either in its natural state, or made into cloth. During this reign also, in addition to the woollen manufacture, that of silk was introduced into England, not, however, in the form of weaving, but knitting, and was carried on by females, who were called "silk women.' This kind of manufacture, besides, was extremely limited, and the chief articles made by it were "ribbons, laces, girdles, &c." The principal commercial towns in England during this time appear to have been London, Coventry, Norwich, Chester, Worcester, Exeter, York, Bristol, Southampton, Boston, Hull, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

4. It was during the reign of this king, that an event occurred which might have had an important influence upon the commercial history of the country. This was the

arrival in England of the brother of Columbus. When the great discoverer of America had convinced himself that immense regions were still in existence, and but awaited the search of a skilful and daring explorer, he not only repaired to different courts in the hope of obtaining royal aid to fit out an armament of discovery, but sent his brother Bartholomew to Henry VII. upon the same mission. Bartholomew was captured on his voyage to England by pirates, and did not reach England till after long delay; and during the interval, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain had acceded to the proposals of Christopher, and supplied him with the required aid. The discovery of a new world could not be effected without stirring up a kindred emulation, and Henry VII., as far as his parsimony would allow him, became a candidate in the competition. In 1496 he intrusted a small armament to John Cabot, a Venetian, and his three sons, for a voyage in quest of unknown countries, and the result was the discovery of the coast of Labrador. The reign of Henry VIII. was signally advantageous in promoting naval skill and enterprise among his subjects; and for this he will ever deserve a grateful commemoration in our national history. He carried his ideas of stateliness and magnificence into shipbuilding, so that the vessels constructed by his orders were the largest

that had hitherto been launched from an English dockyard.

5. We now turn to the consideration of the agricultural state of England at this period. At its commencement, farms appear to have been cheaply rented, and carelessly or unskilfully cultivated; and the state of the peasantry was that of lazy, coarse contentment. A farmhouse of the ordinary kind was a timber dwelling with walls of plaster, and a roof of thatch; the beds were pallets of straw covered with a coarse sheet, or at the best a flock mattress; and the usual daily diet of the inmates was salted meat, poultry, and dairy produce, with the coarser grain, such as barley or rye for bread, and only occasionally wheaten loaves or cakes, for the frequent use of wheaten bread was a luxury only 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 industry of the female part of the establishment. The women also superintended the corn for, the mill, brewed and baked for the household consumption, 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.

6. In this way, a rough but comfortable abundance was secured by the English yeomanry during the reign of Henry VII., even when their stock of money seldom exceeded a few shillings; and when rent-day arrived, if the hoarded sum of the year's labour was not enough for the emergency, the sale of a cow or horse had to be endured to supply the deficiency. By good industry and thrift much could be effected even with such scanty resources, a picture of which Latimer has given in his own homely and practical but graphic style. His father, he tells us, was a yeoman who rented a farm under £4 a-year; but out of this limited holding he had as much land under tillage as kept six men, thirty cows, and 100 sheep. He also kept a horse and man for the

king's service when called upon, sent his son to school, and afterwards to college, and gave to each of his daughters £5 as a dower when they were married. Besides this, he could afford to be hospitable to his neighbours, and kind to the poor-and all from the produce of his farm.

7. 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 holidays; but to these could now be added, in greater plenty than before, the fresh produce of the pasture, the barnyard, and the dairy

"Beef, mutton, and pork, shred pies of the best;

Pig, veal, goose, and capon, and turkey well drest:"

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.-Comprehensive History of England.

MY BIRTH-DAY.

"My birth-day!"-what a different sound
That word had in my youthful years!
And how, each time the day comes round,
Less and less white its mark appears!

When first our scanty years are told,
It seems like pastime to grow old;
And, as youth counts the shining links,
That time around him binds so fast,
Pleased with the task, he little thinks

How hard that chain will press at last.
Vain was the man, and false as vain,
Who said, "Were he ordained to run
His long career of life again,

He would do all that he had done."

Ah! 'tis not thus the voice that dwells
In sober birth-days speaks to me;
Far otherwise-of time it tells
Lavished unwisely, carelessly-
Of counsel mocked-of talents, made
Haply for high and pure designs,
But oft, like Israel's incense, laid
Upon unholy, earthly shrines-
Of nursing many a wrong desire-
Of wandering after Love too far,
And taking every meteor fire

That crossed my pathway for his star.
All this it tells, and could I trace
The imperfect picture o'er again,
With power to add, retouch, efface,

The lights and shades, the joys and pain,
How little of the past would stay!
How quickly all should melt away-

All-but that freedom of the mind
Which hath been more than wealth to me;
Those friendships, in my boyhood twined,
And kept till now unchangingly,

And that dear home, that saving ark, Where Love's true light at last I've found, Cheering within when all grows dark, And comfortless, and stormy round!

-Thomas Moore (1779-1852).