It is hoped that these _Stories of London_ will be specially interesting to the London child, but not to him alone. The story of London is central in the story of England, and appeals to the interest of every English-speaking child. SOPHIE BRYANT. {5} CONTENTS I. SOME VERY OLD STORIES II. WESTMINSTER ABBEY III. THE CHARTER HOUSE IV. TWO FAMOUS CHARITIES V. THE STORY AND THE HISTORY OF DICK WHITTINGTON VI. WHEN ELIZABETH WAS QUEEN VII. THE STORY OF ST. PAUL'S LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. AN OLD RIVER-WALL OR EMBANKMENT (CHELSEA) . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ 2. PART OF THE OLD BUILDINGS OF THE CHARTER HOUSE SCHOOL, ITS CHAPEL AND PLAYGROUND 3. WESTMINSTER ABBEY, THE TOMB OF EDWARD THE CONFESSOR 4. THE FIRST CORONATION IN THE ABBEY 5. A ROOM IN THE TOWER WHERE STATE PRISONERS WERE LODGED 6. SIR THOMAS MORE AND HIS DAUGHTER WATCH THE CARTHUSIAN PRIORS GOING AWAY TO DIE 7. OLD PENSIONERS AND SCHOOLBOYS IN THE CHARTER HOUSE CHAPEL 8. ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S CHURCH BEFORE IT WAS RESTORED 9. AN EXCITING GAME; OLD CHRIST'S HOSPITAL, LONDON 10. ENTRANCES OF THE OLD CHRIST'S HOSPITAL AND OF CHRIST'S CHURCH, LONDON 11. AN ARCH OF LONDON BRIDGE, TOWER BRIDGE IN THE DISTANCE 12. WHITTINGTON SETTING THE KING FREE FROM HIS GREAT DEBT 13. GREENWICH AS IT IS NOW 14. PLACENTIA, THE OLD PALACE AT GREENWICH 15. THE FIRE OF LONDON 16. ST. PAUL'S FROM THE RIVER _Sketch map of Norman London_ _Old St Paul's_ {6} ====================================================================== [Illustration: NO. 2. PART OF THE BUILDINGS OF THE OLD CHARTER HOUSE SCHOOL, ITS CHAPEL AND PLAYGROUND. (See p. 28)] ====================================================================== {7} STORIES OF LONDON I. SOME VERY OLD STORIES The first story of London should tell who built it, and when, and why. But London is old, very old; it began before its builders had even thought of making books, and so its earliest history is written in the ground on which it stands, in its hills and valleys, its rivers and river-beds; and this is a kind of history which, if only we know how to read it, always tells the truth. Perhaps you are saying to yourself, "There is only one river in London, and that is the Thames; and there are no hills,--London is flat; and as for the ground, who has seen the real ground on which London stands? Is it not all built over, or paved with wood or stones or cement? How, then, can we learn anything from it?" Sometimes old worn-out buildings have to be pulled down to their very foundations so that new houses may be put in their places, or a tube-railway or a tunnel has to be made, or gas-pipes or electric wires have to be laid under the roads;--have you not seen navvies digging deep into the earth to do all these things? Then the secret things hidden in the ground are brought to light, and they teach us something of the very old history of the land. {8}