and filled with the crown's own nominees, who were, of course, entirely under its control. Edward created or restored twelve such boroughs, Mary twelve, and Elizabeth twenty-nine. The elections were generally managed by the Privy Council, and it was not at all unusual to send letters to the sheriffs naming the person to be returned.

2. The most flagrant usurpations of the crown under the Tudors refer to forced loans, benevolences, and proclamations.

Forced loans were subsidies, levied by the sovereign, on condition of their repayment. Benevolences were similarly raised, and were ostensibly free gifts. Neither of these modes of raising money was constitutional, but, if they were resisted, the sovereign had the power of severely annoying the res fractory. Henry VII. levied a benevolence in 1492, and parliament so far forgot its right as to pass an Act enforcing the payment of the money, which private men had been prevailed upon to promise. Henry VIII. levied several benevolences. That of 1545 was resisted by a London alderman, named Reed, who was in consequence sent to serve in the war with Scotland at his own charge. It is much to Elizabeth's credit that she carefully repaid all her loans.

Royal proclamations were frequently issued, and, as long as they were consonant with the laws, were not objectionable. But they often superseded them, and thus allowed of great acts of tyranny. Amongst others issued in the reign of Elizabeth, we find proclamations banishing Anabaptists, commanding Irishmen to return to Ireland, prohibiting the exportation of corn and money, and forbidding the erection of houses within three miles of London.

3. Another grievance, which attracted much public attention towards the close of the Tudor period, was that of monopolies. These monopolies were patents conferred by the crown on particular individuals, empowering them to carry on the exclusive trade in certain commodities. Competition being thus removed, the prices of the articles monopolized vastly increased, in some cases reaching ten times their ordinary market value.

When a list of monopolies was read in the House of Commons in 1601, a member exclaimed "Is not bread among the number?" The House was taken by surprise: "Nay," said

he, "if no remedy is found for these, bread will be there before next parliament.' Elizabeth saw that the time for correcting this evil was come, and consented to the abolition of all such monopolies as were found to be injurious.

4. The two great instruments of oppression during this period were the courts of Star-Chamber and High Commission, the former dealing with political, the latter with ecclesiastical offences.

The court of Star-Chamber, originally the council of the king, was remodelled by Henry VII., by whom its power was greatly extended. It took cognizance of cases which could not be tried in the inferior law-courts, such as riots, unlawful assemblies, &c. It consisted of "the chancellor, treasurer, and keeper of the privy seal, or any two of them, with a bishop and temporal lord of the council, and the chief justices of King's Bench and Common Pleas." In the reign of Wolsey the jurisdiction of the court fell into the hands of the body of the council, and thus it continued until the court was abolished.

The High Commission Court was instituted in the early part of the reign of Elizabeth, for the purpose of correcting heresies, schisms, and similar evils. It reached the zenith of its power in 1583, when the number of the commissioners was fixed at forty-four, twelve of whom were to be bishops. Any three of the commissioners, of whom one was a bishop, were empowered to punish absentees from church, to deprive clergymen holding doctrines contrary to the Thirty-nine Articles, to examine all suspected persons on their oaths, and to punish by fine or imprisonment all who refused to appear before them and obey their orders.

Crime was very prevalent, especially in the early part of the 16th century. The executions in the reign of Henry VIII. occasionally amounted to nearly 2000 a year. In the year 1596 forty suffered death in the county of Somerset alone.

Architecture.-6. The Tudor age witnessed great changes in domestic architecture. The castle gave way to the mansion; and mere strength to comfort and ornament. The old Gothic was gradually blended with the Italian style, and ultimately superseded by it. The habitations of the poorer classes were still very wretched, and consisted simply of rafters covered with wattle-work and clay. Better houses were built in the

towns, but these were chiefly occupied by opulent tradesmen. The internal arrangements were rude and uncomfortable. The furniture was clumsy and inconvenient.

Holinshed, who lived in the reign of Elizabeth, says, "If it were so that the goodman of the house had within seven years after his marriage purchased a mattress or flock bed, and thereto a sack of chaff to rest his head upon, he thought himself to be as well lodged as the lord of the town, who, peradventure, lay seldom on a bed of down or whole feathers."

Manners and Customs.-7. Contrary to modern notions, early meals were regarded as fashionable. The upper classes dined at eleven and supped between five and six. The middle classes took the same meals an hour later, and labouring people an hour later still. The most popular sports were bull and bear baiting, wrestling, archery, and hunting.

The drama made great strides during the sixteenth century, and numerous theatres were opened in the metropolis.

Food and Dress.-8. The fare of the common people consisted chiefly of salt fish, salt beef, coarse barleybread, and beer. The upper classes lived more luxuriously, and devoted great attention to culinary improvements. The principal articles of male attire were the doublet or jacket, the short cloak, the highcrowned hat, and the sword. The dress of the ladies was not so graceful, being greatly disfigured by enormous ruffs, and still more enormous farthingales.

There was a prodigal costliness of dress all through this period, and Elizabeth was obliged to issue several proclamations against "excess of apparel." It is said, however, that she herself left upwards of 3000 changes of dress in the royal wardrobe. Taylor the water-poet describes the fops of his time as wearing

"A farm in shoe-strings edged with gold,
And spangled garters worth a copyhold;
A hose and doublet which a lordship cost;
A gaudy cloak, three manors' price almost;
A beaver band and feather for the head,
Priced at the church's tithe, the poor man's bread.”

HOUSE OF STUART.

JAMES I. OF ENGLAND, VI. OF SCOTLAND. Born A.D. 1566; reigned 22 years (1603-1625).

Family.-1. James was son of Lord Darnley and Mary Queen of Scots. He married Anne of Denmark, and had three children,-Henry, who died in 1612, Charles, and Elizabeth.

The latter, whose attractions and virtues won for her the name of Queen of Hearts, married Frederick the Elector Palatine of the Rhine. From them the house of Hanover derived its claim to the throne of England. James was not the legal heir to the throne, Parliament having empowered Henry VIII. to set aside the Stuarts, and settle the crown on the house of Suffolk. Elizabeth, however, and the English generally were in favour of the Scottish king.

Chronicle.-2. Within seventy hours of Elizabeth's death James received the long-desired intelligence. He immediately set out for England, followed by a train of needy Scotch nobles. The impressions made during this progress on the English. were anything but favourable to the new king. He forbade the flocking of people to meet him, spoke slightingly of his illustrious predecessor, indulged in indecent conversation, and treated his guests with gross indignities.

"more

In his personal appearance there was little to command admiration or respect. A contemporary says he was corpulent through his clothes than in his body, yet fat enough;" ;""of a timorous disposition, which was the reason of his quilted doublets ;" and so dirty, that "he never washed his hands, only rubbed his fingers'-end slightly with the wet end of a napkin.' His legs were very weak, and, in consequence, he was "ever leaning on other men's shoulders. His walk was circular." His timidity was excessive; he dreaded the approach of a stranger, could not look at a drawn sword without shuddering, and rarely appeared in public unless clad in daggerproof raiment. He was an able scholar, but pedantic and deficient in judgment. Buchanan, his tutor, when asked how he came to make so great a pedant of his pupil, replied that it was the only thing he could make of him. Sully, the French ambassador, accurately described him as "the wisest fool in Christendom."