His apple and his damson tree,
And a little strawberry-bed.

A happy man he thinks himself,
A man that's passing well,-
To have some fruit for the children,
And some besides to sell.

Around the rich man's trellised bower

Gay, costly creepers run;

The poor man has his scarlet-beans
To screen him from the sun.

And there before the little bench,
O'ershadowed by the bower,
Grow southern-wood and lemon-thyme,
Sweet-pea and gilliflower;

And pinks and clove-carnations,
Rich-scented, side by side;
And at each end a holly-hock,
With an edge of London-pride.

And here comes the old grandmother,
When her day's work is done;
And here they bring the sickly babe
To cheer it in the sun.

And here, on Sabbath-mornings,
The good man comes to get
His Sunday nosegay, moss-rose bud,
White pink, and mignionette.

And here on Sabbath-evenings,
Until the stars are out,

With a little one in either hand,
He walketh all about.

For though his garden plot is small,
Him doth it satisfy;

For there's no inch of all his ground
That does not fill his eye.

It is not with the rich man thus;
For though his grounds are wide,
He looks beyond, and yet beyond,
With soul unsatisfied.

Yes! in the poor man's garden grow

Far more than herbs and flowers;Kind thoughts, contentment, peace of mind,

And joy for weary hours.

MARY HOWITT.

THE TUDORS.

ELIZABETH.

ELIZABETH was the daughter On the contrary, her sister disof Henry VIII., by his wife liked her; she was very jealous Anne Boleyn, and was twenty-of her, and even wished to put five years old when Queen her to death. You heard tha Mary died. She was not only younger than her sister but she was more beautiful, and of a better disposition. It is said that she was of a "modest gravity, excellent wit, royal soul, and happy memory." She was also "indefatigably given to the study of learning," for, as I said before, it was the custom of the ladies in the time of the Tudors to study much. Before Elizabeth was seventeen years old she understood well Latin, French, and Italian, and had some knowledge of Greek. She could also sing sweetly, and play on the lute. Her good old tutor, named Roger Ascham, has given us an account of the many learned books she read; and he tells us that after she ascended the throne, she continued her Greek studies.

The people knew how learned Elizabeth was, and thought that she would make a wise queen; but her learning would not give her wisdom, for learning and wisdom are different things. We may get learning from men, and from men's books, but we only get wisdom from GOD, and from His holy word.

During the reign of Mary Elizabeth's good qualities did not preserve her from danger.

Mary threatened to do so after the rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyatt. At that time, although Elizabeth was sick in bed, Mary sent a party of 250 horse to bring. her, whether dying or dead. These men arrived at Elizabeth's house in the night, forced their way into her chamber, and informed her that she must be ready to go with them by the morning at nine o'clock. She was then carried off in the queen's litter, and was conveyed to the Tower, where she expected every day to receive sentence of death. Mary, however, did not dare to kill her sister, although she much feared Elizabeth, because she was a favourite.

When, therefore, at Mary's death, Elizabeth was at last raised to the crown in safety, there was great joy amongst the people. They were glad, too, because they knew that Elizabeth was a Protestant. They looked back on the gloomy period of Mary's reign, and remembered those dreadful persecutions with horror. They were now more anxious than ever to shake off the Roman Catholic religion. They had been forced to become Protestants during the reign of Henry and Edward, but now they needed

no forcing. They had seen how the martyrs had suffered and died for their religion; and that those martyrdoms which were intended to put down the Truth, had established it in their hearts more firmly.

translation was improved at different times, and in the reign of James I. it became the "established version."

of the Pope had now nearly lost their effect; the queen and the nation gladly excommunicated themselves.

The Pope did not allow all this to be done without trying to prevent it. He excommuAs soon, therefore, as Eliza- nicated Elizabeth, and issued a beth came to the throne, she bull declaring her to be deapplied herself to the great posed, and cursing her subjects business of the settlement of if they obeyed her. But the the national religion. Like excommunications and curses the reformers before the reign of Mary, she at first proceeded with prudence. She still retained some of the Catholic ministers in her privy council, but added others who were Protestants. Amongst these were the famous William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burleigh, and Nicholas Bacon, the father of the great Lord Bacon. She was also helped by her tutor Roger Ascham, another of those wise men who rendered her reign so celebrated.

With such good assistance Elizabeth was able, by degrees, to establish the Protestant Church as it was in the time of Edward VI. She began by a proclamation that part of the church service should be read in English. The bishops who would not acknowledge her as head of the church were dismissed; nearly all the lower clergy, however, adopted the new mode of worship.

The "Book of Common Prayer" was restored with certain alterations; and a new translation of the Bible was undertaken by authority. This

Elizabeth took other measures in the early part of her reign to establish order. She made a treaty with France; she called in all the brass money and coin which had been debased, and issued new. She encouraged the people to till the ground, and to grow much more corn; she allowed them to sell their corn to foreign nations, if they pleased. She imitated her grandfather, Henry VII., and made laws to encourage commerce. Trade and navigation thus improved rapidly; the defences of the country were attended to; the navy was enlarged, and the shipping of the whole kingdom was so much increased that Elizabeth was called "The restorer of naval glory and queen of the northern seas."

Like all others, however, Elizabeth sometimes lacked wisdom, and I shall have to speak of her bad as well as her good deeds in our next lesson.

THE ENGLISH TRAVELLER.

LONDON-THE MODERN BUILDINGS.

"MY DEAR CHILDREN,"I told you why we have a New Royal Exchange and New Houses of Parliament. Now hear something about them.

666 "The New Royal Exchange was begun on the 17th of January, 1842, and its foundationstone was laid by HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE ALBERT. The building was soon erected and completed; for it was opened by HER MAJESTY with great ceremony on the 18th of October, 1844.'

"And yet,' I said, 'it seemed to me to be a very large building, and a very handsome

one.'

"Indeed it is both. It is 309 feet long, and the tower at the end is about 170 feet high. If you will go with me to-morrow, we will stop there on our way to the Exhibition. On ascending the broad flight of steps in the front of the building, you will find yourself inside an open quadrangle. In the quadrangle is a statue of HER MAJESTY; there are also statues of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Thomas Gresham, and Sir Hugh Myddelton. Around the quadrangle are piazzas, or arcades, under the shelter of which the merchants meet, and transact much business; it is, however, a great complaint that the piazzas are too open, and afford scarcely any protection from the

weather.'

"But I thought I saw shops all round the building?'

"Yes, the quadrangle is surrounded by the piazza, and the piazza is surrounded by shops and offices. The largest offices there, and the most important, are those of Lloyd's.'

"What is meant by Lloyd's?' I asked.

666 Lloyd's properly means "Lloyd's Coffee House"; but it also means the important society of underwriters who meet there.'

"And what are underwriters?'

"They are the parties who insure the shipping of England; for just as houses are liable to be burned, and their contents destroyed, so on the water the ships and their contents are liable to be wrecked. Therefore, when a merchant sends his goods across the ocean, he generally insures the vessel and its cargo.

"The society of "underwriters" at Lloyd's have done very great service to the men of commerce. They have agents in all the principal ports in the world, and they forward to the office most important intelligence of all the shipping and commerce. This intelligence the society publishes every day. Thus the merchants are informed when all ships of England depart and arrive; they also hear of their departure and arrival in all other countries;