Smithfield, London personal signature of the Monarch), invariably upon ministerial recommendation, which if unexercised by the time of a Sovereign's death required renewed authority. In this case Queen Elizabeth did not approve the executions, thus freeing the Protestants. During the 16th century the Smithfield site was also the place of execution of swindlers and coin forgers, who were boiled to death in oil. By the 18th century the "Tyburn Tree" (near the present-day Marble Arch) became the main place for public executions in London. After 1785, executions were again moved, this time to the gates of Newgate prison, just to the south
The Bells (play) "The Bells", by Leopold Lewis. The opening night of "The Bells" on 25 November 1871 was held before a small audience, and during the performance a woman fainted in the stalls. The audience sat in stunned silence at the end of the play. However, they then gave the play, and Irving's performance, a great ovation. George R Sims later wrote for "The Evening News": "... There were plenty of stalls vacant at the Lyceum, and the author and I sat in two of them... The first part of "The Bells" was not very enthusiastically received, but the audience was undoubtedly