THE ROYAL ROAD LIBRARY MAGIC LONDON THE ROYAL ROAD LIBRARY _THE CARL EWALD BOOKS_ Translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos 1. TWO-LEGS 2. THE OLD WILLOW TREE AND OTHER STORIES 6. THE POND _THE NETTA SYRETT BOOKS_ 3. TOBY AND THE ODD BEASTS 4. RACHEL AND THE SEVEN WONDERS 8. MAGIC LONDON _THE W. H. KOEBEL BOOKS_ 5. THE BUTTERFLIES’ DAY 7. THE PAGEANT OF THE FLOWERS [Illustration: THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON] MAGIC LONDON BY NETTA SYRETT ILLUSTRATED BY HELEN JACOBS [Illustration] THORNTON BUTTERWORTH L^{TD} 15 BEDFORD S^{T.} STRAND, LONDON W.C.2 _Published 1922._ TO THE LITTLE CITIZENS OF LONDON THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED May they find a “Godmother” who will take them to all the places visited by Betty, so that, like her, they may discover they are really living in a Magic City. CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I MAGIC LONDON 13 Roman London A Fairy Tale Museum II THE MIDDLE AGES 43 The London of Dick Whittington III IN TUDOR DAYS 81 The London of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth IV THE RESTORATION 117 The London of Charles II and of Mr. Samuel Pepys V THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 145 The London of the Georges and of Dr. Johnson LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Great Fire of London (Colour) _Frontispiece_ She was beginning to think she liked her _Facing page_ 14 godmother The Slave Market (Colour) " " 24 Canterbury Pilgrims (Colour) " " 72 The Royal Barge (Colour) " " 104 Charles I " " 124 The King entered, leading the Queen by the hand " " 130 A Sedan Chair (Colour) " " 160 I Magic London All her life up to the time she was eleven years old, Betty had heard about, but never seen, her godmother. The reason for this, was that until a year ago, Betty’s home had been far away in the country, while Godmother Strangeways lived in London. Then, just when the child’s father and mother moved to town, Godmother decided to travel abroad. So it happened that Betty had been more than a year in London before she met the old lady who afterwards made such a difference in her life. She never forgot the first day she met her. “Your godmother has come back,” said her mother one morning at breakfast time, as with a curious smile she passed a letter to her husband. “Has she? Oh, I do want to see her!” exclaimed Betty. “Well, you will. She wants you to spend the day with her to-morrow.” “Aren’t you and Dad coming too?”