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 A HISTORY OF LONDON Council] ; this was accordingly done.^'" All the altars in Westminster Abbey were taken down in April 1561.- On 4 June there was a tremendous thunderstorm in London ; the roof of St. Paul's was set on fire by the lightning and completely destroyed, together with the steeple, the bells falling down into the church ' where the great organs stood.' ^'^ St. Martin's Ludgate was also struck.- The repair of the cathedral was at once decided upon,^'* service being held meanwhile in the church of St. Gregory by St. Paul's.^'" The ' long roofs ' were rebuilt in the course of a year at a cost of nearly ^^6,000, but the two ' cross-roofs ' remained covered only with boards until 1564, when they were finished at the sole charge of Bishop Grindal, who gave £j20 out of his own estate for this purpose. -'^ The Bishop of Durham, preaching at Paul's Cross on the Sunday following the great storm, more than hinted that the damage done to the cathedral was a judgement on the citizens for their irreverent behaviour therein ; ^" and in October 1561 a royal proclamation was issued forbidding fighting in churchyards, and bargaining and other forms of irreverence within sacred precincts. ^'^ The Parliament which met in January 1562-3 passed severe penal laws against recusants.^ Convocation sitting at the same time issued the Thirty- nine Articles and the second Book of Homilies, and ordered that a copy of Jewel's Apology should be placed in every parish church. Mean- while Dr. Nowell, Dean of St. Paul's, was busily engaged on his new Catechism.°° London was visited in 1563 by a terrible outbreak of plague.'" Bishop Grindal was afraid to hold a public fast and call the people together in them to attend their parish churches regularly on Sundays, holy days, Wed- nesdays, and Fridays, and there as well as in their own homes to entreat God to have mercy on the City. Special forms of prayer were issued for this purpose, and the archbishop finally ordered that every Wednesday should be kept as a fasting-day.'"^ In August one Turnar preaching at Paul's Cross solemnly petitioned the lord mayor that the dead might be buried in the fields outside the City,'"' and that no passing bell should be tolled for them, since it did them no good before their death nor after.'"* Miles Coverdale, -" Corp. Rec. Repert. xv, fol. 106. "' Machyn, Diary, 256. '** Ibid. 260 ; Corp. Rec. Joum. xvii, fol. 3193, 320 ; S.P. Dom. Eliz. xvii (before no. l) ; xix, 42,43. '" Machyn, Diary, 261. ^^ Annals of Queen Eliz. (Camd. Soc), 87-91. The steeple was not restored during Elizabeth's reign. '" Arch, xi, 75 . Others regarded the catastrophe as an indication of the wrath of Heaven at the changes in religion ; S.P. Dom. Eliz. xvii, 28. "» Lond. Epis. Reg. Grindal, fol. 25*, 26 ; Corp. Rec. Letter Bk. T, fol. i,zb. '*' Gee, Eliz. Clergy, 186-216. It has been shown that of the London clergy less than twenty were deprived for any reason during the years 1558—64, and this number includes Bishop Bonner, the Dean of St. Paul's, four archdeacons, and several prebendaries. Only five of the parish clergy are ascertained to have been deprived ; ibid. 252-266, App. i. There is extant a list of the clergy in the archdeaconry of London in 1563, with particulars as to their abilities, condition (whether married or single), residence, &c. ; Lamb. Lib. Tenison MS. 711, no. 19. "" B.M. Lansd. MS. 7, no. 9 ; Ellis, Letters of Eminent Literary Men (Camd. Soc), 20-1. '" There are indications in the parish records that the churchyards became very crowded at this time. See St. Alphage London Wall Accts. 1564-5 ; St. Andrew Holborn Rec. Bk. 1563. '"** Stow, Mem. 125, in Gairdner, Three l^lh-cent Chron. (Camd. Soc). 308
 * great assemblies ' on account of the risk of contagion ; but he strongly urged
 * " Ibid. 259-61 ; Annab of Queen Ellz. (Camd. Soc), 87-91. '" Machyn, Diary, 259.
 * » S.P. Dom. 1^61, passim.
 * " B.M. Lansd. MS. 6, no. 63, 69 ; cf ibid. 7, no. 62, 63 ; Lond. Epis. Reg. Grindal, fol. 35-9.