Page:The child's pictorial history of England; (IA childspictorialh00corn).pdf/145

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

London testified their joy by decorating the out-*sides of their houses with draperies of silk and satin; and by having shows and pageants in the streets, as was customary, at that time, on all joyful occasions.

3. In one place, a fountain ran with wine; in another, a boy, dressed to represent an angel with wings, descended from the top of an arch, as the queen's chariot was passing under, and presented her with a bible; then was drawn up again by a cord, to look as if he flew away; and there were many other things of the same kind, which I have not room to tell of.

4. The ladies and gentlemen who attended the queeen rode on horseback, for coaches were not used in England till some years afterwards, when a gentleman, from Holland, brought a carriage over here, and then the English soon began to build coaches, and ladies of rank left off riding on horses, as they used to do, seated on a pillion, behind their husbands.

5. Elizabeth was a good queen in many respects, for she was a friend to learning, commerce, and all useful arts; and she chose able ministers, who ruled the country with wisdom and prudence; but she behaved very cruelly about religion, for although numbers of the peo-