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Title: The Leading Facts of English History
Date of first publication: 1895
Author: David Henry Montgomery (1837-1928)
Date first posted: December 27 2012
Date last updated: December 27 2012
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  TRANSCRIBERS NOTE:
    Text in bold is placed between =equals=,
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[Illustration: Map No. 1--ENGLAND & WALES.]




  =The Leading Facts of History Series.=


  THE

  LEADING FACTS OF ENGLISH

  HISTORY.

  BY

  D. H. MONTGOMERY.

     "Nothing in the past is dead to the man who would learn how the
     present came to be what it is."--STUBBS: _Constitutional
     History of England._

  SECOND EDITION, REVISED.

  BOSTON, U.S.A.:

  GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS.

  1894.




  LEADING FACTS OF HISTORY SERIES.

  By D. H. MONTGOMERY.

  THE LEADING FACTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY.

  With numerous Illustrations, Maps, and Tables. Mailing Price,
  $1.10; Introduction Price, $1.00.

  THE LEADING FACTS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

  (Revised Edition.) With numerous Maps and Tables. Mailing
  Price, $1.25; Introduction Price, $1.12.

  THE LEADING FACTS OF FRENCH HISTORY.

  With numerous Maps and Tables. Mailing Price, $1.25; Introduction
  Price, $1.12.

  GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS.




PREFACE.


Most of the materials for this book were gathered by the writer during
several years' residence in England.

The attempt is here made to present them in a manner that shall illustrate
the great law of national growth, in the light thrown upon it by the
foremost English historians.

The authorities for the different periods will be found in the List of
Books on page 434; but the author desires to particularly acknowledge his
indebtedness to the works of Gardiner, Guest, and Green, and to the
excellent constitutional histories of Taswell-Langmead and Ransome.


SECOND EDITION.

The present edition has been very carefully revised throughout, and
numerous maps and genealogical tables have been added.

The author's hearty thanks are due to G. Mercer Adam, Esq., of Toronto,
Canada; Prof. W. F. Allen, of The University of Wisconsin; President Myers,
of Belmont College, Ohio; Prof. George W. Knight, of Ohio State University;
and to Miss M. A. Parsons, teacher of history in the High School,
Winchester, Mass., for the important aid which they have kindly rendered.

  DAVID H. MONTGOMERY,

  CAMBRIDGE, MASS.




CONTENTS.


  SECTION                                                             PAGE

     I. Britain before History begins                                    1

    II. The Relation of the Geography of England to its History         12

   III. A Civilization which did not civilize; Roman Britain            18

    IV. The Coming of the Saxons; Britain becomes England[1]            31

     V. The Coming of the Normans                                       58

    VI. The Angevins, or Plantagenets; Rise of the English Nation       87

   VII. The Self-Destruction of Feudalism                              150

  VIII. Absolutism of the Crown; the Reformation; the New Learning     179

    IX. The Stuart Period; the Divine Right of Kings _vs._ the Divine
        Right of the People                                            229

     X. The American Revolution; the House of Commons the Ruling
        Power; the Era of Reform                                       306

    XI. A General Summary of English Constitutional History            391

        Table of Principal Dates                                       421

        Descent of the English Sovereigns                              432

        List of Books                                                  434

        Statistics                                                     438

        Index                                                          440

[1] Each section or period is followed by a general view of that period.


MAPS.


    MAP                                                               PAGE

     I. County Map of England and Wales (in colors)          Frontispiece.

    II. Britain before its Separation from the Continent                 4

   III. Roman Britain                                                   24

    IV. The Continental Home of the English, with their Successive
        Invasions of Britain                                            34

     V. The English Settlements and Kingdoms                            38

    VI. Danish England                                                  42

   VII. The Four Great Earldoms                                         44

  VIII. The Dominions of the Angevins, or Plantagenets                  88

    IX. The English Possessions in France, 1360 (in colors)            130

     X. England during the Wars of the Roses                           174

    XI. The World as known in 1497, Reign of Henry VII., showing
        Voyages of Discovery by the Cabots and Others                  186

   XII. Drake's Circumnavigation of the Globe, with the First English
        Colonies planted in America                                    218

  XIII. England during the Civil Wars of the Seventeenth Century       244

   XIV. Clive's Conquests in India                                     318

    XV. The British Empire at the Present Time                         382

   XVI. Plan of a Manor                                                 80




THE LEADING FACTS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

I.

    "This fortress built by Nature for herself
    Against infection and the hand of war;
    This happy breed of men, this little world,
    This precious stone set in the silver sea,
    Which serves it in the office of a wall,
    Or as a moat defensive to a house,
    Against the envy of less happier lands;
    This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England."

    SHAKESPEARE, _Richard II._

BRITAIN BEFORE WRITTEN HISTORY BEGINS.


THE COUNTRY.

=1. Britain once a Part of the Continent.=--The island of Great Britain has
not always had its present form. Though separated from Europe now by the
English Channel and the North Sea, yet there is abundant geological
evidence that it was once a part of the continent.

=2. Proofs.=--The chalk cliffs of Dover are really a continuation of the
chalk of Calais, and the strait dividing them, which is nowhere more than
thirty fathoms deep,[2] is simply the result of a slight and comparatively
recent depression in that chalk. The waters of the North Sea are also
shallow, and in dredging, great quantities of the same fossil remains of
land animals are brought up which are found buried in the soil of England,
Belgium, and France. It would seem, therefore, that there can be no
reasonable doubt that the bed of this sea, where these creatures made their
homes, must once have been on a level with the countries whose shores it
now washes.

=3. Appearance of the Country.=--What we know to-day as England, was at
that time a western projection of the continent, wild, desolate, and
without a name.[3] The high hill ranges show unmistakable marks of the
glaciers which once ploughed down their sides, and penetrated far into the
valleys, as they still continue to do among the Alps.

=4. The Climate.=--The climate then was probably like that of Greenland
now. Europe was but just emerging, if, indeed, it had begun to finally
emerge, from that long period during which the upper part of the northern
hemisphere was buried under a vast field of ice and snow.

=5. Trees and Animals.=--The trees and animals corresponded to the climate
and the country. Forests of fir, pine, and stunted oak, such as are now
found in latitudes much farther north, covered the lowlands and the lesser
hills. Through these roamed the reindeer, the mammoth, the wild horse, the
bison or "buffalo," and the cave-bear.


MAN.--THE ROUGH-STONE AGE.

=6. His Condition.=--Man seems to have taken up his abode in Britain before
it was severed from the mainland. His condition was that of the lowest and
most brutal savage. He probably stood apart, even from his fellow-men, in
selfish isolation; if so, he was bound to no tribe, acknowledged no chief,
obeyed no law. All his interests were centred in himself and in the little
group which constituted his family.

=7. How he lived.=--His house was the first empty cave he found, or a rude
rock-shelter made by piling up stones in some partially protected place.
Here he dwelt during the winter. In summer, when his wandering life began,
he built himself a camping place of branches and bark, under the shelter of
an overhanging cliff by the sea, or close to the bank of a river. He had no
tools. When he wanted a fire he struck a bit of flint against a lump of
iron ore, or made a flame by rubbing two dry sticks rapidly together. His
only weapon was a club or a stone. As he did not dare encounter the larger
and fiercer animals, he rarely ventured into the depths of the forests, but
subsisted on the shellfish he picked up along the shore, or on any chance
game he might have the good fortune to kill, to which, as a relish, he
added berries or pounded roots.

=8. His First Tools and Weapons.=--In process of time he learned to make
rough tools and weapons from pieces of flint, which he chipped to an edge
by striking them together. When he had thus succeeded in shaping for
himself a spear-point, or had discovered how to make a bow and to tip the
arrows with a sharp splinter of stone, his condition changed. He now felt
that he was a match for the beasts he had fled from before. Thus armed, he
slew the reindeer and the bison, used their flesh for food, their skins for
clothing, while he made thread from their sinews, and needles and other
implements from their bones. Still, though he had advanced from his first
helpless state, his life must have continued to be a constant battle with
the beasts and the elements.

=9. His Moral and Religious Nature.=--His moral nature was on a level with
his intellect. No questions of conscience disturbed him. In every case of
dispute might made right.

His religion was the terror inspired by the forces and convulsions of
nature, and the dangers to which he was constantly exposed. Such, we have
every reason to believe, was the condition of the Cave-Man who first
inhabited Britain, and the other countries of Europe and the East.

=10. Duration of the Rough-Stone Age.=--The period in which he lived is
called the Old or Rough-Stone Age, a name derived from the implements then
in use.

When that age began, or when it came to a close, are questions which at
present cannot be answered. But we may measure the time which has elapsed
since man appeared in Britain by the changes which have taken place in the
country. We know that sluggish streams like the Avon, with whose channel
the lapse of many centuries has made scarcely any material difference,
have, little by little, cut their way down through beds of gravel till they
have scooped out valleys sometimes a hundred feet deep. We know also the
climate is wholly unlike now what it once was, and that the animals of that
far-off period have either wholly disappeared from the globe or are found
only in distant regions.

The men who were contemporary with them have vanished in like manner. But
that they were contemporary we may feel sure from two well-established
grounds of evidence.

[Illustration: Map No. 2--BRITAIN BEFORE ITS SEPARATION FROM THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE.

  The dark lines represent land, now submerged.
  The dotted area, that occupied by animals.
  The white land area, portions once covered by glaciers.
  The figures show the present depth of sea in fathoms.
  F. (France), T. (Thames), W. (Wales), S. (Scotland), I. (Ireland).
  ?, doubtful area, but probably glacial.]

=11. Remains of the Rough-Stone Age.=--First, their flint knives and arrows
are found in the caves, mingled with ashes and with the bones of the
animals on which they feasted; these bones having been invariably split in
order that they might suck out the marrow.[4] Next, we have the drawings
they made of those very creatures scratched on a tusk or on a smooth piece
of slate with a bit of sharp-pointed quartz.[5] Nearly everything else has
perished; even their burial places, if they had any, have been swept
away by the destroying action of time. Yet these memorials have come down
to us, so many fragments of imperishable history, made by that primeval
race who possessed no other means of recording the fact of their existence
and their work.


THE AGE OF POLISHED STONE.

=12. The Second Race; Britain an Island.=--Following the Cave-Men, there
came a higher race who took possession of the country; these were the men
of the New or Polished-Stone Age. When they reached Britain, it had
probably become an island. Long before their arrival the land on the east
and south had been slowly sinking, till at last the waters of the North Sea
crept in and made the separation complete. The new-comers appear to have
brought with them the knowledge of grinding and polishing stone, and of
shaping it into hatchets, chisels, spears, and other weapons and
utensils.[6] They did not, like the race of the Rough-Stone Period, depend
upon such chance pieces of flint as they might pick up, and which would be
of inferior quality, but they had regular quarries for digging their
supplies. They also obtained polished-stone implements of a superior kind
from the inhabitants of the continent, which they in turn got by traffic
with Asiatic countries.

=13. Government and Mode of Life.=--These people were organized into tribes
or clans under the leadership of a chief. They lived in villages or "pit
circles" consisting of a group of holes dug in the ground, each large
enough to accommodate a family. These pits were roofed over with branches
covered with slabs of baked clay. The entrance to them was a long,
inclined passage, through which the occupants crawled on their hands and
knees.

Armed with their stone hatchets, these men were able to cut down trees and
to make log canoes in which they crossed to the mainland. They could also
undertake those forest clearings which had been impossible before. The
point, however, of prime difference and importance was their mode of
subsistence.

=14. Farming and Cattle-Raising.=--Unlike their predecessors, this second
race did not depend on hunting and fishing alone, but were herdsmen and
farmers as well. They had brought from other countries such cereals as
wheat and barley, and such domestic animals as the ox, sheep, hog, horse,
and dog. Around their villages they cultivated fields of grain, while in
the adjacent woods and pastures they kept herds of swine and cattle.

=15. Arts.=--They had learned the art of pottery, and made dishes and other
useful vessels of clay, which they baked in the fire. They raised flax and
spun and wove it into coarse, substantial cloth. They may also have had
woollen garments, though no remains of any have reached us, perhaps because
they are more perishable than linen. They were men of small stature, with
dark hair and complexion, and it is supposed that they are represented in
Great Britain to-day by the inhabitants of Southern Wales.

=16. Burial of the Dead.=--They buried their dead in long mounds, or
barrows, some of which are upward of three hundred feet in length. These
barrows were often made by setting up large, rough slabs of stone so as to
form one or more chambers which were afterward covered with earth. In some
parts of England these burial mounds are very common, and in Wiltshire,
several hundred occur within the limits of an hour's walk.

During the last twenty years many of these mounds have been opened and
carefully explored. Not only the remains of the builders have been
discovered in them, but with them their tools and weapons. In addition to
these, earthen dishes for holding food and drink have been found, placed
there it is supposed, to supply the wants of the spirits of the departed,
as the American Indians still do in their interments. When a chief or great
man died, it appears to have been the custom of the tribe to hold a funeral
feast, and the number of cleft human skulls dug up in such places has led
to the belief that prisoners of war may have been sacrificed and their
flesh eaten by the assembled guests in honor of the dead. Be that as it
may, there are excellent grounds for supposing that these tribes were
constantly at war with each other, and that their battles were
characterized by all the fierceness and cruelty which uncivilized races
nearly everywhere exhibit.


THE BRONZE AGE.

=17. The Third Race.=--But great as was the progress which the men of the
New or Polished-Stone Age had made, it was destined to be surpassed. A
people had appeared in Europe, though at what date cannot yet be
determined, who had discovered how to melt and mingle two important metals,
copper and tin.

=18. Superiority of Bronze to Stone.=--The product of that mixture, named
bronze, perhaps from its brown color, had this great advantage: a stone
tool or weapon, though hard, is brittle; but bronze is not only hard, but
tough. Stone, again, cannot be ground to a thin cutting edge, whereas
bronze can. Here, then, was a new departure. Here was a new power. From
that period the bronze axe and the bronze sword, wielded by the muscular
arms of a third and stronger race, became the symbols of a period
appropriately named the Age of Bronze. The men thus equipped invaded
Britain. They drove back or enslaved the possessors of the soil. They
conquered the island, settled it, and held it as their own until the Roman
legions, armed with swords of steel, came in turn to conquer them.

=19. Who the Bronze-Men were, and how they lived.=--The Bronze-Men may be
regarded as offshoots of the Celts, a large-limbed, fair-haired,
fierce-eyed people, that originated in Asia, and overran Central and
Western Europe. Like the men of the Age of Polished Stone, they lived in
settlements under chiefs and possessed a rude sort of government. Their
villages were built above ground and consisted of circular houses somewhat
resembling Indian wigwams. They were constructed of wood, chinked in with
clay, having pointed roofs covered with reeds, with an opening to let out
the smoke and let in the light. Around these villages the inhabitants dug a
deep ditch for defence, to which they added a rampart of earth surmounted
by a palisade of stout sticks, or by felled trees piled on each other. They
kept sheep and cattle. They raised grain, which they deposited in
subterranean storehouses for the winter. They not only possessed all the
arts of the Stone-Men, but in addition, they were skilful workers in gold,
of which they made necklaces and bracelets. They also manufactured woollen
cloth of various textures and brilliant colors.

They buried their dead in round barrows or mounds, making for them the same
provision that the Stone-Men did. Though divided into tribes and scattered
over a very large area, yet they all spoke the same language; so that a
person would have been understood if he had asked for bread and cheese in
Celtic anywhere from the borders of Scotland to the southern boundaries of
France.

=20. Greek Account of the Bronze-Men of Britain.=--At what time the Celts
came into Britain is not known, though some writers suppose that it was
about 500 B.C. However that may be, we learn something of their mode of
life two centuries later from the narrative of Pytheas,[7] a learned Greek
navigator and geographer who made a voyage to Britain at that time. He says
he saw plenty of grain growing, and that the farmers gathered the sheaves
at harvest into large barns, where they threshed it under cover, the fine
weather being so uncertain in the island that they could not do it out of
doors, as in countries farther south. Here, then, we have proof that the
primitive Britons saw quite as little of the sun as their descendants do
now. Another characteristic discovery made by Pytheas was that the farmers
of that day had learned to make beer and liked it. So that here, again, the
primitive Briton was in no way behind his successors.

=21. Early Tin Trade of Britain.=--Of their skill in mining Pytheas does
not speak, though from that date, and perhaps many centuries earlier, the
inhabitants of the southern part of the island carried on a brisk trade in
tin ore with merchants of the Mediterranean. Indeed, if tradition can be
depended upon, Hiram, king of Tyre, who reigned over the Phœnicians, a
people particularly skilful in making bronze, and who aided Solomon in
building the Jewish temple, may have obtained his supplies of tin from the
British Isles. At any rate, about the year 300 B.C., a certain Greek writer
speaks of the country as then well known, calling it Albion, or the "Land
of the White Cliffs."

=22. Introduction of Iron.=--About a century after that name was given, the
use of bronze began to be supplemented to some extent by the introduction
of iron. Cæsar tells us that rings of it were employed for money; if so, it
was probably by tribes in the north of the island, for the men of the south
had not only gold and silver coins at that date, but what is more, they had
learned how to counterfeit them.

Such were the inhabitants the Romans found when they invaded Britain in the
first century before the Christian era. Rude as these people seemed to
Cæsar as he met them in battle array clad in skins, with their faces
stained with the deep blue dye of the woad plant, yet they proved no
unworthy foemen even for his veteran troops.

=23. The Religion of the Primitive Britons; the Druids.=--We have seen that
they held some dim faith in an overruling power and in a life beyond the
grave, since they offered human sacrifices to the one, and buried the
warrior's spear with him, that he might be provided for the other.
Furthermore, the Britons when Cæsar invaded the country had a regularly
organized priesthood, the Druids, who appear to have worshipped the
heavenly bodies. They dwelt in the depths of the forests, and venerated the
oak and the mistletoe. There in the gloom and secrecy of the woods they
raised their altars; there, too, they offered up criminals to propitiate
their gods. They acted not only as interpreters of the divine will, but
they held the savage passions of the people in check, and tamed them as
wild beasts are tamed. Besides this, they were the repositories of
tradition, custom, and law. They were also prophets, judges, and teachers.
Lucan, the Roman poet, declared he envied them their belief in the
indestructibility of the soul, since it banished that greatest of all
fears, the fear of death. Cæsar tells us that "they did much inquire, and
hand down to the youth concerning the stars and their motions, concerning
the magnitude of the earth, concerning the nature of things, and the might
and power of the immortal gods."[8] They did more; for they not only
transmitted their beliefs and hopes from generation to generation, but they
gave them architectural power and permanence in the massive columns of hewn
stone, which they raised in that temple open to the sky, the ruins of which
are still to be seen on Salisbury Plain. There, on one of those fallen
blocks, Carlyle and Emerson sat and discussed the great questions of the
Druid philosophy when they made their pilgrimage to Stonehenge[9] more than
forty years ago.

=24. What we owe to Primitive or Prehistoric Man.=--The Romans, indeed,
looked down upon these people as barbarians; yet it is well to bear in mind
that all the progress which civilization has since made is built on the
foundations which they slowly and painfully laid during unknown centuries
of toil and strife. It is to them that we owe the taming of the dog, horse,
and other domestic animals, the first working of metals, the beginning of
agriculture and mining, and the establishment of many salutary customs
which help not a little to bind society together to-day.


[2] The width of the Strait of Dover at its narrowest point is twenty-one
miles. The bottom is a continuous ridge of chalk. If St. Paul's Cathedral
were placed in the strait, midway between England and France, more than
half of the building would be above the surface of the water.

[3] See Map No. 2, page 4.

[4] Very few remains of the Cave-Men themselves have yet been found, and
these with the most trifling exceptions have been discovered on the
continent, especially in France and Switzerland. The first rough-stone
implement found in England was dug up in Gray's Inn Road, London, in 1690.
It is of flint, and in shape and size resembles a very large pear. It forms
the nucleus of a collection in the British Museum.

[5] These drawings have been found in considerable number on the continent.
Thus far the only one discovered in England is the head of a horse
scratched or cut in bone. It came from the upper cave-earth of Robin Hood
Cave, in the Cresswell Crags, Derbyshire. See Dawkins' Early Man in
Britain, page 185.

[6] Grinding or polishing stone: this was done by rubbing the tools or
weapons, after they had been chipped into shape, on a smooth, flat stone.
The natives of Australia still practise this art.

[7] See Pytheas, in Rhys' Celtic Britain or Elton's Origins of English
History.

[8] See Cæsar's Gallic War, Books IV. and V. (for these and other
references, see list of books in Appendix).

[9] Stonehenge (literally, the "Hanging Stones"): this is generally
considered to be the remains of a Druid temple. It is situated on a plain
near Salisbury, Wiltshire, in the south of England. It consists of a number
of immense upright stones arranged in two circles, an outer and an inner,
with a row of flat stones partly connecting them at the top. The temple had
no roof. An excellent description of it may be found in R. W. Emerson's
English Traits.




II.

    "Father Neptune one day to Dame Freedom did say,
    'If ever I lived upon dry land,
    The spot I should hit on would be little Britain.'
    Says Freedom, 'Why, that's my own island.'
    O, 'tis a snug little island,
    A right little, tight little island!
    Search the world round, none can be found
    So happy as this little island."

    T. DIBDIN.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF ENGLAND IN RELATION TO ITS HISTORY.[10]


=25. Geography and History.=--As material surroundings strongly influence
individual life, so the physical features--situation, surface, and
climate--of a country have a marked effect on its people and its history.

=26. The Island Form; Race Settlements--the Romans.=--The insular form of
Britain gave it a certain advantage over the continent during the age when
Rome was subjugating the barbarians of Northern and Western Europe. As
their invasions could only be by sea, they were necessarily on a
comparatively small scale. This perhaps is one reason why the Romans did
not succeed in establishing their language and laws in the island. They
conquered and held it for centuries, but they never destroyed its
individuality; they never Latinized it as they did France and Spain.

=27. The Saxons.=--In like manner, when the power of Rome fell and the
northern tribes overran and took possession of the Empire, they were in a
measure shut out from Britain. Hence the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes could
not pour down upon it in countless hordes, but only by successive attacks.
This had two results: first, the native Britons were driven back only by
degrees--thus their hope and courage were kept alive and transmitted; next,
the conquerors settling gradually in different sections built up
independent kingdoms. When in time the whole country came under one
sovereignty the kingdoms, which had now become shires or counties, retained
through their chief men an important influence in the government, thus
preventing the royal power from becoming absolute.

=28. The Danes and Normans.=--In the course of the ninth, tenth, and
eleventh centuries, the Danes invaded the island, got possession of the
throne, and permanently established themselves in the northern half of
England, as the country was then called. They could not come, however, with
such overwhelming force as either to exterminate or drive out the English,
but were compelled to unite with them, as the Normans did later in their
conquest under William of Normandy. Hence, every conquest of the island
ended in a compromise, and no one race got complete predominance.
Eventually all mingled and became one people.

=29. Earliest Names: Celtic.=--The steps of English history may be traced
to a considerable extent by geographical names. Thus the names of most of
the prominent natural features, the hills, and especially the streams, are
British or Celtic, carrying us back to the Bronze Age, and perhaps even
earlier. Familiar examples of this are found in the name, Malvern Hills,
and in the word Avon ("the water"), which is repeated many times in England
and Wales.

=30. Roman Names.=--The Roman occupation of Britain is shown by the names
ending in "cester," or "chester" (a corruption of _castra_, a camp). Thus
Leicester, Worcester, Dorchester, Colchester, Chester, indicate that these
places were walled towns and military stations.

=31. Saxon Names.=--On the other hand, the names of many of the great
political divisions, especially in the south and east of England, mark the
Saxon settlements, such as Essex (the East Saxons), Sussex (the South
Saxons), Middlesex (the Middle or Central Saxons). In the same way the
settlement of the two divisions of the Angles on the coast is indicated by
the names Norfolk (the North folk) and Suffolk (the South folk)[11].

=32. Danish Names.=--The conquests and settlements of the Danes are readily
traced by the Danish termination "by" (an abode or town), as in Derby,
Rugby, Grimsby. Names of places so ending, which may be counted by
hundreds, occur with scarce an exception north of London. They date back to
the time when Alfred made the treaty of Wedmore,[12] by which the Danes
agreed to confine themselves to the northern half of the country.

=33. Norman Names.=--The conquest of England by the Normans created but few
new names. These, as in the case of Richmond and Beaumont, generally show
where the invading race built a castle or an abbey, or where, as in
Montgomeryshire, they conquered and held a district in Wales.

While each new invasion left its mark on the country, it will be seen that
the greater part of the names of counties and towns are of Roman, Saxon, or
Danish origin; so that, with some few and comparatively unimportant
exceptions, the map of England remains to-day in this respect what those
races made it more than a thousand years ago.

=34. Eastern and Western Britain.=--As the southern and eastern coasts of
Britain were in most direct communication with the continent and were first
settled, they continued until modern times to be the wealthiest, most
civilized, and progressive part of the island. Much of the western portion
is a rough, wild country. To it the East Britons retreated, keeping their
primitive customs and language, as in Wales and Cornwall. In all the great
movements of religious or political reform, up to the middle of the
seventeenth century, we find the people of the eastern half of the island
on the side of a larger measure of liberty; while those of the western
half, were in favor of increasing the power of the king and the church.

=35. The Channel in English History.=--The value of the Channel to England,
which has already been referred to in its early history, may be traced down
to our own day.

In 1264, when Simon de Montfort was endeavoring to secure parliamentary
representation for the people, the king (Henry III.) sought help from
France. A fleet was got ready to invade the country and support him, but
owing to unfavorable weather it was not able to sail in season, and Henry
was obliged to concede the demands made for reform.[13]

Again, at the time of the threatened attack by the Spanish Armada, when the
tempest had dispersed the enemy's fleet and wrecked many of its vessels,
leaving only a few to creep back, crippled and disheartened, to the ports
whence they had so proudly sailed, Elizabeth fully recognized the value of
the "ocean-wall" to her dominions.

So a recent French writer,[14] speaking of Napoleon's intended expedition,
which was postponed and ultimately abandoned on account of a sudden and
long-continued storm, says, "A few leagues of sea saved England from being
forced to engage in a war, which, if it had not entirely trodden
civilization under foot, would have certainly crippled it for a whole
generation." Finally, to quote the words of Prof. Goldwin Smith, "The
English Channel, by exempting England from keeping up a large standing
army [though it has compelled her to maintain a powerful and expensive
navy], has preserved her from military despotism, and enabled her to move
steadily forward in the path of political progress."

=36. Climate.=--With regard to the climate of England,--its insular form,
geographical position, and especially its exposure to the warm currents of
the Gulf Stream, give it a mild temperature particularly favorable to the
full and healthy development of both animal and vegetable life. Nowhere is
found greater vigor or longevity. Charles II. said that he was convinced
that there was not a country in the world where one could spend so much
time out of doors comfortably as in England; and he might have added that
the people fully appreciate this fact and habitually avail themselves of
it.

=37. Industrial Division of England.=--From an industrial and historical
point of view, the country falls into two divisions. Let a line be drawn
from Whitby, on the northeast coast, to Leicester, in the midlands, and
thence to Exmouth, on the southwest coast.[15] On the upper or northwest
side of that line will lie the coal and iron, which constitute the greater
part of the mineral wealth and manufacturing industry of England; and also
all the large places except London. On the lower or southeast side of it
will be a comparatively level surface of rich agricultural land, and most
of the fine old cathedral cities[16] with their historic associations; in a
word, the England of the past as contrasted with modern and democratic
England, that part which has grown up since the introduction of steam.

=38. Commercial Situation of England.=--Finally, the position of England
with respect to commerce is worthy of note. It is not only possessed of a
great number of excellent harbors, but it is situated in the most
extensively navigated of the oceans, between the two continents having the
highest civilization and the most constant intercourse. Next, a glance at
the map[17] will show that geographically England is located at about the
centre of the land masses of the globe. It is evident that an island so
placed stands in the most favorable position for easy and rapid
communication with every quarter of the world. On this account England has
been able to attain and maintain the highest rank among maritime and
commercial powers.

It is true that since the opening of the Suez Canal, in 1869, the trade
with the Indies and China has changed. Many cargoes of teas, silks, and
spices, which formerly went to London, Liverpool, or Southampton, and were
thence reshipped to different countries of Europe, now pass by other
channels direct to the consumer. But aside from this, England still retains
her supremacy as the great carrier and distributer of the productions of
the earth--a fact which has had and must continue to have a decided
influence on her history and on her relations with other nations, both in
peace and war.


[10] As this section necessarily contains references to events in the later
periods of English history, it may be advantageously reviewed after the
pupil has reached a somewhat advanced stage in the course.

[11] See Map No. 7, page 44.

[12] Treaty of Wedmore. See Map No. 6, page 42.

[13] Stubbs, Select Charters, 401.

[14] Madame de Rémusat.

[15] Whitby, Yorkshire; Exmouth, near Exeter, Devonshire.

[16] In England the cathedral towns only are called cities.

[17] See Maps Nos. 11 and 15, pages 186, 382.




III.

     "Force and Right rule the world: Force, till Right is ready."

     JOUBERT.

ROMAN BRITAIN, 55 B.C. 43-410 A.D.

A CIVILIZATION WHICH DID NOT CIVILIZE.


=39. Europe at the Time of Cæsar's Invasion of Britain.=--Before
considering the Roman invasion of Britain let us take a glance at the
condition of Europe. We have seen that the Celtic tribes of the island,
like those of Gaul (France), were not mere savages. On the contrary, we
know that they had taken more than one important step in the path of
progress; still, the advance should not be overrated. For, north of the
shores of the Mediterranean, there was no real civilization. Whatever gain
the men of the Bronze Age had made, it was nothing compared to what they
had yet to acquire. They had neither organized legislatures, written codes
of law, effectively trained armies, nor extensive commerce. They had no
great cities, grand architecture, literature, painting, music, or
sculpture. Finally, they had no illustrious and imperishable names. All
these belonged to the Republic of Rome, or to the countries to the south
and east, which the arms of Rome had conquered.

=40. Cæsar's Campaigns.=--Such was the state of Europe when Julius Cæsar,
who was governor of Gaul, but who aspired to be ruler of the world, set out
on his first campaign against the tribes north of the Alps. (58 B.C.)

In undertaking the war he had three objects in view: first, he wished to
crush the power of those restless hordes that threatened the safety, not
only of the Roman provinces, but of the Republic itself. Next, he sought
military fame as a stepping-stone to supreme political power. Lastly, he
wanted money to maintain his army and to bribe the party leaders of Rome.
To this end every tribe which he conquered would be forced to pay him
tribute in cash or slaves.

=41. Cæsar reaches Boulogne; resolves to cross to Britain.=--In three years
Cæsar had subjugated the enemy in a succession of victories, and Europe lay
virtually helpless at his feet. Late in the summer of 55 B.C. he reached
that part of the coast of Gaul where Boulogne is now situated, opposite
which one may see on a clear day the gleaming chalk cliffs of Dover, so
vividly described in Shakespeare's "Lear." While encamped on the shore he
"resolved," he says, "to pass over into Britain, having had trustworthy
information that in all his wars with the Gauls the enemies of the Roman
Commonwealth had constantly received help from thence."[18]

=42. Britain not certainly known to be an Island.=--It was not known then
with certainty that Britain was an island. Many confused reports had been
circulated respecting that strange land in the Atlantic on which only a few
adventurous traders had ever set foot. It was spoken of in literature as
"another world," or, as Plutarch called it, "a country beyond the bounds of
the habitable globe."[19] To that other world the Roman general, impelled
by ambition, by curiosity, by desire of vengeance, and by love of gain,
determined to go.

=43. Cæsar's First Invasion, 55 B.C.=--Embarking with a force of between
eight and ten thousand men[20] in eighty small vessels, Cæsar crossed the
Channel and landed not far from Dover, where he overcame the Britons, who
made a desperate resistance. After a stay of a few weeks, during which he
did not leave the coast, he returned to Gaul.

=44. Second Invasion, 54 B.C.=--The next year, a little earlier in the
season, Cæsar made a second invasion with a much larger force, and
penetrated the country to a short distance north of the Thames. Before the
September gales set in, he re-embarked for the continent, never to return.
The total result of his two expeditions was, a number of natives, carried
as hostages to Rome, a long train of captives destined to be sold in the
slave-markets, and some promises of tribute which were never fulfilled.
Tacitus remarks, "He did not conquer Britain; he only showed it to the
Romans."

Yet so powerful was Cæsar's influence, that his invasion was spoken of as a
splendid victory, and the Roman Senate ordered a thanksgiving of twenty
days, in gratitude to the gods and in honor of the achievement.

=45. Third Invasion of Britain, 43 A.D.=--For nearly a hundred years no
further attempt was made, but in 43 A.D., after Rome had become a monarchy,
the Emperor Claudius ordered a third invasion of Britain, in which he
himself took part.

This was successful, and after nine years of fighting, the Roman forces
overcame Caractacus, the leader of the Britons.

=46. Caractacus carried Captive to Rome.=--In company with many prisoners,
Caractacus was taken in chains to Rome. Alone of all the captives, he
refused to beg for life or liberty. "Can it be possible," said he, as he
was led through the streets, "that men who live in such palaces as these
envy us our wretched hovels!"[21] "It was the dignity of the man, even in
ruins," says Tacitus, "which saved him." The Emperor, struck with his
bearing and his speech, ordered him to be set free.

=47. The First Roman Colony planted in Britain.=--Meanwhile the armies of
the Empire had firmly established themselves in the southeastern part of
the island. There they formed the colony of Camulodunum, the modern
Colchester. There, too, they built a temple and set up the statue of the
Emperor Claudius, which the soldiers worshipped, both as a protecting god
and as a representative of the Roman state.

=48. Llyn-din.=[22]--The army had also conquered other places, among which
was a little native settlement on one of the broadest parts of the Thames.
It consisted of a few miserable huts and a row of entrenched cattle-pens.
This was called in the Celtic or British tongue Llyn-din or the
Fort-on-the-lake, a word which, pronounced with difficulty by Roman lips,
became that name which the world now knows wherever ships sail, trade
reaches, or history is read,--London.

=49. Expedition against the Druids.=--But in order to complete the conquest
of the country, the Roman generals saw that it would be necessary to crush
the power of the Druids, since their passionate exhortations kept
patriotism alive. The island of Mona, now Anglesea, off the coast of Wales,
was the stronghold to which the Druids had retreated. As the Roman soldiers
approached to attack them, they beheld the priests and women standing on
the shore, with uplifted hands, uttering "dreadful prayers and
imprecations." For a moment they hesitated, then urged by their general,
they rushed upon them, cut them to pieces, levelled their consecrated
groves to the ground, and cast the bodies of the Druids into their own
sacred fires. From this blow, Druidism as an organized faith never
recovered, though traces of its religious rites still survive in the use of
the mistletoe at Christmas and in May-day festivals.

=50. Revolt of Boadicea.=--Still the power of the Latin legions was only
partly established, for while Suetonius was absent with his troops at Mona,
a formidable revolt had broken out in the east. The cause of the
insurrection was Roman rapacity and cruelty. A native chief, Prasutagus, in
order to secure half of his property to his family at his death, left it
to be equally divided between his daughters and the Emperor; but the
governor of the district, under the pretext that his widow Boadicea had
concealed part of the property, seized the whole. Boadicea protested. To
punish her presumption she was stripped, bound, and scourged as a slave,
and her daughters given up to still more brutal and infamous treatment.
Maddened by these outrages, Boadicea roused the tribes by her appeals. They
fell upon London and other cities, burned them to the ground, and
slaughtered many thousand inhabitants. For a time it looked as though the
whole country would be restored to the Britons; but Suetonius heard of the
disaster, hurried from the north, and fought a final battle, so tradition
says, on ground within sight of where St. Paul's Cathedral now stands. The
Roman general gained a complete victory, and Boadicea, the Cleopatra of the
North, as she has been called, took her own life, rather than, like the
Egyptian queen, fall into the hands of her conquerors. She died, let us
trust, as the poet has represented, animated by the prophecy of the Druid
priest that,--

    "Rome shall perish--write that word
      In the blood that she has spilt;--
    Perish, hopeless and abhorred,
      Deep in ruin, as in guilt."[23]

=51. Christianity introduced into Britain.=--Perhaps it was not long after
this that Christianity made its way to Britain; if so, it crept in so
silently that nothing certain can be learned of its advent. Our only record
concerning it is found in monkish chronicles filled with bushels of
legendary chaff, from which a few grains of historic truth may be here and
there picked out. The first church, it is said, was built at
Glastonbury.[24] It was a long, shed-like structure of wicker-work. "Here,"
says Fuller, "the converts watched, fasted, preached, and prayed, having
high meditations under a low roof and large hearts within narrow walls."
Later there may have been more substantial edifices erected at Canterbury
by the British Christians, but at what date, it is impossible to say. At
first, no notice was taken of the new religion. It was the faith of the
poor and the obscure, hence the Roman generals regarded it with contempt;
but as it continued to spread, it caused alarm. The Roman Emperor was not
only the head of the state, but the head of religion as well. He
represented the power of God on earth: to him every knee must bow; but the
Christian refused this homage. He put Christ first; for that reason he was
dangerous to the state: if he was not already a traitor and rebel, he was
suspected to be on the verge of becoming both.

=52. Persecution of British Christians; St. Alban.=--Toward the last of the
third century the Roman Emperor Diocletian resolved to root out this
pernicious belief. He began a course of systematic persecution which
extended to every part of the Empire, including Britain. The first martyr
was Alban. He refused to sacrifice to the Roman deities, and was beheaded.
"But he who gave the wicked stroke," says Bede,[25] with childlike
simplicity, "was not permitted to rejoice over the deed, for his eyes
dropped out upon the ground together with the blessed martyr's head." Five
hundred years later the abbey of St. Albans[26] rose on the spot to
commemorate him who had fallen there, and on his account that abbey stood
superior to all others in power and privilege.

=53. Agricola explores the Coast and builds a Line of Forts.=--In 78 A.D.
Agricola, a wise and equitable ruler, became governor of the country. His
fleets explored the coast, and first discovered Britain to be an island. He
gradually extended the limits of the government, and, in order to prevent
invasion from the north, he built a line of forts across Caledonia, or
Scotland, from the river Firth to the Clyde.

=54. The Romans clear and cultivate the Country.=--From this date the power
of Rome was finally fixed. During the period of three hundred years which
follows, the entire surface of the country underwent a great change.
Forests were cleared, marshes drained, waste lands reclaimed, rivers banked
in and bridged, and the soil made so productive that Britain became known
in Rome as the most important grain-producing and grain-exporting province
in the Empire.

=55. Roman Cities; York.=--Where the Britons had had a humble village
enclosed by a ditch, with felled trees, to protect it, there rose such
walled towns as Chester, Lincoln, London, and York, with some two score
more, most of which have continued to be centres of population ever since.
Of these, London early became the commercial metropolis, while York was
acknowledged to be both the military and civil capital of the country.
There the Sixth Legion was stationed. It was the most noted body of troops
in the Roman army, and was called the "Victorious Legion." It remained
there for upward of three hundred years. There, too, the governor resided
and administered justice. For these reasons York got the name of "another
Rome." It was defended by walls flanked with towers, some of which are
still standing. It had numerous temples and public buildings, such as
befitted the first city of Britain. There, also, an event occurred in the
fourth century which made an indelible mark on the history of mankind. For
at York, Constantine, the subsequent founder of Constantinople, was
proclaimed emperor, and through his influence Christianity became the
established religion of the Empire.[27]

[Illustration: Map No. 3--ROMAN BRITAIN.]

=56. Roman System of Government; Roads.=--During the Roman possession of
Britain the country was differently governed at different periods, but
eventually it was divided into five provinces. These were intersected by a
magnificent system of paved roads running in direct lines from city to
city, and having London as a common centre. Across the Strait of Dover,
they connected with a similar system of roads throughout France, Spain,
and Italy, which terminated at Rome. Over these roads bodies of troops
could be rapidly marched to any needed point, and by them officers of state
mounted on relays of fleet horses could pass from one end of the Empire to
the other in a few days' time. So skilfully and substantially were these
highways constructed, that modern engineers have been glad to adopt them as
a basis for their work, and the four leading Roman roads[28] continue to be
the foundation, not only of numerous turnpikes in different parts of
England, but also of several of the great railway lines, especially those
from London to Chester and from London to York.

=57. Roman Forts and Walls.=--Next in importance to the roads were the
fortifications. In addition to those which Agricola had built, later rulers
constructed a wall of solid masonry entirely across the country from the
shore of the North to that of the Irish Sea. This wall, which was about
seventy-five miles south of Agricola's work, was strengthened by a deep
ditch and a rampart of earth. It was further defended by castles built at
regular intervals of one mile. These were of stone, and from sixty to
seventy feet square. Between them were stone turrets or watch-towers which
were used as sentry-boxes; while at every fourth mile there was a fort,
covering from three to six acres, occupied by a large body of troops.

=58. Defences against Saxon Pirates.=--But the northern tribes were not the
only ones to be guarded against; bands of pirates prowled along the east
and south coasts, burning, plundering, and kidnapping. These marauders came
from Denmark and the adjacent countries. The Britons and Romans called them
Saxons, a most significant name if, as is generally supposed, it refers to
the short, stout knives which made them a terror to every land on which
they set foot. To repel them a strong chain of forts was erected on the
coast, extending from the mouth of the river Blackwater, in Essex, to
Portsmouth on the south.

Of these great works, cities, walls, and fortifications, though by far the
greater part have perished, yet enough still remain to justify the
statement that "outside of England no such monuments exist of the power and
military genius of Rome."

=59. Roman Civilization False.=--Yet the whole fabric was as hollow and
false as it was splendid. Civilization, like truth, cannot be forced on
minds unwilling or unable to receive it. Least of all can it be forced by
the sword's point and the taskmaster's lash. In order to render his
victories on the continent secure, Cæsar had not hesitated to butcher
thousands of prisoners of war or to cut off the right hands of the entire
population of a large settlement to prevent them from rising in revolt. The
policy pursued in Britain, though very different, was equally heartless and
equally fatal. There was indeed an occasional ruler who endeavored to act
justly, but such cases were rare. Galgacus, a leader of the North Britons,
said with truth of the Romans, "They give the lying name of Empire to
robbery and slaughter; they make a desert and call it peace."

=60. The Mass of the Native Population Slaves.=--It is true that the chief
cities of Britain were exempt from oppression. They elected their own
magistrates and made their own laws, but they enjoyed this liberty because
their inhabitants were either Roman soldiers or their allies. Outside these
cities the great mass of the native population were bound to the soil,
while a large proportion of them were absolute slaves. Their work was in
the brick fields, the quarries, the mines, or in the ploughed land, or the
forest. Their homes were wretched cabins plastered with mud, thatched with
straw, and built on the estates of masters who paid no wages.

=61. Roman Villas.=--The masters lived in stately villas adorned with
pavements of different colored marbles and beautifully painted walls. These
country-houses, often as large as palaces, were warmed in winter, like our
modern dwellings, with currents of heated air, while in summer they opened
on terraces ornamented with vases and statuary, and on spacious gardens of
fruits and flowers.[29]

=62. Roman Taxation and Cruelty.=--Such was the condition of the laboring
classes. Those who were called free were hardly better off, for nearly all
that they could earn was swallowed up in taxes. The standing army of
Britain, which the people of the country had to support, rarely numbered
less than forty thousand. The population was not only scanty, but it was
poor. Every farmer had to pay a third of all that his farm could produce,
in taxes. Every article that he sold had also to pay duty, and finally
there was a poll-tax on the man himself. On the continent there was a
saying that it was better for a property-owner to fall into the hands of
savages than into those of the Roman assessors. When they went round, they
counted not only every ox and sheep, but every plant, and registered them
as well as the owners. "One heard nothing," says a writer of that time,
speaking of the days when revenue was collected, "but the sound of flogging
and all kinds of torture. The son was compelled to inform against his
father, and the wife against her husband. If other means failed, men were
forced to give evidence against themselves and were assessed according to
the confession they made to escape torment."[30] So great was the misery of
the land that it was not an uncommon thing for parents to destroy their
children, rather than let them grow up to a life of suffering. This vast
system of organized oppression, like all tyranny, "was not so much an
institution as a destitution," undermining and impoverishing the country.
It lasted until time brought its revenge, and Rome, which had crushed so
many nations of barbarians, was in her turn threatened with a like fate, by
bands of barbarians stronger than herself.

=63. The Romans compelled to abandon Britain.=--When Cæsar returned from
his victorious campaigns in Gaul in the first century B.C., Cicero
exultingly exclaimed, "Now, let the Alps sink! the gods raised them to
shelter Italy from the barbarians; they are no longer needed." For nearly
five centuries that continued true; then the tribes of Northern Europe
could no longer be held back. When the Roman emperors saw that the crisis
had arrived, they recalled the legions from Britain. The rest of the
colonists soon followed. In the year 409 we find this brief but expressive
entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,[31] "After this the Romans never ruled
in Britain." A few years later this entry occurs: "418. This year the
Romans collected all the treasures in Britain; some they hid in the earth,
so that no one since has been able to find them, and some they carried with
them into Gaul."

=64. Remains of Roman Civilization.=--In the course of the next three
generations whatever Roman civilization had accomplished in the island,
politically and socially, had disappeared. A few words, indeed, such as
"port" and "street," have come down to us. Save these, nothing is left but
the material shell,--the roads, forts, arches, gateways, altars, and tombs,
which are still to be seen scattered throughout the land.

The soil, also, is full of relics of the same kind. Twenty feet below the
surface of the London of to-day lie the remains of the London of the
Romans. In digging in the "city,"[32] the laborer's shovel every now and
then brings to light bits of rusted armor, broken swords, fragments of
statuary, and gold and silver ornaments. So, likewise, several towns, long
buried in the earth, and the foundations of upwards of a hundred
country-houses, have been discovered; but these seem to be all. If Rome
left any traces of her literature, law, and methods of government, they
are so doubtful that they serve only as subjects for antiquarians to
wrangle over.[33] Were it not for the stubborn endurance of ivy-covered
ruins like those of Pevensey, Chester, and York, and of that gigantic wall
which still stretches across the bleak moors of Northumberland, we might
well doubt whether there ever was a time when the Cæsars held Britain in
their relentless grasp.

=65. Good Results of the Roman Conquest of Britain.=--Still, it would be an
error to suppose that the conquest and occupation of the island had no
results for good. Had Rome fallen a century earlier, the world would have
been the loser by it, for during that century the inhabitants of Gaul and
Spain were brought into closer contact than ever with the only power then
existing which could teach them the lesson they were prepared to learn.
Unlike the Britons, they adopted the Latin language for their own; they
made themselves acquainted with its literature and aided in its
preservation; they accepted the Roman law and the Roman idea of government;
lastly, they acknowledged the influence of the Christian church, and, with
Constantine's help, they organized it on a solid foundation. Had Rome
fallen a prey to the invaders in 318 instead of 410,[34] it is doubtful if
any of these results would have taken place, and it is almost certain that
the last and most important of all could not.

Britain furnished Rome with abundant food supplies, and sent thousands of
troops to serve in the Roman armies on the continent. Britain also
supported the numerous colonies which were constantly emigrating to her
from Italy, and thus kept open the lines of communication with the
mother-country. By so doing she helped to maintain the circulation of the
life-currents in the remotest branches of the Roman Empire. Because of
this, that empire was able to resist the barbarians until the seeds of the
old civilization had time to root themselves and to spring up with promise
of a new and nobler growth. In itself, then, though the island gained
practically nothing from the Roman occupation, yet through it mankind was
destined to gain much. During these centuries the story of Britain is that
which history so often repeats--a part of Europe was sacrificed that the
whole might not be lost.


[18] Cæsar's Gallic War, Book IV.

[19] Plutarch's Lives (Julius Cæsar).

[20] Cæsar is supposed to have sailed about the 25th of August, 55 B.C. His
force consisted of two legions, the 7th and 10th. A legion varied at
different times from 3000 foot and 200 horse soldiers to 6000 foot and 400
horse.

[21] Tacitus, Annals.

[22] Llyn-din (lin-din).

[23] Cowper, Boadicea.

[24] Glastonbury, Somersetshire.

[25] Bede, Ecclesiastical History of Britain, completed about the year 731.

[26] St. Albans, Hertfordshire, about twenty miles northwest of London.

[27] Constantine was the first Christian emperor of Rome. The preceding
emperors had generally persecuted the Christians.

[28] The four chief roads were: 1. Watling Street; 2. Icknield Street; 3.
Ermine Street; and 4. The Fosse Way. See Map No. 3, page 24.

[29] About one hundred of these villas or country-houses, chiefly in the
South and Southwest of England, have been exhumed. Some of them cover
several acres.

[30] Lactantius. See Elton's Origins of English History.

[31] Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: the earliest English history. It was probably
begun in the ninth century, in the reign of Alfred. It extends, in
different copies, from Cæsars invasion until the beginning of the reign of
Henry II., 1154. It is supposed that the work was written in Canterbury,
Peterborough, and other monasteries. The first part of it is evidently
based on tradition; but the whole is of great value, especially from the
time of Alfred.

[32] The "city"--that part of London formerly enclosed by Roman walls,
together with a small outlying district. Its limit on the west is the site
of Temple Bar; on the east, the Tower of London.

[33] Scarth, Pearson, Guest, Elton, and Coote believe that Roman
civilization had a permanent influence; while Lappenburg, Stubbs, Freeman,
Green, Wright, and Gardiner deny it.

[34] Rome was plundered by the Goths, under Alaric, in 410. The empire
finally fell in 476.




IV.

     "The happy ages of history are never the productive
     ones."--HEGEL.

THE COMING OF THE SAXONS, OR ENGLISH, 449 A.D.

THE BATTLES OF THE TRIBES.--BRITAIN BECOMES ENGLAND.


=66. Condition of the Britons after the Romans left the Island.=--Three
hundred and fifty years of Roman law and order had so completely tamed the
fiery aborigines of the island that when the legions abandoned it, the
complaint of Gildas,[35] "the British Jeremiah," as Gibbon calls him, may
have been literally true, when he declared that the Britons were no longer
brave in war or faithful in peace.

Certainly their condition was both precarious and perilous. On the north
they were assailed by the Picts, on the northwest by the Scots,[36] on the
south and east by the Saxons. What was perhaps worst and most dangerous of
all, they quarrelled among themselves over points of theological doctrine.
They had, indeed, the love of liberty, but not the spirit of unity; and the
consequence was, that their enemies, bursting in on all sides, cut them
down, Bede says, as "reapers cut down ripe grain."

=67. Letter to Aëtius.=--At length the chief men of the country joined in a
piteous and pusillanimous letter begging help from Rome. It was addressed
as follows: "To Aëtius, Consul[37] for the third time, the groans of the
Britons"; and at the close their calamities were summed up in these words,
"The barbarians drive us to the sea, the sea drives us back to the
barbarians; between them we are either slain or drowned." Aëtius, however,
was fighting the enemies of Rome at home, and left the Britons to shift for
themselves.

=68. Vortigern's Advice.=--Finally, in their desperation, they adopted the
advice of Vortigern, a chief of Kent, who urged them to fight fire with
fire, by inviting a band of Saxons to form an alliance with them against
the Picts and Scots. The proposal was very readily accepted by a tribe of
Jutes. They, with the Angles and Saxons, occupied the peninsula of Jutland,
or Denmark, and the seacoast to the south of it. All of them were known to
the Britons under the general name of Saxons.

=69. Coming of the Jutes.=--Gildas records their arrival in characteristic
terms, saying that "in 449 a multitude of whelps came from the lair of the
barbaric lioness, in three _keels_, as they call them."[38] We get a good
picture of what they were like from the exultant song of their countryman,
Beowulf,[39] who describes with pride "the dragon-prowed ships," filled
with sea-robbers, armed with "rough-handled spears and swords of bronze,"
which under other leaders sailed for the shining coasts of Britain.

These three _keels_, or war-ships, under the command of the chieftains
Hengist and Horsa, were destined to grow into a kingdom. Settling at first,
according to agreement, in the island of Thanet, near the mouth of the
Thames, the Jutes easily fulfilled their contract to free the country from
the ravages of the Picts, and quite as easily found a pretext afterward for
seizing the fairest portion of Kent for themselves and their kinsmen and
adherents, who came, vulture-like, in ever-increasing multitudes.

=70. Invasion by the Saxons.=--The success of the Jutes incited their
neighbors, the Saxons, who came under the leadership of Ella, and Cissa,
his son, for their share of the spoils. They conquered a part of the
country bordering on the Channel, and, settling there, gave it the name of
Sussex, or the country of the South Saxons. We learn from two sources how
the land was wrested from the native inhabitants. On the one side is the
account given by the British monk Gildas; on the other, that of the Saxon
or English Chronicle. Both agree that it was gained by the edge of the
sword, with burning, pillaging, massacre, and captivity. "Some," says
Gildas, "were caught in the hills and slaughtered; others, worn out with
hunger, gave themselves up to lifelong slavery. Some fled across the sea;
others trusted themselves to the clefts of the mountains, to the forests,
and to the rocks along the coast." By the Saxons, we are told that the
Britons fled before them "as from fire."

=71. Siege of Anderida.=--Again, the Chronicle tersely says: "In 490 Ella
and Cissa besieged Anderida (the modern Pevensey)[40] and put to death all
who dwelt there, so that not a single Briton remained alive in it." When,
however, they took a fortified town like Anderida, they did not occupy, but
abandoned it. So the place stands to-day, with the exception of a Norman
castle, built there in the eleventh century, just as the invaders left it.
Accustomed as they were to a wild life, they hated the restraint and
scorned the protection of stone walls. It was not until after many
generations had passed that they became reconciled to live within them. In
the same spirit, they refused to appropriate anything which Rome had left.
They burned the villas, killed or enslaved the serfs who tilled the soil,
and seized the land to form rough settlements of their own.

=72. Settlement of Wessex, Essex, and Middlesex.=--In this way, after
Sussex was established, bands came over under Cerdic in 495. They conquered
a territory to which they gave the name of Wessex, or the country of the
West Saxons. About the same time, or possibly a little later, we have the
settlement of other invaders in the country north of the Thames, which
became known as Essex and Middlesex, or the land of the East and the Middle
Saxons.

=73. Invasion by the Angles.=--Finally, there came from a little corner
south of the peninsula of Denmark, between the Baltic and an arm of the sea
called the Sley (a region which still bears the name of Angeln), a tribe of
Angles, who took possession of all of Eastern Britain not already
appropriated. Eventually they came to have control over the greater part of
the land, and from them all the other tribes took the name of Angles, or
English.

=74. Bravery of the Britons.=--Long before this last settlement was
complete, the Britons had plucked up courage, and had, to some extent,
joined forces to save themselves from utter extermination. They were
naturally a brave people, and the fact that the Saxon invasions cover a
period of more than a hundred years shows pretty conclusively that, though
the Britons were weakened by Roman tyranny, yet in the end they fell back
on what pugilists call their "second strength." They fought valiantly and
gave up the country inch by inch only.

[Illustration: Map No. 4--THE CONQUEST OF BRITAIN BY TRIBES FROM THE LOW
 OR NORTHERN AND FLATTER PARTS OF GERMANY.]

=75. King Arthur checks the Invaders.=--In 520, if we may trust tradition,
the Saxons received their first decided check at Badbury, in Dorsetshire,
from that famous Arthur, the legend of whose deeds has come down to us,
retold in Tennyson's "Idylls of the King." He met them in their march of
insolent triumph, and with his irresistible sword "Excalibur" and his
stanch Welsh spearsmen, proved to them, at least, that he was not a myth,
but a man,[41] able "to break the heathen and uphold the Christ."

=76. The Britons driven into the West.=--But though temporarily brought to
a stand, the heathen were neither to be expelled nor driven back. They had
come to stay. At last the Britons were forced to take refuge among the
hills of Wales, where they continued to abide unconquered and unconquerable
by force alone. In the light of these events, it is interesting to see that
that ancient stock never lost its love of liberty, and that more than
eleven centuries later, Thomas Jefferson, and several of the other
fifty-five signers of the Declaration of American Independence were either
of Welsh birth or of direct Welsh descent.

=77. Gregory and the English Slaves.=--The next period, of nearly eighty
years, until the coming of Augustine, is a dreary record of constant
bloodshed. Out of their very barbarism, however, a regenerating influence
was to arise. In their greed for gain, some of the English tribes did not
hesitate to sell their own children into bondage. A number of these slaves
exposed in the Roman forum, attracted the attention, as he was passing, of
a monk named Gregory. Struck with the beauty of their clear, ruddy
complexions and fair hair, he inquired from what country they came. "They
are Angles," was the dealer's answer. "No, not Angles, but angels,"
answered the monk, and he resolved that, should he ever have the power, he
would send missionaries to convert a race of so much promise.[42]

=78. Coming of Augustine, 597.=--In 590 he became the head of the Roman
church. Seven years later he fulfilled his resolution, and sent Augustine
with a band of forty monks to Britain. They landed on the very spot where
Hengist and Horsa had disembarked nearly one hundred and fifty years
before. Like Cæsar and his legions, they brought with them the power of
Rome; but this time it came not as a force from without to crush men in the
iron mould of submission and uniformity, but as a persuasive voice to
arouse and cheer them with new hope. Providence had already prepared the
way. Ethelbert, king of Kent, had married Bertha, a French princess, who in
her own country had become a convert to Christianity. The Saxons, or
English, at that time were wholly pagan, and had, in all probability,
destroyed every vestige of the faith for which the British martyrs gave
their lives.

=79. Augustine converts the King of Kent and his People.=--Through the
queen's influence, Ethelbert was induced to receive Augustine. He was
afraid, however, of some magical practice, so he insisted that their
meeting should take place in the open air and on the island of Thanet. The
historian Bede represents the monks as advancing to salute the king,
holding a tall silver cross in their hands and a picture of Christ painted
on an upright board. Augustine delivered his message, was well received,
and invited to Canterbury, the capital of Kent. There the king became a
convert to his preaching, and before the year had passed ten thousand of
his subjects had received baptism; for to gain the king was to gain his
tribe as well.

=80. Augustine builds the First Monastery.=--At Canterbury Augustine became
the first archbishop over the first cathedral. There, too, he erected the
first monastery in which to train missionaries to carry on the work which
he had begun, a building still in use for that purpose, and that continues
to bear the name of the man who founded it. The example of the ruler of
Kent was not without its effect on others.

=81. Conversion of the North.=--The North of England, however, owed its
conversion chiefly to the Irish monks of an earlier age. They had planted
monasteries in Ireland and Scotland from which colonies went forth, one of
which settled at Lindisfarne, in Durham. Cuthbert, a Saxon monk of that
monastery in the seventh century, travelled as a missionary throughout
Northumbria, and was afterward recognized as the saint of the North.
Through his influence that kingdom was induced to accept Christianity.
Others, too, went to other districts. In one case, an aged chief arose in
an assembly of warriors and said, "O king, as a bird flies through this
hall in the winter night, coming out of the darkness and vanishing into it
again, even such is our life. If these strangers can tell us aught of what
is beyond, let us give heed to them." But Bede informs us that,
notwithstanding their success, some of the new converts were too cautious
to commit themselves entirely to the strange religion. One king, who had
set up a large altar devoted to the worship of Christ, very prudently set
up a smaller one at the other end of the hall to the old heathen deities,
in order that he might make sure of the favor of both.

=82. Christianity organized; Labors of the Monks.=--Gradually, however, the
pagan faith was dropped. Christianity organized itself under conventual
rule. Monasteries either already existed or were now established at
Lindisfarne,[43] Wearmouth, Whitby and Jarrow in the north, and at
Peterborough and St. Albans in the east. These monasteries were educational
as well as industrial centres. Part of each day was spent by the monks in
manual toil, for they held that "to labor is to pray." They cleared the
land, drained the bogs, ploughed, sowed, and reaped. Another part of the
day they spent in religious exercises, and a third in writing, translating,
and teaching. A school was attached to each monastery, and each had besides
its library of manuscript books as well as its room for the entertainment
of travellers and pilgrims. In these libraries important charters and laws
relating to the kingdom were also preserved.

=83. Literary Work of the Monks.=--It was at Jarrow that Bede wrote in rude
Latin the church-history of England. It was at Whitby that the poet
Cædmon[44] composed his poem on the Creation, in which, a thousand years
before Milton, he dealt with Milton's theme in Milton's spirit. It was at
Peterborough and Canterbury that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was probably
begun, a work which stands by itself, not only as the first English
history, but the first English book, and the one from which we derive much
of our knowledge of the time from the Roman conquest down to a period after
the coming of the Normans. It was in the abbeys of Malmesbury[45] and St.
Albans that, at a later period, that history was taken up and continued by
William of Malmesbury and Matthew Paris. It was also from these monasteries
that an influence went out which eventually revived learning throughout
Europe.

=84. Influence of Christianity on Society.=--But the work of Christianity
for good did not stop with these things. The church had an important social
influence. It took the side of the weak, the suffering, and the oppressed.
It shielded the slave from ill usage. It secured for him Sunday as a day of
rest, and it constantly labored for his emancipation.

[Illustration: Map No. 5--ENGLAND IN THE SAXON OR EARLY ENGLISH PERIOD.]

=85. Political Influence of Christianity.=--More than this, Christianity
had a powerful political influence. In 664 a synod, or council, was held at
Whitby to decide when Easter should be observed. To that meeting, which was
presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury, delegates were sent from all
parts of the country. After a protracted debate the synod decided in favor
of the Roman custom, and thus all the churches were brought into agreement.
In this way, at a period when the country was divided into hostile kingdoms
of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, each struggling fiercely for the mastery,
there was a spirit of true religious unity growing up. The bishops, monks,
and priests, gathered at Whitby, were from tribes at open war with each
other. But in that, and other conferences which followed, they felt that
they had a common interest, that they were fellow-countrymen, and that
they were all members of the same church and laboring for the same end.

=86. Egbert.=--But during the next hundred and fifty years the chief
indication outside the church of any progress toward consolidation was in
the growing power of the kingdom of Wessex. In 787 Egbert, a direct
descendant of Cerdic, the first chief and king of the country, laid claim
to the throne. Another claimant arose, who gained the day, and Egbert,
finding that his life was in danger, fled the country.

=87. Egbert at the Court of Charlemagne.=--He escaped to France, and there
took refuge at the court of King Charlemagne, where he remained thirteen
years. Charlemagne had conceived the gigantic project of resuscitating the
Roman Empire. To accomplish that, he had engaged in a series of wars, and
in the year 800 had so far conquered his enemies that he was crowned
Emperor of the West by the Pope at Rome.

=88. Egbert becomes "King of the English."=--That very year the king of
Wessex died, and Egbert was summoned to take his place. He went back
impressed with the success of the French king and ambitious to imitate him.
Twenty-three years after that, we hear of him fighting the tribes in
Mercia, or Central Britain. His army is described as "lean, pale, and
long-breathed"; but with those cadaverous troops he conquered and reduced
the Mercians to subjection. Other victories followed, and in 828 he had
brought all the sovereignties of England into vassalage. He now ventured to
assume the title, which he had fairly won, of "King of the English."[46]

=89. Britain becomes England.=--The Celts had called the land Albion; the
Romans, Britain:[47] the country now called itself Angle-Land, or ENGLAND.
Three causes had brought about this consolidation, to which each people
had contributed part. The Jutes of Kent encouraged the foundation of the
national church; the Angles gave the national name, the West Saxons
furnished the national king. From him as a royal source, every subsequent
English sovereign, with the exception of Harold II., and a few Danish
rulers, has directly or indirectly descended down to the present time.

=90. Alfred the Great.=--Of these the most conspicuous during the period of
which we are writing was Alfred, grandson of Egbert. He was rightly called
Alfred the Great, since he was the embodiment of whatever was best and
bravest in the English character. The key-note of his life may be found in
the words which he spoke at the close of it, "So long as I have lived, I
have striven to live worthily."

=91. Danish Invasion.=--When he came to the throne in 871, through the
death of his brother Ethelred, the Danes were sweeping down on the country.
A few months before that event Alfred had aided his brother in a desperate
struggle with them. In the beginning, the object of the Danes was to
plunder, later, to possess, and finally, to rule over the country. In the
year Alfred came to the throne, they had already overrun a large portion
and invaded Wessex. Wherever their raven-flag appeared, there destruction
and slaughter followed.

=92. The Danes destroy the Monasteries.=--The monasteries were the especial
objects of their attacks. Since their establishment many of them had
accumulated wealth and had sunk into habits of idleness and luxury. The
Danes, without intending it, came to scourge these vices. From the thorough
way in which they robbed, burned, and murdered, there can be no doubt that
they enjoyed what some might think was their providential mission. In their
helplessness and terror, the panic-stricken monks added to their usual
prayers, this fervent petition: "From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord
deliver us!" The power raised up to answer that supplication was Alfred.

=93. Alfred's Victories over the Danes; The White Horse.=--After repeated
defeats, he, with his brother, finally drove back these savage hordes, who
thought it a shame to earn by sweat what they could win by blood; whose
boast was that they would fight in paradise even as they had fought on
earth, and would celebrate their victories with foaming draughts of ale
drunk from the skulls of their enemies. In these attacks, Alfred led
one-half the army, Ethelred the other. They met the Danes at Ashdown, in
Berkshire. While Ethelred stopped to pray for success, Alfred, under the
banner of the "White Horse,"--the common standard of the Anglo-Saxons at
that time,--began the attack and won the day. Tradition declares that after
the victory he ordered his army to commemorate their triumph by carving
that colossal figure of a horse on the side of a neighboring chalk-hill,
which still remains so conspicuous an object in the landscape. It was
shortly after this that Alfred became king; but the war, far from being
ended, had in fact but just begun.

=94. The Danes compel Alfred to retreat.=--The Danes, reinforced by other
invaders, overcame Alfred's forces and compelled him to retreat. He fled to
the wilds of Somersetshire, and was glad to take up his abode for a time,
so the story runs, in a peasant's hut. Subsequently he succeeded in
rallying part of his people, and built a stronghold on a piece of rising
ground, in the midst of an almost impassable morass. There he remained
during the winter.

=95. Great Victory by Alfred; Treaty of Wedmore, 878.=--In the spring he
marched forth and again attacked the Danes. They were entrenched in a camp
at Edington, Wiltshire. Alfred surrounded them, and starved them into
submission so complete that Guthrum, the Danish leader, swore a peace,
called the Peace or Treaty of Wedmore, and sealed the oath with his
baptism--an admission that Alfred had not only beaten, but converted him as
well.

=96. Terms of the Treaty.=--By the Treaty of Wedmore[48] the Danes bound
themselves to remain north and east of a line drawn from London to Chester,
following the old Roman road called Watling-street. All south of this line,
including a district around London, was recognized as the dominions of
Alfred, whose chief city, or capital, was Winchester. By this treaty the
Danes got much the larger part of England, on the one hand, though they
acknowledged Alfred as their over-lord, on the other. He thus became
nominally what his predecessor, Egbert, had claimed to be,--the king of the
whole country.[49]

=97. Alfred's Laws; his Translations.=--He proved himself to be more than
mere ruler; for he was law-giver and teacher as well. Through his efforts a
written code was compiled, prefaced by the Ten Commandments and ending with
the Golden Rule; and, as Alfred added, referring to the introduction, "He
who keeps this shall not need any other law-book." Next, that learning
might not utterly perish in the ashes of the abbeys and monasteries which
the Danes had destroyed, the king, though feeble and suffering, set himself
to translate from the Latin the Universal History of Orosius, and also
Bede's History of England. He afterward rendered into English the
Reflections of the Roman senator, Boethius, on the Supreme Good, an inquiry
written by the latter while in prison, under sentence of death.

[Illustration: Map No. 6--ENGLAND TOWARD THE CLOSE OF THE NINTH CENTURY.

The shaded district on the northeast shows the part obtained by the Danes
by the Treaty of Wedmore, 878 A.D.]

=98. Alfred's Navy.=--Alfred, however, still had to combat the Danes, who
continued to make descents upon the coast, and even sailed up the Thames to
take London. He constructed a superior class of fast-sailing war-vessels
from designs made by himself, and with this fleet, which may be regarded as
the beginning of the English navy, he fought the enemy on their own
element. He thus effectually checked a series of invasions which, had they
continued, might have eventually reduced the country to primitive
barbarism.

=99. Estimate of Alfred's Reign.=--Considered as a whole, Alfred's reign is
the most noteworthy of any in the annals of the early English sovereigns.
It was marked throughout by intelligence and progress. His life speaks for
itself. The best commentary on it is the fact that, in 1849, the people of
Wantage,[50] his native place, celebrated the thousandth anniversary of his
birth--another proof that "what is excellent, as God lives, is
permanent."[51]

=100. Dunstan's Reforms.=--Two generations after Alfred's death, Dunstan,
Archbishop of Canterbury, the ablest man in an age when all statesmen were
ecclesiastics, came forward to take up and push onward the work begun by
the great king. He labored for higher education, for strict monastic rule,
and for the celibacy of the monks.

=101. Regular and Secular Clergy.=--At that time the clergy of England were
divided into two classes,--the "regulars," or monks, and the "seculars," or
parish priests and other clergy not bound by monastic vows. The former
lived in the monasteries apart from the world; the latter lived in it. By
their monastic vows,[52] the "regulars" were bound to remain unmarried,
while the "seculars" were not. Notwithstanding Alfred's efforts at reform,
many monasteries had relaxed their rules, and were again filled with
drones. In violation of their vows, large numbers of the monks were
married. Furthermore, many new churches had been endowed and put into the
hands of the "seculars."

=102. Danger to the State from Each Class of Clergy.=--The danger was that
this laxity would go on increasing, so that in time the married clergy
would monopolize the clerical influence and clerical wealth of the kingdom
for themselves and their families. They would thus become an hereditary
body, a close corporation, transmitting their power and possessions from
father to son through generations. On the other hand, the tendency of the
unmarried clergy would be to become wholly subservient to the church and
the Pope, though they must necessarily recruit their ranks from the people.
In this last respect they would be more democratic than the opposite class.
They would also be more directly connected with national interests and the
national life, while at the same time they would be able to devote
themselves more exclusively to study and to intellectual culture than the
"seculars."

=103. Dunstan as a Statesman and Artisan.=--In addition to these reforms,
Dunstan proved himself to be as clever a statesman as theologian. He
undertook, with temporary success, to reconcile the conflicting interests
of the Danes and the English. He was also noted as a mechanic and worker in
metals. The common people regarded his accomplishments in this direction
with superstitious awe. Many stories of his skill were circulated, and it
was even whispered that in a personal contest with Beelzebub, it was the
devil and not the monk who got the worst of it and fled from the saint's
workshop, howling with dismay.

=104. New Invasions; Danegeld.=--With the close of Dunstan's career, the
period of decline sets in. Fresh inroads began on the part of the
Northmen,[53] and so feeble and faint-hearted grew the resistance that at
last a royal tax, called Danegeld, or Dane-money, was levied on all landed
property in order to raise means to buy off the invaders. For a brief
period this cowardly concession answered the purpose. But a time came when
the Danes would no longer be bribed to keep away.

[Illustration: Map No.7--ENGLAND AT THE TIME OF THE NORMAN CONQUEST 1066.

Showing the four great earldoms of

  1. Wessex
  2. Mercia
  3. East Anglia
  4. Northumberland

With the principal towns and the dependent kingdoms of Strathclyde, North
and West Wales, and the Isle of Man.]

=105. The Northmen invade France.=--The Danish invasion was really a part
of a great European movement. The same Northmen who had obtained so large a
part of England, had also, in the tenth century, under the leadership of
Rollo, established themselves in France. There they were known as Normans,
a softened form of the word "Northmen," and the district where they settled
came to be called from them Normandy. They founded a line of dukes, or
princes, who were destined, in the course of the next century, to give a
new aspect to the events of English history.

=106. Sweyn conquers England; Canute.=[54]--In 1013 Sweyn, the Dane,
conquered England, and "all the people," says the Chronicle, "held him for
full king." He was succeeded by his son Canute, who, though from beyond
sea, could hardly be called a foreigner, since he spoke a language and set
up a government differing but little from that of the English. After his
first harsh measures were over he sought the friendship of both church and
people. He rebuked the flattery of courtiers by showing them that the
in-rolling tide is no respecter of persons; he endeavored to rule justly,
and his liking for the monks found expression in his song:--

    "Merrily sang the monks of Ely
    As Cnut the King was passing by."

=107. Canute's Plan; the Four Earldoms.=--Canute's plan was to establish a
great northern empire embracing Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and England. To
facilitate the government of so large a realm, he divided England into four
districts, Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria, which, with their
dependencies, embraced the entire country. Each of these districts was
ruled by an earl[55] invested with almost royal power. For a time the
arrangement worked well, but eventually discord sprang up between the
rulers, and the unity of the country was imperilled by their individual
ambition and their efforts to obtain supreme authority.

=108. Prince Edward.=--On the accession of the Danish conqueror Sweyn,
Ethelred II., the Saxon king, sent his French wife Emma back to Normandy
for safety. She took with her her son Prince Edward, then a lad of nine. He
remained at the French court nearly thirty years, and among other friends
to whom he became greatly attached was his second cousin, William, Duke of
Normandy.

=109. Restoration of the English Kings; Edward the Confessor.=--In 1042 the
oppressive acts of Canute's sons excited insurrection, and both Danes and
Saxons joined in the determination to restore the Saxon line. Edward was
invited to accept the crown. He returned to England and obtained the
throne. By birth he was already half Norman; by education and tastes he was
wholly so. It is very doubtful whether he could speak a word of English,
and it is certain that from the beginning he surrounded himself with French
favorites, and filled the church with French priests. Edward's piety and
blameless life gained for him the title of "the Confessor," or, as we
should say to-day, "the Christian." He married the daughter of Godwin, Earl
of Wessex, the most powerful noble in England. Godwin really ruled the
country in the king's name until his death in 1053, when his son Harold
succeeded him as earl. The latter continued to exercise his father's
influence to counteract the French.

=110. Edward builds Westminster Abbey.=--During a large part of his reign,
Edward was engaged in building an abbey at the west end of London, and
hence called the West-minster.[56] He had just completed and consecrated
this great work when he died, and was buried there. We may still see a part
of his building in the crypt or basement of the abbey, while the king's
tomb above is the centre around which lies a circle of royal graves. To it
multitudes made pilgrimage in the olden time, and once every year a little
band of devoted Roman Catholics still gather about it in veneration of
virtues that would have adorned a cloister, but had not breadth and vigor
to fill a throne.

With Edward, save for the short interlude of Harold, the last of the Saxon
kings and the "ablest man of an unprogressive race," the period closes.

=111. Harold becomes King, 1066.=--On his death-bed, Edward, who had no
children, recommended Harold, Earl of Wessex, as his successor, though,
according to the Normans, he had promised that their Duke William, who, as
we have seen, was a distant kinsman, should reign after him. The Witan,[57]
or National Council, chose Harold, who was crowned Jan. 16, 1066.

=112. What the Saxon Conquest did for Britain.=--Saxons, Jutes, and Angles
invaded Britain at a period when its original inhabitants had become cowed
and enervated by the despotism and worn-out civilization forced on them by
a foreign power.

The new-comers brought that healthy spirit of barbarism, that irrepressible
love of personal liberty, which the country stood most in need of. The
conquerors were rough, ignorant, cruel; but they were fearless and
determined. These qualities were worth a thousand times more to Britain
than the gilded corruption of Rome. In time, the English themselves lost
spirit. Their besetting sin was a stolidity which degenerated into
animalism and sluggish content.

=113. Elements contributed by the Danes.=--Then came the Danes, bringing
with them that new spirit of still more savage independence which so well
expressed itself in their song, "I trust my sword, I trust my steed, but
most I trust myself at need." They conquered the land, and in conquering
regenerated it. So strong was their love of independence, that even the
peasants were quite generally free. More small independent landholders were
found among the Danish population than anywhere else; and it is said that
the number now existing in the region they settled is still much larger
than in the south. Finally, the Danes and English, both of whom sprang from
the same parent stock, mingled and became in all respects one people.

=114. Summary: What the Anglo-Saxons accomplished.=--Thus Jutes, Saxons,
Angles, and Danes, whom together we may call the Anglo-Saxons,[58] laid
the corner-stone of the English nation. However much it has changed since,
it remains, nevertheless, in its solid and fundamental qualities, what
these first peoples made it.

They gave first the language, simple, strong, direct, and plain,--the
familiar, every-day speech of the fireside and the street, the well-known
words of both the newspaper and the Bible.

Next, they established the government in its main outlines as it still
exists; that is, a king, a legislative body representing the people, and
the germ, at least, of a judicial system embodying trial by jury.[59]

Last, and best, they furnished that conservative patience, that calm,
steady, persistent effort, that indomitable tenacity of purpose, and cool,
determined courage, which have won glorious battle-fields on both sides the
Atlantic, and which in peace, as well as in war, are destined to win still
greater victories in the future.


GENERAL VIEW OF THE SAXON, OR EARLY ENGLISH, PERIOD--449-1066.[60]

I. GOVERNMENT.--II. RELIGION.--III. MILITARY AFFAIRS.--IV. LITERATURE,
LEARNING, AND ART.--V. GENERAL INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.--VI. MODE OF LIFE,
MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS.


GOVERNMENT.

=115. Beginning of the English Monarchy.=--During the greater part of the
first four centuries after the Saxon conquest Britain was divided into a
number of tribal settlements, or petty kingdoms, held by Jutes, Angles, and
Saxons, constantly at war with each other. In the ninth century, the West
Saxons, or inhabitants of Wessex, succeeded, under the leadership of
Egbert, in practically conquering and uniting the country. Egbert now
assumed the title of "King of the English," and Britain came to be known,
from the name of its largest division, as Angle-Land, or England. Later,
the Danes obtained possession of a large part of the country, but
eventually united with the English and became one people.

=116. The King and the Witan.=--The government of England was vested in an
elective sovereign, assisted by the council of the Witan, or Wise Men.
Every freeman had the right to attend this national council, but, in
practice, the right became confined to a small number of the nobles and
clergy.

=117. What the Witan could do.=--1. The Witan elected the king (its choice
being confined to the royal family). 2. In case of misgovernment, it
deposed him. 3. It made or confirmed grants of public lands. 4. It acted as
a supreme court of justice both in civil and criminal cases.

=118. What the King and Witan could do.=--1. They enacted the laws, both
civil and ecclesiastical. (In most cases this meant nothing more than
stating what the custom was, the common law being merely the common
custom.) 2. They levied taxes. 3. They declared war and made peace. 4. They
appointed the chief officers and bishops of the realm.

=119. Land-Tenure before the Conquest.=--Before they invaded Britain the
Saxons and kindred tribes appear to have held their estates in common. Each
had a permanent homestead, but that was all.[61] "No one," says Cæsar, "has
a fixed quantity of land or boundaries to his property. The magistrates and
chiefs assign every year to the families and communities who live together,
as much land and in such spots as they think suitable. The following year
they require them to take up another allotment."

"The chief glory of the tribes is to have their territory surrounded with
as wide a belt as possible of waste land. They deem it not only a special
mark of valor that every neighboring tribe should be driven to a distance,
and that no stranger should dare to reside in their vicinity, but at the
same time they regard it as a precautionary measure against sudden
attacks."[62]

=120. Folkland.=--Each tribe, in forming its settlement, seized more land
than it actually needed. This excess was known as Folkland (the People's
land), and might be used by all alike for pasturing cattle or cutting wood.
With the consent of the Witan, the king might grant portions of this
Folkland as a reward for services done to himself or to the community. Such
grants were usually conditional and could only be made for a time.
Eventually, they returned to the community. Other grants, however, might be
made in the same way, which conferred full ownership. Such grants were
called Bocland (Book land), because conveyed by writing, or registered in a
charter or book. In time, the king obtained the power of making these
grants without having to consult the Witan, and at last the whole of the
Folkland came to be regarded as the absolute property of the crown.

=121. Duties of Freemen.=--Every freeman was obliged to do three things: 1.
He must assist in the maintenance of roads and bridges. 2. He must aid in
the repair of forts. 3. He must serve in case of war. Whoever neglected or
refused to perform this last and most important of all duties was declared
to be a _Nithing_, or infamous coward.[63]

=122. The Feudal System.=--In addition to the Eorls (earls)[64] or nobles
by birth, there gradually grew up a class known as Thanes (companions or
servants of the king), who in time outranked the hereditary nobility. To
both these classes the king would have occasion to give rewards for
faithful service and for deeds of valor. As his chief wealth consisted in
land, he would naturally give that. At first no conditions seem to have
been attached to the gift; but later the king might require the receiver to
agree to furnish a certain number of fully equipped soldiers to fight for
him. These grants were originally made for life only, and on the death of
the recipient they returned to the crown.

The nobles and other great landholders following the example of the king,
granted portions of their estates to tenants on similar conditions, and
these again might grant portions to those below them in return for
satisfactory military or other service.

In time, it came to be an established principle, that every freeman below
the rank of a noble must be attached to some superior whom he was bound to
serve, and who, on the other hand, was his legal protector and responsible
for his good behavior. The lordless man was, in fact, a kind of outlaw, and
might be seized like a robber. In that respect, therefore, he would be
worse off than the slave, who had a master to whom he was accountable and
who was accountable for him. Eventually it became common for the small
landholders, especially during the Danish invasions, to seek the protection
of some neighboring lord who had a large band of followers at his command.
In such cases the freeman gave up his land and received it again on certain
conditions. The usual form was for him to kneel, and, placing his hands
within those of the lord, to swear an oath of homage, saying, "I become
your man for the lands which I hold of you, and I will be faithful to you
against all men, saving only the service which I owe to my lord the King."
On his side, the lord solemnly promised to defend his tenant or vassal in
the possession of his property, for which, he was to perform some service
to the lord.

In these two ways, first, by grant of lands from the king or a superior,
and second, by the act of homage (known as _commendation_), the feudal
system (a name derived from _feodum_, meaning land or property), grew up in
England. Its growth, however, was irregular and incomplete; and it should
be distinctly understood that it was not until after the Norman Conquest in
the eleventh century that it became fully established.

=123. Advantages of Feudalism.=--This system had at that time many
advantages. 1. The old method of holding land in common was a wasteful one,
since the way in which the possessor of a field might cultivate it would
perhaps spoil it for the one who received it at the next allotment. 2. In
an age of constant warfare, feudalism protected all classes better than if
they had stood apart, and it enabled the king to raise a powerful and
well-armed force in the easiest and quickest manner. 3. It cultivated two
important virtues,--fidelity on the part of the vassal, protection on that
of the lord. Its corner-stone was the faithfulness of man to man. Society
has outgrown feudalism, which like every system had its dark side, but it
can never outgrow the feudal principle.

=124. Political Divisions; the Sheriff.=--Politically, the kingdom was
divided into townships, hundreds (districts furnishing a hundred warriors,
or supporting a hundred families), and shires or counties, the shire having
been originally, in some cases, the section settled by an independent
tribe, as Sussex, Essex, etc.

In each shire the king had an officer, called a shire-reeve or sheriff,[65]
who represented him, collected the taxes due the crown, and saw to the
execution of the laws. In like manner, the town and the hundred had a
head-man of its own choosing to see to matters of general interest.

=125. The Courts.=--As the nation had its assembly of wise men acting as a
high court, so each shire, hundred, and town had its court, which all
freemen might attend. There, without any special judge, jury, or lawyers,
cases of all kinds were tried and settled by the voice of the entire body,
who were both judge and jury in themselves.

=126. Methods of Procedure; Compurgation.=--In these courts there were two
methods of procedure: first, the accused might clear himself of the charge
brought against him by compurgation;[66] that is, by swearing that he was
not guilty and getting a number of reputable neighbors to swear that they
believed his oath. If their oaths were not satisfactory, witnesses might be
brought to swear to some particular fact. In every case the value of the
oath was graduated according to the rank of the person, that of a man of
high rank being worth as much as that of twelve common men.

=127. The Ordeal.=--If the accused could not clear himself in this way, he
was obliged to submit to the ordeal.[67] This usually consisted in carrying
a piece of hot iron a certain distance, or in plunging the arm up to the
elbow in boiling water. The person who underwent the ordeal appealed to God
to prove his innocence by protecting him from harm. Rude as both these
methods were, they were better than the old tribal method, which permitted
every man or every man's family to be the avenger of his wrongs.

=128. The Common Law.=--The laws by which these cases were tried were
almost always ancient customs, few of which had been reduced to writing.
They formed that body of common law[68] which is the foundation of the
modern system of justice both in England and America.

=129. Penalties.=--The penalties inflicted by these courts consisted
chiefly of fines. Each man's life had a certain pecuniary value. The
punishment for the murder of a man of very high rank was 2400 shillings;
that of a simple freeman was only one-twelfth as much.

A slave could neither testify in court nor be punished by the court. For
the man in that day who held no land had no rights. If a slave was
convicted of crime, his master paid the fine and then took what he
considered an equivalent with the lash. Treason was punished with death,
and common scolds were ducked in a pond until they were glad to hold their
tongues.


RELIGION.

=130. The Ancient Saxon Faith.=--Before their conversion to Christianity,
the Saxons worshipped Woden and Thor, names preserved in Wednesday (Woden's
day) and Thursday (Thor's day). The first appears to have been considered
the creator and ruler of heaven and earth; the second was his son, the god
of thunder, slayer of evil spirits, and friend of man. The essential
element of their religion was the deification of strength, courage, and
fortitude. It was a faith well suited to a warlike people. It taught that
there was a heaven for the brave, and a hell for cowards.

=131. What Christianity did.=--Christianity, on the contrary, laid emphasis
on the virtues of self-sacrifice and sympathy. It took the side of the weak
and the helpless. It labored to emancipate the slave. It built monasteries,
and encouraged industry and education. The church edifice was a kind of
open Bible. Very few who entered it could spell out a single word of either
Old or New Testament, but all, from the poorest peasant or meanest slave up
to the greatest noble, could read the meaning of the Scripture histories
painted on wall and window.

The church, furthermore, was a peculiarly sacred place. It was powerful to
shield those who were in danger. If a criminal, or a person fleeing from
vengeance, took refuge in it, he could not be seized until forty days had
expired, during which time he had the privilege of leaving the kingdom and
going into exile. This "right of sanctuary" was often a needful protection
in an age of violence. It became, however, in time, an intolerable
nuisance, since it enabled robbers and desperadoes of all kinds to defy the
law. The right was modified at different times, but was not wholly
abolished until 1624, in the reign of James I.


MILITARY AFFAIRS.

=132. The Army.=--The organization of the army has already been spoken of
under Land-Tenure. It consisted of a national and a feudal militia. From
the earliest times all freemen were obliged to fight in the defence of the
country. Under the feudal system, every large landholder had to furnish the
king a stipulated number of men, fully equipped with armor and weapons. As
this method was found more effective than the first, it gradually
superseded it.

The Saxons always fought on foot. They wore helmets and rude, flexible
armor, formed of iron rings, or of stout leather covered with small plates
of iron and other substances. They carried oval-shaped shields. Their chief
weapons were the spear, javelin, battle-axe, and sword. The wars of this
period were those of the different tribes seeking supremacy, or of the
English with the Danes.

=133. The Navy.=--Until Alfred's reign, the English had no navy. From that
period they maintained a fleet of small war-ships to protect the coast from
invasion. Most of these vessels appear to have been furnished by certain
ports on the south coast.


LITERATURE, LEARNING, AND ART.

=134. Runes.=--The language of the Saxons was of Low-German origin. Many of
the words resemble the German of the present day. When written, the
characters were called _runes_, mysteries or secrets. The chief use of
these runes was to mark a sword-hilt, or some article of value, or to form
a charm against evil and witchcraft.

It is supposed that one of the earliest runic inscriptions is the
following, which dates from about 400 A.D. It is cut on a
drinking-horn,[69] and (reproduced in English characters) stands thus:--

  EK HLEWAGASTIR. HOLTINGAR. HORNA. TAWIDO.

  _I, Hlewgastir, son of Holta, made the horn._

With the introduction of Christianity, the Latin alphabet, from which our
modern English alphabet is derived, took the place of the runic characters,
which bore some resemblance to Greek, and English literature began with the
coming of the monks.

=135. The First Books.=--One of the first English books was the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle, a history covering a period of about twelve hundred years,
beginning with the Roman invasion and ending in the year 1154.

Though written in prose, it contains various fragments of poetry, of which
the following (rendered into modern English), on the death of Edward the
Confessor, 1066, may be quoted as an example:--

    "Then suddenly came          |  On Harold's self,
    Death the bitter             |  A noble Earl!
    And that dear prince seized. |  Who in all times
    Angels bore                  |  Faithfully hearkened
    His steadfast soul,          |  Unto his lord,
    Into heaven's light.         |  In word and deed,
    But the wise King,           |  Nor ever failed
    Bestowed his realm           |  In aught the King
    On one grown great,          |  Had needed of him!"

Other early books were Cædmon's poem of the Creation, also in English, and
Bede's church history of Britain, written in Latin, a work giving a full
and most interesting account of the coming of Augustine and his first
preaching in Kent. All of these books were written by the monks.

=136. Art.=--The English were skilful workers in metal, especially in gold
and silver, and also in the illumination of manuscripts.[70] Alfred's
Jewel, a fine specimen of the blue enamelled gold of the ninth century, is
preserved in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. It bears the inscription:
"Alfred me heht gewurcan," _Alfred caused me to be worked_ [_or made_].

The women of that period excelled in weaving fine linen and woollen cloth
and in embroidering tapestry.

=137. Architecture.=--In architecture no advance took place until very
late. Up to the year 1000 the general belief that the world would end with
the close of the year 999 prevented men from building for permanence. The
Saxon stone work exhibited in a few buildings like the church-tower of
Earl's Barton, Northamptonshire, is an attempt to imitate timber with
stone, and has been called "stone carpentry."[71] Edward the Confessor's
work in Westminster Abbey was not Saxon, but Norman, he having obtained his
plans, and probably his builders, from Normandy.


GENERAL INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.

=138. Farms; Slave-Trade.=--The farming of this period, except on the
church lands, was of the rudest description. Grain was ground by the women
and slaves in stone hand-mills. Later, the mills were driven by wind or
water power. The principal commerce was in wool, lead, tin, and slaves. A
writer of that time says he used to see long trains of young men and women
tied together, offered for sale, "for men were not ashamed," he adds, "to
sell their nearest relatives, and even their own children."


MODE OF LIFE, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS.

=139. The Town.=--The first Saxon settlements were quite generally on the
line of the old Roman roads. They were surrounded by a rampart of earth set
with a thick hedge or with rows of sharp stakes. Outside this was a deep
ditch. These places were called towns from "tun," meaning a fence, hedge,
or other enclosure.[72]

=140. The Hall.=--The buildings in these towns were of wood. Those of the
lords or chief men were called "halls" from the fact that they consisted
mainly of a hall, or large room, used as a sitting, eating and, often, as a
sleeping room,--a bundle of straw or some skins thrown on the floor serving
for beds. There were no chimneys, but a hole in the roof let out the smoke.
If the owner was rich, the walls would be decorated with bright-colored
tapestry, and with suits of armor and shields hanging from pegs.

=141. Life in the Hall.=--Here in the evening the master supped on a raised
platform at one end of the "hall," while his followers ate at a lower
table.

The Saxons were hard drinkers as well as hard fighters. After the meal,
while horns of ale and mead were circulating, the minstrels, taking their
harps, would sing songs of battle and ballads of wild adventure.

Outside the "hall" were the "bowers," or chambers for the master and his
family, and, perhaps, an upper chamber for a guest, called later by the
Normans a _sollar_, or sunny room.

If a stranger approached a town, he was obliged to blow a horn; otherwise,
he might be slain as an outlaw.

Here, in the midst of rude plenty the Saxons or Early English lived a life
of sturdy independence. They were rough, strong, outspoken, and fearless.
Theirs was not the nimble brain, for that was to come with another people,
though a people originally of the same race. Their mission was to lay the
foundation; or, in other words, to furnish the muscle, grit, and endurance,
without which the nimble brain is of little permanent value.

=142. Guilds.=--The inhabitants of the towns and cities had various
associations called guilds (from _gild_, a payment or contribution). The
object of these was mutual assistance. The most important were the
Peace-guilds[73] and the Merchant-guilds. The former constituted a
voluntary police-force to preserve order, and bring thieves to punishment.
Each member contributed a small sum to form a common fund which was used to
make good any losses incurred by robbery or fire. The association held
itself responsible for the good behavior of its members, and kept a sharp
eye on strangers and stragglers, who had to give an account of themselves
or leave the country. The Merchant-guilds were organized, apparently at a
late period, to protect and extend trade. After the Norman Conquest they
came to be very wealthy and influential. In addition to the above there
were social and religious guilds which made provision for feasts, for the
maintenance of religious services, and for the relief of the poor and the
sick.


[35] Gildas: a British monk, 516(?)-570(?). He wrote an account of the
Saxon conquest of Britain.

[36] Picts: ancient tribes of the North and Northeast of Scotland; Scots:
originally inhabitants of Ireland, some of whom settled in the West of
Scotland, and gave their name to the whole country.

[37] Consul: originally one of two chief magistrates governing Rome; later
the consuls ruled over the chief provinces, and sometimes commanded armies.
Still later they became wholly subject to the emperors, and had little, if
any, real power of their own.

[38] See Map No. 4, page 34.

[39] Beowulf: the hero of the earliest Anglo-Saxon or English epic poem. It
is uncertain whether it was written on the continent or in England. Some
authorities refer it to the ninth century, others to the fifth.

[40] Pevensey: see coast of Sussex, Map No. 5, page 38.

[41] The tendency at one time was to regard Arthur as a mythical or
imaginary hero, but later investigation seems to prove that he was a
vigorous and able British leader.

[42] Bede.

[43] Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, off the coast of Northumberland--see
Scott's Marmion, Canto II., 9-10. Wearmouth and Jarrow are in Durham,
Whitby in Yorkshire, and Peterborough in Northamptonshire.

[44] Cædmon (Kădmon).

[45] Malmesbury, Wiltshire.

[46] In a single charter, dated 828, he called himself "Egbert, by the
grace of God, King of the English."

[47] Britain: nothing definite is known respecting the origin or meaning of
this word.

[48] Wedmore (the Wet-Moor), near Wells, Somersetshire: here, according to
tradition, Alfred had a palace in which the treaty was consummated.

[49] See Map No. 6, page 42.

[50] Wantage, Berkshire.

[51] R. W. Emerson.

[52] The monastic vows required poverty, chastity, and obedience to the
rules of their order.

[53] This name was given to Norsemen, Swedes, Danes, and all northern
tribes.

[54] Also spelled Cnut and Knut.

[55] Earl ("chief" or "leader"): a title of honor, and of office. The four
earldoms established by Canute remained nearly unchanged until the Norman
Conquest, 1066. See Map No. 7, page 44.

[56] Minster: a name given originally to a monastery; next, to a church
connected with a monastery; and now often, though incorrectly, applied to a
cathedral.

[57] Witan: literally the "Wise men," the chief men of the realm.

[58] Anglo-Saxons: some authorities insist that this phrase means the
Saxons of England in distinction from those of the continent. It is used
here, however, in the sense given by Mr. Freeman as a term describing the
people formed in England by the union of all the Germanic tribes.

[59] See Paragraph No. 125.

[60] This section contains a summary of much of the preceding period, with
considerable additional matter. It is believed that it will be found useful
both for review and for reference. When a continuous narrative history is
desired, this, and similar sections following, may be omitted.

[61] "The houses were not contiguous, but each was surrounded by a space of
its own."--TACITUS, _Germania_.

[62] Cæsar, Gallic War, Book VI.

[63] Also written _Niding_. The English, as a rule, were more afraid of
this name than of death itself.

[64] The Saxons, or Early English, were divided up into three
classes,--Eorls (earls), who were noble by birth; Ceorls (churls), or
simple freemen, and slaves. The slaves were either the absolute property of
the master, or were bound to the soil and sold with it. This latter class,
under the Norman name of _villeins_, became numerous after the Norman
Conquest in the eleventh century. The chieftains of the first Saxon
settlers were called either Ealdormen (aldermen) or Heretogas, the first
being civil or magisterial, the latter military officers. The Thanes were a
later class, who, from serving the king or some powerful leader, became
noble by military service.

[65] Reeve: a man in authority, or having charge of something.

[66] Compurgation: the act of wholly purifying or clearing a person from
guilt.

[67] Ordeal: judgment.

[68] So called, in distinction from the later statute laws made by
Parliament and other legislative bodies.

[69] The golden horn of Gallehas, found on the Danish-German frontier.

[70] These illuminations get their name from the gold, silver, and bright
colors used in the pictures, borders, and decorated letters with which the
monks ornamented these books. For beautiful specimens of the work, see
Silvestre's Paléographie.

[71] See Parker's Introduction to Gothic Architecture for illustrations of
this work.

[72] One or more houses might constitute a town. A single farmhouse is
still so called in Scotland.

[73] Frithgilds.




V.

     "In other countries, the struggle has been to gain liberty; in
     England, to preserve it."--ALISON.

THE COMING OF THE NORMANS.

THE KING versus THE BARONS.

BUILDING THE NORMAN SUPERSTRUCTURE.--THE AGE OF FEUDALISM.

NORMAN SOVEREIGNS.

  William I., 1066-1087.
  William II., 1087-1100.
  Henry I., 1100-1135.
  Stephen (House of Blois), 1135-1154.


=143. Duke William hears of Harold's Accession; message to Harold.=--Duke
William of Normandy was in his park near Rouen, the capital of his dukedom,
getting ready for a hunting expedition, when the news was brought to him of
Harold's accession. The old chronicler says "he stopped short in his
preparations; he spoke to no man, and no man dared speak to him."

At length he resolved to send a message to the king of England. His demand
is not known; but whatever it was, Harold appears to have answered with a
rough refusal.

=144. William prepares to invade England.=--Then William determined to
appeal to the sword. During the spring and summer of that year, the duke
was employed in fitting out a fleet for the invasion, and his smiths and
armorers were busy making lances, swords, and coats of mail. The Pope
favored the expedition, and presented a banner blessed by himself, to be
carried in the attack; "mothers, too, sent their sons for the salvation of
their souls."

=145. The Expedition sails.=--After many delays, at length all was ready,
and at daybreak, Sept. 27, 1066, William sailed with a fleet of several
hundred ships and a large number of transports, his own vessel leading the
van, with the consecrated banner at the mast-head. His army consisted of
archers and cavalry, and may have numbered between fifty and sixty
thousand. They were partly his own subjects, and partly hired soldiers, or
those who joined for the sake of plunder. He also carried a large force of
smiths and carpenters, with timber ready cut and fitted for a wooden
castle.

=146. William lands at Pevensey.=--The next day the fleet anchored at
Pevensey,[74] under the walls of that old Roman fortress of Anderida, which
had stood, a vacant ruin, since the Saxons stormed it nearly six hundred
years before. As William stepped on shore he stumbled and fell. "God
preserve us!" cried one of his men, "this is a bad sign." But the duke,
grasping the pebbles of the beach with both his outstretched hands,
exclaimed, "Thus do I seize the land!"

[74] Pevensey: see Map No. 7, page 44.

=147. Harold in the North.=--There was, in fact, no power to prevent him
from establishing his camp, for King Harold was in the north quelling an
invasion headed by the king of the Norwegians and his brother Tostig, who
hoped to secure the throne for himself. Harold had just sat down to a
victory-feast, after the battle of Stamford Bridge,[75] when news was
brought to him of the landing of William. It was this fatal want of unity
in England which made the Norman conquest possible. Had not Harold's own
brother Tostig turned traitorously against him, or had the north country
stood squarely by the south, Duke William might have found his fall on the
beach an omen indeed full of disaster.

[75] Stamford Bridge, Yorkshire.

=148. What William did after landing.=--As there was no one to oppose him,
William made a fort in a corner of the old Roman wall of Anderida, and then
marched on to Hastings, a few miles farther east, where he set up his
wooden castle on that hill where the ruins of a later stone castle may
still be seen. Having done this, he pillaged the country in every
direction, until the fourteenth of October, the day of the great battle.

=149. Harold marches to meet William.=--Harold, having gathered what forces
he could, marched to meet William at Senlac, a place midway between
Pevensey and Hastings, and about five miles back from the coast. Here, on
the evening of the thirteenth, he entrenched himself on a hill, and there
the battle was waged. Harold had the advantage of the stockaded fort he had
built; William, that of a body of cavalry and archers, for the English
fought on foot with javelins and battle-axes mainly. The Saxons spent the
night in feasting and song; the Normans, in prayer and confession.

=150. The Battle (Oct. 14, 1066).=--On the morning of the fourteenth the
fight began. It lasted until dark, with heavy loss on both sides. At length
William's strategy carried the day, and Harold and his brave followers
found to their cost that then, as now, it is "the thinking bayonet" which
conquers. The English king was slain and every man of his chosen troops
with him. A monkish chronicler, in speaking of the Conquest, says that "the
vices of the Saxons had made them effeminate and womanish, wherefore it
came to pass that, running against Duke William, they lost themselves and
their country with one, and that an easy and light, battle."[76] Doubtless
the English had fallen off in many ways from their first estate; but the
record at Senlac (or Hastings) shows that they had lost neither strength,
courage, nor endurance, and a harder battle or a longer was never fought on
British soil.

[76] William of Malmesbury.

=151. The Abbey of Battle; Harold's Grave.=--A few years later, the Norman
conqueror built the Abbey of Battle on the spot to commemorate the victory
by which he gained his crown, and to have perpetual prayers chanted by the
monks over the Norman soldiers who had fallen there. Here, also, tradition
represents him as having buried Harold's body, just after the fight, under
a heap of stones by the seashore. Some months later, it is said that the
friends of the English king removed the remains to Waltham, near London,
and buried them in the church which he had built and endowed there.[77] Be
that as it may, his grave, wherever it is, is the grave of the old England,
for henceforth a new people (though not a new race) and a somewhat modified
form of government appear in the history of the island.

[77] This church became afterward Waltham Abbey.

=152. The Bayeux Tapestry.=--Several contemporary accounts of the battle
exist by both French and English writers, but the best history is one
wrought in colors by a woman's hand, in the scenes of the famous strip of
canvas known from the French cathedral where it is still preserved, as the
Bayeux Tapestry.[78]

[78] See Paragraph No. 205.

=153. William marches on London.=--Soon after the battle, William advanced
on London, and set fire to the Southwark suburbs.[79] The Londoners,
terrified by the flames, and later cut off from help from the north by the
Conqueror's besieging army, opened their gates and surrendered without
striking a blow.

[79] Southwark, on the right bank of the Thames. It is now connected with
London proper by London Bridge.

=154. William grants a Charter to London.=--In return, William granted the
city a charter, or formal and solemn written pledge, by which he guaranteed
the inhabitants the liberties which they had enjoyed under Edward the
Confessor. That document may still be seen among the records in
Guildhall,[80] in London. It is a bit of parchment, hardly bigger than a
man's hand, containing a few lines in English, and is signed with William's
mark; for he who wielded the sword so effectually either could not or
would not handle the pen. By that mark all the past privileges and
immunities of the city were confirmed and protected.

[80] Guildhall: the City-Hall, the place where the guilds, or different
corporations of the city proper, meet to transact business.

=155. The Coronation; William returns to Normandy.=--On the following
Christmas Day (1066) William was anointed and crowned in Westminster Abbey.
In the spring he sailed for Normandy, where he had left his queen, Matilda,
to govern in his absence. While on the continent he intrusted England to
the hands of his half-brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and his friend,
William Fitz-Osbern, having made the former, Earl of Kent, and the latter,
of Hereford. During the next three years there were outbreaks and uprisings
in the lowlands of Cambridgeshire and the moors of Yorkshire, besides
incursions of both Danes and Scots.

=156. William quells Rebellion in the North.=--The oppressive rule of the
regents soon caused a rebellion; and in December William found it expedient
to return to England. In order to gain time, the king bought off the Danes.
Little by little, however, the land was brought to obedience. By forced
marches in midwinter, by roads cast up through bogs, and by sudden night
attacks, William accomplished the end he sought. But in 1069, news came of
a fresh revolt in the north, accompanied by another invasion of foreign
barbarians. Then William, roused to terrible anger, swore by the "splendor
of God" that he would lay waste the land. He made good his oath. For a
hundred miles beyond the river Humber he ravaged the country, firing
villages, destroying houses, crops, and cattle, and reducing the wretched
people to such destitution that many sold themselves for slaves to escape
starvation. Having finished his work in the north, he turned toward
Chester, in the west, and captured that city.

=157. Hereward.=--Every part of the land was now in William's power except
an island in the swamps of Ely,[81] in the east, where the Englishman
Hereward, with his resolute little band of fellow-countrymen, continued to
defy the power of the conqueror. "Had there been three more men like him in
the island," said one of William's own men, "the Normans would never have
entered it." But as there were not three more such, the conquest was at
length completed.

[81] Ely, Cambridgeshire.

=158. Necessity of William's Severity.=--Fearful as the work of death had
been, yet even these pitiless measures were better than that England should
sink into anarchy, or into subjection to hordes of Norsemen who destroyed
purely out of love of destruction and hatred to civilization and its works.
For whatever William's faults or crimes, his great object was the
upbuilding of a government better than any England had yet seen. Hence his
severity, hence his elaborate safeguards, by which he made sure of
retaining his hold upon whatever he had gained.

=159. He builds the Tower of London.=--We have seen that he gave London a
charter; but overlooking the place in which that charter was kept, he built
the Tower of London to hold the turbulent city in wholesome restraint. That
tower, as fortress, palace, and prison, stands as the dark background of
most of the great events in English history. It was the forerunner, so to
speak, of the multitude of castles which soon after rose on the banks of
every river, and on the summit of every rocky height from the west hill of
Hastings to the peak of Derbyshire, and from the banks of the Thames to
those of the Tweed. Side by side with these strongholds there also rose an
almost equal number of monasteries, churches and cathedrals.

=160. William confiscates the Land; Classes of Society.=--Hand in hand with
the progress of conquest, the confiscation of land went on. William had
seized the estates of Harold and all the chief men associated with him, to
grant them to his followers. In this way, Bishop Odo, Fitz-Osbern, and
Roger of Montgomery became possessed of immense estates in various parts of
England. Other grants were made by him, until by the close of his reign, no
great landholder was left among the English, with the exception of a very
few who were thoroughly Norman in their sympathies and in their allegiance.

Two great classes of society now existed in England. First, the Norman
conquerors, who as chief tenants or landholders under the king were called
barons. Second, the English who had been reduced to a subordinate
condition. Most of these now held their land under the barons, and a
majority of them were no longer free.

This latter class were called villeins.[82] They were bound to the soil,
and could be sold with it, but not, like slaves, separately from it. They
could be compelled to perform any menial service, but usually held their
plots of land and humble cottages on condition of ploughing a certain
number of acres or doing a certain number of days' work in each year for
their lord. In time they often obtained the privilege of paying a fixed
money rent in place of labor, and then their condition gradually though
very slowly improved.

[82] Villein: a name derived from the Latin _villa_, a country-house, or
farm, because originally the villein was a laborer who had a share in the
common land. Our modern word "villain" comes from the same source, though
time has given it a totally different meaning.

=161. How he granted Estates.=--Yet it is noticeable that in these grants,
William was careful not to give large possessions to any one person in any
one shire. His experience in Normandy had taught him that it was better to
divide than to concentrate the power of the great nobles, who were only too
ready to plot to get the crown for themselves. Thus William developed and
extended the feudal system of land tenure, already in existence in outline
among the Saxons, until it covered every part of the realm. He, however,
kept it strictly subordinate to himself, and before the close of his reign
made it absolutely so.

=162. The Three Counties Palatine.=--The only exceptions to these grants
were the three Counties Palatine,[83] which defended the border country in
the north and west, and the coast on the south. To the earls of these
counties, Chester, Durham, and Kent, William gave almost royal power, which
descended in their families, thus making the title hereditary.

[83] Palatine (from _palatium_, palace), having rights equal with the king
in his palace. Shropshire was practically a fourth county palatine until
Henry I. Later, Lancaster was added to the list.

=163. How William stopped Assassination.=--The hard rule of the Norman
nobles caused many secret assassinations. To put a stop to these, William
ordered that the people of the district where a murder was perpetrated
should pay a heavy fine for every Norman so slain, it being assumed that
unless they could prove to the contrary, every man found murdered was a
Norman.[84]

[84] This was known as the Law of Englishry.

=164. Pope Gregory VII.=--While these events were taking place in England,
Hildebrand, the archdeacon who had urged Pope Alexander to favor William's
expedition, had ascended the papal throne, under the title of Gregory VII.
He was the ablest, the most ambitious, and, in some respects, the most
far-sighted man who had made himself the supreme head of the church.

=165. State of Europe; Gregory's Scheme of Reform.=--Europe was at that
time in a condition little better than anarchy. A perpetual quarrel was
going on between the barons. The church, too, as we have seen, had lost
much of its power for good in England, and was rapidly falling into
obscurity and contempt. Pope Gregory conceived a scheme of reform which
should be both wide and deep. Like Dunstan, he determined to correct the
abuses which had crept into the monasteries. He would have an unmarried
priesthood, who should devote themselves body and soul to the interests of
the church. He would bring all society into submission to that priesthood,
and finally he would make the priesthood itself acknowledge him as its sole
master. His purpose in this gigantic scheme was a noble one; it was to
establish the unity and peace of Europe.

=166. The Pope and the Conqueror.=--Gregory looked to William for help in
this matter. The Conqueror was ready to give it, but with limitations. He
promised to aid in reforming the English church, to remove inefficient men
from its high places, to establish special ecclesiastical courts for the
trial of church cases, and finally, to pay a yearly tax to Rome; but he
refused to take any step which should make England politically subservient
to the Pope. On the contrary, he emphatically declared that he was and
would remain an independent sovereign, and that the English church must
obey him in preference to any other power.

He furthermore laid down these three rules: 1. That neither the Pope, the
Pope's representative, nor letters from the Pope should be received in
England without his leave. 2. That no meeting of church authorities should
be called or should take any action without his leave. 3. That no baron or
servant of his should be expelled from the church without his leave.

Thus William alone of all the sovereigns of Europe successfully withstood
the power of Rome. Henry IV. of Germany had attempted the same, but so
completely was he defeated and humbled that he had been compelled to stand
barefooted in the snow before the Pope's palace waiting for three
successive days for permission to enter and beg forgiveness. But William
knew the independent temper of England, and that he could depend on it for
support.

=167. William a Stern but Just Ruler; New Forest.=--Considering his love of
power and strength of will, the reign of William was conspicuous for its
justice. He was harsh but generally fair. His most despotic act was the
seizure and devastation of a tract of over 60,000 acres in Hampshire for a
hunting-ground, which received the name of the New Forest.[85] It has been
said that William destroyed many churches and estates in order to form this
forest, but these accounts appear to have been greatly exaggerated. The
real grievance was not so much the appropriation of the land, which was
sterile and of little value, but it was the enactment of the savage Forest
Laws. These made the life of a stag of more value than that of a man, and
decreed that any one found hunting the royal deer should have both eyes
torn out.

[85] Forest: as here used, this does not mean a region covered with woods,
but simply a section of country, partially wooded and suitable for game,
set apart as a royal park or hunting-ground. As William made his residence
at Winchester, in Hampshire, he naturally took land in that vicinity for
the chase.

=168. The Great Survey.=--Not quite twenty years after his coronation,
William ordered a survey and valuation to be made of the whole realm
outside of London, with the exception of certain border counties on the
north. These appear to have been omitted either because they were sparsely
populated by a mixed race, or for the reason that since his campaign in the
north little was left to record there but heaps of ruins and ridges of
grass-grown graves.

=169. The Domesday Book.=--The returns of that survey are known as Domesday
or Doomsday Book, a name given, it is said, by the English, because, like
the Day of Doom, it spared no one.

It recorded every piece of property, and every particular concerning it. As
the Chronicle indignantly said, not a rood of land, not a peasant's hut,
not an ox, cow, pig, or even a hive of bees, escaped. While the report
showed the wealth of the country, it also showed the suffering it had
passed through in the revolts against William. Many towns had fallen into
decay. Some were nearly depopulated. In Edward the Confessor's reign, York
had 1607 houses; at the date of the survey, it had but 967, while Oxford
which had had 721 houses had then only 243.

This census and assessment proved of the highest importance to William and
his successors. The people, indeed, said bitterly that the king kept the
book constantly by him, in order "that he might be able to see at any time
of how much more wool the English flock would bear fleecing." The object of
the work, however, was not extortion, but to present a full and exact
account of the financial and military condition of the kingdom which might
be directly available for revenue and defence.

=170. The Great Meeting, 1086.=--In the midsummer following the completion
of Domesday Book, William summoned all the nobles and chief landholders of
the realm with their vassals, numbering, it is said, about sixty thousand,
to meet him on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.[86] There was a logical
connection between that summons and the survey. Each man's possessions and
each man's responsibility were now known. Thus Domesday Book prepared the
way for the assembly, and for the action that was to be taken there. The
place chosen was historic ground. On that field William had once reviewed
his victorious troops, and in front of the encampment rose the hill of Old
Sarum scarred with the remains of Roman entrenchments. Stonehenge was near.
It was within sight of it, and of the burial mounds of those primeval races
which had there had a home during the childhood of the world, that the
Norman sovereign finished his work.

[86] The Saxon seat of government had been at Winchester (Hampshire); under
Edward the Confessor and Harold it was transferred to Westminster (London);
but the honor was again restored to Winchester by William who made it his
principal residence. This was perhaps the reason why he chose Salisbury
Plain (the nearest open region) for the meeting. It was held where the
modern city of Salisbury stands.

=171. The Oath of Allegiance.=--There William demanded and received the
sworn allegiance not only of every lord, but of every lord's free vassal or
tenant, from Cornwall to the Scottish borders. By that act, England was
made one. By it, it was settled that every man in the realm, of whatever
condition, was bound first of all to fight for the king, even if in doing
so he had to fight against his own lord.

=172. What William had done.=--A score of years before, William had landed,
seeking a throne to which no human law had given him any just claim, but to
which Nature had elected him by preordained decree when she endowed him
with power to take, power to use, and power to hold. It was fortunate for
England that he came; for out of chaos, or affairs fast drifting to chaos,
his strong hand, clear brain, and resolute purpose brought order, beauty,
safety, and stability, so that we may say with Guizot, that "England owes
her liberties to her having been conquered by the Normans."

=173. William's Death.=--In less than a year from that time, William went
to Normandy to quell an invasion led by his eldest son, Robert. As he rode
down a steep street in Mantes, his horse stumbled, and he received a fatal
injury. He was carried to the priory of St. Gervase, just outside the city
of Rouen. Early in the morning he was awakened by the great cathedral bell.
"It is the hour of praise," his attendant said to him, "when the priests
give thanks for the new day." William lifted up his hands in prayer and
expired.

=174. His Burial.=--His remains were taken for interment to St. Stephen's
Church,[87] which he had built. As they were preparing to let down the body
into the grave, a man suddenly stepped forward and forbade the burial.
William, he said, had taken the land, on which the church stood, from his
father by violence. He demanded payment. The corpse was left on the bier,
and inquiry instituted, and not until the debt was discharged was the body
lowered to its last resting-place. "Thus," says the old chronicle, "he who
had been a powerful king, and the lord of so many territories, possessed
not then of all his lands more than seven feet of earth," and not even that
until the cash was paid for it!

[87] Caen, Normandy.

=175. Summary.=--The results of the conquest may be thus summed up: 1. It
was not the subjugation of the English by a different race, but rather a
victory won for their advantage by a branch of their own race.[88] It
brought England into closer contact with the higher civilization of the
continent, introduced fresh intellectual stimulus, and gave to the
Anglo-Saxon a more progressive spirit. 2. It modified the English language
by the influence of the Norman French element, thus giving it greater
flexibility, refinement, and elegance of expression. 3. It substituted for
the fragile and decaying structures of wood built by the Saxons, noble
edifices in stone, the cathedral and the castle, both being essentially
Norman. 4. It hastened consolidating influences already at work, developed
and completed the feudal form of land tenure;[89] reorganized the church,
and defined the relation of the state to the papal power. 5. It abolished
the four great earldoms,[90] which had been a constant source of weakness,
danger, and division; it put an end to the Danish invasions; and it
established a strong monarchical government to which the nobles and their
vassals were compelled to swear allegiance. 6. It made no radical changes
in the English laws, but enforced impartial obedience to them among all
classes.

[88] It has already been shown that Norman, Saxon, and Dane were originally
branches of the Teutonic or German race. See Paragraphs Nos. 105 and 114.

[89] See Paragraph No. 200.

[90] See Paragraph No. 107.


WILLIAM RUFUS.[91]--1087-1100.

[91] William Rufus, William the Red: a nickname probably derived from his
red face.

=176. William the Conqueror's Bequest.=--William the Conqueror left three
sons,--Robert, William Rufus, and Henry. He also left a daughter, Adela,
who married a powerful French nobleman, Stephen, Count of Blois. On his
death-bed, William bequeathed Normandy to Robert. He expressed a wish that
William Rufus should become ruler over England, while to Henry he left five
thousand pounds of silver, with the prediction that he would ultimately be
the greatest of them all. Before his eyes were closed, the sons hurried
away--William Rufus to seize the realm of England, Henry to get possession
of his treasure. Robert was not present. His recent rebellion would alone
have been sufficient reason for allotting to him the lesser portion; but
even had he deserved the sceptre, William knew that it required a firmer
hand than his to hold it.

=177. Precarious State of England.=--France was simply an aggregation of
independent and mutually hostile dukedoms. The reckless ambition of the
Norman leaders threatened to bring England into the same condition. During
the twenty-one years of William's reign they had perpetually tried to break
loose from his restraining power. It was certain, then, that the news of
his death would be the signal for still more desperate attempts.

=178. Character of William Rufus.=--Rufus had his father's ability and
resolution, but none of his father's conscience. As the historian of that
time declared, "He feared God but little, man not at all." He had Cæsar's
faith in destiny, and said to a boatman who hesitated to set off with him
in a storm at his command, "Did you ever hear of a king's being drowned?"

=179. His Struggle with the Barons.=--During the greater part of the
thirteen years of his reign he was at war with his barons. It was a battle
of centralization against disintegration. "Let every man," said he, "who
would not be branded infamous and a coward, whether he live in town or
country, leave everything and come to me."

In answer to that appeal, the English rallied around their Norman
sovereign, and gained the day for him under the walls of Rochester Castle,
Kent. Of the two evils, the tyranny of one or the tyranny of many, the
first seemed to them preferable.

=180. William's Method of raising Money; he defrauds the Church.=--If in
some respects William the Conqueror had been a harsh ruler, his son was
worse. His brother Robert had mortgaged Normandy to him in order to get
money to join the first crusade.[92] The king raised it by the most
oppressive and unscrupulous means.

[92] Crusade (Latin _crux_, the cross): the crusades were a series of eight
military expeditions undertaken by the Christian powers of Europe to
recover Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the hands of the Mohammedans. They
received their name from the badge of the cross worn by the soldiers. The
first crusade was undertaken in 1095, and the last in 1270. Their effects
will be fully considered under Richard I., who took part in them.

William's most trusted counsellor was Ranulf Flambard.[93] Flambard had
brains without principle. He devised a system of plundering both church and
people in the king's interest. Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, died
three years after William's accession. Through Flambard's advice, the king
left the archbishopric vacant, and appropriated its revenues to himself.
He practised the same course with respect to every office of the church.

[93] Flambard: a nickname; the torch, or firebrand.

=181. The King makes Anselm Archbishop.=--While this process of
systematized robbery was going on, the king fell suddenly ill. In his alarm
lest death was at hand, he determined to make reparation to the defrauded
and insulted priesthood. He invited Anselm, a noted French scholar, to
accept the archbishopric. Anselm, who was old and feeble, declined, saying
that he and the king could not work together. "It would be," said he, "like
yoking a sheep and a bull." But the king would take no refusal. Calling
Anselm to his bedside, he forced the staff of office into his hands. When
the king recovered, he resumed his old practices and treated Anselm with
such insult, that he finally left the country.

=182. William's Merit.=--William's one merit was that he kept England from
being devoured piecemeal by the Norman barons, who regarded her, as a pack
of hounds, in full chase, regard the hare about falling into their
rapacious jaws. Like his father, he insisted on keeping the English church
independent of the ever-growing power of Rome. In both cases his motives
were purely selfish, but the result to the country was good.

=183. His Death.=--In 1100 his power came suddenly to an end. He had gone
in the morning to hunt in the New Forest with his brother Henry. He was
found lying dead among the bushes, pierced by an arrow shot by an unknown
hand. William's character speaks in his deeds. It was hard, cold, despotic,
yet in judging it we should consider the words of Fuller, "No pen hath
originally written the life of this king but what was made with a monkish
pen-knife, and no wonder if his picture seem bad, which was thus drawn by
his enemy."

=184. Summary.=--Notwithstanding William's oppression of both church and
people, his reign checked the revolt of the baronage and prevented the
kingdom from falling into anarchy like that existing on the continent.


HENRY I.--1100-1135.

=185. Henry's Charter.=--Henry, third son of William the Conqueror, was the
first of the Norman kings who was born and educated in England. Foreseeing
a renewal of the contest with the barons, he issued a charter[94] of
liberties on his accession, by which he bound himself to reform the abuses
which had been practised by his brother William Rufus. The king sent a
hundred copies of this important document to the leading abbots and bishops
for preservation in their respective monasteries and cathedrals. As this
charter was the earliest written and formal guarantee of good government
ever given by the crown to the nation, it marks an important epoch in
English history. It may be compared to the platforms or statements of
principles issued by our modern political parties. It was a virtual
admission that the time had come when even a Norman sovereign could not
dispense with the support of the country. It was therefore an admission of
the truth that while a people can exist without a king, no king can exist
without a people. Furthermore, this charter established a precedent for
those which were to follow, and which reached a final development in the
Great Charter wrested from the unwilling hand of King John somewhat more
than a century later. Henry further strengthened his position with his
English subjects by his marriage with Maud, niece of the Saxon Edgar, a
direct descendant of King Alfred.

[94] Charter (literally, parchment or paper on which anything may be
written): a royal charter is a writing bearing the king's seal by which he
confers or secures certain rights and privileges to those to whom it is
granted. Henry's charter guaranteed: 1. The rights of the church (which
William Rufus had constantly violated). 2. The rights of the nobles and
landholders against extortion. 3. The right of all classes to be governed
by the old English law with William the Conqueror's improvements.

=186. The Appointment of Bishops settled.=--Henry also recalled Anselm and
reinstated him in his office. But the peace was of short duration. The
archbishop insisted with the Pope that the power of appointment of bishops
should be vested wholly in Rome. The king was equally determined that such
appointments should spring from himself. "No one," said he, "shall remain
in my land who will not do me homage." The quarrel was eventually settled
by compromise. The Pope was to invest the bishop with the ring and crozier,
or pastoral staff of office, as emblems of the spiritual power; the king,
on the other hand, was to grant the lands from which the bishop drew his
revenues, and in return was to receive his homage or oath of allegiance.
This acknowledgment of royal authority by the church was of great
importance, since it gave the king power as feudal lord to demand from each
bishop his quota of fully equipped knights or cavalry soldiers.[95]

[95] See note on Clergy, Paragraph No. 200.

=187. Henry's Quarrel with Robert.=--While this church question was in
dispute, Henry had still more pressing matters to attend to. His elder
brother Robert had invaded England and demanded the crown. The greater part
of the Norman nobles supported this claim; but the English people held to
Henry. Finally, in consideration of a heavy money payment, Robert agreed to
return to Normandy and leave his brother in full possession of the realm.
On his departure, Henry resolved to drive out the prominent nobles who had
aided Robert. Of these, Robert of Belesme, Earl of Shrewsbury, was the
leader. With the aid of the English, who hated him for his cruelty, the
earl was at last compelled to leave the country. He fled to Normandy, and,
in violation of a previous agreement, was received by Henry's brother
Robert. Upon that, Henry declared war, and, crossing the Channel, fought
the battle of Tinchebrai,[96] by which he conquered and held Normandy as
completely as Normandy had once conquered England. The king carried his
brother captive to Wales, and kept him in prison during his life in Cardiff
Castle. This ended the contest with the nobles. By his uprightness, his
decision, his courage, Henry fairly won the honorable title of the "Lion
of Justice"; for, as the Chronicle records, "No man durst mis-do against
another in his time."

[96] Tinchebrai, Normandy, about midway between Caen and Avranches. See Map
No. 8, page 88.

=188. Summary.=--The three leading points of Henry's reign are: 1. The
self-limitation of the royal power embodied in the charter of liberties. 2.
The settlement of old disputes between the king and the church. 3. The
banishment of the chief of the mutinous barons, and the victory of
Tinchebrai, with its results.


STEPHEN.--1135-1154.

=189. The Rival Candidates.=--With Henry's death two candidates presented
themselves for the throne,--Henry's daughter, Matilda (for he left no
lawful son), and his nephew, Stephen. In France, the custom of centuries
had determined that the crown should never descend to a female; and in an
age when the sovereign was expected to lead his army in person, it
certainly was not expedient that a woman should hold a position one of
whose chief duties she could not discharge. This French custom had, of
course, no force in England; but the Norman nobles must have recognized its
reasonableness; or if not, the people did.[97] Four years after Stephen's
accession Matilda landed in England and claimed the crown. The East of
England stood by Stephen, the West by Matilda. For the sake of promoting
discord, and through discord their own private ends, part of the barons
gave their support to Matilda, while the rest refused, as they said, to
"hold their estates under a distaff." The fatal defect in the new king was
the absence of executive ability. Following the example of Henry, he issued
two charters or pledges of good government; but without authority to carry
them out, they proved simply waste paper.

[97] Before Henry's death, the baronage had generally sworn to support
Matilda (commonly called the Empress Matilda, or Maud, from her marriage to
the Emperor Henry V. of Germany; later, she married Geoffrey of Anjou). But
Stephen, with the help of London and the church, declared himself "_elected
king by the assent of the clergy and the people_." Many of the barons now
gave Stephen their support.

=190. The Battle of the Standard.=--David I. of Scotland, Matilda's uncle,
espoused her cause, and invaded England with a powerful force. He was met
at North Allerton, in Yorkshire, by the party of Stephen, and the battle of
the Standard was fought. The leaders of the English were both churchmen,
who showed that on occasion they could fight as vigorously as they could
pray. The standard consisted of four consecrated banners, surmounted by a
cross. This was set up on a wagon, on which one of the bishops stood. The
sight of this sacred standard made the English invincible. After a fierce
contest, the Scots were driven from the field. It is said that this was the
first battle in which the English peasants used the long-bow; they had
taken the hint, perhaps, from the Normans at the battle of Hastings. Some
years later, their skill in foreign war made that weapon as famous as it
was effective.

=191. Civil War.=--For fifteen years following, the country was torn by
civil war. While it raged, fortified castles, which, under William the
Conqueror, had been built and occupied by the king only, or by those whom
he could trust, now arose on every side. These became, as the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle declares, "very nests of devils and dens of thieves." More than a
thousand of these castles, it is said, were built. The armed bands who
inhabited them levied tribute on the whole country around. Not satisfied
with that, they seized those who were suspected of having property, and, to
use the words of the Chronicle again, "tortured them with pains
unspeakable; for some they hung up by the feet and smoked with foul smoke;
others they crushed in a narrow chest with sharp stones. About the heads of
others they bound knotted cords until they went into the brain." "Thousands
died of hunger, the towns were burned, and the soil left untilled. By such
deeds the land was ruined; and men said openly that Christ and his saints
were asleep." The sleep, however, was not always to last; for in the next
reign, Justice, in the person of Henry II., effectually vindicated her
power. The strife for the crown continued till the last year of Stephen's
reign, when, by the Treaty of Wallingford,[98] it was agreed that Matilda's
son Henry should succeed him.

[98] Wallingford, Berkshire.

=192. Summary.=--Stephen was the last of the Norman kings. Their reign had
covered nearly a century. The period began in conquest and usurpation; it
ended in gloom. We are not, however, to judge it by Stephen's reign alone,
but as a whole. Thus considered, it shows many points of advance over the
preceding period. Finally, even Stephen's reign was not all loss since we
find that out of the "war, wickedness, and waste" of his misgovernment came
a universal desire for peace through law. Thus indirectly, his very
inefficiency prepared the way for future reforms.


GENERAL VIEW OF THE NORMAN PERIOD.--1066-1154.

I. GOVERNMENT.--II. RELIGION.--III. MILITARY AFFAIRS.--IV. LITERATURE,
LEARNING, AND ART.--V. GENERAL INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.--VI. MODE OF LIFE,
MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS.


GOVERNMENT

=193. The King.=--We have seen that the Saxons, or Early English rulers, in
the case of Egbert and his successors, styled themselves "Kings of the
English," or leaders of a race or people. The Norman sovereigns made no
immediate change in this title, but as a matter of fact, William, toward
the close of his reign, claimed the whole of the country as his own by
right of conquest. For this reason he and his Norman successors might
properly have called themselves "Kings of England"; that is, supreme owners
of the soil and rulers over it, a title which was formally assumed about
fifty years later (in John's reign).

=194. The National Council.=--Associated with the king in government, was
the Great or National Council, made up of, first, the archbishops,
bishops, and abbots; and second, the earls and barons; that is, of all the
great landholders holding directly from the crown. The National Council
usually met three ti
mes a year,--at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide. All
laws were held to be made by the king, acting with the advice and consent
of this council, but practically, the king alone often enacted such laws as
he saw fit. When a new sovereign came to the throne, it was with the
consent or by the election of the National Council, but their choice was
generally limited to some one of the late king's sons, and unless there was
good reason for making a different selection, the oldest was chosen.
Finally, the right of imposing taxes rested theoretically, at least, in the
king and Council, but, in fact, the king himself frequently levied them.
This action of the king was a cause of constant irritation and of frequent
insurrection.

=195. The Private or King's Council.=--There was also a second and
permanent council, called the King's Council. The three leading officers of
this were, the Chief Justice, who superintended the execution of the laws,
represented the king, and ruled for him during his absence from the
country. Second, the Lord Chancellor (so called from _cancelli_, the screen
behind which he sat with his clerks), who acted as the king's adviser and
confidential secretary, and as keeper of the Great Seal, with which he
stamped all important papers.[99] Third, the Lord High Treasurer, who took
charge of the king's revenue, received all moneys due the crown, and kept
the king's treasure in the vaults at Winchester or Westminster.

[99] The Chancellor was also called the "Keeper of the King's Conscience,"
because intrusted with the duty of redressing those grievances of the
king's subjects which required royal interference. The Court of Chancery,
mentioned in note 1, to Paragraph No. 197, grew out of this office.

=196. Tallies.=--All accounts were kept by the Treasurer on tallies or
small sticks, notched on the opposite sides to represent different sums.
These were split lengthwise. One was given as a receipt to the sheriff, or
other person paying in money to the treasury, while the duplicate of this
tally was held by the Treasurer. This primitive method of keeping royal
accounts remained legally in force until 1785, in the reign of George III.

=197. Curia Regis,[100] or the King's Court of Justice.=--The Chief
Justice and Chancellor were generally chosen by the king from among the
clergy; first, because the clergy were men of education, while the barons
were not; and next, because it was not expedient to intrust too much power
to the barons. These officials, with the other members of the Private
Council, constituted the King's High Court of Justice. It followed the king
as he moved from place to place, to hear and decide cases carried up by
appeal from the county courts, together with other questions of
importance.[101] In local government, the country remained under the
Normans essentially the same that it had been before the conquest. The king
continued to be represented in each county by an officer called the
sheriff, who collected the taxes and enforced the laws.

[100] Curia Regis: this name was given, at different times, first, to the
National Council; second, to the King's Private Council; and lastly, to the
High Court of Justice, consisting of members of the Private Council.

[101] The King's High Court of Justice (Curia Regis) was divided about 1215
into three distinct courts. 1. The Exchequer Court (so called from the
chequered cloth which covered the table of the court, and which was
probably made useful in counting money), which dealt with cases of finance
and revenue. 2. The Court of Common Pleas, which had jurisdiction in civil
suits between subject and subject. 3. The Court of King's Bench, which
transacted the remaining business, both civil and criminal, and had special
jurisdiction over all inferior courts and civil corporations.

Later, a fourth court, that of Chancery (see Paragraph No. 195, and note),
over which the Lord Chancellor presided, was established as a court of
appeal and equity, to deal with cases where the common law gave no relief.

=198. Trial by Battle.=--In the administration of justice, Trial by Battle
was introduced in addition to the Ordeal of the Saxons. This was a duel in
which each of the contestants appealed to Heaven to give him the victory,
it being believed that the right would vanquish. Noblemen[102] fought on
horseback in full armor, with sword, lance, and battle-axe; common people
fought on foot with clubs. In both cases the combat was in the presence of
judges and might last from sunrise until the stars appeared. Priests and
women had the privilege of being represented by champions, who fought for
them. Trial by battle was claimed and allowed by the court (though the
combat did not come off) as late as 1817, reign of George III. This custom
was finally abolished in 1819.[103]

[102] See Shakespeare's Richard II., Act I. scenes 1 and 3; also Scott's
Ivanhoe, Chapter XLIII.

[103] Trial by battle might be demanded in cases of chivalry or honor, in
criminal actions and in civil suits. The last were fought not by the
disputants themselves but by champions.

=199. Divisions of Society.=--The divisions of society remained after the
conquest nearly as before, but the Saxon orders of nobility, with a few
very rare exceptions, were deprived of their rank, and their estates were
given to the Normans.

It is important to notice here the marked difference between the new or
Norman nobility and that of France.

In England, a man was considered noble because, under William and his
successors, he was a member of the National Council, or, in the case of an
earl, because he represented the king in the government of a county or
earldom.

His position did not exempt him from taxation, nor did his rank descend to
more than one of his children. In France, on the contrary, the aristocracy
were noble by birth, not office; they were generally exempt from taxation,
thus throwing the whole of that burden on the people, and their rank
descended to all their children.

During the Norman period a change was going on among the slaves, whose
condition gradually improved. On the other hand many who had been free now
sank into that state of villeinage which, as it bound them to the soil, was
but one remove from actual slavery.

The small, free landholders who still existed were mostly in the old Danish
territory north of Watling-street, or in Kent in the South.

[Illustration: A MANOR OR TOWNSHIP HELD BY A LORD, NORMAN PERIOD.

The inhabitants of a manor, or the estate of a lord, were: 1. The lord
himself, or his representative, who held his estate on condition of
furnishing the king a certain number of armed men. (See Paragraphs 160 and
200.) 2. The lord's personal followers, who lived with him, and usually a
parish priest or a number of monks. 3. The villeins, bound to the soil, who
could not leave the manor, were not subject to military duty, and who paid
rent in labor or produce; there might also be a few slaves, but this last
class gradually rose to the partial freedom of villeinage. 4. Certain
soke-men or free tenants, who were subject to military duty, but were not
bound to remain on the manor, and who paid a fixed rent in money, or
otherwise.

Next to the manor-house (where courts were also held) the most important
buildings were the church (used sometimes for markets and town meetings);
the lord's mill (if there was a stream), in which all tenants must grind
their grain and pay for the grinding; and finally, the cottages of the
tenants, gathered in a village near the mill.

The land was divided as follows: 1. The demesne (or domain) surrounding the
manor-house. This was strictly private--the lord's ground. 2. The land
outside the demesne, suitable for cultivation. This was let in strips,
usually of thirty acres, but was subject to certain rules in regard to
methods of tillage and crops. 3. A piece of land which was divided into
fenced fields, called closes (because enclosed), and which tenants might
hire and use as they saw fit. 4. Common pasture, open to all tenants to
pasture their cattle on. 5. Waste or untilled land, where all tenants had
the right to cut turf for fuel, or gather plants or shrubs for fodder. 6.
The forest or woodland, where all tenants had the right to turn their hogs
out to feed on acorns, and where they might also collect a certain amount
of small wood for fuel. 7. Meadow-land on which tenants might hire the
right to cut grass and make hay. On the above plan the fields of
tenants--both those of villeins and of soke-men--are marked by the letters
A, B, C, etc.

If the village grew to be a thriving manufacturing or trading town, the
tenants might, in time, purchase from the lord the right to manage their
own affairs in great measure, and so become a free town in a considerable
degree. (See Paragraph 234.)]

=200. Tenure of Land (Military Service, Feudal Dues, National
Militia).=--All land was held directly or indirectly from the king on
condition of military or other service. The number of chief-tenants who
derived their title from the crown, including ecclesiastical dignitaries,
was probably about 1500. These constituted the Norman barons. The
under-tenants were about 8000, and consisted chiefly of the English who had
been driven out from their estates. Every holder of land was obliged to
furnish the king a fully armed and mounted soldier, to serve for forty days
during the year for each piece of land bringing £20 annually, or about
$2000 in modern money[104] (the pound of that day probably representing
twenty times that sum now). All chief-tenants were also bound to attend the
king's Great Council three times a year,--at Christmas, Easter, and
Whitsuntide.

[104] This amount does not appear to have been fully settled until the
period following the Norman kings, but the principle was recognized by
William.

Feudal Dues or Taxes. Every free tenant was obliged to pay a sum of money
to the king or baron from whom he held his land, on three special
occasions. 1. To ransom his lord from captivity in case he was made a
prisoner of war. 2. To defray the expense of making his lord's eldest
son a knight. 3. To provide a suitable marriage portion on the marriage of
his lord's eldest daughter.

In addition to these taxes, or "aids," as they were called, there were
other demands which the lord might make, such as, 1. A year's profits of
the land from the heir, on his coming into possession of his father's
estate.[105] 2. The income from the lands of orphan heirs not of age. 3.
Payment for privilege of disposing of land.[106]

[105] Technically called a _relief_.

[106] The clergy being a corporate, and hence an ever-living body, were
exempt from these last demands. Not satisfied with this, they were
constantly endeavoring, with more or less success, to escape _all_ feudal
obligations, on the ground that they rendered the state divine service. In
1106, reign of Henry I., it was settled, for the time, that the bishops
were to do homage to the king, _i.e._, furnish military service, for the
lands they received from him as their feudal lord. See Paragraph No. 186.

In case of an orphan heiress not of age, the feudal lord became her
guardian and might select a suitable husband for her. Should the heiress
reject the person selected, she forfeited a sum of money equal to the
amount the lord expected to receive by the proposed marriage. Thus we find
one woman in Ipswich giving a large fee for the privilege of "not being
married except to her own good liking." In the collection of these "aids"
and "reliefs" great extortion was often practised both by the king and the
barons.

In addition to the feudal troops there was a national militia, consisting
of peasants and others not provided with armor, who fought on foot with
bows and spears. These could also be called on as during the Saxon period.
In some cases of revolt of the barons, for instance, under William Rufus,
this national militia proved of immense service to the crown. The great
landholders let out part of their estates to tenants on similar terms to
those on which they held their own, and in this way the entire country was
divided up. The lowest class of tenants were villeins or serfs, who held
small pieces of land on condition of performing labor for it. These were
bound to the soil and could be sold with it, but were not wholly destitute
of legal rights. Under William I. and his successors, all free tenants, of
whatever grade, were bound to uphold the king, and in case of insurrection
or civil war to serve under him. In this most important respect, the great
landholders of England differed from those of the continent, where the
lesser tenants were bound only to serve their masters, and might, and in
fact often did, take up arms against the king. William removed this serious
defect. By doing so he did the country an incalculable service. He
completed the organization of _feudal land-tenure_, but he never
established _the continental system_ of feudal government.


RELIGION.

=201. The Church.=--With respect to the organization of the church, no
changes were made under the Norman kings. They, however, generally deposed
the English bishops and substituted Normans or foreigners, who, as a class,
were superior in education to the English. It came to be pretty clearly
understood at this time that the church was subordinate to the king, and
that in all cases of dispute about temporal matters, he, and not the Pope,
was to decide. During the Norman period great numbers of monasteries were
built. The most important action taken by William was the establishment of
ecclesiastical courts in which all cases relating to the church and the
clergy were tried by the bishops according to laws of their own. Under
these laws persons wearing the dress of a monk or priest, or who could
manage to spell out a verse of the Psalms, and so pass for ecclesiastics,
would claim the right to be tried, and, as the punishments which the church
inflicted were notoriously mild, the consequence was that the majority of
criminals escaped the penalty of their evil doings. So great was the abuse
of this privilege, that, at a later period, Henry II. made an attempt to
reform it; but it was not finally done away with until the beginning of the
present century.


MILITARY AFFAIRS.

=202. The Army.=--The army consisted of cavalry, or knights, and
foot-soldiers. The former were almost wholly Normans. They wore armor
similar to that used by the Saxons. It is represented in the pictures of
the Bayeux Tapestry (see 205), and appears to have consisted of leather or
stout linen, on which pieces of bone or scales or rings of iron were
securely sewed. Later, these rings of iron were set up edgewise, and
interlinked, or the scales made to overlap. The helmet was pointed, and had
a piece in front to protect the nose. The shield was long and kite-shaped.
The weapons of this class of soldiers consisted of a lance and a
double-edged sword. The foot-soldiers wore little or no armor and fought
principally with long-bows. In case of need, the king could probably muster
about 10,000 knights, or armed horsemen, and a much larger force of
foot-soldiers. Under the Norman kings the principal wars were insurrections
against William I., the various revolts of the barons, and the civil war
under Stephen.

=203. Knighthood.=[107]--Candidates for knighthood were usually obliged to
pass through a long course of training under the care of some distinguished
noble. The candidate served first as a page, then as a squire or attendant,
following his master to the wars. After seven years in this capacity, he
prepared himself for receiving the honors of knighthood by spending several
days in a church, engaged in solemn religious rites, fasting, and prayer.
The young man, in the presence of his friends and kindred, then made oath
to be loyal to the king, to defend religion, and to be the champion of
every lady in danger or distress. Next, a high-born dame or great warrior
buckled on his spurs, and girded the sword, which the priest had blessed,
to his side. This done, he knelt to the prince or noble who was to perform
the final ceremony. The prince struck him lightly on the shoulder with the
flat of the sword, saying, "In the name of God, St. Michael,[108] and St.
George [the patron saint of England], I dub thee knight. Be brave, hardy,
and loyal." Then the young cavalier leaped into the saddle and galloped up
and down, brandishing his weapons in token of strength and skill. In case a
knight proved false to his oaths, he was publicly degraded. His spurs were
taken from him, his shield reversed, his armor broken to pieces, and a
sermon preached upon him in the neighboring church, proclaiming him dead to
the order.

[107] Knighthood: Originally the knight (cniht) was a youth or attendant.
Later the word came to mean an armed horse-soldier or cavalier who had
received his weapons and title in a solemn manner. Those whom the English
called knights the Normans called chevaliers (literally, horsemen), and as
only the wealthy and noble could, as a rule, afford the expense of a horse
and armor, chivalry or knighthood came in time to be closely connected with
the idea of aristocracy. Besides the method described above, soldiers were
sometimes made knights on the battle-field as a reward for valor.

[108] St. Michael, as representative of the triumphant power of good over
evil.


LITERATURE, LEARNING, AND ART.

=204. Education.=--The learning of this period was confined almost wholly
to the clergy. Whatever schools existed were connected with the monasteries
and nunneries. Very few books were written. Generally speaking, the
nobility considered fighting the great business of life and cared nothing
for education. To read or write was beneath their dignity. Such
accomplishments they left to monks, priests, and lawyers. For this reason
seals or stamps having some device or signature engraved on them came to be
used on all papers of importance.

=205. Historical Works.=--The chief books written in England, under the
Norman kings, were histories. Of these, the most noteworthy were the
continuation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in English and the chronicles of
William of Malmesbury and Henry of Huntingdon in Latin.[109] William's book
and the Saxon Chronicle still continue to be of great importance to
students of this period. Mention has already been made of the Bayeux
Tapestry, a history of the Norman Conquest worked in colored worsteds, on a
long strip of narrow canvas. It consists of a series of seventy-two scenes,
or pictures, done about the time of William's accession. Some have supposed
it to be the work of his queen, Matilda. The entire length is two hundred
and fourteen feet and the width about twenty inches. It represents events
in English history from the last of Edward the Confessor's reign to the
battle of Hastings. As a guide to a knowledge of the armor, weapons, and
costume of the period, it is of very great value.

[109] Among the historical works of this period may be included Geoffrey of
Monmouth's History of the Britons, in Latin, a book whose chief value is in
the curious romances with which it abounds, especially those relating to
King Arthur. It is the basis of Tennyson's Idylls of the King.

=206. Architecture.=--Under the Norman sovereigns there was neither
painting, statuary, nor poetry worthy of mention. The spirit that creates
these arts found expression in architecture introduced from the continent.
The castle, cathedral, and minster, with here and there an exceptional
structure like London Bridge and the Great Hall at Westminster, built by
William Rufus, were the buildings which mark the time. Aside from
Westminster Abbey, which, although the work of Edward the Confessor, was
really Norman, a fortress or two, like Coningsborough in Yorkshire, and a
few churches, the Saxons erected nothing worthy of note. On the continent,
stone had already come into general use for churches and fortresses.
William was no sooner firmly established on his throne than he began to
employ it for similar purposes in England. The characteristic of the Norman
style of architecture was its massive grandeur. The churches were built in
the form of a cross, with a square, central tower, the main entrance being
at the west. The interior was divided into a nave, or central portion,
with an aisle on each side for the passage of religious processions. The
windows were narrow, and rounded at the top. The roof rested on round
arches supported by heavy columns. The cathedrals of Peterborough, Ely,
Durham, Norwich, the church of St. Bartholomew, London, and St. John's
Chapel in the Tower of London are fine examples of Norman work. The castles
consisted of a square keep, or citadel, with walls of immense thickness
having a few slit-like windows in the lower story and somewhat larger ones
above. In these everything was made subordinate to strength and security.
They were surrounded by a high stone wall and deep ditch, generally filled
with water. The entrance to them was over a draw-bridge through an archway
protected by an iron grating, or portcullis, which could be raised and
lowered at pleasure. The Tower of London, Rochester Castle, Carisbrook
Keep, New Castle on the Tyne, and Tintagel Hold were built by William or
his Norman successors. Although, with the exception of the first, all are
in ruins, yet these ruins bid fair to stand as long as the pyramids. They
were mostly the work of churchmen, who were the best architects of the day,
and knew how to plan a fortress as well as to build a minster.


GENERAL INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.

=207. Trade.=--No very marked change took place in respect to agriculture
or trade during the Norman period. The Jews who came in with the Conqueror
got the control of much of the trade, and were the only capitalists of the
time. They were protected by the kings in money-lending at exorbitant rates
of interest. In turn, the kings extorted immense sums from them. The
guilds, or associations for mutual protection among merchants, now became
prominent, and came eventually to have great political influence.


MODE OF LIFE, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS.

=208. Dress.=--The Normans were more temperate and refined in their mode of
living than the Saxons. In dress they made great display. In Henry I.'s
reign it became the custom for the nobility to wear their hair very long,
so that their curls resembled those of women. The clergy thundered against
this effeminate fashion, but with no effect. At last, a priest preaching
before the king on Easter Sunday, ended his sermon by taking out a pair of
shears and cropping the entire congregation, king and all.

By the regulation called the curfew,[110] a bell rang at sunset in summer
and eight in winter, which was the government signal for putting out lights
and covering up fires. This law, which was especially hated by the English,
as a Norman innovation and act of tyranny, was a necessary precaution
against fire, at a time when London and other cities were masses of wooden
hovels.

[110] Curfew: _couvre-feu_, cover-fire.

Surnames came in with the Normans. Previous to the conquest, Englishmen had
but one name; and when, for convenience, another was needed, they were
called by their occupation or from some personal peculiarity, as Edward the
Carpenter, Harold the Dauntless. Among the Normans the lack of a second, or
family name, had come to be looked upon as a sign of low birth, and the
daughter of a great Lord (Fitz-Haman) refused to marry a nobleman who had
but one, saying, "My father and my grandfather had each two names, and it
were a great shame to me to take a husband who has less."

The principal amusements were hunting and hawking (catching small game with
trained hawks).

The church introduced theatrical plays, written and acted by the monks.
These represented scenes in Scripture history, and, later, the career of
the Vices and the Virtues personified.

Tournaments, or mock combats between knights, were not encouraged by
William I. or his immediate successors, but became common in the period
following the Norman kings.




VI.

     "Man bears within him certain ideas of order, of justice, of
     reason, with a constant desire to bring them into play . . .;
     for this he labors unceasingly."--GUIZOT, _History of
     Civilization_.

THE ANGEVINS, OR PLANTAGENETS, 1154-1399.

THE BARONS versus THE CROWN.

CONSOLIDATION OF NORMAN AND SAXON INTERESTS.--RISE OF THE NEW ENGLISH
NATION.

  Henry II., 1154-1189.
  Richard I., 1189-1199.
  John, 1199-1216.
  Henry III., 1216-1272.
  Edward I., 1272-1307.[111]
  Edward II., 1307-1327.
  Edward III., 1327-1377.
  Richard II., 1377-1399.

[111] Not crowned until 1274.


=209. Accession and Dominions of Henry II.=--Henry was just of age when the
death of Stephen called him to the throne.

From his father, Count Geoffrey of Anjou, came the title of Angevin. The
name Plantagenet, by which the family was also known, was derived from the
count's habit of wearing a sprig of the golden-blossomed broom-plant, or
Plante-genét, as the French called it, in his helmet.

Henry received from his father the dukedoms of Anjou and Maine, from his
mother, Normandy and the dependent province of Brittany, while through his
marriage with Eleanor, the divorced queen of France, he acquired the great
southern dukedom of Aquitaine.

Thus on his accession he became ruler over England and more than half of
France, his realms extending from the borders of Scotland to the base of
the Pyrenees.[112] To these extensive possessions Henry added the eastern
half of Ireland,[113] which was but partially conquered and never justly
ruled, so that the English power there has remained ever since like a
spear-point embedded in a living body, inflaming all around it.[114]

[112] See Maps Nos. 8 and 9, pages 88 and 130.

[113] Ireland: the population of Ireland at this time consisted mainly of
descendants of the Celtic and other prehistoric races which inhabited
Britain at the period of the Roman invasion. When the Saxons conquered
Britain, many of the natives, who were of the same stock and spoke
essentially the same language as the Irish, fled to that country. Later,
the Danes formed settlements on the coast, especially in the vicinity of
Dublin. The conquest of England by the Normans was practically a victory
gained by one branch of a German race over another (Saxons and Normans
having originally sprung from the same stock), and the two soon mingled;
but the partial conquest of Ireland by the Normans was a radically
different thing. They and the Irish had really nothing in common. The
latter refused to accept the feudal system, and continued split up into
savage tribes or clans under the rule of petty chiefs always at war with
each other. Thus for centuries after England had established a settled
government Ireland remained, partly through the battles of the clans, and
partly through the aggressions of a hostile race, in a state of anarchic
confusion which prevented all true national growth.

[114] Lecky's England.

=210. Henry's Charter and Reforms.=--On his mother's side Henry was a
descendant of Alfred the Great; for this reason he was hailed with
enthusiasm by the native English. He at once began a system of reforms
worthy of his illustrious ancestor. His first act was to issue a charter
confirming the promises of good government made by his grandfather, Henry
I. His next was to begin levelling to the ground the castles illegally
built in Stephen's reign, which had caused such widespread misery to the
country.[115] He continued the work of demolition until it is said he had
destroyed no less than eleven hundred of these strongholds of oppression.
Having accomplished this work, the king turned his attention to the
coinage. During the civil war the barons had issued money debased in
quality and deficient in weight. Henry abolished this currency and issued
in its place silver pieces of full weight and value.

[115] Under William the Conqueror and his immediate successors no one was
allowed to erect a castle without a royal license. During Stephen's time
the great barons constantly violated this salutary regulation.

[Illustration: Map No. 8--THE DOMINIONS OF THE ANGEVINS OR PLANTAGENETS.]

=211. War with France; Scutage.=--Having completed these reforms, the king
turned his attention to his continental possessions. Through his wife,
Henry claimed the county of Toulouse in Southern France. To enforce this
claim he declared war. Henry's barons, however, refused to furnish troops
to fight outside of England. The king wisely compromised the matter by
offering to accept from each knight a sum of money in lieu of service,
called scutage, or shield-money.[116] The proposal was agreed to, and means
were thus furnished to hire soldiers for foreign wars.

[116] Scutage: from the Latin _scutum_, a shield; the understanding being
that he who would not take his shield and do battle for the king, should
pay enough to hire one who would.

The scutage was assessed at two marks. Later, the assessment varied. The
mark was two-thirds of a pound of silver by weight, or thirteen shillings
and four pence ($3.20). Reckoned in modern money, the tax was probably at
least twenty times two marks, or about $128. The only coin in use in
England up to Edward I.'s reign, 1272, was the silver penny, of which
twelve made a shilling.

Later in his reign Henry supplemented this tax by the passage of a law[117]
which revived the national militia and placed it at his command for
home-service. By these two measures the king made himself practically
independent of the barons, and thus gained a greater degree of power than
any previous ruler had possessed.

[117] The Assize or Law of Arms.

=212. Thomas Becket.=[118]--There was, however, one man in Henry's
kingdom--his chancellor, Thomas Becket--who was always ready to serve him.
At his own expense he now equipped seven hundred knights, and, crossing the
Channel, fought valiantly for the suppression of the rebellion in Toulouse.

[118] Also spelled À Becket and Beket.

An old but unfortunately a doubtful story represents Becket as the son of
an English crusader, Gilbert Becket, who was captured in the Holy Land, and
who in turn succeeded in captivating the heart of an Eastern princess. She
helped him to escape to his native land, and then followed. The princess
knew but two words of English,--"Gilbert" and "London." By constantly
repeating these, as she wandered from city to city, she at length found
both, and the long search for her lover ended in a happy marriage.

=213. Becket made Archbishop.=--Shortly after Becket's return from the
continent Henry resolved to appoint him archbishop of Canterbury. Becket
knew that the king purposed beginning certain church reforms with which he
was not in sympathy, and declined the office. But Henry would take no
denial. At last, wearied with his importunity, Becket consented, but warned
the king that he should uphold the rights of the clergy. He now became the
head of the church, and was the first Englishman called to that exalted
position since the Norman Conquest. With his assumption of the sacred
office, Becket seemed to wholly change his character. He had been a man of
the world, fond of pomp and pleasure. He now gave up all luxury and show.
He put on sackcloth, lived on bread and water, and spent his nights in
prayer, tearing his flesh with a scourge.

=214. The First Quarrel.=--The new archbishop's presentiment of evil soon
proved true. Becket had hardly taken his seat when a quarrel broke out
between him and the king. In his need for money Henry had levied a tax on
all lands, whether belonging to the barons or churchmen.

Becket opposed this tax.[119] He was willing, he said, that the clergy
should contribute, but not that they should be assessed.

[119] See Paragraph 200, note on Clergy.

The king declared with an oath that all should pay alike; the archbishop
vowed with equal determination that not a single penny should be collected
from the church. What the result was we do not know, but from that time the
king and Becket never met again as friends.

=215. The Second Quarrel.=--Shortly after, a much more serious quarrel
broke out between the two. Under the law of William the Conqueror, the
church had the right to try in its own courts all offences committed by
monks and priests. This privilege had led to great abuses. Men whose only
claim to sanctity was that they wore a black gown or had a shaven head
claimed the right of being judged by the ecclesiastical tribunal. The
heaviest sentence the church could give was imprisonment in a monastery,
with degradation from the clerical office. Generally, however, offenders
got off with flogging and fasting. On this account many criminals who
deserved to be hanged escaped with a slight penalty. Such a case now
occurred. A priest named Brois had committed an unprovoked murder. Henry
commanded him to be brought before the king's court; Becket interfered, and
ordered the case to be tried by the bishop of the diocese. That functionary
sentenced the murderer to lose his place for two years.

=216. The Constitutions of Clarendon (1164).=--The king, now thoroughly
roused, determined that such flagrant disregard of justice should no longer
go on. He called a council of his chief men at Clarendon,[120] and laid the
case before them. He demanded that in future the state or civil courts
should be supreme, and that in every instance their judges should decide
whether a criminal should be tried by the common law of the land or handed
over to the church courts. He required furthermore that the clergy should
be held strictly responsible to the crown, so that in case of dispute the
final appeal should be to neither the archbishop nor the Pope, but to
himself. After protracted debate the council passed these measures, which,
under the name of the Constitutions of Clarendon, now became law.

[120] Clarendon Park, Wiltshire, near Salisbury.

Becket, though bitterly opposed to this enactment, finally assented and
swore to obey it. Afterward, feeling that he had conceded too much, he
retracted his oath and refused to be bound by the Constitutions. The other
church dignitaries became alarmed at the prospect, and left Becket to
settle with the king as best he might. Henceforth it was a battle between
one man and the whole power of the government.

=217. The King enforces the Law; Becket leaves the Country.=--Henry at once
proceeded to put the Constitutions into execution without fear or favor.

"Then was seen the mournful spectacle," says a champion of the church of
that day, "of priests and deacons who had committed murder, manslaughter,
robbery, theft, and other crimes, carried in carts before the commissioners
and punished as though they were ordinary men."[121]

[121] William of Newburgh.

Not satisfied with these summary procedures, the king, who seems now to
have resolved to either ruin Becket or drive him from the kingdom, summoned
the archbishop before a royal council at Northampton. The charges brought
against him appear to have had little, if any, foundation. Becket, though
he answered the summons, refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the
council, and appealed to the Pope. "Traitor!" cried a courtier, as he
picked up a bunch of muddy rushes from the floor and flung them at the
archbishop's head.

Becket turned, and looking him sternly in the face, said, "Were I not a
churchman, I would make you repent that word."

Realizing, however, that he was now in serious danger, he soon after left
Northampton and fled to France.

=218. Banishment versus Excommunication.=--Henry, finding Becket beyond his
reach, next proceeded to banish his kinsmen and friends, without regard to
age or sex, to the number of nearly four hundred. The miserable exiles,
many of whom were nearly destitute, were forced to leave the country in
midwinter, and excited the pity of all who saw them. Becket indignantly
retaliated by hurling at the king's counsellors that awful anathema of
excommunication which declares those against whom it is directed accursed
of God and man, deprived of help in this world, and shut out from hope in
the world to come. In this manner the quarrel went on with ever-increasing
bitterness for the space of six years.

=219. Prince Henry crowned; Reconciliation.=--In 1170, Henry, who had long
wished to associate his son Prince Henry with him in the government, had
him crowned at Westminster by the Archbishop of York, the bishops of
London and Salisbury taking part.

By custom, if not indeed by law, Becket alone, as Archbishop of Canterbury,
had the right to perform this ceremony.

When Becket heard of the coronation, he declared it an outrage both against
Christianity and the church. So great an outcry now arose that Henry
believed it expedient to recall the absent archbishop, especially as the
king of France was urging the Pope to take up the matter. Henry accordingly
went over to the continent, met Becket and persuaded him to return.

=220. Renewal of the Quarrel; Murder of Becket.=--But the reconciliation
was on the surface only; underneath, the old hatred smouldered, ready to
burst forth into flame.

As soon as he reached England, Becket invoked the thunders of the church
against those who had officiated at the coronation of the boy Henry. He
excommunicated the archbishop of York with his assistant bishops. The king
took their part, and in an unguarded moment exclaimed, in an outburst of
passion, "Will none of the cowards who eat my bread rid me of that
turbulent priest?" In answer to his angry cry for relief, four knights set
out without Henry's knowledge for Canterbury, and brutally murdered the
archbishop within the walls of his own cathedral.

=221. Results of the Murder.=--The crime sent a thrill of horror throughout
the realm. The Pope proclaimed Becket a saint. The English people, feeling
that he had risen from their ranks and was of their blood, now looked upon
the dead ecclesiastic as a martyr who had died in the defence of the
church, and of all those around whom the church cast its protecting power.
The cathedral was hung in mourning; Becket's shrine became the most famous
in England, and the stone pavement, with the steps leading to it, both show
by their deep-worn hollows where thousands of pilgrims coming from all
parts of the kingdom, and from the continent even, used to creep on their
knees to the saint's tomb to pray for his intercession. Henry himself was
so far vanquished by the reaction in Becket's favor, that he gave up any
further attempt to enforce the Constitutions of Clarendon, by which he had
hoped to establish a uniform system of administration of justice. But the
attempt, though baffled, was not wholly lost; like seed buried in the soil,
it sprang up and bore good fruit in later generations.

=222. The King makes his Will; Civil War.=--Some years after the murder the
king bequeathed England and Normandy to Prince Henry.[122] He at the same
time provided for his sons Geoffrey and Richard. To John, the youngest of
the brothers, he gave no territory, but requested Henry to grant him
several castles, which the latter refused to do.

[122] After his coronation Prince Henry had the title of Henry III.; but as
he died before his father, he never properly became king in his own right.

"It is our fate," said one of the sons, "that none should love the rest;
that is the only inheritance which will never be taken from us."

It may be that that legacy of hatred was the result of Henry's unwise
marriage with Eleanor, an able but perverse woman, or it may have sprung
from her jealousy of "Fair Rosamond" and other favorites of the king.[123]

[123] "Fair Rosamond" [Rosa mundi, the Rose of the world (as _then_
interpreted)] was the daughter of Lord Clifford. According to tradition the
king formed an attachment for this lady before his unfortunate marriage
with Eleanor, and constructed a place of concealment for her in a forest in
Woodstock, near Oxford. Some accounts report the queen as discovering her
rival and putting her to death. She was buried in the nunnery of Godstow
near by. When Henry's son John became king, he raised a monument to her
memory with the inscription in Latin:--

    "This tomb doth here enclose
    The world's most beauteous Rose--
    Rose passing sweet erewhile,
    Now nought but odor vile."

Eventually this feeling burst out into civil war. Brother fought against
brother, and Eleanor, conspiring with the king of France, turned against
her husband.

=223. The King's Penance.=--The revolt against Henry's power began in
Normandy. While he was engaged in quelling it, he received intelligence
that Earl Bigod of Norfolk[124] and the Bishop of Durham, both of whom
hated the king's reforms, since they curtailed their authority, had risen
against him.

[124] Hugh Bigod: the Bigods were among the most prominent and also the
most turbulent of the Norman barons. On the derivation of the name, see
Webster's Dictionary, "Bigot."

Believing that this new trouble was a judgment of Heaven for Becket's
murder, Henry resolved to do penance at his tomb. Leaving the continent
with two prisoners in his charge--one his son Henry's queen, the other his
own,--he travelled with all speed to Canterbury. There kneeling abjectly
before the grave of his former chancellor and friend, the king submitted to
be beaten with rods by the priests, in expiation of his sin.

=224. End of the Rebellion.=--Henry then moved against the rebels in the
north. Convinced of the hopelessness of holding out against his forces,
they submitted. With their submission the struggle of the barons against
the crown came to an end. It had lasted just one hundred years (1074-1174).
It settled the question, once for all, that England was not like the rest
of Europe, to be managed in the interest of a body of great baronial
landholders always at war with each other; but was henceforth to be
governed by one central power, restrained but not overridden by that of the
nobles and the church.

=225. The King again begins his Reforms.=--As soon as order was restored,
Henry once more set about completing his legal and judicial reforms. His
great object was to secure a uniform system of administering justice which
should be effective and impartial. Henry I. had undertaken to divide the
kingdom into districts or circuits, which were assigned to a certain number
of judges, who travelled through them at stated times collecting the royal
revenue and administering the law. Henry II. revised and perfected this
plan.[125] Not only had the barons set up private courts on their estates,
but they had in many cases got the entire control of the town and other
local courts, and dealt out such justice or injustice as they pleased. The
king's judges now presided over these tribunals, thus bringing the common
law of the realm to every man's door.

[125] Grand Assize and Assize of Clarendon (not to be confounded with the
Constitutions of Clarendon).

=226. Grand Juries.=--The Norman method of settling disputes was by trial
of battle, in which the contestants or their champions fought the matter
out with either swords or cudgels. There were those who objected to this
club-law. To them the king offered the privilege of leaving the case to the
decision of twelve knights, chosen from the neighborhood, who were supposed
to know the facts.

In like manner, when the judges passed through a circuit, a grand jury of
not less than sixteen was to report to them the criminals of each district.
These the judges forthwith sent to the church to be examined by the
ordeal.[126] If convicted, they were punished; if not, the judges ordered
them as suspicious characters to leave the country within eight days. In
that way the rascals of that generation were summarily disposed of.

[126] Ordeal: See Paragraph No. 127.

=227. Origin of the Modern Trial by Jury.=--In 1215 (reign of Henry's son
John) the church abolished the ordeal throughout Christendom. It then
became the custom in England to choose a petty jury, acquainted with the
facts, who confirmed or denied the accusations brought by the grand jury.
When this petty jury could not agree, the decision of a majority was
sometimes accepted.

Owing to the difficulty of securing justice in this way, it gradually
became the custom to summon witnesses, who gave their testimony before the
petty jury in order to thereby obtain a unanimous verdict. The first
mention of this change occurs in the reign of Edward III. (1350); and from
that time, perhaps, may be dated the true beginning of our modern method,
by which the jury bring in a verdict, not from what they personally know,
but from evidence sworn to by those who do. Henry II. may rightfully be
regarded as the true founder of the system which England, and England
alone, fully matured, and which has since been adopted by every civilized
country of the globe.

=228. The King's Last Days.=--Henry's last days were full of bitterness.
Ever since his memorable return from the continent, he had been obliged to
hold the queen a prisoner lest she should undermine his power. His sons
were discontented and rebellious. Toward the close of his reign they again
plotted against him with King Philip of France. War was then declared
against that country. When peace was made, Henry, who was lying ill, asked
to see a list of those who had conspired against him. At the head of it
stood the name of his youngest son John, whom he trusted. At the sight of
it the old man turned his face to the wall, saying, "I have nothing left to
care for; let all things go their way." Two days afterward he died of a
broken heart.

=229. Summary.=--Henry II. left his work only half done; yet that half was
permanent and its beneficent mark may be seen on the English law and the
English constitution at the present time. When he ascended the throne he
found a people who had long been suffering the miseries of a protracted
civil war. He established a stable government. He redressed their wrongs.
He punished the mutinous barons. He compelled the church, at least for a
time, to acknowledge the supremacy of the state. He reformed the
administration of law; established methods of judicial inquiry which were
to gradually develop into trial by jury; and made all men feel that a king
sat on the throne who believed in justice and was able to make justice
respected.


RICHARD I. (Cœur de Lion).[127]--1189-1199.

[127] Richard Cœur de Lion (keūr dě le´ōn), Richard the Lion-hearted. An
old chronicler says the king got the name from his adventure with a lion.
The beast attacked him, and as the king had no weapons, he thrust his hand
down his throat and "tore out his heart!!"

=230. Accession and Character of Richard.=--Henry II. was succeeded by his
second son Richard, his first having died during the civil war of 1183, in
which he and his brother Geoffrey had fought against Prince Richard and
their father. Richard was born at Oxford, but he spent his youth in France.
The only English sentence that he was ever known to speak was when in a
raging passion he vented his wrath against an impertinent Frenchman, in
some broken but decidedly strong expressions of his native tongue.
Richard's bravery in battle and his daring exploits gained for him the
flattering surname of Cœur de Lion. He had a right to it, for with all his
faults he certainly possessed the heart of a lion. He might, however, have
been called, with equal truth, Richard the Absentee, since out of a nominal
reign of ten years he spent but a few months in England, the remaining time
being consumed in wars abroad.

=231. Condition of Society.=--No better general picture of society in
England during this period can be found than that presented by Sir Walter
Scott's novel, "Ivanhoe." There every class appears--the Saxon serf and
swineherd, wearing the brazen collar of his master Cedric; the pilgrim
wandering from shrine to shrine, with the palm branch in his cap to show
that he has visited the Holy Land; the outlaw, Robin Hood, lying in wait to
strip rich churchmen and other travellers who were on their way through
Sherwood Forest; the Norman baron in his castle torturing the aged Jew to
extort his hidden gold; and the steel-clad knights, with Ivanhoe at their
head, splintering lances in the tournament, presided over by Richard's
brother, the traitorous Prince John.

=232. Richard's Coronation.=--Richard was on the continent at the time of
his father's death. His first act was to liberate his mother from her long
imprisonment at Winchester; his next, to place her at the head of the
English government until his arrival from Normandy. Unlike Henry II.,
Richard did not issue a charter, or pledge of good government. He, however,
took the usual coronation oath to defend the church, maintain justice, make
salutary laws, and abolish evil customs; such an oath might well be
considered a charter in itself.

=233. The Crusade; Richard's Devices for raising Money.=--Immediately after
his coronation, Richard began to make preparations to join the king of
France and the emperor of Germany in the third crusade. To get money for
the expedition, the king extorted loans from the Jews, who were the
creditors of half England, and had almost complete control of the capital
and commerce of every country in Europe. The English nobles who joined
Richard also borrowed largely from the same source; and then, suddenly
turning on the hated lenders, they tried to extinguish the debt by
extinguishing the Jews. A pretext against the unfortunate race was easily
found. Riots broke out in London, York, and elsewhere, and hundreds of
Israelites were brutally massacred. Richard's next move to obtain funds was
to impose a heavy tax; his next, to dispose of titles of rank and offices
in both church and state, to all who wished to buy them. Thus, to the aged
and covetous bishop of Durham he sold the earldom of Northumberland for
life, saying, as he concluded the bargain, "Out of an old bishop I have
made a new earl." He sold, also, the office of chief justice to the same
prelate for an additional thousand marks,[128] while the king of Scotland
purchased freedom from subjection to the English king for ten thousand
marks. Last of all, Richard sold charters to towns. One of his courtiers
remonstrated with him for his greed for gain. He replied that he would sell
London itself if he could but find a purchaser.

[128] Mark: see note to Paragraph No. 211.

=234. The Rise of the Free Towns.=--Of all these devices for raising money,
the last had the most important results. From the time of the Norman
Conquest the large towns of England, with few exceptions, were considered
part of the king's property; the smaller places generally belonged to the
great barons. The citizens of these towns were obliged to pay rent and
taxes of various kinds to the king or lord who owned them. These dues were
collected by an officer appointed by the king or lord (usually the
sheriff), who was bound to obtain a certain sum, whatever more he could
get being his own profit. For this reason it was for his interest to exact
from every citizen the uttermost penny. London, as we have seen, had
secured a considerable degree of liberty through the charter granted to it
by William the Conqueror. Every town was now anxious to obtain a similar
pledge. The three great objects aimed at by the citizens were (1) to get
the right of paying their taxes (a fixed sum) directly to the king, (2) to
elect their own magistrates, and (3) to administer justice in their own
courts in accordance with laws made by themselves. The only way to gain
these privileges was to pay for them. Many of the towns were rich; and,
when the king or lord needed money, they bargained with him for the favors
they desired. When the agreement was made, it was drawn up in Latin,
stamped with the king's seal, and taken home in triumph by the citizens,
who locked it up as the safeguard of their liberties. If they could not get
all they wanted, they bought a part. Thus, the people of Leicester, in the
next reign, purchased from the earl, their master, the right to decide
their own disputes. For this they paid a yearly tax of three pence on every
house having a gable on the main street. These concessions may seem small;
but they prepared the way for greater ones. What was still more important,
they educated the citizens of that day in a knowledge of self-government.
It was the tradesmen and shopkeepers of these towns who preserved free
speech and equal justice. Richard granted a large number of such charters,
and thus unintentionally made himself a benefactor to the nation.

=235. Failure of the Third Crusade.=--The object of the third crusade was
to drive the Turks from Jerusalem. In this it failed. Richard got as near
Jerusalem as the Mount of Olives. When he had climbed to the top, he was
told that he could have a full view of the place; but he covered his face
with his mantle, saying, "Blessed Lord, let me not see thy holy city since
I may not deliver it from the hands of thine enemies!"

=236. Richard taken Prisoner; his Ransom.=--On his way home the king fell
into the hands of the German emperor, who held him captive. His brother
John, who had remained in England, plotted with Philip of France to keep
Richard in prison while he got possession of the throne. Notwithstanding
his efforts, Richard regained his liberty,[129] on condition of raising a
ransom so enormous that it compelled every Englishman to contribute a
fourth of his personal property, and to strip the churches of their jewels
and silver plate even. When the king of France heard of this, he wrote to
John notifying him that his brother was free, saying, "Look out for
yourself; the devil has broken loose." Richard pardoned him; and when the
king was killed in France in 1199, John gained and disgraced the throne he
coveted.

[129] It is not certainly known how the news of Richard's captivity reached
England. One story says that it was carried by Blondel, a minstrel who had
accompanied the king to Palestine. He, it is said, wandered through Germany
in search of his master, singing one of Richard's favorite songs at every
castle he came to. One day, as he was thus singing at the foot of a tower,
he heard the well-known voice of the king take up the next verse in reply.

=237. Purpose of the Crusades.=--Up to the time of the crusades, the
English wars on the continent had been actuated either by ambition for
military glory or desire for conquest. The crusades, on the contrary, were
undertaken from motives of religious enthusiasm. Those who engaged in them
fought for an idea. They considered themselves soldiers of the cross. Moved
by this feeling, "all Christian believers seemed ready to precipitate
themselves in one united body upon Asia." Thus the crusades were "the first
European event."[130] They gave men something to battle for, not only
outside their country, but outside their own selfish interests. Richard, as
we have seen, was the first English king who took part in them. Before that
period, England had stood aloof,--"a world by itself." The country was
engaged in its own affairs or in its contests with France. Richard's
expedition to Palestine brought England into the main current of history,
so that it was now moved by the same feeling which animated the continent.

[130] Guizot, History of Civilization.

=238. The Results of the Crusades: Educational, Social, Political.=--In
many respects the civilization of the East was far in advance of the West.
One result of the crusades was to open the eyes of Europe to this fact.
When Richard and his followers set out, they looked upon the Mohammedans as
barbarians; before they returned, many were ready to acknowledge that the
barbarians were chiefly among themselves. At that time England had few
Latin and no Greek scholars. The Arabians, however, had long been familiar
with the classics, and had translated them into their own tongue. Not only
did England gain its first knowledge of the philosophy of Plato and
Aristotle from Mohammedan teachers, but it received from them also the
elements of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and astronomy. This new
knowledge gave an impulse to education, and had a most important influence
on the growth of the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, though these did
not become prominent until more than a century later. Had these been the
only results, they would perhaps have been worth the blood and treasure
spent in vain attempts to recover possession of the sepulchre of Christ;
but these were by no means all. The crusades brought about a social and
political revolution. They conferred benefits and removed evils. When they
began, the greater part of the inhabitants of Europe, including England,
were chained to the soil. They had neither freedom, property, nor
knowledge.

There were in fact but two classes, the churchmen and the nobles, who
really deserved the name of citizens and men. We have seen that the
crusades compelled kings like Richard to grant charters of freedom to
towns. The nobles conferred similar privileges on those in their power.
Thus their great estates were, in a measure, broken up and from this period
the common people began to acquire rights, and, what is more, to defend
them.[131]

[131] Gibbon's Rome.

=239. Summary.=--We may say in closing that the central fact in Richard's
reign was his embarking in the crusades. From them, directly or indirectly,
England gained two important results: first, a greater degree of political
liberty, especially in the case of the towns; second, a new intellectual
and educational impulse.


JOHN.--1199-1216.

=240. John Lackland.=--When Henry II. in dividing his realm left his
youngest son John dependent on the generosity of his brothers, he jestingly
gave him the surname of "Lackland." As John never received any
principality, the nickname continued to cling to him even after he had
become king through the death of his brother Richard.

=241. The Quarrels of the King.=--The reign of the new king was taken up
mainly with three momentous quarrels: first, with France; next, with the
Pope; lastly, with the barons. By his quarrel with France he lost Normandy
and the greater part of the adjoining provinces, thus becoming in a new
sense John Lackland. By his quarrel with the Pope he was humbled to the
earth. By his quarrel with the barons he was forced to grant England the
Great Charter.

=242. Murder of Prince Arthur.=--Shortly after John's accession the nobles
of a part of the English possessions in France expressed their desire that
John's nephew, Arthur, a boy of twelve, should become their ruler. John
refused to grant their request. War ensued, and Arthur fell into his
uncle's hands, who imprisoned him in the castle of Rouen. A number of those
who had been captured with the young prince were starved to death in the
dungeons of the same castle, and not long after Arthur himself mysteriously
disappeared. Shakespeare represents John as ordering the keeper of the
castle to put out the lad's eyes, and then tells us that he was killed in
an attempt to escape. The earlier belief, however, was that the king
murdered him.

=243. John's Loss of Normandy.=--Philip of France accused John of the
crime, and ordered him as Duke of Normandy, and hence as a feudal
dependant, to appear at Paris for trial.[132] He refused. The court was
convened, John was declared a traitor and sentenced to forfeit all his
lands on the continent. For a long time he made no attempt to defend his
dominions, but left his Norman nobles to carry on a war against Philip as
best they could. At last, after much territory had been lost, the English
king made an attempt to regain it. The result was a humiliating and
crushing defeat, in which Philip seized Normandy and followed up the
victory by depriving John of all his possessions north of the river Loire.

[132] It is proper to state in this connection that a recent French writer
on this period--M. Bémont--is satisfied that John's condemnation and the
forfeiture of Normandy took place before Arthur's death, for tyranny in
Poitou.

=244. Good Results of the Loss of Normandy.=--From that period the Norman
nobles were compelled to choose between the island of England and the
continent for their home. Before that time the Norman contempt for the
Saxon was so great, that his most indignant exclamation was, "Do you take
me for an Englishman?" Now, however, shut in by the sea, with the people he
had hitherto oppressed and despised, he gradually came to regard England as
his country, and Englishmen as his countrymen. Thus the two races so long
hostile found at last that they had common interests and common
enemies.[133]

[133] Macaulay.

=245. The King's Despotism.=--Hitherto our sympathies have been mainly with
the kings. We have watched them struggling against the lawless nobles, and
every gain which they have made in power we have felt to be so much for the
cause of good government; but we are coming to a period when our sympathies
will be the other way. Henceforth the welfare of the nation will depend
largely on the resistance of these very barons to the despotic
encroachments of the crown.[134]

[134] Ransome's Constitutional History of England.

=246. Quarrel of the King with the Church.=--Shortly after his defeat in
France, John entered upon his second quarrel. Pope Innocent III. had
commanded a delegation of the monks of Canterbury to choose Stephen Langton
archbishop in place of a person whom the king had compelled them to elect.
When the news reached John, he forbade Langton's landing in England,
although it was his native country. The Pope forthwith declared the kingdom
under an interdict, or suspension of religious services. For two years the
churches were hung in mourning, the bells ceased to ring, the doors were
shut fast. For two years the priests denied the sacraments to the living
and funeral prayers for the dead. At the end of that time the Pope, by a
bull of excommunication,[135] cut off the king as a withered branch from
the church. John laughed at the interdict, and met the decree of
excommunication with such cruel treatment of the priests, that they fled
terrified from the land. The Pope now took a third step; he deposed John,
and ordered Philip of France to seize the English crown. Then John, knowing
that he stood alone, made a virtue of necessity. He kneeled at the feet of
the Pope's legate, or representative, accepted Stephen Langton as
Archbishop of Canterbury, and promised to pay a yearly tax to Rome of 1000
marks (about $64,000 in modern money) for permission to keep his crown. The
Pope was satisfied with the victory he had gained over his ignoble foe, and
peace was made.

[135] Bull (Latin _bulla_, a leaden seal): a decree issued by the Pope,
bearing his seal.

=247. The Great Charter.=--But peace in one direction did not mean peace in
all. John's tyranny, brutality, and disregard of his subjects' welfare had
gone too far. He had refused the church both the right to fill its offices
and to enjoy its revenues. He had extorted exorbitant sums from the barons.
He had violated the charters of London and other cities. He had compelled
merchants to pay large sums for the privilege of carrying on their business
unmolested. He had imprisoned men on false or frivolous charges, and
refused to bring them to trial. He had unjustly claimed heavy sums from
serfs and other poor men; and when they could not pay, had seized their
carts and tools, thus depriving them of their means of livelihood. Those
who had suffered these and greater wrongs were determined to have
reformation, and to have it in the form of a written charter or pledge
bearing the king's seal. The new archbishop was not less determined. He no
sooner landed than he demanded of the king that he should swear to observe
the laws of Edward the Confessor,[136] a phrase in which the whole of the
national liberties was summed up.

[136] Laws of Edward the Confessor: not necessarily the laws made by that
king, but rather the customs and rights enjoyed by the people during his
reign.

=248. Preliminary Meeting at St. Albans.=--In the summer of 1213, a council
was held at St. Albans, near London, composed of representatives from all
parts of the kingdom. It was the first assembly of the kind on record. It
convened to consider what claims should be made on the king in the interest
of the nobles, the clergy, and the country. Their deliberations took shape
probably under Langton's guiding hand. He had obtained a copy of the
charter granted by Henry I.[137] This was used as a model for drawing up a
new one of similar character, but in every respect fuller and stronger in
its provisions.

[137] See Paragraph No. 185, and note.

=249. Second Meeting.=--Late in the autumn of the following year, the
barons met in the abbey church of Bury St. Edmund's, in Suffolk, under
their leader, Robert Fitz-Walter, of London. Advancing one by one up the
church to the high altar, they solemnly swore that they would oblige John
to grant the new charter, or they would declare war against him.

=250. The King grants the Charter.=--At Easter, 1215, the same barons,
attended by two thousand armed knights, met the king at Oxford, and made
known to him their demands. John tried to evade giving a direct answer.
Seeing that to be impossible, and finding that London was on the side of
the barons, he yielded, and requested them to name the day and place for
the ratification of the charter. "Let the day be the 15th of June, the
place Runnymede,"[138] was the reply. In accordance therewith, we read at
the foot of the shrivelled parchment preserved in the British museum,
"Given under our hand * * in the meadow called Runnymede, between Windsor
and Staines, on the 15th June, in the 17th year of our reign."

[138] Runnymede: about twenty miles southwest of London, on the south bank
of the Thames, in Surrey.

=251. Terms and Value of the Charter.=--By the terms of that document,
henceforth to be known as Magna Carta,[139] or the Great Charter,--a term
used to emphatically distinguish it from all previous and partial
charters,--it was stipulated that the following grievances should be
redressed: first, those of the church; second, those of the barons and
their vassals or tenants; third, those of citizens and tradesmen; fourth,
those of freemen and serfs. This, then, was the first agreement entered
into between the king and all classes of his people. Of the sixty-three
articles which constituted it, the greater part, owing to the changes of
time, are now obsolete; but three possess imperishable value. These provide
first, that no free man shall be imprisoned or proceeded against except by
his peers, or the law of the land;[140] second, that justice shall neither
be sold, denied, nor delayed; third, that all dues from the people to the
king, unless otherwise distinctly specified, shall be imposed only with the
consent of the National Council--an expedient which converted the power of
taxation into the shield of liberty.[141] Thus, for the first time, the
interests of all classes were protected, and for the first time the English
people appear in the constitutional history of the country as a united
body. So highly was this charter esteemed, that in the course of the next
two centuries it was confirmed no less than thirty-seven times: and the
very day that Charles II. entered London, after the civil wars of the
seventeenth century, the House of Commons asked him to confirm it again.

[139] Magna Carta: _carta_ is the spelling in the mediæval Latin of this
and the preceding charters.

[140] Peers (from Latin _pares_), equals. This secures trial by jury.

[141] Mackintosh. This provision was, however, dropped in the next reign;
but later the principle it laid down was firmly established.

=252. John's Efforts to break the Charter.=--But John had no sooner set his
hand to this document than he determined to repudiate it. He hired bands of
soldiers on the continent to come to his aid. The Pope also used his
influence, and threatened the barons with excommunication if they persisted
in enforcing the provisions of the charter.

=253. The Barons invite Louis of France to aid them.=--In their
desperation,--for the king's mercenaries were now ravaging the
country,--the barons despatched a messenger to John's sworn enemy, Philip
of France, inviting him to send over his son, Louis, to free them from
tyranny, and become ruler of the kingdom. He came with all speed, and soon
made himself master of the southern counties.

=254. The King's Death.=--John had styled himself on his great seal "King
of England"; thus formally claiming the actual ownership of the realm. He
was now to find that the sovereign who has no place in his subjects' hearts
has small hold of their possessions.

The rest of his ignominious reign was spent in war against the barons and
Louis of France. "They have placed twenty-four kings over me!" he shouted,
in his fury, referring to the twenty-four leading men who had been
appointed to see that the charter did not become a dead letter. But the
twenty-four did their duty, and the battle went on. In the midst of it John
suddenly died, as the old record said, "a knight without truth, a king
without justice, a Christian without faith." He was buried in Worcester
Cathedral, wrapped in a monk's gown, and placed, for further protection,
between the bodies of two Saxon saints.

=255. Summary.=--John's reign may be regarded as a turning-point in English
history.

1. Through the loss of Normandy, the Norman nobility found it for their
interest to make the welfare of England and of the English race one with
their own. Thus the two peoples became more and more united, until finally
all differences ceased.

2. In demanding and obtaining the Great Charter, the church and the
nobility made common cause with the people. That document represents the
victory, not of a class, but of the nation. The next eighty years will be
mainly taken up with the effort of the nation to hold fast what it has
gained.


HENRY III.--1216-1272.

=256. Accession and Character.=--John's eldest son Henry was crowned at the
age of nine. During his long and feeble reign England's motto might well
have been the words of Ecclesiastes, "Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is
a child!" since a child he remained to the last; for if John's heart was of
millstone, Henry's was of wax. In one of his poems, written perhaps not
long after Henry's death, Dante represents him as he sees him in
imagination just on the borderland of purgatory. The king is not in
suffering, for as he has done no particular good, so he has done no great
harm; he appears, therefore, "as a man of simple life, spending his time
singing psalms in a narrow valley."[142]

[142] Dante's Purgatory, vii. 131.

That shows one side of his negative character; the other was love of
extravagance and vain display joined to instability of purpose.

=257. Reissue of the Great Charter.=--Louis, the French prince who had come
to England in John's reign as an armed claimant to the throne, finding that
both the barons and the church preferred an English to a foreign king, now
retired. During his minority Henry's guardians twice reissued the great
charter: first, with the omission of the article which reserved the power
of taxation to the National Council, and finally with an addition declaring
that no man should lose life or limb for hunting in the royal forests. On
the last occasion the council granted the king in return a fifteenth of
their movable or personal property. This tax, as it reached a large class
of people like merchants in towns, who were not landholders, had a decided
influence in making them desire to have a voice in the National Council, or
Parliament, as it began to be called in this reign (1246). It thus helped,
as we shall see later on, to prepare the way for an important change in
that body.[143]

[143] The first tax on movable or personal property appears to have been
levied by Henry II., in 1188, for the support of the crusades. Under Henry
III. the idea began to become general that no class should be taxed without
their consent; out of this grew the representation of townspeople in
Parliament.

=258. Henry's Extravagance.=--When Henry became of age he entered upon a
course of extravagant expenditure. This, with unwise and unsuccessful wars,
finally piled up debts to the amount of nearly a million of marks, or, in
modern money, upwards of £13,000,000 ($65,000,000). To satisfy the clamors
of his creditors he mortgaged the Jews, or rather the right of extorting
money from them, to his brother Richard. He also violated charters and
treaties in order to compel the nation to purchase their reissue. On the
birth of his first son, Prince Edward, he showed himself so eager for
congratulatory gifts, that one of the nobles present at court said, "Heaven
gave us this child, but the king sells him to us."

=259. His Church Building.=--Still, not all of the king's extravagance was
money thrown away. Everywhere on the continent magnificent churches were
rising. The heavy and sombre Norman architecture, with its round arches and
square, massive towers, was giving place to the more graceful Gothic style,
with its pointed arch and lofty, tapering spire. The king shared the
religious enthusiasm of those who built the grand cathedrals of Salisbury,
Lincoln, and Ely. He himself rebuilt the greater part of Westminster Abbey
as it now stands. A monument so glorious ought to make us willing to
overlook some faults in the builder. Yet the expense and taxation incurred
in erecting the great minster must be reckoned among the causes that bred
discontent and led to civil war.

=260. Religious Reformation; the Friars; Roger Bacon.=--While this
movement, which covered the land with religious edifices, was in progress,
religion itself was undergoing a change. The old monastic orders had grown
rich, indolent, and corrupt. The priests had well-nigh ceased to do
missionary work; preaching had almost died out. At this period a reform
sprang up within the church itself. A new order of monks had arisen calling
themselves in Norman French Frères,[144] or Brothers, a word which the
English turned into Friars. These Brothers bound themselves to a life of
self-denial and good works. From their living on charity they came to be
known as Mendicant Friars. They went from place to place exhorting men to
repentance, and proclaiming the almost forgotten Gospel of Christ. Others,
like Roger Bacon at Oxford, took an important part in education, and
endeavored to rouse the sluggish monks to make efforts in the same
direction. Bacon's experiments in physical science, which was then
neglected and despised, got him the reputation of being a magician. He was
driven into exile, imprisoned for many years, and deprived of books and
writing materials. But, as nothing could check the religious fervor of his
mendicant brothers, so no hardship or suffering could daunt the
intellectual enthusiasm of Bacon. When he emerged from captivity he issued
his Opus Majus,[145] an "inquiry" as he called it "into the roots of
knowledge." It was especially devoted to mathematics and the sciences, and
deserves the name of the encyclopædia of the thirteenth century.

[144] Frères (frâr).

[145] Opus Majus: Greater Work, to distinguish it from a later summary
entitled the Opus Minus, or Lesser Work.

=261. The Provisions of Oxford.=--But the prodigal expenditure and
mismanagement of Henry kept on increasing. At last the burden of taxation
became too great to bear. Bad harvests had caused a famine, and multitudes
perished even in London. Confronted by these evils, Parliament met in the
Great Hall at Westminster. Many of the barons were in complete armor. As
the king entered there was an ominous clatter of swords. Henry, looking
around, asked timidly, "Am I a prisoner?"

"No, sire," answered Earl Bigod; "but we must have reform." The king agreed
to summon a Parliament to meet at Oxford and consider what should be done.
Their enemies nicknamed the assembly the "Mad Parliament"; but there was
both method and determination in their madness, for which the country was
grateful. With Simon de Montfort, the king's brother-in-law, at their head,
they drew up a set of articles or provisions to which Henry gave an
unwilling assent, which practically took the government out of his
inefficient hands and vested it in the control of three committees, or
councils.

=262. Renewal of the Great Charter.=--Even this was not enough. The king
was now compelled to reaffirm that Great Charter which his father had
unwillingly granted at Runnymede. Standing in St. Catherine's Chapel within
the partially finished church of Westminster Abbey, Henry, holding a
lighted taper in his hand, in company with the chief men of the realm,
swore to observe the provisions of the covenant. At the close he exclaimed,
as he dashed the taper on the pavement, while all present repeated the
words and the action, "So go out with smoke and stench the accursed souls
of those who break or pervert this charter." There is no evidence that the
king was insincere in his oath; but unfortunately his piety was that of
impulse, not of principle. The compact was soon broken, and the land again
stripped by taxes extorted by violence, partly to cover Henry's own
extravagance, but largely to swell the coffers of the Pope, who had
promised to make his son Prince Edward ruler over Sicily.

=263. Growing Feeling of Discontent.=--During this time the barons were
daily growing more mutinous and defiant, saying that they would rather die
than be ruined by the "Romans," as they called the papal power. To a fresh
demand for money Earl Bigod gave a flat refusal. "Then I will send reapers
and reap your fields for you," cried the king to him. "And I will send you
back the heads of your reapers," retorted the angry earl.

It was evident that the nobles would make no concessions. The same spirit
was abroad which, at an earlier date, made the parliament of Merton
declare, when asked to alter the customs of the country to suit the
ordinances of the church of Rome, "We will not change the laws of England."
So now they were equally resolved not to pay the Pope money in behalf of
the king's son.

=264. Civil War; Battle of Lewes.=--In 1264 the crisis was reached, and war
broke out between the king and his brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, Earl
of Leicester, better known by his popular name of Sir Simon the Righteous.

With fifteen thousand Londoners, and a number of the barons, he met Henry,
who had a stronger force, on the heights above the town of Lewes, in
Sussex. The result of the great battle fought there, was as decisive as
that fought two centuries before by William the Conqueror, not many miles
distant on the same coast.[146]

[146] The village of Battle, which marks the spot where the battle of
Hastings was fought, 1066, is less than twenty miles east of Lewes.

=265. De Montfort's Parliament; the House of Commons (1265).=--Bracton, the
foremost jurist of that day, said in his comments on the dangerous state of
the times, "If the king were without a bridle,--that is, the law,--his
subjects ought to put a bridle on him."

Earl Simon had that bridle ready, or rather he saw clearly where to get it.
The battle of Lewes had gone against Henry, who had fallen captive to De
Montfort. As head of the state the earl now called a parliament, which
differed from all its predecessors in the fact that for the first time two
citizens from each city, and two townsmen from each borough, or town,
together with two knights, or country gentlemen, from each county, were
summoned to London to join the barons and clergy in their deliberations.
Thus, in the winter of 1266, that House of Commons, or legislative
assembly of the people, originated, which, when fully established in the
next reign, was to sit for more than three hundred years in the
chapter-house[147] of Westminster Abbey. At last those who had neither land
nor rank, but who paid taxes on personal property only, had obtained
representation. Henceforth the king had a bridle which he could not shake
off. Henceforth Magna Carta was no longer to be a dead parchment promise of
reform, rolled up and hidden away, but was to become a living,
ever-present, effective truth.

[147] Chapter-house: the building where the chapter or governing body of an
abbey or cathedral meet to transact business.

From this date the Parliament of England began to lose its exclusive
character and to become a true representative body standing for the whole
nation, and hence the model of every such assembly which now meets, whether
in the old world or the new; the beginning of what President Lincoln
called, "government of the people, by the people, for the people."

=266. Earl Simon's Death.=--Yet the same year brought for the earl a fatal
reaction. The barons, jealous of his power, fell away from him. Edward, the
king's eldest son, gathered them round the royal standard to attack and
crush the man who had humiliated his father. De Montfort was at
Evesham;[148] from the top of the church tower he saw the prince
approaching. "Commend your souls to God," he said to the faithful few who
stood by him; "for our bodies are the foes'!" There he fell. In the north
aisle of Westminster Abbey, not far from Henry's tomb, may be seen the
emblazoned arms of the brave earl. England, so rich in effigies of her
great men, so faithful, too, in her remembrance of them, has not yet set up
in the vestibule of the House of Commons among the statues of her
statesmen, the image of him who was in many respects the leader of them
all, and the real originator and founder of the House itself.

[148] Evesham, Worcestershire.

=267. Summary.=--Henry's reign lasted over half a century. During that
period England, as we have seen, was not standing still. It was an age of
reform. In religion, the Mendicant Friars were exhorting men to better
lives. In education, Roger Bacon and other devoted scholars were laboring
to broaden knowledge and deepen thought. In political affairs the people
through the House of Commons now first obtained a voice. Henceforth the
laws will be in a measure their work, and the government will reflect in an
ever-increasing degree their will.


EDWARD I.--1272-1307.[149]

[149] Edward I. was not crowned until 1274.

=268. Edward I. and the Crusades.=--Henry's son, Prince Edward, was in the
East, fighting the battles of the crusades, at the time of his father's
death. According to an account given in an old Spanish chronicle, his life
was saved by the devotion of his wife Eleanor, who, when her husband was
assassinated with a poisoned dagger, heroically sucked the poison from the
wound.

=269. Edward's First Parliament.=--Shortly after his return to England, he
convened a parliament, to which the representatives of the people were
summoned. This body declared that all previous laws should be impartially
executed, and that there should be no interference with elections.[150]
Thus it will be seen that though Earl Simon was dead, his work went on.
Edward had the wisdom to adopt and perfect the example his father's
conqueror had left. By him, though not until near the close of his reign
(1295), Parliament was firmly established, in its twofold form, of Lords
and Commons,[151] and became "a complete image of the nation."

[150] The First Statute of Westminster.

[151] Lords: this term should be understood to include the higher clergy.

=270. Conquest of Wales; Birth of the first Prince of Wales.=--Henry II.
had labored to secure unity of law for England. Edward's aim was to bring
the whole island of Britain under one ruler. On the West, Wales only half
acknowledged the power of the English king, while on the north, Scotland
was practically an independent sovereignty. The new king determined to
begin by annexing the first-named country to the crown. He accordingly led
an army thither, and, after several victorious battles, considered that he
had gained his end. To make sure of his new possessions, he erected the
magnificent castles of Conway, Beaumaris, Harlech, and Caernarvon, all of
which were permanently garrisoned with bodies of troops ready to check
revolt.

In the last-named stronghold, tradition still points out a little dark
chamber, more like a state-prison cell than a royal apartment, where
Edward's son, the first Prince of Wales, was born. The Welsh had vowed that
they would never accept an Englishman as king; but the young prince was a
native of their soil, and certainly in his cradle, at least, spoke as good
Welsh as their own children of the same age. No objection, therefore, could
be made to him; by this happy compromise, it is said, Wales became a
principality joined to the English crown.[152]

[152] Wales was not wholly incorporated with England until two centuries
later, in the reign of Henry VIII. It then obtained local self-government
and representation in Parliament.

=271. Conquest of Scotland; the Stone of Scone.=--An opportunity now
presented itself for Edward to assert his power in Scotland. Two claimants,
both of Norman descent, had come forward demanding the crown.[153] One was
John Baliol; the other, Robert Bruce, an ancestor of the famous king and
general of that name, who comes prominently forward some years later.
Edward was invited by the contestants to settle the dispute. He decided in
Baliol's favor, but insisted, before doing so, that the latter should
acknowledge the overlordship of England, as the king of Scotland had done
to William I. Baliol made a virtue of necessity, and agreed to the terms;
but shortly after formed a secret alliance with France against Edward,
which was renewed from time to time, and kept up between the two countries
for three hundred years. It is the key to most of the wars in which England
was involved during that period. Having made this treaty, Baliol now openly
renounced his allegiance to the English king. Edward at once organized a
force, attacked Baliol, and compelled the country to acknowledge him as
ruler. At the Abbey of Scone, near Perth, the English seized the famous
"Stone of Destiny," the palladium of Scotland, on which her kings were
crowned. Carrying the trophy to Westminster Abbey, Edward enclosed it in
that ancient coronation chair which has been used by every sovereign since,
from his son's accession down to that of Victoria.

[153] Scotland: At the time of the Roman conquest of Britain, Scotland was
inhabited by a Celtic race nearly akin to the primitive Irish, and more
distantly so to the Britons. In time, the Saxons from the continent invaded
the country, and settled on the lowlands of the East, driving back the
Celts to the western highlands. Later, many English emigrated to Scotland,
especially at the time of the Norman Conquest, where they found a hearty
welcome. In 1072, William the Conqueror compelled the Scottish king to
acknowledge him as overlord; and eventually so many Norman nobles
established themselves in Scotland, that they constituted the chief landed
aristocracy of the country. The modern Scottish nation, though it keeps its
Celtic name (Scotland), is made up in great measure of inhabitants of
English descent, the pure Scotch being confined mostly to the Highlands,
and ranking in population only as about one to three of the former.

=272. Confirmation of the Charters.=--Edward next prepared to attack
France. In great need of money, he demanded a large sum from the clergy,
and seized a quantity of wool in the hands of the merchants. The barons,
alarmed at these arbitrary measures, insisted on the king's reaffirming all
previous charters of liberties, including the Great Charter, with certain
additions expressly providing that no money or goods should be taken by the
crown except by the consent of the people. Thus out of the war, England
"gained the one thing it needed to give the finishing touch to the
building-up of Parliament; namely, a solemn acknowledgment by the king that
the nation alone had power to levy taxes."[154]

[154] Rowley, Rise of the English People.

=273. Revolt and Death of Wallace.=--Scotland, however, was not wholly
subdued. The patriot, William Wallace rose and led his countrymen against
the English--led them with that impetuous valor which breathes in Burns'
lines:--

    "Scots wha ha'e wi' Wallace bled."

But fate was against him. After eight years of desperate fighting, the
valiant soldier was captured, executed on Tower Hill as a traitor, and his
head, crowned in mockery with a wreath of laurel, set on a pike on London
Bridge.

But though the hero who perished on the scaffold could not prevent his
country from becoming one day a part of England, he did hinder its becoming
so on unfair and tyrannical terms. "Scotland is not Ireland. No; because
brave men arose there, and said, 'Behold, ye must not tread us down like
slaves,--and ye shall not,--and ye cannot!'"[155]

[155] Carlyle, Past and Present.

=274. Expulsion of the Jews.=--The darkest stain on Edward's reign was his
treatment of the Jews. Up to this period that unfortunate race had been
protected by the kings of England as men protect the cattle which they
fatten for slaughter. So long as they accumulated money, and so long as the
sovereign could rob them of their accumulations when he saw fit, they were
worth guarding. A time had now come when the populace demanded their
expulsion from the island, on the ground that their usury and extortion
were ruining the country. Edward yielded to the clamor, and first stripping
the Jews of their possessions, he prepared to drive them into exile. It is
said that even their books were taken from them and given to the libraries
of Oxford. Thus pillaged, they were forced to leave the realm--a miserable
procession, numbering some sixteen thousand. Many perished on the way, and
so few ventured to return, that for four centuries and a half, until
Cromwell came to power, they practically disappear from English history.

=275. Death of Queen Eleanor.=--Shortly after this event, Queen Eleanor
died. The king showed the love he bore her in the crosses he raised to her
memory, three of which still stand.[156] These were erected at the places
where her body was set down, in its transit from Grantham, in Lincolnshire,
where she died, to the little village of Charing (now Charing Cross, the
geographical centre of London), its last station before reaching its final
resting-place, in that abbey at Westminster, which holds such wealth of
historic dust. Around her tomb wax-lights were kept constantly burning,
until the Protestant Reformation extinguished them, three hundred years
later.

[156] Originally there were thirteen of these crosses. Of these, three
remain; viz., at Northampton, at Geddington, near by, and at Waltham, about
twelve miles northeast of London.

=276. Edward's Reforms; Statute of Winchester.=--The condition of England
when Edward came to the throne was far from settled. The country was
overrun with marauders. To suppress these, the Statute of Winchester made
the inhabitants of every district punishable by fines for crimes committed
within their limits. Every walled town had to close its gates at sunset,
and no stranger could be admitted during the night unless some citizen
would be responsible for him.

To clear the roads of the robbers that infested them, it was ordered that
all highways between market towns should be kept free of underbrush for two
hundred feet on each side, in order that desperadoes might not lie in
ambush for travellers.

Every citizen was required to keep arms and armor, according to his
condition in life, and to join in the pursuit and arrest of criminals.

=277. Land Legislation.=--Two important statutes were passed during this
reign, respecting the free sale or transfer of land.[157]

[157] These laws may be regarded as the foundation of the English system of
landed property: they completed the feudal claim to the soil established by
William the Conqueror. They are known as the Second Statute of Westminster
(De Donis, or Entail, 1285) and the Third Statute of Westminster (Quia
Emptores, 1290).

Their effect was to confine the great estates to the hands of their owners
and direct descendants, or, when land changed hands, to keep alive the
claims of the great lords or the crown upon it. These laws rendered it
difficult for landholders to evade, as they hitherto frequently had, their
feudal duties to the king by the sale or subletting of estates. While they
often built up the great families, they also operated to strengthen the
power of the crown at the very time when that of Parliament and the people
was increasing as a check upon its authority.

=278. Legislation respecting the Church.=--A third enactment checked the
undue increase of church property. Through gifts and bequests the clergy
had become owners of a very large part of the most fertile soil of the
realm. No farms, herds of cattle, or flocks of sheep compared with theirs.
These lands were said to be in mortmain, or "dead hands"; since the church,
being a corporation, never let go its hold, but kept its property with the
tenacity of a dead man's grasp. The clergy constantly strove to get these
church lands exempted from furnishing soldiers, or paying taxes to the
king. Instead of men or money they offered prayers. Practically, the
government succeeded from time to time in compelling them to do
considerably more than this, but seldom without a violent struggle, as in
the case of Henry II. and Becket. On account of these exemptions it had
become the practice with many persons who wished to escape bearing their
just share of the support of the government, to give their lands to the
church, and then receive them again as tenants of some abbot or bishop. In
this way they evaded their military and pecuniary obligations to the crown.
To put a stop to this practice, and so make all landed proprietors do their
part, a law was passed[158] requiring the donor of an estate to the church
to obtain a royal license; which it is perhaps needless to say was not
readily granted.[159]

[158] Statute of Mortmain, 1279.

[159] See note on Clergy, Paragraph No. 200.

=279. Death of Edward.=--Edward died while endeavoring to subdue a revolt
in Scotland, in which Robert Bruce, grandson of the first of that name, had
seized the throne. His last request was that his son Edward should continue
the war. "Carry my bones before you on your march," said the dying king,
"for the rebels will not be able to endure the sight of me, alive or
dead!"

=280. Summary.=--During Edward I.'s reign, the following changes took
place:--

1. Wales and Scotland were conquered, and the first remained permanently a
part of the English kingdom.

2. The landed proprietors of the whole country were made more directly
responsible to the crown.

3. The excessive growth of church property was checked.

4. Laws for the better suppression of acts of violence were enacted and
rigorously enforced.

5. The Great Charter, with additional articles for the protection of the
people, was confirmed by the king, and the power of taxation expressly
acknowledged to reside in Parliament only.

6. Parliament, a legislative body now representing all classes of the
nation, was permanently organized, and for the first time regularly and
frequently summoned by the king.[160]

[160] It will be remembered that De Montfort's Parliament, in 1265, was not
regularly and legally summoned, since the king (Henry III.) was at that
time a captive. The first Parliament (including a House of Commons, Lords,
and Clergy) which was convened by the crown, was that called by Edward I.
in 1295.


EDWARD II.--1307-1327.

=281. Accession and Character.=--The son to whom Edward left his power was
in every respect his opposite. The old definition of the word "king," was
"the man who _can_," or the able man. The modern explanation usually makes
him "the chief or head of a people." Edward II. would satisfy neither of
these definitions. He lacked all disposition to do anything himself; he
equally lacked power to incite others to do. By nature he was a jester,
trifler, and waster of time. Being such, it is hardly necessary to say that
he did not push the war with Scotland. Robert Bruce did not expect that he
would; that valiant fighter, indeed, held the new English sovereign in
utter contempt, saying that he feared the dead father much more than the
living son.

=282. Piers Gaveston; the Lords Ordainers.=--During the first five years of
his reign, Edward did little more than lavish wealth and honors on his
chief favorite and adviser, Piers Gaveston, a Frenchman who had been his
companion and playfellow from childhood. While Edward I. was living,
Parliament had with his sanction banished Gaveston from the kingdom, as a
man of corrupt practices, but Edward II. was no sooner crowned, than he
recalled him, and gave him the government of the realm during his absence
in France, on the occasion of his marriage. On his return, the barons
protested against the monopoly of privileges by a foreigner, and the king
was obliged to consent to his banishment. He soon came back, however, and
matters went on from bad to worse. Finally, the indignation of the nobles
rose to such a pitch, that at the council held at Westminster the
government was virtually taken from the king's hands and vested in a body
of barons and bishops. The head of this committee was the king's cousin,
the Earl of Lancaster; and from the ordinance which they drew up for the
management of affairs they got the name of the Lords Ordainers. Gaveston
was now sent out of the country for a third time; but the king persuaded
him to return, and gave him the office of secretary of state. This last
insult--for so the Lords Ordainers regarded it--was too much for the
nobility to bear. They resolved to exile the hated favorite once more, but
this time to send him "to that country from which no traveller returns."
Edward taking the alarm, placed Gaveston in Scarborough Castle[161] for
safety. The barons besieged it, starved Gaveston into surrender, and
beheaded him forthwith. Thus ended the first favorite.

[161] Scarborough: on the coast of Yorkshire.

=283. Scotland regains its Independence.=--Seeing Edward's lack of manly
fibre, Robert Bruce, who had been crowned king of the Scots, determined to
make himself ruler in fact as well as in name. He had suffered many
defeats; he had wandered a fugitive in forests and glens; he had been
hunted with bloodhounds like a wild beast; but he had never lost courage or
hope. On the field of Bannockburn he once again met the English, and in a
bloody and decisive battle drove them back like frightened sheep into their
own country. By this victory, Bruce re-established the independence of
Scotland--an independence which continued until the rival kingdoms were
peaceably united under one crown, by the accession of a Scotch king to the
English throne.[162]

[162] James VI. of Scotland and I. of England, in 1603.

=284. The New Favorites; the King made Prisoner.=--For the next seven years
the Earl of Lancaster had his own way in England. During this time Edward,
whose weak nature needed some one to lean on, had got two new
favorites,--Hugh Despenser and his son. They were men of more character
than Gaveston; but as they cared chiefly for their own interests, they
incurred the hatred of the baronage.

The king's wife, Isabelle of France, now turned against him. She had
formerly acted as a peacemaker, but from this time did all in her power to
the contrary. Roger Mortimer, one of the leaders of the barons, was the
sworn enemy of the Despensers. The queen had formed a guilty attachment for
him. Together they plotted the ruin of Edward and his favorites. They
raised a force, seized and executed the Despensers, and then took the king
prisoner.

=285. Deposition and Murder of the King.=--Having imprisoned Edward in
Kenilworth Castle,[163] the barons now resolved to remove him from the
throne. Parliament drew up articles of deposition against him, and
appointed commissioners to demand his resignation of the crown. When they
went to the castle, Edward appeared before them clad in deep mourning.
Presently he sank fainting to the floor. On his recovery he burst into a
fit of weeping. Then, checking himself, he thanked Parliament through the
commissioners for having chosen his eldest son Edward, a boy of fourteen,
to rule over the nation.

[163] Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire.

Judge Trussel then stepped forward and said: "Unto thee, O king, I,
William Trussel, in the name of all men of this land of England and speaker
of this Parliament, renounce to you, Edward, the homage [oath of
allegiance] that was made to you some time; and from this time forth I defy
thee and deprive thee of all royal power, and I shall never be attendant on
thee as king from this time."

Then Sir Thomas Blount, steward of the king's household, advanced, broke
his staff of office before the king's face, and proclaimed the royal
household dissolved.

Edward was soon after committed to Berkeley Castle,[164] in
Gloucestershire. There, by the order of Mortimer, with the connivance of
queen Isabelle, the "she-wolf of France," who acted as his companion in
iniquity, the king was secretly and horribly murdered.

[164] Berkeley Castle continues in the possession of the Berkeley family.
It is considered one of the finest examples of feudal architecture now
remaining in England. Over the stately structure still floats the standard
borne in the crusades by an ancestor of the present Lord Berkeley.

=286. Summary.=--The lesson of Edward II.'s career is found in its
culmination. Other sovereigns had been guilty of misgovernment, others had
had unworthy and grasping favorites, but he was the first whom Parliament
had deposed. By that act it became evident that great as was the power of
the king, there had now come into existence a greater still, which could
not only make but unmake him who sat on the throne.


EDWARD III.--1327-1377.

=287. Edward's Accession; Execution of Mortimer.=--Edward III., son of
Edward II., was crowned at fourteen. Until he became of age, the government
was nominally in the hands of a council, but really in the control of Queen
Isabelle and her "gentle Mortimer," the two murderers of his father. Early
in his reign Edward attempted to reconquer Scotland, but failing in his
efforts, made a peace acknowledging the independence of that country. At
home, however, he now gained a victory which compensated him for his
disappointment in not subduing the Scots.

Mortimer was staying with Queen Isabelle at Nottingham Castle. Edward
obtained entrance by a secret passage, carried him off captive, and soon
after brought him to the gallows. He next seized his mother, the queen, and
kept her in confinement for the rest of her life in Castle Rising, Norfolk.

=288. The Rise of English Commerce.=--The reign of Edward III. is directly
connected with the rise of a flourishing commerce with the continent. In
the early ages of its history England was almost wholly an agricultural
country. At length the farmers in the eastern counties began to turn their
attention to wool-growing. They exported the fleeces, which were considered
the finest in the world, to the Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges, where
they were woven into cloth, and returned to be sold in the English market;
for, as an old writer quaintly remarks, "the English people at that time
knew no more what to do with the wool, than the sheep on whose backs it
grew."[165] Through the influence of Edward's wife, Queen Philippa, who was
a native of a province adjoining Flanders,[166] which was also extensively
engaged in the production of cloth, woollen factories were now established
at Norwich and other towns in the East of England. Skilled Flemish workmen
were induced to come over, and by their help England successfully laid the
foundation of one of her greatest and most lucrative industries. From that
time wool was considered a chief source of the national wealth. Later, that
the fact might be kept constantly in mind, a square crimson bag filled with
it--the "Woolsack"--became, and still continues to be, the seat of the Lord
Chancellor in the House of Lords.

[165] Fuller. This remark applies to the production of fine woollens only.
The English had long manufactured common grades of woollen cloth, though
not in any large quantity.

[166] Flanders: a part of the Netherlands or Low Countries. The latter then
embraced Holland, Belgium, and a portion of Northern France.

=289. The Beginning of the Hundred Years' War (1338).=--Indirectly, this
trade between England and Flanders helped to bring on a war of such
duration, that it received the name of the Hundred Years' War. Flanders was
at that time a dependency of France; but the great commercial towns were
rapidly rising in power, and were restive and rebellious under the
exactions and extortion of their feudal master, Count Louis. Their business
interests bound them strongly to England; and they were anxious to form an
alliance with Edward against Philip VI. of France, who was determined to
bring the Flemish cities into absolute subjection.

Philip was by no means unwilling to begin hostilities with England. He had
long looked with a greedy eye on the tract of country south of the
Loire,[167] which remained in possession of the English kings; and only
wanted a pretext for annexing it. Through his alliance with Scotland, he
was threatening to attack Edward's kingdom on the north, while for some
time his war-vessels had been seizing English ships laden with wool, so
that intercourse with Flanders was maintained with difficulty and peril.

[167] Aquitaine (with the exception of Poitou). At a later period the
province got the name of Guienne, which was a part of it. See Map No. 8,
page 88.

Edward remonstrated in vain against these outrages. At length, having
concluded an alliance with Ghent, the chief Flemish city, he boldly claimed
the crown of France as his lawful right,[168] and followed the demand with
a declaration of war. Edward based his claim on the fact that through his
mother Isabelle he was nephew to the late French king, Charles IV., whereas
the reigning monarch was only cousin. Nothing in the law of France
justified the English sovereign in his extravagant pretensions, though, as
we have seen, he had good cause for attacking Philip on other grounds.

[168] CLAIM OF EDWARD III. TO THE FRENCH CROWN.

                          =Philip III.= (of France)[*]
                                  (1270-1285)
                                        ||
                         +==================+---------------------+
                         ||                                       |
                     =Philip IV.=                        Charles, Count of
                     (1285-1314)                          Valois, d. 1325.
                         ||                                       ||
          +==============+===============+-----------+        =Philip VI.=
         ||           ||                ||           |         (of Valois)
         ||           ||                ||           |         (1328-1350)
     =Louis X.=    =Philip V.=   =Charles IV.=     Isabelle       ||
  (1314-1316)      (1316-1322)   (1322-1328)      m. Edward       ||
         ||                                         II. of      =John II.=
      =John I.=                                    England.    (1350-1364)
     (15 Nov.-19                                     |
      Nov. 1316)                                  Edward III.
                                                of England, 1327.

[*] The heavy lines indicate the direct succession.

When, in 1328, Charles IV. of France died without leaving a son, his
cousin, Philip of Valois, succeeded him as Philip VI. (the French law
excluding females from the throne). Edward III. of England claimed the
crown, because through his mother Isabelle he was nephew to the late king,
Charles IV. The French replied, with truth, that his claim was worthless,
since he could not inherit from one who could not herself have ascended the
throne.

=290. Battle of Crécy[169] (1346).=--For the next eight years, fighting
between the two countries was going on pretty constantly on both land and
sea, but without decisive results. Edward was pressed for money, and had to
resort to all sorts of expedients to get it, even to pawning his own and
the queen's crown, to raise enough to pay his troops. At last he succeeded
in equipping a strong force, and with his son Edward, a lad of fifteen,
invaded Normandy.[170]

[169] Crécy (kray-see).

[170] He landed near Cherbourg, opposite the Isle of Wight, crossed the
Seine not very far below Paris,--the bridges having been destroyed up to
that point,--and then marched for Calais by way of Crécy, a village near
the mouth of the river Somme. See Map No. 9, page 130.

His plan seems to have been to attack the French army in the South of
France; but after landing he changed his mind, and determined to ravage
Normandy, and then march north to meet his Flemish allies, who were
advancing to join him. At Crécy, near the coast, on the way to Calais, a
desperate battle took place. The French had the larger force, but Edward
the better position. Philip's army included a number of hired Genoese
cross-bowmen, on whom he placed great dependence; but a thunder-storm had
wet their bowstrings, which rendered them nearly useless, and, as they
advanced toward the English, the afternoon sun shone so brightly in their
eyes, that they could not take accurate aim. The English archers, on the
other hand, had kept their long-bows in their cases, so that the strings
were dry and ready for action.

In the midst of the fight, the Earl of Warwick, who was hard pressed by the
enemy, became alarmed for the safety of young Prince Edward. He sent to the
king, asking reinforcements. "Is my son killed?" asked the king. "No, sire,
please God!" "Is he wounded?" "No, sire." "Is he thrown to the ground?"
"No, sire; but he is in great danger." "Then," said the king, "I shall send
no aid. Let the boy win his spurs;[171] for I wish, if God so order it,
that the honor of the victory shall be his." The father's wish was
gratified. From that time the "Black Prince," as the French called him,
from the color of his armor, became a name renowned throughout Europe. The
battle, however, was gained, not by his bravery or that of the nobles who
supported him, but by the sturdy English yeomen, who shot their keen white
arrows so thick and fast, and with such deadly aim, that a writer who was
present on the field compared them to a shower of snow. It was that fatal
snow-storm which won the day.[172]

[171] Spurs were the especial badge of knighthood. It was expected of every
one who attained that honor that he should do some deed of valor; this was
called "winning his spurs."

[172] The English yeomen, or country people, excelled in the use of the
long-bow. They probably learned its value from their Norman conquerors, who
employed it with great effect at the battle of Hastings. Writing at a much
later period Bishop Latimer said: "In my tyme my poore father was as
diligent to teach me to shote as to learne anye other thynge. * * * He
taught me how to drawe, how to laye my bodye in my bowe, and not to drawe
wyth strength of armes as other nacions do, but with strength of the bodye.
I had bowes boughte me accordyng to my age and strength; as I encreased in
them, so my bowes were made bigger, and bigger, for men shal neuer shot
well, excepte they be broughte up in it." The advantage of this weapon over
the steel cross-bow (used by the Genoese) lay in the fact that it could be
discharged much more rapidly; the latter being a cumbrous affair, which had
to be wound up with a crank for each shot. Hence the English long-bow was
to that age what the revolver is to ours. It sent an arrow with such force
that only the best armor could withstand it. The French peasantry at that
period had no skill with this weapon; and about the only part they took in
a battle was to stab horses and despatch wounded men.

Scott, in the Archery Contest in Ivanhoe (Chap. XIII.) has given an
excellent picture of the English bowman.

=291. Use of Cannon; Chivalry.=--At Crécy small cannon appear to have been
used for the first time, though gunpowder was probably known to the English
monk, Roger Bacon, many years before. The object of the cannon was to
frighten and annoy the horses of the French cavalry. They were laughed at
as ingenious toys; but in the course of the next two centuries those toys
revolutionized warfare and made the steel-clad knight little more than a
tradition and a name.

In its day, however, knighthood did the world good service. Chivalry aimed
to make the profession of arms a noble instead of a brutal calling. It gave
it somewhat of a religious character. It taught the warrior the worth of
honor, truthfulness, and courtesy, as well as valor--qualities which still
survive in the best type of the modern gentleman. We owe, therefore, no
small debt to that military brotherhood of the past, and may join the
English poet in his epitaph on the order:--

    "The Knights are dust,
    Their good swords rust;
    Their souls are with the saints, we trust."[173]

[173] Coleridge (altered by Scott?), The Knight's Tomb.

=292. Calais taken.=--Edward now marched against Calais. He was
particularly anxious to take the place, since its situation as a fortified
port on the Strait of Dover, within sight of the chalk cliffs of England,
would, if he captured it, give him at all times "an open doorway into
France."

After besieging it for nearly a year, the garrison was starved into
submission and prepared to open the gates. Edward was so exasperated with
the stubborn resistance the town had made, that he resolved to put the
entire population to the sword, but consented at last to spare them, on
condition that six of the chief men should give themselves up to be
hanged.

A meeting was called, and St. Pierre, the wealthiest citizen of the place,
volunteered, with five others, to go forth and die.

Bareheaded, barefooted, with halters round their necks, they silently went
out, carrying the keys of the city. When they appeared before the English
king, he ordered the executioner, who was standing by, to seize them and
carry out the sentence forthwith; but Queen Philippa, who had accompanied
her husband, now fell on her knees before him, and with tears, begged that
they might be forgiven. For a long time Edward was inexorable, but finally,
unable to resist her entreaties, he granted her request, and the men who
had dared to face death for others, found life both for themselves and
their fellow-citizens.[174]

[174] See Froissart's Chronicles.

=293. Victory of Poitiers[175] (1356).=--After a long truce, war again
broke out. Philip VI. had died, and his son, John II., now sat on the
French throne. Edward, during this campaign, ravaged Northern France. The
next year his son, the Black Prince, marched from Bordeaux into the heart
of the country.

[175] Poitiers (Pwă-te-ā´), nearly like Pwī-te-ā´.

Reaching Poitiers[176] with a force of ten thousand men, he found himself
nearly surrounded by a French army of sixty thousand. He so placed his
troops amidst the narrow lanes and vineyards, that the enemy could not
attack him with their full strength. Again the English archers gained the
day, and King John himself was taken prisoner and carried in triumph to
England.

[176] Poitiers, near a southern branch of the Loire. See Map No. 9, page
130.

[Illustration: Map No. 9--ENGLISH POSSESSIONS IN FRANCE AFTER THE TREATY
 OF BRETIGNY 1360.]

=294. Peace of Brétigny[177] (1360).=--The victory of Poitiers was followed
by another truce; then war began again. Edward intended besieging Paris,
but was forced to retire to obtain provisions for his troops. Negotiations
were now opened by the French. While they were going on, a terrible
thunder-storm destroyed great numbers of men and horses in Edward's camp.
Edward, believing it a sign of the displeasure of Heaven against his
expedition, fell on his knees, and within sight of the Cathedral of
Chartres vowed to make peace. A treaty was accordingly signed at
Brétigny near by. By it, Edward renounced all claim to Normandy and the
French crown.[178] France, on the other hand, acknowledged the right of
England, in full sovereignty, to the country south of the Loire, together
with Calais, and agreed to pay an enormous ransom in gold for the
restoration of King John.

[177] Brétigny (bray-teen-yee´).

[178] But the title of "King of France" was retained by English sovereigns
down to a late period of the reign of George III.

=295. Effects of the French Wars in England.=--The great gain to England
from these wars was not in the territory conquered, but in the new feeling
of unity they aroused among all classes. For generations afterward, the
memory of the brave deeds achieved in those fierce contests on a foreign
soil made the glory of the Black Prince, whose rusty helmet and dented
shield still hang above his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral,[179] one with the
glory of the plain bowmen, whose names are found only in country
churchyards.

[179] These are probably the oldest accoutrements of the kind existing in
Great Britain. The shield is of embossed leather stretched over a wooden
frame, and is almost as hard as metal; the helmet is of iron. See
Stothard's Monumental Effigies.

Henceforth, whatever lingering feeling of jealousy and hatred had remained
in England, between the Norman and the Englishman, now gradually melted
away in an honest patriotic pride, which made both feel that at last they
had become a united and homogeneous people.

The second effect of the wars was political. In order to carry them on, the
king had to apply constantly to Parliament for money. Each time that body
granted a supply, they insisted on some reform which increased their
strength, and brought the crown more and more under the influence of the
nation.

Thus it came to be clearly understood, that though the king held the sword,
the people held the purse; and that the ruler who made the greatest
concessions got the largest grants.

It was also in this reign that the House of Commons, which now sat as a
separate body, and not, as at first, with the Lords,[180] obtained the
important power of impeaching, or bringing to trial before the Upper House,
any of the king's ministers or council guilty of misgovernment.

[180] The knights of the shire, or country gentlemen, now took their seats
with the House of Commons, and as they were men of property and influence,
this greatly increased the power of the representatives of the people in
Parliament.

About this time, also, statutes were passed which forbade appeals from the
king's courts of justice to that of the Pope,[181] who was then a
Frenchman, and was believed to be under French political influence.

[181] First Statute of Præmunire.

All foreign church officials were prohibited from taking money from the
English church, or interfering in any way with its management.[182]

[182] Statute of Provisors.

=296. The Black Death.=--Shortly after the first campaign in France, a
frightful pestilence broke out in London, which swept over the country,
destroying upwards of half the population. The disease, which was known as
the Black Death,[183] had already traversed Europe, where it had proved
equally fatal. "How many amiable young persons," said an Italian writer of
that period,[184] "breakfasted with their friends in the morning, who, when
evening came, supped with their ancestors." In Bristol and some other
English cities, the mortality was so great that the living were hardly able
to bury the dead; so that all business, and, for a time even war, came to a
standstill.

[183] Black Death: so called from the black spots it produced on the skin.

[184] Boccaccio, Decameron.

=297. Effect of the Plague on Labor.=--After the pestilence had subsided,
it was impossible to find laborers enough to till the soil and shear the
sheep. Those who were free now demanded higher wages, while the villeins
and slaves left their masters, and roamed about the country asking pay for
their work, like freemen.

It was a general agricultural strike which lasted over thirty years. It
marks the beginning of that contest between capital and labor which had
such an important influence in the next reign, and which, after a lapse of
five hundred years, is not yet satisfactorily adjusted.

Parliament endeavored to restore order. They passed laws forbidding any
freeman from asking more for a day's work than before the plague. They gave
the master the right to punish a serf who persisted in running away, by
branding him on the forehead with the letter "F," for fugitive. But
legislation was all in vain; the movement had begun, and parliamentary
statutes could no more stop it than they could stop the ocean tide. It
continued to go on until it reached its climax in the peasant insurrection
led by Wat Tyler under Edward's successor, Richard II.

=298. Beginning of English Literature.=--During Edward's reign the first
work in English prose was written. It was a volume of travels by Sir John
Mandeville, who had journeyed in the East for over thirty years. On his
return he wrote an account of what he had heard and seen, first in Latin,
that the learned might read it; next in French, that the nobles might read
it; and lastly in English for the common people. He dedicated the work to
the king. Perhaps the most interesting and wonderful thing in it was the
statement of his belief that the world is a globe, and that a ship may sail
round it "above and beneath,"--an assertion which probably seemed to those
who read it then as less credible than any of the marvellous stories in
which his book abounds.

William Langland was writing rude verses about his "vision of Piers the
Plowman," contrasting "the wealth and woe" of the world, and so helping
forward that democratic outbreak which was soon to take place among those
who knew the woe and wanted the wealth. John Wycliffe, a lecturer at
Oxford, attacked the rich and indolent churchmen in a series of tracts and
sermons, while Chaucer, who had fought on the fields of France, was
preparing to bring forth the first great poem in our language.[185]

[185] Wycliffe and Chaucer will appear more prominently in the next reign.

=299. Edward's Death.=--The king's last days were far from happy. His son,
the Black Prince, had died, and Edward fell into the hands of selfish
favorites and ambitious schemers. The worst of these was a woman named
Alice Perrers, who, after Queen Philippa was no more, got almost absolute
control of the king. She stayed with him until his last sickness. When his
eyes began to glaze in death, she plucked the rings from his unresisting
hands, and fled from the palace.

=300. Summary.=--During this reign the following events deserve especial
notice:--

1. The acknowledgment of the independence of Scotland.

2. The establishment of the manufacture of fine woollens in England.

3. The beginning of the Hundred Years' War, with the victories of Crécy,
and Poitiers, the Peace of Brétigny, and their social and political results
in England.

4. The Black Death and its results on labor.

5. The partial emancipation of the English church from the power of Rome.

6. The rise of modern literature, represented by the works of Mandeville,
Langland, and the early writings of Wycliffe and Chaucer.


RICHARD II.--1377-1399.

=301. England at Richard's Accession.=--The death of the Black Prince left
his son Richard heir to the crown. As he was but eleven years old,
Parliament provided that the government during his minority should be
carried on by a council; but John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, speedily got
the control of affairs.[186] He was an unprincipled man, who wasted the
nation's money, opposed reform, and was especially hated by the laboring
classes. The times were critical. War had again broken out with both
Scotland and France, the French fleet was raiding the English coast, the
national treasury had no money to pay its troops, and the government debt
was rapidly accumulating.

[186] John of Gaunt (a corruption of Ghent, his birthplace): he was a
younger brother of Edward the Black Prince.

=302. The New Tax; Tyler and Ball.=--To raise money, it was resolved to
levy a new form of tax,--a poll or head tax,--which had first been tried on
a small scale during the last year of the previous reign. The attempt had
been made to assess it on all classes, from laborers to lords. This
imposition was now renewed in a much more oppressive form. Not only every
laborer, but every member of a laborer's family above the age of fifteen,
was required to pay what would be equal to the wages of an able-bodied man
for at least several days' work.[187]

[187] The tax on laborers and their families varied from four to twelve
pence each, the assessor having instructions to collect the latter sum, if
possible. The wages of a day-laborer were then about a penny, so that the
smallest tax for a family of three would represent the entire pay for
nearly a fortnight's labor. See Pearson's England in the Fourteenth
Century.

We have already seen that, owing to the ravages of the Black Death, and the
strikes which followed, the country was on the verge of revolt. This new
tax was the spark that caused the explosion. The money was roughly demanded
in every poor man's cottage, and its collection caused the greatest
distress. In attempting to enforce payment, a brutal collector shamefully
insulted the young daughter of a workman named Wat Tyler. The indignant
father, hearing the girl's cry for help, snatched up a hammer, and rushing
in, struck the ruffian dead on the spot.

Tyler then collected a multitude of discontented serfs and free laborers on
Blackheath Common, near London, with the determination of attacking the
city and overthrowing the government.

John Ball, a fanatical priest, harangued the gathering, now sixty thousand
strong, using by way of a text lines which were at that time familiar to
every workingman:--

    "When Adam delved and Eve span,
    Who was then the gentleman?"

"Good people" he cried, "things will never go well in England so long as
goods be not in common, and so long as there be villeins and gentlemen.
They call us slaves, and beat us if we are slow to do their bidding, but
God has now given us the day to shake off our bondage."

=303. The Outbreak General; Violence in London.=--Twenty years before there
had been similar outbreaks in Flanders and in France. This therefore was
not an isolated instance of insurrection, but rather part of a general
uprising. The rebellion begun by Tyler and Ball spread through the southern
and eastern counties of England, taking different forms in different
districts. It was violent in St. Albans, where the serfs rose against the
exactions of the abbot, but it reached its greatest height in London.

For three weeks the mob held possession of the capital. They pillaged and
then burned John of Gaunt's palace. They seized and beheaded the Lord
Chancellor and the chief collector of the odious poll-tax, destroyed all
the law papers they could lay hands on, and ended by murdering a number of
lawyers; members of that profession being particularly obnoxious because
they, as the rioters believed, forged the chains by which the laboring
class were held in subjection.

=304. Demands of the Rebels; End of the Rebellion.=--The insurrectionists
demanded of the king that villeinage should be abolished, that the rent of
agricultural lands should be fixed by Parliament at a uniform rate in
money, that trade should be free, and that a general unconditional pardon
should be granted to all who had taken part in the rebellion. Richard
promised redress; but while negotiations were going on, Walworth, mayor of
London, struck down Tyler with his dagger, and with his death the whole
movement collapsed almost as suddenly as it arose. Parliament now began a
series of merciless executions, and refused to consider any of the claims
which Richard had shown a disposition to listen to. In their punishment of
the rebels the House of Commons vied with the Lords in severity, few
showing any sympathy with the efforts of the peasants to obtain their
freedom from feudal bondage. The uprising, however, was not in vain, for by
it the old restrictions were in some degree loosened, so that in the
course of the next century and a half villeinage was gradually abolished,
and the English laborer acquired that greatest yet most perilous of all
rights, the complete ownership of himself.[188] So long as he was a serf,
the peasant could claim assistance from his master in sickness and old age;
in attaining independence he had to risk the danger of pauperism, which
began with it--this possibility being part of the price which man must
everywhere pay for the inestimable privilege of freedom.

[188] In Scotland villeinage lasted much longer, and so late as 1774, in
the reign of George III., men working in coal and salt mines were held in a
species of slavery, which was finally abolished the following year.

=305. The New Movement in Literature.=--The same spirit which demanded
emancipation on the part of the working classes showed itself in
literature. We have already seen how, in the previous reign, Langland, in
his poem of "Piers Plowman," gave bold utterance to the growing discontent
of the times in his declaration that the rich and great destroyed the poor.
In a different spirit Chaucer, "the morning-star of English song," now
began to write his "Canterbury Tales," a series of stories in verse,
supposed to be told by a merry band of pilgrims on their way from the
Tabard-Inn, Southwark,[189] to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in
Canterbury.

[189] Southwark: see note to Paragraph No. 153.

There is little of Langland's complaint in Chaucer, for he was generally a
favorite at court, seeing mainly the bright side of life, and sure of his
yearly allowance of money and daily pitcher of wine from the royal bounty.
Yet, with all his mirth, there is a vein of playful satire in his
description of men and things; and his pictures of jolly monks and
easy-going churchmen, with his lines addressed to his purse "as his saviour
down in this world here," show that he too was thinking, at least at times,
of the manifold evils of poverty and of that danger springing from
religious indifference which poor Langland had taken so much to heart.

=306. Wycliffe; The First English Bible.=--But the real reformer of that
day was John Wycliffe, rector of Lutterworth and lecturer at Oxford. He
boldly attacked both the religious and political corruption of the age. The
mendicant friars who at an earlier period had done such good work had now
grown too rich and lazy to be of further use. Wycliffe organized a new band
of brothers, known as "Poor Priests," to take up and push forward the
reforms the friars had dropped. Clothed in red sackcloth cloaks,
barefooted, with staff in hand, they went about from town to town[190]
preaching "God's law," and demanding that church and state bring themselves
into harmony with it.

[190] Compare Chaucer's

    "A good man ther was of religioun,
    That was a poure persone [parson] of a town."

    _Prologue to the Canterbury Tales_ (479).

The only Bible then in use was the Latin version. The people could not read
a line of it, and many priests were almost as ignorant of its contents. To
carry on the revival which he had begun, Wycliffe now translated the
Scriptures into English. The work was copied and circulated by the "Poor
Priests." But the cost of such a book in manuscript--for the printing-press
had not yet come into existence--was so great that only the rich could buy
the complete volume. Many, however, who had no money would give a load of
farm produce for a few favorite chapters. In this way Wycliffe's
translation was spread throughout the country among all classes.[191]
Later, when persecution began, men hid these precious copies and read them
with locked doors at night, or met in the forests to hear them expounded by
preachers who went about at the peril of their lives, so that the complaint
was made by Wycliffe's enemies "that common men and women who could read
were better acquainted with the Scriptures than the most learned and
intelligent of the clergy."

[191] The great number of copies sent out is shown by the fact that after
the lapse of five hundred years, one hundred and sixty-five, more or less
complete, are still preserved in England.

=307. The Lollards; Wycliffe's Remains burned.=--The followers of Wycliffe
eventually became known as Lollards, or Psalm-singers.[192] From having
been religious reformers denouncing the wealth and greed of a corrupt
church, they would seem, at least in many cases, to have degenerated into
socialists or communists, demanding, like John Ball,--who may have been one
of their number,--that all property should be equally divided, and that all
rank should be abolished. This fact should be borne in mind with reference
to the subsequent efforts made by the government to suppress the movement.
In the eye of the church, the Lollards were heretics; in the judgment of
many moderate men, they were destructionists and anarchists, as
unreasonable and as dangerous as the "dynamiters" of to-day.

[192] Or "Babblers."

By a decree of the church council of Constance,[193] forty-four years after
Wycliffe's death the reformer's body was dug up and burned. But his
influence had not only permeated England, but had passed to the continent,
and was preparing the way for that greater movement which Luther was to
inaugurate in the sixteenth century. Tradition says that the ashes of his
corpse were thrown into a brook flowing near the parsonage of Lutterworth,
the object being to utterly destroy and obliterate the remains of the
arch-heretic, but, as Fuller says, "this brook did convey his ashes into
the Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the narrow sea, and that into the
wide ocean. And so the ashes of Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine,
which is now dispersed all the world over."[194]

[193] Constance, Southern Germany. This Council (1415) sentenced John Huss
and Jerome of Prague, both of whom may be considered Wycliffites, to the
stake.

[194] Fuller's Church History of Britain. Compare also Wordsworth's Sonnet
to Wycliffe, and the lines, attributed to an unknown writer of Wycliffe's
time:--

    "The Avon to the Severn runs,
    The Severn to the sea;
    And Wycliffe's dust shall spread abroad,
    Wide as the waters be."

=308. Richard's Misgovernment.=--Richard's reign was unpopular with all
classes. The people hated him for his extravagance; the clergy, for his
failing to put down the Wycliffites, with the doctrines of whose founder he
was believed to sympathize; while the nobles disliked his injustice and
favoritism. Some political reforms were attempted, which were partially
successful; but the king soon regained his power, and took summary
vengeance on the leaders, besides imposing heavy fines on the counties
which had supported them. Two influential men were left, Thomas Mowbray,
Duke of Norfolk, and Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, whom he had found
no opportunity to punish. After a time they openly quarrelled, and accused
each other of treason. A challenge passed between them, and they were to
fight the matter out in the king's presence; but when the day arrived, and
they came ready for the combat, the king banished both from England.
Shortly after they had left the country Bolingbroke's father, John of
Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, died. Contrary to all law, Richard now seized and
appropriated the estate, which belonged by right to the banished nobleman.

=309. Richard deposed and murdered.=--When Bolingbroke, who was now by his
father's death Duke of Lancaster, heard of the outrage, he raised a small
force and returned to England, demanding the restitution of his lands.

Finding that the powerful family of the Percies were willing to aid him,
and that many of the common people desired a change of government, the duke
now boldly claimed the crown, on the ground that Richard had forfeited it
by his tyranny, and that he stood next in succession (through his descent
from Henry III.). The king now fell into Henry's hands, and events moved
rapidly to a crisis. Richard had rebuilt Westminster Hall. The first
Parliament which assembled there met to depose him, and to give his throne
to the victorious Duke of Lancaster. Shakespeare represents the fallen
monarch saying in his humiliation,--

    "With mine own tears I wash away my balm,[195]
    With mine own hand I give away my crown."

[195] Richard II., Act IV. Sc. I. The balm was the sacred oil used in
anointing the king at his coronation.

After his deposition Richard was confined in Pontefract Castle, Yorkshire,
where he found, like his unfortunate ancestor Edward II., "that in the case
of princes there is but a step from the prison to the grave." His death did
not take place, however, until after Henry's accession.[196]

[196] Henry of Lancaster was the son of John of Gaunt, who was the fourth
son of Edward III.; but there were descendants of that king's _third_ son
(Lionel, Duke of Clarence) living, who, of course, had a prior claim, as
the following table shows.

                                          =Edward III.=
                                [Direct descendant of Henry III.]
                                              |
      1                2              3       |       4              5
      +----------------+--------------+-------+-------+--------------+
      |                |              |               |              |
  Edward, the   William, d. in   Lionel, Duke   John of Gaunt,     Edmund,
  Black Prince    childhood       of Clarence   Duke of Lancaster  Duke of
      |                               |               |             York
  =Richard II.=                 Philippa, m.     Henry Bolingbroke,
                              Edmund Mortimer    Duke of Lancaster,
                                      |             afterward
                                      |             =Henry IV.=
                                Roger Mortimer,
                                   d. 1398-9
                                      |
                                 Edmund Mortimer
               (_heir presumptive to the crown after Richard II._)

This disregard of the strict order of succession furnished a pretext for
the Civil Wars of the Roses, which broke out sixty years later.

=310. Summary.=--Richard II.'s reign comprised,--

1. The peasant revolt under Wat Tyler, which led eventually to the
emancipation of the villeins, or serfs.

2. Wycliffe's reformation movement; his translation of the Latin Bible,
with the rise of the Lollards.

3. The publication of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," the first great English
poem.

4. The deposition of the king, and the transfer of the crown by Parliament
to Henry, Duke of Lancaster.


GENERAL VIEW OF THE ANGEVIN, OR PLANTAGENET, PERIOD.--1154-1399.

I. GOVERNMENT.--II. RELIGION.--III. MILITARY AFFAIRS.--IV. LITERATURE,
LEARNING, AND ART.--V. GENERAL INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.--VI. MODE OF LIFE,
MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS.


GOVERNMENT.

=311. Judicial Reforms.=--In 1164, Henry II. undertook, by a series of
statutes called the Constitutions of Clarendon, to bring the church under
the common law of the land, but was only temporarily successful. By
subsequent statutes he reorganized the administration of justice, and laid
the foundation of trial by jury.

=312. Town Charters.=--Under Richard I. many towns secured charters giving
them the control of their own affairs in great measure. In this way
municipal self-government arose, and a prosperous and intelligent class of
merchants and artisans grew up who eventually obtained important political
influence in the management of national affairs.

=313. The Great, or National, Charter.=--This pledge extorted from King
John in 1215 put a check to the arbitrary power of the sovereign, and
guaranteed the rights of all classes from the serf and the townsman to the
bishop and baron. It consisted originally of sixty-three articles, founded
mainly on the first royal charter (that of Henry I.), given in 1100. (See
Paragraph No. 185, and note.)

It was not a statement of principles, but a series of specific remedies for
specific abuses, which may be summarized as follows:--

1. The church to be free from royal interference, especially in the
election of bishops.

2. No taxes except the regular feudal dues (see Paragraph No. 200), to be
levied except by the consent of the National Council.

3. The Court of Common Pleas (see Paragraph No. 197, note) not to follow
the king, but remain stationary at Westminster. Justice to be neither sold,
denied, nor delayed. No man to be imprisoned, outlawed, punished, or
otherwise molested, save by the judgment of his equals or the law of the
land. The necessary implements of all freemen, and the farming-tools of
villeins or serfs, to be exempt from seizure.

4. Weights and measures to be kept uniform throughout the realm. All
merchants to have the right to enter and leave the kingdom without paying
exorbitant tolls for the privilege.

5. Forest laws to be justly enforced.

6. The charter to be carried out by twenty-four barons together with the
mayor of London.

This document marks the beginning of a written constitution, and it proved
of the highest value henceforth in securing good government. It was
confirmed thirty-seven times by subsequent kings and parliaments, the
confirmation of this and previous charters by Edward I. in 1297 being of
especial importance.

=314. Rise of the House of Commons.=--In 1265, under Henry III., through
the influence of Simon de Montfort, two representatives from each city and
borough, or town, together with two knights of the shire, or country
gentlemen, were summoned to meet with the lords and clergy in the National
Council, or Parliament. From this time the body of the people began to have
a voice in making the laws. Later in the period the knights of the shire
joined the representatives from the towns in forming a distinct body in
Parliament sitting by themselves under the name of the House of Commons.
They obtained the power of levying all taxes, and also of impeaching before
the House of Lords any government officer guilty of misuse of power.

=315. New Class of Barons.=--Under Henry III. other influential men of the
realm, aside from the great landholders and barons by tenure, began to be
summoned to the king's council. These were called "barons by writ." Later
(under Richard II.), barons were created by open letters bearing the royal
seal, and were called "barons by patent."[197]

[197] This is the modern method of raising a subject (_e.g._, Lord
Tennyson) to the peerage. It marks the fact that from the thirteenth
century the ownership of land was no longer considered a necessary
condition of nobility; and that the peerage had now developed into the five
degrees, which it still maintains, of dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts,
and barons.

=316. Land Laws.=--During this period important laws [De Donis, or Entail,
and Quia Emptores] respecting land were passed, which had the effect of
keeping estates in families, and also of preventing their possessors from
evading their feudal duties to the king. At the same time a restriction on
the acquisition of land by the church (Statute of Mortmain), which was
exempt from paying certain feudal dues, was also imposed to prevent the
king's revenue from being diminished.


RELIGION.

=317. Restriction of the Papal Power.=--During the Angevin period the popes
endeavored to introduce the canon law (a body of ordinances consisting
mainly of the decisions of church councils and popes) into England, with
the view of making it supreme; but Parliament, at Merton, refused to accept
it, saying, "We will not change the laws of England." The Statute of
Mortmain was also passed (see Paragraph No. 278) and other measures
(Statute of Provisors and Statute of Præmunire), which forbade the Pope
from taking the appointment of bishops and other ecclesiastics out of the
hands of the clergy; and which prohibited any appeal from the king's court
to the papal court. Furthermore, many hundreds of parishes, formerly filled
by foreigners who could not speak English, were now given to native
priests, and the sending of money out of the country to support foreign
ecclesiastics was in great measure stopped.

During the crusades two religious military orders had been established,
called the Knights Hospitallers and the Knights Templars. The object of the
former was, originally, to provide entertainment for pilgrims going to
Jerusalem; that of the latter, to protect them. Both had extensive
possessions in England. In 1312 the order of Templars was broken up on a
charge of heresy and evil life, and their property in England given to the
Knights Hospitallers, who were also called Knights of St. John.

=318. Reform.=--The Mendicant Friars began a reformatory movement in the
church and accomplished much good. This was followed by Wycliffe's attack
on religious abuses, by his translation of the Bible, with the revival
carried on by the "Poor Priests," and by the rise of the Lollards, who were
eventually punished by the passage of severe laws, partly on the ground of
their heretical opinions, and partly because they became in a measure
identified with socialistic and communistic efforts to destroy rank and
equalize property.


MILITARY AFFAIRS.

=319. Scutage.=--By a tax called scutage, or shield-money, levied on all
knights who refused to serve the king in foreign wars, Henry II. obtained
the means to hire soldiers. By a law reviving the national militia,
composed of freemen below the rank of knights, the king made himself in
great measure independent of the barons, with respect to raising troops.

=320. Armor; Heraldry.=--The linked or mail armor now began to be
superseded by that made of pieces of steel joined together so as to fit the
body. This, when it was finally perfected, was called plate armor, and was
both heavier and stronger than mail.

With the introduction of plate armor and the closed helmet it became the
custom for each knight to wear a device, called a crest, on his helmet, and
also to have one called a coat of arms (because originally worn on a loose
coat over the armor). This served to distinguish him from others, and was
of practical use not only to the followers of a great lord, who thus knew
him at a glance, but it served in time of battle to prevent the confusion
of friend and foe. Eventually, coats of arms became hereditary, and the
descent, and to some extent the history, of a family can be traced by them.
In this way heraldry serves as a help to the knowledge of men and events.

=321. Chivalry; Tournaments.=--The profession of arms was regulated by
certain rules, by which each knight solemnly bound himself to serve the
cause of religion and the king, and to be true, brave, and courteous to
those of his own rank, to protect the ladies and succor all persons in
distress. Under Edward III. chivalry reached its culmination and began to
decline. One of the grotesque features of the attack on France was an
expedition of English knights with one eye bandaged; this half-blind
company having vowed to partially renounce their sight until they did some
glorious deed. The chief amusement of the nobles and knights was the
Tournament, a mock combat fought on horseback, in full armor, which
sometimes ended in a real battle. At these entertainments a lady was chosen
queen, who gave prizes to the victors.

=322. The Use of the Long-Bow; Introduction of Cannon; Wars.=--The common
weapon of the yeomen, or foot-soldiers, was the long-bow. It was made of
yew-tree wood, and was of the height of the user. Armed with this weapon,
the English soldiers proved themselves irresistible in the French wars, the
French having no native archers of any account.

Roger Bacon is supposed to have known the properties of gunpowder as early
as 1250, but no practical use was made of the discovery until the battle of
Crécy, 1346, when a few very small cannon are said to have been employed by
the English against the enemy's cavalry. Later, they were used to throw
heavy stones in besieging castles. Still later, rude hand-guns came slowly
into use. From this period kings gradually began to realize the full
meaning of the harmless-looking black grains, with whose flash and noise
the Oxford monk had amused himself.

The chief wars of the time were the contests between the kings and the
barons, Richard I.'s crusade, John's war with France, resulting in the loss
of Normandy, Edward I.'s conquest of Wales and temporary subjugation of
Scotland, and the beginning of the Hundred Years' War with France under
Edward III.

The navy of this period was made up of small, one-masted vessels, seldom
carrying more than a hundred and fifty fighting men. As the mariner's
compass had now come into general use, these vessels could, if occasion
required, make voyages of considerable length.


LEARNING, LITERATURE, AND ART.

=323. Education.=--In 1264 Walter de Merton founded the first college at
Oxford, an institution which has ever since borne his name, and which
really originated the English college system. During the reign of Edward
III., William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, gave a decided impulse to
higher education by the establishment, at his own expense, of Winchester
College, the first great public school founded in England. Later, he built
and endowed New College at Oxford to supplement it. In Merton's and
Wykeham's institutions young men of small means were instructed, and in
great measure supported, without charge. They were brought together under
one roof, required to conform to proper discipline, and taught by the best
teachers of the day. In this way a general feeling of emulation was roused,
and at the same time a fraternal spirit cultivated which had a strong
influence in favor of a broader and deeper intellectual culture than the
monastic schools at Oxford and elsewhere had encouraged.

=324. Literature.=--The most prominent historical work was that by Matthew
Paris, a monk of St. Albans, written in Latin, based largely on earlier
chronicles, and covering a period from the Norman Conquest, 1066, to his
death, in 1259. It is a work of much value, and was continued by writers of
the same abbey.

The first English prose work was a volume of travels by Sir John
Mandeville, dedicated to Edward III. It was followed by Wycliffe's
translation of the Bible into English from the Latin version, and by
Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," the first great English poem.

=325. Architecture.=--Edward I. and his successors began to build
structures combining the palace with the stronghold.[198] Conway and
Caernarvon Castles in Wales, Warwick Castle, Warwickshire, and a great part
of Windsor Castle on the Thames, twenty-three miles west of London, are
magnificent examples, the last still being occupied as a royal residence.

[198] The characteristic features of the Edwardian castles are double
surrounding walls, with numerous protecting towers, and the omission of the
square Norman keep.

In churches, the massive architecture of the Normans, with its heavy
columns and round arches, was followed by Early English, or the first
period of the Gothic, with pointed arches, slender, clustered, columns and
tapering spires like that of Salisbury Cathedral. Later the Decorated style
was adopted. It was characterized by broader windows, highly ornamented to
correspond with the elaborate decoration within, which gave this style its
name, which is seen to best advantage in Exeter Cathedral, York Minster and
Merton College Chapel.


GENERAL INDUSTRY.

=326. Fairs; Guilds.=--The domestic trade of the country was largely
carried on during this period by great fairs held at stated times by royal
license. Bunyan, in "Pilgrim's Progress," gives a vivid picture of one of
these centres of trade and dissipation, under the name of "Vanity Fair."
Though it represents the great fair of Sturbridge, near Cambridge, as he
saw it in the 17th century, yet it undoubtedly describes similar gatherings
in the time of the Plantagenets. In all large towns the merchants had
formed associations for mutual protection and the advancement of trade
called merchant-guilds. Artisans now instituted similar societies, under
the name of craft-guilds. For a long time the merchant-guilds endeavored to
shut out the craft-guilds, the men, as they said, "with dirty hands and
blue nails," from having any part in the government of the towns; but
eventually the latter got their full share, and in some cases, as in
London, became the more influential party of the two. In London they still
survive under the name of the "City Companies."

=327. The Wool Trade.=--Under Edward III. a flourishing trade in wool grew
up between England and Flanders. The manufacture of fine woollen goods was
also greatly extended in England. All commerce at this period was limited
to certain market towns called "staples." To these places material and
goods for export had to be carried in order that they might pay duty to the
government before leaving the country. Imports also paid duties. If an
Englishman carried goods abroad and sold them in the open market without
first paying a tax to the crown, he was liable to the punishment of death.

=328. The Great Strike.=--The scarcity of laborers caused by the ravages of
the Black Death caused a general strike for higher wages on the part of
free workingmen, and also induced thousands of villeins to run away from
their masters, in order to get work on their own account. The general
uprising which a heavy poll-tax caused among the laboring class, though
suppressed at the time, led to the ultimate emancipation of the villeins,
by a gradual process extending through many generations.


MODE OF LIFE, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS.

=329. Dress; Furniture.=--During most of this period great luxury in dress
prevailed among the rich and noble. Silks, velvets, scarlet cloth and cloth
of gold were worn by both men and women. At one time the lords and gallants
at court wore shoes with points curled up like rams' horns and fastened to
the knee with silver chains. Attempts were made by the government to
abolish this and other ridiculous fashions, and also to regulate the cost
of dress according to the rank and means of the wearer; but the effort met
with small success. Even the rich at this time had but little furniture in
their houses, and chairs were almost unknown. The floors of houses were
strewn with rushes, which, as they were rarely changed, became horribly
filthy, and were a prolific cause of sickness.

=330. The Streets; Amusements; Profanity.=--The streets of London and other
cities were rarely more than twelve or fifteen feet wide. They were neither
paved nor lighted. Pools of stagnant water and heaps of refuse abounded.
There was no sewerage. The only scavengers were the crows. The houses were
of timber and plaster, with projecting stories, and destructive fires were
common. The chief amusements were hunting and hawking, contests at archery,
and tournaments. Plays were acted by amateur companies on stages on wheels
which could be moved from street to street. The subjects continued to be
drawn in large measure from the Bible and from legends of the saints. They
served to instruct men in Scripture history, in an age when few could read.
The instruction was not, however, always taken to heart, as profane
swearing was so common that an Englishman was called on the continent by
his favorite oath, which the French regarded as a sort of national name
before that of "John Bull" had come into use.




VII.

    "God's most dreaded instrument,
    In working out a pure intent,
    Is man--arrayed for mutual slaughter."

    WORDSWORTH

THE SELF-DESTRUCTION OF FEUDALISM.

BARON against BARON.

THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK.--1399-1485.

  House of Lancaster (the Red Rose).
  Henry IV., 1399-1413.
  Henry V., 1413-1422.
  Henry VI., 1422-1471.[199]

  House of York (the White Rose).
  Edward IV., 1461-1483.
  Edward V., 1483.[200]
  Richard III., 1483-1485.

[199] Henry VI. deposed 1461; reinstated for a short time in 1470.

[200] Edward V. never crowned.


=331. Henry IV.'s Accession.=--Richard II. left no children. The nearest
heir to the kingdom by right of birth was the boy Edmund Mortimer, a
descendant of Richard's uncle Lionel, Duke of Clarence.[201] Henry ignored
Mortimer's claim, and standing before Richard's empty throne in Westminster
Hall, boldly demanded the crown for himself.[202] The nation had suffered
so much from the misgovernment of those who had ruled during the minority
of Richard, that they wanted no more boy kings. Parliament, therefore, set
aside the direct line of descent and accepted Henry.

[201] See genealogical table, Paragraph No. 309.

[202] "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I, Henry of
Lancaster, challenge this realm of England and the crown, with all the
members and the appurtenances, as that I am descended by right line of
blood, coming from the good King Henry III., and through that right that
God of his grace hath sent me, with help of kin and of all my friends to
recover it, the which realm was in point to be undone by default of
government and undoing of the good laws."

=332. Conspiracy in Favor of Richard.=--The new king had hardly seated
himself on the throne when a conspiracy was discovered, having for its
object the release and restoration of Richard, still a prisoner in
Pontefract Castle. The plot was easily crushed. A month later Richard was
found dead. Henry had his body brought up to London and exposed to public
view in St. Paul's Cathedral, in order that not only the people, but all
would-be conspirators might now see that Richard's hands could never again
wield the sceptre.

There was, however, one man at least who refused to be convinced. Owen
Glendower, a Welshman, whom the late king had befriended, declared that
Richard was still living, and that the corpse exhibited was not his body.
Glendower prepared to maintain his belief by arms. King Henry mustered a
force with the intention of invading Wales and crushing the rebel on his
own ground; but a succession of terrible tempests ensued. The English
soldiers got the idea that Glendower raised these storms, for as an old
chronicle declares: "Through art magike he" [Glendower] "caused such foule
weather of winds, tempest, raine, snow, and haile to be raised for the
annoiance of the King's armie, that the like had not beene heard of."[203]
For this reason the troops became disheartened, and the king was obliged to
postpone the expedition.

[203] Holinshed's Chronicle.

=333. Revolt of the Percies.=--The Percy family had been active in helping
Henry to obtain the throne,[204] and had spent large sums in defending the
North against invasions from Scotland.[205] They expected a royal reward
for these services, and were sorely disappointed because they did not get
it. As young Henry Percy said of the King:--

    "My father, and my uncle, and myself,
    Did give him that same royalty he wears;
    And,--when he was not six-and-twenty strong,
    Sick in the world's regard, wretched and low,
    A poor, unminded outlaw sneaking home,--
    My father gave him welcome to the shore:
    *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *
    Swore him assistance and perform'd it too."[206]

But the truth is, Henry had little to give except promises. Parliament
voted money cautiously, limiting its supplies to specific purposes; and men
of wealth, feeling anxious about the issue of the king's usurpation,--for
such many regarded it--were afraid to lend him what he required.
Furthermore, the king was hampered by a council whose advice he had pledged
himself to follow. For these reasons Henry's position was in every way
precarious. He had no clear title to the throne, and he had no means to buy
military support. In addition to these difficulties, Henry had made an
enemy of Sir Henry Percy by refusing to ransom his brother-in-law, a
Mortimer,[207] whom Glendower had captured, but whom the king wished well
out of the way with all others of that name. Young Percy proved a dangerous
foe. His hot temper and impetuous daring had got for him the title of "the
Hotspur of the North." He was so fond of fighting that Shakespeare speaks
of him as "he that kills me some six or seven dozen of Scots at a
breakfast, washes his hands, and says to his wife, _Fie upon this quiet
life! I want work_."[208] It was this "fire-eater," who with his father,
and his uncle, the Earl of Worcester, with the Scotch Earl of Douglas and
Glendower, now formed an alliance to force Henry to give up the throne.

[204] Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, with Henry Percy, Earl of
Northumberland, and his son Sir Henry Percy, or "Hotspur."

[205] See the Ballad of Chevy Chase.

[206] Shakespeare, Henry IV., Part I. Act IV. Sc. 3.

[207] Sir Edmund Mortimer: he was uncle to the Edmund Mortimer, Earl of
March, who was heir to the crown. See Bailey's Succession to the English
Crown.

[208] Shakespeare, Henry IV., Part I, Act II. Sc. 4.

=334. Battle of Shrewsbury.=--At Shrewsbury, on the edge of Wales, the
armies of the king and of the revolutionists met. A number of Henry's
enemies had sworn to single him out in battle. The plot was divulged, and
it is said thirteen knights arrayed themselves in armor resembling the
king's in order to mislead the assailants. The whole thirteen perished on
that bloody field, where fat Sir John Falstaff vowed he fought on Henry's
behalf "a long hour by Shrewsbury clock."[209] The insurgents were utterly
defeated. Douglas was taken prisoner, "Hotspur" was killed, and several of
his companions were beheaded after the battle. But new insurrections arose,
and the country was far from enjoying any permanent peace.

[209] Shakespeare, Henry IV., Part I. Act V. Sc. 4.

=335. Persecution of the Lollards; the First Martyr.=--Thus far Henry had
spent much time in crushing rebels, but he had also given part of it to
burning heretics. To gain the favor of the clergy, and thus render his
throne more secure, the king had favored the passage of a law by the lords
and bishops (for the House of Commons had no part in it), by which the
Lollards and others who dissented from the doctrines of Rome would be
punished with death. William Sawtrey, a London clergyman, was the first
victim under the new law (1401). He had declared that he would not worship
"the cross on which Christ suffered, but only Christ himself who had
suffered on the cross." He had also openly denied the doctrine of
transubstantiation, which teaches that the sacramental bread is
miraculously changed into the actual body of the Saviour. For these and
minor heresies he was burned at Smithfield, in London, in the presence of a
great multitude. Some years later a second martyrdom took place. But as the
English people would not allow torture to be used in the case of the
Knights Templars in the reign of Edward II.,[210] so they never favored the
idea that by committing the body to the flames error could thereby be
burned out of the soul. The Lollards, indeed, were still cast into prison,
as some of the extreme and communistic part of them doubtless deserved to
be, but we hear of no more being put to cruel deaths during Henry's reign,
though later, the utmost rigor of the law was again to some extent
enforced.

[210] See Paragraph No. 317.

=336. Henry's Last Days.=--Toward the close of his life the king seems to
have thought of reviving the crusades for the conquest of Jerusalem, where,
according to tradition, an old prediction declared that he should die. But
his Jerusalem was nearer than that of Palestine. While praying at the tomb
of Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey, he was seized with mortal
illness. His attendants carried him into a room near by. When he recovered
consciousness, and inquired where he was, he was told that the apartment
was called the Jerusalem Chamber. "Praise be to God," he exclaimed, "then
here I die!" There he breathed his last, saying to his son, young Prince
Henry:--

                          "God knows, my son,
    By what by-paths and indirect crook'd ways,
    I met this crown; and I myself know well
    How troublesome it sat upon my head;
    To thee it shall descend with better quiet,
    Better opinion, better confirmation;
    For all the soil of the achievement[211] goes
    With me into the earth."

[211] "Soil of the achievement:" stain or blame by which the crown was won.
Henry IV., Part II. Act IV. Sc. 4.

=337. Summary.=--At the outset of his reign Parliament showed its power by
changing the succession and making Henry king instead of young Edmund
Mortimer, the direct hereditary heir to the crown. Though successful in
crushing rebellion, Henry was obliged to submit to the guidance of a
council, and was rendered more entirely dependent on Parliament, especially
in the matter of supplies, than any previous king. For the first time in
English history heresy was made punishable by death; yet such was the
restraining influence of the people, that but two executions took place.


HENRY V.--1413-1422.

=338. Lollard Outbreak at Henry's Accession.=--Henry's youth had been wild
and dissolute, but the weight of the crown sobered him. He cast off poor
old Jack Falstaff and his other roistering companions, and began his new
duties in earnest.

Sir John Oldcastle, or Lord Cobham, was at this time the most influential
man among the Lollards. He was now brought to trial and convicted of
heresy. The penalty was death; but the king granted him a respite, in the
hope that he might recant. Oldcastle managed to escape from prison.
Immediately after, a conspiracy was detected among the Lollards for seizing
the government, destroying the chief monasteries in and about London, and
raising Oldcastle to power. Henry attacked the rebels unawares, killed
many, and took a large number of prisoners, who were executed on a double
charge of heresy and treason. Several years afterwards Oldcastle was also
executed.

=339. Report that Richard II. was Alive.=--A strange report now began to
circulate. It was said that Richard II. had been seen in Scotland, and that
he was preparing to claim the throne which Henry's father had taken from
him. To silence this seditious rumor, the king exhumed Richard's body from
its grave in the little village of Langley, Hertfordshire. The ghastly
remains were propped up in a chair of state so that all might see them. In
this manner the king and his court escorted the corpse in solemn procession
to Westminster Abbey, where it was re-interred among the tombs of the
English sovereigns. With it he buried once for all the troublesome
falsehood which had kept up insurrection, and had made the deposed king
more feared after death than he had ever been during life.

=340. War with France.=--To divert the attention of the nation from
dangerous home questions likely to cause fresh revolts, Henry now
determined to act on his father's dying counsel and pick a foreign quarrel.
The old grudge against France which began with the feuds of Duke William
of Normandy before he conquered England, made a war with that country
always popular. At this period the French were divided into fierce parties
who hated each other even more, if possible, than they hated the English.
This, of course, greatly increased the chances of Henry's success, as he
might form an alliance with one of these factions.

The king believed it a good opportunity to get three things he wanted,--a
wife, a fortune, and the French crown. The king of France and his most
powerful rival, the Duke of Burgundy, had each a daughter. To make sure of
one of them, Henry secretly proposed to both. After long and fruitless
negotiations, the French king declined to grant the enormous dowry which
the English king demanded. The latter gladly interpreted this refusal as
equivalent to a declaration of war.

=341. Battle of Agincourt[212] (1415).=--Henry set to work with vigor,
raised an army, and invaded France. He besieged Harfleur, near the mouth of
the Seine, and took it; but his army had suffered so much from sickness
that, after leaving a garrison in the place, he resolved to move north, to
Calais, and await re-enforcements. After a long and perilous march he
reached a little village about midway between Crécy and Calais. There he
encountered the enemy in great force. Both sides prepared for battle. The
French had fifty thousand troops to Henry's seven or eight thousand; but
the latter had that determination which wins victories, and said to one of
his nobles who regretted that he had not a larger force:--

                        "No, my fair cousin;
    If we are marked to die, we are enough
    To do our country loss; and if we live,
    The fewer men, the greater share of honor."[213]

[212] Agincourt (ah´zhăn´koor´).

[213] Henry V., Act IV. Sc. 3.

A heavy rain had fallen during the night, and the ploughed land over which
the French must cross was so wet and miry that their heavily armed horsemen
sank deep at every step. The English bowmen, on the other hand, being on
foot, could move with ease. Henry ordered every archer to drive a stake,
sharpened at both ends, into the ground before him. This was a substitute
for the modern bayonet, and presented an almost impassable barrier to the
French cavalry.

As at Crécy and Poitiers, the English bowmen gained the day. The sharp
stakes stopped the enemy's horses, and the blinding showers of arrows threw
the splendidly armed knights into wild confusion. With a ringing cheer
Henry's troops rushed forward.

    "Then down their bows they threw,
    And forth their swords they drew,
    And on the French they flew:
        No man was tardy.
    Arms from the shoulder sent;
    Scalps from the teeth they rent;
    Down the French peasants went:
        These were men hardy."[214]

[214] These vigorous lines, from Drayton's Ballad of Agincourt, if not
quite true to the letter of history (since it is doubtful whether the
French peasants were on the field), are wholly true to its spirit.

When the fight was over, the king asked, "What is the name of that castle
yonder?" He was told it was called Agincourt. "Then," said he, "from
henceforth this shall be known as the battle of Agincourt."

=342. Treaty of Troyes[215] (1420); Henry's Death.=--Henry went back in
triumph to England. Two years later he again invaded France. His victorious
course continued. In 1420, by the Treaty of Troyes, he gained all he had
planned to get. He obtained large sums of money, the French Princess
Katherine in marriage, and the promise of the crown of France on the death
of her father, Charles VI., who was then insane and feeble. Meantime Henry
was to govern the kingdom as regent.

[215] Troyes (trwă).

Henry returned to England with the bride he had won by the sword, but he
was soon recalled to France by a revolt against his power. He died there,
leaving an infant son, Henry. Two months afterward Charles VI. died, so
that by the terms of the treaty Henry's son now inherited the French crown.

=343. Summary.=--The one great event with which Henry V.'s name is
connected is the conquest of France. It was hailed at the time as a
glorious achievement, and in honor of it his tomb in Westminster Abbey was
surmounted by a statue of the king having a head of solid silver.
Eventually the head was stolen and never recovered. The theft was typical
of Henry's short-lived victories abroad, for all the territory he had
gained was soon destined to be hopelessly lost.


HENRY VI. (House of Lancaster, Red Rose).--1422-1471.[216]

[216] Dethroned 1461, restored for a few months in 1470, died in the Tower
of London, 1471.

=344. Accession of Henry; Renewal of the French War.=--The heir to all the
vast dominions left by Henry V. was proclaimed king of England and France
when in his cradle, and crowned, while still a child, first at Westminster
and then at Paris.

But the accession to the French possessions was merely an empty form, for
as the son of the late Charles VI. of France refused to abide by the Treaty
of Troyes and give up the throne, war again broke out.

=345. Siege of Orleans.=[217]--The Duke of Bedford[218] fought vigorously
in Henry's behalf. In five years the English had got possession of most of
the country north of the Loire. They now determined to make an effort to
drive the French prince south of that river. To accomplish this they must
take the strongly fortified town of Orleans which was situated on its
banks. Forts were accordingly built around the place, and cannon planted to
batter down its walls. Six months later so much progress had been made in
the siege, that it was plain the city could not hold out much longer. The
fortunes of France seemed to depend on the fate of Orleans. If it fell,
they would go with it.

[217] Orleans (or´lā-on).

[218] During Henry's minority, John, Duke of Bedford, was protector of the
realm. When absent in France, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, acted for him.

=346. Joan of Arc.=[219]--At this juncture, Joan of Arc, a peasant girl of
eighteen, came forward to inspire her despairing countrymen with fresh
courage. She believed that Heaven had called her to drive the English from
the land. The troops rallied round her. Clad in white armor, mounted on a
white war-horse, she led the troops from victory to victory, until she saw
Prince Charles triumphantly crowned in the Cathedral of Rheims.[220] There
her fortune changed. Her own people basely abandoned her. The unworthy King
Charles made no attempt to protect the "Maid of Orleans," and she fell into
the hands of the infuriated English, who believed she was in league with
the devil. In accordance with this belief Joan was tried for witchcraft and
heresy at Rouen, and sentenced to the flames. She died as bravely as she
had lived, saying in her last agonies that her celestial voices had not
deceived her, and that through them she had saved France.

[219] The name given by the English to Jeanne d'Arc, or Darc. Later, the
French called her La Pucelle, "The Maid"; or La Pucelle d'Orleans, "The
Maid of Orleans."

[220] Rheims (rănz).

"God forgive us," exclaimed one of Henry's courtiers who was present; "we
are lost! We have burned a saint!" It was the truth; and from the martyred
girl's ashes a new spirit seemed to go forth to bless her ungrateful
country. The heart of France was touched. The people rose against their
invaders. Before Henry VI. reached his thirtieth year the Hundred Years'
War with France which Edward III. had begun, was ended, and England had
lost all of her possessions on the continent, except a bare foothold at
Calais.

=347. Henry VI.'s Character and Marriage.=--When Henry became of age he
proved to be but the shadow of a king. His health and character were alike
feeble. At twenty-five he married the beautiful and unfortunate Margaret
of Anjou, who was by far the better man of the two. When years of disaster
came, this dauntless "queen of tears" headed councils, led armies, and
ruled both king and kingdom.

=348. Poverty of the Crown and Wealth of the Nobles.=--One cause of the
weakness of the government was its poverty. The revenues of the crown had
been greatly diminished by gifts and grants to favorites. The king was
obliged to pawn his jewels and the silver plate from his table to pay his
wedding expenses; and it is said on high authority[221] that the royal
couple were sometimes in actual want of a dinner.

[221] Fortescue, on the Governance of England (Plummer).

On the other hand, the Earl of Warwick and other great lords had made
fortunes out of the French wars,[222] and lived in regal splendor. The
earl, it is said, had at his different castles and his city mansion in
London, upwards of thirty thousand men in his service. Their livery, or
uniform, a bright red jacket with the Warwick arms, a bear erect holding a
ragged staff, embroidered on it in white, was seen, known, and feared
throughout the country. Backed by such forces it was easy for the earl and
other powerful lords to overawe kings, parliaments, and courts. Between
these heads of the great houses quarrels were constantly breaking out. The
safety of the people was endangered by these feuds, which became more and
more violent, and often ended in bloodshed and murder.

[222] First, by furnishing troops to the government, the feudal system
having now so far decayed that many soldiers had to be hired; second, by
the plunder of French cities; third, by ransoms obtained from noblemen
taken prisoners.

=349. Disfranchisement of the Commons.=--With the growth of power on the
part of the nobles, there was also imposed for the first time a restriction
on the right of the people to vote for members of Parliament. Up to this
period all freemen might take part in the election of representatives
chosen by the counties to sit in the House of Commons.

A law was now passed forbidding any one to vote at these elections unless
he was a resident of the county and possessed of landed property yielding
an annual income of forty shillings ($200).[223] Subsequently it was
further enacted that no county candidate should be eligible unless he was a
man of means and social standing. These two measures were blows against the
free self-government of the nation, since their manifest tendency was to
make the House of Commons represent the property rather than the people of
the country.

[223] The income required by the statute was forty shillings, which, says
Freeman, we may fairly call forty pounds of our present money. See
Freeman's Growth of the English constitution, p. 97.

=350. Cade's Rebellion.=--In 1450 a formidable rebellion broke out in Kent,
then, as now, one of the most independent and democratic counties in
England. The leader was Jack Cade, who called himself by the popular name
of Mortimer, claiming to be cousin to Richard, Duke of York, a nephew of
that Edmund Mortimer, now dead, whom Henry IV. had unjustly deprived of his
succession to the crown.

Cade, who was a mere adventurer, was quite likely used as a tool by
plotters much higher than himself, who, by putting him forward, could thus
judge whether the country was ready for a revolution and change of
sovereigns.

Wat Tyler's rebellion, seventy years before, was almost purely social in
its character, having for its object the emancipation of the enslaved
laboring classes. Cade's insurrection was, on the contrary, almost wholly
political. His chief complaint was that the people were not allowed their
free choice in the election of representatives, but were forced by the
nobility to choose candidates they did not want.

Other grievances for which reform was demanded were excessive taxation and
the rapacity of the evil counsellors who controlled the king.

Cade entered London with a body of twenty thousand men. He took formal
possession of the place by striking his sword on London Stone,--a Roman
monument still standing, which then marked the centre of the ancient
city,--saying, as Shakespeare reports him, "Now is Mortimer lord of this
city."[224] After three days of riot and the murder of the king's
treasurer, the rebellion came to an end through a general pardon. Cade,
however, endeavored to raise a new insurrection in the South, but was
shortly after captured, and died of his wounds.

[224] "Now is Mortimer lord of this city; and here, sitting upon London
Stone, I charge and command, that at the city's cost, this conduit runs
nothing but claret wine this first year of our reign; and now it shall be
treason for any man to call me other than Lord Mortimer." Henry VI., Part
II. Act IV. Sc. 6.

It is worthy of remark that here, as elsewhere in his historical plays, the
great dramatist expresses little, if any, sympathy with the cause of the
people. In King John he does not mention the Great Charter, in Richard II.
he passes over Wat Tyler without a word, while in Henry VI. he mentions
Cade only to ridicule him and his movement. The explanation of this lies,
perhaps, in the fact that Shakespeare lived in an age when England was
threatened by both open and secret enemies. The need of his time was a
strong, steady hand at the helm; it was no season for reform or change of
any sort. This may be the reason why he was silent in regard to democratic
risings and demands in the past.

=351. Wars of the Roses (1455-1485).=--The real significance of Cade's
insurrection is that it showed the wide-spread feeling of discontent caused
by misgovernment, and that it served as an introduction to the long and
dreary period of civil strife known as the Wars of the Roses. So long as
the English nobles had France for a fighting-ground, French cities to
plunder, and French captives to hold for heavy ransoms, they were content
to let matters go on quietly at home. But that day was over. Through the
bad management, if not through the positive treachery of Edmund, Duke of
Somerset, the French conquests had been lost, a weak king, at times insane,
sat on the English throne, while Richard, Duke of York, a really able man
and a descendant of the Mortimers, was, as many believed, unlawfully
excluded from it. This fact in itself would have furnished a plausible
pretext for hostilities, even as far back as Cade's rising. But the birth
of a son to Henry in 1453 probably gave the signal for the outbreak, since
it cut off all hopes which Richard's friends may have had of his peaceful
succession.

=352. The Scene in the Temple Garden.=--Shakespeare represents the
smouldering feud between the rival houses of Lancaster and York (both of
whom it should be remembered were descendants of Edward III.)[225] as
breaking into an angry quarrel in the Temple Garden, London, when Richard,
Duke of York, says:--

    "Let him that is a true-born gentleman,
    And stands upon the honor of his birth,
    If he suppose that I have pleaded truth,
    From off this brier pluck a white rose with me."

[225] Table showing the descendants of Edward III., with reference to the
claims of Lancaster and York to the crown:--

                                   Edward III.
                                        |
           +----------------------------+------------------------+
           |                            |                        |
    Lionel, Duke of           John of Gaunt, =Duke of    Edmund, =Duke of
   Clarence (3d son)           Lancaster= (4th son)      York= (5th son)
           |                            |                        |
           |                    +-------+-----------+    =Richard=, Earl of
           |                    |                   |      Cambridge, m.
       Philippa.                |                   |    =Anne Mortimer=.
           |                    |                   |
           |                  Henry IV.        John, Earl
           |                    |            of Somerset.[†]
    Roger Mortimer.           Henry V.              |
           |                    |               +---+-------+
   +-------+-------+            |               |           |
   |               |         =Henry VI.=      John,       Edmund,
  Edmund    Anne Mortimer,      |             Duke of     Duke of
  Mortimer  m. Richard,     Prince Edward,    Somerset,   Somerset.
  (Earl of  Earl of         b. 1453; killed   d. 1448.
  March),   Cambridge       at battle of
  d. 1424.  (s. of Edmund,  Tewksbury,   +--------------------------------
            Duke of York)     1471.      | † John, Earl of Somerset, was an
                   |                     | illegitimate half-brother of
           [*]=Richard, Duke             | Henry IV.'s, but was, in 1397,
                of York.=                | declared legitimate by act of
                                         | Parliament and a papal decree.
                                         +--------------------------------

[*] Inherited the title of Duke of York from his father's eldest brother
Edward, Duke of York, who died without issue.

Richard's father, the Earl of Cambridge, had forfeited his title and
estates by treason; but Parliament had so far limited the sentence that his
son was not thereby debarred from inheriting his uncle's rank and fortune.

Richard, Duke of York, now represented the direct hereditary line of
succession to the crown, while Henry VI. and his son represented that
established by Parliament through acceptance of Henry IV. Compare Table,
Paragraph No. 309.

To which John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset,[226] a descendant of the house
of Lancaster, who has just accused Richard of being the dishonored son of a
traitor, replies:--

    "Let him that is no coward, nor no flatterer,
    But dare maintain the party of the truth,
    Pluck a red rose from off this thorn with me."

[226] John, Duke of Somerset, died 1448. He was brother of Edmund, Duke of
Somerset, who was slain at St. Albans 1455.

The Earl of Warwick rejoins:--

                            "This brawl to-day,
    Grown to this faction in the Temple-garden,
    Shall send, between the red rose and the white,
    A thousand souls to death and deadly night."[227]

[227] Shakespeare's Henry VI., Part I. Act II. Sc. 4.

=353. The Real Object of the War.=--The war, however, did not directly
originate in this quarrel, but rather in the strife for power between
Edmund, Duke of Somerset (John's brother), and Richard, Duke of York. Each
desired to get the control of the government, though at first neither
appears to have openly aimed at the crown.

During Henry's attack of insanity in 1453 Richard was appointed Protector
of the realm, and shortly after, the Duke of Somerset, the king's
particular favorite and chief adviser, was cast into prison on the double
charge of having culpably lost Normandy and embezzled public moneys.

In 1455, when Henry recovered, he released Somerset and restored him to
office. Richard protested, and raising an army in the north, marched toward
London. He met the royalist forces at St. Albans; a battle ensued, and
Somerset was slain.

During the next thirty years the war raged with more or less fury between
the parties of the Red Rose (Lancaster) and the White (York), the first
maintaining the right of Parliament to choose such king as they saw fit, as
in Henry IV.'s case; the second insisting on the succession being
determined by strict hereditary descent, as represented in the claim of
Richard.

But beneath the surface the contest was not for principle, but for place
and spoils. The great nobles, who during the French wars had pillaged
abroad, now pillaged each other; and as England was neither big nor rich
enough to satisfy the greed of all of them, the struggle gradually became a
war of mutual extermination. It was, to a certain extent, a sectional war.
Eastern England, then the wealthiest and most progressive part of the
country, had strongly supported Wycliffe in his reforms. It now espoused
the side of Richard, Duke of York, who was believed to be friendly to
religious liberty, while the western counties fought for the cause of
Lancaster and the church.[228]

[228] It will be remembered that the persecution of Wycliffe's followers
began under Henry IV., the first Lancastrian king. See Paragraph No. 335.

=354. The First Battles.=--We have already seen that the first blood was
shed at St. Albans in 1455, where the Yorkists, after half an hour's
fighting, gained a complete victory. A similar result followed at
Bloreheath, Staffordshire. In a third battle, at Northampton,[229] the
Yorkists were again successful. Henry was taken prisoner, and Queen
Margaret fled with the young Prince Edward to Scotland. Richard now
demanded the crown. Henry answered with unexpected spirit: "My father was
king, his father also was king. I have worn the crown forty years from my
cradle; you have all sworn fealty to me as your sovereign, and your fathers
did the like to my fathers. How, then, can my claim be disputed?" Finally,
after a long dispute, a compromise was effected. Henry agreed that if he
were left in peaceable possession of the throne during his life, Richard or
his heirs should succeed him.

[229] Northampton, Northamptonshire.

=355. Battles of Wakefield and Towton.=--But Queen Margaret refused to see
her son, Prince Edward, thus tamely set aside. She raised an army and
attacked the Yorkists. Richard, whose forces were inferior to hers, had
entrenched himself in his castle.[230] Day after day Margaret went up under
the walls and dared him to come out. At length, stung by her taunts, the
duke sallied from his stronghold, and the battle of Wakefield was fought.
Margaret was victorious. Richard was slain, and the queen, in mockery of
his claims to sovereignty, cut off his head, decked it with a paper crown,
and set it up over the chief gate of the city of York. Fortune now changed.
The next year the Lancastrians were defeated with great slaughter at
Towton.[231] The light spring snow was crimsoned with the blood of thirty
thousand slain, and the way strewn with corpses for ten miles up to the
walls of York. The Earl of Warwick, henceforth popularly known as "the
king-maker," now placed Edward, eldest son of the late Duke of York, on the
throne, with the title of Edward IV. Henry and Margaret fled to Scotland.
The new government summoned them to appear, and as they failed to answer,
proclaimed them traitors. Four years later Henry was taken prisoner and
sent to the Tower of London. He may have been happier there than battling
for his throne. He was not born to reign, but rather, as Shakespeare makes
him say, to lead a shepherd's life, watching his flocks, until the
peacefully flowing years should--

    "Bring white hairs unto a quiet grave."[232]

[230] Sandal Castle, near Wakefield, Yorkshire. Towton, also in Yorkshire.

[231] For battle-fields of the Wars of Roses, see Map No. 10, p. 174.

[232] See Henry's soliloquy on the field of Towton, beginning,--

    "O God! methinks it were a happy life
      To be no better than a homely swain."

    SHAKESPEARE, _Henry VI._, Part III. Act II. Sc. 5.

=356. Summary.=--The history of the period is one of loss. The brilliant
French conquests of Henry V. slipped from the nerveless hands of his son,
leaving France practically independent. The franchise had been restricted,
and the House of Commons now represented property-holders mainly. Cade's
rebellion was the sign of political discontent and the forerunner of civil
war. The contests of the parties of the Red and the White Roses drenched
England's fair fields with the best blood of her own sons. The reign ends
with King Henry in prison, Queen Margaret and the prince fugitives, and the
Yorkist Edward IV. placed on the throne by the help of the powerful Earl of
Warwick.


EDWARD IV. (House of York, White Rose).--1461-1483.

=357. Continuation of the War; Death of Henry; Tewkesbury.=--During the
whole of Edward's reign the war went on with varying success, but unvarying
ferocity, until at last neither side would ask or give quarter. Some years
after the accession of the new sovereign the Earl of Warwick quarrelled
with him, thrust him down from the throne, and restored Henry. But a few
months later, at the battle of Barnet, Warwick, who was "the last of the
great barons," was killed, and Henry, who had been led back to the
Tower[233] again, died one of those "conveniently sudden deaths" which were
then so common.

[233] The Tower of London, built by William the Conqueror as a fortress to
overawe the city, became later both a royal palace and a prison of state.
It is now used as a citadel, armory, and depository for the crown jewels.

The heroic Margaret, however, would not give up the contest in behalf of
her son's claim to the crown. But fate was against her. A few weeks after
the battle of Barnet[234] her army was utterly defeated at Tewkesbury, her
son Edward slain, and the queen herself taken prisoner. She was eventually
released on the payment of a large ransom, and returned to France, where
she died broken-hearted in her native Anjou, prophesying that the contest
would go on until the Red Rose, representing her party, should get a still
deeper dye from the blood of her enemies.[235]

[234] Barnet: about eleven miles northwest of London, Hertfordshire.
Tewkesbury: near Gloucester, Gloucestershire.

[235] See Scott's Anne of Geierstein, Chapter XXX.

=358. The Introduction of Printing.=--But an event was at hand of greater
importance than any question of crowns or parties, though then none were
wise enough to see its real significance. William Caxton, a London
merchant, having learned the new art of printing in Flanders, now returned
to his native country and set up a small press within the precincts of
Westminster Abbey.

There, "at the sign of the red pole," he advertised his wares as "good
chepe." He was not only printer, but translator and editor. Edward gave
him some royal patronage, and paid liberally for work which not long before
the clergy in France had condemned as a black art emanating from the devil,
and which many of the English clergy still regarded with no very friendly
eye, especially as it threatened to destroy the copying trade, of which the
monks had well-nigh a monopoly. The first printed book which Caxton is
known to have published in England was a small volume entitled "The Sayings
of the Philosophers" (1477).[236] This venture was followed in due time by
Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," and whatever other poetry, history, or
classics seemed worthy of preservation; in all no less than sixty-four
distinct works. Up to this time a book of any kind was a luxury,
laboriously "written by the few for the few"; but from this date literature
of all sorts was destined to multiply and fill the earth with many leaves
and some good fruit.

[236] "The dictes or sayengis of the philosophres, enprynted by me william
Caxton at westmestre, the year of our lord MCCCCLxxvii."

It has no title-page, but ends as above. A copy is preserved in the British
Museum. "The Game and Play of the Chess" is supposed by some to have been
published a year or two earlier, but as the book has neither printer's
name, place of publication, nor date, the time of its issue remains wholly
conjectural.

Caxton's patrons though few, were choice, and when one of them, the Earl of
Worcester, was beheaded in the wars, he said of him, "The axe did then cut
off more learning than was left in all the heads of the surviving lords."
Recently a memorial window has been placed in St. Margaret's Church within
the Abbey grounds, as a tribute to the man who, while England was red with
slaughter, introduced "the art preservative of all arts," and preservative
of liberty no less.[237]

[237]
    "Lord! taught by Thee, when Caxton bade
      His silent words forever speak;
    A grave for tyrants then was made,
      Then crack'd the chain which yet shall break."

    EBENEZER ELLIOTT, _Hymn for the Printers' Gathering at Sheffield,
    1833_.

=359. Edward's Character.=--The king, however, cared more for his pleasures
than for literature or the welfare of the nation. His chief aim was to
beg, borrow, or extort money to waste in dissipation. The loans which he
forced his subjects to grant, and which were seldom, if ever, repaid, went
under the name of "benevolences." But it is safe to say that those who
furnished them were in no very benevolent frame of mind at the time.
Exception may perhaps be made of the rich and elderly widow, who was so
pleased with the king's handsome face that she willingly handed him £20 (a
large sum in those days); and when the jovial monarch gallantly kissed her
out of gratitude for her generosity, she at once, like a true and loyal
subject, doubled the donation. Edward's course of life was not conducive to
length of days, even if the times had favored a long reign. He died early,
leaving a son, Prince Edward, to succeed him.

=360. Summary.=--The reign was marked by the continuation of the Wars of
the Roses, the death of King Henry VI. and of his son, with the return of
Queen Margaret to France. The most important event was the introduction of
the printing-press by William Caxton.


EDWARD V. (House of York, White Rose).--1483-1483.

=361. Gloucester appointed Protector.=--Prince Edward, heir to the throne,
was a lad of twelve. He was placed under the guardianship of his ambitious
and unscrupulous uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who had been appointed
Lord Protector of the realm until the boy should become of age. Richard
protected his young nephew as a wolf would a lamb. He met the prince coming
up to London from Ludlow Castle, Shropshire, attended by his half-brother
Sir Richard Grey, and his uncle Lord Rivers. Under the pretext that Edward
would be safer in the Tower of London than at Westminster Palace, Richard
sent the prince there, and soon found means for having his kinsmen Grey and
Rivers executed.

=362. Murder of Lord Hastings and the Two Princes.=--Richard shortly after
showed his object. Lord Hastings was one of the council who had voted to
make the duke Protector, but he was unwilling to help him in his plot to
seize the crown. While at the council-table in the Tower Richard suddenly
started up and accused Hastings of treason, saying, "By St. Paul I will not
to dinner till I see thy head off." Hastings was dragged out of the room,
and without either trial or examination was beheaded on a stick of timber
on the Tower green. The way was now clear for the accomplishment of the
duke's purpose. The queen-mother (Elizabeth Woodville, widow of Edward IV.)
took her younger son and his sisters, one of whom was the Princess
Elizabeth, of York, and fled for protection to the sanctuary[238] of
Westminster Abbey, where, refusing all comfort, "she sat alone, low on the
rushes."[239] Finally, Richard half persuaded and half forced the unhappy
woman to give up her second son to his tender care. With bitter weeping and
dread presentiments of evil she parted from him, saying, "Farewell, mine
own sweet son! God send you good keeping! Let me kiss you once ere you go,
for God knoweth when we shall kiss together again." That was the last time
she saw the lad. He and Edward, his elder brother, were soon after murdered
in the Tower, and Richard rose by that double crime to the height he
coveted.

[238] See Paragraph No. 131.

[239] "On the rushes": on the stone floor covered with rushes.

=363. Summary.=--Edward's nominal reign of less than three months must be
regarded simply as the time during which his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester,
perfected his plot for seizing the crown by the successive murders of
Rivers, Grey, Hastings, and the two young princes.


RICHARD III. (House of York, White Rose).--1483-1485.

=364. Richard's Accession; he promises Financial Reform.=--Richard used the
preparations which had been made for the murdered Prince Edward's
coronation for his own. He probably gained over an influential party by
promises of financial reform. In their address to him at his accession
Parliament said, "Certainly we be determined rather to adventure and commit
us to the peril of our lives . . . than to live in such thraldom and
bondage as we have lived long time heretofore, oppressed and injured by
extortions and new impositions, against the laws of God and man, and the
liberty, old policy and laws of this realm, wherein every Englishman is
inherited."[240]

[240] Taswell-Langmead, Constitutional History of England.

=365. Richard's Character.=--Several attempts have been made of late years
to defend the king against the odium heaped upon him by the older
historians. But these well-meant efforts to prove him less black than
tradition painted him, are perhaps sufficiently answered by the fact that
his memory was so thoroughly hated by those who knew him best that no one
of the age when he lived thought of vindicating his character.

We must then believe, until it is clearly proved to the contrary, that the
last and worst of the Yorkist kings was what common report and Shakespeare
have together represented him,--distorted in figure, and with ambition so
unrestrained, that the words the poet puts into his mouth may have been
really his:--

    "Then, since the heavens have shap'd my body so,
    Let hell make crookt my mind to answer it."[241]

[241] Henry VI., Part III. Act V. Sc. 6.

Personally he was as brave as he was cruel and unscrupulous. He promoted
some reforms. He abolished "benevolences," at least for a time, and he
encouraged Caxton in his great work.

=366. Revolts; Buckingham; Henry Tudor.=--During his short reign of two
years, several revolts broke out, but came to nothing. The Duke of
Buckingham, who had helped Richard to the throne, turned against him
because he did not get the rewards he expected. He headed a revolt; but as
his men deserted him, he fell into the king's hands, and the executioner
speedily did the rest. Finally a more formidable enemy arose. Before he
gained the crown Richard had cajoled or compelled the unfortunate Anne
Neville, widow of that Prince Edward, son of Henry VI., who was slain at
Tewkesbury,[242] into becoming his wife. She said with truth, "Small joy
have I in being England's queen." The king intended that his son should
marry Elizabeth of York,[243] sister to the two princes he had murdered in
the Tower. By so doing he would strengthen his position, and secure the
succession to the throne to his own family. But Richard's son shortly after
died, and the king, having mysteriously got rid of his wife, now made up
his mind to marry Elizabeth himself.

[242] See Paragraph No. 357.

[243] See Paragraph No. 362.

The princess, however, was already betrothed to Henry Tudor, Earl of
Richmond, the engagement having been effected during that sad winter which
she and her mother spent in sanctuary at Westminster Abbey, watched by
Richard's soldiers to prevent their escape. The Earl of Richmond, who was
an illegitimate descendant of the house of Lancaster, had long been waiting
on the continent for an opportunity to invade England and claim the crown.
Owing to the enmity of Edward IV. and Richard toward him, the earl had
been, as he himself said, "either a fugitive or a captive since he was five
years old." He now determined to remain so no longer. In 1485 he landed
with a force at Milford Haven, in Wales, where he felt sure of a welcome,
since his paternal ancestors were Welsh.[244]

[244] Descent of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond.

  Henry V. (House of Lancaster) married Catharine of France, who after his
     |           death married =Owen Tudor=, a Welshman.
  Henry VI.                          |
              =Edmund Tudor= (Earl of Richmond) married
             Margaret Beaufort, a descendant of John of Gaunt,
               Duke of Lancaster [she was granddaughter of
                   John, Earl of Somerset, see p. 163].
                                     |
                  =Henry Tudor=, Earl of Richmond (also
                       called Henry of Lancaster).

Advancing through Shrewsbury, he met Richard on Bosworth Field, in
Leicestershire.

=367. Battle of Bosworth Field (1485).=--There the decisive battle was
fought between the great rival houses of York and Lancaster. Richard went
out the evening before to look over the ground. He found one of his
sentinels slumbering at his post. Drawing his sword, he stabbed him to the
heart, saying, "I found him asleep and I leave him asleep." Going back to
his tent, he passed a restless night. The ghosts of all his murdered
victims seemed to pass in procession before him. Such a sight may well, as
Shakespeare says, have "struck terror to the soul of Richard."[245] At
sunrise the battle began. Before the attack, Richard, it is said, confessed
to his troops the murder of his two nephews, but pleaded that he had atoned
for the crime with "many salt tears and long penance." It is probable that
had it not been for the treachery of some of his adherents the king would
have won the day. When he saw that he was deserted by those on whose help
he had counted, he uttered the cry of "treason! treason!" and dashed
forward into the thick of the fight. With the fury of despair he hewed his
way into the very presence of the earl, and killing the standard-bearer,
flung the Lancastrian banner to the ground. But he could go no further.
Numbers overpowered him, and he fell. During the battle he had worn his
crown. After all was over, it was found hanging on a hawthorn-bush[246] and
handed to the victor, who placed it on his own head. The army then gathered
round Henry thus crowned, and moved by one impulse joined in the exultant
hymn of the Te Deum.[247] Thus ended the last of the Plantagenet line.
"Whatever their faults or crimes, there was not a coward among them."[248]

[245] Shakespeare's Richard III., Act V. Sc. 3.

[246] An ancient stained-glass window in Henry VII.'s Chapel (Westminster
Abbey) commemorates this incident.

[247] "Te Deum laudamus": We praise Thee, O God. A Roman Catholic hymn of
thanksgiving, now sung in English in the Episcopal and other churches.

[248] Stubbs' Constitutional History of England.

=368. End of the Wars of the Roses; their Effects.=--With Bosworth Field
the Wars of the Roses ceased. During the thirty years they had continued,
fourteen pitched battles had been fought, in a single one of which (Towton)
more Englishmen lost their lives than in the whole course of the wars with
France during the preceding forty years. In all, eighty princes of the
blood royal and more than half of the nobility of the realm perished.

Of those who escaped death by the sword, many died on the scaffold. The
remnant who were saved had hardly a better fate. They left their homes only
to suffer in foreign lands. A writer of that day[249] says: "I, myself, saw
the Duke of Exeter, the king of England's brother-in-law, walking barefoot
in the Duke of Burgundy's train, and begging his bread from door to door."
Every individual of two families of the great houses of Somerset and
Warwick fell either on the field or under the executioner's axe. In tracing
family pedigrees it is startling to see how often the record reads, "killed
at St. Albans," "slain at Towton," "beheaded after the battle of
Wakefield," and the like.[250]

[249] See the Paston Letters.

[250] Guest's Lectures on English History.

When the contest closed, the feudal baronage was broken up. In a majority
of cases the estates of the nobles either fell to the crown for lack of
heirs, or they were fraudulently seized by the king's officers. Thus the
greater part of the wealthiest and most powerful aristocracy in the world
disappeared so completely that they ceased to have either a local
habitation or a name. But the elements of civil discord at last exhausted
themselves. Bosworth was a turning-point in English history. When the sun
went down, it saw the termination of the desperate struggle between the
White Roses of York and the Red of Lancaster; when it ushered in a new day,
it shone also on a new king, who introduced a new social and political
period.

[Illustration: Map No. 10--ENGLAND AND WALES 1066-1485.

The battle-fields of the Wars of the Roses are underlined thus, =Towton=
(in Yorkshire).]

=369. Summary.=--The importance of Richard's reign is that it marks the
close of thirty years of civil war, the destruction of the predominating
influence of the feudal barons, and leaves as the central figure Henry
Tudor, the sovereign who now ascended the throne.


GENERAL VIEW OF THE LANCASTRIAN AND YORKIST PERIOD (1399-1485).

I. GOVERNMENT.--II. RELIGION.--III. MILITARY AFFAIRS.--IV. LITERATURE,
LEARNING, AND ART.--V. GENERAL INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.--VI. MODE OF LIFE,
MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS.


GOVERNMENT.

=370. Parliament and the Royal Succession.=--The period began with the
parliamentary recognition of the claim to the crown of Henry, Duke of
Lancaster, son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward
III. By this act the claim of Edmund Mortimer, a descendant of Edward III.
by his third son, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, was deliberately set aside, and
this change of the order of succession eventually furnished an excuse for
civil war.[251]

[251] Before the accession of Henry III., Parliament made choice of any one
of the king's sons whom they considered best fitted to rule. After that
time it was understood that the king's eldest son should be chosen to
succeed him; or in case of his death during the lifetime of his father, the
eldest son of the eldest son, and so forward in that line. The action taken
by Parliament in favor of Henry IV. was a departure from that principle,
and a reassertion of its ancient right to choose any descendant of the
royal family they deemed best. See genealogical table, Paragraph No. 309.

=371. Disfranchisement of Electors; Benevolences.=--Under Henry VI. a
property qualification was established by act of Parliament which cut off
all persons from voting for county members of the House of Commons who did
not have an income of forty shillings (say £40, or $200, in modern money)
from freehold land. County elections, the statute said, had "of late been
made by a very great, outrageous, and excessive number of people . . . of
which the most part were people of small substance and of no value." Later,
candidates for the House of Commons from the counties were required to be
gentlemen by birth, and to have an income of not less than £20 (or say
£400, or $2000, in modern money). Though the tendency of such laws was to
make the House of Commons represent property-holders rather than the
freemen as a body, yet no apparent change seems to have taken place in the
class of county members chosen.

Eventually, however, these and other interferences with free elections
caused the rebellion of Jack Cade, in which the insurgents demanded the
right to choose such representatives as they saw fit. But the movement
appears to have had no practical result. During the civil war which ensued,
the king (Edward IV.) compelled wealthy subjects to lend him large sums
(seldom, if ever, repaid) called "benevolences." Richard III. abolished
this obnoxious system, but afterward revived it, and it became
conspicuously hateful under his successor in the next period.

Another great grievance was Purveyance. By it the king's purveyors had the
right to seize provisions and means of transportation for the king and his
hundreds of attendants whenever they journeyed through the country on a
"royal progress." The price offered by the purveyors was always much below
the real value of what was taken, and frequently even that was not paid.
Purveyance, which had existed from the earliest times, was not finally
abolished until 1660.


RELIGION.

=372. Suppression of Heresy.=--Under Henry IV. the first act was passed by
lords and clergy (without assent of the House of Commons), punishing
heretics, by burning at the stake, and the first martyr suffered in that
reign. Later, the Lollards, or followers of Wycliffe, who appear in many
cases to have been socialists as well as religious reformers, were punished
by imprisonment, and occasionally with death. The whole number of martyrs,
however, was but small.


MILITARY AFFAIRS.

=373. Armor and Arms.=--The armor of the period was made of steel plate,
fitting and completely covering the body. It was often inlaid with gold and
elegantly ornamented. Firearms had not yet superseded the old weapons.
Cannon were in use, and also clumsy hand-guns fired with a match. The
long-bow continued to be the chief arm of the foot-soldiers, and was used
with great dexterity and fatal effect. Targets were set up by law in every
parish, and the yeomen were required to practise at contests in archery
frequently. The principal wars were the civil wars and those with France.


LITERATURE, LEARNING, AND ART.

=374. Introduction of Printing; Books.=--The art of printing was introduced
into England about 1471 by Caxton, a London merchant. Up to that time all
books had been written on either parchment or paper, at an average rate of
about fifty cents per page in modern money. The age was not favorable to
literature, and produced no great writers. But Caxton edited and published
a large number of works, many of which he translated from the French and
Latin. The two books which throw most light on the history of the times are
the Sir John Paston Letters (1424-1506), and a work by Chief Justice
Fortescue, on government, intended for the use of Prince Edward (slain at
Tewkesbury). The latter is remarkable for its bold declaration that the
king "has the delegation of power from the people, and he has no just
claims to any other power than this." The chief justice also praises the
courage of his countrymen, and declares with honest pride that "more
Englishmen are hanged in England in one year for robbery and manslaughter
than are hanged in France in seven years."

=375. Education.=--Henry VI. took a deep interest in education, and founded
the great public school of Eton, which ranks next in age to that of
Winchester. The money for its endowment was obtained by the appropriation
of the revenues of alien or foreign monasteries which had been erected in
England, and which were confiscated by Henry V. The king watched the
progress of the building from the windows of Windsor Castle, and to
supplement the course of education to be given there, he furthermore
erected and endowed the magnificent King's College, Cambridge.

=376. Architecture.=--A new development of Gothic architecture occurred
during this period, the Decorated giving place to the Perpendicular. The
latter derived its name from the perpendicular divisions of the lights in
the arches of the windows. It marks the final period of the Gothic or
Pointed style, and is noted for the exquisite carved work of its ceilings.
King's College Chapel, Cambridge, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and Henry
VII.'s Chapel (built in the next reign), connected with Westminster Abbey,
are among the most celebrated examples of this style of architecture, which
is peculiar to England.

The mansions of the nobility at this period exhibited great elegance.
Crosby Hall, London, at one time the residence of Richard III., and still
standing, is a fine specimen of the "Inns," as they were called, of the
great families and wealthy knights.


GENERAL INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.

=377. Agriculture and Trade.=--Notwithstanding the civil wars of the Roses,
agriculture was prosperous, and foreign trade largely increased. The latter
was well represented by Sir Richard Whittington, thrice mayor of London,
who, according to tradition, lent Henry V. large sums of money, and then at
an entertainment which he gave to the king and queen in his city mansion,
generously cancelled the debt by throwing the bonds into the open
sandal-wood fire.

Goldsmiths from Lombardy had now settled in London in such numbers as to
give the name of Lombard Street to the quarter they occupied. They
succeeded the Jews in the business of money-lending and banking, and
Lombard Street still remains famous for its bankers and brokers.


MODES OF LIFE, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS.

=378. Dress.=--Great sums were spent on dress by both sexes, and the
courtiers' doublets, or jackets, were of the most costly silks and velvets,
elaborately puffed and slashed. During the latter part of the period the
pointed shoes, which had formerly been of prodigious length, suddenly began
to grow broad, with such rapidity that Parliament passed a law limiting the
width of the toes to six inches. At the same time the court ladies adopted
the fashion of wearing horns as huge in proportion as the noblemen's shoes.
The government tried legislating them down, and the clergy fulminated a
solemn curse against them; but fashion was more powerful than church and
Parliament combined, and horns and hoofs came out triumphant.




VIII.

    "One half her soil has walked the rest
    In heroes, martyrs, poets, sages."

    O. W. HOLMES.

POLITICAL REACTION.--ABSOLUTISM OF THE CROWN,--THE ENGLISH REFORMATION AND
THE NEW LEARNING.

CROWN or POPE?

HOUSE OF TUDOR.--1485-1603.

  Henry VII., 1485-1509.
  Henry VIII., 1509-1547.
  Edward VI., 1547-1553.
  Mary, 1553-1558.
  Elizabeth, 1558-1603.


=379. Union of the Houses of Lancaster and York.=--Before leaving the
continent, Henry Tudor had promised the Yorkist party that he would marry
Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV., and sister to the young princes
murdered by Richard III. Such a marriage would unite the rival houses of
Lancaster and York, and thus put an end to the civil war. A few months
after the new king's accession the wedding was duly celebrated, and in the
beautiful east window of stained glass in Henry VII.'s Chapel, Westminster
Abbey, the Roses are seen joined; so that, as the quaint verse of that day
says:--

    "Both roses flourish--red and white--
    In love and sisterly delight;
    The two that were at strife are blended,
    And all old troubles now are ended."

Peace came from the union, but it was peace interrupted by
insurrections.[252]

[252] ORIGIN OF THE HOUSE OF TUDOR.

                                Edward III.
    1           2            3       |        4            5
    +-----------+------------+-------+------+--------------+
    |           |            |              |              |
   Edward,    William,   Lionel, Duke   John of Gaunt,  Edmund,
  (the Black  no issue.  of Clarence,    =Duke of     Duke of York.
   Prince)               from whom       Lancaster=.       |
     |                   descended in       |              |
  Richard II.            a direct line      |          +---+----------------+
                         in the fourth      |          |                    |
                         generation     Henry IV.   Edward, Duke         Richard, Earl of
                         [*]=Richard,       |       of York,             Cambridge, married
                             Duke           |       no issue.            Anne Mortimer,
                           of York=.        |                            great-granddaughter
                             |          Henry V. (Catharine, his widow,  of Lionel, Duke of
                             |              |    married =Owen Tudor=,   Clarence; their son
                             |              |    a Welsh gentleman).     was =Richard,
                             |              |            |               Duke of York=.
                +------------+------+   Henry VI.        |
                |                   |                    |
             Edward IV.        Richard III.              |
                |                                  =Edmund Tudor=,
       +--------+---+-------------+                Earl of Richmond,
       |            |             |                m. Margaret Beaufort,
  [†]Edward V. [†]Richard,   =Elizabeth            a descendant of John
               Duke of York.  of York=,            of Gaunt, Duke of
                             m. Henry VII.         Lancaster.
                             (of Lancaster).       See pp. 172 and 163.
                                                         |
                                          =Henry (Tudor) VII.= (formerl
                                          Earl of Richmond), m.
                                          =Elizabeth of York=,
                                          thus uniting the Houses of
                                          Lancaster (Red Rose) and York
                                          (White Rose) in the new Royal
                                          =House of Tudor=.

[*] Inherited the title Duke of York from his uncle Edward. See No. 5.

[†] The princes murdered by Richard III.

=380. Condition of the Country; Power of the Crown.=--Henry, it is said,
had his claim to the throne printed by Caxton, and distributed broadcast
over the country. It was the first political appeal to the people made
through the press, and was a sign of the new period upon which English
history had entered. Since Caxton began his work, the kingdom had undergone
a most momentous change. The great nobles, like the Earl of Warwick, were,
with few exceptions, dead, their estates confiscated, their thousands of
followers either buried on the battle-field or dispersed throughout the
land. The small number of titled families remaining was no longer to be
feared. The nation itself, though it had taken comparatively little part in
the war, was weary of bloodshed, and ready for peace on any terms.

The accession of the house of Tudor marks the beginning of a long period of
well-nigh absolute royal power. The nobility were too weak to place any
check on the king; the clergy, who had not recovered from their dread of
Lollardism and its attacks on their wealth and influence, were anxious for
a strong conservative government such as Henry promised; as for the
commons, they had no clear united policy, and though the first Parliament
put certain restraints on the crown, yet they were never really
enforced.[253] The truth is, that the new king was both too prudent and too
crafty to give them an opportunity. By avoiding foreign wars he dispensed
with the necessity of summoning frequent parliaments, and also with demands
for large sums of money. By thus ruling alone for a large part of the time,
Henry got the management of affairs into his own hands, and transmitted the
power to those who came after him. In this way the Tudors with their
successors, the Stuarts, built up that system of "personal sovereignty"
which continued for a hundred and fifty years, until the outbreak of a new
civil war brought it to an end forever.

[253] At the accession of Henry VII., Parliament imposed the following
checks on the power of the king:--

1. No new tax to be levied without consent of Parliament.

2. No new law to be made without the same consent.

3. No committal to prison without a warrant specifying the offence, and the
trial to be speedy.

4. Criminal charges and questions of fact in civil cases to be decided by
jury.

5. The king's officers to be held responsible to the nation.

=381. Growth of a Stronger Feeling of Nationality.=--It would be an error,
however, to consider this absolutism of the crown as an unmitigated evil.
On the contrary, it was in one important direction an advantage. There are
times when the great need of a people is not more individual liberty, but
greater national unity. Spain and France were two countries consisting of a
collection of petty feudal states, whose nobility were always trying to
steal each other's possessions and cut each other's throats, until the rise
in each of a royal despotism forced the turbulent barons to make peace, to
obey a common central law, and by this means both realms ultimately
developed into great and powerful kingdoms. When the Tudors came to the
throne, England was still full of the rankling hate engendered by the Wars
of the Roses. Held down by the heavy hand of Henry VII., and by the still
heavier one of his son, the country learned the same salutary lesson of
growth under repression which had benefited Spain and France. Henceforth
Englishmen of all classes, instead of boasting that they belonged to the
Yorkist or the Lancastrian faction, came to pride themselves on their
loyalty to crown and country, and their readiness to draw their swords to
defend both.

=382. Henry's Methods of raising Money; the Court of
Star-Chamber.=--Henry's reign was in the interest of the middle
classes,--the farmers, tradesmen, and mechanics. His policy was to avoid
heavy taxation, to exempt the poor from the burdens of state, and so
ingratiate himself with a large body of the people. In order to accomplish
this, he revived "benevolences," and by a device suggested by his chief
minister, Cardinal Morton, and hence known and dreaded as "Morton's Fork,"
he extorted large sums from the rich and well-to-do.[254] The cardinal's
agents made it their business to learn every man's income, and visit him
accordingly. If, for instance, a person lived handsomely, the cardinal
would insist on a correspondingly liberal gift; if, however, a citizen
lived very plainly, the king's minister insisted none the less, telling the
unfortunate man that by his economy he must surely have accumulated enough
to bestow the required "benevolence."[255] Thus on one prong or the other
of his terrible "fork" the shrewd cardinal impaled his writhing victims,
and speedily filled the royal treasury as it had never been filled
before.[256]

[254] Those whose income from land was less than £2, or whose movable
property did not exceed £15 (say $150 and $1125 now), were exempt. The
lowest rate of assessment for the "benevolences" was fixed at twenty pence
on the pound on land, and half that rate on other property.

[255] Richard Reed, a London alderman, refused to contribute a
"benevolence." He was sent to serve as a soldier in the Scotch wars at his
own expense, and the general received government orders to "use him in all
things according to sharp military discipline." The effect was such that
few after that ventured to deny the king what he asked.

[256] Henry is said to have accumulated a fortune of nearly two millions
sterling; an amount which would perhaps represent upwards of $150,000,000
now.

But Henry had other methods for raising money. He sold offices in church
and state, and took bribes for pardoning rebels. When he summoned a
parliament he obtained grants for putting down some real or pretended
insurrection, or to defray the expenses of a threatened attack from abroad,
and then quietly pocketed the appropriation,--a device not altogether
unknown to modern government officials. A third and last method for getting
funds was invented in Henry's behalf by two lawyers, Empson and Dudley, who
were so rapacious and cut so close that they were commonly known as "the
king's skin-shearers." They went about the country enforcing old and
forgotten laws, by which they reaped a rich harvest. Their chief instrument
for gain, however, was a revival of the Statute of Liveries, which imposed
enormous fines on those noblemen who dared to equip their followers in
military garb, or designate them by a badge equivalent to it, as had been
their custom during the civil wars.[257]

[257] See Paragraph No. 348.

In order to thoroughly enforce the Statute of Liveries, Henry reorganized
the Court of Star-Chamber, so called from the starred ceiling where the
tribunal met. This court had originally for its object the punishment of
such crimes committed by the great families, or their adherents, as the
ordinary law courts could not, or through intimidation dared not, deal
with. It had no power to inflict death, but might impose long terms of
imprisonment and ruinous fines. It, too, first made use of torture in
England to extort confessions of guilt.

Henry seems to have enforced the law of Livery against friend and foe
alike. Said the king to the Earl of Oxford, as he left his castle, where a
large number of retainers in uniform were drawn up to do him honor, "My
Lord, I thank you for your entertainment, but my attorney must speak to
you." The attorney, who was the notorious Empson, brought suit in the
Star-Chamber against the earl, who was fined 15,000 marks, or something
like $750,000, for the incautious display he had made.

=383. The Introduction of Artillery strengthens the Power of the King.=--It
was easier for Henry to pursue this arbitrary course because the
introduction of artillery had changed the art of war. Throughout the Middle
Ages the call of a great baron had, as Macaulay says, been sufficient to
raise a formidable revolt. Countrymen and followers took down their tough
yew long-bows from the chimney-corner, knights buckled on their steel
armor, mounted their horses, and in a few days an army threatened the
throne, which had no troops save those furnished by loyal subjects.

But now that men had digged "villanous saltpetre out of the bowels of the
harmless earth" to manufacture powder, and that others had invented cannon,
"those devilish iron engines," as the poet Spenser called them, "ordained
to kill," all was different. Without artillery, the old feudal army, with
its bows, swords, and battle-axes, could do little against a king like
Henry who had it. For this reason, the whole kingdom lay at his mercy; and
though the nobles and the rich might groan, they saw that it was useless to
fight.

=384. The Pretenders Symnel and Warbeck.=--During Henry's reign, two
pretenders laid claim to the crown: Lambert Symnel, who represented himself
to be Edward Plantagenet, nephew of the late king; and Perkin Warbeck, who
asserted that he was Richard, Duke of York, generally and rightly supposed
to have been murdered in the Tower by his uncle, Richard III. Symnel's
attempt was easily suppressed, and he commuted his claim to the crown for
the position of scullion in the king's kitchen. Warbeck kept the kingdom in
a turmoil for more than five years, during which time one hundred and fifty
of his adherents were executed, and their bodies exposed on gibbets along
the South shore to deter their master's French supporters from landing. At
length Warbeck was captured, imprisoned, and finally hanged at Tyburn.

=385. Henry's Politic Marriages.=--Henry accomplished more by the marriages
of his children and by diplomacy than other monarchs had by their wars. He
gave his daughter Margaret to King James IV. of Scotland, and thus
prepared the way for the union of the two kingdoms. He married his eldest
son, Prince Arthur, to Catharine of Aragon, daughter of the king of Spain,
by which he secured a very large marriage portion for the prince, and what
was of equal importance, the alliance of Spain against France. Arthur died
soon afterwards, and the king got a dispensation from the Pope, granting
him permission to marry his younger son Henry to Arthur's widow. It was
this prince who eventually became king of England, with the title of Henry
VIII., and we shall hereafter see that this marriage was destined by its
results to change the whole course of the country's history.

=386. The World as known at Henry's Accession.=--The king also took some
small part in certain other events, which seemed to him, at the time, of
less consequence than these matrimonial alliances, but which history has
regarded in a different light from that in which the cunning and cautious
monarch considered them. A glance at the map[258] will show how different
our world is from that with which the English of Henry's time were
acquainted. Then, the earth was not supposed to be a globe, but simply a
flat body surrounded by the ocean. The only countries of which anything was
certainly known, with the exception of Europe, were parts of Western Asia,
together with a small strip of the northern and eastern coast of Africa.
The knowledge which had once existed of India, China, and Japan appears to
have died out in great measure with the travellers and merchants of earlier
times who had brought it. The land farthest west of which anything was then
known was Iceland.

[258] See Map No. 11, page 186.

=387. First Voyages of Exploration; the Cabots.=--About the time of Henry's
accession a new spirit of exploration sprang up. The Portuguese had coasted
along Africa as far as the Gulf of Guinea, and there established
trading-posts. Stimulated by what they had done, Columbus, who believed the
earth to be round, determined to sail westward in the hope of reaching the
Indies. In 1492 he made his first voyage, and discovered one of the West
India Islands.

Five years later, John Cabot, a Venetian residing in Bristol, England, with
his son Sebastian, who was probably born there, persuaded the king to aid
them in a similar undertaking. On a map drawn by the father after his
return we read the following lines: "In the year of our Lord 1497, John
Cabot and his son Sebastian discovered that country which no one before his
time had ventured to approach, on the 24th June, about 5 o'clock in the
morning." That entry records the discovery of Newfoundland, which led a few
days later to that of the mainland of North America, which was thus first
seen by the Cabots.

As an offset to that record we have the following, taken from the king's
private account-book: "10. Aug. 1497, To him that found the new isle £10."

Such was the humble beginning of a series of explorations which gave
England possession of the largest part of the North American continent.

[Illustration: Map No. 11--THE WORLD SHORTLY AFTER THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VII.

Light arrows show voyages south made up to 1492; (light track, Da Gama's
voyage, 1497).

Dark arrows, voyages of Columbus and Cabot.

White crosses, countries of which something was known before 1492.

White area, including western coast of Africa, the world as known shortly
after Henry VII.'s accession.]

=388. Henry VII.'s Reign the Beginning of a New Epoch.=--A few years after
Cabot's return Henry laid the corner-stone of that "solemn and sumptuous
chapel" which bears his own name, and which joins Westminster Abbey on the
east. There he gave orders that his tomb should be erected, and that
prayers should be said over it "as long as the world lasted." Emerson
remarks[259] that when the visitor to the Abbey mounts the flight of twelve
black marble steps which lead from it to the edifice where Henry lies
buried, he passes from the mediæval to the beginning of the modern age--a
change which the architecture itself distinctly marks. The true
significance of Henry's reign is, that it, in like manner, stands for a new
epoch, new in modes of government, in law, in geographical discovery, in
letters, art, and religion.

[259] English Traits.

The century just closing was indeed one of the most remarkable in
history, not only in what it had actually accomplished, but still more in
the seed it was sowing for the future. The artist Kaulbach, in his fresco
entitled "The Age of the Reformation,"[260] has summed up all that it was,
and all that it was destined to become in its full development. Therein we
see it as the period which witnessed the introduction of firearms, and the
consequent overthrow of feudal warfare and feudal institutions; the growth
of the power of royalty and of nationality through royalty; the sailing of
Columbus and of Cabot; the revival of classical learning; the publication
of the first printed book; and finally, the birth of that monk, Martin
Luther, who was to emancipate the human mind from its long bondage to
unmeaning tradition and arbitrary authority.

[260] Kaulbach's (Kowl´băk) Age of the Reformation: one of a historical
series of colossal wall paintings in the Berlin Museum.

=389. Summary.=--Looking back, we find that with Henry the absolutism of
the crown or "personal monarchy" began in England. Yet through its
repressive power the country gained a prolonged peace, and, despite
"benevolences" and other exactions, it grew into stronger national unity.

Simultaneously with this increase of royal authority came the discovery of
a new world, in which England was to have the chief part. A century will
elapse before those discoveries bear fruit. After that, our attention will
no longer be confined to the British Islands, but will be fixed as well on
that western continent where English enterprise and English love of liberty
are destined to find a new and broader field of activity.


HENRY VIII.--1509-1547.

=390. Henry's Advantages.=--Henry was not quite eighteen when he came to
the throne. The country was at peace, was fairly prosperous, and the young
king had everything in his favor. He was handsome, well-educated, and fond
of athletic sports. His frank disposition won friends everywhere, and he
had inherited from his father the largest private fortune that had ever
descended to an English sovereign. Intellectually, he was in hearty
sympathy with the revival of learning, then in progress both on the
continent and in England.

=391. The New Learning; Colet, Erasmus, More.=--During the greater part of
the Middle Ages the chief object of education was to make men monks, and
originally the schools established at Oxford and Cambridge were exclusively
for that purpose. In their day they did excellent work; but a time came
when men ceased to found monasteries, and began to erect colleges and
hospitals instead.[261] In the course of the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries William of Wykeham and King Henry VI. built and endowed colleges
which were specially designed to fit their pupils to live in the world and
serve the state, instead of withdrawing from it to seek their own
salvation. These new institutions encouraged a broader range of studies,
and in Henry VI.'s time particular attention was given to the Latin
classics, hitherto but little known. The geographical discoveries of Henry
VII.'s reign, made by Columbus, Cabot, and others, began to stimulate
scientific thought, and it was evident that the day was not far distant
when questions about the earth and the stars would no longer be settled by
a text from Scripture which forbade further inquiry.

[261] In the twelfth century 418 monasteries were founded in England; in
the next century only about a third as many; in the fourteenth only 23;
after that date their establishment may be said to cease.

With the accession of Henry VIII. education received a still further
impulse. A few zealous English scholars had just returned from Italy to
Oxford, full of ardor for a new study,--that of Greek. Among them was a
young clergyman named John Colet. He saw that by means of that language, of
which the alphabet was as yet hardly known in England, men might put
themselves in direct communication with the greatest thinkers and writers
of the past. Better still, they might acquire the power of reading the
Gospels and the writings of St. Paul in the original, and thus reach their
true meaning and feel their full influence. Colet's intimate friend and
fellow-worker, the Dutch scholar Erasmus, had the same enthusiasm. When in
sore need of everything, he wrote in one of his letters, "As soon as I get
some money I shall buy Greek books, and then I may buy some clothes." The
third young man, who, with Erasmus and Colet devoted himself to the study
of Greek and to the advancement of learning, was Thomas More, who later
became lord chancellor. The three looked to King Henry for encouragement in
the work they had undertaken; nor did they look in vain. Colet, who had
become a doctor of divinity and a dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, London,
encountered a furious storm of opposition on account of his devotion to the
"New Learning," as it was sneeringly called. His attempts at educational
reform met the same resistance. But Henry stood by him, liking the man's
spirit, and saying, "Let others have what doctors they will; this is the
doctor for me." The king also took a lively interest in Erasmus, who was
appointed professor of Greek at Cambridge, where he began his great work of
preparing an edition of the Greek Testament with a Latin translation in
parallel columns. Up to this time the Greek Testament had existed in
scattered manuscripts only. The publication of the work in printed form
gave an additional impetus to the study of the Scriptures, helped forward
the Reformation, and in a measure laid the foundation for a revised English
translation of the Bible far superior to Wycliffe's. In the same spirit of
genuine love of learning, Henry founded Trinity College, Cambridge, and at
a later date confirmed and extended Cardinal Wolsey's endowment of Christ
Church College, Oxford.

=392. Henry versus Luther.=--The king continued, however, to be a stanch
Catholic, and certainly had no thought at this period of doing anything
which should tend to undermine that ancient form of worship. In Germany,
Martin Luther was making ready to begin his tremendous battle against the
power and teachings of the Papacy. In 1517 he nailed to the door of the
church of Wittenberg that famous series of denunciations which started the
movement that ultimately protested against the authority of Rome, and gave
the name of Protestant to all who joined it. A few years later Henry
published a reply to one of Luther's books, and sent a copy bound in cloth
of gold to the Pope. The Pope was so delighted with what he termed Henry's
"angelic spirit," that he forthwith conferred on him that title of
"Defender of the Faith," which the English sovereigns have persisted in
retaining to the present time, though for what reason, and with what right,
even a royal intellect might be somewhat puzzled to explain. With the new
and flattering title the Pope also sent the king a costly two-handed sword,
intended to represent Henry's zeal in smiting the enemies of Rome, but
destined by fate to be the symbol of the king's final separation from the
power that bestowed it.

=393. Victory of Flodden; Field of the Cloth of Gold.=--Politically, Henry
was equally fortunate. The Scotch had ventured to attack the kingdom during
the king's absence on the continent. They were defeated at Flodden by the
Earl of Surrey, with great slaughter. This victory placed Scotland at
Henry's feet.[262]

[262] See Scott's Marmion.

The king of France and the emperor Charles V. of Germany now vied with each
other in seeking Henry's alliance. The emperor visited England in order to
meet the English sovereign, while the king of France arranged an interview
in his own dominions, known, from the magnificence of its appointments, as
the "Field of the Cloth of Gold." Henry held the balance of power by which
he could make France or Germany predominate as he saw fit. It was owing to
his able diplomatic policy that England reaped advantages from both sides,
and advanced from a comparatively low position to one that was fully
abreast of the foremost nations of Europe.

=394. Henry's Marriage with his Brother's Widow.=--Such was the king at the
outset. In less than twenty years he had become another man. At the age of
twelve he had married,[263] at his father's command, and solely for
political and mercenary reasons, Catharine of Aragon, his brother Arthur's
widow, who was six years his senior. Such a marriage was forbidden, except
in certain cases, both by the Old Testament and by the ordinances of the
Roman Catholic Church. The Pope, however, had granted his permission, and
when Henry ascended the throne, the ceremony was performed a second time.
Several children were the fruit of this union, all of whom died in infancy,
except one daughter, Mary, unhappily fated to figure as the "Bloody Mary"
of later history.

[263] See Hallam; other authorities call it a solemn betrothal.

=395. The King's Anxiety for a Successor; Anne Boleyn.=--No woman had yet
ruled in her own right, either in England or in any prominent kingdom of
Europe; and so anxious was Henry to have a son to succeed him, that he had
several years before sent the Duke of Buckingham to the block for casually
saying, that if the king died without issue, he should consider himself
entitled to receive the crown.

It was while meditating this question of the succession, that Henry became
attached to Anne Boleyn, one of the queen's maids of honor, a sprightly
brunette of nineteen, with long black hair and strikingly beautiful eyes.

The light that shone in those eyes, though hardly that "Gospel-light" which
the poet calls it,[264] was yet bright enough to effectually clear up all
difficulties in the royal mind. The king now felt conscientiously moved to
obtain a divorce from the old wife, and to marry a new one. In that
determination lay most momentous consequences, since it finally separated
England from the jurisdiction of the church of Rome.

[264]
    "When love could teach a monarch to be wise,
    And Gospel-light first dawned from Bullen's [Boleyn's] eyes."--GRAY.

=396. Wolsey favors the Divorce from Catharine.=--Cardinal Wolsey, Henry's
chief counsellor, lent his powerful aid to bring about the divorce, but
with the expectation that the king would marry a princess of France, and
thus form an alliance with that country. If so, his own ambitious schemes
would be forwarded, since the united influence of the two kingdoms might
elevate him to the Papacy. When Wolsey learned that the king's choice was
Anne Boleyn, he fell on his knees, and begged him not to persist in his
purpose; but his entreaties had no effect, and the cardinal was obliged to
continue what he had begun.

=397. The Court at Blackfriars.=--Application had been made to the Pope to
annul the marriage with Catharine on the ground of illegality; but the Pope
was in the power of the emperor, Charles V., who was the queen's nephew.
Vexatious delays now became the order of the day. At last, a court composed
of Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio, an Italian, as papal legates, or
representatives, was convened at Blackfriars, London, to test the validity
of the marriage. Henry and Catharine were summoned. The first appeared and
answered to his name. When the queen was called she declined to answer, but
throwing herself at Henry's feet, begged him with tears and sobs not to put
her away without cause. Finding him inflexible, she left the court, and
refused to attend again, appealing to Rome for justice.

This was in the spring of 1529. Nothing was done that summer, and in the
autumn, the court, instead of reaching a decision, dissolved. Campeggio,
the Italian legate, returned to Italy, and Henry, to his disappointment and
rage, received an order from Rome to carry the question to the Pope for
settlement.

=398. Fall of Wolsey.=--Both the king and Anne Boleyn believed that Wolsey
had played false with them. They now resolved upon his destruction. The
cardinal had a presentiment of his impending doom. The French ambassador,
who saw him at this juncture, said that his face had shrunk to half its
size. But his fortunes were destined to shrink even more than his face. By
a law of Richard II. no representative of the Pope had any rightful
authority in England.[265] Though the king had given his consent to
Wolsey's holding the office of legate, yet now that a contrary result to
what he expected had been reached, he proceeded to prosecute him to the
full extent of the law.

[265] See Paragraph No. 317.

It was an easy matter to crush the cardinal. His arrogance and extravagant
ostentation had excited the jealous hate of the nobility; his constant
demands for money in behalf of the king had set Parliament against him; and
his exactions from the common people had, as the chronicle of the time
tells us, made them weep, beg, and "speak cursedly." Wolsey bowed to the
storm, and to save himself gave up everything; his riches, pomp, power, all
vanished as suddenly as they had come. It was Henry's hand that stripped
him, but it was Anne Boleyn who moved that hand. Well might the humbled
favorite say of her:--

    "There was the weight that pulled me down.
        . . . all my glories
    In that one woman I have lost forever."[266]

[266] Shakespeare's Henry VIII., Act III. Sc. 2.

Thus deprived of well-nigh everything but life, Wolsey was permitted to go
into retirement in the north; but a twelvemonth later he was arrested on a
charge of high treason; and as the irony of fate would have it, the warrant
was served by a former lover of Anne Boleyn's, whom Wolsey, it is said, had
separated from her in order that she might consummate her unhappy marriage
with royalty. On the way to London Wolsey fell mortally ill, and turned
aside at Leicester to die in the abbey there, with the words:--

            " . . . O, Father Abbot,
    An old man, broken with the storms of state,
    Is come to lay his weary bones among ye:
    Give him a little earth for charity!"[267]

[267] Shakespeare's Henry VIII., Act IV. Sc. 2.

=399. Appeal to the Universities.=--Before Wolsey's death, Dr. Thomas
Cranmer, of Cambridge, suggested that the king lay the divorce question
before the universities of Europe. Henry caught eagerly at this
proposition, and exclaimed, "Cranmer has the right pig by the ear." The
scheme was at once adopted. Several universities returned favorable
answers. In a few instances, as at Oxford and Cambridge, where the
authorities hesitated, a judicious use of bribes or threats soon brought
them to see the matter in a proper light.

=400. The Clergy declare Henry Head of the Church.=--Armed with these
decisions in his favor, Henry now charged the whole body of the English
church with being guilty of the same crime of which Wolsey had been
accused. In their terror they made haste to buy a pardon at a cost reckoned
at nearly $5,000,000 at the present value of money. They furthermore
declared Henry to be the supreme head on earth of the church of England,
adroitly adding, "in so far as is permitted by the law of Christ." Thus the
Reformation came into England "by a side door, as it were." Nevertheless,
it came.

=401. Henry marries Anne Boleyn; Act of Supremacy.=--Events now moved
rapidly toward a crisis. Thomas Cromwell, Wolsey's former servant and fast
friend, succeeded him in the king's favor. In 1533, after having waited
over five years, Henry privately married Anne, and she was soon after
crowned in Westminster Abbey. When the Pope was informed of this, he
ordered the king, under pain of excommunication, to put her away, and to
take back Catharine. In 1534 Parliament met that demand by passing the Act
of Supremacy, which declared Henry to be without reservation the sole head
of the church, making denial thereof high treason.[268] As he signed the
act, the king with one stroke of his pen overturned the traditions of a
thousand years, and England stood boldly forth with a national church
independent of the Pope.

[268] Henry's full title was now "Henry VIII., by the Grace of God, King of
England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith and of the Church of
England, and also of Ireland, on earth the Supreme Head."

=402. Subserviency of Parliament.=--But as Luther said, Henry had a pope
within him. Through Cromwell's zealous aid he now proceeded to prove it.
We have already seen that since the Wars of the Roses had destroyed the
power of the barons, there was no effectual check on the despotic will of
the king. The new nobility were the creatures of the crown, and hence bound
to support it; the clergy were timid, the commons anything but bold, so
that Parliament gradually became the servile echo and ready instrument of
the throne, and empowered the king on his reaching the age of twenty-four
to annul whatever legislative enactments he pleased of those which had been
passed since his accession. It now humiliated itself still further by
promulgating that law, in itself the destruction of all law, which enabled
Henry by his simple proclamation to declare any opinions he disliked,
heretical, and punishable with death.

=403. Execution of More and Fisher.=--Cromwell in his crooked and cruel
policy had reduced bloodshed to a science. He first introduced the practice
of condemning an accused prisoner without allowing him to speak in his own
defence. No one was now safe who did not openly side with the king. Sir
Thomas More, who had been lord chancellor, and the aged Bishop Fisher were
executed because they could not affirm that they conscientiously believed
that Henry was morally and spiritually entitled to be the head of the
English church. Both died with Christian fortitude. More said to the
governor of the Tower with a flash of his old humor, as the steps leading
to the scaffold shook while he was mounting them, "Do you see me safe up,
and I will make shift to get down by myself."

=404. Suppression of the Monasteries; Seizure of their Property.=--When the
intelligence of the judicial murder of the venerable ex-chancellor reached
Rome, the Pope proceeded to issue a bull of excommunication and deposition
against Henry, by which he delivered his soul to the devil, and his kingdom
to the first invader. The king retaliated by the suppression of the
monasteries. In doing so, he simply hastened a process which had already
begun. Years before, Cardinal Wolsey had not scrupled to shut up several,
and take their revenues to found a college at Oxford. The truth was, that
monasticism had done its work, and as a recent writer has well said, "was
dead long before the Reformation came to bury it."[269]

[269] Armitage, Childhood of the English Nation.

Henry, however, had no such worthy object as Wolsey had. His pretext was
that these institutions had sunk into a state of ignorance, drunkenness,
and profligacy.

Their vices, however, the king had already made his own. It was their
wealth which he now coveted. The smaller religious houses were speedily
swept out of existence. This caused a furious insurrection in the north,
but the revolt was soon put down.

Though Parliament had readily given its sanction to the extinction of the
smaller monasteries, it hesitated about abolishing the greater ones. Henry,
it is reported, sent for a leading member of the House of Commons, and
laying his hand on the head of the kneeling representative, said, "Get my
bill passed by to-morrow, little man, or else to-morrow this head of yours
will come off." The next day the bill passed, and the work of destruction
began anew. It involved the confiscation of millions of property, and the
summary execution of abbots, who, like those of Glastonbury and Charter
House, dared to resist.[270]

[270] The total number of religious houses destroyed was 645 monasteries,
2374 chapels, 90 collegiate churches, and 110 charitable institutions.
Among the most famous of these ruins are Kirkstall, Furness, Netley,
Tintern, and Fountains Abbeys.

The magnificent monastic buildings throughout England were now stripped of
everything of value, and left as ruins. The beautiful windows of stained
glass were wantonly broken; the images of the saints were cast down from
their niches; the chimes of bells were melted and cast into cannon; while
the valuable libraries were torn up and sold to grocers and soap-boilers
for wrapping-paper. At Canterbury, Becket's tomb was broken open, and after
he had been four centuries in his grave, the saint was summoned to answer a
charge of rebellion and treason. The case was tried at Westminster Abbey,
the martyr's bones were sentenced to be burned, and the jewels and rich
offerings of his shrine were seized by the king.

Among the few monastic buildings which escaped was the beautiful abbey
church of Peterborough, where Catharine of Aragon, who died soon after the
king's marriage with her rival, was buried. Henry had the grace to give
orders that on her account it should be spared, saying that he would leave
to her memory "one of the goodliest monuments in Christendom."

The great estates thus suddenly acquired by the crown were granted to
favorites or thrown away at the gambling-table. "It is from this date,"
says Hallam, "that the leading families of England, both within and without
the peerage, became conspicuous through having obtained possession of the
monastery lands." These were estimated to comprise about one-fourth of the
whole area of the kingdom.

=405. Effects of the Destruction of the Monasteries.=--The sweeping
character of this act had a twofold effect. First, it made the king more
absolute than before, for, since it removed the abbots, who had had seats
in the House of Lords, that body was made just so much smaller and less
able to resist the royal will.

Next, the abolition of so many religious institutions necessarily caused
great misery to those who were turned out upon the world destitute of means
and without ability to work. In the end, however, no permanent injury was
done, since the monasteries, by their profuse and indiscriminate charity,
had undoubtedly encouraged much of the very pauperism which they had
relieved.

=406. Distress among the Laboring Classes.=--An industrial revolution was
also in progress at this time which was productive of wide-spread
suffering. It had begun early in Henry's reign through the great numbers of
discharged soldiers, who could not readily find work. Sir Thomas More had
given a striking picture of their miserable condition in his "Utopia," a
book in which he urged the government to consider measures for their
relief; but the evil had since become much worse. Farmers, having
discovered that wool-growing was more profitable than the raising of
grain, had turned their fields into sheep-pastures; so that a shepherd with
his dog now took the place of several families of laborers. This change
brought multitudes of poor people to the verge of starvation; and as the
monasteries no longer existed to hold out a helping hand, the whole realm
was overrun with beggars and thieves. Bishop Latimer, a noted preacher of
that day, declared that if every farmer should raise two acres of hemp, it
would not make rope enough to hang them all. Henry, however, set to work
with characteristic vigor, and it is said made way with over 70,000, but
without materially abating the evil.

=407. Execution of Anne Boleyn; Marriage with Jane Seymour.=--In 1536, less
than three years after her coronation, the new queen, Anne Boleyn, for whom
Henry had "turned England and Europe upside down," was accused of
unfaithfulness. She was sent a prisoner to the Tower. A short time after,
her head rolled in the dust, the light of its beauty gone out forever.

The next morning Henry married Jane Seymour, Anne's maid of honor.
Parliament passed an act of approval, declaring that it was all done "of
the king's most excellent goodness." A year later the queen died, leaving a
son, Edward. She was no sooner gone than the king began looking about for
some one to take her place.

=408. More Marriages.=--This time Cromwell had projects of his own for a
German Protestant alliance. He succeeded in persuading his master to agree
to marry Anne of Cleves, a German princess, whom the king had never seen,
but whom the painter Holbein represented in a portrait as a woman of
surpassing beauty.

When Anne reached England, Henry hurried to meet her with all a lover's
ardor. To his dismay, he found that not only was she ridiculously ugly, but
that she could speak--so he said--"nothing but Dutch," of which he did not
understand a word. Matters, however, had gone too far to retract, and the
marriage was duly solemnized. The king obtained a divorce within six
months, and then took his revenge by cutting off Cromwell's head.

The same year Henry married Catharine Howard, a fascinating girl still in
her teens, whose charms so moved the king that it is said he was tempted to
have a special thanksgiving service prepared to commemorate the day he
found her. Unfortunately, Catharine had fallen into dishonor before her
marriage. She tried hard to keep the terrible secret, but finding it
impossible, confessed her fault. For such cases Henry had no mercy. The
queen was tried for high treason, and soon walked that road in which Anne
Boleyn had preceded her.

Not to be baffled in his matrimonial experiments, the king, in 1543, took
Catherine Parr for his sixth and last wife. She, too, would have gone to
the block, on a charge of heresy, had not her quick wit saved her by a
happily turned compliment, which flattered the king's self-conceit as a
profound theologian.

=409. Henry's Action respecting Religion.=--Though occupied with these
rather numerous domestic infelicities, Henry was not idle in other
directions. By an act known as the Six Articles, or, as the Protestants
called it, the "Bloody Act," the king established a new form of religion,
which in words, at least, was practically the same as that upheld by the
Pope, but with the Pope left out. Geographically, the country was about
equally divided between Catholicism and Protestantism. The northern and
western half clung to the ancient faith; the southern and eastern,
including most of the large cities where Wycliffe's doctrines had formerly
prevailed, was favorable to the Reformation. On the one hand, Henry
prohibited the Lutheran doctrine; on the other, he caused the Bible to be
translated, and ordered a copy to be chained to a desk in every parish
church in England; but though all persons might now freely read the
Scriptures, no one but the clergy was allowed to interpret them. Later in
his reign, the king became alarmed at the spread of discussion about
religious subjects, and prohibited the reading of the Bible by the "lower
sort of people."

=410. Heresy versus Treason.=--Men now found themselves in a strange and
cruel dilemma. If it was dangerous to believe too much, it was equally
dangerous to believe too little. Traitor and heretic were dragged to
execution on the same hurdle: for Henry burned as heretics those who
declared their belief in Protestantism, and hanged as traitors those who
acknowledged the authority of the Pope. Thus Anne Askew, a young and
beautiful woman, was nearly wrenched asunder on the rack, in the hope of
making her implicate the queen in her heresy, and afterward burned because
she insisted that the bread and wine used in the communion service seemed
to her to be simply bread and wine, and not in any sense the actual body
and blood of Christ, as the king's statute of the "Six Articles" solemnly
declared. On the other hand, the aged Countess of Salisbury suffered for
treason; but with a spirit matching the king's, she refused to kneel at the
block, and told the executioner he must get her gray head off as best he
could.

=411. Henry's Death.=--But the time was at hand when Henry was to cease his
hangings, beheadings, and marriages. Worn out with debauchery, he died at
the age of fifty-six, a loathsome, unwieldy, and helpless mass of
corruption. In his will he left a large sum of money to pay for perpetual
prayers for the repose of his soul. Sir Walter Raleigh said of him, "If all
the pictures and patterns of a merciless prince were lost in the world,
they might all again be painted to the life out of the story of this king."
It may be well to remember this, and along with it this other saying of the
ablest living writer on English constitutional history, that "the world
owes some of its greatest debts to men from whose memory it recoils."[271]
The obligation it is under to Henry VIII. is that through his influence--no
matter what the motive--England was lifted up out of the old mediæval ruts,
and placed squarely and securely on the new highway of national progress.

[271] Stubbs's Constitutional History of England.

=412. Summary.=--In this reign we find that though England lost much of her
former political freedom, yet she gained that order and peace which came
from the iron hand of absolute power. Next, from the suppression of the
monasteries, and the sale or gift of their lands to favorites of the king,
three results ensued: (1) a new nobility was in great measure created,
dependent on the crown; (2) the House of Lords was made less powerful by
the removal of the abbots who had had seats in it; (3) pauperism was for a
time largely increased, and much distress caused. Finally, England
completely severed her connection with the Pope, and established for the
first time an independent national church, having the king as its head.


EDWARD VI.--1547-1553.

=413. Bad Government; Seizure of Unenclosed Lands; High Rents; Latimer's
Sermon.=--Edward, son of Henry VIII. by Jane Seymour, died at sixteen. In
the first of his reign of six years the government was managed by his
uncle, the Duke of Somerset, an extreme Protestant, whose intentions were
good, but who lacked practical judgment. During the latter part of his life
Edward fell under the control of the Duke of Northumberland, who was the
head of a band of scheming and profligate men. They, with other nobles,
seized the unenclosed lands of the country and fenced them in for sheep
pastures, thus driving into beggary many who had formerly got a good part
of their living from these commons. At the same time farm rents rose in
some cases ten and even twenty-fold,[272] depriving thousands of the means
of subsistence, and reducing many who had been in comfortable circumstances
to poverty.

[272] This was owing to the greed for land on the part of the mercantile
classes, who had now acquired wealth, and wished to become landed
proprietors. See Froude's England.

The bitter complaints of the sufferers found expression in Bishop Latimer's
outspoken sermon preached before the king, in which he said: "My father was
a yeoman [small farmer], and had no lands of his own, only he had a farm of
three or four pounds [rent] by year, and hereupon tilled so much as kept
half a dozen men; he had walk [pasture] for a hundred sheep, and my mother
milked thirty kine. He was able and did find the king a harness [suit of
armor] with himself and his horse, until he came to the place where he
should receive the king's wages. I can remember that I buckled his harness
when he went into Blackheath Field. He kept me to school, or else I had not
been able to have preached before the king's majesty now. He married my
sisters with five pounds . . . apiece. He kept hospitality for his poor
neighbors, and some alms he gave to the poor. And all this he did off the
said farm, where he that now hath it payeth sixteen pounds a year or more,
and is not able to do anything for his prince, for himself, nor for his
children, or give a cup of drink to the poor." But as Latimer pathetically
said, "Let the preacher preach till his tongue be worn to the stumps,
nothing is amended."[273]

[273] Latimer's first sermon before King Edward VI., 8th of March, 1549.

=414. Edward establishes Protestantism.=--Henry had established the Church
of England as an independent organization. His son took the next great
step, and made it Protestant in doctrine. At his desire, Archbishop Cranmer
compiled a book of Common Prayer, taken largely from the Roman Catholic
Prayer-book. This collection all churches were now obliged by law to use.
Edward's sister, the Princess Mary, was a firm Catholic. She refused to
adopt the new service, saying to Ridley, who urged her to accept it as
God's word, "I cannot tell what you call God's word, for that is not God's
word now which was God's word in my father's time." It was at this period,
also, that the Articles of Faith of the Church of England were first drawn
up.

=415. King Edward and Mary Stuart.=--Henry VIII. had attempted to marry his
son Edward to young Queen Mary Stuart, daughter of the king of Scotland,
but the match had been broken off. Edward's guardian now insisted that it
should be carried out. He invaded Scotland with an army, and attempted to
effect the marriage by force of arms, at the battle of Pinkie. The English
gained a decided victory, but the youthful queen, instead of giving her
hand to young King Edward, left the country and married the son of the king
of France. She will appear with melancholy prominence in the reign of
Elizabeth. Had she married Edward, we should perhaps have been spared that
tragedy in which she was called to play both the leading and the losing
part.

=416. Renewed Confiscation of Church Property; Schools founded.=--The
confiscation of such Roman Catholic church property as had been spared was
now renewed. The result of this and of the abandonment of Catholicism was
in certain respects disastrous to the country. In this general break-up,
many who had been held in restraint by the old forms of faith now went to
the other extreme, and rejected all religion.

Part, however, of the money thus obtained from the sale of church property
was devoted, mainly through Edward's influence, to the endowment of upwards
of forty grammar schools, besides a number of hospitals, in different
sections of the country. But for a long time the destruction of the
monastic schools, poor as they were, was a serious blow to the education of
the common people.

=417. Edward's London Charities; Christ's Hospital.=--Just before his death
Edward established Christ's Hospital, and refounded and renewed the
hospitals of St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew in London. Thus "he was the
founder," says Burnet, "of those houses which, by many great additions
since that time, have risen to be amongst the noblest of Europe."[274]

[274] Burnet: History of the Reformation in England.

Christ's Hospital was, perhaps, the first Protestant charity school opened
in England; many more were patterned on it. It is generally known as the
Blue-Coat School, from the costume of the boys--a relic of the days of
Edward VI. This consists of a long blue coat, like a monk's gown, reaching
to the ankles, girded with a broad leathern belt, long, bright yellow
stockings, and buckled shoes. The boys go bareheaded winter and summer. An
exciting game of foot-ball, played in the schoolyard in this peculiar
mediæval dress, seems strangely in contrast with the sights of modern
London streets. It is as though the spectator, by passing through a
gateway, had gone back over three centuries of time. Coleridge, Lamb, and
other noted men of letters were educated here, and have left most
interesting reminiscences of their school life, especially the latter, in
his delightful "Essays of Elia."[275]

[275] See Lamb's Essays, "Christ's Hospital." Hospital, so called because
intended for "poor, fatherless children." The word was then often used in
the sense of asylum, or "home."

=418. Effect of Catholicism versus Protestantism.=--Speaking of the
Protestant Reformation, of which Edward VI. may be taken as a
representative, Macaulay remarks that "it is difficult to say whether
England received most advantage from the Roman Catholic religion or from
the Reformation. For the union of the Saxon and Norman races, and the
abolition of slavery, she is chiefly indebted to the influences which the
priesthood in the Middle Ages exercised over the people; for political and
intellectual freedom, and for all the blessings which they have brought in
their train, she owes most to the great rebellion of the people against the
priesthood."

=419. Summary.=--The establishment of the Protestant faith in England, and
of a large number of free Protestant schools known as Edward VI.'s schools,
may be regarded as the leading events of Edward's brief reign of six years.


MARY.--1553-1558.

=420. Lady Jane Grey claims the Crown.=--On the death of Edward, Lady Jane
Grey, a descendant of Henry VII., and a distant relative of Edward VI., was
persuaded by her father-in-law, the Duke of Northumberland, to assume the
crown, which had been left to her by the will of the late king. Edward's
object in naming Lady Jane was to secure a Protestant successor, since his
elder sister, Mary, was a devout Catholic, while from his younger sister,
Elizabeth, he seems for some reason to have been estranged. Mary was
without doubt the rightful heir.[276] She received the support of the
country, and Lady Jane Grey and her husband, Lord Dudley, were sent to the
Tower.

[276] Table showing some of the descendants of Henry VII., with the
respective claims of Queen Mary and Lady Jane Grey to the crown.

                             =Henry VII.=[*]
     1             2               ||            3             4
     +-------------+===============+-------------+-------------+
     |            ||                             |             |
  Arthur,     =Henry VIII.=                   Margaret.     Mary, m.
  b. 1486,        ||                             |          Charles
  d. 1502,        ||                             |          Brandon.
  no issue.       ||                        James V. of        |
           +======+======+=========+         Scotland,         |
          ||             ||        ||        d. 1542.          |
      =Mary=,       Elizabeth,  Edward VI.,      |           Frances
      b. 1516,       b. 1533,    b. 1538,        |           Brandon, m.
      d. 1558.       d. 1603.    d. 1553.   Mary Queen of    Henry Grey.
                                            Scots, b. 1542,    |
                                            d. 1587.        =Jane Grey=, m.
                                                 |          Lord Guilford
                                            James VI. of    Dudley,
                                            Scotland and    beheaded
                                            I. of England,  1554.
                                            crowned 1603.

[*] The heavy lines indicate the direct order of succession. Next after
Henry VIII.'s descendants the claim would go to the descendants of Margaret
(No. 3), and lastly to those of Mary, wife of Charles Brandon (No. 4).

=421. Question of Mary's Marriage; Wyatt's Rebellion.=--While they were
confined there, the question of the queen's marriage came up. Out of
several candidates for her hand, Mary gave preference to her cousin, Philip
II. of Spain. Her choice was very unpopular, for it was known in England
that Philip was a selfish and gloomy fanatic, who cared for nothing but the
advancement of the Roman Catholic faith.

An insurrection now broke out, led by Sir Thomas Wyatt, the object of which
was to place the Princess Elizabeth on the throne, and thus secure the
crown to Protestantism. Lady Jane Grey's father was implicated in the
rebellion. The movement ended in failure, the leaders were executed, and
Mary ordered her sister Elizabeth, who was thought to be in the plot, to
be seized and imprisoned in the Tower.

A little later, Lady Jane Grey and her husband perished on the scaffold.
The name, =JANE=, deeply cut in the stone wall of the Beauchamp Tower,[277]
remains as a memorial of the nine days' queen. She died at the age of
seventeen, an innocent victim of the greatness which had been thrust upon
her.

[277] The Beauchamp Tower is part of the Tower of London. On its walls are
scores of names cut by those who were imprisoned in it.

=422. Mary marries Philip II. of Spain; Efforts to restore Catholicism.=--A
few months afterward the royal marriage was celebrated, but Philip soon
found that the air of England had too much freedom in it to suit his
delicate constitution, and he returned to the more congenial climate of
Spain.

From that time Mary, who was left to rule alone, directed all her efforts
to the restoration of the Catholic church. She repealed the legislation of
Henry VIII.'s and Edward VI.'s reign, so far as it gave support to
Protestantism. The old relations with Rome were resumed. To accomplish her
object in supporting her religion, the queen resorted to the arguments of
the dungeon, the rack, and the fagot, and when Bishops Bonner and Gardiner
slackened their work of persecution and death, Mary, half-crazed by
Philip's desertion, urged them not to stay their hands.

=423. Devices for reading the Bible.=--The penalty for reading the English
Scriptures, or for offering Protestant prayers, was death. In his
autobiography, Benjamin Franklin says that one of his ancestors, who lived
in England in Mary's reign, adopted the following expedient for giving his
family religious instruction: He fastened an open Bible with strips of tape
on the under side of a stool. When he wished to read it aloud he placed the
stool upside down on his knees, and turned the pages under the tape as he
read them. One of the children stood watching at the door to give the alarm
if any one approached; in that case, the stool was set quickly on its feet
again on the floor, so that nothing could be seen.

=424. Religions Toleration Unknown in Mary's Age.=--Mary would doubtless
have bravely endured for her faith the full measure of suffering which she
inflicted. Her state of mind was that of all who then held strong
convictions. Each party believed it a duty to convert or exterminate the
other, and the alternative offered to the heretic was to "turn or burn."

Sir Thomas More, who gave his life as a sacrifice to conscience in Henry's
reign, was eager to put Tyndale to the torture for translating the Bible.
Cranmer, who perished at Oxford, had been zealous in sending to the flames
those who differed from him. Even Latimer, who died bravely at the stake,
exhorting his companion Ridley "to be of good cheer and play the man, since
they would light such a candle in England that day as in God's grace should
not be put out," had abetted the kindling of slow fires under men as honest
and determined as himself but on the opposite side. In like spirit Queen
Mary kept Smithfield ablaze with martyrs, whose blood was the seed of
Protestantism. Yet persecution under Mary never reached the proportions
that it did on the continent. At the most, but a few hundred died in
England for the sake of their religion, while Philip II., during the last
of his reign, covered Holland with the graves of Protestants, tortured and
put to cruel deaths, or buried alive, by tens of thousands.

=425. Mary's Death.=--But Mary's career was short. She died in 1558, near
the close of an inglorious war with France, which ended in the fall of
Calais, the last English possession on the continent. It was a great blow
to her pride, and a serious humiliation to the country. "After my death,"
she said, "you will find Calais written on my heart." Could she have
foreseen the future, her grief would have been greater still. For with the
end of her reign the Pope lost all power in England, never to regain it.

=426. Mary deserving of Pity rather than Hatred.=--Mary's name has come
down to us associated with an epithet expressive of the utmost abhorrence;
but she deserves pity rather than hatred. Her cruelty was the cruelty of
sincerity, never, as was her father's, the result of indifference or
caprice. A little book of prayers which she left, soiled by constant use,
and stained with many tears, tells the story of her broken and disappointed
life. Separated from her mother, the unfortunate Catharine of Aragon, when
she was only sixteen, she was ill-treated by Anne Boleyn and hated by her
father. Thus the springtime of her youth was blighted. Her marriage brought
her no happiness; sickly, ill-favored, childless, unloved, the poor woman
spent herself for naught. Her first great mistake was that she resolutely
turned her face toward the past; her second, that she loved Philip of Spain
with all her heart, soul, and strength, and so, out of devotion to a bigot,
did a bigot's work, and earned that execration which never fails to be a
bigot's reward.

=427. Summary.=--This reign should be looked upon as a period of reaction.
The temporary check which Mary gave to Protestantism deepened and
strengthened it. Nothing builds up a religious faith like martyrdom, and
the next reign showed that every heretic that Mary had burned helped to
make at least a hundred more.


ELIZABETH.--1558-1603.

=428. Accession of Elizabeth.=--Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII.
and Anne Boleyn. At the time of Mary's death she was living in seclusion in
Hatfield House, near London, spending most of her time in studying the
Greek and Latin authors. When the news was brought to her, she was deeply
moved, and exclaimed, "It is the Lord's doings; it is marvellous in our
eyes." Five days afterwards she removed to London by that road over which
the last time she had travelled it she was being carried a prisoner to the
Tower.

=429. Difficulty of Elizabeth's Position.=--Her position was full of
difficulty, if not absolute peril. Mary Stuart of Scotland, now by marriage
queen of France,[278] claimed the English crown through descent from Henry
VII., on the ground that Elizabeth, as daughter of Anne Boleyn, was not
lawfully entitled to the throne, the Pope never having recognized Henry's
second marriage. Both France and Rome supported this claim. On the other
hand, Philip II. of Spain favored Elizabeth, but solely because he hoped to
marry her and annex her kingdom to his dominions. Scotland was divided
between two religious factions, and its attitude as an independent kingdom
could hardly be called friendly. Ireland was a nest of desperate rebels,
ready to join any attack on an English sovereign.

[278] After Elizabeth, Mary stood next in order of succession. See Table,
Paragraph No. 420.

=430. Religious Parties.=--But more dangerous than all, England was divided
in its religion. In the north, many noble families stood by the old faith,
and hoped to see the Pope's power restored. In the towns of the southeast,
a majority favored the Protestant church of England as it had been
organized under Edward VI.

Besides these two great parties there were two more, who made up in zeal
and determination what they lacked in numbers. One was the Jesuits; the
other, the Puritans. The Jesuits were a new Roman Catholic order, banded
together to support the church and to destroy heresy; openly or secretly
their agents penetrated every country; it was believed that they hesitated
at nothing to gain their ends. The Puritans were Protestants who, like John
Calvin of Geneva, and John Knox of Edinburgh, were bent on cleansing or
"_purifying_" the reformed faith from every vestige of Catholicism. Many of
them were what the rack and the stake had naturally made them,--hard,
fearless, narrow, bitter. In Scotland they had got entire possession of the
government; in England they were steadily gaining ground. They were ready
to recognize the queen as head of the state church, they even wished that
all persons should be compelled to worship as the government prescribed,
but they protested against such a church as Elizabeth and the bishops then
maintained.

=431. The Queen's Choice of Counsellors.=--Her policy from the beginning
was one of compromise. In order to conciliate the Catholic party, she
retained eleven of her sister Mary's counsellors, but added to them Sir
William Cecil (Lord Burleigh), Sir Nicholas Bacon, and, later, Sir Francis
Walsingham, with others who were favorable to the reformed faith.

On his appointment, Elizabeth said to Cecil, "This judgment I have of you,
that you will not be corrupted with any gifts, that you will be faithful to
the state, and that without respect to my private will you will give me
that counsel which you think best." Cecil served the queen until his death,
forty years afterward. The almost implicit obedience with which Elizabeth
followed his advice sufficiently proves that he was the real power not only
behind, but generally above, the throne.

=432. The Coronation.=--The bishops were Roman Catholic, and Elizabeth
found it difficult to get one to perform the coronation services. At length
the Bishop of Carlisle consented, but only on condition that the queen
should take the ancient form of coronation oath, by which she virtually
bound herself to support the Church of Rome.[279] To this Elizabeth agreed,
and having consulted her astrologer, Dr. Dee, to fix a lucky day for the
ceremony, she was crowned by his advice on Sunday, Jan. 15, 1558.

[279] By this oath, every English sovereign from William the Conqueror to
Elizabeth, and even as late as James II., with the single exception of
Edward VI., swore to "preserve religion in the same state as did Edward the
Confessor." This was changed to support Protestantism in 1688.

=433. Changes in the Church Service; Religious Legislation.=--The late
Queen Mary, besides having repealed the legislation of the two preceding
reigns, in so far as it was opposed to her own religious convictions, had
restored the Roman Catholic Latin Prayer-Book. At Elizabeth's coronation, a
petition was presented stating that it was the custom to release a certain
number of prisoners on such occasions. The petitioners, therefore, begged
her majesty to set at liberty the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, and also the apostle Paul, who had been for some time shut up in
a strange language. The English Service-Book, with some slight changes, was
accordingly reinstated.

A bill was soon after passed requiring all clergymen, under penalty of
imprisonment for life, to use it, and it only. The same act imposed a heavy
fine on all persons who failed to attend the Church of England on Sundays
or holidays. At that time church and state were supposed to be inseparable.
No country in Europe, not even Protestant Germany, could then conceive the
idea of their existing apart. Whoever, therefore, refused to sustain the
established form of worship was looked upon as a rebel against the
government. To try such rebels, a special court was organized by Elizabeth,
called the High Commission Court.[280] By it many Catholics were tortured
and imprisoned for persisting in their allegiance to the Pope. About two
hundred priests and Jesuits were put to death. A number of Puritans, also,
were executed for seditious publications, while others were imprisoned or
banished.

[280] High Commission Court: so called, because originally certain church
dignitaries were appointed commissioners to inquire into heresies and
kindred matters.

=434. Act of Supremacy.=--No sooner was the queen's accession announced to
the Pope, than he declared her illegitimate, and ordered her to lay aside
her crown and submit herself entirely to his guidance. Such a demand was a
signal for battle. However much attached the larger part of the nation,
especially the country people, may have been to the religion of their
fathers, yet they intended to support the queen. The temper of Parliament
manifested itself in the immediate re-enactment of the Act of Supremacy. It
was essentially the same, "though with its edge a little blunted," as that
which, under Henry, had freed England from the dominion of Rome.

To this act, every member of the House of Commons was obliged to
subscribe; thus all Catholics were excluded from among them. The Lords,
however, not being an elective body, were excused from the obligation.

=435. The Thirty-nine Articles; the Queen's Religion.=--Half a year later
the creed of the English church, which had been first formulated under
Edward VI., was revised and reduced to the Thirty-nine Articles which
constitute it at the present time. But the real value of the religious
revolution which was taking place did not lie in the substitution of one
creed for another, but in the new spirit of inquiry, and the new freedom of
thought which that change awakened.

As for Elizabeth herself, she seems to have had no deep and abiding
convictions on these matters. Her tendency was undoubtedly towards
Protestantism, but to the end of her life she kept up some Catholic forms.
A crucifix, with lighted candles in front of it, hung in her private
chapel, before which she prayed to the Virgin as fervently as her sister
Mary had ever done.

=436. The Nation halting between Two Opinions.=--In this double course she
represented the majority of the nation, which hesitated about committing
itself fully to either side. Men were not wanting who were ready to lay
down their lives for conscience' sake, but they were by no means numerous.
Many sympathized at heart with the notorious Vicar of Bray, who kept his
pulpit under the whole or some part of the successive reigns of Henry,
Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, changing his theology with each change of
rule. When taunted as a turncoat, he replied, "Not so, for I have always
been true to my principles, which are to live and die Vicar of Bray."[281]
Though there was nothing morally noble in such halting between two
opinions, and facing both ways, yet it saved England for the time from that
worst of all calamities, a religious civil war, such as rent France in
pieces, drenched her fair fields with the blood of Catholics and
Protestants, split Germany and Italy into petty states, and ended in Spain
in the triumph of the Inquisition, and intellectual death.[282]

[281]
    "For this as law I will maintain
      Until my dying day, sir,
    That whatsoever king shall reign,
      I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir."

[282] Gardiner's History of England.

=437. The Question of the Queen's Marriage.=--Elizabeth showed the same
tact with regard to marriage that she did with regard to religion. Her
first Parliament, realizing that the welfare of the country depended
largely on whom the queen should marry, begged her to consider the question
of taking a husband. Her reply was that she had resolved to live and die a
maiden queen. When further pressed, she returned answers that, like the
ancient oracles, might be interpreted either way. The truth was, that
Elizabeth saw the difficulty of her position better than any one else. The
choice of her heart at that time would have been the Protestant Earl of
Leicester, but she knew that to take him as consort would be to incur the
enmity of the great Catholic powers of Europe. On the other hand, if she
accepted a Catholic, she would inevitably alienate a large and influential
number of her own subjects. In this dilemma she resolved to keep both sides
in a state of hopeful expectation. Philip II. of Spain, who had married her
sister Mary, made overtures to Elizabeth. She kept him waiting in
uncertainty until at last his ambassador lost all patience, and declared
that the queen was possessed with ten thousand devils. Later, the Duke of
Anjou, a son of Henry II. of France, proposed. He was favorably received,
but the country became so alarmed at the prospect of having a Catholic
king, that Stubbs, a Puritan lawyer, published a coarse and violent
pamphlet denouncing the marriage.[283] For this attack his right hand was
cut off; as it fell, says an eye-witness,[284] he seized his hat with the
other hand, and waved it, shouting, "God save Queen Elizabeth!" That act
was an index to the popular feeling. Men stood by the crown even when they
condemned its policy, determined, at all hazards, to preserve the unity of
the nation.

[283] Stubbs's pamphlet was entitled "The Discovery of the Gaping Gulf,
wherein England is likely to be swallowed up by another French marriage,
unless the Lords forbid the bans by letting her see the sin and punishment
thereof."

[284] Camden's Annals, 1581.

=438. The Queen a Coquette.=--During all this time the court buzzed with
whispered scandals. Elizabeth was by nature a confirmed coquette. The Earl
of Leicester, the Earl of Essex, and Sir Walter Raleigh were by turns her
favorites. Over her relations with the first there hangs the terrible
shadow of the murder of his wife, the beautiful Amy Robsart.[285] Her
vanity was as insatiable as it was ludicrous. She issued a proclamation
forbidding any one to sell her picture, lest it should fail to do her
justice. She was greedy of flattery even when long past sixty, and there
was a sting of truth in the letter which Mary Queen of Scots wrote her,
saying, "Your aversion to marriage proceeds from your not wishing to lose
the liberty of compelling people to make love to you."

[285] See the De Quadra Letter in Froude's England.

=439. Violence of Temper; Crooked Policy.=--In temper, Elizabeth was
arbitrary, fickle, and passionate. When her blood was up, she would swear
like a trooper, spit on a courtier's new velvet suit, beat her maids of
honor, and box Essex's ears. She wrote abusive, and even profane, letters
to high church dignitaries, and openly insulted the wife of Archbishop
Parker, because she did not believe in a married clergy.

The age in which Elizabeth lived was pre-eminently one of craft and
intrigue. The kings of that day endeavored to get by fraud what their less
polished predecessors got by force. At this game of double dealing
Elizabeth had few equals and no superior. So profound was her dissimulation
that her most confidential advisers never felt quite sure that she was not
deceiving them. In her diplomatic relations she never hesitated at a lie if
it would serve her purpose, and when the falsehood was discovered, she
always had another and more plausible one ready to take its place.

=440. Her Knowledge of Men; the Monopolies.=--The queen's real ability lay
in her instinctive perception of the needs of the age, and in her power of
self-adjustment to them. Elizabeth never made public opinion, but watched
it and followed it. She knew an able man at sight, and had the happy
faculty of attaching such men to her service. By nature she was both
irresolute and impulsive; but her sense was good and her judgment clear.
She knew when she was well advised, and although she fumed and blustered,
she yielded.

It has been said that the next best thing to having a good rule is to know
when to break it. Elizabeth knew when. No matter how obstinate she was, she
saw the point where obstinacy became dangerous. In order to enrich Raleigh
and her numerous other favorites, she granted them the exclusive right to
deal in certain articles. These privileges were called "monopolies." They
finally came to comprise almost everything that could be bought or sold,
from French wines to second-hand shoes. The effect was to raise prices so
as to make even the common necessaries of life excessively dear. A great
outcry finally arose; Parliament requested the queen to abolish the
"monopolies"; she hesitated, but when she saw their determined attitude she
gracefully granted the petition.

=441. The Adulation of the Court.=--No English sovereign was so popular or
so praised. The great writers and the great men of that day vied with each
other in their compliments to her beauty, her wisdom, and her wit. She
lived in an atmosphere of splendor, of pleasure, and of adulation. Her
reign was full of pageants, progresses,[286] and feasts, like those which
Scott describes in his delightful novel, "Kenilworth." Spenser composed his
poem, the "Faërie Queen," as he said, to extol "the glorious person of our
sovereign queen," whom he blasphemously compared to the Godhead.
Shakespeare is reported to have written a play[287] for her amusement, and
in his "Midsummer Night's Dream" he addresses her as the "fair vestal in
the West." The common people were equally full of enthusiasm, and loved to
sing and shout the praises of their "good Queen Bess." After her death at
Richmond, when her body was being conveyed down the Thames to Westminster,
an extravagant eulogist declared that the very fishes that followed the
funeral barge "wept out their eyes and swam blind after!"

[286] Progresses: state-journeys made with great pomp and splendor.

[287] The Merry Wives of Windsor.

=442. Grandeur of the Age; More's "Utopia."=--The reign of Elizabeth was,
in fact, Europe's grandest age. It was a time when everything was bursting
into life and color. The world had suddenly grown larger; it had opened
toward the East in the revival of classical learning; it had opened toward
the West, and disclosed a continent of unknown extent and unimaginable
resources.

Shortly after the discovery of America, Sir Thomas More wrote a remarkable
work of fiction, in Latin, called "Utopia"[288] (the Land of Nowhere). In
it he pictured an ideal commonwealth, where all men were equal; where none
were poor; where perpetual peace prevailed; where there was absolute
freedom of thought; where all were contented and happy. It was, in fact,
the "Golden Age" come back to earth again. Such a book, now translated into
English, suited such a time, for Elizabeth's reign was one of adventure, of
poetry, of luxury, of rapidly increasing wealth. When men looked across the
Atlantic, their imaginations were stimulated, and the most extravagant
hopes did not appear too good to be true. Courtiers and adventurers dreamed
of fountains of youth in Florida, of silver mines in Brazil, of rivers in
Virginia whose pebbles were precious stones.[289] Thus all were dazzled
with visions of sudden riches and renewed life.

[288] "Utopia" was published in Latin about 1518. It was first translated
into English in 1551.

[289] "Why, man, all their dripping-pans [in Virginia] are pure gould;
. . . all the prisoners they take are feterd in gold; and for rubies and
diamonds, they goe forth on holydayes and gather 'hem by the sea-shore, to
hang on their children's coates."--_Eastward Hoe_, a play by John Marston
and others, "as it was playd in the Black-friers [Theatre] by the Children
of her Majesties Revels." (1603?)

=443. Change in Mode of Life.=--England, too, was undergoing
transformation. Once, a nobleman's residence had been simply a square
stone fortress, built for safety only; but now that the land was at peace
and the old feudal barons destroyed, there was no need of such precaution.
Men were no longer content to live shut up in sombre strongholds,
surrounded with moats of stagnant water, or in wretched hovels, where the
smoke curled around the rafters for want of chimneys by which to escape,
while the wind whistled through the unglazed latticed windows. Mansions and
manor-houses like Hatfield, Knowle, and the "Bracebridge Hall" of
Washington Irving,[290] rose instead of castles, and hospitality, not
exclusion, became the prevailing custom. The introduction of chimneys
brought the cheery comfort of the English fireside, while among the
wealthy, carpets,[291] tapestry, and silver plate took the place of floors
strewed with rushes, of bare walls, and of tables covered with pewter or
wooden dishes.

[290] Aston Hall, in the vicinity of Birmingham, is the original of
Irving's "Bracebridge Hall."

[291] Used at first as table covers chiefly.

An old writer, lamenting these innovations, says: "When our houses were
built of willow, then we had oaken men; but, now that our houses are made
of oak, our men have not only become willow, but many are altogether of
straw, which is a sore affliction."

=444. An Age of Adventure and of Daring.=--But they were not all of straw,
for that was a period of daring enterprise. Sir Walter Raleigh planted the
first English colony, which the maiden queen named Virginia, in honor of
herself. It proved unsuccessful, but he said, "I shall live to see it an
English nation yet"; and he did. Frobisher explored the coasts of Labrador
and Greenland. Sir Francis Drake sailed into the Pacific, spent a winter in
or near the harbor of San Francisco, and ended his voyage by
circumnavigating the globe.[292] In the East, London merchants had founded
the East India Company, the beginning of English dominion in Asia; while in
Holland, Sir Philip Sydney gave his life-blood for the cause of
Protestantism.

[292] See Map No. 12, page 218.

=445. Literature.=--It was an age, too, not only of brave deeds but of high
thoughts. Spenser, Shakespeare, and Jonson were making English literature
the noblest of all literatures. Francis Bacon, son of Sir Nicholas Bacon,
of Elizabeth's council, was giving a wholly different direction to
education, by teaching men in his new philosophy, that in order to use the
forces of nature they must learn by observation and experiment to know
nature herself; "for," said he, "knowledge is power."

=446. Mary Queen of Scots claims the Crown.=--For England it was also an
age of great and constant peril. Elizabeth's entire reign was undermined
with plots against her life and against the life of the Protestant faith.
No sooner was one conspiracy detected and suppressed, than a new one sprang
up. Perhaps the most formidable of these was the effort which Mary Stuart
(Queen of Scots) made to supplant her English rival. Shortly after
Elizabeth's accession, Mary's husband, the king of France, died. She
returned to Scotland and there assumed the Scottish crown, at the same time
asserting her right to the English throne.[293]

[293] See Table, Paragraph No. 420. Mary's claim was based on the fact that
the Pope had never recognized Henry VIII.'s marriage to Anne Boleyn,
Elizabeth's mother, as lawful.

=447. Mary marries Darnley; his Murder.=--A few years later she married
Lord Darnley, who became jealous of Mary's Italian private secretary,
Rizzio, and, with the aid of accomplices, seized him in her presence,
dragged him into an ante-chamber, and there stabbed him.

The next year Darnley was murdered. It was believed that Mary and the Earl
of Bothwell, whom she soon after married, were guilty of the crime. The
people rose and cast her into prison, and forced her to abdicate in favor
of her infant son, James VI.

[Illustration: Map No. 12--Showing the English discoveries in America in
 the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, with a part of Drake's voyage round
 the globe in 1577-1579.]

=448. Mary escapes to England; Plots against Elizabeth and
Protestantism.=--Mary escaped and fled to England. Elizabeth, fearing she
might pass over to France and stir up war, confined her in Bolton
Castle.[294] During her imprisonment there and elsewhere she became
implicated in a plot for assassinating the English queen, and seizing the
reins of government in behalf of herself and the Jesuits.

[294] Bolton Castle, Yorkshire.

It was a time when the Protestant faith seemed everywhere marked for
destruction. In France, evil counsellors had induced the king to order a
massacre of the Reformers, and on St. Bartholomew's Day thousands were
slain. The Pope, misinformed in the matter, ordered a solemn thanksgiving
for the slaughter, and struck a gold medal to commemorate it.[295] Philip
of Spain, whose cold, impassive face scarcely ever relaxed into a smile,
now laughed outright. Still more recently, William the Silent, who had
driven out the Catholics from a part of the Netherlands,[296] had been
assassinated by a Jesuit fanatic.

[295] See The Leading Facts of French History.

[296] Netherlands, or Low Countries: now represented in great part by
Belgium and Holland.

=449. Elizabeth beheads Mary.=--Under these circumstances, Elizabeth,
aroused to a sense of her danger, reluctantly signed the Scottish queen's
death warrant, and Mary, after nineteen years' imprisonment, was beheaded
at Fotheringay Castle.[297]

[297] Fotheringay Castle, Northamptonshire, demolished by James I.

As soon as the news of her execution was brought to the queen, she became
alarmed at the political consequences the act might have in Europe. With
her usual duplicity she bitterly upbraided the minister who had advised it,
and throwing Davidson, her secretary, into the Tower, fined him £10,000,
the payment of which reduced him to beggary.[298] Not satisfied with this,
Elizabeth even had the effrontery to write a letter of condolence to Mary's
son (James VI.) declaring that his mother had been beheaded by mistake! Yet
facts prove that not only had Elizabeth determined to put Mary to death,--a
measure whose justice is still vehemently disputed,--but she had suggested
to her keeper that it might be expedient to have her privately murdered.

[298] £10,000: a sum probably equal to more than $300,000 now.

=450. The Spanish Armada.=--Mary was hardly under ground when a new and
greater danger threatened the country. At her death, the Scottish queen,
disgusted with her mean-spirited son James,[299] left her claim to the
English throne to Philip II. of Spain, who was then the most powerful
sovereign in Europe, ruling over a territory equal to that of the Roman
Empire in its greatest extent. Philip resolved to invade England, conquer
it, annex it to his own possessions, and restore the religion of Rome. To
accomplish this, he began fitting out the "Invincible Armada,"[300] an
immense fleet, intended to carry 20,000 soldiers, and to receive on its way
re-enforcements of 30,000 more from the Spanish army in the Netherlands.

[299] James had deserted his mother, and accepted a pension from Elizabeth.

[300] Armada: an armed fleet.

=451. Drake's Expedition; Sailing of the Armada; Elizabeth at
Tilbury.=--Sir Francis Drake determined to put a check to Philip's
preparations. He heard that the enemy's fleet was gathered at Cadiz. He
sailed there, and in spite of all opposition effectually "singed the
Spanish king's beard," as he said, by burning and otherwise destroying more
than a hundred ships. This so crippled the expedition that it had to be
given up for that year, but the next summer a vast armament set sail. It
consisted of six squadrons carrying 2500 cannon, and having on board, it is
said, shackles and instruments of torture to bind and punish the English
heretics.

The impending peril thoroughly aroused England. All parties, both Catholics
and Protestants, rose and joined in the defence of their country and their
queen. An army of 16,000 men under the Earl of Leicester gathered at
Tilbury,[301] on the Thames, to protect London. Elizabeth reviewed the
troops, saying with true Tudor spirit, "Though I have but the feeble body
of a woman, I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England, too."

[301] Tilbury: a fort on the left bank of the Thames, about twenty miles
below London. Some authorities make this review at Tilbury subsequent to
the defeat of the Armada.

=452. The Battle.=--The English sea-forces under Howard, a Catholic, as
admiral, and Drake, second in command, were assembled at Plymouth, watching
for the enemy. When the long-looked-for fleet came in sight, beacon fires
were lighted on the hills to give the alarm.

    "For swift to east and swift to west the warning radiance spread;
    High on St. Michael's mount it shone, it shone on Beachy Head.
    Far o'er the deep the Spaniard sees along each southern shire,
    Cape beyond cape in endless range those twinkling points of fire."[302]

[302] Macaulay, The Armada.

The enemy's ships moved steadily towards the coast in the form of a
crescent seven miles in length; but Howard and Drake were ready to receive
them. With their fast-sailing cruisers they sailed around the unwieldy
Spanish war-ships, firing four shots to their one, and "harassing them as a
swarm of wasps would a bear." Several of the enemy's vessels were captured,
and one blown up. At last the commander thought best to make for Calais to
repair damages and take a fresh start. The English followed. As soon as
night came on, Drake sent eight blazing fire-ships to drift down among the
Armada as it lay at anchor. Thoroughly alarmed at the prospect of being
burned where they lay, the Spaniards cut their cables and made sail for the
north.

=453. Pursuit and Destruction of the Armada.=--They were hotly pursued by
the English, who, having lost but a single vessel in the fight, might have
cut them to pieces, had not the queen's suicidal economy stinted them both
in powder and provisions.[303] Meanwhile the Spanish forces kept on. The
wind increased to a gale, the gale to a furious storm. As in such weather
the Armada could not turn back, the commander attempted to go around
Scotland and return home that way; but ship after ship was driven ashore
and wrecked on the wild and rocky coast. On one strand, less than five
miles long, over a thousand corpses were counted. Those who escaped the
waves met death by the hands of the inhabitants. Eventually, only about a
third of the fleet, half manned by crews stricken by pestilence and death,
succeeded in reaching Spain. Thus ended Philip's boasted attack on England.
When all was over, Elizabeth went in state to St. Paul's to offer thanks
for the victory. It was afterward commemorated by a medal which the queen
caused to be struck, bearing this inscription: "God blew with his winds,
and they were scattered."

[303] The English crews suffered so much for want of food through
Elizabeth's parsimony, that thousands of them came home from the great
victory only to die.

=454. Insurrection in Ireland.=--A few years later, a terrible rebellion
broke out in Ireland. From its partial conquest in the time of Henry II.,
the condition of that island continued to be deplorable. First, the chiefs
of the native tribes fought constantly among themselves; next, the English
attempted to force the Protestant religion upon a people who detested it;
lastly, the greed and misgovernment of the rulers put a climax to these
miseries, so that the country became, as Raleigh said, "a commonwealth of
common woe." Under Elizabeth a war of extermination began, so merciless
that the queen herself declared that if the work of destruction went on
much longer, "she should have nothing left but ashes and corpses to rule
over." Then, but not till then, the starving remnant of the people
submitted, and England gained a barren victory which has ever since carried
with it its own curse.

=455. The First Poor Law.=--In 1601 the first effective English poor law
was passed. It required each parish to make provision for such paupers as
were unable to work, while the able-bodied were compelled to labor for
their own support. This measure relieved much of the distress which had
prevailed during the two previous reigns, and forms the basis of the law in
force at the present time.

=456. Elizabeth's Death.=--The death of the great queen, in 1603, was as
sad as her life had been brilliant. Her favorite, Essex, Shakespeare's
intimate friend, had been beheaded for an attempted rebellion against her
power. From that time she grew, as she said, "heavy-hearted." Her old
friends and counsellors were dead, her people no longer welcomed her with
their former enthusiasm; treason had grown so common that Hentzner, a
German traveller in England, said that he counted three hundred heads of
persons, who had suffered death for this crime, exposed on London Bridge.
Elizabeth felt that her sun was nearly set; gradually her strength
declined; she ceased to leave her palace, and sat muttering to herself all
day long, "Mortua, sed non sepulta!" "Dead, but not buried!" At length she
lay propped up on cushions on the floor,[304] "tired," as she said, "of
reigning, and tired of life." In that sullen mood she departed to join that
silent majority whose realm under earth is bounded by the sides of the
grave. "Four days afterward," says a writer of that time, "she was
forgotten." One may see her tomb, with her full-length, recumbent effigy,
in the north aisle of Henry VII.'s Chapel, and in the opposite aisle the
tomb and effigy of her old rival and enemy, Mary Queen of Scots. The
sculptured features of both look placid. "After life's fitful fever they
sleep well."

[304] See Delaroche's fine picture, "The Death of Queen Elizabeth."

=457. Summary.=--The Elizabethan period was in every respect remarkable. It
was great in its men of thought, and equally great in its men of action. It
was greatest, however, in its successful resistance to the armed hand of
religious oppression. The defeat of the Armada gave renewed courage to the
cause of the Reformation, not only in England, but in every Protestant
country in Europe. It meant that a movement had begun which, though it
might be temporarily hindered, would at last secure to all civilized
countries the right of private judgment and of liberty of conscience.


GENERAL VIEW OF THE TUDOR PERIOD.--1485-1603.

I. GOVERNMENT.--II. RELIGION.--III. MILITARY AFFAIRS.--IV. LITERATURE,
LEARNING, AND ART.--V. GENERAL INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.--VI. MODE OF LIFE,
MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS.


GOVERNMENT.

=458. Absolutism of the Crown; Free Trade; the Post-Office.=--During a
great part of the Tudor period the power of the crown was well-nigh
absolute. Four causes contributed to this: 1. The destruction of a very
large part of the feudal nobility by the Wars of the Roses;[305] 2. The
removal of many of the higher clergy from the House of Lords;[306] 3. The
creation of a new nobility dependent on the king; 4. The desire of the
great body of the people for "peace at any price."

[305] In the last Parliament before the Wars of the Roses (1454) there were
53 temporal peers; at the beginning of the reign of Henry VII. (1485) there
were only 29.

[306] Out of a total of barely 90 peers, Henry VIII., by the suppression of
the monasteries, removed upwards of 36 abbots and priors. He, however,
added five new bishops, which made the House of Lords number about 59.

Under Henry VII. and Elizabeth the courts of Star-Chamber and High
Commission exercised arbitrary power, and often inflicted cruel punishments
for offences against the government, and for heresy or the denial of the
religious supremacy of the sovereign.

Henry VII. established a treaty of free trade, called the "Great
Intercourse," between England and the Netherlands. Under Elizabeth the
first postmaster-general entered upon his duties, though the post-office
was not fully established until the reign of her successor.


RELIGION.

=459. Establishment of the Protestant Church of England.=--Henry VIII.
suppressed the Roman Catholic monasteries, seized their property, and ended
by declaring the Church of England independent of the Pope. Thenceforth,
he assumed the title of Head of the National Church. Under Edward VI.
Protestantism was established by law. Mary led a reaction in favor of
Romanism, but her successor, Elizabeth, reinstated the Protestant form of
worship. Under Elizabeth the Puritans demanded that the national church be
purified from all Romish forms and doctrines. Severe laws were passed under
Elizabeth for the punishment of both Catholics and Puritans, all persons
being required to conform to the Church of England.


MILITARY AFFAIRS.

=460. Arms and Armor; the Navy.=--Though gunpowder had been in use for two
centuries, yet full suits of armor were still worn during a great part of
the period. An improved match-lock gun, with the pistol, an Italian
invention, and heavy cannon were introduced. Until the death of Henry VIII.
foot-soldiers continued to be armed with the long-bow; but under Edward VI.
that weapon was superseded by firearms. The principal wars of the period
were with Scotland, France, and Spain, the last being by far the most
important, and ending with the destruction of the Armada.

Henry VIII. established a permanent navy, and built several vessels of
upwards of 1000 tons register. The largest men of war under Elizabeth
carried forty cannon and a crew of several hundred men.


LITERATURE, LEARNING, AND ART.

=461. Schools.=--The revival of learning gave a great impetus to education.
The money which had once been given to monasteries was now spent in
building schools, colleges, and hospitals. Dean Colet established the free
grammar school of St. Paul's, several colleges were endowed at Oxford and
Cambridge, and Edward VI. opened upwards of forty free schools in different
parts of the country, of which the Blue-Coat School, London, is one of the
best known. Improved text-books were prepared for the schools, and Lilye's
Latin Grammar, first published in 1513 for the use of Dean Colet's school,
continued a standard work for over three hundred years.

=462. Literature; the Theatre.=--The latter part of the period deserves the
name of the "Golden Age of English Literature." More, Sydney, Hooker,
Jewell, were the leading prose writers; while Spenser, Marlowe, Jonson, and
Shakespeare represented the poets.

In 1574 a public theatre was erected in London, in which Shakespeare was a
stockholder. Not very long after a second was opened. At both these (the
Globe and the Blackfriars) the great dramatist appeared in his own plays,
and in such pieces as King John, Richard the Third, and the Henrys, he
taught his countrymen more of the true spirit and meaning of the nation's
history than they had ever learned before. His historical plays are chiefly
based on Holinshed and Hall, two chroniclers of the period.

=463. Progress of Science; Superstitions.=--The discoveries of Columbus,
Cabot, Magellan, and other navigators had proved the earth to be a globe.
Copernicus, a Prussian astronomer, now demonstrated the fact that it both
turns on its axis and revolves around the sun, but the discovery was not
accepted until many years later.

On the other hand, astrology, witchcraft, and the transmutation of copper
and lead into gold were generally believed in. In preaching before Queen
Elizabeth, Bishop Jewell urged that stringent measures be taken with
witches and sorcerers, saying that through their demoniacal acts "your
grace's subjects pine away even unto death, their color fadeth, their flesh
rotteth." Lord Bacon and other eminent men held the same belief, and many
persons eventually suffered death for the practice of witchcraft.

=464. Architecture.=--The Gothic, or Pointed, style of architecture reached
its final stage (the Perpendicular) in the early part of this period. The
first examples of it have already been mentioned at the close of the
preceding period. See Paragraph No. 376. After the close of Henry VII.'s
reign no attempts were made to build any grand church edifices until St.
Paul's Cathedral was rebuilt by Wren, in the seventeenth century, in the
Italian, or classical style.

In the latter part of the Tudor period many stately country houses[307] and
grand city mansions were built, ornamented with carved woodwork and
bay-windows. Castles were no longer constructed, and, as the country was at
peace, many of those which had been built were abandoned, though a few
castellated mansions like Thornbury Gloucestershire were built in Henry
VIII.'s time. The streets of London still continued to be very narrow, and
the tall houses, with projecting stories, were so near together at the top
that neighbors living on opposite sides of the street might almost shake
hands from the upper windows.

[307] Such as Hatfield House, Knowle and Hardwick Hall; and, in London,
mansions similar to Crosby Hall.


GENERAL INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.

=465. Foreign Trade.=--The geographical discoveries of this period gave a
great impulse to foreign trade with Africa, Brazil, and North America. The
wool trade continued to increase, and also commerce with the East Indies.
In 1600 the East India Company was established, thus laying the foundation
of England's Indian empire, and ships now brought cargoes direct to England
by way of the Cape of Good Hope. Sir Francis Drake did a flourishing
business in plundering Spanish settlements in America and Spanish
treasure-ships, and Sir John Hawkins became wealthy through the slave
trade,--kidnapping negroes on the coast of Guinea, and selling them to the
Spanish West India colonies. The domestic trade of England was still
carried on largely by great annual fairs. Trade, however, was much deranged
by the quantities of debased money issued under Henry VIII. and Edward VI.

Elizabeth reformed the currency, and ordered the mint to send out coin
which no longer had a lie stamped on its face, thereby setting an example
to all future governments, whether monarchical or republican.


MODE OF LIFE, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS.

=466. Life in the Country and the City.=--In the cities, this was an age of
luxury; but on the farms, the laborer was glad to get a bundle of straw for
a bed, and a wooden trencher to eat from. Vegetables were scarcely known,
and fresh meat was eaten only by the well-to-do. The cottages were built of
sticks and mud, without chimneys, and were nearly as bare of furniture as
the wigwam of an American Indian.

The rich kept several mansions and country houses, but paid little
attention to cleanliness; and when the filth and vermin in one became
unendurable, they left it "to sweeten," as they said, and went to another
of their estates. The dress of the nobles continued to be of the most
costly materials and the gayest colors.

At table, a great variety of dishes were served on silver plate, but
fingers were still used in place of forks. Tea and coffee were unknown, and
beer was the usual drink at breakfast and supper.

Carriages were not in use, except by Queen Elizabeth, and all journeys were
performed on horseback. Merchandise was also generally transported on
pack-horses, the roads rarely being good enough for the passage of wagons.
The principal amusements were the theatre, dancing, masquerading, bull and
bear baiting (worrying a bull or bear with dogs), cock-fighting, and
gambling.




IX.

     "It is the nature of the devil of tyranny to tear and rend the
     body which he leaves."--MACAULAY.

BEGINNING WITH THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS, AND ENDING WITH THE DIVINE RIGHT
OF THE PEOPLE.

KING or PARLIAMENT?

HOUSE OF STUART.--1603-1649, 1660-1714.

  James I., 1603-1625.
  Charles I., 1625-1649.
  _The Commonwealth and
  Protectorate, 1649-1660._
  Charles II., 1660-1685.
  James II., 1685-1688.
  William & Mary,[308] 1689-1702.
  Anne, 1702-1714.

[308] Orange-Stuart.


=467. Accession of James I.=--Elizabeth was the last of the Tudor family.
By birth, James Stuart, only son of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, and great
grandson of Margaret, sister of Henry VIII., was the nearest heir to the
crown.[309] He was already king of Scotland under the title of James VI. He
now, by choice of Parliament, became James I. of England. By his accession
the two countries were united under one sovereign, but each retained its
own Parliament, its own church, and its own laws.[310] The new monarch
found himself ruler over three kingdoms, each professing a different
religion. Puritanism prevailed in Scotland, Catholicism in Ireland,
Anglicanism or Episcopacy in England.

[309] See Table, Paragraph No. 420.

[310] On his coins and in his proclamations, James styled himself King of
Great Britain, France, and Ireland. But the term Great Britain did not
properly come into use until somewhat more than a hundred years later,
when, by an act of Parliament under Anne, Scotland and England were legally
united.

=468. The King's Appearance and Character.=--James was unfortunate in his
birth. Neither his father, Lord Darnley, nor his mother had high qualities
of character. The murder of Mary's Italian secretary in her own palace, and
almost in her own presence,[311] gave the queen a shock which left a fatal
inheritance of cowardice to her son. Throughout his life he could not
endure the sight of a drawn sword. His personal appearance was by no means
impressive. He had a feeble, rickety body, he could not walk straight, his
tongue was too large for his mouth, and he had goggle eyes. Through fear of
assassination he habitually wore thickly padded and quilted clothes,
usually green in color. He was a man of considerable shrewdness, but of
small mind, and of unbounded conceit. His Scotch tutor had crammed him with
much ill-digested learning, so that he gave the impression of a man
educated beyond his intellect. He wrote on witchcraft, kingcraft, and
theology. He also wrote numerous commonplace verses, together with a
sweeping denunciation of the new plant called tobacco, which Raleigh had
brought from America, the smoke of which now began to perfume, or,
according to James, to poison the air of England. He had all the
superstitions of the age, and one of his earliest acts was the passage of a
statute punishing witchcraft with death. Under that law many a wretched
woman perished on the scaffold, whose only crime was that she was old,
ugly, and friendless.

[311] See Paragraph No. 447.

=469. The Great Petition.=--During the latter part of Elizabeth's reign,
the Puritans in England had increased so rapidly that Archbishop Whitgift
told James he was amazed to find how "the vipers" had multiplied. The
Puritans felt that the Reformation had not been sufficiently thorough. They
complained that many of the forms and ceremonies of the Church of England
were by no means in harmony with the Scriptures. Many of them wished also
to change the form of church government, and instead of having bishops
appointed by the king, to adopt the more democratic method of having
presbyters or elders chosen by the congregation.

While James was on the way from Scotland to London to receive the crown,
the Puritans presented a petition to him, signed by upwards of a thousand
of their ministers, asking that they might be permitted to preach without
wearing the white gown called a surplice, to baptize without making the
sign of the cross on the child's forehead, and to perform the marriage
ceremony without using the ring.

=470. Hampton Court Conference.=--The king convened a conference at Hampton
Court, near London, to consider the petition, or rather to make a pedantic
display of his own learning. The probability that he would grant the
petitioners' request was small; for James had come to England disgusted
with the violence of the Scotch Puritans, especially since one of their
ministers in Edinburgh had seized his sleeve at a public meeting, and
addressed him with a somewhat brutal excess of truth, as "God's silly
vassal." But the new sovereign had a still deeper reason for his antipathy
to the Puritans. He saw that their doctrine of equality in the church
naturally led to that of equality in the state. If they objected to
Episcopal government in the one, might they not presently object to royal
government in the other? Hence, to all their arguments, he answered with
his favorite maxim, "No bishop, no king," meaning that the two must stand
or fall together. At the Hampton Court Conference no real freedom of
discussion was allowed. The only good result was that the king ordered a
new and revised translation of the Bible to be made. It was published in
1611, and so well was the work done that it still remains the version used
in nearly every Protestant church and Protestant home where the English
language is spoken. James, however, regarded the conference as a success.
He had refuted the Puritans, as he believed, with much Latin and some
Greek. He ended by declaiming against them with such unction that one
enthusiastic bishop declared that his majesty must be specially inspired
by the Holy Ghost! He closed the meeting by imprisoning the ten persons who
had presented the petition, on the ground that it tended to sedition and
rebellion. Henceforth, the king's attitude toward the Puritans was
unmistakable. "I will make them conform," said he, "or I will harry them
out of the land."

=471. The Divine Right of Kings.=--As if with the desire of further
alienating his people, James now constantly proclaimed the doctrine of the
Divine Right of Kings. This theory, which was unknown to the English
constitution, declared that the king derived his power and right to rule
directly from God, and in no way from the people.[312] "As it is atheism
and blasphemy," he said, "to dispute what God can do, so it is presumption
and a high contempt in a subject to dispute what the king can do." All this
would have been amusing had it not been dangerous. James forgot that he
owed his throne to that act of parliament which accepted him as Elizabeth's
successor. In his exalted position as head of the nation, he boasted of his
power much like the dwarf in the story, who, perched on the giant's
shoulders, cries out, "See how big I am!"

[312] James's favorite saying was, "a Deo rex, a rege lex" (God makes the
king, the king makes the law).

Acting on this assumption, James violated the privileges of the House of
Commons, rejected members who had been legally elected, and imprisoned
those who dared to criticise his course. The contest was kept up with
bitterness during the whole reign. Towards its close, the House again
protested vigorously, and the king seized their official journal, and with
his own hands tore out the record of the protest.

=472. The Gunpowder Plot.=--This arbitrary spirit so angered the Commons,
many of whom were Puritans, that they, believing that the king secretly
favored the Roman Catholics, increased the stringency of the laws against
persons of that religion. The king, to vindicate himself from this
suspicion, proceeded to execute the new statutes with rigor. As a rule,
the Catholics were loyal subjects. When Spain threatened to invade the
country, they fought as valiantly in its defence as the Protestants
themselves. Many of them were now ruined by enormous fines, while the
priests were driven from the realm. One of the sufferers by these unjust
measures was Robert Catesby, a Catholic gentleman of good position. He,
with the aid of a Yorkshire man, named Guy Fawkes, and about a dozen more,
formed a plot to blow up the Parliament House, on the day the king was to
open the session (Nov. 5, 1605). Their intention, after they had thus
summarily disposed of the government, was to induce the Catholics to rise
and proclaim a new sovereign. The plot was discovered, the conspirators
executed, and the Catholics were treated with greater severity than ever.

=473. American Colonies, Virginia.=--In 1607 a London joint-stock company
of merchants and adventurers, or speculators, established the first
permanent English colony in America, on the coast of Virginia, at a place
which they called Jamestown, in honor of the king.[313] The colony was
wholly under the control of the crown. The religion was to be that of the
Church of England. Most of those who went out were "gentlemen," that is,
persons not brought up to manual labor, and had it not been for the energy
and determined courage of Capt. John Smith, who was the real soul of the
enterprise, it would have proved like Raleigh's undertaking, a miserable
failure; in time, however, the new colony gained strength. Negro slavery,
which in those days touched no man's conscience, was introduced, and by its
means great quantities of tobacco were raised for export. The settlement
grew in population and wealth, and in less than a dozen years it had
secured the privilege of making its own laws, thus becoming practically a
self-governing community.

[313] See Map No. 12, page 218.

=474. The Pilgrims.=--The year after this great enterprise was undertaken,
another band of emigrants went out from England, not West, but East; not
to seek prosperity, but greater religious freedom. James's declaration that
he would make all men conform to the established church, or drive them out
of the land, was having its due effect.

Those who continued to refuse were fined, cast into noisome prisons,
beaten, and often half-starved, so that the old and feeble soon died.
Strange to say, this kind of treatment did not win over the Puritans to the
side of the bishops and the king. On the contrary, it set many of them to
thinking more seriously than ever of the true relations of the government
to religion. The result was that not a few came to the conclusion that each
body of Christians had a right to form a religious society of its own
wholly independent of the state. Those of the Puritans who thus thought got
the name of Independents or Separatists, because they were determined to
separate from the national church and conduct their worship and govern
their religious societies as they deemed best.

In the little village of Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, Postmaster William
Brewster, William Bradford, John Carver, and some others, mostly farmers
and poor men of the neighborhood, had organized such an independent church
with John Robinson for its minister. After a time they became convinced
that so long as they remained in England they would never be safe from
persecution. They therefore resolved to leave their native country, and as
they could not get a royal license to go to America, to emigrate to
Holland, where all men were, at that time, free to establish societies for
the worship of God in their own manner. With much difficulty and danger
they managed to escape there. After remaining there upwards of twelve
years, a part of them succeeded in obtaining from King James, after long
negotiation, the privilege of emigrating to America.[314] A London trading
company, which was sending out an expedition for fish and furs, agreed to
furnish the Pilgrims passage by the _Mayflower_, though on terms so hard
that the poor exiles said the "conditions were fitter for thieves and
bondslaves than honest men."

[314] See "Why did the Pilgrim Fathers come to New England?" By Edwin D.
Mead, in the New Englander, 1882.

In 1620 these Pilgrims, or wanderers, set forth for that New World beyond
the sea, which they hoped would redress the wrongs of the Old. Landing at
Plymouth, in Massachusetts, they established a colony on the basis of
"equal laws for the general good." Ten years later John Winthrop, a Puritan
gentleman of wealth from Groton, Suffolk, followed with a small company and
settled Salem and Boston. During the next decade no less than twenty
thousand Englishmen found a home in the west, but to the little band that
embarked under Bradford and Brewster in the _Mayflower_, the scene of whose
landing at Plymouth is painted on the walls of the Houses of Parliament,
belongs the credit of the great undertaking. Of that enterprise one of
their brethren in England wrote in the time of their severest distress,
with prophetic foresight, "Let it not be grievous to you that you have been
instruments to break the ice for others; the honor shall be yours to the
world's end." From this time forward the country was settled mainly by
English emigrants, and in the course of the next century, or a little more,
the total number of colonies had reached thirteen, though part of them had
been gained by conquest. Thus the nation of Great Britain was beginning to
expand into that _greater_ Britain which it had discovered and planted
beyond the sea.

=475. The Colonization of Ireland.=--While these events were going on in
America, James was himself planning a very different kind of colony in the
northeast of Ireland. The greater part of the province of Ulster, which had
been the scene of the rebellion under Elizabeth, had been seized by the
crown. The king now granted these lands to settlers from Scotland and
England. The city of London founded a colony which they called Londonderry,
and by this means Protestantism was firmly and finally established in the
north of the island.

=476. The New Stand taken by the House of Commons.=--The House of Commons
at this period began to slowly get back, with interest, the power it had
lost under the Tudors. James suffered from a chronic lack of money. He was
obliged to apply to Parliament to supply his wants, but Parliament was
determined to grant nothing without reforms. They laid it down as a
principle, to which they firmly adhered, that the king should not have the
nation's coin unless he would promise to right the nation's wrongs. In
order to get means to support his army in Ireland, James created a new
title of rank, that of baronet,[315] which he granted to any one who would
pay liberally for it. As a last resort to get funds he compelled all
persons having an income of forty pounds[316] or more a year derived from
landed property, to accept knighthood (thus incurring feudal obligations
and payments) or purchase exemption by a heavy fine.

[315] Baronet: this title does not confer the right to a seat in the House
of Lords. A baronet is designated as Sir, _e.g._, Sir John Franklin.

[316] This exaction was ridiculed by the wits of the time in these lines:--

    "He that hath forty pounds per annum
    Shall be promoted from the plough;
    His wife shall take the wall of her grannum[*]--
    Honor's sold so dog-cheap now."

The distraint of knighthood, as it was called, began at least as far back
as Edward I., 1278.

[*] Take precedence of her grandmother.

=477. Impeachment of Lord Bacon.=--In 1621 Lord Bacon was impeached by the
House of Commons, and convicted by the House of Lords, for having taken
bribes in lawsuits tried before him as judge. He confessed the crime, but
pleaded extenuating circumstances, adding, "I beseech your worships to be
merciful to a broken reed"; but Bacon had been in every respect a servile
tool of James, and no mercy was granted. Parliament imposed a fine of
£40,000, with imprisonment. Had it been fully executed, it would have
caused his utter ruin. The king, however, interposed, and his favorite
escaped with a few days' confinement in the Tower.

=478. Execution of Raleigh.=--With Sir Walter Raleigh the result was
different. He had been a prisoner in the Tower for a number of years, on
an unfounded charge of conspiracy. Influenced by motives of cupidity, James
released him to go on an expedition in search of gold to replenish the
royal coffers. Raleigh, contrary to the king's orders, came into collision
with the Spaniards on the coast of South America.[317] He failed in his
enterprise, and brought back nothing. Raleigh was especially hated by
Spain, not only on account of the part he had taken in the defeat of the
Armada, but also for his subsequent attacks on Spanish treasure-ships and
property. The king of that country now demanded vengeance, and James, in
order to get a pretext for his execution, revived the sentence which had
been passed on Raleigh fifteen years before. His real motive undoubtedly
was the hope that, by sacrificing Raleigh, he might secure the hand of the
daughter of the king of Spain for his son, Prince Charles. Raleigh died as
More did, his last words a jest at death. His deeper feelings found
expression in the lines which he wrote on the fly-leaf of his Bible the
night before his judicial murder:--

    "Even such is Time, that takes on trust,
      Our youth, our joys, our all we have,
    And pays us but with age and dust;
      Who in the dark and silent grave,
    When we have wandered all our ways,
    Shuts up the story of our days;
    But from this earth, this grave, this dust,
    My God shall raise me up, I trust."

[317] It is said that James had treacherously informed the Spanish
ambassador of Raleigh's voyage, so that the collision was inevitable.

=479. Death of James.=--As for James, when he died a few years later, a
victim of confirmed drunkenness and gluttony, his fittest epitaph would
have been what an eminent French statesman of that time called him, "the
wisest fool in Christendom."[318]

[318] The Duc de Sully.

=480. Summary.=--Three chief events demand our attention in this reign.
First, the increased power and determined attitude of the House of Commons.
Second, the growth of the Puritan and Independent parties in religion.
Third, the establishment of permanent, self-governing colonies in Virginia
and New England, destined in time to unite with others and become a new and
independent English nation.


CHARLES I.--1625-1649.

=481. Accession of Charles; Result of the Doctrine of the Divine Right of
Kings.=--The doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings, so zealously put forth
by James, bore its full and fatal fruit in the career of his son. Unlike
his father, Charles was by nature a gentleman. In his private and personal
relations he was conscientious and irreproachable; in public matters he was
exactly the reverse. This singular contrast--this double character, as it
were--arose from the fact that as a man, Charles felt himself bound by
truth and honor, but as a sovereign, he considered himself superior to such
obligations. In all his dealings with the nation he seems to have acted on
the principle that the people had no rights which kings were bound to
respect.

=482. Two Mistakes at the Outset.=--He began his reign with two mistakes.
First, he insisted on retaining the Duke of Buckingham, his father's
favorite, as his chief adviser, though the Duke was, for good reasons,
generally distrusted and disliked. Next, shortly after his accession,
Charles married Henrietta Maria, a French Catholic princess, whose religion
was hated by the majority of the English people, and whose extravagant
habits soon got the king into trouble. To meet her incessant demands for
money, and to carry on a petty war with Spain, he was obliged to ask
Parliament for funds. Parliament declined to grant him a supply unless he
would redress certain grievances of long standing. Charles refused and
dissolved that body.

=483. The Second Parliament; Hampden.=--Necessity, however, compelled the
king to call a new Parliament. When they met, the Commons, under the lead
of Sir John Eliot and others, proceeded to draw up articles of
impeachment, accusing the Duke of Buckingham of mismanagement. To save his
favorite from being brought to trial, the king dissolved Parliament, and as
no supply had been voted, Charles now levied illegal taxes and extorted
loans.

John Hampden, a country gentleman of Buckinghamshire, who had been a member
of the late House of Commons, refused to lend his majesty the sum asked
for. For this refusal he was thrown into prison. This led to increased
agitation and discontent. At length the king found himself again forced to
summon Parliament; to this Parliament Hampden and others, who sympathized
with him, were elected.

=484. The Petition of Right.=--Immediately on assembling, they presented to
the king the Petition of Right, which was in substance a law reaffirming
some of the chief provisions of the Great Charter. It stipulated in
particular, that no taxes whatever should be levied without the consent of
Parliament, and that no one should be unlawfully imprisoned as Hampden had
been. In the petition there was not an angry word, but as a member of the
Commons declared, "We say no more than what a worm trodden upon would say
if he could speak: I pray thee tread upon me no more."

=485. Charles revives Monopolies.=--Charles refused to sign the Petition;
but finding that money could be got on no other terms, he at length gave
his signature. But for Charles to pledge his royal word to the nation meant
its direct and open violation. The king now revived the "monopolies" which
had been abolished under Elizabeth. By these he granted to certain persons,
in return for large sums of money, the sole right of dealing in nearly
every article of food, drink, fuel, and clothing. The Commons denounced
this outrage. One member said, "The monopolists have seized everything.
They sip in our cup, they sup in our dish, they sit by our fire."

=486. The King rules without Parliament; "Thorough."=--For the next eleven
years the king ruled without a Parliament. The obnoxious Buckingham had
been assassinated. His successor was Thomas Wentworth, who, in 1640, became
Earl of Strafford. Wentworth had signed the "Petition of Right," but he was
now a renegade to liberty, and wholly devoted to the king. By means of the
Star-Chamber and his scheme called "Thorough," by which he meant that he
would stop at nothing to make Charles absolute, he labored to establish a
complete despotism. Bishop Laud, who soon became head of the church, worked
with him through the High Commission Court. Together, the two exercised a
crushing and merciless system of political and religious tyranny; the
Star-Chamber fining and imprisoning those who refused the illegal demands
for money made upon them, the High Commission Court equally zealous in
punishing those who could not conscientiously conform to the established
church of England.

=487. Eliot's Remonstrance.=--Sir John Eliot drew up a remonstrance against
these new acts of royal tyranny, but the speaker of the House of Commons,
acting under the king's order, refused to put the measure to vote, and
endeavored to adjourn. Several members sprang forward and held him in his
chair while the resolutions were passed, declaring that whoever levied or
paid any taxes not voted by Parliament, or attempted to make any change in
religion, was an enemy to the kingdom. In revenge Charles sent Eliot to the
Tower, where he died three years later.

=488. Ship Money.=--To obtain means with which to equip a standing army,
the king forced the whole country to pay a tax known as ship money, on the
pretext that it was needed to free the English coast from the depredations
of Algerine pirates. During previous reigns an impost of this kind on the
coast towns in time of war might have been considered legitimate, since its
original object was to provide ships for the national defence. In time of
peace, however, such a demand could not be rightfully made, especially as
the Petition of Right expressly provided that no money should be demanded
from the country without the consent of its representatives in Parliament.
John Hampden again resisted payment. The case was brought to trial, and
the corrupt judges decided for the king.

=489. Hampden endeavors to leave the Country.=--Many Puritans now emigrated
to America to escape oppression. Hampden, believing that there was no
safety for him in England, resolved to follow their example. With his
cousin Oliver Cromwell, who was a brother-farmer, and had sat with him in
the last Parliament, Hampden embarked on a vessel in the Thames, but they
were prevented from sailing by the king's orders. The two friends remained
to teach the despotic sovereign a lesson which neither he nor England ever
forgot.[319]

[319] Guizot's Eng. Revol.; recent authorities deny the Cromwell incident.

=490. The Difficulty with the Scottish Church.=--In 1637 the king
determined to force the use of a prayer-book, similar to that used in the
English church, on the Scotch Puritans. But no sooner had the Dean of
Edinburgh opened the book, than a general cry arose in the church, "A Pope,
a Pope! Antichrist! stone him!" When the bishops endeavored to appease the
tumult, the enraged congregation clapped and yelled.

Again the dean tried to read prayer from the hated book, when an old woman
hurled her stool at his head, shouting, "D'ye mean to say mass[320] at my
lug [ear]?" Riots ensued, and eventually the Scotch solemnly bound
themselves by a covenant to resist all attempts to change their religion.
The king resolved to force his liturgy on the Covenanters at the point of
the bayonet. But he had no money to pay his army, and the "Short
Parliament" which he summoned refused to grant any unless the king would
redress the nation's grievances. As a last resort, he summoned that
memorable Parliament in 1640, which, because it sat almost continuously for
thirteen years, got the name of the "Long Parliament."[321]

[320] Mass: here used for the Roman Catholic church service.

[321] Long Parliament: it was not finally dissolved until 1660, twenty
years from its first meeting.

=491. The Long Parliament (1640).=--The new Parliament was made up of three
parties: the Church of England party, the Presbyterian party, and the
Independents. The spirit of this body soon showed itself. They impeached
Strafford for his many years of despotic oppression, and sentenced him to
execution. The king refused to sign the death warrant, but Strafford
himself urged him to do so in order to appease the people. Charles,
frightened at the tumult that had arisen, and entreated by his wife,
finally put his hand to the paper, and thus sent his most faithful servant
to the block. Parliament next charged Laud with attempting to overthrow the
Protestant religion. They condemned him to prison, and ultimately to death.
Next, they abolished the Star-Chamber and the High Commission Court. They
then passed a bill requiring Parliament to be summoned once in three years.
They followed this by drawing up the Grand Remonstrance, which they caused
to be printed and circulated throughout the country. The Remonstrance set
forth the faults of the king's government, while it declared their distrust
of his policy. Finally, they enacted a law forbidding the dissolution of
the present Parliament except by its own consent.

=492. The Attempted Arrest of the Five Members.=--It was now rumored, and
perhaps with truth, that the parliamentary leaders were about to take a
still bolder step and impeach the queen for having conspired with the
Catholics and the Irish to destroy the liberties of the country. No one
knew better than Charles how strong a case could be made out against his
frivolous and unprincipled consort. Driven to extremities, he determined to
seize the five members, Hampden, Pym, and three others, who headed the
opposition, on a charge of high treason.[322] The House of Commons was
requested to give them up for trial. The request was not complied with. The
queen urged him to take them by force, saying, "Go, coward, pull those
rogues out by the ears." Thus taunted, the king, attended by an armed
force, went on the next day to the House of Parliament, purposing to seize
the members. They had been forewarned, and had left the House, taking
refuge in the city, which showed itself then, as always, on the side of
liberty. Leaving his soldiers at the door, the king entered the House.
Seeing that the members were absent, the king turned to the speaker and
asked him where they were. The speaker kneeling, begged the king's pardon
for not answering, saying, "that he could neither see nor speak but by
command of the House." Vexed that he could learn nothing further, Charles
left the hall amid ominous cries of "Privilege! privilege!"[323]

[322] The full list was Hampden, Pym, Hollis, Haselrig, and Strode, to
which a sixth, Mandeville, was added later. See Copley's fine picture in
the Art Room of the Boston Public Library.

[323] Privilege: the privilege of Parliament to debate all questions exempt
from royal interference.

=493. Civil War.=--The king, baffled in his purpose, resolved to coerce
Parliament by military force. He left London in 1642, never to return until
he came as a prisoner, and was delivered into the custody of that
legislative body which he had insulted and defied. Parliament now attempted
to come to an understanding with the king. There was then no standing army
in England, but each county and large town had a body of militia, formed of
citizens who were occasionally mustered for drill. This militia was under
the control of the king. Parliament now insisted on his resigning that
control to them. The king refused to give up his undoubted constitutional
right in the matter, raised the royal flag at Nottingham, and the war
began.

=494. Cavaliers and Roundheads.=--It opened in the autumn of that year with
the battle of Edgehill, Warwickshire, and was at first favorable to the
king. On his side were a majority of the nobility, the clergy, and the
country gentlemen, known collectively as Cavaliers, from their dashing and
daring horsemanship. Their leader was Prince Rupert, a nephew of
Charles.[324] On the side of Parliament were the shop-keepers, small
farmers, and a few men of high rank; they were called in ridicule the
Roundheads, from their fashion of wearing their hair closely cropped, so
that it showed the shape of the head. Their leaders were first Essex and
Fairfax, and later, Oliver Cromwell.

[324] See "A Charge with Prince Rupert," Atlantic Magazine (T. W.
Higginson), Vol. III. 725.

=495. How the Country was divided.=--Taking England as a whole, we may say
that the eastern half, with London, was against the king, and that the
western half was for him.[325] Each side made great sacrifices in carrying
on the war. The queen sold her crown jewels, and the Cavaliers melted down
their silver plate to provide money to pay the troops. On behalf of the
people, Parliament imposed heavy taxes, and levied now for the first time a
duty on domestic products, especially on ales and liquors, known as the
excise tax. They also required each household to fast once a week, and give
the price of a dinner to support the army. Parliament also passed what was
called the Self-denying Ordinance, which required all members who held any
civil or military office to resign, and as Cromwell said, "deny themselves
and their private interests for the public good." The real object of this
measure was to get rid of incompetent commanders, and give the army the
vigorous men that the times demanded.

[325] See Map No. 13, and Paragraph No. 34.

With the outbreak of the war great numbers of little local newspapers
sprang into short-lived existence in imitation of the first publication of
that sort, the "Weekly News," which was issued not quite twenty years
before in the reign of James I.[326] Each of the rival armies, it is said,
carried a printing-press with it, and waged furious battles in type against
the other. The whole country was inundated with floods of pamphlets
discussing every conceivable religious and political question.[327]

[326] The first number of the "Weekly News," published by Nathaniel Butter
and associates, appeared May 22, 1622. Previous to that there had been
occasional papers published in London; this was the first regular sheet.

[327] About 30,000 pamphlets came out between 1640-1660.

[Illustration: Map No. 13--CHIEF BATTLEFIELDS OF THE CIVIL WAR OF THE 17TH CENTURY.

The country west of the broad dotted line supported the cause of Charles
I., that on the east supported Parliament.]

=496. The "New Model"; the Solemn League and Covenant.=--At the first
battle fought (Edgehill, Warwickshire) Cromwell saw that the Cavaliers
had the advantage, and told Hampden that "a set of poor tapsters [drawers
of liquor] and town apprentices would never fight against men of honor." He
forthwith proceeded to organize his regiment of "Ironsides," a "lovely
company," as he said, none of whom swore or gambled. After the Self-denying
Ordinance was passed, Cromwell and Fairfax formed a new army of
"God-fearing men" on the same pattern, almost all of whom were
Independents. This was called the "New Model," and was placed under the
joint command of the men who organized it. Very many of its officers were
kinsmen of Cromwell's, and it speedily became the most formidable body of
soldiers of its size in the world--always ready to preach, pray, exhort, or
fight.[328]

[328] "The common soldiers, as well as the officers, did not only pray and
preach among themselves, but went up into the pulpits in all churches and
preached to the people." Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, Book X. p.
79.

Meanwhile Parliament endeavored to persuade the Scotch to join them against
the king. They finally agreed to do so on condition that Parliament should
sign the Solemn League and Covenant, establishing the Scotch Presbyterian
form of worship as the state religion of England and Ireland; to this all
were obliged to conform.

=497. Marston Moor and Naseby.=--On the field of Marston Moor in 1644, the
North of England was conquered by Cromwell with his invincible little army.
The following year Cromwell's "Ironsides," who "trusted in God and kept
their powder dry," gained the decisive victory of Naseby (1645). This
practically ended the war. After the fight, papers belonging to the king
were picked up on the battle-field which proved that Charles intended
betraying those who were negotiating with him for peace, and that he was
planning to bring foreign troops to England. This discovery was more
damaging to the royal cause than the defeat itself.

=498. The King and Parliament.=--Shortly after this, Charles was
surrendered to Parliament by the Scotch, to whom he had fled, and taken to
Holmby House, Northamptonshire. There Cromwell and the army made overtures
to him, but without effect. He was then brought by the army to Hampton
Court, near London. Here, and elsewhere, the army again attempted to come
to some definite understanding with the king, but all to no purpose.
Politically speaking, Charles was his own worst enemy. He was false to the
core, and, as Carlyle has said, "a man whose word will not inform you at
all what he means, or will do, is not a man you can bargain with. You must
get out of that man's way, or put him out of yours."[329]

[329] Carlyle's Past and Present.

=499. Pride's Purge.=--In 1648, after two years spent in fruitless
negotiations, Charles, who had fled to Carisbrooke Castle in the Isle of
Wight, made a secret treaty with the Scots, promising to establish the
Presbyterian church in England, if they would send an army into the country
to restore him to the throne. The Scots marched into England, the Royalists
rose to aid them, and civil war again broke out. The army now vowed that if
they were victorious they would bring the king to justice. To this neither
the Presbyterians in the House of Commons nor the members of the House of
Lords would agree.

Colonel Pride then proceeded, as he said, to purge Parliament by driving
out all who were opposed to this measure. Cromwell had no part in Pride's
expulsion of members, though he afterwards expressed his approval of it.
Those who remained were a small body of Independents only. They did not
number sixty, and were called in derision the Rump Parliament.

=500. Execution of the King.=--This legislative remnant next named one
hundred and thirty-five persons to constitute a high court of justice to
try the king on a charge of treason against the nation, of which the chief
judge or presiding officer was John Bradshaw. Out of this number less than
half were present throughout the trial. Of those who remained and signed
the death-warrant Cromwell was one. Prince Charles, then a refugee in
France, made every effort to save his father. He sent a blank paper bearing
his signature and seal to the judges, offering to bind himself to any
conditions they might insert, providing his father's life might be spared;
but no answer was returned.

On Jan. 20, 1649, the king was brought into court. A week later the judges
pronounced sentence of death on "Charles Stuart, king of England," as a
"tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy."

Throughout the trial Charles bore himself with dignity and self-possession.
The crisis had brought out the best elements of his nature. He was beheaded
in London in front of the royal palace of Whitehall. "A great shudder ran
through the crowd that saw the deed, then a shriek, then all immediately
dispersed."

=501. Summary.=--The whole of Charles I.'s reign must be regarded as a
prolonged struggle between the king and the nation. Under the Tudors and
James I. the royal power had been growing more and more despotic, while at
the same time the progress of the Protestant Reformation and of Puritanism
had encouraged freedom of thought. Between these opposite forces a
collision was inevitable, since religious liberty always favors political
liberty. Had Charles known how to yield in time, or been sincere in the
concessions which he did make, all might have gone well. His duplicity was
his ruin. Though his death did not absolutely destroy the theory of the
Divine Right of Kings, yet it gave it a blow from which it never recovered.


THE COMMONWEALTH AND PROTECTORATE.--1649-1660.

=502. Establishment of the Commonwealth, or Republic (1649-1660).=--On the
afternoon of Jan. 30, 1649, while the crowd that had witnessed the
execution of Charles was slowly leaving the spot, the House of Commons
passed an act prohibiting the proclaiming of any person king of England or
Ireland or the dominions thereof.

Less than two months afterward they abolished the House of Lords as both
useless and dangerous. England was now a republic, governed, in name at
least, by a council of state. Of this council John Bradshaw was president,
the poet Milton was foreign secretary, while Fairfax with Cromwell had
command of the army. The real power was in the army, and the true head of
the army was Cromwell. Without him the so-called republic could not have
stood a day.

=503. Radical Changes.=--All members of the House of Commons, with those
who held any civil or military office, were required to swear allegiance to
the Commonwealth "without king or House of Lords." The use of the English
church service was forbidden, and the statues of Charles in London were
pulled down and demolished. The great seal of England was broken, and a new
one adopted, having on one side a map of England and Ireland, on the other
a representation of the Commons in session, with the words, "In the first
year of freedom, by God's blessing restored 1648."[330]

[330] 1648, or 1649, N. S. See p. 318, note.

=504. Difficulties of the New Republic.=--Shortly after the establishment
of the Commonwealth, Fairfax resigned his command, and Cromwell was now the
sole leader of the military forces of the country. But the new government,
even with his aid, had no easy task before it. It had enemies in the
Royalists, who, since the king's execution, had grown stronger; in the
Presbyterians, who hated both the Rump Parliament and the army; finally it
had enemies in its own ranks in half-crazy fanatics, "Levellers,"[331]
"Come-outers,"[332] and other "cattle and creeping things," who would be
satisfied with nothing but destruction and confusion. Among them were
communists, who, like those of the present day, wished to abolish private
property, and establish "an equal division of unequal earnings," while
others declared and acted out their belief in the coming end of the world.
Eventually Cromwell had to deal with these enthusiasts in a decided way,
especially as some of them threatened to assassinate him in order to hasten
the personal reign of Christ and his saints on earth.

[331] "Levellers": a name given to certain radical republicans who wished
to reduce all ranks and classes to the same level with respect to political
power and privileges.

[332] "Come-outers": this, though a modern term, describes a class who
abandoned all established ways, both of government and religion.

=505. Risings in Ireland and Scotland; Worcester.=--In Ireland the
Royalists had proclaimed Prince Charles king. Cromwell was deputed to
reduce that country to order. To his invincible army of Independents
nothing could have been more congenial than such a crusade. They descended
upon the unhappy island, and wiped out the rebellion in such a whirlwind of
fire and slaughter, that the horror of the visitation has never been
forgotten. To this day the direst imprecation a southern Irishman can utter
is, "the curse of Cromwell on ye."

In Scotland also Charles was looked upon as the legitimate sovereign by a
strong and influential party. He found in the brave Montrose,[333] who was
hanged for treason at Edinburgh, and in other loyal supporters far better
friends than he deserved. In 1650 the prince came to Scotland, took the
oath of the Covenant, which must have been a bitter pill to him, and
rallied a small force, which was completely defeated that year at Dunbar.

[333] See Aytoun's Scottish Ballads: the Execution of Montrose.

Twelve months later, on the anniversary of the victory of Dunbar, Charles
made a second attempt to obtain the crown. At the battle of Worcester,
Cromwell again routed his forces and brought the war to an end. Charles
escaped into Shropshire, where he hid for a day in an oak at Boscobel.
After many narrow escapes he at length succeeded in getting out of the
country.

=506. Cromwell expels Parliament.=--Cromwell now urged the necessity of
calling a Parliament which should represent the country, reform the laws,
and pass a general act of pardon. In his despatch to the House of Commons
after the victory of Worcester, he called the battle a "crowning mercy."
Some of the republicans in that body took alarm at this phrase, and
thought that Cromwell used it to foreshadow a design to place the crown on
his own head. For this reason, perhaps, they hesitated to dissolve.

But at last they could not withstand the pressure, and in 1653 a bill was
introduced for summoning a new Parliament of four hundred members, but with
the provision that all members of the present House were to keep their
seats, and have the right to reject newly elected members.

Cromwell, with the army, believed this provision a trick on the part of the
Rump to keep themselves in perpetual power.

Sir Harry Vane, who was a leading member of the House, and who had been
governor of the colony of Massachusetts, feared that the country was in
danger of falling into the hands of Cromwell as military dictator. He
therefore urged the immediate passage of the bill as it stood. Cromwell
heard that a vote was about to be taken. Putting himself at the head of a
squad of soldiers, whom he left at the door, he suddenly entered the House.
After listening to the debate for some time, he rose from his seat and
charged the Commons with injustice and misgovernment. A member
remonstrated. Cromwell grew excited, saying, "You are no Parliament! I say
you are no Parliament!" Then he called in the musketeers. The speaker was
dragged from his chair, and the members driven after him. As they passed
out, Cromwell shouted "drunkard," "glutton," "extortioner," with other
opprobrious names. When all were gone, he locked the door and put the key
in his pocket. During the night some Royalist wag nailed a placard on the
door, bearing the inscription in large letters, "This House to let,
unfurnished!"

=507. Cromwell becomes Protector (1653).=--Cromwell now summoned a new
Parliament of his own choosing. It consisted of one hundred and thirty-nine
members, and was known as the "Little Parliament."[334] The Royalists
nicknamed it "Barebone's Parliament" from one of its members, a London
leather merchant named Praise-God Barebone. Notwithstanding the
irregularity of its organization and the ridicule cast upon it, the
Barebone's Parliament proposed several reforms of great value, which the
country afterward adopted.

[334] A regularly summoned Parliament, elected by the people, would have
been much larger. This was chosen from a list furnished by the ministers of
the various Independent churches. It was in no true sense a representative
body.

A council now presented a constitution, entitled the "Instrument of
Government,"[335] which made Cromwell Lord Protector of England, Ireland,
and Scotland. Up to this time the Commonwealth had been a republic,
nominally under the control of the House of Commons, but as a matter of
fact governed by Cromwell and the army; now it became a republic under a
Protector, or president, who was to hold his office for life.

[335] "Instrument of Government": the principal provisions of this
constitution were: 1. The government was vested in the Protector and a
council appointed for life; 2. Parliament to be summoned every three years,
and not to be dissolved under five months; 3. A standing army of 30,000 to
be maintained; 4. All taxes to be levied by Parliament; 5. The system of
representation was reformed, so that many large places hitherto without
representation in Parliament now obtained it; 6. All Roman Catholics, and
those concerned in the Irish rebellion, were disfranchised forever.

A few years later, a second constitution was drafted, called the "Humble
Petition and Advice,"[336] which offered Cromwell the crown. He would have
taken it; but finding the army would not support him in such a step,
reluctantly relinquished it. He at the same time endeavored to restore the
House of Lords, but could not get them to attend.

[336] "The Humble Petition and Advice" was a modification of the
"Instrument of Government."

=508. Emigration of Royalists.=--Under the tyranny of the Stuart kings many
Puritans had emigrated to Massachusetts and other parts of New England.
During the Commonwealth the case was reversed, and numbers of Royalists
fled to Virginia. Among them were John Washington, the great-grandfather of
George Washington, and the ancestors of Jefferson, Patrick Henry, the Lees,
Randolphs, and other prominent families, destined in time to found a
republic in the New World much more democratic than anything the old had
ever seen.

=509. Cromwell as a Ruler.=--When Cromwell's new Parliament ventured to
criticise his course, he dissolved them quite as peremptorily as the late
king. Soon after, fear of a Royalist rebellion led him to divide the
country into eleven military districts, each governed by a major-general,
who ruled by martial law and with despotic power. All Royalist families
were heavily taxed to support the standing army; all Catholic priests were
banished, and no books or papers could be published without permission of
the government.

Cromwell, however, though compelled to resort to severe measures to secure
peace, was, in spirit, no oppressor. On the contrary, he proved himself the
Protector not only of the realm, but of the Protestants of Europe. When
they were threatened with persecution, his influence saved them. He showed,
too, that in an age of bigotry he was no bigot. Puritan fanaticism,
exasperated by the persecution it had endured under James and Charles,
often went to the utmost extremes, even as "Hudibras"[337] said, to
"killing of a cat on Monday for catching of a rat on Sunday."

[337] "Hudibras": a burlesque poem by Samuel Butler. It was published in
1663, and satirizes all the leading persons and parties of the
Commonwealth, but especially the Puritans.

It treated the most innocent customs, if they were in any way associated
with Catholicism, or Episcopacy, as serious offences. It closed all places
of amusement; it condemned mirth as ungodly; it was a sin to dance round a
May-pole, or to eat mince-pie at Christmas. Fox-hunting and horse-racing
were forbidden, and bear-baiting prohibited, "not because it gave pain to
the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators."

In such an age, when a man could hardly claim to be religious unless he
wore sad-colored raiment, talked through his nose, and quoted Scripture at
every sentence, Cromwell showed exceptional moderation and good sense.

=510. His Religious Toleration.=--He favored the toleration of all forms of
worship not directly opposed to the government. He befriended the Quakers,
who were then looked upon as the enemies of every form of worship, and were
treated with cruel severity both in England and America. He was
instrumental in sending the first Protestant missionaries to Massachusetts
to convert the Indians, then supposed by many to be a remnant of the lost
tribes of Israel; and after an exclusion of many centuries,[338] he
permitted the Jews to return to England, and even to build a synagogue in
London.

[338] See Paragraph No. 274.

On the other hand, there are few of the cathedral or parish churches of
England which do not continue to testify to the destructive hatred which
during the civil wars vented itself on everything savoring of the rule of
either pope or bishop. The empty niches, where some gracious image of the
Virgin or the figure of some saint once looked down; the patched remnants
of brilliantly stained glass, once part of a picture telling some scripture
story; the mutilated tombs, broken, hacked, and hewed by pike and sword
because on them was some emblem or expression of the old faith--all these
still bear witness to the fury of the Puritan soldiers, who did not respect
even the graves of their ancestors, if those ancestors had once thought
differently from themselves.

=511. Victories by Land and Sea.=--Yet during Cromwell's rule the country,
notwithstanding all the restrictions imposed by a stern military
government, grew and prospered. The English forces gained victories by land
and sea, and made the name of the Protector respected as that of Charles
had never been. At this period the carrying-trade of the world had fallen
into the hands of the Dutch, and Amsterdam had become a more important
centre of exchange than London. In 1651 the Commonwealth passed measures
called Navigation Laws to encourage British commerce by prohibiting the
importation or exportation of any goods into England or its colonies in
Dutch vessels. Later, war with the Dutch broke out partly on account of
questions of trade, and partly because Royalist plotters found protection
in Holland. Then Cromwell created such a navy as the country had never
before possessed, and, under the command of Blake, the Dutch were beaten so
thoroughly that they bound themselves to ever after salute the English flag
wherever they should meet it on the seas. A war undertaken in alliance with
France against Spain was equally successful. Jamaica was taken as a
permanent possession by the British fleet, and France, out of gratitude for
assistance, gave the town of Dunkirk to England, so that the flag of the
Commonwealth was now planted on the French coast.

=512. Cromwell's Death; his Character.=--After being king in everything but
name for five years, Cromwell died Sept. 3, 1658, on the anniversary of the
victories of Dunbar and Worcester. During the latter part of his career he
had lived in constant dread of assassination, and wore concealed armor. At
the hour of his death one of the most fearful storms was raging that had
ever swept over England. To many it seemed a fit accompaniment to the close
of such a life.[339]

[339] Cromwell was always a lonely man, and had so few real friends that
Walter Scott may have expressed his true feeling when he makes him say in
"Woodstock": "I would _I_ had any creature, were it but a dog, that
followed me because it loved me, not for what it could make of me."

In one sense, Cromwell was a usurper and a tyrant; but, at heart, his
object was his country's welfare. In such cases the motive is all in all.
He was a man of rough exterior and hard manner. He cared little for the
smooth proprieties of life, yet he had that dignity of bearing which high
moral purpose gives. In all that he did he was eminently practical. In an
age of isms, theories, and experiments, he was never confused and never
faltered in his course.

=513. The Times needed Such a Man.=--There are emergencies when an ounce of
decision is worth a pound of deliberation. When the ship is foundering or
on fire, or when the crew have mutinied, it will not avail to sit in the
cabin and discuss how it happened. Something must be done, and that
promptly. Cromwell was the man for such a juncture. He saw clearly that if
the country was to be kept together, it must be by decided measures, which
no precedent, law, or constitution justified, but which stood justified
none the less by the exigencies of the crisis, by his own conscious
rectitude of purpose, and by the result.

If there is any truth in Napoleon's maxim, that "the tools belong to him
that can use them," then Cromwell had a God-given right to rule; for,
first, he had the ability; and, next, if we except his campaign in Ireland,
he employed it, all things considered, on the side of order and of justice.

=514. Summary.=--Cromwell's original purpose appears to have been to
establish a government representing the will of the nation more completely
than it had ever been before. He favored the restoration of the House of
Lords, he endeavored to reform the laws, and he sought to secure religious
toleration for the great body of Protestants. Circumstances, however, were
often against him; he had many enemies, and in order to secure peace he was
obliged to resort to absolute power. Yet the difference in this respect
between him and Charles I. was immense; the latter was despotic on his own
account, the former for the advantage of those he governed.


RICHARD CROMWELL.--Sept. 3, 1658, to April 22, 1659.[340]

[340] Richard Cromwell continued to reside in the royal palace of Whitehall
until July, but he virtually gave up all power in April.

=515. Richard Cromwell's Incompetency.=--Richard Cromwell, Oliver's eldest
son, now succeeded to the Protectorate. He was an amiable individual, as
negative in character as his father had been positive. With the extreme
Puritans, known as the "godly party," he had no sympathy whatever. "Here,"
said he to one of them, pointing to a friend of his who stood by, "is a man
who can neither preach nor pray, yet I would trust him before you all."
Such frankness was not likely to make the new ruler popular with the army
made up of men who never lacked a scripture text to justify either a murder
or a massacre. Moreover, the times were perilous, and called for a decided
hand at the helm. After a brief reign of less than eight months the
military leaders requested Richard to resign, and soon after recalled the
Rump Parliament.

=516. Richard retires.=--The Protector retired not only without
remonstrance, but apparently with a sense of relief at being so soon eased
of a burden too heavy for his weak shoulders to carry. To the people he was
hereafter familiarly known as "Tumble-down-Dick," and was caricatured as
such on tavern sign-boards. The nation pensioned him off with a moderate
allowance, and he lived in obscurity to an advanced age, carrying about
with him to the last a trunk filled with the congratulatory addresses and
oaths of allegiance which he had received when he became Protector.

Years after his abdication it is reported that he visited Westminster, and
when the attendant, who did not recognize him, showed him the throne, he
said, "Yes; I have not seen that chair since I sat in it myself in 1659."

=517. The Convention Parliament.=--The year following Richard's withdrawal
was full of anxiety and confusion. The army had dissolved Parliament, there
was no longer any regularly organized government, and the country drifted
helplessly like a ship without a pilot.

General Monk, then commander-in-chief in Scotland, now marched into England
with the determination of calling a new Parliament which should be full,
free, and representative of the real political feeling of the nation. When
he reached London with his army, the members of the Rump had resumed their
sessions. At Monk's invitation the Presbyterian members, whom Colonel Pride
had driven from their seats eleven years before, now went back. This
assembly issued writs for the summoning of a Convention Parliament (so
styled because called without royal authority), and then dissolved by
their own consent. Thus ended that memorable Long Parliament which had
existed nearly twenty years. About a month later the Convention, including
ten members of the House of Lords, met, and at once invited Charles Stuart,
then in Holland, to return to his kingdom.[341]

[341] In anticipation of this event Charles had issued certain promises at
Breda, Holland, called the Declaration of Breda, which granted--

1. Free pardon to all those not excepted by Parliament.

2. Liberty of conscience to all whose views did not disturb the peace of
the realm.

3. The settlement by Parliament of all claims to landed property.

4. The payment of arrears to Monk's army.

=518. Summary.=--Richard Cromwell's government existed in name only, never
in fact. During his so-called protectorate the country was under the
control of the army, or of that Rump Parliament which represented nothing
but itself. The period which elapsed after Oliver Cromwell's death was one
of waiting and preparation. It ended in the meeting of the free national
Parliament, which put an end to the republic, and restored royalty in the
person of Charles II.


CHARLES II.--1660-1685.

=519. The Accession of Charles.=--The English army heard that Charles was
coming, with sullen silence; the ex-members of the Rump, with sullen dread;
the rest of the nation, with a feeling of relief. However much they had
hated the despotism of the Stuarts, four-fifths of the people welcomed any
change which promised to do away with a government maintained by bayonets.

Charles was received at Dover with the wildest demonstrations of joy. Bells
pealed, flags waved, bonfires blazed all the way to London, and the king
said, with characteristic irony, "It must have been my own fault that I did
not come before, for I find no one but declares that he is glad to see me."

The fact that the republic had existed was as far as possible ignored. The
new reign was dated, not when it actually began, but from the day of
Charles I.'s execution twelve years before. The troops of the Commonwealth
were speedily disbanded, but the king retained a picked guard of 5000 men,
which became the nucleus of a new standing army.

=520. The King's Character.=--The sovereign who now ascended the throne was
in every respect the opposite of Cromwell. Charles had no love of country,
no sense of duty, no belief in man, no respect for woman. Evil
circumstances and evil companions had made him "a good-humored but
hard-hearted voluptuary." For twelve years he had been a wanderer, and at
times almost a beggar. Now the sole aim of his life was enjoyment. He
desired to be king because he would then have every means for accomplishing
that aim.

=521. Reaction from Puritanism.=--In this purpose Charles had the sympathy
of a considerable part of the people. The Puritan faith, represented by
such men as Milton and Hampden, was noble indeed; but unfortunately there
were many in its ranks who had no like grandeur of soul, but who pushed
Puritanism to its most injurious and offensive extreme. That attempt to
reduce the whole of life to a narrow system of sour self-denial had at last
broken down. Now, under the Restoration, the reaction set in, and the lower
and earthly side of human nature--none the less human because it is at the
bottom and not at the top--seemed determined to take its full revenge.
Butler ridiculed religious zeal in his poem of "Hudibras," which every
courtier had by heart. It was an epidemic of immorality. Profligacy became
the fashion in both speech and action, and much of the popular literature
of that day will not bear the light.

=522. The Royal Favorites; the Cabal.=--The king surrounded himself with
men like himself. They vied with each other in dissipation and in jests on
each other. Charles's two chief favorites were the Earl of Rochester, a
gifted but ribald poet, and Lord Shaftesbury, who became chancellor. Both
have left on record their estimate of their royal master. The first wrote
on the door of the king's bed-chamber:--

    "Here lies our sovereign lord, the king,
      Whose word no man relies on;
    He never says a foolish thing,
      Nor ever does a wise one."

To which Charles, on reading it, retorted, "'Tis true! because while my
words are my own, my acts are my ministers'."

A bright repartee tells us what the second favorite thought. "Ah!
Shaftesbury," said the king to him one day, "I verily believe you are the
wickedest dog in my dominions." "Yes, your Majesty," replied Shaftesbury,
"for a _subject_ I think perhaps I may be."

The new reign, from a political point of view, began decently and ably with
the Earl of Clarendon as leading minister, but in a few years it
degenerated into an administration called the Cabal, which was simply a
government of debauchees, whose sole object was to advance their own
private interests by making the king supreme.[342] Its character and deeds
may best be learned from that picture of the council of the "infernal
peers," which Milton portrayed in "Paradise Lost," where the five princes
of evil, Moloch, Belial, Mammon, Beelzebub, and Satan, meet in the palace
of Pandemonium to plot the ruin of the world.[343]

[342] This word was originally used to designate the confidential members
of the king's private council, and meant perhaps no more than the word
_cabinet_ does to-day. In 1667 it happened, however, by a singular
coincidence, that the initial letters of the five persons comprising it,
namely (C)lifford, (A)shley-Cooper [Lord Shaftesbury], (B)uckingham,
(A)rlington, and (L)auderdale formed the word CABAL, which henceforth came
to have the odious meaning of secret and unscrupulous intrigue that it has
ever since retained. It was to Charles II.'s time what the political "ring"
is to our own.

[343] Milton's Paradise Lost, Book II. The first edition was published in
1667, the year the Cabal came into power, though its members had long been
favorites with the king. It has been supposed by some that the great
Puritan poet had them in his mind when he represented the Pandemonic
debate. Shaftesbury and Buckingham are also two of the most prominent
characters in Dryden's political satire of Absalom and Achitophel,
published in 1681.

=523. Punishment of the Regicides.=--The first act of Charles's first
Parliament was to proclaim a pardon to all who had fought against his
father in the civil war. The only persons excepted were the members of that
High Court of Justice which had sent Charles I. to the block. Of these, ten
were executed and nineteen imprisoned for life. Most of the other regicide
judges were either already out of the country, or managed to escape soon
after. Among these, William Goffe, Edward Whalley, and Col. John Dixwell
took refuge in Connecticut, where they remained concealed for several
years. Eventually the first two went to Hadley, Massachusetts, where they
lived in seclusion in the house of a clergyman until their death. The
bodies of Cromwell, Ireton, Bradshaw, and Pride were dug up from their
graves in Westminster Abbey, and hanged in chains at Tyburn.[344] They were
then buried at the foot of the gallows, along with the mouldering remains
of highway robbers and criminals of the lowest sort.

[344] Tyburn, near the northeast entrance to Hyde Park, London. It was for
several centuries the chief place for the public execution of felons.

=524. Religions Persecution; Covenanters; Bunyan.=--The Episcopal form of
worship was now restored, and in the course of the next few years severe
laws were passed against the Nonconformists, or Dissenters.[345] The
Corporation Act ordered all holders of municipal offices to renounce the
Puritan covenant,[346] and take the sacrament of the Church of England.
Next, the Act of Uniformity enforced the use of the Episcopal Prayer-book
upon all clergymen and congregations. This was followed by a law[347]
forbidding all religious assemblies whatever, except such as worshipped
according to the established church. Lastly, the Five-Mile Act forbade all
dissenting ministers from teaching in schools, or settling within five
miles of an incorporated town.

[345] The chief Nonconformists, aside from the Roman Catholics, were: 1.
The Presbyterians. 2. The Independents, or Congregationalists. 3. The
Baptists. 4. The Society of Friends, or Quakers. Originally the name
Nonconformist was given to those who refused to conform to the worship of
the Church of England, or Episcopacy, and endeavored to change it to suit
their views. Later, when the Nonconformists gave up that attempt, and asked
only for permission to worship according to their own convictions, they
received the milder name of Dissenters.

[346] Covenant: the oath or agreement to maintain the Presbyterian faith
and worship. It originated in Scotland. See Paragraph No. 490.

[347] Conventicle Act: from conventicle, a religious meeting of Dissenters.

By these stringent statutes 2000 Presbyterian clergymen were driven from
their parishes in a single day, and reduced to the direst distress. The
able-bodied among them might indeed pick up a precarious livelihood by hard
labor, but the old and the weak soon found their refuge in the grave.

Those who dared to resist these intolerant and inhuman laws were punished
with fines, imprisonment, or slavery. The Scottish Parliament--a
Parliament, says Bishop Burnet, "mostly drunk"--vied with that of England
in persecution of the Dissenters.

The Covenanters were hunted with bugle and bloodhound, like so many deer,
by Claverhouse and his men, who hanged and drowned without mercy those who
gathered secretly in glens, and caves to worship God. Even when nothing
certain was known against those who were seized, there was no trial. The
father of a family would be dragged from his cottage by the soldiers, asked
if he would take the test of conformity to the Church of England and to
Charles's government; if not, then came the order, "Make
ready--present--fire!"--and there lay the corpse of the rebel.

Among the multitudes who suffered in England for religion's sake was a poor
day-laborer named John Bunyan. He had served against the king in the civil
wars, and later had become converted to Puritanism, and turned exhorter and
itinerant preacher. He was arrested and convicted of having "devilishly and
perniciously abstained from coming to church." The judge sentenced him to
Bedford jail, where he remained a prisoner for twelve years. It was, he
says, a squalid "Denn."[348] But in his marvellous dream of "A Pilgrimage
from this World to the Next," he forgot the misery of his surroundings.
Like Milton, in his blindness, loneliness, and poverty, he looked within
and found that--

    "The mind is its own place, and in itself
      Can make a heaven of hell."[349]

[348] "As I walk'd through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a
certain place where was a Denn, and I laid me down in that place to sleep;
and as I slept I dreamed a dream." The Pilgrim's Progress, edition of 1678.

[349] Paradise Lost, Book I. 253.

=525. Seizure of a Dutch Colony.=--While these things were going on in
England, a disgraceful event took place abroad. The Dutch had established a
colony in America, and built a town on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the
Hudson River, which they called New Amsterdam.

A treaty made by England with Holland under the Commonwealth had recognized
the claims of the Dutch in the New World.

Charles, however, had no intention of keeping faith with Holland; and
though the two nations were at peace, resolved to seize the territory. He
accordingly granted it to his brother James, Duke of York, and sent out a
secret expedition to capture the colony in his behalf.

One day an English fleet suddenly appeared in the harbor of the Dutch town,
and demanded its immediate and unconditional surrender. The governor was
unprepared to make any defence, and the place was given up. Thus, without
so much as the firing of a gun, New Amsterdam got the name of New York in
honor of the man who, with his royal brother, had with characteristic
treachery planned and perpetrated the robbery.

=526. The Plague and the Fire.=--In 1665 a terrible outbreak of the plague
occurred in London, which spread throughout the kingdom. All who could fled
from the city. Hundreds of houses were left vacant, while on hundreds more
a cross marked on the doors in red chalk, with the words "Lord have mercy
on us," written underneath, told where the work of death was going on.[350]

[350] Pepys writes in his diary, describing the beginning of the plague:
"The 7th of June, 1665, was the hottest day I ever felt in my life. This
day, much against my will, I did in Drury Lane see two or three houses with
a red cross upon the door, and 'Lord have mercy upon us' writ there, which
was a sad sight." Pepys' Diary, 1660-1669. Defoe wrote a journal of the
plague in 1722, based, probably, on the reports of eyewitnesses. It gives a
vivid and truthful account of its horrors.

This pestilence swept off over a hundred thousand victims within six
months. Among the few brave men who voluntarily remained in the stricken
city were the Puritan ministers, who stayed to comfort and console the sick
and dying. After the plague was over, they received their reward in those
acts of persecution which drove them homeless and helpless from their
parishes and friends.

The dead-cart had hardly ceased to go its rounds, when a fire (1666) broke
out, of which Evelyn, a courtier, who witnessed it, wrote, that it "was not
to be outdone until the final conflagration."[351] By it the city of London
proper was reduced to ruins, little more being left than a fringe of houses
on the northeast.[352]

[351] Evelyn's Diary, 1641-1705, also compare Dryden's Poem, Annus
Mirabilis.

[352] See Map in Loftie's London, Vol. I. See also Paragraph No. 64, note
2.

The members of the Cabal gloated over the destruction, believing that now
that London was destroyed, the king, with the aid of his army, might easily
crush out political liberty. But selfish as Charles and his brother James
unquestionably were, they were better than the Cabal; for both worked
heroically to stop the flames, and gave liberally to feed and shelter the
multitudes who had lost everything.

Great as the calamity was, yet from a sanitary point of view it did great
good. Nothing short of fire could have effectually cleansed the London of
that day, and so put a stop to the periodical ravages of the plague. By
sweeping away miles of narrow streets crowded with miserable buildings
black with the encrusted filth of ages, the conflagration in the end proved
friendly to health and life.

A monument near London Bridge still marks the spot where the flames first
burst out. For many years it bore an inscription affirming that the
Catholics kindled them in order to be revenged on their persecutors. The
poet Pope, at a later period, exposed the falsehood in the lines:--

    "Where London's column pointing towards the skies
    Like a tall bully lifts its head and lies."[353]

[353] Moral Essays, Epistle iii.

Sir Christopher Wren, the most famous architect of the period, rebuilt the
city. The greater part of it had been of wood, but it rose from the ashes
brick and stone. One irreparable loss was the old Gothic church of St.
Paul. Wren erected the present cathedral on the foundations of the ancient
structure. He lies buried under the grand dome of his own grandest work. On
a tablet near the tomb of the great master-builder one reads the
inscription in Latin, "Reader, if you seek his monument, look around."[354]

[354] "Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice."

=527. Invasion by the Dutch.=--The new city had not risen from the ruins of
the old, when a third calamity overtook it. Charles was at war with
Holland. The contest originally grew out of the rivalry of the two
countries in their efforts to get the exclusive possession of foreign
trade. Parliament granted the king large sums of money to build and equip a
navy, but the pleasure-loving monarch wasted it in dissipation. The few
ships he had were rotten old hulks, but half provisioned, with crews ready
to mutiny because they could not get their pay. A Dutch fleet, manned in
part by English sailors who had deserted in disgust, because when they
asked for dollars to support their families they got only worthless
government tickets, now sailed up the Thames. There was no force to oppose
them. They burnt some half-built men-of-war, threatened to blockade London,
and made their own terms of peace.

=528. Treaty of Dover; the King robs the Exchequer.=--But another and still
deeper disgrace was at hand. The chief ambition of Charles was to rule
without a Parliament; without supplies of money he found this impossible. A
way to accomplish the desired end now presented itself.

Louis XIV. of France, then the most powerful monarch in Europe, wished to
conquer Holland, with the double object of extending his own kingdom and
the power of Romanism. He saw in Charles the tool he wanted to gain this
end. By the secret treaty of Dover, Louis bribed the English king with a
gift of £300,000 to help him carry out his scheme. Thus, without the
knowledge of Parliament, Charles deliberately sold himself to the French
sovereign in his plot to destroy the political liberty and Protestant faith
of Holland. In addition to the above sum, it was furthermore agreed that
Louis should pay Charles a pension of £200,000 a year from the date when
the latter should openly avow himself a Catholic.

True to his infamous contract, Charles provoked a new war with the Dutch,
but found that he needed more money to prosecute it successfully. Not
knowing where to borrow, he determined to steal it. Various prominent
London merchants and bankers had lent to the government large sums on
promise of repayment from the taxes. A part of the revenue amounting to
about £1,300,000, a sum equal to at least $10,000,000 now, had been
deposited in the exchequer, or government treasury, to meet the obligation.
The king seized this money,[355] partly for his needs, but chiefly for his
vices. This act of treachery caused a financial panic which shook London to
its foundations and ruined great numbers of people.

[355] "'Rob me the exchequer, Hal,' said the king to his favorite minister;
then 'all went merry as a marriage bell.'" Evelyn's Diary, 10 Oct., 1671.

=529. More Money Schemes.=--By declaring war against Holland, Charles had
now fulfilled the first part of his secret treaty with Louis, but he was
afraid to undertake the second part and openly declare himself a convert to
the Church of Rome. He, however, did the next thing to it, by issuing a
proclamation of indulgence to all religions, under cover of which he
intended to show especial favor to the Catholics.

To offset this proclamation, Parliament at once passed a law requiring
every government officer to acknowledge himself a Protestant. Charles
became alarmed at this decided stand, and now tried to conciliate
Parliament, and coax from them another grant of money by marrying his
niece, the Princess Mary, to William of Orange, president of the Dutch
republic, and head of the Protestant party on the continent.

=530. The "Popish Plot."=--While the king was playing this double part, an
infamous scoundrel, named Titus Oates, whose hideous face was but the
counterpart of a still more hideous character, pretended that he had
discovered a terrible plot. According to his account, the Catholics had
formed a conspiracy to burn London, massacre the inhabitants, kill the
king, and restore the religion of Rome. The news of this alleged discovery
caused an excitement which soon grew into a sort of popular madness. The
memory of the great fire was still fresh in people's minds. In their
imagination they now saw those scenes of horror repeated, with wholesale
murder added. Great numbers of innocent persons were thrown into prison,
and many executed. As time went on, the terror seemed to increase. With its
increase, Oates grew bolder in his accusations. Chief-Justice Scroggs
showed himself an eager abettor of the miserable wretch who swore away
men's lives for the sake of the notoriety it gave him. In the extravagance
of his presumption Oates dared even to accuse the queen of an attempt to
poison Charles. The craze, however, had at last begun to abate somewhat,
and no action was taken.

An attempt was now made to pass a law called the "Exclusion Bill,"
debarring Charles's brother James, the Catholic Duke of York, from
succeeding to the crown; but though voted by the Commons, it was defeated
by the Lords. A second measure, however, received the sanction of both
Houses, by which Catholics were declared incapable of sitting in
Parliament; and from this date they remained shut out from all legislative
power and from all civil and corporate offices for a period of over a
century and a half.

=531. Political Parties.=--It was about this time that the names "Whig" and
"Tory" began to be given to two political parties, which soon became very
powerful, and which have ever since divided the Parliamentary government
of the country between them.

The term "Whig" was originally given by way of reproach to the Scotch
Puritans, or Covenanters, who refused to accept the Episcopacy which
Charles I. endeavored to impose upon them.[356] "Tory," on the other hand,
was a nickname which appears to have first been applied to the Roman
Catholic outlaws of Ireland, who were regarded as both robbers and rebels.

[356] See Paragraph No. 490.

This latter name was now given to those who supported the claims of the
king's brother James, the Roman Catholic Duke of York, as successor to the
throne; while that of Whig was borne by those who were endeavoring to
exclude him, and secure a Protestant successor.[357] The excitement over
this question threatened at one period to bring on another civil war. In
his fury against the Whigs, Charles revoked the charters of London and many
other cities, which were re-granted only on terms agreeable to the Tories.
An actual outbreak against the government would probably have occurred had
it not been for the discovery of a new conspiracy, which resulted in a
reaction favorable to the crown.

[357] Politically, the Whigs and Tories may perhaps be considered as the
successors of the Roundheads and Cavaliers of the civil war, the former
seeking to limit the power of the crown; the latter, to extend it. At the
Restoration (1660), the Cavaliers were all-powerful; but at the time of the
dispute on the Exclusion Bill (1679), the Roundhead, or Peoples' party had
revived. On account of their petitioning the king to summon a new
Parliament, by means of which they hoped to carry the bill shutting out the
Duke of York from the throne, they were called "Petitioners," and later,
Whigs; while those who expressed their abhorrence of their efforts were
called "Abhorrers," and afterward, Tories.

=532. The Rye House Plot.=--This conspiracy, known as the "Rye House Plot,"
had for its object the murder of Charles and his brother James at a place
called the Rye House, in Hertfordshire, not far from London. It was
concocted by a number of violent Whigs, who, in their disappointment
respecting the passage of the Exclusion Bill, took this method of securing
their ends.

It is said that they intended placing on the throne James, Duke of
Monmouth, a natural son of Charles, who was popularly known as the
"Protestant Duke." Algernon Sidney, Lord Russell, and the Earl of Essex,
who were prominent advocates of the bill, were arrested for participating
in the plot. Essex committed suicide in the Tower; Sidney and Russell were
tried, convicted, and sentenced to death on insufficient evidence. Both
were unquestionably innocent. They died martyrs to the cause of
liberty,--Russell, with the fortitude of a Christian; Sidney, with the
calmness of a philosopher. The Duke of Monmouth, who was supposed to be
implicated in the plot, was banished to Holland.

=533. The Royal Society.=--During this reign the Royal Society, for the
discussion of scientific questions, was organized. In an age when thousands
of well-informed people still cherished a lingering belief that lead might
be changed into gold; that some medicine might be discovered which would
cure every disease, and prevent old age, that worst disease of all; when
every cross-grained old woman was suspected of witchcraft, and was liable
to be tortured and hanged on that suspicion; the formation of an
association to study physical facts was most significant. It showed that
the time had come when, instead of guessing what might be, men were at last
beginning to resolve to know what actually is. Under the encouragement
given by this society, an English mathematician and philosopher published a
work which demonstrated the unity of the universe, by proving that the same
law governs the falling of an apple and the movements of the planets in
their orbits. It was with reference to that wonderful discovery of the
all-pervading power of gravitation, which shapes and holds in its control
the drop of dew before our eyes, and the farthest star shining in the
heavens, that the poet Pope suggested the epitaph which should be graven on
the tomb in Westminster Abbey:--

    "Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night;
    God said, 'Let Newton be!' and all was light."

=534. Chief Political Reforms.=--As the age did not stand still with
respect to progress in knowledge, so it was not wholly unsuccessful in
attempts at political reform. The chief measures were, first, the Habeas
Corpus Act,[358] which provided that no subject should be detained in
prison except by due process of law, thus putting an end to the arbitrary
confinement of men for months, and years even, without conviction of guilt
or even form of trial. The next reform was the abolition of the king's
right to feudal dues and service, by which he was accustomed to extort as
much as possible from his subjects,[359] and the substitution of a fixed
yearly allowance, raised by tax, of £1,200,000.[360] This change may be
considered to have practically abolished the feudal system in England, so
far as the crown is concerned, though the law still retains many remnants
of it with respect to the relation of landlord and tenant.

[358] Habeas Corpus ad subjiciendum (1679) (_that you have the body to
answer_): this writ is addressed by the judge to him who detains another in
custody, commanding him to bring him into court and show why he is
restrained of his liberty.

[359] See Paragraph No. 200. See also Blackstone's Commentaries, II. 76.

[360] This tax should have been levied on the landed proprietors who had
been subject to the feudal dues, but they evaded it, and by getting it
assessed as an excise duty on beer and spirits, they compelled the body of
the people to bear the burden for them.

=535. Death of Charles.=--In 1685 the reign came suddenly to an end. Evelyn
tells us in his Diary that he was present at the royal court at the Palace
of Whitehall on Sunday morning, the last of January of that year. There he
saw the king sitting in the grand banqueting-room, chatting gayly with
three famous court beauties, "while a crowd of richly dressed nobles were
gathered around a gambling-table heaped with gold. Six days after," as he
expresses it, "all was in the dust." Charles died a Roman Catholic, his
brother James having smuggled a priest into his chamber in time to hear his
confession and grant him absolution. Certainly few English rulers have
stood in greater need of both.

=536. Summary.=--The chief events of the period were the persecution of the
Puritans, the Plague and Fire of London, the "Popish" and Rye House Plots,
and the Dutch Wars. Aside from these, the reign presents two leading
points: 1. The policy of the king; 2. That of the nation. Charles, as we
have seen, lived solely to gratify his inordinate love of pleasure. For
that, he wasted the revenue, robbed the exchequer, and cheated the navy;
for that, he secretly sold himself to France, made war on Holland, and
shamefully deceived both Parliament and people. In so far, then, as Charles
had an object, it began and ended with himself. Therein, he stood lower
than his father, who at least conscientiously believed in the Divine Right
of kings and their accountability to the Almighty.

The policy of the nation, on the other hand, was divided. The Whigs were
determined to limit the power of the crown, and secure at all hazards a
Protestant successor. The Tories were equally resolved to check the growing
power of the people, and preserve the hereditary order of succession
without any immediate regard to the religious question. Beneath these
issues both parties had a common object, which was to maintain the national
Episcopal church, and the monarchical system of government, preferring
rather to cherish patriotism through loyalty to a personal sovereign, than
patriotism alone through devotion to a democratic republic.


JAMES II.--1685-1689.

=537. Accession of James II.; his Two Objects; Oates gets his
Deserts.=--James, Duke of York, brother of the late king, now came to the
throne. His first great ambition was to rule independently of Parliament;
in other words, to have his own way in everything; his second, which was,
if possible, still nearer his heart, was to restore the Roman Catholic
religion in England. He began that restoration at once; and on the Easter
Sunday preceding his coronation, "the worship of the church of Rome was
once more, after an interval of a hundred and twenty-seven years, performed
at Westminster with royal splendor."[361]

[361] Macaulay's England.

Not long after, James had the miscreant Oates brought to trial for the
perjuries he had committed in connection with the "Popish Plot." He was
found guilty, and the community had the satisfaction of seeing him publicly
whipped through London with such terrible severity that "the blood ran in
rivulets," and a few more strokes of the lash would have ended his
worthless life.

=538. Monmouth's Rebellion; Sedgemoor.=--At the time of the discovery of
the Rye House Plot, a number of Whigs who were implicated in the conspiracy
fled to Holland, where the Duke of Monmouth had also gone when banished.
Four months after the accession of James, the duke, aided by these refugees
and by a small force which he had gathered in the Low Countries, resolved
to invade England and demand the crown, in the belief that a large part of
the nation would look upon him as representing the cause of Protestantism,
and would therefore rally to his support. He landed at Lyme on the coast of
Dorsetshire, and there issued an absurd proclamation declaring James to be
a usurper, tyrant, and murderer, who had set the great fire of London, cut
the throat of Essex,[362] and poisoned Charles II.! At Taunton, in
Somersetshire, a procession of welcome headed by a lady carrying a Bible
met the duke, and presented him with the book in behalf of the Protestant
faith. He received it, saying, "I come to defend the truths contained in
this volume, and to seal them, if it must be so, with my blood." Shortly
after, he proclaimed himself sovereign of Great Britain under the title of
King Monmouth. Many of the country people now joined him, but the Whig
nobles, on whose help he had counted, stood aloof, alienated doubtless by
the ridiculous charges he had made against James.

[362] See Paragraph No. 532.

At the battle of Sedgemoor, in Somersetshire (1685), "King Monmouth," with
his hastily gathered forces, was utterly routed, and he himself was soon
after captured hiding in a ditch. He desired to be taken to the king. His
request was granted. When he entered his uncle's presence, he threw himself
down and crawled to his feet, weeping and begging piteously for life--only
life--on any terms, however hard. He denied that he had issued the lying
proclamation published at Lyme; he denied that he had sought the crown of
his own free will; finally, in an agony of supplication, he hinted that he
would even renounce Protestantism if thereby he might escape death. James
told him that he should have the service of a Catholic priest, but would
promise nothing more. Monmouth grovelled and pleaded, but the king turned
away in silence. Then the duke, seeing that all his efforts were vain, rose
to his feet and regained his manhood. He was forthwith sent to the Tower,
and shortly after to execution. His headless body was buried under the
communion-table of that little chapel of St. Peter within the Tower
grounds, where the remains of Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, Sir Thomas More,
and many other royal victims are gathered, and of which, it has been well
said, that no sadder spot exists on earth, "since there death is associated
with whatever is darkest in human nature and human destiny."[363]

[363] Macaulay's England.

After Monmouth's death there were no further attempts at insurrection, and
the struggle at Sedgemoor remains the last encounter worthy of the name of
battle fought on English soil.

=539. The Bloody Assizes.=--The defeat of the insurgents who had rallied
under Monmouth's flag was followed by a series of trials known, from their
results, as the "Bloody Assizes."[364] They were conducted by Judge
Jeffreys, assisted by a band of soldiers under Colonel Kirke, ironically
called, from their ferocity, "Kirke's Lambs." But of the two, Jeffreys was
the more to be dreaded. He was by nature cruel, and enjoyed the spectacle
of mental as well as bodily anguish. As he himself said, he delighted to
give those who had the misfortune to appear before him "a lick with the
rough side of his tongue," preparatory to roaring out the sentence of
torture or death, in which he delighted still more. All who were in the
remotest way implicated in the late rising were now hunted down and
brought to a trial which was but a mockery of justice. No one was permitted
to defend himself. In fact, defence would have been useless against the
blind fury of such a judge. The threshold of the court was to most that
crossed it the threshold of the grave. A gentleman present at one of these
scenes of slaughter, touched with pity at the condition of a trembling old
man called up for sentence, ventured to put in a word in his behalf. "My
Lord," said he to Jeffreys, "this poor creature is dependent on the
parish." "Don't trouble yourself," cried the judge; "I will soon ease the
parish of the burden," and ordered the officers to execute him at once.
Those who escaped death were often still more to be pitied. A young man was
sentenced to be imprisoned for seven years, and to be whipped once a year
through every market town in the county. In his despair, he petitioned the
king to grant him the favor of being hanged. The petition was refused, but
a partial remission of the punishment was at length gained by bribing the
court; for Jeffreys, though his heart was shut against mercy, always had
his pockets open for gain. Alice Lisle, an aged woman, who, out of pity,
had concealed two men flying from the king's vengeance, was condemned to be
burned alive; and it was with the greatest difficulty that the clergy of
Winchester Cathedral succeeded in getting the sentence commuted to
beheading.

[364] Assizes (from the French _asseoir_, to sit or set): sessions of a
court; also used in the singular, of a decree or law.

As the work went on, the spirits of Jeffreys rose higher and higher. He
laughed, shouted, joked, and swore like a drunken man. When the court had
finished its sittings, more than a thousand persons had been brutally
scourged, sold as slaves, hanged, or beheaded. The guide-posts of the
highways were converted into gibbets, from which blackened corpses swung in
chains, and from every church-tower in Somersetshire ghastly heads looked
down on those who gathered there to worship God; in fact, so many bodies
were exposed, that the whole air was "tainted with corruption and death."

Not satisfied with vengeance alone, Jeffreys and his friends made these
trials a means of speculation. Batches of rebels were given as presents to
courtiers, who sold them to be worked and flogged to death on West India
plantations; and the queen's maids of honor extorted large sums of money
for the pardon of a number of country school-girls who had been convicted
of presenting Monmouth with a royal flag at Taunton. On the return of
Jeffreys to London after this carnival of blood, his father was so
horrified at his cruelty that he forbade him to enter his house. James, on
the contrary, testified his approval by making Jeffreys lord chancellor of
the realm, at the same time mildly censuring him for not having shown
greater severity! The new lord chancellor testified his gratitude to his
royal master by procuring the murder, by means of a packed jury, of
Alderman Cornish, a prominent London Whig, who was especially hated by the
king on account of his support of that Exclusion Bill which was intended to
shut James out from the throne. On the same day on which Cornish was
executed, Jeffreys also had the satisfaction of having Elizabeth Gaunt
burned alive at Tyburn for having assisted one of the Rye House
conspirators to escape who had fought for Monmouth at Sedgemoor.

=540. The King makes Further Attempts to re-establish Catholicism;
Declaration of Indulgence; Oxford.=--An event occurred about this time
which encouraged James to make a more decided attempt to restore
Catholicism. In 1598 Henry IV. of France granted the Protestants of his
kingdom liberty of worship, by the Edict of Nantes.[365] In 1685 Louis XIV.
deliberately revoked it. By that short-sighted act the Huguenots, or French
Protestants, were exposed to cruel persecution, and thousands of them fled
to England and America. James now resolved to profit by the example set him
by Louis, and if not like the French monarch to drive the Protestants out
of Great Britain, at least to restore the country to its allegiance to
Rome. He began, contrary to law, by putting Catholics into important
offices in both church and state.[366] He furthermore established an army
of 13,000 men on Hounslow Heath, just outside London, to hold the city in
subjection in case there should be a disposition to rebel. He next recalled
the Protestant Duke of Ormond, governor of Ireland, and in his place as
lord deputy, sent Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnel, a Catholic of notoriously bad
character. Tyrconnel had orders to recruit an Irish Roman Catholic army to
aid the king in carrying out his designs. He raised some soldiers, but he
also raised that famous song of "Lilli Burlero," by which, as its author
boasted, James was eventually "sung out of his kingdom."[367] Having,
meanwhile, got the courts completely under his control through the
appointment of judges in sympathy with Jeffreys and with himself, the king
issued a Declaration of Indulgence, suspending all penal laws against both
Roman Catholics on the one hand, and Protestant Dissenters on the other.
The latter, however, suspecting that this apparently liberal measure was
simply a trick to establish Catholicism, refused to avail themselves of it,
and denounced it as an open violation of the Constitution.

[365] Nantes (Nantz).

[366] See Paragraph No. 530.

[367] Lord Wharton, a prominent English Whig, was the author of this
satirical political ballad, which, it is said, was sung and whistled from
one end of England to the other, in derision of the king's policy. It
undoubtedly had a powerful popular influence in bringing on the Revolution
of 1688.

The ballad began:--

    "Ho, Brother Teague, dost hear de decree?
      Lilli Burlero, bullen a-la,
    Dat we shall have a new deputie,
      Lilli Burlero, bullen a-la."

The refrain, "Lilli Burlero," etc. (also written "Lillibullero"), is said
to have been the watchword used by the Irish Catholics when they rose
against the Protestants of Ulster in 1641. See Wilkins's Political Songs,
Vol. I.

James next proceeded, by means of the tyrannical High Commission Court,
which he had revived,[368] to bring the chief college at Oxford under
Catholic control. The president of Magdalen College having died, the
Fellows were considering the choice of a successor. The king ordered them
to elect a Catholic, and named at first a man of ill repute. The Fellows
refused to obey, and elected a Protestant. James ejected the new
president, and drove out the Fellows, leaving them to depend on the
charity of the neighboring country gentlemen for their support. But the
king, in attacking the rights of the college, had "run his head against a
wall,"[369] as he soon discovered to his sorrow. His temporary success,
however, emboldened him to issue a second Declaration of Indulgence, of
which the real object, like that of the first, was to put Roman Catholics
into still higher positions of trust and power.

[368] See Paragraph No. 491.

[369] "What building is that?" asked the Duke of Wellington of his
companion, Mr. Croker, pointing, as he spoke, to Magdalen College wall,
just as they entered the city in 1834. "That is the wall which James II.
ran his head against," was the reply.

=541. The Petition of the Seven Bishops.=--He commanded the clergy
throughout the realm to read this declaration on a given Sunday from their
pulpits. The Archbishop of Canterbury, accompanied by six bishops,
petitioned the king to be excused from reading it in their churches. The
king refused to consider the petition. When the day came, hardly a
clergyman read the paper, and in the few cases in which they did, the
congregation rose and left rather than listen to it.

Furious at such an unexpected result, James ordered the refractory bishops
to be sent to the Tower. The whole country now seemed to turn against the
king. By his obstinate folly James had succeeded in making enemies of all
classes, not only of the Whig Roundheads who had fought against his father
in the civil war, but also of the Tory Cavaliers who had fought for him.
One of the imprisoned bishops was Trelawney of Bristol. He was a native of
Cornwall. The news of his incarceration roused the rough, independent,
population of that county. From one end of it to the other the people were
now heard singing:--

    "And shall Trelawney die, and shall Trelawney die?
    There's thirty thousand Cornishmen will know the reason why."

Then the miners took up the words, and beneath the hills and fields the
ominous echo was heard:--

    "And shall Trelawney die, and shall Trelawney die?
    There's twenty thousand underground will know the reason why."

On their trial the popular feeling in favor of the bishops was so strong
that not even James's servile judges dared to openly use their influence to
convict them. When the case was given to the jury, it is said that the
largest and most robust man of the twelve rose and said to the rest: "Look
at me! I am bigger than any of you, but before I will bring in a verdict of
guilty, I will stay here until I am no thicker than a tobacco-pipe." That
decided the matter, and the bishops were acquitted. The news was received
in London like the tidings of some great victory, with shouts of joy,
illuminations, and bonfires.

=542. Birth of a Prince; Invitation to William of Orange.=--But just before
the acquittal an event took place which changed everything and brought on
the memorable Revolution of 1688.

Up to this time the succession to the throne after James rested with his
two daughters,--Mary, who had married William, Prince of Orange,[370] and
resided in Holland; and her younger sister Anne, who had married George,
Prince of Denmark, and was then living in London. Both of the daughters
were zealous Protestants, and the expectation that one of them would ascend
the English throne on the king's death had kept the people comparatively
quiet under the efforts of James to restore Catholicism. But while the
bishops were in prison awaiting trial the alarming intelligence was spread
that a son had been born to the king. If true, he would now be the next
heir to the crown, and would in all probability be educated and come to
power a Catholic. This prospect brought matters to a crisis. Great numbers
of the people, especially the Whigs, believed the whole matter an
imposition, and it was commonly reported that the pretended prince was not
the true son of the king and queen, but a child that had been smuggled into
the palace to deceive the nation.

[370] Mary: see Paragraph No. 529.

On the very day that the bishops were set at liberty, seven of the leading
nobility and gentry, representing both political parties, seconded by the
city of London, sent a secret invitation to William, Prince of Orange,
urging him to come over with an army to defend his wife Mary's claim to the
English throne and to protect the liberty of the English people.

William, after due consideration, decided to accept the invitation, which
was probably not unexpected on his part. He was confirmed in his decision
not only by the cordial approval of the leading Catholic princes of
Europe,[371] but also by the Pope himself, who had more than once expressed
his emphatic disgust at the foolish rashness of King James.[372]

[371] Except, of course, Louis XIV.

[372] Guizot, Histoire de Charles I. (Discours sur l'Histoire de la
Révolution).

=543. The Coming of William, and Flight of James.=--William landed with
14,000 troops. It was the fifth and last great landing in the history of
England.[373] He declared that he came in Mary's interest and that of the
English nation, to secure a free and legal Parliament which should decide
the question of the succession. James endeavored to rally a force to resist
him, but Lord John Churchill, afterward Duke of Marlborough, and the king's
son-in-law, Prince George, both secretly went over to William's side. His
troops likewise deserted, and finally even his daughter Anne went over to
the enemy. "Now God help me!" exclaimed James, in despair, "for my own
children forsake me!" The queen had already fled to France, taking with her
her infant son, the unfortunate James Edward, whose birth had caused the
revolution, and who, instead of a kingdom, inherited nothing but the
nickname of "Pretender," which he in turn transmitted to his son.[374] King
James soon followed his wife.

[373] The first being that of the Romans, the next that of the Saxons, the
third that of St. Augustine, the fourth that of William the Conqueror, the
fifth that of the Prince of Orange.

[374] Prince James Edward Stuart, the "Old Pretender," and his son Prince
Charles Edward Stuart, the "Young Pretender."

As he crossed the Thames in a boat by night, James threw the great seal of
state into the river, in the vain hope that without it a Parliament could
not be legally summoned to decide the question which his adversary had
raised. The king got as far as the coast, but was discovered by some
fishermen and brought back. William reluctantly received him, and purposely
allowed him to escape a second time. He now reached France, and found
generous welcome and support from Louis XIV., at the court of
Versailles.[375] There could be now no reasonable doubt that James's
daughter Mary would receive the English crown.

[375] For the king's life at Versailles, see Doran's Monarchs retired from
Business.

=544. Character of the Revolution of 1688.=--Never was a revolution of such
magnitude and meaning accomplished so peacefully. Not a drop of blood had
been shed. There was hardly any excitement or uproar. Even the bronze
statue of the runaway king was permitted to stand undisturbed in the rear
of the palace of Whitehall, where it remains to this day.

The great change had taken place thus quietly because men's minds were ripe
for it. England had entered upon another period of history, in which old
institutions, laws and customs were passing away and all was becoming new.

Feudalism had vanished under Charles II.,[376] but political and religious
persecution had continued. In future, however, we shall hear no more of the
revocation of city charters or of other punishments inflicted because of
political opinion,[377] and rarely of any punishment for religious dissent.
Courts of justice will undergo reform, and will no longer be "little better
than caverns of murderers,"[378] where judges like Scroggs and Jeffreys
browbeat the prisoners, took their guilt for granted, insulted and silenced
witnesses for their defence, and even cast juries into prison under
penalties of heavy fines, for venturing to bring in verdicts contrary to
their wishes.[379]

[376] See Paragraph No. 534.

[377] See Paragraph No. 531 and No. 539, the Cornish case.

[378] Hallam's Constitutional History of England.

[379] See Hallam, and also introduction to Professor Adams' Manual of
Historical Literature. For a graphic picture of the times, read, in
Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Christian's trial before Lord Hategood.

The day, too, had gone by when an English sovereign could cast his subjects
into fetid dungeons in the Tower and leave them to die there of lingering
disease, in darkness, solitude, and despair; or, like James, sit in the
court-room at Edinburgh, and watch with curious delight the agony of the
application of the Scotch instruments of torture, the "boot," and the
thumbscrew.

For the future, thought and discussion in England were to be in great
measure free, as in time they would be wholly so, and perhaps the coward
king's heaviest retribution in his secure retreat beyond the sea was the
knowledge that all his efforts to prevent the coming of this liberty had
absolutely failed.

=545. Summary.=--The reign of James must be regarded as mainly taken up
with the attempt of the king to rule independently of Parliament and law,
and to restore the Roman Catholic religion. Monmouth's rebellion, though
without real justification, since he could not legitimately claim the
crown, was a forerunner of that revolution which invited William of Orange
to support Parliament in placing a Protestant sovereign on the throne.


WILLIAM AND MARY (House of Orange-Stuart).--1689-1702.

=546. The Convention; the Declaration of Right.=--After the flight of James
II., a Convention which was practically a Parliament[380] met, and declared
that James having broken "the original contract between king and people,"
the throne was therefore vacant. During the interregnum,[381] which lasted
but a few weeks, the Convention issued a formal statement of principles
under the name of the Declaration of Right (1689). That document recited
the illegal and arbitrary acts of the late king, proclaimed him no longer
sovereign, and resolved that the crown should be tendered to William and
Mary.[382] The Declaration having been read to them and having received
their assent, they were formally invited to accept the joint sovereignty of
the realm, with the understanding that the actual administration should be
vested in William alone.

[380] See Paragraph No. 517, and also "Great Seal," Paragraph No. 543.

[381] Interregnum (_inter_, between, and _regnum_, a king or reign). The
Convention met Jan. 22, 1689; William and Mary accepted the crown Feb. 13.

[382] William of Orange stood next in order of succession to Mary and Anne
(providing the claim of the newly born Prince James, the Pretender, was set
aside). See Table, Paragraph No. 581.

=547. Jacobites and Non-jurors.=--At the accession of the new sovereigns
the extreme Tories,[383] who believed the action of the Convention
unconstitutional, continued to adhere to James II. as their lawful king.
Henceforth this class became known as Jacobites, from _Jacobus_, the Latin
name for James. They were especially numerous and determined in the
Highlands of Scotland and the South of Ireland. Though they made no open
resistance at this time, yet they kept up a secret correspondence with the
refugee monarch and were constantly plotting for his restoration. About
four hundred of the clergy of the Church of England, including the
Archbishop of Canterbury and four more of the famous "Seven Bishops,"[384]
with some members of the universities and also some Scotch Presbyterians,
refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary. They became
known on this account as the Non-jurors,[385] and although they were never
harshly treated, they were compelled to resign their positions.

[383] Tories: see Paragraph No. 531.

[384] See Paragraph No. 541.

[385] Non-juror from _non_, not, and _jurare_, to make oath.

=548. The Mutiny and Toleration Acts.=--We have seen that one of the chief
means of despotism on which James II. relied was the organization of a
powerful standing army such as was unknown in England until Cromwell was
compelled to rule by military force, but which Charles II. had perpetuated,
though in such greatly diminished numbers that the body was no longer
formidable. But it was now evident that owing to the abolition of the
feudal levies[386] such an army must be maintained at the king's command,
especially as war was impending with Louis XIV., who threatened by force of
arms and with the help of the Jacobites to restore James to the English
throne. To prevent the sovereign from making bad use of such a power,
Parliament now passed a law called the Mutiny Act, which practically put
the army under the control of the nation,[387] as it has since remained.
Thus all danger from that source was taken away.

[386] See Paragraphs Nos. 534 and 200.

[387] The Mutiny Act provides: 1. That the standing army shall be at the
king's command--subject to certain rules--for one year only; 2. That no pay
shall be issued to troops except by special act of Parliament; 3. That no
act of mutiny can be punished except by the annual re-enactment of the
Mutiny Bill.

James's next method for bringing the country under the control of Rome had
been to issue spurious measures of toleration granting freedom to all
religious beliefs, in order that he might thereby place Catholics in power.
As an offset to this measure, Parliament now enacted a statute of
toleration which secured freedom of worship to all religious believers
except "Papists and such as deny the Trinity." This measure, though
one-sided and utterly inconsistent with the broader and juster ideas of
toleration which have since prevailed, was nevertheless a most important
reform, and put an end at once and forever to the persecution which had
disgraced the reigns of the Stuarts, though unfortunately it still left the
Catholics and the Unitarians subject to the heavy hand of tyrannical
oppression.[388]

[388] In 1663 Charles II. granted a charter to Rhode Island which secured
religious liberty to that colony. It was the first royal charter
recognizing the principle of toleration.

=549. The Bill of Rights (1689) and Act of Settlement (1701).=--Not many
months later, Parliament embodied the Declaration of Right, with some
slight changes, in the Bill of Rights, which received the signature of the
king and became a law. It constitutes the third and last great step which
England has taken in constitution-making--the first being the Great Charter
of 1215, and the second the Petition of Right of 1628.[389] As the Habeas
Corpus Act was contained, in germ at least, in Magna Carta,[390] these
three measures sum up the written safeguards of the nation, and constitute,
as Lord Chatham, said, "_the Bible of English Liberty_."

[389] See Paragraph No. 484.

[390] See Paragraph No. 313 (3).

With the passage of the Bill of Rights,[391] the doctrine of the Divine
Right of kings to govern without being accountable to their subjects, which
James I. and his descendants had tried so hard to reduce to practice, came
to an end forever. The chief provisions of the bill were: 1. That the king
should not maintain a standing army in time of peace, except by consent of
Parliament; 2. That no money should be taken from the people save by the
consent of Parliament; 3. That every subject has the right to petition the
crown for the redress of any grievance; 4. That the election of members of
Parliament ought to be free from interference; 5. That Parliament should
frequently assemble and enjoy entire freedom of debate; 6. That the king be
debarred from interfering in any way with the proper execution of the laws;
7. That a Roman Catholic or a person marrying a Roman Catholic be
henceforth incapable of receiving the crown of England. Late in the reign
(1701) Parliament reaffirmed and still further extended the provisions of
the Bill of Rights by the Act of Settlement, which established a new royal
line of Protestant sovereigns.[392] This law practically abolished the
principle of hereditary succession and re-established in the clearest and
most decided manner the right of the nation to choose its own rulers.
According to that measure, "an English sovereign is now as much the
creature of an act of Parliament as the pettiest tax-gatherer in his
realm";[393] and he is dependent for his office and power on the will of
the people as really, though of course not as directly, as the President of
the United States.

[391] For full text of the bill, see Taswell-Langmead's Constitutional
History of England.

[392] The Act of Settlement provided that after Princess Anne (in default
of issue by William or Anne) the crown should descend to the Electress
Sophia of Hanover, Germany, and her _Protestant_ descendants. The Electress
Sophia was the granddaughter of James I. She married Ernest Augustus,
Elector (or ruler) of Hanover. As Hallam says, she was "very far removed
from any hereditary title," as aside from James II.'s son, whose legitimacy
no one now doubted, there were several who stood nearer in right of
succession.

[393] Green, History of the English People.

=550. Benefits of the Revolution.=--Foremost in the list of benefits which
England gained by the Revolution should be placed: 1. That Toleration Act
already mentioned, which gave to a very large number the right of
worshipping God according to the dictates of conscience. 2. Parliament now
established the salutary rule that no money should be voted to the king
except for specific purposes, and they also limited the royal revenue to a
few years' supply instead of granting it for life, as had been done in the
case of Charles II. and James.[394] As the Mutiny Act made the army
dependent for its existence on the annual meeting and action of the House
of Commons, these two measures practically gave the people full control of
the two great powers--the purse and the sword,--which they have ever since
retained. 3. Parliament next enacted that judges should hold office not as
heretofore, at his Majesty's pleasure, but during good behavior, thus
taking away that dangerous authority of the king over the courts of
justice, which had caused so much oppression and cruelty. 4. But, as
Macaulay remarks, of all the reforms produced by the change of government,
perhaps none proved more extensively useful than the establishment of the
liberty of the press. Up to this time no book or newspaper could be
published in England without a license. During the Commonwealth Milton had
earnestly labored to get this severe law repealed, declaring that "while he
who kills a man kills a reasonable creature . . . he who destroys a good
book [by refusing to let it appear] kills reason itself."[395] But under
James II. Chief Justice Scroggs had declared it a crime to publish anything
whatever concerning the government, whether true or false, without a
license, and during that reign there were only four places in
England--viz., London, Oxford, Cambridge, and York--where any book,
pamphlet, or newspaper could be legally issued, and then only with the
sanction of a rigid inspector. Under William and Mary this restriction was
removed, and henceforth men were free not only to think, but to print and
circulate their thought, and thus to bring the government more directly
before that bar of public opinion which judges all men and all
institutions.

[394] Later, limited to a single year's supply.

[395] Milton's Areopagitica, or speech in behalf of unlicensed printing.

=551. Arrival of James; Act of Attainder; Siege of Londonderry and Battle
of the Boyne; Glencoe.=--But though William was king of England, and had
been accepted as king of Scotland, yet the Irish, like the Scotch
Highlanders, refused to recognize him as their lawful sovereign. The great
body of Irish population was then, as now, Roman Catholic; but they had
been gradually dispossessed of their hold on the land, and by far the
larger part of the most desirable portion of the island was owned by a few
hundred thousand Protestant colonists. On the other hand James II. had,
during his reign, put the civil government and the military power in the
hands of the Catholics. Tyrconnel[396] now raised the standard of rebellion
in the interest of the Catholics, and invited James to come and regain his
throne. The Protestants of the north stood by William, and thus got that
name of Orangemen which they have ever since retained. James landed in
Ireland in the spring of 1689 with a small French force lent him by Louis
XIV.

[396] See Paragraph No. 540.

He established his headquarters at Dublin, and not long after issued that
great Act of Attainder which summoned all who were in rebellion against his
authority to appear for trial on a given day, or be declared traitors,
hanged, drawn and quartered, and their property confiscated.[397] Next, the
siege of the Protestant city of Londonderry was begun. For more than three
months it held out against shot and shell, famine and fever. The starving
inhabitants, exceeding 30,000 in number, were finally reduced to the last
extremities. Nothing was left to eat but a few miserable horses and some
salted hides. As they looked into each other's hollow eyes, the question
came, Must we surrender? Then it was that an aged clergyman, the venerable
George Walker, one of the governors of the city, pleaded with them, Bible
in hand, to remain firm. That appeal carried the day. They declared that
rather than open the gates to the enemy, they would perish of hunger, or,
as some voice whispered, that they would fall "first on the horses and the
hides,--_then on the prisoners_,--then--_on each other!_" But at this
moment, when all hope seemed lost, a shout of triumph was heard. An English
force had sailed up the river, broken through all obstructions, and the
valiant city was saved. A year later (1690) occurred the decisive battle of
the Boyne,[398] at which William commanded in person on the one side, while
James was present on the opposite side. William had a somewhat larger force
and by far the greater number of well-armed, veteran troops. The contest
ended with the utter defeat of James. He stood on a hill at a safe
distance, and when he saw that the battle was going against him, turned and
fled for France. William, on the other hand, though suffering from a wound,
led his own men. The cowardly behavior of James excited the disgust and
scorn of both the French and Irish. "Change kings with us," shouted an
Irish officer to one of William's men, "change kings with us, and we'll
fight you over again." The war was brought to an end by the treaty of
Limerick, in 1691, when about 10,000 Irish soldiers who had fought for
James, and who no longer cared to remain in their own country after their
defeat, were permitted to go to France. "When the wild cry of the women,
who stood watching their departure, was hushed, the silence of death
settled down upon Ireland. For a hundred years the country remained at
peace, but the peace was that of despair."[399] In violation of the treaty,
the Catholics were hunted like wild beasts, and terrible vengeance was now
taken for that Act of Attainder which James had foolishly been persuaded to
issue. Fighting against William and Mary had also been going on in
Scotland, but the Jacobites had been conquered, and a proclamation was sent
out commanding all the Highland clans to take the oath of allegiance before
Jan. 1, 1692. A chief of the clan of the Macdonalds of Glencoe, through no
fault of his own, failed to make submission within the appointed time.
Scotch enemies of the clan gave the king to understand that the chief had
declined taking the oath, and urged William "to extirpate that set of
thieves." The king signed an order to that effect, probably without reading
it, or, at any rate, without understanding what was intended. The Scotch
authorities managed the rest in their own way. They sent a body of soldiers
to Glencoe who were hospitably received by the Macdonalds. After stopping
with them a number of days, they rose before light one winter morning, and,
suddenly attacking their friendly hosts, murdered all the men who did not
escape, and drove the women and children out into the snowdrifts to perish
of cold and hunger. They finished their work of destruction by burning the
cabins and driving away the cattle. By this act, Glencoe, or the "Glen of
Weeping," was changed into the very Valley of the Shadow of Death. The
blame which attaches to William is that he did nothing toward punishing
those who planned and carried out the horrible massacre.

[397] Attainder (from the Old French _attaindre_, to accuse, to stain).
This act contained between two and three thousand names. It embraced all
classes, from half the peerage of Ireland to tradesmen, women, and
children. If they failed to appear, they were to be put to death without
trial.

[398] Fought in the East of Ireland, on the banks of the river of that
name.

[399] Green's English People.

The English commander, Admiral Russell, like many of William's pretended
friends and supporters, had been engaged in treasonable correspondence with
James, so that in case the latter succeeded in recovering his crown, he
might make sure of the sunshine of royal favor. But at the last he changed
his mind and fought so bravely that the French were utterly beaten. The
continental wars of William continued, however, for the next five years,
until by the Peace of Ryswick,[400] 1697, Louis XIV. bound himself to
recognize William as king of England, the Princess Anne as his successor,
to withdraw all support from James, and to place the chief fortresses of
the Low Countries in the hands of the Dutch garrisons. This peace marked
the end of the conspiracy between Louis and the Stuarts to turn England
into a Roman Catholic country dependent on France. When William went in
solemn state to return thanks for the conclusion of the war, it was to the
new cathedral of St. Paul's, which Wren had nearly completed, and which was
then first used for public worship.

[400] Ryswick: a village of Holland, near the Hague.

=552. The National Debt; the Bank of England.=--William had now gained, at
least temporarily, the object that he had in view when he accepted the
English crown; which was to draw that nation into a close defensive
alliance against Louis XIV.,[401] who, as we have seen, was bent on
destroying both the political and the religious liberty of the Dutch as a
Protestant people. The constant wars which followed William's accession had
compelled the king to borrow large sums from the London merchants. Out of
these loans sprang, first the National Debt, which was destined to grow,
eventually by leaps and bounds, from less than a million of pounds up to so
many hundred millions, that all thought of ever paying it is now given up.
The second result was the organization of a company for the management of
this colossal debt; together the two were destined to become more widely
known than any of William's victories.

[401] See Guizot, History of Civilization, chap. XIII.

The building erected by that company stands on Threadneedle Street, in the
very heart of London. In one of its courts is a statue of the king set up
in 1734, bearing this inscription: "To the memory of the best of princes,
William of Orange, founder of the Bank of England"--by far the largest and
most important financial institution in the world.

=553. William's Death.=--William had a brave soul in a feeble body. All his
life he was an invalid, but he learned to conquer disease, or at least to
hold it in check, as he conquered his enemies. He was never popular in
England, and at one time was only kept from returning to his native country
through the earnest protestation of his chancellor, Lord Somers, who
refused to stamp the king's resignation with the Great Seal. Those who
pretended to sustain him were in many cases treacherous, and only wanted a
good opportunity to go over to the side of James; others were eager to hear
of his death, and when it occurred, through the stumbling of his horse over
a mole-hill, drank to "the little gentleman in black velvet," whose
underground work caused the accident.

=554. Summary.=--William's reign was a prolonged battle for Protestantism
and for the maintenance of political liberty in both England and Holland.
Invalid as he was, he was yet a man of indomitable resolution as well as
indomitable courage; and though a foreigner by birth, and caring more for
Holland than for any country in the world, yet through his Irish and
continental wars with James and Louis, he helped more than any man of the
seventeenth century, Cromwell alone excepted, to make England free.


ANNE.--1702-1714.

=555. Accession and Character of Anne.=--As William left no children, the
Princess Anne, younger sister of the late Queen Mary now came to the
throne. She was a negative character, with kindly impulses and little
intelligence. "When in good humor she was meekly stupid, and when in ill
humor, sulkily stupid";[402] but if there was any person duller than her
majesty, that person was her majesty's husband, Prince George of Denmark.
Charles II., who knew him well, said, "I have tried Prince George sober,
and I have tried him drunk, and drunk or sober there is nothing in him."

[402] Macaulay's England; and compare Stanhope's Reign of Anne.

Along with the amiable qualities which gained for the new ruler the title
of "Good Queen Anne" her majesty inherited the obstinacy, the prejudices,
and the superstitions of the Stuarts. Though a most zealous Protestant and
an ardent upholder of the Church of England, she declared her faith in the
Divine Right of Kings, which had cost her grandfather Charles his head, and
she was the last English sovereign who believed that the royal hand could
dispel disease. The first theory she never openly proclaimed in any
offensive way, but the harmless delusion that she could relieve the sick
was a favorite notion with her, and we find in the _London Gazette_ of
March 12, 1712, an official announcement, stating that on certain days the
queen would "touch" for the cure of "king's evil," or scrofula. Among the
multitudes who went to test her power was a poor Lichfield bookseller. He
carried to her his little half-blind sickly boy, who by virtue either of
her majesty's beneficent fingers, or from some other and better reason,
grew up to be known as the famous author and lexicographer, Dr. Samuel
Johnson.[403]

[403] Johnson told Boswell, his biographer, that he remembered the
incident, and that "he had a confused, but somehow a sort of solemn
recollection of a lady in diamonds and a long black hood."--BOSWELL'S
_Johnson_.

=556. Whig and Tory; High Church and Low.=--Politically, the government of
the country was divided between the two great parties of the Whigs and the
Tories,[404] since succeeded by the Liberals and Conservatives. Though
mutually hostile, each believing that its rival's success meant national
ruin, yet both were sincerely opposed to despotism on the one hand, and to
anarchy on the other. The Whigs, setting Parliament above the throne, were
pledged to maintain the Act of Settlement[405] and the Protestant
succession; while the Tories, insisting on hereditary sovereignty, were
anxious to set aside that act and restore the excluded Stuarts.

[404] See Paragraph No. 531.

[405] See Paragraph No. 549.

The Church of England was likewise divided into two parties, known as High
Church and Low Church. The first, who were generally Tories, wished to
exalt the power of the bishops and were opposed to the toleration of
Dissenters; the second, who were Whigs as a rule, believed it best to
curtail the authority of the bishops, and to secure to all Trinitarian
Protestants entire liberty of worship and all civil and political rights
and privileges. Thus to the bitterness of heated political controversy
there was added the still more acrid bitterness of theological dispute.
Addison tells an amusing story of a boy who was called a "Popish cur" by a
Whig, because, having lost his way, he ventured to inquire for Saint Anne's
Lane, while he was cuffed for irreverence by a Tory when, correcting
himself, he asked bluntly for Anne's Lane.

The queen, although she owed her crown mainly to the Whigs, sympathized
with the Tories and the High Church, and did all in her power to strengthen
both. As for the leaders of the two parties, they seem to have looked out
first for themselves, and afterward--often a long way afterward--for their
country. During the whole reign they were plotting and counterplotting,
mining and undermining, until their subtle schemes to secure office and
destroy each other become as incomprehensible and as fathomless as those of
the fallen angels in Milton's vision of the Bottomless Pit.

=557. The War of the Spanish Succession.=--Anne had no sooner come to the
throne than war broke out with France. It had its origin in the previous
reign. William III. cared little for England compared with his native
Holland, whose interests always had the first place in his heart. He had
spent his life battling to preserve the independence of the Dutch Republic
against the dangers which threatened it, and especially against Louis XIV.
of France, who was determined, if possible, to annex the Netherlands,
including Holland, to his own dominion. During the latter part of William's
reign the French king seemed likely to be able to accomplish his purpose.
The king of Spain, who had no children, was in feeble health, and at his
death it was probable that Louis XIV.'s grandson, Philip of Anjou, would
receive the crown. Louis XIV. was then the most powerful prince in Europe,
and should his grandson become king of Spain, it meant that the French
monarch would eventually add the Spanish dominions to his own. These
dominions comprised not only Spain proper, but a large part of the
Netherlands adjoining Holland,[406] portions of Italy, and immense
provinces in both North and South America, including the West Indies. Such
an empire, if it came under the control of Louis, would make him
irresistible on the continent of Europe, and the little, free Protestant
states of Holland could not hope to stand before him. William endeavored to
prevent Louis from carrying out his designs respecting Spain, by two secret
treaties, and also by an alliance formed between Germany, Holland, and
England, all of whom were threatened by the prospective preponderating
power of France. Louis had signed these treaties, but had no intention of
abiding by them. When, not long after, the king of Spain died and left the
crown to Philip of Anjou, the French sovereign openly declared his
intention of placing him on the Spanish throne, saying significantly as his
grandson left Paris for Madrid, "The Pyrenees no longer exist."[407]
Furthermore, Louis now put French garrisons in the border towns of the
Spanish Netherlands, showing that he regarded them as practically his own,
and he thus had a force ready at any moment to march across the frontier
into Holland. Finally, on the death of James II., which occurred shortly
before William's, Louis publicly acknowledged the exiled monarch's son,
James Edward, the "Old Pretender,"[408] as rightful sovereign of England,
Scotland, and Ireland. This, and this only, effectually roused the English
people; they were preparing for hostilities when William's sudden death
occurred. Immediately after Anne's succession, war was declared, which,
since it had grown out of Louis's designs on the crown of Spain, was called
the War of the Spanish Succession.

[406] The whole of the Netherlands at one time belonged to Spain, but the
northern part, or Holland, had succeeded in establishing its independence,
and was protected on the southern frontier by a line of fortified towns.

[407] When Philip went to Spain, Louis XIV., by letters patent, reserved
the succession to the Spanish throne to France, thus virtually uniting the
two countries, so that the Pyrenees Mountains would no longer have any
political meaning as a boundary.

[408] See Paragraphs Nos. 542 and 543.

But although the contest was undertaken by England mainly to prevent the
French king from carrying out his threat of placing the "Pretender" on the
English throne,--thus restoring the country to the Roman Catholic
Stuarts,--yet as it went on it came to have two other important objects.
The first of these was the defence of Holland, now a most valuable ally;
the second was the protection of the Virginia and New England colonies
against the power of France, which threatened through its own American
colonies, and through the extensive Spanish possessions it expected to
acquire, to get control of the whole of the New World.[409] Thus England
had three objects at stake: 1. The maintenance of Protestant government at
home; 2. The maintenance of the Protestant power of Holland; 3. The
possession of the American continent. For this reason the War of the
Spanish Succession may in one sense be regarded as the beginning of a
second Hundred Years' War between England and France,[410] destined to
decide which was to build up the great empire of the future in the Western
Hemisphere.[411]

[409] At this time England had only the colonies of Virginia and New
England, with part of Newfoundland. France and Spain claimed nearly all the
rest.

[410] During the next eighty years fighting was going on between England
and France, directly or indirectly, for a great part of the time.

[411] See Seeley's Expansion of England.

=558. Marlborough; Blenheim and Other Victories.=--John Churchill, Duke of
Marlborough, commanded the English and Dutch forces, and had for his ally
Prince Eugene of Savoy, who led the German armies. The duke, who was known
in the enemy's camps by the flattering name of "the handsome Englishman,"
had risen from obscurity. He owed the beginning of his success to his good
looks and a court intrigue. In politics he sympathized chiefly with the
Tories, but his interests in the war led him to support the Whigs. He was
avaricious, unscrupulous, perfidious. James II. trusted him, and he
deceived him and went over to William; William trusted him, and he deceived
him and opened a treasonable correspondence with the dethroned James; Anne
trusted him, and he would undoubtedly have betrayed her if the "Pretender"
had only possessed means to bid high enough, or in any way show that his
cause was likely to be successful. In his greed for money he hesitated at
nothing; he took bribes from army contractors, and robbed his soldiers of
their pay; though in this he was perhaps no worse than many other generals
of his, and even of later times.[412] As a soldier, Marlborough had no
equal. Voltaire says of him with truth that "he never besieged a fortress
which he did not take, nor fight a battle which he did not win." This man
at once so able and so false, to whom war was a private speculation rather
than a contest for right or principle, now opened the campaign by capturing
those fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands, which Louis XIV. had
garrisoned with French troops to menace Holland; but he could not induce
the enemy to risk a battle in the open field. At length, in the summer of
1704, Marlborough, by a brilliant movement, changed the scene of the war
from the Netherlands to Bavaria. There, at the little village of Blenheim,
he, with Prince Eugene, gained a victory over the French which saved
Germany from the power of Louis XIV., and England, out of gratitude for the
humiliation of her powerful enemy, presented the duke with the ancient
royal Park of Woodstock, and built for him, at the nation's cost, that
Palace of Blenheim still occupied by descendants of the duke's family.[413]
Gibraltar had been taken a few days before Blenheim by an attack by sea, so
that England now had, as she continues still to have, the command of the
great inland sea of the Mediterranean.

[412] See Thackeray's Henry Esmond.

[413] Blenheim: a short distance from Oxford. The palace grounds are about
twelve miles in circumference.

In the Netherlands, two years later, Marlborough won the battle of
Ramillies,[414] by which the whole of that country was recovered from the
French. Two years from that time Louis's forces marched back into the
Netherlands, and were beaten at Oudenarde, where they were trying to
recover the territory they had lost. A year afterward, Marlborough carried
the war into Northern France, fought his last great fight, and gained his
last great victory at Malplaquet,[415] by which the power of Louis was so
far broken that both England and Europe could breathe freely, and the
English colonies in America felt that for the present there was no danger
of their being driven into the Atlantic by either the French or the
Spaniards.

[414] Ramillies (Ram´e-lēz).

[415] Malplaquet (Măl´plă´kā´).

=559. The Powers behind the Throne; Jennings versus Masham.=--While the war
was going on, the real power, so far as the crown was concerned, though in
Anne's name, was practically in the hands of Sarah Jennings, Duchess of
Marlborough, who held the office of Mistress of the Robes. She and the
queen had long been inseparable, and it was her influence that caused Anne
to desert her father and espouse the cause of William of Orange. The
imperious temper of the duchess carried all before it, and in her
department she won victories which might be compared with those the duke,
her husband, gained on the field of battle. In time, indeed, her sway over
her royal companion became so absolute that she decided everything, from
questions of state to the cut of a gown or the color of a ribbon, so that
it finally grew to be a common saying that "Queen Anne reigns, but Queen
Sarah governs."[416] While she continued in power, she used her influence
to urge forward the war with France undertaken by England to check the
designs of Louis XIV. on Spain and Holland, and also to punish him for his
recognition of the claim of the Pretender to the English crown. Her object
was to advance her husband, who, as commander-in-chief of the English and
Dutch forces on the continent, had won fame and fortune--the first by his
splendid ability, the second by his unscrupulous greed.

[416] For years the queen and the duchess carried on an almost daily
correspondence under the names of "Mrs. Morley" (the queen) and "Mrs.
Freeman" (the duchess), the latter taking that name because, as she
boasted, it suited the frank and bold character of her letters.

After a number of years, the queen and the duchess quarrelled, and the
latter was superseded by a Mrs. Masham, who soon got as complete control of
Anne as the former favorite had possessed. Mrs. Masham was as sly and
supple as the duchess had been dictatorial and violent. She was cousin to
Robert Harley, a prominent Tory politician. Through her influence Harley
now became prime minister in everything but name. The Whig war policy was
abandoned, negotiations for peace were secretly opened, and Marlborough was
ordered home in disgrace on a charge of having robbed the government. Mr.
Masham, much to his wife's satisfaction, was created a peer of the realm,
and finally a treaty was drafted for an inglorious peace. Thus it was, as
Hallam remarks, that "the fortunes of Europe were changed by the insolence
of one waiting-woman and the cunning of another."[417]

[417] Hallam's Constitutional History of England.

=560. Dr. Sacheverell.=--An incident occurred at this time which greatly
helped the Tories in their schemes. Now that the danger was over, England
was growing weary of the continuance of a war which involved a constant
drain of both men and money. Dr. Sacheverell, a violent Tory and High
Churchman, began preaching a series of sermons in London condemning the
war, and the Whigs who were carrying it on. He also endeavored to revive
the exploded theory of the Divine Right of kings, and declared that no
tyranny on the part of a sovereign could by any possibility justify a
subject in resisting the royal will, with much more foolish talk of the
same kind, all of which he published. The Whig leaders unwisely brought the
preacher to trial for alleged treasonable utterances. He was suspended from
his office for three years, and his book of sermons was publicly burned by
the common hangman.

This created intense popular excitement; Sacheverell was regarded as a
political martyr by all who wished the war ended. A reaction against the
government set in; the Whigs were driven from power, the Duchess of
Marlborough had to leave her apartments in the palace of St. James, and in
her spite broke down marble mantels and tore off the locks from doors; Mrs.
Masham's friends, the Tories, or peace party, now triumphed, and prepared
to put an end to the fighting.

=561. The Peace of Utrecht.=[418]--Not long after this change a messenger
was privately despatched to Louis XIV. to ask if he wished for peace. "It
was," says the French minister, "like asking a dying man whether he would
wish to be cured."[419] Later, terms were agreed upon between the Tories
and the French, though without the knowledge of the English people or their
allies; but finally, in 1713, in the quaint Dutch city of Utrecht, the
allies, together with France and Spain, signed the treaty bearing that
name. By it Louis XIV. bound himself: 1. To acknowledge the Protestant
succession in England; 2. To compel the Pretender to quit France; 3. To
renounce the union of the crowns of France and Spain;[420] 4. To cede to
England all claims to Newfoundland, Acadia, or Nova Scotia, and that vast
region known as the Hudson Bay Company's Possessions. Next, Spain was to
give up: 1. The Spanish Netherlands to Austria, an ally of Holland, and
grant to the Dutch a line of forts to defend their frontier against France;
2. England was to have the exclusive right for thirty-three years of
supplying the Spanish-American colonists with negro slaves.[421] This trade
had long been coveted by the English, and had been carried on to some
extent by them ever since Sir John Hawkins grew so rich through it in Queen
Elizabeth's time, that he set up a coat of arms emblazoned with a slave in
fetters, that all might see how he had won wealth and distinction.

[418] Utrecht (U´trěkt).

[419] Morris, The Age of Anne.

[420] But Philip was to retain the throne of Spain.

[421] This right had formerly belonged to France. By its transfer England
got the privilege of furnishing 4800 "sound, merchantable negroes"
annually; "two-thirds to be males" between ten and forty years of age.

=562. Union of England and Scotland.=--Since the accession of James I.,
England and Scotland had been ruled by one sovereign, but each country
retained its own Parliament and its own forms of worship. In 1707 the two
countries were united under the name of Great Britain. The independent
Parliament of Scotland was given up, and the Scotch were henceforth
represented in the English Parliament by sixteen peers chosen by the House
of Lords at the summoning of every Parliament; and by forty-five (now
sixty) members returned by Scotland to the House of Commons.

With the consummation of the union Great Britain adopted a new flag, the
Union Jack, which was formed by the junction of the red cross of St. George
and the white cross of St. Andrew.[422]

[422] St. George: the patron saint of England; St. Andrew: the patron saint
of Scotland. In 1801 when Ireland was united to Great Britain, the red
cross of St. Patrick was added to the flag. Jack: from _Jacques_ (French
for James), James I.'s usual signature. The first union flag was his work.

=563. Literature of the Period; the First Daily Paper.=--The reign of Anne
has been characterized as one of corruption in high places and of brutality
in low, but in literature it takes rank next to that of Elizabeth. There
was indeed no great central luminary like Shakespeare, but a constellation
of lesser ones--such as Addison, De Foe, and Pope--that shone with a mild
splendor peculiarly their own: the lurid brilliancy of the half-mad
satirist Dean Swift, who moved in an orbit apart, was also beginning to
command attention; while the calm, clear light of John Locke was near its
setting. Aside from these great names in letters, it was an age generally
of contented dulness, well represented in the good-natured mediocrity of
Queen Anne herself. During her reign the first daily newspaper appeared in
England--the _Daily Courant_; it was a dingy, badly printed little sheet
not much bigger than a man's hand. The publisher said he made it so small
"to save the Publick at least one-half the Impertinences of Ordinary
News-Papers."

Perhaps it was well this journal made no greater pretensions; for, since it
had to compete with swarms of abusive political pamphlets, such as Swift
wrote for the Tories and De Foe for the Whigs; since it had also to compete
with the gossip and scandal of the coffee-houses and the clubs, the
proprietor found it no easy matter to either fill or sell it.

A few years later a new journal appeared of a very different kind, called
the _Spectator_, which Addison, its chief contributor, soon made famous.
Each number consisted of an essay hitting off the follies and foibles of
the age, and was regularly served at the breakfast-tables of people of
fashion along with their tea and toast. One of it greatest merits was its
happy way of showing that wit and virtue are after all better friends than
wit and vice. These two dissimilar sheets, neither of which dared to
publish a single line of Parliamentary debate, mark the humble beginning of
that vast organized power, represented by the daily press of London, which
discusses everything of note or interest throughout the world.

=564. Death of the Queen.=--With Anne's death in 1714 the Stuart power came
to an end. All of her children had died in infancy, except one unfortunate
sickly son who lived just long enough to awaken hopes which were buried
with him. According to the terms of the Act of Settlement[423] the crown
now passed to George, Elector of Hanover, a Protestant descendant of James
I. of England; though James Edward, son of James II., believed to the last
that his half-sister, the queen, would name him her successor;[424] instead
of that it was she who first dubbed him the "Pretender."

[423] See Paragraph No. 549.

[424] Anne and the "Pretender" were children of James II. by different
mothers.

=565. Summary.=--The whole reign of Anne was taken up with the strife of
political parties at home, and the War of the Succession abroad. The Whigs
were always intriguing through the Duchess of Marlborough and other leaders
to keep up the war and to keep out the "Pretender"; the Tories, on the
other hand, were just as busy through Mrs. Masham and her coadjutors in
endeavoring to establish peace, and with it the Divine Right of Kings,
while the extremists among them hoped for the restoration of the Roman
Catholic Stuarts in the person of James Edward. The result of the War of
the Succession was the defeat of Louis XIV. and the confirmation of that
Act of Settlement which secured the English crown to a Protestant prince.


GENERAL VIEW OF THE STUART PERIOD.

1603-1649 (Commonwealth, 1649-1660); 1660-1714.

I. GOVERNMENT.--II. RELIGION.--III. MILITARY AFFAIRS.--IV. LITERATURE,
LEARNING, AND ART.--V. GENERAL INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.--VI. MODE OF LIFE,
MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS.


GOVERNMENT.

=566. Divine Right of Kings; the Civil War; the Revolution of 1688.=--The
period began with the attempt of James I. to carry out his theory that the
king derives his right to rule directly from God, and in no wise from the
people. Charles I. adopted this disastrous theory, and was supported in it
by Mainwaring and other clergymen, who declared that the king represents
God on earth, and that the subject who resists his will, or refuses a tax
or loan to him, does so at the everlasting peril of his soul. Charles's
arbitrary methods of government, and levies of illegal taxes, with the
imprisonment of those who refused to pay them, led to the meeting of the
Long Parliament and the enactment of the statute of the Petition of Right,
or second great charter of English liberties.

The same Parliament abolished the despotic court of Star-Chamber and High
Commission, which had been used by Strafford and Laud to carry out their
tyrannical scheme called "Thorough."

Charles's renewed acts of oppression and open violation of the laws, with
his levies of Ship-money, led to the Grand Remonstrance, an appeal to the
nation to support Parliament in its struggle with the king. The attempt of
the king to arrest five members who had taken a prominent part in drawing
up the Remonstrance, brought on the Civil War, and the establishment of a
republic which declared, in opposition to the doctrine of the Divine Right
of Kings, that "the people are, under God, the origin of all just power."
Eventually, Cromwell became Protector of the nation, and ruled by means of
a strong military power.

On the restoration of the Stuarts, Charles II. endeavored to rule without
Parliament by selling his influence to Louis XIV., by the secret treaty of
Dover. During his reign, the Habeas Corpus Act was passed, and feudalism
practically abolished.

James II. endeavored to restore the Roman Catholic religion. His treatment
of the University of Oxford, and imprisonment of the Seven Bishops, with
the birth of a son who would be educated as a Roman Catholic, caused the
Revolution of 1688, and placed William and Mary on the throne.

Parliament now passed the Bill of Rights, the third great charter for the
protection of the English people, and later confirmed it by the Act of
Settlement, which secured the crown to a line of Protestant sovereigns. The
Mutiny Bill, passed at the beginning of William III.'s reign, made the army
dependent on Parliament. These measures practically put the government in
the hands of the House of Commons, where it has ever since remained.
William's war caused the beginning of the national debt and the
establishment of the Bank of England.

In the reign of Anne, 1707, Scotland and England were united under the name
of Great Britain. During her sovereignty the Whig and Tory parties, which
came into existence in the time of Charles II., became especially
prominent, and they have since (though lately under the name of Liberals
and Conservatives) continued to divide the Parliamentary government between
them,--the Whigs seeking to extend the power of the people; the Tories,
that of the crown and the church.


RELIGION.

=567. Religious Parties and Religious Legislation.=--At the beginning of
this period we find four religious parties in England: 1. The Roman
Catholics; 2. The Episcopalians, or supporters of the National Church of
England; 3. The Puritans, who were seeking to "purify" the church from
certain Roman Catholic customs and modes of worship; 4. The Independents,
who were endeavoring to establish independent congregational societies. In
Scotland the Puritans established their religion in a church governed by
elders, or presbyters, instead of bishops, and on that account got the name
of Presbyterians.

James I. persecuted all who dissented from the Church of England; and after
the Gunpowder Plot the Roman Catholics were practically deprived of the
protection of the law, and subject to terrible oppression. In the same
reign two Unitarians were burned at Smithfield for denying the doctrine of
the Trinity.

During the period of the Civil War and the Commonwealth, Presbyterianism
was established as the national worship of England and Scotland by the
Solemn League and Covenant. At the Restoration severe laws against the
Scotch Covenanters and other dissenters were enforced, and two thousand
clergymen were driven from their parishes to starve; on the other hand, the
pretended Popish Plot caused the exclusion of Roman Catholics from both
Houses of Parliament, and all persons holding office were obliged to
partake of the sacrament according to the Church of England. James II.'s
futile attempt to restore Catholicism ended in the Revolution and the
passage of the Toleration Act, granting liberty of worship to all
Protestant Trinitarians.


MILITARY AFFAIRS.

=568. Armor and Arms.=--Armor still continued to be worn in some degree
during this period, but it consisted chiefly of the helmet with breast and
back-plates. Firearms of various kinds were in general use; also
hand-grenades, or small bombs, and the bayonet. The chief wars of the
period were the Civil War, the wars with the Dutch, William's war with
France, and that of the Spanish Succession.


LEARNING, LITERATURE, AND ART.

=569. Great Writers.=--The most eminent prose writers of this period were
Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton, John Bunyan, Jeremy
Taylor, John Locke, Hobbes, Dean Swift, De Foe, and Addison; the chief
poets, Shakespeare and Jonson (mentioned under the preceding period),
Milton, Dryden, Pope, Butler, and Beaumont and Fletcher, with a class of
writers known as the "Comic Dramatists of the Restoration," whose works,
though not lacking in genius, exhibit many of the worst features of the
licentious age in which they were produced. Three other great writers were
born in the latter part of this period,--Fielding, the novelist, Hume, the
historian, and Butler,[425] the ablest thinker of his time in the English
Church,--but their productions belong to the time of the Georges.

[425] Bishop Butler, author of The Analogy of Religion (1736), a work which
gained for him the title of "the Bacon of Theology."

=570. Progress in Science and Invention.=--Sir Isaac Newton revolutionized
natural philosophy by his discovery and demonstration of the law of
gravitation, and Dr. William Harvey accomplished as great a change in
physiological science by his discovery of the circulation of the blood. The
most remarkable invention of the age was a rude steam engine, patented in
1698 by Captain Savery, and so far improved by Thomas Newcomen in 1712 that
it was used for pumping water in coal mines for many years. Both were
destined to be superseded by James Watt's engine, which belongs to a later
period (1765).

=571. Architecture.=--The Gothic style of the preceding periods was
followed by the Italian, or classical, represented in the works of Inigo
Jones and Sir Christopher Wren. It was a revival, in modified form, of the
ancient Greek and Roman architecture. St. Paul's Cathedral, the grandest
church ever built in England for Protestant worship, is the best example of
this style. Many beautiful manor-houses were built in the early part of
this period, which, like the churches of the time, are often ornamented
with the exquisite wood-carving of Grinling Gibbons. There were no great
artists in England in this age, though Charles I. employed Rubens and other
foreign painters to decorate the palace of Whitehall and Windsor Castle.

=572. Education.=--The higher education of the period was confined almost
wholly to the study of Latin and Greek. The discipline of all schools was
extremely harsh. Nearly every lesson was emphasized by a liberal
application of the rod, and the highest recommendation a teacher could have
was that he was known as "a learned and lashing master."


GENERAL INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.

=573. Manufactures.=--Woollen goods continued to be a chief article of
manufacture. Silks were also produced by thousands of Huguenot weavers, who
fled from France to escape the persecutions of Louis XIV. Coal was now
extensively mined, and iron and pottery works were giving industrial
importance to Birmingham and other growing towns in the midlands.

=574. Commerce.=--During a great part of this period intense commercial
rivalry existed between England and Holland, each of which was anxious to
get the monopoly of the colonial import and export trade. Parliament passed
stringent navigation laws, under Cromwell and later, to prevent the Dutch
from competing with English merchants and shippers. The East India and
South Sea companies were means of greatly extending English commercial
enterprise, as was also the tobacco culture of Virginia.

=575. Roads and Travel.=--Good roads were still unknown in England. Stage
coaches carried a few passengers at exorbitant rates, requiring an entire
day to go a distance which an express train now travels in less than an
hour. Goods were carried on pack-horses or in cumbrous wagons, and so great
was the expense of transportation that farmers often let their produce rot
on the ground rather than attempt to get it to the nearest market town.

In London a few coaches were in use, but covered chairs, carried on poles
by two men and called "sedan chairs," were the favorite vehicles. Although
London had been in great part rebuilt since the fire of 1666, the streets
were still very narrow, without sidewalks, heaped with filth, and miserably
lighted.

=576. Agriculture; Pauperism.=--Agriculture generally made no marked
improvement, but gardening did, and many vegetables and fruits were
introduced which had not before been cultivated.

Pauperism remained a problem which the government had not yet found a
practical method of dealing with. There was little freedom of movement; the
poor man's parish was virtually his prison, and if he left it to seek work
elsewhere, and required help on the way, he was certain to be sent back to
the place where he was legally settled.


MODES OF LIFE, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS.

=577. Dress.=--In the time of Charles II. and his successors the dress of
the wealthy and fashionable classes was most elaborate and costly.
Gentlemen wore their hair long, in ringlets, with an abundance of gold lace
and ruffles, and carried long, slender swords, known as rapiers. Later,
wigs came into use, and no man of any social standing thought of appearing
without one.

In Queen Anne's reign ladies painted their faces and ornamented them with
minute black patches, which served not only for "beauty spots," but also
showed, by their arrangement, with which political party they sympathized.

=578. Coffee-Houses.=--Up to the middle of the seventeenth century ale and
beer were the common drink of all classes; but about that time coffee was
introduced, and coffee-houses became a fashionable resort for gentlemen and
for all who wished to learn the news of the day. Tea had not yet come into
use; but, in 1660, Pepys says in his diary: "Sept. 25. I did send for a cup
of tee (a China drink) of which I never had drank before."

=579. The Streets of London.=--No efficient police existed in London, and
at night the streets were infested with brutal ruffians; and as late as
Queen Anne's time, by bands of "fine gentlemen" not less brutal, who amused
themselves by overturning sedan chairs, rolling women down hill in barrels,
and compelling men to dance jigs, under the stimulus of repeated pricks
from a circle of sword points, until they fell fainting from exhaustion.
Duels were frequent, on the slightest provocation. Highwaymen abounded both
in the city and without, and it was dangerous to travel any distance, even
by day, without an armed guard.

=580. Brutal Laws.=--Hanging was the common punishment for theft and many
other crimes. The public whipping of both men and women through the streets
was frequent. Debtors were shut up in prison, and left to beg from the
passers-by or starve; and ordinary offenders were fastened in a wooden
frame called the "pillory" and exposed on a stage where they were pelted by
the mob, and their bones not infrequently broken with clubs and brickbats.
The pillory continued in use until the accession of Victoria in 1837.




X.

     "The history of England is emphatically the history of
     progress. It is the history of a constant movement of the
     public mind, of a constant change in the institutions of a
     great society."--MACAULAY.

INDIA GAINED; AMERICA LOST.--PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.--GOVERNMENT BY THE
PEOPLE.

THE HOUSE OF HANOVER, (1714,) TO THE PRESENT TIME.

  George I., 1714-1727.
  George II., 1727-1760.
  George III., 1760-1820.
  George IV., 1820-1830.
  William IV., 1830-1837.
  Victoria, 1837- ----


=581. Accession of George I.=--As Queen Anne died without leaving an heir
to the throne, George, Elector of Hanover, now, in accordance with the Act
of Settlement,[426] came into possession of the English crown. The new
king, however, was in no haste to leave the quiet little German court where
he had passed his fifty-fourth birthday, and where he would have gladly
spent the rest of his uneventful life. As he owed his new position to Whig
legislation, he naturally favored that party and turned his back on the
Tories, who, deprived of the sunshine of royal favor, were as unhappy as
their rivals were jubilant. In fact, the reaction was so strong that the
three Tory leaders were now impeached for treason, on the ground that they
had intrigued to restore the fallen house of Stuart, and endeavored to make
the Pretender king. Two of the three fled the country, and the third,
after a term of imprisonment in the Tower, was discharged without further
punishment.[427]

[426] Act of Settlement: see Paragraph No. 549.

[427] The House of Hanover, also called Brunswick and Guelf.

                                 James (Stuart) I. of England.
                                              ||
                  +---------------------------+==============+
                  |                                         ||
               Charles I.                          Elizabeth, m. Frederick,
                  |                                Elector-Palatine,[*] and
      +-----------+----------------------+        later king of Bohemia.
      |           |                      |                  ||
  Charles II.   James II.             Mary, m.              ||
                  |                  William II.  Sophia, m. the Elector
      +-----------+---------+        of Orange.       of Hanover.[†]
      |           |         |            |                  ||
    Mary,      Anne.  James (the     William III.    =George, Elector of
  m. William        Old Pretender),  of Orange,       Hanover=, became
  III. of               b. 1688,     became William  =George I. of England,
  Orange,               d. 1765.     III. of England,       1714.=
  afterward                 |         1689.                 ||
  William III.              |                          =George II.=
  of England.         Charles (the                          ||
                    Young Pretender),          Frederick, Prince of Wales,
                    b. 1720, d. 1788.          (died before coming to the
                                                          throne).
                                                            ||
                                                         =George III.=
                                                            ||
                                    +============+===========+
                                    ||           ||         ||
                              =George IV.=  =William IV.=  Edward
                                                          Duke of
                                                           Kent,
                                                          d. 1820.
                                                            ||
                                                        =Victoria.=

[*] Elector-Palatine: a prince ruling over the territory called the
Palatinate in Western Germany, on the Rhine.

[†] Elector of Hanover: a prince ruling over the province of Hanover, a
part of the German Empire, lying on the North Sea. The Elector received his
title from the fact that he was one of seven princes who had the right of
electing the German emperor.

=582. Character of the New King.=--The new sovereign was a selfish, coarse
old man, who in private life would, as Lady Montagu said, have passed for
an honest blockhead. He neither knew anything about England, nor did he
desire to know anything of it. He could not speak a word of the language of
the country he was called to govern, and he made no attempt to learn it;
even the coronation service had to be explained to him as best it could, in
such broken Latin as the ministers could muster. Laboring under these
disadvantages, his majesty wisely determined not to try to take any active
part in the affairs of the nation. He was a hearty eater and drinker, so
that his table exercises took up a considerable portion of his time. Much
of the rest he was contented to spend quietly smoking his pipe, or playing
cards and laughing at the caricature pictures of the English which the
German ladies of his court cut out of paper for his amusement. As for
politics, he let his Whig friends, with Sir Robert Walpole at the head,
manage the country in their own way. Fortunately, the great body of the
English people were abundantly able to take care of themselves. Voltaire
said of them that they resembled a barrel of their own beer, froth at the
top, dregs at the bottom, but thoroughly sound and wholesome in the middle.
It was this middle class, with their solid, practical good sense, that kept
the nation right. They were by no means enthusiastic worshippers of the
German king who had come to reign over them, but they saw one thing
clearly: he might be as heavy, dull, and wooden as the figure-head of a
ship, yet, like that figure-head, he stood for something greater and better
than himself,--for he represented Protestantism, with civil and religious
liberty,--and so the people gave him their allegiance.

=583. Cabinet Government.=--The present method of government dates from
this reign. From the earliest period of English history the sovereign was
accustomed to have a permanent council composed of some of the chief men of
the realm, whom he consulted on all matters of importance. Charles II.,
either because he found this body inconveniently large for the rapid
transaction of business, or else because he believed it inexpedient to
discuss his plans with so many, selected a small confidential committee
from it. This committee met to consult with the king in his cabinet, or
private room, and so came to be called "the cabinet council," or briefly
"the cabinet," a name which it has ever since retained.

During Charles II.'s reign and that of his immediate successors the king
continued to choose this special council from those whom he believed to be
friendly to his measures, often without much regard to party lines, and he
was always present at their meetings. With the accession of George I.,
however, a great change took place. His want of acquaintance with
prominent men made it difficult for him to select a cabinet himself, and
his ignorance of English rendered his presence at its meetings wholly
useless. For these reasons the new king adopted the expedient of appointing
a chief adviser, or prime minister, who chose his own cabinet from men of
the political party to which he belonged. Thus Sir Robert Walpole, the
first prime minister, began that system (though not until the reign was far
advanced) by which the executive affairs of the government are managed
to-day. The cabinet, or "the government," as it is sometimes called, now
generally consists of twelve or fifteen persons chosen by the prime
minister, or premier,[428] from the leading members of both Houses of
Parliament, but whose political views agree in the main with the majority
of the House of Commons.[429] This system, though not fully developed
until the reign of George III., had become so well established when George
II. came to the throne, that he said, "In England the ministers are king."
If he could have looked forward, he would have seen that the time was
coming when the House of Commons would be king, since no ministry or
cabinet can now stand which does not have the confidence and support of the
Commons.

[428] Now generally called the premier (from the French _premier_, first or
chief).

[429] The existence of the Cabinet depends on custom, not law. Its members
are never _officially_ made known to the public, nor its proceedings
recorded. Its meetings, which take place at irregular intervals, according
to pressure of business, are entirely secret, and the sovereign is never
present. As the Cabinet agrees in its composition with the majority of the
House of Commons, it follows that if the Commons are Conservative, the
Cabinet will be so likewise; and if Liberal, the reverse. Theoretically,
the sovereign chooses the Cabinet; but practically the selection is now
always made by the prime minister. If at any time the Cabinet finds that
its political policy no longer agrees with that of the House of Commons, it
usually resigns, and the sovereign chooses a new prime minister from the
opposite party, who forms a new Cabinet in harmony with himself and the
Commons. If, however, the prime minister has good reason for believing that
a different House of Commons would support him, the sovereign may, by his
advice, dissolve Parliament. A new election then takes place, and according
to the political character of the members returned, the Cabinet remains in,
or goes out of, power. The Cabinet now invariably includes the following
officers:--

  1. The First Lord of the Treasury (Usually the Prime Minister).

  2. The Lord Chancellor.

  3. The Lord President of the Council.

  4. The Lord Privy Seal.

  5. The Chancellor of the Exchequer.

  6. The Secretary of State for Home Affairs.

  7. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

  8. The Secretary of State for the Colonies.

  9. The Secretary of State for India.

  10. The Secretary of State for War.

  11. The First Lord of the Admiralty.

In addition, a certain number of other officers of the government are
frequently included, making the whole number about twelve or fifteen.

=584. The "Pretender"; "the Fifteen."=--The fact that George I. exclusively
favored the Whigs exasperated the opposite, or Tory, party, and the
Jacobites or extreme members of that party[430] in Scotland, with the
secret aid of many in England, now rose, in the hope of placing on the
throne the son of James II., James Edward Stuart, called the Chevalier[431]
by his friends, but the Pretender by his enemies. The insurrection was led
by John, Earl of Mar, who, from his frequent change of politics, had got
the nickname of "Bobbing John." Mar encountered the royal forces at
Sheriffmuir, in Perthshire, Scotland, where an indecisive battle was
fought, which the old ballad thus describes:--

    "There's some say that we won, and some say that they won,
    And some say that none won at a', man;
    But one thing is sure, that at Sheriffmuir
    A battle there was, which I saw, man."

[430] See Paragraph No. 547.

[431] The Chevalier de St. George; after the birth of his son Charles in
1720, the former was known by the nickname of the Old Pretender, and the
son as the Young Pretender.

On the same day of the fight at Sheriffmuir, the English Jacobites, with a
body of Scotch allies, marched into Preston, Lancashire, and there
surrendered, almost without striking a blow. The leaders of the movement,
except the Earl of Mar, who, with one or two others, escaped to the
continent, were beheaded or hanged, and about a thousand of the rank and
file were sold as slaves to the West India and Virginia plantations. The
Pretender himself landed in Scotland a few weeks after the defeat of his
friends; but finding no encouragement he hurried back to the continent
again. Thus ended the rebellion known from the year of its outbreak (1715)
as "the Fifteen."

One result of this rising was the passage of an act extending the duration
of Parliament from three years, which was the longest time that body could
sit, to seven years, a law still in force.[432] The object of this change
was to do away with the excitement and tendency to rebellion at that time,
resulting from frequent elections, in which party feeling ran to dangerous
extremes.

[432] The Triennial Act provided that at the end of three years Parliament
must be dissolved and a new election held. This was to prevent the
sovereign from keeping that body in power indefinitely, contrary, perhaps,
to the political feeling of the country, which might prefer a different set
of representatives. Under the Septennial Act the time was extended four
years, making seven in all, but the sovereign may, of course, dissolve
Parliament at any time before that limit is reached.

=585. The South Sea Bubble.=--A few years later a gigantic enterprise was
undertaken by the South Sea Company, a body of merchants, originally
organized as a company trading in the southern Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
A Scotchman named Law had started a similar project in France, known as the
Mississippi Company, which proposed to pay off the national debt of France
from the profits of its commerce with the West Indies and the country
bordering on the Mississippi River. Following his example, the South Sea
Company now undertook to pay off the English national debt, mainly, it is
said, from the profits of the slave trade between Africa and Brazil.[433]
Walpole had no faith in the scheme, and attacked it vigorously; but other
influential members of the government gave it their encouragement. The
directors now came out with prospectuses promising dividends of fifty per
cent on all money invested. Everybody rushed to buy stock, and the shares
rapidly advanced from $500 to $5000 a share. A speculative craze followed,
the like of which has never since been known. Bubble companies now sprang
into existence with objects almost as absurd as those of the philosophers
whom Swift ridiculed in "Gulliver's Travels," where one man was trying to
make gunpowder out of ice, and another to extract sunbeams from cucumbers.
A mere list of these companies would fill several pages. One was to give
instruction in astrology, by which every man might be able to foretell his
own destiny by examining the stars; a second was to manufacture butter out
of beech-trees; a third was for a wheel for driving machinery, which once
started would go on forever, thereby furnishing a cheap perpetual motion; a
fourth projector, going beyond all the rest in audacity, had the impudence
to offer stock for sale in an enterprise "which shall be revealed
hereafter." He found the public so gullible and so greedy for gain, that he
sold $10,000 worth of the new stock in the course of a single morning, and
then prudently disappeared with the cash, though where, as the unfortunate
investors found to their sorrow, was not among the things to "be revealed
hereafter."

[433] Loftie's History of London.

The narrow passage leading to the stock exchange was crowded all day long
with struggling fortune hunters, both men and women. Suddenly, when the
excitement was at its height, the bubble burst, as Law's scheme in France
had a little earlier.

Great numbers of people were hopelessly ruined, and the cry for vengeance
was as loud as the bids for stocks had once been. One prominent government
official who had helped to blow the bubble was sent to the Tower, and
another committed suicide rather than face a parliamentary committee of
investigation, one of whose members had suggested that it would be an
excellent plan to sew the South Sea directors up in sacks and throw them
into the Thames.

=586. How a Terrible Disease was conquered.=--But among the new things
which the people were to try in this century was one which led to most
beneficent results. For many generations the great scourge of Europe was
the small-pox. Often the disease was as violent as the plague, and carried
off nearly as many victims. Medical art seemed powerless to deal with it,
and even in years of ordinary health in England about one person out of
ten died of this loathsome pestilence. In the early part of George I.'s
reign, Lady Mary Montagu, then travelling in Turkey, wrote that the Turks
were in the habit of inoculating their children for the disease, which
rendered it much milder and less fatal, and that she was about to try the
experiment on her own son.

Later, Lady Montagu returned to England, and through her influence and
example the practice was introduced there. It was tried first on five
criminals in Newgate who had been sentenced to the gallows, but were
promised their freedom if they would consent to the operation. As it proved
a complete success, the Princess of Wales, with the king's consent, caused
it to be tried on her daughter, with equally good results. The medical
profession, however, generally refused to sanction the practice, and the
clergy in many cases preached against it as an "invention of Satan,
intended to counteract the purposes of an all-wise Providence" but through
the perseverance and good sense of Lady Montagu, with a few others, the new
practice gradually gained ground. Subsequently Dr. Jenner began to make
experiments of a different kind which led late in the century to the
discovery of vaccination, by which millions of lives have been saved; this,
with the discovery of the use of ether in our own time, may justly be
called the two greatest triumphs of the art of medicine.

=587. How Walpole governed.=--Robert Walpole had been a member of the
Cabinet during most of the reign down to 1721. He then became premier, and
continued in office as head of the government until near the middle of the
next reign, or about twenty-one years in all. He was an able financier, and
succeeded in reducing the National Debt; he believed in keeping the country
out of war, and also, as we have seen, out of bubble speculation, but he
was determined at all cost to maintain the Whig party in power, and the
Protestant Hanoverian sovereigns on the throne.

In order to accomplish this, he openly bribed members of Parliament to
support his party; he bought votes and carried elections by gifts of
titles, honors, and bank-notes, thus proving to his own satisfaction the
truth of his theory that most men "have their price," and that an appeal to
the pocket-book is both quicker and surer than an appeal to principle. But
he had to confess before the end of his ministry that he had found in the
House of Commons one "boy patriot," as he sneeringly called him, named
William Pitt (afterward Earl of Chatham), whom neither his money could buy
nor his ridicule move.

Bad as Walpole's policy was in its corrupting influence on the nation, it
was an admission that the time had come when the king could no longer
venture to rule by force, as in the days of the Stuarts: it meant that the
government had been deprived of the arbitrary power it once wielded.
Walpole was a fox, not a lion; and "foxes," as Emerson tells us, "are so
cunning because they are not strong."

=588. Summary.=--Though George I. did little for England except keep the
Pretender from the throne by occupying it himself, yet that was no small
advantage, since it gave the country peace. The establishment of the
cabinet system of government under Sir Robert Walpole, the suppression of
the Jacobite insurrection, and the disastrous collapse of the South Sea
Bubble are the principal events.


GEORGE II.--1727-1760.

=589. Accession and Character.=--The second George, who was also of German
birth, was much like his father, though he had the advantage of being able
to speak broken English readily. His wife, Queen Caroline, was an able
woman, who possessed the happy art of ruling her husband without his
suspecting it, while she, on the other hand, was ruled by Sir Robert
Walpole, whom the king hated, but whom he had to keep as prime minister.
George II. was a good soldier, and decidedly preferred war to peace; but
Walpole saw clearly that the peace policy was best for the nation, and he
and the queen managed to persuade the king not to draw the sword.

=590. The War of Jenkins's Ear.=--At the end of twelve years, however,
trouble arose with Spain. According to the London newspapers of that day, a
certain Captain Jenkins, while cruising, or, more probably, smuggling, in
the West Indies, had been seized by the Spaniards and barbarously
maltreated. They, if we accept his story, accused him of attempting to land
English goods contrary to law, and searched his ship. Finding nothing
against him, they vented their rage and disappointment by hanging him to
the yard-arm of his vessel until he was nearly dead. They then tore off one
of his ears, and bade him take it to the king of England with their
compliments. Jenkins, it is said, carefully wrapped up his ear and put it
in his pocket. When he reached England, he went straight to the House of
Commons, drew out the mutilated ear, showed it to the House, and demanded
justice. The Spanish restrictions on English trade with the Indies and
South America[434] had long been a source of ill feeling. The sight of
Jenkins's ear brought matters to a climax; even Walpole could not resist
the clamor for vengeance, and contrary to his own judgment he had to vote
for war. Though Jenkins was the occasion, the real object of the war was to
compel Spain to permit the English to get a larger share in the lucrative
commerce of the New World. It was another proof that America was now
rapidly becoming an important factor in the politics of Great Britain. The
announcement of hostilities with Spain was received in London with delight,
and bells pealed from every steeple. "Yes," said Walpole, "they may ring
the bells now, but before long they will be wringing their hands,"--a
prediction which was verified by the heavy losses the English suffered in
an expedition against Carthagena, South America, though later Commodore
Anson inflicted great damage on the Spanish colonies, and returned to
England with large amounts of captured treasure.

[434] By the Assiento (contract) Treaty, made at Utrecht in 1713, one
English ship of 600 tons burden was allowed to make one trading voyage a
year to the colonies of Spanish America.

=591. War of the Austrian Succession.=--On the death of Charles VI. of the
house of Austria, emperor of Germany, his daughter Maria Theresa succeeded
to the Austrian dominions. France now united with Spain, Prussia, and other
European powers to overturn this arrangement, partly out of jealousy of the
Austrian power, and partly from desire to get control of portions of the
Austrian possessions. England and Holland, however, both desired to
maintain Austria as a check against their old enemy France, and declared
war in 1741. During this war George II. went over to the continent to lead
the English forces in person. He was not a man of commanding appearance,
but he was every inch a soldier, and nothing exhilarated him like the smell
of gunpowder. At the battle of Dettingen, in Bavaria, he got down from his
horse, and drawing his sword, cried: "Come, boys, now behave like men, and
the French will soon run." With that, followed by his troops, he rushed
upon the enemy with such impetuosity that they turned and fled. This was
the last battle in which an English king took part. It was followed by that
of Fontenoy, in the Netherlands, in which the French gained the victory.
After nearly eight years' fighting the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle secured a
peace advantageous for England.[435]

[435] Aix la Chapelle (Āks-lă-shă´pel´).

=592. Invasion by the Young Pretender; "the Forty-Five."=[436]--While the
war of the Austrian Succession was in progress, the French encouraged James
II.'s grandson, Charles Edward, the Young Pretender,[437] to make an
attempt on the English crown. He landed in 1745 on the northern coast of
Scotland with only seven followers, but with the aid of the Scotch
Jacobites of the Highlands he gained a battle over the English at
Prestonpans, near Edinburgh. Emboldened by his success, he now marched into
Derbyshire, England, on his way to London, with the hope, that as he
advanced, the country would rise in his favor; but finding no support, he
retreated to Scotland. The next year he and his adherents were defeated
with great slaughter at Culloden, near Inverness. With the flight of the
Pretender from that battle-field, his Scotch sympathizers lost all hope.
There were no more ringing Jacobite songs, sung over bowls of steaming
punch, of "Who'll be king but Charlie?" and "Over the water to Charlie";
and when in 1788 Charles died in Rome, the unfortunate house of Stuart
disappeared from history.[438]

[436] So called from the Scotch rising of 1745.

[437] See note to Paragraph No. 584.

[438] Devoted loyalty to a hopeless cause was never more truly or
pathetically expressed than in some of these Jacobite songs, notably in
those of Scotland, of which the following lines are an example:--

    "Over the water, and over the sea,
    And over the water to Charlie;
    Come weal, come woe, we'll gather and go,
    And live or die with Charlie."--See SCOTT'S _Redgauntlet_.

=593. War in the East; the Black Hole of Calcutta; Clive's Victories;
English Empire of India.=--In India the English had long had important
trading-posts at Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, and other points, but they had
not had control of the country, which was governed by native princes. The
French also had established an important trading-post at Pondicherry, south
of Madras, and were now secretly planning through alliance with the native
rulers to get possession of the entire country. They had met with some
success in their efforts, and the times seemed to favor their gaining still
greater influence unless some decided measures should be taken to prevent
them. At this juncture Robert Clive, a young man who had been employed as
clerk in the service of the English East India Company, but who had
obtained a humble position in the army, obtained permission to try his hand
at driving back the enemy. It was the very work for which he was fitted. He
met with success from the first, and he followed it up by the splendid
victory of Arcot (1751), which practically gave the English control of
Southern India. Shortly after that Clive returned to England. During his
absence the native prince of Bengal undertook an expedition against
Calcutta, a wealthy British trading-post. He captured the fort which
protected it, and seizing the principal English residents, one hundred and
forty-six in number, drove them at the point of the sword into a prison
called the "Black Hole," less than twenty feet square and having but two
small windows. In such a climate, in the fierce heat of midsummer, that
dungeon would have been too close for a single European captive; to crowd
it with more than seven score persons for a night meant death by all the
agonies of heat, thirst, and suffocation. In vain they endeavored to bribe
the guard to transfer part of them to another room, in vain they begged for
mercy and tried to burst the door. Their jailers only mocked them and would
do nothing. Then, says Macaulay, "the prisoners went mad with despair; they
trampled each other down, they fought to get at the windows, they fought
for the pittance of water which was given them, they raved, prayed,
blasphemed, and implored the guards to fire upon them. At length the tumult
died away in low gasps and moanings. When daylight came and the dungeon was
opened, the floor was heaped with mutilated half-putrescent corpses. Out of
the hundred and forty-six, one of whom was a woman, only twenty-three were
alive, and they were so changed, so feeble, so ghastly, that their own
mothers would not have known them."

When Clive returned he was met with a cry for vengeance. He gathered his
troops, recovered Calcutta, and ended by fighting that great battle of
Plassey (1757), which was the means of permanently establishing the English
empire in India on a firm foundation.[439]

[439] See Macaulay's Essay on Clive.

[Illustration: Map No. 14--SKETCH MAP OF INDIA.]

=594. The Seven Years' War in Europe and America.=--Before the contest had
closed by which England won her Asiatic dominions, a new war had broken
out. In 1756, the fifth year of the New Style,[440] the aggressive designs
of Frederick the Great of Prussia caused such alarm that a grand
alliance was formed by France, Russia, Austria, and Poland to check his
further advance. Great Britain, however, gave her support to Frederick, in
the hope of humbling her old enemy France, who, in addition to her attempts
to oust the English from India, was also making preparations on a grand
scale to get possession of America. Every victory, therefore, which the
British forces could gain in Europe would, by crippling the French, make
the ultimate victory in America so much the more certain; so that we may
look upon the alliance with Frederick as an indirect means employed by
England to protect her colonies on the other side of the Atlantic. These
had now extended along the entire coast, from the Kennebec River, in Maine,
to the borders of Florida.

[440] In 1752 the New Style of reckoning time was introduced into Great
Britain. Owing to a slight error in the calendar, the year had, in the
course of centuries, been gradually losing, so that in 1752 it was eleven
days short of what the true computation would make it. Pope Gregory
corrected the error in 1582, and his calendar was adopted in nearly every
country of Europe except Great Britain and Russia, both of which regarded
the change as a "popish measure." But in 1751, notwithstanding the popular
outcry, Sept. 3, 1752, was made Sept. 14, by an act of Parliament, and by
the same act the beginning of the year was altered from March 25 to Jan. 1.
The popular clamor against the reform is illustrated in Hogarth's picture
of an Election Feast, in which the People's party carry a banner, with the
inscription, "Give us back our eleven days."

The French, on the other hand, had planted colonies at Quebec and Montreal,
on the St. Lawrence; at Detroit, on the Great Lakes; at New Orleans and
other points on the Mississippi. They had also begun to build a line of
forts along the Ohio River, which, when completed, would connect their
northern and southern colonies, and thus secure to them the whole country
west of the Alleghanies. Eventually, they undoubtedly expected to conquer
the East also, to erase Virginia, New England, and all other colonial
titles from the map, inscribing in their place the name of New France.

During the first part of the war, the English were unsuccessful. In an
attempt to take Fort Duquesne,[441] General Braddock met with a crushing
defeat from the combined French and Indian forces, which would indeed have
proved his utter destruction had not a young Virginian named George
Washington saved a remnant of his troops by his calmness and courage. Not
long after, a second expedition was sent out against the French fort, in
which Washington led the advance. The garrison fled at his approach, the
English colors were run up, and the place was named Pittsburgh, in honor of
William Pitt, then virtually prime minister of England.[442]

[441] Duquesne (Doo kane´).

[442] He was secretary of state, but in point of influence was head of the
Cabinet. See Paragraph No. 587.

About the same time, the English took the forts on the Bay of Fundy, and
drove out a number of thousand French settlers from Acadia.[443] This gave
them control of Nova Scotia. Other successes followed, by which they
obtained possession of important points. Finally, Canada was won from the
French by Wolfe's victory over Montcalm, at Quebec (1759), where both
gallant soldiers verified the truth of the lines, "The paths of glory lead
but to the grave,"[444] which the English general had quoted to some
brother-officers the evening before the attack. This ended the war. Spain
now ceded Florida to Great Britain, so that in 1763, when peace was made,
the English flag waved over the whole eastern half of the American
continent, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. Thus, within a
comparatively few years, Great Britain had gained an empire in the East
(India), and another in the West (America). A few more such conquests and
her "morning drum-beat, following the sun, and keeping company with the
hours" would literally "circle the earth with one continuous and unbroken
strain of the martial airs of England."[445]

[443] See The Leading Facts of American History, page 320, and note.

[444]
    "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
    And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
    Await alike the inevitable hour;
    The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

    --GRAY'S _Elegy_ (1750).

"I would rather be the author of that poem," said Wolfe, "than to have the
glory of beating the French to-morrow." Wolfe and Montcalm were both
mortally wounded, and died within a few hours of each other.

[445] Daniel Webster, speech of May 7, 1834.

=595. Moral Condition of England; Intemperance; Rise of the
Methodists.=--But grand as were the military successes of the British arms,
the reign of George II. was morally torpid. With the exception of a few
public men like Pitt, the majority of the Whig party seemed animated by no
higher motive than self-interest. It was an age whose want of faith,
coarseness, and brutality were well portrayed by Hogarth's pencil and
Fielding's pen. For a long time intemperance had been steadily on the
increase; strong drink had taken the place of beer, and every attempt to
restrict the traffic was met at the elections by the popular cry, "No gin,
no king." The London taverns were thronged day and night, and in the
windows of those frequented by the lowest class placards were exhibited
with the tempting announcement, "Drunk for a penny; dead drunk for
twopence; clean straw for nothing." On the straw lay men and women in
beastly helplessness. Among the upper classes matters were hardly better.
It was a common thing for great statesmen to drink at public dinners until
one by one they slid out of their seats and disappeared under the table;
and Robert Walpole, the late prime minister of England, said that when he
was a young man his father would say to him as he poured out the wine,
"Come, Robert, you shall drink twice while I drink once, for I will not
permit the son in his sober senses to be witness of the intoxication of his
father."[446]

[446] See Coxe's Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole, and Lecky's England in the
Eighteenth Century.

Such was the condition of England when a great religious revival began. Its
leader was a student at Oxford, named John Wesley. He, with his brother
Charles and a few others, were accustomed to meet at certain hours for
devotional exercises. The regularity of their meetings and of their habits
generally got for them the name of Methodists, which, like Quaker and many
another nickname of the kind, was destined to become a title of respect and
honor.

At first Wesley had no intention of separating from the Church of England,
but labored only to quicken it to new life; eventually, however, he found
it best to begin a more extended and independent movement. The revival
swept over England with its regenerating influence, and extended across the
sea to America. It was especially powerful among those who had hitherto
scoffed at both church and Bible. Rough and hardened men were touched and
melted to tears of repentance by the fervor of this Oxford graduate, whom
neither threats nor ridicule could turn aside from his one great purpose of
saving souls.

Unlike the church, he did not ask the multitude to come to him; he went to
them. He rode on horseback from one end of the country to the other,
preaching in the fields, under trees, which are still known throughout
England by the expressive name of "Gospel Oaks," in cities, at the corners
of the streets, on the docks, in the slums; in fact, wherever he could find
listening ears and responsive hearts.

If we except the great Puritan movement of the seventeenth century, no such
appeal had been heard since the days when Augustine and his band of monks
set forth on their mission among the barbarous Saxons. The results answered
fully to the zeal that awakened them. Better than the growing prosperity of
extending commerce, better than all the conquests in the East or the West,
was the new religious spirit which stirred the people of both England and
America, and provoked the national church to emulation in good
works,--which planted schools, checked intemperance, and brought into
vigorous activity all that was best and bravest in a race that when true to
itself is excelled by none.

=596. Summary.=--The history of the reign may be summed up in the movement
which has just been described, and in the Asiatic, continental, and
American wars with France which ended in the extension of the power of
Great Britain in both hemispheres.


GEORGE III.--1760-1820.

=597. Accession and Character; the King's Struggle with the Whigs.=--By the
death of George II. his grandson,[447] George III., now came to the throne.
The new king was a man of excellent character, who prided himself on having
been born an Englishman. He had the best interests of his country at heart,
but he lacked many of the qualities necessary to a great ruler, and
although thoroughly conscientious, he was narrow and stubborn to the last
degree. His mother, who had seen how ministers and parties ruled in
England, was determined that her son should have the control, and her
constant injunction to the young prince was, "Be king, George, be king!" so
that when he came to power George was determined to be king if self-will
would make him one.

[447] Frederick, Prince of Wales, George II.'s son, died before his father,
leaving his son George heir to the throne. See Table, Paragraph No. 581.

But beneath this spirit of self-will there was moral principle. In being
king, George III. intended to carry out a reform such as neither George I.
nor II. could have accomplished, providing that either had had the will to
undertake it.

The great Whig families of rank and wealth had now held uninterrupted
possession of the government for nearly half a century. Their influence was
so supreme that the sovereign had practically become a mere cipher,
dependent for his authority on the political support which he received. The
king was resolved that this state of things should continue no longer. He
was determined to reassert the royal authority and secure a government
which should reflect his principles, and to have a ministry to whom he
could dictate, instead of one that dictated to him.

For a long time he struggled in vain, but at last succeeded, and found in
Lord North a premier who bowed to the royal will, and endeavored to carry
out George III.'s favorite policy of "governing for, but never by, the
people." That policy finally resulted in calling forth the famous
resolution of the House of Commons that the king's influence "had
increased, was increasing, and ought to be diminished";[448] but it had
other consequences, which, as we shall presently see, were more
far-reaching and disastrous than any one in the House of Commons then
imagined.

[448] Resolution moved by Mr. Dunning in 1780.

=598. Taxation of the American Colonies.=--The wars of the two preceding
reigns had largely increased the National Debt, and the government resolved
to compel the American colonies to share in a more direct degree than they
had yet done, the constantly increasing burden of taxation. England then,
like all other European countries, regarded her colonies in a totally
different way from what she does at present. It was an open question at
that time whether colonial legislative rights existed save as a matter of
concession or favor on the part of the home government. It is true that the
government had found it expedient to grant or recognize such rights, but
they had seldom been very clearly defined, and in many important respects
no one knew just what the settlers of Virginia or Massachusetts might or
might not do.[449] The general theory of the mother country was that the
colonies were convenient receptacles for the surplus population, good or
bad, of the British Islands; next, that they were valuable as sources of
revenue and profit, politically and commercially; and lastly, that they
furnished excellent opportunities for the king's friends to get office and
make fortunes. Such was the feeling about India, and such, modified by
difference of circumstances, it was respecting America. In consequence of
this feeling, the policy pursued toward these settlements was severely
restrictive. By the Navigation and other laws of earlier reigns,[450] the
American colonies were obliged to confine their trade to England alone, or
to such ports as she directed. If they ventured to send a hogshead of
tobacco or a bale of produce of any sort to another country, or by any but
an English ship, they forfeited their goods.[451] On the other hand, the
colonies were obliged to buy the products of British mills and factories,
whether they found it to their advantage or not; the object of the
government being to keep the colonies wholly dependent.

[449] See Story's Constitution of the United States.

[450] Navigation Laws: see Paragraph No. 511.

[451] This was the case with all produce of any importance; the exceptions
need not be enumerated.

They were not permitted to make so much as a horse-shoe nail or print even
a copy of the New Testament, but they might, nay, they must, trade with
England and pay taxes to her.

It was resistance to these arbitrary measures which first caused trouble.
In the reign of Charles II. the colonies endeavored to evade these
oppressive laws. To punish them that monarch revoked the New England
charters, thus depriving them of whatever degree of self-government they
enjoyed, and compelling them to submit to the absolute will of the crown.
Under the tyrannical sway of Governor Andros, who was shortly after sent
over by James II. to rule, or rather misrule, in the king's name, an
explosion of popular wrath occurred which showed that, loyal as the
colonies were, they would not continue to endure treatment which no
Englishman at home would bear.

=599. The Stamp Act.=--In accordance with these theories about the
colonies, and to meet the pressing needs of the home government, the
English ministry, as early as 1764, proceeded to levy a tax on the colonies
in return for the protection they had granted them against the French and
the Indians. The colonists had paid, however, as they believed, their full
proportion of the expense of the war out of their own pockets, and for the
future they felt abundantly able to protect themselves. But notwithstanding
this plea, a specially obnoxious form of direct tax, called the Stamp Act,
was brought forward in 1765. It required that all legal documents, such as
deeds, wills, notes, receipts, and the like, should be written upon paper
bearing high-priced government stamps. Not only the leading men among the
colonists, but the colonists generally, protested against the act, and
Benjamin Franklin, with other agents, was sent to England to sustain their
protests by argument and remonstrance. But in spite of their efforts the
law was passed, and the stamps were duly sent over. The people, however,
were determined not to use them, and much tumult ensued. In England strong
sympathy with the colonists was expressed by William Pitt (who was shortly
after created Earl of Chatham), Burke, Fox, and generally by what was well
called "the brains of Parliament." Pitt in particular was extremely
indignant. He urged the immediate repeal of the act, saying, "I rejoice
that America has resisted." Pitt further declared that any taxation of the
colonies without their representation in Parliament was tyranny, that
opposition to such taxation was a duty, and that the spirit shown by the
Americans was the same that in England had withstood the despotism of the
Stuarts, and established the principle once for all that the king cannot
take the subject's money without the subject's consent. Against such
opposition the law could not stand. The act was accordingly repealed, amid
great rejoicing in London; the church bells rang a peal of triumph, and the
shipping in the Thames was illuminated; but the good effect on America was
lost by the immediate passage of another act which maintained the
unconditional right of England to legislate for the colonies, or, in other
words, to tax them, if they saw fit, without their consent.

=600. The Tea Tax and the "Boston Tea Party," with its Results.=--Another
plan was now devised for getting money from the colonies. Parliament
enacted a law compelling the Americans to pay taxes on a number of imports,
such as glass, paper, and tea. In opposition to this law, the colonists
formed leagues refusing to use these taxed articles, while at the same time
they encouraged smugglers to secretly land them, and the regular trade
suffered accordingly. Parliament, finding that this was bad both for the
government and for commerce, now abolished all of these duties except that
on tea, which was retained for a double purpose: first, and chiefly, to
maintain the principle of the right of Great Britain to tax the
colonies,[452] and next, to aid the East India Company, which was pleading
piteously for help.

[452] "There must be one tax," said the king, "to keep up the right."

In consequence mainly of the refusal of the American colonists to buy tea,
the London warehouses of the East India Company were full to overflowing
with surplus stock, and the company itself was in a half-bankrupt
condition. The custom had been for the company to bring the tea to England,
pay a tax on it, and then sell it to be reshipped to America, where the
colonists were expected to pay a tax. To aid the company in its
embarrassment, the government now agreed to remit this first duty
altogether, and to impose a tax of threepence (six cents) a pound on the
consumers in America. Such an arrangement would, they argued, be an
advantage all around, for first, it would aid the company to dispose of its
stock, next, it would enable the colonists to get tea at a cheaper rate
than before, and lastly, and most important of all, it would keep the
principle of taxation in force. But the colonists did not accept this
reasoning. In itself the three-penny tax was a trifle, but underlying it
was a principle which seemed to the Americans no trifle; for such
principles revolutions had been fought in the past; for such they would be
fought in the future.

The colonists resolved not to have the tea at any price. A number of ships
laden with the hated taxed herb arrived at the port of Boston. The tea was
seized by a band of men disguised as Indians, and thrown into the harbor.
The news of that action made the king and ministry furious. Parliament
sympathized with the government, and in retaliation passed four acts
unparalleled for their severity. The first was the Boston Port Bill, which
closed the harbor to all trade; the second was the Massachusetts Bill,
which virtually annulled the charter of the colony, took the government
away from the people and gave it to the king; the third law ordered that
Americans who committed murder in resistance to the law should be sent to
England for trial; the fourth declared the country north of the Ohio and
east of the Mississippi a part of Canada[453]--the object of this last act
being to conciliate the French Canadians, and secure their help against the
colonists in case of rebellion.

[453] Embracing territory now divided into the five States of Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Even after this unjust action on the part of the government a compromise
might have been effected, and peace maintained, if the counsels of the best
men had been followed; but George III. would listen to no policy short of
coercion: his one idea of _being king_ at all hazards had become a
monomania. Burke denounced the inexpediency of such oppression, and Fox,
another prominent member of Parliament, wrote: "It is intolerable to think
that it should be in the power of one blockhead to do so much mischief."
For the time, at least, the king was as unreasonable as any of the Stuarts.
The obstinacy of Charles I. cost him his head, that of James II., his
kingdom, that of George III. resulted in a war which saddled the English
tax-payer with an additional debt of six hundred millions of dollars, and
ended by Great Britain's losing the fairest and richest dominions that she
or any nation ever possessed.

=601. The American Revolution; Recognition of the Independence of the
United States.=--In 1775 war began, and the fighting at Lexington and
Bunker Hill showed that the Americans were in earnest. The cry of the
colonies had been, "No taxation without representation"; now it had got
beyond that, and was, "No legislation without representation." But events
moved so fast that even this did not long suffice, and on July 4, 1776, the
colonies, in congress assembled, solemnly declared themselves free and
independent. As far back as the French war there was at least one man who
foresaw this declaration. After the English had taken Quebec,
Vergennes,[454] an eminent French statesman, said of the American colonies
with respect to Great Britain, "They stand no longer in need of her
protection; she will call on them to contribute toward supporting the
burdens they have helped to bring on her; and they will answer by striking
off all dependence."[455]

[454] Vergennes (Vĕr´zhĕn´).

[455] Bancroft's History of the United States.

This prophecy was now fulfilled. Then the English ministry became alarmed,
they were ready to make terms, they would in fact grant anything but
independence;[456] but they had opened their eyes to the facts too late,
and nothing short of independence would now satisfy the colonists. It is
said that attempts were made to open negotiations with General Washington,
but the commander-in-chief declined to receive a letter from the English
government addressed to him, not in his official capacity, but as "George
Washington, Esq.," and so the matter came to nothing. The war went on with
varying success through seven heavy years, until, with the aid of the
French, the Americans defeated Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781.[457] By
that battle France got her revenge for the loss of Quebec in 1759, and
America finally won the cause for which she had spent so much life and
treasure.

[456] This was in 1778, after the French treaty with the U.S.

[457] It is pleasant to know that a hundred years later, in the autumn of
1881, a number of English gentlemen were present at the centennial
celebration of the taking of Yorktown to express their hearty good will
toward the nation which their ancestors had tried in vain to keep a part of
Great Britain.

On a foggy December morning in 1782, George III. entered the House of
Lords, and with a faltering voice read a paper in which he acknowledged the
independence of the United States of America. He closed his reading with
the prayer that neither Great Britain nor America might suffer from the
separation; and he expressed the hope that religion, language, interest,
and affection might prove an effectual bond of union between the two
countries. Eventually the separation proved, as Goldwin Smith says,[458] "a
mutual advantage, since it removed to a great extent the arbitrary
restrictions on trade, gave a new impetus to commerce, and immensely
increased the wealth of both nations."

[458] Goldwin Smith's Lectures on Modern History (the Foundation of the
American Colonies).

=602. The Lord George Gordon Riots.=--While the American war was in
progress, England had not been entirely quiet at home. In consequence of
the repeal of the most stringent of the unwise and unjust laws against the
Roman Catholics,--certainly unwise and unjust in their continuance for so
many generations, if not in their origin,--Lord George Gordon, a
half-crazed Scotch fanatic, now led an attack upon the government (1780).
For six days, London was at the mercy of a furious mob, which set fire to
Catholic chapels, pillaged many dwellings, and committed every species of
outrage. Newgate prison was broken into, the prisoners released, and the
prison burned.[459] No one was safe from attack who did not wear a blue
cockade to show that he was a Protestant, and a man's house was not secure
unless he chalked "No Popery" on the door in conspicuous letters; or, as
one individual did in order to make doubly sure, "No Religion whatever."
Before the riot was finally subdued a large amount of property had been
destroyed and many lives sacrificed.

[459] See Dickens's Barnaby Rudge.

=603. Impeachment of Warren Hastings.=--The same year that the American war
came to an end Warren Hastings, governor-general of India, was impeached
for corrupt and cruel government, and was tried before the House of Lords,
gathered in Westminster Hall. On the side of Hastings was the powerful East
India Company, ruling over a territory many times larger than the whole of
Great Britain. Against him were arrayed the three ablest and most eloquent
men in England,--Burke, Fox, and Sheridan. The trial was continued at
intervals for eight years, and resulted in the acquittal of the accused;
but it was proved that the chief business of those who went out to India
was to wring a fortune from the natives, and then go back to England to
spend it in a life of luxury; this fact, and the stupendous corruption that
was shown to exist, eventually broke down the gigantic monopoly, and the
country was thrown open to the trade of all nations.[460]

[460] See Burke's Speeches; also Macaulay's Essay on Warren Hastings.

=604. Liberty of the Press; Law and Prison Reforms; Abolition of the Slave
Trade.=--Since the discontinuance of the censorship of the press,[461]
though newspapers were nominally free to discuss public affairs, yet the
government had no intention of permitting any severe criticism. On the
other hand, there were men who were equally determined to speak their minds
through the press on political as on all other matters. In the early part
of the reign, John Wilkes, an able but scurrilous writer, attacked the
policy of the crown in violent terms. A few years later a writer, who
signed himself "Junius," began a series of letters in a daily paper, in
which he handled the king and the king's friends still more roughly. An
attempt was made by the government to punish Wilkes and the publisher of
the "Junius" letters, but it signally failed in both cases, and the public
feeling was plainly in favor of the right of the freest expression,[462]
which was eventually conceded.

[461] See Paragraph No. 550.

[462] Later, during the excitement caused by the French Revolution, there
was a reaction from this feeling, but it was only temporary.

Up to this time Parliamentary debates had rarely been reported. In fact,
under the Stuarts and the Tudors, members of Parliament would have run the
risk of imprisonment if their criticisms of royalty had been made public;
but now the papers began to contain the speeches and votes of both Houses
on important questions. Every effort was made to suppress these reports,
but again the press gained the day; and henceforth the nation learned
whether its representatives really represented the will of the people, and
so was able to hold them strictly accountable,--a matter of vital
importance in every free government.

Another field of reform was also found. The times were brutal. The pillory
still stood in the centre of London;[463] and if the unfortunate offender
who was put in it escaped with a shower of mud and other unsavory missiles,
instead of clubs and brickbats, he was lucky indeed. Gentlemen of fashion
arranged pleasure parties to visit the penitentiaries to see the wretched
women whipped. The whole code of criminal law was savagely vindictive.
Capital punishment was inflicted for upwards of two hundred offences, many
of which would now be thought to be sufficiently punished by one or two
months' imprisonment in the house of correction. Not only men, but women
and children even, were hanged for pilfering goods or food worth a few
shillings.[464] The jails were crowded with poor wretches whom want had
driven to theft, and who were "worked off," as the saying was, on the
gallows every Monday morning in batches of a dozen or twenty, in sight of
the jeering, drunken crowds who gathered to witness their death agonies.

[463] The pillory (see Paragraph No. 580) was not abolished until the
accession of Queen Victoria.

[464] Five shillings, or $1.25, was the hanging limit; anything stolen
above that sum in money or goods sent the thief to the gallows.

Through the efforts of Sir Samuel Romilly, Jeremy Bentham, and others, a
reform was effected in this bloody code; and by the labors of the
philanthropic John Howard, and forty years later of Elizabeth Fry, the
jails were purified of abuses which had made them not only dens of
suffering and disease, but schools of crime as well. The laws respecting
punishment for debt were also changed for the better, and thousands of
miserable beings who were without means to satisfy their creditors were now
set free, instead of being kept in useless life-long imprisonment. At the
same time Clarkson, Wilberforce, Fox, and Pitt were endeavoring to abolish
that relic of barbarism, the African slave trade, which, after twenty years
of persistent effort both in Parliament and out, they at last accomplished.

=605. War with France; Battle of the Nile; Trafalgar; Spain.=--In 1789 the
French Revolution broke out. It was a violent and successful attempt to
destroy those feudal institutions which the nation had outgrown, and which
had, as we have seen, disappeared gradually in England after the Wars of
the Roses. At first the revolutionists received the hearty sympathy of many
of the Whig party, but after the execution of Louis XVI. and Queen Marie
Antoinette,[465] England became alarmed not only at the horrible scenes of
the Reign of Terror, but at the establishment of that democratic Republic
which seemed to justify them; and joined an alliance of the principal
European powers for the purpose of restoring the French monarchy. Napoleon
had now become the real head of the French nation, and seemed bent on
making himself master of all Europe. He undertook an expedition against
Egypt and the East which was intended as a stepping-stone toward the
ultimate conquest of the English empire in India, but his plans were
frustrated by Nelson's victory over the French fleet at the battle of the
Nile. With the assistance of Spain, Napoleon next prepared to invade
England, and was so confident of success that he caused a gold medal to be
struck, bearing the inscription, "Descent upon England." "Struck at London,
1804." But the combined French and Spanish fleets on whose co-operation
Napoleon was depending were driven by the English into the harbor of Cadiz,
and the great expedition was postponed for another year. When, in the
autumn of 1805, they left Cadiz harbor, Lord Nelson lay waiting for them
off Cape Trafalgar,[466] near by. Two days later he descried the enemy at
daybreak. The men on both sides felt that the decisive struggle was at
hand. With the exception of a long, heavy swell the sea was calm, with a
light breeze, but sufficient to bring the two fleets gradually within
range.

    "As they drifted on their path
    There was silence deep as death;
    And the boldest held his breath
          For a time."[467]

[465] See Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution (Death of Marie
Antoinette).

[466] Cape Trafalgar (Traf-al´-gar).

[467] Campbell's Battle of the Baltic, but applicable as well to Trafalgar.

Just before the action, Nelson ran up this signal to the mast-head of his
ship, where all might see it: "ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN TO DO HIS DUTY."
The answer to it was three ringing cheers from the entire fleet, and the
fight began. When it ended, Napoleon's boasted navy was no more. Trafalgar
Square, in the heart of London, with its tall column bearing aloft a statue
of Nelson, commemorates the decisive victory, which was dearly bought with
the life of the great admiral. The battle of Trafalgar snuffed out
Napoleon's projected invasion of England. He had lost his ships, and their
commander had in despair committed suicide; so the French emperor could no
longer hope to bridge "the ditch," as he derisively called the boisterous
Channel, whose waves rose like a wall between him and the island which he
hated. A few years later, Napoleon, who had taken possession of Spain, and
placed his brother on the throne, was driven from that country by Sir
Arthur Wellesley, destined to be better known as the Duke of Wellington,
and the crown was restored to the Spanish nation.

=606. Second War with the United States.=--The United States waged its
first war with Great Britain to gain an independent national existence; in
1812 it declared a second war to secure its personal and maritime rights.
During the long and desperate struggle between England and France, each
nation had prohibited neutral powers from commercial intercourse with the
other, or with any country friendly to the other. Furthermore, the English
government had laid down the principle that a person born on British soil
could not become a citizen of another nation, but that "once an Englishman
always an Englishman" was the only true doctrine. In accordance with that
theory, it claimed the right to search American ships and take from them
and force into their own service any seamen supposed to be of British
birth. In this way Great Britain had seized more than 6000 men, and
notwithstanding their protest that they were American citizens, either by
birth or by naturalization, had compelled them to enter the English navy.
Other points in dispute between the two countries were in a fair way of
being settled amicably, but there appeared to be no method of coming to
terms in regard to the question of search and impressment, which was the
most important of all, since, though the demand of the United States was,
in the popular phrase of the day, for "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights," it
was the last which was especially emphasized. In 1812 war against Great
Britain was declared, and an attack made on Canada which resulted in the
American forces being driven back. During the war British troops landed in
Maryland, burned the Capitol and other public buildings in Washington, and
destroyed the Congressional Library. On the other hand, the American navy
had unexpected and extraordinary successes on the ocean and the lakes. Out
of sixteen sea combats with approximately equal forces, the Americans
gained thirteen.[468] The contest closed with the signal defeat of the
English at New Orleans under Sir Edward Pakenham, brother-in-law of the
Duke of Wellington, by the Americans under General Andrew Jackson. The
right of search was thenceforth dropped, although it was not formally
abandoned by Great Britain until 1856.

[468] Fiske's Washington and his Country.

=607. Battle of Waterloo.=--On Sunday, June 18, 1815, the English war
against Napoleon, which had been carried on almost constantly since his
accession to power, culminated in the decisive battle of Waterloo.[469]
Napoleon had crossed the Belgian frontier, in order that he might come up
with the British before they could form a junction with their Prussian
allies. All the previous night the rain had fallen in torrents, and when
the soldiers rose from their cheerless bivouac in the trampled and muddy
fields of rye, a drizzling rain was still falling. Napoleon planned the
battle with the purpose of destroying first the English and then the
Prussian forces, but Wellington held his own against the furious attacks of
the French. It was evident, however, that even the "Iron Duke," as he was
called, could not continue to withstand the terrible assaults many hours
longer. As time passed on, and he saw his solid squares melting away under
the murderous French fire, as line after line of his soldiers coming
forward, silently stepped into the places of their fallen comrades, while
the expected Prussian reinforcements still delayed their appearance, the
English commander exclaimed, "O that night or Blücher[470] would come!" At
last Blücher with his Prussians did come, and as Grouchy,[471] the leader
of a division on whom Napoleon was counting, did not, Waterloo was finally
won by the combined strength of the allies, and not long after, Napoleon
was sent to die a prisoner on the desolate rock of St. Helena.

[469] Waterloo: near Brussels, Belgium.

[470] Blücher (Bloo´ker).

[471] Grouchy (Grou´she´).

When all was over, Wellington said to Blücher, as he stood by him on a
little eminence looking down upon the field covered with the dead and
dying, "A great victory is the saddest thing on earth, except a great
defeat."

With that victory ended the second Hundred Years' War of England with
France, which began with the War of the Spanish Succession in 1704[472]
under Marlborough, and which originally had for its double object the
humbling of the power that threatened the independence of England, and the
protection of those colonies which had now separated from the
mother-country, and had become, partly through French help, the republic of
the United States of America.

[472] See Paragraph No. 557.

=608. Increase of the National Debt; Taxation.=--Owing to these hundred
years and more of war, the national debt of Great Britain and Ireland,
which in 1688 was much less than a million of pounds had now reached the
enormous amount of over nine hundred millions (or $4,500,000,000) bearing
yearly interest at the rate of more than $160,000,000.[473] So great had
been the strain on the finances of the country, that the Bank of England
suspended payment, and many heavy failures occurred. In addition to this, a
succession of bad harvests sent up the price of wheat to such a point that
at one time an ordinary sized loaf of bread cost the farm laborer more than
half a day's wages. Taxes had gone on increasing until it seemed as though
the people could not endure the burden. As Sydney Smith declared, with
entire truth, there were duties on everything. They began, he said, in
childhood with "the boy's taxed top"; they followed to old age, until at
last "the dying Englishman pouring his taxed medicine into a taxed spoon,
flung himself back on a taxed bed, and died in the arms of an apothecary
who had payed a tax of a hundred pounds for the privilege of putting him to
death."[474]

[473] Encyclopædia Britannica, "National Debt."

[474] Sydney Smith's Essays, Review of Seybert's Annals of the United
States.

=609. Union of Great Britain and Ireland.=--For a century after the battle
of the Boyne Ireland can hardly be said to have had a history.[475] The
iron hand of English despotism had crushed the spirit out of the
inhabitants, and they suffered in silence. During the first part of the
eighteenth century the destitution of the people was so great that Dean
Swift, in bitter mockery of the government's neglect, published what he
called his "Modest Proposal" for relieving the misery of the half-starved
millions by allowing them, as he said, to cook and eat their own children,
or else sell them to the butchers. After the French wars broke out an
association was formed called the "United Irishmen," which endeavored to
secure the aid of France. The rebellion was quelled, and at the beginning
of the present century the English government succeeded by the most
unscrupulous bribery in buying up a sufficient number of members of the
so-called Irish Parliament to secure a vote in favor of union with Great
Britain, and in 1800 the two countries were joined--at least in name--under
the title of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

[475] Green's English People.

William Pitt, son of the late Earl of Chatham, used his influence to obtain
for Ireland a fair representation in the united Parliament, urging that it
was for the interest of the two countries that both Catholics and
Protestants should be eligible for election. His advice, however, was
rejected, and although a large majority of the Irish people were zealous
Catholics, not a single member of that church was admitted to the House of
Commons. To increase if possible the hatred of England, free trade with
England had up to this time been withheld from the Irish, greatly to their
loss. They were thus treated as a foreign and hostile race, from a
commercial as well as a religious point of view.

=610. Material Progress; Canals; Steam; Distress of the Working Class; the
North of England.=--The reign of George III. was, however, in several
directions one of marked progress, especially in England. Just after the
king's accession a canal was opened in the north for the transportation of
goods. It was the first of a system which has since become so widely
extended that the canals of England now exceed in length its navigable
rivers. The two form such a complete network of water communication that it
is said that no place in the realm is more than fifteen miles distant from
this means of transportation, which connects all the large towns with each
other and with the chief ports.

In 1769 James Watt obtained the first patent for his improved steam
engine.[476] The story is told that he took a working model of it to show
to the king. His majesty patronizingly asked him, "Well, my man, what have
you to sell?" The inventor promptly answered, "What kings covet, may it
please your majesty,--_power!_" The story is perhaps too good to be true,
but the fact of the "power" could not be denied--power, too, not simply
mechanical, but in its results, moral and political as well. In 1811 such
was the increase of machinery driven by steam, and such the improvements
made by Hargreaves, Arkwright, Crompton, and others in machinery for
spinning and weaving, that much distress arose among the working classes.
The price of bread was growing higher and higher, while in many districts
skilled operatives could not earn by their utmost efforts two dollars a
week. They saw their hand-labor supplanted by patent "monsters of iron and
fire," which never grew weary, which subsisted on water and coal, and never
asked for wages. Led by a man named Ludd, the starving workmen attacked the
mills, broke the machinery in pieces, and sometimes burnt the buildings.
The riots were at length suppressed, and a number of the leaders executed;
but a great change for the better was at hand, and steam was soon to remedy
the evils it had seemingly created.

[476] See Paragraph No. 570.

Up to this period the North of England remained the poorest part of the
country. The population was sparse, ignorant, and unprosperous. It was in
the south that improvements originated. In the reign of Henry VIII. the
north fought against the dissolution of the monasteries; in Elizabeth's
reign it resisted Protestantism; in that of George I. it sided with the
Pretender. But steam wrought a great change. Factories were built,
population increased, cities sprang up, and wealth grew apace. Birmingham,
Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Leicester, Sheffield, and Liverpool made the
north a new country. The saying is now current that "what Lancashire thinks
to-day, England will think to-morrow." So much for James Watt's "power" and
its results.

=611. Discovery of Oxygen; Introduction of Gas; the Safety Lamp; Steam
Navigation.=--Notwithstanding the progress that had been made in many
departments of knowledge, the science of chemistry remained almost
stationary until, in 1774, Dr. Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen, the most
abundant, as well as the most important, element in nature. That discovery
not only "laid the foundation of modern chemical science,"[477] but, as
Professor Liebig remarks, "the knowledge of the composition of the
atmosphere, of the solid crust of the earth, of water, and of their
influence upon the life of plants and animals was linked with it." It
proved, also, of direct practical utility, since the successful pursuit of
innumerable trades and manufactures, with the profitable separation of
metals from their ores, stands in close connection with the facts which
Priestley's experiments made known.

[477] Professor Youmans's New Chemistry.

As intellectual light spread, so also did material light. It was not until
near the close of the reign of George III. that London could be said to be
lighted at night. A few feeble oil lamps were in use, but the streets were
dark and dangerous, and highway robberies were frequent. About 1815 a
company was formed to light the city with gas. After much opposition from
those who were in the whale-oil interest the enterprise succeeded. The new
light, as Miss Martineau has said, did more to prevent crime than all that
the government had accomplished since the days of Alfred. It changed, too,
the whole aspect of the capital, though it was only the forerunner of the
electric light, which has since changed it even more. The sight of the
great city now, when viewed at night from Highgate archway on the north, or
looking down the Thames from Westminster bridge, is something never to be
forgotten. It gives one a realizing sense of the immensity of "this
province covered with houses," which cannot be got so well in any other
way. It brings to mind, too, those lines expressive of the contrasts of
wealth and poverty, success and failure, inevitable in such a place:--

    "O gleaming lamps of London, that gem the city's crown,
    What fortunes lie within you, O lights of London town!
      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *
    O cruel lamps of London, if tears your light could drown,
    Your victims' eyes would weep them, O lights of London town."[478]

[478] From the play "The Lights of London."

The same year in which gas was introduced, Sir Humphry Davy invented the
miner's safety lamp. Without seeking a patent, he generously gave his
invention to the world, finding his reward in the knowledge that it would
be the means of saving thousands of lives wherever men are called to work
underground.

Since Watt had demonstrated the value of steam for driving machinery, a
number of inventors had been experimenting with the new power, in the hope
that they might apply it to propelling vessels. In 1807 Robert Fulton, an
American, built the first steamboat, and made the voyage from New York to
Albany in it. Shortly after, his vessel began to make regular trips on the
Hudson. A number of years later a similar boat began to carry passengers on
the Clyde, in Scotland. Finally, in 1819, the bold undertaking was made of
crossing the Atlantic by steam. An American steamship, the _Savannah_, of
about three hundred tons, set the example by a voyage from the United
States to Liverpool. Dr. Lardner, an English scientist, had proved to his
own satisfaction that ocean steam navigation was impracticable. The book
containing the doctor's demonstration was brought to America by the
_Savannah_ on her return. Twenty-one years afterward, the Cunard and other
great lines, with fleets of vessels ranging from 5,000 to 8,000 tons, were
established, making passages from continent to continent in about as many
days as the ordinary sailing-vessels formerly required weeks. The fact that
during a period of more than forty-five years one of these lines has never
lost a passenger is conclusive proof that Providence is on the side of
steam, when steam has men that know how to handle it.

=612. Literature; Art; Education; Dress.=--The reign of George III. is
marked by a long list of names eminent in letters and art. First in point
of time among these stands Dr. Samuel Johnson, the compiler of the first
English dictionary worthy of the name, and that on which those of our own
day are based to a considerable extent, the author also of the story of
Rasselas--which may be called a satire on discontent and the search after
happiness. Next, stands Johnson's friend, Oliver Goldsmith, famous for his
genius, his wit, his improvidence, which was always getting him into
trouble, and for his novel, the "Vicar of Wakefield," with his poems.
Edward Gibbon, David Hume, author of the history of England, and Adam Smith
come next in time. In 1776 the first published his "Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire," which after more than a hundred years still stands the
ablest history of the subject in any language. In the same year Adam Smith
issued "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,"
which had an immediate and permanent effect on legislation respecting
commerce, trade, and finance; during this period, also, Sir William
Blackstone became prominent as a writer on law, and Edmund Burke, the
distinguished orator and statesman, wrote his "Reflections on the French
Revolution." The poets Burns, Byron, and Shelley, with Sheridan, the orator
and dramatist, and Sterne, the humorist, belong to this reign; so, too,
does the witty satirist, Sydney Smith, and Sir Walter Scott, whose works,
like those of Shakespeare, have "made the dead past live again." Maria
Edgeworth and Jane Austen have left admirable pictures of the age in their
stories of Irish and English life. Coleridge and Wordsworth began to
attract attention toward the last of this period, and to be much read by
those who loved the poetry of thought and the poetry of nature; while early
in the next reign, Charles Lamb published his delightful "Essays of Elia."

In art we have the first English painters and engravers. Hogarth, who died
a few years after the beginning of the reign, was celebrated for his coarse
but perfect representations of low life and street scenes; and his series
of election pictures with his "Beer Lane" and "Gin Alley" are valuable for
the insight they give into the history of the times. The chief portrait
painters were Reynolds, Lawrence, and Gainsborough, of whom the last
afterward became noted for his landscapes. They were followed by Wilkie,
whose pictures of "The Rent Day," "The Reading of the Will," with many
others, tell a story of interest to every one who looks at them. Last, and
greatest, came Turner, who surpassed all former artists in his power of
reproducing scenes in nature. At the same time, Bewick, whose cuts used to
be the delight of every child that read "Æsop's Fables," gave a new impulse
to wood-engraving, while Flaxman rose to be the leading English sculptor,
and Wedgewood introduced useful and beautiful articles of pottery.

In common school education little advance had been made for many
generations. In the country the great mass of the people were nearly as
ignorant as they were in the darkest part of the Middle Ages. Hardly a
peasant over forty years of age could be found who could read a verse in
the Bible, and not one in ten could write his name. There were no cheap
books or newspapers, no railroads, no system of public instruction. The
poor scarcely ever left the counties in which they were born, they knew
nothing of what was going on in the world, and their education was wholly
of that practical kind which comes from work and things, not books and
teachers; yet many of them with only these simple helps found out two
secrets which the highest culture sometimes misses,--how to be useful and
how to be happy.[479]

[479] See Wordsworth's poem "Resolution and Independence."

The close of George III.'s reign marks the beginning of the present age. It
was indicated in many ways, and among others by the change in dress.
Gentlemen were leaving off the picturesque costumes of the past--the cocked
hats, elaborate wigs, silk stockings, ruffles, velvet coats, and
swords,--and gradually putting on the plain democratic garb, sober in cut
and color, by which we know them to-day.[480]

[480] See Martin's Civil Costumes of Great Britain.

=613. Last Days of George III.=--In 1820 George III. died at the age of
seventy-eight. During ten years he had been blind, deaf, and insane, having
lost his reason not very long after the jubilee, which celebrated the
fiftieth year of his reign in 1809. Once, in a lucid interval, he was found
by the queen singing a hymn and playing an accompaniment on the
harpsichord. He then knelt and prayed aloud for her, for his family, and
for the nation; and in closing, for himself, that it might please God to
avert his heavy calamity, or grant him resignation to bear it. Then he
burst into tears, and his reason again fled.[481] In consequence of the
incapacity of the king, his eldest son was appointed Prince Regent, and on
the king's death came to the throne.

[481] See Thackeray's Four Georges.

=614. Summary.=--The long reign of George III., covering over sixty years,
was in every way eventful. During that time England lost her possessions in
America. During that period, also, Ireland was united to Great Britain. The
wars with France, which lasted more than twenty years, ended in the victory
of Trafalgar and the still greater victory of Waterloo. In consequence of
these wars, with that of the American revolution, the national debt of
Great Britain rose to a height which rendered the burden of taxation
well-nigh insupportable. The second war with the United States in 1812
resulted in completing American independence, and England was forced to
relinquish the right of search. The two greatest reforms of the period were
the abolition of the slave trade and the mitigation of the laws against
debt and crime; the chief material improvement was the application of steam
to manufacturing and navigation.


GEORGE IV.--1820-1830.

=615. Accession and Character of George IV.=--George IV., eldest son of the
late king, came to the throne in his fifty-eighth year; though owing to his
father's insanity, he had virtually been king since 1811. His habits of
life had made him a selfish, dissolute spendthrift, who, like Charles II.,
cared only for pleasure. Though while Prince of Wales he had had for many
years an income of upwards of half a million of dollars, which was largely
increased at a later period, yet he was always hopelessly in debt. In 1795
Parliament appropriated over $3,000,000 to relieve him from his most
pressing creditors, but his wild extravagance soon involved him in
difficulties again, so that had it not been for help given by the
long-suffering tax-payers, his royal highness must have become as bankrupt
in purse as he was in character. After his accession matters became worse
rather than better. At his coronation, which cost the nation over a million
of dollars, he appeared in hired jewels, which he forgot to return, and
which Parliament had to pay for. Not only did he waste the nation's money
more recklessly than ever, but he used whatever political influence he had
to oppose such means of reform as the times demanded.

=616. Discontent and Conspiracy; the "Manchester Massacre."=--When in 1811
the prince became regent, he desired to form a Whig ministry, not because
he cared for Whig principles, but solely for the reason that he should
thereby be acting in opposition to his father's wishes. Finding his purpose
impracticable, the prince accepted Tory rule, and a government was formed
with Lord Liverpool as its nominal head, which had for its main object the
exclusion of the Catholics from representation in Parliament.

Liverpool was a dull, well-meaning man, who utterly failed to comprehend
the real tendency of the age. He was the son of a commoner who had been
raised to the peerage. He had always had a reputation for honest obstinacy,
and for little else. After he became premier, Madame de Staël, who was
visiting England, asked him one day, "What has become of that _very_ stupid
man, Mr. Jenkinson?" "Madame," answered the unfortunate minister, "he is
now Lord Liverpool."[482]

[482] Earl's English Premiers, Vol. II. Madame de Staël (Stäl): a
celebrated French writer.

From such a government, which continued in power for fifteen years, nothing
but trouble could be expected. The misery of the country was great. Food
was selling at famine prices. Thousands were on the verge of starvation,
and tens of thousands did not get enough to eat. Trade was seriously
depressed, and multitudes were unable to obtain work. Under these
circumstances the suffering masses undertook to hold public meetings to
discuss the cause and cure of these evils, but the authorities looked upon
these meetings with suspicion, especially as violent speeches against the
government were often made, and dispersed them as seditious and tending to
riot and rebellion. Many large towns at this period had no voice in
legislation. At Birmingham, which was one of this class, the citizens had
met and chosen, though without legal authority, a representative to
Parliament. Manchester, another important manufacturing town, now
determined to do the same. The people were warned not to assemble, but they
persisted in doing so, on the ground that peaceful discussion, with the
election of a representative, was no violation of law. The meeting was
held, and through the blundering of a magistrate, it ended in an attack by
a body of troops, by which many people were wounded and a number killed.
The bitter feeling caused by the "Manchester Massacre," as it was called,
and by the repressive measures of the government generally, led to the
"Cato Street Conspiracy." Shortly after the accession of the new king a few
desperate men banded together, and meeting in a stable in Cato Street,
London, formed a plot to murder Lord Liverpool and the entire Cabinet at a
dinner at which all the ministers were to be present. The plot was
discovered, and the conspirators speedily disposed of by the gallows or
transportation, but nothing was done to relieve the suffering which had
provoked the intended crime. No new conspiracy was attempted, but in the
course of the next twenty-five years a silent revolution took place, which,
as we shall see later, obtained for the people that representation in
Parliament which they had hitherto vainly attempted to get.

=617. Queen Caroline.=--In 1785 Prince George had, contrary to law,[483]
married Mrs. Fitzherbert, a Roman Catholic lady of excellent character, and
possessed of great beauty. Ten years later, partly through royal
compulsion, and partly to get money to pay off some of his numerous debts,
the prince married his cousin, Caroline of Brunswick. The union proved a
source of unhappiness to both. The princess lacked both discretion and
delicacy, and her husband, who disliked her from the first, was reckless
and brutal toward her. He separated from her in a year's time, and as soon
as she could she withdrew to the continent. On his accession to the throne
the king excluded Queen Caroline's name from the Prayer Book, and next
applied to Parliament for a divorce on the ground of the queen's
unfaithfulness to her marriage vows.

[483] By the Royal Marriage Act of 1772, no descendant of George II. could
make a legal marriage without the consent of the reigning sovereign, unless
twenty-five years of age, and the marriage was not objected to by
Parliament.

Henry Brougham, afterwards Lord Brougham, acted as the queen's counsel. No
sufficient evidence was brought against her, and the ministry declined to
take further action. It was decided, however, that she could not claim the
honor of coronation, to which, as queen-consort, she had a right
sanctioned by custom but not secured by law. When the king was crowned, no
place was provided for her. By the advice of her counsel, she presented
herself at the entrance of Westminster Abbey as the coronation ceremony was
about to begin; but, by order of her husband, admission was refused, and
she retired to die, heart-broken, a few days after.

=618. Three Reforms.=--In 1828 the Duke of Wellington, a Tory in politics,
became prime minister. His sympathies in all matters of legislation were
with the king, but he made a virtue of necessity, and for the time acted
with those who demanded reform. The Corporation Act, which was originally
passed in the reign of Charles II., and had for its object the exclusion of
Dissenters from all town or corporate offices, was now repealed: henceforth
a man might become a mayor, alderman, or bank president, and the like,
without belonging to the Church of England. At the same time the Test Act,
which had also been passed in Charles II.'s reign to keep both Catholics
and Dissenters out of government offices, whether civil or military, was
repealed. The next year (1829) a still greater reform was carried. For a
long period the Roman Catholic Emancipation party had been laboring to
obtain the abolition of the unjust laws which had been on the statute books
for over a century and a half, by which Catholics were excluded from the
right to sit in Parliament--laws which, it will be remembered, were enacted
at the time of the alleged "Popish Plot," and in consequence of the
perjured evidence given by Titus Oates.[484] After the most strenuous
opposition of the king and his party, including the Duke of Wellington, the
latter became convinced that further opposition was useless, and he took
the lead in securing the success of a measure which he heartily hated,
solely, as he declared, to avert civil war.

[484] See Paragraph No. 530. See also Sydney Smith's "Peter Plymley's
Letters."

But at the same time that Catholic emancipation was granted, an act was
passed depriving a very large class of small Irish landholders of the
right to vote, on the pretext that they would be influenced by either their
landlord or their priest.[485]

[485] The property qualification in Ireland was raised from £2 to £10.

Under the new order of things, Daniel O'Connell, an Irish gentleman of an
old and honorable family, and a man of distinguished ability, came forward
as leader of the Catholics. After much difficulty he succeeded in taking
his seat in the House of Commons, and henceforth devoted himself, though
without avail, to the repeal of the act uniting Ireland with England, and
to the restoration of an independent Irish Parliament.

=619. The New Police.=--Although London had now a population of a million
and a half, it still had no effective police. The guardians of the peace at
that date were infirm old men who spent their time dozing in sentry-boxes,
and had neither the strength nor energy to be of service in any emergency.
The young fellows of fashion considered these venerable constables as
legitimate game, and often amused themselves by upsetting the sentry-boxes
with their occupants, leaving the latter helpless in the street, kicking
and struggling like turtles turned on their backs, and as powerless to get
on their feet again. During the last year of the reign Sir Robert Peel got
a bill passed which organized a new and thoroughly efficient police force,
properly equipped and uniformed. Great was the outcry against this
innovation, and the "men in blue" were hooted at, not only by London
"roughs," but by respectable citizens, as "Bobbies" or "Peelers," in
derisive allusion to their founder. But the "Bobbies," who do not carry
even a visible club, were not to be jeered out of existence, and they have
henceforth continued to do their duty in a way which long since gained for
them the good will of all who care for the preservation of law and order.

=620. Death of the King.=--George IV. died in the summer of 1830. Of him it
may well be said, though in a very different sense from that in which the
expression was originally used, that "nothing in his life became him like
the leaving it."[486] During his ten years' reign he had squandered
enormous sums of money in gambling and dissipation, and had done his utmost
to block the wheels of political progress. How far this son of an insane
father was responsible, it may not be for us to judge. Walter Scott, who
had a kind word for almost every one, and especially for any one of the
Tory party, did not fail to say something in praise of the generous good
nature of his friend George IV. The sad thing is that his voice is the only
one. In a whole nation the rest are silent; or, if they speak, it is
neither to commend nor to defend, but to condemn.

[486] Shakespeare's Macbeth, Act I. Sc. 4.

=621. Summary.=--The legislative reforms of George IV.'s reign are its
chief features. The repeal of the Test and Corporation acts and Catholic
emancipation were tardy measures of justice, for which neither the king nor
his ministers deserve any credit, but which, none the less, accomplished
great and permanent good.


WILLIAM IV.--1830-1837.

=622. Accession and Character of William IV.=--As George IV. left no heir,
his brother William, a man of sixty-five, now came to the throne. He had
passed most of his life on shipboard, having been placed in the navy when a
mere lad. He was somewhat rough in his manner, and cared nothing for the
ceremony and etiquette that were so dear to both George III. and IV. His
faults, however, were on the surface. He was frank, hearty, and a friend to
the people, to whom he was familiarly known as "the Sailor King."

=623. Need of Parliamentary Reform; Rotten Boroughs.=--From the beginning
of this reign it was evident that the great question which must come up for
settlement was that of Parliamentary representation. Large numbers of the
people of England had now no voice in the government. This unfortunate
state of things was chiefly the result of the great changes which had
taken place in the growth of the population of the midlands and the north.
Since the introduction of steam the rapid increase of manufactures and
commerce had built up many large towns in the iron, coal, pottery, and
wool-raising districts, such as Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester,
which could not send a member to Parliament; while, on the other hand, many
places in the South of England which did send, had long since ceased to be
of any importance. Furthermore, the representation was of the most
hap-hazard description. In one section no one could vote except substantial
property-holders, in another, none but town officers, while in a third,
every man who had a tenement big enough to boil a pot in, and hence called
a "Potwalloper," possessed the right. To this singular state of things the
nation had long been indifferent. During the Middle Ages the inhabitants
often had no desire either to go to Parliament themselves or to send
others. The expense of the journey was great, the compensation was small,
and unless some important matter of special interest to the people was at
stake, they preferred staying at home; so that it was often almost as
difficult for the sheriff to get a distant county member up to the House of
Commons in London as it would have been to carry him there a prisoner to be
tried for his life. Now, however, everything was changed; the rise of
political parties, the constant and heavy taxation, the jealousy of the
increase of royal authority, the influence and honor of the position of a
Parliamentary representative, all conspired to make men eager to obtain
their full share in the management of the government. This new interest had
begun as far back as the civil wars of the seventeenth century, and when
Cromwell came to power he effected many much-needed reforms; but after the
restoration of the Stuarts the Protector's wise measures were repealed or
neglected, the old order, or rather disorder, again asserted itself, and in
many cases matters were worse than ever. Thus, for instance, the borough or
city of Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, which had once been an important place
had, at an early period, gradually declined through the growth of New
Sarum, or Salisbury, near by. In the sixteenth century the parent city had
so completely decayed that not a single habitation was left on the desolate
hill-top where the castle and cathedral once stood. At the foot of the hill
was an old tree. In 1830 the owner of that tree and of the field where it
grew sent two members to Parliament--that action represented what had been
regularly going on for something like three hundred years! In Bath, on the
other hand, none of the citizens, out of a large population, might vote
except the mayor, aldermen, and common council. These places now got the
significant name of "rotten boroughs" from the fact that whether large or
small there was no longer any sound political life existing in them.

=624. The Reform Bill.=--For fifty years after the coming in of the Georges
the country had been ruled by a powerful Whig monopoly. Under George III.
that monopoly was broken, and the Tories got possession of the government;
but whichever party ruled, Parliament, owing to the "rotten borough"
system, no longer represented the nation, but simply stood for the will of
certain wealthy landholders and town corporations. A loud and determined
demand was now made for reform. Among those who helped to urge forward the
movement none was more active or influential among the common people than
William Cobbett, a self-educated man, but a vigorous and fearless writer,
who for years published a small newspaper called the Political Register,
which was especially devoted to securing a just and uniform system of
representation.

On the accession of William IV. the pressure for reform became so great
that Parliament was forced to act. Lord Russell brought in a bill providing
for the abolition of the "rotten boroughs" and for a fair system of
elections. Those who owned or controlled these boroughs had no intention of
giving them up. Their opponents, however, were equally determined, and they
knew that they had the support of the nation. In a speech which the Rev.
Sydney Smith made at Taunton, he compared the futile resistance of the
House of Lords to the proposed reform, to Mrs. Partington's attempt to
drive back the rising tide of the Atlantic with her mop. The ocean rose,
and Mrs. Partington, seizing her mop, rose against it; yet, notwithstanding
the good lady's efforts, the Atlantic got the best of it; so the speaker
prophesied that in this case the people, like the Atlantic, would in the
end carry the day.[487]

[487] Sydney Smith's Essays and Speeches.

When the bill came up, the greater part of the lords and bishops, who, so
far as they were concerned personally, had all the rights and privileges
they wanted, voted against the reform. To them the proposed law seemed,
perhaps with good reason, to threaten the stability of the government. The
Duke of Wellington was particularly prominent among those who were hostile
to it, and wrote: "I don't generally take a gloomy view of things, but I
confess that, knowing all that I do, I cannot see what is to save the
Church, or property, or colonies, or union with Ireland, or, eventually,
monarchy, if the Reform Bill passes."[488]

[488] Wellington's Despatches and Letters, Vol. II. 451.

The king dissolved Parliament; a new one was elected, but it was still more
determined to carry the measure. Again the Upper House rejected it. Then a
period of wild excitement ensued. The people in many of the towns collected
in the public squares, tolled the church bells, built bonfires in which
they burned in effigy the bishops, and other leading opponents of the bill,
and cried out for the abolition of the House of Lords. In London the rabble
smashed the windows of the Duke of Wellington. In Bristol and Derby
terrible riots broke out, and at Nottingham the mob fired and destroyed the
castle of the Duke of Newcastle, who was noted for his opposition to
reform, while all over the country shouts were heard, "The Bill, the whole
Bill, and nothing but the Bill!"

=625. Passage of the Bill (1832); Results.=--In the spring of 1832 the
battle began again with greater fierceness than ever. Again the House of
Commons voted the bill, and once again the Lords defeated it.

It was evident that matters could not go on in this manner much longer. The
ministry, as a final measure, appealed to the king for help. If the Lords
would not pass the bill, the sovereign had the power to create a sufficient
number of new Whig lords who would. William now yielded to the pressure,
and much against his will, gave the following document to his prime
minister: "_The King grants permission to Earl Grey, and to his Chancellor,
Lord Brougham, to create such a number of Peers as will be sufficient to
insure the passing of the Reform Bill--first calling up peers' eldest
sons._

  WILLIAM R., Windsor, May 17, 1832."[489]

[489] "First calling up peers' eldest sons": that is, in creating new
lords, the eldest sons of peers were to have the preference. William R.
(_Rex_, King): this is the customary royal signature.

But there was no occasion to make use of this permission. As soon as the
peers found that the king had granted it, they yielded. Those who had
opposed the bill now stayed away; the measure was carried, received the
royal signature, and became law. Its passage brought about a beneficent
change. (1) It abolished the "rotten boroughs." (2) It gave every
householder who paid rent of fifty dollars in any town a vote, and largely
extended the list of county votes as well. (3) It granted two
representatives to Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, and nineteen other large
towns, and one representative each to twenty-one other places, all of which
had hitherto been unrepresented, besides granting fifteen additional
members to the counties. (4) It added in all half a million of voters to
the list, and it helped to purify the elections from the violence which had
disgraced them. Before the passing of the Reform Bill and the legislation
which supplemented it, the election of a member of Parliament was a kind of
local reign of terror. The smaller towns were sometimes under the control
of drunken ruffians for several weeks. During that time they paraded the
streets in bands, assaulting voters of the opposite party with clubs,
kidnapping prominent men and confining them until after the election, and
perpetrating other outrages which so frightened peaceable citizens that
often they did not dare attempt to vote at all.

=626. Abolition of Slavery; Factory Reform.=--With the new Parliament that
came into power the names of Liberal and Conservative began to supplant
those of Whig and Tory. The House of Commons now reflected the will of the
people better than ever before, and further reforms were accordingly
carried.

In 1833 Buxton, Wilberforce, Brougham, and other philanthropists, against
the strenuous opposition of the king, secured the passage through
Parliament of a bill, for which they, with the younger Pitt, Clarkson, and
Zachary Macaulay, had labored in vain for half a century, whereby all negro
slaves in British colonies, who now numbered 800,000, were set free, and
twenty millions of pounds sterling appropriated to compensate the owners.
It was a grand deed grandly done, and could America have followed the noble
example, she might thereby have saved a million of human lives and three
thousand millions of dollars which were cast into the gulf of civil war,
while the corrupting influence of five years of waste and discord would
have been avoided.

But negro slaves were not the only slaves in those days. There were white
slaves as well,--women and children born in England, but condemned by their
necessities to work under ground in the coal mines, or exhaust their
strength in the cotton mills.[490] They were driven by brutal masters who
cared as little for the welfare of those under them as the overseer of a
West India plantation did for his gangs of toilers in the rice swamps.
Parliament at length turned its attention to these abuses, and greatly
alleviated them by the passage of acts forbidding the employment of women
and young children in the collieries and factories, while a later act put
an end to the barbarous practice of forcing children to sweep chimneys. In
an overcrowded country like England, the lot of the poor must continue to
be exceptionally hard, but there is no longer the indifference toward it
that once prevailed. Poverty there may still be looked upon as a crime, or
something very like it; but it is regarded now as a crime which may
possibly have some extenuating circumstances.

[490] Children of six and seven years old were kept at work for twelve and
thirteen hours continuously in the factories, and were often inhumanly
treated. They were also employed in the coal mines at this tender age. All
day long they sat in absolute darkness, opening and shutting doors for the
passage of coal cars. If, overcome with fatigue, they fell asleep, they
were cruelly beaten with a strap.

=627. Inventions; the First Steam Railway; the Friction Match.=--Ever since
the application of steam to machinery, inventors had been discussing plans
for placing the steam engine on wheels and using it as a propelling power
in place of horses. Macadam, a Scotch surveyor, had constructed a number of
very superior roads made of gravel and broken stone in the South of
England, which soon made the name of macadamized turnpike celebrated. The
question now was, Might not a still further advance be made by employing
steam to draw cars on these roads, or better still, on iron rails? George
Stephenson had long been experimenting in that direction, and at length
certain capitalists whom he had converted to his views succeeded in getting
an act of Parliament for constructing a railway between Liverpool and
Manchester, a distance of about thirty miles. When the road was completed
by Stephenson, he had great difficulty in getting permission to use an
engine instead of horse power on it. Finally his new locomotive, "The
Rocket,"--which first introduced the tubular boiler, and employed the
exhaust or escaping steam to increase the draught of the fire,--was tried
with entire success. The road was formally opened in the autumn of 1830,
and the Duke of Wellington, then prime minister, was one of the few
passengers who ventured on the trial trip.[491] The growth of this new mode
of transportation was so rapid that in five years from that time London
and the principal seaports were connected with the great manufacturing
towns, while steam navigation had also nearly doubled its vessels and its
tonnage. Ten years later still, the whole country became involved in a
speculative craze for building railroads. Hundreds of millions of pounds
were invested; for a time Hudson, the "Railway King," as he was called,
ruled supreme, and members of Parliament did homage to the man whose
schemes promised to cover the whole island with a network of iron roads,
every one of which was expected to make its stockholders rich. Eventually
these projects ended in a panic, second only to that of the South Sea
Bubble, and thousands found that steam could destroy fortunes even faster
than it made them.

[491] "The Rocket," together with Watt's first steam pumping engine, are
both preserved in the Patent Office Museum, South Kensington, London.

The tubular boiler is, as its name implies, a boiler traversed by a number
of tubes communicating with the smoke-pipe; as the heat passes through
these, steam is thereby generated much more rapidly than it could otherwise
be. The steam after it has done its work in the cylinders escapes into the
smoke-pipe with great force, and of course increases the draught. Without
these two improvements of Stephenson's the locomotive would never have
attained a greater speed than five or six miles an hour.

Toward the close of William's reign, between the years 1829 and 1834, a
humble invention was perfected of which little was said at the time, but
which contributed in no small degree to the comfort and convenience of
every one. Up to this date the two most important of all civilizing
agents--fire and light--could only be produced with much difficulty and at
considerable expense. Various devices had been contrived to obtain them,
but the common method continued to be the primitive one of striking a bit
of flint and steel sharply together until a falling spark ignited a piece
of tinder or half-burnt rag, which, when it caught, had, with no little
expense of breath, to be blown into a flame. The progress of chemistry
suggested the use of phosphorus, and after years of experiments the
friction match was invented by an English apothecary, who thus gave to the
world what is now the commonest, and perhaps at the same time the most
useful domestic article in existence.

=628. Summary.=--William IV.'s short reign of seven years is marked (1) by
the great Reform Bill of 1832, which took Parliament out of the hands of a
moneyed clique and put it under the control of the people; (2) by the
abolition of slavery in the British colonies, and factory reform; (3) by
the introduction of the friction match, and by the building of the first
successful line of railway.


VICTORIA 1837.--

=629. The Queen's Descent; Stability of the Government.=--As William IV.
left no child to inherit the crown, he was succeeded by his niece,[492] the
Princess Victoria, daughter of his brother Edward, Duke of Kent. In her
lineage the queen represents nearly the whole past sovereignty of the land
over which she governs.[493] The blood of both Cerdic, the first Saxon
king, and of William the Conqueror,[494] flows in her veins,--a fact which
strikingly illustrates the vitality of the hereditary and conservative
principles in the history of the English crown.

[492] See table, Paragraph No. 581.

[493] The only exceptions are the Danish sovereigns and Harold II.

[494] See Genealogical Table, page 432.

We see the full force of this when we pause to survey the ground we have
passed over. Since the coming of the English to Britain a succession of
important changes has taken place.

In 1066 the Normans crossed the Channel, invaded the island, conquered its
inhabitants, and seized the throne. Five centuries later the religion of
Rome was supplanted by the Protestant faith of Luther.

A hundred years after that event, civil war burst forth, the king was
deposed and beheaded, and a republic established. A few years subsequently
the monarchy was restored, only to be followed by a revolution, which
changed the order of succession, drove one line of sovereigns from the
land, and called in another from Germany to take their place. Meanwhile new
political parties rose to power, the Reform Bill passed, and Parliament
came to represent more perfectly than ever the will of the whole people;
yet after all these events, at the end of more than ten centuries from the
date when Egbert first assumed the crown, we find England governed by a
descendant of her earliest rulers!

=630. A New Order of Things; the House of Commons now Supreme.=--The new
queen was but little over eighteen when called to the throne. At her
accession a new order of things began. The Georges, with William IV., had
insisted on dismissing their ministers, or chief political advisers, when
they pleased, without condescending to give Parliament any reason for the
change. That system, which may be considered as the last vestige of
"personal government,"[495] that is, of the power of the crown to act
without the advice of the nation, died with the late king.

[495] See McCarthy, History of Our Own Times.

With the coronation of Victoria the principle was established that
henceforth the sovereign of the British Empire cannot remove the prime
minister or his cabinet without the consent of the House of Commons elected
by and directly representing the great body of the people; nor, on the
other hand, would the sovereign now venture to retain a ministry which the
Commons refused to support.[496]

[496] So carefully does the queen guard herself against any political
influence adverse to that of the ministry (and hence of the majority of the
House of Commons), that the Mistress of the Robes, or head of her majesty's
household, now changes with the ministry, and it is furthermore understood
that any ladies under her whose presence might be politically inconvenient
to the premier shall retire "of their own accord." In other words, the
in-coming ministry have the right to remodel the queen's household--or any
other body of offices--in whatever degree they think requisite, and the
late Prince Albert could not even appoint his own private secretary, but
much to his chagrin had to accept one appointed for him by the prime
minister. See May's Constitutional History of England, and Martin's Life of
the Prince Consort, vol. 5.

Custom, too, has decided that the queen must give her sanction to any bill
which Parliament approves and desires to make law;[497] so that if the two
Houses should agree to draw up and send her own death warrant to the queen,
she would be obliged to sign it, or abdicate.[498]

[497] Queen Anne was the last sovereign who vetoed a bill. That was in
1707. During the hundred and eighty years which have followed no English
sovereign has ventured to repeat the experiment.

[498] See Bagehot, The English Constitution.

Thus the queen's real position to-day is that of a person who has much
indirect influence and but little direct power--far less in fact than that
of the President of the United States, who can exercise the right of
vetoing a bill, thus preventing a majority of Congress from enacting a
law;[499] and may remove the lower class of office-holders at pleasure.

[499] Congress may, however, pass a law over the President's veto,
providing they can get a two-thirds vote in its favor.

=631. Sketch of the Peerage.=--A change equally great has taken place with
respect to the peers.[500] As that body has played a most important part in
the government of England and still retains considerable influence, it may
be well to consider their history and present condition. It will be
remembered that the peerage originated with the Norman conquest. William
rewarded the barons, or chief men, who fought under him at Hastings,[501]
with grants of immense estates, which were given on two conditions, one of
military service at the call of the sovereign,[502] the other their
attendance at the royal council,[503] an advisory and legislative body,
which contained the germ of the present parliamentary system. It will thus
be seen that the Conqueror made the possession of landed property directly
dependent on the discharge of public duties. So that if on the one hand the
conquest carried out the principle

    "That they should take who have the power,
      And they should keep who can,"[504]

on the other, it insisted on the higher principle that in return for such
_taking_ and _keeping_ the victors should bind themselves by oath both to
defend and to govern the state.

[500] Peers (from the Latin _pares_, equals). The word first occurs in an
act of Parliament, 1322,--"Pares et proceres regni Angliæ spirituales et
temporales."

[501] The names of the great barons have been preserved in Domesday Book
(see Paragraph No. 169), in the roll of Battle Abbey (though that was
tampered with by the monks), and on the wall of the twelfth century church
at Dives, Normandy, where the Conqueror built his ships.

[502] See Paragraph No. 200.

[503] See Paragraph No. 200.

[504] Wordsworth, Rob Roy's Grave.

In later reigns the king summoned other influential men to attend
Parliament, who, to distinguish them from the original barons by
land-tenure, were called "barons by writ";[505] and subsequently it became
customary for the sovereign to create barons by letters-patent, as is the
method at present.[506]

[505] See Paragraph No. 315.

[506] See Paragraph No. 315.

The original baronage continued predominant until the Wars of the
Roses[507] so nearly destroyed the ancient nobility, that, as Lord
Beaconsfield, says, "A Norman baron was almost as rare a being in England
then as a wolf is now."[508] With the coming in of the Tudors a new
nobility was created.[509] Even this has become in great measure extinct,
and of those who now sit in the House of Lords perhaps not more than a
fourth can trace their titles further back than the Georges, who created
great numbers of peers in return for political services either rendered or
expected.

[507] See Paragraph No. 368.

[508] Beaconsfield's Coningsby.

[509] See Paragraph No. 404.

Politically speaking, the nobility of England, unlike the old nobility of
France, is as a rule strictly confined to the male head of the family. None
of the children of the most powerful duke or lord have during his life any
civil or legal rights or privileges above that of the poorest and obscurest
peasant in Great Britain.[510] They are simply commoners. But by courtesy,
the eldest son of a nobleman usually receives a part of his father's title,
and at his death he enters into possession of his estate[511] and rank, and
takes his seat in the House of Lords, having in many cases been a member of
the House of Commons by election for a number of years before. The younger
sons inherit neither hereditary title, political power, nor landed
property, but quite generally obtain offices in the civil service, or
positions in the army or the church.

[510] Even the younger children of the sovereign are no exception to this
rule. The only one born with a title is the eldest, who is Duke of Cornwall
by birth, and is created Prince of Wales. The others are simply commoners.
See Freeman's Growth of the English Constitution.

[511] So strictly is property entailed, that there are proprietors of large
estates, who cannot so much as cut down a tree without permission of the
heir. Badeau's English Aristocracy.

The whole number of peers is, in round numbers, about five hundred.[512]
They may be said to own most of the land of England. Their average incomes
are estimated at £22,000 ($110,000), or an aggregate of £11,000,000
($55,000,000), an amount certainly not greater, if indeed it equals, the
combined incomes of half a dozen leading American capitalists.

[512] About four hundred and seventy-five temporal peers and twenty-five
spiritual peers (archbishops and bishops).

One of the most remarkable things about the peerage in modern times is the
fact that its ranks have been constantly recruited from the people; and
just as any boy in America feels himself a possible senator or president,
so any one born or naturalized in England may like Pitt, Disraeli,
Churchill, Nelson, Wellesley, Brougham, Tennyson, Macaulay, or the American
Lord Lyndhurst,[513] hope to win and wear a coronet; for brains and
character go to the front in England just as surely as they do elsewhere.

[513] J. S. Copley, son of the famous artist, (Lord Lyndhurst,) born in
Boston, 1772.

In their legislative action the peers are, with very rare exceptions, ultra
conservative. They have seldom granted their assent to any liberal measure
except from pressure of the most unmistakable kind. It is for their
interest to keep things as they are, and hence they fight against every
tendency to give the people a larger measure of power. They opposed the
Habeas Corpus Act under Charles II., the Great Reform Bill of 1832, the
Education Bill of 1834, the admission of the Jews to Parliament, the repeal
of the Corn Laws, and the later extensions of the franchise; but, on the
other hand, it was their influence which compelled John to sign Magna
Carta; it was one of their number--Simon de Montfort, Earl of
Leicester--who called the House of Commons into being; and it was the lords
as leaders who inaugurated the Revolution of 1688, and established
constitutional sovereignty under William and Mary in the place of the
arbitrary and despotic self-will of James II.

It is the fashion with impatient radicals to style the Lords "titled
obstructionists," privileged to block the way to all improvements; but as
a matter of fact they have often done the country good service by checking
hurried and ill-considered legislation; and though the time may perhaps be
not very far distant when a hereditary House of Lords will cease to exist,
yet there will always be need in England, as in every other civilized
country, of an upper legislative house, composed of men whose motto is to
"make haste slowly."

Meanwhile, though England continues to lay strong emphasis on nobility of
rank and blood, yet she is never forgetful of the honor due to nobility of
character. Perhaps it is the consciousness of this fact which in recent
times has led men like Mr. Gladstone to decline a title, content, as not a
few of the descendants of the old Saxon families are, with the influence
won by an unsullied name and a long and illustrious career. Eight hundred
years ago the House of Lords was the only legislative and executive body in
the country; now, nearly all the business is done in the House of Commons,
and not a penny of money can be voted for any purpose whatever except the
Commons first propose it. Thus taxation, the most important of all
measures, has passed from the peers to the direct representatives of the
people.[514]

[514] Other measures may originate in either House, but practically nearly
all begin with the Commons, though they require the assent of the Lords to
become law. This, however, is now never refused for any great length of
time in any important matter in which the people are interested.

The following points are also of interest:--

1. All laws relating to the rights of peers must originate in the House of
Lords. Estate and naturalization laws also begin in the Lords.

2. A law directly affecting the House of Commons originates in that House.

3. There is one bill only which the crown has the right of initiating--an
Act of General Pardon.

When a bill has passed both Houses, it receives the royal assent in the
following words (a form which probably originated with the Norman kings):
"La reigne le veult" ("The queen wills it so"); when, in the past, the
royal assent was refused, the denial was expressed thus: "La reigne
s'avisera" ("The queen will consider it").

The House of Lords is the Supreme Court of Appeal in the kingdom; and it is
the tribunal by which persons impeached by the House of Commons are tried.

=632. The Queen's Marriage.=--In 1840 the queen, then in her twenty-first
year, married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg Gotha, a duchy of
Central Germany.[515] The prince was about her own age, of fine personal
appearance, and had just graduated from one of the German universities. He
was particularly interested in art and education, and throughout his life
used his influence to raise the standard of both.

[515] Income of the Queen and Royal Family.--Up to the accession of George
III, the royal income was derived from two sources: 1. Taxation; 2. The
rents and profits of the crown lands. George III. surrendered his right to
these lands in return for a fixed income granted by Parliament. Since then,
every sovereign has done the same. The queen's income is £385,000
($1,863,400, calling the pound $4.84). The royal family receive in
addition, £156,000 ($755,040), or a total of £541,000 ($2,618,440).

The English sovereign has at present the following powers, all of which are
_practically_ vested in the ministry:--

1. The power of summoning, proroguing (suspending the action of), and
dissolving Parliament at pleasure.

2. Of refusing assent to any bill (obsolete).

3. Of making peace, declaring war, and making treaties.

4. Of pardoning convicted offenders; of coining money.

5. Of creating peers, appointing archbishops and bishops, and in general
granting all titles of rank and honor.

6. Of the supreme command of the army and navy. The appointment to all
offices in the gift of the government, which was formerly in the hands of
the sovereign, is now under the control of the prime minister, acting in
connection with the civil-service and other commissions.

=633. Sir Rowland Hill's Postal Reforms.=--The same year Sir Rowland Hill
introduced a uniform system of cheap postage, by which rates were reduced
to a penny for a single letter to any part of the United Kingdom.[516]
Since then cheap telegrams and the transportation of parcels by mail (a
kind of government express known as parcel-post) have followed,--all,
improvements of immense practical benefit.

[516] The postage even within the limits of England proper had been as high
as a shilling (twenty-five cents). A poor woman, who wished to hear
regularly from her brother, but who could not afford to pay this sum, hit
on an ingenious plan for doing so without expense to either side. Sir
Rowland Hill happened to learn of it, and was so struck by the circumstance
that he at once set to work to devise a reform which should make it
possible for the poorest to send and receive letters. See McCarthy's Epoch
of Reform, 1830-1850.

=634. Rise of the Chartists.=--The feeling attending the passage of the
Reform Bill of 1832 had passed away; but now a popular agitation began,
which produced even greater excitement. Although the new law had equalized
parliamentary representation and had enlarged the franchise to a very
considerable degree, yet the great body of workingmen were still unable to
vote. A radical party now arose, which undertook to secure further measures
of reform. They embodied their measures in a document called the "People's
Charter," which demanded, (1) Universal male suffrage; (2) That the voting
at elections should be by ballot; (3) Annual Parliaments; (4) The payment
of members of Parliament; (5) The abolition of the property qualification
for parliamentary candidates;[517] (6) The division of the whole country
into equal electoral districts. The Chartists, as the advocates of these
measures called themselves, held public meetings, organized clubs, and
published newspapers to disseminate their principles; but for many years
little visible progress was made by them. In 1848 the French revolution
which dethroned King Louis Philippe imparted fresh impetus to the Chartist
movement. The leader of it was Feargus O'Connor. He now formed the plan of
sending a monster petition to Parliament, containing, it was claimed,
nearly five million signatures, praying for the passage of the charter. It
was furthermore arranged that a procession of a million or more of signers
should act as an escort to the document, which made a wagon-load in itself.
The government became alarmed at the threatened demonstration, and forbade
it, on the ground that it was an attempt to coerce legislation. In order
that peace might be preserved in London, 250,000 special policemen were
sworn in, among whom, it is said, was Louis Napoleon, then a refugee in
England.

[517] Property Qualification: In 1711 an act was passed requiring
candidates for election to the House of Commons to have an income of not
less than three hundred pounds derived from landed property. The object of
this law was to secure members who would be comparatively free from the
temptation of receiving bribes from the crown, and also to keep the landed
proprietors in power to the exclusion of rich merchants. This law was
repealed in 1858.

The Duke of Wellington took command of a large body of troops held in
reserve to defend the city; and the Bank of England, the Houses of
Parliament, the British Museum, and other public buildings were made ready
to withstand a siege.

It was now the Chartists' turn to be frightened. When they assembled on
Kennington Common they numbered less than 30,000; the procession of a
million which was to march across Westminster bridge dwindled to half a
dozen; and the huge petition when unrolled and examined was found to
contain only about a third of the boasted number of names. Further
examination caused still greater shrinkage, for it was discovered that many
of the signatures were spurious, having been put down in jest, or copied
from grave-stones and old London directories. With that discovery the whole
movement collapsed, and the House of Commons rang with "inextinguishable
laughter" over the national scare.

Still the demands of the Chartists had a solid foundation of good sense,
which not even the blustering braggadocio of the leaders of the movement
could wholly destroy. The reforms asked for were needed, and since then
they have been in great part accomplished by the steady, quiet influence of
reason and of time.

The printed or written ballot has been substituted for the old method of
electing candidates by a show of hands or by shouting yes or no--a method
by which it was easy to make blunders, and equally easy to commit frauds.
The property qualification has been abolished, so that the poorest
day-laborer may now run for Parliament. The right of "manhood suffrage" has
been, as we shall see, greatly extended, and before the century closes, it
is safe to say that every man in England will have a voice in the
elections.

=635. The Corn Laws.=--At the accession of the queen protective duties or
taxes existed in Great Britain on all imported breadstuffs and on many
manufactured articles. Sir Robert Peel, who became prime minister in 1841,
favored a reduction in the last class of duties, but believed it necessary
to maintain the former in order to keep up the price of grain and thus
encourage the English farmers. The result of this mistaken policy was great
distress among workingmen, who could not afford out of their miserable
wages to pay high prices for bread. A number of philanthropists led by
Richard Cobden and John Bright organized an Anti-Corn Law League[518] to
obtain the repeal of the grain duties.

[518] Corn is the name given in England to wheat or other grain used for
food. Indian corn, called maize, is seldom eaten.

On the other hand, Ebenezer Elliott, the "Corn Law Rhymer," as he was
popularly called, gave voice to the sufferings of the poor in rude but
vigorous verse, which appealed to the excited feelings of thousands in such
words as these:--

    "England! what for mine and me,
    What hath bread-tax done for thee?
         *      *      *      *
    Cursed thy harvests, cursed thy land,
    Hunger-stung thy skill'd right hand."

When, however, session after session of Parliament passed and nothing was
done for the relief of the perishing multitudes, many were in despair, and
at meetings held to discuss measures, crowds joined in singing Elliott's
new national anthem:--

    "When wilt Thou save the people?
      O God of mercy! when?
    Not kings and lords, but nations!
      Not thrones and crowns, but men!
    Flowers of thy heart, O God, are they!
    Let them not pass, like weeds, away!
    Their heritage a sunless day!
      God save the people!"

Still the government was not convinced; the corn laws were enforced, and
the situation grew daily more desperate and more threatening.

=636. The Irish Famine; Repeal of the Corn Laws; Free Trade.=--At last the
Irish famine opened the premier's eyes. When in Elizabeth's reign, Sir
Walter Raleigh introduced the cheap but precarious potato into Ireland, his
motive was one of pure good will. He could not foresee that it would in
time become in that country an almost universal food, that through its very
abundance the population would rapidly increase, and that then by the
sudden failure of the crop terrible destitution would ensue. Such was the
case in the summer of 1845. It is said by eye-witnesses that in a single
night the entire potato crop was destroyed by blight, and that the healthy
plants were transformed into a mass of putrefying vegetation. Thus at one
fell stroke the food of nearly a whole nation was cut off.[519]

[519] O'Connor, The Parnell Movement (The Famine).

In the years that followed, the famine became appalling. The starving
peasants left their miserable huts and streamed into the towns for relief,
only to die of hunger in the streets.

Parliament responded nobly to the piteous calls for help, and voted in all
no less than $50,000,000 to relieve the distress.[520] Subscriptions were
also taken up in London and the chief towns by which large sums were
obtained, and America contributed ship-loads of provisions and a good deal
of money; but the misery was so great that even these measures failed to
accomplish what was hoped, and when the famine was over, and its results
came to be estimated, it was found that Ireland had lost about 2,000,000
(or one-fourth) of her population.[521] This was the combined effect of
starvation, of the various diseases that followed in its path, and of
emigration.[522] In the face of such appalling facts, and of the bad
harvests and distress in England, the prime minister could hold out no
longer, and by a gradual process, extending from 1846 to 1849, the
obnoxious corn laws were gradually repealed with the exception of a
trifling duty, which was finally removed in 1869.

[520] Molesworth's History of England from 1830, Vol. II.

[521] The actual number of deaths from starvation, or fever caused by
insufficient food, was estimated at from 200,000 to 300,000. See
Encyclopædia Britannica, "Ireland."

[522] McCarthy, History of Our Own Times, vol. I.

The beginning once made, free trade in nearly everything, except wine,
spirits, and tobacco, followed. They were, and still are, subject to a
heavy duty, perhaps because the government believes, as Napoleon did, that
the vices have broad backs and can comfortably carry the heaviest taxes.
But, by a singular contrast, while nearly all goods and products now enter
England free, yet Australia and several other colonies continue to impose
duties on imports from the mother country.

=637. The World's Fair; Repeal of the Window and the Newspaper Tax; the
Atlantic Cable.=--In 1851 the great industrial exhibition known as the
"World's Fair" was opened in Hyde Park, London. The original plan of it was
conceived by Prince Albert; and it proved to be not only a complete success
in itself, but it led to many similar fairs on the part of different
nations. For the first time in history, the products and inventions of all
countries on the globe were brought together under one roof, in a gigantic
structure of glass and iron called the "Crystal Palace," which is still in
use for exhibition purposes at Sydenham, a suburb of London.

The same year, the barbarous tax on light and air, known as the "Window
Tax," was repealed; and from that date the Englishman, whether in London or
out, might enjoy his sunshine,--when he could get it,--without having to
pay for every beam: a luxury, which only the rich could afford. A little
later, a stamp tax on newspapers, which had been devised in Queen Anne's
time in the avowed hope of crushing them out, was repealed; and the result
was that henceforth the workingman, as he sat by his fireside, could inform
himself of what the world was doing and thinking,--two things of which he
had before known almost nothing, and cared, perhaps, even less.

To get this news of the world's life more speedily, the first Atlantic
cable, connecting England with America, was laid in 1858. Since then, a
large part of the globe has been joined in like manner; and all the great
cities of every civilized land are practically one in their knowledge of
events. So many improvements have also been made in the use of electricity,
not only for the transmission of intelligence, but as an illuminator, and
more recently still as a motive power, that it now seems probable that "the
age of steam" is soon to be superseded by the higher "age of electricity."

=638. The Opium War; the War in the Crimea; the Rebellion in India.=--Up to
1854 no wars occurred in this reign worthy of mention, with the exception
of that with China in 1839. At that time the Chinese emperor, either from a
desire to put a stop to the consumption of opium in his dominions, or
because he wished to encourage the home production of the drug,[523]
prohibited its importation. As the English in India were largely engaged in
the production of opium for the Chinese market,--the people of that country
smoking it instead of tobacco,--the British government insisted that the
emperor should not interfere with so lucrative a trade. War ensued. The
Chinese, being unable to contend against English gunboats, were soon forced
to withdraw their prohibition of the foreign opium traffic; and the English
government, with the planters of India, reaped a golden reward of many
millions for their deliberate violation of the rights of a heathen and
half-civilized people. The war opened five important ports to British
trade, and subsequent wars opened a number more on the rivers in the
interior.

[523] By far the greater part of the opium consumed in China is now raised,
either with or without the full consent of the government, by the Chinese
themselves. The probability is that before many years the home production
will supply the entire demand, and thus exclude importations of the drug
from India. It is estimated that about one hundred millions of the
population of China are addicted to opium-smoking.

In 1853 Turkey declared war against Russia. The latter power had insisted
on protecting all Christians in the Turkish dominions against the
oppression of the sultan. England and France considered the czar's
championship of the Christians as a mere pretext for occupying Turkish
territory. To prevent this aggression they formed an alliance with the
sultan, which resulted in the Russo-Turkish war, and ended by the taking of
Sebastopol by the allied forces. Russia was obliged to retract her demands;
and peace was declared in the spring of 1856.

The following year was memorable for the outbreak of the Sepoy rebellion in
India. The real cause of the revolt was probably a long-smothered feeling
of resentment on the part of the Sepoy, or native, troops against English
rule,--a feeling that dates back to the extortion and misgovernment of
Warren Hastings. The immediate cause of the uprising was the introduction
of an improved rifle using a greased cartridge, which had to be bitten off
before being rammed down. To the Hindoo the fat of cattle or swine is an
abomination; and his religion forbids his tasting it. An attempt on the
part of the government to enforce the use of the new cartridge brought on a
general mutiny. During the revolt, the native troops perpetrated the most
horrible atrocities on the English women and children who fell into their
hands. When the insurrection was finally quelled under Havelock and
Campbell, the English soldiers retaliated by binding numbers of prisoners
to the mouths of cannon and blowing them to shreds. At the close of the
rebellion, the government of India was wholly transferred to the crown; and
in 1876 the queen received the title of Empress of India.

=639. Death of Prince Albert; the American Civil War.=--Late in 1861 the
prince consort died suddenly. In him the nation lost an earnest promoter of
social, educational, and industrial reforms; and the United States, a true
and judicious friend, who at a most critical period in the Civil War used
his influence to maintain peace between the two countries.

Since his death the queen has held no court; and so complete has been her
seclusion that in 1868 a radical member of Parliament moved that her
majesty be invited to abdicate or choose a regent. The motion was
indignantly rejected; but it revealed the feeling which quite generally
exists, that "the real queen died with her husband, and that only her
shadow remains."

In the spring of the year (1861) in which Prince Albert died, civil war
broke out between the Northern and Southern States of the American Union. A
few weeks later, the queen issued a proclamation declaring her
"determination to maintain a strict and impartial neutrality in the contest
between the said contending parties." The rights of belligerents--in other
words, all the rights of war according to the law of nations--were granted
to the South equally with the North; and her majesty's subjects were warned
against aiding either side in the conflict.

The progress of the war caused terrible distress in Lancashire, owing to
the cutting-off of supplies of cotton for the mills through the blockade of
the ports of the Confederate States. The starving weavers, however, gave
their moral support to the North, and continued steadfast to the cause of
the Union even in the sorest period of their suffering. The great majority
of the manufacturers and business classes generally, the Liverpool
merchants, the nobility, with a few exceptions, and most of the
distinguished political and social leaders, in Parliament and out, with
nearly all the influential journals, sympathized with the efforts of the
South to establish an independent confederacy.[524] Late in the autumn of
1861 Captain Wilkes, of the United States Navy, boarded the British
mail-steamer _Trent_, and seized Messrs. Mason and Slidell, Confederate
commissioners, on their way to England. When intelligence of the act was
conveyed to President Lincoln, he expressed his unqualified disapproval of
it, saying: "This is the very thing the British captains used to do. They
claimed the right of searching American ships, and carrying men out of
them. That was the cause of the War of 1812. Now, we cannot abandon our own
principles; we shall have to give up these men, and apologize for what we
have done."

[524] Lord John Russell (Foreign Secretary), Lord Brougham, Sir John
Bowring, Carlyle, Ruskin, the London _Times_ and _Punch_, espoused the
cause of the South more or less openly; while others, like Mr. Gladstone,
declared their full belief in the ultimate success of the Confederacy.

On the other hand, Prince Albert, John Bright, John Stuart Mill, Professor
Newman, and the London _Daily News_ defended the cause of the North.

After the death of President Lincoln, _Punch_ manfully acknowledged (see
issue of May 6, 1865), that it had been altogether wrong in its estimate of
him and his measures; and Mr. Gladstone, in his "Kin beyond Sea" in
"Gleanings of Past Years," paid a noble tribute to the course pursued by
America since the close of the war.

Accordingly, on a demand made by the British government,--a demand which,
through the influence of the prince consort, and with the approval of the
queen, was couched in most conciliatory language,--the commissioners were
given up, and an apology made by Secretary Seward.

During the progress of the war, a number of fast-sailing vessels were
fitted out in Great Britain, and employed in running the blockade of the
Southern ports, for the purpose of supplying them with arms, ammunition,
and manufactured goods of various kinds. Later, several gunboats were built
in British shipyards by agents of the Confederate government, for the
purpose of attacking the commerce of the United States. The most famous of
these privateers was the _Alabama_, built expressly for the Confederate
service by Laird, of Liverpool, armed with British cannon, and manned
chiefly by British sailors. Though notified of her true character, Lord
Palmerston, then prime minister, allowed her to leave port, satisfied with
the pretext that she was going on a trial trip.[525] She set sail on her
career of destruction, and soon drove nearly every American merchant vessel
from the seas. In the summer of 1864 she was defeated and sunk by the
United States gunboat _Kearsarge_. After the war the government of the
United States demanded damages from Great Britain for losses caused by the
_Alabama_ and other English-built privateers. A treaty was agreed to by the
two nations; and by its provisions an international court was held at
Geneva, Switzerland, which awarded $15,500,000 in gold as compensation to
the United States, which was duly paid. The most important result of this
treaty and tribunal was that they established a precedent for settling by
arbitration on equitable and amicable terms whatever questions might arise
in future between the two nations.[526]

[525] The queen's advocate gave his opinion that the _Alabama_ should be
detained; but it reached the Foreign Secretary (Lord Russell) just after
she had put to sea.

[526] This treaty imposed duties on neutral governments of a far more
stringent sort than Great Britain had hitherto been willing to concede. It
resulted, furthermore, in the passage of an act of Parliament, punishing
with severe penalties such illegal ship-building as that of the _Alabama_.
See Sheldon Amos, Fifty Years of the English Constitution, 1830-1880.

=640. The Second Reform Bill; Woman Suffrage; Admission of Jews to
Parliament.=--Excellent as was the Reform Bill of 1832,[527] many
thoughtful men felt that it did not go far enough. There was also great
need of municipal reform, since in many cities the tax-payers had no voice
in the management of local affairs, and the city officers spent the income
of large charitable funds in feasting and merry-making while the poor got
little or nothing. In 1835 a law was passed giving tax-payers in such
cities[528] control of municipal elections. By a subsequent amendment, the
ballot in such cases was extended to women,[529] and for the first time
perhaps in modern history woman suffrage was formally granted by supreme
legislative act. A number of years later, the political restrictions
imposed on the Jews were removed. Up to this time (1858) this class of
citizens, though very wealthy and influential in London and some other
cities, and although entitled to vote and hold municipal office, were yet
debarred from Parliament by a law which required them to make oath "on the
faith of a Christian." This law was now so modified that Baron Rothschild
took his seat among the legislators of the country.[530]

[527] See Paragraph No. 625.

[528] This municipal act did not include the city of London.

[529] Woman suffrage was granted to single women and widows (householders)
in 1869. In 1870 an act was passed enabling them to vote at school-board
elections, and also to become members of such boards.

[530] See Macaulay's Essays, "Civil Disabilities of the Jews."

In 1867 Mr. Disraeli (afterward Earl of Beaconsfield), the leader of the
Tory, or Conservative, party, brought in a second Reform Bill, which became
a law. This provided what is called "household suffrage," or, in other
words, gave the right to vote to every householder in all the towns of the
kingdom who paid a tax for the support of the poor, and to all lodgers
paying a rental of £10 ($50) yearly; it also increased the number of voters
among small property-holders in counties.

There still, however, remained a large class in the country districts for
whom nothing had been done. The men who tilled the soil were miserably poor
and miserably ignorant. Joseph Arch, a Warwickshire farm laborer, who had
been educated by hunger and toil, succeeded in establishing a national
union among men of his class, of which he became president, and eventually,
mainly through his efforts, they secured the ballot. Since then, under the
Liberal ministry of Mr. Gladstone, a third Reform Bill has been
passed,[531] which went into operation in 1886, by which all residents of
counties throughout the United Kingdom have the right to vote on the same
condition as those of towns.

[531] The Representation Act.

It is estimated that this law added about two and a half millions of
voters, and that there is now one voter to every six persons of the total
population, whereas, before the passing of the first Reform Bill (1832),
there was not over one in fifty. In the first "People's Parliament," in
1886, Joseph Arch, and several others, were returned as representatives of
classes of the population who, up to that date, had had no voice in the
legislation of the country. One step more, and a short one, and Great
Britain, like America, will have universal "manhood suffrage."

=641. Abolition of Compulsory Church Rates; Disestablishment of the Irish
Episcopal Church; the Education Act.=--While these reforms were taking
place with respect to elections, others of great importance were also being
effected. Since its establishment the Church of England had compelled all
persons, of whatever belief, to pay taxes for the maintenance of the church
of the parish where they resided. Methodists, Baptists, and other
Dissenters, objected to this law as unjust, since in addition to the
expense of supporting their own form of worship, they were obliged to
contribute toward maintaining one with which they had no sympathy. So
great had the opposition become to paying their "church rates," that in
1859 there were over fifteen hundred parishes in England in which the
authorities could not collect them. After much agitation a law was finally
passed abolishing this mode of tax, and making the payment of rates purely
voluntary.[532] A similar act of justice was soon after granted to
Ireland.[533] At the time of the union of the two countries in 1800,[534]
the maintenance of the Protestant Episcopal Church continued to remain
obligatory upon the Irish people, although only a very small part of them
were of that faith. Mr. Gladstone's law disestablishing this branch of the
national church left all religious denominations in Ireland to the
voluntary support of those who belonged to them, so that henceforth the
English resident in that country can no longer claim the privilege of
worshipping God at the expense of his Roman Catholic neighbor.

[532] Church rates were levied on all occupiers of land or houses within
the parish. They were abolished in 1868. The Church of England is now
mainly supported by a tax on landowners, and by its endowments.

[533] The Disestablishment Bill was passed in 1869, and took effect in
1871.

[534] See Paragraph No. 609.

In 1870 a system of common schools was established throughout the kingdom
under the direction of a government board, and hence popularly known as
"Board Schools." Up to this date most of the children of the poor had been
educated in schools maintained by the Church of England, the various
dissenting denominations, and by charitable associations, or such
endowments as those of Edward VI.[535] It was found, however, that more
than half of the children of the country were not reached by these
institutions, but were growing up in such a state of dense ignorance, that
in the agricultural districts a large proportion could neither read nor
write. By the "Board Schools" elementary unsectarian instruction is made
compulsory, and though not wholly free, it is so nearly so that it is
brought within the means of the poorest. A year later the universities and
colleges, with most of the offices and professorships connected with them,
were thrown open to all persons without regard to religious belief;
whereas, formerly, no one could graduate from Oxford or Cambridge without
subscribing to the doctrines of the Church of England.

[535] See Paragraph No. 417.

=642. The First Irish Land Act.=--The same year (1870) that the government
undertook to provide for the education of the masses, Mr. Gladstone, then
prime minister and head of the Liberal party, brought in a bill for the
relief of the Irish peasantry. The circumstances under which land was held
in Ireland were peculiar. A very large part--in fact about all the best of
that island--was, and still is, owned by Englishmen whose ancestors
obtained it through the wholesale confiscations of Cromwell, James I., and
later sovereigns, in punishment for rebellion. Very few English landlords
have cared to live in the country or to do anything for its improvement.
Their overseers believed they did their whole duty when they forced the
farm tenants to pay the largest amount of rent that could be wrung from
them, and they had it in their power to dispossess a tenant of his land
whenever they saw fit, without giving a reason for the act. If by his labor
the tenant made the land more fertile, he reaped no profit from his
industry, for the rent was at once increased, and swallowed up all that he
raised. Such a system of extortion was destructive to the peasant farmer,
and produced nothing for him but misery and discontent. The new law
endeavored to remedy these evils by providing that if a landlord ejected a
rent-paying tenant, he should pay him damages, and also allow him a fair
sum for whatever improvements he had made. In addition, provision was made
for a ready means of arbitration between landlord and tenant, and the
tenant who failed to pay an exorbitant rate was not to be hastily or
unjustly driven from the land.

=643. Distress in Ireland; the Land League.=--It was hoped by the friends
of the measure that the new law would be productive of relief; but from
1876 to 1879 the potato crop failed in Ireland, and the country seemed
threatened with a famine like that of 1845. Thousands who could not get
the means to pay even a moderate rent, much less the amounts demanded, were
now forced to leave their cabins and seek shelter in the bogs, with the
prospect of dying there of starvation. This state of things led a number of
influential Irishmen to form a Land League, which had for its object the
abolition of the present landlord system, and the securing of such
legislation as should eventually result in giving the Irish peasantry
possession of the soil they cultivated.

Later, the League came to have a membership of several hundred thousand
persons, extending over the greater part of Ireland. Finding that it was
difficult to get parliamentary help for their grievances, the League
resolved to try a different kind of tactics. Accordingly they formed a
compact not to work for, buy from, sell to, or have any intercourse with,
such landlords, or their agents, or with any other person, who extorted
exorbitant rent, ejected tenants unable to pay, or took possession of land
from which tenants had been unjustly driven. This process of social
excommunication was first tried on an English agent, or overseer, named
Boycott, and soon became famous under the name of "boycotting." As the
struggle went on, many of the suffering poor became desperate. Farm
buildings, belonging to landlords and their agents, were burned, cattle
horribly mutilated, and a number of the agents shot. At the same time the
cry rose of No Rent, Death to the Landlords! Hundreds of tenants now
refused to pay for the places they held, and even attacked those who did.
Eventually the lawlessness of the country provoked the government to take
severe measures; the Land League, which was believed to be responsible for
the refusal to pay rent, and for the accompanying outrages, was suppressed;
but the feeling which gave rise to it could not be extinguished, and it
soon burst forth more violently than ever.

=644. The Second Irish Land Act; Fenian and Communist Outrages.=--In 1881
Mr. Gladstone succeeded in carrying through a second land law, which it was
hoped might be more effective in relieving the Irish peasants than the
first had been. This measure is familiarly known as the "Three
F's,"--Fair-rent, Fixity-of-tenure, and Free-sale. By the provisions of
this act the tenant may appeal to a board of land commissioners appointed
by the law to fix the rate of his rent in case the demands made by the
landlord seem to him excessive. Next, he can continue to hold his farm,
provided he pays the rate determined on, for a period of fifteen years,
during which time the rent cannot be raised nor the tenant evicted except
for violation of agreement or persistent neglect or waste of the land;
lastly, he may sell his tenancy when he sees fit to the highest bidder.

After the passage of this second Land Act, Lord Frederick Cavendish, chief
secretary of Ireland, and Mr. Burke, a prominent government official, were
murdered in Phœnix Park, Dublin. Later, members of various secret and
communistic societies perpetrated dynamite outrages in London and other
parts of England for the purpose of intimidating the government. These
dastardly plots for destruction and murder have been denounced with horror
by the leaders of the Irish National Party, who declare that "the cause of
Ireland is not to be served by the knife of the assassin or the infernal
machine." Notwithstanding the vindictive feeling which these rash acts have
caused, despite also of the passage of the coercion bill of 1887, the
majority of the more intelligent and thoughtful of the Irish people have
faith that the logic of events will ultimately obtain for them the full
enjoyment of those political rights which England so fully possesses, and
which she cannot, without being false to herself, deny to her
sister-island.

=645. The Leading Names in Science, Literature, and Art.=--In the progress
of science the present age has had no equal in the past history of England,
except in the discovery of the law of gravitation by Sir Isaac Newton. That
great thinker demonstrated that all forms of matter, great or small, near
or distant, are governed by one universal law. In like manner the
researches of the past fifty years have virtually established the belief
that all material forms, whether living or not, obey an equally universal
law of development, by which the higher are derived from the lower through
a succession of gradual but progressive changes.

This conception originated long before the beginning of the Victorian era,
but it lacked the acknowledged support of carefully examined facts, and was
regarded by most sensible men as a plausible but untenable idea. The
thinker who did more than any other to supply the facts, and to put the
theory, so far as it relates to natural history, on a solid and lasting
foundation, was the distinguished English naturalist, Charles Darwin,[536]
who died in 1882, and found an honored resting-place in Westminster Abbey,
near the graves of the well-known geologist, Sir Charles Lyell, and
Livingstone, the African explorer.

[536] Alfred Russell Wallace, also noted as a naturalist, worked out the
theory of evolution by "natural selection" about the same time, though not
so fully with respect to details, as Darwin: as each of these investigators
arrived at his conclusions independently of the other, the theory was thus
doubly confirmed.

On his return in 1837 from a voyage of scientific discovery round the
world, he began to examine and classify the facts which he had collected,
and continued to collect, relating to natural history. After twenty-two
years of uninterrupted labor he published a work ("The Origin of Species")
in 1859 in which he showed that animal life owes its course of development
to the struggle for existence and "the survival of the fittest." Darwin's
work may truthfully be said to have wrought a revolution in the study of
nature as great as that accomplished by Newton in the seventeenth century.
Though calling forth the most heated and prolonged discussion, the
Darwinian theory has gradually made its way, and is now generally received,
though sometimes in a modified form, by nearly every eminent man of science
throughout the world. A little later than the date at which Mr. Darwin
began his researches, Sir William Grove, an eminent electrician, commenced
a series of experiments which have led to a great change in our conceptions
of matter and force. He showed that heat, light, and electricity are
mutually convertible; that they must be regarded as modes of motion; and,
finally, that all force is persistent and indestructible,[537] thus
proving, as Professor Tyndall says, that "To nature, nothing can be added;
from nature, nothing can be taken away." Together, these, with kindred
discoveries, have resulted in the theory of evolution, or development,
which Herbert Spencer and others have endeavored to make the basis of a
system of philosophy embracing the whole field of nature and life.

[537] An Essay on the Correlation of Physical Forces, by W. R. Grove.

In literature so many names of note are found that the mere enumeration of
them would be impracticable here. It will be sufficient to mention the
novelists, Dickens, Thackeray, Brontë, and "George Eliot"; the historians,
Hallam, Arnold, Grote, Macaulay, Alison, Buckle, Froude, and Freeman; the
essayists, Carlyle, Landor, and De Quincey; the poets, Browning and
Tennyson; the philosophical writers, Hamilton, Mill, and Spencer; with
Lyell, Faraday, Carpenter, Tyndall, Huxley, and Wallace in science; the
eminent art-critic and writer on political economy, John Ruskin; and in
addition, the chief artists of the period, Millais, Rossetti, Burne-Jones,
Watts, and Hunt.

=646. Progress in England.=--The legislation of the last twenty-five years
offers abundant evidence that Macaulay was right when he declared that "the
history of England is the history of a great and progressive nation."
Merely to read the records of the statute-book during that time would
convince any person not hopelessly prejudiced that no people of Europe have
made greater advancement than the people of Great Britain. Nor has this
progress been confined to political reform. On the contrary, it is found in
every department of thought and action. Since the beginning of the century,
and, in fact, to a great degree since the accession of the present queen,
the systems of law and judicature have been in large measure
reconstructed.[538] This is especially evident in the Court of
Chancery[539] and the criminal courts. In 1825 the property belonging to
suitors in the former court amounted to nearly two hundred millions of
dollars.[540] The simplest case required a dozen years for its settlement,
while difficult ones consumed a lifetime, or more, and were handed down
from father to son--a legacy of baffled hopes, of increasing expense, of
mental suffering worse than that of hereditary disease. Much has been done
to remedy these evils, which Dickens set forth with such power in his
novel, "Bleak House," and which at one time seemed so utterly hopeless that
it was customary for a prize-fighter, when he had got his opponent wholly
at his mercy, to declare that he had his head "in chancery"!

[538] Twenty-five years ago the Parliamentary Statutes filled forty-four
huge folio volumes, and the Common Law, as contained in judicial decisions
dating from the time of Edward II., filled about twelve hundred more. The
work of examining, digesting, and consolidating this enormous mass of legal
lore was begun in 1863, and is still in progress.

[539] See Paragraph No. 195.

[540] See Walpole's History of England, Vol. III.

In criminal courts an equal reform has taken place, and men accused of
burglary and murder are now allowed to have counsel to defend them;
whereas, up to the era of the coronation of Victoria, they were obliged to
plead their own cases as best they might against skilled public
prosecutors, who used every resource known to the law to convict them.

Great changes for the better have also taken place in the treatment of the
insane. Until near the close of the last century, this unfortunate class
was quite generally regarded as possessed by demons, and dealt with
accordingly. In 1792 William Tuke, a member of the Society of Friends,
inaugurated a better system; but the old method continued for many years
longer. In fact, we have the highest authority for saying, that down to a
late period in the present century the inmates of many asylums were worse
off than the most desperate criminals. They were shut up in dark, and often
filthy, cells, where "they were chained to the wall, flogged, starved, and
not infrequently killed."[541] Since then, all mechanical restraint has
been abolished, and the patients are, as a rule, treated with the care and
kindness which their condition demands.

[541] Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., "Insanity."

Immense improvement has likewise been made in the social condition of the
people. Not only has the average wealth of the country greatly increased,
but deposits in savings banks prove that the workingmen are laying away
large sums which were formerly spent in drink. Statistics show[542] that
crime, drunkenness, and pauperism have materially diminished. On the other
hand, free libraries, reading-rooms, and art-galleries have been opened in
all the large towns. Liverpool is no longer "that black spot on the Mersey"
which its cellar population of 40,000, and its hideous slums, with a
population of nearly 70,000 more, once made it. Sanitary regulations, with
house-to-house inspection, have done away with filth and disease, which
were formerly accepted as a matter of course, and new safeguards now
protect the health and life of classes of the population who were once
simply miserable outcasts. Hospitals and charitable associations, with
bands of trained nurses, provide for the sick and suffering poor. Prison
discipline has ceased to be the terrible thing it was when Charles Reade
wrote "Never too Late to Mend," and the convict in his cell no longer feels
that he is utterly helpless and friendless.

[542] See Ward, Reign of Queen Victoria.

[Illustration: Map No. 15--THE BRITISH EMPIRE AT THE PRESENT TIME.

British Empire, black tint. Area over nine millions of square miles.]

It is no exaggeration to say that the best men and the best minds in
England, without distinction of rank or class, are now laboring for the
advancement of the people. They see, what has never been so clearly seen
before, that the nation is a unit, that the welfare of each depends
ultimately on the welfare of all, and that the higher a man stands, and the
greater his wealth and privileges, so much the more is he bound to extend a
helping hand to those less favored than himself. Undoubtedly the weak point
in England is the fact that a few thousand of her population own all the
land which thirty millions live upon,[543] and here lies the great danger
of the future. Yet aside from that hot-headed socialism which insists alike
on the abolition of rank and of private property in land, there has thus
far been little disposition to violent action. England, by nature
conservative, is slow to break the bond of historic continuity which
connects her present with her past. "Do you think we shall ever have a
second revolution?" the Duke of Wellington was once asked. "We may,"
answered the great general, "but if we do, it will come by act of
Parliament." That reply probably expresses the general temper of the
people, who believe that they can gain by the ballot more than they can by
an appeal to force, knowing that theirs is--

    "A land of settled government,
    A land of just and old renown,
    Where freedom broadens slowly down,
    From precedent to precedent."[544]

[543] See Statistics, page 438.

[544] Tennyson's "You ask me why."

=647. General Summary of the Rise of the English People.=--Such is the
condition of England near the close of the nineteenth century, in the
jubilee year of the Victorian era.[545] If we pause now and look back to
the time when the island of Britain first became inhabited, we shall see
the successive steps which have transformed a few thousand barbarians into
a great and powerful empire.[546]

[545] The queen celebrated her jubilee year on the 21st of June, 1887, by
services held in Westminster Abbey. It is to be regretted that the occasion
could not also have been celebrated by the beginning of some national work
for the welfare of the people, such as might have given her majesty an
opportunity to commemorate her long and prosperous reign in the glad
remembrance of thousands of grateful hearts.

[546] See Map No. 15, page 382.

1. Judging from the remains of their flint implements and weapons, we have
every reason to suppose that the original population of Britain was in no
respect superior to the American Indians that Columbus found in the New
World. They had the equality which everywhere prevails among savages, where
all are alike ignorant, alike poor, and alike miserable. The tribal unity
which bound them together in hostile clans resembled that found among a
pack of wolves or a herd of buffalo--it was instinctive rather than
intelligent, and sprang from necessity rather than from independent
choice. Gradually these tribes learned to make tools and weapons of bronze,
and to some extent even of iron; then they ceased the wandering life of men
who live by hunting and fishing, and began to cultivate the soil, raise
herds of cattle, and live in rudely fortified towns. Such was their
condition when Cæsar invaded the island, and when the power of Roman armies
and Roman civilization reduced the aborigines to a state but little better
than that of the most abject slavery. When, after several centuries of
occupation, the Roman power was withdrawn, we find that the race they had
subjugated had gained nothing from their conquerors, but that, on the other
hand, they had lost much of their native courage and manhood.

2. With the Saxon invasion the true history of the country may be said to
begin. The fierce blue-eyed German race living on the shores of the Baltic
and of the North Sea, brought with them a love of liberty and a power to
defend it which even the Romans in their continental campaigns had not been
able to subdue. They laid the foundations of a new nation; their speech,
their laws, their customs, became permanent, and by them the Britain of the
Celts and the Romans was baptized with that name of England which it has
ever since retained.

3. Five hundred years later came the Norman Conquest. By it the Saxons were
temporarily brought into subjection to a people who, though they spoke a
different language, sprang originally from the same Germanic stock as
themselves.

This conquest introduced higher elements of civilization, the life of
England was to a certain extent united with the broader and more cultivated
life of the continent, and the feudal or military tenure of the land, which
had begun among the Saxons, was fully organized and developed. At the same
time the king became the real head of the government, which before was
practically in the hands of the nobles, who threatened to split it up into
a self-destructive anarchy.

The most striking feature of this period was the fact that political
liberty depended wholly on the possession of the soil. The landless man
was a slave or a serf; in either case, so far as the state was concerned,
his rank was simply zero. Above him there was, properly speaking, no
English people; that is, no great body of inhabitants united by common
descent, by participation in the government, by common interests, by pride
of nationality and love of country. On the contrary, there were only
classes separated by strongly marked lines--ranks of clergy, or ranks of
nobles, with their dependents. Those who owned and ruled the country were
Normans, speaking a different tongue from those below, and looking upon
them with that contempt with which the victor regards the vanquished, while
those below returned the feeling with sullen hate and fear.

4. The rise of the people was obscure and gradual. It began in the
conflicts between the barons and the crown. In those contests both parties
needed the help of the working classes. To get it each side made haste to
grant some privilege to those whose assistance they required. Next, the
foreign wars had no small influence, since friendly relations naturally
sprang up between those who fought side by side, and the Saxon yeoman and
the Norman knight henceforth felt that England was their common home, and
that in her cause they must forget differences of rank and blood.

It was, however, in the provisions of the Great Charter that the people
first gained legal recognition. When the barons forced King John to issue
that document, they found it expedient to protect the rights of all. For
that reason, the great nobles and the clergy made common cause with
peasants, tradesmen, and serfs. Finally, the rise of the free cities
secured to their inhabitants many of the privileges of self-government,
while the Wat Tyler insurrection of a later period led eventually to the
emancipation of that numerous class which was bound to the soil.

5. But the real unity of the people first showed itself unmistakably in
consequence of a new system of taxation, levied on persons of small
property as well as on the wealthy landholders. The moment the government
laid hands on the tradesman's and the laborer's pockets, they demanded to
have a share in legislation. Out of that demand sprang the House of
Commons, a body, as its name implies, made up of representatives chosen
mainly from the people and by the people.

The great contest now was for the power to levy taxes--if the king could do
it he might take the subject's money when he pleased; if Parliament alone
had the control in this matter, then it would be as they pleased. Little by
little not only did Parliament obtain the coveted power, but that part of
Parliament which directly represented the people got it, and it was finally
settled that no tax could be demanded save by their vote. This victory,
however, was not gained except by a long and bitter conflict, in which
sometimes one and sometimes the other of the contestants got the best of
it, and in which also Jack Cade's insurrection in behalf of free elections
had its full influence. But though temporarily beaten, the people never
quite gave up the struggle; thus "the murmuring Parliament of Mary became
the grumbling Parliament of Elizabeth, and finally the rebellious and
victorious Parliament of Charles I.," when the executioner's axe settled
the question who was to rule, set up a short-lived but vigorous republic.

6. Meanwhile a great change had taken place in the condition of the
aristocracy. The wars of the Roses had destroyed the power of the Norman
barons, and the Tudors--especially Henry VIII. by his action in suppressing
the monasteries, and granting the lands to his favorites--virtually created
a new aristocracy, many of whom sprang from the ranks of the people.

Under Cromwell, the republic practically became a monarchy,--though
Cromwell was at heart no monarchist; all power was in the hands of the
Army, with the Protector at its head. After the restoration of the
monarchy, the government of the country was carried on mainly by the two
great political parties, the Whigs and the Tories, representing the
Cavaliers and Roundheads, or the aristocratic and people's parties of the
civil war. With the flight of James II., the passage of the Bill of Rights
and the Act of Settlement, Parliament set aside the regular hereditary
order of succession, and established a new order, in which the sovereign
was made dependent on the people for his right to rule. Next, the Mutiny
Bill put the power of the army practically into the hands of Parliament,
which already held full control of the purse. The Toleration Act granted
liberty of worship, and the abolition of the censorship of the press gave
freedom to expression. With the coming in of George I., the king ceased to
appoint his cabinet, leaving its formation to his prime minister. Hereafter
the cabinet no longer met with the king, and the executive functions of the
government were conducted, to a constantly increasing extent, without his
taking any active part in them. Still, though the people through Parliament
claimed to rule, yet the great landholders, and especially the Whig
nobility, held the chief power; the sovereign, it is true, no longer tried
to govern in spite of Parliament, but by controlling elections and
legislation he managed to govern through it.

7. With the invention of the steam-engine, and the growth of great
manufacturing towns in the central and northern counties of England, many
thousands of the population were left without representation. Their demands
to have this inequality righted resulted in the Reform Bill of 1832, which
broke up in great measure the political monopoly hitherto enjoyed by the
landholders and aristocracy, and distributed the power among the middle
classes. The accession of Queen Victoria established the principle that the
cabinet should be held directly responsible to the majority of the House of
Commons, and that they should not be appointed contrary to the wish, or
dismissed contrary to the consent, of that majority. By the Reform Bills of
1867 and 1884, the suffrage has been greatly extended, so that,
practically, the centre of political gravity which was formerly among the
wealthy and privileged classes, and which passed from them to the
manufacturing and mercantile population, has shifted to the working
classes, who now possess the balance of power in England almost as
completely as they do in America. Thus we see that by gradual steps those
who once had few or no rights, have come to be the masters; and though
England continues to be a monarchy in name, yet it is well-nigh a republic
in fact.

In feudal times the motto of knighthood was _Noblesse oblige_--or, nobility
of rank demands nobility of character. To-day the motto of every free
nation should be, Liberty is Responsibility, for henceforth both in England
and America the people who govern are bound, by their own history and their
own declared principles, to use their opportunities to govern well.

The danger of the past lay in the tyranny of the minority, that of the
present is the tyranny of the majority. The great problem of our time is to
learn how to reconcile the interests of each with the welfare of all. To do
that, whether on an island or on a continent, in England or America, is to
build up the kingdom of justice and good will upon the earth.

=648. Characteristics of English History; the Unity of the English-Speaking
Race; Conclusion.=--This rapid and imperfect sketch shows what has been
accomplished by the people of Britain. Other European peoples may have
developed earlier, and made perhaps more rapid advances in certain forms of
civilization, but none have surpassed, nay, none have equalled, the
English-speaking race in the practical character and permanence of their
progress. Guizot says[547] the true order of national development in free
government is, first, to convert the natural liberties of man into clearly
defined political rights; and, next, to guarantee the security of those
rights by the establishment of forces capable of maintaining them. Nowhere
do we find better illustrations of this law of progress than in the history
of England, and of the colonies which England has planted. Trial by
jury,[548] the legal right to resist oppression,[549] legislative
representation,[550] religious freedom,[551] and, finally, the principle
that all political power is a trust held for the public good[552]--these
are the assured results of Anglo-Saxon growth, and the legitimate heritage
of every nation of Anglo-Saxon descent.

[547] Guizot's History of Representative Government, Lecture VI.

[548] See Paragraph No. 227.

[549] See Paragraph No. 313.

[550] See Paragraph No. 265.

[551] See Paragraph No. 548, and note 2.

[552] See Macaulay's Essay on Walpole.

Here, in America, we sometimes lose sight of what those have done for us
who occupied the world before we came into it. We forget that English
history is in a very large degree our history, and that England is, as
Hawthorne liked to call it, "our old home." In fact, if we go back less
than three centuries, the record of America becomes one with that of the
mother country, which first discovered[553] and first permanently settled
this, and which gave us for leaders and educators Washington, Franklin, the
Adamses, and John Harvard. In descent, by far the greater part of us are of
English blood;[554] while in language, literature, law, legislative forms
of government, and the essential features of civilization, we all owe to
England a greater debt than to any other country; and without a knowledge
of her history we cannot rightly understand our own. Standing on her soil
we possess practically the same personal rights that we do here; we speak
the same tongue, we meet with the same familiar names. We feel that
whatever is glorious in her past is ours also; that Westminster Abbey
belongs as much to us as to her, for our ancestors helped to build its
walls, and their dust is gathered in its tombs; that Shakespeare and Milton
belong to us in like manner, for they wrote in the language we speak, for
the instruction and delight of our fathers' fathers, who beat back the
Spanish Armada, and gave their lives for liberty on the fields of Marston
Moor and Naseby.

[553] See Paragraphs No. 387 and No. 473.

[554] In 1840 the population of the United States, in round numbers, was
17,000,000, of whom the greater part were probably of English descent.
Since then there has been an enormous immigration, forty per cent of which
was from the British Islands; but it is perhaps safe to say that
three-quarters of our present population of 60,000,000 are those who were
living here in 1840, with their descendants. Of the immigrants coming from
non-English-speaking races, the Germans predominate, and it is to them, as
we have seen, that the English owe their origin, they being in fact but a
modification of the Teutonic race.

Let it be granted that grave issues have arisen in the past to separate us;
yet, after all, our interests and our sympathies, like our national
histories, have more in common than they have apart. The progress of each
country now reacts for good on the other. If we consider the total combined
population of the United States and of the British Empire, we find that
to-day upwards of one hundred millions of people speak the English tongue,
and are governed by the fundamental principles of English constitutional
law. They hold possession of over twelve millions of square miles of the
earth's surface--an area nearly equal to the united continents of North
America and Europe. By far the greater part of the wealth and power of the
globe is theirs. They have expanded by their territorial and colonial
growth as no other people have. They have absorbed and assimilated the
millions of emigrants from every race and of every tongue which have poured
into their dominions. The result is, that the inhabitants of the British
islands, of Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada,
practically form one great Anglo-Saxon race, diverse in origin, separated
by distance, but everywhere exhibiting the same spirit of intelligent
enterprise and of steady, resistless growth. Thus considered, America and
England are necessary one to the other. Their interests now and in the
future are essentially the same.

In view of these facts let us say, with an eminent thinker,[555] whose
intellectual home is on both sides the Atlantic, "Whatever there be between
the two nations to forget and forgive, is forgotten and forgiven. If the
two peoples, which are one, be true to their duty, who can doubt that the
destinies of the world are in their hands?"

[555] Archdeacon Farrar, Address on General Grant, Westminster Abbey,
1885.




GENERAL SUMMARY OF ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY.[556]

[556] This Summary is inserted for the benefit of those who desire a
compact, connected view of the development of the English Constitution,
such as may be conveniently used either for reference, for a general review
of the subject, or for purposes of special study.--D. H. M.

For authorities, see Stubbs (449-1485); Hallam (1485-1760); May
(1760-1870); Amos (1870-1880); see also Hansard's and Cobbett's
Parliamentary History, the works of Freeman, Taswell-Langmead (the best
one-volume Constitutional History), Feilden (as a convenient reference-book
this manual has no equal), and Ransome, in the List of Books on page 434.

The references at the bottom of the page are to the body of the History
unless otherwise stated.


=1. Origin and Primitive Government of the English People.=--The main body
of the English people did not originate in Britain, but in Northwestern
Germany. The Jutes, Saxons, and Angles were independent, kindred tribes
living on the banks of the Elbe and its vicinity.

They had no written laws, but obeyed time-honored customs which had all the
force of laws. All matters of public importance were decided by each tribe
at meetings held in the open air. There every freeman had an equal voice in
the decision. There the people chose their rulers and military leaders;
they discussed questions of peace and war; finally, acting as a high court
of justice, they tried criminals and settled disputes about property.

In these rude methods we see the beginning of the English Constitution. Its
growth has been the slow work of centuries, but the great principles
underlying it have never changed. At every stage of their progress the
English people and their descendants throughout the globe have claimed the
right of self-government; and, if we except the period of the Norman
Conquest, whenever that right has been persistently withheld or denied the
people have risen in arms and regained it.

=2. Conquest of Britain; Origin and Power of the King.=--After the Romans
abandoned Britain the English invaded the island, and in the course of a
hundred and fifty years (449-600) conquered it and established a number of
rival settlements. The native Britons were, in great part, killed off or
driven to take refuge in Wales and Cornwall.

The conquerors brought to their new home the methods of government and
modes of life to which they had been accustomed in Germany. A cluster of
towns--that is, a small number of enclosed[557] habitations--formed a
hundred (a district having either a hundred families or able to furnish a
hundred warriors); a cluster of hundreds formed a shire or county. Each of
these divisions had its public meeting, composed of all its freemen or
their representatives, for the management of its own affairs. But a state
of war--for the English tribes fought each other as well as fought the
Britons--made a strong central government necessary. For this reason the
leader of each tribe was made king. At first he was chosen, at large, by
the entire tribe; later, unless there was some good reason for a different
choice, the king's eldest son was selected as his successor. Thus the right
to rule was practically fixed in the line of a certain family descent.

[557] See page 56, Paragraph 139.

The ruler of each of these petty kingdoms was (1) the commander-in-chief in
war; (2) he was the supreme judge.

=3. The Witenagemot, or General Council.=--In all other respects the king's
authority was limited--except when he was strong enough to get his own
way--by the Witenagemot, or General Council. This body consisted of the
chief men of each kingdom acting in behalf of its people.[558] It exercised
the following powers: (1) it elected the king, and if the people confirmed
the choice, he was crowned. (2) If the king proved unsatisfactory, the
council might depose him and choose a successor. (3) The king, with the
consent of the council, made the laws--that is, he declared the customs of
the tribe. (4) The king, with the council, appointed the chief officers of
the kingdom (after the introduction of Christianity this included the
bishops); but the king alone appointed the sheriff, to represent him, and
collect the revenue in each shire. (5) The council confirmed or denied
grants of portions of the public lands made by the king to private persons.
(6) The council acted as the high court of justice, the king sitting as
supreme judge. (7) The council, with the king, discussed all questions of
importance--such as the levying of taxes, the making of treaties; smaller
matters were left to the towns, hundreds, and shires to settle for
themselves. After the consolidation of the different English kingdoms into
one, the Witenagemot expanded into the National Council. In it we see "the
true beginning of the Parliament of England."

[558] The Witenagemot, says Stubbs (_Select Charters_), represented the
people, although it was not a collection of representatives.

=4. How England became a United Kingdom; Influence of the Church and of the
Danish Invasions.=--For a number of centuries Britain consisted of a number
of little rival kingdoms, almost constantly at war with each other.
Meanwhile missionaries from Rome had introduced Christianity (597). Through
the influence of Theodore of Tarsus, archbishop of Canterbury (668), the
clergy of the different hostile kingdoms met in general Church
councils.[559] This religious unity of action prepared the way for
political unity. The Catholic Church--the only Christian Church then
existing--made men feel that their highest interests were one; it "created
the nation."

[559] This movement began several years earlier,--see page 38,--but
Theodore of Tarsus was its first great organizer.

This was the first cause of the union of the kingdoms. The second was the
invasions of the Danes. These fierce marauders forced the people south of
the Thames to join in common defence, under the leadership of Alfred, king
of the West Saxons. By the treaty of Wedmore (878), the Danes were
compelled to give up Southwestern England, but they retained the whole of
the Northeast. About the middle of the tenth century, one of Alfred's
grandsons conquered the Danes, and took the title of "King of all
England."[560] Later, the Danes, reinforced by fresh invasions of their
countrymen, made themselves masters of the land; yet Canute, the most
powerful of these Danish kings, ruled according to English methods. At
length the great body of the people united in choosing Edward the
Confessor king (1042-1066). He was English by birth, but Norman by
education. Under him the unity of the English kingdom was, in name at
least, fully restored.

[560] Some authorities consider Edgar (959) as the first "King of all
England." In 828 Egbert, King of the West Saxons, once, though but once,
took the lesser title of "King of the English." See page 39.

=5. Beginning of the Feudal System; its Results.=--Meantime a great change
had taken place in England with respect to holding land. We shall see
clearly to what that change was tending if we look at the condition of
France. There a system of government and of land tenure existed known as
the Feudal System. Under it the king was regarded as the owner of the
entire realm. He granted, with his royal protection, the use of portions of
the land to his chief men or nobles, with the privilege of building castles
and of establishing private courts of justice on these estates. Such grants
were made on two conditions: (1) that the tenants should take part in the
king's council; (2) that they should do military service in the king's
behalf, and furnish besides a certain number of fully armed horsemen in
proportion to the amount of land they had received. So long as they
fulfilled these conditions--made under oath--they could retain their
estates, and hand them down to their children; but if they failed to keep
their oath, they forfeited the land to the king.

These great military barons or lords let out parts of their immense
manors,[561] or estates, on similar conditions--namely, (1) that their
vassals or tenants should pay rent to them by doing military or other
service; and (2) that they should agree that all questions concerning their
rights and duties should be tried in the lord's private court.[562] On the
other hand, the lord of the manor pledged himself to protect his vassals.

[561] Manor:--see Plan of a Manor on page 80--(Old French _manoir_, a
mansion), the estate of a feudal lord. Every manor had two courts. The most
important of these was the "_court baron_." It was composed of all the free
tenants of the manor, with the lord (or his representative) presiding. It
dealt with civil cases only. The second court was the "_court customary_,"
which dealt with cases connected with villeinage. The manors held by the
greater barons had a third court, the "_court leet_," which dealt with
criminal cases, and could inflict the death penalty. In all cases the
decisions of the manorial courts would be pretty sure to be in the lord's
favor. In England, however, these courts never acquired the degree of power
which they did on the continent.

[562] See Note above, on the Manor.

On every manor there were usually three classes of these tenants: (1) those
who discharged their rent by doing military duty; (2) those who paid by a
certain fixed amount of labor--or, if they preferred, in produce or in
money; (3) the villeins, or common laborers, who were bound to remain on
the estate and work for the lord, and whose condition, although they were
not wholly destitute of legal rights, was practically not very much above
that of slaves.

But there was another way by which men might enter the Feudal System; for
while it was growing up there were many small free landholders, who owned
their farms, and owed no man any service whatever. In those times of
constant civil war such men would be in almost daily peril of losing, not
only their property, but their lives. To escape this danger, they would
hasten to "commend" themselves to some powerful neighboring lord. To do
this, they pledged themselves to become "his men," surrendered their farms
to him, and received them again as feudal vassals. That is, the lord bound
himself to protect them against their enemies, and they bound themselves to
do "suit and service"[563] like the other tenants of the manor; _for "suit
and service" on the one side, and "protection" on the other, made up the
threefold foundation of the Feudal System_.

[563] That is, they pledged themselves to do suit in the lord's private
court, and to do service in his army.

Thus in time all classes of society became bound together. At the top stood
the king, who was no man's tenant, but, in name at least, every man's
master; at the bottom crouched the villein, who was no man's master, but
was, in fact, the most servile and helpless of tenants.

Such was the condition of things in France. In England, however, this
system of land tenure was never completely established until after the
Norman Conquest (1066). For in England the tie which bound men to the king
and to each other was originally one of pure choice, and had nothing
directly to do with land. Gradually, however, this changed; and by the time
of Edward the Confessor land in England had come to be held on conditions
so closely resembling those of France that one step more--and that a very
short one--would have made England a kingdom exhibiting all the most
dangerous features of French feudalism.

For, notwithstanding certain advantages,[564] feudalism had this great
evil: that the chief nobles often became in time more powerful than the
king. This danger now menaced England. For convenience Canute the Dane had
divided the realm into four earldoms. The holders of these vast estates had
grown so mighty that they scorned royal authority. Edward the Confessor did
not dare resist them. The ambition of each earl was to get the supreme
mastery. This threatened to bring on civil war, and to split the kingdom
into fragments. Fortunately for the welfare of the nation, William of
Normandy, by his invasion and conquest of England (1066), put an effectual
stop to the selfish schemes of these four rival nobles.

[564] On the Advantages of Feudalism, see page 51.

=6. William the Conqueror and his Work.=--After William's victory at
Hastings and march on London, the National Council chose him
sovereign,--they would not have dared to refuse,--and he was crowned by the
archbishop of York in Westminster Abbey. This coronation made him the legal
successor of the line of English kings. In form, therefore, there was no
break in the order of government; for though William had forced himself
upon the throne, he had done so according to law and custom, and not
directly by the sword.

Great changes followed the conquest, but they were not violent. The king
abolished the four great earldoms, and restored national unity. He
gradually dispossessed the chief English landholders of their lands, and
bestowed them, under strict feudal laws, on his Norman followers. He
likewise gave all the highest positions in the Church to Norman bishops and
abbots. The National Council now changed its character. It became simply a
body of Norman barons, who were bound by feudal custom to meet with the
king. But they did not restrain his authority; for William would brook no
interference with his will from any one, not even from the Pope himself.

But though the Conqueror had a tyrant's power, he rarely used it like a
tyrant. We have seen[565] that the great excellence of the early English
government lay in the fact that the towns, hundreds, and shires were
self-governing in all local matters; the drawback to this system was its
lack of unity and of a strong central power that could make itself
respected and obeyed. William supplied this power,--without which there
could be no true national strength,--yet at the same time he was careful to
encourage the local system of self-government. He gave London a liberal
charter to protect its rights and liberties. He began the organization of a
royal court of justice; he checked the rapacious Norman barons in their
efforts to get control of the people's courts.

[565] See Paragraphs 2, 3, of this Summary.

Furthermore, side by side with the feudal cavalry army, he maintained the
old English county militia of foot-soldiers, in which every freeman was
bound to serve. He used this militia, when necessary, to prevent the barons
from getting the upperhand, and so destroying those liberties which were
protected by the crown as its own best safeguard against the plots of the
nobles.

Next, William had a census, survey, and valuation made of all the estates
in the kingdom outside London which were worth examination. The result of
this great work was recorded in Domesday Book. By means of that book--still
preserved--the king knew what no English ruler had known before him; that
was, the property-holding population and resources of the kingdom. Thus a
solid foundation was laid on which to establish the feudal revenue and the
military power of the crown.

Finally, just before his death, the Conqueror completed the organization of
his government. Hitherto the vassals of the great barons had been bound to
them alone. They were sworn to fight for their masters, even if those
masters rose in open rebellion against the sovereign. William changed all
that. At a meeting held at Salisbury (1086) he compelled every landholder
in England, from the greatest to the smallest,--60,000, it is said,--to
swear to be "faithful to him against all others." By that oath he "broke
the neck of the Feudal System" _as a form of government_, though he
retained and developed the principle of feudal land tenure. Thus at one
stroke he made the crown the supreme power in England; had he not done so,
the nation would soon have been a prey to civil war.

=7. William's Norman Successors.=--William Rufus has a bad name in history,
and he fully deserves it. But he had this merit: he held the Norman barons
in check with a stiff hand, and so, in one way, gave the country
comparative peace.

His successor, Henry I., granted (1100) a charter of liberties[566] to his
people, by which he recognized the sacredness of the old English laws for
the protection of life and property. Somewhat more than a century later
this document became, as we shall see, the basis of the most celebrated
charter known in English history. Henry attempted important reforms in the
administration of the laws, and laid the foundation of that system which
his grandson, Henry II., was to develop and establish. By these measures he
gained the title of the "Lion of Justice," who "made peace for both man and
beast." Furthermore, in an important controversy with the Pope respecting
the appointment of bishops,[567] Henry obtained the right (1107) to require
that both bishops and abbots, after taking possession of their Church
estates, should be obliged like the barons to furnish troops for the
defence of the kingdom.

[566] For Henry I.'s charter, see Note 1, on page 73.

[567] See page 73, Paragraph 186.

But in the next reign--that of Stephen--the barons got the upper hand, and
the king was powerless to control them. They built castles without royal
license, and from these private fortresses they sallied forth to ravage,
rob, and murder in all directions. Had that period of terror continued much
longer, England would have been torn to pieces by a multitude of greedy
tyrants.

=8. Reforms of Henry II.; Scutage; Assize of Clarendon; Juries;
Institutions of Clarendon.=--With Henry II. the true reign of law begins.
To carry out the reforms begun by his grandfather, Henry I., the king
fought both barons and clergy. Over the first he won a complete and final
victory; over the second he gained a partial one.

Henry began his work by pulling down the unlicensed castles built by the
"robber barons." But, according to feudal usage, the king was dependent on
these very barons for his cavalry--his chief armed force. He resolved to
make himself independent of their reluctant aid. To do this he offered to
release them from military service, providing they would pay a tax, called
scutage, or shield-money (1159).[568] The barons gladly accepted the offer.
With the money Henry was able to hire "mercenaries," or foreign troops, to
fight for him abroad, and, if need be, in England as well. Thus he struck a
great blow at the power of the barons, since they, through disuse of arms,
grew weaker, while the king grew steadily stronger. To complete the work,
Henry, many years later (1181), reorganized the old English national
militia,[569] and made it thoroughly effective for the defence of the royal
authority. For just a hundred years (1074-1174) the barons had been trying
to overthrow the government; under Henry II. the long struggle came to an
end, and the royal power triumphed.

[568] Scutage (see page 89): the demand for scutage seems to show that the
feudal tenure was now fully organized, and that the whole realm was by this
time divided into knights' fees,--that is, into portions of land yielding
£20 annually,--each of which was obliged to furnish one fully armed,
well-mounted knight to serve the King (if called on) for forty days
annually.

[569] National militia: see page 50, Paragraph 121.

But in getting the military control of the kingdom, Henry had won only half
of the victory he was seeking; to complete his supremacy over the powerful
nobles, the king must obtain control of the administration of justice.

In order to do this more effectually, Henry issued the Assize of Clarendon
(1166). It was the first true national code of law ever put forth by an
English king, since previous codes had been little more than summaries of
old "customs." The realm had already been divided into six circuits, having
three judges for each circuit. The Assize of Clarendon gave these judges
power not only to enter and preside over every county court, but also over
every court held by a baron on his manor. This put a pretty decisive check
to the hitherto uncontrolled baronial system of justice--or injustice--with
its private dungeons and its private gibbets. It brought everything under
the eye of the king's judges, so that those who wished to appeal to them
could now do so without the expense, trouble, and danger of a journey to
the royal palace.

Again, it had been the practice among the Norman barons to settle disputes
about land by the barbarous method of trial by battle;[570] Henry gave
tenants the right to have the case decided by a body of twelve knights
acquainted with the facts.

[570] See page 79, Paragraph 198.

In criminal cases a great change was likewise effected. Henceforth twelve
men from each hundred, with four from each township,--sixteen at
least,--acting as a grand jury, were to present all suspected criminals to
the circuit judges.[571] The judges sent them to the ordeal;[572] if they
failed to pass it, they were then punished by law as convicted felons; if
they did pass it, they were banished from the kingdom as persons of evil
repute. After the abolition of the ordeal (1215), a petty jury of witnesses
was allowed to testify in favor of the accused, and clear them if they
could from the charges brought by the grand jury. If their testimony was
not decisive, more witnesses were added until twelve were obtained who
could unanimously decide one way or the other. In the course of time[573]
this smaller body became judges of the evidence for or against the accused,
and thus the modern system of trial by jury was established.

[571] See the Assize of Clarendon (1166) in Stubbs's Select Charters.

[572] See page 52, Paragraph 127.

[573] Certainly by 1450. But as late as the reign of George I. juries were
accustomed to bring in verdicts determined partly by their own personal
knowledge of the facts. See Taswell-Langmead (revised ed.) page 179.

These reforms had three important results: (1) they greatly diminished the
power of the barons by taking the administration of justice, in large
measure, out of their hands; (2) they established a more uniform system of
law; (3) they brought large sums of money, in the way of court-fees and
fines, into the king's treasury, and so made him stronger than ever.

But meanwhile Henry was carrying on a still sharper battle in his attempt
to bring the Church courts--which William I. had separated from the
ordinary courts--under control of the same system of justice. In these
Church courts any person claiming to belong to the clergy had a right to be
tried. Such courts had no power to inflict death, even for murder. In
Stephen's reign many notorious criminals had managed to get themselves
enrolled among the clergy, and had thus escaped the hanging they deserved.
Henry was determined to have all men--in the circle of clergy or out of
it--stand equal before the law. Instead of two kinds of justice, he would
have but one; this would not only secure a still higher uniformity of law,
but it would sweep into the king's treasury many fat fees and fines which
the Church courts were then getting for themselves.

By the laws entitled the Constitutions of Clarendon (1164), the common
courts were empowered to decide whether a man claiming to belong to the
clergy should be tried by the Church courts or not. If they granted him the
privilege of a Church court trial, they kept a sharp watch on the progress
of the case; if the accused was convicted, he must then be handed over to
the judges of the ordinary courts, and they took especial pains to convince
him of the Bible truth, that "the way of the transgressor is hard." For a
time the Constitutions were rigidly enforced, but in the end Henry was
forced to renounce them. Later, however, the principle he had endeavored to
set up was fully established.[574]

[574] Edward I. limited the jurisdiction of the Church courts to purely
spiritual cases, such as heresy and the like; but the work which he,
following the example of Henry II., had undertaken, was not fully
accomplished until the fifteenth century.

The greatest result springing from Henry's efforts was the training of the
people in public affairs, and the definitive establishment of that system
of Common Law which regards the people as the supreme source of both law
and government, and which is directly and vitally connected with the
principle of representation and of trial by jury.[575]

[575] See, on this point, Green's Henry II., in the "English Statesmen"
Series.

=9. Rise of Free Towns.=--While these important changes were taking place,
the towns were growing in population and wealth. But as these towns
occupied land belonging either directly to the king or to some baron, they
were subject to the authority of one or the other, and so possessed no real
freedom. In the reign of Richard I. many towns purchased certain rights of
self-government from the king. This power of controlling their own affairs
greatly increased their prosperity, and in time, as we shall see, secured
them a voice in the management of the affairs of the nation.

=10. John's Loss of Normandy; Magna Carta.=--Up to John's reign many barons
continued to hold large estates in Normandy, in addition to those they had
acquired in England; hence their interests were divided between the two
countries. Through war John lost his French possessions. Henceforth the
barons shut out from Normandy came to look upon England as their true home.
From Henry II.'s reign the Normans and the English had been gradually
mingling; from this time they became practically one people. John's tyranny
and cruelty brought their union into sharp, decisive action. The result of
his greed for money, and his defiance of all law, was a tremendous
insurrection. Before this time the people had always taken the side of the
king against the barons; now, with equal reason, they turned about and rose
with the barons against the king.

Under the guidance of Archbishop Langton, barons, clergy, and people
demanded reform. The archbishop brought out the half-forgotten charter of
Henry I. This now furnished a model for Magna Carta, or the "Great Charter
of the Liberties of England."[576]

[576] Magna Carta: see Constitutional Documents, page 417.

It contained nothing that was new in principle. It was simply a clearer,
fuller, stronger statement of those "rights of Englishmen which were
already old."

John, though wild with rage, did not dare refuse to affix his royal seal to
the Great Charter of 1215. By doing so he solemnly guaranteed: (1) the
rights of the Church; (2) those of the barons; (3) those of all freemen;
(4) those of the villeins, or farm-laborers. The value of this charter to
the people at large is shown by the fact that nearly one-third of its
sixty-three articles were inserted in their behalf. Of these articles, the
most important was that which declared that no man should be deprived of
liberty or property, or injured in body or estate, save by the judgment of
his equals or by the law of the land.

In regard to taxation, the Charter provided that, except the customary
feudal "aids,"[577] none should be levied unless by the consent of the
National Council. Finally, the Charter expressly provided that twenty-five
barons--one of whom was mayor of London--should be appointed to compel the
king to carry out his agreement.

[577] For the three customary Feudal Aids, see page 80, Paragraph 200.

=11. Henry III. and the Great Charter; the Forest Charter; Provisions of
Oxford; Rise of the House of Commons; Important Land Laws.=--Under Henry
III. the Great Charter was reissued. But the important articles which
forbade the king to levy taxes except by consent of the National Council,
together with some others restricting his power to increase his revenue,
were dropped, and never again restored.[578]

[578] See Stubbs's Select Charters (Edward I.), page 484; but compare Note
1 on page 417.

On the other hand, Henry was obliged to issue a Forest Charter, based on
certain articles of Magna Carta, which declared that no man should lose
life or limb for hunting in the royal forests.

Though the Great Charter was now shorn of some of its safeguards to
liberty, yet it was still so highly prized that its confirmation was
purchased at a high price from successive sovereigns. Down to the second
year of Henry VI.'s reign (1423), we find that it had been confirmed no
less than thirty-seven times.

Notwithstanding his solemn oath,[579] the vain and worthless Henry III.
deliberately violated the provisions of the Charter, in order to raise
money to waste in his foolish foreign wars or on his court circle of French
favorites.

[579] See page 112, Paragraph 262.

Finally (1258), a body of armed barons, led by Simon de Montfort, earl of
Leicester, forced the king to summon a Parliament at Oxford. There a
scheme of reform, called the Provisions of Oxford, was adopted. By these
Provisions, which Henry swore to observe, the government was practically
taken out of the king's hands,--at least as far as he had power to do
mischief,--and entrusted to certain councils or committees of state.

A few years later, Henry refused to abide by the Provisions of Oxford, and
civil war broke out. De Montfort, earl of Leicester, gained a decisive
victory at Lewes, and captured the king. The earl then summoned a National
Council, made up of those who favored his policy of reform. This was the
famous Parliament of 1265. To it De Montfort summoned: (1) a small number
of barons; (2) a large number of the higher clergy; (3) two knights, or
country gentlemen, from each shire; (4) two burghers, or citizens, from
every town.

The knights of the shire had been summoned to Parliament before;[580] but
this was the first time that the towns had been invited to send
representatives. By that act the earl set the example of giving the people
at large a fuller share in the government than they had yet had. To De
Montfort, therefore, justly belongs the glory of being "the founder of the
House of Commons"; though owing, perhaps, to his death shortly afterward at
the battle of Evesham (1265), the regular and continuous representation of
the towns did not begin until thirty years later.

[580] They were first summoned by John, in 1213.

Meanwhile (1279-1290), three land laws of great importance were enacted.
The first limited the acquisition of landed property by the Church;[581]
the second encouraged the transmission of land by will to the eldest son,
thus keeping estates together instead of breaking them up among several
heirs;[582] the third made purchasers of estates the direct feudal tenants
of the king.[583] The object of these three laws was to prevent landholders
from evading their feudal obligations; hence they decidedly strengthened
the royal power.[584]

[581] Statute of Mortmain (1279): see page 120, Paragraph 278. It was
especially directed against the acquisition of land by monasteries.

[582] Statute De Donis Conditionalibus (or of Westminster II.) (1285): see
page 119, Paragraph 277.

[583] Statute of Quia Emptores (1290): see page 119, Paragraph 277.

[584] During the same period the Statute of Winchester (1285) reorganized
the national militia and the police system. See page 119, Paragraph 276.

=12. Edward I.'s "Model Parliament"; Confirmation of the Charters.=--In
1295, Edward I., one of the ablest men that ever sat on the English throne,
adopted De Montfort's scheme of representation. The king was greatly
pressed for money, and his object was to get the help of the towns, and
thus secure a system of taxation which should include all classes. With the
significant words, "that which toucheth all should be approved by all," he
summoned to Westminster the first really complete, or "Model
Parliament,"[585] consisting of King, Lords (temporal and spiritual), and
Commons.[586] The form Parliament then received it has kept substantially
ever since. We shall see how from this time the Commons gradually grew in
influence,--though with periods of relapse,--until at length they have
become the controlling power in legislation.

[585] De Montfort's Parliament was not wholly lawful and regular, because
not voluntarily summoned by the King himself. Parliament must be summoned
by the sovereign, opened by the sovereign (in person or by commission); all
laws require the sovereign's signature to complete them; and finally,
Parliament can be suspended or dissolved by the sovereign only.

[586] The lower clergy were summoned to send representatives; but their
representatives came very irregularly, and in the fourteenth century ceased
coming altogether. From that time they voted their supplies for the Crown
in Convocation, until 1663, when Convocation ceased to meet. The higher
clergy--bishops and abbots--met with the House of Lords.

Ten years after the meeting of the "Model Parliament," in order to get
money to carry on a war with France, Edward levied a tax on the barons, and
seized a large quantity of wool belonging to the merchants. So determined
was the resistance to these acts that civil war was threatened. In order to
avert it, the king was obliged to summon a Parliament (1297), and to sign a
confirmation of both the Great Charter and the Forest Charter. He
furthermore bound himself in the most solemn manner not to tax his subjects
or seize their goods without their consent. Henceforth Parliament alone was
considered to hold control of the nation's purse; and although this
principle was afterward evaded, no king openly denied its binding force.

=13. Division of Parliament into Two Houses; Growth of the Power of the
Commons; Legislation by Statute; Impeachment; Power over the Purse.=--In
Edward's reign a great change occurred in Parliament. The knights of the
shire (about 1343)[587] joined the representatives from the towns, and
began to sit apart from the Lords as a distinct House of Commons. This
union gave that house a new character, and invested it with a power in
Parliament which the representation from the towns alone could not have
exerted. But though thus strengthened, the Commons did not venture to claim
an equal part with the Lords in framing laws. Their attitude was that of
humble petitioners. When they had voted the supplies of money which the
king asked for, the Commons might then meekly beg for legislation. Even
when the king and the lords assented to their petitions, the Commons often
found to their disappointment that the laws which had been promised did not
correspond to those for which they had asked. Henry V. pledged his word
(1414) that the petitions, when accepted, should be made into laws without
any alteration. But, as a matter of fact, this was not effectually done
until near the close of the reign of Henry VI. (about 1461).[588] Then the
Commons succeeded in obtaining the right to present proposed laws in the
form of regular bills instead of petitions. These bills when enacted became
statutes or acts of Parliament, as we know them to-day. This change was a
most important one, since it made it impossible for the king with the lords
to fraudulently defeat the expressed will of the Commons after they had
once assented to the legislation the Commons desired.

[587] The exact date cannot be determined. Sir T. E. May thinks it was
about 1343.

[588] Exact date cannot be determined.

Meanwhile the Commons gained, for the first time (1376), the right of
impeaching such ministers of the crown as they had reason to believe were
unfaithful to the interests of the people. This of course put an immense
restraining power in their hands, since they could now make the ministers
responsible, in great measure, for the king.[589]

[589] But after 1450 the Commons ceased to exercise the right of
impeachment until 1621, when they impeached Lord Bacon and others.

Next (1406), the Commons insisted on having an account rendered of the
money spent by the king; and at times they even limited[590] their
appropriations of money to particular purposes. Finally, in 1407, the
Commons took the most decided step of all. They boldly demanded and
obtained _the exclusive right of making all grants of money_ required by
the crown.[591]

[590] The Commons dropped the right of appropriating money for specific
objects,--except in a single instance under Henry VI.,--and did not revive
it until 1624.

[591] This right the Commons never surrendered.

In future the king--unless he violated the law--had to look to the
Commons--that is, to the direct representation of the mass of the
people--for his chief supplies. This made the will of the Commons more
powerful than it had ever been.

=14. Religious Legislation; Emancipation of the Villeins; Disfranchisement
of County Electors.=--While these reforms were taking place, two statutes
had been enacted,--that of Provisors (1350)[592] and of Præmunire (1353 and
1393),[593]--limiting the power of the Pope over the English Church. On the
other hand, the rise of the Lollards had caused a statute to be passed
(1401) against heretics, and under it the first martyr had been burned in
England. During this period the villeins had risen in insurrection (1381),
and were gradually gaining their liberty. Thus a very large body of people
who had been practically excluded from political rights now began to slowly
acquire them.[594] But, on the other hand, a statute was enacted (1430)
which prohibited all persons having an income of less than forty shillings
a year--or what would be equal to forty pounds at the present value of
money--from voting for knights of the shire. The consequence was that the
poorer and humbler classes in the country were no longer directly
represented in the House of Commons.

[592] Provisors: this was a law forbidding the Pope to provide any person
(by anticipation) with a position in the English Church until the death of
the incumbent.

[593] Præmunire: see Constitutional Documents, page 417. Practically,
neither the law of Provisors nor of Præmunire was strictly enforced until
Henry VIII.'s reign.

[594] Villeins appear, however, to have had the right of voting for knights
of the shire until the statute of 1430 disfranchised them.

=15. Wars of the Roses; Decline of Parliament; Partial Revival of its Power
under Elizabeth.=--The Civil Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) gave a decided
check to the further development of parliamentary power. Many noble
families were ruined by the protracted struggle, and the new nobles created
by the king were pledged to uphold the interests of the crown. Furthermore,
numerous towns absorbed in their own local affairs ceased to elect members
to the Commons. Thus, with a House of Lords on the side of royal authority,
and with a House of Commons diminished in numbers and in influence, the
decline of the independent attitude of Parliament was inevitable.

The result of these changes was very marked. From the reign of Henry VI. to
that of Elizabeth--a period of about two hundred years--"the voice of
Parliament was rarely heard." The Tudors practically set up a new or
"personal monarchy," in which their will rose above both Parliament and the
constitution;[595] and Henry VII., instead of asking the Commons for money,
extorted it in fines enforced by his Court of Star Chamber, or compelled
his wealthy subjects to grant it to him in "benevolences"[596]--those
"loving contributions," as the king called them, "lovingly advanced."

[595] Theoretically Henry VII.'s power was restrained by certain checks
(see page 181, Note 1); and even Henry VIII. generally ruled according to
the letter of the law, however much he may have violated its spirit. It is
noticeable, too, that it was under Henry VIII. (1541) that Parliament first
formally claimed freedom of speech as one of its "undoubted privileges."

[596] Benevolence: see pages 169, 182.

During this period England laid claim to a new continent, and Henry VIII.,
repudiating the authority of the Pope, declared himself the "supreme head"
(1535) of the English Catholic Church. In the next reign (Edward VI.) the
Catholic worship, which had existed in England for nearly a thousand years,
was abolished (1540), and the Protestant faith became henceforth--except
during Mary's short reign--the established religion of the kingdom. It was
enforced by two Acts of Uniformity (1549, 1552). One effect of the
overthrow of Catholicism was to change the character of the House of Lords,
by reducing the number of spiritual lords from a majority to a minority, as
they have ever since remained.[597]

[597] See page 224, Note 2.

At the beginning of Elizabeth's reign the Second Act of Supremacy (1559)
shut out all Catholics from the House of Commons.[598] Protestantism was
fully and finally established as the state religion,[599] embodied in the
creed known as the Thirty-nine Articles (1563); and by the Third Act of
Uniformity (1559) very severe measures were taken against all--whether
Catholics or Puritans--who refused to conform to the Episcopal mode of
worship. The High Commission Court was organized (1583) to try and punish
heretics--whether Catholics or Puritans. The great number of paupers caused
by the destruction of the monasteries under Henry VIII., and the gradual
decay of relations of feudal service, caused the passage of the first Poor
Law (1601), and so brought the government face to face with a problem which
has never yet been satisfactorily settled; namely, what to do with habitual
paupers and tramps.

[598] See pages 211, 212.

[599] By the Third Act of Uniformity and the establishment of the High
Commission Court; see page 211. The First and Second Acts of Uniformity
were enacted under Edward VI.

The closing part of Elizabeth's reign marks the revival of parliamentary
power. The House of Commons now had many Puritan members, and they did not
hesitate to assert their right to advise the queen on all questions of
national importance. Elizabeth sharply rebuked them for presuming to meddle
with questions of religion, or for urging her either to take a husband or
to name a successor to the throne; but even she did not venture to run
directly counter to the will of the people. When the Commons demanded
(1601) that she should put a stop to the pernicious practice of granting
trading monopolies[600] to her favorites, she was obliged to yield her
assent.

[600] Monopolies: see pages 214, 215.

=16. James I.; the "Divine Right of Kings"; Struggle with
Parliament.=--James began his reign by declaring that kings rule not by the
will of the people, but by "divine right." "God makes the king," said he,
"and the king makes the law." For this reason he demanded that his
proclamations should have all the force of acts of Parliament. Furthermore,
since he appointed the judges, he could generally get their decisions to
support him; thus he made even the courts of justice serve as instruments
of his will. In his arrogance he declared that neither Parliament nor the
people had any right to discuss matters of state, whether foreign or
domestic, since he was resolved to reserve such questions for the royal
intellect to deal with. By his religious intolerance he maddened both
Puritans and Catholics, and the Pilgrim Fathers fled from England to escape
his tyranny.

But there was a limit set to his overbearing conceit. When he dictated to
the Commons (1604) what persons should sit in that body, they indignantly
refused to submit to any interference on his part, and their refusal was so
emphatic that James never brought up the matter again.

The king, however, was so determined to shut out members whom he did not
like that he attempted to gain his ends by having such persons seized on
charge of debt and thrown into prison. The Commons, on the other hand, not
only insisted that their ancient privilege of exemption from arrest in such
cases should be respected, but they passed a special law (1604) to clinch
the privilege.

Ten years later (1614) James, pressed for money, called a Parliament to get
supplies. He had taken precautions to get a majority of members elected who
would, he hoped, vote him what he wanted. But to his dismay the Commons
declined to grant him a penny unless he would promise to cease imposing
illegal duties on merchandise. The king angrily refused, and dissolved the
Parliament.[601]

[601] This Parliament was nicknamed the "Addled Parliament," because it did
not enact a single law, though it most effectually "addled" the King's
plans.

Finally, in order to show James that it would not be trifled with, a later
Parliament (1621) revived the right of impeachment, which had not been
resorted to since 1450.[602] The Commons now charged Lord Chancellor Bacon,
judge of the High Court of Chancery, and "keeper of the king's conscience,"
with accepting bribes. Bacon held the highest office in the gift of the
crown, and the real object of the impeachment was to strike the king
through the person of his chief official and supporter. Bacon confessed his
crime, saying: "I was the justest judge that was in England these fifty
years, but it was the justest censure in Parliament that was these two
hundred years."

[602] See Paragraph 13 of this Summary.

James tried his best to save his servile favorite, but it was useless, and
Bacon was convicted, disgraced, and punished.

The Commons of the same Parliament petitioned the king against the alleged
growth of the Catholic religion in the kingdom, and especially against the
proposed marriage of the Prince of Wales to a Spanish Catholic princess.
James ordered the Commons to let mysteries of state alone. They claimed
liberty of speech. The king asserted that they had no liberties except such
as the royal power saw fit to grant. Then the Commons drew up their famous
Protest, in which they declared that their liberties were not derived from
the king, but were "the ancient and undoubted birthright and inheritance of
the people of England." In his rage James ordered the journal of the
Commons to be brought to him, tore out the Protest with his own hand, and
sent five of the members of the House to prison. This rash act made the
Commons more determined than ever not to yield to arbitrary power. James
died three years later, leaving his unfortunate son Charles to settle the
angry controversy he had raised.

=17. Charles I.; Forced Loans; the Petition of Right.=--Charles I. came to
the throne full of his father's lofty ideas of the Divine Right of Kings to
govern as they pleased. In private life he was conscientious, but in his
public policy he was a man "of dark and crooked ways."

He had married a French Catholic princess, and the Puritans, who were now
very strong in the House of Commons, believed that the king secretly
sympathized with the queen's religion. This was not the case; for Charles,
after his peculiar fashion, was a sincere Protestant, though he favored the
introduction into the English Church of some of the ceremonies peculiar to
Catholic worship.

The Commons showed their distrust of the king by voting him the tax of
tonnage and poundage[603] for a single year only, instead of for life, as
had been their custom. The Lords refused to assent to such a limited
grant,[604] and Charles deliberately collected the tax without the
authority of Parliament. Failing, however, to get a sufficient supply in
that way, the king forced men of property to grant him "benevolences," and
to loan him large sums of money with no hope of its return. Those who dared
to refuse were thrown into prison on some pretended charge, or had squads
of brutal soldiers quartered in their houses.

[603] Tonnage and poundage: certain duties levied on wine and merchandise.

[604] See Taswell-Langmead (revised ed.), page 557, Note.

When even these measures failed to supply his wants, Charles was forced to
summon a Parliament, and ask for help. Instead of granting it, the Commons
drew up the Petition of Right[605] of 1628, as an indignant remonstrance,
and as a safeguard against further acts of tyranny. This petition has been
called "the Second Great Charter of the Liberties of England." It declared:
1, That no one should be compelled to pay any tax or to supply the king
with money, except by order of act of Parliament; 2, that neither soldiers
nor sailors should be quartered in private houses;[606] 3, that no one
should be imprisoned or punished contrary to law. Charles was forced by his
need of money to assent to this petition, which thus became a most
important part of the English constitution. But the king did not keep his
word. When Parliament next met (1629), it refused to grant money unless
Charles would renew his pledge not to violate the law. The king made some
concessions, but finally resolved to adjourn Parliament. Several members of
the Commons held the Speaker in the chair, by force--thus preventing the
adjournment of the House--until resolutions offered by Sir John Eliot were
passed. These resolutions were aimed directly at the king. They declared:
1, That he is a traitor who attempts any change in the established religion
of the kingdom;[607] 2, who levies any tax not voted by Parliament; 3, or
who voluntarily pays such a tax. Parliament then adjourned.

[605] Petition of Right: see Constitutional Documents, page 417.

[606] The King was also deprived of the power to press citizens into the
army and navy.

[607] The Puritans generally believed that the King wished to restore the
Catholic religion as the established Church of England, but in this idea
they were mistaken.

=18. "Thorough"; Ship-Money; the Short Parliament.=--The king swore that
"the vipers" who opposed him should have their reward. Eliot was thrown
into prison, and kept there till he died. Charles made up his mind that,
with the help of Archbishop Laud in Church matters, and of Lord Strafford
in affairs of state, he would rule without Parliaments. Strafford urged the
king to adopt the policy of "Thorough";[608] in other words, to follow the
bent of his own will without consulting the will of the nation. This, of
course, practically meant the overthrow of parliamentary and constitutional
government. Charles heartily approved of this plan for setting up what he
called a "beneficent despotism" based on "Divine Right."

[608] "Thorough": Strafford wrote to Laud, "You may govern as you
please. . . . I am confident that the King is able to carry any just and
honorable action thorough [_i.e._ through or against] all imaginable
opposition." Both Strafford and Laud used this word "thorough," in this
sense, to designate their tyrannical policy.

The king now resorted to various illegal means to obtain supplies. The last
device he hit upon was that of raising ship-money. To do this, he levied a
tax on all the counties of England--inland as well as seaboard,--on the
pretext that he purposed building a navy for the defence of the kingdom.
John Hampden refused to pay the tax, but Charles's servile judges decided
against him, when the case was brought into court.

Charles ruled without a Parliament for eleven years. He might, perhaps,
have gone on in this way for as many more, had he not provoked the Scots to
rebel by attempting to force a modified form of the English Prayer-Book on
the Church of that country. The necessities of the war with the Scots
compelled the king to call a Parliament. It declined to grant the king
money to carry on the war unless he would give some satisfactory guarantee
of governing according to the will of the people. Charles refused to do
this, and after a three weeks' session he dissolved what was known as the
"Short Parliament."

=19. The "Long Parliament"; the Civil War.=--But the war gave Charles no
choice, and before the year was out he was obliged to call the famous "Long
Parliament" of 1640.[609] That body met, with the firm determination to
restore the liberties of Englishmen or to perish in the attempt. 1. It
impeached Strafford and Laud, and sent them to the scaffold as
traitors.[610] 2. It swept away those instruments of royal oppression, the
Court of Star Chamber and the High Commission Court.[611] 3. It expelled
the bishops from the House of Lords. 4. It passed the Triennial Bill,
compelling the king to summon a Parliament at least once in three
years.[612] 5. It also passed a law declaring that the king could not
suspend or dissolve Parliament without its consent. 6. Last of all, the
Commons drew up the Grand Remonstrance, enunciating at great length the
grievances of the last sixteen years, and vehemently appealing to the
people to support them in their attempts at reform. The Remonstrance was
printed and distributed throughout England.[613]

[609] The Long Parliament: it sat from 1640 to 1653, and was not finally
dissolved until 1660.

[610] Charles assured Strafford that Parliament should not touch "a hair of
his head"; but to save himself the King signed the Bill of Attainder (see
p. 420), which sent his ablest and most faithful servant to the block. Well
might Strafford exclaim, "Put not your trust in princes."

[611] On the Court of Star Chamber and the High Commission Court, see pages
183, 211 (Note 1), and 224.

[612] The Triennial Act was repealed in 1664, and re-enacted in 1694. In
1716 the Septennial Act increased the limit of three years to seven. This
act is still in force.

[613] The press soon became, for the first time, a most active agent of
political agitation, both for and against the King. See page 244, Paragraph
495.

About a month later (1642), the king, at the head of an armed force,
undertook to seize Hampden, Pym, and three other of the most active members
of the Commons on a charge of treason. The attempt failed. Soon afterward
the Commons passed the Militia Bill, and thus took the command of the
national militia and of the chief fortresses of the realm, "to hold," as
they said, "for king and Parliament." The act was unconstitutional; but,
after the attempted seizure of the five members, the Commons felt certain
that if they left the command of the militia in the king's hands, they
would simply sign their own death-warrant.

In resentment at this action, Charles now (1642) began the civil war. It
resulted in the execution of the king, and in the temporary overthrow of
the monarchy, the House of Lords, and the established Episcopal Church. In
place of the monarchy, the party in power set up a short-lived Puritan
Republic. This was followed by the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell and that
of his son Richard.

=20. Charles II.; Abolition of Feudal Tenure; Establishment of a Standing
Army.=--In 1660 the people, weary of the Protectorate form of government,
welcomed the return of Charles II. His coming marks the restoration of the
monarchy, of the House of Lords, and of the National Episcopal Church.

A great change was now effected in the source of the king's revenue.
Hitherto it had sprung largely from feudal dues. These had long been
difficult to collect, because the feudal system had practically died out.
The feudal land tenure with its dues was now abolished,--a reform, says
Blackstone, greater even than that of Magna Carta,--and in their place a
tax was levied for a fixed sum. This tax should in justice have fallen on
the landowners, who profited by the change; but they managed to evade it,
in great measure, and by getting it levied on beer and some other liquors,
they forced the working classes to shoulder the chief part of the burden,
which they still continue to carry.

Parliament now restored the command of the militia to the king;[614] and,
for the first time in English history, it also gave him the command of a
standing army of 5000 men--thus, in one way, making him more powerful than
ever before.

[614] See Militia Bill, Paragraph 19 of this Summary.

On the other hand, Parliament revived the practice of limiting its
appropriations of money to specific purposes.[615] It furthermore began to
require an exact account of how the king spent the money--a most
embarrassing question for Charles to answer. Again, Parliament did not
hesitate to impeach and remove the king's ministers whenever they forfeited
the confidence of that body.[616]

[615] See Paragraph 13 of this Summary.

[616] See Paragraph 13 of this Summary (Impeachment).

The religious legislation of this period marks the strong reaction from
Puritanism which had set in. 1. The Corporation Act (1661) excluded all
persons who did not renounce the Puritan Covenant, and partake of the
Sacrament according to the Church of England, from holding municipal or
other corporate offices. 2. The Fourth Act of Uniformity[617] required all
clergymen to accept the Book of Common Prayer of (1662) the Church of
England. The result of this law was that no less than 2000 Puritan
ministers were driven from their pulpits in a single day. 3. A third act of
Parliament followed[618] which forbade the preaching or hearing of Puritan
doctrines, under severe penalties. 4. A later act[619] prohibited
nonconforming clergymen from teaching, or from coming within five miles of
any corporate town (except when travelling).

[617] The first and second Acts of Uniformity date from Edward VI. (1549,
1552); the third from Elizabeth (1559).

[618] The Conventicle Act (1664).

[619] The Five Mile Act (1665). It excepted those clergymen who took the
oath of non-resistance to the King, and who swore not to attempt to alter
the constitution of Church or State. See Hallam.

=21. Origin of Cabinet Government; the Secret Treaty of Dover; the Test
Act; the Habeas Corpus Act.=--Charles made a great and most important
change with respect to the Privy Council. Instead of consulting the entire
council on matters of state, he established the custom of inviting a few
only to meet with him in his cabinet or private room. This limited body of
confidential advisers was called the Cabal or secret council.

Charles's great ambition was to increase his standing army, to rule
independently of Parliament, and to get an abundance of money to spend on
his extravagant pleasures and vices.

In order to accomplish these three ends he made a secret and shameful
treaty with Louis XIV. of France (1670). Louis wished to crush the Dutch
Protestant Republic of Holland, to get possession of Spain, and to secure,
if possible, the ascendency of Catholicism in England as well as throughout
Europe. Charles, who was destitute of any religious principle,--or, in
fact, of any sense of honor,--agreed to publicly declare himself a
Catholic, to favor the propagation of that faith in England, and to make
war on Holland in return for very liberal grants of money, and for the loan
of 6000 French troops by Louis, to help him put down any opposition in
England. Two members of the Cabal were acquainted with the terms of this
secret treaty of Dover.[620]

[620] Charles signed a second secret treaty of Dover in 1678.

Charles did not dare to openly avow himself a convert--or pretended
convert--to the Catholic religion; but he issued a Declaration of
Indulgence (1672) suspending the harsh and unjust statute against the
English Catholics.

Parliament took the alarm and passed the Test Act (1673), by which all
Catholics were shut out from holding any government office or position.
This act broke up the Cabal, by compelling a Catholic nobleman, who was one
of its leading members, to resign. Later, Parliament further showed its
power by compelling the king to sign the Act of Habeas Corpus (1679), which
put an end to his arbitrarily throwing men into prison, and keeping them
there, in order to stop their free discussion of his plots against the
constitution.[621]

[621] See Habeas Corpus Act in Constitutional Documents, p. 420.

But though the Cabal had been broken up, the principle of a limited private
council survived, and, after the Revolution of 1688, it was revived, and
took the name of the Cabinet. Under the leadership of the prime minister,
who is its head, the Cabinet has become responsible for the policy of the
sovereign.[622] Should Parliament decidedly oppose that policy, the prime
minister, with his cabinet, either resigns, and a new cabinet is chosen, or
the minister appeals to the people for support, and a new parliamentary
election is held, by which the nation decides the question. This method
renders the old, and never desirable, remedy of the impeachment of the
ministers of the sovereign no longer necessary. The prime minister--who
answers for the acts of the sovereign and for his policy--is more directly
responsible to the people than is the President of the United States.

[622] The real efficiency of the Cabinet system of government was not fully
developed until after the Reform Act of 1832 had widely extended the right
of suffrage, and thus made the government more directly responsible to the
people. See, too, page 309, Note 2.

=22. The Pretended "Popish Plot"; Rise of the Whigs and the Tories;
Revocation of Town Charters.=--The pretended "Popish Plot" (1678) to kill
the king, in order to place his brother James--a Catholic convert--on the
throne, caused the rise of a strong movement (1680) to exclude James from
the right of succession. The Exclusion Bill failed, but henceforward two
prominent political parties appear in Parliament,--one, that of the Whigs
or Liberals, bent on extending the power of the people; the other, that of
the Tories or Conservatives, resolved to maintain the power of the crown.

Charles, of course, did all in his power to encourage the latter party. In
order to strengthen their numbers in the Commons, he found pretexts for
revoking the charters of many Whig towns. He then issued new charters to
these towns, giving the power of election to the Tories.[623] While engaged
in this congenial work the king died, and his brother James came to the
throne.

[623] The right of election in many towns was then confined to the
town-officers or to a few influential inhabitants. This continued to be the
case until the passage of the Reform Bill in 1832.

=23. James II.; the Dispensing Power; Declaration of Indulgence; the
Revolution of 1688.=--James II. was a zealous Catholic, and therefore
naturally desired to secure freedom of worship in England for people of his
own faith. In his zeal he went too far, and the Pope expressed his disgust
at the king's foolish rashness. By the exercise of the dispensing
power[624] he suspended the Test Act and the Act of Uniformity, in order
that Catholics might be relieved from the penalties imposed by these laws,
and also for the purpose of giving them civil and military offices, from
which the Test Act excluded them. James also established a new High
Commission Court,[625] and made the infamous Judge Jeffreys the head of
this despotic tribunal. This court had the supervision of all churches and
institutions of education. Its main object was to further the spread of
Catholicism, and to silence those clergymen who preached against that
faith. The king appointed a Catholic president of Magdalen College, Oxford,
and expelled from the college all who opposed the appointment. Later he
issued two Declarations of Indulgence (1687, 1688), in which he proclaimed
universal religious toleration. It was generally believed that under cover
of these declarations the king intended to favor the ascendancy of
Catholicism. Seven bishops, who petitioned for the privilege of declining
to read the declarations from their pulpits, were imprisoned, but on their
trial were acquitted by a jury in full sympathy with them.

[624] This was the exercise of the right, claimed by the King as one of his
prerogatives, of exempting individuals from the penalty of certain laws.
The King also claimed the right of suspending entirely (as in the case of
the Declaration of Indulgence) one or more statutes. Both these rights had
been exercised, at times, from a very early date.

[625] New High Commission Court: see Note 2, on Paragraph 19 of this
Summary.

These acts of the king, together with the fact that he had greatly
increased the standing army, and had stationed it just outside of London,
caused great alarm throughout England. The majority of the people of both
parties believed that James was plotting 'to subvert and extirpate the
Protestant religion and the laws and liberties of the kingdom.'[626]

[626] See the language of the Bill of Rights (Constitutional Documents),
page 419.

Still, so long as the king remained childless, the nation was encouraged by
the hope that James's daughter Mary might succeed him. She was known to be
a decided Protestant, and she had married William, prince of Orange, the
head of the Protestant Republic of Holland. But the birth of a son to James
(1688) put an end to that hope. Immediately a number of leading Whigs and
Tories[627] united in sending an invitation to the prince of Orange to come
over to England with an army to protect Parliament against the king backed
by his standing army.

[627] Seven in all; viz. the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Devonshire, the
Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Lumley, Bishop Compton (bishop of London), Admiral
Edward Russell, and Henry Sydney.

=24. William and Mary; Declaration of Right; Results of the
Revolution.=--William came; James fled to France. A Convention
Parliament[628] drew up a Declaration of Right which declared that the
king had abdicated, and which therefore offered the crown to William and
Mary. They accepted. Thus by the bloodless Revolution of 1688 the English
nation transferred the sovereignty to those who had no direct legal claim
to it so long as James and his son were living. Hence by this act the
people deliberately set aside hereditary succession, as a binding rule, and
revived the primitive English custom of choosing such a sovereign as they
deemed best. In this sense the uprising of 1688 was most emphatically a
revolution. It made, as Green has said, an English monarch as much the
creature of an act of Parliament as the pettiest tax-gatherer in his realm.
But it was a still greater revolution in another way, since it gave a
death-blow to the direct "personal monarchy," which began with the Tudors
two hundred years before. It is true that in George III.'s reign we shall
see that power temporarily revived, but we shall never hear anything more
of that Divine Right of Kings, for which one Stuart "lost his head, and
another, his crown." Henceforth the House of Commons will govern England,
although, as we shall see, it will be nearly a hundred and fifty years
before that House will be able to free itself from the control of either a
few powerful families on the one hand, or that of the crown on the other.

[628] Convention Parliament: it was so called because it was not regularly
summoned by the King--he having fled the country.

=25. Bill of Rights; the Commons by the Revenue and the Mutiny Act obtain
Complete Control over the Purse and the Sword.=--In order to make the
constitutional rights of the people unmistakably clear, the Bill of Rights
(1689)--an expansion of the Declaration of Right--was drawn up. The Bill of
Rights[629] declared: (1) That there should be no suspension or change in
the laws, and no taxation except by act of Parliament; (2) that there
should be freedom of election to Parliament and freedom of speech in
Parliament (both rights that the Stuarts had attempted to control); (3)
that the sovereign should not keep a standing army, in time of peace,
except by consent of Parliament; (4) that in future no Roman Catholic
should sit on the English throne.[630]

[629] Bill of Rights: see Constitutional Documents, page 419.

[630] This last clause was reaffirmed by the Act of Settlement. See page
283, Note 2, and page 420.

This most important bill, having received the signature of William and
Mary, became law. It constitutes the third great written charter or
safeguard of English liberty. Taken in connection with Magna Carta and the
Petition of Right, it forms, according to Lord Chatham, "the Bible of the
English Constitution."

But Parliament had not yet finished the work of reform it had taken in
hand. The executive strength of every government depends on its control of
two powers,--the purse and the sword. Parliament had, as we have seen, got
a tight grasp on the first, for the Commons, and the Commons alone, could
levy taxes; but within certain very wide limits, the personal expenditure
of the sovereign still practically remained unchecked. Parliament now
(1689) took the decisive step of voting by the Revenue Act, (1) a specific
sum for the maintenance of the crown, and (2) of voting this supply, not
for the life of the sovereign, as had been the custom, but for four years.
A little later this supply was fixed for a single year only. This action
gave to the Commons final and complete control of the purse.[631]

[631] See page 363, Note 1.

Next, Parliament passed the Mutiny Act (1689),[632] which granted the king
power to enforce martial law--in other words, to maintain a standing
army--for one year at a time, and no longer save by renewal of the law.
This act gave Parliament complete control of the sword, and thus finished
the great work; for without the annual meeting and the annual vote of that
body, an English sovereign would at the end of a twelvemonth stand
penniless and helpless.

[632] See page 282, Note 1.

=26. Reforms in the Courts; the Toleration Act; the Press made Free.=--The
same year (1689) Parliament effected great and sorely needed reforms in the
administration of justice.[633]

[633] See page 279 and Notes 4 and 5.

Next, Parliament passed the Toleration Act (1689). This measure granted
liberty of worship to all Protestant dissenters except those who denied the
doctrine of the Trinity.[634] The Toleration Act, however, did not abolish
the Corporation Act or the Test Act,[635] and it granted no religious
freedom to Catholics.[636] Still, the Toleration Act was a step forward,
and it prepared the way for that absolute liberty of worship and of
religious belief which now exists in England.

[634] Freedom of worship was granted to Unitarians in 1812.

[635] The Act of Indemnity of 1727 suspended the penalties of the Test and
the Corporation Act; they were both repealed in 1828.

[636] Later, very severe laws were enacted against the Catholics; and in
the next reign (Anne's) the Act of Occasional Conformity and the Schism Act
were directed against Protestant Dissenters.

In finance, the reign of William and Mary was marked by the practical
beginning of the permanent national debt and by the establishment of the
Bank of England.[637]

[637] On the National Debt and the Bank of England, see page 288.

Now, too (1695), the English press, for the first time in its history,
became permanently free,[638] though hampered by a very severe law of libel
and by stamp duties.[639] From this period the influence of newspapers
continued to increase, until the final abolition of the stamp duty (1855)
made it possible to issue penny and even half-penny papers at a profit.
These cheap newspapers sprang at once into an immense circulation among all
classes, and thus they became the power for good or evil, according to
their character, which they are to-day. So that it would be no exaggeration
to say that back of the power of Parliament now stands the greater power of
the press.

[638] See page 284.

[639] Furthermore, the Corresponding Societies' Acts (1793, 1799) operated
for a time as a decided check on the freedom of the press. See May's
Constitutional History.

=27. The House of Commons no longer a Representative Body; the First Two
Georges and their Ministers.=--But now that the Revolution of 1688 had done
its work, and transferred the power of the crown to the House of Commons, a
new difficulty arose. That was the fact that the Commons did not represent
the people, but stood simply as the representatives of a small number of
rich Whig landowners.[640] In many towns the right to vote was confined to
the town-officers or to the well-to-do citizens. In other cases, towns
which had dwindled in population to a very few inhabitants, continued to
have the right to send two members to Parliament, while on the other hand
large and flourishing cities had grown up which had no power to send even a
single member. The result of this state of things was that the wealthy Whig
families bought up the votes of electors, and so regularly controlled the
elections.

[640] The influence of the Whigs had secured the passage of the Act of
Settlement which brought in the Georges; for this reason the Whigs had
gained the chief political power.

Under the first two Georges, both of whom were foreigners, the
ministers--especially Robert Walpole, who was the first real prime minister
of England, and who held his place for twenty years (1722-1742)--naturally
stood in the foreground. They understood the ins and outs of English
politics, while the two German sovereigns, the first of whom never learned
to speak English, neither knew nor cared anything about them. When men
wanted favors or offices, they went to the ministers for them. This made
men like Walpole so powerful that George II. said bitterly, "In this
country the ministers are kings."

=28. George III.'s Revival of "Personal Monarchy"; the "King's
Friends."=--George III. was born in England, and prided himself on being an
Englishman. He came to the throne fully resolved, as Walpole said, "to make
his power shine out," and to carry out his mother's constant injunction of,
"George, be king!" To do this, he set himself to work to trample on the
power of the ministers, to take the distribution of offices and honors out
of their hands, and furthermore to break down the influence of the great
Whig families in Parliament. He had no intention of reforming the House of
Commons, or of securing the representation of the people in it; his purpose
was to gain the control of the House, and use it for his own ends. In this
he was thoroughly conscientious, according to his idea of right,--for he
believed with all his heart in promoting the welfare of England,--only he
thought that welfare depended on the will of the king much more than on
that of the nation. His maxim was "everything for, but nothing by, the
people." By liberal gifts of money,--he spent £25,000 in a single day
(1762) in bribes,[641]--by gifts of offices and of honors to those who
favored him, and by taking away offices, honors, and pensions from those
who opposed him, George III. succeeded in his purpose. He raised up a body
of men in Parliament, known by the significant name of the "King's
Friends," who stood ready at all times to vote for his measures. In this
way he actually revived "personal monarchy"[642] for a time, and by using
his "Friends" in the House of Commons and in the Lords as his tools, he
made himself quite independent of the checks imposed by the constitution.

[641] Pitt (Lord Chatham) was one of the few public men of that day who
would neither give nor take a bribe; Walpole declared with entire truth
that the great majority of politicians could be bought--it was only a
question of price. The King appears to have economized in his living, in
order to get more money to use as a corruption fund. See May's
Constitutional History.

[642] "Personal Monarchy": see Paragraph 15 of this Summary.

=29. The American Revolution.=--The king's power reached its greatest
height between 1770-1782. He made most disastrous use of it, not only at
home, but abroad. He insisted that the English colonists in America should
pay taxes without representation in Parliament, even of that imperfect kind
which then existed in Great Britain. This determination brought on the
American Revolution--called in England the "King's War." The war, in spite
of its ardent support by the "King's Friends," roused a powerful opposition
in Parliament. Chatham, Burke, Fox, and other able men protested against
the king's arbitrary course. Finally Dunning moved and carried this
resolution (1780) in the Commons: "Resolved, that the power of the crown
has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished." This vigorous
proposition came too late to affect the conduct of the war, and England
lost the most valuable of her colonial possessions. The struggle, which
ended successfully for the patriots in America, was in reality part of the
same battle fought in England by other patriots in the halls of Parliament.
On the western side of the Atlantic it resulted in the establishment of
national independence; on the eastern side, in the final overthrow of royal
tyranny and the triumph of the constitution. It furthermore laid the
foundation of that just and generous policy on the part of England toward
her other colonies, which has made her mistress of the largest and most
prosperous empire on the globe.

=30. John Wilkes and the Middlesex Elections; Publication of Parliamentary
Debates.=--Meanwhile John Wilkes, a member of the House of Commons, had
gained the recognition of a most important principle. He was a coarse and
violent opponent of the royal policy, and had been expelled from the House
on account of his bitter personal attack on the king.[643] Several years
later (1768) he was re-elected to Parliament, but was again expelled for
seditious libel;[644] he was three times re-elected by the people of London
and Middlesex, who looked upon him as the champion of their cause; each
time the House refused to permit him to take his seat, but at the fourth
election he was successful. A few years later (1782) he induced the House
to strike out from its journal the resolution there recorded against
him.[645] Thus Wilkes, by his indomitable persistency, succeeded in
establishing the right of the people to elect the candidate of their choice
to Parliament. During the same period the people gained another great
victory over Parliament. That body had utterly refused to permit the
debates to be reported in the newspapers. But the redoubtable Wilkes was
determined to obtain and publish such reports; rather than have another
prolonged battle with him, Parliament conceded the privilege (1771). The
result was that the public now, for the first time, began to know what
business Parliament actually transacted, and how it was done. This fact of
course rendered the members of both houses far more directly responsible
to the will of the people than they had ever been before.[646]

[643] In No. 45 of the _North Briton_ (1763) Wilkes rudely accused the King
of having deliberately uttered a falsehood in his speech to Parliament.

[644] The libel was contained in a letter written to the newspapers by
Wilkes.

[645] The resolution was finally stricken out, on the ground that it was
"subversive of the rights of the whole body of electors."

[646] The publication of Division Lists (equivalent to Yeas and Nays) by
the House of Commons in 1836 and by the Lords in 1857 completed this work.
Since then the public have known how each member of Parliament votes on
every important question.

=31. The Reform Bills of 1832, 1867, 1885; Demand for "Manhood
Suffrage."=--But notwithstanding this decided political progress, still the
greatest reform of all--that of the system of electing members of
Parliament--still remained to be accomplished. Cromwell had attempted it
(1654), but the Restoration put an end to the work which the Protector had
so wisely begun. Lord Chatham felt the necessity so strongly that he had
not hesitated to declare (1766) that the system of representation--or
rather misrepresentation--which then existed was the "rotten part of the
constitution." "If it does not drop," said he, "it must be amputated."
Later (1770) he became so alarmed at the prospect that he declared that
"before the end of the century either the Parliament will reform itself
from within, or be reformed from without with a vengeance."

But the excitement caused by the French Revolution and the wars with
Napoleon, not only prevented any general movement of reform, but made it
possible to enact stringent laws against agitation in that direction.[647]
Finally, however, the unrepresented millions refused to endure their
condition any longer. They rose in their might,[648] and by terrible riots
made it evident that it would be dangerous for Parliament to postpone
action on their demands. The Reform Bill--"the Great Charter of 1832"--was
passed. It swept away the "rotten boroughs," which had so long been a
disgrace to the country. It granted the right of election to many large
towns in the midlands and the north which had hitherto been unable to send
members to Parliament, and it placed representation on a broader,
healthier, and more equitable basis than had ever existed before. It was a
significant fact that when the first reformed Parliament met, composed
largely of Liberals, it showed its true spirit by abolishing slavery in the
West Indies. Later (1848) the Chartists advocated further reforms,[649]
most of which have since been adopted.

[647] See pages 345, 346.

[648] See pages 349-354.

[649] See pages 363, 364.

In 1867 an act,[650] scarcely less important than that of 1832, broadened
representation still further; and in 1888 the franchise was again extended.
A little later (1888) the County Council Act reconstructed the local
self-government of the country in great measure.[651] The cry is now for
unrestricted "manhood suffrage,"--woman suffrage in a limited degree
already exists,[652]--and the demand is also for the recognition of the
principle of "one man one vote."[653]

[650] See pages 373, 374.

[651] The Local Government or County Council Act: this gives to counties
the management of their local affairs and secures uniformity of method and
of administration. See Chambers' Encyclopædia (revised ed.) "County
Councils."

[652] See page 373 and Note 4.

[653] That is, the abolition of certain franchise privileges springing from
the possession of landed property in different counties or Parliamentary
districts, by which the owner of such property is entitled to cast more
than one vote for a candidate for Parliament.

=32. Extension of Religious Liberty; Admission of Catholics and Jews to
Parliament; Free Trade.=--Meanwhile immense progress was made in extending
the principles of religious liberty to all bodies of believers. After
nearly three hundred years (or since the Second Act of Supremacy, 1559),
Catholics were (1830) admitted to the House of Commons; and in the next
generation (1858) Jews were likewise admitted. Recent legislation (the
Oaths' Act of 1888) makes it impossible to exclude any one on account of
his religious belief or unbelief.

Commercially the nation has made equal progress. The barbarous
corn-laws[654] were repealed in 1848, the narrow protective policy of
centuries abandoned; and since that period England has practically taken
its stand on unlimited free trade with all countries.

[654] Corn Laws: see pages 365-368.

=33. Condition of Ireland; Reform in the Land and the Church Laws; Civil
Service Reform; Education; Conclusion.=--In one direction, however, there
had been no advance. Ireland was politically united to Great Britain[655]
at the beginning of the century (1801); but long after the Irish Catholics
had obtained the right of representation in Parliament, they were compelled
to submit to unjust land laws, and also to contribute to the support of the
Established (Protestant) Church in Ireland. Finally, through the efforts of
Mr. Gladstone and others, this branch of the Church was disestablished
(1869);[656] later (1870 and 1881) important reforms were effected in the
Irish land laws.[657]

[655] On the union of Scotland with England, see page 298.

[656] See page 375.

[657] See pages 376, 377.

To supplement the great electoral reforms which had so widely extended the
power of the popular vote, two other measures were now carried. One was
that of Civil Service Reform (1870), which opened all clerkships and
similar positions in the gift of the government to the free competition of
candidates, without regard to their political opinions. This did away with
most of that demoralizing system of favoritism which makes government
offices the spoils by which successful political parties reward "little men
for little services."

The same year (1870) England, chiefly through Mr. Forster's efforts, took
up the second measure, the question of national education. The conviction
gained ground that if the working-classes are to vote, then they must not
be allowed to remain in ignorance--the nation declared "we must educate our
future masters." In this spirit a system of elementary government schools
was established, which gives instruction to tens of thousands of children
who hitherto were forced to grow up without its advantages.[658] These
schools are not yet wholly free, although recent legislation[659]
practically puts most of them on that basis.

[658] See page 375.

[659] The Assisted Education Act of 1891. This gives such a degree of
government assistance to elementary schools that the instruction in them is
now virtually rendered free.

Thus England stands to-day on a strong and broad foundation of liberal
political suffrage and of national education. The tendencies now indicate
that before many years both will become absolutely free and absolutely
universal.

This brief sketch of English Constitutional History shows conclusively that
the nation's record is one of slow but certain progress. To-day England
stands a monarchy in name, but a republic in fact; a sovereign reigns, but
the people rule. The future is in their hands.




CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS.

=Abstract of the Articles of Magna Carta (1215).=--1. "The Church of
England shall be free, and have her whole rights, and her liberties
inviolable." The freedom of elections of ecclesiastics by the Church is
confirmed. 2-8. Feudal rights guaranteed, and abuses remedied. 9-11.
Treatment of debtors alleviated. 12. "_No scutage or aid [except the three
customary feudal aids] shall be imposed in our kingdom, unless by the
Common Council of the realm._"[660] 13. London, and all towns, to have
their ancient liberties. 14. _The King binds himself to summon the Common
Council of the realm respecting the assessing of an aid (except as provided
in 12) or a scutage._[660] 15, 16. Guarantee of feudal rights to tenants.
17-19. Provisions respecting holding certain courts. 20, 21. _Of
amercements. They are to be proportionate to the offence, and imposed
according to the oath of honest men in the neighborhood. No amercement to
touch the necessary means of subsistence of a free man, the merchandise of
a merchant, or the agricultural tools of a villein; earls and barons to be
amerced by their equals._ 23-34. Miscellaneous, minor articles. 35. Weights
and measures to be uniform. 36. _Nothing shall be given or taken, for the
future, for the Writ of Inquisition of life or limb, but it shall be freely
granted, and not denied._[661] 37, 38. Provisions respecting land tenure
and trials at law. 39. "NO FREEMAN SHALL BE TAKEN OR IMPRISONED, OR
DISSEIZED, OR OUTLAWED, OR BANISHED, OR ANY WAYS DESTROYED, NOR WILL WE
PASS UPON HIM, NOR WILL WE SEND UPON HIM, UNLESS BY THE LAWFUL JUDGMENT OF
HIS PEERS, OR BY THE LAW OF THE LAND." 40. "WE WILL SELL TO NO MAN, WE WILL
NOT DENY TO ANY MAN, EITHER JUSTICE OR RIGHT." 41, 42. Provisions
respecting merchants, and freedom of entering and quitting the realm,
except in war time. 43-46. Minor provisions. 47, 48. Provisions
disafforesting all forests seized by John, and guaranteeing forest rights
to subjects. 49-60. Various minor provisions. 62. Provision for carrying
out the charter by the barons in case the King fails in the performance of
his agreement. 63. The freedom of the Church reaffirmed. Every one in the
kingdom to have and hold his liberties and rights.

[660] These important articles were omitted when Magna Carta was reissued
in 1216 by Henry III. Stubbs says they were never restored; but Edward I.,
in his Confirmation of the Charters, seems to reaffirm them. See the
Confirmation; see also Gneist's Eng. Const., II, 9.

[661] This article is regarded by some authorities as the prototype of the
statute of _Habeas Corpus_; others consider that it is implied in Articles
39-40.

"Given under our hand, in the presence of the witnesses above named, and
many others, in the meadow called Runnymede between Windsor and Staines,
the 15th day of June, in the 17th of our reign." [Here is appended the
King's seal.]

=Confirmation of the Charters by Edward I. (1297).=--In 1297 Edward I.
confirmed Magna Carta and the Forest Charter granted by Henry III. in 1217
by letters patent. The document consists of seven articles, of which the
following, namely, the sixth and seventh, are the most important.

6. Moreover we have granted for us and our heirs, as well to archbishops,
bishops, abbots, priors, and other folk of holy Church, as also to earls,
barons, and to all the commonalty of the land, that _for no business from
henceforth will we take such manner of aids, tasks, nor prises but by the
common consent of the realm_, and for the common profit thereof, saving the
ancient aids and prises due and accustomed.

7. And for so much as the more part of the commonalty of the realm find
themselves sore grieved with the maletote [_i.e._ an unjust tax or duty] of
wools, that is to wit, a toll of forty shillings for every sack of wool,
and have made petition to us to release the same; we, at their requests,
have clearly released it, and have granted for us and our heirs that we
shall not take such thing nor any other without their common assent and
good will; saving to us and our heirs the custom of wools, skins, and
leather, granted before by the commonalty aforesaid. In witness of which
things we have caused these our letters to be made patents. Witness Edward
our son, at London, the 10th day of October, the five-and-twentieth of our
reign.

And be it remembered that this same Charter, in the same terms, word for
word, was sealed in Flanders under the King's Great Seal, that is to say,
at Ghent, the 5th day of November, in the 25th year of the reign of our
aforesaid Lord the King, and sent into England.


THE PETITION OF RIGHT.

June 7, 1628.

_The Petition exhibited to His Majesty by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, concerning divers Rights
and Liberties of the Subjects, with the King's Majesty's Royal Answer
thereunto in full Parliament._

TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY: Humbly show unto our Sovereign Lord
the King, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in Parliament
assembled, that whereas it is declared and enacted by a statute made in the
time of the reign of King Edward the First, commonly called _Statutum de
Tallagio non concedendo_,[662] that no tallage [here, a tax levied by the
King upon the lands of the crown, and upon all royal towns] or aid shall be
laid or levied by the King or his heirs in this realm, without the goodwill
and assent of the Archbishops, Bishops, Earls, Barons, Knights, Burgesses,
and other the freemen of the commonalty of this realm: and by authority of
Parliament holden in the five and twentieth year of the reign of King
Edward the Third, it is declared and enacted, that from thenceforth no
person shall be compelled to make any loans to the King against his will,
because such loans were against reason and the franchise of the land; and
by other laws of this realm it is provided, that none should be charged by
any charge or imposition, called a Benevolence, or by such like charge, by
which the statutes before-mentioned, and other the good laws and statutes
of this realm, your subjects have inherited this freedom, that they should
not be compelled to contribute to any tax, tallage, aid, or other like
charge, not set by common consent in Parliament.

[662] A Statute concerning Tallage not granted by Parliament. This is now
held not to have been a statute. See Gardiner's _Documents of the Puritan
Revolution_, page 1. It is considered by Stubbs an unauthorized and
imperfect abstract of Edward I.'s Confirmation of the Charters--which see.

Yet nevertheless, of late divers commissions directed to sundry
Commissioners in several counties with instructions have issued; by means
whereof your people have been in divers places assembled, and required to
lend certain sums of money unto your Majesty, and many of them upon their
refusal so to do, have had an oath administered unto them, not warrantable
by the laws or statutes of this realm, and have been constrained to become
bound to make appearance and give attendance before your Privy Council, and
in other places, and others of them have been therefore imprisoned,
confined, and sundry other ways molested and disquieted: and divers other
charges have been laid and levied upon your people in several counties, by
Lords Lieutenants, Deputy Lieutenants, Commissioners for Musters, Justices
of Peace and others, by command or direction from your Majesty or your
Privy Council, against the laws and free customs of this realm:

And where also by the statute called, "The Great Charter of the Liberties
of England," it is declared and enacted, that no freeman may be taken or
imprisoned or be disseised of his freeholds or liberties, or his free
customs, or be outlawed or exiled; or in any manner destroyed, but by the
lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land:

And in the eight and twentieth year of the reign of King Edward the Third,
it was declared and enacted by authority of Parliament, that no man of what
estate or condition that he be, should be put out of his lands or
tenements, nor taken, nor imprisoned, nor disherited, nor put to death,
without being brought to answer by due process of law:

Nevertheless, against the tenor of the said statutes, and other the good
laws and statutes of your realm, to that end provided, divers of your
subjects have of late been imprisoned without any cause showed, and when
for their deliverance they were brought before your Justices, by your
Majesty's writs of Habeas Corpus, there to undergo and receive as the Court
should order, and their keepers commanded to certify the causes of their
detainer; no cause was certified, but that they were detained by your
Majesty's special command, signified by the Lords of your Privy Council,
and yet were returned back to several prisons, without being charged with
anything to which they might make answer according to law:

And whereas of late great companies of soldiers and mariners have been
dispersed into divers counties of the realm, and the inhabitants against
their wills have been compelled to receive them into their houses, and
there to suffer them to sojourn, against the laws and customs of this
realm, and to the great grievance and vexation of the people:

And whereas also by authority of Parliament, in the 25th year of the reign
of King Edward the Third, it is declared and enacted, that no man shall be
forejudged of life or limb against the form of the Great Charter, and the
law of the land: and by the said Great Charter and other the laws and
statutes of this your realm, no man ought to be adjudged to death; but by
the laws established in this your realm, either by the customs of the same
realm or by Acts of Parliament: and whereas no offender of what kind soever
is exempted from the proceedings to be used, and punishments to be
inflicted by the laws and statutes of this your realm: nevertheless of late
divers commissions under your Majesty's Great Seal have issued forth, by
which certain persons have been assigned and appointed Commissioners with
power and authority to proceed within the land, according to the justice of
martial law against such soldiers and mariners, or other dissolute persons
joining with them, as should commit any murder, robbery, felony, mutiny, or
other outrage or misdemeanour whatsoever, and by such summary course and
order, as is agreeable to martial law, and is used in armies in time of
war, to proceed to the trial and condemnation of such offenders, and them
to cause to be executed and put to death, according to the law martial:

By pretext whereof, some of your Majesty's subjects have been by some of
the said Commissioners put to death, when and where, if by the laws and
statutes of the land they had deserved death, by the same laws and statutes
also they might, and by no other ought to have been, adjudged and
executed.

And also sundry grievous offenders by colour thereof, claiming an
exemption, have escaped the punishments due to them by the laws and
statutes of this your realm, by reason that divers of your officers and
ministers of justice have unjustly refused, or forborne to proceed against
such offenders according to the same laws and statutes, upon pretence that
the said offenders were punishable only by martial law, and by authority of
such commissions as aforesaid, which commissions, and all other of like
nature, are wholly and directly contrary to the said laws and statutes of
this your realm:

_They do therefore humbly pray your Most Excellent Majesty, that no man
hereafter be compelled to make or yield any gift, loan, benevolence, tax,
or such like charge, without common consent by Act of Parliament; and that
none be called to make answer, or take such oath, or to give attendance, or
be confined, or otherwise molested or disquieted concerning the same, or
for refusal thereof; and that no freeman, in any such manner as is
before-mentioned, be imprisoned or detained; and that your Majesty will be
pleased to remove the said soldiers and mariners, and that your people may
not be so burdened in time to come; and that the foresaid commissions for
proceeding by martial law, may be revoked and annulled; and that hereafter
no commissions of like nature may issue forth to any person or persons
whatsoever, to be executed as aforesaid, lest by colour of them any of your
Majesty's subjects be destroyed or put to death, contrary to the laws and
franchise of the land._

All which they most humbly pray of your Most Excellent Majesty, as their
rights and liberties according to the laws and statutes of this realm: and
that your Majesty would also vouchsafe to declare, that the awards, doings,
and proceedings to the prejudice of your people, in any of the premises,
shall not be drawn hereafter into consequence or example: and that your
Majesty would be also graciously pleased, for the further comfort and
safety of your people, to declare your royal will and pleasure, that in the
things aforesaid all your officers and ministers shall serve you, according
to the laws and statutes of this realm, as they tender the honour of your
Majesty, and the prosperity of this kingdom.

[Which Petition being read the 2nd of June 1628, the King gave the
following evasive and unsatisfactory answer, instead of the usual one,
given below.]

The King willeth that right be done according to the laws and customs of
the realm; and that the statutes be put in due execution, that his subjects
may have no cause to complain of any wrong or oppressions, contrary to
their just rights and liberties, to the preservation whereof he holds
himself as well obliged as of his prerogative.

On June 7 the King decided to make answer in the accustomed form, _Soit
droit fait comme est désiré_. Equivalent to the form of royal assent, "le
roi (or la reigne) le veult." See page 362, Note 3. On the Petition of
Right see Hallam and compare Gardiner's England and his _Documents of the
Puritan Revolution_.

=The Bill of Rights (1689).=--This Bill consists of thirteen Articles, of
which the following is an abstract. It begins by stating that "_Whereas the
late King James II., by the advice of divers evil counsellors, judges, and
ministers employed by him, did endeavor to subvert and extirpate the
Protestant religion, and the laws and liberties of this Kingdom:_" 1. By
dispensing with and suspending the laws without consent of Parliament. 2.
By prosecuting worthy bishops for humbly petitioning him to be excused for
concurring in the same assumed power. 3. By erecting a High Commission
Court. 4. By levying money without consent of Parliament. 5. By keeping a
standing army in time of peace without consent of Parliament. 6. By
disarming Protestants and arming Papists. 7. By violating the freedom of
elections. 8. By arbitrary and illegal prosecutions. 9. By putting corrupt
and unqualified persons on juries. 10. By requiring excessive bail. 11. By
imposing excessive fines and cruel punishments. 12. By granting fines and
forfeiture against persons before their conviction.

It is then declared that "the late King James the Second having abdicated
the government, and the throne being thereby vacant," therefore the Prince
of Orange ("whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the glorious
instrument of delivering their kingdom from Popery and arbitrary power")
did by the advice of "the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and divers
principal persons of the Commons" summon in Convention Parliament.

This Convention Parliament declares, that the acts above enumerated are
contrary to law. They then bestow the Crown on William and Mary--the sole
regal power to be vested only in the Prince of Orange--and provide that
after the decease of William and Mary the Crown shall descend "to the heirs
of the body of the said Princess; and, for default of such issue, to the
Princess Anne of Denmark[663] and the heirs of her body; and for default of
such issue, to the heirs of the body of the said Prince of Orange."

[663] The Princess Anne, sister of the Princess Mary, married Prince George
of Denmark in 1683; hence she is here styled "the Princess of Denmark."

Here follows new oaths of allegiance and supremacy in lieu of those
formerly required.

The subsequent articles are as follows: IV. Recites the acceptance of the
Crown by William and Mary. V. The Convention Parliament to provide for "the
settlement of the religion, laws and liberties of the Kingdom." VI. All
the clauses in the Bill of Rights are "the true, ancient, and indubitable
rights and liberties of the people of this Kingdom." VII. Recognition and
declaration of William and Mary as King and Queen. VIII. Repetition of the
settlement of the Crown and limitations of the succession. IX. Exclusion
from the Crown of all persons holding communion with the "Church of Rome"
or who "profess the Popish religion" or who "shall marry a Papist." X.
Every King or Queen hereafter succeeding to the Crown to assent to the Act
[_i.e._ the Test Act of 1673] "disabling Papists from sitting in either
House of Parliament." XI. The King and Queen assent to all the articles of
the Bill of Rights. XII. The Dispensing Power abolished. XIII. Exception
made in favor of charters, grants, and pardons made before October 23,
1689.

=The Act of Settlement (1700-1701).=[664]--Excludes Roman Catholics from
succession to the Crown; and declares that if a Roman Catholic obtains the
Crown, "the people of these realms shall be and are thereby absolved of
their allegiance." Settles the Crown on the Electress Sophia,[665] and "the
heirs of her body being Protestants." Requires the sovereign to join in
communion with the Church of England. No war to be undertaken in defence of
any territories not belonging to the English Crown except with the consent
of Parliament. Judges to hold their office during good behavior. No pardon
by the Crown to be pleadable against an impeachment by the House of
Commons.

[664] This act, says Taswell Langmead, is "the Title Deed of the reigning
Dynasty, and a veritable original contract between the Crown and the
People."

[665] The Electress Sophia was the granddaughter of James I.; she married
the Elector of Hanover, and became mother of George I. See page 433.


MISCELLANEOUS ACTS AND LAWS.

=I. Bill of Attainder.=--This was a bill (which might in itself decree
sentence of death) passed by Parliament, by which, originally, the blood of
a person held to be convicted of treason or felony was declared to be
_attainted_ or corrupted so that his power to inherit, transmit, or hold
property was destroyed. After Henry VIII.'s reign the law was modified so
as not to work "corruption of blood" in the case of new felonies. Under the
Stuarts, Bills of Attainder were generally brought only in cases where the
Commons believed that impeachment would fail--as in the cases of Strafford
and Laud. It should be noticed that in an Impeachment the Commons bring the
accusation, and the Lords alone act as judges; but that in a Bill of
Attainder the Commons--that is, the accusers--themselves act as judges, as
well as the Lords.

=II. Statute of Præmunire (1393).=--This statute was enacted to check the
power claimed by the Pope in England in cases which interfered with power
claimed by the King, as in appeals made to the Court of Rome respecting
Church matters, over which the King's court had jurisdiction. The statute
received its name from the writ served on the party who had broken the law:
"_Præmunire facias_ A. B."; that is, "Cause A. B. to be forewarned" that he
appear before us to answer the contempt with which he stands charged. Henry
VIII. made use of this statute in order to compel the clergy to accept his
supremacy over the English Church.

=III. Habeas Corpus Act (1679).=--The name of this celebrated statute is
derived from its referring to the opening words of the writ: "_Habeas
corpus ad subjiciendum_" (see page 269, Note 1). Sir James Mackintosh
declares that the essence of the statute is contained in clauses 39, 40 of
Magna Carta--which see. The right to habeas corpus was conceded by the
Petition of Right and also by the Statute of 1640. But in order to better
secure the liberty of the subject and for prevention of imprisonments
beyond the seas, the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 was enacted, regulating the
issue and return of writs of habeas corpus.

The principal provisions of the Act are: 1. Jailers (except in cases of
commitment for treason or felony) must within three days of the reception
of the writ produce the prisoner in court, unless the court is at a
distance, when the time may be extended to twenty days at the most. 2. A
jailer, refusing to do this, forfeits £100 for the first offence, and £200
for the second. 3. No one set at liberty upon any Habeas Corpus to be
re-committed for the same offence except by the court having jurisdiction
of the case. 4. The Act not to apply to cases of debt.




SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL DATES IN ENGLISH HISTORY.[666]

[666] Many early dates are approximate only.

[The * marks the most important dates.]


  I. THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD.

  Britain part of the continent of Europe.

  The Rough-Stone Age.

  The Polished-Stone Age.

  Age of Bronze begins, 1500 B.C.?

  Britain mentioned (?) by the name of the "Tin Islands" by Herodotus,
    B.C. 450.

  Britain mentioned by the name of "Albion" by Aristotle? B.C. 350?

  Pytheas visits and describes Britain, B.C. 330?

  Introduction of Iron, B.C. 250?


  II. THE ROMAN PERIOD, B.C. 55, 54; A.D. 43-410.

  *Cæsar lands in Britain, B.C. 55 and 54.

  Claudius begins the conquest of Britain, A.D. 43.

  Caractacus taken prisoner, 50.

  Slaughter of the Druids, 1.

  Revolt of Boadicea, 61.

  Establishment of the Roman power by Agricola, 78-84.

  Agricola builds a line of forts, 81.

  Hadrian's Wall, 121?

  *Britain abandoned by the Romans, 410.


  III. THE SAXON, OR EARLY ENGLISH, PERIOD, 449-1013; 1042-1066.

  *The Jutes settle in Kent, 449.

  Ella and Cissa found the kingdom of Sussex, 477.

  Cerdic founds the kingdom of Wessex, 495.

  Arthur defeats the Saxons, 520?

  The Angles settle Northumbria, 547.

  Gildas writes his history of Britain, 550?

  *Landing of Augustine;
    conversion of Kent, 597.

  Cædmon, first English poet, 664.

  Church council at Whitby, 664.

  Conversion of Northumbria, 667.

  Church bells first mentioned by Bede, 680.

  Bede, the historian, dies, 735.

  Egbert takes refuge at the court of Charlemagne, 786.

  First landing of the Danes in England, 789.

  *=Egbert= (king of Wessex, conquers a large part of the country (827),
    and takes the title of "King of the English"), =828=.

  =Alfred the Great, 871.=

  The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle becomes important from about this time, 871.

  *Treaty of Wedmore, 879.

  Alfred issues his code of laws, 890.

  Alfred builds a fleet, 897.

  Frithguilds (for mutual defence, etc.) mentioned about 930?

  Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 960.

  *Britain is called England, 960?

  Struggle between the regular and secular clergy, 975.

  Invasion of the Danes--Danegeld paid by decree of the Witan for the first
    time, 991.


  IV. DANISH PERIOD, 1013-1042.

  =Sweyn=, the Dane, is acknowledged king of the English, 1013.

  Edward (afterward King Edward the Confessor) is taken to Normandy, where
    he remains until 1042, 1013.

  =Canute=, the Dane, chosen king, 1017.

  Divides England into four great earldoms, 1017.

  Godwin made Earl of Wessex, 1020.


  V. THE SAXON, OR EARLY ENGLISH, PERIOD (RESTORED), 1042-1066.

  =Edward the Confessor, 1042.=

  Edward begins building Westminster Abbey, 1049.

  William, Duke of Normandy, visits Edward, 1052.

  =Harold=, last of the Saxon kings, 1066.

  William of Normandy claims the throne, 1066.

  Invasion from Norway;
    battle of Stamford Bridge, Sept. 25, 1066.

  William of Normandy lands at Pevensey, Sept. 28, 1066.

  *Battle of Senlac, or Hastings--Harold killed--Oct. 14, 1066.


  VI. THE NORMAN PERIOD, 1066-1154.

  =William= (crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day), =1066=.

  System of feudal land-tenure begins to be regularly organized, 1066?

  *William grants a charter to London, 1066?

  Begins building Tower of London, 1066?

  Beginning of Norman architecture, 1066?

  Curfew introduced, about 1068?

  William harries the North, 1069.

  Law of Englishry, 1069?

  Reorganizes the church, 1070.

  Creates the Palatine earldoms, 1070?

  Establishes separate ecclesiastical courts, 1070?

  Trial by battle introduced, 1070?

  The English, under Hereward, finally defeated at Ely, 1071.

  William invades Scotland, and compels the king to do him homage, 1072.

  William refuses to become subject to the Pope, 1076.

  *Domesday Book completed, 1086.--Reports:
    Tenants-in-chief (barons, bishops, abbots), about 1500;
    Under-tenants (chiefly English) dispossessed of their estates, about
        8000;
    Yeomen, north of Watling St., about 35,000;
    Yeomen, sunk to a condition bordering on serfdom (south of Watling
        St.), about 90,000;
    Villeins, or serfs, about 109,000;
    Slaves, about 25,000;
    Citizens, monks, nuns, priests, etc., about 1,732,000;
    Total population, about 2,000,000.

  *All the landholders of England swear allegiance to William, at
        Salisbury, 1086.

  =William Rufus, 1087.=

  Suppresses rebellion of the barons, 1088.

  Makes war on Normandy, 1090.

  Quarrel with Anselm--robs church of its revenue, 1094.

  Suppresses second rebellion of the barons, 1095.

  Builds Westminster Hall, London Bridge, 1097?

  =Henry I., 1100.=

  *First charter of liberties, 1100.

  Expels Robert of Belesme, 1102.

  Quarrels with Anselm about investitures, 1103.

  Battle of Tinchebrai--Normandy conquered, 1106.

  Henry and Anselm come to terms, 1106.

  Matilda, d. of the king, marries Geoffrey of Anjou, 1128.

  Barons swear to make Matilda successor to the throne, 1133.

  =Stephen, 1135.=

  Charter of liberties, 1135.

  Tournaments begin, 1135?

  Matilda, d. of Henry I., claims the crown, 1135.

  Battle of the Standard, 1138.

  Civil war begins, 1139.

  William of Malmesbury's Chronicle closes, 1142.

  Knights Hospitallers established in England, 1150?

  Matilda's son (Henry II.) marries Eleanor of France, and acquires her
    provinces, 1152.

  Treaty of Wallingford, 1153.


  VII. THE ANGEVIN, OR PLANTAGENET, PERIOD, 1154-1399.

  =Henry II., 1154.=

  *Merchant and craft guilds become prominent, 1154?

  *Payment of scutage regularly established, 1160 (see 1385).

  *Constitutions of Clarendon, 1164.

  Quarrel with Becket, 1164.

  Coats of Arms, 1165?

  *Assize of Clarendon, 1166.

  Becket murdered, 1170.

  *Partial conquest of Ireland, 1171.

  Henry's wife and sons rebel, 1173.

  Henry does penance at Becket's tomb, 1174.

  Rebellion of barons suppressed, 1174.

  Assize of Northampton (divides England into judicial circuits), 1176.

  Five judges appointed to hear all cases, 1178.

  Knights Templars established in England, 1180?

  Assize of Arms (regulates national militia), 1181.

  Henry's sons again rebel, 1183.

  Assize of the Forest, 1184.

  Saladin Tithe (first tax on personal property), 1188.

  *Great Assize (substitutes trial by jury in civil cases for trial by
    battle), 1188?

  =Richard I., 1189.=

  Richard persecutes the Jews, sells offices, extorts money, 1189.

  *Richard grants many town charters, 1189.

  Joins the third crusade, 1190.

  *Legal recognition of the corporation of London marks the triumph of the
    mercantile element, 1191.

  Richard taken prisoner, 1192.

  England ransoms the king, 1194.

  Returns to England, and is re-crowned;
    extorts money, 1194.

  Builds Château Gaillard, near Rouen, 1197.

  =John, 1199.=

  Introduction of the mariner's compass, 1200?

  Gothic, or Pointed, architecture, begins in England, 1200?

  Layamon's "Brut," 1200?

  Murder(?) of Arthur, 1203.

  *Loss of Normandy, 1204.

  John refuses to receive Archbishop Langton, 1208.

  The kingdom placed under an interdict, 1208.

  The Pope excommunicates John, 1209.

  Threatens to depose him, 1211.

  John becomes the Pope's vassal, 1213.

  *The meeting at St. Albans (first representative assembly on record) to
    consider measures of reform, 1213.

  *The Great Charter, June 15, 1215.

  The Pope refuses to recognize the charter, and excommunicates the leaders
    of the barons, 1215.

  The barons invite Louis, son of the king of France, to take the crown,
    1215.

  War between John and the barons, 1216.

  =Henry III., 1216.=

  Louis goes back to France, 1217.

  Charter of the Forests, 1217.

  Henry begins rebuilding Westminster Abbey, 1220?

  The Mendicant Friars land in England, 1221.

  Coal mines opened, 1234?

  *Parliament of Merton rejects the Canon Law, 1236.

  All persons having an income of £20 a year from landed property forced to
    receive knighthood, 1256.

  The Pope first claims "annates" from England, 1256.

  "The Mad Parliament" draws up the Provisions of Oxford, 1258.

  Matthew Paris, greatest of the mediæval chroniclers, dies, 1259.

  The Barons' War;
    battle of Lewes, 1264.

  *Walter de Merton founds Merton College, Oxford (beginning of the
    collegiate system), 1264.

  *Rise of the House of Commons under Earl Simon de Montfort, 1265.

  Battle of Evesham;
    Earl Simon killed, 1265.

  *Roger Bacon issues his "Opus Majus," 1267.

  Roger Bacon describes gunpowder? 1267.

  Courts of Exchequer, King's Bench, and Common Pleas fully organized,
    1272?

  =Edward I., 1272.=

  The groat (four pence) first coined, 1272. Up to this date the only coin
    issued was the silver penny.

  *Statute of Mortmain, 1279.

  Conquest of Wales, 1284.

  First Prince of Wales, 1284?

  *The Statute of De Donis, or Entail, 1285.

  Customs (on wine, wool, etc.) first levied, 1290?

  The Jews expelled from England, 1290.

  Statute of Quia Emptores (increases number of small freeholders holding
    directly from the crown or great lords), 1290.

  Alliance between Scotland and France against England, 1294.

  *First complete Parliament (Lords, Clergy, and Commons: subsequently the
    clergy usually met by themselves in convocation), 1295.

  War with Scotland, 1295-6.

  Edward seizes the wool of the merchants (Maltote, or "evil tax"), 1297.

  Edward confirms the charters, 1297.

  Consent of Parliament established as necessary to taxation (by the
    confirmation of the charters), 1297.

  Chimneys begin to come into use, 1300?

  Renewed war with Scotland: execution of Wallace;
    defeat of Bruce, 1303-6.

  =Edward II., 1307.=

  Seizure of the property of the Knights Templars, 1308.

  Gaveston dismissed, 1308.

  Torture first employed in England, 1310?

  The Lords Ordainers (to regulate the king's household), 1310.

  Gaveston executed, 1312.

  Battle of Bannockburn, 1314.

  *House of Commons gains a share in legislation, 1322.

  Roger Mortimer and the queen conspire against Edward, 1326.

  The Despensers (king's favorites) hanged, 1326.

  The king deposed and murdered, 1327.

  =Edward III., 1327.=

  Mixed armor (plate and mail), 1327?

  Many brilliant tournaments held, 1327?

  Independence of Scotland recognized, 1328.

  *Woollen manufacture introduced from Flanders, 1331?

  *House of Commons (Knights of the Shire and Commons united) begin to sit
    by themselves as a distinct body, 1333.

  Edward takes the title of King of France, 1337.

  The first gold coins struck, 1337?

  Creates his son Edward Duke of Cornwall (title of duke first used), 1337.

  *Beginning of the Hundred Years' War with France, 1338 (see 1453).

  Talliage (tax on towns and lands held by the crown) abolished, 1340.

  *Victory of Crécy (cannon first used?), 1346.

  *Capture of Calais, 1347.

  Court of Chancery finally established, 1348.

  *The Black Death, 1349.

  *First Statute of Laborers (regulates price of labor, etc.), 1349.

  First Statute of Provisors (limits power of Pope in England), 1351.

  First Statute of Treasons, 1352.

  First Statute of Præmunire (limits power of the Pope in England), 1353
    (see 1393).

  Many Staples (market or custom towns) established, 1354?

  Great increase of the woollen trade with the continent, 1354?

  *Victory of Poitiers, 1356.

  *Mandeville writes his Travels, 1360?

  Exportation of corn forbidden, 1360 (see 1846).

  *Treaty of Bretigny, 1360.

  No tax to be levied on wool without consent of Parliament, 1362;
    renewed, 1371.

  First iron foundries, 1370?

  *Wykeham founds Winchester College (first great public school), 1373;
    completes C., 1393.

  Parliament first grants tonnage and poundage (a tax on merchandise) to
    the king, 1373.

  *The House of Commons gains the right of impeaching the king's ministers,
    1376.

  *Wycliffe begins the Reformation (rise of the Lollards), 1377?

  =Richard II., 1377.=

  *Wycliffe translates the Bible, 1380?

  *Peasant revolts led by Wat Tyler, 1381.

  Langland writes "Piers Ploughman," 1381.

  *Chaucer begins the "Canterbury Tales," 1384?

  Scutage given up, 1385? (see 1160).

  The title of Marquis created, 1386.

  *The Great Statute of Præmunire (see 1353), 1393.

  Richard banishes the Duke of Hereford (son of John of Gaunt, Duke of
    Lancaster) and the Duke of Norfolk, 1398.

  Death of John of Gaunt;
    Richard seizes his estate, 1399.

  The Duke of Hereford (now Duke of Lancaster) returns to England, claims
    his estate and the crown, 1399.

  Richard deposed (and, later, murdered), 1399.

  *Parliament sets aside the order of succession and chooses Henry king,
    1399.


  VIII. THE LANCASTRIAN PERIOD (RED ROSE), 1399-1461.

  =Henry IV., 1399.=

  Complete plate armor, 1400?

  Rebellion of Glendower, 1400.

  Fortescue writes on government, 1400?

  *First statute punishing heretics with death, 1401.

  First martyr (William Sawtre) under the new law, 1401.

  Revolt of the Percies;
    battle of Shrewsbury, 1403.

  *The House of Commons obtains the exclusive right to make grants of
    money, 1407.

  =Henry V., 1413.=

  *Statutes to be made by Parliament without alteration by the king, 1414.

  Lollard conspiracies, 1414-1415.

  *Battle of Agincourt, 1415.

  *Treaty of Troyes, 1420.

  =Henry VI., 1422= (crowned king of England and France).

  Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester Protectors during the king's minority,
    1422.

  The Paston Letters, 1424-1509.

  Siege of Orleans, 1428.

  *County suffrage restricted, 1430.

  Joan of Arc burned, 1431.

  Title of Viscount created, 1440.

  *Cade's insurrection, 1450.

  *End of the Hundred Years' War;
    loss of France, 1453 (see 1338).

  *Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485.

  Henry dethroned, 1461.


  IX. THE YORKIST PERIOD (WHITE ROSE), 1461-1485.

  =Edward IV., 1461.=

  Henry (the late king) captured and imprisoned, 1465.

  Warwick, "the king-maker," restores Henry VI., 1470.

  Queen Margaret's son killed at Tewksbury and the queen imprisoned, 1471.

  Henry dies a prisoner in the Tower, 1471.

  Edward exacts "benevolences," 1475.

  Queen Margaret ransomed and leaves England, 1476.

  *Caxton prints the first book in England, 1477.

  =Edward V., 1483.=

  Richard, Duke of Gloucester, appointed Protector, 1483.

  Murders Edward in the Tower (?), 1483.

  =Richard III., 1483.=

  Suppresses rebellion, 1483.

  College of Heralds established, 1483.

  Benevolences abolished, 1484 (see 1475).

  *Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485.


  X. THE TUDOR PERIOD, 1485-1603.

  =Henry VII., 1485.=

  Sovereigns first coined, 1485?

  Henry marries Elizabeth of York, thus uniting the Houses of Lancaster and
    York, 1486.

  Court of Star-Chamber, 1487.

  The Pretenders Simnel and Warbeck, 1487 and 1492.

  Statutes of Livery and Maintenance enforced by Empson and Dudley, 1487.

  Poynings' Act (puts an end to the legislative power of the English colony
    in Ireland), 1494.

  The Great Intercourse (commercial treaty between England and the
    Netherlands), 1496.

  *The Cabots discover the American continent, 1497.

  *Beginning of "the New Learning" (Colet, Erasmus, More), 1499.

  =Henry VIII., 1509.=

  Colet founds St. Paul's School, 1512.

  Battle of Flodden, 1513.

  Wolsey becomes cardinal and lord chancellor, 1515.

  More writes "Utopia," 1516.

  Rude firearms begin to come into use, 1517?

  Field of the Cloth of Gold, 1520.

  The Pope confers on Henry the title of "Defender of the Faith," 1521.

  Tyndall and Coverdale translate the Bible, 1525-30.

  Henry begins divorce suit against Catharine of Aragon, 1528.

  Fall of Wolsey, 1529.

  Cranmer obtains the opinions of the Universities, 1530.

  Clergy compelled to acknowledge Henry the Head of the English Church,
    1531.

  Appeals to Rome forbidden, 1532.

  Henry privately marries Anne Boleyn, 1532.

  Cranmer pronounces Henry's marriage with Catharine void, 1533.

  London paved, 1533?

  Payment of "annates" to Rome forbidden, 1534.

  The authority of the Pope in England abolished, 1534.

  *Act of Supremacy declares the king Supreme Head of the Church of
    England, 1535.

  Fisher and More executed, 1535.

  Pope threatens to excommunicate Henry, 1535.

  Cromwell comes to power, 1535.

  England and Wales finally united, 1536.

  Benefit of clergy restricted, 1536.

  *Dissolution of the monasteries begins, 1536.

  Much distress among the poor;
    great increase of vagrants, 1536?

  The Bible translated and placed in the churches, 1536.

  Stringent vagrant laws, 1536?

  Insurrection in the North ("Pilgrimage of Grace"), 1536.

  Many new nobles created, 1536?

  Parish registers begin, 1538.

  The king's Proclamations to have the force of law, 1539 (repealed, 1547).

  The abbots cease to sit in the House of Lords, 1539.

  The Six Articles, 1539.

  Cromwell executed, 1540.

  Hall's Chronicle, 1540?

  Statute punishing witchcraft with death, 1541.

  First cannon cast in England, 1543.

  =Edward VI., 1547.=

  Duke of Somerset made Protector during Edward's minority, 1547.

  Bethlehem Hospital (first for the insane), 1547.

  Battle of Pinkie, 1547.

  Trades-unions formed, 1548?

  First English Prayer-Book, 1549.

  Latimer preaches, 1549.

  *Act of Uniformity (virtually establishes Protestantism), 1549.

  First Huguenot emigration to England, 1550?

  The Forty-Two Articles of Religion (afterward reduced to thirty-nine),
    1552.

  Second Act of Uniformity, and Second Prayer-Book, 1552.

  Great seizure of unenclosed lands by the nobles, 1552?

  *Many Protestant grammar schools and several hospitals founded by the
    king, 1552-3.

  =Mary, 1553.=

  Lady Jane Grey proclaimed queen, 1553.

  Edward's laws, establishing Protestantism, repealed, 1553.

  Wyatt's rebellion, 1554.

  Lady Jane Grey executed, 1554.

  Mary marries Philip II. of Spain, 1554.

  Statutes against the Pope (since 1529) repealed;
    Catholicism re-established, 1554.

  Coaches introduced into England, 1555?

  Severe persecution of the Protestants (Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer
    burned), 1555-6.

  Watches begin to come into use in England, 1557?

  Loss of Calais, 1558.

  =Elizabeth, 1558.=

  Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity re-enacted (Protestantism restored),
    1559.

  Glass manufactured in England, 1559?

  John Knox preaches in Edinburgh, 1559.

  Hawkins begins the slave trade, 1562.

  The Thirty-Nine Articles established, 1563.

  Insurrections in behalf of Romanism, 1569.

  Ascham publishes "The Schoolmaster," 1570.

  The English Puritans begin to be prominent, 1571?

  Holinshed's Chronicle, 1577.

  Drake sails round the globe, 1577.

  Lyly publishes his "Euphues," 1579.

  Manufacture of paper in England, 1580?

  Jesuit missionaries land in England, 1580.

  High Commission Court established, 1583.

  Raleigh attempts to colonize Virginia, 1584.

  *Shakespeare at the Blackfriars and Globe Theatres in London, 1586?

  Raleigh introduces tobacco, 1586?

  Raleigh introduces the potato into Ireland, 1586?

  Execution of Mary Queen of Scots, 1587.

  *Defeat of the Armada, 1588.

  Spenser publishes "The Faërie Queene," 1590.

  Sidney writes his "Arcadia," 1590?

  Marlowe and Jonson write, 1590?

  Hooker writes, 1594?

  Establishment of the East India Company, 1600.

  First regular Poor-Law, 1601.

  Completion of the conquest of Ireland, 1603.


  XI. THE STUART PERIOD (FIRST PART), 1603-1649.

  =James I., 1603= (king of Scotland and England).

  The Millenary Petition, 1603.

  Plot against the king;
    Raleigh imprisoned, 1603.

  New laws punishing witchcraft, 1603?

  Hampton Court Conference, 1604.

  James proclaims the Divine Right of Kings, 1604?

  Right of the Commons to control their elections established, 1604.

  The Gunpowder Plot, 1605.

  Severe laws against the Catholics, 1606.

  *Colony founded at Jamestown, Virginia, 1607.

  The Baptists establish a society in London, 1608?

  Protestant colonies planted in Ulster, Ireland, 1610.

  James creates baronets, 1611.

  *Authorized translation of the Bible completed, 1611.

  Beaumont and Fletcher write, 1613?

  Execution of Raleigh, 1618.

  Post-office regularly established throughout the country, 1619?

  *Bacon publishes his New System of Philosophy, 1620.

  *Harvey discovers the circulation of the blood, 1620.

  *The Pilgrims land at Plymouth, New England, 1620.

  Massinger writes, 1620.

  Impeachment of Lord Bacon, 1621.

  The Commons protest against the king's violation of their liberties,
    1621.

  James tears up the protest, 1621.

  Imprisons members of Parliament, 1622.

  *First regular newspaper in England, 1622.

  First patent for inventions granted, 1623?

  Right of sanctuary abolished, 1624.

  =Charles I., 1625.=

  Italian architecture begins in England, 1625?

  Parliament demands reforms, and refuses grants of money unless they are
    conceded, 1625.

  Hackney coaches introduced, 1625?

  Coal comes into general use, 1625?

  Sir John Eliot sent to the Tower, 1626.

  The king raises money illegally, 1626.

  John Hampden imprisoned for refusing to lend money to the king, 1627.

  *The Petition of Right, 1628.

  Wentworth (Strafford) and Laud with the policy of "Thorough," 1635.

  Sedan chairs come into use, 1635?

  Hampden refuses to pay ship-money, 1637.

  The king tries to force a liturgy on the Scottish Church, 1637.

  Scottish National (Presbyterian) Covenant, 1638.

  The Short Parliament, 1640.

  *The Long Parliament meets, 1640.

  Torture last used in England, 1640?

  Laud imprisoned (later executed), 1640.

  Baker publishes his Chronicle, 1641.

  Execution of Strafford, 1641.

  The Triennial Act (for summoning a new Parliament every three years),
    1641.

  Parliament resolves not to be adjourned or dissolved except by its own
    consent, 1641.

  Abolishes the Star-Chamber and High Commission Courts, 1641.

  Passes statutes against ship-money and other illegal measures of the
    king, 1641.

  The Grand Remonstrance, 1641.

  Hobbes writes, 1642?

  The king attempts to seize the five members, 1642.

  *Beginning of the Civil War (battle of Edgehill), 1642.

  Cromwell organizes his "Ironsides," 1642.

  *The Solemn League and Covenant, 1643.

  The Excise Act, 1643.

  The Independents become prominent, 1643?

  The Westminster Assembly of Divines (draws up the Presbyterian creed,
    etc.), 1643-7.

  Stringent restrictions on the Press, 1644.

  Milton's Areopagitica, 1644.

  Battle of Marston Moor, 1644.

  The Self-Denying Ordinance, 1645.

  The "New Model" army, 1645.

  Battle of Naseby, 1645.

  Charles a prisoner, 1647.

  Charles makes a secret treaty with the Scots, 1647.

  Royalist revolt, 1648.

  Pride's Purge, 1648.

  The Rump Parliament, 1648.

  *Execution of the king, 1649.


  XII. THE COMMONWEALTH AND PROTECTORATE PERIOD, 1649-1660.

  House of Lords abolished, 1649;
    meets next, 1660.

  The Commonwealth, or Republic, declared, 1649.

  Charles II. proclaimed king in Scotland, 1649.

  Many Cavaliers emigrate to Virginia, 1649?

  Cromwell's campaign in Ireland, 1649-50.

  Rise of the Quakers, 1650?

  Iron (and other metal) rolling-mills, 1650?

  Battle of Dunbar, 1650.

  Cotton begins to be largely imported, 1650?

  Battle of Worcester (flight of Charles II.), 1651.

  The Navigation Act (modified, 1823; repealed, 1849), 1651.

  War with the Dutch, 1652.

  Coffee-houses opened, 1652?

  Izaak Walton's "Complete Angler," 1653.

  Cromwell expels Parliament, 1653.

  "Barebone's Parliament," 1653.

  The Instrument of Government, 1653.

  *=Cromwell, Protector, 1653.=

  War with Spain, 1655.

  England divided into eleven military districts, 1655.

  The Humble Petition and Advice, 1657.

  =Richard Cromwell, Protector, 1658.=

  Fuller's Church History, 1658.

  The army compels Richard to abdicate, 1659.

  General Monk calls a "Free Parliament," 1660.

  Charles II. sends the Declaration of Breda, 1660.

  *The Convention Parliament invites Charles II. to return, 1660.


  XIII. THE STUART PERIOD (SECOND PART), 1660-1714.

  =Charles II., 1660.=

  Standing army established, 1660.

  Regicides executed, 1660.

  Board of Trade organized, 1660.

  Feudal dues and services abolished, 1660.

  Tea introduced, 1660?

  Corporation Act, 1661 (repealed, 1828).

  Act of Uniformity re-enacted, 1662.

  Presbyterian clergy driven out, 1662.

  Press licensing act, 1662 (see 1695).

  Royal Society founded in London, 1662.

  Butler writes "Hudibras," 1663.

  Hearth Tax, 1663 (repealed, 1689).

  Convocation surrenders its right of self-taxation, 1663.

  Conventicle Act, 1664.

  Repeal of Triennial Act, 1664 (see 1641).

  Seizure of New Amsterdam (New York), 1664.

  War with the Dutch, 1665.

  The Plague in London, 1665.

  The Five-Mile Act, 1665.

  Great fire of London, 1666.

  The Dutch sail up the Thames, 1667.

  The Cabal comes into power, 1667.

  Milton publishes "Paradise Lost," 1667.

  *Secret Treaty of Dover, 1670.

  Bunyan writes "Pilgrim's Progress," 1670.

  Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, 1670?

  The king robs the Exchequer, 1672.

  Declaration of Indulgence, 1672.

  The Test Act, 1673 (repealed, 1828).

  Wren begins to rebuild St. Paul's (Italian style), 1675.

  *The so-called Popish Plot, 1678.

  *The Disabling Act (excludes Catholics), 1678.

  *The Habeas Corpus Act passed, 1679.

  The Exclusion Bill introduced, 1679.

  *Rise of Whigs and Tories, 1680?

  Dryden writes "Absalom and Achitophel," 1681.

  The Rye House Plot, 1683.

  Execution of Russell and Sydney, 1683.

  Town charters revoked, 1684.

  New England charters revoked, 1684.

  =James II., 1685.=

  Monmouth's rebellion;
    Battle of Sedgemoor, 1685.

  The Bloody Assizes, 1685.

  Many Huguenots settle in England, 1685.

  Huguenots begin silk manufacture in England, 1685?

  *Newton demonstrates the law of gravitation, 1687.

  Tyrconnel made Lord Deputy of Ireland, 1687.

  "Lilli Burlero," 1687.

  Expulsion of the Fellows of Magdalen College, 1687.

  Declaration of Indulgence, 1687-8.

  Imprisonment of the Seven Bishops;
    trial and acquittal, 1688.

  Birth of Prince James, "the Pretender," 1688.

  William of Orange invited to England, 1688.

  Arrival of William;
    his Declaration, 1688.

  Flight of James, 1688.

  The Convention Parliament, 1689.

  The Declaration of Right, 1689.

  =William and Mary (Orange-Stuart), 1689.=

  Grand Alliance against Louis XIV., 1689.

  Jacobite rebellion in Scotland (Killiecrankie), 1689.

  The bayonet begins to be used, 1689?

  Siege of Londonderry, 1689.

  *Mutiny Bill passes, 1689.

  *Toleration Act, 1689.

  *Bill of Rights, 1689.

  Secession of the non-jurors, 1689.

  Act of Grace, 1690.

  Battle of Beachy Head, 1690.

  *Battle of the Boyne, 1690.

  Chelsea army hospital, 1690.

  Treaty of Limerick, 1691.

  Severe laws against Irish Catholics, 1692.

  Massacre of Glencoe, 1692.

  Lord Churchill (Duke of Marlborough) deprived of office, 1692.

  Battle of La Hogue, 1692.

  Flint-lock muskets come into use, 1692?

  *Beginning of the national debt, 1693.

  *Bank of England established, 1694.

  Tax on paper, 1694 (repealed, 1861).

  Death of Queen Mary, 1694.

  Triennial Act restored, 1694 (see 1664).

  *The press made free, 1695.

  Greenwich Hospital, for seamen, established, 1696.

  Window tax imposed, 1696 (see 1851).

  Trials for Treason Act (reforms political trials), 1696.

  Peace of Ryswick, 1697.

  The Partition Treaties (an attempt to settle the question of the Spanish
    Succession), 1698 and 1700.

  London clubs begin, 1700?

  Severe Act against Roman Catholics, 1700 (repealed, 1778).

  *Act of Settlement, 1701.

  Abjuration Act, 1702.

  =Anne, 1702= (last of the Stuart sovereigns).

  War with France, 1702.

  Great power of the Duchess of Marlborough, 1702.

  Judges to hold office during good behavior, 1702.

  High and Low Church parties, 1703.

  First daily newspaper in England, 1703.

  *Battle of Blenheim, 1704.

  *Gibraltar taken, 1704.

  John Locke dies, 1704.

  Battle of Ramillies, 1706.

  *Union of England and Scotland (Great Britain), 1707.

  Union Jack adopted, 1707.

  Mrs. Masham comes into power, 1710.

  Trial of Dr. Sacheverell, 1710.

  Marlborough disgraced, 1711.

  Property qualification for members of the House of Commons established,
    1711 (repealed, 1858).

  Act against Occasional Conformity, 1711 (repealed, 1718).

  Addison writes for the "Spectator," 1711.

  Pope writes, 1712.

  Newcomen invents his steam-engine (for pumping mines), 1712.

  *Treaty of Utrecht, 1713.

  The Schism Act, 1714 (repealed, 1718).


  XIV. THE HANOVERIAN PERIOD, 1714 TO THE PRESENT TIME.

  =George I., 1714.=

  Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, in favor of the Old Pretender, 1715.

  Septennial Act, 1716.

  Convocation suspended, 1717-1850.

  Repeal of Occasional Conformity, 1718 (see 1711).

  The Triple and Quadruple Alliance, 1717, 1718.

  De Foe writes "Robinson Crusoe," 1719.

  *The South Sea Bubble, 1720.

  Inoculation for small-pox introduced, 1721.

  Sir Robert Walpole first prime minister, 1721.

  *Modern cabinet system begins, 1721.

  Swift writes "Gulliver's Travels," 1726.

  War with Austria and Spain, 1727.

  =George II., 1727.=

  Laws punishing witchcraft with death repealed, 1736.

  Bishop Butler writes his "Analogy," 1736.

  John Wesley--Rise of the Methodists, 1738.

  Hogarth's pictures, 1738?

  War of "Jenkins's Ear," 1739.

  War of the Austrian Succession, 1741.

  The Place Act (limits the number of offices to be held by members of
    Parliament), 1742.

  Battle of Dettingen, 1743.

  Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, in favor of the Young Pretender, 1745.

  The Pretender defeated at Culloden, 1746.

  Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748.

  Fielding writes "Tom Jones," 1749.

  Gray's Elegy, 1751.

  Clive takes Arcot, 1752.

  Introduction of the New Style, 1752.

  British Museum founded, 1753.

  Hume begins his History of England, 1754.

  Seven Years' War with France, 1756.

  "The Black Hole" of Calcutta, 1756.

  *Clive wins the battle of Plassey;
    foundation of England's Indian empire, 1757.

  *Victory of Quebec, 1759 (England gains Canada).

  =George III., 1760.=

  Johnson, Goldsmith, and Sterne write, 1760?

  Wedgewood establishes his potteries, 1760.

  Bribery Act (to punish bribery of voters), 1762.

  Canada ceded to Great Britain, 1763.

  Wilkes attacks the government ("North Briton"), 1763.

  Hargreaves invents the spinning-jenny, 1764.

  *Stamp Act, 1765 (repealed, 1766).

  Blackstone's Commentaries, 1765.

  *Watt's steam-engine, 1765.

  Arkwright's spinning-machine, 1768.

  Letters of "Junius," 1769.

  Umbrellas introduced, 1770?

  *Debates in Parliament regularly reported, 1771.

  Pressing to death abolished, 1772.

  Royal Marriage Act, 1772.

  *"The Boston Tea Party," 1773.

  The four "Intolerable Acts," 1774.

  *Prison reforms by John Howard, 1774.

  Priestley discovers oxygen gas, 1774.

  The American Revolution begins, 1775.

  *Declaration of American Independence, 1776.

  Gibbon begins his History of Rome, 1776.

  Smith's "Wealth of Nations," 1776.

  Roman Catholic Relief Act (repeals Act of 1700), 1778.

  Act relieving Dissenting ministers and schoolmasters, 1779.

  Free trade granted to Ireland, 1780.

  Jeremy Bentham writes, 1780?

  Ducking-stool last used, 1780?

  Robert Raikes opens Sunday-schools, 1780?

  Lord George Gordon riots, 1780.

  Defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown, 1781.

  Poynings' Law repealed, 1782 (see 1494).

  Great improvement in the manufacture of iron (puddling), 1784?

  Treaties of Paris and Versailles, 1783.

  *Recognition of the independence of the United States, 1783.

  *Mail coaches established, 1784.

  Board of Control for India, 1784.

  The London "Times" established, 1785.

  Trial of Warren Hastings, 1786.

  West Africa colonized, 1787?

  Gainsborough dies, 1788.

  Burke's "Reflections on the French Revolution," 1790.

  Robert Burns writes, 1790?

  Formation of the "United Irishmen," 1792.

  Sir J. Reynolds dies, 1792.

  War with France, 1793.

  Fire-engine patented, 1793.

  Bank of England suspends payment, 1797.

  Battle of the Nile, 1798.

  *Vaccination introduced, 1799?

  Reform in care of the insane, 1800?

  *Union of Great Britain and Ireland, 1800.

  First Census of Great Britain, 1801.

  Colonization of Australia, 1802.

  Paley's "Natural Theology," 1803.

  Malthus writes on Population, 1803.

  Chimney-sweeping machine, 1805.

  *Battle of Trafalgar, 1805.

  Abolition of the slave-trade, 1807.

  Many trades-unions formed, 1807?

  The Orders in Council, 1807.

  The Peninsula War, 1808-14.

  Luddite riots, 1811.

  George III. becomes insane;
    Prince of Wales appointed regent, 1811.

  Dissenters' Relief Bill, 1812.

  Debtors' Act (releases "poor debtors"), 1812.

  *First steamboat in Great Britain, 1812.

  *Second War with America, 1812.

  Sheridan and Coleridge, 1812?

  Toleration granted to Unitarians, 1813.

  Walter Scott's "Waverley Novels," 1814.

  London lighted with gas, 1815?

  Davy invents the miner's safety-lamp, 1815.

  *Battle of Waterloo, 1815.

  South Africa acquired, 1815.

  Wager of battle abolished, 1819.

  Macadamized roads, 1819?

  The Six Acts (relating to seditious meetings, etc.), 1819.

  *First Atlantic steamship, 1819.

  =George IV., 1820.=

  Bill for the queen's divorce, 1820.

  Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth, Scott, Southey, Lamb, Moore, 1820?

  Cabs introduced, 1822.

  Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, 1824.

  Capital punishment greatly restricted, 1824.

  First temperance society, 1826.

  Flaxman, the sculptor, dies, 1826.

  Benefit of clergy abolished, 1827.

  *Repeal of the Corporation Act, 1828, (see 1661).

  *Repeal of the Test Act, 1828 (see 1673).

  *Catholic emancipation (repeals act of 1678), 1829.

  Irish property qualification for franchise increased, 1829.

  Omnibuses introduced, 1829.

  *Friction matches, 1829?

  The new police, 1829.

  =William IV., 1830.=

  Stephenson invents the first successful locomotive (the "Rocket"), 1830.

  *Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, 1830.

  Cobbett edits the Political Register, 1830?

  First iron vessels built, 1830?

  *Passage of the Reform Bill, 1832.

  Party names of Liberal and Conservative begin to come into use, 1832.

  *Emancipation of slaves in British colonies, 1833.

  First Factory Act (regulates the employment of women and children), 1833.

  East India trade thrown open, 1833.

  New Poor-Law, 1834.

  Government grant to "British" and "National" (Dissenting and Church of
    England) schools, 1834.

  Municipal Corporation Act, 1835.

  All trades in towns declared free, 1835.

  Virtual abolition of the Press Gang, 1835.

  Civil Marriage Act (permits Dissenters to be married in their own
    chapels), 1836.

  Commutation of Tithes Act, 1836.

  Sydney Smith writes.

  =Victoria, 1837.=

  Criminal law reforms, 1837.

  Abolition of the pillory, 1837.

  The electric telegraph in England, 1838?

  The Opium War, 1839.

  Union of Upper and Lower Canada, 1840.

  National Sanitary Commission, 1840, 1843.

  *Penny postage established, 1840.

  Photography introduced, 1841?

  Privilege of peerage (equivalent to benefit of clergy) abolished, 1841.

  Chimney Sweep Act (forbids employment of children), 1842.

  China compelled to open a number of ports to trade, 1842.

  *Grove discovers the law of the indestructibility of force, 1842.

  Percussion-lock muskets adopted, 1842.

  Thames Tunnel completed, 1842.

  Revolvers introduced, 1845?

  India rubber begins to be extensively used, 1845?

  Jews admitted to municipal offices, 1846.

  *Famine in Ireland, 1846.

  Railway speculation and panic, 1846.

  *Repeal of the Corn Laws;
    beginning of free trade, 1846 (see 1360).

  *Ether begins to be used in surgery, 1846.

  Sewing-machines, 1846?

  Government grants $50,000,000 for relief of the Irish famine, 1847.

  Chartist agitation, 1848.

  First government board of health, 1848.

  Repeal of the Navigation Act, 1849 (see 1651).

  *First "World's Fair," 1851.

  Reaping and mowing machines, 1851?

  Repeal of window tax, 1851 (see 1696).

  Tenement House Act (one of a series for relief of working classes), 1851.

  Colonization of New Zealand, 1852.

  Reform of Court of Chancery begins, 1852.

  The Crimean War, 1854.

  Hallam, Macaulay, Arnold, Froude, Freeman, Carlyle, Thackeray, Brontë,
    Dickens, "George Eliot," Mill, Darwin, Spencer, Faraday, Tyndall,
    Huxley, Ruskin, Tennyson, Browning, 1855?

  First large iron steamer built, 1855?

  Abolition of the newspaper tax, 1855.

  *Rise of cheap newspapers, 1855.

  Bessemer's iron and steel process, 1856.

  Right of search abandoned, 1856.

  The Indian Mutiny, 1857.

  Sovereignty of India given to the crown, 1858.

  *First Atlantic cable, 1858; relaid, 1866.

  *Jews admitted to Parliament, 1858.

  Abolition of property qualification for members of Parliament, 1858
    (see 1711).

  *Darwin publishes "The Origin of Species," 1859.

  Flogging virtually abolished in the army, 1859.

  Weather predictions begin, 1860?

  *The first English iron-clad built, 1861.

  Imprisonment for debt (except fraudulent) abolished, 1861.

  England recognizes the Confederates as "belligerents," 1861.

  The _Trent_ Affair, 1861.

  Repeal of the paper tax, 1861 (see 1694).

  *The escape of the _Alabama_, 1862.

  *Herbert Spencer publishes his "First Principles," setting forth the
    philosophy of Evolution, 1862.

  London underground railway opened, 1863.

  Steam fire engines introduced, 1863?

  *Reform Act, extending the franchise, 1867.

  Establishment of the Dominion of Canada, 1867.

  Compulsory church rates abolished, 1868.

  Public executions abolished, 1868.

  *Disestablishment of the Irish branch of the Church of England, 1869.

  *Woman suffrage (to single women and widows who are householders), 1869.

  *Government ("Board") schools established, 1870.

  Street railways, 1870?

  Women allowed to vote at school-board elections and serve on school
    boards, 1870.

  Revision and consolidation of the statutes, 1870.

  *Civil service examinations established, 1870.

  Married Woman's Property Act, 1870, 1882.

  *First Irish Land Bill, 1870.

  Purchase of commissions in the army abolished, 1871.

  Trades-unions recognized, 1871, 1875.

  *Abolition of religious tests in the universities, 1871.

  *The Ballot Act, 1872.

  *Joseph Arch organizes the Agricultural Union, 1872.

  *Geneva Tribunal (allows damages in the _Alabama_ case), 1872.

  National Federation of Employers, 1873.

  England purchases nearly half of the Suez Canal, 1875.

  The queen made Empress of India, 1877.

  *Electric lighting in London, 1878?

  *Telephone introduced, 1878?

  *The Irish Land League, 1879.

  Anti-rent agitation in Ireland, 1879.

  Boycotting begins, 1880.

  Burial Bill (gives Dissenters right to bury in public churchyards with
    their own religious services), 1880.

  Irish Coercion Act, 1881.

  Flogging abolished in the navy, 1881.

  *Second Irish Land Act, 1881.

  Act facilitating free trade in land, 1882.

  Suppression of the Land League, 1882.

  *Reform of Elections Act, 1884.

  *Reform Act (extending suffrage to counties), 1884.

  *Over 2,500,000 new voters admitted under Reform Act of 1884, 1885.

  First "People's Parliament" (Peers, 549; H. of C., 670), 1886.

  The Queen's Jubilee, June 21, 1887.

  New Irish Crimes Act, 1887.




DESCENT OF THE ENGLISH SOVEREIGNS FROM EGBERT TO QUEEN VICTORIA.[*]

  1. =Egbert= (descended from =Cerdic=, 495)
      first "King of the English," 828-837.
           ||
    2. =Ethelwulf=,
        837-858.
           ||
           ||+============+===================+=================+
           ||            ||                  ||                ||
    3. =Ethelbald=,  4. =Ethelbert=,  5. =Ethelred I.=,  6. =Alfred=,
        858-860.         860-866.          66-871.           871-901.
                                                               ||
           +====================================================+
           ||                              *
           ||                             * *
      7. =Edward I.=,               15. =Sweyn=, the Dane,
          901-925.                           1013.
           ||                                  |
       +===============+===============+       +-----+
      ||              ||              ||             |
  8. =Ethelstan=,  9. =Edmund=,  10. =Edred=,  17. =Canute=,
      925-940.        940-946.       946-955.      1017-1035.
                      ||                             |
    +==================+               +---------------------+
    ||                ||               |          *          |
  11. =Edwin=,  12. =Edgar=,   18. =Harold I.=,  * *     19. =Hardicanute=,
      955-959.       959-975.      1035-1040.  Richard I.,   1040-1042.
                      ||                     Duke of Normandy.
                      ||                               ||
    +=================+================+            +==+============+
    ||                *               ||            ||             ||
    ||               * *              ||            ||             ||
  13. =Edward II.=, Elgiva,? m. 14. =Ethelred II.=, ||             ||
       975-979.       ||          979-1016. m. (2) Emma.  Richard II., Duke
                      ||                            ||      of Normandy.
                      ||                            ||  *          ||
                      ||                            || * *         ||
          +===========+         +===================+ Godwin,      ||
         ||                     ||                Earl of Kent.    ||
  16. =Edmund II.=    20. =Edward III.=,                ||         ||
      (Ironside),         the Confessor,                ||         ||
      1016-1016.          1042-1066,        +-----------||         ||
        ||                second cousin of  |           ||         ||
  Edgar Atheling,         =William the      |           ||         ||
  grandson of Edmund II.  Conqueror=, m. Edith.  21. =Harold II.=, ||
  [should have succeeded                             1066-1066,    ||
  =Harold II.= (No. 21)].                            slain         ||
                                                     at Hastings,  ||
                                                     1066.         ||
  ------------------------------------------+                      ||
   *  This sign shows that the person over  |                      ||
  * * whose name it stands was not in the   |     Robert, Duke of Normandy.
  direct line of descent.                   |       ||
  ------------------------------------------+       ||
                                                    ||
                                    22. =William the Conqueror=,
           THE NORMAN KINGS.        1066-1087. Second cousin of
                                    Edward the Confessor (No. 20),
                                    m. Matilda of Flanders, a direct
                                    descendant of Alfred the Great (No. 6).
                                           ||
                  +========================+================+
                 ||                        ||              ||
            23. =William II.=   [†]24. =Henry I.=,       Adela.
                1087-1100.             1100-1135.          ||
                                           ||              ||
                                         Maud, or    25. =Stephen=
                                      Matilda, m.        of Blois,
                                      (2) Geoffrey       1135-1154.
                                      Plantagenet,
                                      Count of Anjou.
                                           ||
            THE HOUSE OF ANJOU.  [‡]26. =Henry II.=, 1154-1189.
                                           ||
                 +==========================+============+
                 ||                        ||            ||
           27. =Richard I.=             Geoffrey.  28. =John= (Lackland),
               (Cœur de Lion),             ||           1199-1216.
                1189-1199.              Arthur,          ||
                                       murdered    29. =Henry III.=,
                                       by John?        1216-1272.
                                                         ||
       +=================================================+
      ||
      ||                         +----------------------------------------
  30. =Edward I.=, 1272-1307.    |[*] The heavy lines indicate the Saxon
      ||                         |or Early English and Norman sovereigns
      ||                         |with their successors.
  31. =Edward II.=, 1307-1327.   |[†] Henry I. (No. 24) married Matilda of
      ||                         |Scotland, a descendant of Edmund II.
      ||                         |(Ironside) (No. 16).
  32. =Edward III.=, 1327-1377,  |[‡] Henry II. m. Eleanor of Aquitaine,
       m. Philippa of Hainault.  |the divorced queen of France, thereby
      ||                         |acquiring large possessions in Southern
      ||                         |France.
      ||                         +----------------------------------------
      +================+===================+========================+
      ||               |                  ||                       ||
   Edward, the      Lionel, D.       John of Gaunt,         Edmund Langley,
  Black Prince.  of Clarence.     =Duke of Lancaster=.      =Duke of York=.
      ||               |                  ||                       ||
  33. =Richard II.=  Philippa,            ||--------------+        ||
      1377-1399.    m. Edmund      HOUSE OF LANCASTER.    |        ||
                    Mortimer.       34. =Henry IV.=,     John      ||
                       |                1399-1413.     Beaufort,   ||
                       |                  ||            Earl of,   ||
                       |                  ||         Somerset.[1]  ||
      +----------------+            35. =Henry V.=,       |        ||
      |                              1413-1422, m.        |   Richard, Earl
                                  +.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..+.. of Cambridge,
  [*]Roger Mortimer.              :    Catharine of  *    |     m. Anne
      |                           :    of  Valois,  * *   |     Mortimer.
      |--------------------+      :    who m. (2) =Owen   |   (See dotted
      |                    |      :       ||      Tudor=  |      line.)
  [†]Edmund Mortimer.    Anne     :       ||       ||     |        ||
                         Mortimer, m.     ||       ||    John      ||
                                          ||       ||  Beaufort,   ||
                                   36. =Henry VI.= ||   D. of      ||
  -----------------------------+       1422-1461,  ||  Somerset.   ||
  [*] Richard II., before he   |       m. Margaret ||     |        ||
  was deposed, had named Roger |       of Anjou.   ||     |     Richard,
  Mortimer as his successor,   |          ||       ||     |  =D. of York=,
  but Roger died before the    |          ||   Edmund     |     d. 1460.
  king.                        |          ||   Tudor, m. Margaret  ||
  [†] Edmund Mortimer, son of  |          ||   Earl of   Beaufort  ||
  Roger Mortimer, stood next   |          ||  Richmond.  [See p.   ||
  in the order of succession   |          ||       ||      163.]   ||
  after Richard II.,  but his  |      Edward,      ||              ||
  claim was not allowed. He    |    Prince of      ||              ||
  died 1424.                   |    Wales, m.?     ||[1] See p.    ||
  -----------------------------+    Anne Neville,  ||       163.   ||
                                    who later m.   ||              ||
                                    =Richard III.= ||        HOUSE OF YORK.
                                     (No. 39).     ||              ||
                                                   ||              ||
                                +==================+    +=============+
                               ||                      ||             ||
                               ||               37. =Edward   39. =Richard
                               ||                    IV.=,         III.=,
                               ||                 1461-1483.    1483-1485,
                               ||                     ||         m. Anne
                               ||                     ||       Neville.[**]
                               ||                     ||
                               ||              +======+==========+
                        HOUSE OF TUDOR.        ||               ||
                         40. =Henry VII.=, m. Elizabeth   38. =Edward V.=
                           [‡]1485-1509.      of =York=.     (murdered in
                               ||                            the Tower by
                               ||                            Richard III.?)
                               ||                             1483-1483.
                               ||
     +=============================================+--------------+
    ||                                            ||              |
  41. =Henry VIII.=, 1509-1547.            Margaret Tudor,     Mary, m.
  m. 1. Catharine of Aragon, 2.            m. James (Stuart)   Charles
  Anne Boleyn, 3. Jane Seymour,            IV., King of        Brandon,
  4. Anne of Cleves, 5. Catherine         Scotland.            D. of
  Howard, 6. Catharine Parr.                      ||           Suffolk.
    ||                                            ||              |
    +===============+================+    James (Stuart) V.       |
    ||              ||              ||            ||           Frances
  43. =Mary=  44. =Elizabeth=  42. =Edward VI.=   ||           Brandon,
  (d. of 1),      (d. of 2),       (s. of 3),     ||           m. Henry
  1553-1558,      1558-1603.       1547-1553.  [§]Mary         Grey, D.
  m. Philip II.                              Queen of Scots,   of Suffolk.
  of Spain.                                  beheaded 1587.        |
                                                  ||           Lady Jane
                                                  ||           Grey,
                  HOUSE OF STUART.      45. =James (Stuart)   (m. lord
                                            I.= of England,    Dudley),
                                             1603-1625.     beheaded 1554.
                                                  ||
                +=================================+=======+
                ||                                        ||
         46. =Charles I.=,                        Elizabeth, m. Frederick,
            1625-1649.[††]                            Elector-Palatine.
                ||                                        ||
     +==========+====================+              Sophia, m. the Elector
    ||               ||              ||              of Hanover.
  47. =Charles  48. =James II.=,  =Mary,= m.              ||
       II.=,        1685-1688.    William II.      HOUSE OF HANOVER.
    1660-1685.       ||           of Orange.      51. =George, Elector of
                     ||                ||         Hanover=, became =George
    +================+=========+  49. =William      I. of England=,
    ||               ||        ||     III.= of        1714-1727.
  49. =Mary=, 50. =Anne=,    James    Orange,             ||
  m. William  1702-1714.  (the Old    became         =52. George II.=,
   III. of              pretender),   William III.      1727-1760.
   Orange,               b. 1688,     of England,         ||
                         d. 1765.     1689-1702.      Frederick,
                            |                       Prince of Wales,
                         Charles                  (died before coming
                       (the Young                   to the throne).
                       Pretender),                        ||
                    b. 1720, d. 1788.              53. =George III.=,
                                                       1760-1820.
                                                          ||
          +=========================+======================+
          ||                        ||                    ||
  55. =William IV.=,              Edward,       54. =George IV.=,
     1830-1837                  Duke of Kent,        1820-1830.
                                 d. 1820.
                                    ||
                              56. =Victoria=,
                                   1837-

[‡] Henry VII. (called Henry of Richmond and Henry of Lancaster): by his
marriage with Elizabeth of York, the rival claims of the Houses of
Lancaster and York were settled and the House of Tudor began.

[§] Mary Queen of Scots stood next in order of succession after Mary (No.
43), provided Henry VIII.'s marriage with Catharine of Aragon (Mary's
mother) was held not to have been dissolved. The Pope never recognized
Henry's divorce from Catharine, or his marriage with Anne Boleyn, and
therefore supported Mary Queen of Scots in her claim to the English crown
after Mary's (43) death in 1558.

[**] Richard III. (No. 39) married Anne Neville, widow? of Edward Prince of
Wales (son of Henry VI.) slain at Tewkesbury.

[††] Commonwealth and Protectorate 1649-1660.




A SHORT LIST OF BOOKS ON ENGLISH HISTORY.

[The * marks contemporary or early history.]


  I. THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD.

  Dawkins's Early Man in Britain.

  Geikie's Prehistoric Europe.

  Keary's Dawn of History.

  Wright's The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon.

  Elton's Origins of English History.

  Rhys's Celtic Britain.

  Geoffrey of Monmouth's Chronicle (legendary).

  Geikie's Influence of Geology on English History, in Macmillan's
    Magazine, 1882.


  II. THE ROMAN PERIOD, 55, 54 B.C.; 43-410 A.D.

  *Cæsar's Commentaries on the Gallic War (Books IV. and V., chiefly 55,
    54 B.C.).

  *Tacitus's Agricola and Annals (chiefly from 78-84).

  *Gildas's History of Britain (whole period).

  *Bede's Ecclesiastical History of Britain (whole period).

  Wright's The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon.

  Elton's Origins of English History.

  Pearson's England during the Early and Middle Ages.

  [1]Scarth's Roman Britain.

    [1] The best short history.


  III. THE SAXON, OR EARLY ENGLISH, PERIOD, 449-1066.

  *The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (whole period).

  *Gildas's History of Britain (Roman Conquest to 560).

  *Bede's Ecclesiastical History of Britain (earliest times to 731).

  *Nennius's History of Britain (earliest times to 642).

  *Geoffrey of Monmouth's Chronicle (legendary) (earliest times to 689).

  *Asser's Life of Alfred the Great.

  Elton's Origins of English History.

  Pauli's Life of Alfred.

  Green's Making of England.

  Green's Conquest of England.

  Freeman's Norman Conquest, vols. I.-II.

  Lappenberg's England under the Anglo-Saxon Kings.

  Pearson's History of England during the Early and Middle Ages.

  Pearson's Historical Atlas.

  Freeman's Origin of the English Nation.

  Stubbs's Constitutional History of England.

  Taine's History of English Literature.

  Church's Beginning of the Middle Ages.

  [2]Armitage's Childhood of the English Nation.

  [2]Grant Allen's Anglo-Saxon Britain.

  [2]York-Powell's Early England.

  [2]Freeman's Early English History.

     [2] the four best short histories.


  IV. THE NORMAN PERIOD, 1066-1154.

  *The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Peterborough continuation) (whole period).

  *Ordericus Vitalis's Ecclesiastical History (to 1141).

  *Wace's Roman de Rou (Taylor's translation) (to 1106).

  *Bruce's Bayeux Tapestry Elucidated (with plates).

  *William of Malmesbury's Chronicle (to 142).

  *Roger of Hoveden's Chronicle (whole period).

  Freeman's Norman Conquest.

  Church's Life of Anselm.

  Taine's History of English Literature.

  Stubbs's Constitutional History of England.

  [3]Freeman's Short History of the Norman Conquest.

  [3]Armitage's Childhood of the English Nation.

  [3]Johnson's Normans in Europe.

  [3]Creighton's England a Continental Power.

    [3] The four best short histories.


  V. THE ANGEVIN PERIOD, 1154-1399.

  *Matthew Paris's Chronicle (1067-1253).

  *Richard of Devizes' Chronicle (1189-1192).

  *Froissart's Chronicles (1325-1400).

  Walsingham's Historia Brevis (1272-1422) (not translated).

  *Jocelin of Brakelonde's Chronicle (1173-1202) (see Carlyle's Past and
    Present, Book II.).

  Norgate's Angevin Kings.

  Taine's History of English Literature.

  Anstey's William of Wykeham.

  Pearson's England in the Early and Middle Ages.

  Maurice's Stephen Langton.

  Creighton's Life of Simon de Montfort.

  Stubbs's Constitutional History of England.

  Bémont's Vie de Simon de Montfort.

  Gairdner and Spedding's Studies in English History (the Lollards).

  Knight's Life of Caxton.

  Seebohm's Essay on the Black Death (Fortnightly Review, 1865).

  Maurice's Wat Tyler, _et al._

  Charles's Vie de Roger Bacon.

  Buddensieg's Life of Wiclif.

  Burrows's Wicklif's Place in History.

  Pauli's Pictures of Old England.

  [4]Stubbs's Early Plantagenets.

  [4]Rowley's Rise of the People.

  [4]Warburton's Edward III.

  Shakespeare's John and Richard (Hudson's edition).

  Scott's Ivanhoe and the Talisman (Richard I. and John).

    [4] The three best short histories.


  VI. THE LANCASTRIAN PERIOD, 1399-1461.

  *The Paston Letters (Gairdner's edition) (1424-1506).

  *Fortescue's Governance of England (Plummer's edition) (1460?).

  *Walsingham's Historia Brevis (not translated) (1272-1422).

  *Hall's Chronicle (1398-1509).

  Brougham's England under the House of Lancaster.

  Besant's Life of Sir Richard Whittington.

  Taine's English Literature.

  Rand's Chaucer's England.

  Stubbs's Constitutional History of England.

  Strickland's Queens of England (Margaret of Anjou).

  Reed's English History in Shakespeare.

  [5]Gairdner's Houses of Lancaster and York.

  [5]Rowley's Rise of the People.

  Shakespeare's Henry IV., V., and VI. (Hudson's edition).

    [5] the two best short histories.


  VII. THE YORKIST PERIOD, 1461-1485.

  *The Paston Letters (Gairdner's edition) (1424-1506).

  *Sir Thomas More's Edward V. and Richard III.

  *Hall's Chronicle (1398-1509).

  Hallam's Middle Ages.

  Gairdner's Richard III.

  Taine's English Literature.

  Stubbs's Constitutional History of England.

  [6]Gairdner's Houses of Lancaster and York.

  [6]Rowley's Rise of the People.

  Shakespeare's Richard III. (Hudson's edition).

    [6] The two best short histories.


  VIII. THE TUDOR PERIOD, 1485-1603.

  *Holinshed's History of England (from earliest times to 1577).

  *Lord Bacon's Life of Henry VII.

  *Latimer's 1st and 6th Sermons before Edward VI. and "The Ploughers"
    (1549).

  *Hall's Chronicle (1398-1509).

  Hallam's Constitutional History of England.

  Lingard's History of England (Roman Catholic).

  Froude's History of England.

  Strickland's Queens of England (Catharine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Mary,
    Elizabeth).

  Demaus's Life of Latimer.

  Froude's Short Studies.

  Nicholls's Life of Cabot.

  Dixon's History of the Church of England.

  Hall's Society in the Age of Elizabeth.

  Thornbury's Shakespeare's England.

  Macaulay's Essay on Lord Burleigh.

  Barrows's Life of Drake.

  Creighton's Life of Raleigh.

  Taine's English Literature.

  [7]Creighton's The Tudors and the Reformation.

  [7]Seebohm's Era of the Protestant Revolution.

  [7]Moberly's Early Tudors.

  [7]Creighton's Age of Elizabeth.

  Shakespeare's Henry VIII. (Hudson's edition).

  Scott's Kenilworth, Abbot, Monastery (Elizabeth, and Mary Queen of
    Scots).

    [7] The four best short histories.


  IX. THE STUART PERIOD (FIRST PART), 1603-1649.

  *The Prose Works of James I. (1599-1625).

  *Fuller's Church History of Britain (earliest times to 1648).

  *Clarendon's History of the Rebellion (1625-1660).

  *Memoirs of Col. Hutchinson (1616-1664).

  *May's History of the Long Parliament (1640-1643).

  Taine's History of English Literature.

  Speddings's Lord Bacon and his Times.

  Gardiner's History of England (1603-1642).

  Church's Life of Lord Bacon.

  Hallam's Constitutional History of England.

  Hume's History of England (Tory).

  Macaulay's History of England (Whig).

  Lingard's History of England (Roman Catholic).

  Strickland's Queens of England.

  Ranke's History of England in the XVII. Century.

  Guizot's Histoire[667] de Charles I.

  Bancroft's History of the United States.

  Macaulay's Essays (Bacon, Hampden, Hallam's History).

  Goldwin Smith's Three English Statesmen (Cromwell, Pym, Hampden).

  [8]Cordery's Struggle against Absolute Monarchy.

  [8]Cordery and Phillpott's King and Commonwealth.

  [8]Gardiner's Puritan Revolution.

  Scott's Fortunes of Nigel (James I.).

    [8] the three best short histories.

  [667] See Guizot's History of the Revolution for translation of all but
  introduction of 120 pages.


  X. THE COMMONWEALTH AND PROTECTORATE, 1649-1660 (SEE PRECEDING PERIOD).

  *Ludlow's Memoirs (1640-1668).

  *Carlyle's Life and Letters of Oliver Cromwell.

  Carlyle's Hero Worship (Cromwell).

  Guizot's Cromwell and the Commonwealth.

  Guizot's Richard Cromwell.

  Guizot's Life of Monk.

  Masson's Life and Times of Milton.

  Bisset's Omitted Chapters in the History of England.

  Pattison's Life of Milton.

  Scott's Woodstock (Cromwell).


  XI. STUART PERIOD (SECOND PART), 1660-1714.

  *Evelyn's Diary (1641-1706).

  *Pepys's Diary (1659-1669).

  *Burnet's History of His Own Time (1660-1713).

  Macaulay's History of England (Whig).

  Hallam's Constitutional History of England.

  Taine's History of English Literature.

  Strickland's Queens of England.

  Ranke's History of England in the Seventeenth Century.

  Hume's History of England (Tory).

  Brewster's Life of Newton.

  Lingard's History of England (Roman Catholic).

  Green's History of the English People.

  Stanhope's History of England.

  Lecky's History of England in the Eighteenth Century.

  Macaulay's Essays (Milton, Mackintosh's History, War of the Spanish
    Succession, and The Comic Dramatists of the Restoration).

  Creighton's Life of Marlborough.

  Guizot's History of Civilization (Chapter XIII).

  [9]Morris's Age of Anne.

  [9]Hale's Fall of the Stuarts.

  [9]Cordery's Struggle against Absolute Monarchy.

  Scott's Peveril of the Peak, and Old Mortality (Charles II.).

  Thackeray's Henry Esmond (Anne).

    [9] The three best short histories.


  XII. THE HANOVERIAN PERIOD, 1714 TO THE PRESENT TIME.

  *Memoirs of Robert Walpole.

  *Horace Walpole's Memoirs and Journals.

  Hallam's Constitutional History of England (to death of George II.,
    1760).

  May's Constitutional History (1760-1870).

  Amos's English Constitution (1830-1880).

  Amos's Primer of the English Constitution.

  Bagehot's English Constitution.

  Lecky's History of England in the XVIII. Century.

  Walpole's History of England (1815-1860).

  Molesworth's History of England (1830-1870).

  Martineau's History of England (1816-1846).

  Taine's History of English Literature.

  Bancroft's History of the United States.

  Bryant's History of the United States.

  Stanhope's History of England (1713-1783).

  Green's Causes of the Revolution.

  Seeley's Expansion of England.

  Frothingham's Rise of the Republic.

  McCarthy's History of Our Own Times (1837-1880).

  McCarthy's England under Gladstone (1880-1884).

  Ward's Reign of Victoria (1837-1887).

  Southey's Life of Wesley.

  Southey's Life of Nelson.

  Wharton's Wits and Beaux of Society.

  Waite's Life of Wellington.

  Massey's Life of George III.

  Goldwin Smith's Lectures (Foundation of the American Colonies,).

  Macaulay's Essays (Warren Hastings, Clive, Pitt, Walpole, Chatham,
    Johnson, Madame D'Arblay).

  Smiles's Life of James Watt.

  Sydney Smith's Peter Plymley's Letters.

  Smiles's Life of Stephenson.

  Thackeray's Four Georges.

  Smiles's Industrial Biography.

  Grant Allen's Life of Darwin.

  Ashton's Dawn of the XIX. Century in England.

  [10]Ludlow's American Revolution.

  [10]Rowley's Settlement of the Constitution (1689-1784).

  [10]Morris's Early Hanoverians (George I. and II.).

  [10]McCarthy's Epoch of Reform (1830-1850).

  [10]Tancock's England during the American and European Wars (1765-1820).

  [10]Browning's Modern England (1820-1874).

  Scott's Rob Roy, Waverley, and Redgauntlet (the Old and the Young
    Pretender, 1715, 1745-53).

  Thackeray's Virginians (Washington).

  Dickens's Barnaby Rudge (1780).

    [10] The six best short histories.

For fuller information in regard to authorities, see Professor Allen's
Reader's Guide to English History; or, where a critical estimate of the
author is desired, consult Professor Adams's Manual of Historical
Literature, and Professor Mullinger's Authorities. For review articles, see
Poole's Index to Reviews.

In addition to the above list, the following general histories will be
found excellent:--

  Hume's England (Brewer's Student's edition), 1 vol.

  Green's Short History of the English People, 1 vol.

  Bright's History of England, 3 vols.

  Burt's Synoptical History of England, 1 vol.

  On the Constitutional History of England:
    Taswell-Langmead's Constitutional History, 1 vol.;
    Creasy's, 1 vol.;
    Ransome's, 1 vol.

  Rogers's British Citizen, 1 vol.


  _Works of Reference._

  Gneist's Constitutional History of England.

  Knight's Pictorial History of England.

  Taylor's Words and Places.

  P. V. Smith's English Institutions.

  Hallam's Middle Ages.

  Edmunds's Names of Places.

  Cassell's Dictionary of English History.

  Feilden's Short Constitutional History of England.

  Freeman's Rise of the English Constitution.

  Digby's History of the Law of Real Property.

  Blackstone's Commentaries.

  Mackay's History of Popular Delusions.

  Cunningham's Growth of English Industry and Commerce.

  Dowell's History of Taxation in England.

  J. E. T. Rogers's Work and Wages.

  Ackland and Ransome's Handbook of English Political History.

  Spencer's Sociological Tables (England).

  Cutts's Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages.

  Eccleston's English Antiquities.

  Jessopp's Life in Norfolk Six Hundred Years Ago (Nineteenth Century,
    1883).

  Wright's Domestic Manners in England in the Middle Ages.

  Godwin's Archæologist's Handbook.

  Parker's Our English Home (Oxford, 1860).

  Bohn's Cyclopedia of Political Knowledge.

  Bevans's Statistical Map of England.

  Parker's Elements of Gothic Architecture.

  Johnston's Historical Atlas.

  Wilkins's Political Ballads.

  Bailey's Succession to the Crown.


  _On Modern England and English Life, see_

  Irving's Bracebridge Hall, and Sketch-Book.

  Emerson's English Traits.

  Colman's European Life and Manners.

  Hawthorne's Our Old Home, and Note Books.

  Howitt's Visits to Remarkable Places, and Rural Life.

  Timbs's Abbeys and Castles of England and Wales.

  Heath's English Peasantry.

  Taine's Notes on England.

  Nadal's London Society.

  Hoppins's Old England.

  Higginson's English Statesmen.

  R. G. White's England Without and Within.

  Escott's England.

  Society in London, by a Foreign Resident (Harper).

  Patten's England as seen by an American Banker.

  O. W. Holmes's One Hundred Days in Europe.

  R. L. Collier's English Home Life.

  Laugel's L'Angleterre.

  Daryl's La Vie Publique en Angleterre.

  Max O'Rell's John Bull et son Ile.

  Badeau's English Aristocracy.




STATISTICS FOR 1887.

  Area of England and Wales, 58,310 square miles.

  Extreme length, 365 miles; extreme width, 311 miles.

  No part more than about 120 miles from the sea.

  Mean temperature during the year in Great Britain, 49.06°.

  Population of England and Wales, 27,870,586.

  Population to square mile, 482 (the most densely populated country in
    Europe, except Belgium).

  Area of Great Britain, 88,006 square miles.

  Population of Great Britain, 31,819,979.

  Area of Great Britain and Ireland, 120,832 square miles.

  Population of Great Britain and Ireland, 37,020,000.

  Population of London, about 4,250,000.

  About one-third of the entire population of England and Wales is in the
    cities.

  Area of British Empire, 9,079,711 square miles.

  Population of British Empire, 320,676,000.

  National debt of Great Britain and Ireland, £748,750,000
    ($3,623,950,000).[668]

  Average rate of taxation per head, £2.1.1 ($9.94).[668]

  Church of England (membership), 13,500,000.[669]

  Dissenting churches, 12,500,000.[669]

  Roman Catholics, 2,500,000.

  Number of paupers in receipt of relief, 807,639.

  Total number of children of school age (5-15), 5,426,490.

  Total attendance (not including private schools), 3,273,124.

  Total British army, 676,156.

  Total effective force, 200,785.

  Total navy, 60,632.

  Total number of vessels in navy, 258.

  Iron-clads (ranging from 1230 to 11,800 tons each), 76.

  Of the cultivated land of England and Wales, something over one-fourth,
    is held by 874 persons, while about 10,000 persons hold two-thirds of
    the whole.

  Number of men in army and navy, 1 out of 26.

  National debt per capita, $127.

  Total wealth of Great Britain and Ireland, $45,000,000,000 (the
    wealthiest nation on the globe).

  Annual increase of wealth, $375,000,000.

  Average annual income, $165.

  Death rate (England and Wales), 19.3 per 1000.

[668] Calling the pound $4.84.

[669] Some estimates make them about equal.


STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES (FOR COMPARISON).

  Area (including Alaska), 3,611,849 square miles.

  Population, about 60,000,000.

  National debt, $1,380,087,279.

  Total wealth, $35,000,000,000.

  Annual increase of wealth, $825,000,000.

  Average annual income, $165.

  Taxation per capita, $6.00.

  Standing army, 26,000.

  Navy, 10,340.

  Number of men in army and navy, 1 out of 322.

  From 1840-1880 the wealth of Great Britain doubled; that of the United
    States increased tenfold.

AUTHORITIES:--Encyclopædia Britannica; Scribner's Statistical Atlas;
Mulhall's Balance-Sheet of the World; Atkinson's Strength of Nations;
Jean's Supremacy of England; The Statesman's Year-Book.




INDEX.


  Abolition of the slave trade, 331.
    slavery, 354.

  Acadia, villagers expelled, 320.

  Act of Attainder, 285.
    Settlement, 282, 299, 301, 306.
    Supremacy, 211.
    Toleration, 282.
    Uniformity, 260.

  Addison, Joseph, 299.

  Agincourt, battle of, 156.

  Agricola, Roman governor, 23.

  Aix la Chapelle, treaty of, 316.

  Alabama, privateer, 372.

  Albert, Prince Consort, 362.
    his death, 370.

  Albion, derivation of the name, 9.

  Alfred the Great, 40.
    his laws and translations, 42.
    his navy, 42.
    his victories, 41.

  America discovered, 186.

  American colonies taxed, 324.
    Revolution, 328.
    civil war, 370, 371.

  Anderida, siege of, 33.

  Andros, Sir Edmund, 325.

  Angevins, or Plantagenets, 87.

  Angles, invasion by, 34.

  Anne Boleyn, 191, 194, 198.
    of Cleves, 198.
    Queen, 289, 299.

  Anselm, Archbishop, 72, 73.

  Arch, Joseph, 374.

  Architecture, 56, 84, 147, 226, 303.

  Arthur, King, 34.
    Prince, murdered, 103.

  Articles of Faith, 202.

  Artillery introduced, 184.

  Atlantic cable laid, 368.

  Augustine reaches England, 35.

  Austrian Succession, War of, 316.


  Bacon, Lord Francis, 218.
    his impeachment, 236, 302.
    Friar Roger, 111, 128.
    Sir Nicholas, 218.

  Baliol, awarded Scotch crown, 117.
    owns allegiance to Edward, 117.
    rebels, and is overthrown, 117.

  Bank of England, 288.

  Barebones's Parliament, 250.

  Baronage, sketch of, 359.

  Battle of Agincourt, 156.
    Blenheim, 294.
    Bosworth Field, 173.
    the Boyne, 286.
    Bunker Hill, 328.
    Crecy, 127.
    Culloden, 317.
    Dettingen, 316.
    Edgehill, 244.
    Flodden Field, 190.
    Fontenoy, 316.
    Hastings, 60.
    Lewes, 113.
    Marston Moor, 245.
    Naseby, 245.
    New Orleans, 335.
    the Nile, 333.
    Plassey, 318.
    Ramillies, 294.
    St. Albans, 165.
    Sedgemoor, 271.
    Sheriffmuir, 310.
    Shrewsbury, 152.
    the Standard, 76.
    Tewkesbury, 167.
    Tinchebrai, 74.
    Towton, 165.
    Trafalgar, 333.
    Wakefield, 165.
    Waterloo, 335.
    Yorktown, 329.

  Bayeux Tapestry, 61, 84.

  Becket, Thomas, chancellor, 89.
    leaves England, 91.
    returns, 93.
    is murdered, 93.

  Benevolences, 169, 175.

  Bible, the first English, 138.

  Bill of Rights, 282, 301.

  Black Death, the, 132.
    Hole of Calcutta, 317.
    Prince, 128, 130, 131.

  Bloody Assizes, the, 272.

  Boadicea, her revolt, 21.
    her death, 22.

  Board schools, 375.

  Boleyn, Anne, 191.
    executed, 198.

  Books, the earliest, 55.

  Boston Tea Party, 327.

  Bretigny, peace of, 130.

  Bright, John, 366.

  Britain, primitive, its climate, etc., 1.
    becomes England, 39.

  Britons, their bravery, 34.

  Bronze Age, 7.
    men, Greek account of, 8.

  Brougham, Lord Henry, 346, 353, 361.

  Bruce, Robert, his revolt, 120.
    king of Scots, 123.

  Buckingham, Duke of, 171.

  Bunyan, John, 261, 302.

  Butler, Bishop, 302.


  Cabal, the, 258.

  Cabinet government, rise of, 308.

  Cabot, John and Sebastian, 185, 226.

  Cade, Jack, his rebellion, 161.

  Cæsar, his campaigns, 18, 19, 20.

  Calais taken, 129.

  Calendar, correction of, 318.

  Canal system begun, 338.

  Cannon, first use of, 128.

  Canute (Knut) succeeds his father, 45.
    divides England into four earldoms, 45.

  Caractacus, captive, his dignity, 20.

  Caroline, Queen, 314.
    of Brunswick, Queen, 346.

  Catharine of Aragon, 191.

  Catholic emancipation, 347.

  Cato Street conspiracy, 346.

  Caxton introduces printing, 167, 168.

  Cecil, Sir William, 210.

  Celts, early, their condition, 8.

  Channel, the British, in history, 15.

  Charles I., King, 238-247.
    II., King, 257-269.

  Charter, the Great, 105, 108, 109, 112, 142.

  Charter, Henry I.'s, 73.

  Chartists, the, 363.

  Chaucer, 133, 137, 141.

  Christianity introduced, 22.
    its effects, 53.

  Christ's Hospital, 203.

  Church property confiscated, 195, 203.
    rates abolished, 374.

  Churchill, John, Duke of Marlborough, 278, 293, 361.

  Clarkson, Thomas, 332.

  Climate of England, 16.

  Clive, Lord, his victories, 317.

  Cobden, Richard, 366.

  Columbus, his discoveries, 185, 187, 226.

  Commercial position of England, 16.

  Common law, 53.

  Commons, House of, supreme, 358.
    rise of the House of, 114.

  Commonwealth, protectorate, 247.

  Compurgation, 52.

  Constitutions of Clarendon, 91.

  Corn Laws, the, 365.
    repealed, 366.

  Cornwallis, Lord, his defeat, 329.

  Corporation Act, 260, 347.

  Counties palatine, 64.

  Courts, reformed, 381.

  Covenanters, the, 241, 261.

  Cranmer, Dr. Thomas, 193.

  Crimea, war in the, 369.

  Cromwell, Oliver, 241, 248, 250, 252, 254.
    Richard, 255, 256.
    Thomas, 194.
      beheaded, 198.

  Crosby Hall, London, 178.

  Crusades, 102.

  Cuthbert, monk and missionary, 36.


  "Danegeld," tribute to Northmen, 44.

  Danish names, 14.
    invasion, 40.

  Darwin, Charles, 379.

  David I., of Scotland, invades England, 76.

  Davy, Sir Humphry, 340.

  Declaration of Right, 280.

  De Foe, Daniel, 302.

  De Montfort, Earl Simon, 112, 143, 361.
    defeats Henry III., 113.
    summons a parliament, 114.
    his monument still unbuilt, 114.

  Despenser, Hugh, and his son, 123.

  Disraeli, Lord Beaconsfield, 361, 373.

  Dissenters relieved, 375.

  "Divine Right of Kings," 232, 238, 290, 296, 300.

  Domesday Book, 67.

  Dover, treaty of, 264.

  Drake, Sir Francis, 220.

  Druids, their abode, teaching, etc., 10.
    expedition against, 21.

  Dryden, John, 302.

  Dudley, Lord Guilford, 205.
    beheaded, 206.

  Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 43.


  Education Bill, 361, 374.

  Edward, Prince, 45.
    Confessor, 46.
    I., King, summons Parliament, 115.
      builds Conway and other castles, 116.
    II., his incapacity, 123.
      deposed and murdered, 124.
    III., king at fourteen, 124.
      his death, 134.
    IV., King, 167.
    V., Prince, 170.
    VI., King, 201.
    (Black Prince), 128, 130, 131.

  Egbert, King, 39.

  Eleanor, Queen, her heroism, 115.
    her death, 118.
    crosses, 118.
    her tomb, 119.

  Eliot, Sir John, 240.

  Elizabeth, Queen, 206, 208-222.
    of York, 172.

  Elliott, Ebenezer, corn-law poet, 366.

  England, early, its geography, etc., 12.
    its commercial situation, 16.

  English people, their progress, 380-388.
    history, its characteristics, 388.
    -speaking race, its unity, 388.

  Entail, 119, 143.


  Factory reform, 354.

  Fairfax, Lord Thomas, 248.

  Fair Rosamond, 94.

  Feudal System, 50, 80, 269.

  Field of the Cloth of Gold, 190.

  Fielding, Henry, 302.

  Fire, great, of London, 262.

  Fisher, Bishop John, executed, 195.

  Five Members, attempted arrest of the, 242.

  Folkland, 50.

  Fox, Charles James, 332.

  Franklin, Benjamin, 326.

  Frederick the Great, of Prussia, 318.

  Freemen their duties, 50.

  Free trade, 366.

  French Revolution, 332.

  Friction match, the, 355.

  Frobisher, Sir Martin, his voyages, 217.

  Fry, Elizabeth, philanthropist, 332.

  Fulton, Robert, his steamboat, 340.


  Gas, burning, first used, 339.

  Gaveston, Piers, banished, 122.
    returns, 122.
    beheaded, 122.

  Geneva, international court at, 372.

  George, of Denmark, Prince, 289.
    I., King, 306-314.
    II., King, 314-322.
    III., King, 323-343.
    IV., King, 344-348.

  Gibraltar taken, 294.

  Gladstone, William Ewart, 362, 371.

  Glencoe, massacre of, 287.

  Glendower, Owen, 151.

  Gloucester, appointed Protector, 169.

  Gordon, Lord George, riots, 330.

  "Gospel Oaks," 322.

  Government, its stability, 357.

  Gregory I. and English slaves in Rome, 35.
    Pope, sends missionaries, 35.
    VII., his appeal to William, 65.

  Grey, Earl, 353.
    Lady Jane, 204.
      beheaded, 206.

  Grove, Sir William, 379.

  Guilds, 57, 147.

  Gunpowder plot, 232.


  Habeas Corpus Act, 269, 361.

  Hampden, John, 238, 241.

  Hampton Court Conference, 231.

  Harold, King, 47, 58.
    his death, 60.
    his grave, 60.

  Hastings, Warren, impeached, 330.

  Henry I., issues a charter, 73.
      seizes Normandy, 74.
    II., his charter and reforms, 88.
      quarrels with Becket, 90, 93.
    III., King, 109.
      his extravagance, 110.
      rebuilds Westminster Abbey, 110.
    IV., Duke of Lancaster, king, 150.
      his death, 154.
    V., Prince, 154.
      king, 155.
      conquest of France, 155, 157.
    VI., King, 158.
      marries Margaret of Anjou, 160.
      dies a prisoner in the Tower, 166.
    VII., marries Elizabeth of York, 179.
      his chapel, 186.
    VIII., King, 187.
      his death, 200.
      his marriages, 190, 194, 198, 199.

  Hereward, 62.

  High Commission Court, 211, 242, 275.

  Hildebrand (Pope Gregory VII.), 65.

  Hill, Sir Rowland, 363.

  Howard, Catharine, 199.
    John, philanthropist, 332.

  Hume, David, 302.

  Hundred Years' War, 126, 131.


  India, rebellion in, 369.
    Clive in, 317.
    English Empire in, 317.

  Insane, improved treatment of, 381.

  Intemperance in the eighteenth century, 321.

  Ireland, colonization of, 235.
    famine in, 366.

  Irish Church disestablished, 374.
    Land Act, 376, 378.
    Land League, 377.

  Iron, its early use, 9.

  Isabelle of France, Queen, 123.
    her infidelity, 123.
    murders her husband, 124.
    prisoner for life, 125.


  Jacobites, 281.

  James I., King, 229-237.
    II., King, 270-280.

  Jeffreys, Judge George, 272.

  Jenkins's ear, war of, 315.

  Jenner, Dr. Edward, 313.

  Jews, robbed and expelled, 118.
    admitted to Parliament, 361, 373.

  Joan of Arc, 159.

  John (Lackland), King, his quarrels, 103.
    murders Prince Arthur, 103.
    grants Magna Carta, 106.
    his evasions 108.
    his death, 108.
    of Gaunt (Ghent), 134.

  Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 290, 302.

  Jonson, Ben, 218, 302.

  "Junius," his letters, 331.

  Jutes, their invasion, 32.


  Knighthood, 83.

  Knights of St, John (Hospitallers), 144.
    Templars, 144.


  Land League, 377.

  Law reform, 331, 380.

  Lewes, battle of 113.

  Lincoln, President Abraham, 371.

  Literature, rise of English, 133, 137.
    of Anne's reign, 298.
    of Elizabeth's, 216, 218.
    of George III.'s, 341.
    of present age, 380.

  Livingstone, David, African explorer, 379.

  Locke, John, 302.

  Lollards, 139.
    persecuted, 153.
    outbreak of, 155.

  London (Llyn-din), its origin, 21.
    police, 348.
    William's charter, 61.

  Londonderry, siege of, 285.

  Long Parliament, 241.

  Lords Ordainers, 122.

  Luther, 187, 189.

  Lyell, Sir Charles, 379.


  Macaulay, Lord Thomas Babington, 361.

  Magellan, Ferdinand de, navigator, 226.

  Magna Carta, 105, 107, 142.

  Man, primitive, his condition, 2.
    what we owe to him, 10.

  Manchester massacre, 344.

  Mandeville, Sir John, his travels, 133.

  Mar, John Erskine, Earl of, 310.

  Margaret, Queen, her bravery, 165.
    flight to Scotland, 166.
    prisoner; released; died in France, 167.

  Marlborough, John Churchill, Duke of, 278, 293.
    Sarah Jennings, Duchess of, 295.

  Martin Luther, 187, 189.

  Mary (Bloody), Queen, 204.
    marries Philip II. of Spain, 206.
    her persecutions, 206.
    her death, 207.
    "Queen of Scots," 202, 218, 219.

  Masham, Mrs. Abigail, 296.

  Matilda (Maud), queen of Henry I., 73.
    claims the crown, 75.

  Methodists, their rise, 321.

  Milton, John, 248, 302.

  Miner's safety lamp, by Davy, 340.

  Monasteries suppressed, 195.

  Monk, General (Duke of Albemarle), 256.

  Monks, their literary work, 37.

  Monmouth, Duke of, 271.

  Monopolies, 215, 237.

  Montcalm, Marquis de, his defence of Quebec, 320.
    his death, 320.

  Montrose, James Graham, Marquis, 249.

  More, Sir Thomas, chancellor, executed, 195.
    his "Utopia," 216.

  Mortimer, Roger (Earl of March), 123.

  Mortmain, 120, 144.

  Mutiny Act, 282.


  Names: Celtic, Roman, 13.
    Saxon, Danish, Norman, 14.

  Nantes, edict of, 274.

  Napoleon Bonaparte, 333.

  National council, 77.
    debt, 288, 336.

  Nelson, Lord Horatio, Admiral, 333, 361.

  New Amsterdam seized, 262.
    Forest, 66.

  "New Learning," the, 188.

  "New Style," correction of the calendar, 318.

  Newspaper, first, 244, 298.
    tax, 368.

  Newton, Sir Isaac, 268, 303, 379.

  Nobility, the, 80, 160, 360.

  Non-jurors, 281.

  Norman Conquest, 58.
    its results, 69, 357.

  Normandy, loss of, 104.

  North, Lord, premier, 323.

  Northmen, the, invade France, 44.
    or Normans, settle Normandy, 44.


  Oates, Titus, 266, 270.

  O'Connell, Daniel, 348.

  O'Connor, Feargus, 364.

  Oldcastle, Sir John, 155.

  Opium War, the, 369.

  Ordeal, the, 52.

  Oxygen, discovery of, 339.


  "Parliament, the Mad," 112.
    expelled, 249.
    convention, 256, 280.
    debates of, published, 331.

  Parliamentary reform, 349.

  Parr, Catharine, 199.

  Peel, Sir Robert, premier, 348.

  Peerage, sketch of, 359.

  Peers, their number and influence, 361.

  "Petition of Right," 239.

  Philip II., of Spain, 206.

  "Pilgrims, the," 233.

  Pillory, the, 331.

  Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 314, 326.
    the younger, premier, 332, 337, 361.

  Plague, the, 132, 262.

  Plantagenet, 87.

  Poitiers, victory of, 130.

  Police, the new, 348.

  Political progress, 358.

  Poor-law, the first, 222.

  Pope, the, and William I., 65.
    and John, 105.
    and Henry VIII., 194.
    Alexander, 302.

  Popish plot, 266.

  Postal reform, 363.

  Post-office begun, 224.

  Prehistoric man, 10.

  President of United States, his powers, 359.

  Press, the, 284, 331.

  "Pretender," the (James Edward), 278, 292, 310.
    "the Young" (Charles Edward), 310, 316.

  "Pride's Purge," 246.

  Priestley, Dr. Joseph, scientist, 339.

  Prince Rupert, 243.

  Printing, introduction of, 167, 177.

  Protestantism established, 202.
    effects of, 204.

  Purveyance, 176.


  Quebec, capture of, 320.

  Queen, the, her powers, 358.
    Victoria, her lineage, 357.
    her marriage, 362.


  Railway, steam, the first, 355.

  Raleigh, Sir Walter, 217.
    beheaded, 237.

  Reform Bill, 351, 361.
    the second, 373.
    the third, 374.

  "Regicides," the, 260.

  Revolution of 1688, 279, 284.
    American, 328.
    French, 332.

  Richard I. (Cœur de Lion), King, 97,
      in third crusade, 99.
      prisoner, 101.
    II., King, 134.
      deposed and murdered, 140.
    III. (Duke of Gloucester), King, 170
      his death, 173.

  Robert invades England and retires, 74.
    prisoner; his death, 74.

  Roman Catholicism, 199, 204, 206, 270, 274, 283.
    invasion, 12, 19.
    first colony, 20.
    cities, 24.
    system of government, 24.
    paved roads, 24.
    forts and walls, 25.
    taxation and cruelty, 27.
    remains still existing, 28.

  Rotten boroughs, 349.

  Royal Society, the, 268.

  Rump Parliament, 246.

  Runes, 54.

  Rye House Plot, 267.

  Ryswick, peace of, 287.


  Sacheverell, Dr. Henry, 296.

  Saint Albans, council held there, 106.
    Bartholomew's Day (massacre), 219.
    Paul's Cathedral, 288, 303.

  Saxon invasion, 33, 47.
    names, 14.

  Schools, government, 375.

  Scroggs, Sir William, Chief Justice, 266, 284.

  Scutage, 89, 144.

  Seven Bishops, petition of, 276.
    Years' War, 318.

  Seymour, Jane, 198.

  Shakespeare, 218, 226, 302.

  Ship money, 240.

  Siege of Londonderry, 285.

  Slave trade abolished, 331.

  Slavery abolished, 354.

  Small-pox conquered, 312.

  Smith, John, Captain, 233.

  Solemn League and Covenant, the, 244.

  South Sea Bubble, 311.

  Spanish Armada, 220.
    Succession, War of, 291.

  Spectator, the (Addison's), 299.

  Spenser, Edmund, poet, 218.

  Stamp Act, the, 325.

  Star-Chamber Court, 183, 240, 242.

  Statistics, 438, 439.

  Statutes of Winchester, 119.

  Steam-engine, 303.
    perfected, 338.
    navigation, 340.

  Stephen, last of Norman kings, 75, 77.

  Stone Age, rough, 2.
    polished, 5.
    of Scone, 116.

  Stonehenge, 10, 68.

  Strike, the great, 132, 148.

  Supremacy, Act of, 194, 211.

  Survey, the great, 67.

  Sweyn, the Dane, conquers England, 45.

  Swift, Jonathan, Dean, 302, 311.

  Sydney, Sir Philip, 217.


  Talbot, Richard (Earl of Tyrconnel), 275, 285.

  Taylor, Jeremy, Bishop, 302.

  Tea tax, 326.

  Tennyson, Lord, poet, 361.

  Test Act, 347.

  Thirty-nine Articles, the, 212.

  Tin, early found in Cornwall, 9.

  Toleration Act, 281, 284.

  Tower of London, 63, 85.

  Towns, rise of free, 99.

  Treaty of Dover, 264.
    Troyes, 157.
    Utrecht, 297.
    Wedmore, 41.

  Trelawney, Jonathan, Bishop, 276.

  Trial by battle, 79.
    by jury, 96.

  Tudor, House of, 179.

  Tyler, Wat, 135.

  Tyndall, John, scientist, 380.


  Union of England and Scotland, 298.
    of Great Britain and Ireland, 337.

  Unitarians burned, 302.

  United States, independence of, 328.
    war with, 328-329.
    second war, 334.

  Utrecht, treaty of, 297.


  Vaccination introduced, 313.

  Vane, Sir Henry, 250.

  Victoria, Queen, 357.

  Virginia colonized, 233.

  Vortigern's advice, 32.


  Wales, Prince of, the first, 116.

  Wallace, Sir William, rebels, 117.
    captured and executed, 118.

  Walpole, Sir Robert, premier, 308, 313, 321.

  Walsingham, Sir Francis, 210.

  Walworth, mayor of London, 136.

  Wars of the Roses, 162-164, 173.

  Washington, George, 251, 319, 329.

  Watt, James, inventor, 338, 339, 340.

  Wat Tyler, his rebellion, 135.
    killed, 136.

  Wellington, Duke of, 334, 335, 336, 347, 352, 361.

  Wentworth, Thomas, Earl of Strafford, 240.

  Wesley, Rev. John, 321.

  Westminster Abbey built, 46.
    rebuilt, 110.

  White Horse, the, Alfred's standard, 41.

  Wilberforce, William, philanthropist, 332.

  Wilkes, John, political writer, 331.

  William, the Norman, invades England, 58.
    grants charter to London, 61.
    builds Tower of London, 63.
    his character, 66.
    his death, 68.
    his grave, how paid for, 69.
    his bequest, 70.
    Prince of Orange, 277, 289,
    and Mary crowned, 280-289.
    Rufus, King, his violence and fraud, 71.
      his merits, 72.
      his death, 72.
    IV., King, 349-356.

  Window tax, 368.

  Witan (council), 49.

  Wolfe, Gen. James, captures Quebec, 320.

  Wolsey, Cardinal Thomas, 191-193.

  Woman suffrage, 373.

  Wool, its production and manufacture, 125, 148, 227.

  World's Fair, 368.

  Wren, Sir Christopher, architect, 264, 288, 303.

  Wyatt, Sir Thomas, his rebellion, 205.

  Wycliffe, John, reformer and martyr, 133, 138, 139.



[The end of _The Leading Facts of English History_ by D. H. Montgomery]