Derry was the chief scene of this
enterprise, and in token of its new masters was rechristened
London-Derry. The colony had scarcely been established when Charles I.,
with his strange arbitrariness, removed the grant, but it was restored
by Charles II., and most of the estates still belong to the energetic
companies, and have been made the most prosperous part of the
"distressed island."

But the greatest of all the misfortunes which have befallen the
companies was the Great Fire. Hall after hall, replete with costly
treasures bequeathed by departed brethren of the guilds, with all their
archives and documents, perished in that hideous holocaust. All the
wealth that rapacious kings and the troubles of the Civil War had spared
was engulfed in that awful catastrophe. Again and again, when we try to
read the history of a company, we meet with the distressing intelligence
that all its records were destroyed in the Great Fire. Very few escaped.
The leather-sellers, pinners, and ironmongers were happily without the
range of the conflagration. All the books of the companies abound with
graphic details of this calamity. It melted their plate, burned their
records, and laid their property, from which they chiefly derived their
incomes, in ashes. At the same time they were burdened with a load of
debt, the consequence of the compulsory loans to which I have referred,
and saw no means left of paying. The clouds that hung over the companies
were as black as the clouds of smoke that issued from the burning ruins
of their halls. But their English hearts were not daunted, and bravely
did they struggle with their adversities. They immediately set to work
to do what they could to save the relics of their fortunes. They first
took steps to secure their melted plate from the ruined buildings. Then
they set about the rebuilding of their properties. Extraordinary
exertions were made. The wealthier members subscribed vast sums of
money. The houses of their tenants rose like magic from the ruins, and
it is remarkable that in no more than two or three years' time most of
the halls of the companies were rebuilt, and many shone forth with
additional splendour. The reign of Charles II. did not, however,
conclude without involving the companies in additional anxiety,
occasioned by the King's arbitrary interference in their affairs by his
_quo warranto_ proceedings. He presumed to call into question the
validity of the charter of the city of Londo