The Express.
London, England, 1848-01-22 00:00:00

Matters were coming to extremity when the Lora
Mayor wrote to the company that " continipt of
the Lord Treasurer's authority might he attended link
serious omasequenom," and advised a compromise. The cam.
petty gave Ludy Harper 661. 13s. 4.1. to give up p,,eseeik.
and let the house to Richard Oftly for 21 years, at 131, 64
more rent and 4101. fine.
The precepts of Queen Elizabeth to the City, requiting
them to lend money "to her grace's use, by way of lune for
a certeyn time, to be certeynly repaid againe," was not ma
only mode her virtuous Majesty made use of to obtain matey
from her loving subjects. In the year 1567, borrowing.'
hint from continental governments, Elizabeth introduced
lotteries; and precepts were ordered by the court to be seat
by the Lord Mayor to the different companies, "ethernet
them to adventure some reasonable sum towards the peedeg
meat of the same." As the payments' of the prizes, emi
when gained, were not, however, particularly speedy, Uwe
lotteries were not very popular, and in lo&s, when this eon.
pane were called on to " adventure" something a wow
time, they resolved that they would appoint " twenty
sons to see that no man should be defrauded of what zing' bt
6 fall to his lot." The c3mpanies at this time adopted mourn
and emblems of distinction at the drawing. The Membeat
Tailors' motto, on this occasion, was somewhat significant of
their distrust :

One eyrie In the hand Is worth two hi the wood;
If we get the great lot, it will do as good.
All the City companies were called upon to furnish a peel
quota towards the force raised to meet the Spanish -
'sent. E ,rly in 1588 there is a precept from the Lord Xa"
yo;
to the Merchant Tailors ordering then' to find 3.1 well.
men ; and soon after the defeat of the Armada, the go
went having determined to increase the naval fora of the
country, the City were ordered to provide " six shyppeed
war and one pynane," and subsequently " twelve 'hypes
and one thousand men," to which the Merchant Tailors w-
taxed, in the first instance, 2961.10 a, and in the secoud,l3oe,
The pageants which had taxed the company so heavily is
Elizabeth's reign were occasionally repeated in that of lute
successor on the throne. Great preparations were made by
the Merchant Tailors on the occasion of the visit of.faxnealf.
to the City, in March 1603. The annals of the compuft ars
not very explicit about this pageant, modern truuereben
being apparently in doubt whether the occasion was the
arrival or the coronation of James. The fact, however
that in consequence of the plague prevailing in ion in
the early part of James's reign, has visit to the City wu
postponed, and there was not the usual Tower procession
the occasion of the coronation. That which took place aft:.
School was wasall a:
wards, and in lieu of it, was exeesdingly grand, Six
I arches of triumph were erected, of great height
and magnitude, adorned with columns, status),
rial bearings, and devices. These arches were reepse.
lively Fenchurch-street, Gmcechurchstrect, at tee
Royal Exchange, above the conduit in Chepe, alone the
conduit in Fleet-street, and at Temple-bar. The last wu
em rivererethroanntt oTfaillan n,
90 feet high by 50 broad, but the first, called " Loodisium,"
was the mart superb, it being arranged at the top to present
churches and public buildings minutely detailed. On this
aoccPeasrfieocnt arnec.xlhollaorfofththe
pointed to address the king.
Another great City pageant in this reign was on the
arrival of Christian IV., King of Denmark, the queen's
brother, who " made a royal passage through the Citty,"
But the great fdte day of the Merchant Tailors was the 16th
of July, 1607, when Kine Jamie himself paid theme visit,
" when his majesties and Prince Henry, being accompanied
and attended by very many of the nobilitie, were very
royally and joyfully feasted and entertained." The armee«
merits of the music, speeches, &c., were placed on this occuion
under the direction of the famous " Mr. Benjamyn lumen,
the poet," who did no discredit to the company s selection.
It was on this occasion, as history records, that the national
anthem, " God Save the King, "was first produced under the
direction of its author, Dr. John Bull; 'circumstance which
in itself confers celebrity on the feast. Oa this occasion the
King was shown a " role" wherein were registered the names
of seven kings, one queen, seventeen princes and dukes, two
duchesses, one archbishop, thirty-one eerie, five counts se,
one viscount, fourteen bishops, sixty-six barons, two ladies,
seven abbots, seven friars, and one sub-dean, who had beat
free of the company. His Majesty very graciously as
the list, and " sayed that he turnselfe was free
of another companie, yet he would ro much grace
the Merchant Taylors that the prince, his eldest wane,
should be free thereof." The consequences of this gracious
visit were not, however, so pleasant as the visit itself. They
are set forth in the following minute
" Aug. 8. The company, falling into consultation, and
reckoning of the great charges of this entertainment
(amounting to above 1,0001.), and the same being all to be
disbursed out of the common stock, the master and wardens
to be called on to subscribe."
However the different companies may have acquired pro-
perty, the Commonwealth was a period when all alike were
called upon to sacrifice it. King and parliament both plun-
dered the citizens under the guise of law. Charles made his
first demand upon the City in 1640, under pretext of pro.
riding for the euppert of the army against the malcontents
in Scotland, and the Merchant Tailors on that ocese:ea
agreed " to provide and pay into the Exchequer the sum ei
5,0001.," as their share of the loan. Two years after the
parliament raised a loan for the City " for the relief and
preservation of Ireland," and the Merchant Tailors were
again assessed at 5,0001. towards that payment. In the same
year the company were required to provide for the safety
and defence of the City, and they retained a goodly supply
of powder and arms in store, the former in their games,
and the latter in their armoury. The company at this time
are also recorded to have received a precept from the Lord
Mayor to provide " an engine for quenching of fires, if any
should happen in the Citty." Shortly after, the parlim
meet called upon them to make a periodical weekly
payment for support of their troops; a matter which
caused great dissatisfaction. Nor was this the only cause of
complaint—commissioners were sent into the City, with
orders to deface everything " superstitious ;" and decora-
tions which had been preseraed through the troubles of the
reformation were now destroyed or despoiled as ungodly.
By this body the hangings in the Merchant Tailors' Hall,
Instrative of the history of St. John the Baptist, were mom
demned as offensive, and the master and wardens wen
ordered to " view the same, and take order for reform, if
there was any excess." owever, the companies still con-
tinued to preserve some influence, and in certain cases to re-
ceive marks of special favour from the rulers of the nation.
There is a remarkable instance of this in the history of the
Merchant Tailors. Fairfax, having filled the metropolis
with troops on the occasion of the King's execution, used the
halls of the companies, together with the churches s, as bar-
racks for his soldiery. The Merchant Tailors remon-
strated, and tke Quartermaster-Geueral Grosvenor, being a
member of this company, they succeeded in getting the
soldiery removed by a warrant issued " from his lodginp
in Queen-street," under Fairtax's own hand and seal. la
1640, there is record of the new arms of the state and corm
monwealth being put up in the hall, and of the late kim's
arms being taken down and destroyed, together with his
pictures.
The civic companies generally took a prominent part in
the rejoicings which followed the Restoration, but the re-
cords of such festivities are eclipsed by those of the calamity
which befel them so shortly after an the fire which consumed
their property, in common with that of their fellow-citizens
generally. Merchant Tailors' Hall shared the general de-
struction. It appears that all their plate was melted,• for,
as soon as the ruins were sufficiently cool to be explored, the
wardens collected precious metals, amounting in weight to
no less than 2001., which they immediately sold, in order to
raise funds for rebuilding their hall. This edifice does not
appear to have been re-opened until Lord Mayor's Day,
1671. The house property of the company which wu de
strayed appears to have been rebuilt by -the tenants, for a
committee was appointed to " agree with those whose houses
were burned, either by addition of years or otherwise, for
rebuilding the same." Most of these houses arose, incon-
sequence of the liberal terms offered, in a form much su-
perior to that they presented before the conflagration.
The attempt of Charles and James 11. to infringe the
privileges of the City—an attempt which was so stoutly re-
mated by some, and which contributed so much to the dis-
satisfaction which caused the revolution—led the Merchant
Tailor", with one or two other companies, to place themselves
in a somewhat unenviable and contemptible poeition. No
sooner was the charter of the City declared forfeited, and a
quo warrant() issued against the companies, with a view to
the forfeiture of their charters, than the Court of Merchant
Tailors, after debate, agreed that an instrument of surrender
should pass their common seal, to be presented to his Ma-
jeety with a petition in order to obviate his displeasure in
the prosecution of the writ, and to obtain his grace in favour
of the renewal of the ancient charters, rights, and privileges
of the company. The petition referred to was most set-
vile. The company stated that, " having great cause
to fear that they were under his Majesty's displeasure,
than which nothing in the world would be more grievous or
troublesome to them, they humbly prostrated themselves at
his Majesty's feet, begging his Majesty's most gracious par-
don, and in all humility beseeching his Majesty to be gra-
ciously pleased to accept the surrender of theft charter, most
humbly imploring a re-grant of the same, with such re
Deviations and restrictions as his Majesty in his great wisdom
should be pleased to think fit." A body of men whe could
present such a petition scarcely des reed a new charter et
all ; but on the 16th May, 16.94, such charter was granted
them, upon which they absolutely were so servile est* unsiii-
mously vote that the whole of the court should wait upon
his Majesty with an humble address, to give his Majesty'
thanks; and also to wait on the illustrious prince, James,
Duke of York. The king, however, not desiring to see theta,
sent Judge Jeffries to tell them that he would excuse ai
r
attendance, r
attendance, whereupon, "after waiting on td lo
chief justice to the hall-gate," the court sat and ordered a
present of plate to be presented to his lordship, to the value
of 1001., for the great and eztraortiinary honour he hail been
pleased that day to confer on them
e! As a furthering Ja mark of
their satisfaction, the company agreed to put mes
ll.'e statue, by Gibbons, in the Royal Exchange.
The Merchant Tailors, although restored with the other
companies to all the privileges of their ancient charter, upoa
the accession of William and Mary, never seem entirely to
have got over the influence of this unfortunate incident in
their history. Their annals f; em the commencement of the
18th century to the present time are of very little interest;
perhaps the most important occurrence of which they can
boast is the investiture of the Duke of Wellington with their
freedom in 1815, when a most magnificent entertainment
was given at their hall. The guests on this occasion included
three royal dukes—York, Kent, and Sussex, the Lord Chan.
cellor, the Lord Chief Justice and other judges, the Lord
Mayor, &c.
The many members of renown who have belonged to the
fraternity have already been spoken of. There are one
or two others, however, who deserve particular mention.
The famous Sir John Hawkwood was one of the earliest
members of the company. He was born at Sible Reding-
hem in Essex, and bound apprentice to a tailor in London,
but passed into the army, and distinguished himself as a
soldier of fortune in the wars of Edward 111. Ile stab-
uquently passed into Italy, where he found sicserce tint
he
in
the army of the Duke of whose nears' dgr