When London Burned : a Story of Restoration Times and the Great Fire by G. A. Henty (top 10 most read books in the world txt) π
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- Author: G. A. Henty
Read book online Β«When London Burned : a Story of Restoration Times and the Great Fire by G. A. Henty (top 10 most read books in the world txt) πΒ». Author - G. A. Henty
WHEN LONDON BURNED
CONTENTS
PREFACE
WHEN LONDON BURNED
CHAPTER I β FATHERLESS
CHAPTER II β A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
CHAPTER III β A THIEF SOMEWHERE
CHAPTER IV β CAPTURED
CHAPTER V β KIDNAPPED
CHAPTER VI β A NARROW ESCAPE
CHAPTER VII β SAVED FROM A VILLAIN
CHAPTER VIII β THE CAPTAIN'S YARN
CHAPTER IX β THE FIRE IN THE SAVOY
CHAPTER X β HOW JOHN WILKES FOUGHT THE DUTCH
CHAPTER XI β PRINCE RUPERT
CHAPTER XII β NEW FRIENDS
CHAPTER XIII β THE BATTLE OF LOWESTOFT
CHAPTER XIV β HONOURABLE SCARS
CHAPTER XV β THE PLAGUE
CHAPTER XVI β FATHER AND SON
CHAPTER XVII β SMITTEN DOWN
CHAPTER XVIII β A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE
CHAPTER XIX β TAKING POSSESSION
CHAPTER XX β THE FIGHT OFF DUNKIRK
CHAPTER XXI β LONDON IN FLAMES
CHAPTER XXII β AFTER THE FIRE
PREFACE
We are accustomed to regard the Reign of Charles II. as one of the most inglorious periods of English History; but this was far from being the case. It is true that the extravagance and profligacy of the Court were carried to a point unknown before or since, forming,βby the indignation they excited among the people at large,βthe main cause of the overthrow of the House of Stuart. But, on the other hand, the nation made extraordinary advances in commerce and wealth, while the valour of our sailors was as conspicuous under the Dukes of York and Albemarle, Prince Rupert and the Earl of Sandwich, as it had been under Blake himself, and their victories resulted in transferring the commercial as well as the naval supremacy of Holland to this country. In spite of the cruel blows inflicted on the well-being of the country, alike by the extravagance of the Court, the badness of the Government, the Great Plague, and the destruction of London by fire, an extraordinary extension of our trade occurred during the reign of Charles II. Such a period, therefore, although its brilliancy was marred by dark shadows, cannot be considered as an inglorious epoch. It was ennobled by the bravery of our sailors, by the fearlessness with which the coalition of France with Holland was faced, and by the spirit of enterprise with which our merchants and traders seized the opportunity, and, in spite of national misfortunes, raised England in the course of a few years to the rank of the greatest commercial power in the world.
G. A. HENTY.
WHEN LONDON BURNED
CHAPTER I β FATHERLESS
Lad stood looking out of the dormer window in a scantily furnished attic in the high-pitched roof of a house in Holborn, in September 1664. Numbers of persons were traversing the street below, many of them going out through the bars, fifty yards away, into the fields beyond, where some sports were being held that morning, while country people were coming in with their baskets from the villages of Highgate and Hampstead, Tyburn and Bayswater. But the lad noted nothing that was going on; his eyes were filled with tears, and his thoughts were in the little room behind him; for here, coffined in readiness for burial, lay the body of his father.
Sir Aubrey Shenstone had not been a good father in any sense of the word. He had not been harsh or cruel, but he had altogether neglected his son. Beyond the virtues of loyalty and courage, he possessed few others. He had fought, as a young man, for Charles, and even among the Cavaliers who rode behind Prince Rupert was noted for reckless bravery. When, on the fatal field of Worcester, the last hopes of the Royalists were crushed, he had effected his escape to France and taken up his abode at Dunkirk. His estates had been forfeited; and after spending the proceeds of his wife's jewels and those he had carried about with him in case fortune went against the cause for which he fought, he sank lower and lower, and had for years lived on the scanty pension allowed by Louis to the King and his adherents.
Sir Aubrey had been one of the wild, reckless spirits whose conduct did much towards setting the people of England against the cause of Charles. He gambled and drank, interlarded his conversation with oaths, and despised as well as hated the Puritans against whom he fought. Misfortune did not improve him; he still drank when he had money to do so, gambled for small sums in low taverns with men of his own kind, and quarrelled and fought on the smallest provocation. Had it not been for his son he would have taken service in the army of some foreign Power; but he could not take the child about with him, nor could he leave it behind.
Sir Aubrey was not altogether without good points. He would divide his last crown with a comrade poorer than himself. In the worst of times he was as cheerful as when money was plentiful, making a joke of his necessities and keeping a brave face to the world.
Wholly neglected by his father, who spent the greater portion of his time abroad, Cyril would have fared badly indeed had it not been for the kindness of Lady Parton, the wife of
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