366 RevifXvs, aiid Notices respecting New Books. 



pointing to St. George's Church ; from whence the line of the Roman 

 road is still in use. Mr. Rickman has here thrown some light upon 

 an interesting period of our history. After the death of Sweyn, the 

 Danish invader, who had expelled King Ethelred from England, Ethel- 

 red obtained the aid of Olaf, chieftain of a band of Northern adventu- 

 rers, and attacked the Danes, who were then in possession of London. 

 Olafs fleet, however, was found to be of little use, unless it could pass 

 the fortified bridge, then of wood, and wide enough for the passage of 

 two carriages. The bridge was defended at its suulh end by a mili- 

 tary work, placed in what the historian calls the great emporium of 

 Southvvark. The first attack on the bridge having failed, Olaf pro- 

 ceeded to fit his ships with a bulwark, and under this cover, fastened 

 them to the legs of tlie tressels, or timber supports of the bridge. 

 His rowers, taking advantage of the current, tore away the middle of 

 it; and the Danes were in consequence subdued. A few years after- 

 wards Canute invaded England, and attempted to pass the repaired 

 bridge; but due precaution had been used in re-constructing it, and 

 Canute was driven to the necessity of digging a canal, and passing 

 his fleet outside of the Southwark fortress. These two attempts on 

 London Bridge are scarcely mentioned in our History ; and in truth 

 because thev have been confounded together, notwithstanding the 

 obvious absurdity of supposing that Canute dug a canal, when he had 

 removed the obstacle which rendered such canal necessary. More- 

 over, the Danes were defendants in the fir.st instance, and assailants 

 in the second. The first attempt succeeded, but the second failed j 

 nor in the opinion of the best critics in Danish history did Olaf ever 

 cooperate with Canute. "The narrative of these remarkable in- 

 stances of military resource must henceforth," observes Mr. Rickman, 

 " take a place in our History," and we regret that our limits prevent 

 us from introducing it here. We thus see how the diligent cultivator of 

 statistics may aid the antiquarian and the historian in tlieir interesting 

 and ennobling pursuits. The population of Southwark was -4.5,000 

 at the beginning of the last century, and at present amounts to 

 91, .500. 



The population of Westminster was 130,000 at the commencement 

 of the last century, but at present it amounts to 202,050. 



The Bills of Mortality, from which the fifth division of the metropolis 

 is designated, is very minutely described by Mr. Rickman. " London," 

 he says, " used always to suffer heavily from the plague ; and in the 

 great pestilence which, originating in the East in 1345, reached En- 

 gland in 13-18, it seems well established tliat 100,flOU persons died 

 and were buried in the city*. In 1563 above 20,000 persons died 



* It is said that by far the greater part of mankind were swept away by 

 this Indian pestilence, which ravaged Asia, Africa and Europe in succession. 

 Joshua Barnes, in his Life of Edward III., Cp. 4-'8 — 442.) seems to have 

 collected all the truth and all the exaggeration which reached posterity ou 

 this subject. From the indisputable fact, that few persons of rank or con- 

 dition died, it may be inferred, either that wholesome diet, sufficient cloth- 

 ing, and personal cleanliness operated as preservatives against this disease; 



