AHMSTRON 
 
 PRIME] 
 
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 1 ENGLISH HISTORY 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
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 ARMSTRONG'S 
 
 PRIMER 
 
 ENGLISH HISTORY 
 
 FOR 
 
 SCHOOL AND FAMILY USE. 
 
 WITH MAPS. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON, 
 
 714 BROADWAY. 
 1885. 
 
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 or CONGRESS 
 
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 Copyright, 
 
 1885, 
 
 By a. C. ARMSTRONG & SON. 
 
 Edward O. Jenkins' Sons, 
 
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PREFACE 
 
 An opinion has prevailed among able teach- 
 ers that text-books are, as a rule, too large 
 and too unwieldy. Experience has shown that 
 beginners learn more rapidly and remember 
 the facts much longer from small books con- 
 taining the salient points of the subject logic- 
 ally arranged. This is especially true of the 
 study of history. The student needs at first a 
 clear, firm outline ; and this once acquired, 
 the subsequent fiUing-in can be accomplished 
 with ease and without the aid of an instructor. 
 
 It is now several years since the author of 
 this little book saw with pleasure the an- 
 nouncement that a Primer of English History 
 was in preparation for the admirable series 
 edited by the late J. R. Green. But the feel- 
 ing of pleasure was changed to disappoint- 
 ment when the announcement proved to be 
 without foundation. 
 
 Impressed by experience with the great need 
 for such a work, especially in the large classes 
 
4 Preface. 
 
 that are found in many of our schools, and 
 surprised that no abler hand had attempted it, 
 the author of the Primer of United States 
 History, encouraged by the unlooked-for suc- 
 cess of that work, resolved to attempt the 
 much more difficult task of reducing to like 
 form the history of England. 
 
 To one who has had experience in this kind 
 of work, it is not necessary to point out its 
 difficulties. The field for selection of events 
 is so large ; the temptation to wander into the 
 by-paths is so great ; there are so many inter- 
 ests which cluster around individuals and 
 epochs, that the attempt to arrange merely a 
 consecutive outline has not always been suc- 
 cessful. 
 
 It is hoped, however, that the Primer of 
 English History will prove adequate to the 
 purpose for which it was written — to save time 
 and labor ; and if the teacher can be relieved 
 from the drudgery of note-giving, so that more 
 attention can be devoted to the actual work of 
 instruction, and if the pupil can, through its 
 brevity, gain the time for more general and 
 extensive study of the subject, the author will 
 have accomplished the object intended. 
 
PRIMER 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY ENGLAND. 
 
 The Britons. — The first inhabitants of Britain 
 were a tribe of Celts who crossed the Channel 
 from the continent opposite and made settle- 
 ments. The most important part of their gov- 
 ernment was that exercised by the Druids ; for 
 they, besides attending to the religious duties, 
 took care of the education of the young, decided 
 all disputes, and were held in the highest es- 
 teem. Their religion was of a dark and mys- 
 terious nature ; their places of worship were in 
 gloomy recesses of the groves ; and human sacri- 
 fice formed a conspicuous part of their rites. 
 
 The Roman Conquest. — In 55 b.c, Julius 
 Caesar, while carrying on his wars in Gaul, 
 crossed over to Britain, remained there long 
 enough to demand obedience to Roman au- 
 thority, and then took his legions back to the 
 Continent. The next year he returned to pun- 
 ish the Britons for not keeping their treaty ; and 
 though he met with considerable resistance, he 
 succeeded in forcing the people to submit, and 
 left them. The real conquest of Britain was not 
 attempted for nearly a century. In a.d. 59 the Ro- 
 man troops attacked the favorite seat of the 
 Druids, destroyed their sacred groves and put 
 
6 The English Conquest. [chap. i. 
 
 to death many of the priests. The Britons un- 
 der Queen Boadicea made all possible resistance. 
 London was destroyed and thousands of people 
 perished. Julius Agricola at last, about the year 
 80, completed the conquest and extended Ro- 
 man authority as far north as the Forth and 
 Clyde. 
 
 The Picts and Scots. — The Britons were not 
 allowed to enjoy perfect peace after the Roman 
 Conquest, for their rude northern neighbors, the 
 Picts and Scots, began to make incursions. Dur- 
 ing the first three centuries, the Romans gave 
 them aid in repelling the intruders. At last, 
 aware that no further help was to be expected 
 from that quarter, since Rome itself was being in- 
 vaded by the Gauls, they yielded to the advice of 
 Vortigern, a native prince, and asked the Saxons 
 to come to their assistance. 
 
 The English Conquest.— Three tribes of 
 Northern Germany, the Saxons, the Angles and 
 the Jutes, took part in this conquest. They were 
 fierce and warlike people and had already made 
 inroads upon and seized the coast as far south 
 as the Rhine, and had then extended their pirati- 
 cal voyages to Britain itself. These were the 
 people whom the Britons called in for their de- 
 fence, and before Vv'hom their enemies retreated. 
 But the English saw here an opportunity for 
 conquest, and determined to subdue the island 
 for themselves. Accordingly, Hengest and Hor- 
 sa, Jutish leaders, allied themselves with the 
 enemy whom they had come to vanquish, and 
 began hostilities against the Britons. Landing 
 at the Isle of Thanet, the invaders crossed to the 
 mainland and marched toward London. The 
 Britons resisted, but without permanent effect. 
 In 465 Northern Kent was abandoned and in 475 
 the English were masters of all Kent. 
 
 A second invasion took place in 477 when the 
 
CHAP. I.] The Danish Invasion. J 
 
 Saxon ^lla landed in Sussex, and after many 
 battles with the Britons, gained possession of that 
 country ; and a third in 495 when the Saxons un- 
 der Cerdic landed near Southampton and in 519 
 gained control of Wessex. From time to time 
 settlements were made under these three tribes 
 which resulted in forcing the Britons into the 
 western part of the island and even out of the 
 country, and in the occupation of the rest of the 
 country by the English and the establishment of 
 a number of small kingdoms by them. These 
 all acknowledged one over-lord, — now it was 
 Ethelbert of Kent, during whose over-lordship 
 Christianity was established ; now Edwin or Os- 
 wald of Northumbria. At last, about the year 
 800, Egbert ascended the throne of Wessex and 
 gradually conquered Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, 
 Sussex and Anglia, and became virtually King 
 of Britain, although he did not assume the title. 
 Next, he reduced Northern V/ales and intended 
 carrying his conquests farther north, but was 
 obliged to turn his attention to another quarter. 
 The Danish Invasion. — Of the Northmen in- 
 habiting the northwestern countries of Europe 
 who carried their predatory expeditions to many 
 places on the western coasts of the Continent, 
 the Danes turned their attention toward Britain. 
 At first they did not attempt to make settlements, 
 contenting themselves with assaults upon the 
 coast and the capture of booty, but toward the 
 close of Egbert's reign they began to show an 
 inclination to settle. In the midst of the terror 
 which this state of affairs caused, Egbert died. 
 His son and successor, Ethelwolf, was quite un- 
 able to cope with the difficulty and divided his 
 kingdom with his son. At his death in 858, the 
 throne was held in turn by his four sons, of 
 whose reigns that of Alfred, the youngest, was 
 the most important. 
 
8 The Danish Invasion. [chap. i. 
 
 The first few years of his reign were spent as 
 were those of his brothers in the struggle with 
 the Danes. At one time he was obliged to hide 
 himself from his foes, for they poured into the 
 country in such numbers that he had no force 
 with which to resist them. At last, however, he 
 succeeded in getting together a nUxTiber of his 
 followers and made frequent and severe attacks 
 upon the Danes, finally defeating them in 878, 
 after which they submitted to him and settled in 
 the districts which he ceded to them, namely, in 
 East Anglia and Mercia. Alfred employed the 
 years of peace which followed in improving his 
 kingdom, rebuilding cities destroyed by the 
 Danes, establishing a militia and a naval force, 
 founding monasteries and schools, encouraging 
 industries and commerce. After a second war 
 with the Danes, Alfred died, leaving the nation 
 again at peace. 
 
 The reigns of Edward and Athelstane were 
 chiefly occupied with struggles with the Danes. 
 Edmund drove them out of Mercia and won 
 Cumberland from the Britons. His brother 
 Edred gave the chief control of affairs into the 
 hands of the Abbot Dunstan, who used his power 
 for the advancement of his order. Dunstan was 
 deprived of his power in the reign of Edred's 
 successor, Edwy, but it was fully restored by 
 Edgar, who made him Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury. The kingdom during this reign was not 
 attacked by any foreign foe, but instead Edgar 
 carried his arms against some of the provinces 
 of Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the Orkneys. 
 
 The reign of Edward II. was short and un- 
 eventful, but during that of Ethelred ('' the Un- 
 ready "), who ascended the throne in 979, the 
 Danes renewed their invasions. The king tried 
 to get rid of them by buying them off — a mode 
 of procedure which only induced further attacks. 
 
CHAP. I.] The Danish Kings. 9 
 
 In order to strengthen himself against the Danes 
 Ethelred allied himself with Normandy (a prov- 
 ince of France which had been settled by the 
 Northmen) and completed the alliance by a mar- 
 riage with Emma, the daughter of the Norman 
 king. Ethelred's next movement was a massa- 
 cre of the Danes in England, in 1002. But in 
 the following years the invasions were repeated, 
 and in 1013 Ethelred fled to Normandy and left 
 the Danish Sweyn King of England. Sweyn 
 died before he had time to establish his power, 
 but his successor, Canute, learning that Ethelred 
 had been recalled to England, sailed from Den- 
 mark in 1015 and, hinding in England, marched 
 toward London. A treaty was made between 
 him and Edmund Ironside (Ethelred's successor), 
 by which the Danes gained possession of North- 
 ern and Edmund of Southern England. When, 
 however, Edmund died, as he did in 1016, Canute 
 claimed the throne. 
 
 The Danish Kings. — Canute's first action was 
 to win over the English nobles by giving them 
 offices of power, and the people by establishing 
 justice. In the fear that Normandy would press 
 the claims of the two sons of Ethelred and Emma, 
 he proposed a marriage with Emma, and secured 
 the friendship of Normandy. Upon Canute's 
 death in 1035, his son Harold succeeded to the 
 English throne, and Sweyn to the Danish. Har- 
 old I. had to meet a threatened civil war. Ca- 
 nute had promised that Emma's son, Hardica- 
 nute, should succeed him in England, and the 
 powerful Earl Godwin took the latter's part in 
 the claim to the succession. War was averted 
 by the division of the kingdom — Harold taking 
 the part north of the Thames, and Emma holding 
 the southern for her son. Hardicanute ascended, 
 the throne when Harold died, and during the 
 two years of his reign aroused the discontent of 
 
10 TJie Saxon Kings Restored. [chap. i. 
 
 his people by his demand for money to buy off 
 the Danes. 
 
 The Saxon Kings Restored.— The English 
 did not hesitate, upon Hardicanute's death, to 
 proclaim as king Edward the Confessor, the 
 brother of Edmund Ironside. Moreover, he was 
 in England at the time, and his claim was sup- 
 ported by Earl Godwin, whose daughter he mar- 
 ried. But now other dangers began to threaten 
 the English. The young king had been educated 
 in Normandy, and felt a strong regard for the 
 Normans and their ways. It was, therefore, 
 not unnatural that he should surround himself 
 with them. The sight of strangers filling so 
 many prominent offices, especially in the Church, 
 aroused the jealousy of Godwin and other Eng- 
 lish nobles. When at last an opportunity offered, 
 Godwin refused to carry out one of Edward's 
 demands. In answer to a threat of punishment, 
 he and his sons raised a force to defy the king ; 
 but Edward's party w^as strengthened by the 
 presence of two powerful northern earls, who 
 were jealous of Godwin's power, and the earl and 
 his sons were obliged to leave the country, and 
 their property was confiscated. The next year 
 Godwin and his son Harold collected forces, and 
 landed at London. The people made no resist- 
 ance, and the assembly of wise men declared 
 that they had been unjustly banished, and or- 
 dered the restoration of their property. Alarmed 
 at this, many of the Norman favorites fled from 
 England ; and Godwin having died, Harold be- 
 came the chief councillor of the king. The only 
 Saxon whom Edward would make his heir, died 
 before Edward himself ; so that, at his death in 
 1066, his kinsman, William of Normandy, claimed 
 .the throne, saying that Edward had made him 
 his heir, and that Harold had sworn to aid him 
 in gaining the crown. But Harold had gradually 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 The Conquest, 
 
 II 
 
 become more and more powerful, and immedi- 
 ately upon Edward's death was chosen king. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF NORMAN KINGS. 
 
 William I. 
 
 William II. 
 
 Henry I. 
 
 I 
 
 Matilda. 
 
 I 
 
 Henry II. 
 
 Adela. 
 Stephen. 
 
 CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN SOVEREIGNS. 
 
 England. 
 
 France. 
 
 Scotland. 
 
 William I. 
 William II. 
 
 Philip I. 
 
 Malcolm III. 
 
 Donald VII. 
 Duncan II. 
 
 Henry I. 
 Stephen. 
 
 Louis VI. 
 
 Louis VI. 
 Louis VII. 
 
 Edgar. 
 
 Alexander I. 
 David I. 
 
 Malcolm IV. 
 
 THE NORMAN KINGS. 
 
 The Conquest. — This act aroused VV^illiam, 
 who immediately demanded the throne. Harold 
 answered by driving the Normans out of England. 
 
12 The Conquest. [chap. ii. 
 
 Preparations were made for war, and the Nor- 
 man fleet arrived off Sussex in September. Har- 
 old had also been called upon to repel an attack 
 from the Norwegians. A battle took place in 
 September at Stamford Bridge, in which the in- 
 vaders were defeated and their leaders killed. 
 He then marched against his other foe, and at 
 Senlac, near Hastings, on October 14, a great 
 battle was fought, in which Harold was slain, 
 the English defeated and England placed at the 
 mercy of her conqueror. This victory won, Will- 
 iam marched toward London, where the two 
 most powerful English earls, Edwin and Morcar, 
 aroused the people and proclaimed Edgar Athel- 
 ing, the grandson of Edmund Ironside, king. 
 But the English were again defeated, so that 
 Edgar himself yielded to the authority of Will- 
 iam, who, in order to secure himself, caused his 
 coronation to take place in December. 
 
 His next movement was to so act that the con- 
 quered people should have as little as possible 
 to complain of. Although all offices of import- 
 ance were placed under the control of Normans, 
 yet he allowed most of the English to retain 
 their lands and other property. He undid most 
 of Harold's acts excepting those relating to the 
 dignity of Edgar Atheling, whom he kept near 
 him and treated with consideration. 
 
 In 1067, leaving his brother Odo, Bishop of 
 Bayeux, in charge of affairs in England, William 
 returned to Normandy. But so jealous were the 
 English of the power of the Normans, that his 
 departure was the signal for an outburst of 
 dissatisfaction all over the country. The king 
 hastened back as soon as he heard of the state 
 of affairs, and from this time determined so to 
 reduce the English that they would not have 
 strength to rebel again. He soon found it nec- 
 essary to lead a force northward against Morcar, 
 
CHAP. II.] The Conquest, 13 
 
 Edwin and others who were rousing the north 
 against the Normans. Submission was wrested 
 from the insurgents ; but the next year the dis- 
 turbance broke out afresh, the malcontents being 
 assisted by the Danes. Yorlc, which was held by 
 the Normans, was taken and the garrison killed. 
 William first bribed the Danes to leave the coun- 
 try, then again forced the English to submit, 
 and laid waste the large tract of land between 
 the Tees and the Humber in order to prevent 
 further invasion by the Danes. Two years later 
 he advanced even into Scotland, whose king, 
 Malcolm, had given refuge to Edgar Atheling 
 and had stirred up the northern nobles in rebel- 
 lion. The expedition resulted in Malcolm's oath 
 of fealty to the conqueror. The great estates 
 that came into the possession of the crown by 
 confiscation after these insurrections, William 
 gave to his Norman followers. 
 
 After the conquest William removed most of 
 the English prelates from their offices in the 
 Church and appointed Normans instead. Of 
 these the most famous was Lanfranc, whom 
 he made Archbishop of Canterbury. He de- 
 manded that all decrees made by the Church 
 should be first approved by himself, and exacted 
 the same homage from prelates as from nobles. 
 
 When William left Normandy, that province 
 was consigned to the care of his oldest son, 
 Robert ; but in 1078 he was obliged, to carry 
 across the Channel an army of English soldiers 
 to war against this son. Several battles took 
 place before a reconciliation was effected, after 
 which Robert returned to England with his 
 father, and was even sent against Malcolm of 
 Scotland in retaliation for that monarch's inva- 
 sion of England. Upon William's death in 1087, 
 Normandy and Maine fell to the share of Robert, 
 and William, the second son, started at once for 
 
14 William II., 1 087-1100. [chap. n. 
 
 England, where he hoped to be crowned by Lan- 
 franc in accordance with his father's wishes. 
 
 The Feudal System. — The introduction of 
 Feudalism was one of the changes made by the 
 Norman Conquest. The king became the lord 
 of all the land ; and Saxon and Norman noble 
 alike held the position of vassal, receiving land 
 from the king for which they held themselves 
 bound to serve their lord with money and sol- 
 diers when occasion demanded. In return the 
 lord was bound to give them protection in time 
 of danger. The vassal generally let others hoM 
 parts of his land under him, when the same rela- 
 tions were repeated. Many of these nobles were 
 so powerful by means of their wealth and the 
 number of their retainers, that they would have 
 been dangerous to the king if he had not held 
 the reins of government with a firm hand, and 
 checked their power in every way. Legislative 
 power lay in the hands of the king and the Great 
 Council, consisting of the higher clergy and the 
 barons. 
 
 William II., I087-IIOO.— It needed all possi- 
 ble expedition on the part of the prince and 
 Lanfranc in order to secure the crown, for many 
 of the nobles would have preferred Robert to 
 reign over them. But William first secured him- 
 self by seizing some of the fortresses of the 
 kingdom and by appropriating the treasury ; 
 then he made promises of liberties to the people 
 which won their favor. He soon began to make 
 demands upon the revenues of the Church. For 
 several years after the death of Lanfranc he kept 
 the archbishopric of Canterbury vacant, appro- 
 priating its revenues for his own purposes. At 
 last, Anselm, a Norman abbot, was invited by 
 the king to fill the place, and before long he de- 
 manded that the money which belonged to Can- 
 terbury should be returned. This so enraged 
 
CHAP. II.] William 11. , 1087-1100. 1 5 
 
 William that Anselm thought it wise to leave the 
 country (1097) ; and the pope threatened William 
 with excommunication. 
 
 As soon as William was secure in England, he 
 began a war with his brother of Normandy. 
 When this had been brought to a close, they 
 united forces against a younger brother, Henry, 
 who, feeling that he had been neglected by both, 
 began to make incursions from his stronghold 
 at St. Michael's Mount. He was obliged to yield 
 to superior forces, and was deprived of his pos- 
 sessions. 
 
 During this reign all Europe was agitated by 
 the crusade preached by Peter the Hermit. 
 Twenty years after the conquest of Jerusalem by 
 the Turks, Peter the Hermit made a pilgrimage 
 to the holy sepulchre, and promised to rouse 
 Europe to the necessity of freeing the holy city 
 from the dominion of the infidels. He himself 
 went from city to city, everywhere painting in 
 glowing colors the outrages upon the city and 
 upon pilgrims. Pope Gregory VH. had already 
 thought of arming Europe against Asia, but it 
 was left for Urban H. to carry it out. A plan 
 was determined upon by a council of the Church 
 held at Clermont in 1095. The cross was chosen 
 as the emblem of the crusade ; and the pope was 
 asked to lead the army. He declined to do this, 
 but urged every one to aid the enterprise in 
 some way. None of the great sovereigns of Eu- 
 rope took part in the crusade, but many princes 
 of the second rank were its leaders. Among 
 these was Robert, Duke of Normandy, who, in 
 order to raise money with which to fit out his 
 followers, was obliged to sell his kingdom to his 
 brother William. The princes of Guienne and 
 Poictiers offered in 1099 to do the same thing, 
 and William was about to sail for France to take 
 possession when he was killed while hunting. 
 
i6 Henry /., 1100-1135. [chap. 11. 
 
 Henry I., IIOO-II35. — By an agreement made 
 between William and Robert, the latter was heir 
 to the throne of England. But he was in the 
 Holy Land when his brother died, and Henry, 
 who was in England at the time, taking advan- 
 tage of this, seized the treasure, and having 
 gained over some of the prelates, was crowned 
 king. In order to secure himself upon his throne, 
 Henry granted a charter in which he promised 
 that the barons should be freed from some of the 
 exactions of his predecessors, that the people 
 should be protected under the laws of Edward 
 the Confessor, and that the Church should not 
 be deprived of its revenues. His next act was 
 one calculated to win the approval of the people 
 — of those at least who retained an affection for 
 their English kings. Henry chose for his wife, 
 Matilda, a great-grandchild of Edmund Iron- 
 side, and daughter of Malcolm III. of Scotland 
 and Margaret, sister of Edgar Atheling. This 
 marriage united the English and Norman houses. 
 
 But Robert did not intend to relinquish his 
 kingdom without a struggle. On his return in 
 iioi from the Holy Land, he took possession of 
 Normandy, which readily yielded to him, and 
 then led an expedition into England. He landed 
 at Portsmouth, where he was met by an army 
 under Henry. In accordance with the advice of 
 Anselm and others, an agreement was made be- 
 tween them by which, upon promise of an an- 
 nual pension, Robert gave up all claim to Eng- 
 land except in the case of Henry's death without 
 children. Henry now took advantage of Robert's 
 lax government of Normandy to obtain posses- 
 sion of that country for himself, and led two 
 campaigns against it, in the second of which, at 
 the battle of Tenchebray in tio6, Robert was 
 taken prisoner together with many of his nobles 
 — among them Edgar Atheling. Robert was 
 
CHAP. II.] Stephen, 1135-1154. 17 
 
 brought to England, where he died after long 
 imprisonment. Edgar was also brought to Eng- 
 land, but was set at liberty and pensioned. 
 
 Although Henry had coveted Normandy, its 
 possession was the cause of many wars and diffi- 
 culties, and his presence was constantly required 
 on the continent. While returning from one of 
 his expeditions thither, the ship which carried 
 his only son struck upon a rock and was lost. 
 This left the throne without a male heir. Henry 
 had one other child, Matilda, who married first 
 the Emperor of Germany, Henry V., and, after 
 his death, Geoffrey Plantagenet, the Earl of An- 
 jou. The son of this marriage was called Henry, 
 and Henry of England exacted from the nobles 
 a promise that this child should be his successor. 
 In 1135 Henry died, and a struggle for the crown 
 ensued; for there was another claimant. 
 
 Stephen, II35-II54. — William the Conqueror 
 had a daughter, Adela, who married Stephen, 
 Count of Blois. Two of her sons, Stephen and 
 Henry, had been guests of the late king, and by 
 him Stephen had been presented with great 
 wealth, and Henry had been created Bishop of 
 Winchester. Stephen had also strengthened 
 himself by marrying the daughter of the Count 
 of Boulogne. Now Stephen claimed that Henry 
 had said that he was to inherit the throne, and 
 he was accordingly crowned by the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury in December, 1135, though with- 
 out the consent of nobles or people. Before 
 long, however, Robert of Gloucester planned an 
 insurrection to overthrow Stephen and place 
 Matilda on the throne; and about the same time 
 David, King of Scotland, led an army into 
 Yorkshire in support of Matilda's title. After 
 several destructive inroads into Northern Eng- 
 land, he was met by English nobles, and in the 
 battle of the Standard (so called because a cruci- 
 
1 8 Stephen, 1135-1154. [chap. n. 
 
 fix was carried as an ensign by the English), was 
 defeated with great loss and compelled to retire. 
 Just at this time it happened that Stephen was 
 engaged in hostilities with some of the clergy 
 in consequence of some overbearing measures 
 against them. At this juncture Matilda arrived 
 in England, and took up her quarters at Arun- 
 del Castle. War immediately broke out between 
 the parties, and a most distressing series of dis- 
 asters followed. 
 
 In 1 141 Stephen was captured and imprisoned, 
 and Matilda's claim recognized. But Matilda's 
 refusal to yield to a petition for Stephen's re- 
 lease from imprisonment, even on condition of 
 his surrendering his claim to the throne, caused 
 a fresh revolt in his favor, and Matilda was be- 
 sieged at Winchester. She made her escape in 
 the night through the snow, but Robert of Glou- 
 cester, her chief supporter, was captured. After 
 five years more of war and tumult Matilda re- 
 turned to Normandy. In 1153 Matilda's son 
 Henry invaded England, and gained such ad- 
 vantage over Stephen that an arrangement was 
 effected between the two princes by which 
 Stephen retained the crown during his life, but 
 acknowledged Henry as his successor. His 
 death in the next year made Henry King of 
 England. 
 
ENGLAND 
 
 AND 
 
 PART OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 LLUSTRATING WARS AT HOME 
 
 I.oiigitude 4 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 Genealogical Table. 
 
 19 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF PLANTAGENET KINGS. 
 
 Henry II. 
 
 i 
 
 Richard I. 
 
 1 
 
 Geoffrey. 
 
 John. 
 
 
 Arthur. 
 
 Henry III. 
 
 Edward I. 
 
 1 
 Edward II. 
 
 1 
 
 Edward III. 
 
 Edward, Lionel, John, 
 
 (the Black Prince). (Duke of Clarence). (Duke of Lancaster). 
 
 Richard II. 
 
 Philippa. 
 
 Rojfer Mortimer, 
 ^Earl of March). 
 
 Henry IV. 
 
 I 
 
 Henry V. 
 
 Anne. 
 
 . I 
 
 Richard, 
 (Duke of York). 
 
 Henry VI. 
 
 I 
 Edward. 
 
 Edward IV. 
 
 Richard III. 
 
 Edward V. Elizabeth. 
 
 M. Henry VII. 
 
20 
 
 Henry II., 1 1 54-1 1 89. [chap. m. 
 
 CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN SOVEREIGNS. 
 
 England. 
 
 France. 
 
 Scotland. 
 
 Henry II. 
 
 Louis VII. 
 
 Malcolm IV. 
 
 
 Philip II. 
 
 William I. 
 
 Richard I. 
 
 
 
 John. 
 
 
 Alexander II. 
 
 Henry III. 
 
 Louis VIII. 
 Louis IX. 
 Philip III. 
 
 
 Edward I. 
 
 
 Alexander III. \ 
 
 
 Philip IV. 
 
 John Baliol. 
 Robert I. (Bruce). 
 
 Edward II. 
 
 Louis X. 
 PhiHp V. 
 Charles IV. 
 
 
 Edward III. 
 
 
 
 
 Philip VI. 
 
 David II. 
 
 
 John II. 
 
 Edward Baliol. 
 
 
 Charles V. 
 
 Robert II. 
 
 Richard II. 
 
 
 
 
 Charles VI. 
 
 Robert in. 
 
 THE PLANTAGENET KINGS. 
 
 Henry II., I154.-I189.— Besides his English 
 dominions, this prince was lord of more than a 
 third part of France, his territory there embrac- 
 ing the entire western part from Normandy to 
 Aquitaine, the southern portions being the 
 dowry of his wife Eleanor. He ascended the 
 throne without opposition. His first act was to 
 revoke many of the measures taken by his pred- 
 
CHAP. III.] Henry 11. , ii 54-1 189. 21 
 
 ecessors, and to restore the authority of law. 
 He also restored the value of the coin of the coun- 
 try, which had depreciated in the last reign. He 
 formed an alliance with Louis of France, and be- 
 trothed his little son Henry to Margaret, a French 
 baby-princess. 
 
 In 1 162 Henry entered upon a long struggle 
 with the Church. Gradually the clergy had en- 
 croached upon the power of the crown, and 
 Henry desired to put an end to this, and prevent 
 its repetition in the future. In order to insure 
 his success, he caused Thomas a Becket to be 
 chosen Archbishop of Canterbury on the death 
 of Theobald. This Becket had risen step by 
 step until he had become the king's chancellor, 
 had been rewarded with great wealth, and had 
 been entrusted with the education of Prince 
 Henry. But no sooner had he been invested 
 with the archbishopric than he began to guard 
 jealously the rights of his order, and when the 
 king's commands ran counter to the power of the 
 clergy, he opposed the king with great vigor. 
 Many of the bishops were willing to concede 
 some of the king's demands, and at last a coun- 
 cil was called at Clarendon (January 25, 1164), 
 when many of the desired changes were made. 
 These " Constitutions of Clarendon " removed 
 from the ecclesiastical to the civil courts certain 
 trials, gave the king the right of confirming or 
 approving the election of bishops, and of dictat- 
 ing to them in certain matters. When Becket 
 found himself alone in his open opposition to 
 these measures, he also accepted them, but only 
 to regret doing so when he found that the pope 
 did not approve his action. He then urged his 
 fellow-bishops to defy the king. Henry was by 
 this time so angered against Becket that he 
 sought excuse to ruin him, but Becket fled to the 
 Continent, where he was received by Louis of 
 
22 Henry 11. , ii 54-1 189. [chap., m. 
 
 France and by the pope. Hostilities followed 
 between Henry and Louis, and between Henry 
 and the pope, but a reconciliation was brought 
 about, and Becket returned to England. The 
 troubles were not yet over. Henry had deemed 
 it prudent that his son Henry should be crowned 
 during his father's lifetime, anticipating a pos- 
 sible excommunication on account of his trouble 
 with the pope. This had been done in Becket's 
 absence, and immediacely on his return that 
 prelate suspended the Archbishop of York for 
 thus usurping his rights. When Henry heard of 
 his interference he broke forth in violent words 
 against the insolence of the priest ; and some of 
 the gentlemen of his household interpreting these 
 as expressing a desire for his death, went secretly 
 to Canterbury and killed him. Henry was great- 
 ly concerned about this murder, as he felt that he 
 would be held responsible for it. He succeeded, 
 however, in convincing the pope of his inno- 
 cence, although legates were sent from Rome to 
 make investigations. After a few years Becket 
 was canonized, and miracles of many kinds were 
 said to be performed at the costly shrine which 
 was erected above his burial-place. 
 
 Henry had long wished to add Ireland to his 
 island kingdom, so he seized an opportunity 
 which offered in 1156. The King of Leinster, 
 who had been expelled from his kingdom, ap- 
 pealed to Henry for aid, and as he offered to hold 
 his realm as the vassal of England, Henry ac- 
 ceded to his request in so far that he gave per- 
 mission to certain nobles to aid him. Later, 
 Henry himself went to Ireland and found Eng- 
 lish power supreme. The Irish submitted to 
 him, and he left Richard de Clare a seneschal of 
 Ireland. 
 
 In order that there might be no ground for 
 dispute among his children at his death, Henry 
 
CHAP, m.] Richard I. , I189-II99. 23 
 
 divided his possessions among them during his 
 life. To Henry, the eldest, he gave England, 
 Normandy, Anjou, Maine, and Touraine ; to 
 Richard, Guienne and Poitou ; Geoffrey had 
 Brittany through his wife Constance ; John was 
 to have Ireland. Not waiting for their father's 
 death, however, the princes in 11 73 demanded 
 their kingdoms, encouraged by their mother and 
 by Louis of France and aided by some powerful 
 nobles. Henry was obliged to take up arms against 
 his. children and he reduced them to obedience. 
 An invasion of the Scots also gave Henry some 
 trouble, but they were repelled and Berwick and 
 Roxburgh given to England. In 1183 Prince 
 Henry died, and three years later Geoffrey also 
 died when just about to open a war with his 
 father. 
 
 While preparing for a crusade in 1187, Henry 
 was forced into a war with his son Richard and 
 Louis of France, which resulted in his making 
 many concessions to the former. Worn out with 
 wars and relDcllions among his children, this 
 great king yielded to despair upon finding his 
 favorite son,. John, taking part in these insur- 
 rections, and died in 1189 at Chinon. 
 
 Richard I., I189-I199. — As soon as Henry was 
 dead Richard realized how wrong his conduct 
 had been, and as if to make reparation, selected 
 for his ministers those who had served his father. 
 The story of his reign is but the story of his 
 military exploits and the persecutions of the Jews. 
 On the very day of his coronation the people 
 fell upon some Jews who had ventured to the 
 ceremony and many were murdered. Other 
 parts of England were the scenes of similar out- 
 rages. 
 
 Richard made every effort to raise money for 
 a crusade, of which he, Philip of France and 
 Frederic Barbarossa of Germany were to be 
 
24 Richard I. , ii 89-1 199. [chap. m. 
 
 the chief leaders, and at last joined his forces 
 with those of Philip near Burgundy. From that 
 point they took different routes, Richard going 
 by way of Marseilles. On his way he reduced 
 the island of Cyprus because of its inhospitable 
 treatment of Bcrengaria, whom he had recently 
 made his wife. He then sailed for Palestine. 
 Then followed the siege of Acre, in which, as in 
 his other exploits, Richard maintained his repu- 
 tation for valor. But between Philip and Rich- 
 ard there was great rivalry, each claiming to be 
 the superior of the other, and at last Philip 
 sailed for France, leaving Richard in full com- 
 mand. He marched from Acre to Ascaion, con- 
 quering as he went, but when at the height of 
 his success he was obliged to make peace with 
 Saladin, the great leader of the Saracens, be- 
 cause the allied forces would remain with him 
 no longer. 
 
 Information had already reached Richard that 
 John was plotting to usurp his throne, and also 
 that Philip was intriguing against him. Accord- 
 ingly he hastened home, taking care, however, 
 to avoid France. While passing through Ger- 
 many in disguise in 1192, he was arrested by the 
 order of the Duke of Austria and imprisoned. 
 Philip and John made a treaty for his final over- 
 throw, but both failed in gaining adherents to 
 their cause. At last Richard was set at liberty 
 and escaped from the country, although with 
 difficulty, and in 1194 reached England, to the 
 joy of his people and to the confusion of his 
 brother. 
 
 During Richard's imprisonment Philip in- 
 vaded Normandy, where as in Anjou and Poitou 
 there seemed little loyalty to their English sov- 
 ereign. Richard hastened across the sea to 
 check Philip. He secured the Norman border 
 by building a castle on the Seine, and hostilities 
 
CHAP. III.] Johny 1 1 99- 1 2 1 6. 25 
 
 and truces followed each other n rapid suc- 
 cession, until Richard received a wound which 
 caused his death (1199). 
 
 John, I199-1216. — On Richard's death, Anjou, 
 Maine and Touraine claimed allegiance to Ar- 
 thur, son of Geoffrey and Constance of Brit- 
 tany, while John was acknowledged in England 
 and Normandy. In order to wrest his conti- 
 nental dominions from Arthur and his ally 
 Philip, John went over to Normandy and in part 
 succeeded. But his success did not last long ; 
 for war soon broke out afresh, and some of the 
 English barons whom John had offended re- 
 volted and gave their assistance to Arthur. 
 During the siege of Mirabeau, Arthur fell into 
 the hands of John, by whom he is supposed to 
 have been murdered. This so aroused Poitou 
 that it and several other provinces rose in rebel- 
 lion, and Philip made an easy conquest of the 
 country in spite of John's vigorous efforts to 
 prevent it. John's attempts to raise means for a 
 renewal of the war with Philip were frustrated 
 by his primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 and the Earl Mareschal. 
 
 Shortly after this the primate died, and John, 
 in order to secure himself from all future oppo- 
 sition from this quarter, ordered the Bishop of 
 Norwich to be elected to the vacancy and sent 
 messengers to the pope to obtain his approval. 
 But secretly some of the monks had chosen 
 their sub-prior, Reginald, and had sent him to 
 Rome for confirmation. The pope refused to 
 acknowledge either, and ordered the election of 
 Stephen Langton. Furious at the interference 
 of the pope, John expelled from the kingdom 
 the monks who had caused the trouble and re- 
 fused to acknowledge Langton. The pope now 
 laid an interdict upon the kingdom, and, when 
 the king defied him by confiscating the property 
 
26 John, I199-1216. [CHAP. m. 
 
 of the clergy who obeyed the interdict, he went 
 a step further and excommunicated the king. 
 Still John would not submit. The pope now 
 released the king's subjects from allegiance to 
 him and gave Philip permission to invade the 
 kingdom. But when Philip's army was read)' 
 for an invasion, an immense army was ready to 
 meet him and the danger was averted by the 
 capture of a number of French ships by an 
 English fleet. 
 
 John now determined to avenge himself upon 
 Philip. Otho of Germany was persuaded to 
 make an invasion of France from the north, 
 while John roused the barons of Poitou in 
 the south. Just at this moment John found 
 himself in the midst of other dangers. The 
 Welsh revolted ; the King of Scotland showed 
 that his sympathy was with the pope ; many of 
 the barons were pledged to Philip, and others 
 secretly opposed to the king. In the hope of 
 securing an alliance which would materially aid 
 him in resisting Philip and reducing his own 
 subjects to submission, John yielded to the de- 
 mands of the pope, received the archbishop and 
 promised to repay his extortions from the Church. 
 His diplomacy had the effect of removing the 
 excuse for Philip's invasion. He then carried 
 out his plan of an invasion of France, although 
 most of his barons refused to go with him. But 
 France rallied round her king, and between Lille 
 and Tournay, the battle of Bouvines was fought, 
 which completely overthrew John's power on the 
 Continent. 
 
 The king returned to England, to find the 
 barons no longer in secret but in open resistance 
 to him, and in January, 1215, they presented their 
 demands. John asked for time, which he spent 
 in seeking a way out of the difficulty. Seeing 
 none, and finding that the few who stood by him 
 
CHAP. III.] Henry III., 12 16-1272. 27 
 
 advised submission, John agreed to meet the 
 barons on an island in the Thames near Runny- 
 mede. Here on the 15th of July the Great 
 Charter was presented and agreed to. Its terms 
 were not new. They had been expressed in the 
 charters of Henry I. and Henry II. ; but the dif- 
 ference lay in the fact that, while the latter were 
 grants from a king to a people, the Great Charter 
 was a contract betW'Cen king and people. By it 
 all classes were granted the same protection 
 against injury. The barons asked not only 
 justice from the king to themselves, but also 
 justice from man to man throughout the realm. 
 In order to secure execution of its provisions, 
 twenty-four barons were to form a council, with 
 the right of declaring war upon the king if the 
 provisions were not carried out. John's anger at 
 this was very great, and he waited for aid from 
 Rome to free himself from his bondage. The 
 pope, vexed that the trouble between king and 
 barons had not been left to him to decide, issued 
 in August a bull against the charter, excom- 
 municated the barons, and suspended Langton 
 from the primacy. Troops came to John's as- 
 sistance, and he began a conflict with his barons, 
 which might have ended in his success had not 
 they appealed to Philip of France for help. In 
 April, 1216, Louis, Philip's son, landed in Kent. 
 John fled to Wales, and died while making a 
 march upon the north. 
 
 Henry III., 1216-1272. — The young king was 
 a child of nine years at the time of his father's 
 death, and the government was at once assumed 
 by William, Earl of Pembroke, who caused the 
 prince to be crowned, and issued the charter in 
 the king's name. He then marched against 
 Louis in the south of England. One by one the 
 barons deserted the French prince until he was 
 obliged to treat for peace and leave the kingdom. 
 
28 Henry TIL^ 1216-1272. [chap, ifi. 
 
 The death of the Earl of Pembroke left the con- 
 trol of affairs in the hands of Hubert de Burgh, 
 who found himself surrounded by difficulties. 
 He was annoyed by the claims of Rome to hold 
 a share in the government during Henry's mi- 
 nority. The barons, whom John's tyranny had 
 united in their anxiety for the charter, were diffi- 
 cult to restrain. These Hubert suppressed with 
 the aid of Stephen Langton,.\vho, moreover, de- 
 manded and received from the king a confirma- 
 tion of the charter. 
 
 When Henry grew up it was discovered that 
 he had inherited his father's ideas of govern- 
 ment ; that he believed the king should be abso- 
 lute sovereign ; and that the promises made by 
 the charter should be set aside. He desired to 
 get back his foreign dominions ; and he felt 
 bound by religious and political motives to 
 Rome, especially as Rome could free him from 
 observance of the charter. He manifested weak- 
 ness of character, was easily influenced by favor- 
 ites, and surrounded himself with Poitevins and 
 other foreigners upon whom he heaped favors, 
 to the annoyance of the English barons. 
 
 After the death of Langton in 1228, Rome 
 made heavier exactions both from the clergy 
 and laity of England. Hubert was held respon- 
 sible for the firm resistance which the laity made 
 to these exactions, and Henry, already enraged 
 because he was the chief obstacle in the way of 
 a war for the recovery of his French possessions, 
 deprived him in 1232 of his office. His removal 
 left Henry unchecked. He now resolved to de- 
 prive the officers of state of their power, that he 
 might reign supreme. His extravagance caused 
 him to make severe exactions from the people, 
 until at last the barons refused to grant further 
 supplies. Notwithstanding this the king made 
 a fruitless attempt to regain Poitou, which not 
 
CHAP. III.] Henry III., 12 16-1272. 29 
 
 only impoverished the treasury, but involved the 
 kingdom in debt. He* also accepted from the 
 pope the kingdom of Sicily for his son Edmond, 
 and promised to raise money to aid in the con- 
 quest of that island. 
 
 In 1258 Henry summoned a parliament to 
 make arrangements for a campaign against the 
 Welsh Llewellyn, who had already invaded Eng- 
 land and defeated Prince Edward, and to raise 
 money for his Sicilian scheme. The barons, led 
 by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and the 
 Earl of Gloucester assembled in arms and de- 
 manded that twenty-four of their number should 
 decide upon the manner in which the realm 
 should be represented in the government. By 
 the " Provisions of Oxford " which they prepared, 
 the Great Council or Parliament was to assemble 
 three times in the year, and a royal council of 
 fifteen was appointed. These provisions led to 
 others in which further reforms were made. The 
 foreigners who opposed them were driven from 
 the country. Peace was made with the Welsh, 
 and also with France by the terms of which 
 Henry gave up his claims upon the French prov- 
 inces. Further payment of money to Rome was 
 forbidden and England's claim upon Sicily aban- 
 doned. 
 
 When de Montfort returned from France, 
 wliither he had gone to treat for the peace, he 
 found himself deserted by Gloucester and many 
 others who had gone over to the king. The 
 breach had been opened before Simon's departure, 
 when he urged upon the barons the necessity of 
 carrying out the reforms. In 1260 Henry said 
 that he should not keep his part of the compact, 
 as the barons had not kept theirs ; so he an- 
 nounced his intention of resuming his Sicilian 
 plan, and forbade a spring Parliament. The 
 pope absolved Henry from his oath, and Leices- 
 
30 Edward I. ^ 1 272-1 307. [chap. m. 
 
 ter sought refuge in France. But the death of 
 Gloucester in 1262 placed Leicester again at the 
 head of the barons, and the fact that the young 
 Earl of Gloucester joined him, added to his 
 power. The strife went on with varied results, 
 until in 1264 the difficulty was laid before Louis 
 IX. of France for arbitration. Louis decided 
 that the king should not be so hampered in his 
 government, and annulled the Oxford Provisions. 
 But this only roused the barons again, and in 
 May, 1264, a severe battle was fought between 
 the two parties at Lewes, in which Leicester 
 gained the day and took the king and his brother 
 prisoners, thereby compelling Prince Edward to 
 make terms for their release. 
 
 Leicester's power had now reached its summit. 
 He summoned a Parliament in 1265, in which 
 was represented each borough besides the barons 
 and clergy. This was the first time that the 
 commons were recognized as a part of the gov- 
 erning body. Hitherto they had only taken part 
 in granting subsidies to the crown. 
 
 Not long after this Prince Edward, who had 
 surrendered himself as hostage for his father, 
 made his escape ; and an alliance with Glou- 
 cester, who had deserted the barons, gave him 
 strength too great for Leicester to resist. On 
 August 4, 1265, the battle of Evesham was fought, 
 which resulted in the overthrow and death of de 
 Montfort, and the reestablishment of the king's 
 power. In 1270 Edward left England for a cru- 
 sade, and during his absence Henry died. 
 
 Edward I., 1272-1307. — As Edward found 
 that England was quiet under the government 
 of the Earls of Gloucester and Cornwall and the 
 Archbishop of York, he remained on the Conti- 
 nent nearly two years. The measures laid be- 
 fore his first Parliament, which he summoned in 
 1275, showed what he intended to do. Taxes 
 
CHAP. III.] Edivard I.^ 1 272-1 307. 31 
 
 were imposed, and the laws of previous reigns 
 arranged with system. His attention was then 
 called to Wales. 
 
 Since Llewellyn, the Prince of Wales, had re- 
 fused to do homage to Edward on his accession, 
 the king marched against that principality. The 
 desertion of many of the Welsh princes left 
 Llewellyn at Edward's mercy. Edward was very 
 moderate in his demands upon the conquered 
 prince — remitted a fine which had been imposed 
 for refusal of homage, and allowed him to marry 
 the daughter of Simon de Montfort. For four 
 years Wales was at rest, and during that time 
 Edward's attention was given to judicial reforms. 
 At the end of this time a revolt broke out in 
 Wales, which Edward met with characteristic 
 promptness. Llewellyn was killed in battle, and 
 when, six months later, the chieftains submitted, 
 Wales became a part of England. But although 
 Edward tried to establish English law and jus- 
 tice, the attempt was not altogether successful, 
 and it was not until the time of Henry VHL 
 that Wales was represented in Parliament. As 
 Edward's oldest son was born at Caernarvon, he 
 was called the Prince of Wales, a title ever since 
 borne by the oldest son of the reigning sovereign. 
 In 1286 Edward went to France to work reforms 
 in the government of his dominions there, and 
 remained on the Continent for three years, at the 
 end of which time his presence was demanded 
 by Parliament, which refused to grant a tax in 
 his absence. In the next year (1290) occurred a 
 violent outbreak against the Jews, which resulted 
 in their expulsion from the kingdom. 
 
 Edward was now obliged to set everything 
 else aside and give undivided attention to affairs 
 in the north. It had been arranged that the heiress 
 to the Scottish crown and Edward the Prince of 
 Wales should by their marriage unite the two 
 
32 Edzvard I., 1 272-1 307. [chap. in. 
 
 kingdoms. The death of the princess before 
 this could be accomplished left the throne 
 vacant. Immediately arose a dispute among 
 the principal claimants, John Baliol, Robert 
 Bruce, and John Hastings, each a descendant of 
 a daughter of David, brother of William the 
 Lion. The matter was given to Edward for de- 
 cision, and in 1292 he decided in favor of Baliol, 
 who in return did homage to Edward as over- 
 lord. Peace followed until Edward exacted the 
 right of appeal from the Scotch court to his 
 own, but the opposition of the people forced 
 Baliol to resist this. Edward next ordered the 
 Scotch to join him in a war against France, and 
 their refusal ended in war with Scotland. An 
 advance was made upon Berwick, the inhabitants 
 massacred and the town destroyed. No further 
 resistance was offered. Bruce joined the Eng- 
 lish and Baliol was taken prisoner. Scotland 
 was held as forfeited to England, and Warenne, 
 Earl of Surrey, placed at the head of a council 
 of regency. 
 
 Before long the people rose in anger at the 
 submission of their chiefs. William Wallace 
 armed the peasants and occupied the valley near 
 Stirling — the pass between north and south. 
 Here in September, 1297, the English army under 
 Warenne was nearly cut to pieces, and the rem- 
 nant compelled to retreat. Wallace then reduced 
 Stirling Castle, and this called Edward to Scot- 
 land. Being surprised at Falkirk, July, 1298, 
 Wallace was disastrously defeated, and barely 
 escaped with a handful of followers. But the 
 cause of freedom was unconquered. A regency 
 was formed by Bruce and Comyn, who continued 
 the struggle. The menacing attitude of France 
 prevented any action on the part of Edward un- 
 til that country became embroiled in a quarrel 
 with the pope. Then Comyn acknowledged him 
 
CHAP. III.] Edward IL, 1 307-1 327. 33 
 
 as his chief, and with the surrender of Stirhng 
 the conquest was considered complete (1305). A 
 general pardon was granted to all except Wal- 
 lace, who was executed at Smithfield. 
 
 While Edward was preparing for a joint as- 
 sembly of the two nations at Carlisle, Robert 
 Bruce, a grandson of the original claimant for 
 the throne, again armed the people. He had 
 fled from the English court on the discovery of 
 a plot between him and the Bishop of St. An- 
 drews. The murder of Comyn, whom Bruce 
 accused of betraying him to Edward, left him 
 no alternative but to assume the crown of Scot- 
 land. Aymer de Valence routed Bruce's army; 
 and the king himself started northward with an 
 army, but died before he reached Scotland. 
 
 Edward II., 1307-1327.— This prince, from 
 whom so much had been expected as his father's 
 son, was a disappomtment to his people. He 
 proved weak and inefficient in an invasion of 
 Scotland on his father's death, and retrogressive 
 in his policy against the barons. He allowed 
 himself, too, to be governed by favorites, notably 
 by one Piers Gaveston, who had been placed in 
 his service before his father's death, and whom 
 he elevated to the Earldom of Cornwall, and 
 to the head of the administration. This man 
 was left in charge of the kingdom during the 
 king's absence in France to do homage for Gui- 
 ennc, and to marry Isabella, the daughter of 
 Philip the Fair. So insolent was he that after a 
 few months the king was forced to yield to the 
 demands of the barons and dismiss him from 
 the kingdom. He was made lieutenant of Ire- 
 land, and before long was recalled to England 
 by the king, much to the anger of the barons, 
 and especially of the Earl of Lancaster, the 
 king's cousin, whose birth and poiver rendered 
 his influence great among the nobles. By the 
 
34 Edward TL, 1 307-1 327. [chap. m. 
 
 Parliament of 131 1, Gaveston was again banish- 
 ed, and further power secured by the barons. 
 Edward, however, withdrew to York, recalled 
 Gaveston, declared his banishment illegal and 
 restored his powers. But the barons struck a 
 decisive blow. Lancaster led an army against 
 York, and Gaveston took refuge at Scarbor- 
 ough, where he was besieged and forced to sur- 
 render. He was shortly afterward beheaded. 
 
 After two years of distress caused by the dis- 
 sensions between king and barons, a common 
 danger drew the kingdom together. The Scotch, 
 taking advantage of the weakness of the Eng- 
 lish king, declared Robert Bruce king. The in- 
 vestment of Stirling, called Edward to Scotland 
 with a large army. This force Bruce met on 
 June 24, 13 14, at Bannockburn, near Stirling. A 
 disastrous defeat to the English followed, and 
 Bruce was left master of Scotland. 
 
 Hugh le Despenser succeeded Gaveston as 
 favorite with the king — a man of better character 
 than Gaveston, yet his rapid promotion roused 
 great jealousy against him. In 132 1 Lancaster 
 and the barons forced him and his father into 
 exile. In the next year he was recalled, and 
 when Lancaster strove to again drive him from 
 the country. Edward took up arms. Lancaster 
 declared an alliance with the Scots, and fled 
 north, where he was captured, taken before the 
 kmg, tried and executed. Another campaign 
 against Scotland resulted in failure, and the 
 king in 1323 was compelled to make a truce for 
 thirteen years, and grant Bruce a royal title. 
 
 All through the difficulties with Scotland, Eng- 
 land had been harassed by the interference of 
 France. Now war seemed inevitable because of 
 trouble concerning the king's possessions in that 
 country. To avert the war Isabella crossed the 
 sea to bring about a treaty, and Prince Edward 
 
CHAF. III.] Edzvard III., 1 327-1377. 35 
 
 joined her there shortly to do homage for his 
 father's dominions. The queen found in France 
 a number of nobles who had fled thither on the 
 death of Lancaster. A common hatred of the 
 Despensers united them. At last the queen re- 
 fused to allow her son to return to England un- 
 til the favorites were dismissed. The prince was 
 affianced to Philippa, daughter of the Count of 
 Hainault, and troops were procured, with whom 
 Isabella in 1326 landed in Suffolk. Here she 
 was joined by some English nobles. The king 
 and his favorites were pursued and captured, 
 the king imprisoned at Kenilworth, and the 
 Despensers put to death. The queen summoned 
 a Parliament, which deposed the king on the 
 ground of inefficiency, and placed Prince Edward 
 on the throne. The king's assent to this was 
 extorted from him, and he was soon afterward 
 murdered at Berkeley Castle. 
 
 Edward III., 1327-1377.— The young king 
 was but fourteen years old, and although Parlia- 
 ment appointed a council of regency, with the 
 Earl of Lancaster as guardian, the queen, Isa- 
 bella, and her favorite, Mortimer, had great 
 power over the king, and tried to prevent the 
 other nobles from sharing the government. At 
 last Edward, young as he was, saw with dis- 
 pleasure the growing power of Mortimer, and 
 caused him to be arrested and put to death as a 
 traitor. 
 
 Almost immediately after Edward's accession, 
 the Scotch under Douglas invaded England and 
 forced a peace between the countries, which ac- 
 knowledged the independence of Scotland and 
 Bruce as its king. This peace was most distaste- 
 ful to the English. All its terms, however, were 
 not carried out, and some of the discontented 
 English took advantage of this fact to foment 
 new troubles in Scotland. Robert Bruce's death 
 
36 Edward III., 1 327-1377. [chap. m. 
 
 having left the Scottish kingdom to a child eight 
 years old, Edward Baliol, who had been aiming 
 at the throne for several years, landed in Scot- 
 land in 1332, and was crowned at Scone, young 
 Bruce fleeing to France. Edward had not openly 
 assisted Baliol, but now he demanded his ac- 
 knowledgment of English over-lordship. But 
 Baliol was driven from Scotland by the adher- 
 ents of Bruce. In March, 1333, Edward besieged 
 Berwick, and soon afterward fought at Halidon 
 Hill a battle with the regent Douglas, in which 
 the latter was defeated. This was followed by 
 the submission of a large part of the nobles and 
 by the return of Baliol. For three years Bal- 
 iol remained England's vassal king, and at the 
 end of that time France took up the cause of 
 David Bruce, and war was declared between 
 France and England. In 1339 Baliol retired to 
 Edward's court, and in 1342 David returned to 
 his kingdom. 
 
 We must now look for the cause of the war 
 with France. When Charles IV. died in 1328, a 
 dispute arose as to the successor to the throne. 
 Neither he nor his brother had any sons, but 
 Isabella, the mother of Edward, was Charles's 
 sister ; therefore Edward claimed the crown.* 
 
 * Claim of Edward III. to the French Throne. 
 
 Philip III. 
 
 Philip IV. 
 
 1 
 
 Charles, 
 
 (Count of Valois.) 
 
 1 
 
 .1 ..i , 
 
 1 1 Philip VI. 
 
 Louis X. Philip V. Charles IV. Isabella, (of Valois.) 
 
 Joan. Edward III. 
 
 I (of England.) 
 
 Charles, King 
 of Navarre. 
 
CHAP. III.] Edward III., 1 327-1 377. 37 
 
 Although there was a French law, known as 
 the Salic law, forbidding the occupation of the 
 throne by a woman, Edward insisted a woman 
 might transmit the right. The crown, however, 
 passed to Charles's cousin, Philip VI. But Ed- 
 ward, roused by some action in regard to Gui- 
 enne, and also by France's interference in Scotch 
 matters, m.ade preparation for war in 1337, as- 
 sumed the title of King of France, and crossed 
 to Flanders, with which state, as with other con- 
 tinental powers, an alliance was formed, and 
 from that point he made a fruitless invasion in 
 1339. In 1340 France fitted out a fleet of four 
 hundred vessels, and stationed it off Sluys in the 
 expectation of another English expedition. It 
 was not in vain ; for two hundred and forty 
 English ships on their way to Flanders fell in 
 with these, and with the help of a Flemish fleet 
 which put out to their assistance, succeeded in 
 destroying the French fleet and killing twenty 
 thousand men. Edward then besieged Tournay, 
 but was obliged to conclude a truce and return 
 to England. Some of his alliances were broken, 
 and his finances were at a low ebb. Large 
 grants were made to him by Parliament, in re- 
 turn for which the king gave his assent to cer- 
 tain statutes which the Commons desired. 
 
 In 1341 a dispute between rival claimants to 
 the Duchy of Brittany drew Edward again to 
 France, and when the time of the truce had elapsed 
 the war between the two countries was renewed. 
 Edward's allies, with the exception of the Flem- 
 ish towns, had deserted him, and he was deeply 
 in debt. Notwithstanding this he sailed from 
 England, in 1346, with the intention of landing 
 at Guienne to relieve Henry of Lancaster, who 
 was hard pressed at Aiguillon by John, Duke of 
 Normandy, Philip's son. Contrary winds drove 
 Edward to Normandy. Disembarking at La 
 
38 Edward III., 1.3 2 7- 1377. [chap. m. 
 
 Hogue he found Normandy defenceless, and by 
 threatening Rouen and Paris, forced Philip to 
 summon his son to the north. Edward now re- 
 treated toward Flanders, followed by Philip with 
 reinforcements brought by King John of Bohe- 
 mia. Edward took a position at Crecy to await 
 the enemy, and here was fought a desperate battle, 
 in which the English were victorious. The young 
 Prince of Wales distinguished himself in this 
 battle, and was afterward called the Black Prince 
 from the color of the armor worn by him on that 
 day. Artillery was used for the first time in this 
 battle. Edward next pressed to the siege of 
 Calais. This occupied nearly a year, and in the 
 meantime success was attending the English 
 arms in other quarters. 
 
 In Guienne, Henry of Lancaster, relieved of 
 the French army, recovered Poitou. A Scotch 
 invasion into England was checked at Neville's 
 Cross by Earl Percy, and the Scotch king cap- 
 tured. In 1347 Calais was compelled, by famine, 
 to surrender unconditionally. This was a valu- 
 able victory to the English, as the possession of 
 Dover on one side and Calais on the other would 
 give the English control of the Channel. 
 
 These great successes were followed by a series 
 of disasters in England. A deadly plague, which 
 had spread over Europe, reached England in 
 1348, and more than fifty thousand people are 
 supposed to have been its victims. This was 
 followed by a famine, and by social disturbances 
 among the laboring classes. 
 
 In 1355 the truce between the hostile nations 
 terminated, and at the solicitation of the friends 
 of the King of Navarre, who had been imprisoned 
 by John, Philip's successor, Edward ordered two 
 expeditions to France. In the following year 
 the expedition under the Black Prince penetrated 
 into Guienne, where, near Poitiers, he was met 
 
CHAP. Ill .] Edward II L y 12,27-12,77. 39 
 
 on September 19, 1356, by a large army under 
 the French king. Edward's retreat was cut off, 
 and the army far inferior in numbers to the 
 French ; but a day which John spent in nego- 
 tiation, Edward spent in intrenching himself in 
 a skilfully chosen position. The battle resulted 
 in the utter rout of the French, and the capture 
 of King John. Unable to make use of his advan- 
 tage, the Black Prince concluded a truce for two 
 years, and the royal captive was conducted to 
 England, where he was treated with considerate 
 attention. A proposed treeity of peace was re- 
 jected by the dauphin, and its rejection was fol- 
 lowed by a fresh invasion by Edward. In 1360 
 the peace of Bretigny was arranged, by which 
 John's release was purchased by a promise of a 
 large ransom. Edward agreed to renounce Nor- 
 mandy, Maine, Anjou, and Touraine, receiving 
 in return Poitou, Saintonge, Limousin, and other 
 districts in that part of France, together with 
 Calais, Guisnes, and Ponthieu in the north — all 
 to be held without homage to France. Edward 
 was to give up his Flemish alliance, and John 
 promised to refrain from interference with the 
 Scotch. 
 
 In 1367, the Black Prince led an expedition 
 into Spain, to restore to the throne Pedro, whom 
 his brother Henry, with the aid of the French, 
 had dethroned. Pedro was restored, but proved 
 so criiel to his subjects that a second attempt by 
 Henry ended in Pedro's death. The Duke of 
 Lancaster now claimed the throne, through his 
 marriage with Pedro's daughter, and this pro- 
 voked the enmity of the King of Spain. 
 
 So heavily were Edward's French subjects 
 taxed to pay the expenses of this Spanish ex- 
 pedition that some of them rose in rebellion, 
 and asked aid of the French king, Charles, 
 against their lord. Enraged at Charles's action 
 
40 Richard 11. y 1 377-1 399. [chap. m. 
 
 in this matter, the Black Prince went, in 1369, 
 into his southern provinces, but was unable to 
 hold his own. His health having failed, he re- 
 turned to England, and after losing all his pos- 
 sessions, except Bordeaux, Bayonne and Calais, 
 was forced to make peace. The prince died in 
 1376, and his father's death followed in the next 
 year. 
 
 The reigns of the Edwards exhibit marked 
 progress in legislation, in that representatives of 
 the cicies and boroughs were permanently re- 
 turned to Parliament, which was now divided 
 into two houses. The Commons obtained the 
 right to petition for redress of grievances, and 
 in the reign of Edward III. acquired the right 
 of inquiry into abuses, and a control over the 
 raising of money. Notwithstanding this, sev- 
 eral statutes were passed which pressed heavily 
 upon the laboring classes, and tax after tax was 
 imposed to meet the expenses of a war which 
 was fatal to England's foreign power. The 
 reign of Edward III. is also marked by the intro- 
 duction of gunpowder, the establishment and 
 protection of companies of Flemish weavers, the 
 substitution of English for French as the lan- 
 guage of the courts of law, the institution of 
 the Order of the Garter, and by the life and 
 work of Geoffrey Chaucer, the first great Eng- 
 lish poet, and of Wyclif, the great reformer. The 
 latter organized a band of preachers who carried 
 his doctrines abroad. He also gave us the first 
 English translation of the Bible. 
 
 Richard II., 1377-1399. — The young prince 
 who succeeded Edward III. was the son of the 
 Black Prince. As in the latter days of Edward, 
 the chief power was held by John of Gaunt, 
 Duke of Lancaster, under whom several fruitless 
 expeditions were carried into France. The cost 
 of these and the expenses of the government 
 
CHAP. III.] Richard I L, 1 377-1 399- 41 
 
 led Parliament to impose a poll tax on indi- 
 viduals of all classes. This roused the already 
 discontented peasants to revolt. Essex set the 
 example, and ere long several counties followed 
 her example. Under the leadership of Wat 
 Tyler and John Hales, a hundred thousand 
 men were assembled at Blackheath, near Lon- 
 don, on June 12, 1381, and some of them enter- 
 ing the city the next day, fired several buildings. 
 On the morning of the 14th, the young king 
 went out to meet the Essex men. Their de- 
 mands were listened to, as they asked for free- 
 dom from serfdom, and for the removal of im- 
 posts from trade. Satisfied by the king's con- 
 cessions, they went peacefully to their homes. 
 On the morning of the 15th, the king met with 
 Wat Tyler at the head of the Kentish insurgents. 
 Some of Tyler's words angered Walworth, Mayor 
 of London, and he struck him down with his 
 sword. Upon their leader's death the crowd 
 cried out for revenge, but Richard, with great 
 presence of mind, offered himself as their leader 
 and withdrew them from the city. Promising 
 these rebels the same privileges that he had 
 granted the others, he dismissed them to their 
 homes. Before long, the nobles, hearing of the 
 king's danger, hastened to London, and Richard 
 stood at the head of a large army which com- 
 pelled submission. Parliament revoked Richard's 
 concessions and reduced the people to their old 
 condition ; but they never forgot the fact that 
 they had forced the king to yield to their de- 
 mands. 
 
 Richard was very anxious to curb the power 
 both of the nobles and of Parliament, and 
 especially did he resent the supervision of the 
 Commons over the royal expenditure. His 
 favorite, Robert de Vere, and his chancellor, the 
 Earl of Suffolk, encouraged these ideas, and his 
 
42 Richard I L, 1 377-1 399. [chap. m. 
 
 attitude toward Parliament alienated it from 
 him. As he and his councillors had for some 
 time desired to get rid of the Duke of Lan- 
 caster, a charge of treason was concocted, and 
 the duke compelled to flee to Spain. But this 
 only brought to the front another uncle, the 
 Duke of Gloucester, and Henry of Derby, the 
 son of the Duke of Lancaster by his first mar- 
 riage, and increased the opposition already exist- 
 ing against his councillors. In 1386 Parliament 
 asked for the removal of Suffolk, but the king 
 would not assent until threatened with deposi- 
 tion. They further refused all subsidies until 
 he consented to the formation of a council with 
 the Duke of Gloucester at its head. Two years 
 afterward Suffolk, de Vere and others were 
 charged with high treason, and those who did 
 not succeed in escaping were executed. 
 
 In 1389 Richard declared that, being of age, 
 further guardianship was unnecessary. He re- 
 moved Gloucester for a time, and showed great 
 wisdom in his changes, even giving places in his 
 council to those who had opposed his favorites. 
 His foreign policy throughout his reign was one 
 of peace, for the reason that he desired to be as 
 little dependent upon Parliament as possible, 
 and it was only through that body that means 
 to carry on war could be obtained. A formal 
 peace with France was impossible without giving 
 up his claim upon the crown; so, in 1396, he se- 
 cured a truce of twenty-eight years by a mar- 
 riage with the young daughter of Charles VI. 
 Immediately Richard's government was changed, 
 and he gave himself up to extravagant pleasures, 
 until the Commons begged him to desist. Sud- 
 denly the Duke of Gloucester and the Earls of 
 Arundel and Warwick were accused of a con- 
 spiracy. Arundel was executed, Warwick ban- 
 ished, and Gloucester imprisoned at Calais, 
 
CHAP. IV.] Richard 11. , 1 377-1 399- 
 
 43 
 
 where, before long, he died under suspicious 
 circumstances. 
 
 On the death of John of Gaunt in 1399, his 
 son, who had been banished by Richard, yield- 
 ed to the persuasions of some of his friends, 
 and sailed for England to claim his confiscated 
 estates. Landing in Yorkshire, he was joined 
 by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmore- 
 land, and thousands of malcontents. Richard 
 was at this time absent in Ireland; but the Duke 
 of York raised an army to protect the throne. 
 The greater part of it, however, deserted and 
 joined Lancaster, who was master of the realm. 
 As soon as he heard of the disaster, Richard 
 hastened from Ireland, but only to be taken 
 prisoner by his subjects. Lancaster now deter- 
 mined upon seizing the crown. Through his in- 
 fluence. Parliament deposed the king, and Henry 
 of Lancaster set forth his claim to the throne. 
 No objection was raised, and he became king by 
 the suffrage of the people. Richard was im- 
 prisoned in Pomfret, where he was murdered in 
 March, 1400. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN SOVEREIGNS. 
 
 England. 
 
 France. 
 
 Scotland. 
 
 Henry IV. 
 
 Charles VI. 
 
 Robert III. 
 James I. 
 
 Henry V. 
 
 Charles VII. 
 
 
 Henry VI. 
 
 
 James II. 
 James III. 
 
 Edward IV. 
 
 Louis XI. 
 
 
 Edward V. 
 
 Charles VIII. 
 
 
 Richard III. 
 
 
 
44 Henry IV,, 1 399-141 3. [chap. iv. 
 
 THE PLANTAGENET KINGS {C07ltinued). — THE 
 HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK. 
 
 Henry IV., 1399-14.13. — The influence of the 
 Church had been given to Henry upon the sup- 
 position that he would not encourage the new 
 heresy taught by Wyclif, and maintained by his 
 followers, now called Lollards ; accordingly one 
 of the first acts of his reign was his consent to 
 a statute of Parliament which punished heresy 
 by death. The statute did not crush Lollard- 
 ism, for although one of its leaders, the Earl of 
 Salisbury, died early in the reign, his place was 
 immediately filled by John Oldcastle, Lord Cob- 
 ham, an able soldier who stood out boldly for 
 his cause. Charges were brought against him, 
 which, at last, not even the personal friendship 
 of the king could resist. He escaped trial, how- 
 ever, and organized revolt after revolt. At 
 length he was captured and burned, but not 
 until his violence had brought odium upon his 
 sect and broken its power. 
 
 The revolution which placed Henry upon the 
 throne was almost bloodless, and he showed 
 leniency in the punishment of those who had op- 
 posed him. But when a conspiracy against his 
 life was discovered the leaders were promptly 
 beheaded. 
 
 In the first year of his reign, Henry was called 
 from a campaign against the Scots by a revolt in 
 Wales under Owen Glendower, who, assuming 
 the title of Prince of Wales, seized several strong- 
 holds in North Wales, and baffled the English 
 who were sent against him. In the battle of 
 Brynglas he captured Edward Mortimer, uncle 
 of the imprisoned Earl of March, the next heir 
 to the throne. Henry's refusal to ransom this 
 
CHAP. IV.} Henry F., 141 3-1422. 45 
 
 noble roused the anger of the Percies of North- 
 umberland, who sought the aid of Glendower in 
 a conspiracy to place the Earl of March upon the 
 throne. The king raising a large army, met the 
 Percies at Shrewsbury July 23, 1403, and a fierce 
 battle ensued, in which Henry Percy, called 
 Hotspur, was killed, and the other leaders cap- 
 tured. But the difficulty with Glendower re- 
 mained unsettled until the beginning of the next 
 reign. 
 
 In 1407 an accident removed all present dan- 
 gers of hostility from Scotland. James, the son 
 of the Scotch king, was shipwrecked while on 
 his way to France," and thrown upon the English 
 coast. Henry kept him a prisoner in England, 
 yet gave him every advantage of education. 
 King Robert died o'f grief at the news of his 
 son's capture, and the Scotch crown passed to 
 the Duke of Albany, the king's brother. 
 
 Before Henry's death his health became so 
 much impaired that a council of government was 
 formed, with Henry, Prince of Wales, at its head. 
 But as Henry suspected his son of plotting for 
 his removal, he was deprived of all power until 
 the death of his father in 1413. 
 
 Henry V., 1413-1422. — It was only the dis- 
 turbed internal condition of the two countries 
 which prevented serious outbreak between France 
 and England during the reign of Henry IV. The 
 madness of the French king left much power in 
 the hands of the Duke of Burgundy, who was 
 anxious for peace with England, while a large 
 party under the leadership of the Duke of 
 Orleans were anxious for war. As disturbances 
 between these two parties were constantly aris- 
 ing, Henry V. soon saw an opportunity to strike 
 a blow for the possession of the country. Re- 
 newing the claim of Edward III., he sailed in 
 1415 for Harfleur. This town he reduced by a 
 
46 Henry V/., 1 42 2- 1 46 1 . [chap. iv. 
 
 siege, and then, although his ranks were thin- 
 ned by sickness, determined to attempt Calais. 
 When he had crossed the Somme, he found sixty 
 thousand French encamped at Agincourt. There 
 was no alternative but battle or surrender. 
 Henry chose the former. His own valor raised 
 the courage of his small army, and the French, 
 who, on October 24, expected a victory almost 
 without effort, found themselves on the 25th 
 defeated, with the loss of many thousands. Un- 
 able to take any advantage of his success, Henry 
 returned to England and remained for two years, 
 during which time France was distracted with 
 civil war between the two factions. In 141 7 
 Henry set out with the intention of conquering 
 Normandy. The lower part easily submitted, 
 but Rouen held out firmly until overcome by 
 famine. The assassination of the Duke of Bur- 
 gundy made his son a partisan of England, and 
 through his influence with the French king, a 
 treaty was drawn up in 1420 at Troyes, by the 
 terms of which Henry of England should marry 
 the Princess Catharine, and succeed to the French 
 crown, to the exclusion of the dauphin, who, 
 throughout the civil troubles, had been a par- 
 tisan of Orleans. In 142 1 Henry was called back 
 to the field by a defeat of his brother Clarence at 
 Bauge, and he won several successes ; but when 
 at the height of his glory he died. His death 
 was followed shortly by that of Charles. 
 
 Henry VI., 1422-T461. — The heir to the crown 
 being a babe of nine months at his father's death, 
 in accordance with the will of the late king, his 
 brother, the Duke of Bedford, became regent of 
 France, and the Duke of Gloucester regent of 
 England. Under Bedford's able guidance the 
 French war went on with continued success, un- 
 til in his march southward he appeared before 
 the city of Orleans. The French were so de- 
 
CHAP, iv.] Henry VL, 1422-1461. 47 
 
 moralized by their disasters, that a large army- 
 shut itself up inside the city and submitted to a 
 siege. 
 
 In the hour of their extremity help came to 
 them from an unlooked-for source. Joan of Arc, 
 a peasant girl of Vaucouleurs, appeared before 
 the dauphin in his helplessness at Chinon, and 
 assured him that she had been sent by heaven to 
 save France and crown him king. Yielding to 
 her entreaties, the king gave her a large force, 
 with which she raised the siege of Orleans and 
 drove off the English. This done, she accom- 
 panied the dauphin to Rheims, where he was 
 crowned. Her work being accomplished, Joan 
 begged to be allowed to return to her simple 
 home — a course of action which the French, who 
 desired her assistance in winning back the con- 
 quered towns of Northern France, would not al- 
 low. But after the siege of Compiegne in 1430, 
 Joan fell into the hands of the English, by whom 
 she was tried for heresy, condemned and burned. 
 The English cause in France was lost. Deserted 
 by her ally, the Duke of Burgundy, England was 
 powerless to hold her conquests, and one by one 
 they were wrested from her until nothing re- 
 mained but Calais. 
 
 Great interests had already begun to centre in 
 the Duke of York. This prince was doubly de- 
 scended from Edward III.; through his mother 
 from the Duke of Clarence, Edward's third son ; 
 and through his father from the Duke of York, 
 Edward's fifth son. His birth, his great wealth, 
 and his influence with the powerful Earls of Sal- 
 isbury and Warwick, made him a possible for- 
 midable rival to the lately established Lancas- 
 trian house, especially as the king since reaching 
 his majority had developed a very weak character. 
 In the hope of securing the permanence of his 
 throne, the king's chosen advisers. Cardinal Beau- 
 
48 Henry V/., 142 2-1 461. [chap. iv. 
 
 fort and the Earl of Suffolk, brought about a 
 marriage between him and Margaret, daughter 
 of the Duke of Anjou, and titular King of Sicily 
 and Jerusalem. 
 
 The loss of the French possessions, the un- 
 popularity of the king's marriage with a French 
 woman, and the general dislike entertained for 
 Suffolk, who, a favorite with the queen, shared 
 with her the direction of the feeble king, so 
 aroused the people in answer to an appeal from 
 the Commons, that Suffolk was banished, and on 
 his way from the country was murdered. Shortly 
 after this (1450), Jack Cade, assuming the name 
 of Mortimer, roused the people of Kent, Surrey 
 and Sussex to rebellion, marched to London, 
 and with about twenty thousand men, encamped 
 at Blackheath, He sent to the court a list of 
 grievances, and kept his force in good order. 
 But as they, breaking away from his control, be- 
 gan to rob and plunder, they were attacked by 
 an army of soldiers and scattered. Cade him- 
 self was killed while escaping to Sussex. 
 
 The birth of Prince Edward in 1454 gave a 
 Lancastrian heir to the throne ; but the subse- 
 quent madness of the king necessitated the ap- 
 pointment of a regent. Unable to resist his 
 power, the queen and council consented that 
 York should become Protector. In the next 
 3^ear the king recovered sufhciently to remove 
 York and put Somerset in his place, whereupon 
 York raised an army (though only in opposition 
 to the minister), and a battle was fought at St. 
 Albans, May 23, 1455, which he gained, — the 
 king himself becoming a prisoner. For a few 
 years there was a semblance of peace, but even 
 the semblance did not last long. In 1460 the 
 Earl of Warwick defeated and captured the king 
 at Northampton. York now claimed the throne, 
 and it was decided that he should be acknowl- 
 
CHAP. IV.] Edward IV., 1461-1483. 49 
 
 edged Henry's heir. Margaret, indignant that 
 her son's claims should be set aside, raised an 
 army of twenty thousand men in the north, to 
 meet which the Duke of York set out with five 
 thousand. A battle was fought at Wakefield, 
 where Margaret won a complete victory and 
 York was slain, as was also his young son, the 
 Earl of Rutland. • 
 
 His death was soon avenged, for his son Ed- 
 ward, who succeeded to the title, hastened from 
 Wales, where he was raising an army, and moved 
 toward London, defeating part of the Lancas- 
 trian force at Mortimer's Cross. Margaret, too, 
 had started for London, and had defeated War- 
 wick at St. Albans, but on March 29, 146 1, Mar- 
 garet and Edward met on Towton Field, and 
 a most desperate battle ensued, in which the 
 Yorkists were the victors. The king and his 
 family fled to Scotland. 
 
 Edward IV.. 1461-1483. — For three years af- 
 ter Edward's accession the control of the king- 
 dom lay in the hands of the Earl of Warwick and 
 his brother, all of whom had been chosen ad- 
 visors of the Duke of York. Two risings of the 
 Lancastrians were put down by the efforts of 
 these nobles, and in the last Henry had been be- 
 trayed and taken to London. Warwick desiring 
 an alliance with France, planned a marriage be- 
 tween Edward and a French princess ; but Ed- 
 ward was already jealous of Warwick's influence, 
 and as the capture of the late king seemed to 
 have ended the strife between the parties, he de- 
 termined to show his opposition to that powerful 
 noble. Accordingly, he chose a wife for himself, 
 and married Elizabeth Woodville, the daughter 
 of a Lancastrian. He raised his wife's kinsmen 
 to honorable offices, and checked Warwick in 
 many ways. At last Warwick, perceiving that 
 his power was broken, and perceiving, too, that 
 
50 Edward V., 1483. [chap. iv. 
 
 many other nobles were growing estranged from 
 the king, organized a revolt, in which he was joined 
 by the king's brother, the Duke of Clarence. 
 
 Notwithstanding Warwick's former hatred of 
 the Lancastrian king, he promised to attempt his 
 restoration. Thousands flocked to his standard, 
 and a force under the queen's father was defeated 
 and its leader killed. After a brief reconciliation 
 with Edward, brought about through a disagree- 
 ment between factions of the revolting party, 
 another rising took place, which forced Edward 
 to flee to Holland, Henry was restored in 147 1, 
 but being unable to assume control of affairs, a 
 regency was formed under Warwick and Clar- 
 ence. Thus Warwick overthrew the government in 
 favor of the man whom, a few years before, he had 
 helped to the throne. This making and unmaking 
 of kings obtainedfor him the title of "King-maker." 
 
 But the Duke of Burgundy, who could not bear 
 to see a French woman on the throne of Eng- 
 land, listened to Edward's appeal for aid. With 
 a small force Edward landed at Ravenspur in 
 March, 147 1, and was joined by numbers of his 
 followers. Warwick raised a force, and the two 
 armies met at Barnet, near London. Clarence 
 deserted Warwick, and under a thick veil of mist 
 was fought a battle, in which Warwick was slain 
 and the power of his house broken. On the same 
 day, Queen Margaret arrived from France with 
 a small army. This was overtaken by Edward 
 in May, and defeated. Margaret and her son 
 were taken prisoners, and the latter murdered. 
 The death of Henry, which occurred almost im- 
 mediately, extinguished the Lancastrian line. 
 
 Edward V., 1483.— Edu-ard IV. was planning 
 an invasion of France when he died, leaving two 
 sons, the elder of whom succeeded him. As the 
 Duke of Clarence had died in the Tower, after 
 an impeachment for treason, Richard, Duke of 
 
CHAP. IV.] Richard III. , 1 48 3- 1 48 5 . 5 1 
 
 Gloucester, the nearest male relative of Edward's 
 house, was made Protector by a council of nobles 
 and bishops. To his care the young king was 
 transferred from the hands of his mother and 
 the Woodvilles, three of whom were sent to the 
 block. Richard's ambition was immediately fixed 
 upon the crown. The Duke of Buckingham gave 
 his assistance, and Parliament set aside Edward's 
 heirs and gave the kingdom to Richard. 
 
 Richard III., 1483-1485— Richard was no 
 sooner on the throne than a rival claimant made 
 his appearance. There was living in France 
 Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, who, through 
 his mother Margaret, was descended from John 
 of Gaunt. Bishop Morton and the Duke of Buck- 
 ingham, conspiring for Richard's ruin, formed 
 the plan of marrying the Lancastrian Henry Tu- 
 dor and Elizabeth, the oldest daughter of Edward 
 IV., thus uniting the claims of the two factions. 
 Both parties acquiesced in the arrangement, and 
 a rising was planned and executed in 1483. It was 
 unsuccessful, however, and Buckingham was be- 
 headed, while the other conspirators were scattered. 
 
 Richard now strove to make himself popular 
 by repealing certain obnoxious laws, and passing 
 others which he thought would please the peo- 
 ple. But the rumor was rapidly gaining ground 
 through the country that he had caused the 
 young princes to be murdered ; and when in 
 August, 1485, Henry Tudor landed at Milford 
 Haven, it was soon evident that a wide-spread 
 conspiracy was afoot. Raising a large army, 
 Richard set out against the intruder, and met 
 him at Bosworth, near Leicester. The desertion 
 of several detachments of troops made Richard's 
 case a desperate one. Fighting furiously he forced 
 his way to Henry himself, when, overpowered by 
 numbers, he fell. With him ended the reign of 
 the Plantagenets. 
 
$2 Contemporary European Sovereigns, [chap. v. 
 
 
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54 Henry VII., 1 48 5- 1509. f chap. v. 
 
 THE TUDOR KINGS. 
 
 Henry VII., 1485-1509.— Thoucrh Henry kept 
 his promise and married Elizabeth of York, yet 
 the fact that he did not do so until after he 
 was acknowledged king angered the Yorkist 
 nobles. Several insurrections took place in his 
 reign. In 1487 Lambert Simnel assumed the 
 title of Earl of Warwick, son of the Duke of 
 Clarence, and being supported by the Earl of 
 Lincoln and other nobles, aroused much sym- 
 pathy. But Henry defeated the army of insur- 
 gents, took Simnel prisoner, and afterward gave 
 him a place as scullion in the royal kitchen. 
 
 Henry next set about getting together such a 
 treasure as would render the crown independent 
 of Parliament. He evaded wars and kept the 
 money raised to carry them on. He revived 
 benevolences, strove to lessen the power of the 
 nobles by restricting the number of their fol- 
 lowers, and exacted heavy fines from those who 
 evaded his demands ; instituted the court of Star 
 Chamber, in which he meted out justice without 
 allowing a trial by jury. 
 
 Although Henry's policy was strongly that of 
 peace, an avowed determination on the part of 
 Charles VIII. of France to annex Brittany to 
 his kingdom, roused the English king to a dec- 
 laration of war. Henry was helpless, how- 
 ever, when by the marriage of the French king 
 with the heiress of the duchy, it became a prov- 
 ince of France, and he was obliged to be con- 
 tent with the payment of a large sum of money 
 to him. 
 
 Henry had need of peace, for in 1492 a new 
 pretender claimed his throne. A youth named 
 Perkin Warbeck, claiming to be Richard, Duke 
 
CHAP, v.] Henry VII L, 1 509-1 547. 55 
 
 of York, son of Edward IV., gained a recog- 
 nition of his claims from Austria and Scotland, 
 and landed in England, in 1495, with a large 
 army. His troops were seized on landing and 
 he fled to Ireland and afterward to Scotland, 
 from which point he made, with the assistance 
 of James IV., an unsuccessful inroad into Eng- 
 land. Leaving Scotland soon after, he attempt- 
 ed an attack upon London, but was driven to 
 surrender, and after a brief imprisonment was 
 executed. The young Earl of Warwick was ac- 
 cused of complicity with him and v/as beheaded. 
 
 In order to win over Scotland, which up to this 
 time had been a very uncertain neighbor, always 
 joining or being joined by France on the first 
 outbreak of trouble, Henry offered to James 
 IV. his sister Margaret in marriage. A common 
 fear of the power of the French king also drew 
 England and Spain together, and when, by the 
 accession of Philip of Austria to the Low Coun- 
 tries, another check to France was offered, and 
 Spain strengthened, Henry yielded to the wishes 
 of Ferdinand of Spain, and consented to the 
 marriage of his son Arthur with Catharine of 
 Aragon. 
 
 Henry VIII., 1509-1547. — Flenry's accession 
 was hailed with joy by his subjects, for his per- 
 sonal characteristics had rendered him popular. 
 Almost immediately he married Catharine of 
 Aragon, to whom he had been betrothed on his 
 brother's death. The first few years of this reign 
 were years of peace, which greatly favored the 
 progress of the new learning, but war was rife 
 upon the Continent, and Henry's ambition soon 
 prompted him not only to join the conflict, but 
 to strive for ascendency over England's old ene- 
 my, France. He accordingly joined an alliance 
 with Spain and the pope against France, and 
 upon the declaration of war, conducted an army 
 
$6 Henry VIII.^ 1 509-1 547. [chap. v. 
 
 into that country. The campaign was a failure, 
 however, through the treachery of Ferdinand, 
 who used Henry for his own advantage. Henry 
 was determined upon carrying out his designs, 
 and in 15 13 the war broke out afresh. Landing 
 at Calais, the king advanced against the French, 
 and an action took place at Guinegate, which 
 can not be called a battle, as the French fled at 
 the sight of the enemy. 
 
 Henry found on his return home soon after- 
 ward that during his absence James IV. of Scot- 
 land had led a large army into England, and 
 was ravaging Northumberland when he was op- 
 posed by the Earl of Surrey. At Flodden a 
 fierce battle was fought, in which the loss on 
 both sides was immense, but the Scots had lost 
 their king. Peace was arranged between Henry 
 and his sister Margaret, who was appointed re- 
 gent during the minority of her son, and the 
 troubles in the north seemed at an end. But 
 only for a time ; for Margaret's marriage with 
 the Earl of Douglas stirred up strife again 
 among the nobles. To meet this difficulty, and 
 because he found that his allies had forsaken 
 him for France, Henry also arranged an alliance 
 with that country and gave his sister Mary in 
 marriage to the king. Within a few months 
 Louis died and was succeeded by the Duke of 
 Angouleme, who became Francis I. 
 
 Henry's chief counsellor at this time was 
 Thomas Wolsey, a man who had risen by his 
 abilities from a humble position in life. He had 
 been employed on important occasions by Henry 
 VII., and upon the death of that king was ad- 
 mitted to the council of his son. His unques- 
 tioned power soon raised him from one position 
 to another, through bishoprics to the cardinal- 
 ate, and at last to the position of chancellor and 
 Archbishop of Canterbury. Later he received 
 
CHAP, v.] Henry VIII., 1 509-1 547. 57 
 
 from the pope the office of legate, together with 
 unusual control over the religious houses in 
 England. Throughout all Europe his power 
 and influence were recognized, and many nego- 
 tiations with foreign courts were carried on 
 through him. 
 
 By the death of Maximilian the empire was 
 left without a head, and the crown being elect- 
 ive, Francis of France, and Charles V. of Spain, 
 presented themselves as candidates for it. 
 Charles was successful, and thus held under his 
 dominion, Spain, Austria and the Netherlands. 
 Between Francis and Charles there now ex- 
 isted a keen rivalry, and each sought to 
 strengthen himself still further by an alliance 
 with Henry. Charles even went so far as to 
 visit England in person, and succeeded in win- 
 ning over Wolsey by the promise of aid if he 
 sought the papacy. Notwithstanding a most 
 friendly meeting between Henry and Francis, 
 Henry's sympathies seemed to lie with the em- 
 peror, for shortly after the opening of hostilities 
 between France and the Empire, Henry con- 
 cluded a treaty with Charles by which he 
 promised to give his daughter Mary in marriage 
 to that monarch and to carry an invasion into 
 France. Little or nothing was accomplished, 
 however, by the English, and mainly because 
 Parliament would not grant the immense sums 
 that were asked for expenses. In consequence 
 of this, Henry did not summon a Parliament for 
 seven years, and raised what money he got by 
 direct tax and by benevolences. The war dragged 
 on, with many negotiations and little action, un- 
 til 1525, when the imperial troops laid siege to 
 Marseilles. Francis went to the relief of the 
 city, and a battle was fought at Pavia, in which 
 not only were the French defeated, but their 
 king was taken prisoner. Henry saw in this an 
 
58 Henry VIII., 1 509-1 547. [chap. v. 
 
 opportunity to gain the coveted crown of France, 
 and urged Charles to aid him ; but upon Charles's 
 refusal he concluded a treaty with the queen re- 
 gent of France. This step met with the ap- 
 proval of Wolsey, as Charles had failed to keep 
 his promises relative to the papacy, although the 
 opportunity had twice been offered. Peace was 
 made between the warring parties in 1526, and 
 Francis was released ; but at the end of a year, 
 the Imperialists attacked and sacked Rome and 
 took the pope prisoner. Henry and Francis, 
 aroused by this, made a fresh treaty, and vowed 
 to drive the imperial party from Italy. 
 
 For some time Henry had been discontented 
 about his marriage with his brother's widow. 
 Of many children that had been born to them, 
 but one survived, and that was a daughter. Henry 
 chose now to think that he had done wrong — a 
 feeling which Wolsey fostered in his desire to 
 wed the king to a French princess — and applied 
 to the pope for advice. The pope wanted time 
 for deliberation ; for if he decided in favor of 
 Henry, he would incur the enmity of the power- 
 ful emperor, who was nephew to the queen, and 
 he was equally anxious to retain the friendship 
 of Henry. He accordingly proposed that the 
 question of the legality of the marriage should 
 be settled by a court held by Wolsey and Car- 
 dinal Campeggio. But the proceedings failed 
 to reach a result, although Wolsey took an act- 
 ive interest in the matter, and made earnest 
 efforts to bring the pope to a decision, or to 
 grant permission to have the case tried in Eng- 
 land. At the same time Henry was trying to 
 induce the pope to grant him a divorce from 
 Catharine, as he was desirous of marrying Anne 
 Boleyn. The pope at last consented to having 
 the case tried in England, but things dragged un- 
 til Henry grew impatient. The delay was danger- 
 
CHAP, v.] Henry VIII. y 1 509-1 547. 59 
 
 ous to Wolsey. Always an object of jealous dis- 
 like on the part of the nobles, his enemies had 
 increased, including now the men of the new 
 learning, the clergy, the Protestants whom he 
 had begun to persecute, and the Boleyns, now 
 powerful in the state, until at last the king threw 
 upon him the responsibility for all the delays 
 and opposition, and bereft him of his dignities 
 and power. One by one his friends dropped 
 from him — one only, Thomas Cromwell, remain- 
 ing faithful to the end, and he succeeded him as 
 th.e king's favorite and counsellor. 
 
 Meantime, Thomas Cranmer had suggested to 
 Henry that an easy way out of his difficulty was 
 to give the question of divorce to the universities 
 of Europe for decision. This was done, and 
 several of them decided in Henry's favor. Still 
 he was not quite satisfied. Acting under the ad- 
 vice of Cromwell, Henry summoned a convoca- 
 tion of the clergy in i53i,and announced that 
 he should thereafter be the Head of the Church 
 in England. Next, Cranmer, now Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, declared the marriage with Cath- 
 arine illegal, and confirmed the marriage with 
 Anne Boleyn, which had some time since been 
 effected secretly — a proceeding which the pope 
 immediately denounced, and threatened the king 
 with excommunication. Henry now determined 
 to throw off all submission to Rome, and Parlia- 
 ment in 1534 passed a statute which severed all 
 connection with the pope as head of the Church, 
 and vested ecclesiastical matters in the king. 
 All who refused to swear fealty to the act were 
 held guilty of treason, and among those who 
 suffered the death penalty v/ere Fisher, Bishop 
 of Rochester, and Sir Thomas More. 
 
 Cromwell now used his power as vicar-general 
 under the king, to institute an inquiry into the 
 religious and moral condition of the monasteries, 
 
6o Henry VIII., 1 509-1 547. [chap. v. 
 
 and this resulted in the abolition of about four 
 hundred houses, whose revenues reverted to the 
 crown. Restrictions in regard to preaching were 
 put upon the clergy ; a system of espionage was 
 created, which brought everything to the notice 
 of Cromwell, and charges of treason were based 
 upon the m.ost trivial occurrences. Hated as 
 Wolsey had been, the hatred against Cromwell 
 was greater. This feeling showed itself strongly 
 in the north, where the monasteries were popular, 
 by insurrections that broke out in Lincolnshire 
 and Yorkshire. 
 
 The year 1536 saw the Bible in the English 
 tongue, known as Miles Coverdale's Bible. It 
 also saw the execution of Anne Boleyn, and the 
 marriage of the king with Jane Seymour. 
 
 From the time of Henry VH. Ireland had been 
 governed by the powerful family of Geraldines, 
 who were nominally the agents of the English 
 king. Such was their misrule, however, that 
 Henry VIII. determined upon a reform in that 
 quarter, and in 1535 sent over a new lieutenant 
 to effect it. So thorough were the measures 
 taken that within seven years English authority 
 was established throughout the island, the vari- 
 ous chieftains were won over, and English law 
 prevailed. 
 
 Encouraged by his former success, Henry con- 
 tinued to abolish the religious houses, and so 
 effective was his work that altogether there were 
 over six hundred monasteries suppressed, besides 
 numbers of smaller houses. This of course 
 aroused great indignation at Rome, and in 1538 
 a bull of excommunication was issued against 
 the king. Neither Henry nor Cromwell had any 
 sympathy with the Protestants. Their wish had 
 been sim^ply for reform of abuses. Moreover, 
 Henry had politically been driven to make alli- 
 ances with the Protestant German princes, and 
 
CHAP, v.] Henry VIII., 1509-1547. 61 
 
 he saw that the only consistent position to take 
 was to assume supremacy in his own realm. But 
 a part of his people were not satisfied to stop 
 here. Their zeal for reform carried them on 
 till in several parts of England the mass was 
 ridiculed, images of the saints destroyed^ shrines 
 desecrated, and other sacrilegious acts commit- 
 ted. At last this conduct fired the indignation 
 of the king, and the Parliament of 1539 passed 
 the Statute of the Six Articles, in which Henry 
 demanded that his people should accept some 
 of the principles of the Roman Catholic Church. 
 A denial of the articles was to be punished by 
 burning or other severe penalties. In vain Cran- 
 mer and other Protestant sympathizers strove 
 against the law ; numbers of the Protestants 
 were imprisoned, and Cranmer himself was only 
 saved by the personal interference of the king. 
 
 The death of Jane Seymour, shortly after the 
 birth of Prince Edward, led Henry to look for 
 another wife, and Cromwell, whose policy it was 
 to bind England to Protestant Germany, induced 
 him to marry Anne, daughter of the Duke of 
 Cleves. This marriage proved most distasteful 
 to Henry, and all the blame of it fell upon 
 Cromwell. Seeing that the minister's influence 
 over the king was at an end, the nobles who 
 hated him as an upstart, and because his meas- 
 ures had been favorable to the Protestants, 
 turned the weight of their influence against 
 him, and he was executed on the charge of trea- 
 son. The divorce of Anne, and Henry's m*ar- 
 riage with Catharine Howard, the niece of the 
 Duke of Norfolk, who had risen to power after 
 the fall of Cromwell, were followed but too 
 soon by her trial and execution. In the next 
 year he married Catharine Parr, who survived 
 him. 
 
 In spite of Henry's offers of friendship, James 
 
62 Edward VI., 1547-1553. [chap. v. 
 
 V. of Scotland, whose alliance with France had 
 been strengthened by two marriages with French 
 princesses, had from the beginning of his reign 
 been hostile to England, and many depredations 
 were committed across the English border. Sev- 
 eral times it had been necessary to send troops 
 into Scotland, and in 1542 the Duke of Norfolk 
 led an army northward, but did not succeed in 
 forcing a battle, and withdrew after laying waste 
 the border. James sent an army to avenge this, 
 but it was without regular organization, and fled 
 in a panic at the sight of a small body of Eng- 
 lish. Thousands were taken prisoners, and the 
 disaster caused the king's death in a few days. 
 As his death left the kingdom to . an infant 
 daughter, Henry at once conceived the idea of 
 marrying her to his son. A treaty was proposed, 
 but its conditions were not acceptable to the 
 Scots, and the matter was dropped. 
 
 Henry now formed a league with the emperor 
 for the invasion of France. Great preparations 
 were made, and the country invaded in 1543, but 
 nothing was accomplished. After two years, 
 France prepared to invade England, but this 
 also resulted in nothing, and in 1546 peace was 
 concluded. 
 
 During the interval which elapsed between 
 the close of the war and the death of the king 
 in 1547, Henry's attention was given to the regu- 
 lation of matters of belief in his own realm, 
 
 Edward VI., 1547-1553. — According to the 
 provisions of Henry's will, Edward was first 
 heir to the throne. As the young prince was but 
 nine years of age, sixteen executors were ap- 
 pointed to the charge of public affairs. The 
 office of Protector fell naturally to the Earl of 
 Hertford, afterward Duke of Somerset, the 
 uncle of the king. 
 
 The first thing done was the establishment of 
 
CHAP, v.] Edward VL, 1547-15 5 3. 63 
 
 a more decided Protestantism, as Somerset's 
 sympathies were with the advanced party, and 
 Cranmer was his adviser on this matter. Great 
 changes were made ; the Six Articles repealed ; 
 an English '^communion " service substituted for 
 the mass; the communion ordered to be admin- 
 istered in both kinds; a book of common prayer 
 drawn up and ordered to be used. Naturally 
 these sweeping changes aroused opposition, and 
 one opponent, Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, 
 formidable because powerful, was imprisoned. 
 
 As soon as the internal affairs of the realm 
 promised quiet, Somerset turned his attention 
 to the union of the thrones of England and 
 Scotland. A renewal of the border troubles 
 caused him to march northward with eighteen 
 thousand men in the summer of 1547. His ap- 
 proach united the factions of the country in a 
 common cause, and he was met by a large army, 
 which he severely defeated at Pinkie Cleugh. 
 Nothing resulted from the victory except that 
 the Scotch were driven to the necessity of an al- 
 liance with France, which resulted in the be- 
 trothal of the infant queen Mary to the French 
 prince Francis, and all hope of uniting England 
 and Scotland by means of a marriage between 
 their child sovereigns was at an end. 
 
 Somerset returned to England to find that dis- 
 turbance was rife in several quarters. In Corn- 
 wall, Devon and parts of Norfolk the people re- 
 belled against the new religion, and the risings 
 had to be put down by force. His brother, too. 
 Lord Seymour, had been plotting for his own 
 advancement, first by a marriage with the Avidow 
 of Henry VHI., and, at her death, by an attempt 
 to marry the princess Elizabeth. He was con- 
 victed of treason and beheaded in 1549. At the 
 close of this year Somerset found himself so far 
 out of favor with the council, that he was com- 
 
64 Mary, 15 53-1 5 58. [chap. v. 
 
 pelled to resign his protectorship, and, although 
 he was afterward readmitted to the council, the 
 chief control of affairs had passed into the hands 
 of his enemy, the Duke of Warwick, and in 1552 
 he was charged with treason and beheaded. 
 
 The council found that they had two difficul- 
 ties to contend with : first, the necessity of peace 
 with France ; and second, the complete estab- 
 lishment of Protestantism. The first was settled 
 by the surrender of Boulogne, in considera- 
 tion of the payment of a large sum of money. 
 The second was not so easily disposed of, for 
 though outwardly compliant, there were many 
 in the realm who could not at heart accept the 
 new doctrine. Among these was the princess 
 Mary, for whose compliance both king and coun- 
 cil were anxious, but they were obliged to give 
 way or punish her, and that they were loth to do, 
 so they left her undisturbed. 
 
 Warwick, now Duke of Northumberland, see- 
 ing in the young king's failing health the possi- 
 bility of adding to his own power, persuaded 
 him to make a will setting aside Mary and Eliza- 
 beth, and securing the crown to Lady Jane Grey, 
 a granddaughter of the Duchess of Suffolk, sis- 
 ter to Henry VIII. This lady he married to his 
 own son. Lord Guilford Dudley. The papers 
 necessary to this plan had not long been com- 
 pleted when the king died, July, 1553. 
 • Mary, 1553-1558. — Northumberland hastened 
 to proclaim Jane queen, but the people would 
 not have it so. The eastern counties supported 
 Mary, and the council, seeing the futility of 
 Northumberland's plan, proclaimed her queen, 
 and sent Lady Jane, the unwilling queen of ten 
 days, to the tower. Thither, too, went North- 
 umberland. Sentence of treason was pronounced 
 upon them, but only upon the latter was it im- 
 mediately executed. 
 
CHAP, v.] 'Mary, 1 5 5 3- 1 5 5 8. 65 
 
 Mary's determination to restore the Roman 
 Catholic religion showed itself at her accession. 
 Bishops who had been deprived of their sees 
 were reinstated, and those who were champions 
 of the reformed religion were imprisoned. Cran- 
 mer was sent to the Tower and convicted of 
 treason. Parliament annulled the divorce which 
 Cranmer had pronounced between Henry VIII. 
 and Catharine, and repealed all the statutes re- 
 lating to religion which had been enacted dur- 
 ing the reign of Edward. 
 
 As a step in this same direction, she determined 
 to seek a Catholic husband, and negotiations 
 were entered upon with Philip, son of Charles 
 V. of Spain. In vain Gardiner counselled against 
 the step, and the Commons protested. An in- 
 surrection against the Spanish marriage broke 
 out in Kent, and thousands took up arms ; but 
 it failed, and its leader was executed. The 
 princess Elizabeth, suspected of sympathy with 
 the rebels, was sent to the Tower, and Lady 
 Jane Grey, together with her husband and father, 
 was beheaded. 
 
 In July, 1554, the marriage was effected. The 
 statute against heresy was now passed by Par- 
 liament, and the most bitter persecution of the 
 Protestants followed. Nearly three hundred 
 were burned at the stake, many of them for de- 
 nying the Real Presence, many merely on sus- 
 picion. The persecution culminated in the 
 death of Cranmer. He had been imprisoned on 
 Mary's accession, and she, influenced by her per- 
 sonal hatred because of the part he had taken in 
 her mother's divorce, now caused him to be tried 
 for heresy. At first on threat of torture he re- 
 canted his opposition to the tenets of Rome, but 
 afterward repented, and gave himself up to death 
 in March, 1556. 
 
 Philip had by this time tired of England and 
 
 5 
 
66 Elizabeth, 15 58-1 603. [chap. v. 
 
 of his wife, and, moreover, affairs on the Con- 
 tinent called for his presence there, so leaving 
 English affairs in the hands of Cardinal Pole, he 
 went over to Flanders. He next urged England 
 to join the war against France. In spite of op- 
 position, Mary levied an army, and sent it under 
 Pembroke to the Low Countries. In the course 
 of the war Calais, the last English possession in 
 France, was seized by the Duke of Guise. This 
 blow, added to her anxiety for the safety of her 
 religion, her consciousness of unpopularity, her 
 jealousy of Elizabeth's succession, and her own 
 ill health, hastened the queen's death, which oc- 
 curred in November, 1558. 
 
 Elizabeth, 1558-1603. — The accession of Eliza- 
 beth to the throne was a great joy to the Eng- 
 lish people, notwithstanding the uncertainty as 
 to her religious principles. But her first act was 
 to put an end to all persecution. She retained 
 many of Mary's council, added to it several Prot- 
 estants, and showed a strong determination to 
 conform to her father's ideas of reformation 
 rather than to those established in the reign of 
 Edward VI. While the mass was celebrated, she 
 yet allowed some of the prayers to be used in 
 English. 
 
 The early part of her reign was troubled with 
 the question of the succession, and Elizabeth 
 several times nearly consented to marry in order 
 that her people might be satisfied. The next 
 heir was Mary of Scotland, daughter of James V. 
 She, by a marriage with Francis, son of Henry 
 II. of France, had united the interests of France 
 and Scotland. She also claimed the right to the 
 throne of England, and on Elizabeth's accession 
 assumed the arms and title of sovereign of Eng- 
 land. Elizabeth, knowing that Mary's claim, if 
 pressed, would be supported by France, allied 
 herself with Philip, who was very willing to aid 
 
CHAP, v.] Elizabeth, 15 58-1603. 6y 
 
 her, as it was to his interest that France and 
 England should not be united. He even went 
 so far as to propose a marriage with the queen, 
 which, however, she declined. In order to 
 strengthen her position with Scotland, Eliza- 
 beth, yielding to the entreaties of the Protest- 
 ants of that country, who at the death of Henry 
 had taken matters into their own hands, and had 
 ordered the French out of the country, conclud- 
 ed a treaty, and sent a fleet north. The siege of 
 Leith followed, which resulted in the evacuation 
 of the town by the French, and the recognition 
 of Elizabeth's right to her throne. 
 
 Mary had no idea of giving up her claim on 
 England, but France was too much occupied with 
 its own troubles to be able to force anything out- 
 side ; for the Reformation was making alarming 
 progress in that country. The death of Francis 
 II., after a reign of a few months, threw the 
 government of France into the hands of Cath- 
 arine de Medicis as regent for Charles IX.; and 
 Mary's party being out of power, she resolved 
 to go back to Scotland and govern her kingdom 
 in person. This she did in 1561. Finding that 
 her only hope of gaining power over her people 
 was through the Protestant "congregation," she, 
 although at heart secretly resolved upon the re- 
 establishment of Catholicism, put herself under 
 the guidance of the other party. For a time all 
 went well, but Elizabeth, always distrustful of 
 Mary, was anxious for her marriage with some 
 one who would hold Scotland to the English 
 interest. At length Mary, regardless of Eliza- 
 beth's opposition, selected a husband for herself 
 in the person of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, 
 son of Lady Margaret Lennox, and next heir 
 after Mary to the English throne. 
 
 This was the first of a series of disasters. 
 Darnley was believed to have sympathy with the 
 
68 Elizabeth, 15 58-1603. [chap. v. 
 
 Catholics, and this aroused the reformers, and 
 civil war was threatened. Before many months 
 it was evident that Mary hated and despised her 
 husband, and her hatred culminated when, just 
 the moment that she was, through Parliament, 
 about to restore the Catholic religion, he and 
 some of the Protestant lords murdered her 
 favorite counsellor, Rizzio. Mary's plan was 
 now to all appearance set aside, and her policy 
 of toleration drew to her many adherents even 
 among the Protestants. The birth of a son in 
 June, 1566, added to her strength. The goal of 
 her ambition seemed to be reached when, sud- 
 denly, both countries were shaken by the tidings 
 of the murder of Darnley. The marriage of 
 Mary three months later with the Earl of Both- 
 well — the man to whom all evidence pointed as 
 Darnley's murderer — roused the nation against 
 her. Catholic and Protestant alike, filled with 
 horror, cried out against her. In June, 1567, a 
 force which Bothwell had succeeded in raising, 
 advanced against the army under the Scotch 
 lords, but his men refused to fight. Bothwell 
 fled, and Mary w^as taken into Edinburgh, and 
 shortly afterward, in spite of the remonstrances 
 of Elizabeth, was consigned to a prison in Loch- 
 leven Castle. Her abdication of the throne in 
 favor of her son, and the appointment of her 
 half-brother, the Earl of Murray, as regent fol- 
 lowed. In 1568 she escaped from prison, but 
 only to find herself at the end of a few days a 
 fugitive. Elizabeth had indignantly protested 
 against her imprisonment, and to her protection 
 Mary therefore gave herself. 
 
 Mary's arrival in England was the signal for the 
 outbreak of disturbances. Her cause was identi- 
 fied with the cause of Catholicism in Western Eu- 
 rope. The Duke of Alva was in Flanders for 
 the purpose of rooting Protestant heresy out of 
 
CHAP, v.] Elizabeth, 1 5 5 8- 1 603 . 69 
 
 that portion of Philip's realm, and the hope of a 
 Catholic sovereign in England still lived in the 
 hearts of many of its people. A rising in the 
 north was instantly put down, but conspiracy af- 
 ter conspiracy was discovered, and fear of revolt 
 was only dispelled by the death of the Duke of 
 Norfolk and the Earl of Northumberland, two of 
 the strongest of Mary's adherents. Hope of suc- 
 cessful revolt being thus lost, the more ardent 
 Catholics, roused to frenzy by the persecution 
 of the Seminary priests and Jesuits, listened to 
 plans for the assassination of Elizabeth. The 
 discovery of these plots and the proof of Mary's 
 complicity in them, caused her to be brought to 
 trial at Fotheringay Castle, and executed March, 
 1587. 
 
 Fears for the safety of her crown and kingdom 
 had prevented Elizabeth from taking an active 
 part in the struggles on the Continent. Philip 
 of Spain was the most formidable of all the Eu- 
 ropean sovereigns, and his power was now turned 
 upon the extinction of heresy. We have already 
 noted the presence of Alva in Flanders. Although 
 many of the English, with Cecil, Lord Burleigh, 
 Secretary of State, at their head, longed to send 
 aid to their Protestant friends, Elizabeth de- 
 clined doing so openly, as she feared that in the 
 end Philip must prevail, and feared the effect of 
 such a result upon her own realm. At last, how- 
 ever, under the pressure of popular opinion, she 
 sent troops across the sea, and at the same time 
 strove to effect a peace. But Philip was prepar- 
 ing a fleet for an attack upon England itself. To 
 meet this, the English fleet of fifty small vessels 
 lay waiting in the Channel under the command 
 of Lord Howard, of Effingham, assisted by Drake, 
 Hawkins and Frobisher. In 1588 the Spanish 
 Armada, composed of a hundred and fifty large 
 vessels and manned by splendid seamen, swept 
 
70 Elizabeth, 1 5 5 8- 1 603 . [chap. v. 
 
 past Plymouth on its way to meet the forces of 
 the Duke of Parma from the north, followed by 
 the English, whose light ships gained steadily 
 upon the heavier ones of the enemy. One by 
 one the Spanish ships were disabled, and yet 
 no general engagement was entered upon. Af- 
 ter a week of this desultory work. Lord How- 
 ard determined to bring matters to a crisis. 
 Fire ships scattered the Spanish fleet, and the 
 wind drove them out to sea. The English pur- 
 sued and forced them to seek safety by flight 
 homeward by way of the Orkneys. Storms in 
 the northern seas finished the work. Only one- 
 third of the vessels reached Spain. In 1596, up- 
 on news of another invasion, a fleet sailed from 
 Plymouth, and captured Cadiz ; and in the fol- 
 lowing year another fleet was prepared, but did 
 little except capture some booty. 
 
 Ireland called for some attention at this time. 
 The Earl of Tyrone fostered means whereby he 
 could give England trouble, and even received 
 help for that purpose from Spain. Several years 
 of partial success against the English command- 
 ers gave him boldness and the people courage ; 
 and matters seemed threatening. The Earl of 
 Essex was therefore sent over with eighteen 
 thousand men to put an end to the trouble. In- 
 stead of which he was so markedly unsuccessful, 
 that he was suspected of treacherously arrang- 
 ing for peace. He returned to England, and 
 Tyrone surrendered later to the English. 
 
 Lord Essex's career after his Irish expedition 
 is the last important event of the reign. Finding 
 it impossible to reinstate himself in the queen's 
 favor, he abandoned himself to a reckless scheme 
 to force James VI. of Scotland upon Elizabeth 
 as her successor. The scheme was discovered, 
 Essex confessed his guilt, and was beheaded. 
 The queen's death occurred in 1603. 
 
CHAP. VI.] Contemporary European Sovereigns. 71 
 
 The reign was one of growth and progress. 
 Its action is represented by Raleigh, Drake, 
 Hawkins, Frobisher and others, who undertook 
 many naval enterprises. Raleigh sailed up the 
 Orinoco in a search, though fruitless, after re- 
 ported riches ; and also attempted to found a 
 colony in Virginia. The intellectual growth is 
 seen in the production of Spenser's " Faerie 
 Queen," of many of Shakspere's plays and po- 
 ems, of Bacon's essays and theories of philoso- 
 phy. 
 
 CHAPTER VT. 
 
 CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN SOVEREIGNS. 
 
 England. 
 
 France. 
 
 Germany. 
 
 Spain. 
 
 James I. 
 
 Charles I. 
 Charles II. 
 James II. 
 
 Henry IV. 
 Louis Xlll. 
 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 Rudolph II. 
 Matthias. 
 Ferdinand II. 
 
 Ferdinand III. 
 
 Leopold I. 
 
 Philip III. 
 Philip IV. 
 
 Charles II. 
 
72 Genealogical Table of Stuart Kings, [chap. vi. 
 
 2 
 
 *^ 
 
 - Qh- 
 o 
 
 W 
 
 r >^ 
 
 cTl-C 
 
 
 <U'*^ 
 
 
 V o 
 
 K- • 
 
 
 
 Mai 
 
 Anne 
 Willi 
 Oran 
 
 >^S 
 
 U 
 
 ^ 
 
CHAP. VI.] James I,, 160J-1625. 73 
 
 THE STUART KINGS. 
 
 James I., 1603-1625. — Notwithstanding the 
 fact that Henry VIII. had bequeathed the crown 
 to the Suffolk branch of his family, the accession 
 of James, the son of Mary of Scotland and Lord 
 Darnlcy, was on the whole well received by the 
 people. 
 
 One of the first acts of his reign was to sum- 
 mon a conference at Hampton Court, when he 
 declared himself in favor of the established 
 Church and of the dependence of Church on 
 State. The severity of his measures against 
 the Catholics, whose hopes had been raised by 
 his accession, not only estranged that part of 
 his subjects, but so roused their resentment that 
 more than one plot was laid for his life. The 
 greatest of these, the Gunpowder Plot, so called 
 from the fact that quantities of that material 
 were found beneath the Parliament House, aimed 
 at the destruction of king and Parliament. The 
 conspirators fled upon the discovery of the plot, 
 but were overtaken and punished. 
 
 Almost immediately on James's accession be- 
 gan that long struggle with the Parliament 
 which proved so disastrous to his house. In con- 
 formity with his theory that kings were not re- 
 sponsible for their actions to their subjects, he 
 repeatedly strove to increase his power by limit- 
 ing that of Parliament. 
 
 Fortunately the extravagance of his adminis- 
 tration threw him into the power of the Com- 
 mons in the matter of supplies, and two Parlia- 
 ments, those of 1610 and 1614, were dissolved 
 because they refused to grant supplies until 
 grievances were redressed. The king then tried 
 to raise the needed money by demanding loans. 
 
74 James L, 1603-1625. [chap. vi. 
 
 Yet, although his demands were fruitless, he re- 
 fused to summon a Parliament until forced to 
 do so in 162 1. Meantime he was alienating his 
 people oy nis declared intention of controlling 
 the administration of justice, by his encourage- 
 ment of extravagance and profligacy at court, 
 and by the weakness of his government. On 
 the death of Cecil, he allowed the control of 
 affairs to fall into the hands of favorites, one of 
 whom, Villiers, created Duke of Buckingham, 
 was destined to play an important part in this 
 and the following reign and to hasten the fall of 
 the Stuarts. 
 
 Bohemia, in order to strengthen herself for 
 her religious struggle with the Emperor Fer- 
 dinand II., had chosen for her king Frederick, 
 the elector palatine, son-in-law to James, thus 
 hoping to gain an ally to oppose to the emperor 
 and Philip of Spain. But James was negotiating 
 a marriage between one of the Spanish princesses 
 and his son Charles. In spite of the ardent de- 
 sire of the people, James refused to aid Bohemia 
 until the defeat of the Protestant army before 
 Prague roused the people to demand a Parlia- 
 ment. Their zeal, however, met with little sym- 
 pathy from the king, who openly allowed aid to 
 be sent to Spain. The Commons demanded and 
 secured the abolition of monopolies and other 
 abuses ; brought about the impeachment of 
 Bacon, Lord Chancellor, on charge of bribery, 
 and were proceeding to the reform of other 
 abuses when Parliament was prorogued. After 
 their reassembly a protestation which the Com- 
 mons addressed to the king upon his refusing 
 them the right to interfere in regard to the 
 Spanish marriage and the war, clearly stated 
 their belief in their right to discuss all matters 
 connected with the government. This greatly 
 exasperated James, but he could do nothing to 
 
CHAP. VI.] Charles I. ^ 1 62 5-1 649. 75 
 
 check the growing power of Parliament. With 
 the exception of Buckingham, he was alone in 
 his policy. He was more and more anxious for 
 the marriage and allowed Charles to go in dis- 
 guise to Spain to press his suit. 
 
 In her wish to avoid the marriage, Spain made 
 many demands, all of which were acceded to, 
 but at last negotiations were broken off ; the 
 prince returned and a Parliament was sum- 
 moned to raise means for a war ; a treaty was 
 made with Holland, and a marriage arranged 
 with Henrietta Maria of France, daughter of 
 Henry IV. At this point James's death placed 
 Charles upon the throne. 
 
 This reign marks the beginning of the colonies 
 in the New World. Raleigh's attempts were fol- 
 lowed by the granting of two charters, one to 
 the London, and one to the Plymouth Company, 
 under the former of which a colony was planted 
 at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, which grew 
 steadily and was the source of extensive coloni- 
 zation. Under the Plymouth Company settle- 
 ments were made along Massachusetts Bay in 
 162 1, and the foundations of New England laid. 
 
 Charles I., 1625-1649. — Although the people 
 had desired to put an end to the alliance with 
 Spain, yet when Charles called for means with 
 which to carry on the war, the Commons refused 
 more than a small amount, feeling that in no 
 other way could the absolute power at which 
 Charles aimed be restrained. To supply his 
 needs the king had recourse to borrowing, and 
 in this way a fleet was raised which made a dis- 
 astrous expedition and accomplished nothing. 
 Buckingham was accredited with having an evil 
 influence over the king, and accordingly the next 
 Parliament voted his impeachment. Charles's 
 anger rose at this, and he committed two offend- 
 ing members to the Tower, but finding that the 
 
"jS Charles /., 162 5- 1649. [chap. vi. 
 
 Commons would not proceed in their business 
 without them, he ordered their release, but pro- 
 rogued Parliament. A remonstrance begging 
 Charles to dismiss Buckingham was burned, and 
 the king levied his subsidy in the form of benev- 
 olences. But to no purpose. The country re- 
 fused to give "save by way of Parliament," 
 although severe measures were resorted to. The 
 king and his ministers found means, however, to 
 raise an expedition, which sailed for Rochelle 
 for the purpose of aiding that city against 
 Richelieu. Like the earlier expedition, it was 
 disastrous, but not to the English fleet only, for 
 Rochelle fell, and with it fell the cause of the 
 Huguenots. 
 
 Charles was now compelled to summon a 
 Parliament, and its first act was to draw up a 
 Petition of Right, in w^hich all the statutes pro- 
 tecting the people against tyrannous exactions 
 were recited, as well as the instances in which 
 they had been violated. When Charles evaded 
 the Petition the Commons proceeded to prepare 
 a Remonstrance, and to urge Buckingham's re- 
 moval from the government. To avert this, the 
 king consented to the Petition of Right, to the 
 great joy of the nation, but before many days 
 the obnoxious minister was assassinated. One 
 of his followers was raised to his place, and the 
 same state of affairs remained. 
 
 But there was one man in England who was 
 doing all in his power to uphold the royal au- 
 thority. Thomas Wentworth, afterward Earl 
 of Strafford, who had been a strong advocate of 
 the Petition of Right, had, after the death of 
 Buckingham, been admitted to the Royal Coun- 
 cil, and set to work with the whole strength of 
 his genius and will to make the government a 
 despotism. He saw in Ireland a favorable field 
 for his ambition, and laid the foundations of the 
 
CHAP. VI.] Charles!., 1625-1649. 'JJ 
 
 tyranny of Cromwell, by pitting Catholic against 
 Protestant, in order to encourage a disunion 
 which would leave both parties dependent on 
 the crown. His desire for bold action was shown 
 in his advice to levy ship-money. John Hamp- 
 den's resistance to this, on the ground of its 
 illegality, stirred England, and that just at the 
 time when the Scotch were organizing resistance 
 to the ritual of the Church of England, which 
 Laud w^as trying to enforce. Although the 
 judges decided against Hampden, his trial 
 awakened the people more and more to the evils 
 of arbitrary taxation; and although the king 
 refused to receive the remonstrance of the Scots, 
 the refusal was followed by the signing on their 
 part of a covenant to defend their "religion 
 against all contrary errors and corruptions." In 
 vain Charles threatened them with war. He had 
 no adequate means of raising an army. At last 
 he was obliged to give it up, but not until the 
 Scots had crossed the border and threatened 
 York. 
 
 The acknowledged leader of the Parliament 
 that met in 1640 (commonly known as the Long 
 Parliament) was John Pym, who had long seen 
 that a struggle between the people and the 
 crown was inevitable; he was also the first to 
 see clearly that the Parliament was of greater 
 constitutional value than the king, and that 
 Parliament really meant the Commons. There- 
 fore when Charles refused to act with Parlia- 
 ment, Pym interpreted his action as leaving full 
 control in its hands. 
 
 During this session Parliament abolished 
 many judicial abuses ; declared ship-money il- 
 legal, as well as ocher arbitrary taxation ; passed 
 a bill summoning the Houses every three years ; 
 imprisoned Laud ; passed a Bill of Attainder 
 against Strafford, and called for his execution. 
 
yS The Civil Wary 1642. [chap. vi. 
 
 His death put an end to government in Ireland, 
 where a rebellion broke out soon after, in the 
 course of which thousands of English were 
 massacred. It soon became a religious struggle, 
 Catholic against Protestant ; and, indeed, the 
 Church question had divided Parliament itself, 
 where, while all were anxious for reform, there 
 was a variety of opinion as to the extent of 
 change necessary. During the proceedings, 
 while both Houses were excited over the bill for 
 the expulsion of the bishops from the Peers, an 
 order came from the king demanding the arrest 
 on charges of treason of five leading members of 
 the Commons. The order was resisted, and both 
 parties prepared for war. Parliament seizing the 
 arsenals and arming the militia. 
 
 The Civil War, 1642. — Destitute as the king 
 was, it seemed that a single battle must decide 
 the matter. But instead, the battle at Edgehill 
 left the advantage with the king, and during the 
 four years of war which followed, the Parlia- 
 mentary armies seemed many times on the point 
 of destruction. The great battles of Marston 
 Moor, Newbury and Naseby told strongly on 
 the side of Parliament. In the meantime the 
 charge of remodelling the army was given to 
 Oliver Cromwell, who had made his reputation at 
 Marston Moor as the leader of one thousand 
 " men of religion." He had seen a practical ad- 
 vantage to be gained from their zeal. With such 
 an army Cromwell met the king's forces near 
 Naseby in June, 1645, ^^^ was victorious in the 
 fierce battle which ensued. 
 
 In the cessation of open hostilities that fol- 
 lowed, a struggle went on between the army and 
 Parliament, which had its basis in the religious 
 diilerences of the two bodies. The majority of 
 the latter was Presbyterian, while the former 
 was Independent — the Presbyterians believing 
 
CHAP. VI.] The Commonwealth, 79 
 
 in a state religion, the Independents in congre- 
 gational liberty. The war being apparently over, 
 Parliament called upon the army to disband, 
 which it refused to do unless certain conditions 
 were fulfilled. In order to strengthen them- 
 selves, the army, having striven in vain to come 
 to definite arrangements with the king, seized 
 his person and held him their prisoner. 
 
 His escape roused the army to action, and al- 
 though he was soon recaptured, he opened nego- 
 tiations with his followers, and his promise to 
 establish Presbyterianism caused a rising in his 
 favor in England and also in Scotland. Fairfax 
 subdued the rising in the east, and Cromwell in 
 the west. The latter then marched north to 
 meet the Scotch invaders, whom he defeated at 
 Preston, and then advanced to Edinburgh, 
 whence he drove the Royalists, and placed Ar- 
 gyle in power. He was recalled to the south by 
 the news that charges of treason against him 
 were being discussed, and that Parliament was 
 negotiating with the king for his restoration. 
 Fairfax's army entered London, forced the Com- 
 mons to reject Charles's concessions, brought 
 about his confinement in Windsor, and a resolu- 
 tion for his trial. Charles refused to plead be- 
 fore a court whose authority he denied, but 
 nevertheless sentence of death was pronounced 
 against him, and executed on January 30, 1649. 
 
 The Commonwealth. — The news of the 
 king's death sent a thrill of horror throughout 
 Europe, and Catholic and Protestant powers 
 alike disclaimed connection with a nation that 
 could commit such a deed. Scotland proclaimed 
 Charles II. king, and Ireland avowed allegiance 
 to him. In the latter country the danger seemed 
 most pressing, and thither Cromwell went with 
 twelve thousand men. He did his work quickly 
 and fiercely, his victories being followed by 
 
8o The Commonwea,lth. [chap. vi. 
 
 frightful massacres. He was recalled to com- 
 mand an invasion of Scotland, where an army 
 was being raised for an invasion of England. 
 The battle of Dunbar ended in the rout of the 
 Scotch. But Charles in the next summer started 
 for England with his army in spite of the re- 
 monstrances of his friends. Cromwell following, 
 overtook him at Worcester, where, on Septem- 
 ber 3, 165 1, the Royalists suffered another severe 
 defeat. 
 
 In the spring of the next year a naval war was 
 begun with Holland, which had been threaten- 
 ing for some time, and which lasted for nearly a 
 year, with varying success, but which left the 
 main victory with the English. Admiral Blake 
 gained several victories over the Dutch, which 
 greatly strengthened the Parliament on the Con- 
 tinent. 
 
 The breach between the army and Parliament, 
 which had been increasing since the establish- 
 ment of the Commonwealth, became an open 
 rupture in 1653, when Cromwell took a force of 
 armed men into the House, and ordered the 
 members to vacate the places which they had in- 
 sisted upon keeping without reelection. 
 
 This dissolution left England without a gov- 
 erning bod}^, and it was not until September, 
 1654, that a legal Parliament was convened, 
 affairs having in the meanwhile been conducted 
 by Councils, with Cromwell as Protector. This 
 Parliament was the first in which Scotland and 
 Ireland were represented as at present. Its first 
 business was to settle the question of govern- 
 ment. It confirmed Cromwell as Protector, but 
 having done this, it claimed the absolute right of 
 Parliament to rule alone, setting aside his claim 
 to an equal right. In anger at these slights, he 
 dissolved Parliament in January, 1655, and held 
 the orovernment in his own hands. Extreme 
 
CHAP. VI. ] Charles II. , 1 660- 1685. 8 1 
 
 military means were resorted to to prevent risings 
 in England ; in Scotland the Highlanders were 
 subdued, and in Ireland the work begun by 
 Cromwell was carried on by his son Henry. 
 Thousands perished ; some were sold into slav- 
 ery ; and others deprived of homes and property. 
 Order was restored, but the people were crushed. 
 
 But Cromwell was not satisfied to go on gov- 
 erning without the aid of Parliament, and there- 
 fore summoned another in 1657, which, while it 
 supported many of his actions generously, stood 
 firmly against his military government. At last 
 Parliament concluded that if a single man must 
 be at the head of affairs, that man might better 
 be a king whose powers were fixed by precedent, 
 than a protector who had no precedent ; and, 
 accordingly, offered the crown to Cromwell, 
 which he, knowing the temper of the arm}^ de- 
 clined. It then confirmed him as Protector, 
 and restored many of the details of the older 
 constitution, establishing two Houses, granting 
 the Protector a fixed revenue, securing religious 
 liberty to all except Roman Catholics. In the 
 next year Cromwell died, on the anniversary of 
 the battles of Dunbar and Worcester. His son 
 Richard was declared his successor, and all the 
 venom which the strength of Cromwell's govern- 
 ment kept covered, broke forth violently against 
 his system. The army and Parliament could 
 not be united, the nation was tired of military 
 rule, and when the exiled Charles offered a gener- 
 al pardon, the people gladl}^ welcomed him back 
 to England. 
 
 Charles II., 1660-1685.— Charles's first coun- 
 cil was formed from both parties — his family's 
 adherents and the Presbyterians. The work of 
 the Long Parliament was not undone ; no voice 
 was raised to have any of its ordinances changed ; 
 the army was disbanded, excepting a few troops 
 
S2 Charles //., 1660- 1685. [chap. vi. 
 
 designated as the king's guard; a general pardon 
 was granted, except to the persons.and property 
 of those immediately responsible for the death 
 of Charles I. 
 
 Notwithstanding the promise of religious 
 toleration made by Charles in his proclamation 
 from Breda, one of his earliest steps was to re- 
 store prelacy, while still hoping for some plan 
 Avhereby the two parties might agree as to the 
 forms and modes of worship. But in 1662 Par- 
 liament passed, with Charles's approval, the Act 
 of Uniformity, requiring the clergy to use the 
 Prayer-Book, and to assent to all contained there- 
 in. The change that this wrought was sweep- 
 ing and severe ; nearly two thousand ministers, 
 many of them able and earnest workers, were 
 forced from their charges. 
 
 In 1665 a quarrel, growing out of commercial 
 rivalries, which had long been pending between 
 England and Holland, came to a crisis, and three 
 naval battles were fought, the last (June, 1666,) 
 giving England the victory, after a four days' 
 contest with the combined Dutch and French 
 fleets. During the same period London was 
 visited by the plague, which carried off thou- 
 sands, and also by a fire which continuing for 
 three days, reduced a large part of the city to 
 ashes. While overtures for peace were pending, 
 the Dutch not only took possession of the Chan- 
 nel, and harassed the towns on the coast, but 
 even sailed into the Thames, and threatened 
 London. Not only w^ere no efforts made to pun- 
 ish these proceedings, but peace was concluded 
 in 1667. On the head of Clarendon, the chan- 
 cellor, fell the odium of the disgrace into which 
 England had fallen, and an attempt was made to 
 impeach him, which resulted in his banishment. 
 
 In January, 1668, was concluded the Triple 
 Alliance between England, Holland and Swe- 
 
CHAP. VI.] Charles II., 1660- 1685. 83 
 
 den, against Louis XIV. of France, who had 
 set up a claim to the Spanish Netherlands. This 
 forced upon Louis the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. 
 But the joy at this was scarcely expressed when 
 Charles, by the Treaty of Dover, bound himself 
 to France for an attack upon Holland, on the 
 condition of a subsidy large enough to permit 
 him to iispense with Parliament. 
 
 The Royal Council was won to the war with 
 Holland by the promise of religious toleration. 
 The Declaration of Indulgence soon followed, 
 suspending all laws against non-conformists, 
 and also the declaration of war, which, though 
 marked by some vigorous action, came to a close 
 in the early part of 1674, without any definite 
 result, partly because of the strength of the 
 Prince of Orange, and partly because of the un- 
 willingness of the Commons to grant means to 
 carry it on. The Commons looked with suspi- 
 cion upon the actions of the king, and having 
 obtained the recall of the Declaration of Indul- 
 gence, they passed the Test Act, requiring from 
 all persons holding public office, oaths of su- 
 premacy, allegiance, and conformity with the 
 uses of the established Church. Charles yielded; 
 many leading men in the government, and even 
 James, Duke of York, the king's brother, declared 
 themselves Roman Catholics. Shaftesbury paid 
 for his share in this proceeding with the loss of 
 his chancellorship, and then threw himself into 
 the Opposition. 
 
 Danby, as Lord Treasurer, did what he could 
 to reconcile the king and Parliament, and by 
 means of bribery won a grant of supplies. 
 Roused by the successes of the French in Hol- 
 land, England raised an army, and married 
 Mary, the heir presumptive to the throne, to 
 William of Orange. But suddenly peace was 
 declared (July, 1678), which left France master 
 
84 Charles 11. , 1 660- 1685. [chap. vi. 
 
 of Europe. Charles's negotiations with Louis 
 during this crisis gave color to rumors of an 
 attempt to restore Catholicism in England. 
 Several plots were discovered which tended in 
 the same direction, and several suspected peers 
 were sent to the Tower, and many hundreds of 
 citizens to prison. Fearful lest some of his 
 shameful actions should be disclosed, Charles 
 yielded to the urgency of Shaftesbury, and 
 formed a new ministry and summoned a new 
 Parliament. One of its first acts was the pas- 
 sage by the Commons of the Exclusion Bill, 
 preventing the accession of James, and passing 
 the title to the throne to the next Protestant 
 heir. Here, however, the Bill stopped, for the 
 ministry were not united as to what was best to 
 be done. Shaftesbury urged passing over James 
 and his children, and raising the Duke of Mon- 
 mouth, Charles's illegitimate son, to the throne; 
 the others desired the accession of Mary and 
 William' of Orange. Failing to agree, they 
 urged dissolution, and Shaftesbury was dismiss- 
 ed from the council. He then set himself to in- 
 flame the opposition to Charles by encouraging 
 the rumors of plots for the subversion of relig- 
 ion, and caused petitions for the reassembling 
 of Parliament to rise in all parts of the country. 
 Those who opposed the petitions and upheld the 
 course of the crown were called " abhorrers," from 
 which two parties, the later Whigs and Tories, 
 arose. 
 
 The long struggle between Charles and 
 Shaftesbury ended at last in an appeal to the 
 nation for justice, the result of which was that 
 the universities decided that hereditary succes- 
 sion must be maintained. Shaftesbury's death 
 not long afterward, removed an obstacle from the 
 path of Charles's actions, but before much could 
 be done Charles also died. 
 
CHAP. VI.J James IL, \6Z^-\6Z%, 85 
 
 In spite of Charles's attempts at tyranny, his 
 reign is marked by several steps toward greater 
 liberty to the people, the most important of 
 which is the Habeas Corpus Act. 
 
 James II., 1685-1688. — James's first step was 
 to promise protection to the established Church, 
 and the country showed its readiness to support 
 him by the generosity with which Parliament 
 voted his revenue. This loyalty was soon tested 
 by a rebellion which broke out simultaneously 
 in England and Scotland, headed by the Dukes 
 of Monmouth and Argyle. The latter was in- 
 stantly put down, and Monmouth, after being 
 for a time successful, was defeated and behead- 
 ed. The severest measures followed. Hundreds 
 were hanged, exiled or imprisoned. Relying on 
 aid from France, James proceeded to place 
 Catholics at the head of his army, and on the 
 judges' benches, to openly show his adherence 
 to that religion, and to protect it from assaults 
 from the Protestant clergy. He forced Cath- 
 olics into the universities, and at last issued a 
 Declaration of Indulgence, hoping to insure im- 
 munity for those of his own faith under pretext 
 of relieving the non-conformists from the pen- 
 alties and persecutions they endured. His fail- 
 ure in this led him to demand the repeal of the 
 Test Act, but to no purpose. 
 
 Long had the eyes of the people been turned 
 to James's daughter Mary, hoping better things 
 from her, chiefly because of the power that her 
 accession would give her husband. He was a 
 champion of Protestantism, and had withstood 
 the encroachments of Louis in his attempt to 
 ruin Spain by becoming master of the Nether- 
 lands. He had opposed the placing of a French 
 prince on the throne of Austria, and had been 
 the chief instrument in forming the Triple Alli- 
 ance to accomplish that purpose. Afterward he 
 
86 Table of House of Brunswick, [chap. vn. 
 
 added Spain and the Empire to the alliance, 
 from v^^hich, however, England had by that time 
 withdrawn in Charles's anxiety to rely upon 
 France. Just at the time when the great strug- 
 gle on the Continent was drawing near, William 
 answered the call of England to interfere and 
 save English liberty and the Protestant religion. 
 Noble after noble joined him in Holland, and 
 early in November, 1688, William landed in Eng- 
 land amid great rejoicings. Town after town, 
 and leader after leader joined him, and James 
 fled to France. • His abdication placed the crown 
 in the hands of his daughter, and she and Will- 
 iam were declared joint sovereigns. 
 
 CHAPTER vn. 
 
 GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK. 
 
 George I. 
 George II. 
 
 ! 
 
 Frederick, Prince of Wales. 
 
 I 
 
 George III. 
 
 Georg-e IV. William IV. Edward, 
 
 ^ Duke of Kent. 
 
 Victoria. 
 
CHAP. VII.] Contemporary European Sovereigns. 8/ 
 
 George IV. 
 William IV. 
 Victoria. 
 
 William in. and Mary. 
 Anne. 
 
 George I. 
 George II. 
 
 George III. 
 
 1 
 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 Louis XV. 
 
 Louis XVI. 
 Republic. 
 
 Napoleon Bonaparte 
 Louis XVIII. 
 
 Charles X. 
 Louis Philippe. 
 
 Napoleon III. 
 Republic. 
 
 i 
 
 A ustria. 
 Francis I. 
 
 Ferdinand. 
 Francis Joseph. 
 
 Leopold I. 
 
 Joseph I. 
 Charles VI. 
 
 M.nria Theresa. 
 Charles VII, 
 Francis I. 
 
 Joseph II. 
 Leopold II. 
 Francis II. 
 
 
 Charles II. 
 Philip V. 
 
 Ferdinand VI. 
 Charles III. 
 
 Charles IV. 
 Ferdinand VIT. 
 Joseph Bonaparte. 
 Ferdinand Vll.re.stored. 
 
 Isabella II. 
 
 
 Frederick I. 
 Frederick Wm. I. 
 
 Frederick II. 
 
 Frederick II. 
 Frederick Wm. II. 
 Frederick Wm. III. 
 
 Frederick Wm. IV. 
 
 1 
 
 »• 
 
 Nicholas. 
 Ale.xander II. 
 
 Peter the Great. 
 
 Catharine I. 
 
 Peter II. 
 Anne. 
 Ivan VI. 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 Peter III. 
 Catliarine II. 
 Paul I. 
 Alexander I. 
 
 >3 
 
 1 
 
 »• 
 
88 William and Mary, \6%%-\'jo2. [chap. vn. 
 
 THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 William and Mary, 1688-1702.— The revo- 
 lution was not, however, to be a bloodless one. 
 In Scotland a revolt of the Highlanders was fol- 
 lowed by a frightful massacre at Glencoe, in 
 which that branch of the Clan of McDonald was 
 nearly destroyed. In Ireland, where James had 
 put power into the hands of Catholics, the news 
 of his flight was the signal for an attack upon 
 the Protestants. James sailed to Ireland and 
 his forces besieged Londonderry, where the fugi- 
 tives had gathered. At the end of one hundred 
 and five days, when the besieged were almost 
 starved out, the besiegers were alarmed into 
 withdrawal by the appearance of some English 
 vessels. 
 
 All this time William was forced into inactiv- 
 ity because his army was on the Continent, but 
 when in 1690 the French king sent a strong 
 force into Ireland to James's assistance, William 
 immediately went thither and met the Irish 
 army at the Boyne. The defeat that followed 
 sent James back to France, and William's pres- 
 ence being needed on the Continent, he left the 
 work in Ireland to Lord Marlborough, who had 
 already proved his efficiency as a general. He 
 won peace, but at the cost of crushing the peo- 
 ple whom he conquered. For a century there 
 was peace, but it " was a peace of despair." 
 
 Meanwhile France had won success after suc- 
 cess on the Continent and even at sea, for the 
 French actually landed on the English coast. 
 Reverses too in the Netherlands shook the faith 
 in William ; but just at this crisis a fierce naval 
 battle resulted in the disastrous defeat of the 
 French, and the spell being once broken, vie- 
 
CHAP. VII.] William and Mary J 16^^-1^02. 89 
 
 tories on land followed, and in the Peace of 
 Ryswick (1697), France was forced to yield many 
 of her acquired possessions and to give up the 
 cause of the Stuarts in England. 
 
 But another struggle was at hand. At the 
 death of Charles 11. of Spain the throne would 
 be without heirs and there were three claimants 
 for the succession — the Dauphin of France, the 
 Electoral Prince of Bavaria, both of whose 
 claims were barred by a renunciation, and the 
 Emperor of Germany, whose claim, though more 
 remote, was more legal. William threw the 
 weight of his influence on the side of Bavaria. 
 But the death of the Bavarian prince brought 
 all the plans to nought, and at the death of 
 Charles the crown devolved by will upon the 
 Duke of Anjou, the second son of the dauphin, 
 who became king under the title of Philip V. 
 
 Inasmuch as William and Mary had no chil- 
 dren, and as the children of Anne had died while 
 young, Parliament in 1701 passed the Act of 
 Settlement, giving the crown to Sophia, wife of 
 the Elector of Hanover, and her heirs. The suc- 
 cession was thus kept in the Stuart line, since 
 Sophia was a lineal descendant from James I. 
 At the same time Parliament decided that there- 
 after the sovereign must be a member of the 
 Church of England ; that he must not leave 
 Great Britain or Ireland without consent of 
 Parliament; and several other points which were 
 important for the welfare of the country. 
 
 Throughout the agitation consequent upon 
 the accession of a French prince to the Spanish 
 throne, William's hands were tied by the strong 
 disinclination to war manifested by Parliament, 
 but when Louis, in defiance of the Treaty of 
 Ryswick, acknowledged James's son king of 
 England, an alliance against France was formed 
 with Germany, and the Commons voted 40,000 
 
90 Anne^ 1 702-1 714. [chap. vii. 
 
 soldiers and the same number of seamen. At 
 this crisis William died. 
 
 Anne, 1702-1714. — By the provisions of the 
 Act of Settlement, Anne, James's second daugh- 
 ter, became queen, and as soon as crowned she 
 dismissed the ministry, to replace them with 
 Tories, while she announced her determination 
 to pursue the foreign policy of William. To 
 Marlborough was accordingly given the com- 
 mand of the allied army, and he gained some 
 victories in Flanders. In 1703 the French gained 
 the general advantage, although Marlborough 
 was not without success. In 1704 a bolder plan 
 was adopted, by which the allied army met the 
 French and Bavarians at Blenheim on the Dan- 
 ube, where, in spite of the advantage of the po- 
 sition held by the French, Marlborough made 
 an attack. After a long and desperate struggle 
 the allies were victorious, although at a cost of 
 nearly 14,000 killed and wounded. The French 
 lost many more. This victory freed Germany 
 from fear of Bavaria, gave her accession of ter- 
 ritory and gained the alliance of the King of 
 Prussia. In Spain, too, the English were meet- 
 ing with success. The emperor had caused his 
 son to be crowned King of Spain with the title 
 of Charles III., and he was supported by the 
 English. Shortly after his arrival in Spain the 
 English forces took Gibraltar and afterward de- 
 feated a fleet sent to regain it. In 1705 several 
 towns on the eastern coast acknowledged Charles 
 III. In the north the successes were mostly on 
 the side of the French. 
 
 In the early part of 1706 Marlborough gained 
 the brilliant victory of Ramillies, thereby secur- 
 ing a large part of the Spanish possessions in 
 the Netherlands. In Italy, the French were de- 
 feated, and in Spain, Charles III. gained some 
 advantages. The campaigns of 1707 and 1708 
 
CHAP, vii.j Anne^ 1702-1714. 91 
 
 had no very marked results except the battle of 
 Ondenarde, in which Marlborough was the vic- 
 tor, the capture of Lisle, of Bruges and Ghent, 
 and the abandonment of Brussels by Bavaria. 
 In 1709 peace was proposed, but the demands of 
 the Allies were so great that Louis roused France 
 to reject them. Marlborough then took Tournay, 
 and drove the French from Malplaquet. Peace 
 was again proposed in the next year, but the war 
 continued and was not finally closed until 17 13, 
 by the Peace of Utrecht, by the terms of which, 
 France abandoned the cause of the Pretender, 
 ceded Newfoundland and other territory in 
 North America ; Naples and the Spanish Nether- 
 lands were given to the emperor, Sicily to Savoy, 
 Sardinia to Bavaria, several towns of Flanders to 
 Holland, Gibraltar and Minorca remained to Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Meanwhile events had been transpiring in Eng- 
 land, the most important of which, was the union 
 with Scotland. Statesmen had been attracted by 
 this idea for many years, and just now when the 
 succession was about to devolve upon a new 
 branch, it seemed a wise precaution for securing 
 peace between the countries. The succession of 
 the house of Hanover was extremely distasteful 
 to the Scotch Parliament. Without the aid of 
 France, however, Scotland could not openly re- 
 sist, and France was crippled by the war. The 
 articles of union therefore were adopted in Jan- 
 uary, 1709, and w^ent into effect on the first of 
 May following. 
 
 Owing to the warm intimacy existing between 
 the queen and the Duchess of Marlborough, as 
 well as to the high regard in which Anne held 
 Marlborough himself, he was her chief adviser 
 during the early part of her reign, and he had 
 also won many tokens of the regard of the peo- 
 ple. He and his friend Lord Godolphin had 
 
92 George I. , 17 14-1727. [chap. vn. 
 
 managed the government and moulded the ac- 
 tions of the queen, until the temper of the nation 
 was so clearly shown to be opposed to them and 
 their administration, that the queen gradually 
 removed all the ministers and replaced them 
 with Tories. Marlborough, although retaining 
 command of the army, withdrew from court, 
 where he had now many enemies. Partly from 
 hostility to Marlborough, and partly because the 
 death of the emperor and the accession to the 
 imperial throne of Charles III., titular King of 
 Spain, had altered the relation of England to 
 the war, the new ministry were anxious for 
 peace. Marlborough combated this, a proceed- 
 ing which called forth much hostility and charges 
 of illegal practices in pecuniary matters. Where- 
 upon Marlborough, who had already been re- 
 moved from his command, retired into private 
 life at Antwerp. 
 
 Excitement over a ministerial contest between 
 Harle}^, lord treasurer, and Bolingbroke, minis- 
 ter of state, is supposed to have hastened the 
 queen's death, which occurred in August, 17 14. 
 
 George I., 1714-1727.— The new royal house 
 was peacefully established, and the new king ac- 
 knowledged in Scotland and Ireland, and by the 
 European powers. Lord Townshend superseded 
 Bolingbroke, and became prime minister, and 
 other changes were made in the council. George 
 did not in any way impress himself upon the 
 government, which throughout his reign and 
 that of his son, lay in the hands of the prime 
 minister, who for fifty years came from the Whig 
 party. This was the stronger party in the Com- 
 mons, for the discovery that several of Anne's 
 Tory ministers were interested in Jacobite plots, 
 sent the mass of the country to the other party 
 which supported the principles of the Revolu- 
 ti.on. The administration was inactive at home 
 
CHAP. VII.] George L^ 17 14-1727. 93" 
 
 and peaceful abroad, and the inaction gave 
 England an opportunity to grow in wealth and 
 manufactures. 
 
 There were, of course, some interruptions to 
 this general policy. The first was the attempt 
 in 17 15 of the Pretender, the son of James II., to 
 regain the throne. The Earl of Mar started the 
 revolt in the north, and was joined by several 
 thousand Highlanders. Opposed to him was a 
 small force under Argyle ; but the incapacity 
 of Mar kept him inactive. James himself was 
 not stronger as a leader, and the attempt ended 
 in failure. 
 
 In 1 7 16 the Triennial Bill was repealed, and 
 the duration of Parliament extended to seven 
 years, in order to insure greater steadiness of ac- 
 tion. The same year saw the culmination of at- 
 tempts on the part of the Spanish king to regain 
 possessions ceded to France by the Treaty of 
 Utrecht, and to re-assert his claim to the throne 
 of France. A triple alliance of England, France 
 and Holland guaranteed the succession of the 
 house of Orleans in* France, and cf Hanover in 
 England, and forced Philip to withdraw his 
 claims. 
 
 The failure of the financial scheme known as 
 the South Sea Bubble, brought Robert Walpole 
 to the head of the ministry, where he remained 
 for twenty years. His policy was one of peace. 
 He was the first English minister who was great 
 as a financier, and under his wise government 
 England increased in wealth, commerce and 
 manufactures. One of his first acts was to re- 
 move a great many duties from imports and ex- 
 ports ; then he removed restrictions on com- 
 merce in the colonies, and strove to carry out 
 plans for taxation, which failed because they 
 were so far in advance of the knowledge of his 
 time upon financial questions. 
 
94 George 11.^ 1 727-1 760. [chap. vii. 
 
 George II., 1727-1760.— Through the in- 
 fluence of Queen Caroline, Walpole was retained 
 as prime minister. For twelve years he carried 
 out his policy of peace, until commercial diffi- 
 culties arose with Spain, inconsequence of which 
 war seemed inevitable. There was a strong op- 
 position party, founded on dislike to Walpole, 
 which numbered among its members many of 
 the ablest men of the time, and of which William 
 Pitt soon became the recognized leader. Wal- 
 pole, forced to declare war or resign his office, 
 chose the former alternative, and war was de- 
 clared accordingly in 1739. 
 
 In November Admiral Vernon captured Porto 
 Bello, on the Isthmus of Darien ; and in 1741 he 
 made a disastrous attempt upon Carthagena. 
 Other fleets were equally unsuccessful. Some 
 of the odium of these failures fell upon Walpole, 
 and this, added to his former unpopularity, 
 caused his defeat in the elections of 1741. After 
 an unsuccessful attempt on the part of his ene- 
 mies to impeach him for bribery, he retired to 
 private life as the Earl of -Orford, and died in 
 
 1745- 
 
 England had now become involved in the war 
 of the Austrian succession. By the Pragmatic 
 Sanction, the succession of Maria Theresa to the 
 throne of her father, the Emperor Charles VI., 
 had been guaranteed. Upon his death in 1740, 
 the succession was claimed by the Elector of Ba- 
 varia, supported by France. Taking advantage 
 of this state of affairs, Frederick II. of Prussia 
 entered Silesia and gained a victory over the 
 Austrians. England took up the cause of Maria 
 Theresa ; Spain joined France in opposing her. 
 In 1743 the English army, augmented by forces 
 from Hanover, defeated the French at Dettingen, 
 and forced them to evacuate Germany. In 1745 
 the battle of Fontenoy was lost by the English 
 
CHAP. VII.] George 11.^ 1 727-1 760. 95 
 
 through the flight of the Dutch at the crisis of 
 the engagement. This was followed by other 
 victories in favor of the French. 
 
 The condition of England after these defeats 
 suggested to the younger Pretender, a grandson 
 of James II., the possibility of a successful at- 
 tempt for the recovery of the crown. He had 
 failed the previous year, but in 1745 he purchased 
 two vessels and sailed for Scotland. Landing in 
 the north, he marched southward, being joined 
 on the way by Highlanders, and entered Perth 
 and Edinburgh. On September 21 he fought 
 and won the battle of Preston Pans. He was 
 now proclaimed king in Scotland, and was en- 
 couraged to proceed into England. Avoiding, 
 two armies which England had prepared to meet 
 him, he advanced as far as Derby, when, disap- 
 pointed at not being joined by English aid, he 
 was forced to retreat. The English, under the 
 Duke of Cumberland, pursued, and at last over- 
 took and defeated him at Culloden Moor. The 
 greatest cruelties were perpetrated upon the 
 Highlanders after the battle. Prince Charles 
 escaped to France, and died in 1788. 
 
 In 1746 the Earl of Chesterfield became secre- 
 tary of state, and held the office for two years. 
 After his retirement from public life he intro- 
 duced a measure for the regulation of the calen- 
 dar, in which errors of calculation had arisen. 
 After 1752 the civil year began on January i, 
 instead of on March 25, as formerly. 
 
 In 1748 the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was con- 
 cluded, confirming the right of Maria Theresa to 
 Austria, granting Silesia to Frederick, and re- 
 storing all acquired territory. For severgi^ years 
 there was no military action. Commerce in- 
 creased, and colonization extended. 
 
 But war was again threatening. Trouble in 
 the colonies bred trouble between the mother 
 
96 George 11. , 1 727-1 760. [chap. vii. 
 
 countries. In 1756 the French appeared before 
 Minorca, and the English governor was obliged 
 to capitulate. The country cried out against 
 this outrage. Admiral Byng, the commander of 
 the fleet sent to aid the garrison, was executed 
 by a court martial. 
 
 The unpopularity incurred by this and other 
 disgraces, forced Newcastle to resign. Fox, who 
 had been secretary of state, also resigned, and 
 Pittj though personally distasteful to the king, 
 was asked to accept the office. Preparations 
 were immediately made for war. Almost all 
 Europe was now leagued against Frederick of 
 Prussia, and in 1757 the Duke of Cumberland 
 set out for the Continent to help him. Defeat 
 followed, however, and Hanover was lost. Fred- 
 erick later recovered himself somewhat, and 
 fresh preparations were made for the next year. 
 In America, the capture of Louisberg was fol- 
 lowed by the submission of Cape Breton and 
 Prince Edward's Island. In Europe attempts 
 were made on some of the French seaports, 
 which, though not in themselves successful, drew 
 some attention and resources from Germany. 
 In 1759 a victory was won off Quiberon ; but the 
 greatest success of the year was achieved in 
 Canada, where Quebec was taken through the 
 courage and skill of General Wolfe. 
 
 The reigns of Anne and the first Georges 
 mark an epoch in the history of English litera- 
 ture. A new impulse to poetic production had 
 been given by Dryden in lyric and dramatic 
 work, and he was followed in both branches by 
 a number of minor poets. A group of great 
 prose satirists belong to this period, among them 
 Swift and Defoe. A little later the essayists 
 arose, who wrote about everyday events in an 
 easy, graceful style. Chief among these are 
 Addison and Steele, and by them periodical 
 
CHAP. VII.] George III., 1 760-1 820. 97 
 
 literature was created, while the removal of the 
 censorship of the press after the Revolution, 
 allowed the growth of newspaper literature. 
 Another important form of prose work began 
 in the reign of George II. — that of the novel, 
 in the hands of Richardson, Fielding and Smol- 
 lett. 
 
 George III., 1760-1820. — The new king was 
 the first of the Hanoverians who had been born 
 in England, a fact that was pleasing to the Eng- 
 lish people. He seems, too, to have laid aside 
 many of the party feelings which had character- 
 ized the former sovereigns, while Pitt continued 
 at the head of the government. 
 
 In 1 76 1, Pitt foreseeing a declaration of war 
 by Spain in accordance with an agreement with 
 France, advised England to forestall her inten- 
 tions and open war by seizing some Spanish 
 trading vessels. The proposal was rejected by 
 the rest of the ministers and Pitt resigned, re- 
 tiring to private life as Lord Chatham. But 
 war was inevitable and was declared in the next 
 year. Changes in the ministry put Lord Bute, 
 a favorite of the king, at the head of affairs, 
 against whom Wilkes in the North Briton direct- 
 ed the severest articles. Notwithstanding the 
 success which attended English arms, peace was 
 sought, and concluded in 1763. This peace closed 
 the Seven Years' War, and by it England gained 
 among other territory Nova Scotia, Cape Breton 
 and Canada. 
 
 In the meantime these wars were affecting 
 another part of the world. The East India 
 Compan}^, established in the reign of Elizabeth, 
 had, under a charter from Charles II., acquired 
 wealth and power, and settlements had been 
 made at Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. A 
 French company, established during the reign 
 of Louis XIV., had also made settlements in the 
 
98 George III., 1 760-1 820. Ichap. vn. 
 
 near neighborhood of the English, and in the 
 middle of the eighteenth century, during the 
 troubles between France and England, one of the 
 French governors took Madras and plotted with 
 the natives for the overthrow of English domin- 
 ion. A native prince, the Surajah Dowlah, seized 
 Calcutta, throwing most of the English inhabit- 
 ants into the prison known as the Black Hole, 
 where many of them died in a night. To avenge 
 this, Clive, governor of Fort St. David, re-took 
 Calcutta and pursued the Surajah Dowlah to 
 Plassey, where he was severely defeated. Ces- 
 sions of territory were made to the English and 
 Clive became governor of Bengal. In 1760 Clive 
 returned to England, and before long, through 
 the inefficiency and dishonesty of the servants of 
 the East India Company, affairs both political 
 and financial were in a low condition. Return- 
 ing in 1765, Clive set himself to remedy the ex- 
 isting evils, and in two years reduced them to 
 order. During his next absence the condition 
 of affairs sunk so low that the government in 
 England passed in 1773 an act regulating mat- 
 ters in some directions and appointing Warren 
 Hastings governor-general of India. 
 
 Hastings's government was able, though not 
 always scrupulously honest. He captured many 
 of the French settlements. But he had many 
 enemies, and in 1787 a bill of impeachment was 
 brought against him, on the ground mainly of 
 tyranny and extortion in his treatment of the 
 natives. His trial, opening in 1788, continued 
 for seven years, at the end of which time Hastings 
 was acquitted by a large majority. 
 
 The unpopularity of Bute soon compelled his 
 resignation, and in the changes that followed 
 Grenville became Lord of the Treasury and Fox 
 leader of the Commons. Of Grenville's unwise 
 proceedings the mostiatal was the imposition, in 
 
CHAP. VII.] George HI. ^ 1 760-1 820. 99 
 
 1765, of the Stamp Act upon the American Col- 
 onies, in order to meet the expenses of the late 
 war. This the colonies were not willing to sub- 
 mit to, and resolutions were adopted in the local 
 Assemblies denying England's right to tax the 
 colonies. Grenville was forced to resign, and the 
 new ministry called for a repeal of the act. The 
 ministry under Lord North repealed all taxes 
 save that on tea. Roused by various causes of 
 resentment, a crisis at last occurred when some 
 of the people of Boston destroyed a cargo of tea 
 v/hich Lord North had caused to be sent thither. 
 Immediately England closed the port of Boston. 
 Fearful for their liberties, the colonists called a 
 Congress which drew up a Declaration of Rights 
 and resolved not to trade with England until 
 their restrictions were removed. 
 
 Pitt, now Lord Chatham, and other influential 
 men did all in their power to avert the threat- 
 ened disaster, but to no purpose. Troops were 
 sent across the water and the colonists prepared 
 for a struggle. After the defeat of the patriots 
 at Bunker Hill, in 1775, the command of the 
 American army was given to George Washington, 
 who at once surrounded Boston, shutting in the 
 English troops. We can not dwell upon the de- 
 tails of this war, but shall pass over it in cam- 
 paigns, noting results. 1776 was mainly success- 
 ful to the British ; an attack on Canada being 
 repulsed, and Washington suffering a severe de- 
 feat on Long Island, followed by a long retreat 
 into New Jersey. But this year is marked by 
 the passage in the Congress at Philadelphia of 
 the celebrated Declaration of Independence. 
 1777 also gave the English some successes in the 
 vicinity of Philadelphia, which, however, were 
 more than balanced by the surrender of General 
 Burgoyne's army at Saratoga. 1778 brought 
 
100 George III., 1760- 1820. [chap. vn. 
 
 help to the Americans from France, but though 
 there were many actions, neither this year nor 
 the next brought any striking results. 1780 is 
 marked by English ascendency in the South, and 
 the attempt on the part of Arnold to deliver 
 West Point, an important position on the Hudson, 
 to the English. 1781 opened dismally for the 
 Americans, but a series of successes in the South 
 under General Greene was followed by the sur- 
 render of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. Peace 
 was concluded in 1783, acknov/ledging without 
 reserve the independence of the American col- 
 onies. 
 
 The aid sent by the French to the colonies was 
 at first individual, but when the king received an 
 American minister, England declared war against 
 her, and in 1779 Spain and France sent out their 
 united fleets. In 1780 the English under Admi- 
 ral Rodney gained an important victory over the 
 Spanish off Cape St. Vincent, and then he sailed 
 to the West Indies, and in 1782 defeated the 
 French fleet and saved the island of Jamaica. 
 The last action of the war was the repulse of the 
 combined fleets off Gibraltar. 
 
 The disastrous result of the American war 
 forced the resignation of Lord North, and with 
 the new government, William Pitt, second son 
 of the late Lord Chatham, came into power, and 
 before long he was at the head of the ministry. 
 One of his first acts was to carry through Parlia- 
 ment a bill for the wiser government of India, 
 and for increasing the revenue of England. His 
 next attempt was toward reform in Parliament 
 itself ; but in this he was defeated. With these 
 efforts and with the trial of Warren Hastings, the 
 government occupied itself, while England v/as 
 growing in population, commerce, industries and 
 v/ealth. The invention of machinery for spinning 
 and weaving improved the manufacture of linen 
 
CHAP. viL] George III,, 1760-1820. loi 
 
 and cloths ; and the increase in manufactures 
 calling for increased facilities for transportation, 
 the centres of English trade were soon connected 
 by fine roads and canals. But the eyes of the world 
 were soon to be turned upon France. Seeming- 
 ly in a condition of prosperity, she was in reality 
 on the verge of a great revolution. 
 
 In a financial crisis, Louis XVI. summoned the 
 States General in order to raise' money. Almost 
 immediately the Paris mob attacked and de- 
 stroyed the Bastille. This act was hailed in Eng- 
 land and on the Continent as a step toward the 
 attainment of a constitutional government which 
 should displace the despotism of the kings. But 
 when the mob, giving way to their passions, 
 committed all sorts of violent deeds, two parties 
 arose in England, one strongly favoring and the 
 other equally disapproving their action. Fox 
 was the leader of the former and Edmund Burke 
 of the latter party, while Pitt thought that the 
 trouble would all subside when constitutional 
 freedom was established, and was anxious to 
 maintain friendship v/ith France, especially as 
 he might need her aid in another part of Europe. 
 
 Catharine the Second of Russia had set her 
 heart upon annexing Poland and Turkey to 
 Russia. The first plan was foiled by the division 
 of Poland between Russia, Prussia and Austria. 
 In 1 788 Catharine and Joseph of Austria combined 
 for a division of Turkish territory. But the King 
 of Prussia was on the alert, and called England 
 and Holland to his assistance. France was 
 needed too. At this point a treaty v/as con- 
 cluded which only deferred the trouble until 1792, 
 when France declared war upon the Emperor of 
 Austria, because he had expressed his willing- 
 ness to aid some of the French exiles in the res- 
 toration of the Bourbons. 
 
 All sympathy in England for the revolution 
 
102 George III. y 1 760-1 820. [chap. vn. 
 
 died when Louis was seized and imprisoned, 
 and a reign of bloodshed and terror instituted. 
 England stood neutral, however, until the French 
 declared war upon her and Holland in 1793. 
 French arms were generally successful in the 
 first year of the war, and the repulse of the Eng- 
 lish from Toulon was effected by Napoleon Bo- 
 naparte, a young officer of artillery, who was 
 afterward to become so famous. Her victories 
 encouraged France to attempt distant conquests, 
 and Piedmont was subdued by Napoleon, while 
 an attack upon Vienna failed. In 1797 France 
 gained Lombardy and the alliance of Spain, 
 Prussia and Austria, and England was left to 
 carry on the contest unaided. England's naval 
 victories had been continuous throughout the 
 war ; the Spanish fleet having been defeated off 
 Cape St. Vincent, the Dutch, forced by conquest 
 into French service, having been almost de- 
 stroyed off Camperdown, and in 1798 the fleet 
 which had carried Napoleon to Egypt was 
 severely defeated by Commodore Nelson in 
 Aboukir Bay. This last victory restored to 
 England some of her allies. The Austrians and 
 Russians forced the French from Italy, and an 
 English army forced Napoleon to abandon his 
 Eastern plans. Meanwhile the English made an 
 unsuccessful attempt to recover Holland. 
 
 Toward the close of 1799, Napoleon became 
 First Consul of France, and in 1800 crossed into 
 Italy, and after the battle of Marengo set up a 
 republic in Lombardy. 
 
 The disturbed state of affairs in Ireland now 
 brought that country to special notice. Roused, 
 it may be, by the successful revolutions in Amer- 
 ica and France, the Irish had several years be- 
 fore organized a plan of insurrection, under the 
 leadership of Wolfe Tone and others. The plan 
 was discovered, and some of the leaders arrested. 
 
CHAP. VII.] George III., 1 760-1 820. 103 
 
 Many acts of violence took place, and several 
 engagements between the revolting Irish and 
 the English troops. The rebels were defeated 
 finally at Vinegar Hill in 1798, and tranquillity 
 restored. The project for a union, which had 
 been long discussed, took shape in a bill which 
 passed both houses of Parliament in 1800. Pitt 
 also attempted to carry a bill removing certain 
 religious disabilities, and on its failure resigned 
 from his office in the ministry. 
 
 In 1802 the Peace of Amiens restored every- 
 thing to its position before the war. But the 
 peace was not of long duration. Napoleon's 
 ambition would not let him rest master of 
 France. He aimed at the destruction of Western 
 Europe, and its reduction to a despotism. Eng- 
 land was his most formidable enemy, and against 
 England he planned an invasion. The fear of 
 this invasion called Pitt to the head of the gov- 
 ernment. He formed alliances with Russia, 
 Austria and Sweden to drive the French from 
 Italy and the Low Countries. In October, 1805, 
 Lord Nelson effectually defeated the French 
 fleet off Cape Trafalgar, and Napoleon, now 
 Emperor of France and King of Italy, abandon- 
 ed his attempt on England to march into Aus- 
 tria, vvhere he won the battle of Austerlitz over 
 the Austrians and Russians. In 1806 the battle 
 of Jena established his power in Northern Ger- 
 many. From Berlin he issued his Berlin Decree 
 forbidding all commerce v/ith England. 
 
 During this year (1806) both Pitt and Fox 
 died. Under the ministry of Lord Grenville, the 
 bill for Catholic Emancipation was again 
 brought forward and lost. The abolition of the 
 slave-trade was carried, however, after having 
 been under discussion for twenty years. 
 
 From Berlin Napoleon marched into Poland, 
 and in 1807 gained the alliance of the Czar Al- 
 
104 George III., 1760- 1820. [chap. vii. 
 
 exander. The emperor made one of his broth- 
 ers King of Holland, another, king of Westpha- 
 lia, and a third of Naples. In the meantime the 
 war had progressed in the Peninsula. A revolu- 
 tion had forced the Spanish king, Charles IV., to 
 abdicate in favor of his son, Avho in turn resign- 
 ed his claim to the throne, which Napoleon at 
 once seized and handed over to his brother 
 Joseph, The Spanish sought and obtained as- 
 sistance from England, and Sir Arthur Wellesley 
 had gained some advantages when the appear- 
 ance of Napoleon forced the English back to the 
 coast. The army was reinforced and gained a 
 decisive victory at Talavera, but lost the result 
 by a retreat to Badajoz. Spain was almost re- 
 duced to submission, and in Austria and the 
 Netherlands France was victorious. But Wel- 
 lesley, now Lord Wellington, having been rein- 
 forced, took his position at Torres Vedras, and 
 baffled all the efforts of General Massena to dis- 
 lodge him. The French were driven to a retreat, 
 which was disastrous, and Wellington besieged 
 Almeida, and retained control of Portugal, though 
 he could not release Spain from French control. 
 Meanwhile Napoleon's course was leading to 
 two results. First, one of his war measures 
 against England was to shut her out from com- 
 merce with the continental nations, and for this 
 purpose he had in 1806 issued his Berlin Decree, 
 which was followed in England by the Orders in 
 Council, compelling all vessels to blockaded ports 
 to touch at England. These restrictions inter- 
 fered seriously with American commerce, and 
 the Non-intercourse Act in 1808 suspended all 
 trade between the United States and France and 
 England. The difficulty was increased by the 
 assumption by England of the right to search 
 American vessels for deserters, and war was de- 
 clared by President Madison in 181 2. 
 

 
 WALNEY iSy i, /rt". ^ 
 
 arboi-ough 
 ■ \ -'h ; ,^„ o C?1 NpJJ^SuUon S^lamborough Hi 
 
 
 HOLY ISLANDfe!\af'-!^^?^J::;:C?«\>^^2r'''^r7'n^^ I 
 
CHAP. viL] George III., 1 760-1 820. 105 
 
 Second, the same desire to ruin England's 
 trade led Napoleon to a war with Russia. By- 
 degrees the French empire was creeping east- 
 ward, greatly to the anxiety of the Czar, and 
 when Napoleon demanded that he should ob- 
 serve the decrees concerning commerce with 
 England, Russia prepared to resist. The with- 
 drawal of the greater part of the French army 
 to Poland, left Wellington a comparatively free 
 field, and the victory at Salamanca compelled 
 King Joseph to leave Madrid. But the crisis of 
 the war was not to be fought out in Spain. 
 
 In June, 181 2, Napoleon crossed the Niemen, 
 on his way to Moscow. The battle of Borodino 
 paved the way for his entrance to the capital, 
 where he waited for the Czar to offer terms of 
 peace ; but the burning of the city by its m- 
 habitants forced him to a fatal retreat in mid- 
 winter. He raised a fresh army, however, and in 
 May, 1813, marched against the allied troops of 
 Russia and Prussia, defeating them at Lutzen. 
 The battle of Leipzig in October sent the French 
 back across the Rhine. Following up this ad- 
 vantage, the allies entered Paris in March, 18 14. 
 Napoleon abdicated, and the Bourbon king, 
 Louis XVIII., was established on the throne. 
 
 At the same time war was in progress in 
 America. Neither the army nor the navy of the 
 United States was well equipped, and the States 
 were divided on the subject of the war. Few of 
 her land actions were successful, but this was 
 quite compensated for by her successes on the 
 water. The English vessels did much damage 
 along the coasts, one party sailing up the Ches- 
 apeake, and destroying the public buildings at 
 Washington. Two expeditions, one to enter the 
 States from the north, the other from the south, 
 were failures ; the first from the destruction of 
 the English fleet on Lake Champlain, the other 
 
io6 George IiLy 1760-1820. [chap. vn. 
 
 by the successful resistance of General Jackson 
 at New Orleans. The close of the war in Europe 
 closed that in America also, in 1814. 
 
 England's hands were scarcely free from this 
 difficulty when she was called upon to meet her 
 former enemy. Napoleon, who, from his refuge 
 in Elba, saw an admirable opportunity for ano- 
 ther attempt for power in the disagreements 
 which sprang up among the allies concerning 
 the annexation of Saxony and Poland to Prussia 
 and Russia, left Elba in March, 1815, and enter- 
 ed France, and in twenty days reached Paris. 
 Louis XVIII. fled ; and the allies set aside their 
 disputes, and raised immense armies for his over- 
 throw. The Duke of Wellington planned to 
 unite with the Prussian, Austrian and Russian 
 armies in a concentrated attack. 
 
 Napoleon having raised an army of nearly 
 250,000 men, lay near Charleroi. The allies 
 tried to unite at Quatre Bras, but Blucher was 
 attacked at Ligny and driven back. At the 
 same time Marshal Ney attacked a few English 
 at Quatre Bras, and was defeated. On the next 
 day Wellington withdrew to Waterloo, where 
 on June i8th he was attacked by Napoleon. One 
 of the most notable battles of history was fought 
 on this ground, the armies being equal in num- 
 ber and in force, and it ended after a long strug- 
 gle in the defeat and retreat of the French with 
 heavy loss. The entry of the English and Prus- 
 sians into Paris, and the restoration of Louis 
 XVIII., followed Napoleon's flight and second 
 abdication. Napoleon finding all means of escape 
 shut off, surrendered himself to the English, who 
 imprisoned him on the island of St. Helena, where 
 he died in 1821. 
 
 The close of the long war was followed by a 
 period of financial and industrial depression, 
 accompanied by a tendency to insurrection. It 
 
CHAP. VII.] William IV.^ 1 830-1 838. 107 
 
 was not openly of long duration, but was not 
 entirely removed until some changes in legisla- 
 tion were effected. 
 
 In 1820 George III. died, after a reign of sixty 
 years. For the ten years previous to his death, 
 his mind had been so diseased as to render him 
 unfit for his duties, and his son, the Prince of 
 Wales, had acted as regent. This son now suc- 
 ceeded him. 
 
 George IV., 1820-1830.— This reign of ten 
 years contains little action. Its importance is 
 almost entirely legislative, and its greatest work, 
 the Catholic Emancipation Bill. An attempt in 
 this direction had been made by Pitt, though 
 without success. Under Canning's leadership in 
 the Commons, the question was frequently dis- 
 cussed, but it was not until 1828 that Peel, who 
 up to this time had opposed the measure, came for- 
 ward as its advocate, and it was finally passed in 
 the following year. It admitted Catholics to all 
 offices excepting the regency and the chancellor- 
 ship. 
 
 William IV., 1830-1838.— The time had now 
 come in the minds of many for a reform in the 
 composition of Parliament itself. The people 
 were still disturbed, and when it was feared that 
 the new administration would oppose this reform, 
 the dissatisfaction was quite marked. The min- 
 istry was changed to one favorable to the meas- 
 ure, and a bill presented to the Commons by 
 Lord John Russell. When rejected by the Lords, 
 the disappointment of the people showed itself 
 in violence in many parts of England. At the 
 next session, 1832, it was carried. By its pro- 
 visions the franchise was extended and equal- 
 ized, and representation made more impartial. 
 
 The total abolition of slavery, a measure so 
 strongly and for so long advocated by Wilberf orce 
 and others, was carried during the reign, as were 
 
io8 Victoria, 1837. [chap. vn. 
 
 some minor municipal and ecclesiastical changes. 
 The death of William called to the throne his 
 niece, the daughter of the Duke of Kent. 
 
 Victoria, 1837. — The accession of Victoria 
 separated the crowns of England and Hanover, 
 for as the latter devolved in the male line, it 
 passed to the Duke of Cumberland, the oldest 
 living son of George III. 
 
 A series of disturbances marked the first 
 years of Victoria's reign. A rebellion in Canada 
 was put down by force. At home discontent 
 and distress arising from the failure of succes- 
 sive harvests, caused various disorders. A large 
 party calling themselves Chartists demanded 
 further Parliamentary reforms, making suffrage 
 universal, and removing property qualifications. 
 The more violent of these broke into riot and 
 bloodshed. The Anti-Corn-Law League sought 
 to remove the cause of these disturbances by the 
 establishment of free trade. Under the leader- 
 ship of Mr. Cobden, Mr. Bright and others, the 
 League agitated its principles, and at last won 
 Peel to its support. In 1846 a bill was passed 
 reducing some duties and abolishing those on 
 wheat and other necessary foods. 
 
 The revolution of 1848, which drove Louis 
 Philippe from the throne of France, and which 
 was felt more or less throughout Europe, showed 
 itself in Ireland more violently than in England, 
 probably because of the greater distress in that 
 country. Outward tranquillity was restored 
 after the transportation 01 its leaders. In 1850 
 Sir Robert Peel died, who had been active in so 
 many financial reforms ; and 1852 saw the death 
 of the Duke of Wellington. 
 
 In 1853 the shadow of war again rested on the 
 country. Under pretext of settling a dispute 
 between the Greek and Catholic Churches at 
 Jerusalem, the Czar, who coveted Constantino- 
 
CHAP. VII.] Victoria^ 1837. 109 
 
 pie, entered European Turkey. England and 
 France combined against Russia, and their 
 united fleets entered the Black Sea. Here early 
 in 1854 the fleet was joined by an army under 
 Lord Raglan, and the siege of Sevastopol un- 
 dertaken. The siege lasted nearly a year in 
 spite of many attempts by the Russians to raise 
 it. Two notable actions were those of Balaklava 
 and Inkerman, in which the allied troops dis- 
 played invincible courage. In September, 1855, 
 two of the important outposts were taken and 
 the town evacuated by the Russians. The war 
 had also been carried on in the Baltic Sea, but 
 without results. The Black Sea fleet aided in 
 the siege of Sevastopol by cutting off the sup- 
 plies of the besieged. During this Vv^ar the con- 
 dition of the sick and wounded soldiers was 
 much ameliorated by the founding of hospitals, 
 and the organized efforts of Miss Florence Night- 
 ingale and other women. A treaty of peace con- 
 cluded in 1856 established among other privi- 
 leges the freedom of the Danube. 
 
 By degrees the Xvhole of the Indian peninsula 
 had come under British dominion, either by con- 
 quest or alliance ; but there had for some time 
 been symptoms of discontent among the native 
 troops, and in 1857 it broke out into open rebel- 
 lion. Delhi was seized, and the whole of the 
 territory of Bengal estranged, until restored by 
 force of arms. This rebellion led to the with- 
 drawal of the charter of the East India Com- 
 pany in 1858, and the placing of the government 
 of India directly in the hands of the crown. In 
 the same year Jews were admitted to Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 In i860 the ministry under Lord Palmerston 
 carried the abolition or reduction of duties, thus 
 virtually establishing free trade. An attempt in 
 the same year for Parliamentary reform failed. 
 
no Victor iuy 1837. [chap, vn. 
 
 Trouble with China came to a crisis in this 
 year. English and French envoys on their way 
 to Pekin, in order to ratify a treaty, were fired 
 upon at the mouth of the Peiho river. Other 
 hostilities followed, and it was only by careful 
 negotiations that war was averted. China agreed 
 to receive a representative from England and 
 France, and to open some of her ports to com- 
 merce. 
 
 With the American civil war we can only con- 
 cern ourselves so far as some of its issues affected 
 England. It had its immediate cause in the 
 violent secession of some of the Southern States. 
 In the prosecution of the war several privateers 
 were fitted out in England for the use of the 
 Southern party, one of which, the Alabama^ in a 
 career of two years, captured nearly seventy 
 Northern ships, deceiving them while at a dis- 
 tance by sailing under the British flag. In 1870 
 the American government demanded from Eng- 
 land indemnification for injury done to Northern 
 commerce by the Alabama and other cruisers. A 
 long controversy followed, and in 187 1 it was de- 
 cided to refer this and other disputed points to a 
 commission, which met at Washington, and de- 
 cided upon a basis of arbitration. The matter 
 was then referred to a tribunal consisting of a 
 representative of the English and American gov- 
 ernments, the King of Italy, the Emperor of 
 Brazil, and the President of the Swiss Confed- 
 eration. The court decided in favor of the 
 United States, and awarded about three millions 
 and a quarter sterling in settlement of all claims. 
 
 In the meantime other events of interest had 
 been transpiring. Confident of the success of 
 the South, and. of the consequent dismember- 
 ment of the United States, the Emperor of the 
 French conceived a plan for overthrowing the 
 Mexican Republic and setting up a monarchy, 
 
CHAP. VII.] Victoria^ 1837. iii 
 
 which should be under French control. By 
 force of arms he succeeded, and placed Maximil- 
 ian, brother to the Emperor of Austria, on the 
 throne, in spite of the protests of the American 
 government. The unexpected termination of 
 the war in favor of the North, and the growing 
 strength of the Republican forces in Mexico, 
 brought about the downfall of Napoleon's 
 scheme after a success of about two months. 
 
 In 1866 a Reform Bill was brought forward by- 
 Lord John Russell, the failure of which was fol- 
 lowed by great agitation. In the next year, 
 however, it was passed, extending and to some 
 extent redistributing the franchise. In the same 
 year the Fenian movement for the independence 
 of Ireland, which had long been in progress, 
 culminated. The Habeas Corpus Act was sus- 
 pended, and severe measures resorted to to 
 crush the movement. In 1868 the Disraeli min- 
 istry resigned, and Gladstone came into power, 
 with the intention of trying to meet the diffi- 
 culties in Ireland. The first step was the Dis- 
 establishment of the Irish Church. The next, 
 the Irish Land Bill, which recognized that the 
 tenant had some rights in the land which he cul- 
 tivated, and provided for greater equity in the 
 decision t)f legal questions between tenant and 
 landlord. Many other reforms were instituted 
 at home, and the government was one of great 
 activity. In 1873 Gladstone brought forward 
 the Irish University Education Bill, providing 
 for the reorganization in some wa3^s of the Uni- 
 versities in Ireland. This measure added so 
 much to the unpopularity of the existing min- 
 istry that Gladstone dissolved Parliament, and 
 appealed to the country. The elections returned 
 the Conservative party to power, with Disraeli 
 again as Prime Minister. 
 
 One of the first events of this administration 
 
113 Victoriay 1837. [chap. vn. 
 
 was the purchase by England from the Khedive 
 of Egypt, the shares which he held in the Suez 
 Canal. 
 
 In 1875 serious disturbances broke out in some 
 of the provinces under the control of Turkey. 
 Several of the European States, among them 
 Russia, interfered on behalf of the provinces. In 
 1877 Russia declared war, and in a year had 
 completely humbled Turkey. The probable pos- 
 session of Constantinople by Russia, roused Eng- 
 land to send a fleet to that city. Bismarck now 
 proposed that a congress be held at Berlin, to 
 discuss the relations between Turkey and Rus- 
 sia, and a treaty was made recognizing the in- 
 dependence of Roumania, Servia and Monte- 
 negro, creating new boundaries to old provinces, 
 and establishing new ones, and defining the re- 
 lations to exist between these provinces and the 
 other European powers. The invasion of Afghan- 
 istan, the Zulu war in Africa, and the passage of 
 an Education Bill for Ireland, were the last 
 events of the administration, which retired from 
 office in 1880. 
 
QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I. — What were the first inhabitants of Britain called ? 
 
 2. — To what race did they belong ? 
 
 3. — In whose hands did their government lie? 
 
 4. — What nation first attempted the conquest of Brit- 
 ain ? Under whom ? With what success ? 
 
 5. — When was the conquest completed? Under 
 whom ? 
 
 6. — What tribes next made incursions into Britain ? 
 
 7. — What was the result ? 
 
 8. — Where was the home of the English ? What was 
 their character? 
 
 9. — What was the result of seeking their aid ? 
 
 10. — Which part of England first yielded to them ? 
 
 II. — Name two of their leaders and tell where their 
 victories were achieved. 
 
 12. — What became of the conquered Britons? 
 
 13, — How was the conquered country divided ? How 
 governed ? 
 
 14. — Who might be called the first king of the Eng- 
 lish ? 
 
 15. — When was Christianity introduced into Britain? 
 
 16. — What northern tribes other than the English 
 made voyages to Britain ? 
 
 17. — What was their object at first ? 
 
 18. — In whose reign did they make settlements ? 
 
 19. — How is the reign of Alfred marked ? 
 
 20. — How did the kings employ the intervals between 
 the Danish invasions ? 
 
 21. — What means did Ethelred take to strengthen 
 himself against the Danes ? 
 
 22. — Who was the first Danish king of England ? 
 
 23. — What division of the kingdom was agreed upon 
 between the English and Danes ? 
 
 24. — How did Canute try to gain the assent of the 
 English to his claim ? 
 
 (113) 
 
1 14 Questions for Examination. 
 
 25. — How did he gain the alliance of Normandy? 
 
 26. — What was the cause of the war that threatened 
 Harold ? How was it averted ? 
 
 27. — What were the dangers that threatened on the 
 accession of Edward the Confessor? 
 
 28. — How did the English nobles show their resent- 
 ment of Norman influence ? 
 
 29. — Who succeeded Edward the Confessor ? 
 
 30. — Upon what did William of Normandy base his 
 claim to the throne of England ? 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 I. — What two enemies was Harold called upon to 
 meet in 1066 ? 
 
 2. — Where were battles fought? With what result? 
 
 3. — What attempt was made to oppose William ? 
 
 4. — What was William's policy of government ? 
 
 5. — What led him to have recourse to force in gov- 
 erning the English ? 
 
 6. — What system of government did he introduce ? 
 Describe it. 
 
 7. — Who succeeded William the Conqueror ? 
 
 8. — How was this succession regarded by the nobles ? 
 
 9. — How did he seek to increase his revenue ? With 
 what result ? 
 
 10. — What difficulties did he have outside of England ? 
 
 II. — What was the object of the crusades? 
 
 12. — Who were the leaders of the crusade determined 
 upon in 1095 ? 
 
 13. — How did Henry I. become king of England? 
 
 14. — What means did he take to secure himself ? 
 
 15. — What was accomplished by his marriage? 
 
 16. — What means did Robert employ to obtain the 
 throne ? 
 
 17. — How was the difficulty settled ? 
 
 18. — How did Normandy come into Henry's hands? 
 
 19. — Who were the claimants of the throne at Henry's 
 death? Who succeeded in gaining it ? 
 
 20. — What was the result of the civil war which fol- 
 lowed ? 
 
Questions for Examination, 115 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 I. — What territory on the Continent did Henry H. 
 possess ? 
 
 2. — What were his first acts? 
 
 3. — By what trouble is his reign marked ? 
 
 4. — What addition did he make to his kingdom ? 
 
 5. — How did he seek to prevent contention among 
 his children after his death ? What was the result ? 
 
 6. — How were his last years employed ? 
 
 7. — What were the events of the reign of Richard I. ? 
 Who succeeded him ? 
 
 8. — What had been the previous career of John ? 
 
 9. — What trouble was he immediately called upon to 
 meet ? 
 
 10. — What is the history of John's struggle with the 
 Church ? 
 
 II. — What brought him to submission ? 
 
 12. — What was the result of his French war? 
 
 13. — What led to the adoption of the Great Charter? 
 
 14. — When was it signed ? How did it differ from 
 former charters ? 
 
 15. — What means were taken to secure the execution 
 of its provisions ? 
 
 16. — What effect did this have upon John ? 
 
 17. — Whence did he seek aid, and with what result? 
 
 18. — How was French interference met? 
 
 19. — How did the troubles of John's reign affect the 
 early part of that of Henry HI. ? 
 
 20, — What proved to be Henry's idea of government ? 
 
 21. — What resulted from his attempt to carry out 
 these ideas ? 
 
 22. — With what event did the power of the barons 
 reach its summit ? 
 
 23. — What change in parliamentary representation 
 was effected by them ? 
 
 24. — What was the first conquest made by England 
 under Edward I. ? What title grew out of it ? 
 
 25. — What gave rise to the war with Scotland ? 
 
 26. — Who was at the head of the Scotch army at the 
 battle of Stirling? 
 
 27. — In what battle was he defeated ? What leaders 
 continued the struggle ? 
 
ll i6 Questions for Examination, 
 
 28. — What was the character of Edward II. ? How 
 did he show it ? 
 
 29. — What advantage was taken of it in Scotland ? 
 
 30. — What was the resuh of the battle of Bannock- 
 burn ? 
 
 31. — What was the cause of the deposition of Ed- 
 ward II. ? 
 
 32. — Through whose agency was it effected ? 
 
 33. — In what did Edward III. first show his ability to 
 govern ? 
 
 34. — Give the history of the Scotch war in the reign 
 of Edward III. 
 
 35. — Trace the claim of Edward III. to the French 
 throne. 
 
 36. — Who was the successful claimant ? 
 
 37. — To what did Edward's failure lead him } 
 
 38. — What was the result of his first invasion of 
 France ? 
 
 39. — What two successes attended his second at- 
 tempt } 
 
 40. — For what is one of these actions noted ? 
 
 41. — Where else were English arms meeting success 
 at this time } 
 
 42. — Why was Calais valuable to the English } 
 
 43. — What was the condition of England in the mid- 
 dle of the fourteenth centuiy ? 
 
 44. — What great battle did the Black Prince gain in 
 
 1356? 
 
 45. — What were the terms of the treaty of Bretigny } 
 
 46. — What was the cause of Edward's Spanish war } 
 The final result } 
 
 47. — By what legislative progress are the reigns of 
 the Edwards marked } 
 
 48. — What material progress was made } What great 
 names belong to the reign of Edward III. } 
 
 49. — What led to the social disturbances in the reign 
 of Richard II. ? 
 
 50. — How did Richard try to escape dependence on 
 Parliament ? 
 
 51. — Under what pretence did the Duke of Lancaster 
 return to England ? 
 
 52. — Had he any claim to the throne ? 
 
 53. — By what means did he obtain the crown ? 
 
 54. — What became of Richard } 
 
Questions for Examination. 11/ 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I. — How did Henry gain the influence of the Church ? 
 
 2. — Who were the Lollards ? What became of them 
 as a sect ? 
 
 3. — What brought Henry into collision with some of 
 his nobles ? 
 
 4. — Of what did Henry V. take advantage when he 
 made his first invasion of France ? W^hat was his first 
 great victory ? 
 
 5. — How did the French king propose to settle Hen- 
 ry's claim to the French throne ? 
 
 6.— Under whose direction was the French war car- 
 ried on during the minority of Henry VI. ? 
 
 7._Who aided the French in raising the siege of 
 Orleans ? 
 
 8._Hovv else did she assist them ? What fate did 
 she meet ? 
 
 9. — Which of England's possessions in France were 
 left at the close of the war ? 
 
 10. — Why was the Duke of York formidable as a rival 
 to Henry VI.? 
 
 II.— What means were taken to strengthen Henry's 
 cause ? With what result ? 
 
 12,— Why did Jack Cade assume the name of Morti- 
 mer ? 
 
 13. — What was the cause of the outbreak which he 
 headed ? 
 
 14.— Into what position of trust was the Duke of 
 York soon placed } 
 
 15. — Why did he take up arms ? 
 
 16. — Give in outline the events which resulted in the 
 flight of the Lancastrian king. 
 
 17. — Who was the first king of the house of York ? 
 
 18.— What turned the influence of Warwick from 
 York to Lancaster ? 
 
 19. — What did that influence bring about } 
 
 20. — Where did Edward obtain assistance } What 
 battle decided the contest } 
 
 21.— Who was made Protector during the mmority 
 of Edward V. ? 
 
 22. — What use did he make of his power ? 
 
1 1 8 Questions for Examination, 
 
 23. — What disturbed his peaceful possession of the 
 throne ? 
 
 24. — How was Henry Tudor's claim strengthened ? 
 
 25. — How did Richard try to gain the good-will of 
 the people ? 
 
 26. — Where was the battle fought which overthrew 
 Richard ? Its date ? 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 I. — What was Henry VH.'s policy of government ? 
 
 2. — What two pretenders claimed the throne during 
 his reign ? 
 
 3. — Tell the claim of each and the result of their at- 
 tempts. 
 
 4. — What were Henry's relations with France ? With 
 Scotland ? With Spain ? 
 
 5. — How did the people regard Henry VHI. ? 
 
 6. — What drew him into war with France ? Its re- 
 sult ? 
 
 7. — In what battle was James IV. of Scotland killed ? 
 
 8. — How did Henry strengthen an alliance with 
 France } 
 
 9. — Trace the career of Wolsey. 
 
 10. — Who were candidates for the throne of Austria 
 on the death of Maximilian ? 
 
 II. — What effect did the success of Charles have 
 upon England } 
 
 12. — In what war did Henry become involved ? 
 
 13. — What political considerations prevented the 
 Pope from deciding Henry's domestic difficulties } 
 
 14. — How were these at last settled ? What position 
 was Henry forced to take } 
 
 15. — Who became Henry's adviser on Wolsey 's fall ? 
 
 16. — How did he augment the king's revenue } 
 
 17. — What was the condition of Ireland in this reign ? 
 
 18. — How far did Henry VIII. sympathize with the 
 Protestants } 
 
 19. — With whom did Henry make a political mar- 
 riage } 
 
 20. — Who suffered for its want of success ? 
 
Questions for Examination, 119 
 
 21. — How did Henry propose to unite the thrones of 
 England and Scotland ? 
 
 22. — Who was Protector during the reign of Edward 
 VI.? 
 
 23. — What great changes were made in forms of 
 worship ? 
 
 24.— How did the Scotch regard the attempt to unite 
 the two thrones ? What was the result of their opposi- 
 tion ? 
 
 25. — What difficulties were in the way of a complete 
 establishment of Protestantism ? 
 
 26. — Whom did Northumberland plan to make Ed- 
 ward's successor ? Had she any claim to the throne ? 
 
 27. — Who did succeed him ? Who was Mary's 
 mother ? 
 
 28. — What did Mary immediately set out to do ? 
 
 29. — How did she strive to help her cause ? 
 
 30. — What unhappy results followed her marriage ? 
 
 -51, — What great loss did England sustain at the close 
 of her reign ? 
 
 32. — On what did Mary, Queen of Scots, base her 
 claim to the English throne ? 
 
 33. — What powerful ally had she ? Through what 
 means ? 
 
 34. — What alliance did Elizabeth make ? 
 
 35. — Whom did Mary marry, and what followed ? 
 
 36. — What brought about her imprisonment ? 
 
 37. — By what was her flight to England followed ? 
 
 38.— On what grounds did Elizabeth justify her 
 death ? 
 
 39. — What had, meantime, been transpiring on the 
 Continent ? 
 
 40. — What was the Armada ? In what year sent out ? 
 
 41. — What English seamen were sent against it? 
 With what result ? 
 
 42. — What was the condition of Ireland during this 
 reign ? 
 
 43. — By what enterprises is Elizabeth's reign marked ? 
 
 44. — What great writers belong to it ? 
 
120 Questions for Examination, 
 
 CHAPTER Vr. 
 
 I. — "Who succeeded Elizabeth ? By what right ? 
 
 2. — What principles did he avow ? What was his at- 
 titude toward the Catholics ? 
 
 3. — What name was given to one of the plots against 
 him? Why? 
 
 4. — Upon what struggle did James soon enter ? 
 
 5. — How was he thrown into the power of the Com- 
 mons ? 
 
 6. — What prevented his aiding th<3 cause of Protest- 
 antism ? Why was he expected to do so ? 
 
 7. — How did his conduct affect his people ? 
 
 8. — What at last roused the king to declare war upon 
 Spain ? 
 
 9. — What important colonies were founded during 
 his reign ? 
 
 10. — How did the Commons resolve to hold Charles 
 I. in check ? 
 
 II. — How did Charles try to punish them? What 
 was his success ? 
 
 12. — What disastrous expedition was made against 
 France ? 
 
 13 — In what cause ? With what effect ? 
 
 14. — What was the Petition of Right ? 
 
 15. — How else were the people growing estranged 
 from the king ? 
 
 16. — Trace the career of the Earl of Strafford. 
 
 17. — Who was the great opponent of ship-money ? 
 
 18.— What part was taken by the Scotch in the gen- 
 eral opposition to Charles ? 
 
 19. — When did the Long Parliament meet ? Who 
 was its leader ? 
 
 20.— Where did he believe the real power of govern- 
 ment lay ? 
 
 21. — Mention some of the work accomplished by the 
 Long Parliament. 
 
 22. — What step hastened the outbreak of civil war ? 
 
 23. — Name some of the important battles of the war, 
 telling the result. 
 
 24.— What great general was victor at Marston Moor? 
 
 25. — What two parties arose out of the religious diffi- 
 culties ? 
 
Questions for Examination. 121 
 
 26. — What led to the execution of the king ? When 
 did it take place ? 
 
 27.— How was this step received outside of EnHand 
 itself ? ^ 
 
 28. — Who was proclaimed king ? 
 
 29. — Where was he finally defeated ? 
 
 30.— How did Cromwell put an end to the contest 
 between the army and Parliament ? 
 
 31. — What form of government was adopted ? 
 
 32. — How was peace maintained ? 
 
 33.— What followed soon after Cromwell's death ? 
 
 34. — What changes in legislation followed the resto- 
 ration of the Stuarts ? 
 
 35.— How did Charles keep his promises in relation 
 to religious liberty? 
 
 36. — What war broke out soon after his accession ? 
 
 37.— What was the Triple Alliance ? 
 
 3^- — How did the Commons answer the Declaration 
 of Indulgence ? 
 
 39.— What did the passage of the Test Act disclose ? 
 
 40. — What led Charles to summon the Parliament of 
 1678 ? 
 
 41.— What great bill was passed by it? What were 
 its provisions ? 
 
 42. — How then did James succeed to the throne ? 
 
 43.— What degree of religious toleration did James 
 observe ? 
 
 44.— To whom did England turn in her difficulty? 
 Why ? 
 
 45. — What resistance was offered by James ? 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 I.— What troubles broke out in Scotland ? In Ire- 
 land ? 
 
 2.— What did the battle of the Boyne decide ? 
 
 3.— How did the peace of Ryswick help England ? 
 
 4.— What was the war of the Spanish Succession ? 
 
 5- — How did England become involved in it ? 
 
 6- — How did the Commons become reconciled to war 
 with France ? 
 
122 Questions for Examination, 
 
 7. — Who succeeded William III. ? In accordance 
 with what act ? 
 
 8. — To whom did she give command of her army ? 
 
 9. — What great battles did he fight ? 
 
 10. — In what parts of Europe was the contest carried 
 on ? 
 
 II. — What important fortress did the English cap- 
 ture } 
 
 12, — What did Marlborough gain by the battle of 
 Ramillies ? By the battle of Oudenarde } 
 
 13. — When was the war closed, and by what treaty ? 
 
 14. — What did England gain by it ? 
 
 15. — In what year was the union with Scotland ef- 
 fected } 
 
 16. — Who stood at the head of Anne's government 
 during its early part ? 
 
 17. — What were the grounds for hostility to him } 
 
 18. — What was the claim of George I. to the throne ? 
 
 19. — Who was the actual ruler of England during 
 George's reign } 
 
 20. — What was the character of the reign } 
 
 21. — What attempt for the throne was made in 1715 ? 
 
 22. — What attempt was made to set aside the treaty 
 of Utrecht } How was it met ? 
 
 23. — What was the policy of Walpole ? Name some 
 of his acts. What led to his overthrow } 
 
 24. — In what war had England now become involved ' 
 
 25. — What was its cause .'' When did it close.? By 
 what treaty ? 
 
 26. — Who took advantage of England's condition at 
 this time ? 
 
 27. — In what battle were the Stuarts finally over- 
 thrown ? 
 
 28. — How long did peace last ? 
 
 29. — What was the policy of Pitt, the new minister ? 
 
 30. — What was the Seven Years' War } When did it 
 close } What did England gain by it } 
 
 31. — What is the history of the English in India dur- 
 ing the reign of George III. ? 
 
 32. — What was the cause of the trouble with America ? 
 
 33. — Give that trouble in outline. With what event 
 did it close } 
 
 34. — Who was prime minister during the war ? 
 
 35. — To what European war did it lead } 
 
Questions for Examination, 123 
 
 36, — Who succeeded Lord North in the ministry? 
 
 37. — What measures did he attempt ? 
 
 38. — What was the material condition of England at 
 this time ? 
 
 39. — What great mov^ement took place in France to- 
 wards the close of the century ? 
 
 40. — How was it regarded in England? 
 
 41. — What was the origin of the great European war 
 which broke out in 1792 ? 
 
 42. — How did England become involved in it ? 
 
 43. — What great man made his appearance in the 
 early part of the war ? 
 
 44. — What was the relative success of the combatants ? 
 
 45. — What led to the union with Ireland ? In what 
 year did it take place ? 
 
 46.— What was the peace of Amiens ? How long was 
 it observed ? 
 
 47. — Which countries were allied with England 
 against Napoleon ? 
 
 48. — Why did Napoleon give up his scheme of invad- 
 ing England ? 
 
 49. — What did he accomplish by the battle of Jena ? 
 
 50. — In what two parts of Europe was the war carried 
 
 on 
 
 51. — With what success in the South ? 
 
 52. — How did Napoleon's course affect England's re- 
 lations with America? 
 
 53.— How did it affect his own relations with Russia ? 
 
 54. — What were the battles which broke his power ? 
 
 55. — Who succeeded to the French throne ? 
 
 56. — What was the progress of the war with America ? 
 
 57. — By whom was the contest renewed in Europe ? 
 
 58. — In what battle was Napoleon's power finally 
 broken ? 
 
 59. — Who commanded the allied army? 
 
 60. — What became of Napoleon after Waterloo ? 
 
 6r. — For what is the reign of George IV. chiefly re- 
 markable ? 
 
 62. — What reforms were undertaken during that of 
 William IV.? 
 
 63. — Why is Victoria not queen of Hanover? 
 
 64. — What was the Chartist agitation ? 
 
 65. — What attempts were made to remove the causes 
 of discontent ? 
 
124 Questions for Examination. 
 
 66. — What led to the withdrawal of the charter from 
 the East India Company ? 
 
 67. — What did the trouble with China effect ? 
 
 68. — How did the Civil War in America directly af- 
 fect England ? 
 
 69. — How was the claim adjusted? 
 
 70. — What attempt did Louis Napoleon make in 
 America? 
 
 71. — Upon what was it based ? What was its result ? 
 
 72. — What reform was effected in 1867 ? 
 
 73. — What were the reforms instituted by the Glad- 
 stone ministry of 1868 ? 
 
 74. — AVho succeeded Gladstone ? What were the first 
 actions of this ministry ? 
 
 75 — For what purpose was the Congress of Berlin 
 summoned ? 
 
 76. — What did it accomplish ? 
 
 'J']. — When did the ministry go out of office ? 
 
 78. — What were the last events of the administra- 
 tion ? 
 
 GENERAL QUESTIONS. 
 
 I. — Give the date of accession of the Norman Kings, 
 of the Plantagenets, of the Tudors, of the Stuarts, of 
 the House of Brunswick. 
 
 2. — Whose was the longest reign ? The shortest ? 
 
 3. — How many female sovereigns has England had ? 
 Who was the first ? 
 
 4. — Explain the claims of the Houses of York and 
 Lancaster to the throne. 
 
 5. — Trace the double descent of James I. from Henry 
 VII. 
 
 6. — To whose reign does the Habeas Corpus Act be- 
 long? The Great Charter ? The Exclusion Bill ? The 
 Petition of Right ? The Test Act ? The establishment 
 of free trade ? The admission of Jews to Parliament? 
 The Catholic Emancipation ? 
 
 7. — Who was the " King-maker" ? 
 
 8. — When and between v/hom was the battle of Hast- 
 ings fought ? Of Agincourt ? Waterloo ? Culloden ? 
 
Questions for Exajuination. 125 
 
 Bannockburn? Crecy ? Naseby ? Flodden ? Aus- 
 ter? ^"""^^ Bosworth? St. Albans ? Worces- 
 
 9r-How far back in the line of Kings can the descent 
 of George I. be traced ? 
 
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