innumerable to the eye. Let us pause, for instance, one moment upon the bridge immortalised by Wordsworth as the spot on which one of the finest of his sonnets was composed, commencing

"Earth has not anything to show more fair,"

and, glancing over the scene it commemorates, notice the history of some of the most prominent of the buildings which line the shores of the river. First, there is the most magnificent of halls-that of Westminster; rich beyond expression with the historical memories attached to it: yet what was the original purpose of Westminster Hall? It was built by William Rufus to dine in! Farther on there is Somerset House, erected in a great measure from the plunder of some of the most ancient, and in every sense most sacred, edifices of the metropolis, such as the church of the ancient Knights of St. John of Jerusalem at Clerkenwell, and the cloisters and other portions of old St. Paul's, blown up with

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gunpowder for the purpose. Still farther distant, on the opposite side of the Thames, is the church of St. Mary Overies, founded, as we have already stated, by a ferryman's daughter, from the earnings of the ferry. Lastly, there is the Monument, the "tall bully " of Pope, of which we may say, with reference to the inscription first placed upon it ascribing the fire to the Papists, and with a slight alteration of the poet's words, it "lifted its head to lie. The origin of Lambeth Palace, as stated by Matthew Paris, and in the words of his translator, Stow, is still more curious, and presents us with an extraordinary view of an eminent churchman of the thirteenth century.

Boniface," saith Matthew Paris, "Archbishop of Canterbury, in his visitation came to this Priory [of St. Bartholomew, in Smithfield], where, being received with procession in the most solemn wise, he said that he passed not upon the honour, but came to visit them. To whom the canons answered, that they, having a learned bishop, ought not, in contempt of him, to be visited by any other. Which answer so much offended the Archbishop, that he forthwith fell on the Sub-Prior, and smote him on the face, saying, Indeed, indeed! doth it become you English traitors so to answer me? Thus raging, with oaths not to be recited, he rent in pieces the rich cope of the Sub-Prior, and trod it under his feet, and thrust him against a pillar of the chancel with such violence that he had almost killed him. But the canons, seeing their Sub-Prior thus almost slain, came and plucked off the Archbishop with such force that they overthrew him backwards, whereby they might see he was armed and prepared to fight. The Archbishop's men, seeing their master down, being all strangers, and their master's countrymen, born at Provence, fell upon the canons, beat them, tore them, and trod them under foot. At length the canons, getting away as well as they could, ran, bloody and miry, rent and torn, to the Bishop of London to complain; who bade them go to the King at Westminster, and tell him thereof. Whereupon four of them went thither; the rest were not able, they were so sore hurt. But when they came to Westminster the King would neither hear nor see them, so they returned without redress. In the mean season the whole city was in an uproar, and ready to have rung the common bell, and to have hewed the Archbishop into small pieces; who was secretly crept to Lambeth, where they sought him, and, not knowing him by sight, said to themselves, Where is that ruffian-that cruel smiter? He is no winner of souls, but an exacter of money, whom neither God nor any lawful or free election did bring to this promotion; but the King did unlawfully intrude him; being unlearned, a stranger born, and having a wife, &c. But the Archbishop conveyed himself over [to Westminster], and went to the King with a great complaint against the canons, whereas himself was guilty."* So the Archbishop from Lambeth boldly issued a sentence of excommunication against his opposers, satisfied that the King would support him in his violent tyranny. Another tribunal, however, was appealed to which had no particular prepossession for the Archbishop-the Pope; who commanded him by way of expiation to build a splendid mansion at Lambeth for the occupants of the see, in the room of the humble manorhouse that is supposed to have existed previously. Such was the origin of the first building erected at Lambeth expressly as the archiepiscopal seat. Of the p. 235.

*Stow, b. iii.

history of the place prior to this period there are but few recorded facts. The first positive evidence we have on the subject refers to the eleventh century, when the manor was possessed by Goda, wife to Walter Earl of Mantes, and subsequently to Eustace Earl of Boulogne; and who was also sister to Edward the Confessor. This Eustace was one of the Normans who came over to visit Edward, and who on his return, when within a mile of Dover, caused all his people to march in armed array through the town, and when there by their insolence so to exasperate the people of Dover that an affray took place, which ended in the death of nineteen of Eustace's attendants, and in his own hasty flight back towards the King at Gloucester. This little incident produced important consequences. The great Saxon Earl Godwin (Harold's father) defended the people of Dover from the vengeance meditated by the King, but in so doing brought on himself a sentence of banishment. Released from Godwin's control, Edward invited the Normans to his court in greater numbers than ever, and among them came William Duke of Normandy, the future conqueror of England, who then, it is said, obtained a promise of the crown after Edward's death, and who, at all events, it appears, from that time determined upon its acquisition. By this Earl of Boulogne the manor of Lambeth was bestowed on the see of Rochester; that nobleman reserving to himself the right of patronage to the church. After the Conquest William seized the manor and gave part of its lands to his brother Odo Bishop of Bayeux, but afterwards restored the whole to its former owners. In 'Domesday Book' we find it referred to as the manor of St. Mary, or Lanchei; and the following particulars of its state at that time are there recorded:"In demesne there are two carucates, and twelve villains, and twenty-six bordars, having four carucates. Here is a church, and nineteen burgesses in London, who pay a rent of thirty-six shillings; and here are three servants and sixteen acres of meadow, wood to feed three hogs," &c. During the reign of the Red King, some part of the revenues appear to have been appropriated to the maintenance of the monks of Rochester; in the charter of Gundolph, Bishop of that see, one thousand lampreys out of Lamhea (one of the old names for Lambeth) are assigned to their use; and his successor, Ernulph, ordained also that one salmon should be furnished to the convent, caught no doubt in the silvery waters of the Thames at Lambeth.

It was not until the reign of Richard I. that this manor of St. Mary's became the property and seat of the Archbishops of Canterbury; and the immediate cause of the change appears to have been, in some measure, the wish of the King to have the primate Baldwin near him. The latter consequently agreed with Glanville, Bishop of Rochester, in 1189, to exchange for a part of his court at Lambeth, on the Thames, the manor of Darent in Kent, with the church and chapel of Helles, and a sheep-walk, called Estmershe, in Clive or Cliff. Eight years later, by another exchange, the entire manor became the property of the Archbishops, with the exception of a small piece of land, on which the Bishops of Rochester erected a mansion for their use whenever they attended Parliament.* It was not * This edifice was long known by the name of Rochester Place. The last bishops of that see who inhabited it were Fisher and Hilsley; after their deaths it fell into the hands of Henry VIII., who exchanged it with Aldridge, Bishop of Carlisle, for certain houses in the Strand, when its name was changed to Carlisle House. The dirty lane known as Carlisle Lane now stands on the site; and it is said, in Herbert and Brayley's 'Lambeth Palace,' that the houses still belong to the see.

till some time after this that Lambeth became more than an occasional residence of the primates of England. The cause was as follows:

Hubert, the primate, jealous of the monks of Canterbury, and desirous to abridge their privileges, had determined to raise up against them a rival body, in the form of an establishment of canons regular, for whom he proceeded to erect a splendid edifice at Lambeth, with the approbation of the King, Richard I. This plan had originated with Archbishop Baldwin, who had intended to have reared his establishment at Hackington, near Canterbury. But as the monks of the latter place had successfully opposed this the first plan for their humiliation, so did they now bestir themselves to bring the second to a similar conclusion. There was one consideration in particular that appears to have strongly stimulated their zeal. The glory and the gain attached to the possession of the relics of St. Thomas à Becket were in danger; they had little doubt but that Hubert meant to remove them to the new establishment. They again appealed to the Pope, Innocent III., who warmly supported them, and directed a bull to the Archbishop, in 1198, commanding him in a very imperious style to desist. "It is not fit," said he, "that any man should have any authority who does not reverence and obey the apostolic see.” He then, in another bull, threatened the King for his contumacy in abetting Hubert; and, in a third mandate, declared he would not endure the least contempt of himself, or of God, whose place he held upon earth. "We will take care," he says, "so to punish both persons and lands without distinction that oppose our measures, as to show our determination to proceed prudently, and in a royal manner.” The royalty of this style strikes one rather more than its prudence; yet it achieved its object-the lion-hearted King and the rebellious Archbishop were both alarmed, and the rising edifice was at once destroyed. In disgust with this conclusion of the affair, the Archbishops thenceforward removed their chief residence from Canterbury to London. A more splendid house accordingly became desirable at Lambeth; and the brawl before referred to gave the Pope an admirable opportunity of imposing its erection on Boniface.

To enumerate merely in the driest manner all the important events that have taken place in Lambeth would inconveniently occupy our space, and to no useful purpose. Church councils of the highest interest in the history of their respective periods have been frequently held here; many of the most eminent prelates have been consecrated, amidst all the splendours of the old church ceremonies, in the ancient chapel; Kings and Queens, we were almost about to say, have been ordinary guests, so frequent have been their visits: for instance, there are no less than fifteen of Elizabeth's to Whitgift recorded. We omit, therefore, any particular notice of those incidents which have ceased to have a general interest, and may thus devote more attention to the remainder. One of the most interesting of these connected with the early history of Lambeth was the sitting of the council, in 1100, with Archbishop Anselm as president, to consider the legality of the proposed marriage of King Henry I. with Matilda, the daughter of Malcolm King of Scotland; an important proposition, as being one of the first proofs of any value given by the Norman conquerors of their desire to amalgamate Saxons and Normans into an English people. The circumstances on which the council had to deliberate were as peculiar as they were interesting.

Maude, or Matilda, was a descendant of the great Alfred, and, as she grew up, became an object of considerable rivalry among the Norman captains of Rufus. After the death of the latter, and the accession of Henry to the throne, she found a still nobler suitor at her feet-the King sought her as his wife. To his astonishment, however, she exhibited the most decided aversion to the match. The Saxons then appealed to her: "Oh, most noble and fair among women, if thou wilt, thou canst restore the ancient honour of England, and be a pledge of reconciliation and friendship; but if thou art obstinate in thy refusal the enmity between the two races will be everlasting, and the shedding of human blood know no end." She at last consented; and then the Normans interposed, who did not at all relish the idea of the equality between the races to which this match tended. They asserted that Maude was a nun, that she had worn the veil as the spouse of Christ, and therefore could now form no earthly alliance. Anselm, the kind and benevolent Archbishop, was much grieved to hear this, but at once declared that nothing could induce him to break so sacred a tie. He sent for her, however, possibly to Lambeth, to question her personally, when she denied the truth of the rumour. Her explanation gives us a melancholy proof of the treatment to which even high-born Saxon ladies were exposed. "I must confess," said she, "that I have sometimes appeared veiled; but listen to the cause. In my first youth, when I was living under her care, my aunt, to save me, as she said, from the lust of the Normans, who attacked all females, was accustomed to throw a piece of black stuff over my head, and when I refused to cover myself with it she treated me very roughly. In her presence I wore that covering, but as soon as she was out of sight I threw it on the ground, and trampled it under my feet in childish anger." Anselm then summoned the council we have mentioned, before which Matilda repeated her statement to the full satisfaction of the ecclesiastical authorities. Henry and she were married, and, although he was a most unfaithful husband, not the less did she think it her duty to be "a right loving and obedient wife." These qualities, added to her beautiful person, great charity, and her reputation as a lover of learning, confirmed the popularity which her Saxon blood had produced. Long after her death did the poor oppressed people speak with affectionate reverence of "Maude the Good." As we shall find a more convenient opportunity to notice the other historical memories of Lambeth Palace, let us now, as Pennant says, take our "accustomed walk" along the fine promenade which skirts the palace gardens, overshadowed with trees of the noblest growth (pity that it is so short!), towards the fine architectural group presented by the Palace Gateway and Lambeth Church.

Among the buildings enumerated in the steward's accounts of the palace, in the 15th year of Edward II., we find the "great gate" mentioned, which then admitted friends and repelled foes, in accordance with the double duties imposed upon those characteristic old piles. The present gateway, which for size and height has perhaps no existing rival, was rebuilt about 1490 by Cardinal Morton. The groined roof is very fine, the different portions of which it is composed springing from four pillars, one in each corner. A low doorway on the right leads through the porter's lodge to a room the original purpose of which there is little difficulty in discovering: three strong iron rings yet hang from the excessively thick walls, which have echoed with the sighs of hopeless prisoners, torn from their quiet

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