1. Elizabeth is one of the most celebrated of our sovereigns, for she was a remarkably clever woman, although, like her father, she was harsh and tyrannical.
2. It was a merry day in England when she was crowned, for great numbers of the people had not liked queen Mary. The citizens of London testified their joy by decorating the outsides 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 people were still Catholics, she made a law that everybody should go to Protestant churches; and those who did not were put in prison, or made to pay such large sums of money, that they were quite ruined.
6. In other countries, particularly the Netherlands, the Protestants were as ill-treated as the Catholics were here, so that a great many of them came to England, and were very useful in teaching the English several arts and manufactures they did not know before.
7. Pins, needles, and paper, were now first made in England, and the cotton and other factories were greatly improved, so that there was more employment for the working classes.
8. Then workhouses were established for the destitute, and all householders, for the first time, were obliged to pay a tax, called the poor rate, to support and find the poor in food and clothes, so that they might not be driven, by want, to beg or steal.
9. The middle classes became more wealthy, and lived in better style than at any former period, especially the citizens of London, many of whom were rich merchants, living like noblemen, and among these was Sir Thomas Gresham, who built the first Royal Exchange, at his own expense, and gave a grand dinner there to the queen, in the year 1570.
10. English merchants now began to think of trading to the East Indies: but as it required a great deal of money to fit out ships, to make so long a voyage, for it took about four times as long then as it does now, a number of rich merchants joined together, and for a sum of money, obtained a charter from the queen, which made it unlawful for any other persons to carry on any trade with that part of the world.