by his biographer:-The king himself being much delighted to sing, and Sir Peter Carewe having a pleasant voice, the king would very often use him to sing with him certain songs they call fremen* songs, as namely, "By the bank as I lay," and "As I walked the wood so wild.” '

* Quære—threemen? The three-man-song' of 'The Winter's Tale.'

ONCE UPON A TIME.

HANG OUT YOUR LIGHTS.

It was on the vigil of St. John the Baptist, in the year 1510, that two young men wearing the dress of the King Guard-the rich and picturesque uniform which has sur vived the changes of three centuries, to linger about the court of England, and preserve its gorgeous dignity, how ever vulgarised into associations with beef-eaters and showmen—that two handsome and soldierly-looking young mel came to the water-gate at Westminster, and, in answer to the 'Eastward-ho' of the watermen, jumped into a common wherry. There were not many boats at the stairs, and those which were still unhired were very different in their appearance and their comforts from the royal barges whic were moored at some little distance. The companions looked at each other with a peculiar expression before the sat down on the uncushioned and dirty bench of the wherry; but the boisterous laugh which burst forth from one of them appeared to remove all scruples, and the bou was soon adrift in the ebbing tide.

The evening was very lovely. The last sunbeam was dancing on the waters, and the golden light upon the spires of the city was fast fading away. Suddenly, however, a redder light came up out of the depths of the street, and wreaths of gray smoke mingled with the glare. The Thames was crowded with boats, and voices of merriment were heard amidst the distant sounds of drum and trumpet. The common stairs or bridges were thronged with people landing. The wherry in which sat the two guardsmer ran in to a private stair at Bridewell; and, with the same hearty laugh, they stepped into a spacious garden. Charles,' said the more boisterous of the companions. this will be a snug nest for the right witty Almoner)

when Empson's head is off. In a few minutes a noblelooking person, dressed in a sober but costly suit, like a wealthy citizen, joined them, making a profound reverence. 'No ceremony,' exclaimed he of the loud voice; and then, making an effort to speak low, His Highness is safe in the palace, and we are two of his faithful guards who would see the Midsummer-watch set. Have you a dagger under your russet-coat, my good Almoner? for the watch, they say, does not fear the rogues any more than the gallows.' It was Wolsey, then upon the lower rounds of the ladder of preferment, who answered Henry in the gay tone of his master. Brandon, who, in spite of his generous nature, did not quite like the accommodating churchman, was scarcely so familiar with him. The three, however, all gaily enough passed onward through the spacious gardens of Empson's deserted palace, which covered the ground now known as Dorset Street and Salisbury Square; and, with a masterkey, with which the prosperous Almoner was already provided, they sallied forth into the public street, and, crossing Fleet Bridge, pursued their way towards West Cheap.*

Ludgate was not closed. In the open space under the city wall was an enormous bonfire, which was reflected from the magnificent steeple of Paul's. Looking up the hill there was another bonfire in the open space before the cathedral, which threw its deep light upon every pinnacle of the vast edifice, and gleamed in its many windows as if a thousand tapers were blazing within its choir and transepts. The street was full of light. Over the doorways of the houses were 'lamps of glass, with oil burning in them all the night;' and 'some hung out branches of iron, curiously wrought, containing hundreds of lamps lighted

*On Midsummer-Eve, at night, King Henry came privily into West Cheap, of London, being clothed in one of the coats of his guard.'-(Stow's ' Annals,' under date 1510.) It is not likely that Henry, though bold enough, would so far yield to the impulses which belong to a youth of nineteen as to go alone. Brandon had been his companion from childhood; Wolsey had already learned to minister to his pleasures as one mode of governing him. The patent by which the great churchman obtained Empson's house is dated 1510.

at once.

ONCE UPON A TIME.

* Before the houses were tables set out, on which were placed ponderous cakes and flagons of ale and wine. unexercised by lungs;' and the sturdy apprentices, w by day were wont to cry What lack ye?' threw open their blue cloaks, disclosing their white hose, with a knowing look of independence, as they courteously invited the passer-by to partake of their dainties. Over the doors h the delicate branches of the graceful birch, with wreaths d lilies and St. John's-wort; and there were suspended pot of the green orpine, in the bending of whose leaves the maiden could read her fate in love. Wending their way through the throng, the three men of the west felt, the two | younger especially, something of that pleasure which huma beings can scarcely avoid feeling at the sight of happiness in others. Henry whispered to Wolsey, This is a merry land;' and the courtier answered, You have made it so. The three visitors of the city moved slowly along the dense crowd towards the Cross in West Cheap. They The liveries which two d

there stationed themselves.

6

them wore would have secured them respect, if their lof bearing had not appeared to command it. The galleries d the houses and the windows were filled with ladies. Be tween the high gabled roofs stood venturous boys and ser vants. Tapestry floated from the walls. Within was ever and anon heard the cadence of many voices singing in har mony. Then came a loud sound of trumpets;

and a greater

light than that of the flickering bonfires was seen in the distance, and the windows became more crowded, and the

songs ceased within the dwellings.

The procession which was approaching was

magnificen

the three spectators that we have described. It suggested. enough to afford the highest gratification to one at least of however, the consideration that it did not belong to himself and threw no particular glory round his throne and person. But, nevertheless, his curiosity was greatly stimulated: and that love of pomp which he had already begun to in dulge, in rocessions, and jousts, and tournays, could not

* Stow's Survey.

fail of receiving some delight from the remarkable scene that was before him. He was, as Cavendish has described him, 'a young, lusty, and courageous prince, entering into the flower of pleasant youth.' His amusements were manly and intellectual, exercising himself daily in shooting, singing, dancing, wrestling, casting of the bar, playing at the recorders, flute, virginals, and in setting of songs and making of ballads.'* The future sensual tyrant is not readily seen in this description. But here, on MidsummerEve, in 1510, was Henry standing beside the cross in West Cheap, and mixing unknown amongst his subjects, like the Haroon el-Rasheed of the Thousand and One Nights.' Onward came the Marching Watch, winding into Cheap from the little conduit by Paul's Gate. Here, literally,

The front of Heaven was full of fiery shapes,
Of burning cressets.'

The pitchy ropes borne aloft in iron frames sent up their tongues of fire and wreaths of smoke in volumes which showed, afar off, like the light of a burning city. Stow tells us that for the furniture' of the Marching Watch there were appointed seven hundred cressets; besides which every constable, amounting to two hundred and forty, had his cresset. Each cresset had a man to bear it and another to serve it, so that the cresset-train amounted in number to almost two thousand men. This was, indeed, civic pomp upon a splendid scale. A poet of the next century, whose name is almost unknown in the ordinary catalogues of English poetry, but who has written with more elegance and taste than half of those we call classics -Richard Niccols, in a performance called London's Artillery,' has the following very beautiful lines descriptive of the bonfires and cresset-lights of the great festival of the Summer Solstice :

* Hall.