cover concerning this. He was so ill when the Parliament met, that he was not able to go to Westminster, but ordered their first meeting and the sermon to be at Whitehall. In the time of his sickness Bishop Ridley preached before him, and took occasion to run out much on works of charity and the obligation that lay on men of high condition to be eminent in good works. This touched the King to the quick, so that presently, after sermon, he sent for the Bishop, and, after he had commanded him to sit down by him and be covered, he resumed most of the heads of the sermon, and said he looked on himself as chiefly touched by it; he desired him, as he had already given him the exhortation in general, so to direct him how to do his duty in that particular. The Bishop, astonished at this tenderness in so young a prince, burst forth in tears, expressing how much he was overjoyed to see such inclinations in him, but told him he must take time to think on it, and craved leave to consult with the Lord Mayor and the Court of Aldermen. So the King wrote by him to them to consult speedily how the poor should be relieved. They considered there were three sorts of poor: such as were so by natural infirmity or folly, as impo

tent persons, and madmen or idiots; such as were so by accident, as sick or maimed persons; and such as by their idleness did cast themselves into poverty. So the King ordered the Grayfriars Church, near Newgate, with the revenues belonging to it, to be an house for orphans; St. Bartholomew's, near Smithfield, to be an hospital; and gave his own house of Bridewell, to be a place of correction and work for such as were wilfully idle. He also confirmed and enlarged the grant for the hospital of St. Thomas in Southwark, which he had erected and endowed in August last. And when he had set his hand to these foundations, he thanked God that He had prolonged his life till he had finished that design. So he was the first founder of those houses, which, by many great additions since that time, have risen to be among the noblest in Europe.

He expressed, in the whole course of his sickness, great submission to the will of God, and seemed glad at the approaches of death; only the consideration of religion and the Church touched him much, and upon that account he said he was desirous of life.

His distemper rather increased than abated, so that the physicians had no hope of his re

covery, upon which a confident woman came and undertook his cure if he might be put into her hands. This was done, and the physicians were put from him upon this pretence-that they having no hopes of his recovery, in a desperate case desperate remedies were to be used.

This was said to be the Duke of Northumberland's advice in particular; and it increased the people's jealousy of him, when they saw the King grow very sensibly worse every day after he came under the woman's care; which becoming so plain, she was put from him, and the physicians were again sent for, and took him into their charge. But if they had small hopes before, they had none at all now.

On the 6th of July his spirits and body were so sunk that he found death approaching, and so he composed himself to die in a most devout manner. His whole exercise was in short prayers and ejaculations. Seeing some about him, he seemed troubled that they were so near and had heard him; but with a pleasant countenance he said that he had been praying to God. And soon after, the pangs of death coming on him, he said to Sir Henry Sidney, who was holding him in his arms, I am faint;

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Lord have mercy on me and receive my spirit;' and so he breathed out his innocent soul.

Thus died King Edward the Sixth, that incomparable young prince. He was then in the sixteenth year of his age, and was counted the wonder of that time.

THE ARAB HORSE.

(LIBRARY OF USEFUL KNOWLedge.)

THE Arab horse is as celebrated for his docility and good temper, as for his speed and courage. In that delightful book Bishop Heber's Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces of India,' the following interesting character is given of him:- My morning rides are very pleasant. My horse is a nice, quiet, goodtempered little Arab, who is so fearless that he goes without starting close to an elephant, and so gentle and docile that he eats bread out of my hand, and has almost as much attachment and as many coaxing ways as a dog. This seems the general character of the Arab horses, to judge from what I have seen in this

country. It is not the fiery dashing animal I had supposed, but with more rationality about him, and more apparent confidence in his rider, than the majority of English horses.'

The kindness with which he is treated from a foal gives him an affection for his master, a wish to please, a pride in exerting every energy in obedience to his commands, and, consequently, an apparent sagacity which is seldom seen in other breeds. The mare and her foal inhabit the same tent with the Bedouin and his children. The neck of the mare is often the pillow of the rider, and more frequently of the children who are rolling about upon her and the foal; yet no accident ever occurs, and the animal acquires that friendship and love for man which occasional ill-treatment will not cause him for a moment to forget.

When the Arab falls from his mare, and is unable to rise, she will immediately stand still, and neigh until assistance arrives. If he lies down to sleep, as fatigue sometimes compels him in the midst of the desert, she stands watchful over him, and neighs and rouses him if either man or beast approaches. An old Arab had a valuable mare that had carried him for fifteen years in many a hard-fought

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