the great and noble, the palaces of Elizabeth's day had fewer comforts than the dwelling of a tradesman in our time. The internal fittings were rude and clumsy, and the doors, which were roughly made, had crazy fastenings-wooden bolts or iron bars. Hangings of tapestry, which had to be lifted in passing in or out, were used to conceal these defects as well as to exclude draughts of air. In the chambers, even of the queen, rushes still supplied the place of carpets.

At meals the fingers served instead of forks, although the carver might be accommodated with a skewer. Tablecloths of fine linen were used by the wealthy; while platters and spoons of wood, tin, pewter, and silver marked the gradations of society from low to high. No glass or china graced the board.

Early, instead of late meals, were a mark of gentility. The nobility dined at eleven, and supped between five and six in the afternoon; merchants and citizens dined and supped an hour later, and mechanics later still. Breakfast was taken at seven in the morning, when ladies of quality sat down to hot meats and ale, the use of tea and coffee being then unknown.

Dress was remarkable in this age for splendour and magnificence. Queen Elizabeth at her death left a wardrobe of three thousand gowns, made of the richest materials. They were of enormous bulk, and stuffed and padded so as to stand off from the body. Gentlemen's breeches and doublets were similarly padded; and over these they wore cloaks

of silk, velvet, or damask, embroidered with gold, silver, or precious stones. It was not uncommon for a courtier to put a thousand oaks and a hundred oxen into a suit of apparel, or to wear a whole manor on his back.

Speaking of Sir Walter Raleigh, an old writer tells us that he was dressed in scarf and band of the richest colour and costliest stuff, in cap and plume worth a ransom, in jacket powdered with gems, his whole attire from cap to shoe strings blazing with rubies, emeralds, and pearls.

Marked progress, too, was made during this period in the condition of the agricultural classes. When Henry the Seventh ascended the throne, farms appear to have been cheaply rented, and cultivated with little care or skill, and the state of the peasantry was that of lazy, coarse contentment.

A farmhouse of the ordinary kind was a wooden dwelling with walls of plaster, and a roof of thatch; the beds were pallets of straw, or at the best a flock mattress, covered with a coarse sheet. The usual diet of the inmates was salted meat, poultry, and dairy produce, with the coarser grain such as barley or rye for bread, and only on rare occasions wheaten loaves or cakes, the frequent use of wheaten bread being a luxury reserved for the rich.

The clothing of the inmates was the produce of the farm; and the wool and flax were prepared and spun for the weaver by the females of the household. The women also brewed and baked, took charge of the cows, swine, and poultry, and performed the work of the garden; while their

husbands not only attended to their labours a-field, but made their own ox-burs, yokes, plough gear, and other utensils of husbandry.

2

The houses of the yeomanry, formerly built of wood, were now superseded by cottages of brick, or even of stone, while the rooms were larger and better suited for indoor life. The fashion of furniture, which had formerly been confined to the mansions of squires and franklins, had now found its way into these cottages; wooden trenchers had been converted into platters of pewter, and in some cases the pewter had given way to pieces of silver plate. A good feather bed had taken the place of the straw mattress, and a snug coal fire that of peat, heath, or crackling thorns; while good windows and chimneys were not wanting to the building.

The occupants, indeed, were still obliged to subsist upon salted meat during the winter, and salted fish during the church fasts; but to these could now be added, in greater plenty than before, the fresh produce of the pasture, the barn-yard, and the dairy; while the owner of this good cheer had often several years' rent laid up in store. The source of all this improvement was to be found in the superior cultivation of the farm.

1 First of the Tu'-dors, Henry the Seventh.

2 Frank'-lins, owners of freehold estates.

ENGLAND UNDER THE TUDORS.
PART II.

THE title of Merrie England was not a meaningless one in the time of the Tudors. In all parts of the country, Christmas, New Year's Day, Twelfth Night, Plough Monday,1 Candlemas, Shrove Tuesday, Easter, May-Day, and many others, were celebrated by curious pageants and old customs of merry-making. Sunday was the holiday of the week, when every village had its games and social recreations. Wakes, fairs, and weddings, were also occasions of sport and jollity. Dancing, archery, wrestling, football, hurling, and fencing were the favourite pastimes; while the cruel sports of bear and bull-baiting were attended by all classes of society. Thus Mary, when on a visit to her sister at Hatfield, was amused with a great bear-baiting.

Elizabeth delighted to make progresses from one part of England to another, and to visit the towns and country seats which lay in her way. In 1576 she was entertained for seventeen days with the most splendid feasts and shows at Kenilworth Castle, the seat of the Earl of Leicester.

Everywhere the people came joyfully and without fear to see her and to wait upon her. She would not suffer the meanest of her subjects to be shut out from her presence. If they had anything to ask, or to complain of, she listened kindly, took their petitions with her own hand, and assured them that their affairs should be attended to. Her progresses were delightful to the country people for

another reason: they were always allowed some share in the sports and pageants which were prepared for her entertain