"Formerly Debtors that were not able to satisfy their Debts, put themselves into this Prison of _Ludgate_, for shelter from their Creditors. And these were Merchants and Tradesmen that had been driven to want by Losses at Sea. When King _Philip_ in the Month of _August 1554_ came first through _London_, these prisoners were Thirty in number; and owed £10,000, but compounded for £2,000. Who presented a well penned Latin Speech to that Prince, to redress their Miseries, and, by his Royal Generosity, to free them. 'And the rather, for that that Place was not _Sceleratorum Carcer, sed miserorum Custodia_; _i.e._, a Gaol for Villains, but a Place of Restraint for poor unfortunate Men. And that they were put in there, not by others, but themselves fled thither; and that not out of fear of Punishment, but in hope of better Fortune.' The whole Letter was drawn by the curious Pen of _Roger Ascham_, and is extant among his Epistles, Lib. iii.
"If a Freeman or Freewoman of _London_ be committed to _Ludgate_, they are to be excused from the ignominy of Irons, if they can find Sureties to be true Prisoners, and if the Sum be not above £100. There is another Custom of the liberal and mild Imprisonment of the Citizens in _Ludgate_, whereby they have Indulgence and Favour to go abroad into any place by _Baston_, as we term it, under the guard and superintendency of their Keeper, with whom they must return again to the Prison at Night."
[Footnote 74: "Garnish" was the _footing_ that every prisoner paid on his entrance, and woe become him if it were not forthcoming; he was simply stripped of his clothes.]
[Footnote 75: Strype's "Stow's Survey," ed. 1720, vol. ii. p. 26 appendix.]
The Course of the Fleet is nearly run, but, before closing this account of the river, we should not forget the residence of the mighty King-maker, the Earl of Warwick, whose pleasant gardens ran down to the Fleet; and there, in Warwick Lane, after the great Fire, was built the College of Physicians, described thus by Dr. Garth, in his "Dispensary":--
"Not far from that most celebrated Place, Where angry Justice shews her awful Face; Where little Villains must submit to Fate, That great ones may enjoy the World in State, There stands a Dome, majestick to the sight, And sumptuous Arches bear its oval height; A golden Globe plac'd high with artful skill, Seems, to the distant sight, a gilded Pill."