defence, that he excluded all the useless mouths from the city, which Edward generously permitted to pass. Edward resolved to reduce it by famine, and it was at length taken after a siege of twelve months, the defendants having been reduced to the last extremity. He resolved to punish the obstinacy of the townsmen, by the death of six of the most considerable citizens, who offered themselves, with ropes round their necks, to satiate his indignation; but he spared their lives, at the intercession of the queen.

While Edward was reaping victories upon the Continent, the Scots, ever willing to embrace a favourable opportunity of rapine and revenge, invaded the frontiers with an army of fifty thousand men, headed by David Bruce their king. This unexpected invasion, at such a juncture, alarmed the English, but was not capable of intimidating them. Lionel, Edward's son, who was left guardian of England during his father's absence, was yet too young to take upon him the command of an army; but the victories on the Continent seemed to inspire even women with velour: Philippa, Edward's queen, took upon her the conduct of the field, and prepared to repulse the enemy in person. Accordingly, having made lord Percy general under her, she met the Scots at a place called Nevil's Cross, near Durham, and offered them battle. The Scots king was no less impatient to engage; he imagined that he might obtain an easy victory against undisciplined troops, and headed by a woman. But he was miserably deceived. His army was quickly routed, and driven from the field on the 12th. October 1346. Fifteen thousand of his men were cut to pieces; and he himself, with many of his nobles and knights, were taken prisoners, and carried in triumph to London.

A victory gained by Edward Prince of Wales, (better known in history by the name of the Black Prince, from the colour of his arms,) near Poictiers, followed not long after, in which John king of France was taken prisoner, and led in triumph through London, amidst an amazing concourse of spectators. Two kings, prisoners in the same court, and at the same time, were considered as glorious achievements; but all that England gained by them was only glory. Whatever was won in France, with all the dangers of war, and the expense of preparation, was successively, and in a manner silently, lost, without the mortification of a defeat.

The English, by their frequent supplies, had been quite exhausted, and were unable to continue an army in the field, Charles, who had succeeded his father John who died a pri

soner in the Savoy, on the other hand, cautiously forebore com ing to any decisive engagement; but was contented to let his enemies waste their strength in attempts to plunder a fortified country. When they were tired, he then was sure to sally forth, and possess himself of such places as they were not strong enough to defend. He first fell upon Ponthieu; the citizens of Abbeville opened their gates to him; those of St. Valois, Rue, and Crotoy, imitated the example; and the whole country was, in a little time, reduced to total submission. The southern provinces were, in the same manner, invaded by his generals with equal success; while the Black Prince, destitute of supplies from England, and wasted by a cruel and consumptive disorder, was obliged to return to his native country with his wife Jane, the Fair maid of Kent, and her only son Richard, leaving the affairs of the south of France in a most desperate condition.

But what of all other things served to gloom the latter part of this splendid reign, was the approaching death of the Black Prince, whose constitution showed but too manifestly the symptoms of a speedy dissolution. This valiant and accomplished prince died in the forty-sixth year of his age, leaving behind him a character without a single blemish; and a degree of sorrow among the people, which time could scarcely alleviate.

The king was most sensibly affected with the loss of his son; and tried every art to allay his uneasiness. He removed himself entirely from the duties and burdens of the state, and left his kingdom to be plundered by a set of rapacious ministers. He did not survive the consequences of his bad conduct; but died about a year after the prince, at Sherne, in Surry, deserted by all his courtiers, even by those who had grown rich by his bounty. He expired in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and fifty-first of his reign, a prince more admired than beloved by his subjects, and more an object of their applause than their sorrow.

It was in this reign that the order of the Knights of the Garter was instituted; the number was to consist of twenty-four persons besides the king. A story prevails, but unsupported by any ancient authority, that the countess of Salisbury, at a ball, happening to drop her garter, the king took it up, and presented it to her with these words, "Honi soit qui mal y pense ;"-Evil be to him who evil thinks. This accident, it is said, gave rise to the order and the motto.

Edward left many children by his queen Philippa of Hain

auit.

His eldest son, the Black Prince, who died before him, married his cousin Jane, daughter and sole heiress of Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Kent, called in early life, from her uncommon beauty, the Fair maid of Kent, by whom he had one son, Richard, who succeeded to the throne upon the death of his grandfather Edward III.

EXERCISES.

In what years did the reign of Edward III. begin and terminate? Who secretly influenced all the measures of government during the first years of the reign of Edward III.? Who shared the sovereign authority between them? What was the nature of their attachment? What means did Edward adopt to secure the persons of his mother and her paramour? What was the fate of Mortimer? How did the queen pass the remainder of her days? Why did Edward make an irruption into Scotland? Where did he fight a successful battle with the Scots? Whom did he place on the throne of Scotland after this victory? Why did the Scots detest the Baliols? Against what nation did Edward then turn his arms? On what did he found his claim to the crown of France? Where did the English gain their first advantage? How did the English act as they advanced into the country? What river had the English to pass, and what French general was stationed on the opposite side of it? Of what numbers did the two armies consist? Who commanded the different divisions? Describe the battle which ensued. What town did Edward then resolve to besiege, and how long did it hold out? In what manner did he resolve to punish the obstinacy of the townsmen? Did the queen interfere with that resolution? What occurred on the borders between Scotland and England? Who obtained the victory? How many of the Scots fell, and who were made prisoners? What was the success of the Black Prince at Poictiers? What did England gain by having two captive kings in London at the same time? What prevented the English from prosecuting the war in France? What great loss did England suffer at this period? What effect had the death of the Black Prince upon his father? What set of people encompassed the throne at this period? In what year of his age and reign did Edward III. die? What order of knights was first appointed in the reign of Edward? What is the story which prevails respecting this institution? Whom had Edward married? Did he leave any children by his queen? Which of his sons died before him? Whom had the Black Prince married? What was the name of his son?

R

ICHARD II. son of Edward, the Black Prince, was but eleven years old when he came to the throne of his grand father, and found the people discontented and poor, the nobles proud and rebellious. As he was a minor, the government was vested in the hands of his three uncles, John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, Edmond of Langley, earl of Cambridge, afterwards duke of York, and Thomas of Woodstock, earl of Buckingham, afterwards duke of Gloucester; and as the late king had left the kingdom involved in many dangerous and expensive wars, which demanded large and constant supplies, the murmurs of the people increased in proportion. The expenses of armaments to face the enemy on every side, and a want of economy in the administration, entirely exhausted the treasury; and a new tax of three groats on every person above fifteen, except beggars, was granted by parliament as a supply. The indignation of the people had been for some time increasing; but a tax so unequitable, in which the rich paid no more than the poor, kindled the resentment of the latter into a flame. It began in Essex, where a report was industriously spread, that the peasants were to be destroyed their houses burned, md their farms plundered. A blacksmith, well known by the name of Wat Tyler, was the first who excited them to arma

act.

The tax-gatherers, coming to this man's house while he was at work, demanded payment for his daughter; which he refused, alleging she was under the age mentioned in the One of the brutal collectors insisted on her being a full grown woman; and immediately attempted a very indecent proof of his assertion. This provoked the father to such a degree, that he instantly struck him dead with a blow of his hammer. The standers-by applauded his spirit, and, one and all, resolved to defend his conduct. He was considered as a champion in the cause, and appointed the leader, and spokesman of the people. It is easy to imagine the disorders committed by this tumultuous rabble; the whole neighbourhood rose in arms; they burnt and plundered wherever they came, and revenged upon their former masters all those insults which they had long sustained with impunity. As the discontent was general, the insurgents increased in proportion as they approached the capital. The flame soon propagated itself into Kent, Hertfordshire, Surry, Sussex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, and Lincoln. They were found to amount to above a hundred thousand men by the time they were arrived at Blackheath. At the head of one party of these was Wat Tyler, who led his men into Smithfield, where he was met by the king, who invited him to a conference, under a pretence of hearing and redressing his grievances. Tyler ordered his companions to retire, till he should give them a signal, boldly ventured to meet the king in the midst of his retinue, and accordingly began the conference. The demands of this demagogue are censured by all the historians of the time, as insolent and extravagant; and yet nothing can be more just than those which they have delivered for him. He required that all slaves should be set free; that all commonages should be open to the poor as well as rich; and that a general pardon should be passed for the late outrages. Whilst he made these demands, he now and then lifted up his sword in a menacing manner; which insolence so raised the indignation of William Walworth, then mayor of London, attending on the king, that, without considering the danger to which he exposed bis majesty, he stunned Tyler with a blow of his mace; while one of the king's knights, riding up, despatched him with his sword. The mutineers, seeing their leader fall, prepared themselves to take revenge: and their bows were now bent for execution, when Richard, though not yet quite sixteen years of age, rode up to the rebels, and, with admirable presence of mind, cried out, What, my people, will you then kill your king? Be not concerned for the loss of your leader; I myself will now