to tell John what had happened to him. Indeed I do not know when he would have heard of it, as every one was more afraid of his anger than of the Pope's; but it happened that one of the barons, who knew all about it, went a journey without the king's leave; whereupon John loaded him with a cope or cloak made of lead, the weight of which killed him. Then the Pope sent two messengers from Rome to threaten John. He did not mind them in the least, until they told him that if he would not give in, the Pope intended to set the King of France at him. Whereupon John was terrified, and gave in, putting his crown into the hands of the Pope's messenger, and offering to pay a large sum of money yearly to the Pope, if he would allow him to continue king. The messengers kicked the money away, but kept the king's crown for five days, as a sign that England was under the Pope's power. Thus Papal Dominion, or the power of the Pope, was confirmed in England.

Next John quarrelled with his barons, and they told him that they would turn him off the throne unless he would sign a paper which they would draw up, making many new laws. This paper was called the Magna Charta, from two Latin words-magna, great; charta, paper.

However, John soon broke his word, although he had gone into a passion when he had to sign the paper, and had kicked and screamed like a baby. To keep his nobles obedient, he asked for their children as hostages. Do you know what that means? It is rather like pawning. When a poor man wants to borrow money, he gets a pawnbroker to lend it him upon his coat or hat. And a

bad plan it is. If the man does not pay, the pawnbroker sells the coat or hat. So John told the nobles to give him their children to keep as hostages or pledges that they would keep their promises. One lady, however, quite refused to give her children up, saying, John had not taken such care of his own nephew, as to lead her to trust him with her children. Her husband was rather frightened by her courage, and having sent John's queen a present of four hundred oxen, hoping thereby to insure favour, took his wife and children to Ireland, to keep them safely. However, two years after, when the husband was away, John went to Ireland, seized the poor lady and her children, put them in dungeons, and had them starved to death.

John soon broke the promises he had made in Magna Charta, and his barons were so angry that they imitated the Pope, and, saying they were sick of John's tiresome, treacherous ways, they invited the King of France. However, Philip did not come, but sent his son Louis instead, who made a triumphant entry into London. But just at this time John's reign was ended by death. He was travelling in Lincolnshire with a great deal of baggage. It got washed away in a part of the sea called the Wash. This accident enraged him so much that it brought on a fever. He was carried to a convent (place where the clergy lived) at Swineshead, and eat a quantity of peaches and drank beer. As he naturally felt very ill afterwards, he said the clergy had poisoned him, and insisted upon being carried on to Newark, where he died. He begged that after his death he might be dressed like a clergyman and buried between two saints. He had had

little to do with saints in his lifetime, but being of superstitious nature, imagined that their society in death would be to his advantage. From his loss of land he was surnamed John Lackland.

CHAPTER IX.

HENRY III., 1216-1272.

Married Eleanor of Provence.

Children :-Edward, Edmund, and two daughters; five other children died in infancy.

HENRY III. was only nine years old when his father died however, he could hardly have been the better if such a father as John had lived longer. The young king was lucky enough to have a wise brother-in-law in the Earl of Pembroke, who soon got rid of the French prince, and governed England capitally. But after Pembroke's death Henry had to look out for himself. At first he chose rather good advisers, but this seems to have been more from luck than good sense, for the friends he made later in life were ill selected. Having a great turn for making favourites, he gave away places, not to the people who were best fitted for them, but to those whom he or his wife happened to fancy. After a time, his barons could stand it no longer, and rebelled against him. At their head was Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. At last both the king and his eldest son were taken prisoners by the barons.

Now Prince Edward was very different from his father: he had his wits about him, and very bright ones they

were. Of course he wanted to escape. What prisoner would not wish to be free? He was allowed to go out for a ride every day, attended by guards to see that he did not run away. One day Edward asked the guards if they did not think it would be good fun to make their horses run races. The guards agreed, and Edward amused himself by watching them, but declined joining the sport. When all the horses but his own were so tired that they could hardly drag one foot after the other, he seized the opportunity, and escaped, putting spurs to his horse, and not pulling up until he was safe.

It was not long before he succeeded in delivering his father, and peace was made after a great battle at Evesham, where Leicester was killed. Poor King Henry had been brought as a prisoner by the barons into the thick of the battle, in hopes that Prince Edward's soldiers might kill him by mistake. However, although wounded, he had strength to cry out, "I am your king!" and was immediately put in a safe place by Prince Edward, who flew to his aid. Edward, as soon as things were quiet in England, went to the Holy Land, where he was badly wounded, and, it is said, would have died, if his good wife had not sucked the poison out of his arm, for he had been hurt by a poisoned arrow.

Henry died in the year 1272. He had no talent for ruling, and would have made a better builder than king, for he was very fond of architecture.

CHAPTER X.

EDWARD I., 1272-1307.

Married, first, Eleanor of Castile; secondly, Margaret of Franco. Children:-Edward, Thomas, Edmund, and several daughters, most of whom died young.

Principal Event:-Conquest of Wales.

Ir is said that fathers and sons are often extremely unlike. Certainly no two people could have had less in common than Henry III. and his son, Edward I. Edward was one of the cleverest kings we ever had, and one of the most successful in war. In early youth, as you know, he helped his father in battle; in manhood he went to Palestine; and through the whole of his reign his love of fighting seems to have been his great passion.

He was very unhappy after his father's death. The news reached him when he was in Sicily, on his way back from Palestine. However, he felt sure that the throne would come to him without any difficulties being made; so he dawdled rather on his way home, visiting various foreign cities, where he was flattered and made much of till he returned to England, hardly knowing whether he stood on his head or his heels. Soon his love of war began to show itself. On some pretext he quarrelled with the Welsh, and fought against their princes. One was killed in battle; another, after being deserted by his followers, was taken prisoner and put to death, and Edward then became master of Wales. He had a little son born at Carnarvon Castle, and it is said that he promised the Welsh to give them a prince who should not know a word of English; and kept his word