We have the authority of Mrs. Piozzi, that Doctor Johnson's uncle, Andrew Johnson, "for a whole year kept the ring at Smithfield, where they wrestled and boxed, and never was thrown or conquered."

CHAPTER II.

THE CHARTER HOUSE.

Charter House Originally a Burial-ground Sir Walter de Manny Founds a Carthusian Monastery There - Dreadful Punishments Inflicted on the Carthusians by Henry the Eighth Charter House Purchased by Duke of Norfolk — Given to Earl of Suffolk - History of Sir Thomas Sutton, Founder of the Present Charter House - Scholars and Pensioners Old Court-room-Charter House Square.

THERE is perhaps no spot in London which has witnessed so much dreary horror as the ground occupied by the Charter House. Beneath and around us lie the remains of no fewer than one hundred thousand human beings, who fell victims. to the frightful plague, which devastated the metropolis in the reign of Edward the Third. "No Man's Land," as it was styled by our ancestors, bore a frightful reputation. Long after the earth had closed over the vast plague-pit, it was the custom to inter there all who had either perished on

It is to be noted, that above one hundred thousand bodies of Christian people had in that churchyard been buried; for the said knight (Sir Walter de Manny) had purchased that place for the burial of poor people, travellers, and other that were deceased, to remain for ever.

the gibbet or by their own hands. Their mutilated corpses, according to Stow, were conveyed hither with terrifying ceremony, "usually in a close cart, bailed over and covered with black, having a plain white cross thwarting; and at the fore end a St. John's cross without; and within a bell ringing by shaking of the cart, whereby the same might be heard when it passed; and this was called the friary cart, which belonged to St. John's, and had the privilege of sanctuary."

At the time of the great plague in the reign of Edward the Third, the ground on which the Charter House now stands consisted of open fields. Then it was [1348] that, in consequence of the ordinary London churchyards having been filled to overflowing by the victims of the pestilence, the ground was purchased from philanthropic motives by Ralph Stratford, Bishop of London, who surrounded it with a wall of brick, and built a chapel for the performance of the burial service over the dead. This immediate. spot was known by the name of Pardon Churchyard, a name which it continued to retain in the days of Stow. The chapel stood on the ground between the present north Iwall of the Charter House and Sutton Street.

There existed at that fearful period another beneficent philanthropist, to whom, in fact, we indirectly owe the present magnificent establishment, the Charter House. That person was Sir Walter de Manny, a native of Hainault and a Knight of

the Garter, a man not only endeared to his contemporaries by his singular virtues, but whose personal gallantry shone preeminent in every battle and tournament of that chivalrous age. As compassionate as he was brave, he not only during the raging of the pestilence added thirteen acres to the ground already purchased by Bishop Stratford, but subsequently perfected his pious work by founding and endowing on the spot a religious establishment, which survived till the dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry the Eighth.

In founding his new order, Sir Walter had the advice and experience of Simon Sudbury Bishop of London. It consisted of twenty-four Carthusian monks, who were formed into a branch of the Benedictines, originally established at Chartreux, in France, about the year 1080, an order principally distinguished by its austerity and self-denial. Hence the modern word, Charter House, is corrupted. Over their single undergarment, which was white, they wore a black cloak; no other covering being permitted them, even in winter, but a single blanket. With the exception of the prior and the proctor, they were confined entirely to the walls of the monastery. Even in the most inclement weather they were compelled to attend divine service in the middle of the night. Once a week they fasted on bread, salt, and water, and on no occasion were they allowed to eat meat, nor even fish, unless it were a free gift. When Shakespeare, in

"a

his play of "Henry the Eighth," speaks of " monk o' the Chartreux," he alludes to one of the fraternity of the ancient Charter House.

Sir Walter de Manny breathed his last in 1372, deeply and deservedly lamented. Froissart, indeed, tells us that "all the barons and knights of England were much affected at his death, on account of the loyalty and prudence they had always found in him." He was buried with great pomp in the chapel of the monastery of the Carthusians, his funeral being attended by the king in person, and by the principal nobles and prelates of the realm. By his own wish a tomb of alabaster was placed in the choir over his remains.

The Carthusians, from the time of the foundation till the extinction of their order, continued to be respected for their peaceful and exemplary lives; living entirely secluded from the vanities and temptations of the busy world around them, practising self-denial, and dispensing alms to the poor. Their virtues, however, availed them little against the grasping avarice of Henry the Eighth; and accordingly, at the dissolution of the religious houses, they received a visit from the king's commissioners, by whom they were formally required to withdraw their spiritual allegiance from the Pope, and to acknowledge the king's supremacy in the Church. In case of their submission, the prospect of honours and rewards was liberally held out to them; while, in case of obduracy, they