Picturesque Sketches of London, Past and Present

stume of the period of the boy-king Edward VI.;-what he thinks of the blue-gown, orange-coloured petticoat, leather belt, yellow stockings, and clerkly ba

ng, the quaint dress of the schoolboys, or their cheerful laughter and merry romps, was alone known to himself. How few, except they are lovers of history, know or care any thing about Edward VI.! They may have heard that his brutal father beheaded wives as fast as he married them; that Lady Jane Grey perished on the scaffold; but of the events between, dur

; and before the close of the year nearly four hundred found shelter within the old monastic walls. At first they wor

eart must have been fixed on the subject while he wrote. He tells us how "Mr. Doctor Ridley, then Bishop of London, came and preached before the king's majesty at Westminster, in which sermon he

uch special things as he had noted, and that so many, that the bishop said, 'Truly, truly (for that commonly was his oath), I could never have thought that excellency to have been in his grace, but that I beheld and heard it in him. At last, his king's majesty much commended him for his exhortation for the relief of the poor; 'but, my lord,' quoth he, 'you willed such as are in authority to be careful thereof, and to devise some good order for their relief; wherein, I think, you mean me; for I am in (the) highest place, and therefore am the first that must make answer unto God

ite of, whether

doubt the dinner did it); aldermen and other citizens were present; so the matter was decided and placed before the king. In short, beside many providing several other charities, the old monastery of Grey Friars was given up for children of the poor; and thus the charitable and pious son built up a blessing out of what his church-destroying father had made all but desolate. Henry had sold all the consecrated vessels, o

ich took place between himself and the bishop, and in (it is said) the very chamber of the palace where the king received him after he had preached that memorable sermo

would please him, he, looking on the void place, called for pen and ink, and with his own hand wrote this sum in these words, 'Four thousand marks by the year;' and then said, in the hearing of his Council, 'Lord, I yield Thee most hearty thanks that

open space behind their play-ground beyond the ditch, and hear the shrieks of women carried to the fiery stake in that blood-stained and savage age; and in their dreams these "poor fatherless children" would see these sights and hear these sounds. But few very "poor fatherless children" are now inmates of Christ's Hospital; and if the spirits of the dead can look down upon the deeds of men on earth, the eyes of the good and gentle young king must have been di

l on the evenings of eight Sundays, terminating with Easter-day. On these occasions admission may be obtained by tickets,

ropolis. It measures 187 feet in length, 51 wide, and 46-1/2 high. It was designed by the late Mr. Shaw, archite

n baskets of bread, knives, &c.; leathern piggins, into which the beer is poured from a leathern jack; and one brings candles, which are lit and set about the tables, already laid with the cloth. The boys next stream in, and seat themselves at their respective tables, each of which has its separate nurse. All being thus prepared, precisely at seven o'clock the official procession enters, consisting of the Lord Mayor, president, treasurer, and governors, walking two by two; the organ rolls forth its 'billows of sound;' the assemblage stand up en masse, and join in the hymn, which is led by the singing-boys in the organ-gallery. Meanwhile the distinguished personages take their seat on the raised da?s stretching across the farther end of the hall. The Lord Mayor takes a carved chair, made of oak from old St. Katherine's Church; behind him sit the official personages, and next the distinguished visitors-invariably numbering many elegantly-dressed ladies; whilst other visitors are accommodated beneath the windows. On the opposite side a Grecian, or elder boy, mounts the pulpit; and, silence being enforced by three strokes of a hammer, he proceeds with the evening service, appropriate lessons, prayers, &c., at the close of which the supper commences; the visitors walking to and fro between

ed and earl

ey have so many hours left for play, as they do not breakfast until eight, after which school commences at nine, and breaks up at twelve; they ha

STAI

ere buying gloves, some smoking tobacco, others drinking brandy; and from thence into a famous piazza, where one was selling toys, another turning nutcrackers, a third, with a pair of dividers, marking out such a parcel of tringum-trangums, [tha

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to] trades, or the university. There is a ridiculous story reported and credited by many people, which is, that a gentlewoman, possessed of great riches, when she came to die, gave her whole estate to this hospital, leaving behind her a poor sister, for whom she neglected to make any provision, who, having the expectancy of the estate after the other's decease, and finding herself unhappily disappointed, reflecting upon her unfortunate condition and the unkindness

ancient staircase also. Both are still remaining. If the word "jacket" was understood in his d

oss, are still delivered at Easter. The children of Christ's Hospital attended then, as they do now, these ancient Spital Sermons. In this church Baxter, author of The Saint's Rest,

ave left pleasant reminiscences of this place in works which are in the