But Then This Must Be Remembered, Lisbon Contains A Great
Quantity Of Arable And Waste Ground Within Its Walls, Whereas London
Is One Continued Pile Of Buildings.
The city gates are at this day
eight, besides posterns, viz.:
1. Aldgate, or Ealdgate, in the east, is of great antiquity, even
as old as the days of King Edgar, who mentions it in a charter to
the knights of Knighton-Guild. Upon the top of it, to the eastward,
is placed a golden sphere; and on the upper battlements, the figures
of two soldiers as sentinels: beneath, in a large square, King
James I. is represented standing in gilt armour, at whose feet are a
lion and unicorn, both couchant, the first the supporter of England,
and the other for Scotland. On the west side of the gate is the
figure of Fortune, finely gilded and carved, with a prosperous sail
over her head, standing on a globe, overlooking the city. Beneath
it is the King's arms, with the usual motto, Dieu et mon droit, and
under it, Vivat rex. A little lower, on one side, is the figure of
a woman, being the emblem of peace, with a dove in one hand, and a
gilded wreath or garland in the other; and on the other side is the
figure of charity, with a child at her breast, and another in her
hand; and over the arch of the gate is this inscription, viz.,
Senatus populusque Londinensis fecit, 1609, and under it, Humphrey
Weld, Mayor, in whose mayoralty it was finished.
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Words from 1540 to 1817
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