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tion, to form themselves into societies, at
certain alehouses, which, from the vessels
out of which they drank, were denomi-
nated mughouses, at each of which were
deposited a great number of cudgels. At
this the rabble were so exasperated, that
many thousands of them assembled, and
attacking one of those houses in Salisbury
court, Fleet street, the landlord, in de-
fending his property, killed one of the as-
sailants; but this did not prevent their
rifling the house, before they could be
dispersed. However, several rioters being
taken, they were soon after tried, when
five of them were condemned and exe-
cuted at the end of Salisbury court;
which put an effectual stop to all tumul-
tuous practices for many years.
It is observable, that in 1716, by a long
dry season, the river Thames was reduced
so low, that by a violent storm of wind at
west south west, it was blown so dry, dur-
ing the recess of the tide, that many thou-
sands of people passed it on foot, both
above and below bridge, and walked thro'
most of the arches.
The year 1720 will be ever famous in
this city, for the destructive South Sea
scheme, by which many thousands of the
wealthy citizens and others were impo-
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verished, while others acquired immense
riches. See SOUTH SEA COMPANY.
The year 1733 was rendered memora-
ble by the effectual opposition made by the
citizens against a scheme for a general
excise.
In 1734, two spacious arches, ten feet
high and six wide, were erected as a
common sewer over the Fleet ditch, from
Holborn to the end of Fleet street; and
a neat market house being since erected
in the same place, by the name of Fleet
market, was opened in the year 1737;
and the next year the buildings and sheds
of Stocks market, at the end of the
Poultry, were cleared away, in order to
lay the foundation of a mansion house for
the Lord Mayor, which was afterwards
erected. See MANSION HOUSE.
The present reign is indeed rendered
remarkable by the multitude of magnifi-
cent buildings, fine streets, and spacious
squares, that have been added, and still
are adding to this metropolis. A taste
for elegance in architecture, and a desire
to improve and adorn the city, have pro-
duced one of the finest bridges in the
world at Westminster; have caused Lon-
don bridge to be stripped of its ruinous
buildings that encumbered the passage,
and will soon render it as commodious
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