Page 103 [103]
wea GROWTH OF THE CITY SI
and the fine priories of St. Helen and the Holy Trinity by Aldgate.
St. Paul’s was intact, except that the tower had lost its lofty spire, and
at least one hundred parish churches still existed. Stow, counting
Westminster, makes them one hundred and twenty-three. Smith,
another authority of the same period, says London “hath 108 parish
churches within the walles.” After Stow’s time we have the domestic
life of the citizens delightfully described in words by Pepys, and by
Hollar in prints and
views, and can form a
clear estimate of the ls Se aa ie wes
changes wrought by the 335
fire. Population had
immensely increased,
and the city had grown
more unwholesome in
proportion. The plague
claimed its. victims
every year. Had they
but known it, the
citizens had the remedy
at their doors. The
fresh, clean water of the
New River had been
brought in by Sir Hugh
Myddelton as far back
as 1620, but was uni¬
versally neglected in
favour of the Thames,
the churchyard springs,
and the private wells.
M