Q. For what is alum used?

A. By dyers to fix their colours; by chandlers to make their candles white and hard; by wine merchants to fine their wines; by tanners, &c. &c.

Q. What art was discovered in the reign of Elizabeth? A. The art of gauging; i. e. measuring the capacity of any vessel, or the quantity of liquor it contains.

Q. What great voyage was made in the reign of Elizabeth?

A. Sir Francis Drake, a native of Devonshire, was the first Englishman who sailed round the world: he completed his voyage in 3 years. (Born 1545, died 1596).

Q. What provision was made for the poor by queen Elizabeth?

A. Poor rates were collected to relieve the sick and indigent.

Q. What fruits, plants, and vegetables were imported in the reign of Elizabeth?

A. Potatoes and peaches: tulips, laurels, and the horsechestnut tree.

Q. Who introduced potatoes into England?

A. Sir Francis Drake brought them from Santa Fé (in North America), and planted them in Lancashire. In the next reign Sir Walter Raleigh introduced them into Ireland.

Q. Where did peaches, tulips, laurels and horse-chestnut trees come from?

A. Peaches from Persia; tulips from Holland; laurels and the horse-chestnut tree from the Levant (in Turkey in Asia).

Q. What narcotic herbs were introduced in the reign of Elizabeth?

A. Tobacco was brought by Sir Walter Raleigh from Tobago, one of the Caribbee Islands (in the West Indies); and tea was brought by the Dutch from China, but was scarcely known in England till the reign of Charles II.

Q. What public buildings were erected in the reign of Elizabeth?

A. The Custom-House; the Stock Exchange; the Dublin University; and three colleges in Cambridge: (Jesus, Sidney, and Emmanuel).

Q. What is the Custom-House?

A. An office in London for the receipt of the government duty on goods exported and imported.

Q. Who built the Stock Exchange?

A. Sir Thomas Gresham, of Norfolk, called the "Royal Merchant," for his munificent charities.

Q. What celebrated library was founded in the reign of Elizabeth?

A. Sir Thomas Bodley founded the Bodleian at Oxford; one of the best libraries in the world.

Q. What company was established in the reign of Elizabeth?

A. Elizabeth granted monopolies to several companies, the principal of which was the East India Company; to which was confined the exclusive right of trading in the East Indies. Q. What was the state of education in the reign of Elizabeth?

A. Education in the upper ranks was making most rapid advances; and classic literature was taught to ladies as well

as men.

Q. Where were ladies and gentlemen taught?

A. They were generally sent into some noble family as pages, or upper servants; and while engaged in these services obtained all their education.

Q. What distinction was made between these young gentlemen and ladies, and the common menials?

A. They had a table by themselves; and after they had served their patrons, were waited upon by the menials.

Q. What was the time of meals in the reign of Elizabeth? A. Breakfast, consisting of butter and eggs, boiled beefsteaks, and ale, was served at 8; dinner at 11; and supper at 6.

Q. What curious fashion was observed at dinner-time.

A. All the men dined with their hats on, and took them off only during grace.

Q. How did the people amuse themselves after dinner? A. The gay and fashionable crowded into the parks between 1 and 4; or promenaded up and down St. Paul's Cathedral.

Q. Did St. Paul's Cathedral exist in the reign of Elizabeth? A. Yes; St. Paul's was built in the reign of Henry III. (1240); but was burnt down in the reign of Charles II., and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. (1675).

Q. Was the old St Paul's open to the public as a promenade?

A. Yes; merchants stuck their advertisements on its walls and pillars; stalls were erected in the aisles for the sale of wares; and pedlars, buffoons, beggars, and thieves, gained a living from the crowd which daily resorted there.

Q. What was the great aisle of St. Paul's called?

A. "St. Paul's walk."-Our Lord said (and we may apply the words), "My house shall be called a house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." (Matthew xxi. 13). Q. Describe the style of the houses inhabited by the great in the reign of Elizabeth.

A. Something between a castle and a mansion; there was a moat and gateway, and one or two strong turrets, more for ornament than defence.

Q. How were houses decorated during the Tudor dynasty? A. The houses of the great were furnished most splendidly. The walls were gilt, and hung with gorgeous tapestry; and the sideboards crowded with massive plate.

Q. Was not tapestry in a great measure discontinued in the reign of Elizabeth?

A. Yes; it was superseded by exquisite oak and chestnut carving; many rooms were wainscotted throughout.

Q. How were the gentlemen dressed in the reign of Eliza

beth?

A. In flowered silk, perfumed leather, or satin; their silk and satin shoes, (embroidered with silver and gold) had very high red heels.

Q. What extravagance was introduced in body-linen in the reign of Elizabeth?

A. The shirts of the courtiers were made of the finest cambric, with open-work down the seams, and often cost £80, (according to the present value of money).

Q. How were the ladies dressed in the reign of Elizabeth? A. With enormous ruffs round the neck; which became so absurdly long, that persons were stationed at the gates of the different streets, to cut down every ruff which exceeded 3 feet.

Q. How long did this ugly fashion last?

A. Till the middle of the reign of James I.; when Mrs. Turner was hanged up by her ruff, for murdering Sir Thomas. Overbury.

Q. Was not queen Elizabeth very extravagant in her dress? A. Yes; and at her death 3000 different habits were found in her wardrobes.

Q. Were not some of Elizabeth's dresses emblematical? A. Yes; the lining of one was worked with eyes and ears, to signify "Vigilance;" and a serpent was embroidered in the arm with pearls and rubies, to signify "Wisdom.”

Q. Describe the way in which Elizabeth went in state to St. Mary's cross, to hear one of the Reformers preach.

A. Besides a vast train of lords and ladies, she had 1000 soldiers, 10 great cannons, hundreds of drums and trumpets, a party of morris-dancers, and two white bears in her train. Q. Was not Elizabeth very fond of noisy music?

A. Yes; she played very well herself on several instruments; and when she went to dinner, 12 trumpets, 2 kettledrums, and various other instruments, amused her with their thundering uproar.

Q. What improvement in stockings was invented in the reign of Elizabeth?

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A. They were woven; the queen had a pair of black silk ones presented to her, with which she was so delighted, that she would never wear any others.

Q. What were stockings made of before the reign of Elizabeth?

A. Of cloth, laced or buttoned tight like a buskin.

Alison's Guide to English History.

XII.-AN ABSTRACT OF THE SCOTTISH REIGNS.

WHEN are the Scots and Picts first spoken of in history? In the fifth century: the former inhabited the eastern shores of Scotland, as far south as the Firth of Forth, and as far

north as the island extended. The name of Picts seems to have been given them by the Romans, from the habit of staining their bodies when going to battle: the term picti signifies painted. They were probably of Gothic origin, though some think they were descendants of the ancient Caledonians, who were Celts mingled with Gothic settlers. The Scots were of Irish origin: a colony of this people from Ulster, the northern province of Ireland, settled on the coast of Argyleshire, under Fergus, who had been called over to assist the Scots against the Picts and Britons, about the year 330 B.C., and gradually occupied the whole of the western coast of Scotland. This prince was lost at sea, off Carrickfergus in Ireland, which bears his name.

Twenty-five pagan kings ruled Scotland from the death of Fergus to the reign of Donald the first, A.D. 199, who was the first Scottish king converted to Christianity; and it was he also who made his subjects first acquainted with money coined from precious metals. During this reign Caledonia was invaded by Severus, who built a boundary wall to the Roman provinces from the Firth of Forth to that of Clyde.

Fergus II. succeeded Eugenius in the year 404. Having lived abroad and in retirement during twenty-seven years (according to the Black book of Paisley); he returned to aid in expelling the Romans, accompanied by Dunstan, king of the Picts, and Dionethus a Briton. He long and successfully opposed the enemy, but was at last slain fighting against Maximianus: Dunstan his friend shared his fate, but Dionethus effected his escape, not however before he had received a grievous wound. Fergus II., founder of the kingdom of the Scots, possessed piety, courage, and abilities: he reigned honourably for sixteen years, and was a benefactor to his country.

After a long and sanguinary struggle between these two people, in which Drushenus, the Pictish king, was slain, Kenneth II., king of the Scots, finally ascended the Pictish throne in 833, and united both states into one kingdom, comprising the whole country north of the wall of Antonine: the routed Picts found an asylum in England.

Gregory, the seventy-third king, ascended the throne in 875.

He was justly entitled to his surname, "the Great." He subdued the Picts, vanquished the Danes, putting Hardicanute, their king, to flight, in Northumberland: defeated

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