the Earl of Sussex;N but it proved no charm to the officer, who alleged in reply, that it was as much as his post was worth to disobey in the least tittle the commands which he had received.

"Nay, I told you as much before," said Blount; "do, I pray you, my dear Walter, let us take the boat and return."

"Not till I see the Queen come forth," returned the youth, composedly.

At this moment the gates opened, and ushers began to issue forth in array, preceded and flanked by the band of Gentlemen Pensioners. After this, amid a crowd of lords and ladies, yet so disposed around her that she could see and be seen on all sides, came Elizabeth herself, then in the full glow of what in a sovereign was called beauty, and who would in the lowest walk of life have been truly judged to possess a noble figure, joined to a striking and commanding physiognomy. She leant on the arm of Lord Hunsdon, whose relation to her by her mother's side often procured him such distinguished marks of Elizabeth's friendship.

The young cavalier we have so often mentioned had probably never yet approached so near the person of his sovereign, and he pressed forward as far as the line of warders permitted, in order to avail himself of the present opportunity.

His companion, on the contrary, cursing his imprudence, kept pulling him backward, till Walter shook him off impatiently, letting his rich cloak drop carelessly from one shoulder; a natural action, which served, however, to display to the best advantage his well-proportioned person.

Unbonneting N at the same time, he fixed his

eager gaze on the Queen's approach, with a mixture of respectful curiosity, and modest yet ardent admiration, which suited so well with his fine features, that the warders, struck with his rich attire and noble countenance, suffered him to approach the ground over which the Queen was to pass, somewhat closer than was permitted to ordinary spectators.

Thus the adventurous youth stood full in Elizabeth's eye, -an eye never indifferent to the admiration which she deservedly excited among her subjects, or to the fair proportions of external form which chanced to distinguish any of her courtiers.

Accordingly she fixed her keen glance upon the youth, as she approached the place where he stood, with a look in which surprise at his boldness seemed to be unmixed with resentment, while a trifling accident happened which attracted her attention toward him yet more strongly. The night had been rainy, and just where the young gentleman stood, a small quantity of mud interrupted the Queen's passage.

As she hesitated to pass on, the gallant, throwing his cloak from his shoulders, laid it on the miry spot, so as to insure her passing over it dryshod. Elizabeth looked at th young man, who accompanied this act of devoted courtesy with a profound reverence, and a blush that overspread his whole countenance. The Queen was confused, blushed in her turn, nodded her head, hastily passed on, and embarked in her barge without saying a word.

'Come along, Sir Coxcomb," said Blount, "your gay mantle will need the brush to-day, I wot."N

"This cloak," said the youth, taking it up and folding it, "shall never be brushed while in my possession."

"And that will not be long, if you learn not a little more economy."

Notes.-Sir Walter Raleigh (Raw'ly), the famous navigator and courtier, was born at Hayes, in Devonshire, England, in 1552.

After a number of years' service in the army, during which time he acquired a reputation for personal bravery, Raleigh came under the notice of Queen Elizabeth, after the manner described in the lesson. His position in the army was given up soon after, and he embarked upon a voyage of discovery to America.

His success as a navigator is well known to every one who has read the history of the colonization of America. He introduced the potato and tobacco into England, and thereby increased his favor at court.

The death of the Queen in 1603, destroyed all his bright prospects; for he was no favorite with James I., who allowed him to be imprisoned upon a false charge, and afterward to be beheaded. This took place in 1618.

During his long imprisonment, Raleigh wrote his "History of the World," a work showing him to be a finished scholar. His poems also, of which a number have been preserved, exhibit marked genius.

Queen Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry VIII., was born in 1533, and ascended the throne of England in 1558. She ruled for nearly forty-five years, and died in 1603. The " Elizabethan Age," as it has been called, was one of the most glorious epochs in English history. The age that produced Spenser, Shakspeare, and Bacon, could not be other than famous.

Yeomen of the Guard, a veteran company, consisting of one hundred old soldiers of stately presence, employed on grand occasions as the body-guard of the sovereign of England.

Earl of Sussex is the title of the leading noble in the county of Sussex.

Gentlemen Pensioners were a band of forty gentlemen, now called Gentlemen at Arms, who attended the sovereign on occasions of solemnity.

Unbonneting means to remove the covering from one's head. Language.-Wot is an old English word meaning think, con

sider.

In the last sentence of the lesson the old form of expression, "if you learn not," would now be rendered "unless you learn ”— unless equaling if not.

Their discourse was here interrupted by one of the band of Pensioners.

"I was sent," said he, after looking at them attentively, "to a gentleman who hath no cloak, or a muddy one.-You, sir, I think," addressing the younger cavalier, "are the man; you will please to follow me."

"He is in attendance on me," said Blount,-"on me, the noble Earl of Sussex's Master of Horse."

"I have nothing to say to that," answered the messenger; "my orders are directly from Her Majesty, and concern this gentleman only.”

So saying, he walked away, followed by Walter, leaving the others behind, Blount's eyes almost starting from his head with the excess of his astonishment. At length he gave vent to it in an exclamation-"Who in the world would have thought

this!"

And shaking his head with a mysterious air, he walked to his own boat, embarked, and returned to Deptford.N

The young cavalier was, in the meanwhile, guided to the water-side by the Pensioner, who showed

him considerable respect; a circumstance which, to persons in his situation, may be considered as an augury of no small consequence. He ushered him

into one of the wherries which lay ready to attend the Queen's barge, which was already proceeding up the river, with the advantage of that flood-tide of which, in the course of their descent, Blount had complained to his associates.

The two rowers used their oars with such expedition at the signal of the Gentleman Pensioner, that they very soon brought their little skiff under the stern of the Queen's boat, where she sat beneath an awning, attended by two or three ladies, and the nobles of her household. She looked more than once at the wherry in which the young adventurer was seated, spoke to those around her, and seemed to laugh.

At length one of the attendants, by the Queen's order apparently, made a sign for the wherry to come alongside, and the young man was desired to step from his own skiff into the Queen's barge, which he performed with graceful agility at the fore part of the boat, and was brought aft to the Queen's presence, the wherry at the same time dropping to the rear. The youth underwent the gaze of Majesty, not the less gracefully that his selfpossession was mingled with embarrassment. The muddied cloak still hung upon his arm, and formed the natural topic with which the Queen introduced the conversation.

"You have this day spoiled a gay mantle in our service, young man. We thank you for your service, though the manner of offering it was unusual and something bold."