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Ex  Libris 
OGDEN 


> 


i 


HISTORICAL 


ACTING    CHARADES. 


HISTORICAL 

ACTING   CHARADES; 


OB, 


FOE    WINTER    EVENINGS. 


BY  THE   AT.THOR  OP 


"  CAT  AND  DOG,   OR  PUSS  AND  THE   CAPTAIN  ;"  "  THE 
DOLL  AND   HEK  FRIENDS,"   ETC. 


Edition. 


LONDON: 
GRIFFITH   AND    FARRAN, 

LATE  GRANT  &  GRIFFITH,  SUCCESSORS  TO  NEWBERY  &  HARRIS, 

CORNER  OF  ST.  PAUL'S  CHURCHYARD. 

MDCCCLVIII. 


LONDON  t 

8AVILL   AND    EDWARDS,   PKINTEES, 
CHANDOS   STREET. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

A  Christmas  Party  —  Acting  Charades  —  Description  of 
the  Game — Difficulty  of  finding  Words — Historical 
subjects  —  CURFEW  —  CHAKTA  —  Oriental  subjects  — 
Anecdote  of  Mahmoud  of  Ghizni — SALADIU — Compari- 
son between  Saladin  and  Richard  Coeur-de-Lion  1 


CHAPTER  II. 

Indoor  Amusements — Illuminated  Manuscripts — Reasons 
for  the  inferiority  of  modern  imitations — Mediaeval 
habits  compared  with  our  own — Duel  between  Lord 
Wells  and  Lord  Crawford — King  John  playing  chess — 
Character  of  Edward  the  Black  Prince — Romance  of 
Past  Times — Magic  of  the  Present  Day 22 

CHAPTER  III. 

CRUSADE — Queen  Eleanor  of  France — Queen  Eleanor  of 
England — Old  French  Song — St.  Eloy — Throne  and 
desk  made  by  him — Horsehair  beards 41 

CHAPTER  IV. 

RESTORATION  —  MARTEL  —  The  Rois  faineans  —  ROBIN 
HOOD — Cobra  capella— Indian  snake-charmers  ...  50 


2000443 


vi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE  V. 

PAGE 

Arrival  of  Uncle  Harry — Words  for  acting — Anecdotes 
of  Henry  II.,  Robert  of  Normandy,  William  Rufus — 
BONAPARTE 63 

CHAPTER   VI. 

MILTON  —  Quotations  from  "Paradise  Lost"  —  CHARLE- 
MAGNE— Invention  of  Clocks — Henry  the  First's  mena- 
gerie— Ancient  prices — Watch  supposed  to  have  be- 
longed to  Robert  Bruce 69 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Children's  ideas  of  History — Favourite  Heroes — The  Dark 
Ages — The  Norman  Conquest — Mediaeval  Supersti- 
tions—The Cid 83 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

ALFRED — Elves  in  the  "  Midsummer  Night's  Dream" — 
POMPEII — MONTROSE— Ancient  Tenures — Battle  of  In- 
verness   95 

CHAPTER   IX. 

Comparing  Ancient  and  Modern  History — A  Game  of 
Blindman's  Buff .104 

CHAPTER  X. 

Game  of  "  Twenty  Questions" — Two  modes  of  playing  it — 
Instances — Difference  of  tastes — Discussion  on  My- 
thology— Hindoo  tradition 113 


CONTENTS.  vil 

CHAPTER  XI. 

PAGB 

People  of  the  Middle  Ages — Their  daily  life — Roger  Bacon 
—  Bishop  Greathead  —  Anecdotes  —  Ghost  Stories  — 
Cicely,  Duchess  of  York,  her  day — Dolls'  Mediaeval 
Dinner  party — John  Erigena — The  ' '  Intermeat, "  the 
"Silentiary" 132 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Value  of  a  good  character — AGAMEMNON — Statue  of  Mem- 
non — Clytemnestra's  Grecian  dress — Galileo — William 
Wallace — Lancaster — A  skating  party 148 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

WALLACE — AGAMEMNON  —  GALILEO — Roman  Galleys  — 
Leo  X. — SPABTAN  Black  Broth 161 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Black-letter  Manuscript — "Romaunt  of  Robert  a  Stoker" 
— Explanation 171 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Keepsakes — Illuminated  Almanack — Gilding — More  Cha- 
rades— BEAUCLERC — Dresses  of  Edward  the  Third's 
time — Pointed  shoes — Benefit  of  Clergy — Long  curls — 
King  Pippin 181 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Duke  Brithnoth  and  the  Abbot  of  Ely — Pageants  and 
Riddles  in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth — Her  dresses 
and  the  Dustman's  present — Her  reproof  to  Leicester 
and  her  "Lion-port" — Caesar  and  Brutus — The  Hat  of 
Gustavus  Adolphus 196 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

PAGE 

Final  performance — FALSTAEF — Scene  from  Shakspeare — 
AGINCOURT — Earliest  use  of  fire-arms —  Scene  from  the 
"Lady  of  the  Lake"  —  HATTON —  Dress  of  Queen 
Elizabeth — Flattery — Sir  Christopher  Hatton's  dancing 
— Words  proposed — Lessons  and  play — Uses  of  His- 
tory— Conclusion 210 


HISTORICAL 

ACTING    CHARADES. 

CHAPTER  I. 

A  Christmas  party  —  Acting  charades  —  Description  of  the 
game — Difficulty  of  finding  words— Historical  subjects — 
CURFEW — CHARTA — Oriental  subjects — Anecdote  of  Mah- 
nioud  of  Ghizni — SALADIN — Comparison  between  Saladin 
and  Richard  Cceur-de-Lion. 

A  LARGE  party  of  children  were  assembled  one 
Christmas  to  pass  the  holidays  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Percy.  There  were  boys  and 
girls  of  all  ages,  cousins,  or  brothers  and  sisters, 
with  their  parents,  and  myself,  who  am  Mrs. 
Percy's  youngest  sister,  and  aunt  to  all  the 
children.  We  spent  many  of  our  evenings  in 
acting  Charades,  the  preparations  for  which  gave 
us  a  good  deal  of  employment  in  the  daytime,  and 
enabled  us  to  pass  the  rainy  and  snowy  weather 
very  pleasantly  within-doors. 

There  are  probably  few  children  who  have 
never  played  at  Charades,  but  for  the  sake  of 
any  who  may  not  know  the  game,  I  will  give  a 
short  description  of  it. 

The  players  divide  themselves  into  two  parties, 

who  take  it  in  turn  to  act  and  to  guess  the  word. 

If  grown-up  people  join  in  the  game,  the  children 

generally  act,  leaving  the  papas  and  mammas  to 

B 


2  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

look  on  and  guess.  The  actors  go  out  of  the 
room,  and  choose  a  word  of  two  or  more  syl- 
lables, each  syllable  or  division  of  the  word 
having  a  separate  meaning.  For  instance : 
Improbability,  Imp  -  Rob  -  Ability,  Bail -Way, 
Ram- pant,  Miss-Fortune.  After  having  ar- 
ranged the  part  that  every  person  is  to  take, 
they  return  to  the  company,  and  represent  each 
syllable  in  its  turn,  and  lastly  the  entire  word. 

When  the  actors  are  sufficiently  numerous, 
they  should  be  divided  into  detachments,  each 
undertaking  one  syllable.  The  party  for  the 
second  syllable  can  then  dress  while  the  first  is 
in  representation,  so  as  to  avoid  long  intervals 
between  the  acts,  which  are  tiresome  to  the 
spectators. 

Suppose  RAILWAY  to  be  the  word.  Several 
chairs  are  placed  in  a  row,  with  the  seats  facing 
one  way :  the  backs  represent  the  rail  of  a 
bridge.  Children  stand  on  the  seats,  pretending 
to  be  fishing,  or  looking  at  the  river.  One  walks 
past  as  a  mother,  frightened  at  seeing  her  child 
in  so  dangerous  a  place,  and  calls  out,  "  Oh, 
come  down,  my  dear  Tommy  !  You  will  fall 
over  into  the  water."  "  Oh,  Mamma,  indeed  it 
is  quite  safe ;  look  here !"  showing  the  rail. 
"  Well,  if  you  promise  to  hold  fast  by  that,  you 
may  stay."  When  the  scene  is  finished,  the 
actors  leave  the  room,  and  return  when  ready  to 
represent  the  next  syllable. 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  3 

Second  scene. — A  party  of  travellers  following 
a  guide,  who  shows  them  their  Way  through  an 
unknown  country.  The  chairs  and  tables  should 
be  arranged  so  as  to  leave  only  a  narrow  winding 
path  between  them ;  the  guide,  with  a  long  pole 
in  his  hand,  goes  first,  pointing  out  the  way  to 
the  others,  who  follow  him  slowly  and  carefully, 
complaining  of  the  darkness  of  the  night,  and 
the  dangers  to  which  they  are  exposed  from 
robbers. 

Last  scene. — Eight  or  ten  children  seat  them- 
selves on  the  floor :  the  biggest  boy,  provided 
with  a  whistle,  sits  in  front  to  represent  the 
engine;  the  rest  hold  by  each  other's  dresses, 
and  pretend  to  be  a  train  of  carriages  hooked  to 
one  another.  One  boy  stands  alongside  with  a 
bell,  as  the  policeman.  When  the  train  is  ready 
to  start,  the  policeman  rings  his  bell,  and  then 
takes  his  place  behind  the  rest  as  guard.  The 
engine  gives  a  loud  whistle,  and  then  a  few 
puffs ;  the  carriages  begin  to  move  up  and  down, 
and  scrape  their  feet  on  the  floor;  the  engine 
puffs  faster  and  faster,  as  if  increasing  its  pace, 
and  the  carriages  of  course  jolt  and  scrape  in 
proportion.  When  the  train  has  reached  its  full 
speed,  a  dreadful  accident  takes  place ;  the  train 
is  supposed  to  run  off  the  line  :  the  carriages  fall 
sideways  on  the  floor,  the  engine  whistles  as  loud 
as  possible;  screams  and  howls  are  heard  from 
the  passengers ;  the  kicking  and  struggling  be- 
B  2 


4  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

come  tremendous  for  a  time,  hut  gradually  die 
away,  and  a  few  faint  puffs  from  the  prostrate 
engine  close  the  scene. 

The  great  difficulty  in  Charades  is  to  find 
new  words.  The  dressing  and  acting  are  easy 
enough,  but  the  same  words  are  apt  to  come 
over  and  over  again,  till  there  is  nobody  left  to 
guess  them,  for  the  spectators  know  by  expe- 
rience what  the  word  is  to  be,  almost  as  soon 
as  the  actors  appear.  But  when  this  difficulty 
is  overcome,  it  is  a  most  amusing  game,  and 
has  the  great  advantage  of  including  any  number 
of  players.  Materials  for  costumes  are  always 
at  hand :  shawls,  cloaks,  bonnets,  boas,  jackets 
turned  inside  out,  sheets,  and  green  or  red  table- 
covers,  are  sufficient  for  almost  all  purposes.  In 
our  own  case  there  was  a  good  supply  of  every- 
thing ;  with  plenty  of  merry  children  to  act,  and 
good-natured  papas  and  mammas  to  look  on,  so 
that  our  time  passed  very  pleasantly. 

The  children  at  first  confined  their  acting  to 
the  schoolroom,  but  one  evening  Mrs.  Percy 
invited  them  to  exhibit  in  the  drawing-room. 
For  a  long  time  we  sat  round  the  fire  expecting 
them,  but  no  children  appeared.  At  last  my 
niece  Ellen,  a  little  girl  of  ten  years  old,  came 
to  beg  that  I  would  help  them,  as  they  were  in 
a  great  difficulty.  My  nephews  and  nieces  well 
know  that  Aunt  Esther  is  always  to  be  de- 
pended upon  as  a  playfellow,  and  I  obeyed  their 
summons  directly. 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  5 

In  the  schoolroom  I  found  the  party  in  high 
consultation,  and,  like  many  celebrated  councils, 
in  great  confusion.  The  table  and  the  floor 
were  covered  with  the  goods  collected  for  cos- 
tumes. Henry  Stanley,  a  boy  of  fifteen,  had  a 
blanket  fastened  round  his  shoulders,  and  trailing 
on  the  floor,  because,  as  he  observed, "  the  folds 
of  a  blanket  make  such  fine  drapery."  (N.B. 
Henry  was  learning  to  draw,  and  considered 
himself  something  of  an  artist.)  His  sister  Lucy, 
who  was  twelve  years  old,  and  tall  of  her  age, 
looked  magnificent  in  an  old  brocade  petticoat 
that  had  been  her  great-grandmother's  court- 
dress  in  the  reign  of  George  the  Second ;  Mary, 
a  little  girl  of  eight,  had  a  turban  nearly  as  big 
as  herself;  Arthur,  a  lively  boy  of  fourteen,  an 
embroidered  waistcoat  with  flaps  down  to  his 
knees,  to  match  the  petticoat ;  some  of  the  girls 
had  mustachios  and  whiskers  corked  on  their 
faces ;  in  short,  all  were  travestied  in  one  way  or 
other,  ready  to  act :  but,  as  usual,  they  were  at 
a  loss  for  a  word. 

Pilgrimage  had  been  acted  so  often,  that  Ellen 
said  the  moment  she  should  begin  to  complain 
how  ill  she  was,  Mamma  would  be  sure  to  know 
that  the  Doctor  was  coming  to  prescribe  his  Pill, 
and  the  word  would  be  guessed  directly. 

Income  was  as  bad.  The  first  arrival  of  the 
weary  traveller  at  the  door  of  his  Inn  betrayed  the 
whole.  Every  word  proposed  was  liable  to  the 


6  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

same  objection.  Uncle  Stanley  would  guess  one ; 
Aunt  Mortimer  another ;  Cousin  Matilda  a  third  ; 
and  Papa  and  Mamma  knew  them  all.  Moreover, 
the  children  were  tired  of  acting  common  every- 
day words ;  they  wanted  something  grand,  some- 
thing that  should  bring  in  Kings  and  Queens,  or 
heroes  and  heroines ;  and  they  applied  to  me  to 
find  them  some  historical  word — something  that 
should  introduce  Alfred  the  Great,  or  Richard 
Coeur-de-Lion,  or  Queen  Elizabeth,  or  the  Duke 
of  "Wellington,  or  all  together,  if  possible. 

But  here  William  Percy  interposed.  He  cared 
little  for  painting  or  poetry,  but  he  was  an  anti- 
quarian, and  very  fond  of  history,  and  he  en- 
treated there  might  be  "  no  anachronisms/' 

Curfew,  Charta,  Alfred,  Agincourt,  and  many 
other  historical  words  were  proposed,  and  cha- 
racters and  costumes  discussed  at  such  length, 
that  I  was  obliged  to  remind  them  that  it  would 
soon  be  too  late  for  any  acting  that  night.  They 
therefore  at  once  determined  upon  CURFEW. 

We  agreed  that  the  syllables  should  be  repre- 
sented in  any  way  that  might  be  convenient,  but 
that  the  whole  word  should  always  be  some  his- 
torical scene. 

First  scene :  CUR. — A  white  dogskin  mat  was 
tied  round  Arthur,  and  a  boa  fastened  under  it 
with  the  end  hanging  down  for  a  tail.  He  prac- 
tised barking  and  jumping  about  on  all  fours,  and 
when  he  was  quite  perfect,  we  went  down  stairs 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  7 

to  the  drawing-room,  the  rest  of  the  performers 
having  merely  attired  themselves  in  caps  or 
shawls,  which  were  considered  sufficient  costume 
for  a  modern  family.  All  came  into  the  room 
excepting  Arthur  and  Lucy,  who  remained  out- 
side. The  rest  seated  themselves,  and  began 
conversing  in  an  easy  grown-up  way  about  the 
weather,  and  the  health  of  their  children.  Of 
course  it  rained  hard,  and  everybody  had  caught 
cold ;  and  as  pleasing  varieties,  one's  little  girl  had 
the  measles,  another's  boy  the  scarlet  fever,  and 
the  third  had  a  baby  Avith  a  dreadful  cough,  which 
was  expected  to  turn  to  whooping-cough.  In  the 
midst  of  this  agreeable  conversation,  a  scratching 
was  heard  at  the  door — no  notice  taken — more 
scratching,  then  a  whine,  then  a  sharp  currish 
bark.  Ellen  exclaimed, — 

"  Oh,  there  is  that  tiresome  little  dog  of  Mrs. 
Pugsby's;  don't  let  him  in,  for  he  will  jump  up 
with  his  dirty  paws  upon  our  dresses." 

Lucy  opened  the  door  from  outside  and  en- 
tered, bowing  and  smiling  like  a  visitor,  and 
saying,  "  Here  is  my  sweet  little  dog ;  I  have 
brought  him  to  see  you." 

Arthur  then  rushed  forward,  barking,  snarling, 
and  jumping  about  in  all  directions, — his  paws 
on  Caroline's  frock,  his  nose  in  Ellen's  face; 
then  his  paws  on  Henry's  shoulders ;  then  a  loud 
bark  into  William's  ear.  The  actors  started  up, 
pushing  him  away,  and  exclaiming, — "Down, 


8  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

Dash;" — "  Go  away,  naughty  dog — he  has  torn 
my  frock ;"  "  He  has  dirtied  my  waistcoat,"  &c., 
and  amidst  a  confused  jumble  of  "Bow,  wow, 
wows"  from  Arthur,  and  remonstrances  from  the 
others,  they  left  the  room,  driving  the  Cur  before 
them. 

Scene  the  second. — Children  arranging  a  game, 
and  complaining  of  being  too  Few.  "  We  really 
cannot  play  at  Prisoners'  Base  with  so  small  a 
number," — "  Indeed  there  are  not  enough  of  us," 
— "  I  wish  there  were  more  of  us,"  &c. 

It  was  necessary  in  this  scene  to  be  careful 
not  to  say  the  word  Few,  for  it  was  rather 
tempting ;  but  in  acting  charades,  the  word  itself 
is,  if  possible,  never  to  be  pronounced.  Indeed, 
some  people  do  not  allow  of  talking  at  all,  and 
require  the  whole  to  be  expressed  by  dumb  show. 
But  the  game  is  then  less  amusing. 

Third  and  last  scene. — An  Anglo-  Saxon  family 
finishing  their  evening's  work  before  the  sound 
of  the  Curfew  should  oblige  them  to  put  out 
their  lights. 

A  rowing  jersey  made  a  close  Anglo-Saxon 
dress  for  William,  and  an  old  tiger-skin  rug  out 
of  their  papa's  study  represented  a  boar's-hide 
cloak  for  Henry,  who  had  a  bow  and  arrows  in 
his  hand.  Lucy  and  Ellen  tied  handkerchiefs 
round  their  necks  by  the  corners,  and  pinned 
them  tightly  round  their  waists,  letting  the 
other  ends  hang  down  like  aprons,  and  threw 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

scarfs  over  their  heads  for  veils,  folding  them 
back  so  as  not  to  hide  their  faces.  They  twisted 
some  tow  round  the  tops  of  two  sticks  for 
spindles,  and  Arthur  took  possession  of  the 
dinner-bell.  A  large  folding  screen  was  drawn 
across  the  drawing-room,  and  William,  Lucy, 
and  Ellen  placed  themselves  behind  it,  Henry  and 
Arthur  remaining  outside  the  door.  William, 
who  had  just  been  reading  a  dissertation  on  the 
English  language,  charged  them  to  use  only 
Saxon  words  in  their  conversation ;  a  few  derived 
from  the  French  he  said  might  be  allowable, 
considering  the  intercourse  between  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  and  the  Normans,  but  no  Latin.  But 
as  the  difficulty  of  deciding  which  words  were 
Latin  and  which  Saxon,  was  far  beyond  the 
learning  of  any  of  the  children,  this  idea  was 
abandoned. 

When  they  were  all  arranged,  Caroline,  the 
eldest  of  the  girls,  drew  back  the  screen,  arid  dis- 
covered William  as  an  old  Saxon  farmer  sitting, 
drinking  a  cup  of  mead,  and  his  two  daughters 
spinning ;  a  candle  on  the  table. 

Ellen.  "  Is  your  mead  good,  father?" 

William.  "  Yes,  daughter  Quendrade  ;  all  that 
you  make  is  good.  But  what  is  your  sister  doing  ? 
Why  do  you  work  so  hard,  Ethelburga  ?" 

Lucy.  "  I  wish  to  get  this  spinning  done  before 
the  bell  tolls,  and  we  have  no  more  light." 

William.  "  Alas,  that  bell !      Hardship  upon 


10  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

hardship  since  the  Normans  came.  But  here  is 
my  son." 

Enter  Henry  from  hunting. 

William,  Lucy,  and  Ellen,  all  together.  "  Wel- 
come home,  Kynehard !  What  have  you  shot 
to-day  ?" 

Henry.  "  What  could  I  shoot  ?  The  deer  are 
all  driven  to  the  New  Forest.  The  peasants  are 
forbidden  to  shoot,  on  pain  of  losing  their  eyes. 
My  bow  and  arrows  are  now  useless."  (He  throws 
them  down.)  "  But  make  haste,  Quendrade,  and 
give  us  what  supper  you  have.  Put  away  your 
distaff,  Ethelburga,  we  have  only  a  few  minutes 
before  the  bell." 

Ellen  put  the  supper  on  the  table,  and  they 
began  to  eat  very  fast.  Presently  the  bell  out- 
side was  heard  tolling. 

"  Hark,  there  is  the  bell !  Quendrade,  put  out 
the  light." 

Ellen  extinguished  the  candle,  and  a  scene  of 
great  confusion  ensued,  while  they  were  finishing 
their  supper  in  the  dark. 

"  I  cannot  see  what  I  have  to  eat."  "  Where 
is  the  milk  ?  Oh,  you  have  poured  it  into  my 
lap  !"  "  Take  care — you  are  upsetting  the 
table."  "  Why,  this  is  a  candle  I  am  eating." 
"  Halloa  !  you  are  biting  my  hand.  That's  my 
hand."  "  No,  it  isn't,— it  is  the  loaf,"  &c.  In 
the  midst  of  their  disasters,  Caroline  drew  the 
screen. 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  11 

The  word  was  easily  guessed,  and,  after  con- 
siderable applause,  the  children  adjourned  to  pre- 
pare for  another. 

The  next  word  fixed  upon  was  CHARTA,  which 
we  thought  would  allow  of  a  fine  scene  between 
•King  John  and  the  Barons ;  and  it  was  settled 
that  the  boys  should  dress  for  that,  while  the  girls 
acted  the  twro  syllables. 

CHART  was  simple  enough.  They  brought  the 
large  map  of  the  world  out  of  the  study,  and  hung 
it  up  in  the  drawing-room ;  the  younger  ones  then 
formed  themselves  into  a  class,  while  Caroline 
gave  them  a  lesson  in  geography. 

A  was  not  quite  so  easy,  and  for  a  long  time 
we  could  find  no  way  of  managing  it.  Little 
Edward  proposed  carrying  an  apple-pie  round  the 
room,  to  remind  the  spectators  of  "  A,  apple-pie/' 
But  the  young  ladies  did  not  approve  of  this 
notion ;  besides,  an  apple-pie  could  not  be  had 
at  a  moment's  notice.  Lucy  suggested  exhibit- 
ing a  capital  A  written  on  a  piece  of  paper ; 
but  this  idea  was  still  more  unsatisfactory.  At 
last  we  determined  upon  the  indefinite  article,  and 
acted  it  in  the  following  manner.  Caroline  ar- 
ranged a  narrow  table,  as  the  counter  of  a  shop, 
on  which  were  spread  out  shawls,  scarfs,  gloves, 
and  ribbons.  Lucy  and  Mary  placed  themselves 
behind  it  for  shop-women,  while  Ellen,  with  her 
bonnet  and  shawl  on,  personated  a  customer. 
As  soon  as  she  entered  the  shop,  the  young  ladies 


12  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

behind  the  counter  began  asking  what  she  wished 
to  buy  ? 

"  What  article  can  we  have  the  pleasure  of 
showing  you  this  morning,  ma'am  ?" 

"  Here  is  a  splendid  article,  quite  new ;  allow 
me  to  recommend  it  to  you." 

"  What  can  we  tempt  you  with  ?" 

"  I  will  look  about  me  a  little,"  said  Ellen ; 
"  I  have  not  quite  decided  what  I  shall  buy ;  I 
was  desired  to  bring  home  something  useful  and 
ornamental,  but  nothing  very  definite  was  fixed 
upon." 

"  Then,  pray  ma'am,  allow  us  to  show  you  this 
shot  silk ;  it  is  of  so  undecided  a  colour,  that  we 
frequently  call  it  our  indefinite  article." 

Ellen  approved  of  the  silk,  and  ordered  it  to 
be  measured,  and  sent  to  her  house. 

Now  came  our  great  scene,  CHARTA  : 

Henry,  Arthur,  and  Edward  marched  into  the 
room  as  tremendously  fierce  barons  of  the  thir- 
teenth century.  Arthur  had  made  capital  armour 
of  pasteboard  and  tinfoil,  which  was  tied  on  their 
chests,  legs,  and  arms. 

The  barons  arranged  themselves  in  a  row,  with 
drawn  swords,  and  frowning  terribly.  We  could 
see  plainly  that  they  were  not  to  be  trifled  with. 

Enter  William  as  King  John,  dressed  in  a 
green  cloak,  a  gilt  pasteboard  crown  on  his  head, 
and  the  brass  poker  in  his  hand  for  a  sceptre. 
The  green  cloak  had  been  chosen  to  represent 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  13 

one  of  the  "  gowns  of  a  good  green  colour/'  which 
John,  who  took  all  the  bribes  he  could  get,  had 
received  from  one  of  his  subjects ;  an  incident 
which  William  knew,  and  insisted  upon  bringing 
in.  We  noticed  that  the  king  looked  frightened 
and  uncomfortable  at  the  sight  of  the  barons  and 
their  drawn  swords. 

King  John.  "  How  is  this,  my  lieges  ?  Is 
this  the  way  for  subjects  to  receive  their  king  ? 
Put  your  swords  into  their  sheaths." 

Baron  Henry.  "  Sire,  when  your  grace  takes 
up  the  pen,  we  will  lay  down  the  sword.  Here  is 
the  charter  your  grace  has  promised  to  sign." 

They  were  careful  to  say  "  your  grace,"  be- 
cause kings  of  England  were  not  called  "  your 
Majesty"  till  the  time  of  Henry  the  Eighth. 
King  John.  "  What  is  this  charter  ?" 
Baron  Arthur.  "  It  is  the  charter  granted  to 
our  ancestors  by  King  Henry  the  First,  renewed 
by  King  Stephen,  and  confirmed  by  your  grace's 
royal  father,  King  Henry  the  Second,  of  worthy 
memory.  But  your  grace  has  not  been  pleased 
to  observe  it,  and  we  now  demand  that  it  shall 
be  so  secured  as  to  bind  you  and  every  king  of 
England  who  shall  come  after  you." 

Baron  Edward.  "  Will  your  grace  sign  it  or 
not?" 

King  John.  "  What  nonsense  and  insolence 
does  it  contain  ?  Let  us  hear  it." 

Baron  Henry.     It  secures  the  lives,  liberties, 


14  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

and  property  of  Englishmen ;  it  provides  for  right 
and  justice  being  duly  administered,  and  neither 
sold,  denied,  or  delayed;  it  prevents  the  king 
from  injuring  the  property  of  the  barons,  and  it 
binds  the  barons  to  grant  the  same  justice  to  their 
vassals  that  the  king  shall  grant  to  them. 

King  John,  in  a  furious  passion,  stamping  with 
his  feet,  and  banging  the  floor  with  his  sceptre  : 
"  I  will  never  sign  it !  Why  do  you  not  ask  for 
my  kingdom  at  once  ?  "What  is  the  use  of  my 
being  king  if  I  am  to  have  no  power  over  the 
property  of  my  subjects?  What  is  the  use  of 
their  being  rich  if  I  must  not  take  their  money  ? 
I  shall  be  a  slave  myself,  if  I  sign  such  a  charter." 

The  Barons  advanced  towards  him  with  their 
drawn  swords,  saying  all  together,  "  Sign  it,  sign 
it,  or  we  will  immediately  renew  the  war  \" 

King  John,  whimpering,  and  rubbing  his  eyes  : 
"  Oh,  what  shall  I  do  !  I  do  not  know  how  to 
get  out  of  this  scrape.  I  wish  the  Pope  would 
help  me.  Oh  dear  !  oh  dear  !" 

One  of  the  Barons  handed  him  a  pen.  "  Your 
highness  must  sign  at  once." 

King  John,  crying :  "  I  am  afraid  I  must  in- 
deed ;  there  is  no  help  for  it.  I  am  so  frightened 
by  those  drawn  swords  !" 

He  then  signed ;  and  the  Barons  took  the 
paper  with  low  bows,  sheathed  their  swords,  and 
marched  out  of  the  room.  King  John,  who  went 
last,  was  heard  to  mutter  something  about  hang- 
ing the  Barons  at  the  first  opportunity. 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  15 

Mrs.  Percy  guessed  the  word,  and  the  actors 
ran  off  to  the  schoolroom. 

They  wished  now  to  have  some  Oriental  scene, 
in  order  to  take  advantage  of  the  shawls  and 
turbans.  They  knew  but  little  of  Oriental  his- 
tory, and  I  was  obliged  to  supply  them  with  such 
stories  as  I  could  recollect.  Several  Eastern 
personages  were  discussed  :  the  conqueror  Chan- 
dragupta,  who  boasted  that  he  had  "  brought  the 
whole  earth  under  one  umbrella :"  Nurjehan,  the 
"  Light  of  the  world/'  whose  influence  over  her 
husband  Jehanghire,  the  "  Conqueror  of  the 
world/'  could  soften  him  in  his  fiercest  moods ; 
and  who,  when  he  was  taken  prisoner,  went  to 
war  in  person,  and  rescued  him  from  his  enemies. 
Caroline  did  not  at  all  like  to  give  up  Nurjehan; 
but  what  English  words  could  be  made  out  of  her 
name?  It  was  hopeless.  Baber,  Akbar,  Au- 
rungzib,  Mahmoud,  were  all  dismissed  for  the 
same  reason :  nothing  could  be  done  with  their 
unfortunate  names,  though,  as  Caroline  sagely 
observed,  they  had  as  much  meaning  in  their 
own  language  as  Longshanks  or  Lackland  have 
in  ours. 

We  might,  however,  have  found  names  even 
more  strange  than  Aurungzib  or  Nurjehan.  I 
do  not  know  what  we  should  have  said  to  some 
of  the  old  Mexican  heroes :  King  Zutugilebpop, 
for  instance,  who  ran  away  with  the  beautiful 
Princess  Ixconsocil,  and  thereby  gave  rise  to  a 
furious  war. 


16  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

But  Asiatic  heroes  were  what  we  wanted  just 
now.  The  children  debated  long  about  Mah- 
moud  of  Ghizni :  there  were  scenes  in  his  life 
that  would  have  acted  well. 

One  story  especially  took  their  fancy.  Mah- 
moud  had  obtained  possession  of  the  great 
temple  of  Somnat  after  three  days'  siege.  On 
entering  the  building,  he  and  his  followers  were 
astonished  at  its  magnificence.  The  roof  was 
supported  by  fifty-six  immense  pillars,  richly 
carved,  and  ornamented  with  precious  stones. 
The  light  of  day  was  excluded,  but  the  temple 
was  illuminated  by  lamps  hung  by  golden  chains, 
and  fed  with  perfumed  oil.  Facing  the  entrance 
stood  Somnat,  a  hideous  idol  fifteen  feet  high, 
which  Mahmoud,  who  was  a  zealous  Mussulman 
and  enemy  to  idolatry,  ordered  to  be  instantly 
destroyed. 

The  Bramins  and  priests  threw  themselves  at 
his  feet,  and,  with  groans  and  shrieks,  implored 
him  to  spare  their  idol,  offering  a  ransom  so 
enormous  that  Mahmoud  hesitated.  His  cour- 
tiers, who  preferred  money  to  fighting,  pressed 
him  to  accept  it ;  but  Mahmoud's  hesitation 
was  only  for  a  moment :  he  exclaimed,  "  I  would 
rather  be  remembered  as  the  breaker  than  the 
seller  of  idols  •"  and  struck  Somnat  with  his 
mace.  His  example  was  followed  by  his  cour- 
tiers, till  the  idol  broke  under  their  blows,  and 
diamonds  and  precious  stones  fell  out  on  every 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  17 

side.  It  was  found  to  be  filled  with  jewels,  so 
that  the  wealth  Mahmoud  obtained  by  destroy- 
ing it  was  greater  than  the  large  ransom  offered 
by  the  Bramins. 

While  Ellen  was  still  regretting  Mahmoud's 
impracticable  name,  Henry  exclaimed,  "  Saladin  ! 
Sally — Din.  Spelling  does  not  signify :  Sally — 
Din  combines  everything;  fighting,  noise,  turbans, 
and  mustachios."  It  was  unanimously  voted  that 
spelling  did  not  signify,  and  they  began  to  dress. 
This  occupied  some  time ;  for  helmets  had  to  be 
contrived  for  the  soldiers,  and  turbans  to  be  rolled 
for  the  Orientals,  and  mustachios  to  be  corked  for 
everybody. 

SALLY. — One  party  of  warriors  entrenched 
themselves  behind  the  table,  while  another  be- 
sieged them,  sheltered  behind  a  row  of  chairs  to 
represent  field  batteries.  After  a  fierce  attack, 
the  besieged  rushed  forth  in  a  tumultuous  sally, 
and  drove  the  enemy  from  their  works. 

DIN. — There  never  yet  was  a  boy  or  girl  who 
did  not  know  how  to  make  a  din.  In  the  present 
instance  it  was  so  successfully  performed  that  the 
audience  begged  for  mercy,  assuring  us  that  that 
syllable  required  no  guessing. 

SALADIN. — Here  was  a  great  opportunity  for 
costume.  Girls  and  boys  were  all  dressed  alike  : 
everybody  had  a  turban,  a  shawl  round  the  waist, 
a  jacket,  and  burnt  cork  whiskers  and  mustachios. 
Saladin,  personated  by  Henry,  kept  on  his  shoes  ; 


18  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

but  his  attendants  took  theirs  off,  as  a  mark  of 
respect  to  the  sultan.  Henry  said  his  courtiers 
ought,  in  strict  regard  to  Oriental  manners,  to 
go  barefoot;  but  in  this  point  it  was  thought 
advisable  to  sacrifice  Eastern  to  English  pro- 
prieties. 

The  great  Saladin  placed  himself  on  the  sofa, 
in  a  commanding  attitude;  his  attendants  stood 
around  him  with  their  arms  folded,  and  their 
hands  hidden  in  their  sleeves,  to  show  their  reve- 
rence. Just  as  I  was  going  to  remove  the  screen, 
Caroline  whispered  eagerly,  "  Oh,  stop,  stop ! 
we  have  made  a  great  mistake.  Saladin,  the 
descendant  of  Mahomet,  ought  to  have  a  green 
turban.  Green  was  the  royal  colour;  all  the  emirs 
and  descendants  of  the  Prophet  wore  green." 

William.  "  But  you  know,  Saladin  used  often 
to  wear  a  white  muslin  turban  with  a  thin  veil." 

Caroline.  "  Yes ;  white  would  be  allowable, 
but  not  red  :  Henry's  turban  is  made  of  mamma's 
red  shawl." 

Henry  changed  head-dresses  with  Ellen,  whose 
turban  was  made  of  a  green  scarf,  and  the  screen 
was  withdrawn. 

When  the  spectators  had  been  allowed  sufficient 
time  to  admire  the  Oriental  effect  of  the  group, 
Arthur  entered,  as  a  messenger  from  the  Saracen 
army.  He  advanced  towards  Saladin,  and  bowed 
very  low  three  times,' touching  first  his  forehead 
and  then  the  ground,  with  both  hands.  He  then 


HISTORICAL    CHAEADES.  19 

took  a  paper  out  of  his  jacket,  presented  it  to 
the  sultan,  and  retired  to  a  respectful  distance. 
Saladin  read  the  paper  with  great  attention,  and 
informed  the  company  that  it  was  a  letter  from 
his  brave  commander,  Caracos,  announcing  the 
arrival  of  Richard  King  of  England  in  Palestine. 
Caracos  had  been  able  to  make  a  successful  stand 
against  all  the  other  Crusaders,  but  required  the 
presence  of  Saladin  himself  to  lead  the  army 
against  Richard. 

"  He  is  a  brave  and  noble  enemy,"  said  Saladin, 
"  and  we  will  meet  him  with  a  spirit  like  his  own. 
Warlike  as  he  is,  in  the  end  we  shall  overcome 
him,  for  I  know  his  skill  as  a  general  does  not 
equal  his  valour  as  a  knight." 

The  courtiers  bowed,  the  spectators  applauded, 
and  the  word  was  guessed. 

The  uncles  and  aunts  now  began  to  discuss 
Saladiu's  character,  and  the  points  of  difference 
between  him  and  Richard  Coeur-de-Lion,  two  of 
the  most  brilliant  personages  in  history.  The 
children  joined  eagerly  in  the  conversation,  though 
they  all  agreed  in  preferring  the  enterprise  and 
courage  of  Richard  to  the  cool  skill  and  policy  of 
Saladin.  In  generosity,  indeed,  the  two  were 
equals,  rather  than  rivals.  William  set  Richai'd's 
pardon  of  his  rebel  brother  John,  against  Saladiu's 
release  of  the  Christian  prisoners  in  Jerusalem  : 
and  the  truce,  concluded  by  merely  clasping  each 
other's  hands,  each  disdaining  to  require  any 
c  2 


20  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

stronger  pledge,  was  worthy  of  them  both.  Henry 
thought  no  action  of  Saladin's  life  greater  than 
his  last  lesson  to  his  people.  Just  before  he 
died,  he  ordered  his  winding-sheet  to  be  carried 
through  the  streets  of  Damascus,  and  a  crier  to 
proclaim  before  it,  "  This  is  all  that  remains  to 
the  mighty  Saladin,  the  Emperor  of  the  East/' 
Ellen  thought  this  dying  act  far  exceeded  by 
Richard's  forgiveness  of  his  assassin. 

While  the  merits  of  the  two  heroes  were  still 
under  comparison,  the  clock  very  unexpectedly 
struck  ten,  and  the  children  were  immediately 
ordered  off  to  bed. 

"  Just  tell  me  before  we  go,"  said  little  Mary, 
"  why  Caroline  was  so  particular  about  Henry's 
having  the  green  turban ;  the  red  one  fitted  him 
best." 

"  Green  was  considered  a  sacred  colour  by  the 
Mussulmen,"  replied  Mr.  Percy ;  "  and  none 
were  allowed  to  wear  it  but  the  descendants  of 
Mahomet." 

"  Even  to  this  day,"  added  Mr.  Stanley,  "  they 
hold  it  in  such  reverence  that  they  will  not  wear 
green  shoes,  because  it  would  be  disrespectful  to 
tread  upon  the  sacred  colour.  A  Persian  and  a 
Turk  were  once  disputing  on  tin's  subject :  the 
Persian  had  a  pair  of  green  slippers,  and  the  Turk 
reproached  him  for  trampling  under  foot  the  holy 
colour.  '  You  Turks  must  be  as  sensible  as  asses 
to  bray  such  nonsense/  answered  the  Persian;  '  do 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  21 

you  think  if  it  were  wrong  to  tread  upon  green, 
that  the  fields  would  have  been  clothed  with  ver- 
dure ?'  And  now  good-night  to  you  all." 

On  the  staircase  was  held  a  council,  which 
resolved  that  next  day  they  would  compose  their 
charades  in  the  morning,  so  as  to  leave  more 
time  for  acting  at  night. 


22  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Indoor  amusements — Illuminated  manuscripts — Reasons  for 
the  inferiority  of  modern  imitations — Mediaeval  habits  com- 
pared with  our  own — Duel  between  Lord  Wells  and  Lord 
Crawford — King  John  playing  chess — Character  of  Edward 
the  Black  Prince — Romance  of  past  times — Magic  of  the 
present  day. 

MORNING  came,  and  with  it  such  a  storm  of  rain 
and  sleet,  such  wind  roaring  down  the  chimneys 
and  howling  at  the  doors,  such  pattering  against 
the  windows,  and  rushing  through  waterspouts ; 
in  short,  such  a  regular  indoors  winter  day,  that 
the  children  congratulated  themselves  on  having 
some  amusements  which  did  not  require  fine 
weather.  As  it  was  holiday  time,  no  lessons 
were  expected,  and  the  younger  girls  took  ad- 
vantage of  their  leisure  to  set  the  baby-house  in 
order,  and  play  with  their  dolls. 

Mary  had  a  beautiful  baby-house  which  her 
mamma  and  her  sister  Caroline  had  made  for  her 
out  of  a  large  deal  packing-case.  Tt  was  divided 
into  several  rooms,  all  papered  and  furnished. 
Arthur,  who  was  a  good  carpenter,  had  made 
tables,  chairs,  and  bedsteads ;  Caroline  had  made 
sofas  and  ottomans ;  their  mamma  had  contrived 
a  staircase  of  cardboard,  and  mirrors  of  pieces  of 
a  broken  looking-glass,  cut  into  shape  at  the 
glazier's,  and  bound  round  with  gold  paper.  The 
house  contained  a  hall,  dining-room,  drawing- 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  23 

room,  library,  kitchen,  and  several  bed-rooms; 
and  a  family  of  small  Dutch  dolls  lived  there  in 
great  comfort.  The  mistress  of  the  house  was 
called  the  Duchess  of  Zero,  and  she  had  two 
amiable  daughters,  the  Lady  Aurora  Borealis 
and  the  Lady  Corona  Borealis.  The  duchess  was 
going  to  give  a  large  party,  and  Mary  and  Lucy 
were  busily  engaged  in  preparing  the  dinner. 

The  elder  boys  and  girls  had  all  some  employ- 
ment to  which  they  were  glad  to  give  a  couple  of 
quiet  hours.  Henry  Stanley  had  his  holiday  task 
to  finish ;  Arthur  went  to  his  turning  lathe — he 
was  making  a  little  present  for  Matilda.  It  was 
an  invention  of  his  own — a  broad  ring  of  ebony 
into  which  her  music  was  to  be  slipped  when 
rolled  up  to  take  out  in  the  evening.  Caroline 
practised  a  difficult  sonata.  William  went  into 
the  library  to  look  at  some  curious  books  which 
Mr.  Percy  had  promised  to  show  him.  Ellen  and  I 
helped  Mrs.  Percy  to  prepare  her  Christmas  gifts 
for  the  poor  cottagers  in  the  village ;  and  when 
this  was  finished,  Ellen  sat  down  to  work  at  a 
flannel  petticoat  for  her  favourite,  Susan  Gray, her 
"  own  old  woman/'  as  she  said.  This  petticoat 
had  been  in  hand  for  many  a  weary  day ;  it  had 
been  bought  out  of  Ellen's  own  money,  and  was 
to  be  made  by  her  own  fingers.  She  had  set  her 
heart  upon  finishing  it  this  week,  in  order  that 
Susan  might  wear  it  when  she  went  to  church  on 
Christmas-day;  but  there  was  still  a  great  deal  to 


24  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

be  clone.  I  offered  to  help,  but  she  wished  to  do 
it  all  herself,  so,  finding  I  could  be  of  no  use,  I 
joined  Mr.  Percy  and  William  in  the  library. 

William  had  that  morning  received  a  letter 
from  his  father,  Mr.  Harry  Percy,  saying  that  he 
was  just  now  detained  in  London  by  some  busi- 
ness, but  that  he  hoped  soon  to  make  one  of  our 
party;  which  was  very  good  news  for  all  of  us  as 
well  as  William.  The  only  drawback  was  that  his 
mamma  could  not  come  too,  but  she  was  an  in- 
valid, and  did  not  like  to  leave  home  in  the  winter. 

Mr.  Harry  Percy's  occupations  were  chiefly 
connected  with  antiquarian  researches;  and,  from 
hearing  such  subjects  constantly  discussed,  Wil- 
liam had  acquired  a  great  love  for  the  same  pur- 
suits. He  was  a  studious  boy  of  fifteen,  but, 
having  had  delicate  health,  had  never  been  sent  to 
school  like  his  cousins  Arthur  and  Henry,  and  had 
therefore  been  more  his  father's  companion  than 
is  usual  for  boys  of  his  age.  I  found  him  very 
happy  in  the  library,  looking  over  illuminated 
manuscripts  with  his  uncle,  Mr.  Percy. 

Some  of  my  young  readers  have,  perhaps, 
never  heard  of  illuminated  manuscripts,  and  may 
need  an  explanation  of  several  things  which  were 
familiar  to  William. 

Before  the  invention  of  printing,  all  books  were 
copied  in  handwriting ;  and  from  the  length  of 
time  necessary  to  write  out  a  book,  there  were 
not  nearly  so  many  in  the  world  as  there  are 


HISTORICAL    CHAEADES.  25 

now.  The  people  who  had  most  time  for  writing 
were  the  monks,  who  used  to  spend  great  part 
of  their  lives  in  it.  They  copied  the  Bible,  or 
parts  of  the  Bible,  books  of  prayers,  and  his- 
torical works.  Their  transcribing  the  Bible  was 
the  wisest  and  most  useful  employment  they 
could  have  found;  and  their  prayer-books,  or 
missals  as  they  were  called,  contained  many  of 
the  prayers  and  collects  which  we  use  in  our 
liturgy  at  this  very  day ;  but  they  also  contained 
prayers  and  ceremonies  used  in  the  worship  of 
saints ;  and  in  the  historical  works  were  so  many 
false  and  foolish  stories,  that  they  did,  it  may  be 
feared,  more  harm  than  good  to  their  readers. 

As  transcribers  were  obliged  to  spend  so  much 
time  and  labour  on  their  manuscripts,  they  natu- 
rally grew  very  fond  of  them,  and  tried  to  make 
them  as  beautiful  as  possible.  They  ornamented 
them  with  gilding  and  pictures  in  the  margins, 
and  invented  curious  capital  letters,  on  which  they 
bestowed  great  pains.  The  pictures  and  initial 
letters  were  called  Illuminations,  and  books  orna- 
mented in  this  manner  are  said  to  be  Illuminated. 

These  old  works  are  sometimes  very  pretty, 
and  sometimes  very  grotesque.  Mr.  Percy  had 
several  curious  manuscripts,  and  I  was  as  much 
interested  as  William  in  looking  at  them.  Pre- 
sently William  said  he  should  like  to  copy  one 
of  the  illuminations.  He  worked  for  some  time, 
applying  occasionally  to  Mr.  Percy  and  me  for 


26  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

help,  and  had  nearly  finished  one  letter,  when 
we  were  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  Matilda 
and  the  children  to  show  the  music  ring  which 
Arthur  had  just  finished  and  presented  to  her. 

Matilda,  who  had  just  come  from  Paris,  was  a 
lively,  good-humoured  girl,  and  a  great  favourite 
with  all  her  cousins  except  William;  but  he 
thought  her  Frenchified,  and  did  not  patronise 
her  at  all.  She,  however,  cared  nothing  for  his 
dislike,  and  was  just  as  fond  of  him  as  of  the 
others ;  indeed,  I  often  thought  she  took  more 
pains  to  please  him  than  anybody,  and  that  he 
was  in  a  fair  way  to  change  his  mind  about  her. 
She  now  came  up  to  the  table,  and  praised  his 
drawings. 

"  But,"  said  she,  "  Cousin  William,  I  must 
show  you  some  most  beautiful  illuminations  I 
have  brought  from  France ;  I  am  sure  you  will 
be  enchanted  with  them." 

So  saying,  she  ran  off,  and  presently  returned, 
bringing  with  her  several  sheets  of  note-paper 
with  Madame  or  Mademoiselle  at  the  top  in  large 
gilt  letters,  and  covered  with  filagree,  gold  leaves, 
silver  birds,  and  blue  and  yellow  flowers.  Wil- 
liam looked  at  them  with  as  much  contempt  as 
was  civil,  perhaps  rather  more. 

"  Are  they  not  lovely  ?"  asked  Matilda. 

"  I  don't  think  so/'  he  answered  rather  gruffly ; 
"  they  are  mere  French  stuff." 

"  Do  not  you  like  my    French    note-paper, 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  27 

Esther?"  asked  Matilda.  "  What  is  the  fault 
of  it  ?" 

"  I  confess  I  do  not  much  admire  it"  I  replied ; 
"  the  illuminations  belong  to  no  date,  and  have 
nothing  of  the  character  of  the  old  ones." 

"  See  here  !"  said  William ;  "  this  is  the  real 
thing." 

He  turned  over  several  pages  of  the  old  ma- 
nuscript before  him,  almost  every  paragraph  of 
which  began  with  an  illuminated  capital.  There 
was  a  great  A  ingeniously  contrived  out  of  a  dog 
and  a  fish ;  a  tall,  thin  dog  standing  on  his  hind 
legs  made  the  thick  or.  right  side  of  the  A ;  a  fish 
perched  on  its  head  the  left :  they  were  joined  at 
top  by  the  dog's  holding  the  fish's  tail  in  his 
mouth,  while  his  fore-paws,  reaching  across,  made 
the  bar  of  the  A. 

He  showed  us  an  S  made  out  of  two  dragons, 
with  the  tail  of  one  in  the  mouth  of  the  other ; 
then  an  R  made  of  a  griffin  entwined  with  a 
snake.  They  were  all  brilliantly  coloured,  and 
the  dragons  and  griffins  looked  extremely  fierce, 
but  none  of  us  could  resist  laughing  at  such 
grotesque  monsters. 

"  I  wonder  how  they  invented  those  strange 
dragons  and  griffins,"  said  Ellen.  "  Do  you 
think  they  really  believed  in  them  ?" 

"  Some  of  them  did,"  answered  her  father. 
"  The  monks  lived  shut  up  in  their  convents  till 
they  knew  very  little  of  the  world  outside,  and 


28  HISTORICAL    CHAEADES. 

their  heads  ran  upon  all  kinds  of  fancies,  as  we 
see  by  the  stories  they  invented." 

"  Do  you  know  any  of  their  stories,  papa  ?" 
said  Mary.  "  Oh,  do  tell  us  one." 

"  I  have  read  a  good  many  of  them,"  he  an- 
swered. "  What  shall  it  be  about  ?" 

"  About  a  dragon,  please,"  said  little  Edward. 
"  I  like  dragons." 

"  There  was  once,"  said  Mr.  Percy,  addressing 
himself  particularly  to  Edward,  "  a  monk  who 
was  sadly  idle  and  fond  of  change." 

"  In  what  century  was  this  ?"  interrupted 
William,  with  his  usual  precision. 

"  In  the  sixth,  I  suppose,"  answered  his  uncle, 
"for  Gregory  the  Great  tells  the  story.  This 
monk  could  not  be  contented  without  seeing  a 
little  of  the  world,  and  was  always  beggiiig  for 
leave  to  go  out.  The  abbot  at  last  gave  him  per- 
mission. The  monk  was  scarcely  outside  the 
gate,  when  the  convent  was  alarmed  by  dreadful 
screams,  and  cries  of  '  Run,  run  !  the  dragon  will 
eat  me  up  I'  On  running  out,  they  found  him 
half  dead  with  fear  from  the  sight  of  a  tremendous 
dragon." 

"  Were  the  other  monks  frightened  at  it  ?" 
asked  Mary. 

"  They  did  not  see  the  dragon  themselves ; 
but  they  brought  the  monk  back  to  the  convent 
quite  cured  of  his  love  of  seeing  the  world." 

"  How  frightened  they  would  have  been  at 
real  lions  and  tigers,"  said  Edward. 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  29 

"  They  seem  to  have  been  rather  fond  of  wild 
beasts/'  replied  Mr.  Percy,  "  though  they  had 
some  very  odd  notions  of  Natural  History.  They 
thought  that  leopards,  or  pards  as  they  called 
them,  became  very  fond  of  wine  if  they  once 
tasted  it.  The  hunters,  it  was  believed,  used 
to  pour  wine  about  on  the  ground  near  their 
dens ;  then  the  pards  would  come  out  and  smell 
it,  and  wish  for  more.  Next  day  the  hunter 
put  jars  of  wine  in  their  way  for  them  to  drink 
till  they  were  quite  tipsy.  Then  the  pards 
would  play  about  till  they  were  so  tired  they 
were  obliged  to  lie  down  and  go  to  sleep,  when 
the  hunter  threw  nets  over  them,  and  easily  took 
them  alive.  But  now,  let  me  show  Matilda  some 
more  illuminations." 

Mr.  Percy  opened  a  case  in  the  library,  and 
took  out  of  it  a  curiously  carved  box,  and  from 
that  a  manuscript  much  better  preserved  than 
the  one  AVilliam  was  studying. 

"  There,"  said  he,  "  is  a  Psalter  of  Edward  the 
Third's  time;  look  at  these  illuminations,  Matilda, 
and  I  think  your  natural  taste  will  show  you  how 
superior  they  are  to  the  modern  imitations." 

He  pointed  out  to  her  several  initial  letters, 
showing  the  difference  between  the  old  illumina- 
tions and  the  French  imitations  of  them. 

"  These  are  nothing  to  some  you  might  have 
seen  when  you  went  into  the  Royal  Library  at 
Paris,"  Mr.  Percy  continued ;  "  the  margins  are 
ornamented  with  the  most  beautiful  flowers,  fruits, 


30  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

and  insects ;  the  butterflies  quite  rival  life  in  their 
splendid  colours." 

"  I  wish  I  had  seen  them,"  she  exclaimed ; 
"  but  how  is  it,  uncle,  that  the  attempts  of  the 
present  day  are  inferior?  Modern  artists  are 
certainly  above  those  of  the  Plantagenet  times." 

"  Every  age  has  excellences  of  its  own,"  he 
answered,  "  depending  upon  the  circumstances  of 
the  time.  In  those  days  there  were  compara- 
tively few  people  who  could  read,  and  they  were 
generally  rich,  and  able  to  buy  expensive  books 
when  they  bought  any  at  all.  There  were  also 
numbers  of  monks  who  could  write,  and  who  had 
few  other  ways  of  employing  themselves.  The 
result  was,  that  they  spent  a  great  deal  of  time 
upon  the  books  they  copied,  and  as  one  improved 
upon  another,  they  came  at  last  to  the  beautiful 
illuminations  we  so  much  admire." 

"  That  only  answers  half  my  question.  I  see 
why  they  should  do  them  so  well  then,  but  not 
why  they  should  be  unable  to  do  the  same  now." 

"  The  invention  of  printing  made  it  no  longer 
worth  while  to  copy  books ;  and  fine  writing,  and 
all  the  ornaments  belonging  to  it,  naturally  fell 
into  disuse.  Our  artists  have  given  their  time 
and  thoughts  to  other  lines  of  art,  and  when  they 
now  and  then  try  to  imitate  the  productions  of  the 
middle  ages,  they  find  they  are  altogether  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  another  time." 

"  But  there  are  very  expensive  Bibles  now, 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  31 

papa,"  said  Ellen.  "  The  large  picture  Bibles 
cost  a  great  deal  of  money." 

"  There  will  always  be  a  few  expensive  Bibles 
published  for  rich  people,  who  like  to  have  them 
in  a  beautiful  form,"  her  father  replied ;  "  but  the 
greater  number  of  our  Bibles  are  happily  required 
to  be  within  every  one's  reach,  and  there  is  no 
reason  for  spending  somuchlabour  on  what  would 
only  lessen  their  circulation/* 

"  Those  monks  were  very  fine  fellows,"  said 
"William.  "  There  is  nothing  like  them  or  their 
works  now.  I  wish  we  could  go  back  to  the 
middle  ages." 

"  So  that  is  what  your  love  of  black-letter  has 
come  to  ?"  said  Mr.  Percy ;  "  but  I  am  not  sur- 
prised, for  wiser  heads  than  yours  have  been 
turned  by  it.  But,  pray,  in  what  respect  were 
the  monks  superior  to  our  clergymen  !  And  how 
should  we  have  been  better  off  in  that  time  ?" 

"They  spent  all  their  lives  in  religion  and 
study,  uncle.  How  useful  their  example  must 
have  been  to  the  rest  of  the  country!" 

"  I  am  willing  to  allow  this  to  the  monks,"  said 
Mr.  Percy,  "  that  they  were  the  means  of  pre- 
serving the  Bible  during  many  ages  in  which,  as 
far  as  we  can  see,  it  must  otherwise  have  been 
lost ;  but  with  regard  to  their  example,  I  believe, 
William,  that  a  whole  convent  of  monks  was  of  less 
use  to  the  neighbourhood  than  one  hard-working 
country  clergyman  of  the  present  day.  Your 


32  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

uncle  Howard,  for  instance,  who  spends  his  whole 
life  among  his  people,  and  mixes  no  superstitions 
with  the  truths  he  teaches — you  would  not 
change  him,  with  his  kind  wife  and  active 
daughters,  and  the  good  they  do,  for  any  dozen 
of  monks  shut  up  in  their  convent  illuminating  ?" 

"Why,  not  exactly;  but  still  I  should  like  to 
have  lived  at  that  time/'  persisted  William.  "  I 
heard  some  people  talking  about  it  to  papa  and 
mamma  the  other  day.  They  said  it  was  the 
time  of  Poetry  and  Chivalry,  and  one  of  the 
ladies  said  it  was  the  age  of  Romance.  I  don't 
know  much  about  that,  but  I  should  have  liked  to 
see  the  old  people's  ways,  and  how  they  lived." 

"What  did  your  father  say  to  all  that?" 
asked  Mr.  Percy. 

"  Oh,  he  only  laughed,  and  told  one  of  the  gen- 
tlemen that  he  would  have  been  a  good  warlike 
baron,  and  the  other  a  capital  friar  to  preach  a 
crusade,  and  that  the  lady  would  have  been  a  very 
proper  queen  of  a  tournament.  And  then  she 
said  she  should  like  to  live  in  a  real  baronial  castle, 
and  that  nobody  could  even  build  such  castles 
now." 

"  To  upset  all  that  humbug,  William,"  inter- 
posed Arthur,  "just  think  what  wretched  places 
they  were  to  live  in ;  cold,  and  dirty,  and  miser- 
able. I  am  sure  a  good  house  like  ours  is  much 
more  comfortable." 

"  For  instance,"  said  Mr.  Percy,  "  how  would 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  33 

you  like  rushes  strewed  on  the  floor  instead  of 
carpets  ?  It  was  considered  a  piece  of  extreme 
luxury  in  Thomas  a  Becket,  that  he  ordered  his 
servants  to  cover  the  floor  of  his  dining-room 
with  clean  straw  or  hay  every  morning  in  winter, 
and  with  fresh  bulrushes  or  green  boughs  every 
day  in  summer ;  that  any  of  the  knights  who 
came  to  dine  with  him,  and  could  not  find  room 
on  the  benches,  might  dine  comfortably  on  the 
floor,  without  spoiling  their  fine  clothes." 

"\Ve  all  laughed  at  this,  and  Matilda  said  their 
dinner  parties  must  have  been  rather  queer. 

"  They  were  certainly  very  different  from  our 
ideas  of  a  pleasant,  well-arranged  party,"  her 
uncle  answered ;  "  half  the  company  sitting  on 
the  floor,  and  all  eating  with  their  fingers." 

"  Had  they  no  knives  and  forks  ?"  asked 
Edward,  in  great  surprise. 

"  They  had  knives,  but  no  forks  :  fingers  were 
made  long  before  forks,  Edward." 

"  How  did  they  amuse  themselves  at  their 
parties  ?"  Mary  inquired. 

"  In  rather  a  rough  kind  of  way,  I  suspect. 
Perhaps  the  master  of  the  house  might  be  called 
out  in  the  middle  of  dinner  to  fight  with  some 
rifal  baron,  and  of  course  the  company  would 
think  it  polite  to  follow  him  :  or,  perhaps,  they 
might  be  arranging  their  own  little  duels.  "When 
Lord  Wells  was  ambassador  to  Scotland  from 
Richard  the  Second,  he  was  at  a  great  banquet 

D 


34  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

given  by  some  Scotch  noblemen,  and  the  com- 
pany amused  themselves  by  boasting  of  their  own 
bravery.  The  Scotch  said  they  were  infinitely 
braver  than  the  English,  and  the  English  said 
they  were  far  more  valiant  and  chivalrous  than 
the  Scotch  ;  and  then  they  all  gave  instances, 
and  related  stories  of  their  own  great  deeds. 
When  the  bragging  was  at  its  height,  Lord  Wells 
rose,  and  said,  '  Let  words  have  no  place  :  if  you 
know  not  the  chivalry  and  valiant  deeds  of 
Englishmen,  appoint  me  a  day  and  place  where 
you  please,  and  you  shall  be  taught  by  expe- 
rience/ The  Earl  of  Crawford  immediately  ac- 
cepted the  challenge,  and  appointed  St.  George's 
day,  politely  leaving  the  choice  of  the  place  to 
Lord  Wells,  who  fixed  upon  London  Bridge. 

"Accordingly,  next  St.  George's  day,  Lord 
Crawford  and  his  attendants  came  all  the  way 
from  Scotland,  and  Lord  Wells  and  his  retainers 
mustered  to  meet  him  and  fight  it  out  in  a 
friendly  way.  They  were  both  equally  brave, 
but  Lord  Crawford  was  much  the  biggest  and 
strongest,  and  I  am  sorry  for  the  honour  of 
England,  to  be  obliged  to  confess  that  he  had  the 
best  of  the  day.  The  two  combatants  rushed  at 
each  other,  and  Lord  Wells'  spear  was  broken 
on  the  helmet  of  Lord  Crawford,  who  sat  firm, 
not  even  moved  by  the  shock.  The  spectators, 
who  thought  he  must  have  been  unhorsed  by 
such  a  blow,  cried  out  that  there  was  unfair  play, 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  35 

and  that  he  was  bound  to  the  saddle.  Upon  that, 
he  showed  them  his  saddle  and  stirrups,  and 
convinced  them  that  he  had  had  recourse  to 
nothing  but  his  own  skill  and  strength.  He 
then  remounted,  and  they  began  to  fight  again. 
This  time  Lord  Wells  was  thrown,  and  a  good 
deal  hurt.  Lord,,  Crawford  immediately  dis- 
mounted, embraced  him  to  show  that  their 
quarrel  had  been  all  for  love,  conveyed  him  to 
his  home,  and  visited  him  every  day  till  he  was 
well." 

"  I  like  him  for  that,"  said  Mary,  "  though  I 
am  sorry  he  won :  however,  I  think  it  was  just 
as  brave  of  Lord  Wells  to  fight  with  a  person  so 
much  stronger  than  himself,  as  it  was  of  Lord 
Crawford  to  conquer  him." 

"  But,  uncle,"  William  remonstrated,  "  they 
were  not  always  fighting.  They  used  to  amuse 
themselves  with  games :  chess  for  one." 

"  They  did ;  and  very  quietly  and  genteelly 
they  used  to  play.  WThen  King  John  was  prince, 
he  was  playing  chess  with  Baron  Fitzwarine,  and 
the  baron  won  the  game,  which  so  enraged  Prince 
John,  that  he  broke  the  baron's  head  with  the 
chess-board,  and  Fitzwarine  in  return  gave  him 
a  blow  which  almost  killed  him." 

"  I  should  not  have  liked  to  play  with  either  of 
them,"  said  Lucy  :  "  but  John  was  so  very  bad  ; 
one  might  expect  him  to  do  anything.  They 
were  not  all  like  him." 

D  2 


36  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

"  No ;  but  they  were  most  of  them  much  in 
the  same  line.  '  Henry  the  Third  of  gracious 
mien/  as  Mary's  Chronological  Rhymes  call  him, 
used  to  bully  his  courtiers  in  what  we  should 
think  a  very  unkingly  manner,  and  they  some- 
times returned  the  compliment.  One  day  he 
Avas  affronted  with  one  of  his  barons,  and  called 
him  a  traitor :  the  baron  told  the  king  he  lied, 
and  that  he  never  was  nor  would  be  a  traitor. 
'  Moreover/  said  he,  I  care  not  for  your  anger, 
for  by  the  law  you  can  do  me  no  harm.' — '  Yes, 
I  can/  said  the  king ;  '  I  can  thrash  your  corn 
and  sell  it,  and  so  humble  you.'—'  If  you  do/ 
replied  the  baron,  '  I  will  send  you  the  heads  of 
your  thrashers.'  By  this  time,  the  others  who 
were  present  thought  the  quarrel  had  gone  far 
enough,  so  they  interfered,  and  forced  the  king 
and  the  baron  to  be  friends." 

"  The  Middle  Ages  would  never  have  done  for 
Aunt  Harriet,"  said  Henry,  "  she  is  so  nervous." 
"  I  should  say  they  would  have  done  for  her 
in  no  time,"  cried  Arthur.  "  Do  you  remember 
how  frightened  she  was  the  morning  that  the 
strange  dog  bounced  in  at  breakfast-time  ?  Why, 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  one  half  of  the  company 
might  have  cut  the  throats  of  the  other  half  in 
the  middle  of  dinner,  and  nobody  have  minded  it." 
"  It  was  not  quite  so  bad  as  that,  Arthur,"  said 
his  father,  laughing;  "but  certainly  the  Middle 
Ages  would  not  have  suited  nervous  ladies,  nor 
quiet  elderly  gentlemen.  Both  your  Aunt  Harriet 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  37 

and  I  may  be  very  glad  that  we  did  not  live 
then." 

"  You  are  rather  hard  upon  the  old  knights 
and  barons,"  I  said.  "  You  must  allow  they 
were  not  all  alike.  Edward  the  Black  Prince, 
for  instance — where  would  you  find  a  better 
pattern  of  gentleness  and  courtesy  ?  always  ready 
to  praise  and  honour  others.  Do  you  remember 
his  kindness  to  the  wounded  knight,  Sir  John 
Audley,  visiting  him  in  his  tent  through  all  his 
illness  ?" 

"  I  remember  it  well,  and  I  am  far  from  wish- 
ing to  disparage  Edward  the  Black  Prince,  or 
any  like  him.  He  was  a  model  of  all  the  qualities 
that  were  considered  characteristic  of  a  good 
knight :  '  merry,  true,  loving,  wise,  prudent, 
generous,  brave,  hardy,  adventurous,  and  chi- 
valrous/ All  I  maintain  is,  that  there  is  nothing 
for  William  to  regret  in  the  altered  customs  of 
our  own  times/' 

"  Perhaps  not,"  said  William  ;  "  only,  uncle, 
please  not  to  make  out  that  they  did  nothing 
but  fight.  They  were  very  fond  of  music.  There 
was  Rees  ap  Griffith,  King  of  South  Wales,  who 
had  a  great  feast  one  Christmas,  and  invited 
everybody  in  England  who  chose  to  come ;  and 
to  amuse  them,  he  got  together  all  the  poets 
and  harpers  in  his  kingdom  to  play  and  sing 
for  prizes." 

"  I  remember  the  story,"  replied  his  uncle ; 
"  but  the  Welsh  were  famous  for  their  music ; 


38  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

all  ranks  practised  it,  and  at  that  very  feast  the 
principal  nobles  were  found  to  be  the  best  mu- 
sicians. Afterwards,  when  Henry  the  Second 
thought  it  proper  to  return  Rees  ap  Griffith's 
invitation,  and  to  give  him  a  feast  at  Oxford,  he 
found  it  impossible  to  get  up  a  concert  for  him, 
so  he  did  his  best  to  amuse  him  with  eating  and 
drinking,  and  a  little  fighting  ;  and  he  made  him- 
self so  agreeable,  that  they  said  the  King  of 
England  produced  a  pleasanter  harmony  in  his 
court  by  his  good  manners,  than  the  King  of 
AVales  by  his  good  music." 

"  I  should  like  to  have  been  there,"  exclaimed 
William.  "  I  would  rather  have  been  at  one  of 
their  feasts,  and  seen  the  barons  and  their  ladies, 
than  at  all  the  tiresome  parties  people  go  to  now." 

"  So  would  not  I,"  said  Arthur.  "  Remember 
what  grumpy  old  fellows  those  barons  were,  ty- 
rannizing over  their  inferiors,  and  quarrelling 
with  their  equals  :  and  as  for  the  beautiful  ladies, 
the  queens  of  the  tournament,  if  they  were  any- 
thing like  the  pictures  of  them  in  those  illumina- 
tions, I  should  be  very  sorry  to  see  Caroline  or 
Cousin  Matilda  go  out  such  figures." 

I  confess  I  was  rather  inclined  to  take  part 
with  William  in  his  enthusiasm  for  former  days ; 
and  I  could  not  resist  saying  to  Mr.  Percy :  "  I 
think  you  and  Arthur  are  rather  severe  upon 
those  times.  Surely  those  were  the  days  of 
romance  and  poetry :  ours  is  but  a  matter-of- 
fact,  every-day  kind  of  life  in  comparison." 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  39 

"  I  believe,  Esther,"  lie  replied,  "  that  is  a 
mistaken  notion ;  the  every-day  life  of  one  age 
is  the  romance  of  another :  the  charm  lies,  not 
in  the  times  themselves,  but  in  the  looking  back 
to  them." 

"  How  do  you  mean,  father  ?"  said  Arthur. 
"  I  do  not  understand  you." 

"  I  mean  that  the  interest  which  we  take  in 
former  times  depends  less  upon  their  actual  merits 
than  upon  their  having  passed  away.  The  cus- 
toms that  appear  so  picturesque  at  the  distance 
of  four  or  five  centuries,  would  be  common-place 
enough  if  they  composed  our  every-day  life. 
Suppose  our  own  to  have  been  the  early  age,  and 
your  heroes  and  heroines  to  be  living  now,  and 
looking  back  to  our  times,  what  a  golden  age 
this  would  seem  to  them  :  what  wonderful  tales 
of  magic  would  be  made  out  of  the  inventions 
and  discoveries  of  the  present  day." 

"  I  do  not  see  what  they  could  make  into  any- 
thing that  would  sound  like  magic,"  said  William. 
"  Do  you  not  ?  Cannot  you  imagine  their 
astonishment  at  a  diving-bell  or  a  balloon?  If 
the  accounts  of  such  things  had  come  down  to  us 
from  former  days,  we  should  scarcely  know  how 
to  believe  them.  What  would  the  old  barons 
have  given  to  see  the  steam  gun?  or  the  ba- 
ronesses the  cloth  of  woven  glass  ?  I  think  we 
should  have  had  them  grumbling  over  their  iron 
times,  and  longing  to  return  to  the  romance  of 
the  nineteenth  century." 


40  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

The  children,  though  silenced,  did  not  appear 
so  much  convinced  by  this  argument  as  might 
have  been  expected.  Mr.  Percy,  however,  said 
no  more,  but  appeared  to  be  thinking  of  some- 
thing which  he  did  not  choose  to  communicate 
to  us. 

"  After  all/'  said  Mrs.  Percy,  who  had  a  little 
while  before  entered  the  room,  "  I  do  not  believe 
in  unpoetical  ages.  Every  time,  and  every  com- 
mon daily  life  has  its  own  poetry, — 

"  The  dragon's  wing,  the  magic  ring, 
I  need  not  covet  for  my  dower, 
If  I  along  life's  lowly  way, 
With  sympathetic  heart  may  stray, 
Ajid  with  a  soul  of  power." 

Our  discussion  ended  here,  for  Mrs.  Percy  had 
come  to  speak  to  Mr.  Percy  on  some  business,  and 
we  adjourned  to  the  schoolroom  to  settle  our 
charades  for  the  evening. 

"  I  think/'  said  Arthur,  as  we  left  the  library, 
"  we  might  act  an  old  baron's  feast.  Henry  and 
William  and  I  could  bring  plenty  of  clean  straw 
from  the  stable,  and  spread  it  on  the  floor,  and 
we  could  sit  round  and  eat  our  dinner,  and  after- 
wards have  a  boxing-match." 

I  inquired  if  he  proposed  giving  this  enter- 
tainment in  the  drawing-room,  and  he  was  forced 
to  confess  that  his  mother  might  possibly  object 
to  it.  I  told  him  that  the  straw  and  boughs 
strewed  on  the  floor  in  those  days  were  called 
Utter,  and  that  his  mother  would  certainly  call, 
it  by  that  name  now. 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  41 


CHAPTER  III. 

CRUSADE  —  Queen  Eleanor  of  France  —  Queen  Eleanor  of  Eng- 
land —  Old  French  Song  —  St.  Eloy  —  Throne  and  desk  made 
by  him  —  Horsehair  beards. 


we  arrived  in  the  schoolroom,  we  made 
a  capital  fire,  and  seated  ourselves  round  it  in 
great  comfort,  prepared  to  debate  the  important 
question,  "  What  word  shall  we  act  ?" 

CRUSADE?  First  scene:  the  crews  of  two 
ships,  wrecked,  and  meeting  on  a  desert  island. 
Second  scene  :  agreeing  to  help  or  aid  each  other, 
and  beginning  to  build  huts,  &c. 

For  Crusade,  I  found  them  what  I  thought 
a  very  good  story.  Eleanor,  Queen  of  France 
(afterwards  married  to  our  Henry  the  Second), 
chose  to  accompany  her  husband,  Louis  the 
Seventh,  to  the  crusade,  with  all  her  ladies. 
They  "  took  the  cross,"  as  it  was  called,  and  rode 
on  horseback  all  the  way  to  Palestine.  Nobody 
can  suppose  that  Queen  Eleanor  had  any  reli- 
gious motive  in  her  crusading,  for  she  showed  by 
her  behaviour  afterwards  that  she  had  no  religious 
motives  to  influence  her  in  anything  :  but  at 
that  time  she  was  young  and  spirited,  and  liked 
the  journey. 

"  I  am  sure,  so  should  I,"  interposed  Lucy. 

"  I  should  like  the  riding  and  travelling  well 


42  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

enough,"  said  Ellen ;  "  but  not  the  fighting  at 
the  end  of  it." 

"  The  fighting  would  be  the  best  part  of  the 
fun,"  said  Arthur ;  "  only  unluckily  it  was  not 
fair :  the  crusaders  had  no  right  to  go  and  at- 
tack people  who  were  living  quietly  in  their 
own  country,  and  doing  them  no  harm." 

"  But  they  thought  it  harm,"  Caroline  argued ; 
"  they  felt  it  very  painful  that  infidels  should 
have  possession  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  so 
many  other  places  that  Christians  reverence." 

"  Still  I  think  it  was  not  fair,"  said  Henry. 
"  What  do  you  say  about  it,  Aunt  Esther  ?" 

"  I  agree  with  you  and  Arthur.  After  the 
Saracens  had  been  allowed  to  remain  in  quiet 
possession  of  the  country  for  many  years,  the 
European  Christians  had  no  right  to  go  to  war 
with  them,  in  order  to  obtain  it  for  themselves ; 
though  they  should  have  joined  at  first  with  the 
Greeks,  in  helping  them  to  defend  their  own 
country." 

"The  good  Queen  Eleanor  went  to  the  cru- 
sades, too,"  said  Ellen. 

"  Yes ;  but  in  a  very  different  spirit  from 
Louis  the  Seventh's  Queen.  Edward  the  First's 
Queen  Eleanor  went  from  affection  to  her  hus- 
band, and  when  told  of  the  dangers  of  the 
journey,  she  answered,  'Nothing  must  part  them 
whom  God  hath  joined;  and  the  way  to  heaven 
is  as  near  in  the  Holy  Land  as  in  England  or 
Spain/ 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  43 

11  But  to  go  on  with  my  story.  In  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  French  Queen's  court  there 
were  a  number  of  young  nobles  who  did  not 
choose  to  join  the  crusade.  Some,  perhaps,  were 
lazy,  and  some  thought  it  wiser  to  stay  at  home 
and  take  care  of  their  own  estates,  than  to  go 
into  a  distant  country  to  fight  for  what  did  not 
belong  to  them.  But  Queen  Eleanor  despised 
them  all  for  their  want  of  spirit,  and  determined 
to  let  them  know  it.  So  she  and  her  ladies 
collected  a  number  of  distaffs,  and  sent  them 
round  as  presents  to  all  the  men  who  had  not 
joined  the  crusade;  thus  hinting  to  them  that 
she  considered  them  no  better  than  women,  and 
only  fit  to  sit  at  home  and  spin." 

The  girls  thought  they  should  like  to  act  this, 
and  I  proposed  that  they  should  be  seen  twisting 
tow  round  long  wooden  knitting-pins,  to  imitate 
preparing  the  distaffs  with  flax  for  spinning,  and 
then  Edward  as  the  Queen's  page,  take  them  to 
the  other  boys,  who  would  appear  in  the  back- 
ground, sleeping,  eating,  and  occasionally  yawn- 
ing. But  the  boys  did  not  approve  of  a  scene 
in  which  they  thought  they  should  be  made 
ridiculous,  and  they  voted  that  we  had  had 
enough  of  crusading  last  night  with  Richard  and 
Saladin. 

VANDYKE  would  be  something  new.  Van — 
a  wagon  arriving  laden  with  goods,  and  the 
porters  unpacking  and  carrying  them  away.  Two 


44  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

great  arm-chairs  set  back  to  back,  and  piled  up 
with  cushions  and  cloaks,  would  make  a  good  van, 
with  six  or  eight  children  on  all-fours  for  horses. 
Dyke — An  interrupted  row  of  chairs,  represent- 
ing a  dyke  in  Holland,  broken  down  :  the  burgo- 
masters consulting  how  to  repair  it. 

Vandyke — the  great  painter,  employed  in 
taking  the  portraits  of  Charles  I.  and  Queen 
Henrietta.  Henry  had  seen  the  real  picture  in 
Windsor  Castle,  and  could  group  the  actors  like 
it.  This  promised  well,  and  was  nearly  agreed 
upon,  when  Mary  exclaimed — "  Oh,  do  have 
something  that  shall  take  us  all  in !  please  find 
something  for  the  little  ones  to  do." 

"Very  true/'  said  Henry;  "it  is  hard  you 
should  not  have  your  share.  But  are  there  any 
words  that  will  allow  of  so  many  actors  ?" 

I  proposed  several ;  and  we  finally  agreed  upon 
MARTEL,  RESTORATION,  BONAPARTE,  MILTON, 
ROBIN  HOOD,  and  CHARLEMAGNE.  There  was 
a  question  about  Robin  Hood,  on  account  of  its 
being  two  words,  but  the  objection  was  over- 
ruled by  the  little  ones,  who  wished  to  act  the 
foresters.  The  boys  produced  their  bows  and 
arrows  which  had  been  put  away  for  the  winter ; 
and  we  made  green  jackets  out  of  the  lining  of 
some  old  curtains  which  Mrs.  Percy  gave  us, 
and  a  crown  with  gilt  paper  and  pasteboard  for 
Charlemagne  and  Charles  the  Second. 

A  difficulty  now  arose  about  Charlemagne's 
throne  :  he  probably  had  never  anything  grander 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  45 

than  an  oak  chair;  and  the  crimson  drapery 
thrown  over  the  chiffonier,  which  would  make  the 
back  of  a  splendid  throne  for  Charles  II.,  would 
be  quite  out  of  character  for  his  greater  name- 
sake. AVilliam  said,  that  in  his  fathers  hall 
there  were  several  curious  carved  oak  chairs  and 
settles ;  but  his  father's  house  was  a  long  way 
off,  and  Mr.  Percy  had  nothing  of  the  kind.  In 
this  dilemma,  Arthur  luckily  remembered  an  old 
French  song  about  another  French  king,  who  had 
a  green  arm-chair  : — 

' '  Le  grand  roi  Dagobert 
Avail  un  fauteuil  vert : 
Le  bon  Saint  Eloi  disait,  0  mon  roi ! 
Votre  fauteuii  vert  est  rong£  des  vers.' 
'  He  bien, '  lui  dit  le  roi, 
'  Ils  feront  autant  de  toi.'  " 

"  Now,"  said  Arthur,  "  if  Dagobert  had  a  good 
green  arm-chair,  Charlemagne  may  have  had  a 
better,  as  he  came  later,  so  I  vote  for  our  taking 
one  out  of  the  library." 

"  What  does  that  French  mean,  Arthur  ?" 
asked  Mary,  who  was  no  great  scholar. 

"  This  kind  of  thing,"  he  answered  : — 

"  The  great  King  Dagobert, 

He  sat  in  a  green  arm-chair. 
Said  the  good  Eligius,  '  O  my  King  ! 

I'm  sorry  to  say  a  painful  thing : 
But  your  furniture  grows  the  worse  for  wear, 
And  the  worms  are  eating  your  green  arrn-chair.' 
'  I  know,'  said  the  King;  '  it's  perfectly  true; 
And  one  day  they'll  do  the  same  by  you.'  " 

"  Do  you,  who  are  so  fond  of  stories,  know  the 
story  of  St.  Eloy,  Mary  ?"  I  asked. 


46  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

"  I  am  sure  /  do  not,"  said  Arthur.      "  Was 
there  ever  such  a  person  really  ?" 

"  To  be  sure  there  was.  He  was  bishop  of 
Noyon,  in  France,  about  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
century,  and  a  very  good  man.  He  was  a  sort 
of  missionary  to  the  Pagans  in  his  own  country, 
and  through  his  preaching  numbers  renounced 
idolatry.  But  the  story  I  was  going  to  tell  Mary, 
I  think,  is  perhaps  the  foundation  of  your  song. 
King  Dagobert  took  it  into  his  head  to  have  a 
chair  made  of  some  particular  pattern  of  his  own 
invention,  but  he  never  could  find  any  workman 
who  understood  what  he  meant,  or  would  un- 
dertake to  make  it.  Just  at  that  time  a  young 
goldsmith,  named  Eloy,  came  to  the  place  where 
the  king  held  his  court.  t  In  those  days  people 
travelled  about  to  perfect  themselves  in  their 
trades  by  seeing  foreign  workmen,  or  to  get  work 
for  themselves.  The  trade  of  a  goldsmith  was 
always  very  respectable,  as  he  was  chiefly  em- 
ployed by  kings  and  great  men.  Eloy  was  such 
a  capital  workman  that  the  king's  treasurer  took 
notice  of  him,  and  thought  it  might  be  worth 
while  to  consult  him  about  this  chair  that  the 
king  had  set  his  heart  upon.  To  his  great  satis- 
faction he  found  that  Eloy  understood  the  plan, 
and  would  undertake  to  execute  it.  So  the  trea- 
surer told  the  king;  and  the  king  was  delighted, 
and  ordered  the  materials  to  be  given  to  Eloy, 
with  plenty  of  gold  to  make  the  throne  magnifi- 
cent. Eloy  set  to  work,  and  was  so  clever,  and 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  47 

so  honest,  and  careful  not  to  waste  any  of  the 
materials,  that  out  of  what  had  heen  given  him  to 
make  one  chair,  he  made  two.  When  they  were 
finished,  he  showed  one  to  the  king,  who  was 
quite  satisfied,  and  praised  him  very  much,  and 
ordered  him  to  be  rewarded.  But  when  Eloy 
produced  his  other  chair,  saying  that  he  had 
thought  it  better  to  make  up  what  was  over  than 
to  waste  it,  the  king  was  so  surprised  that  lie 
could  scarcely  believe  his  own  eyes." 

"  I  dare  say,"  interrupted  Mary,  "  he  had  been 
used  to  a  great  deal  of  cheating  from  his  other 
goldsmiths." 

"  Very  likely;  but  when  he  found  that  Eloy 
had  really  made  two  handsome  chairs  instead  of 
one,  he  took  him  into  favour  and  confidence, 
and  Eloy  became  a  great  man." 

"  I  wonder  what  the  pattern  was,  and  what 
Eloy's  chairs  were  like,"  said  Ellen. 

"  There  is  an  old  chair  in  the  Paris  Library," 
I  answered,  "  called  the  throne  of  Dagobert ;  the 
French  believe  it  belonged  to  him,  and  they  sing 
Arthur's  song  about  it." 

"  Have  you  really  seen  it,  Aunt  Esther  ?  and 
is  it  very  beautiful  ?" 

"  I  have  seen  it,  but  I  cannot  say  it  is  very 
beautiful.  It  is  a  high  straight-backed  old  oak 
chair,  which  looks  as  if  it  might  very  well  have 
belonged  to  that  time." 

"  Perhaps,"  said  Mary,  "  that  was  the  old  one, 
and  Dagobert  gave  it  up  when  Eloy  made  him  a 


48  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

better.  But  do,  Aunt  Esther,  tell  me  more  about 
Eloy ;  what  did  be  do  when  the  king  made  him 
a  great  man  ?  Did  he  go  on  being  a  goldsmith  ?" 

"  Yes ;  he  was  very  industrious  at  his  business, 
and  taught  it  to  many  others  :  but  he  used  to 
study  a  great  deal  besides,  and  generally  had  a 
book  open  before  him  while  he  was  at  work.  He 
made  a  contrivance  which  Arthur  would  have 
liked;  he  had  before  him  a  desk  that  turned 
round  and  round  upon  a  pivot,  with  books  open 
upon  it,  so  that  whenever  he  wished  to  look  at 
any  book,  he  had  only  to  give  his  desk  a  turn, 
and  the  book  he  wanted  came  opposite  to  him 
without  his  leaving  his  work." 

"  That  was  ingenious  enough,"  said  Arthur. 
"  Do  you  know  anything  more  about  him  ?" 

"  I  know  that  he  spent  a  great  deal  of  money 
in  releasing  slaves.  Whenever  he  heard  that  any 
slaves  were  to  be  sold,  he  used  to  go  and  buy  as 
many  as  he  could,  and  set  them  free.  If  they 
wished  to  go  home,  he  gave  them  money  for  their 
journey ;  but  many  liked  best  to  stay  and  be  his 
servants,  and  those  he  treated  quite  like  friends. 
Some  chose  to  become  monks,  and  these  he 
established  in  a  beautiful  monastery  which  he 
had  built  and  endowed.  At  last  he  was  made  a 
bishop,  and  from  that  time  spent  the  rest  of  his 
life  in  preaching  to  the  heathen.  But  let  us 
finish  settling  our  characters." 

I  now  thought  it  necessary  to  give  them  a  hint 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  49 

of  a  misfortune  that  had  occurred  the  night  before, 
but  which  the  spectators  had  been  too  polite  to 
notice.  While  Saladin  was  reading  his  letter,  a 
fly  settled  on  Ellen's  cheek,  and  in  putting  up 
her  hand  to  drive  it  away,  she  smeared  her 
mustachios  over  her  face,  so  that  she  looked  more 
like  a  half-washed  chimney-sweeper  than  a  proper 
attendant  on  the  magnificent  sultan.  I  thought 
it  would  be  best  for  the  future  to  do  without 
burnt  cork.  But  they  all  exclaimed  that  it  was 
quite  impossible  to  act  without  whiskers  and 
mustachios :  the  young  ladies,  especially,  were 
so  decided  upon  the  point  that  we  were  obliged 
to  set  to  work  upon  some  new  contrivance  for 
them.  After  many  experiments  we  found  that 
horse-hair  would  make  not  only  whiskers,  but 
entire  beards.  We  had  some  difficulty  in  fasten- 
ing them  on,  until  we  bethought  ourselves  of 
elastic  sandal  riband,  which  completely  answered 
the  purpose. 

We  now  wanted  a  grey  beard  for  an  old  man. 
This  was  made  out  of  tow  from  Arthur's  work- 
shop. We  drew  it  out  into  long  locks,  and  sewed 
them  to  a  piece  of  tape  which  could  be  tied 
round  the  face  :  this  made  a  very  venerable  beard, 
reaching  halfway  down  to  William's  waist. 

As  matters  seemed  now  all  in  train,  I  returned 
to  the  grown-up  people,  and  saw  no  more  of  the 
children  till  the  evening ;  but  they  were  still  a 
long  time  completing  their  arrangements. 
E 


50  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

RESTORATION — MARTEL — The  Rois  faineans — ROBIN  HOOD — 
Cobra  capella — Indian  snake-charmers. 

As  soon  as  we  were  re-assembled  in  the  drawing- 
room  after  dinner,  the  performances  began. 

First  scene. — A  party  of  Swiss  peasants  return- 
ing home  after  their  day's  work. 

They  were  received  at  the  doors  of  their  homes 
by  their  wives  and  children,  who  gave  them  seats 
to  rest  upon,  and  brought  them  refreshments. 
While  they  were  enjoying  the  cool  of  the  evening, 
such  of  the  party  as  could  sing,  joined  in  the 
chorus  of  the  Tyrolese  evening  song : — 

"  Come,  come,  come  ! 
Come  to  the  sunset  tree, 

The  day  is  past  and  gone, 
The  woodman's  axe  lies  free, 

And  the  reaper's  work  is  done. 

The  twilight  star  to  heaven, 

And  the  summer  dew  to  flowers, 

And  rest  to  us  is  given 

By  the  cool  soft  evening  hours. 
Come,  come,  come!" 

The  second  scene  included  the  whole  company 
of  actors,  dressed  like  ladies  and  gentlemen ;  that 
is  to  say,  some  of  the  boys  put  on  bonnets  and 
petticoats,  and  took  bags  and  parasols  in  their 
hands ;  and  the  girls  wore  hats  and  great-coats 
with  walking-sticks  and  umbrellas.  One  or  two 
old  gentlemen  had  snuff-boxes ;  and  some  delicate 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  51 

ladies  fans  and  smelling-bottles.  Thus  attired, 
they  were  to  represent  a  Public  Meeting,  at 
which  Arthur  was  expected  to  make  an  Oration. 
He  had  a  large  wig,  a  false  nose  which  he  had 
brought  home  from  school,  and  very  respectable 
horsehair  whiskers. 

The  company  entered  and  took  their  places, 
talking  to  each  other  about  the  celebrated  orator, 
Mr.  Splutterham.  At  the  farther  end  of  the 
room  appeared  Arthur,  who  took  his  seat  amidst 
loud  and  repeated  cheers.  He  rose  and  bowed 
respectfully  to  the  company,  and  silence  being 
obtained,  he  addressed  the  meeting. 

His  subject  was  the  great  antiquity  and  dignity 
of  charades,  and  he  made  a  very  grand  speech  full 
of  learning  which  he  had  borrowed  from  his  school 
books.  He  compared  our  charades,  acted  without 
scenery,  and  almost  impromptu,  to  the  ancient  per- 
formances of  Thespis  in  his  cart ;  our  burnt  cork 
to  the  dark  lees  of  the  grapes,  with  which  the  first 
actors  daubed  their  faces ;  and  he  favoured  us  with 
a  violent  compliment,  declaring  us  far  superior  in 
matters  of  taste  to  Solon,  because  we  applauded 
the  charades,  whereas  Solon  disapproved  of 
Thespis  and  his  choruses.  Having  thus  proved 
the  antiquity  of  charades,  he  proceeded  to  infer 
their  superiority  to  the  regular  drama,  in  a  man- 
ner highly  convincing  to  the  younger  part  of  his 
audience;  and  the  orator  finished  his  speech 
amidst  a  most  encouraging  uproar  of  clapping  of 


52  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

hands,  stamping  of  feet,  and  violent  knocking  on 
the  floor  with  all  the  sticks  and  umbrellas ;  though 
among  the  general  admiration,  an  allusion  to 
"  Lempriere's  Classical  Dictionary  "  was  distinctly 
heard  to  fall  from  Mr.  Percy. 

Scene  the  third. — The  RESTORATION  and 
Coronation  of  Charles  the  Second. 

A  red  shawl  and  ermine  boa  made  his  royal 
robes ;  his  courtiers  stood  around  him,  and  Henry 
in  a  white  sheet,  for  an  archbishop  in  his  surplice, 
placed  the  crown  on  the  king's  head.  He  ascended 
the  throne,  and  all  the  company  shouted  "  Long 
live  King  Charles  the  Second  \"  Arthur  then 
came  forward  as  the  poet  Dryden,  and,  kneeling, 
presented  his  complimentary  ode.  The  king  ac- 
cepted it  graciously,  but,  having  read  it,  he  said 
to  Dryden,  "  You  made  a  better  ode  than  this 
for  Cromwell." 

"  Sire,"  answered  Dryden,  "  we  poets  succeed 
better  in  fiction  than  in  truth." 

MAKTEL. — The  only  meaning  we  could  find 
for  MAR  was  that  of  spoiling  or  marring  a  piece 
of  work.  It  was  not  a  very  good  scene,  and  we  got 
through  it  quickly.  Caroline  sat  working  at  her 
frame  for  a  little  while,  and  presently  complained 
that  the  pattern  was  difficult ;  that  she  had  made 
so  many  mistakes  that  her  work  was  quite  spoilt 
and  not  worth  finishing ;  and  she  would  cut  it  out 
and  throw  it  away.  The  spectators  were  not  able 
to  guess  this  syllable  till  the  second  was  acted. 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  53 

TEL. — The  costumes  now  required  were  those 
of  Swiss  peasants.  The  boys  had  pointed  hats 
made  of  pasteboard,  with  coloured  calico  cut  into 
strips  for  ribands.  The  girls  wore  aprons,  hand- 
kerchiefs pinned  over  their  shoulders,  and  their 
brothers'  summer  straw  hats  put  on  very  much 
on  one  side. 

The  children  had  at  first  composed  this  scene 
for  themselves,  and  it  may  be  imagined  what  a 
fierce  Gesler,  and  what  a  grand  "William.  Tell  they 
had  arranged.  Arthur  had  practised  frowning 
for  Gesler  till  he  looked  as  if  he  would  never  be- 
come good-tempered  again.  The  tyrant's  hat  was 
to  hang  on  the  pole  of  a  fire-screen,  guarded  by 
two  soldiers ;  and  the  peasants  were  to  walk  past, 
bowing  with  great  humility.  Tell  was  to  enter  the 
room,  looking  at  the  hat  with  indignant  contempt, 
and  of  course  not  condescending  to  pay  the 
slightest  respect  to  it.  The  soldiers  were  then 
to  arrest  him,  and  detain  him  prisoner  till  Gesler 
should  stalk  in,  frowning  at  every  step,  and  stop- 
ping now  and  then  to  kick  any  peasant  who 
happened  to  be  in  his  way.  Then  was  to  follow 
a  dialogue  between  the  insolent  Gesler  and  the 
dignified  Tell,  and  the  cruel  sentence  was  to  be 
passed,  commanding  the  hero  to  shoot  at  an 
apple  placed  on  the  head  of  his  only  son. 

But  the  story  was  so  hackneyed,  and  every  de- 
tail so  familiar  to  the  youngest  child,  that  I  per- 
suaded them  to  give  up  acting  it  at  full  length, 


54  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

and  merely  to  represent,  in  dumb  show,  the  point 
of  greatest  interest. 

The  performers  were  therefore  put  into  proper 
positions  behind  the  folding  screen,  Gesler's  hat 
hung  as  at  first  proposed,  and  little  Edward,  as 
Tell's  son,  was  bound  to  the  pole  with  an  apple 
on  his  head.  William  Tell  placed  himself  in 
the  act  of  drawing  his  bow  and  taking  aim  at 
the  apple ;  the  rest  of  the  peasants  were  in  diffe- 
rent attitudes  of  horror  and  alarm  :  one  clasping 
her  bauds,  and  looking  intently  at  the  child  ;  one 
hiding  her  face;  one  clenching  his  fist  and  looking 
over  his  shoulder  at  the  tyrant,  while  Gesler  him- 
self stood  leaning  against  the  piano -forte,  with 
his  arms  folded,  and  a  scowl  on  his  face. 

When  all  was  ready,  I  cautioned  them  to 
remain  perfectly  still,  and  withdrew  the  screen. 
In  this  manner  they  formed  a  tableau  for  about 
half  a  minute,  and  when  they  could  110  longer 
keep  steady,  I  replaced  the  screen.  The  company 
found  no  difficulty  in  guessing  the  meaning,  and 
the  name  of  the  Swiss  hero  resounded  on  all  sides. 

Third  scene. — In  the  early  times  of  France, 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries, 
there  reigned  several  kings  who  were  so  idle  and 
worthless,  that  they  are  known  in  history  by  the 
name  of  les  Rois  Jaineans — the  Sluggard  Kings. 
They  spent  their  time  in  feasting  and  amusing 
themselves,  and  left  the  business  of  the  kingdom 
to  the  prime  minister,  who  was  called  Mayor  of 
the  Palace.  Some  of  the  mayors  were  ambitious 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  55 

men,  and  anxious  to  become  kings  themselves,  and 
they  were  very  tyrannical  to  the  unlucky  Sluggard 
in  whose  name  they  governed,  keeping  him  almost 
a  prisoner  in  his  own  palace.  They  were  obliged, 
now  and  then,  to  bring  him  out,  in  order  to  show 
the  people  that  he  was  alive;  and  at  those  times 
they  used  to  have  grand  processions,  in  which  they 
exhibited  the  king  in  full  dress,  like  a  great  doll; 
and,  when  the  pageant  was  over,  took  him  back  to 
his  palace.  Some  of  these  mayors  were  in  other  re- 
spects good  rulers,  and  did  all  in  their  power  for  the 
advantage  of  the  country.  The  greatest  of  them, 
Charles  Martel,  defeated  the  Saracens,  who  were 
then  making  war  upon  France,  and  governed  the 
country  so  well,  that  the  people  would  gladly  have 
made  him  king;  but  he  refused  the  crown, and  con- 
tented himself  with  the  title  of  Duke  of  France. 

"VVe  represented  this  scene  in  another  silent 
tableau. 

In  the  background  were  seen  the  sluggard  king 
and  three  of  his  companions,  asleep  round  a  table 
at  which  they  had  been  feasting.  The  king  was 
leaning  back  in  a  chair,  with  his  crown  on  his 
head,  his  eyes  shut,  and  his  mouth  wide  open. 
Two  of  the  companions  were  sitting  with  their 
heads  resting  on  the  table,  and  the  third  was  lying 
on  the  floor.  In  the  front  of  the  picture  stood 
Charles  Martel,  with  three  persons  kneeling  before 
him,  and  offering  him  a  crown ;  he  putting  it  away 
from  him  with  one  hand,  pointed  with  the  other 
to  the  king  as  the  lawful  possessor. 


56  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

This  answered  very  well,  and,  by  careful  ar- 
rangement of  the  lights,  had  a  picturesque  effect; 
but  I  had  great  difficulty  in  persuading  the  king 
and  his  companions  not  to  snore :  Arthur  thought 
snoring  would  be  an  immense  improvement,  but 
I  succeeded  at  last  in  convincing  them  that,  as 
they  intended  to  imitate  a  picture,  any  sound  or 
movement  would  be  fatal  to  the  effect. 

Now  came  on  ROBIN  HOOD. 

There  had  been  great  difficulty  in  deciding  how 
to  act  ROBIN.  Lucy  proposed  bringing  in  a  tame 
bird,  and  showing  it  to  the  company;  but  the  only 
bird  in  the  house  was  Caroline's  canary  bird,  and 
nobody  could  be  expected  to  understand  that  a 
canary  was  meant  for  a  robin.  Caroline  advised 
that  Henry,  dressed  as  an  old  gardener,  should 
draw  little  Edward  across  the  room  in  a  chair,  in 
hopes  of  reminding  the  spectators  of  Cowper's  lines : 

"  And  where  the  gardener  Robin,  day  by  day, 
Drew  me  to  school  along  the  public  way, 
Delighted  with  my  bauble  coach,  and  wrapt 
In  scarlet  mantle  warm,  and  velvet  capt,"  &c. 

But  this  would  not  be  clear,  as  the  gardener 
Robin  was  not  really  the  principal  person  to  whom 
the  lines  referred;  and  the  company  might  guess 
coach  or  child,  quite  as  well  as  Robin.  Still  we 
agreed  that  some  reference  1o  poetry  would  be 
our  most  likely  way  of  indicating  the  word,  and 
we  finally  acted  it  in  the  following  manner. 

Caroline  came  into  the  room,  accompanied  by 
Ellen,  with  a  plate  in  her  hand. 

Caroline.  "  Now,  sister,  let  us  feed  the  birds. 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  57 

I  hope  you  have  plenty  of  crumbs  for  them,  this 
cold  weather." 

Ellen.  "  Yes ;  here  is  a  good  plateful.  But  I 
hope  we  shall  have  some  other  visitors  besides 
sparrows.  Oh,  there  is  our  pretty  favourite ;  how 
tame  and  confiding  he  is!" 

Caroline.  "  Art  thou  the  bird  whom  man  loves  best, 
The  pious  bird  with  the  scarlet  breast, 

Our  little  English  Robin  ? 
The  bird  that  comes  about  our  doors 
When  autumn  winds  are  sobbing?" 

"Very  well/5  said  Mr.  Percy;  "but  why  did 
you  leave  out  the  rest  of  the  stanza  ? 

' '  Art  thou  the  Peter  of  Norway  boors  ? 

Their  Thomas  in  Finland, 

And  Russia  far  inland  ? 
The  bird  who,  by  some  name  or  other, 
All  men  who  know  thee  call  their  brother, 
The  darling  of  children  and  men  ?" 

"  Because,  papa,  we  could  not  understand  it," 
Ellen  replied.  "  What  does  'the  Peter  of  Nor- 
way boors,  and  Thomas  in  Finland'  mean?" 

"  Peter  and  Thomas  are  the  human  names 
given  to  the  bird  in  Norway  and  Finland,  as 
Robin  is  in  England.  It  is  a  friendly  way  of 
speaking  of  him,  as  he  is  a  universal  favourite;  and 
there  are  also  other  birds  called  by  the  names  of 
men  and  women.  Cannot  you  think  of  them?" 

"Yes,  to  be  sure;  there  is  Tom  Tit,"  said  Ellen. 

"And  Jack  Daw,"  cried  Arthur. 

"And  Poll  Parrot,"  said  Edward. 

"And  you  may  add  Jenny  Wren,"  said  Mr. 
Percy.  "  Now  go  on  to  your  next  scene." 


58  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

Scene  the  second. — HOOD.  This  had  been 
difficult  to  arrange.  Lord  Hood's  naval  victories 
were  impossible  to  manage,  though  Arthur  was 
very  anxious  to  give  orders  from  the  quarter-deck 
through  a  speaking  trumpet,  and  had  been  in  the 
morning  practising  with  the  coachman,  to  the 
great  alarm  of  the  horses.  After  repeatedly  giving 
the  order  for  closer  action  in  the  drawing-room,  he 
had  been  successively  banished  to  the  schoolroom, 
the  servants'  hall,  and  the  stables,  where  he  finally 
established  himself  over  the  trapdoor  of  the  hay- 
loft, which  served  him  for  a  main  hatchway. 

Little  Red  Riding  Hood  was  despised  as  too 
silly.  Henry  said  that  as  people  were  fond  of 
poetry,  he  should  like  to  introduce  his  favourite 
poet  Thomas  Hood,  and  his  "  Schoolboy  Recol- 
lections :" 

"  The  meeting  sweet  that  made  me  thrill, 
The  sweetmeats  that  were  sweeter  still, 
No  satis  to  the  jams." 

But  at  last  the  actors  resolved  upon  the  Cobra 
capella,  or  hooded  snake  of  India,  who  always 
shows  his  hood  when  he  is  going  to  bite.  It  was 
rather  far-fetched,  but  we  could  think  of  nothing 
better,  and  Henry  had  heard  a  good  deal  about 
snakes  and  snake-charmers  from  an  Indian  friend 
of  his  father's,  and  liked  the  subject. 

Several  of  the  children  were  arranged  as  a  party 
of  English  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  India,  sitting 
in  their  verandah,  with  servants  in  oriental  cos- 
tume fanning  them. 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  59 

Enter  Henry  as  a  snake-charmer,  coming  to 
exhibit  his  art.  His  snake  was  made  of  a  coil  of 
wire,  sewed  up  in  a  tight-fitting  case  of  speckled 
green  silk,  wide  at  the  head  to  represent  the  hood. 
It  was  coiled  round,  and  shut  down  in  a  basket, 
so  that  when  the  lid  was  taken  off,  the  snake 
started  up  suddenly  like  a  jack  in  the  box.  This 
was  one  of  Arthur's  contrivances,  and  it  answered 
extremely  well.  Henry  shook  the  basket  a  little, 
and  the  coil  of  wire  waved  from  side  to  side  like 
a  snake  dancing. 

William.  "  Look,  now  he  is  making  it  dance." 

Ellen  (who  was  supposed  to  be  a  young  lady 
lately  arrived  from  Europe).  "  But  is  that  really 
a  Cobra  ?  How  do  you  know  ?" 

William.  "  It  is  certainly  a  Cobra.  Look  at  its 
head  :  do  you  see  ho\v  it  has  spread  out  the  skin  ? 
That  is  called  its  hood,  and  when  that  is  spread 
Ave  know  that  the  snake  is  angry  and  going  to  bite." 

Ellen.  "  Is  there  no  danger  of  its  hurting  any- 
body ?" 

William.  "  No,  the  charmer  can  manage  it. 
But  that  will  do  for  the  present.  Take  it  away." 

Henry  made  salaam  to  everybody,  shut  down 
his  snake  in  its  basket,  and  retired. 

Third  scene. — ROBIN  HOOD  and  all  his  atten- 
dants came  through  the  room,  dressed  in  green, 
and  carrying  bows  and  arrows  :  Robin  Hood  him- 
self being  provided  with  the  old  post-horn  that 
hung  up  in  the  hall.  They  sang  in  chorus  ! — 


60  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

"  Merry  it  is  in  good  green  wood 

When  the  mavis  and  merle  are  singing  ; 

When  the  deer  sweeps  by,  and  the  hounds  are  in  cry, 

And  the  hunter's  horn  is  ringing." 

This  scene  included  all  the  children ;  for  the 
train  in  constant  attendance  on  Robin  Hood 
furnished  a  character  for  everybody. 

"  Bold  Robin  Hood  and  all  his  band, — 
Friar  Tuck  with  quarter-staff  and  cowl, 
Old  Scathelock  with  his  surly  scowl, 
Maid  Marian,  fair  as  ivory  bone, 
Scarlet,  and  Mutch,  and  Little  John." 

They  acted  the  common  story  of  Robin  Hood 
and  his  band  robbing  a  bishop  and  giving  the 
money  to  a  beggar. 

Robin  Hood  had  scarcely  finished  being  gene- 
rous with  his  stolen  goods  when  tea  was  brought 
in,  and  our  acting  stopped  for  a  time. 

Many  questions  were  now  asked  about  the  snake- 
charmers.  "I  wonder/'  said  Mary,  "whether  those 
stories  of  charming  the  snakes  are  true." 

"  /  wonder  how  they  do  it,"  exclaimed  Henry. 
"The  stories  are  true  enough,  are  they  not,  father?" 

"Quite  true,"  replied  Mr.  Stanley.  "Mr.  Mer- 
ton  told  me  that  when  he  was  in  India,  the 
snake-charmers  sometimes  brought  him  eight  or 
ten  cobra  capellas  at  a  time,  and  one  man  could 
manage  them  all." 

"  Oh,  papa,"  exclaimed  Lucy,  "  do  you  remem- 
ber Mr.  Merton's  story  about  the  monkey  ?" 

"  What  monkey  ?" 

"  I  recollect  now  you  were  not  there  when  he 
told  Henry  and  me  about  it.  A  snake-charmer 


HISTORICAL    CHAEADES.  61 

brought  a  cobra  in  one  basket,  and  a  little  monkey, 
dressed  up  like  an  old  woman,  in  another;  and  put 
them  out  on  the  floor.  Then  he  made  the  snake 
dance,  and  every  now  and  then  told  the  monkey 
to  kiss  it ;  so  she  took  hold  of  its  hood  with  her 
two  paws,  and  put  her  face  close  to  it ;  then  the 
cobra  darted  forward  with  a  hiss—; f-i-t-ch  !  like  a 
cat  quarrelling  with  a  dog.  It  could  not  really 
hurt,  because  its  poison  had  been  taken  out;  but 
the  poor  monkey  did  not  like  it,  and  jumped  away, 
chattering  and  scolding,  and  wiping  her  face  with 
her  paws,  and  looking  very  much  disgusted.  Mr. 
Merton  said  he  could  not  help  laughing  at  it, 
though  he  did  not  like  to  have  it  teased." 

"  How  do  they  gain  such  power  over  the 
snakes  ?"  Ellen  asked. 

"  By  long  practice ;"  her  uncle  replied  :  "  the 
trade  descends  from  father  to  son,  and  they  begin 
when  children,  going  out  with  their  fathers  and 
learning  to  catch  harmless  snakes,  till  at  last  they 
become  so  expert  that  they  can  seize  the  most 
venomous  without  danger." 

"  How  do  they  take  out  the  poison?" 

"  They  grasp  the  snake  by  the  neck,  and 
squeeze  it  till  it  opens  its  mouth,  and  the  poison 
drops  out  of  the  fang.  They  collect  this  very 
carefully,  and  make  pills  of  it.  It  is  one  of  their 
favourite  medicines." 

"  How  very  nasty  !"  said  Ellen.  "  I  am  glad 
we  have  not  to  take  such  physic  as  that." 

"  Other  people  besides  the  Hindoos  have  learnt 


62  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

to  catch  venomous  snakes/'  said  Mrs.  Percy.  "The 
Moravian  missionaries  in  the  Nicobar  Islands  used 
to  be  as  clever  in  that  line  as  any  snake-charmers; 
but  their  method  was  to  take  a  piece  of  red  cloth, 
and  wave  it  before  the  snake,  who  immediately 
darted  at  it.  The  person  who  held  it  dragged  it 
back  with  a  jerk  which  drew  the  snake's  tooth. 
Before  it  had  time  to  recover,  he  slipped  his  hand 
up  its  back,  and  grasped  it  firmly  by  the  neck, 
so  that  it  could  not  escape." 

"  English  snakes  are  easily  caught,  and  not 
poisonous  '"  said  Arthur.  "  A  boy  at  school  told 
me  he  had  kept  one  quite  tame  in  his  room  at 
home  for  a  long  time.  I  wish  we  could  catch  one 
and  tame  it." 

"  I  beg  you  will  do  no  such  thing,"  exclaimed 
his  mother ;  "there  are  plenty  of  pets  in  the  world 
without  taming  snakes." 

"  They  are  not  amiable,  indeed,  Arthur,"  said 
Mr.  Stanley.  "  I  kept  one  for  a  little  while,  when 
I  was  a  boy ;  but  it  used  to  stand  up  on  its  tail 
and  hiss  at  me,  and  I  soon  grew  tired  of  it." 

The  conversation  was  here  interrupted  by  a  loud 
ring  at  the  house-bell. 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  63 


CHAPTER  V. 

Arrival   of  Uncle  Harry — Words  for  acting — Anecdotes   of 
Henry  III.,  Robert  of  Normandy,  William  Rufus — Box.v- 

PAKTE. 

THE  only  one  of  our  Christmas  party  not  yet 
arrived,  was  Mr.  Harry  Percy,  William's  father ; 
and  he  was  anxiously  expected,  for  "  Uncle 
Harry"  was  the  particular  favourite  of  all  his 
nephews  and  nieces.  To  our  great  delight,  it 
proved  that  the  ring  we  had  heard  was  to  an- 
nounce his  arrival ;  and  in  he  walked :  a  day 
sooner  than  was  expected.  He  had  had  a  very 
cold  drive  from  London,  so  we  gave  him  the 
warmest  corner  by  the  fire,  and  plenty  of  tea, 
and  made  him  as  comfortable  as  possible;  and 
Ellen  jumped  up  on  his  lap,  and  threw  her  arms 
round  his  neck,  and  said,  "  Oh,  my  darling  uncle, 
how  glad  I  am  to  see  you  !  We  thought  you 
could  not  come  till  to-morrow." 

"  I  thought  so  too,"  he  answered ;  "  but  I 
found  I  could  get  off  this  afternoon,  and  your 
Aunt  Laura  insisted  on  my  coming,  for  she  knows 
how  glad  I  am  to  have  an  extra  day  with  you ; 
and  her  mother  and  sister  are  staying  with  her, 
so  she  will  not  be  lonely." 

He  then  gave  William  a  letter  from  his  mother, 
and  we  all  began  inquiring  after  her,  for  it  was 


64  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

a  great  disappointment  that  she  could  not  be  with 
us ;  and  after  that,  we  told  him  everything  that 
we  had  done  since  we  had  seen  him  last;  and 
the  children  described  their  amusements  at  great 
length,  particularly  the  Charades.  Uncle  Harry 
entered  into  everything,  and  suggested  a  great 
many  words  for  our  acting.  Rebel-Lion  ;  Tudor, 
Two-Door ;  Shake-Spear ;  Wolsey,  Wool-Sea ; 
Huguenot,  Hew-Go-not :  Car-Din-all ;  Penelope, 
Pen-Elope;  Cressy,  Cress-Sigh;  Becket,  Beck- 
Eat  or  Ate ;  Montague. 

"  Montague  would  be  capital,"  exclaimed  Ar- 
thur, "  because  of  Ague.  How  we  would  shake  \" 

But  we  were  obliged  to  stop  Uncle  Harry's 
suggestions,  for  if  he  continued  telling  the  words 
to  everybody,  of  course  we  could  not  act  them 
afterwards. 

Henry  said  Thomas  k  Becket  would  be  a  very 
good  word,  because  they  should  like  to  act  his 
murder.  The  boys  had  always  a  great  love  for 
stabbing  scenes,  but  the  girls  objected  to  them, 
as  "  too  horrid ;"  and  Caroline  reminded  us  of 
another  story  about  the  archbishop,  in  her  opinion 
much  fitter  for  play. 

One  day  King  Henry  the  Second  and  Thomas 
a  Becket  were  riding  together,  the  king  in  his 
common  dress,  and  the  archbishop  in  a  very  fine 
scarlet  mantle  lined  with  ermine.  A  poor  man 
in  the  road  asked  charity. 

"  Do  not  you  think,  my  lord  bishop,"  said  the 


HISTORICAL   CHAEADES.  65 

king,  "  that  it  would  be  a  good  act  to  give  that 
poor  beggar  a  mantle  to  keep  him  warm  ?" 

"A  very  good  act  indeed/'  answered  the 
archbishop,  "  and  worthy  of  your  grace." 

"  Here  then,  friend/'  cried  the  king,  seizing 
Becket's  own  mantle  to  give  to  the  beggar. 

Becket  fought  for  his  cloak,  and  he  and  the 
king  had  a  regular  struggle ;  but  the  king  got 
the  better,  and  the  beggar  got  the  cloak. 

"  Here  is  another  story  about  cloaks  for  you," 
said  Uncle  Harry ;  "  and  you  might  act  this  if 
you  liked." 

"  Robert,  Duke  of  Normandy, father  of  William 
the  Conqueror,  was  so  celebrated  for  his  manners 
and  ready  wit,  that  it  was  thought  impossible  to 
put  him  off  his  guard,  and  that  in  any  company, 
or  under  any  circumstances,  he  would  be  sure  to 
say  and  do  exactly  the  right  thing.  Once  when 
he  Avas  travelling  through  Constantinople,  he  and 
his  attendants  were  invited  to  dine  with  the 
Greek  emperor,  and  accepted  the  invitation  with 
their  usual  courtesy.  But  the  emperor  had 
heard  the  fame  of  Robert's  manners,  and  was 
determined  to  put  them  to  the  test ;  in  fact,  he 
had  given  the  invitation  for  the  express  purpose 
of  trying  how  so  polished  a  person  would  behave 
under  disagreeable  circumstances :  he  contrived, 
therefore,  that  when  Robert  and  his  Normans 
entered  the  banqueting  hall,  they  should  find  all 
the  seats  occupied,  and  no  places  left  for  them." 
F 


66  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

"  How  very  rude,"  said  Lucy.  "  If  I  had  been 
Robert,  I  would  have  walked  out  again." 

"  I  dare  say  you  would,  and  so  would  many 
people;  but  Robert  gave  them  a  better  reproof. 
He  and  his  attendants  took  no  notice  of  the 
emperor's  incivility,  but  quietly  unfastened  their 
cloaks,  folded  them  up,  laid  them  on  the  floor, 
and  seated  themselves  upon  them.  There  they 
remained  all  dinner-time,  in  perfect  good  humour, 
eating  whatever  was  given  them,  enjoying  them- 
selves extremely,  entering  into  all  that  went  on, 
and  making  themselves  so  agreeable,  that  they 
were  the  life  and  spirit  of  the  party.  When  the 
banquet  was  over,  they  took  leave  very  grace- 
fully, and  walked  out  of  the  room,  leaving  their 
cloaks,  which  were  of  great  value,  on  the  floor. 
The  emperor,  much  surprised,  sent  one  of  his 
courtiers  to  beg  they  would  put  them  on.  Duke 
Robert  turned  to  the  messenger  with  a  very 
polite  bow,  and  ans\vered  :  '  Go,  tell  your  master 
that  it  is  not  the  custom  of  the  Normans  to  carry 
about  with  them  the  seats  that  they  use  at  an 
entertainment/  " 

"  Well  done  !"  said  Arthur.  "  I  hope  the 
emperor  was  ashamed  of  himself." 

"  I  think  he  must  have  been,"  said  Mary. 
"  But,  Uncle  Harry,  how  much  do  you  think 
their  cloaks  cost  ?" 

"  I  do  not  know  how  much  those  particular 
ones  cost ;  but  expensive  cloaks  were  the  fashion. 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  67 

Henry  the  First  had  one  worth  a  hundred 
pounds — that  is,  fifteen  hundred  pounds  of  our 
money;  and  Richard  Coeur- de-Lion  had  another 
still  dearer,  ornamented  all  over  with  silver  stars 
and  half  moons." 

"  After  all,"  observed  Mrs.  Mortimer,  "  I -dare 
say  we  should  think  those  expensive  cloaks  coarse 
and  heavy." 

"  Very  likely,"  he  answered.  "  I  need  not  tell 
a  lady  fresh  from  Paris  that  the  price  of  dress 
depends  chiefly  on  fashion  and  fancy.  William 
llufus  refused  to  buy  a  cheap  pair  of  stockings, 
because  he  said  it  was  beneath  his  dignity  to  wear 
any  that  cost  less  than  ten  pounds :  so  they 
brought  him  back  the  same  pair  at  ten  pounds, 
and  he  said,  '  Ah,  this  is  right — this  is  serving 
me  like  a  king;'  and  bought  them  very  con- 
tentedly." 

"  But  now  I  want  to  see  some  of  these  famous 
charades :  there  will  be  time  for  one  or  two  be- 
fore you  go  to  bed,  if  you  dress  quickly." 

The  children  scampered  away,  but,  as  is  usu- 
ally the  case,  they  were  all  the  slower  for  being 
in  a  hurry ;  and  they  were  a  long  time  settling 
\vhether  they  should  give  up  Milton  or  Bona- 
parte, as  there  would  not  be  time  for  both.  At 
last  they  decided  upon  retaining  Milton,  though 
with  some  regret,  for  Bonaparte  had  great  capa- 
bilities— viz.,  first,  Henry  and  Arthur-  as  two 
dogs  quarrelling  over  a  Bone.  That  would  have 

F2 


68  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

allowed  of  fine  snarling,  growling,  and  barking. 
Then,  a  Party  would  have  included  the  whole 
company  of  actors :  some  to  be  "  at  home/' 
others  to  arrive  as  company ;  and  there  would 
have  been  curtseys,  and  politenesses,  and  grown- 
up conversation  about  politics  and  polkas,  wisdom 
and  worsted  work. 

Bonaparte  would  have  been  acted  by  Henry  in 
a  grey  great  coat,  with  his  arms  folded  in  the 
true  Napoleon  attitude,  standing  on  the  sea  shore 
at  St.  Helena,  while  Caroline  was  to  have  re- 
peated at  a  distance,  just  to  direct  the  attention 
of  the  spectators : 

' '  Then  haste  thee  to  thy  sullen  isle, 

And  gaze  upon  the  sea  ; 
That  element  may  meet  thy  smile, 

It  ne'er  was  ruled  by  thee  : 
Or  trace  with  thine  all  idle  hand, 
In  loitering  mood,  upon  the  sand, 

That  earth  is  now  as  free." 

It  would  have  had  a  fine  effect,  no  doubt; 
but  there  was  not  time  for  it,  and  they  deter- 
mined upon  Milton. 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  69 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MILTON — Quotations  from  "Paradise  Lost" — CHAELEMAGXE — 
Invention  of  Clocks — Henry  the  First's  menagerie — Ancient 
prices — Watch  supposed  to  have  belonged  to  Robert  Bruce. 

MILTON.  Here  had  been  a  puzzle.  There  were 
wind  mills,  water  mills,  steam  mills,  powder 
mills,  chocolate  mills,  paper  mills,  tread  mills, 
corn  mills,  cofiee  mills,  cotton  mills,  Mr.  Alfred 
Mills,  who  wrote  a  tiny  history  of  England  for 
children  twenty  years  ago,  and  Professor  Mill, 
the  great  Oriental  scholar  of  the  present  day. 
Which  should  they  have  ?  "  Plenty  of  choice," 
as  Arthur  observed.  "  L'embarras  des  richesses," 
said  Lucy,  who  was  fond  of  picking  up  French 
phrases  from  Matilda.  They  fixed  upon  Don 
Quixote  doing  battle  with  the  windmill,  which  he 
took  for  a  giant. 

It  was  well  acted.  Henry,  as  Don  Quixote, 
was  solemn,  grand,  and  valorous,  and  his  bom- 
bastic speeches  to  the  imaginary  giant  were  ex- 
tremely fine ;  but  nobody  could  guess  it.  Mrs. 
Percy  suggested  Giant,  Mr.  Stanley,  Quixote, 
Uncle  Harry  guessed  Don,  being  a  word  of  one 
syllable ;  somebody  mentioned  Windmill,  but  no 
one  thought  of  Mill,  so  they  were  left  in  suspense 
till  the  next  scene. 

TON  .    Arthur  as  a  fashionable  gentleman,  very 


70  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

fine  and  affected,  giving  himself  all  kinds  of 
airs. 

His  mother  guessed  the  word  directly,  but  told 
him  she  hoped  he  meant  it  for  mauvais  ton,  be- 
cause really  well-bred  people  never  give  them- 
selves any  airs  at  all. 

MILTON.  William  as  Milton  in  his  blindness, 
dictating  the  Paradise  Lost  to  his  two  daughters. 

Lucy  arid  Ellen  sat  at  a  table  near  him,  writing, 
while  he  dictated  the  following  passage  : — 

.       .       .        "  Thus  with  the  year 
Seasons  return,  but  not  to  me  returns 
Day,  or  the  sweet  approach  of  ev'n  or  morn, 
Or  sight  of  vernal  bloom,  or  summer's  rose, 
Or  flocks,  or  herds,  or  human  face  divine  ; 
But  cloud  instead,  and  ever- during  dark 
Surrounds  me,  from  the  cheerful  ways  of  men 
Cut  off,  and  for  the  Book  of  Knowledge  fail- 
Presented  with  an  universal  blank 
Of  Nature's  works,  to  me  expung'd  and  raz'd, 
And  Wisdom  at  one  entrance  quite  shut  out. 

This  scene  went  off  very  successfully  and 
smoothly  at  the  time,  though  it  had  occasioned 
a  great  deal  of  discussion  in  the  morning.  The 
point  in  dispute  had  been — what  passage  of  Milton 
to  choose.  Caroline  wished  for  the  Spirit's  soli- 
loquy at  the  end  of  Comus ;  Ellen  for  some  part 
of  the  Allegro ;  particularly  the  description  of  the 
lark  bidding  good-morrow  through  the  sweet  briar 
at  the  window :  but  the  Comus,  and  the  Allegro 
and  Penseroso  were  written  before  Milton  was 
blind,  so  that  either  the  dictation  scene  must  be 
given  up,  or  we  must  have  recourse  to  the  Paradise 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  71 

Lost.  Paradise  Lost  was  accordingly  produced 
from  Caroline's  book-shelves,  and  she  and  I  read 
aloud  to  the  children  our  favourite  passages,  or 
discovered  some  one  hitherto  unremarked,  and 
wondered  how  we  could  have  passed  over  lines  so 
beautiful. 

The  selection  occupied  a  long  time,  for  Milton, 
once  opened,  can  scarcely  be  closed  again  by  young 
or  old.  Besides,  there  was  another  difficulty : 
AVilliam  had  very  little  time  to  learn  the  passage, 
and  would  not  undertake  more  than  a  dozen  lines. 
Arthur  proposed,  rather  mischievously,  the  de- 
scription of  the  monks  in  the  Limbo  of  Vanity  : 

"  Eremites  and  friars, 
White,  black,  and  grey,  with  all  their  trumpery. 

And  they  who,  to  be  sure  of  Paradise, 
Dying,  put  on  the  weeds  of  Dominic, 
Or  in  Franciscan  think  to  pass  disguis'd. 

A  violent  cross  wind  from  either  coast 

Blows  them  transverse  ten  thousand  leagues  away 

Into  the  devious  air ;  then  might  ye  see 

Cowls,  hoods,  and  habits,  with  their  wearers,  tost 

And  flutter'd  into  rags ;  then  reliques,  beads, 

Indulgences,  dispenses,  pardons,  bulls, 

The  sport  of  winds." 

But  William  would  not  learn  anything  against 
his  favourite  monks ;  he  owned,  looking  rather 
ashamed,  that  he  could  not  stand  up  for  "  reliques, 
beads,  indulgences,"  or  any  such  "trumpery,"  but 
still  he  did  not  like  to  repeat  a  whole  passage 
against  monks. 

Caroline    would    have    liked    one    of    Eve's 


72  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

speeches,  particularly  part  of  her  lamentation  on 
quitting  Eden : — 

"  Must  I  thus  leave  thee,  Paradise!  thus  leave 
Thee,  native  soil,  these  happy  walks  and  shades, 
Fit  haunt  of  Gods  !  where  I  had  hope  to  spend, 
Quiet  though  sad,  the  respite  of  that  day 
That  must  he  mortal  to  us  both?     0  flowers, 
That  never  will  in  other  climate  grow, 
My  early  visitation,  and  my  last 
At  e'en,  which  I  bred  up  with  tender  hand, 
From  the  first  opening  bud,  and  gave  ye  names, 
Who  now  shall  rear  ye  to  the  sun,  or  rank 
Your  tribes,  and  water  from  the  ambrosial  fount  ?" 

The  others  said  Caroline  chose  this  passage 
because  she  was  fond  of  her  own  garden ;  and 
William  finally  decided  upon  the  one  already 
given,  which  had  the  advantage  of  explaining  the 
scene. 

The  next  charade  was  soon  ready. 

Scene  the  first. — There  was  no  avoiding  the 
word  this  time.  "  Welcome  to  Charlie"  was 
sung  in  full  chorus. 

Scene  the  second. — Balboa  and  his  followers 
crossing  the  ridge  of  mountains  on  the  isthmus 
of  Darien,  and  first  catching  sight  of  the  Main 
Ocean. 

This  was  acted  entirely  in  dumb  show.  Balboa 
and  his  Spanish  followers  were  dressed  in  short 
cloaks,  with  swords  and  mustachios.  Arthur,  as 
their  Indian  guide,  in  a  blanket,  and  with  a 
splendid  head-dress  of  peacock's  feathers  stuck 
round  his  head  like  a  shuttlecock.  All  the  lights 
in  the  room  were  extinguished,  except  one  table- 
lamp,  which  I  undertook  to  manage. 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  73 

The  door  opened,  and  the  Indian  entered,  show- 
ing the  Spaniards  the  way.  I  turned  the  lamp 
down  slowly  to  represent  night  coming  on,  and 
when  it  grew  nearly  dark,  the  adventurers  laid 
themselves  on  the  ground  wrapped  in  their  cloaks, 
and  went  to  sleep. 

In  course  of  time  the  light  began  to  re-appear, 
and  when  day  was  breaking,  Balboa  started  to  his 
feet,  and  gently  woke  the  guide,  and  they  silently 
picked  their  way  among  their  sleeping  comrades, 
whose  arms  and  dresses  strewed  the  ground. 

The  two  now  set  out  for  a  further  journey 
across  the  room,  and  were  evidently  ascending  a 
rugged  mountain,  for  they  had  to  climb  over 
chairs,  and  turn  round  to  help  each  other.  At 
last  they  reached  the  top  of  the  sofa,  when  the 
guide  suddenly  pointed  to  the  distance,  striking 
out  with  his  arms  as  if  swimming,  to  indicate  sea. 
Balboa,  after  enjoying  in  silence  the  first  view  of 
the  distant  Main,  pointed  to  his  sleeping  comrades, 
and  the  guide  went  back  to  fetch  them.  When 
they  arrived  at  the  top,  they  all  took  off  their 
caps,  drew  their  swords,  and  held  them  out 
towards  the  sea,  to  show  that  they  took  posses- 
sion of  it  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Spain. 

CHARLEMAGNE. — The  ambassadors  of  the 
Caliph  Haroun  Alraschid  bringing  to  Charle- 
magne a  present  of  a  striking  clock,  the  first  that 
had  been  seen  in  Fran.ce.  Charlemagne  sat  in 
state  in  the  arm-chair  surrounded  by  his  courtiers 


74  'HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

in  old  French  costume, — or  at  least  as  much  of  it 
as  we  could  manage ;  clogs  to  imitate  wooden 
shoes,  long  mantles  and  boas :  with  which  the 
Oriental  dresses  of  the  Caliph's  ambassadors  made 
a  picturesque  contrast. 

We  had  been  careful  to  collect  all  the  fur  boas 
and  tippets  in  the  house,  because  furs  were  par- 
ticularly the  fashion  at  the  court  of  Charlemagne, 
and  though  his  young  noblemen  could  only  boast 
of  wooden  shoes,  like  the  sabots  French  peasants 
wear  at  the  present  day,  they  were  very  particular 
about  the  beauty  of  their  mantles.  Charlemagne 
liked  them  to  be  well-dressed  on  all  state  occa- 
sions, but  at  other  times  he  discouraged  finery. 
One  day,  a  number  of  them  appeared  at  court  in 
gay  silk  robes,  lined  and  trimmed  with  valuable 
furs.  Charlemagne  did  not  at  all  approve  of  this 
costume,  but  he  took  no  notice,  and  ordered  them 
immediately  to  go  out  hunting  with  him.  It  was 
a  very  rainy  and  windy  day,  but  the  king  in  his 
own  old  sheepskin  cloak  cared  nothing  for  the 
weather,  and  he  led  them  full  gallop  over  the 
country,  till  the  fine  silk  cloaks  were  wet  through, 
and  the  furs  torn  and  spoilt.  When  they  came 
home,  he  would  not  let  them  change  their  clothes, 
but  made  them  dry  themselves  by  the  fire  as  well 
as  they  could.  Next  day  he  ordered  them  to 
appear  at  court  in  the  same  dresses,  and  it  may 
be  imagined  how  beggarly  they  looked  ;  their  silk 
cloaks  puckered  with  wet,  stained  w^ith  mud,  and 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  75 

the  fur  trimmings  torn  and  shrivelled.  Charle- 
magne pointed  them  out  to  the  rest  of  the  party, 
saying  :  "  What  a  tattered  company  I  have  about 
me  !  while  my  sheepskin,  which  I  turn  this  way 
or  that,  as  suits  the  weather,  is  none  the  worse 
for  yesterday's  wear.  For  shame  !  learn  to  dress 
like  men,  and  let  the  world  judge  of  your  rank 
by  your  own  worth,  and  not  by  that  of  your 
clothes." 

As  we  represented  Charlemagne's  court  on  a 
day  of  ceremony,  we  dressed  very  tidily.  Charle- 
magne received  the  caliph's  clock  with  great 
dignity,  and  his  courtiers  looked  very  respectable. 
At  one  time  we  had  had  a  great  mind  to  act  the 
ragged  scene,  but  then  we  must  have  given  up  the 
Oriental  dresses,  and,  after  some  discussion,  the 
turbans  carried  the  day  against  the  rags. 

After  the  charade  was  finished,  William  said  he 
thought  it  strange  that  clocks  should  have  been 
known  to  the  Arabs,  and  brought  into  France  in 
the  time  of  Charlemagne ;  and  yet  seventy  years 
later,  Alfred  the  Great  in.  England  was  obliged  to 
burn  candles  to  mark  the  time. 

"  Charlemagne's  clock  was  very  unlike  our  no- 
tion of  a  clock,"  said  his  father.  "  It  was  what  is 
called  a  clepsydra,  or  water-clock  :  it  was  worked 
by  water  dropping  from  one  part  to  another.  It 
had  twelve  little  knights  guarding  twelve  doors ; 
and  at  the  beginning  of  each  hour,  one  of  the 
knights  opened  his  door,  and  struck  the  time  on. 


76  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

a  bell.  At  the  next  hour,  the  second  knight 
opened  his  door  and  struck  his  bell ;  and  so  on 
through  the  twelve." 

"  Did  the  Arabs  invent  clocks,  uncle  ?"  asked 
Lucy. 

"  I  believe  so ;  at  that  time  they  knew  more  of 
mechanics  than  all  Europe  put  together." 

"  When  were  clocks  first  brought  to  England?" 
said  Matilda.  "  I  am  ashamed  to  say  I  am  more 
ignorant  than  my  youngest  cousins  about  such 
matters." 

"  You  would  be  more  learned  than  your  oldest 
cousins,  if  you  could  answer  that  question,"  re- 
plied Uncle  Harry.  "  It  is  impossible  to  say  when 
they  were  really  first  introduced.  The  earliest 
clock  of  which  there  is  any  account  in  this 
country,  was  put  up  in  1288,  on  a  building  called 
the  Clock-House,  in  Westminster,  for  the  use  of 
the  lawyers.  They  thought  a  great  deal  of  it ;  and 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Sixth  it  was  put  under 
the  special  charge  of  the  Dean  of  St.  Stephen's, 
who  had  a  salary  of  sixpence  a  day  for  taking 
care  of  it." 

"  Sixpence  a  day  for  a  Dean!"  exclaimed  Mary, 
laughing. 

"  Sixpence  was  worth  more  then  than  it  is 
now,  you  know,  Mary,"  said  William. 

"  Yes,  I  forgot,"  said  Mary.  "  But  was  no- 
body better  paid  than  that  ?" 

"  Sometimes,"    said  Uncle  Harry.      "  When 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  77 

"\Villiam  of  Wykeham  was  building  Windsor 
Castle,  Edward  the  Third  paid  him  a  shilling  a 
day  when  he  was  living  in  the  place,  and  two 
shillings  if  he  carae  from  a  distance." 

Mrs.  Mortimer  joined  in  the  laugh  at  this,  and 
said  she  thought  Mr.  Wyatt  would  have  been  very 
much  surprised  if  George  the  Fourth  had  offered 
him  such  a  salary  for  making  the  restorations. 

"  I  suppose  everything  they  had  to  buy  was 
cheap  in  proportion,"  said  Henry. 

"  Certainly,"  replied  his  father.  "  We  could 
scarcely  feed  a  dog  now  for  what  Edward  the 
Second  thought  a  handsome  allowance  for  his 
leopards." 

"  Did  he  keep  leopards  ?"  said  Mary.  "  What 
did  he  do  with  them?" 

"He  looked  at  them  in  their  cages,  I  suppose, 
just  as  you  might  do.  They  were  kept  in  the 
Tower  of  London ;  and,  till  within  the  last  few 
years,  there  was  always  a  menagerie  in  the  Tower. 
I  used  often  to  go  and  see  the  wild  beasts  there 
when  I  was  a  boy ;  but  they  are  now  removed 
to  the  Zoological  Gardens,  and  I  suppose  the 
keeper  would  be  very  glad  if  he  could  feed  them 
and  himself  at  King  Edward's  price ;  sixpence  a 
day  for  the  leopards'  food,  and  three  half-pence 
a  day  for  the  keeper's." 

William  asked  if  Edward  was  the  first  king  of 
England  who  kept  wild  beasts. 

"  No,"  replied  Mr.  Percy ;  "  I  do  not  know 


78  HISTOEICAL    CHARADES. 

who  was  the  first,  but  they  were  the  fashion  long 
before  Edward's  time.  Henry  the  First  had  a 
menagerie  of  lions,  lynxes,  and  porcupines;  and 
an  elephant,  which  had  a  house  to  himself  in  the 
Tower." 

"  Do  you  think  he  had  a  giraffe,  or  a  chim- 
panzee?" asked  Edward. 

"  No  :  those  animals  were  not  yet  discovered ; 
but  he  had  a  white  bear,  which  seems  to  have  been 
rather  a  favourite,  by  the  care  which  the  king 
took  of  him.  He  was  allowed  fourpence  a  day 
for  his  food ;  and,  when  he  chose  to  amuse  him- 
self by  fishing  in  the  Thames,  he  was  held  by  a 
rope,  to  keep  him  from  falling  into  the  water." 

At  this  all  the  children  laughed,  except  Henry, 
who  seemed  doubtful  whether  to  take  it  in  joke 
or  in  earnest.  At  last  he  exclaimed,  "  I  wonder 
how  such  a  story  found  its  way  into  history." 

"  The  bills  and  accounts  of  public  offices  were 
preserved  with  great  care,"  replied  Mr.  Percy, 
"  and  in  course  of  time  became  valuable  from 
giving  a  good  idea  of  former  prices.  Of  late 
years  much  attention  has  been  paid  to  these  old 
account  books,  and  we  learn  much  that  is  curious 
from  them." 

"  You  ladies  would  have  found  the  old  prices 
very  convenient  in  housekeeping,"  said  Uncle 
Harry.  "  In  Edward  the  First's  time  a  pair 
of  fowls  cost  three  half-pence ;  a  fat  goose,  two- 
pence half-penny;  a  crane,  a  shilling;  and  a 
swan,  three  shillings." 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  79 

"  I  should  find  the  prices  much  more  conve- 
nient than  the  things  themselves,"  Mrs.  Mortimer 
replied.  "  I  should  be  rather  puzzled  to  know 
•what  to  do  with  a  swan  or  a  crane  when  it  came 
home  from  market.  Were  such  creatures  really 
eaten  ?  How  tough  they  must  have  been  I" 

"  There  were  very  good  recipes  for  cooking 
them.  A  crane  was  roasted;  but  they  stewed  a 
swan  till  it  was  quite  tender,  and  then  '  pyket 
out  his  bones/  as  their  old  cookery  books  say, 
and  dressed  it  with  vinegar  and  spice.  It  was 
not  considered  comme  il  faut  to  serve  more  than 
one  crane  or  swan  at  a  time  in  a  dish,  and  per- 
haps you  may  think  that  too  much ;  though  then 
it  was  '  a  dainty  dish  to  set  before  the  king/  '• 

"  Notwithstanding  all  your  boasting  of  the 
cheapness  of  former  times,"  said  Mr.  Stanley, 
"  some  things  are  much  cheaper  now.  Dress,  for 
instance  :  the  most  extravagant  man  in  the  world 
could  not  contrive  to  spend  a  hundred  pound's  in 
a  coat,  as  they  did  in  those  days." 

"  And  postage,"  said  Mrs.  Percy.  "  Our 
ancestors  would  have  been  more  surprised  at  our 
penny  postage  than  AVC  are  at  their  two- penny 
geese.  How  much  would  it  have  cost,  in  the 
Plantageuets'  time,  for  us  to  send  our  letters  to 
Mr.  Stanley,  when  he  is  at  his  house  in  York- 
shire ?" 

"  Three  and  sixpence,"  Uncle  Harry  replied  ; 
"  that  is  to  say,  half  a  guinea  of  our  money ;  one 
of  their  shillings  was  worth  three  of  ours." 


80  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

"  You  and  !_,  Lucy,  should  not  have  been  such 
good  correspondents  if  we  had  lived  in  those 
days,"  said  Caroline. 

"/  am  very  glad  we  did  not,"  she  replied; 
"  in  spite  of  all  Willy  says." 

William  took  no  notice  of  this  observation, 
but  contrived  to  bring  the  conversation  round  to 
his  favourite  subject. 

"  I  want  to  know  something  more  about  the 
clocks,  father,"  said  he.  "  Did  not  the  monks 
use  them  first?" 

"  No  doubt  they  did.  About  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, clocks  moved  by  weights  began  to  be  used 
in  monasteries,  but  they  seem  to  have  been  rude 
and  imperfect,  and  the  records  of  convents  con- 
tain very  minute  directions  for  regulating  them. 
These  clocks  pointed  out  the  hour,  but  whether 
they  struck  of  themselves,  or  were  struck  at  cer- 
tain times  by  the  sacristan,  we  do  not  know." 

Caroline  asked  whether  watches  had  not  been 
invented  much  later? 

"  Not  till  the  sixteenth  century,  I  believe," 
her  father  replied. 

"  I  should  like  to  have  for  my  own  the  oldest 
watch  that  ever  was  made,"  said  William.  "  I 
wonder  what  it  was  like?" 

"  A  precious  clumsy  thing,  I  dare  say,"  said 
Arthur. 

"  The  first  watches  were  not  so  clumsy  as  those 
that  were  made  about  a  hundred  years  ago," 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  81 

Fncle  Harry  answered  :  "  but  they  were  not  such 
pretty,  delicate  little  things  as  ours.  They  were 
made  in  the  shape  of  an  egg,  and  often  fastened 
on  the  tops  of  walking-sticks." 

"  When  we  go  back  to  town,  papa,"  said  Wil- 
liam, "  I  should  like  to  hunt  well  in  some  of  those 
curiosity  shops,  and  see  if  I  could  not  find  a  real 
old  watch,  and  save  up  my  money  to  buy  it." 

"  I  have  no  objection,"  said  his  father,  who 
encouraged  him  in  his  love  of  antiquities,  in  spite 
of  occasionally  laughing  at  him. 

"  The  chances  are,"  said  Mr.  Percy,  "  that 
you  would  be  served  like  a  boy  your  grandfather 
knew,  and  perhaps  not  be  so  sharp  in  suspecting 
the  trick.  This  boy  was,  like  you,  excessively  fond 
of  antiquities,  and  used  to  go  about  examining 
all  the  curiosity  shops  in  Edinburgh,  and  making 
acquaintance  with  the  shopkeepers.  He  had  a 
particular  fancy  for  collecting  relics  of  Robert 
Bruce ;  and  one  goldsmith,  whose  shop  he  used  to 
haunt,  told  him  that  he  could  show  him  a  watch 
which  had  belonged  to  Robert  Bruce  himself. 
Day  after  day  the  boy  came  to  see  it,  but  for  a 
long  time  it  was  not  forthcoming.  At  last  the 
goldsmith  produced  a  very  clumsy  battered  old 
watch,  with  an  inscription  on  the  dial-plate, 
'  Robertus  B.  Rex  Scotorum.'  At  first,  the  boy 
was  very  much  taken  with  it,  but  upon  closer  ex- 
amination he  suspected  a  trick,  and  would  have 
nothing  more  to  say  to  it.  After  a  time,  the 
G 


82  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

goldsmith  sold  it  to  some  less  knowing  anti- 
quarian, and  he,  in  his  turn,  sold  it  to  some  one 
else  at  a  higher  price ;  and  so  it  went  from  buyer 
to  buyer,  always  increasing  in  price,  till  at  last  it 
found  its  way  into  the  king's  collection,  and  the 
learned  antiquarians  of  the  day  wrote  dissertations 
upon  it,  to  prove  the  invention  of  watches  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  But,  unfortunately  for  their 
theories,  when  the  boy  was  grown  up  he  returned 
to  Edinburgh,  and  went  to  visit  his  friend  the  gold- 
smith. While  talking  over  old  times,  he  inquired 
about  the  watch,  and  what  had  become  of  it  ?  The 
goldsmith  laughed,  and  told  him  that  it  had  been 
a  mere  joke  of  his  own,  to  trick  the  young  col- 
lector, who  he  thought  would  have  been  taken 
in;  and  that  it  was  nothing  but  a  common  old 
American  watch,  with  the  inscription  scratched 
on  it  by  the  goldsmith  himself.  And  so  all  the 
antiquarians'  speculations  wrere  upset." 

"  But  now,  listen  to  our  own  clock,  girls  and 
boys,"  said  Mrs.  Percy,  "  striking  an  hour  that 
girls  and  boys  ought  not  to  hear.  Good-night." 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  83 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Children's  ideas  of  history — Favourite  heroes — The  dark  ages — 
The  Norman  conquest— Mediaeval  Superstitions — The  Cid. 

IT  was  a  bright  morning,  cold,  clear,  and  sunny; 
a  pattern  for  Christmas  weather,  according  to  old 
ideas  of  Christmas,  "  frosty  though  kindly."  We 
were  very  glad  to  see  it,  for  there  was  a  great  deal 
to  be  done,  and  everybody  was  anxious  to  be  able 
to  go  out.  There  was  no  time  this  morning  for 
arranging  charades ;  the  Christmas  presents  were 
to  be  taken  to  the  poor  people  in  the  village;  the 
charity-school  to  be  dismissed  for  the  holidays; 
the  rewards  given ;  and  Ellen's  elaborate  flannel 
petticoat  being  quite  finished,  she  was  going  to 
take  it  to  old  Susan  herself. 

The  moment  breakfast  was  over,  the  whole 
party  set  off.  Mrs.  Percy  had  a  Christmas  pre- 
sent for  every  cottage:  shawls  for  old  women, 
comfortables  for  old  men ;  blankets,  baby-clothes, 
books;  shoes  and  stockings,  gowns,  tea  and  sugar; 
in  short,  everything  that  she  knew  would  be  most 
acceptable :  she  had  taken  pains  beforehand  to 
ascertain  what  each  person  would  prefer,  as  she 
liked  to  please  them  in  their  own  way. 

Ellen  was  made  very  happy  by  seeing  how 
much  Susan  liked  the  petticoat.  She  held  it  up, 
folded  and  unfolded  it,  admired  the  work  and  the 
flannel,  and  was  much  inclined  to  put  it  on  at 


84  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

once  for  Ellen's  satisfaction.  "When  we  left  her 
cottage,  Ellen,  who  had  hitherto  been  no  great 
needlewoman,  expressed  a  determination  to  like 
work  for  the  rest  of  her  life.  It  was  now  time 
to  go  to  the  school,  where  she  was  confirmed  in 
this  resolution  by  the  specimens  shown  by  some  of 
the  scholars.  Such  stitching  and  gathering! — in- 
visible hemming  and  imperceptible  sewing.  Their 
needlework  did  the  greatest  credit  to  themselves, 
their  schoolmistress,  and  Caroline,  who  helped  to 
superintend  it.  Then  they  showed  their  copy- 
books and  ciphering-books:  Ellen  looked  at  these 
with  particular  interest,  for  she  often  taught  the 
younger  ones  arithmetic,  as  it  was  her  own  fa- 
vourite lesson.  Next  they  read,  and  the  clergy- 
man questioned  them.  They  answered  well  and 
sensibly,  as  if  they  had  listened  to  what  he  said, 
and  understood  the  meaning  of  his  questions;  not 
merely  repeating  at  random  any  Scripture  phrase 
that  came  into  their  heads.  We  were  all  very 
much  pleased  with  the  school,  and  I  think  the 
school  was  very  much  pleased  with  us,  for  every 
girl  who  had  attended  regularly  had  some  reward. 
Ellen  and  Caroline  supplied  many,  and  their 
mamma  provided  the  rest.  Lucy  also  had  made 
some  pretty  work-bags,  nicely  fitted  up,  for  a  few 
of  the  children  with  whom  she  had  become  ac- 
quainted during  her  visit  to  her  cousins. 

That  evening  we  were  so  much  interested  in 
talking  over  our  morning's  occupation,  that  there 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  85 

was  no  thought  of  charades  or  any  other  play 
before  tea.  Then  Matilda  sang  to  us:  when  she 
left  the  pianoforte,  Mrs.  Mortimer  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Percy  began  to  discuss  the  merits  of  dif- 
ferent musicians,  and  to  talk  of  various  methods 
of  teaching  music ;  and  from  music  they  went 
on  to  other  accomplishments,  and  the  children 
listened,  and  thought  how  many  things  there 
were  to  learn. 

Lucy  was  much  surprised  at  hearing  us  talk 
of  things  as  amusements  that  she  had  always 
considered  as  lessons,  and  very  tiresome  ones. 
Ellen  did.  not  understand  Matilda's  complaint  that 
she  could  not  give  as  much  time  as  she  liked  to 
her  music.  Ellen  thought  one  hour's  practice 
every  day  very  hard  work,  and  rather  too  much ; 
but  Matilda  thought  three  hours  rather  too  little. 
However,  even  this  indefatigable  Matilda  con- 
fessed that  music  was  the  only  lesson  she  had 
hitherto  liked ;  but  she  meant  for  the  future  to 
be  more  industrious,  and  try  to  improve  herself 
by  reading. 

"  I  do  not  know  how  it  is,"  said  her  mother, 
"  but  I  have  never  been  able  to  make  my  children 
take  any  interest  in  history ;  yet  I  am  sure  they 
have  not  been  over-dosed  with  it.  They  have 
never  been  wearied  with  any  long  books,  for 
I  have  only  made  them  read  the  very  easiest 
abridgments." 

"  My  dear  sister,"  said  Mr.  Percy,  "  that  quite 


86  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

accounts  for  their  disliking  it.  Abridgments 
and  epitomes  are  the  dullest  things  in  existence. 
If  you  wish  children  to  be  fond  of  history,  give 
them  plenty  of  details,  however  trifling,  and  let 
them  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  times  they  read 
about." 

"I  wonder,"  said  little  Mary,  "  how  people  write 
books  of  history;  I  cannot  imagine  how  they 
know  all  the  things  that  happened  so  long  ago." 

"  How  do  you  suppose  ?"  said  Uncle  Harry ; 
"  give  us  your  idea  of  a  historian,  Mary :  how  do 
you  think  he  would  set  to  work  r" 

"  I  think  children's  books  of  history  must  be 
made  out  of  grown-up  people's." 

"  No  doubt.      And  grown-up  people's  ?" 

"  I  suppose  they  must  be  made  out  of  older 
ones  still:  those  that  were  printed  before." 

"  Well,  and  before  those  ?  Before  there  were 
any  printed  books  ?" 

"  I  am  sure  I  don't  know/' 

"  Oh,  Mary,"  exclaimed  Ellen,  "  you  know 
there  were  manuscripts,  written  books." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  forgot  that.  But  were  manuscripts 
histories  ?" 

"Many  of  them  were,"  Uncle  Harry  replied. 
"  Numbers  of  persons  wrote  the  chronicles  of 
their  own  times.  But  there  are  also  other  ways  of 
finding  out  what  happened  in  former  days." 

"  Are  there  ?"  said  Mary,  looking  rather 
puzzled. 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  87 

"  I  am  afraid  they  are  beyond  your  discovery. 
Can  you  think  of  any,  Ellen  and  Lucy  ?" 

Ellen  and  Lucy  were  as  much  at  a  loss  as 
Mary.  Caroline  supposed  it  would  be  by  poetry, 
ancient  ballads,  and  the  like.  She  knew  that 
minstrels  used  to  sing  about  great  events,  and  she 
thought  people  would  probably  remember  such 
poems,  and  teach  them  to  their  children. 

"  Very  right/'  said  Mr.  Percy  and  his  brother, 
both  together.  "What  more  ?" 

"  Monuments  and  coins,"  said  William. 
"  True.     What  else  ?" 

"  Things  that  belong  to  battles  and  massacres," 
cried  Arthur.  "  The  flags  that  hang  up  in 
churches.  Even  in  the  Prayer  Book  there  is  all 
about  Gunpowder  Plot." 

"  What  more?"  asked  his  father,  laughing. 
"  I  know,"  exclaimed  Henry.      "  Public  docu- 
ments, laws,  constitutions,  and  -decrees:  those  are 
all  a  part  of  history." 

"And  a  very  great  part,  too,"  said  uncle 
Harry.  "  But  besides  all  those  grander  sources, 
there  are  memoirs  and  private  letters  of  persons 
who  might  be  of  no  great  note,  and  who  wrote 
about  matters  of  no  particular  importance,  but 
their  letters  are  valuable  now,  because  they  tell 
about  the  customs  and  ways  of  thinking  of  that 
day." 

"  I  believe,"  said  Mr.  Percy,  "  children  think 
history  is  a  mere  record  of  the  succession  of 


88  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

kings  and  queens,  the  battles  they  fought,  and 
the  executions  that  took  place  in  their  reigns." 

"I  think  they  have  rather  a  better  notion  of  it 
than  that/3  Mrs.  Percy  observed.  "Most  children 
have  their  favourite  hero  to  whom  they  look  up 
with  great  enthusiasm,  and  for  whose  sake  they 
will  read  eagerly  the  history  of  his  time." 

"  Who  is  your  favourite  hero,  Mary?"  asked 
her  father. 

"  Robert  Bruce  is  mine/'  she  answered. 

"  And  the  Marquis  of  Montrose  mine,"  said 
Ellen. 

"And  Coeur-de-Lion  mine" — "And  Gustavus 
Adolphus  mine" — "And  Madcap  Harry  mine" 
— "And  Alfred  the  Great  mine,"  exclaimed  one 
after  another. 

"  I  wonder  what  idea  they  have  of  the  history 
of  any  particular  period,"  said  Mr.  Harry  Percy. 

"  Suppose  you .  try,"  answered  Mrs.  Percy. 
"  Who  will  be  examined  in  history  by  Uncle 
Harry  ?" 

"  I  will"—"  and  I"—"  and  I"— was  heard  on 
all  sides. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  Avhat  epoch  shall  we  have  ? 
Choose  for  yourselves." 

"  I  should  like  to  be  examined  in  Henry  the 
Eighth,"  said  Edward,  "  because  I  know  about 
him." 

"What  do  you  know  about  him,  my  little 
man  ?" 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  89 

"  I  know  he  had  eight  wives,  and  cut  off  all 
their  heads/'  replied  the  little  boy  very  solemnly. 

Uncle  Harry  laughed  at  Edward's  mistake,  and 
said  he  should  be  happy  to  hear  their  account  of 
the  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  if  they  pleased ; 
but  Caroline  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  no ;  do  let  us  have 
the  Dark  Ages  ?" 

"  Why  are  they  called  the  Dark  Ages  ?"  Lucy 
asked. 

Without  giving  his  uncle  time  to  speak,  Henry 
answered,  "  Everybody  knows  that,  Lucy.  Be- 
cause the  people  who  lived  then  were  so  shock- 
ingly ignorant  and  stupid." 

"Don't  believe  him,  Lucy,"  William  eagerly 
exclaimed ;  "  there,  were  more  great,  and  good, 
and  learned  men  then  than  there  are  now,  and 
people  were  altogether  better." 

"  Which  of  them  is  right,  Uncle  Harry  ?"  asked 
Lucy. 

"  Neither  of  them,"  he  answered.  "  Both  their 
opinions  are  prejudices.  There  were,  as  William 
says,  many  great  and  good  men ;  but  people  in 
general  were  much  less  educated  than  they  are 
now;  and  though  they  had  great  reverence  for 
religion,  the  superstitions  which  were  mixed  up 
with  it  injured  their  minds,  and  often  caused  them 
to  mistake  wrong  for  right.  Now,  what  part  of 
the  Dark  Ages  will  you  have?  Wre  cannot  go 
through  the  history  of  eight  centuries. 

"  I  have  often  heard  of  the  Dark  Ages/'  said 


90  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

Ellen,  "and  I  like  them,  because  the  name  sounds 
so  awful ;  but  I  don't  know  when  they  were." 

"  When  do  you  suppose  ?" 

"  I  thought  they  were  when  everybody  prayed 
to  the 'saints,  and  bought  indulgences/'  said  Lucy, 
as  Ellen  did  not  seem  very  ready  with  an  answer. 

"  Was  that  when  they  were  all  Roman  Catho- 
lics ?"  asked  Edward. 

"  Yes  :  but  when  was  that  ?"  said  Uncle  Harry. 

"  I  suppose  when  the  Pope  turned  out  the 
bishop  of  Rome/'  said  Ellen,  jumbling  together 
her  recollections  of  church  history. 

Lucy's  ideas  were  no  clearer  than  Ellen's ;  but 
Henry  and  Caroline  understood  something  of  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation,  and  knew  a  few  facts 
connected  with  the  history  of  the  Papacy.  They 
knew,  for  instance,  that  Gregory  the  Seventh  was 
the  first  Pope  or  bishop  of  Rome  who  had  claimed 
the  right  of  deposing  kings  ;  and  that  the  different 
errors  of  the  church  of  Rome  had  crept  in  by  de- 
grees ;  that  there  had  often  been  people  to  oppose 
them  at  the  time,  but  that  superstitions  had  taken 
root,  one  after  another,  till  they  became  too  bad 
to  go  on  any  longer. 

"Was  it  not  the  sale  of  indulgences  that 
brought  on  the  Reformation  ?"  asked  Henry. 

"  That  happened  to  bring  matters  to  a  crisis," 
his  uncle  answered.  "  But  people's  eyes  had  begun 
to  be  opened  to  the  corruptions  of  the  church  long 
before.  The  Reformation  was  infact  brought  about 


HISTORICAL   CHAEADES.  91 

by  the  revival  of  learning.  "When  people  discovered 
what  the  ancient  church  had  really  been,  and  how 
nnlike  it  they  had  become,  they  set  to  work  to 
clear  off  abuses,  and  put  matters  to  rights." 

"  When  did  the  Dark  Ages  begin  and  end  ?" 
Lucy  asked. 

Caroline  could  answer  this.  She  knew  that 
what  are  commonly  called  the  Dark  Ages,  and 
the  Middle  Ages,  had  lasted  from  about  the  sixth 
or  seventh  century  till  the  fourteenth. 

"  Why  then,"  exclaimed  Ellen  in  great  amaze- 
ment, "  Alfred  the  Great  lived  in  the  Dark  Ages!" 

"To  be  sure  he  did,"  said  her  uncle :  "and  Coeur- 
de-Lion,  Robert  Bruce,  William  Wallace,  and 
plenty  more  of  your  favourite  heroes.  But  wh( 
knows  why  their  times  are  called  the  Middh 
Ages?" 

None  of  the  children  cquld  answer  this  question, 
so  Uncle  Harry  explained  the  matter. 

"There  are  two  great  divisions  of  history,"  said 
he,  "  Ancient  and  Modern.  The  ancient  world 
broke  up  completely  in  the  fifth  century ;  but  the 
modern  state  of  things  did  not  fairly  begin  till  the 
fourteenth.  People  find  it  convenient  to  have 
a  separate  name  for  the  intermediate  centuries, 
which  are  therefore  called  the  Middle  Ages.  But 
now,  whose  times  shall  we  choose  ?" 

They  chose  the  period  of  the  Norman  Conquest. 
I  will  not  repeat  at  length  all  that  was  said,  the 
questions  that  Uncle  Harry  asked,  and  that  the 


92  IIISTOEICAL    CHARADES. 

children  answered,  or  could  not  answer,  but  only- 
give  a  general  idea  of  the  conversation. 

He  made  them  find  on  the  map  the  dominions 
of  William  the  Conqueror,  both  in  England  and 
Normandy.  He  told  them  of  the  languages  that 
were  spoken  in  England,  the  Saxon  and  the 
Norman  French ;  and  the  remains  of  both  to  be 
found  in  our  own  English.  He  told  of  both  the 
good  and  bad  laws  made  by  William  the  Norman, 
with  many  curious  stories  of  the  time ;  and  asto- 
nished Lucy  by  saying,  that  those  were  not  half 
that  there  were  to  be  told.  He  said  a  great  deal 
about  the  state  of  religion  ;  how  many  heathen 
superstitions  were  then  mixed  up  with  it;  how  the 
clergy  were  obliged  to  preach  to  Christian  people 
not  to  worship  particular  trees,  nor  to  believe  in 
charms  and  talismans,  nor  to  invoke  Minerva  to 
help  them  in  their  needlework,  nor  to  keep  holy 
particular  days  in  order  to  be  delivered  from  moths 
and  mice.  He  also  told  them  of  the  belief  in 
fairies  and  goblins,  magicians  and  witches. 

"Did  grown-up  people  really  believe  in  fairies?" 
asked  Lucy. 

"I  am  ashamed  to  confess  they  really  did.  Some- 
times they  thought  the  fairies  were  good-natured 
and  useful ;  but  in  general  they  looked  upon  them 
as  a  spiteful  race,  particularly  fond  of  killing  cows, 
and  riding  farmers'  horses  to  death ;  and  the  poor 
ignorant  people  used  to  endeavour  to  propitiate 
them  by  offerings  and  many  foolish  customs.  The 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  93 

clergy  used  to  preach  against  all  this  nonsense;  but 
unhappily  they  encouraged  other  superstitions, 
•which  gradually  became  a  part  of  religion." 

"  Of  what  kind,  uncle  ?"  asked  Arthur. 

"Such  as  the  worship  of  saints,  and  pilgrimages 
to  their  shrines.  Among  other  things,  the  people 
fancied  the  saints  would  protect  them  from  the 
fairies.  They  even  assigned  to  each  saint  his  own 
particular  department.  Saint  Bartholomew  kept 
off  thieves ;  Saint  Peter  took  care  of  the  churns ; 
Eloy's  prayer  cured  sick  horses,  and  so  on." 

"  You  do  not  seem  to  think  those  times  were 
so  good  as  William  makes  them  out,  uncle,"  said 
Henry. 

"  No,"  replied  their  uncle.  "  "William  as  yet 
sees  only  one  side  of  the  question.  He  is  still  so 
much  delighted  with  his  new  line  of  reading,  that 
he  forgets,  or  does  not  know,  all  there  is  to  be 
said  on  the  other  side.  He  must  read  a  great  deal 
more  yet." 

The  children  were  surprised  to  find  how  many 
celebrated  persons  had  lived  at  the  same  time : 
William  the  Conqueror  ;  Pope  Gregory  the 
Seventh ;  that  hero  of  Spanish  history,  the  Cid ; 
Mahmoud  of  Ghizni  only  a  few  years  earlier,  &c. 
Ellen,  Lucy,  and  Arthur  had  never  heard  of  the 
Cid.  Uncle  Harry  told  them,  that,  when  Spain 
was  divided  between  the  Moors  and  the  Christians, 
Rodrigo  Diaz  was  a  Christian  hero  renowned  for 
his  wisdom  and  valour.  He  conquered  five 


94  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

Moorish  kings,  and  afterwards  gave  them  their 
liberty,  and  treated  them  with  such  generosity 
and  kindness,  that  they  swore  allegiance  to  him, 
and  gave  him  the  title  of  their  Cid,  or  Lord. 
Thus  the  Cid,  though  only  a  subject,  came  to 
have  more  power  than  the  kings  of  Spain  them- 
selves ;  for  the  knights  of  France  and  Italy  were 
willing  to  serve  under  his  banner,  and  he  might 
have  obtained  the  kingdom  of  Castile  for  himself; 
but  he  was  loyal  to  his  master,  king  Alphonso, 
and  always  helped  him  against  his  enemies. 

He  was  going  on,  but  Mary  began  to  yawn;  and 
Uncle  Harry  said,"  This  has  been  quite  an  evening 
of  lessons ;  suppose  now  we  have  a  charade." 

"  By  all  means,"  said  Mr.  Percy;  "  let  us  have 
a  good  charade  to  relieve  our  minds :  run  away, 
and  prepare  it." 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  95 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ALFRED — Elves  in  the  "Midsummer Night's  Dream" — POMPEII 
— MONTROSE — Ancient  tenures — Battle  of  Inverness. 

11 1  WISH/'  said  Mary,  when  they  returned  to  the 
school-room,  "we  could  act  Alfred  the  Great. 
My  favourite  Alfred !" 

"  Why  not !" 

"  Because  we  cannot  think  of  any  way  of 
making  him  into  a  charade.  Al-fred — how  can 
we  manage  it  ?  What  could  we  do  for  Al  ?" 

"  We  need  not  keep  to  Al/'  said  William ; 
"  we  may  manage  it  another  way.  Papa  showed 
me  one  day  an  old  translation  of  the  grant  to  the 
monastery,  which  Alfred  founded  in  the  Isle  of 
Athelney,  and  in  that  his  name  was  spelt  in  three 
different  ways ;  Alfred,  Alfred,  and  Elfred." 

"  Elf,  then  ;  that  will  just  do,  and  I  will  be  the 
elf." 

I  thought  this  such  a  make-shift,  that  I  tried  to 
persuade  them  to  give  up  Alfred  altogether,  and 
find  some  better  word ;  but  they  were  determined 
upon  it,  and  said  that  people  must  put  up  with  a 
bad  syllable  for  the  sake  of  such  an  important 
character ;  so  I  let  them  have  their  own  way  with 
their  elf. 

"  What  is  an  elf?"  asked  Edward. 

"  A  sort  of  fairy/'  Mary  replied ;  "  a  kind  of 
merry,  mischievous  fairy." 


96  HISTORICAL    CHAKADES. 

"  They  need  not  be  mischievous,"  said  Caro- 
line ;  "  we  might  have  Collins'  quiet  elves,  '  who 
slept  in  buds  the  day/  >: 

But  sleeping  elves  were  not  in  Mary's  line. 
I  proposed  a  dance  of  fairies  in  Windsor  Forest, 
with  the  queen  giving  her  orders. 

"  About,  about : 
Search  Windsor  Castle,  elves,  within  and  out,"  &c. 

But  we  decided  upon  the  best  of  all  elves, 
Puck,  or  Robin  Goodfellow,  and  part  of  the 
dialogue  in  the  "  Midsummer  Night's  Dream." 

Mary  and  Ellen,  fancifully  dressed  up  with 
wings  and  garlands,  were  very  good  elves  or  fairies. 
Their  wings  were  made  of  large  sheets  of  paper, 
folded  into  fans,  and  mounted  on  a  piece  of  paste- 
board, which  was  tied  on  their  shoulders. 

Enter  a  fairy ;  and  presently  afterwards,  Puck. 

Puck.  How  now,  spirit !  whither  wander  you  ? 

Fairy.  Over  hill,  over  dale, 

Thorough  bush,  thorough  briar, 

Over  park,  over  pale, 

Thorough  flood,  thorough  fire, 

I  do  wander  every  where. 

Swifter  than  the  moones  sphere  ; 

And  I  serve  the  fairy  queen, 

To  dew  her  orbs  upon  the  green. 

Puck.  The  king  doth  keep  his  revels  here  to-night ; 

Take  heed  the  queen  come  not  within  his  sight. 

Fairy.  Either  I  mistake  your  shape  and  making  quite, 
Or  else  you  are  that  shrewd  and  knavish  sprite, 
Called  Robin  Goodfellow  :  are  you  not  he, 
That  fright  the  maidens  of  the  villagery  ; 
Skim  milk  ;  and  sometimes  labour  in  the  quern, 
And  bootless  make  the  breathless  housewife  churn  ; 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  97 

And  sometime  make  the  drink  to  bear  no  barm ; 
Mislead  night-wanderers,  laughing  at  their  harm  ? 
Those  that  Hobgoblin  call  you,  and  sweet  Puck, 
You  do  their  work,  and  they  shall  have  good  luck  : 
Are  you  not  he  ? 

Puclc.  Thou  speak'st  aright ; 

I  am  that  merry  wanderer  of  the  night. 

The  next  scene  required  no  other  preparation 
than  to  conceal  Arthur  under  the  pianoforte. 

Enter  a  party  walking  in  bonnets  and  cloaks, 
and  one  of  the  ladies  in  a  very  bright  red  shawl. 

"  What  a  pleasant  meadow  this  is,"  she  re- 
marked. 

"  Yes ;  but  few  people  walk  here,  because 
there  is  a  bull  in  it." 

"  Oh !    do  you  think  he  will  come  after  us  ?"• 

"  I  dare  say  he  will,  because  of  your  shawl;" 
(touching  it,  to  draw  the  attention  of  the  company 
to  the  colour.)  "  Bulls  particularly  dislike  that 
colour." 

At  this  moment  a  faint  and  distant  bellow 
issued  from  under  the  pianoforte. 

"  But  does  the  colour  really  matter  ?"  asked 
the  wearer  of  the  red  shawl  in  some  alarm. 

The  bull  himself  answered  this  question  by  a 
tremendous  roar :  he  was  evidently  advancing, 
and  the  party  took  to  their  heels,  exclaiming, — 
"  Oh,  here  he  is  coming  !  Take  off  that  horrid 
coloured  shawl — throw  it  away,"  &c. 

ALFRED. — Of  course  they  acted  the  well- 
known  story  of  his  burning  the  cakes  in  the  neat- 
herd's cottage,  and  the  goodwife  scolding  him. 

H 


98  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

Hackneyed  as  it  was,  nothing  pleased  the  children 
so  well.  I  proposed  his  listening  to  his  mother's 
songs — his  visiting  the  Danish  camp  in  disguise 
— his  studying  by  the  light  of  his  candles — his 
going  with  his  queen  to  lay  the  first  stone  of  the 
monastery  in  Athelney; — but  they  returned 
unanimously  to  the  burning  of  the  cakes,  and 
Miss  Aikin's  version  of  it ;  and  Ellen,  as  the 
neatherd 's  wife,  called  William,  "  You  oaf !  you 
lubber  !  you  lazy  loon  \"  with  hearty  indignation. 

The  word  was  guessed,  though  the  spectators 
agreed  in  objecting  to  the  first  syllable. 

"  Have  we  time  for  another  charade,  mamma?" 
asked  Caroline. 

"  Yes  ;  two  or  three  more,  if  you  make  haste," 

Away  they  ran,  and  presently  reappeared  in 
oriental  dresses,  walking  in  a  pompous  procession. 
Little  Edward  was  carried  in  a  chair,  surrounded 
by  his  attendants  :  Henry  and  Arthur  marched 
before  him  as  heralds,  proclaiming  his  titles : — 

"  His  most  celestial  majesty  Slofun,  Emperor 
of  Tagrag,  brother  of  the  Sun,  father  of  the 
Moon,  cousin  of  the  Stars,  and  uncle  of  the 
Comets  \" 

This  was  the  first  syllable,  POMP. 

We  then  had  a  school;  Henry,  as  schoolmaster, 
examined  his  scholars  in  the  fifth  declension. 

"  How  do  you  distinguish  the  declensions  ?" 

"  Please,  sir,  by  the  genitive  case  singular." 

"  What  is  the  sign  of  the  fifth  declension  ?" 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  99 

"  Please,  sir,  I  don't  know." 
"  Very  foolish  boy ;  go  down  to  the  bottom  of 
the  class.     Next  boy — What  is  the  sign  of  the 
fifth  declension?" 
"  Please,  sir,  in  i" 
"  Very  bad  boy  :  go  down.     Next  ?" 
"The  genitive   case  singular   ends  in  orum, 
arum,  orum" 

And  so  on ;  all  giving  very  stupid  answers, 
and  pretending  not  to  know  the  genitive  case 
singular  of  the  fifth  declension.  Henry  ordered 
them  oif  to  learn  their  lessons  better;  and  we 
perceived  that  the  syllable  must  be  EI. 

Scene  the   third. — A    party    seated,  enjoying 
the  pleasant  evening  air.     Before  them  stood  a 
small  table,  on  which  were  one  or  two  of  the 
vases  made  by  Wedgwood,  in  imitation  of  those 
found  in  Pompeii.     The  company  were  dressed 
in  drapery  made  of  shawls  and  scarfs,  with  white 
ribands  tied  round  their  heads  for  fillets.     They 
talked  of  their  beautiful  and  flourishing  city,  the 
bright  sky  over  their  heads,  and  the  blue  water 
at  their  feet.     They  said  it  was  long  since  the 
mountain  had  done  any  mischief;  it  seemed  now 
to  have  become  perfectly  quiet ;  there  would  be 
no   more  danger  from  it.     Vesuvius  would  be 
for  the  future  only  a  fine  feature  in  their  land- 
scape. 

"But  what   said  the  oracle  this  morning  ?" 
asked  Caroline  of  Henry,  who  was  dressed  in  a 

* 


100  HISTOEICAL   CHAKADES. 

purple  scarf  to  represent  the  Pontifex  Maximus 
of  Jupiter. 

"  The  oracle,"  replied  Henry,  in  a  loud  voice, 
"  the  oracle  has  promised  to  this  fair  city  as  many 
more  years  as  have  passed  since  it  took  its  name 
from  the  triumphal  pomp  of  Hercules." 

Suddenly  one  of  the  party  started,  and  said  he 
heard  a  strange  sound.  Another  looked  up,  and 
exclaimed  that  lava  was  streaming  down  the  side 
of  the  mountain.  Others  said  it  would  soon  reach 
the  city.  Others,  that  torrents  of  ashes  were 
coming  down.  They  all  jumped  up,  and  there 
was  confusion,  and  hurrying  to  and  fro,  a  talk 
of  escaping,  and  saving,  some  their  property, 
others  their  lives,  as  they  rushed  from  the  room, 
and  left  us  to  remember  the  rest  of  the  history. 

The  next  word  was  MONTROSE. 

Scene  the  first. — The  actors  pretending  to  be 
ascending  a  mountain.  They  said  it  was  terribly 
steep,  but  they  expected  such  fine  views  as  would 
repay  them  for  all  their  fatigue.  They  described 
everything  they  saw  as  they  went  on,  and  quoted 
poetry  applicable  to  the  imaginary  scenes  that 
passed  before  them. 

Ellen.  "  It  is  warm  and  pleasant  here,  while 
we  still  remain  among  the  fields  and  flowers." 

Caroline.  "  Yes,  but  we  must  mount  higher, 
though  this  place  is  very  beautiful. 

'  Boon  nature  scatters,  free  and  wild, 
Each  plant  or  flower,  the  mountain's  child. 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  101 

Here  eglantine  embalms  the  air, 
Hawthorn  and  hazel  mingle  there; 
The  primrose  pale,  and  violet  flower, 
Find  in  each  cleft  a  narrow  bower.'" 

Then  they  walked  on  in  silence  for  a  time,  seem- 
ing to  climb  the  steep  hill  with  great  difficulty. 

Henry.  "  Now  we  are  out  of  the  region  of 
fields  and  flowers,  and  we  must  enter  this  forest 
of  pines.  How  dark  and  gloomy  it  is  !  These 
really  are  '  forests  ancient  as  the  hills/  '• 

Lucy.  "  And  now  that  we  have  passed  the  dark 
forest,  and  have  only  barren  rocks  to  climb  before 
we  reach  the  snow,  let  us  look  back  and  see  all 
we  have  left  at  our  feet." 

Mary.  "  Or  let  us  look  still  higher,  at  that 
great  mountain  just  before  us.  It  seems  the  king 
of  them  all." 

Caroline.  "  That  is  Mont  Blanc.  Do  you 
know  the  song  of  the  spirit  of  Mont  Blanc  ? 

'  Mont  Blanc  is  the  monarch  of  mountains, 

They  crowned  him  long  ago, 
On  a  throne  of  rocks,  with  a  robe  of  clouds, 

And  a  diadem  of  snow  ; 
Around  his  waist  are  forests  braced, 

The  avalanche  in  his  hand  ; 
Bui  ere  it  fall,  that  thundering  ball 

Must  pause  for  my  command.'  " 

"  Unless  you  have  any  fresh  incident  to  intro- 
duce," said  Mr.  Percy,  "  you  may  go  on  to  the 
next  scene ;  we  are  quite  sure  your  syllable  must 
be  mount  or  mont." 

The  children  had  heard  Mr.  Percy  and  his 
brother  talking  of  some  of  the  curious  tenures  by 


102  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

•which  lands  were  held  in  former  times.  The 
tenant  was  often  bound  to  make  some  particular 
annual  offering  to  his  lapdlord,  or  to  perform 
some  unusual  service  for  him,  on  pain  of  forfeit- 
ing his  lease.  One  manor  was  held  on  the  con- 
dition that  when  the  king  journeyed  into  Gas- 
cony,  the  tenant  should  accompany  him,  leading 
three  greyhounds,  for  as  long  a  time  as  he  could 
wear  a  pair  of  shoes  worth  fourpence  without 
wearing  them  out.  On  another  manor,  the  tenant 
was  bound  to  go  wool-gathering  for  the  queen 
among  the  thorns  and  briers.  Several  were  held 
on  condition  of  the  tenant's  presenting  the  land- 
lord with  a  rose,  or  a  nosegay,  or  garland  of  roses, 
on  Midsummer's  day. 

Mr.  Percy's  manor  had  been  formerly  held  by 
this  tenure  of  a  rose,  and  the  children  acted  the 
tenant's  bringing  the  offering,  and  the  landlord's 
receiving  it,  with  due  ceremony. 

The  third  scene  represented  one  of  the  many 
stories  of  the  bravery  and  readiness  of  Montrose. 
The  children  had  doubted  between  the  battle  in 
which  he  and  his  Irish  troops,  almost  unprovided 
with  arms,  rushed  upon  the  Covenanters'  army, 
attacked  them  with  volleys  of  stones,  and  gained 
a  complete  victory, — and  the  battle  of  Inverness, 
in  which,  by  his  manoeuvring,  he  defeated  an 
army  double  the  number  of  his  own.  On  this 
occasion  he  concealed  his  small  number  by  di- 
viding his  army  into  two  wings,  and  contriving 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  103 

a  sham  main  body  by  hiding  a  few  men  behind 
trees  and  bushes,  so  as  to  give  the  enemy  the  idea 
that  there  was  a  large  number  to  support  him  : 
he  then  rushed  furiously  with  one  of  his  wings 
upon  his  adversaries,  and  drove  them  back  before 
they  had  time  to  perceive  how  easily  they  might 
overpower  him.  We  chose  this  scene,  and  my 
readers  may  imagine  the  arranging  the  army 
among  the  furniture ;  the  peeping  out  from  be- 
hind the  chairs  and  sofas ;  the  few  determined 
men  under  the  table;  Montrose's  furious  rush 
from  behind  the  pianoforte,  and  the  complete 
rout  of  the  adverse  army.  It  was  acted  with 
spirit,  and  easily  guessed. 


104  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Comparing  ancient  and  modern  history — A  game  of 
Blindman's  Buff. 

WE  were  now  obliged  to  give  up  our  charades 
for  some  days.  First  came  Sunday,  then  Christ- 
mas-day; after  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Percy  were 
engaged  with  company,  and  dined  late ;  and  the 
grown-up  people  were  not  inclined  to  join  in  the 
play  in  the  evening.  The  children  might  cer- 
tainly have  acted  by  themselves, but  they  preferred 
waiting  till  we  were  able  to  attend  to  them  ;  and 
meanwhile  spent  their  time  in  very  elaborate 
preparations  to  surprise  us  on  the  first  leisure 
evening.  Besides  working  hard  at  their  dresses, 
they  looked  through  all  the  books  of  history  in 
the  house  for  subjects  to  act.  Often  the  best 
stories  could  not  be  brought  into  charades ;  many 
an  adventure  that  pleased  them  in  reading,  was 
hopeless  for  acting,  and  sometimes,  after  a  whole 
morning's  work,  they  had  not  fixed  upon  a  single 
word.  Lucy  said  they  lost  their  time  sadly ;  but 
I  did  not  agree  with  her,  for  they  learned  more 
real  history  in  reading  for  their  own  amusement 
than  they  had  ever  done  in  their  lessons;  and 
what  was  still  better,  they  learnt  to  understand 
and  enter  into  the  pleasure  of  searching  for  his- 
torical details  and  anecdotes.  Uncle  Harry  was 
always  appealed  to  in  their  difficulties,  and  the 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  105 

merits  of  many  a  hero  awaited  his  decision  till 
he  could  be  hunted  up  from  the  library  or  draw- 
ing-room. 

One  morning  they  were  discussing  very  ear- 
nestly what  country  and  what  period  furnished 
the  most  amusing  history.  Their  opinions  on  this 
subject  had  been  continually  changing  for  some 
days  past ;  but  just  now  William  was  for  Eng- 
land and  the  Plantagenets ;  Ellen  for  Scotland 
and  Robert  Bruce;  Caroline  for  France  and 
"Franqois  Premier,  plus  grand  que  son  malheur;" 
Mary  for  later  times  and  "  Bonnie  Prince 
Charlie ;"  while  Henry  and  Arthur  scouted  the 
idea  of  modern  history,  as  not  to  be  compared 
with  that  of  ancient  Greece  or  Rome.  Henry 
stood  up  for  Greece  and  Leonidas,  Arthur  for 
Rome  and  Camillus,  each  of  the  girls  defended 
valiantly  her  own  hero,  and  the  dispute  was 
carried  on  so  eagerly  and  so  loudly,  that  the 
noise  soon  attracted  uncle  Harry  to  the  room. 
Standing  outside  the  door  for  a  minute,  he  heard 
one  saying,  "  The  Scotch  beat  the  English  when 
Robert  Bruce  was  king ;"  and  another  screaming, 
"  Francis  the  First  was  much  better  than  Henry 
the  Eighth ;"  and  another  whining,  "  Oh,  my 
dear  Pretender  !"  while  William  was  repeating, 
"  Plantagenets,  barons,  monks,  abbots,  chroni- 
cles," as  if  he  was  reading  off  some  historical 
dictionary.  Henry  was  spouting  Greek  poetry, 
to  which  nobody  listened,  and  asking  between. 


106      HISTORICAL  CHARADES. 

every  two  or  three  lines,  "What's  Shakspeare  to 
that  ?"  while  Arthur  bawled  out,  "  Camillus, 
Fabricius,  Scipio,"  till  my  ears  could  scarcely 
stand  it.  As  soon  as  uncle  Harry  peeped  in,  he 
was  seized  upon,  and  required  to  decide  the  ques- 
tion. His  first  step  was  to  enthrone  himself  in 
state  to  judge  the  cause,  and  he  unconsciously 
seated  himself  on  the  very  chair  under  which 
Henry  had  just  before  hidden  little  Edward,  in 
order  to  show  his  cousins  how  the  ancient  priests 
concealed  themselves  to  utter  oracles.  The  chair 
had  a  loose  chintz  cover,  which  completely  pre- 
vented Edward  from  being  seen ;  and  he  sat  very 
quietly,  and  considered  being  hidden  there  as  a 
great  joke. 

As  soon  as  uncle  Harry  had  obtained  a  hear- 
ing, he  said,  "  You  are  like  the  French  Chambre 
des  Deputes,  the  members  of  which  made  such  a 
row  that  they  got  the  nickname  of  the  Chambre 
des  Disputes.  What  have  you  all  been  raving 
about?  Let  me  hear  what  you  each  want  to 
prove." 

"We  want  to  know,  uncle,  which  were  the 
best  times  of  all,  and  who  was  the  greatest  king, 
and  which  is  the  most  amusing  history." 

"  Those  are  three  different  questions  that  have 
very  little  to  do  with  each  other.  I  am  a  staunch 
John  Bull,  and  I  look  upon  Queen  Victoria  as 
the  best  of  sovereigns,  and  her  reign  as  the  best 
time.  But  as  to  which  is  the  most  amusing  his- 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  107 

tory,  that  depends  partly  on  your  particular  taste, 
and  partly  on  how  much  you  know  about  it. 
The  more  you  knqw  of  any  history,  the  more 
amusing  you  will  find  it." 

"  But  do  you  really  believe,  uncle,"  said 
Henry,  "  that  any  reading  could  make  one  find 
those  Gothic  barbarians  as  amusing  as  ancient 
Greece  or  Rome  ?" 

"  Oh  !  Henry,"  exclaimed  Lucy,  "  I  am  sure 
the  knights  and  warriors  were  a  hundred  times 
better  than  those  nasty  ungrateful  Athenians, 
who  never  had  a  great  man  among  them  without 
being  jealous  of  him,  and  banishing  him." 

"And  in  the  Roman  history,"  said  Caroline, 
"  how  tiresome  all  those  quarrels  are  between  the 
patricians  and  plebeians." 

"  But,"  argued  Arthur,  "  the  characters  in 
ancient  history  are  so  grand  ! " 

"  So  they  are,"  said  Mary ;  "  but  that  is  just 
why  I  think  them  dull.  They  are  so  grand,  and 
fine,  and  long  ago,  that  they  never  seem  to  be 
human  beings  like  us.  There  are  no  pretty 
stories;  one  cannot  fancy  that  there  ever  was  a 
Roman  or  Grecian  child  of  my  age." 

"  Well,"  replied  Arthur,  "  what  more  do  you 
know  about  children  in  Gothic  times?  One 
never  reads  anything  about  them  till  they  turn 
out  knights  in  full  armour ;  and  I  am  sure  there 
are  more  pretty  stories  in  ancient  history  than  in 
any  other,  if  you  do  but  take  the  trouble  to  look 


108      HISTORICAL  CHARADES. 

for  them  in  proper  books.  All  the  fun  that 
Cyrus  had  when  a  boy,  for  instance/' 

I  rather  wondered  at  Mary's  thinking  there 
were  no  pretty  stories  in  ancient  history,  because 
it  seemed  to  me  particularly  to  abound  in  what 
children  think  pretty  stories;  that  is  to  say, 
those  in  which  the  interest  is  concentrated  on  one 
object. 

"  Our  Roman  History/'  said  Caroline,  "  begins 
with  a  Dissertation  on  the  Constitution  of  the 
Roman  Republic,  and  Mary  finds  that  dull." 

"  1  dare  say  she  does,  poor  child,"  observed 
uncle  Harry.  "  Who  teaches  her  history  ?" 

"  I  do,  now,"  Caroline  answered.  "  When 
mamma  began  Ellen's  Italian,  she  said  I  was  to 
hear  Mary  read  history." 

"  You  must  not  expect  her  yet  to  like  a  dry 
dissertation  on  government  and  politics,"  said 
uncle  Harry  :  "  let  her  skip  all  that  till  she  is 
older,  and  begin  the  story  at  once,  and  she  will 
soon  change  her  mind  about  its  dulness." 

"  I  think,"  observed  William,  "  that  the  people 
in  modern  history  seem  more  real  and  alive,  and 
more  like  our  acquaintances,  than  the  ancients ; 
and  I  think  the  reason  is,  that  we  cannot  enter 
so  well  into  the  feelings  of  heathens  as  of 
Christians." 

"  True,"  said  his  father ;  "  and  if  I  were  to 
fix  upon  the  part  of  history  most  interesting  to 
me,  I  should  find  it  in  the  progress  and  changes 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  109 

of  the  Christian  Church — Ecclesiastical  History, 
as  it  is  called.  An  old  writer  tells  us  that 
'  History  is  the  true  study  for  a  gentleman; — 
British  History  for  an  Englishman — Church 
History  for  a  Christian  !'  But  I  still  return  to 
what  I  said  at  first :  whatever  you  study  most 
you  will  like  best,  and  find  most  interesting ;  and 
when  you  come  to  read  more,  you  will  find  in  all 
times  stories  of  all  kinds,  simple  enough  to  please 
Mary,  and  grand  enough  to  satisfy  Arthur ;  and 
the  histories  of  heroes,  even  when  they  were 
children,  and  little  incidents  that  make  us  feel  as 
well  acquainted  with  them  as  if  they  were  our 
next  door  neighbours.  And  now,  if  you  are  satis- 
fied for  the  present,"  he  continued,  pushing  back 
his  chair,  "  who  is  for  a  game  of  Blindman's 
Buff?" 

A  loud  howl  from  under  the  chair  reminded 
us  of  little  Edward,  who  was  tumbled  over  by 
the  unexpected  movement  of  his  uncle,  and  in 
the  confusion  of  his  ideas  took  this  for  part  of 
the  Delphic  ceremony. 

,"  Halloo  !  What  is  this  ?  What  have  we 
here?"  exclaimed  uncle  Harry. 

"  O-o-o-h  !  Let  me  out !  I'll  never  be  an 
oracle  again.  Help  me  out !  I  don't  want  to  be 
an  oracle  any  more ;  I  want  to  play  at  bliudman's 
buff." 

"  You  an  oracle  !"  said  uncle  Harry,  lifting  the 
chair  off  him.  "  You  howl  like  a  Pythoness  cer- 


110      HISTORICAL  CHARADES. 

tainly ;  but  come  out  of  your  hole,  Mr.  Oracle, 
and  play.  Now,  who  will  be  blinded  ?" 

"  Oh  you,  you,  uncle  Harry !"  exclaimed 
several  at  once.  "  You  are  the  best  blindman 
of  anybody,  because  you  never  know  whom  you 
have  caught." 

"  No,  to  be  sure :  if  people  can  sometimes 
scarcely  believe  their  eyes,  what  are  they  to  do 
blindfold  ?  But  here  is  a  handkerchief,  who  will 
blind  me  ?" 

"  Tie  him  up  tight,  aunt  Esther  ;  he  is  not  to 
be  trusted ;  he  will  always  peep  if  he  can." 

"  Now  I  am  quite  safe,  not  a  glimpse  of  day  : 
Turn  round  three  times  and  catch  whom  I  may. 

"  Oh  !  somebody  slipped  through  my  fingers — 
I  thought  I  was  sure  of  a  prisoner  then.  Ah, 
here  is  one  at  last !  No,  you  cannot  escape.  Let 
me  see — no,  let  me  feel,  I  mean,  I  cannot  see.- — 
Here  are  some  curls — this  is  a  heroine  of  modern 
history,  and,  I  suspect,  a  very  great  Jacobite; 
one  who  would  '  die  for  Prince  Charlie/  " 

Uncle  Harry,  knowing  that  he  never  found  any- 
body out  in  the  usual  way,  was  in  hopes  of  taking 
the  children  by  surprise,  by  attacking  them  on 
their  favourite  subjects,  but  his  prisoner  was  too 
cunning  to  speak,  and  only  shook  her  head. 

"  Ah !  I  see  you  cannot  deny  it"  said  uncle 
Harry.  "  I  am  sure  it  is  Mary." 

"  No,  wrong,  wrong  !      It  is  not  Mary ;  and  it 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  Ill 

is  not  a  Jacobite  at  all.  I  am  for  "William  of 
Orange,  and  the  glorious  Revolution,  like  Papa ;" 
cried  Lucy. 

"  I  must  try  again." 

"  Oh,  take  care  !  keep  out  of  his  way.  Hush  ! 
hush  !  don't  let  him  hear  our  voices." 

All  crept  about  very  silently,  but  uncle  Harry 
crept  about  too,  and  his  long  arms  seemed  to  reach 
over  half  the  room.  Henry  said  he  was  like  the 
giant  Polyphemus  catching  the  companions  of 
Ulysses;  and  Arthur,  drawing  his  illustration 
from  still  more  remote  antiquity,  compared  him 
to  the  hundred-handed  Briareus,  laying  about 
him  on  Mount  Olympus. 

We  all  avoided  him  for  a  long  time,  but  he 
secured  his  victim  at  last. 

"  Now  I  know  what  I  am  about :  Ancient 
History  under  my  hands  here,  to  a  certainty." 

William  only  growled  faintly. 

"  But  is  it  Greece  or  Rome  ?  Athens,  Sparta, 
or  Rome  under  the  Caesars  ?  Greece  !  I  decide 
for  Greece.  Socrates  himself  !  Henry  !" 

"  No,  no ;  worse  and  worse  !  It  is  William, 
your  own  son." 

"  And  the  most  determined  partisan  of  the 
Gothic  Ages  among  us  all,"  I  added. 

"  It  does  not  answer  to  rush  into  any  subject 
blindfold,  I  find,"  said  Uncle  Harry.  "  I  wish 
I  might  prosecute  my  historical  researches  with 
my  eyes  open." 


112      HISTORICAL  CHARADES. 

"  No,  no ;  do  not  put  your  hands  near  your 
handkerchief.  Keep  blind." 

"  I  thought  I  heard  the  door  open.  It  would 
not  be  fair  to  go  out  of  the  room,  and  leave 
me  here  alone,  groping  among  the  Dark  Ages. 
Are  you  all  here?" 

"  Oh  yes ;  the  door  only  opened  to  let  some 
one  else  in." 

Matilda  had  just  entered,  and  before  she  had 
time  to  cross  the  room,  uncle  Harry  ran  against 
her.  He  caught  her  hands,  and  she  held  him  fast, 
and  made  him  dance  with  her,  all  blindfolded  as 
he  was.  He  was  awkward  enough,  but  Matilda 
contrived  to  keep  him  in  some  order,  and  turned 
and  twisted  him  about  in  a  wonderful  way. 

"  Ah/'  said  he  at  last,  "  I  cannot  be  mistaken 
this  time ;  nothing  but  Modern  Paris  could  have 
danced  in  that  style.  Good-bye  to  history, 
classic  and  gothic,  and  long-life  to  the  represen- 
tative of  modern  fashions — Matilda  !" 

Matilda  was  blindfolded,  and  caught  Ellen  in 
no  time ;  and  Ellen  caught  William  by  the  hair, 
and  guessed  him  before  she  had  pulled  much  of 
it  out ;  and  we  played  till  we  were  so  hot  and 
tired  that  we  could  only  sit  and  fan  ourselves  till 
the  dressing-bell  rang. 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  113 


CHAPTER  X. 

Game  of  "Twenty  Questions" — Two  modes  of  playing  it — 
Instances — Difference  of  tastes — Discussion  on  Mythology — 
Hindoo  tradition. 

OXE  afternoon,  while  we  were  sitting  round 
the  fire  in  the  twilight,  Uncle  Harry  asked  the 
children  if  they  ever  played  at  the  game  of 
Twenty  Questions.  "  Oh  yes,  often,"  replied 
Mary.  "  We  are  very  fond  of  it :  Animal, 
Vegetable,  and  Mineral,  we  call  it.  May  we 
have  a  game  now?  Will  you  play,  papa  and 
mamma  ?  and  Uncle  Harry  ?  and  Aunt  Esther  ? 
and  Uncle  Stanley?  and  Aunt  Mortimer?" 

We  were  all  ready  to  play,  but  Uncle  Harry 
stopped  us.  He  said  his  way  of  playing  the 
game  was  rather  different  from  ours.  Instead  of 
thinking  of  a  thing  that  was  to  be  discovered  by 
its  properties,  we  were  to  think  of  some  person, 
event,  or  thing  mentioned  in  history,  and  find 
that  out  by  means  of  the  twenty  questions. 
Either  one  person  might  think  of  the  thing,  and 
all  the  rest  question  him,  or  the  whole  company 
might  decide  upon  the  subject,  and  be  questioned 
by  one.  The  latter  mode  he  considered  the  best, 
because  a  single  person  could  ask  a  better  string 
of  questions,  and  find  out  the  answer  more  easily. 

"  Let  us  try  both  ways,"  said  Lucy.  "  First, 
all  thinking,  and  Uncle  Harry  questioning." 


114  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

"  Very  well;  then  I  will  go  out  of  the  room." 

We  laid  our  heads  together,  and  presently 
summoned  him  to  guess. 

Uncle  H.  "  Now,  I  shall  ask  everybody  in 
turn.  Mrs.  Percy,  have  you  fixed  upon  a  person, 
an  event,  or  a  thing  ?" 

Mrs.  Percy.     "A  person." 

Uncle  H.  "  Mentioned  in  ancient  history  or 
modern  ?" 

Aunt  Esther.    "  In  modern  history." 

Uncle  H.    "  Man,  woman,  or  child  ?" 

Mrs.  Mortimer.    "  A  woman." 

Uncle  H.    "  Married  or  single  ?" 

Lucy.    "  Married  several  times." 

Uncle  H.  "  You  need  not  have  told  me  so 
much,  Lucy.  It  saves  me  a  question.  A  private 
person,  or  a  Queen?". 

Arthur.    "A  Queen." 

Uncle  Harry.    "  Was  her  reign  prosperous  ?" 

Henry.    "  No,  quite  the  contrary." 

Uncle  Harry.  "  Was  she  a  queen  regnant,  or 
a  queen  consort  ?" 

Mr.  Percy.  "  Both ;  but  at  different  times, 
and  over  different  countries.  She  is  chiefly 
known  as  a  queen  regnant." 

Uncle  Harry.    "  Was  she  good  or  bad  ?" 

Ellen,  with  a  sigh.  "  Some  people  say  she 
was  good,  and  some  bad;  but  /  think  she  was 
good,  because  I  am  very  fond  of  her." 

Uncle  Harry.    "  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots." 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  115 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  Quite  right ;  but  I  think  that 
•was  rather  too  easy." 

Uncle  H.  "  Well,  suppose  you  let  us  puzzle 
you  now." 

Ellen  begged  her  mamma  not  to  take  the 
trouble  of  leaving  the  room ;  and  we  agreed  that 
if  she  would  stop  her  ears,  it  would  be  quite 
sufficient.  We  could  trust  to  her  honour  for  not 
listening,  or  taking  any  unfair  advantage. 

When  we  were  ready,  we  made  signs  to  her 
that  she  might  remove  her  hands  from  her  ears. 

Mrs.  Percy.    "  Is  it  general,  or  specific  ?" 

Mrs.  Stanley.    "  Specific/' 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  Mentioned  in  ancient  or  mo- 
dern history  ?" 

Arthur.     "  Modern." 

Mrs.  Percy.    "  A  person,  event,  or  thing  ?" 

Ellen.    "  A  thing." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  Is  it  animal,  vegetable,  or 
mineral  ?" 

Lucy.     "It  was  made  of  minerals." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  Now  you  have  told  me  more 
than  you  need,  Lucy,  and  saved  my  ascertaining 
whether  it  is  natural  or  artificial.  I  now  know 
that  it  is  something  made  by  hands.  Was  it 
used  for  secular  or  for  ecclesiastical  purposes  ?" 

Mary.   "  I  don't  know  what  secular  means." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "Ecclesiastical  means  belonging 
to  the  church  j  secular,  not  belonging  to  the 
church." 

i2 


116      HISTORICAL  CHARADES. 

Mary.  "  Then  this  quite  belonged  to  the 
church." 

Mrs.  Percy,  counting  on  her  fingers :  "  How 
many  questions  have  I  had  ?  Five ;  and  I  have 
ascertained  that  it  is  something  specific,  mineral, 
artificial,  mentioned  in  modern  history,  and  used 
for  ecclesiastical  purposes.  Was  it  built,  or  made 
in  any  other  way  ?" 

Mr.  Percy.  "  It  was  built." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  Was  it  a  building  for  use,  or  a 
monument  in  honour  of  any  person  ?" 

Mr.  Harry  Percy.  "  It  was  erected  in  honour 
of  a  particular  person." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  Was  the  person  in  whose 
honour  it  was  erected  good  or  bad  ?  Can  you 
answer  that,  little  Edward  1" 

Edward.  "  I  think  he  was  bad ;  I  don't  like 
him." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  Him.  A  man  then.  Was  he 
a  subject  or  a  sovereign  ?" 

Caroline.  "  A  subject,  but  a  very  rebellious 
one." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  Military,  civil,  or  ecclesias- 
tical ?" 

Henry.  "  Ecclesiastical." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  I  have  been  in  doubt  whether 
the  building  erected  to  his  honour  was  a  monu- 
ment, or  a  college;  but  I  recollect  you  said  it 
was  not  a  building  for  any  use  except  to  com- 
memorate him.  Was  it  built  during  his  lifetime, 
or  after  his  death  ?" 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  117 

Matilda.  "  After  his  death." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  Then  I  suppose  it  must  have 
been  the  tomb  or  shrine  of  some  turbulent  eccle- 
siastic whose  character  is  not  so  much  admired 
now  as  it  was  in  his  own  times.  In  what  country 
was  it  ?" 

Aunt  Esther.  "  In  England." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  In  whose  reign  ?" 

William.  "  In  Henry  the  Second's." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "The  Shrine  of  Thomas  a  Becket. 
I  suspected  it  some  time  ago,  but  I  liked  to  make 
sure  before  I  guessed." 

Mr.  Percy.  "  Twenty  questions  seem  more 
than  are  necessary.  You  guessed  this  in  thirteeen, 
and  Harry  found  his  out  in  eight." 

Mr.  Harry  Percy.  "  They  were  easy  subjects, 
and  we  put  closer  questions  than  the  children 
would.  I  dare  say  they  would  often  want  the 
whole  twenty.  Now  who  will  go  out?" 

Lucy.  "  Oh,  please  let  me  !  I  am  so  fond  of 
guessing." 

Henry.  "  Now  let  us  puzzle  her  well." 

Aunt  Esther.  "We  must  not  be  too  hard 
upon  her.  Suppose  we  have  an  event  this  time? 
Vrhat  do  you  think  of  ******?»  And 
here  we  ail  began  whispering  veiy  eagerly,  "  No, 
no ;  yes,  yes  ;  that  will  do." — "  Now,  Lucy  ?" 

Lucy.  "  Ancient  or  modern  ?" 

Esther.  "Modern." 

Lucy.  "  Good  or  bad  ?" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  Good." 


118  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

Lucy.  "  Is  it  a  man  or  a  woman?" 

Mrs.  Mortimer.  "  Neither." 

Lucy.  "  Why,  it  must  be  one  or  the  other. 
Oh,  perhaps  it  is  a  child.  Is  it  ?" 

Henry.  "  No,  it  is  not." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  You  are  wasting  your  ques- 
tions, Lucy ;  why  do  you  not  first  ascertain 
whether  it  is  a  person  at  all?" 

Lucy.  "I  quite  forgot.  Is  it  a  person,  an 
event,  or  a  thing  ?" 

Arthur.  "  An  event." 

Lucy.  "  What  a  pity  !  I  have  lost  four  ques- 
tions." 

Mr.  Harry  Percy.  "  Not  quite ;  you  have  dis- 
covered that  it  is  a  good  event  in  modern  his- 
tory." 

Lucy.  "  In  what  country  did  it  happen  ?" 

Mr.  Harry  Percy.  "  In  Germany." 

Lucy.  "  Then  I  can't  guess  it,  because  I  have 
not  read  the  history  of  Germany." 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  But  you  have  read  this  in 
another  history." 

Lucy.  "Then  it  belongs  to  two  countries. 
Which  is  the  other  ?" 

Ellen.  "England." 

Lucy.  "  Was  it  done  by  one  person  or  a  great 
many  ?" 

Mrs.  Mortimer.  "  By  one  person." 

Lucy.  "  Was  it  for  his  own  good,  or  any- 
body else's?" 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  119 

William.  "  It  was  for  the  good  of  another." 
Lucy.  "What  country  was  it  done  in?" 
Matilda.  "  It  was  done  in  Germany." 
Lucy.  "  What  countryman  was  the  one  who 
did  it?" 

Caroline.  "  He  was  a  Frenchman." 
Lucy.  "  What  country  did  the  man  belong  to 
for  whose  good  it  was  done?" 

Edward.  "  To  England  !  to  England !  He 
was  a  great  Englishman.  /  know  him." 

Lucy.  "  I  have  not  the  least  idea  what  it  is. 
I  shall  never  be  able  to  find  it  out.  I  cannot 
think  of  any  more  questions  to  ask." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  Consider  what  you  have  already 
discovered,  and  then  you  will  kuow  better  what 
further  questions  to  put." 

Lucy.  "  I  have  found  out  that  it  was  some- 
thing done  by  a  Frenchman  for  the  good  of  a 
great  Englishman  in  Germany.  Was  the  Eng- 
lishman a  king  ?" 

Caroline.  "  Yes,  he  was." 
Lucy.  "  Was  the  Frenchman  a  king  ?" 
Mr.  Stanley.   "  No  ;  he  was  a  private  person." 
Lucy.  "  Did  he  go  to  Germany  on  purpose,  or 
was  he  there  for  anything  else  ?" 

Mr.  Percy.  "  He  went  on  purpose." 
Lucy.  "  Of  what  profession  was  he  ?" 
Aunt  Esther.  "  I  am  afraid  the  answer  to  that 
cannot  fail  to  tell  the  whole.      He  was  a  min- 
strel." 


120  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

Lucy.  "  Oh,  then  I  know.  Richard  the  First 
was  the  English  king ;  and  when  he  was  in  prison 
in  Germany,  the  troubadour  Blondel  went  on 
purpose  to  look  for  his  prison,  and  sang  under 
the  tower.  The  event  is  Blondel  discovering 
Richard  the  First  in  prison." 

Mr.  Harry  Percy.  "  Exactly.  Now  will  you 
like  to  try  the  other  way ;  one  person  to  choose 
the  subject,  and  all  the  rest  to  question  him  ?" 

"  I  wish  I  might  think,"  said  little  Edward. 
"  I  know  a  very  good  thing,  if  I  might  go  out 
and  think." 

"  You  shall  certainly  think,  my  little  chicken," 
Mrs.  Percy  replied ;  "  but  you  need  not  leave 
the  room ;  you  can  think  as  you  sit  there,  only 
do  not  tell  us  your  thought." 

"  Fve  thought  then,"  he  said,  smiling,  and 
looking  very  conscious  and  important. 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  Does  it  belong  to  ancient  or 
modern  history  ?" 

Edward.  "  Modern ;  I  don't  know  any  an- 
cient." 

Mary.  "  Is  it  a  person,  event  or  thing  ?" 

Edward.  "  A  thing." 

Mr.  Harry  Percy.  "  Is  it  one  particular  thing, 
or  only  any  one  of  the  kind  ?" 

Edward.  "  One  particular  thing." 

Mary.  "  Was  it  alive  ?" 

Edward.  "  Oh,  yes  ;  quite  alive." 

Mr.  Percy.   fc  A  particular  animal   mentioned 


HISTORICAL    CHAEADES.  121 

in  modern  history.    What  sort  of  animal  ?    Bird, 
beast,  fish,  or  reptile  ?" 

Edward.  "  It  was  a  beast." 

Mrs.  Mortimer.  "  In  what  country  do  we  hear 
of  it  ?" 

Edward.  "  In  England." 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  In  what  reign  ?" 

Edward.  "  Edward  the  Third's." 

Arthur.  "  Did  it  belong  to  any  famous 
person  ?" 

Edward.  "  Yes ;  to  a  very  famous  person 
indeed." 

Ellen.  "  Was  he  a  king  ?" 

Edward.  "  No ;  he  never  was  a  king,  and  I 
am  very  sorry  for  it." 

William.  "A  churchman,  or  a  military 
man?" 

Edward.  "  A  soldier ;  a  great  soldier." 

Aunt  Esther.  "  Was  this  animal  of  his  men- 
tioned in  peace  or  in  war  ?"  • 

Edward.  "  In  peace,  but  after  a  war." 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  Now  let  us  put  it  all  together. 
A  quadruped  belonging  to  a  famous  soldier  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  the  Third,  and  used  in  time  of 
peace." 

Mrs.  Mortimer.  "Was  the  quadruped  itself 
noted  for  anything  ?  Beauty,  strength,  sagacity, 
or  anything  else  ?" 

Edward.  "  Only  for  being  shabby." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  Well,  Edward,  I  must  confess 


122  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

you  have  puzzled  us  all  thoroughly.     What  use 
was  made  of  your  quadruped  ?" 

Edward.  "  He  was  used  in  a  procession." 
Mary.  "Oh,  I  know!  I  know!  It  is  the 
shabby  little  poney  that  Edward  the  Black  Prince 
rode  by  the  side  of  King  John  of  France,  when 
he  brought  John  prisoner  to  London.  Is  not 
that  right  ?" 

Edward.  "  Yes ;  that  was  my  thought." 
Mr.  Stanley.  "  Now  /  will  try  your  ingenuity 
in  cross-examination.     I  have  thought  of  some- 
thing." 

Lucy.  "  Ancient  or  modern,  papa  ?" 
Mr.  Stanley.  "  Ancient :   I  agree  with  Arthur 
and  Henry  in   their  preference  for  ancient  his- 
tory." 

Mrs.  Mortimer.  "  I  must  ask  the  usual  ques- 
tion before  we  can  go  any  further.  Is  it  a  person, 
event,  or  thing  ?" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  A  thing." 
Caroline.  "  Animate  or  inanimate  ?" 
Mr.  Stanley.  "  Inanimate." 
Matilda.  "  What  was  the  use  of  it?" 
Mr.  Stanley.  "  It  was  used  for  ornament." 
Mrs.  Percy.  "  What  kind  of  ornament  ?     I 
mean,  was  it  an  ornament  of  dress,  or  architec- 
ture, or  what  ?" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  It  was  an  ornament  of  dress." 
Ellen.  "  What  part  of  one's  dress  ?" 
Mr.  Stanley.  "  Nothing  that  you  have  on.    It 
was  worn  as  an  earring." 


HISTOK1CAL   CHARADES.  123 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  Is  it  general  or  specific  ?" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  Specific." 

Mr.  Harry  Percy.  "  Then  it  belonged  of 
course  to  some  particular  person.  To  a  man  or 
a  woman?" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  To  a  woman." 

Henry.  "  To  a  queen,  or  a  private  person  ?" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  To  a  queen." 

Edward.  "  Was  she  good  ?" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  She  was  decidedly  bad.  But 
I  am  pretty  sure,  Edward,  that  you  never  heard 
of  her,  therefore  I  advise  you  not  to  try  to  guess 
this  time.  Listen  to  the  others." 

Mary.  "  Of  what  country  was  she  queen  ?" 

Mr.  Stanley.    "  Of  Egypt." 

Lucy.  "  It  must  be  Cleopatra.  I  dare  say  it 
is  her  Asp.  Is  it !" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  No.  Now  you  have  had  one 
guess  ;  and  remember,  only  three  are  allowed." 

Henry.  "  That  was  a  very  bad  guess,  Lucy. 
Cleopatra  never  wore  the  Asp  for  an  earring.  Is 
it  mentioned  that  she  wore  this  earring  at  any 
particular  time !" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  Yes ;  at  a  feast." 

Arthur.  "  Do  you  know  what  became  of  it !" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  It  was  destroyed." 

Ellen.  "  When  ?    Who  destroyed  it  ?" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "Those  are  two  questions.  Which 
shall  I  answer?" 

Ellen.  "  Who  destroyed  it  ?" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  She  herself." 


124  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

Caroline.  "  When  did  she  destroy  it  ?" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  In  the  course  of  the  same  feast." 

Henry,  "  Oh,  then,  I  guess.  The  pearl  that  she 
dissolved  in  vinegar  to  out-do  Mark  Antony?" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  Yes." 

Mary.  "  What  is  the  story?    I  don't  know  it." 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  Mark  Antony  invited  Cleopatra 
to  a  banquet  which  was  considered  as  magnificent 
as  possible :  but  she  declared  that  she  would 
invite  him  to  one  that  should  cost  fifty  thousand 
sesterces  more.  When  her  guests  were  assem- 
bled, everything  appeared  exactly  the  same  as  at 
Mark  Antony's  house,  and  he  protested  he  could 
perceive  no  difference.  '  WTait  a  moment/  she 
said,  *  the  feast  is  not  over ;'  and  she  took  from 
her  ear  a  pearl  worth  fifty  thousand  sesterces, 
dissolved  it  in  vinegar,  and  drank  it  off." 

Mary.  "  WThat  a  pity !  I  do  not  think  any- 
body would  do  such  a  silly  thing  now." 

Arthur.  "  Well,  /  say  it  was  splendid.  No- 
body would  have  the  spirit  to  do  it  now.  People 
have  not  grown  tired  of  talking  about  it  for  two 
thousand  years,  while  she  might  have  worn  the 
pearl  every  day  of  her  life,  and  nobody  have 
thought  anything  about  it." 

Mr.  Percy.  "  See  what  difference  of  taste 
there  is  in  the  world,  Mary.  Now,  Arthur,  it  is 
your  turn." 

Arthur.    "  All  right.     I've  thought." 

Henry.    "  Ancient  or  modern  ?" 

Arthur.    "  Ancient  for  ever  !" 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  125 

William.  "  Man,  woman,  child,  event,  animal, 
or  inanimate  thing?  I  think  I  have  saved  a 
question  or  two  this  time." 

Arthur.    "  None  of  them." 

Matilda.  "  But  that  seems  impossible.  Is  it 
fact  or  fiction?" 

Arthur.  "  Fiction ;  but  I  suppose  founded 
upon  fact." 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  It  must  be  something  in  the 
heathen  mythology.  But  do  you  allow  that  to 
be  history  ?" 

Mr.  Harry  Percy.  "  It  is  a  very  doubtful 
question.  Let  us  put  it  to  the  vote.  What  do 
you  say  yourself  ?v 

Mrs.  Percy.  "  I  should  say  no ;  because  it  is 
entirely  fabulous.  What  do  you  say,  Henry  ?" 

Henry.  "  I  say  yes ;  because  it  has  so  much 
to  do  with  ancient  history.  And  you,  father?" 

Mr.  Stanley.  "  I  agree  with  you ;  because 
ancient  history  would  be  almost  unintelligible 
without  some  knowledge  of  mythology." 

Mr.  Harry  Percy.    "  And  you,  Lucy?" 

L/ucy.  "  I  never  knew  mythology  was  any- 
thing but  foolish  stories.  I  should  never  have 
thought  it  was  history." 

Caroline.  "  It  seems  to  me  that  mythology 
belongs  more  to  poetry  than  to  history." 

Arthur.  "  I  think  it  is  history,  because  I 
suppose  that  most  of  the  characters  were  real 
living  heroes  once,  only  with  fables  added  to  the 
accounts  of  them  after  their  death." 


126  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

Mrs.  Mortimer.  "  I  think  the  religious  belief 
of  a  people  must  be  considered  as  part  of  their 
history." 

Aunt  Esther.  "  It  appears  to  me  that  their 
holding  such  a  belief  is  matter  of  history,  but 
not  the  belief  itself." 

Ellen.  "  I  think  history  is  all  true ;  so  I 
should  not  reckon  any  that  is  not  real,  history." 

Mary.  "  I  do  not  know  anything  about  it ; 
I  have  not  done  mythology  yet." 

Edward.  "  Nor  I.  I  don't  know  what  it 
means." 

Matilda.  "  I  would  rather  hear  Uncle  Percy's 
opinion ;  I  cannot  make  up  my  mind." 

Mr.  Percy.  "  I  am  against  considering  my- 
thology to  be  history  for  nearly  the  same  reasons 
that  Esther  and  Ellen  have  given.  History  is, 
or  ought  to  be,  a  true  account  of  real  events ; 
mythology  may  be  founded  on  history,  but  we 
know  it  consists  almost  entirely  of  fables." 

Mr.  Harry  Percy.  "  I  vote  with  you.  We 
know  that  heroes  were  worshipped  after  their 
deaths ;  but  the  stories  told  about  them,  that  is 
to  say,  mythology,  are  not  history.  Now  let  us 
count  the  votes.  Four  on  your  side,  Arthur,  and 
seven  against  you;  so  you  must  give  up  your 
mythological  hero." 

"  First  tell  us  who  it  was,  Arthur,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Chiron  the  Centaur.  He  was  half  a  man  and 
half  a  horse;  so  he  was  neither  man,  woman, 
child,  event,  animal,  nor  inanimate  thing." 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  127 

"  Oh,  was  he  not  an  animal  ?  If  I  had  asked 
you  whether  it  was  animal,  vegetable,  or  mineral, 
you  must  have  said  animal." 

Arthur,  "  Yes ;  I  made  a  blunder  there ;  I 
only  thought  of  an  animal  as  distinguished  from 
a  man." 

Mary.  "  I  wonder  what  could  make  people 
think  of  such  a  strange  creature  as  half  a  man 
and  half  a  horse  ?" 

"  You  can  explain  that,  Henry,"  said  Mr.  Percy. 

"  It  was  natural  enough,"  answered  Henry. 
"  The  people  of  Thessaly  were  the  first  who  rode 
on  horseback,  and  their  neighbours,  never  having 
seen  anything  of  the  sort  before,  fancied  the 
horse  and  man  were  all  one  animal." 

"  Is  that  the  way  mythology  began?"  said  Mary. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Mr.  Percy.  "  It  consists  chiefly 
of  fanciful  notions  of  real  things.  The  story  of 
Vulcan,  for  example.  People,  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Etna,  seeing  the  flames  bursting  from  the 
crater,  and  hearing  awful  subterranean  sounds 
for  which  they  could  not  account,  imagined  that 
the  unknown  power  was  a  god  who  had  especial 
command  over  fire.  By  degrees  they  invented 
other  circumstances  which  came  to  be  believed 
as  his  real  history." 

"  Did  no  other  nations  have  fanciful  notions 
of  real  things  ?"  asked  Ellen. 

"  Yes ;  the  Hindoos,  for  instance." 

"But  is  their  mythology  like  that  of  the 
Greeks?" 


128  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

"  In  some  measure.  But  it  is  less  poetical,  and 
contains  a  number  of  traditions  from  other  re- 
ligions, particularly  the  Egyptian,  very  childish, 
and  altered  to  the  Hindoo  taste." 

"  Do  you  know  any  of  those  stories,  papa  ?" 

"  Some  of  them.  Perhaps  you  would  like  to 
hear  the  story  of  'Mahabali/  or  '  The  Great  Bali/ 
This  Bali  is  said  to  have  been  a  king  to  whom  the 
command  of  the  universe  was  given  in  reward 
for  the  austerities  which  he  had  practised.  He 
proved  a  good  sovereign,  generous  and  liberal  to 
his  subjects;  but  he  became  so  proud,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  immense  power  given  to  him,  that 
he  looked  down  with  contempt  upon  all  other 
created  beings.  He  boasted  that  he  would  ac- 
knowledge no  superior  in  heaven,  and  no  equal 
on  earth,  and  that  his  power  extended  even  over 
the  infernal  regions.  He  thought  it  beneath 
him  to  take  any  notice  of  the  inferior  deities, 
and  neglected  to  make  the  offerings  which  they 
usually  received  from  mortals.  They  were  very 
angry  at  losing  the  honey,  melted  butter,  oil,  rice, 
and  fruits,  which  had  always  been  considered 
their  due,  and  complained  to  the  god  Vishnoo, 
who  promised  to  redress  their  grievances.  As 
Bali  had  cheated  them  of  their  rights,  Vishnoo 
determined  that  he  should  be  punished  by  being 
cheated  of  his  own. 

" Soon  afterwards,  Bali  gave  a  banquet  at  which 
he  displayed  all  his  grandeur.  Such  magnificence 


HISTORICAL   CHAEADES.  129 

had  never  before  been  seen  in  the  world ; 
but,  as  usual,  Bali  insulted  the  gods  by  not 
making  the  accustomed  offerings  to  them  and 
their  priests.  In  the  midst  of  the  entertainment, 
while  the  people  were  prostrating  themselves 
before  Bali,  and  treating  him  more  like  a  god 
than  a  king,  there  entered  a  poor  dwarf,  meanly 
dressed,  who  bowed  to  him,  and  then  stood  with 
his  hands  joined,  as  if  begging.  Bali  took  pity 
upon  his  poverty,  and  desired  him  to  ask  what- 
ever he  wished,  promising  to  grant  it. 

"  The  dwarf  answered  that  he  was  a  poor 
Bramin  of  the  name  of  Bamun,  that  he  had  but 
few  wants  or  wishes,  and  only  begged  Bali  to 
give  him,  out  of  his  vast  possessions,  as  much 
ground  as  he  could  measure  with  three  paces, 
in  order  that  he  might  build  himself  a  hut. 

"  Now  the  planet  Venus  was  a  great  friend  of 
Bali's,  and  seeing  him  about  to  be  taken  in,  she 
good-naturedly  came  down  and  whispered  in  his 
ear  that  he  had  better  be  careful  what  he  agreed 
to,  for  that  this  Bamun  was  no  other  than  the 
god  Vishnoo  in  disguise.  Bali  felt  his  danger, 
but  scorned  to  recal  his  promise ;  and  he  there- 
fore immediately  proceeded  to  ratify  the  contract 
in  the  usual  manner,  by  pouring  water  over  the 
dwarfs  hands. 

"  No  sooner  had  the  water  touched  Bamun's 
hands,  than  his  stature  began  to  increase  in  every 
direction,  and  in  a  few  seconds  his  head  reached 
K 


130  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

the  clouds.  He  now  proceeded  to  measure  out  the 
space  granted  to  him.  With  the  first  stride  he 
cleared  the  earth ;  with  the  second,  the  heavens ; 
and  the  third  would  have  carried  him  over  the 
infernal  regions,  but  he  was  stopped  by  Bali's 
prostrating  himself  before  him,  and  resigning  the 
universe  into  his  hands. 

"  Vishnoo  took  from  him  the  power  that  had 
been  too  great  for  him,  but  left  him  the  infernal 
regions,  in  consideration  of  the  generosity  he  had 
shown  to  his  subjects." 

"  I  like  that  story  very  much  •"  said  Lucy. 
"  But  is  that  mythology  ?  Was  Bali  ever  a  real 
person?" 

"  Some  learned  men  suppose  that  he  was  an 
ancient  king  of  Cashmere,  banished  by  a  con- 
queror to  the  lower  regions  of  Hindostan." 

"  What  had  that  to  do  with  his  being  sent  to 
the  infernal  regions  ?"  asked  Henry. 

"  Cashmere  is  one  of  the  finest  countries  in 
the  world,"  replied  Mr.  Percy,  "  full  of  flowers 
and  fruits,  cool  rivulets,  and  beautiful  scenery : 
poets  say  there  are  no  flowers  in  the  world  like 
the  roses  of  Cashmere — 

'  Oh,  who  has  not  heard  of  the  vale  of  Cashmere, 
With  its  roses  the  brightest  the  world  ever  gave  ?' 

and  so  on;  while  Hindostan  is  intensely  hot, 
with  plains  of  sand  extending  in  some  places  as 
far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  The  ancient  Cashmerians 


HISTOKICAL   CHARADES.  131 

were  very  proud  of  their  fine  country,  called  it 
an  earthly  paradise,  and  thought  it  scarcely  pos- 
sible to  live  anywhere  else,  and  had  the  greatest 
horror  of  the  hot  plains  of  Hindostan. 

"After  his  banishment,  Bali  seems  to  have 
established  himself  with  considerable  splendour  in 
India.  There  exists  now,  on  the  sea-shore  near 
Madras,  a  very  fine  pagoda,  which  is  all  that 
remains  of  an  ancient  city  called  the  City  of  the 
Great  Bali;  and  even  this  is  supposed  to  have 
been  built  in  remembrance  of  him,  on  the  site  of 
one  still  more  ancient,  over  which  he  actually 
ruled.  There  are  old  traditions  of  gilded  sum- 
mits of  other  pagodas  having  been  seen  under 
the  waters  in  former  times." 

"  Some  people  think  that  Bali  was  the  son  of 
Nimrod,"  said  Mr.  Stanley ;  "  and  the  same 
called  in  Scripture  Baal,  and  worshipped,  as  you 
all  know,  by  many  idolatrous  nations." 

By  this  time  we  had  had  enough  of  our  game, 
and  candles  being  brought  in,  we  went  to  our 
several  occupations. 


K2 


132  HISTOEICAL    CHAKADES. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

People  of  the  Middle  Ages — Their  daily  life — Roger  Bacon — 
Bishop  Greathead  —  Anecdotes  —  Ghost  Stories  —  Cicely, 
Duchess  of  York,  her  day — Dolls'  Mediaeval  Dinner  Party — 
John  Erigena — The  "Intermeat" — The  "Silentiary." 

"  I  WISH,"  said  Mary  one  morning,  "  we  could 
spend  a  whole  day  like  people  of  the  Middle 
Ages ;  and  from  the  first  thing  in  the  morning 
till  the  last  thing  at  night  do  nothing  but  what 
Ave  should  have  done  if  we  had  lived  then." 

"  I  wonder  how  AVC  should  begin  the  day," 
said  Ellen ;  "  Avhere  is  Uncle  Harry  ?" 

"  Here  he  is ;  Avhat  do  you  want  with  him  ?" 

"  Oh,  uncle,  \ve  Avant  to  spend  a  Middle  Age 
day.  How  should  we  begin  ?" 

"  First,  you  must  be  up  very  early  in  the  morn- 
ing. The  ladies  in  those  days  rose  early  and 
Avent  to  chapel,  hot  or  cold,  \vet  or  dry.  HOAV 
should  you  like  that?" 

"  We  always  do  get  up  early ;  and  I  suppose 
their  going  to  chapel  Avas  instead  of  our  family 
prayers.  You  know  we  have  them  every  day." 

"  But  with  all  your  alertness,  I  doubt  Avhether 
you  are  up  so  early  as  the  people  of  Henry  the 
Second's  time.  They  had  a  proverb, 

•  Lever  a  cinq,  diner  a  neuf, 
Souper  a  cinq,  coucher  a  neuf, 
Fait  vivre  d'ans  nonante  et  neuf. 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  133 

"  But  then  had  they  no  breakfast  ?  only  dinner 
and  supper?" 

"  They  had  only  two  meals  a-day ;  but  they 
made  the  most  of  them,  and  on  great  occasions, 
when  they  did  not  keep  quite  to  their  regular 
habits,  they  dined  sometimes  as  late  as  eleven 
in  the  morning.  Afterwards  they  grew  more 
luxurious,  and  a  dinner  sometimes  lasted  from 
three  in  the  afternoon  till  twelve  at  night." 

"  But  don't  let  us  come  to  the  dinner  yet ;" 
said  Ellen.  "  We  want  to  know  how  we  are  to 
go  on  all  day." 

"  Before  I  can  tell  you  how  you  should  go  on, 
I  must  know  what  rank  you  would  hold — feudal 
lords,  or  vassals.  What  sort  of  people  do  you 
mean  to  be  ?" 

"  Just  what  we  are  now,"  said  Lucy.  "  We 
want  to  know  what  we  ourselves  should  have  done 
if  we  had  lived  then." 

"  Society  was  different  then.  You  would  not 
have  been  in  the  same  condition  you  are  now. 
People  were  either  nobles  or  vassals.  The  middle 
class  of  gentry  did  not  exist.  But  let  us  see 
what  we  can  make  out  for  you.  When  you, 
Lucy  and  Henry,  were  little  children,  before  you 
settled  in  Yorkshire,  your  father  was  in  the  army ; 
so  I  suppose  he  would  have  gone  to  the  Crusade, 
and  left  you  to  the  care  of  some  relations  at  home." 

"  And  me,  me,  Uncle  Harry  ?"  said  little  Ed- 
ward, bobbing  up  and  down  on  his  chair  like  an 


134  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

India-rubber  ball ;  "  what  should  I  have  been  ? 
Should  not  I  have  been  something?" 

"  Your  father  was  a  physician;  so  perhaps  you 
might  have  been  adopted  by  some  baroii  he  had 
cured." 

"  And  all  of  us  ?"  asked  Caroline,  Arthur, 
Ellen,  and  Mary. 

"  Oh,  you  are  easily  provided  for.  Your  father, 
with  his  family  estate,  would  have  been  a  petty 
baron ;  and  Arthur  might  have  gone  to  the  wars, 
and  you  girls  would  have  stayed  at  home  and 
learnt  housekeeping  and  embroidery ;  to  sing  to 
the  lute,  and  to  dance,  and  probably  to  read." 

"  Almost  what  we  do  now,"  said  Ellen,  in  a 
tone  of  disappointment. 

"  But  you  would  have  learnt  some  other  things 
which  you  do  not  learn  now, — cookery  and  sur- 
gery. All  the  ladies  learnt  to  dress  wounds." 

"  I  dare  say  that  was  often  wanted.  But  you 
and  Willy,  uncle,  what  would  you  have  been  ?" 

"  I  am  a  lawyer,  and  I  suppose  I  should  have 
been  the  same  then ;  but  lawyers  in  those  days 
were  often  clergymen,  and  sometimes  made  am- 
bassadors; so  perhaps  I  might  have  been  a  much 
greater  man  than  I  am  now.  The  marriage  of 
Henry  the  Third  and  Eleanor  of  Provence  was 
arranged  by  a  bishop  who  was  a  great  lawyer. 
But  as  clergymen  were  not  allowed  to  marry,  I 
must  have  lived  all  alone,  without  any  Willy  and 
his  mamma  to  keep  me  company." 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  135 

"  But  you  might  have  been  a  lawyer  without 
being  a  churchman,  father/3  said  William ;  "  and 
then  I  would  have  been  a  student,  and  a  very 
learned  man." 

"  I  wonder  whether  you  would  have  been  the 
bishop  who  preached  in  favour  of  good  grammar, 
or  one  of  th&  Oxford  students  who  used  to  say, 
ego  cur r It — tu  currit — currens  est  ego — which, 
translated  for  your  benefit,  Mary,  mean,  f  7  runs 
— thou  runs — /  is  running.' '• 

"  When  did  those  dunces  live  ?"  asked  Henry 
in  a  superior  tone. 

"  In  the  thirteenth  century;  and  two  arch- 
bishops thought  it  worth  while  to  preach  against 
them.  But  never  mind,  Willy;  you  see 'the 
archbishops  knew  better,  and  there  were  learned 
men  in  the  thirteenth  century,  notwithstanding 
the  dunce  party  at  Oxford.  Let  us  hope  you 
would  have  been  one  of  the  learned  ones  :  perhaps 
a  rival  to  Roger  Bacon  himself." 

"  Or  perhaps  his  friend,"  said  William.  "That 
is  what  I  should  have  liked." 

"  You  might  have  been  a  second  Bishop  Great- 
head.  He  was  Roger  Bacon's  favourite  friend, 
and  a  very  great  man,  too."  ,4 

"  Who  was  he  ?  and  what  did  he  do  ?"  asked 
Mary. 

"  He  began  life  as  a  poor  boy,  glad  to  earn  his 
bread  by  any  hard  work  ;  but  he  was  so  clever 
that  the  Mayor  of  Lincoln  took  notice  of  him, 


136  HISTORICAL   CHAEADES. 

and  put  him  to  school.  There  he  distinguished 
himself  so  much  that  other  charitable  persons  sent 
him  to  the  university,  and  he  became  Bishop  of 
Lincoln,  and  one  of  the  greatest  scholars  of  his 
day.  But  what  was  still  better,  he  was  thoroughly 
conscientious,  and  not  afraid  to  withstand  both 
the  King  and  the  Pope  when  they  required  any- 
thing wrong." 

"  The  Pope,too !"  exclaimed  Lucy.  "I  thought 
all  the  bishops  in  those  days  stood  by  the  popes, 
and  rebelled  against  the  kings." 

"  Not  all.  There  were  some  who  remembered 
the  precept,  '  Fear  God,  and  honour  the  king.' 
Probably  you  only  know  the  names  of  one  or 
two,  such  as  Dunstan  and  Thomas-a-Becket. 
But  there  were  often  churchmen  in  England  who 
upheld  the  rights  of  the  English  Church,  were 
loyal  to  their  King,  and  resisted  the  usurpations 
of  the  Pope ;  and  this  Bishop  Greathead  was  one 
of  them.  When  the  Pope  sent  him  bulls  re- 
quiring anything  wrong,  he  tore  them  in  pieces 
instead  of  putting  them  in  force." 

"  But  was  not  the  Pope  angry  ?"  said  Ellen. 
"  I  thought  the  popes  excommunicated  every- 
body who  disobeyed  them." 

"  Very  true;  and  the  Pope  did  excommunicate 
him,  but  he  did  not  care ;  he  said  he  made  his 
appeal  to  heaven.  He  was  so  good  a  man  that 
the  English  considered  him  a  saint,  in  spite  of 
the  Pope ;  and  he  had  many  friends  and  admirers 


HISTORICAL   CHAEADES.  137 

even  at  Rome,  though  they  dared  not  openly  take 
his  part." 

"  Did  he  and  the  Pope  ever  make  friends 
again?"  Mary  asked. 

"  No;  he  died  soon  after ;  and  the  Pope  wrote 
to  the  King  of  England  to  desire  that  his  bones 
might  be  taken  up  and  disgraced,  but  the  King 
knew  better  than  to  comply  with  such  a  request ; 
soon  afterwards,  when  the  Pope  was  in  bed,  he 
fancied  the  bishop  appeared  to  him  with  an  angry 
countenance,  and  gave  him  a  hard  poke  in  the 
side  with  his  crozier.  '  You  wretch  of  a  Pope  !' 
said  he,  '  did  you  mean  to  disturb  my  bones,  and 
put  a  disgrace  upon  me  and  the  church  of  Lin- 
coln ?  What  made  you  so  bold  ?  It  would  have 
been  more  becoming  for  one  in  your  station  to 
pay  respect  to  the  bones  of  an  honest  man  P  I 
do  not  know  whether  the  Pope  profited  by  the 
ghost's  lecture,  but  I  know  he  had  a  bad  pain  in 
his  side  for  several  days,  and  thought  he  should 
never  be  well  again." 

"But  that  story  cannot  be  true,  Uncle  Harry;" 
said  Lucy. 

"  I  think  it  might,  Lucy,"  he  replied. 

"  But  there  could  not  be  a  real  ghost  ?" 

"  But  there  might  be  a  sham  one.  You  know  I 
told  you  the  good  bishop  had  friends  in  Rome.  I 
have  no  doubt  it  was  a  trick  played  on  the  Pope  by 
one  of  them.  There  are  many  stories  of  tricks  of 
the  same  kind  which  took  people  in  at  the  time." 


138  HISTORICAL    CHAEADES. 

"Oh,  do  teU  us  one!"  said  Lucy.  "I  like 
ghost  stories  particularly." 

"  Here  is  one  for  you.  A  company  of  nuns 
had  once  been  driven  out  of  their  convent,  which 
remained  empty  for  some  time.  At  last  there  was 
a  talk  of  establishing  a  fresh  sisterhood  in  it,  but 
William  the  Conqueror  put  a  stop  to  the  proposal, 
and  gave  the  convent  and  the  lands  belonging  to 
it  to  one  of  his  knights.  The  knight  and  his 
companions  went  down  to  take  possession  of  the 
property,  and  made  a  great  feast,  and  were  very 
merry ;  but  after  he  was  in  bed,  the  nuns  who 
had  intended  to  inhabit  it,  came  to  him  dressed 
up  as  the  ghosts  of  those  who  had  first  been 
driven  out;  and  they  poked  him  with  their 
crosses,  and  frightened  him  so  much,  that  next 
day  he  was  very  glad  to  give  up  his  estate  quietly 
to  the  nuns." 

"  Thank  you.  But  now  for  our  Middle  Age 
day,"  said  Ellen.  "  Please,  uncle,  go  through  a 
whole  day." 

"  Is  it  to  be  in  time  of  peace  or  in  time  of 
war?" 

"  In  time  of  peace,  please.  Just  such  a  day 
as  to-day." 

"  The  only  description  of  a  lady's  whole  day 
that  I  remember,  is  in  the  account  of  Cicely, 
Duchess  of  York,  who  was  mother  of  Edward 
the  Fourth.  She  lived  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
which  is  rather  later  than  the  times  you  mean, 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  139 

but  I  recollect  no  other  lady's  diary  just  now. 
She  used  to  rise  at  seven,  and  as  soon  as  she  was 
dressed  go  to  mass.  Then  home  to  breakfast,  and 
a  pretty  substantial  breakfast  too.  No  tea  or 
coffee,  or  thin  bread  and  butter,  or  crisp  toast,  or 
muffins ;  but  good  beefsteaks  and  ale ;  or  on  fast 
days  some  fish  then  in  season.  A  conger  eel, 
perhaps,  or  a  slice  of  porpoise." 

"  How  nasty !  But  please  to  go  on." 
"  After  breakfast  she  went  to  church  again. 
"When  she  came  home,  perhaps  she  took  a  quiet 
walk  on  one  of  the  terraces  in  her  garden,  at- 
tended by  her  ladies  :  or  if  the  weather  was  bad, 
they  might  sit  and  embroider  till  dinner-time. 
During  dinner,  she  had  a  lecturer  to  read  aloud 
the  whole  time.  After  dinner,  she  received  visi- 
tors, and  transacted  any  business  she  had  in  hand. 
Next,  she  took  a  comfortable  nap  in  her  own 
room.  "When  she  awoke,  her  chaplain  visited  her 
for  confession  or  private  prayers.  Then  she 
came  out  among  her  ladies  again,  and,  as  her 
biographer  says,  '  drank  wine  or  ale  at  her  plea- 
sure/ Then  the  household  all  assembled  for  even- 
ing prayers.  After  that,  she  and  her  ladies  went 
to  chapel ;  and  when  they  returned,  to  supper. 
During  supper  they  talked  about  what  had  been 
read  to  them  at  dinner ;  and  the  good  duchess 
was  very  fond  of  repeating  the  lecture  to  them  all 
over  again  from  memory.  After  supper  she  and 
her  ladies  amused  themselves  '  with  honest  mirth/ 


140      HISTORICAL  CHARADES. 

as  they  said,  till  bed-time ;  and  by  eight  o'clock 
they  were  all  in  bed.  At  least,  such  was  the  rule, 
and  the  old  lady  observed  it  punctually  herself/' 

"  There  is  nothing  in  all  that  for  us  to  play 
at,  Lucy,"  said  Ellen. 

"  No ;  I  do  not  think  we  could  manage  it. 
Of  course  we  could  not  play  at  going  to  chapel ; 
and  if  we  had  to  sit  and  work,  or  walk  in  the 
garden,  or  listen  to  reading,  it  is  no  more  than 
we  do  now."  , 

"  Well,"  said  Caroline,  "  if  one  comes  to  think 
about  it,  they  must  in  reality  have  done  most  of 
the  same  things  we  do  now,  only  they  did  them 
in  rather  a  different  Avay." 

"  We  do  not  read  at  meal-times,"  Mary  ob- 
served. 

"  I  will  tell  you  what  AVC  can  manage,"  Lucy 
exclaimed.  "  Let  us  have  a  Middle  Age  banquet 
in  your  baby-house,  Mary,  for  the  dolls.  The 
Duchess  of  Zero  can  give  the  feast;  you  have 
plenty  more  dolls  for  the  company,  and  AYC  will 
be  the  sen-ants." 

"HoAv  many  people  should  we  haA^e  for  guests?" 
Ellen  asked. 

"  They  had  large  dinner  parties  in  those  days/' 
said  Uncle  Harry  ;  "  but  I  suppose  your  duchess 
would  not  wish  to  invite  quite  such  a  party  as  the 
Duke  of  Milan  brought  on  a  visit  to  Lorenzo  de 
Medici.  There  were  a  hundred  men-at-arms, 
five  hundred  foot-guards,  fifty  running  footmen 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  141 

dressed  in  silk  and  silver,  two  thousand  noblemen 
and  courtiers,  including  their  retainers,  five  hun- 
dred couple  of  dogs,  and  innumerable  falcons  and 
hawks." 

"  Oh,  that  would  be  far  too  many.  We  have 
not  nearly  dolls  enough.  It  would  take  all  the 
dolls  in  the  Pantheon  Bazaar." 

"  Well,  then,  bring  what  you  have,  and  make 
the  most  of  them." 

Upon  this  suggestion  they  immediately  acted. 
The  duchess  was  turned  into  a  baron  for  the  time 
being,  her  daughters  into  knights,  and  the  other 
dolls  into  "  gorgeous  dames  and  statesmen  old,"  of 
all  sorts  and  sizes.  All  the  elegant  furniture  was 
removed,  and  the  carpet  taken  up,  to  prepare  her 
drawing-room  for  a  banqueting-hall.  The  boys, 
of  course,  would  not  condescend  to  play  with  dolls, 
but  William  goodnaturedly  fetched  a  handful  of 
hay  from  the  stable,  and  Arthur  supplied  pieces 
of  wood  from  his  workshop ;  and  then  they  and 
Henry  went  after  their  own  amusements ;  but 
Uncle  Harry  said  that  he  was  much  younger  than 
they,  and  quite  ready  to  play  if  he  was  wanted. 
In  fact,  he  was  always  ready  for  everything. 
There  never  was  such  a  playfellow  as  Uncle  Harry. 
We  supposed  he  might  really  be  a  hard-working 
grown-up  gentleman  when  he  was  at  home ;  but 
with  us  in  the  holidays  he  was  never  too  old,  or 
too  tired,  or  too  busy  for  anything.  So  now  it 
was  settled  that  he  should  talk  for  the  baron ;  and 


142  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

he  began  by  summoning  his  servants,  and  desiring 
them  to  send  for  provisions,  particularly  a  good 
supply  of  fish.  After  a  little  time,  I,  as  one  of  the 
caterers,  returned  to  say  that  there  were  but  three 
baskets  of  fish  in  the  market,  and  that  the  bishop 
of  the  diocese  wanted  them  all ;  that  the  baron's 
servants  had  had  a  fight  with  the  bishop's  servants, 
in  which  several  on  both  sides  were  wounded ; 
that  the  mayor  at  last  had  interfered,  and  decreed 
one  basket  of  fish  to  each  party,  and  kept  the 
other  for  the  market. 

The  baron,  in  a  rage,  said  he  would  punish 
the  mayor  for  not  deciding  entirely  in  his  favour ; 
and  ordered  a  band  of  retainers  to  take  him  pri- 
soner immediately.  No  sooner  said  than  done. 
The  mayor,  a  large  doll,  was  brought  in,  a  pri- 
soner between  Edward  and  Mary.  Uncle  Harry 
stormed  at  him  for  daring  to  contravene  his 
orders,  and  commanded  that  he  should  instantly 
be  carried  "to  the  deepest  dungeon  beneath  the 
castle  moat !"  Uncle  Harry  frowned  so  awfully, 
and  looked  so  tremendously  fierce  while  he  pro- 
nounced these  words  in  a  voice  of  thunder,  that 
we  were  quite  in  fear  for  the  poor  mayor's  life. 
However,  he  came  off  at  last  with  flying  colours, 
for  the  town's-people  had  no  idea  of  allowing 
him  to  be  ill-treated  for  doing  justice,  and  came 
in  a  body  to  besiege  the  baron's  castle,  and  de- 
mand their  mayor.  Their  representatives,  Ellen, 
Lucy,  and  Caroline,  made  such  an  uproar,  that 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  143 

the  baron  was  frightened,  and  brought  out  the 
mayor  and  made  friends  with  him,  and  ended 
by  inviting  both  him  and  the  bishop  to  dinner. 
The  mayor  agreed  to  let  the  baron  buy  the  third 
basket  of  fish,  and  the  bishop  sent  his  for  a  pre- 
sent :  very  fine  fish  they  were,  particularly  the 
dolphins. 

But  Uncle  Harry  said  we  should  want  flesh 
and  fowl  as  well  as  fish ;  and  he  ordered  herons, 
bitterns,  cranes,  swans,  geese,  peacocks,  pheasants, 
rabbits,  pigs,  half  a  stag,  a  baron  of  beef,  many 
kinds  of  vegetables,  particularly  cabbages,  pud- 
dings, plenty  of  blancmange,  and  large  jugs  of 
ale  and  wine. 

"  Are  all  those  birds  and  beasts  to  be  roasted 
whole  ?"  I  asked. 

"  By  no  means.  "We  must  have  elegant  made 
dishes,  and  two  or  three  kinds  of  soup." 

"  I  think,"  said  Ellen,  "  it  seems  rather  below 
the  baron's  dignity  to  order  every  separate 
dish  himself.  Could  not  somebody  else  do 
that?" 

"  Nobody  else  knows  what  to  order ;"  replied 
Lucy.  "  Pretend  he  is  the  steward  for  the  pre- 
sent, and  we  the  cooks.  What  soups  will  you 
please  to  have,  sir  ?" 

"  A  good  dish  of  broth  made  of  pork  and 
gourds ;  a  white  soup  of  almonds  and  onions ; 
and  some  pork  gruel  coloured  with  saffron." 

"  "What    nasty  messes   those  must  be !"  ex- 


144  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

claimed  Lucy :  but  Uncle  Harry  continued  giving 
his  orders  with  the  utmost  gravity. 

"  Take  care  to  have  plenty  of  saffron  to  colour 
the  dishes ;  and  powdered  ginger  to  eat  with  the 
roast  cranes  and  herons ;  a  good  sauce  of  garlic 
and  grapes  for  the  rabbits ;  and  ginger  syrup  for 
the  pheasants." 

"  And  the  pigs,"  cried  Mary.  "  May  we  have 
some  apple  sauce  for  them?" 

"  No,  no.  Take  your  pig,  stuff  him  with  herbs 
and  raisins,  then  boil  him,  then  roast  him  well; 
colour  him  with  eggs  and  saffron,  and  then  cover 
him  with  gold  and  silver  leaf." 

"  What  was  the  use  of  the  gold  and  silver  leaf?" 

"  To  look  pretty,  I  suppose.  They  were  very 
fond  of  gilding  their  joints.  And  don't  forget 
the  stream  of  fire  from  his  mouth  when  he  comes 
to  table." 

"  How  is  that  to  be  managed  ?"  asked  Lucy, 
who  seemed  to  be  the  head  cook. 

"  A  thin  long-necked  phial  of  spirit  is  to  be 
concealed  in  the  pig's  mouth,  just  before  it  is 
brought  to  table.  As  soon  as  the  heat  of  the  pig 
makes  the  spirit  boil,  set  fire  to  the  vapour.  And 
mind  that  we  have  a  dish  of  boiled  radishes, 
several  vegetable  tarts,  and  a  large  custard  pud- 
ding stuffed  full  of  violets." 

"  That  last  sounds  more  promising,"  said 
Caroline  :  "  but  what  odd  mixtures  they  seem  to 
have  used  in  their  cookery." 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  145 

"  Yes.  But  now  I  think  your  dinner  is  pretty 
well  ordered." 

The  house  was  next  taken  in  hand :  chopped 
hay  spread  over  the  floor,  a  long  wooden  table 
arranged  the  whole  length  of  the  room,  and 
benches  round  it.  Chairs  of  the  Duchess'  were 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  board  for  the  baron, 
the  bishop,  and  two  or  three  of  the  most 
distinguished  guests.  When  all  was  ready,  a 
flourish  of  Edward's  tin  trumpet  announced  the 
arrival  of  the  company.  The  baron  ordered  the 
drawbridge  to  be  lowered,  and  proceeded  to  the 
hall  to  receive  his  guests.  The  dolls  were 
ushered  into  the  banqueting-hall  with  great  dig- 
nity. Mary,  Lucy,  and  Ellen  arranged  them  in 
their  proper  places,  taking  care  to  seat  several  of 
the  gentlemen  on  the  floor.  A  plate  and  knife 
were  given  to  each  person,  but  of  course  no  fork. 
Most  of  the  animal  food  came  out  of  Edward's 
Noah's  Ark,  and  Mary  had  boxes  of  dolls'  fruit 
and  vegetables. 

"  Who  is  to  carve  ?"  asked  Lucy. 

cc  The  baron  himself  should  carve  the  principal 
dish,"  said  Uncle  Harry ;  "  and  the  guests  may 
help  themselves  to  the  others.  It  was  sometimes 
a  point  of  politeness  for  the  master  or  mistress  of 
the  house  to  carve  one  dish.  The  Countess  of 
Warwick  held  a  manor  by  the  service  of  carving 
for  the  King  on  particular  occasions." 

The  servants  were  very  attentive,  helped  the 
L 


146  HISTORICAL   CHAEADES. 

wooden  company  to  carve  and  eat,  and  carried 
on  conversation  for  them  to  prevent  their  finding 
the  party  dull.  As  the  exact  date  of  the  enter- 
tainment was  not  fixed,  they  introduced  by  way 
of  conversation  any  stories  they  happened  to 
know.  The  best  was  one  told  by  Uncle  Harry, 
about  John  Erigena  when  dining  with  King 
Charles  the  Bald.  Erigena  was  a  learned  man, 
very  clever,  and  full  of  fun.  He  was  rather  small 
and  thin,  and  a  little  apt  to  be  greedy.  He  was 
sitting  at  dinner  between  two  remarkably  fat 
priests,  and  the  King  sent  him  a  dish  containing 
two  large  fish  and  one  small  one,  and  desired  him 
to  divide  them  between  himself  and  his  two 
neighbours.  John  bowed  to  the  King,  gravely 
helped  himself  to  the  two  large  fish,  and  divided 
the  little  one  between  the  priests.  "  That  is  not 
fair  !"  said  they.  "  No,  indeed ;"  said  the  King. 
But  John  again  bowing  politely,  persisted  in  its 
being  all  right.  "  Here,"  said  he,  showing  his 
own  plate  and  himself,  "  are  two  large  fish  and 
one  little  one ;  and  there,"  pointing  to  the  priests 
and  their  plates,  "  are  also  two  large  fish  and  one 
little  one." 

Between  the  two  courses  the  baron,  as  was 
customary,  had  an  "  intermeat,"  a  kind  of  show 
that  used  to  be  exhibited  during  feasts,  and  gene- 
rally consisted  of  a  sham  fight  by  sea  or  land. 
One  of  Edward's  little  ships  was  brought  in, 
and  soldiers  out  of  the  same  box  were  pushed 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  147 

after  it.  The  attendants  knocked  them  all  down 
with  caraway  comfits;  then  ate  the  sugar-plums 
in  the  name  of  the  company,  and  carried  the 
interineat  away. 

The  only  drawback  to  the  pleasure  of  the  en- 
tertainment was  its  extreme  noise.  The  company 
and  the  servants  seemed  all  determined  to  talk  at 
once ;  and  at  last  Uncle  Harry  said  that  we  must 
establish  a  Silentiary.  Edward  was  accordingly 
installed  in  the  office,  and  posted  against  the  wall 
with  a  cane  in  his  hand,  with  which  he  was  to 
strike  it  whenever  the  company  became  noisy. 
But  he  discharged  his  duty  with  too  great  rigour, 
and  struck  the  wall  whenever  anybody  attempted 
to  speak.  The  mere  suspicion  that  any  one  was 
going  to  open  her  mouth,  set  him  hammering ;  so 
that  he  made  more  noise  than  they,  and  stopped 
all  conversation.  He  was,  therefore,  by  common 
consent,  deposed  from  his  office. 

Uncle  Harry  and  I,  having  other  things  to  do, 
took  leave  soon  after  the  entertainment  began ; 
but  it  continued  during  the  whole  of  that  day, 
and  when  we  went  to  bed  at  night,  the  baron  and 
his  guests  were  still  carousing.  Next  day,  Lucy, 
Ellen,  and  Mary  spent  the  whole  morning  in 
putting  things  in  order  and  welcoming  the  return 
of  the  Duchess  of  Zero  and  her  daughters  to  their 
comfortable  family  mansion. 


148  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Value  of  a  good  character — AGAMEMNON — Statue  of  Memnon — 
Clyteirmestra's  Grecian  dress — Galileo — William  Wallace — 
Lancaster — A  skating  party. 

THE  dinner  parties  were  over,  the  papas  and 
mammas  at  leisure,  and  everybody  being  ready 
for  more  charades,  Uncle  Harry  and  I  were 
again  summoned  to  the  consultation. 

"  Let  us  have  something  from  Greece  or 
Rome,"  said  Arthur 

"  By  all  means,"  said  Henry ;  "  and  let  it  be 
a  philosopher  this  time." 

"  I  wonder  what  you  can  see  to  admire  in 
those  philosophers,"  said  William.  "  St.  Au- 
gustine says  they  hung  up  veils  before  their 
doors  to  hide  the  ignorance  that  lurked  within." 

"  Not  quite  so  fast,  William,"  interposed  his 
father.  "  Before  the  introduction  of  Christianity 
the  best  of  the  heathens  were  generally  philoso- 
phers, and,  as  far  as  honesty  and  just  dealing 
went,  they  are  not  to  be  despised." 

"I  thought  they  taught  nothing  but  sophis- 
try," said  William. 

"They  gave  good  lessons  sometimes.  There 
was  one  who  was  anxious  to  impress  upon  his 
scholars  the  value  of  a  good  character.  With 
this  intention  he  went  down  to  the  market-place 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  149 

at  midnight,  and  carried  away  a  sheep  that  was 
hung  up  in  the  shambles.  In  the  morning  the 
sheep  was  missed,  and  two  of  his  scholars,  young 
men  of  indifferent  character,  were  accused  of  the 
theft.  They  were  brought  before  the  magistrate, 
when  the  philosopher  came  forward  and  confessed 
himself  to  be  the  thief." 

"  Then,  of  course,  the  poor  scholars  got  off  ?" 
said  Ellen. 

"  No  :  everybody  laughed  at  the  philosopher, 
and  said  it  was  impossible  that  so  good  a  man 
could  steal.  The  more  he  protested,  the  more 
they  laughed,  and  said  that  anybody  could  see  he 
was  only  trying  to  save  his  scholars.  At  last  he 
brought  the  sheep  into  court,  and  returned  it  to 
the  owner.  '  Learn  from  this/  he  said  to  his 
scholars,  '  the  value  of  a  good  reputation/  '• 

"  Do  you  know  the  name  of  the  philosopher  ?" 
asked  Henry. 

"  No,  I  do  not ;  so  I  am  afraid  you  cannot 
act  him.  But  I  cannot  stay  with  you  this  morn- 
ing, as  I  have  an  engagement.  Good-bye." 

"  Let  us  have  something  from  the  Iliad,"  said 
Arthur,  when  Uncle  Harry  was  gone.  "  One  of 
the  names  we  proposed  the  other  day,  AGAMEM- 
xox  ?  Aunt  Esther,  you  said  that  would  do, 
only  we  had  not  time  to  finish  settling  it." 

"  But  I  do  not  see  how  we  can  divide  the  word," 
said  Ellen.  "  Ay  does  not  mean  anything." 

"  Try  Aga,"  I  said.     "  A  sort  of  petty  great 


150      HISTORICAL  CHARADES. 

man.  in  Turkey,  sometimes  the  governor  of  a 
village.  You  might  have  him  sitting  smoking, 
surrounded  by  his  attendants." 

"  Yes ;  and  having  them  all  bastinadoed/' 
exclaimed  Arthur.  "  That  is  the  thing  for  a 
Turkish  Governor." 

"  Oh  no,  Arthur/'  said  Caroline ;  "  do  not 
let  us  have  anything  horrid.  You  know  mamma 
does  not  like  it." 

se  Well,  but  she  will  not  mind  my  ordering  it. 
Of  course  it  is  not  going  to  be  done  ?" 

"  But  what  shall  we  have  for  Mem  ?  Would 
a  very  affected,  mincing  person  do,  coming  in, 
saying — How  do  you  do,  Mem  ?  I  am  delighted 
to  see  you,  Mem, — instead  of  Ma'am  ?"  inquired 
Mary,  curtseying,  putting  her  head  on  one  side, 
and  acting  her  own  idea,  as  she  spoke. 

"  Oh  no,  Mary,  we  do  not  want  Mem  at  all/' 
Henry  replied.  "  Memnon,  the  Egyptian  hero, 
is  what  we  must  have,  of  course." 

"  Who  was  Memnon  ?  You  fixed  upon  these 
words  the  morning  Lucy  and  I  were  sweeping 
the  baby-house  and  washing  the  dolls'  clothes 
after  the  banquet,  so  we  do  not  know  about 
them." 

Though  Henry  had  been  so  ready  with  Mem- 
non's  name,  we  found  that  he  knew  nothing 
more,  and  could  not  even  tell  Mary  who  he  was  : 
so  I  explained  to  her  that  Memnon  was  a  corrup- 
tion of  the  name  of  Amenof  the  Third,  supposed 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  151 

by  some  people  to  have  been  the  very  kiug  of 
Egypt  who  was  reigning  when  the  Israelites 
took  their  departure,  and  who  was  drowned  in 
the  Red  Sea. 

"  But  that  was  Pharaoh  \"  exclaimed  Lucy, 
Ellen,  and  Mary  all  together. 

"  Pharaoh  was  his  title,  not  his  name.  All 
the  kings  of  Egypt  at  that  time  were  called 
Pharaohs,  but  they  had  their  own  names  besides." 

"  Just  as  the  first  twelve  emperors  of  Rome 
were  called  Csesars,"  said  Arthur. 

When  the  little  girls  were  satisfied  on  this 
point,  I  told  them  more  about  Amenof,  and  the 
great  statue  erected  to  him. 

"  Then  Moses  himself  may  have  seen  it,"  said 
Lucy.  "  Think  of  there  being  a  statue  standing 
now  that  Moses  and  the  Israelites  could  have 
seen  !  That  is  wonderful." 

"  But,"  said  the  dignified  Henry,  "  do  you 
believe  it?" 

"  I  am  not  learned  enough  to  decide,"  I 
answered;  "  I  only  tell  you  that  some  people 
suppose  it  to  have  been  the  statue  of  that  Pha- 
raoh, and  I  do  not  know  that  there  are  any  strong 
reasons  against  it." 

"  I  am  sure  /  shall  believe  it,"  said  Lucy, 
"  because  it  is  so  nice  to  think  of.  What  is  it 
like?" 

I  told  her  that  it  is  an  enormous  statue,  fifty- 
three  feet  high,  sitting  on  a  throne,  with  its  hands 


152  HISTOEICAL   CHARADES. 

on  its  knees.  In  former  times  people  believed 
that  every  morning  when  the  first  rays  of  the 
sun  struck  the  statue,  it  gave  out  a  musical  sound, 
and  it  is  therefore  known  by  the  name  of  the 
Vocal  Memnon.  "  Now/'  I  continued,  "  we  may 
very  easily  dress  Henry  as  an  Egyptian  statue : 
we  will  put  him  in  the  Memnon's  attitude,  with 
a  sheet  over  him,  and  a  white  scarf  flat  upon  his 
head,  and  hanging  down  on  his  shoulders ;  and  I 
will  sit  behind  him  where  I  cannot  be  seen,  and 
strike  a  chord  on  the  guitar." 

"  That  will  be  famous,"  said  Henry.  "  I 
have  seen  the  small  Memnon  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum, and  I  know  the  position." 

"  I  think  we  might  manage  a  still  better  scene, 
with  more  acting  in  it,"  Arthur  observed.  "  Do 
not  you  remember  in  the  History  of  Rome,  that 
the  Emperor  Adrian,  with  his  wife  and  a  number 
of  ladies,  went  to  visit  the  statue  of  Memnon,  to 
hear  the  music  ?  We  might  have  them  coming 
to  see  it,  and  talking  about  the  sound." 

"  There  is  one  objection  to  that.  Henry  will 
quite  lose  his  effect  as  a  colossal  statue,  if  human 
beings  of  the  same  size  are  standing  by  him.  It 
will  answer  better  to  have  nothing  to  compare 
him  with,  if  we  wish  him  to  look  gigantic. 
Now — '  Agamemnon,  King  of  Men/  what  scene 
in  his  life  will  you  have  ?" 

"  Oh,  don't  let  us  have  his  life  at  all  :  let  us 
have  his  death.  His  wife  Clytemnestra  stabbing 


HISTORICAL  CHARADES.      153 

him.  You  know  she  gave  him  a  fine  tunic  with 
the  sleeves  sewed  together,  and  while  he  was 
trying  to  put  it  on,  and  his  arms  were  entangled 
in  the  sleeves,  she  stabbed  him." 

:e  What  a  wicked  creature,"  said  Ellen.  "  I 
am  sure  I  will  not  act  her." 

"  Nor  I ;"  said  Mary.  "  Nor  I  neither ;" 
said  Lucy. 

"  "Well  then,  Caroline  will.  You  will  not 
mind  it,  Carry  ?" 

"  Why  really,  I  would  rather  not." 

"  Suppose,"  said  I,  "  you  classical  boys  act 
that  scene  by  yourselves.  Let  Arthur  be  Cly- 
temnestra ;  the  dressing  him  up  as  a  lady  will  be 
an  additional  advantage." 

"  Oh  yes  !"  said  Mary ;  "  and  he  shall  have 
mamma's  old  pink  bonnet  and  black  cloak,  or 
had  he  better  be  in  an  evening  dress  ?  Caro- 
line's blue  frock  with  short  sleeves ;  and  perhaps 
as  Clytemnestra  was  a  queen,  he  should  have  a 
crown." 

"  Oh  Mary,  what  wretched  notions !"  ex- 
claimed Henry.  "  Suffely  you  do  not  suppose 
the  Greek  ladies  of  the  heroic  ages  were  dressed 
in  bonnets  and  frocks  like  you?" 

"  How  were  they  dressed  ?" 

"  They  wore  tunics,  vests,  robes,  and  different 
kinds  of  drapery  of  their  own.  The  way  will  be 
for  Arthur  to  take  off  his  jacket,  and  turn  his 
shirt-sleeves  up  to  his  shoulders,  and  then  have  a 


154  HISTORICAL    CHAKADES. 

shawl  twisted  round  him  somehow ;    I  dare  say 
Aunt  Esther  can  do  it." 

"  Very  easily.  I  will  fold  the  shawl  round  him, 
and  fasten  the  corners  on  his  shoulders  with 
brooches :  and  he  shall  have  a  girdle  round  his 
waist." 

"  I  ought  to  have  a  veil,  and  a  crown  or  fillet ; 
do  not  forget  that/'  said  Arthur. 

"  Those  are  all  ready,"  I  answered :  "  and 
now  that  we  have  settled  Agamemnon,  what 
other  words  shall  we  have?  There  will  be  time 
for  several.  None  of  Agamemnon's  scenes  will 
take  long  to  act." 

"  I  think,"  said  William,  "  it  would  be  a  good 
way  for  us  to  take  it  in  turn  to  choose  the  words, 
because  then  we  might  each  have  our  favourite 
character,  and  still  all  consult  and  arrange.  Shall 
we  draw  lots  for  first  choice  ?" 

The  first  choice  fell  to  me,  and  as  we  had 
hitherto  dealt  only  in  kings  and  queens,  I  ven- 
tured to  leave  the  royal  line,  and  to  propose  the 
philosopher  GALILEO.  The  word  would  divide 
well,  but  I  found  that  ndfte  of  the  children  except 
William  knew  his  history.  They  had  always 
cared  more  about  kings  and  warriors  than  about 
learned  men.  Lucy  had  learnt  to  repeat  in  her 
lesson  of  Chronology. 

"  A.  D.  1557.     The  astronomer  Galileo,  and 

the  Spanish  writer,  Cervantes,  flourish  :" 
but  she  did  not  know  who  either  of  them  were, 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES-  155 

and  had  never  inquired.  I  explained  that  Galileo 
was  a  learned  Italian  who  invented  the  telescope, 
and  made  many  great  astronomical  discoveries. 
The  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  was  his  friend,  and 
made  him  Professor  of  Mathematics,  and  for  a 
time  he  pursued  his  studies  in  peace ;  but  at  last, 
ignorant  people  fancied  there  must  he  something 
wrong  in  his  discoveries  because  they  could  not 
understand  them,  and  he  was  brought  before  the 
Inquisition.  There  he  was  forced  to  renounce 
all  his  opinions.  He  agreed  to  give  up  his  science 
in  order  to  save  his  life,  but  the  Inquisitors 
were  not  satisfied,  and  they  imprisoned  him  for 
many  years.  When  he  was  released,  his  eye- 
sight was  so  injured  by  the  confinement,  that  he 
could  no  longer  look  through  his  telescope.  When 
I  had  finished  my  story,  the  boys  wished  to  act 
his  examination  before  the  Inquisition,  but  Ellen 
did  not  like  anything  so  melancholy,  and  wre 
therefore  determined  upon  showing  him  looking 
through  his  telescope. 

It  was  now  little  Edward's  turn  to  find  a 
word,  and  he  seemed  rather  puzzled  at  having 
"  all"  history  "  before  him  where  to  choose," 
because,  as  he  informed  us,  he  was  only  as  far  as 
Bichard  the  Third.  Arthur  advised  him  to  act 
Hercules. 

"  He  had  much  better  be  Tom  Thumb,"  said 
Henry.  "  Besides,  Hercules  will  not  divide ; 
don't  put  useless  words  into  the  child's  head." 


156  HISTOKICAL    CHARADES. 

I  reminded  Edward  of  the  different  heroes  of 
whom  he  had  read  in  his  little  history  of  Eng- 
land ;  and  he  said  his  favourite  of  all  was  William 
Wallace,  but  that  he  should  not  like  to  be  him, 
even  in  play,  because  of  having  his  head  cut 
off. 

"  Never  mind  that,"  said  William.  "  Wallace 
is  a  good  word.  You  may  be  any  other  cha- 
racter that  comes  into  the  story ;  and  any  one 
of  us  will  be  William  Wallace  himself,  if  you  do 
not  like  it.  /am  quite  ready  to  act  such  a  hero, 
with  his  head  or  without  it." 

"  It  is  a  very  odd  thing,"  said  Lucy,  "  but  I 
think  heroes  generally  come  to  bad  ends.  After 
all  their  fighting  and  conquering,  they  are  very 
apt  to  have  their  own  heads  cut  off,  or  something 
of  that  sort.  I  wonder  why  that  is." 

"  Because,"  I  replied,  "  the  greatest  men  have 
not  fought  for  their  own  private  advantage,  but 
for  the  rights  of  their  king,  or  the  good  of  their 
country,  and  sometimes  the  object  could  not  be 
gained  without  the  loss  of  their  lives.  Those 
great  men  were  ready  to  lay  down  their  own  lives 
in  a  noble  cause;  and  often  that  was  the  very 
way  they  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  heroes. 

"  Now  if  you  have  agreed  upon  Wallace,  draw 
lots  for  the  next. — It  is  Ellen's  turn.  Who 
shall  it  be,  EUen  ?" 

"  I  should  like  some  name  in  the  Wars  of  the 
Roses,  but  on  the  Lancaster  side,  of  course." 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  157 

"  Why  do  you  prefer  that  side  ?" 

"  Because  I  am  so  sorry  for  poor  Henry  the 
Sixth,  and  his  misfortunes.  He  was  a  good 
man,  I  am  sure,  though  he  might  not  be  a  clever 
king." 

"  I  like  him  too,"  said  Mary.  "  If  I  had 
lived  at  that  time,  he  should  have  had  somebody 
to  comfort  him  and  give  him  a  little  honour,  I 
know." 

"  Yes,  and  me  too,"  cried  Edward.  "  I'm  a 
Red  Rose." 

And  indeed  his  chubby  face  looked  very  like 
one. 

I  proposed  taking  the  word  LANCASTER.  It 
would  divide  very  well.  Lank — Aster. 

"  What  shall  Lank  be  ?" 

"  I  know,"  said  Lucy ;  "  I  heard  Aunt  Mor- 
timer telling  mamma  that  when  Matilda  was  a 
child,  her  hair  was  so  lank  it  never  would 
curl.  Let  us  be  a  party  of  girls  whose  hair 
will  not  curl.  AVe  can  come  in  with  it  all 
about  our  ears,  pretending  we  have  got  wet  in 
the  rain." 

"  I  suppose  that  must  do,"  said  Ellen.  "  Now 
for  Aster." 

Caroline  suggested  bringing  in  one  of  the 
China  asters  which  she  would  ask  the  gardener  to 
pot  off  ready  for  the  evening,  if  they  were  not 
all  out  of  bloom.  She  proposed  to  bring  the 
company  to  see  it  as  a  rare  plant  just  arrived 


158  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

from  China,  when  she  would  expatiate  upon  its 
class  and  order,  and  the  mode  of  cultivating  it. 

For  LANCASTER,  I  advised,  the  adherents  of 
Henry  the  Sixth  discussing  his  character  and 
misfortunes,  and  resolving  to  be  faithful  to  him, 
and  to  their  emblem,  the  Red  Rose.  "  We  might 
put  on  some  red  roses,"  said  Caroline ;  "  mamma 
has  an  old  wreath,  which  I  know  we  may  cut  to 
pieces." 

"  Fll  tell  you  what  will  be  best/'  cried  Arthur. 
"We'll  have  a  good  skirmish  between  York  and 
Lancaster.  Some  of  us  shall  wear  white  roses, 
and  some  red ;  and  the  red  shall  meet  the  others 
and  beat  them,  and  make  them  throw  all  their 
white  roses  away.  We  can  get  up  a  capital 
row." 

Here  we  were  interrupted  by  Mr.  Percy,  who 
came  to  announce  that  the  pond  in  the  park  was 
frozen  so  hard  that  the  ice  was  quite  safe  for 
sliding  and  skating,  and  advised  the  boys  to 
take  advantage  of  it  while  the  weather  was 
favourable. 

"  Hurrah  !"  cried  Henry,  throwing  down  the 
History  of  Greece,  while  Arthur  let  Rome  slip 
through  his  fingers  more  easily  than  even  Augus- 
tulus  had  done.  William  made  equally  short 
work  with  England,  and  the  boys  rushed  from 
the  room  with  shouts  that  might  have  announced 
the  fall  of  empires. 

We  ladies  remained  to  put  the  books  in  their 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  159 

places;  and  then  followed  to  enjoy  the  fun 
in  the  park.  We  found  the  rest  of  the  party 
at  the  pond  before  us,  and  most  of  them  on 
the  ice;  some  sliding,  some  skating  :  Mr.  Stanley, 
in  particular,  was  skimming  over  the  ice,  as 
if  he  had  Avings.  He  was  a  capital  performer, 
and  very  good-natured  in  teaching  the  boys.  He 
had  brought  out  with  him  five  oranges,  four  of 
which  he  placed  upon  the  ice  in  a  square,  with 
about  twelve  feet  between  each,  and  the  other  in 
the  middle.  Closely  followed  by  Henry,  Arthur, 
and  William,  he  skated  in  a  small  circle  round 
the  centre  orange.  When  they  had  gone  once 
round,  they  struck  out  at  the  same  moment,  each 
making  a  circle  round  one  of  the  corner  oranges ; 
then  altogether  round  the  centre ;  then  each 
again  took  his  own  corner.  In  this  way  they 
went  on  very  regularly,  but  the  ice  being  new 
continued  cracking  all  the  time.  Mr.  Stanley, 
who  knew  that  the  water  was  only  two  or  three 
feet  deep,  allowed  them  to  go  on  till  the  ice 
waved  like  a  carpet,  and  the  water  oozed  through 
every  time  he  passed  over  the  cracks,  when  he 
thought  it  advisable  to  try  some  other  part  of  the 
pond. 

Henry  now  proposed  a  mail-coach,  which  was 
performed  by  all  the  skaters  laying  hold  of  each 
other's  sticks,  the  fastest  taking  the  lead,  and 
skating  over  the  pond  in  all  directions. 

Several  of  the  ladies   ventured   on  the  ice. 


160      HISTORICAL  CHARADES. 

Lucy  and  Mary  were  almost  as  fearless  as  their 
brothers,  but  the  little  quiet  Ellen  preferred 
remaining  with  me  on  shore,  and  admiring  her 
braver  companions,  notwithstanding  their  laugh- 
ing at  her.  We  stayed  till  it  grew  so  cold  and 
dark  that  Mrs.  Percy  ordered  the  children  home. 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  161 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

WALLACE — AGAMEMNON — GALILEO — Roman  Galleys — Leo  X. 
— SPARTAN — Black  Broth. 

AT  the  earliest  possible  opportunity  we  began  our 
performance.  The  words  chosen  in  the  morning 
went  off  very  well.  The  first  was  Wallace. 

WALL.  A  company  of  travellers  arriving  in 
sight  of  the  great  wall  of  China,  guided  by  a 
Chinese,  with  a  long  pig-tail,  and  dressed  in  a 
cloak  with  a  girdle.  They  looked  up  at  the 
cornice  of  the  room,  and  expressed  unbounded 
surprise  and  admiration,  inquiring  its  height  and 
breadth,  saying  they  had  never  seen  anything  so 
stupendous,  and  that  it  must  be  a  great  defence 
to  China.  The  guide  bowing,  and  turning  about 
so  as  to  display  his  pig-tail  to  the  utmost  advan- 
tage, remarked  that  China  was  decidedly  the 
mistress  of  the  world ;  at  which  the  travellers 
laughed,  and  the  spectators  guessed  the  word. 

LACE.  Caroline  had  seen  lace  made  in  Devon- 
shire, and  she  desired  the  actors  to  supply  them- 
selves with  pillows  for  cushions,  and  to  stick  in 
them  rows  of  pins  with  reels  of  cotton  fastened 
to  them.  The  weavers  sat  with  the  pillows  on 
their  laps,  and  wove  very  industriously,  but  the 
word  was  soon  guessed. 
M 


162  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

For  WALLACE  they  chose  the  story  of  William 
Wallace  and  his  army  meeting  Warrenne  Earl  of 
Surrey,  and  his  troops,  at  Stirling. 

The  river  Forth  was  there  crossed  by  a  long 
wooden  bridge.  The  English  general  approached 
the  banks  on  the  southern  side,  and  Wallace  on 
the  north.  Warrenne  sent  two  clergymen  to  offer 
a  pardon  to  Wallace  and  his  followers  on  con- 
dition of  their  laying  down  their  arms. 

"  Go  back  to  Warrenne,"  said  Wallace  to  the 
messengers,  "and  tell  him  we  are  not  here  to 
treat  of  peace,  but  to  restore  freedom  to  our 
country.  Let  the  English  come  on;  we  defy 
them  to  their  very  beards  \" 

The  space  between  two  rows  of  chairs  down 
the  middle  of  the  room,  made  the  river ;  and  the 
chairs  themselves,  the  banks.  Wallace  was  very 
grand.  We  wondered  that  the  English  had  been 
able  to  defeat  such  a  hero;  and,  knowing  his 
history,  we  could  not  for  the  time  avoid  preferring 
the  Scotch  cause  to  the  English.  We  might  have 
continued  half  the  evening  lamenting  his  fate, 
but  the  boys  recalled  us  to  the  business  in  hand. 

AGAMEMNON  gave  great  satisfaction  through- 
out, but  I  think  our  best  scene  was  MEMNON. 
The  chairs  and  tables  were  wheeled  out  of  the 
way,  and  a  large  empty  space  cleared  to  repre- 
sent the  plain  of  the  Nile,  above  which  the 
Memnon  towers.  A  single  arm-chair  was  placed 
for  Henry,  who  sat  on  the  back  of  it  dressed  in 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  163 

ancient  Egyptian  costume.  He  wore  the  sheet 
as  at  first  proposed,  but  we  found  a  much  better 
contrivance  than  the  scarf  to  imitate  the  head- 
dress. Long  strips  of  cartridge  paper,  about 
three  inches  wide,  were  folded  backwards  and 
forwards  till  they  looked  like  a  large  plaited  frill, 
and  bound  with  a  fillet  to  Henry's  temples. 
They  hung  half  way  down  his  waistcoat,  and  the 
ends  were  fastened  by  a  girdle.  He  sat  upright, 
with  his  hands  spread  flat  upon  his  knees,  and  I 
hid  myself  behind  him  with  the  guitar.  The 
lights  were  extinguished,  and  for  a  few  seconds  a 
solemn  silence  prevailed — the  night  was  still 
and  dark.  Presently  the  door  softly  opened,  and 
Caroline  appeared,  carrying  her  papa's  little 
portable  reading  lamp ;  she  entered  slowly,  hold- 
ing her  hand  before  it,  so  as  to  illuminate  but  a 
small  part  of  the  room.  Morning  was  evidently 
dawning,  but  Memnon  was  still  in  shadow. 
Gradually  she  lowered  her  hand,  and  threw  the 
light  full  on  the  face  of  the  statue.  At  the  in- 
stant the  sun's  rays  reached  him,  the  musical 
sounds  were  heard,  for  I  began  to  play  some 
chords  on  the  guitar ;  first  in  very  faint  harmo- 
nics, then  growing  louder,  and  gradually  dying 
away  again,  to  imitate  the  kind  of  sound  sup- 
posed to  issue  from  Memnon. 

Next  came  GALILEO. 

The  boys  contrived  with  the  chairs  an  ancient 
(/alley,  with  two  banks  of  oars.  One  set  of  rowers 
M  2 


164  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

were  on  the  floor,  and  worked  their  oars  between 
the  bars  of  the  chairs ;  the  others  sat  on  the  seats, 
and  rowed  with  long  sticks  through  the  backs. 
Henry,  dressed  in  sheet  drapery,  stood  at  the 
prow,  evidently  bent  on  conquest,  and  holding  a 
pasteboard  standard,  on  which  appeared  the  letters 
S.  P.  Q.  R.  The  rowers  pulled  immensely  hard 
— true  racing  stroke — but  their  exertions  were 
not  long  needed,  for  the  word  was  discovered. 

The  next  scene  represented  4  Pope  Leo  the 
Tenth,  in  whose  reign,  as  the  children  knew, 
the  Reformation  began.  We  had  first  thought  of 
acting  his  commissioning  Tetzel  to  sell  the  in- 
dulgences ;  then  his  meeting  with  Francis  the 
First,  when  the  Cardinals  charged  him  not  to 
touch  his  hat,  lest  the  people  should  think  a  King 
was  as  great  a  man  as  a  Pope :  but  we  finally 
decided  upon  his  reception  of  the  English  ambas- 
sadors, who  came  to  present  Henry  the  Eighth's 
book  against  Luther. 

Leo,  dressed  in  scarlet  robes,  sat  in  an  arm- 
chair covered  with  crimson  drapery.  The  Cardi- 
nals, in  sheets  and  red  shawls,  with  little  red 
caps  on  their  heads,  stood  on  each  side  of  his 
chair.  Leo  held  in  his  hand  a  scroll,  on  which 
were  the  words  FIDEI  DEFENSOR,  the  title  which 
he  bestowed  upon  Henry  in  return  for  his  book. 
The  Pope  received  the  book  with  great  dignity, 
and  presented  the  scroll  to  the  ambassadors,  who 
appeared  extremely  grateful.  Leo  then  put  out 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  165 

his  foot  in  a  convenient  position  for  them  to  kiss ; 
which  ceremony  being  performed,  they  retired. 

GALILEO.  The  scene  now  lay  in  Tuscany,  at 
the  court  of  Duke  Cosmo.  Gaily  dressed  cour- 
tiers and  ladies  were  walking  about,  exchanging 
compliments,  and  remarking  on  the  clearness  of 
the  evening. 

"  We  must  prepare  for  the  revel  to-night," 
said  one ;  "  the  evening  star  already  warns  us  to 
return  to  the  palace/' 

"  So  I  perceive/'  answered  a  giddy  young 
lady ;  "  and  with  it,  as  usual,  appears  our  solemn 
Professor  of  Mathematics." 

Galileo  slowly  advanced;  a  quiet-looking  old 
man  dressed  in  black,  with  a  telescope  under  his 
arm. 

"Well,  Signor  Bat's-eyes,"  began  the  courtier ; 
"  what  say  the  constellations  ?  Do  they  promise 
you  the  philosopher's  stone  to-night  ?" 

"  Or  the  elixir  of  perpetual  youth  ?"  asked  the 
gay  maiden. 

"  But  what  do  you  hear  through  that  tube?" 
inquired  another. 

"  The  barking  of  the  Dogstar,  and  the  howls 
of  the  Great  Bear,"  replied  a  fourth. 

These  taunts  and  many  others  were  lost  upon 
Galileo,  who  silently  awaited  their  departure  for 
the  revel.  When  left  alone,  he  stealthily  brought 
out  from  behind  the  screen  a  three-legged  stand. 

"These  moments  are  precious,"  said  he  to 


166  HISTORICAL    CHAEADES. 

himself,  as  he  hastily  fixed  his  telescope.  "  The 
dungeons  of  the  Inquisition  are  dark,  and  once 
within  their  walls,  farewell  to  sun  and  stars  \" 

After  Lancaster  had  been  acted,  and  our  Red 
Roses  had  come  off  more  triumphantly  than  was 
often  the  fortune  of  poor  Henry  the  Sixth,  we 
had  one  more  charade  this  evening ;  it  was  chosen 
by  Arthur,  and  intended  to  be  entirely  performed 
by  the  boys.  The  girls  were  not  even  allowed  to 
know  the  word,  but  were  desired  to  guess  with 
the  other  spectators. 

The  first  syllable  was  rather  alarming.  Henry 
and  Arthur  came  in  without  their  jackets,  and 
with  handkerchiefs  twisted  round  their  hands  so 
as  to  make  them  three  times  the  natural  size. 
They  placed  themselves  in  the  middle  of  the 
room,  and  began,  as  we  thought,  to  fight.  There 
was  a  great  deal  of  hitting  at  each  other's  faces, 
and  yet  they  did  not  seem  to  hurt  one  another. 
We  guessed  Fight,  Box,  Hit,  but  they  shook  their 
heads ;  none  of  those  would  do.  As  they  left  the 
room,  I  heard  Arthur  say,  "  I  suppose  the  ladies 
can't  be  expected  to  guess  that ;  but  really,  Uncle 
Stanley  ought."  However,  Mr.  Stanley  gave 
us  no  help,  and  the  second  scene  began. 

When  the  screen  was  removed,  we  saw  chairs 
placed  in  a  square  with  the  backs  towards  the 
inside,  so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  pit  or  well. 
Baizes  and  carpets  were  spread  over  them,  and 
in  a  conspicuous  place  hung  the  never-failing 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  167 

tiger  skin.  Henry,  Arthur,  William,  and  Edward, 
were  standing  round,  with  their  sleeves  tucked 
up  to  their  elbows,  apparently  engaged  in  some 
very  hard  work.  They  dragged  the  pieces  of 
carpet  out  of  the  pit,  and  rubbed  them  most 
diligently.  Edward,  in  particular,  rubbed  till 
his  own  face  was  as  red  as  the  drugget  on  which 
hs  was  at  work.  Presently  they  threw  it  all 
back,  saying  the  leather  was  not  sufficiently 
softened,  and  must  go  into  the  pit  again.  They 
next  began  to  work  at  the  tiger  skin,  observing 
that  they  must  first  scrape  off  the  hair ;  but  on 
Arthur's  producing  a  carving  knife  for  that  pur- 
pose, Mrs.  Percy  interfered.  She  said  they  had 
entered  quite  far  enough  into  the  realities  of 
their  trade,  without  proceeding  to  tan  her  va- 
luable tiger  skin. 

After  we  had  waited  a  long  time  for  the  next 
scene,  Edward  ran  in  to  say  that  they  had  not 
actors  enough,  and  wanted  Caroline,  Lucy,  and 
Ellen  to  come  and  help.  The  young  ladies 
obeyed  the  summons,  but  we  still  waited  till  our 
patience  was  exhausted,  and  I  was  despatched 
io  hurry  them.  On  entering  the  school-room,  I 
found  them  in  a  most  extraordinary  mess.  There 
seemed  to  be  some  very  odd  sort  of  cookery 
going  on,  for  there  was  a  large  tureen  on  the 
table,  with  soup-plates  and  several  iron  and 
vooden  spoons. 

"  What  can  you  be  doing  ?"  I  asked. 


168  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

"  Don't  you  see  ?"  replied  Arthur.  "  We 
are  making  black  broth,  to  be  sure :  Spartan 
broth." 

"  But  what  has  made  you  so  long  about  it  ?" 

"We  could  not  settle  upon  a  good  recipe," 
Lucy  answered :  "  so  we  are  each  trying  our 
own;  but  it  takes  a  good  while  to  fill  a  whole 
tureen." 

"Just  look  round,  will  you,"  said  Arthur, 
"  and  see  which  you  think  is  most  like  blade 
broth.  It  is  only  the  look  of  it  that  signifies, 
you  know :  nobody  need  drink  it." 

"  That  is  fortunate,"  I  thought  to  myself,  as 
I  inspected  the  cookery.  Henry  was  at  work 
with  his  box  of  colours,  mixing  sepia,  indigo, 
and  lake  in  a  soup-plate — very  black  that  was. 
Arthur  and  Lucy  were  engaged  in  preparations 
of  ashes  and  water ;  they  thought  it  looked  like 
bad  pea  soup — very  bad,  I  thought.  Caroline, 
who  hated  dirt,  had  a  kettle  of  boiling  water, 
and  was  trying  to  bring  strong  black  tea  to  the 
highest  possible  colour;  but  the  others  said  hei 
broth  looked  poor,  and  would  never  do.  Thej 
were  all  so  busy  with  their  own  experiments  tha; 
they  had  forgotten  to  look  after  Master  Edward, 
who  had  realised  the  idea  in  the  strongest  man- 
ner ;  and  was  jerking  ink  by  penfuls  into  a  soup- 
plate,  mixing  it  with  water,  and  stirring  it  up 
with  the  feather  of  the  pen :  of  course  spirting 
it  all  over  his  own  face  and  dress.  Having: 


HISTORICAL   CHAKADES.  169 

secured  the  inkstand,  I  advised  them  to  mix 
their  messes  together  in  the  tureen,  and  proceed 
to  the  acting  without  further  delay.  Arthur 
accordingly  took  off  his  jacket,  and  tied  a  towel 
round  his  waist,  which  he  thought  made  him 
look  very  like  a  Helot.  While  he  carried  the 
tureen  on  his  head  into  the  drawing-room,  then 
returned  for  the  plates  and  basins,  and  arranged 
them,  the  others  had  time  to  dress  as  Spartan 
citizens.  They  put  sheets  over  their  shoulders, 
and  tied  tow  beards  on  their  chins  to  look 
elderly ;  then  marched  into  the  room  in  a  for- 
mal manner,  and  seated  themselves  at  the  table, 
looking  very  solemn.  Henry,  as  Polemarch, 
ladled  out  the  broth,  and  helped  everybody. 
They  pretended  to  eat  it  with  great  satisfaction, 
remarking  how  black  it  was,  and  how  wise,  and 
brave,  and  superior  to  everybody  else  it  made 
them. 

Presently  Ellen  entered,  much  more  gaily 
dressed  than  the  others.  She  made  a  low  bow, 
and  Henry  begged  to  know  who  she  was,  at  the 
same  time  offering  her  a  seat.  She  informed  him 
that  she  was  a  young  Athenian  nobleman  come 
to  Sparta  in  the  train  of  Alcibiades,  and  having 
heard  much  of  their  black  broth,  she  was  anxious 
to  taste  it.  Henry  politely  presented  her  with  a 
plateful,  and  she  pretended  to  try  to  drink  it; 
but  the  moment  it  touched  her  lips,  she  began  to 
sputter  and  make  wry  faces,  as  if  she  was  taking 


170  HISTOEICAL    CHARADES. 

physic.  She  protested  she  had  never  tasted  any- 
thing so  nasty  in  her  life ;  she  was  sure  it  must 
be  poison. 

"Young  Athenian/'  exclaimed  Henry,  with 
great  dignity,  "  to  relish  this  broth,  it  is  necessary 
to  have  first  bathed  in  the  Eurotas." 

As  the  children  were  returning  to  the  school- 
room, they  met  Mr.  Percy,  who  had  not  been 
present  at  the  acting. 

"  Where  have  you  been  this  evening,  papa  ?" 
said  Ellen.  "  We  have  not  seen  you." 

"  I  have  been  busy  in  the  library/3  he  an- 
swered, "and  when  you  have  taken  off  those 
majestic  robes  and  beards,  I  have  something  to 
show  you." 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  171 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Black  letter  Manuscript — "Romaunt  of  Robert  a  Stoker" — 
Explanation. 

Ox  their  return  to  the  drawing-room,  Mr.  Percy 
produced  a  packet  of  papers. 

"  Here  is  a  manuscript,"  said  he,  "  which,  I 
think,  you  will  like  to  hear  read.  It  is  a  wonder- 
ful story  of  a  great  magician  that  was  once  seen 
in  Europe." 

"  What  is  the  date,  uncle  ?"  said  William. 
"  Was  it  written  by  a  monk  ?  And  where  was 
it  found  ?" 

"  You  may  examine  the  first  leaf  for  yourself : 
the  rest  is  in  such  a  peculiar  condition,  that  I 
cannot  let  it  go  out  of  my  own  hands." 

The  contents  of  the  first  leaf  were  as  follows  : — 


'  THE    PAYRE    AND    PLEASAUNTE    ROMAUNTE    OF 
ROBERT   A    STOKER. 

"  In  ye  olden  dayes  of  merry  Ynglonde  yee 
rnuste  stodie  wel  &  undirstonde  yat  manie  grete 
&  straunge  dinges  dydde  happe  siche  as  shal 
not  agen  bee  sene  in  ye  londe  quhile  ye  Water 
runnes  &  ye  Sunne  dothe  shyn.  For  yt  is  wel 


172  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

knowen  to  manie  wyse  &  lerned  clerkes  quho 
have  wrytte  of  yc  same  in  Bokes  how  yat  byfore 
ye  dayes  of  our  preset  blessed  Konyng  diuers 
grymme  Enchaunters  dydde  wone  in  ye  Londe 
&  at  tymes  dydde  goe  rampauging  ouer  alle  ye 
Countrie  sparynge  in  her  furye  ne  grene  rie 
wylde  forete  ne  citye  in  soche  wyse  yat  alle  peple 
fro  ye  Konyng  on  hys  throne  wiy  hys  fayre  Quene 
bi  hys  rizt  honde  to  ye  lowest  Knaue  or  Villein 
wiy  hys  Wyf  Jugge  or  Margerye  alle  dydde  at 
tymes  holde  her  lyfis  in  delie  feare  and  quak- 
ynge." 

William  took  it,  and  looked  at  it  in  a  learned 
antiquarian  sort  of  way.  It  was  written  in  black 
letter,  on  very  coarse  paper,  which,  as  well  as 
the  ink,  appeared  discoloured  by  age.  William 
remarked  that  it  was  in  wonderfully  good 
preservation,  considering  it  was  only  on  paper, 
not  on  vellum,  and  that  the  edges  were  not 
worn. 

"  "indeed  \"  said  Mr.  Percy.  "  Perhaps  you 
had  better  not  spend  any  more  time  in  examining 
it.  Hand  it  round,  if  you  please,  and  let  us  see 
who  can  read  it." 

Each  looked  at  it  in  turn,  but  nobody  could 
make  out  a  word,  except  William.  At  his  uncle's 
desire,  he  began  to  read  it  aloud. 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  173 

"THE  FAIR  AND  PLEASANT  ROMAUNT  OF 
ROBERT  X  STOKER. 

"  In  the  olden  days  of  merry  England,  ye  must 
study  well  and  understand  that  many  great  and 
strange  things  did  hap,  such  as  shall  not  be  seen 
again  in  the  land  while  the  water  runs,  and  the 
sun  doth  shine. 

"  For  it  is  well  known  to  many  wise  and 
learned  clerks,  who  have  writ  of  the  same  in 
books,  how  that  before  the  days  of  our  present 
blessed  king,  divers  grim  enchanters  did  wone  in 
the  land,  and  at  times  did  go  rampaging  over  all 
the  country,  sparing,  in  their  fury,  neither  green 
nor  wild,  forest  nor  city;  in  such  wise  that  all 
people,  from  the  king  on  his  throne,  with  his  fair 
queen  by  his  right  hand,  to  the  lowest  knave  or 
villain,  with  his  wife  Jugg  or  Margery,  all  did  at 
times  hold  their  lives  in  deadly  fear  and  quaking." 

"  That  is  the  whole  of  this  leaf,"  said  William, 
who  read  the  black  letter  without  any  difficulty. 

"  I  wish  it  was  written  in  common  English," 
observed  Mary,  who  had  been  looking  over  his 
shoulder,  "  I  can't  read  a  word  of  it  myself, 
and  I  can  scarcely  understand  it  when  Willy 
does." 

"  I  will  read  the  rest  in  modern  English,  if  you 
prefer  it,"  said  Mr.  Percy :  "  only  nobody  must 
come  and  overlook  me  while  I  am  reading." 


174  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

"  '  In  those  days  there  lived  that  great  magi- 
cian, Robert  it  Stoker.'  " 

"  What  an  odd  name  \"  said  Lucy,  "  Astoker." 

"Nothing  particularly  odd/'  said  William. 
"There  were  Thomas  a  Becket,  and  William 
a  Court,  and  plenty  such." 

" '  This  Robertus  was  an  awful  man  to  behold/ 
continued  Mr.  Percy.  '  So  grim,  and  black,  and 
dreadful  was  his  face,  that  he  seemed  to  be  one 
of  those  demons  who  had  begun  life  as  pillars  of 
black  smoke,  and  gradually  taken  the  shape  of 
men.  He  was  not  a  giant,  though  one  might  have 
supposed  that  no  one  else  could  have  performed 
such  deeds.  He  lived  in  a  great  castle  in  the 
outskirts  of  London,  surrounded  by  his  followers. 
No  one  could  guess  the  limits  of  his  power.  The 
four  elements  were  his  slaves :  he  kept  them  in 
his  castle,  and  sent  them  out  to  work  when  he 
pleased.  Many  of  the  king's  best  roads  he  had 
turned  into  iron,  so  that  neither  horses  nor  cattle 
could  travel  upon  them.  Flames  of  fire  were 
constantly  seen  issuing  from  the  interior  of  his 
castle,  and  people  sometimes  feared  for  the  safety 
of  London  itself.  Fire  Avas  evidently  to  him  a 
mere  goblin  page,  who  obeyed  his  orders,  and 
earth,  air,  and  water,  seemed  to  be  equally  under 
his  command. 

"  '  Time  and  space  were  nothing  to  Robert.  His 
ugly  face  might  be  seen  scowling  at  the  London 
shopkeepers  when  they  opened  their  shutters  in 


HISTORICAL   CHAEADES.  175 

the  morning,  and  before  they  had  well  finished 
laying  out  their  goods  in  the  windows,  he  would 
be  at  Dover,  cheapening  fresh  fish  for  his  break- 
fast. 

"  '  He  could  discover  what  was  happening  at 
the  other  end  of  the  kingdom  at  the  very  moment 
in  which  an  event  took  place,  and  understand 
the  words  spoken  a  hundred  miles  off  as  soon  as 
they  were  uttered. 

"  '  But  what  frightened  people  most  of  all  was 
an  enormous  fiery  monster  that  he  kept  in  his 
stables,  and  which  had  the  strength  of  a  hundred 
horses.  A  Stoker  used  to  call  it  by  a  good 
many  pet  names,  such  as  Phlegethon,  Vulcan, 
Pluto,  Acheron ;  but  its  most  common  name  was 
Cerberus,  and  we  may  as  well  keep  to  that/  " 

"  Was  it  a  dragon  ?"  asked  Edward. 

"  Not  exactly ;  it  had  no  wings,  but  it  could 
run  at  a  tremendous  pace.  Its  skin  was  so  hard, 
that  neither  arrow  nor  lance  could  pierce  it,  and 
it  was  covered  with  scales  that  glittered  in  the 
sun  like  shining  brass." 

"  Did  it  ever  devour  men  ?"  asked  Mary. 

"  No,  though  it  sometimes  killed  them." 

"  What  was  its  food  ?"  inquired  William,  who 
thought  he  had  obtained  a  clue  to  the  mystery. 

"  Its  principal  nourishment  was  derived  from 
the  forests  of  fern  with  which  our  island  formerly 
abounded,"  replied  Mr.  Percy ;  "and  its  food  was 
generally  baked,  for  the  sake  of  its  digestion." 


176  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

"  Floored,  William  !"  said  Arthur,  to  whom  he 
had  communicated  his  suspicions  of  its  being  the 
first  invention  of  artillery. 

"  '  Fire  and  smoke  issued  from  its  mouth/ 
continued  Mr.  Percy,  '  and  its  breathing  might 
be  heard  at  the  distance  of  several  miles.  It  would 
crush  a  man  in  an  instant ;  but  you  may  sup- 
pose everybody  was  careful  not  to  cross  its  path, 
everybody  but  its  wonderful  master,  Robert  a 
Stoker.  He  would  ride  on  its  back,  and  scour 
the  country,  clearing  all  before  him.  The  valiant 
knights  of  those  days  many  times  talked  of  attack- 
ing this  monster,  and  opposing  his  progress  over 
their  lands ;  but  they  no  sooner  saw  him,  exhaling 
fire  and  smoke,  and  coming  over  the  country 
with  the  speed  of  a  whirlwind,  than  their  reso- 
lution changed,  and  they  were  happy  to  come  to 
terms  with  Robert  as  fast  as  possible. 

"  '  Matters  at  last  came  to  such  a  height,  that 
the  King's  counsellors  sat  to  deliberate  concern- 
ing a  Stoker,  and  devise  some  means  of  checking 
his  proceedings ;  for  they  thought  he  was  getting 
more  power  than  the  King  himself,  and  that 
the  country  would  soon  be  ruined  with  his  rides, 
for  there  was  nothing  but  tearing  up  trees,  devour- 
ing gardens,  knocking  down  houses,  and  altering 
the  face  of  nature  wherever  he  appeared. 

"  c  After  spending  a  long  time  in  their  delibe- 
rations, the  King's  counsellors  summoned  Robert 
to  appear  before  them.' '' 


HISTOKICAL    CHAEADES.  177 

"  Did  he  kill  them  ?"  asked  Edward,  eagerly. 

"  No  ;  but  he  bewitched  them  in  a  most  sur- 
prising manner;  for,  as  soon  as  they  saw  him, 
they  said  he  was  a  capital  fellow,  and  proposed 
that  the  King  should  pay  a  visit  to  his  castle. 
When  the  Queen  heard  that  the  King  was  to  pay 
this  visit,  nothing  would  satisfy  her  but  going 
with  him.  Of  course,  she  must  be  attended  by 
all  her  ladies,  and  the  King  by  his  knights,  and 
they  made  a  goodly  company.  They  set  out  on 
a  fine  summer's  day,  decked  after  the  fashion  of 
their  time,  the  knights  in  scarlet  and  gold,  and 
the  ladies  in  shining  silks  of  as  many  colours  as 
the  flowers;  and  sometimes  their  head-dresses 
were  of  one  colour,  their  mantles  of  another,  and 
their  farthingales  of  a  third.  The  King  and  his 
knights  rode  on  horseback,  and  the  Queen  and 
her  ladies  went  in  coaches  such  as  were  then 
the  fashion. 

" l  When  they  arrived  at  Robert's  palace,  they 
were  conducted  into  the  hall.  There  they  looked 
around  with  mingled  amazement  and  dread.  It 
was  a  mysterious  place :  boundless  wealth  lay 
strewed  about  in  chests  and  bags ;  awful  sounds, 
like  panting  and  shrieking,  broke  the  silence ;  a 
smell  of  sulphur  pervaded  the  air,  and  here  and 
there  the  eye  caught  glimpses  of  flames  bursting 
through  the  gloom/  '; 

"  How  frightened  the  King  and  Queen  must 
have  been,"  said  Mary. 

N 


178  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

"  But  is  it  true,  uncle  ?"  asked  Edward. 

"  I  cannot  quite  answer  for  the  truth  of  stories 
of  former  days,"  said  Mr.  Percy  ;  "  but  my  own 
impression  is,  that  it  is  perfectly  true." 

"  Why,  you  don't  mean  to  say  that  you  believe 
it  yourself,  father  !"  exclaimed  Arthur. 

"  I  believe  every  word  of  it,"  answered  Mr. 
Percy. 

Henry  and  William  looked  at  each  other  in 
despair ;  a  vague  idea  crossed  their  minds  that 
their  uncle's  head  had  been  turned  by  his  studies ; 
but  Mr.  Percy  continued  reading  rapidly  : — 

" '  They  were  escorted  to  a  street  of  houses 
occupying  the  centre  of  the  hall.  The  King  and 
Queen  with  several  of  their  attendants  entered 
at  one  door,  and  the  rest  were  lodged  in  separate 
apartments.  They  were  presently  startled  by 
the  loud  breathing  of  Cerberus,  and  saw  him  with 
Robert  on  his  back  coming  furiously  towards 
them.  New  terrors  awaited  them.  For  a  moment 
the  ground  trembled,  and  before  they  had  time 
to  recover  from  the  shock,  they  found  themselves 
in  rapid  motion.  Escape  was  impossible,  for  a  spell 
had  been  cast  upon  the  doors,  and  neither  the 
King,  Queen,  nor  any  of  the  court  could  open 
them. 

" '  They  now  had  reason  enough  to  be  fright- 
ened, for,  dragged  along  by  the  furious  Cerberus, 
they  went  over  the  tops  of  houses,  then  down  to 
the  ground,  and  the  city  was  miles  out  of  sight. 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  179 

On  they  went  at  a  pace  that  made  them  breath- 
less, leaving  behind  them  fields,  rivers,  towns, 
forests,  till  they  saw  rising  straight  before  them 
a  mountain,  high,  steep,  and  craggy,  and  as  they 
came  nearer,  a  black  yawning  cavern  opened  its 
mouth  to  receive  them.  In  dashed  Cerberus, 
and  in  followed  the  poor  King  and  Queen,  the 
way  growing  darker  and  darker,  till  they  found 
themselves  in  the  very  heart  of  the  mountain,  in 
a  cavern  pitch  dark,  and  cold  as  the  grave/  '• 

"  How  dreadful  !"  "Poor  Queen!"  exclaimed 
Mary  and  Ellen. 

"  I  am  sure  there  is  some  humbug  in  it," 
whispered  Arthur. 

"  So  am  I,"  said  William.  "  People  in  the 
Middle  Ages  would  never  have  described  anything 
so  impossible." 

The  manuscript  continued  :  "  The  Queen  pre- 
served an  admirable  composure,  and  thought  of 
her  Royal  Infants.  'Alas  !  my  amiable  children/ 
she  sighed,  '  you  little  think  where  your  poor 
mother  is  now  !  Indeed  I  know  not  myself — 
where — where  am  I  ?'  '• 

"  '  Where  am  I  ¥  growled  the  King. 

"  '  Where  are  we  ?'"  echoed  the  court. 

"  In  the  Box  Hill  Tunnel !"  roared  Arthur. 
"  I  have  found  you  out.  It's  nothing  but  a 
railroad  after  all." 

"  Exactly,"  said  Mr.  Percy,  laughing,  and 
shutting  his  book. 

N2 


180  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

"  Oh,  go  on,  papa  ;" — "  Pray  go  on,  uncle  ;" 
exclaimed  Mary,  Ellen,  Lucy,  and  Edward : 
"  please,  Arthur,  don't  interrupt.  What  did  they 
do  next?  Go  on  to  the  end." 

"  I  cannot  go  on/'  he  replied  :  "  Arthur  has 
broken  the  spell  of  antiquity,  and  my  wonderful 
story  has  sunk  to  a  common-place  account  of  an 
every-day  journey ;  and  if  you  wish  to  go  on  to 
the  end  of  it,  you  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  take 
tickets  for  the  Great  Western,  and  travel  behind 
a  stoker  any  day  you  please." 

"  But  what  was  Cerberus  ?" 

"  The  engine,  to  be  sure,"  said  Arthur.  "  It 
is  all  plain  enough  except  about  Robert's  know- 
ing what  happened  a  hundred  miles  off.  How 
was  that  ?" 

"  By  the  electric  telegraph,"  answered  his 
father.  "  You  have  not  seen  that  yet,  but  you 
shall  at  the  first  opportunity." 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  181 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Keepsakes — Illuminated  Almanack — Gilding — More  Charades 
— BEAUCLEEC — Dresses  of  Edward  the  Third's  time — 
Pointed  Shoes  —  Benefit  of  Clergy  —  Long  Curls  —  King 
Pippin. 

THE  holidays  were  fast  drawing  to  a  close,  and 
there  remained  but  little  time  for  all  we  had  to 
do.  The  children  were  anxious  to  finish  presents 
for  each  other,  and  their  uncles  and  aunts. 
Worsted  work,  drawing,  needlework,  and  car- 
pentering went  on  from  morning  to  night.  I 
was  in  everybody's  employ ;  having  to  finish  off 
boxes  with  gold  borders  without  smearing  them 
with  paste ;  put  the  beads  or  floss  silk  into  bags 
or  slippers ;  sew  pearl  edges  on  cuffs  and  collars; 
match  difficult  shades  of  wool;  sew  tassels  on 
cushions ;  melt  gum ;  cut  blotting-paper  ;  bind 
portfolios ;  sew  the  fringe  on  mats ;  and,  in  short, 
be  ready  for  all  the  odd  jobs  in  which  fancy- 
workwomen  are  apt  to  want  help  when  matters 
have  been  driven  off  to  the  last  moment. 

Henry  and  William  vied  with  each  other  in 
making  drawings  for  their  cousins  :  Henry  copied 
Maxman's  designs  from  the  Iliad,  while  William 
illuminated  with  pains  and  industry  that  almost 
rivalled  the  monks.  The  almanack  which  he 
made  for  Caroline  was  the  admiration  of  us  alL 


182  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

It  was  in  twelve  pages,  a  page  for  each  month, 
with  designs  on  the  margin  copied  from  Mr. 
Percy's  manuscripts.  The  initials  of  the  months 
were  illuminated,  and  the  rest  of  the  name  in 
large  gilt  letters.  The  days  were  in  black  Gothic 
characters,  except  the  red-letter  days,  which  were 
in  vermilion ;  rubricated,  as  William  said. 

I  had  some  work  to  do  in  helping  him  to 
stain  his  drawing-paper.  He  said  he  wanted  his 
almanack  to  look  old,  as  if  it  might  have  belonged 
to  the  days  of  the  Plantagenets,  and  had  become 
dingy  with  age,  and  yet  not  dirty.  None  of  our 
coloured  drawing-paper  suited  his  ideas,  and  he 
applied  to  Mr.  Percy  to  know  how  he  had 
coloured  his  first  leaf  of  Robert  a  Stoker.  Mr. 
Percy  told  him  that  he  had  contrived  the  proper 
tint  by  mixing  together  coffee  and  cochineal, 
soaking  the  paper  in  it  for  a  few  minutes,  and 
then  pressing  it  between  blotting-paper. 

The  gilding  was  the  next  difficulty  :  he  tried 
washing  gum- water  over  the  letters,  then  laying 
down  gold-leaf,  and  when  it  was  dry,  brushing  off 
the  pieces  that  did  not  stick.  This  ought  to  have 
left  the  letter  well  gilt,  but  somehow  it  never 
would  turn  out  neat ;  little  bits  of  gold  came  out 
of  the  middle,  or  the  edges  were  ragged,  or  the 
gold  was  smeared.  So  many  misfortunes  hap- 
pened, that  I  thought  it  was  hopeless,  and  tried 
to  persuade  William  to  give  up  the  gilding,  and 
be  satisfied  with  only  colouring  his  pictures. 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  183 

But  he  was  not  a  boy  to  lose  patience  easily,  and 
he  looked  up  different  methods  of  gilding,  in  all 
the  books  he  could  find,  and  tried  many  experi- 
ments without  success :  at  last  he  discovered  a 
gilder  living  in  the  village,  who  explained  to  him 
the  nature  of  oil-gilding,  and  supplied  him  with 
the  proper  size :  this  was  to  be  carefully  laid 
upon  the  letter  and  left  to  grow  nearly  dry. 
When  it  remained  only  a  little  sticky,  or  as  his 
friend  the  gilder  said,  "  had  a  nice  tack  upon  it," 
the  gold-leaf  was  spread  over  it ;  the  loose  pieces 
were  then  brushed  off  with  a  camers-hair  brush, 
and  the  letter  remained  perfect;  it  was  after- 
wards polished  with  an  agate  lent  him  by  Mrs. 
Percy.  This  size  was  found  to  adhere  very  firmly, 
especially  to  the  skin  of  little  Edward,  who,  having 
once  got  access  to  it,  had  produced  a  tack  upon 
his  hands  and  face,  which  for  several  days  re- 
sisted the  utmost  influence  of  soap  and  water. 

Everything  was  at  last  finished,  presented, 
and  admired  ;  and  all  the  work  being  done,  there 
remained  still  a  clear  day,  which  it  was  resolved 
to  devote  to  a  final  bout  of  charades.  Uncle 
Harry  and  I  were  as  usual  summoned,  and 
Matilda  also  begged  leave  to  be  one  of  the  party. 

It  was  Mary's  turn  to  choose  the  word,  and 
she  fixed  upon  BEAUCLERC,  the  name  given  to 
Henry  the  First,  on  account  of  his  learning.  His 
father,  William  the  Conqueror,  having  felt  his 
own  want  of  scholarship,  was  very  anxious  to 


184  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

have  his  sons  better  educated  than  himself;  he 
used  to  lecture  them  on  the  subject,  telling  them 
that  "  an  unlearned  prince  was  a  crowned  ass ;" 
but  none  of  them  attended  to  him  except  Henry, 
who  being  afraid  of  becoming  "  a  crowned  ass," 
studied  so  diligently,  that  he  obtained  the  name 
of  Beauclerc,  or  Fine  Scholar. 

"  What  shall  Beau  be  ?"  said  Lucy.  "  It  is 
a  French  word.  I  do  not  see  how  we  can  use 
it,  unless  we  change  the  spelling,  and  have  a  bow 
and  arrow,  or  tying  a  bow." 

"  It  is  sometimes  used  as  a  cant  expression  for 
a  fop,  or  what  Arthur  calls  a  dandy.  Would  you 
like  to  have  a  beau  of  Pope's  time  ? 

'  Sir  Plume  of  amber  snuff-box  justly  vain, 
And  the  nice  conduct  of  a  clouded  cane.' 

He  must  wear  a  wig  and  a  sword,  and  buckles 
to  his  shoes,  and  come  into  the  room  in  a  very 
affected  manner,  swinging  his  cane,  and  tapping 
his  snuff-box." 

"  I  think  I  can  suit  them  better,"  said  Uncle 
Harry,  "  with  a  gentleman  in  the  height  of  the 
mode  in  Edward  the  Third's  time.  What  do  you 
think  of  long  pointed  shoes  fastened  to  his  knees 
with  chains ;  stockings  red  on  one  leg,  and  yellow 
on  the  other;  his  coat  half  white  and  the  other 
half  blue ;  a  long  beard,  and  a  silk  hood  fastened 
under  his  chin,  and  embroidered  with  figures  of 
dancing  men  or  animals." 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  185 

The  children  laughed,  aud  Henry  observed, 
"  What  donkeys  those  fellows  were  !" 

"  There  have  always  been  wise  people  to  look 
down  upon  foolish  fashions  as  well  as  you/'  said 
his  uncle.  "  Edward  the  First  used  to  dress  so 
plainly  that  a  friar  who  was  once  in  his  presence 
could  not  help  expressing  his  surprise.  '  Father, 
father/  said  Edward, c  you  know  how  God  regards 
garments  :  what  could  I  do  more  in  royal  robes, 
than  in  this  my  gaberdine  ?' '' 

"  How  were  the  ladies  dressed?"  asked  Ma- 
tilda. "  I  dare  say  they  had  better  taste  than  to 
go  about  such  figures." 

"  I  cannot  say  much  for  them.  As  you  were 
not  there  to  direct  them,  they  followed  their  own 
fancies.  They  wore  head-dresses  three  feet  high, 
in  the  shape  of  sugar-loaves,  with  streamers  down 
to  the  ground.  I  am  afraid  you  would  not  have 
approved  of  such  bonnets,  nor  of  their  tunics  half 
of  one  colour  and  half  of  another.  However,  the 
men  were  worse." 

"Aunt  Esther,"  said  Ellen,  "do  you  think 
we  could  make  a  pair  of  those  pointed  shoes  ?" 

"  I  dare  say  we  could.  What  have  you  to 
make  them  of?" 

She  brought  a  long  strip  of  green  calico,  and 
we  established  ourselves  as  shoemakers  in  the 
days  of  the  Plantagenets.  Uncle  Harry  sat  by, 
directing  us.  I  was  going  to  cut  a  piece  about 
a  couple  of  inches  long  for  the  point  of  the  shoe ; 


186      HISTORICAL  CHARADES. 

but  he  stopped  me.  "  That  will  not  do,  Esther. 
If  I  had  been  a  gentleman  of  Edward  the  First's 
court,  I  never  would  have  employed  you,  though 
you  might  very  possibly  have  been  shoemaker  to 
the  King.  Please  to  make  my  peaks  a  foot  long, 
at  least,  or  don't  expect  my  custom/' 

"  There ;  will  that  satisfy  you  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  flatter  myself  I  may  hope  to  attract 
some  notice  with  those." 

"  What  a  good  shoemaker  you  would  have  been 
yourself,  Uncle  Harry  \"  said  Mary. 

"  No  doubt  I  should.  What  was  that  game  I 
heard  you  playing  yesterday,  about  apprenticing 
your  sons?" 

"  I  apprenticed  my  son  to  a  shoemaker,  and 
the  first  thing  he  sold  was  a  pair  of  W.  B.'s." 

"  Wellington  Boots.  But  my  great -great- 
great- great-grandfather  apprenticed  his  son  to  a 
shoemaker  in  Edward  the  First's  time,  and  the 
first  thing  he  sold  was  a  pair  of  C's." 

"C's.— Clogs?" 

"  No.  I  do  not  know  that  they  wore  clogs. 
Crackoives ;  a  pair  of  crackowes ;  that  was  the 
name  of  the  peaked  shoes." 

By  this  time  we  had  sewed  our  strips  of  calico 
into  three-cornered  bags,  which  Mary  said  looked 
like  scissor- sheaths  for  a  giantess.  They  were 
now  to  be  stuffed. 

"Will  you  have  some  of  my  tow?"  asked 
Arthur. 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  187 

"  Just  the  thing/'  said  our  master.  "  The 
real  crackowes  were  stuffed  with  tow/' 

"  We  fill  our  shoes  with  toes  now/'  said  Lucy ; 
"  but  they  would  not  be  long  enough  to  fill  crack- 
owes." 

"Do  not  stuff  them  too  tight,  Mrs.  Shoe- 
maker/' was  Uncle  Harry's  next  order ;  "  or  how 
are  they  to  be  twisted  ?" 

"  Why  should  they  be  twisted  ?"  asked  Mary. 

"  You  do  not  suppose  that  I  would  wear 
shoes  whose  points  were  not  twisted?  They 
are  to  be  twisted  like  rams'  horns.  That  was 
the  fashion." 

We  twisted  them  accordingly ;  first  running  a 
piece  of  wire  up  the  middle  to  keep  the  spiral 
steady.  Then  they  had  to  be  fastened  to  com- 
mon shoes.  Caroline,  our  constant  provider,  sup- 
plied us  with  a  pair  of  slippers,  and  we  sewed 
our  points  to  the  toes.  We  then  put  silk  cords 
to  the  points  to  fasten  them  to  the  wearer's  knees, 
and  I  thought  our  work  was  finished :  but  no, 
Uncle  Harry  was  not  yet  content :  he  said  the 
upper-leathers  were  to  be  cut  into  the  shape  of 
church  windows ;  but  that  being  done,  they  were 
pronounced  complete,  and  Uncle  Harry  recom- 
mended them  to  Matilda  as  a  pattern  for  her 
next  worsted-work  slippers. 

We  continued  working  at  the  dress  till  our 
Beau  was  perfect ;  and  as  the  girls  said  they 
should  like  "  something  old  "  for  Clerk  also,  I  pro- 


188  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

posed  a  man  in  Middle  Age  costume,  reading  and 
Avriting. 

"  But  clerks  are  only  at  church,"  little  Edward 
remonstrated ;  "  and  you  know  we  must  not  bring 
anything  about  church  into  our  play/' 

"  Clergymen  were  called  clerks,  were  not 
they  ?"  Ellen  asked.  "  How  could  a  common 
man  reading  and  writing  be  guessed  for  a  clerk  V" 

"  Because,"  said  Uncle  Harry,  "though  the 
title  was  first  given  to  clergymen  only,  it  was 
afterwards  extended  to  any  one  who  could  read ; 
and,  instead  of  saying  a  great  scholar,  or  a  bad 
scholar,  people  used  to  say  a  great  clerk,  or  a  bad 
clerk." 

"  I  should  have  been  a  clerk,  then,"  said  Ed- 
ward, "  for  I  can  read." 

"  So  much  the  better  for  you,"  said  Uncle 
Harry ;  "  for  if  you  had  been  on  your  trial,  you 
might  have  claimed  your  benefit  of  clergy,  and 
so  perhaps  got  off." 

"  How  would  he  have  got  off  by  having  the 
benefit  of  clergy?"  asked  Ellen.  "  I  thought 
that  meant  having  clergymen  to  visit  him  in  prison 
before  he  was  hung." 

"  More  than  that,"  said  her  uncle ;  "  it  was 
to  prevent  his  being  hung  at  all.  By  being  a 
clerk  he  was  entitled  to  appeal  to  the  Ecclesias- 
tical Court." 

"  I  think,"  said  William, ' '  we  might  act  a  clerk 
claiming  his  benefit  of  clergy.  There  was  a  man 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  189 

in  Richard  the  Second's  time  who  tried  to  bring- 
in  a  bill  for  lessening  the  number  of  bishops  and 
ladies  living  at  court.  The  King  was  very  angry 
with  the  House  of  Commons  for  such  imperti- 
nence, but  they  assured  him  they  meant  no  harm  ; 
and  gave  up  the  man,  who  would  have  been  hung 
if  he  had  not  been  a  clerk." 

"  I  do  not  see  how  you  could  well  make  a  scene 
of  it,"  replied  his  father.  "  A  criminal  claim- 
ing benefit  of  clergy  was  entitled  to  a  new  trial 
before  a  bishop  and  twelve  clerks ;  he  first  made 
oath  of  his  own  innocence,  then  twelve  witnesses 
swore  that  they  believed  him,  and  then  the  twelve 
jurymen  swore  that  they  believed  them ;  and  if 
the  bishop  was  satisfied,  the  criminal  was  acquitted. 
You  could  not  act  all  this." 

"  I  should  think  very  few  people  could  have 
been  condemned,"  said  Ellen,  "  if  only  knowing 
how  to  read  gave  them  such  privileges." 

"  The  privilege  was  not  quite  so  great  as  you 
may  think,"  replied  Uncle  Harry.  "  It  only  ex- 
tended to  particular  crimes ;  and  for  a  long  time 
very  few  besides  the  clergy  knew  how  to  read. 
But  after  the  invention  of  printing,  so  many  of 
all  classes  learnt,  that  a  law  was  made  that  none 
but  clergymen  should  have  benefit  of  clergy  more 
than  once ;  and  any  layman  who  claimed  it  was 
burnt  in  the  thumb,  that  he  might  be  detected 
if  he  claimed  it  a  second  time." 

Caroline  said  she  thought  it  would  be  a  long 


190  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

dull  scene,  and  that  we  must  not  be  too  long  over 
any  one  syllable,  as  we  wanted  to  finish  off  all 
our  words ;  so  we  returned  to  the  first  idea  of  a 
person  studying. 

For  BEAUCLEKC,  Uncle  Harry,  whose  historical 
recollections  were  apt  to  be  rather  mischievous, 
suggested  Henry  the  First  and  his  courtiers  with 
their  hair  carefully  dressed  in  very  long  curls. 
They  used  to  be  so  vain  of  these  curls,  and  spend 
so  much  time  in  arranging  them,  that  the  clergy 
thought  it  necessary  to  preach  against  the  fashion. 
Bishop  Serlo  at  last  preached  a  sermon  which  so 
impressed  the  King  and  the  court,  that  they 
unanimously  agreed  to  give  up  their  curls.  The 
bishop  determined  to  take  them  at  their  word 
without  giving  them  the  chance  of  changing  their 
minds,  so  he  pulled  out  a  pair  of  shears  which 
he  had  for  some  time  kept  hidden  in  his  sleeve, 
and  cut  off  all  their  curls  with  his  own  hands. 

Arthur  and  Lucy  much  approved  of  this  story ; 
but  Henry  the  First  was  rather  a  favourite  Avith 
William,  on  account  of  his  love  of  study,  and  he 
argued  that  if  we  meant  to  represent  his  compli- 
mentary title  of  Beauclerc,  we  ought  not  to  choose 
a  circumstance  in  which  he  would  only  look  silly. 
As  we  could  not  deny  this,  we  agreed  to  let 
William  select  a  story  for  us  at  his  leisure. 

"  Edward  would  have  been  quite  proper  for 
one  of  the  courtiers,  with  his  long  curls,"  said 
Mary. 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  191 

Poor  Edward,  whose  golden  ringlets  were  the 
pride  of  his  nurse's  life  and  the  plague  of  his 
own,  exclaimed  that  he  wished  with  all  his  heart 
some  bishop  would  come  with  a  pair  of  shears, 
and  cut  them  off  for  him. 

"  Why  does  he  wear  them  ?"  Henry  asked. 
"  Does  Aunt  Mortimer  make  him  ?  They  are 
a  great  nuisance  for  a  boy." 

"Oh,  mamma  would  not  insist  upon  it,"  replied 
Matilda.  "  She  was  going  to  cut  them  off  the 
other  day,  but  nurse  made  such  a  fuss,  that  we 
did  not  like  to  vex  her.  She  cried,  and  said  she 
should  never  be  happy  again  if  Master  Edward 
lost  his  sweet  curls." 

"  Well,  never  mind,  Ned,"  said  Arthur. 
"  Make  the  best  of  it  now,  and  the  first  thing  I 
will  do  if  ever  I  am  Bishop  of  London  shall  be 
to  cut  your  hair." 

Mary  wondered  what  Bishop  Serlo  would  have 
said  to  the  crackowes. 

"  Much  the  same,  I  suppose,  as  the  bishops 
who  saw  them,"  Uncle  Harry  answered.  "  The 
clergy  were  vehement  against  them.  Bishops 
preached  sermons,  councils  issued  decrees,  and 
Popes  bulls  to  forbid  them,  but  all  in  vain ;  for 
three  hundred  years  they  held  their  ground : 
people  would  do  anything  else  the  Pope  bid  them, 
change  their  kings,  their  laws,  or  their  religion, 
but  not  change  their  shoes." 

Here  we  were  interrupted  by  Edward's  nurse 


192      HISTORICAL  CHARADES. 

summoning  him  to  dinner.  The  other  children 
dined  with  us  when  there  was  no  company ;  but 
Edward  was  so  young  that  his  mamma  thought 
it  better  for  him  to  dine  early  in  the  nursery.  It 
was  an  unfortunate  moment  for  nurse  to  fetch 
him,  because  the  recollection  of  her  daily  teasing 
about  his  curls  had  made  him  rather  sulky,  and 
he  obeyed  her  summons  in  not  the  best  of  tem- 
pers. Soon  after  they  were  gone,  she  sent  a 
message  to  beg  Miss  Mortimer  would  come  and 
speak  to  him,  because  he  was  "so  tiresome 
nothing  could  be  done  with  him."  Matilda  and 
I  went  together,  and  as  we  drew  near  the  nursery 
door,  we  heard  poor  nurse  saying  in  a  very  mourn- 
ful tone, — 

"  Now,  Master  Edward  dear,  do  be  a  nice 
young  gentleman,  and  use  your  fork." 

Edward.  "  I  won't.  As  long  as  you  make  an 
old  baron  of  me  with  those  nasty  curls,  Fll  be  a 
baron  in  not  using  a  fork.  The  barons  ate  with 
their  fingers.  Uncle  Percy  says  so ;  and  some- 
times they  sat  on  the  floor,  too ;  I'll  sit  on  the 
floor !" 

Nurse.  "  Now  don't,  dear.  Sit  still,  and  cat 
your  pudding  nicely,  there's  my  King  Pippin." 

Edward.  "  I'm  not  a  King  Pippin  :  a  great 
boy  of  five  years  old  like  me !" 

Here  Matilda  and  I  interfered,  and  forced  him 
to  sit  properly,  and  eat  tidily,  and  speak  civilly 
to  nurse,  on  pain  of  not  letting  him  have  any- 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  193 

thing  more  to  do  with  the  charades.  He  was 
rather  ashamed  of  himself,  and  submitted 
quietly  to  having  his  hands  washed  and  his  hair 
brushed  after  dinner.  We  stayed  through  it 
all  to  keep  the  peace,  and  then  took  him  away 
with  us. 

"  What  was  the  row  ?"  asked  Arthur,  as  we 
re-entered  the  school-room  :  and  on  our  explain- 
ing matters,  Uncle  Harry  begged  to  know  what 
was  Edward's  objection  to  being  called  King- 
Pippin.  Edward  could  not  exactly  say,  but 
thought  it  made  him  look  like  a  baby. 

"  Who  do  you  suppose  King  Pippin  was  ?"  his 
uncle  asked. 

"  He  was  a  king  in  the  fairy  tales,"  said 
Mary. 

"  Indeed !  I  was  not  aware  of  that.  Of 
course  I  do  not  mean  to  dispute  it :  but  there 
was  also  a  King  Pippin  or  Pepin,  King  of  France,, 
and  not  a  bad  king  neither.  '  As  prudent  a& 
Pepin'  used  to  be  a  proverb,  so  Edward  need  not 
be  affronted  at  being  compared  to  him." 

"  How  comes  nurse  to  talk  about  King 
Pippin  ?"  Mary  asked.  "  She  does  not  know 
anything  of  the  History  of  France. 

"  No ;  but  Pepin  is  supposed  to  have  been  a 
jolly  little  fellow,  very  short,  fat,  and  good- 
humoured,  and  his  name  has  been  a  favourite 
with  nurses  for  many  a  century.  Nurses  are 
often  fond  of  talking  about  kings  to  their  babies. 


194      HISTORICAL  CHARADES. 

In  Cceur-de-Lion's  time,  when  the  Saracen 
children  cried,  their  mothers  and  nurses  used  to 
say  to  them,  '  Make  haste  and  be  good,  or  King 
Richard  will  catch  you/  Edward  would  not  be 
afraid  of  King  Richard,  and  he  need  not  be 
ashamed  of  King  Pepin.  Shall  I  tell  you  a  story 
about  him,  Edward?" 

"  Oh  yes,  please." 

"  Pepin  the  Prudent  was,  as  I  told  you,  very 
short  and  fat,  and  his  courtiers  used,  behind  his 
back,  to  make  a  joke  of  his  stumpy  little  figure. 
Somehow  or  other,  their  quizzing  came  to  Pepin' s 
own  ears,  but  he  had  too  much  sense  to  mind  it. 
However,  as  they  grew  more  and  more  disrespect- 
ful, he  thought  it  as  well  to  give  them  a  lesson, 
and  therefore  invited  them  to  see  a  fight  between 
a  lion  and  a  bull.  When  the  company  were 
assembled,  the  courtiers  seated  in  a  safe  place, 
and  the  King  on  his  throne,  the  animals  were  let 
loose.  The  lion  rushed  at  the  bull,  fixed  on  his 
throat,  brought  him  down,  and  nearly  strangled 
him.  '  Now/  said  King  Pepin  to  his  courtiers, 
*  which  of  you  will  make  that  beast  let  go  his 
prey  ?'  They  looked  at  one  another,  but  nobody 
stirred :  no  knight  in  the  assembly  was  so  daring 
as  to  risk  his  life  in  trying  to  separate  the  beasts. 
When  nobody  replied  to  the  challenge :  '  That 
task  must  be  mine/  said  Pepin ;  and  descending 
from  his  throne,  he  drew  his  sword  and  advanced 
towards  the  animals.  The  lion  raised  himself  up 


HISTOKICAL   CHARADES.  195 

and  glared  at  him,  but  before  there  was  time  for 
any  mischief,  little  Pepin  cut  off  his  head  with 
one  blow.  He  then  went  quietly  back  to  his 
throne,  and  said  to  his  courtiers :  '  David  was  a 
little  man,  and  yet  he  triumphed  over  Goliath. 
Alexander  too  Avas  a  little  man,  but  his  arm  was 
stronger,  and  his  heart  braver,  than  that  of  many 
of  his  captains  who  were  taller  than  he.'  '  This/ 
as  an  old  writer  says,  '  taught  Pepin's  officers  dis- 
cretion, and  his  people  respect/  " 


196  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Duke  Brithnoth  and  the  Abbot  of  Ely — Pageants  and  Riddles 
in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth — Her  dresses  and  the  Dust- 
man's present — Her  reproof  to  Leicester  and  her  "Lion 
port" — Caesar  and  Brutus — The  Hat  of  Gustavus  Adolphus. 

"  Now,  what  is  the  next  Avord  to  be  ?"  I  asked. 
"  Is  it  not  Arthur's  turn  to  choose  ?" 

"  Let  Matilda  choose/'  answered  Arthur.  "  It 
is  the  first  time  she  has  acted  with  us,  so  we 
ought  to  encourage  her." 

Matilda  said  she  should  like  to  patronise 
Queen  Elizabeth ;  we  none  of  us  seemed  to  have 
recollected  her. 

"  Hurrah  for  Queen  Bess  I"  Arthur  shouted. 
"  But  what  can  the  word  be  ?  Elizabeth  is  as 
bad  as  Nurjehan." 

Mary  began  dividing  the  syllables  as  if  she 
were  saying  a  lesson  of  spelling.  "  E-li-za-beth ; 
that  will  not  do.  Eliza-beth;  that  is  as  bad. 
Eli-zabeth." 

Uncle  Harry  said  Ely  would  do  for  one  divi- 
sion, and  he  could  tell  them  a  story  about  it. 

"  In  the  time  of  King  Edgar,  Brithnotli,  Duke 
of  Northumberland,  was  marching  against  the 
Danes ;  and  one  day,  when  he  and  his  followers 
were  very  tired  and  hungry,  they  arrived  opposite 
the  great  Abbey  of  Ramsey.  Monks  considered 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  197 

it  part  of  their  duty  to  show  hospitality  to  travel- 
lers, and  Duke  Brithnoth  thought  he  was  sure  of 
finding  food  and  shelter  in  this  rich  abbey ;  so  he 
sent  an  officer  to  the  abbot  with  this  message : 
1  Give  my  service  to  my  Lord  Abbot  of  Ramsey, 
and  if  he  pleases,  I  and  my  men  will  dine  with 
him  to-day.'  But  the  abbot  and  his  monks 
were  stingy  and  disobliging,  and  did  not  at  all 
like  Duke  Britlmotlr's  message :  so  they  held  a 
council,  and  one  said  that  such  an  army  would 
eat  up  all  their  provisions ;  and  another  that  they 
should  have  to  turn  out  of  their  cells  to  lodge  the 
soldiers;  and  another  that  such  a  number  of 
people  would  give  them  a  great  deal  of  trouble, 
and  put  them  out  of  their  usual  comfortable 
ways;  and  the  abbot  said  that  the  convent 
would  be  ruined  by  entertaining  all  that  com- 
pany. However,  they  did  not  like  to  affront 
Duke  Brithnoth,  as  the  convents  in  that  part  of 
the  country  were  dependent  upon  him  for  pro- 
tection against  the  Danes.  They  therefore  re- 
turned answer  that  they  had  neither  accommo- 
dation nor  supplies  for  the  soldiers,  but  that  if 
the  duke  himself  liked  to  come,  they  should  be 
very  happy  to  see  him. 

"  But  Duke  Brithnoth  cared  more  for  his 
soldiers  than  himself,  so  he  sent  a  second  message. 
'  Tell  my  Lord  Abbot  that  I  cannot  fight  with- 
out my  men,  and  I  will  not  dine  without  them/ 
They  continued  their  march  for  some  hours,  and, 


198  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

towards  evening  arrived  at  the  Abbey  of  Ely, 
which  was  then  but  small  and  poor.  Still,  it  was 
their  only  chance  of  obtaining  refreshment,  and 
the  duke  sent  his  message.  *  Give  my  service  to 
my  Lord  Abbot  of  Ely,  and,  if  he  pleases,  I  and 
my  men  will  sup  with  him  to-night/ 

"  The  abbot  called  a  council  of  his  monks, 
as  was  usual  when  there  was  any  business  to  be 
transacted,  though  he  very  well  knew  what  such 
good-natured  fellows  would  say.  .As  soon  as  he 
told  them  the  message,  they  exclaimed  how  glad 
they  were  to  have  an  opportunity  of  being  useful 
to  the  good  Duke  Brithnoth  and  his  brave  sol- 
diers, who  protected  the  country  from  the  Danes ; 
and  that  they  wroulrl  give  up  their  cells  for  the 
soldiers  to  sleep  in,  and  make  the  best  feast  in 
their  power,  and  willingly  live  on  short  commons 
themselves  for  a  time  to  make  up  for  it.  The 
abbot  was  as  hospitable  as  his  monks,  and  sent 
a  hearty  invitation  to  Duke  Brithnoth,  begging 
him  to  come  directly,  and  bring  all  his  men, 
*  the  more  the  better/  The  monks  gave  the 
soldiers  an  excellent  supper  and  comfortable  beds. 
Those  that  had  not  room  in  the  dormitories 
slept  in  the  halls  and  offices,  and  the  monks 
themselves  slept  where  they  could,  and  never  let 
their  guests  find  out  that  they  put  anybody  to 
inconvenience. 

"  Next  morning  Duke  Brithuoth  came  into  the 
chapter-house,  and,  after  thanking  the  abbot  and 


HISTOKICAL   CHARADES.  199 

monks  for  their  kindness,  he  made  them  a  present 
of  six  of  his  best  manors,  to  belong  to  the  monas- 
tery of  Ely  for  ever;  and  from  that  time  the 
Abbey  of  Ely  began  to  rise  in  importance  till  it 
became  one  of  the  most  considerable  in  England." 
The  children  much  approved  of  this  story; 
but,  though  we  might  have  acted  Ely,  we  could 
invent  nothing  for  the  other  half  of  the  word,  and 
Elizabeth  was  therefore  rejected.  I  now  proposed 
having  the  name  of  some  celebrated  person  in 
her  reign  ;  Burleigh  or  Hatton  :  Sir  Christopher 
Hattou,  who  was  so  famous  for  his  dancing, 
might  figure  away  before  the  Queen.  I  thought, 
also,  we  might  contrive  to  bring  in  one  of  the 
pageants  with  which  people  were  fond  of  enter- 
taining Queen  Elizabeth. 

"  What  was  a  pageant  ?"  asked  Mary. 
"  A  sort  of  show  with  acting  in  it.    Sometimes 
an  allegorical  story ;  sometimes  a  triumphal  arch 
with  figures  at  each  corner,  fancifully  dressed, 
reciting  verses  in  the  Queen's  praise." 

"  In  most  of  her  journeys,"  said  Uncle  Harry, 
"  some  pageant  greeted  her  whenever  she  entered 
a  town.  At  one  place,  a  person  who  was  present 
describes  her  being  met  by  four  boys  dressed  as 
allegorical  personages ;  first,  Fame,  '  a  very  ex- 
cellent boy/  as  the  account  tells  us ;  then  Saluta- 
tion, Gratulation,  and  Obedient  Good  Will.  They 
all  made  long  speeches,  and  then  drew  their 
swords  to  show  their  readiness  to  defend  the 


200  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

Queen.  Besides  these  boys'  speeches,  the  poor 
Queen  had  to  listen  to  several  other  tiresome 
harangues,  and  I  think  she  must  have  been  very 
glad  when  the  last  orator,  having  finished  his 
prosing,  '  thearwithall  made  a  manerly  leg,  and 
so  held  his  peas/  What  do  you  think  making  a 
leg  means,  Mary  ?" 

"  I  am  sure  I  don't  know.    Jumping  ?" 

"  No :  making  a  bow." 

"  There  were  plenty  of  queer  devices  besides 
speeches/'  I  said, "  and  always  very  complimen- 
tary to  the  person  for  whose  amusement  the 
pageant  was  exhibited." 

"Yes;  but  Queen  Bess  had  no  objection  to 
that,"  said  Uncle  Harry.  "  With  all  her  sense, 
there  never  lived  a  lady,  wise  or  foolish,  who 
could  stand  a  stronger  fire  of  compliments  :  but 
ithat  was  the  fashion  of  the  time.  At  the  mar- 
riage of  her  mother,  Anne  Boleyn,  there  was  a 
grand  masque  of  the  Judgment  of  Paris.  The 
story  of  the  goddesses  and  the  apple  was  acted  at 
full  length,  and  followed  by  an  apology  to  Queen 
Anne  that  the  apple  had  been  given  to  Venus. 
A  boy  recited  some  verses  which  began : 

'  Queen  Anne  so  gent, 
Of  high  descent, 
Anne  excellent 
In  nobleness  ; 
Of  ladies  all 
You  principal 
Should  win  this  ball 
Of  worthiness.' 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  201 

"  He  proceeded  to  say  that  Jupiter  wished  the 
apple  to  be  given  to  Anne,  and  that  Paris  quite 
agreed  with  him,  and  was  going  to  present  it,  but 
it  had  struck  them  both  that  it  really  was  not 
worth  her  acceptance,  and  that  they  had  better 
marry  her  to  Henry,  as  the  proper  and  suitable 
reward  of  her  merit. 

'  The  golden  ball 
Of  price  but  small, 
Have  Venus  shall 
The  fair  goddesse  ; 
Because  it  was 
Too  low  and  base 
For  your  good  grace 
And  worthiness.' " 

"  I  do  not  think  their  verses  were  good  for 
much,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Nor  I,"  replied  her  uncle ;  "  but  they  satis- 
fied the  King  and  Queen.  I  suppose  you  would 
have  preferred  the  pageant  in  Richard  the  Se- 
cond's time,  in  which  they  made  a  horse  dance  on 
the  tight  rope,  to  the  music  of  trumpets  sounded 
by  oxen." 

"  Yes,  I  should  have  liked  to  see  that." 

"  And  perhaps  you  might  have  approved  of  a 
masque  acted  by  some  students  for  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's amusement,  in  which  great  part  of  the  fun 
consisted  in  quirks  something  like  riddles." 

"  Oh,  do  tell  me  some  of  their  riddles,"  ex- 
claimed Lucy  :  "  I  should  so  like  to  have  them 
for  my  riddle-book." 


202  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

11 1  am  afraid  the  quibbles  that  pleased  Queen 
Elizabeth  and  her  masquers  will  look  but  strange 
in  your  riddle-book.  However,  two  or  three 
perhaps  may  do,  though  I  do  not  think  you  will 
be  able  to  guess  them.  '  Why  will  a  musician 
never  make  a  good  vintner  ?; " 

As  Uncle  Harry  anticipated,  nobody  could 
guess  it. 

"  Because  he  deals  too  much  in  flats  and 
sharps." 

"  I  do  not  understand  it  even  now,"  Lucy 
said. 

Her  uncle  explained  that  insipid  wine  was 
called  flat,  and  sour  wine  sharp ;  and  she  knew 
what  musical  flats  and  sharps  meant. 

Uncle  Harry  gave  us  another.  "  Why  is  a 
cannibal  the  most  loving  man  to  his  enemy  ?" 

Arthur  guessed  this.  "  Because  people  don't 
eat  things  they  don't  like." 

"  Right ;  or,  as  the  students  worded  it,  '  a  can- 
nibal is  the  lovingest  man  to  his  enemy,  for  wil- 
lingly no  man  eateth  that  he  loveth  not/  There 
are  plenty  more,  but  these  are  among  the  best, 
Lucy ;  and  I  do  not  think  you  will  consider  these 
very  good." 

"  Never  mind,"  she  answered.  "  I  shall  like 
to  have  them  in  my  book,  as  they  were  good 
enough  for  Queen  Elizabeth." 

But  it  was  time  to  return  to  business.  Ellen 
asked  how  Queen  Elizabeth  ought  to  be  drest. 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  203 

"  Would  you  like  the  dress  in  which  she  went 
on  horseback  to  Cambridge  ?"  I  inquired.  "  A 
black  velvet  gown,  a  close  cap  set  with  pearls,  a 
hat  spangled  with  gold,  and  a  plume  of  feathers." 

"  Rather  an  odd  riding  habit,"  said  Lucy ;  "  I 
think  she  might  have  found  something  better ; 
for  our  History  of  England  says  she  had  three 
thousand  gowns,  and  never  wore  the  same  more 
than  once." 

"  I  do  not  believe  she  had  three  thousand 
gowns,"  said  Uncle  Harry.  "  I  was  looking  over, 
the  other  day,  a  list  of  her  wardrobe  taken  two 
years  before  her  death,  and  in  that  there  were 
only  about  sixteen  hundred  articles  altogether, 
including  not  only  gowns,  but  cloaks,  aprons, 
petticoats,  stomachers,  rufi's,  and  even  slippers. 
And  you  must  remember  that  most  of  these  were' 
presents,  which  it  would  not  have  been  gracious 
to  give  away  again." 

"  Who  gave  her  so  many  presents  ?"  Mary 
asked. 

"  Foreign  princes  used  to  send  her  the  cos- 
tumes of  their  countries ;  and  on  New  Year's 
day  it  was  the  custom  for  almost  everybody 
about  her  court  to  make  presents  to  her,  and  she 
to  them.  Even  Mr.  Smith  the  dustman  one  year 
made  her  a  present  of  two  pieces  of  cambric." 

"  How  very  strange  for  a  great  Queen  to  take  a 
present  from  a  dustman  !"  said  Ellen. 

' '  It  was  customary,  and  did  not  hurt  her  pride : 


204  HISTOKICAL   CHARADES. 

she  exchanged  gifts  with  everybody.  Her  own 
donations  generally  consisted  of  plate,  but  her 
subjects  offered  her  all  sorts  of  things.  Her  cook 
sent  her  a  pie,  and  her  physicians  and  apothe- 
caries gave  her  boxes  of  sugarplums  and  sweet- 
meats." 

"  I  dare  say  they  were  pills  in  disguise/'  in- 
terrupted Arthur. 

"  Not  at  all.  They  were  preserved  ginger, 
candied  orangepeel,  and  comfits.  What  seems 
the  most  strange  is  her  accepting  small  sums  of 
money  from  her  courtiers.  Five  pounds  from 
one,  ten  from  another,  and  so  on.  Most  of  her 
presents  were  materials  for  dress,  and  sometimes 
even  good  homely  articles,  such  as  stockings, 
pocket-handkerchiefs,  and  nightcaps." 

"  If  people  gave  her  such  quantities  of  clothes, 
no  wonder  she  could  not  wear  the  same  things 
often,"  said  Mary  ;  "  but  I  think  she  might  have 
given  them  away  when  she  had  done  with  them." 

"  It  seems  to  have  been  the  fashion  for  people 
to  keep  old  clothes  and  leave  them  to  their  heirs," 
said  Uncle  Harry.  "  Among  Queen  Elizabeth's 
state  robes,  there  was  an  old  black  velvet  gown  of 
Queen  Mary's,  with  part  of  the  trimming  torn 
off,  so  that  it  must  certainly  have  seen  its  best 
days,  but  still  it  was  carefully  kept." 

"  I  don't  see  how  we  shall  manage  a  scene  in 
Elizabeth's  reign,  after  all,"  said  Ellen.  "  We 
have  not  fixed  upon  a  word  yet." 


HISTORICAL    CHAHADES.  205 

"Would  TUDOR  do?"  Matilda  asked,  with 
some  hesitation.  She  was  so  modest  that  she  was 
afraid  of  proposing  anything  that  the  others  might 
not  approve. 

I  thought  it  was  a  very  good  word,  and  would 
allow  of  our  bringing  in  anything  we  pleased 
about  Queen  Elizabeth. 

William  said  it  ought  to  be  something  charac- 
teristic of  her  race  rather  than  herself,  showing 
some  quality  common  to  the  Tudors. 

"  Their  pride,"  said  Ellen. — "  Their  magnifi- 
cence," said  Arthur. 

"  Their  obstinacy,"  said  Lucy. — "  Their  firm- 
ness," said  I. 

"Their  tyranny,"  said  Caroline. —  "Their 
power  of  ruling,"  said  Henry. 

"  Their  bigotry  on  their  own  side,  whichever 
it  was,"  said  William. 

"  Their  determination  to  keep  church  and  state 
together,"  said  Uncle  Harry.  "  Opinions  seem 
to  differ ;  which  of  you  would  have  written  this 
epitaph  on  Queen  Elizabeth  ? 

'  Sp;un's  rod,  Rome's  ruin,  Xetherland's  relief, 
Earth's  joy,  England's  gem,  World's  wonder,  Nature's  chief.' 

"  I  am  sure  I  would  not,"  said  Ellen  ;  "  for  I 
never  can  like  her,  because  of  her  killing  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots." 

"Ah,  I  wish  she  had  not  done  that,"  said 
Mary. 


206  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

"  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  was  always  entering 
into  conspiracies  against  her,"  Arthur  said,  rather 
quickly,  as  if  he  did  not  like  to  hear  any  fault 
found  with  Queen  Elizabeth. 

"  Of  course  she  was,"  said  Lucy ;  "  and  so 
would  I,  if  I  were  kept  in  prison  by  any  one  who 
had  no  right  to  put  me  there." 

"  Yes,"  said  Uncle  Harry.  "  We  must  not 
allow  our  admiration  to  blind  us,  Arthur.  Eliza- 
beth's reign  was  most  glorious,  and  she  was  one 
of  England's  greatest  sovereigns;  but  her  treat- 
ment of  Mary  is  a  lasting  reproach  to  her  and 
her  ministers.  I  admire  Elizabeth  almost  as  much 
as  you  do,  but  I  always  wish  she  had  not  im- 
prisoned Mary  Queen  of  Scots  :  for  that  was  the 
real  injustice,  and  provoked  Mary  to  enter  into 
€onspiracies  against  her." 

"  Have  you  decided  upon  Tudor  for  the  word  ?" 

"  Yes,  if  we  can  settle  how  it  is  to  be  acted. 
Aunt  Esther,  what  do  you  advise?" 

"  I  am  inclined  to  recommend  the  story  of 
Bowyer,  Elizabeth's  usher,  refusing  admittance  to 
one  of  Lord  Leicester's  followers  who  had  no 
right  to  enter  the  apartment.  Lord  Leicester 
insisted,  and  threatened  to  have  Bowyer  turned 
out  of  his  office.  Bowyer,  who  knew  he  had 
only  done  his  duty,  went  at  once  to  the  Queen, 
and  told  his  own  story.  She  was  very  angry 
with  Leicester's  presumption,  and  gave  him  a 
thorough  good  scolding. 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  207 

" '  My  Lord/  said  she,  '  I  have  wished  you 
well ;  but  my  favour  is  Dot  so  locked  up  for  you 
that  others  shall  not  partake  thereof;  and  if  you 
think  to  rule  here,  I  will  take  a  course  to  see  you 
forthcoming.  I  will  have  here  but  one  mistress 
and  no  master  ['  '• 

"  Which  speech,"  added  Uncle  Harry,  "  is  said 
to  have  '  so  quailed  his  lordship  that  his  feigned 
humility  was  ever  after  one  of  his  best  virtues/  }i 
This  story  took  the  children's  fancy,  and  Ellen 
began  practising  the  speech,  and  trying  to  get  up 
a  proper  queen-like  demeanour,  but  she  did  not 
give  satisfaction ;  the  others  said  she  was  not  half 
fierce  enough;  that  Queen  Elizabeth,  as  every- 
body knew,  had  a  "  lion  port,"  whereas  Ellen 
looked  more  like  a  lamb. 

Ellen  objected  that  it  was  only  the  poet  Gray 
who  talked  of  Elizabeth's  lion  port,  and  that  it 
might  not  be  true. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  Uncle  Harry : 
"  Queen  Elizabeth  and  the  British  Lion  learnt 
manners  in  the  same  school,  long  before  Gray  was 
born.  An  old  historian  describes  her  reception 
of  a  speech  that  did  not  please  her ;  '  Lion-like 
rising,  she  daunted  the  malapert  orator,  no  less 
with  her  stately  port  and  majestical  demeanour, 
than  with  the  tartness  of  her  princely  checks  !' 
Now,  Lucy,  suppose  you  try  to  act  her ;  you  are 
the  most  like  a  wild  animal." 

Lucy  succeeded  very  well.     She  looked  ex- 


208  HISTORICAL   CHAKADES. 

tremcly  dignified,  and  yet  quite  ready  to  box  the 
ears  of  a  maid  of  honour  on  the  slightest  provoca- 
tion ;  and  she  would  have  made  a  very  good 
Queen  Elizabeth,  but  there  still  remained  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  TUDOR  :  the  syllables  could 
not  be  managed.  For  the  first,  Henry  and 
Arthur  of  course  proposed  the  assassination  of 
Julius  Caesar,  and  his  last  exclamation,  "Et  Tu 
Brute  \"  The  three  boys  began  rehearsing  atti- 
tudes ;  one  for  Pompey's  statue,  one  for  the  fallen 
Csesar,  and  one  that  should  express  the  ferocity 
of  Brutus,  Cassius,  and  all  the  other  conspirators 
together :  but  they  could  not  agree  upon  any- 
thing to  their  minds  for  the  second  syllable, 
though  it  sounded  very  easy. 

"  After  all/'  said  Henry,  "  why  should  we  not 
have  Hatton,  as  we  at  first  proposed  ?  I  know  a 
story  that  will  do  for  Hat,  out  of  the  Life  of 
Gustavus  Adolphus.  In  one  of  his  battles,  he 
was  fighting  hand  to  hand  with  the  French 
general  Sirot,  who  did  not  know  him.  They 
fired  their  pistols  in  each  other's  faces,  and  Sirot' s 
so  nearly  hit  Gustavus,  that  his  hair  was  burnt, 
and  his  hat  knocked  off.  Just  then  some  of  his 
party  came  to  the  rescue,  and  carried  him  off 
without  his  hat,  and  Sirot' s  servant  picked  it  up 
and  gave  it  to  his  master. 

"  Next  day  Sirot  appeared,  wearing  the  hat  as  a 
trophy,  though  not  knowing  whose  it  had  been. 
Some  Swedish  prisoners  recognised  it  as  having 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  209 

belonged  to  their  king,  and  were  in  great  distress, 
fearing  he  must  have  been  killed.  They  entreated 
Sirot  to  tell  them  if  Gustavus  was  living,  and 
in  that  way  he  found  out  with  whom  he  had  been 
fighting." 

"  He  afterwards  presented  Gustavus'  hat  to  the 
Emperor  of  Austria,"  said  Uncle  Harry;  "  and  it 
was  sent  by  him  as  an  offering  to  the  shrine  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  at  Loretto." 

We  agreed  to  have  Hatton ;  and  after  discuss- 
ing many  more  words,  and  fixing  upon  one  or 
two,  we  separated. 


210  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Final  performance — FALSTAFF —  Scene  from  Shakspeare  — 
AGINCOUKT  —  Earliest  use  of  fire- arms  —  Scene  from  the 
"  Lady  of  the  Lake" — HATTON — Dress  of  Queen  Elizabeth — 
Flattery — Sir  Christopher  Hatton's  dancing — Words  pro- 
posed— Lessons  and  Play — Uses  of  History — Conclusion. 

EVENING  came,  and  with  it  our  final  performance. 
The  actors  were  in  a  great  hurry  to  begin,  and 
the  moment  dinner  was  over,  repaired  to  the 
school-room.  Everything  had  been  so  carefully 
arranged  in  the  morning,  that  no  time  was  lost 
in  preparation. 

Scene  the  first. — Little  Edward  came  running 
into  the  drawing-room,  and  after  jumping  and 
hopping  about  for  some  time,  fell  down;  and 
began  to  cry.  Then  Henry,  in  a  great  coat  and 
hat,  by  way  of  Edward's  papa,  came  in,  saying : 

"  What !  have  you  tumbled  down  ?  Never 
mind,  tumble  up  again." 

"  Oh,  I  can't ;  I  want  somebody  to  pick  me 
up." 

"  Oh,  I  will  pick  you  up,  my  dear  little  boy," 
said  Ellen,  who  seemed  to  be  his  mamma.  "  Poor 
little  darling,  have  you  fallen  down  and  hurt  your- 
self ?  Come  with  me,  and  we  will  rub  it  with 
pomade  divine." 

The  spectators  guessed  knee,  child,  hurt,  bruise, 


HISTORICAL  CHARADES.      211 

fall ;  but  which  of  these  was  right,  we  were  not 
able  to  decide  till  the  next  scene. 

The  second  syllable  was  STAFF. 

Henry  had  read  the  life  of  Hooker  that  morn- 
ing, and  he  had  taken  a  particular  fancy  to  the 
story  of  Richard  Hooker  when  a  young  man, 
receiving  the  walking  staff  of  Bishop  Jewel; 
and  he  and  Arthur  could  not  be  happy  without 
acting  the  scene,  and  repeating  the  conversation 
between  those  two  good  men,  though  with  some 
omissions,  in  order  not  to  bring  sacred  words 
into  their  play.  The  representative  of  the 
bishop  sat  at  a  table  with  a  book  before  him, 
from  which  he  read  his  speech,  and  thereby 
saved  himself  a  great  deal  of  trouble. 

The  whole  word  was  FALSTAFF,  and  it  may  be 
easily  guessed  that  Prince  Hal  and  his  merry 
companions  came  before  us.  Uncle  Harry  had 
privately  arranged  this  part  with  the  boys  in  the 
morning,  omitting  so  much  as  to  bring  a  scene 
of  Shakspeare's  Henry  the  Fourth  within  cha- 
rade length. 

Arthur  was  Sir  John  Falstaff.  A  pillow  was 
tied  round  his  waist  to  make  him  fat  enough, 
and  his  dress  put  over  it;  viz.,  an  embroidered 
waistcoat,  short  cloak,  slashed  sleeves,  short 
trousers,  and  a  sword. 

The  others  had  the  same  kind  of  dress,  except 
that  the  girls   wore  long  cloaks  to  hide  their 
frocks ;    and    Henry,  as  Madcap   Harry,  had  a 
p  2 


212  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

cap  and  feathers.  William  acted  Poins ;  Lucy, 
Gadshill;  Ellen,  Bardolph;  and  Mary,  Peto. 
As  they  were  minor  characters,  there  was  not  so 
much  pains  taken  with  their  costume  as  with 
that  of  Arthur  and  Henry. 

The  dialogue  was  written  out  and  laid  on  the 
table,  in  case  any  one  should  forget  his  part. 


Scene. — Prince  Hal  and  Poins  at  a  table, 
drinking. 

Enter    FALSTAFF,    GADSHILL,    BARDOLPH,     and 
PETO. 

Poins.  "  Welcome,  Jack.  Where  hast  thou 
been?" 

Falstaff.  "  A  plague  of  all  cowards,  I  say — 
Give  me  a  cup  of  sack,  boy — A  plague  of  all 
cowards." 

Prince  Hal.  "  How  now,  woolsack,  what 
mutter  you?" 

Fal.  "  A  King's  son !  If  I  do  not  beat 
thee  out  of  thy  kingdom  with  a  dagger  of  lath, 
and  drive  all  thy  subjects  before  thee  like  a  flock 
of  wild  geese,  I'll  never  wear  hair  on  my  face 
more.  You,  Prince  of  Wales  ! " 

P.  Hal.  "Why,  you  round  man,  what's  the 
matter?" 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  213 

Ful.    "  Are  you  not  a  coward  ?  answer  me  to 
that ;  and  Poms,  there  ?" 

Poins.  "  You  fat  fellow,  an'  ye  call  me  coward, 
Til  stab  thee." 

FaL  "  I  call  thee  coward!  Til  see  thee  hanged 
before  I  call  thee  coward ;  but  I  would  give  a 
hundred  pounds  I   could  run   as   fast  as  thou 
canst.     Give  me  a  cup  of  sack.     I  am  a  rogue  if 
I  drunk  to-day."     (He  drinks.) 
P.  Hal  "  What's  the  matter?" 
FaL  "  What's  the  matter  ?    There  be  four  of 
us  here  have  ta'en  a  thousand  pound  this  morn- 
ing." 

P.  Hal.  "  Where  is  it,  Jack  ?  where  is  it  ?" 
FaL    "  Where  is  it  ?  taken  from  us  it  is !  a 
hundred  upon  poor  four  of  us." 

P.  Hal.  "  What,  a  hundred,  man  ?" 
FaL  "  I  am  a  rogue  if  I  were  not  at  half- 
sword  with  a  dozen  of  them  two  hours  together. 
I  have  'scaped  by  miracle.  I  am  eight  times 
thrust  through  the  doublet,  four  through  the 
hose ;  my  buckler  cut  through  and  through ;  my 
sword  hacked  like  a  hand-saw ;  ecce  signum.  I 
never  dealt  better  since  I  was  a  man :  all  would 
not  do.  A  plague  of  all  cowards !  Let  them 
speak ;  if  they  speak  more  or  less  than  truth, 
they  are  villains." 

P.  Hal.    "  Speak,  sirs  ;  how  was  it  ?" 

Gadshill.  "We  four  set  upon  some  dozen ." 

FaL    "  Sixteen,  at  least,  my  lord." 


214  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

Gads.   "  And  bound  them." 

Peto.    "  No,  no,  they  were  not  bound." 

Fal.  "  You  rogue,  they  were  bound,  every  man 
of  them,  or  I  am  a  Jew  else,  an  Ebrew  Jew." 

Gads.  "  As  we  were  sharing,  some  six  or  seven 
fresh  men  set  upon  us " 

Fal.  "  And  unbound  the  rest,  and  then  came 
in  the  other." 

P.  Hal.  "  What,  fought  ye  with  them  all  ?" 

Fal.  "  All  ?  I  know  not  what  ye  call  all ;  but 
if  there  were  not  two  or  three  and  fifty  upon  poor 
old  Jack,  then  am  I  no  two-legged  creature." 

Poins.  "  I  hope  you  have  not  murdered  some 
of  them." 

Fal.  "  Nay,  that's  past  hope  :  I  have  peppered 
two  of  them :  two,  I  am  sure,  I  have  paid ;  two 
rogues  in  buckram  suits.  Thou  knowest  my  old 
ward ; — here  I  lay,  and  thus  I  bore  my  point. 
Pour  rogues  in  buckram  let  drive  at  me " 

P.  Hal.  "  What,  four  ?  thou  saidst  but  two, 
even  now." 

Fal.  "  Four,  Hal ;  I  told  thee  four." 

Poins.  "  Ay,  ay,  he  said  four." 

Fal.  "  These  four  came  all  a-front,  and  mainly 
thrust  at  me.  I  made  me  no  more  ado,  but  took 
all  their  seven  points  in  my  target,  thus." 

P.  Hal.  "  Seven  ?  why,  there  were  but  four, 
even  now." 

Fal.  "  In  buckram." 

Poins.  "  Ay,  four,  in  buckram  suits." 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  215 

Fal.    "  Seven,  or  I  am  a  villain  else." 
P.  Hal.  "Prithee,  let  him  alone;  we  shall  have 
more  anon/' 

FaL    "  Dost  thou  hear  me,  Hal  ?" 

P.  Hal.  "  Ay,  and  mark  thee  too,  Jack." 

Fal.   "  Do  so,  for  it  is  worth  the  listening  to. 

These  nine  in  buckram  that  I  told  thee  of " 

P.  Hal.    "  So,  two  more  already." 
Fal.    "  Their  points  being  broken,  began  to 
give  me  ground ;  but  I  followed  me  close,  came 
in  foot  and  hand,  and  with  a  thought,  seven  of 
the  eleven  I  paid." 

P.  Hal.  "  O  monstrous  !  eleven  buckram  men 
grown  out  of  two  !" 

Fal.  "But,  as  luck  would  have  it,  three  knaves, 
in  Kendal  green,  came  at  my  back,  and  let  drive 
at  me ;  for  it  was  so  dark,  Hal,  that  thou  couldst 
not  see  thy  hand." 

P.  Hal.  "  Why,  how  couldst  thou  know  these 
men  in  Kendal  green,  when  it  was  so  dark  thou 
couldst  not  see  thy  hand  ?  Come,  tell  us  your 
reason ;  what  sayest  thou  to  this  ?" 

Poins.  "Come,your  reason, Jack,your  reason." 
Fal.  "  What,  upon  compulsion  ?  No  ;  were 
I  at  the  strappado,  or  all  the  racks  in  the  world, 
I  would  not  tell  you  on  compulsion.  Give  you 
a  reason  on  compulsion  !  If  reasons  were  as  plenty 
as  blackberries,  I  would  give  no  man  a  reason 
upon  compulsion,  I." 

P.  Hal.    "  Well,  breathe  awhile,  and  then  to 


216  HISTORICAL   CHAKADES. 

it  again,  and  when  thou  hast  tired  thyself,  hear 
me  speak  but  this." 

Poins.    "  Mark,  Jack." 

P.  Hal.  "  We  two  saw  you  four  set  on  four  : 
you  bound  them,  and  were  masters  of  their 
wealth.  Mark,  now,  how  plain  a  tale  shall  put 
you  down.  Then  did  we  two  set  on  you  four : 
and,  with  a  word,  outfaced  you  from  your  prize, 
and  have  it ;  yea,  and  can  show  it  you  here  in  the 
house :  and,  Falstaff,  you  carried  yourself  away 
as  nimbly,  and  roared  for  mercy,  and  still  ran 
and  roared,  as  ever  I  heard  bullcalf.  What  a  slave 
art  thou,  to  hack  thy  sword  as  thou  hast  done ; 
and  then  say  it  was  in  fight !  What  trick,  what 
device,  canst  thou  now  find  out  to  hide  thee  from 
this  open  and  apparent  shame  ?" 

Poins.  "  Come,  let's  hear,  Jack  ;  what  trick 
hast  thou  now  ?" 

Fal.  "  I  knew  ye,  as  well  as  ye  knew  your- 
selves. Why,  hear  ye,  my  masters  :  was  it  for  me 
to  kill  the  heir-apparent?  Should  I  turn  upon 
the  true  prince  ?  Why,  thou  knowest,  I  am  as 
valiant  as  Hercules  :  but  beware  instinct,  the  lion 
will  not  touch  the  true  prince.  Instinct  is  a 
great  matter ;  I  was  a  coward  on  instinct.  I  shall 
think  the  better  of  myself,  and  thee,  during  my 
life ;  I,  for  a  valiant  lion,  and  thou  for  a  true 
prince.  But,  lads,  I  am  glad  you  have  the  money. 
Gallants,  boys,  lads,  hearts  of  gold,  all  the  titles 
of  good  fellowship  come  to  you  !  What,  shall  we 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  217 

be  merry  ?  shall  we  have  a  play  extempore  ?ora 
charade  ?" 

"  Well,  that  word  is  plain  enough,"  said  Mr. 
Percy,  "  and  you  managed  it  very  well." 

"  I  did  not  much  like  acting  it,  though,"  said 
Ellen;  "I  only  acted  to  please  Arthur  and  Willy." 

"  Why  did  you  dislike  it,  little  Ellen  ?" 

"  I  don't  like  Falstaff.  He  does  nothing  but 
tell  falsehoods." 

"  We  need  not  like  him,  you  know,  Ellen," 
argued  Arthur ;  "  but  he  is  very  amusing,  and 
when  Prince  Hal  himself  was  reformed,  he  turned 
him  off." 

"  Yes,"  she  answered ;  "  I  have  always  been 
glad  of  that." 

' '  Was  Falstaff  really  an  historical  character  ?" 
Caroline  asked.  "  I  always  thought  he  was  only 
an  invention  of  Shakspeare's." 

"  The  character  is  an  invention,  I  suppose, 
though  not  the  name,"  Mr.  Percy  replied. 
"  There  was  a  Sir  John  Falstoffe  living  at  that 
time,  though  I  do  not  know  that  he  was  really 
one  of  Prince  HaFs  wild  companions." 

The  children  now  returned  to  the  school-room 
to  arrange  another  word.  Arthur  presently  re- 
appeared, and  having  begged  his  father  to  come 
out  of  hearing  of  the  ladies,  said  in  a  hesitating 
manner : — 

"  We  don't  mind  telling  you,  father,  in  conn- 


218  HISTORICAL    CHAKADES. 

dence,  that  we  are  going  to  act  Agincourt ;  and 
we  want  you  to  be  so  good  as  to  let  us  have  a 
little  gunpowder,  because  fire-arms  were  first 
used  at  the  battle  of  Agincourt.  Will  you  give 
us  a  pinch  out  of  your  powder-flask  ?" 

Mr.  Percy  shook  his  head. 

"  A  very  little,  just  for  Henry  the  Fifth's  own 
use  ?  We  will  be  very  careful.  I  am  Henry  the 
Fifth." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  refuse  your  highness/'  said  his 
father ;  "  but  it  is  quite  impossible.  Besides  the 
danger  to  your  royal  self,  your  mother  and  aunts 
would  be  extremely  frightened.  You  finust  not 
think  of  it.  However,  I  can  tell  you  for  your 
comfort,  that  it  is  very  doubtful  whether 
fire-arms  were  used  at  Agincourt.  The  first 
time  1  remember  mentioned  as  certain  was  at 
the  siege  of  Orleans  in  Henry  the  Sixth's 
reign." 

"  But  you  jjmow,  father,  a  good  many  of  our 
books  say  that  they  were  used  at  Agincourt,  and 
as  gunpowder  was  invented  nearly  a  hundred 
years  before,  they  very  well  might.  I  assure 
you  ive  all  believe  it." 

"  I  dare  say  you  do ;  but  I  cannot  consent  to 
their  being  used  in  the  drawing-room.  How- 
ever, I  can  supply  you  with  what  will  answer 
your  purposes  just  as  well — a  bundle  of  Water- 
loo crackers ;  will  you  have  them  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes ;  and  thank  you.     How  stupid  of  us 


HISTORICAL   CHARADES.  219 

never  to  think  of  them.  They  will  be  just  the 
thing." 

"  Here  they  are  then.     Fire  away/' 

Arthur  ran  off  with  his  treasure,  and  the 
charade  began. 

Scene  the  first. — When  the  screen  was  re- 
moved, we  saw  "William  as  an  old  man,  in  a  rough 
cloak,  with  a  long  white  beard,  sitting  in  a  corner 
of  the  room  at  a  table,  on  which  were  an  hour- 
glass, a  telescope,  and  some  flowers. 

"  Hermit  ?"  asked  Mrs.  Percy. 

"  No,"  said  Caroline.  "  He  is  a  hermit,  but 
that  is  not  the  word." 

"  Oh,  I  see  your  meaning  !"  Mrs.  Mortimer 
exclaimed.  "  Age." 

"  And  may  at  last  my  wear}-  aye 
Find  out  the  peaceful  hermitage. " 

Scene  the  second. — Enter  Arthur,  as  a  fat 
landlady,  in  a  great  number  of  petticoats.  He 
wore  a  cap  and  false  curls,  which  he  had  bor- 
rowed from  nurse,  and  he  had  put  a  piece  of 
black  sticking-plaster  over  one  of  his  front  teeth, 
to  look  as  if  it  was  out.  Altogether  he  was  so 
changed,  that  when  he  first  came  in,  even  his 
mother  did  not  know  him.  Two  of  the  girls 
followed  him  as  housemaids,  Mary  with  a  broom, 
Ellen  with  a  duster ;  Lucy  in  a  great  coat,  as 
"  Boots,"  was  cleaning  a  shoe ;  and  Henry  as 
waiter,  drawing  a  cork. 


220  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

Arthur  bustled  about,  helping  his  maids  to  set 
everything  to  rights,  and  talking  all  the  time. 

"A  fine  season  indeed!  I  have  never  known 
the  house  so  full.  Waitah  !" 

Henry.  "  Ma'am !" 

Arthur.  "Take  up  dinner  to  the  party  in 
number  2." 

Henry.  "  Directly,  ma'am." 

Arthur.  "Boots!" 

Lucy.  "  Ma'am  ! " 

Arthur.  "  Don't  forget  to  call  the  gent  in 
number  3  to-morrow  at  four  o'clock,  for  the 
early  train.  Dear,  dear,  the  things  there  are  to 
think  of !  Its  lucky  I've  something  of  a  head. 

A  loud  knock  at  the  door.  All  rush  to  open 
it.  Enter  Caroline  and  William  as  travellers, 
wrapped  up  in  cloaks  and  shawls. 

Caroline.  "  Can  we  have  rooms  here  to- 
night ?" 

William.  "  And  supper  directly  ?" 

Arthur.  "  Oh,  yes,  ma'am ;  excellent  rooms, 
ma'am.  Yes,  sir;  capital  supper,  sir.  What 
would  you  please  to  take  ?  Beautiful  rooms  up- 
stairs, ma'am ;  steaks,  cutlets,  fowls,  and  fish  in 
the  larder,  sir.  Famous  for  fish  here,  sir ;  a  fine 
view  of  the  sea  from  your  windows,  ma'am. 
This  way,  ma'am ;  pray  take  care  of  the  step. 
Waiter!  Boots!  bring  the  lady  and  gentleman's 
luggage.'' 

Lucy    dragged   in  a  portmanteau,   Henry  a 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  221 

carpet  bag;  Mary  took  one  bandbox,  Ellen  an- 
other; and  they  ran  against  one  another,  threw 
the  things  down,  and  made  such  a  noise  and 
confusion,  that  Mr.  Stanley  said  he  thought  the 
unfortunate  travellers  did  not  seem  very  likely  to 
"  take  their  ease  at  their  Inn." 

For  the  third  syllable  we  chose  a  tableau  of 
the  Court  of  James  the  Fifth  of  Scotland ;  and 
the  scene  in  the  "  Lady  of  the  Lake"  in  which 
Ellen  Douglas  discovers  the  knight  of  Snowdoun 
to  be  the  king. 

"  She  gaz'd  on  many  a  princely  port, 

Might  well  have  rul'd  a  royal  court, 

On  many  a  splendid  garb  she  gaz'd, — 

Then  turn'd  bewilder' d  and  amaz'd, 

For  all  stood  bare ;  and  in  the  room, 

Fitz-James  alone  wore  cap  and  plume. 

To  him  each  lady's  look  was  lent ; 

On  him  each  courtier's  eye  was  bent ; 

Midst  furs  and  silks  and  jewels  sheen, 

He  stood,  in  simple  Lincoln  green, 

The  centre  of  the  glittering  ring, 
And  Snowdoun's  knight  is  Scotland's  king !" 

Mrs.  Percy  and  Mrs.  Mortimer  had  lent  us 
several  plaid  shawls  and  scarfs :  Arthur  had  a 
very  pretty  Lincoln  green  archer's  dress,  and  we 
contrived  a  beautiful  plume  with  paper  cut  like 
feathers  :  we  lighted  as  many  candles  as  possible, 
and  grouped  ourselves  in  as  courtlike  a  circle  as 
we  could;  and  our  Ellen  made  a  very  pretty 
little  representative  of  her  namesake. 

Third  scene. — A  tremendous  battle ;  crackers 
in  all  directions.  The  English,  led  on  by  Henry 


222  HISTORICAL   CHARADES. 

the  Fifth,  kept  up  a  close  and  effective  fire  till 
the  whole  French  army  were  driven  out  of  the 
room,  and  "  the  earthquake  shout  of  victory" 
raised  by  the  conquerors  almost  drove  us  out  of 
the  room  too. 

During  the  fight,  I  had  been  posted  as  sentinel 
upon  little  Edward.  "We  pretended  he  was  a 
prisoner,  in  order  to  keep  him  from  coming  out 
with  a  line  of  his  "  History  of  England  in  Verse," 
which  he  had  been  spouting  at  odd  moments  all 
the  day.  But  when  the  battle  was  fairly  won, 
we  gave  him  his  liberty,  and  let  him  bawl  out  for 
the  information  of  the  company: 

"France  feels  at  AGINCOURT  fifth  Henry's  rage." 

BEAUCLERC. — Our  expectations  were  fully 
realized  in  the  affectations  of  the  Beau  and  the 
studious  diligence  of  the  Clerk.  The  crackowes 
were  particularly  successful.  The  story  William 
had  chosen  for  the  entire  word  was  that  of  Henry 
the  First  sending  his  bishops  to  the  council  sum- 
moned at  Rheims  by  Pope  Calixtus  the  Second. 

"  Go,"  said  Henry ;  "  salute  the  Pope  in  my 
name ;  hear  his  apostolic  precepts,  but  take  care 
to  bring  none  of  his  new  inventions  into  my 
kingdom." 

HATTON. — The  two  first  scenes  do  not  require 
much  description.  They  were  both  made  out  of 
Henry's  story  of  Gustavus  Adolphus.  In  a  smart 
skirmish  he  lost  his  hat,  and  in  the  next  scene 


HISTORICAL  CHARADES.      223 

Sirot  appeared  with  it  on,  and  answered  the  in- 
quiries of  the  prisoners. 

But  our  third  scene  Avas  superb.  It  was  not 
very  quickly  arranged,  because  both  Queen  Eliza- 
beth and  Sir  Christopher  Hatton  were  a  long  time 
dressing,  and  the  courtiers  and  maids  of  honour 
followed  their  example.  Sir  Christopher's  costume 
was  not  difficult :  of  course  he  must  have 

"  His  bushy  beard  and  shoestrings  green, 
His  high-crown'd  hat,  and  satin  doublet;" 

but  they  were  all  at  hand.  He  wore  a  satin 
spencer  belonging  to  one  of  his  sisters,  a  beard 
of  twice  our  usual  size,  an  immense  ruif,  a  gold 
chain,  and  enormous  green  rosettes  to  his  shoes. 

But  the  queen  gave  us  more  trouble.  'I  was 
required  to  dress  her,  for  Uncle  Harry  said  he 
could  not  undertake  the  details  of  her  Majesty's 
toilette,  though  he  knew  in  a  general  way  that 
some  of  her  gowns  were  embroidered  all  over  with 
flies  and  black  beetles,  and  others  with  snails  and 
spiders. 

"  How  hideous  !"  said  Caroline.  "  Could  they 
invent  no  better  patterns  than  those,  with  all  their 
trouble  and  expense?" 

"  Oh,  she  had  other  patterns  too,"  I  answered. 
"  One  of  her  favourite  petticoats  was  worked  in 
rainbows,  clouds,  and  flames ;  and  another  had  a 
border  of  fountains,  trees,  and  waves  of  the  sea." 

"  There  was  no  want  of  variety,  I  assure  you," 


224  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

added  Uncle  Harry.  "  One  of  her  gowns  was 
trimmed  with  go\([galthroppes}or  balls  with  spikes 
fixed  in  them,  to  be  thrown  in  the  way  of  an 
enemy's  cavalry." 

"  She  ought  to  have  reviewed  her  troops  in  that 
dress,"  said  Arthur. 

"  She  had  also  a  stomacher,  which,  perhaps, 
you  will  think  appropriate.  It  was  worked  with 
flowers,  and  a  great  lion  in  the  middle." 

"  Oh,  we  could  manage  that !"  exclaimed  Mary. 
"  Caroline,  will  you  lend  us  that  pattern  you  are 
working  of  a  lion  in  his  den?" 

Caroline  lent  her  great  worsted-work  lion,  and^ 
we  turned  down  the  sides  of  the  canvas,  so  as  to 
make  it  into  the  shape  of  a  stomacher,  and  pinned 
it  on  Lucy,  and  very  fierce  and  fine  it  looked ; 
then  she  put  on  the  brocade  petticoat  she  had  so 
often  worn.  We  could  not,  on  such  short  notice, 
embroider  the  lining  with  eyes  and  ears,  or  any 
other  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  patterns ;  but  it  looked 
very  well  as  it  \vas.  We  decked  her  out  with  all 
the  necklaces  and  bracelets  we  could  muster,  and 
a  crown,  a  long  veil,  a  great  ruff  made  of  silver 
paper  plaited,  and  a  white  feather  screen  for  a 
fan.  I  tried  to  imitate  as  well  as  I  could  a 
portrait  I  had  once  seen  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
This  picture,  however,  represented  her  holding  a 
rainbow  in  her  hand,  and  in  one  corner  was  the 
motto,  "  No  rainbow  without  the  sun  j"  meaning 
to  compare  the  Queen  to  the  sun. 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  225 

Arthur  said  it  was  not  her  fault  if  people 
paid  her  foolish  compliments. 

There  Caroline  begged  to  differ  from  him. 
Nobody,  she  was  sure,  paid  foolish  compliments 
to  anybody  who  did  not  like  and  encourage 
them  :  and  she  quoted  the  old  riddle.  "  What  is 
it  that  makes  everybody  sick  but  those  who 
swallow  it  ?" 

But  we  had  not  time  to  enter  into  a  discussion 
upon  flattery.  Now  that  Queen  Elizabeth  was 
dressed,  her  court  was  to  be  held  without  delay. 
We  enthroned  her  in  due  state,  with  her  maids 
of  honour  round  her,  and  withdrew  the  screen. 
Presently  the  door  opened,  and  Sir  Christopher 
Hatton  entered,  the  very  top  and  pink  of  the 
mode,  to  begin  the  court  Ball. 

"  The  grave  Lord  Keeper  led  the  brawls, 
The  Seals  and  Maces  danc'd  before  him." 

Arthur,  who  acted  Sir  Christopher,  had  never 
been  able  to  learn  really  to  dance  in  his  life ;  his 
performance  being  always  very  much  like  that  of 
a  dancing  bear  :  but  now  he  flourished  away  in  a 
most  wonderful  manner ;  pointing  his  toes,  put- 
ting his  head  on  one  side,  sticking  first  one  arm 
a-kimbo,  and  then  the  other,  and  making  grimaces 
that  he  thought  were  exactly  like  his  sisters' 
French  dancing-master.  But  twenty  French 
dancing-masters  could  not  have  come  up  to  him. 
William  and  Edward,  as  "the  seals  and  maces, 
Q 


226  HISTORICAL    CHARADES. 

danced  before  him"  in  much  the  same  style, 
making  all  sorts  of  queer  bows  and  scrapes  which 
they  meant  for  "  manerly  legs  :"  but  when  at  last 
Sir  Christopher  danced  up  to  the  Queen  more 
affectedly  than  ever,  and  dropping  on  one  knee, 
besought  her  Majesty  to  honour  him  by  leading  a 
brawl  with  him,  we  all  exclaimed  in  the  midst  of 
our  laughter,  that  if  we  had  been  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, we  should  never  have  made  him  Lord 
Chancellor  for  the  sake  of  his  dancing. 

This  was  the  last  charade  we  acted.  We  had 
plenty  more  words  ready :  Plantagenet,  Gascoin, 
Cromwell,  Stewart,  Mary,  Lockheart,  Duncan, 
Nestor,  Cobham,  Nelson,  Jason,  Psyche,  Saxon, 
Caesar,  Warwick,  Achilles,  Runnymede,  &c.  &c., 
but  we  should  not  have  had  time  to  do  justice  to 
them,  and  we  resolved  to  put  them  off  till  our 
next  meeting. 

When  tea  was  finished  we  sat  round  the  fire, 
talking  over  the  past  holidays,  and  after  many  a 
hearty  laugh,  we  gradually  fell  into .  a  graver 
strain.  Mary  said  that  if  she  had  been  told  that 
she  and  her  companions  would  bring  their  lessons 
into  their  play,  as  they  had  done  in  the  charades, 
she  could  not  have  believed  it. 

"  You  have  not  found  your  play  the  less 
amusing  for  it,  have  you  ?"  said  Mrs.  Percy. 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Ellen.  "  Only  one  naturally 
expects  lessons  to  be  learning,  and  play  to  be  quite 
different." 


HISTORICAL    CHARADES.  227 

"  Forgetting,  I  suppose  ?"  said  Uncle  Harry. 

"  Not  exactly ;  but  to  have  nothing  to  do  with 
learning." 

"  That  is  all  very  well/'  observed  Mr.  Percy, 
"  for  a  little  boy  like  Edward ;  but  as  you  become 
older,  you  will  find  most  of  your  amusements 
grow  out  of  the  lessons  you  have  been  made  to 
learn  when  children." 

"  But  then,"  said  Lucy,  "  what  is  the  use  of 
our  lessons,  if  they  are  only  to  be  amusements 
after  all  ?" 

"  That  is  one  use  of  them,"  said  Mrs.  Percy. 
"  We  do  not  take  so  much  trouble  to  teach  you, 
merely  for  the  sake  of  tiring  you,  but  in  order  to 
give  you  the  means  of  taking  pleasure  in  the 
subjects  that  interest  educated  people,  when  you 
grow  older." 

"  You  do  not  look  quite  satisfied,  Lucy,"  said 
her  father.  "  Let  us  hear  what  is  puzzling  your 
little  head." 

"  I  don't  quite  know  how  to  say  what  I  mean," 
she  answered.  "  Some  lessons,  I  know,  are  use- 
ful, such  as  arithmetic  and  needlework ;  but  what 
use  besides  amusement  is  there  in  others  ?  In 
history,  for  instance  ?" 

"  Try  to  find  out  what  history  teaches  us,  and 
then  you  will  be  able  to  answer  your  own  ques- 
tion." 

"  Let  us  collect  opinions  once  more,"  said 
Uncle  Harry.  "  I  like  to  have  all  their  different 


228      HISTORICAL  CHARADES. 

ideas.     Suppose  we   begin  with  the  youngest : 
Edward,  what  do  you  think  is  the  use  of  history?" 

"  I  think,"  answered  Edward,  looking  very 
solemn,  "it  sets  us  good  examples." 

"  And  you,  Mary  ?" 

"  I  think  it  is  very  amusing  to  know  what 
people  used  to  do,  but  I  don't  see  the  use  of  it." 

"  Perhaps,"  said  Ellen,  "  if  we  laugh  at  their 
ways,  it  may  teach  us  that  those  who  come  after 
us  may  laugh  at  ours,  so  we  should  not  be  con- 
ceited." 

"  I  think,"  said  William,  "  though  I  know 
Arthur  and  Henry  wont  agree  with  me,  that 
considering  what  great  things  were  done  by  people 
long  ago,  modern  inventions  have  not  improved 
the  world  so  much  as  might  be  expected." 

"  And  we  see,"  answered  Arthur,  "  that  other 
times  were  no  better  than  ours,  and  that  many 
things  which  were  thought  very  fine  in  their  day 
came  to  no  good." 

Caroline  said,  "  I  think  it  shows  us  the  con- 
sequences of  actions  which  could  not  be  foreseen 
at  the  time." 

"  There  is  one  use  of  history,"  said  Henry, 
"  which  often  strikes  me  when  I  am  alone,  though 
we  do  not  think  about  it  in  our  amusements : 
that  it  makes  us  understand  much  better  the 
persons  mentioned  in  the  Bible." 

"  That  is  very  true,"  replied  Mr.  Percy ;  "  and 
when  you  go  still  deeper  into  history,  you  will 


HISTORICAL   CHAKADES.  229 

find  it  has  another  use  which  you  have  not  yet 
begun  to  think  of.  You  will  see  how  literally 
prophecies  contained  in  the  Bible  have  been 
fulfilled." 

"  If  I  had  known  history  better  in  my  young 
days/'  said  Uncle  Harry,  "  it  would  have  kept  me 
from  some  serious  mistakes.  I  was  once  nearly 
persuaded  to  think  the  invention  of  printing  a 
misfortune,  and  that  the  revival  of  learning  had 
injured  the  cause  of  religion.  I  hope  none  of  you 
will  ever  make  such  a  mistake  as  that." 

"  And,  another  thing,"  added  Mrs.  Percy,  "  I 
hope  you  will  not  forget  to  be  contented  with 
your  own  time.  People  who  have  read  only  one 
side  of  history  are  apt  to  fancy  that  former  times 
were  better  than  our  own ;  but  more  knowledge 
will  convince  us  that  our  wisdom  lies,  not  in 
wishing  to  bring  back  the  peculiarities  of  past 
days,  but  in  being  thankful  for  our  own  advan- 
tages, and  endeavouring  to  c  do  our  duty  in  that 
state  of  life  unto  which  it  has  pleased  God  to 
call  us.' " 


THE    END. 


SiVII.L   AUD   EDWARDS,   PRINTEBS, 
CHA1TDO8  STBEET. 


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BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF  "THE  DOLL  AND  HER  FRIENDS." 

CAT  AND  BOG; 

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on  Fact.    Illustrated  by  HARRISON  WEIR.    Fourth  Edition. 

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GRIFFITH    AND    FARRAN, 


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The  History  of  Joseph. 
History  of  Moses. 


History  of  our  Saviour. 
The  Miracles  of  Christ. 


*  * 


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CLARISSA  DONNELLY; 

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SUCCESSORS   TO   NEWBERY   AND   HARRIS. 
WORKS  BY  MRS.  R.  LEE. 

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ADVKMTRES  IN  AUSTRALIA; 

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AND  THE  WTILDS  :  containing  Accurate  Descriptions  of  the 
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THE  AFRICAN  WANDERERS; 

Or,  THE  ADVENTURES  OF  CARLOS  AND  ANTONIO  ;  embracing 
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Western  Tribes,  and  the  Natural  Productions  of  the 
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Britannia. 

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10  GRIFFITH    AXD    FARRAX, 

KATE  AND  ROSALIND; 

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on  Foreign  Shores,"  &c.  Fcap  8vo,  3s.  6d.  cloth;  4s.  gilt 
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passed since  the  best  days  of  Miss  Edgeworth." — Eraser's  Magazine. 

GOOD  IX  EVERYTHING ; 

Or,  THE  EARLY  HISTOKY  OF  GILBERT  HARLAND.  By  MRS. 

BARWELL,  Author  of  "  Little  Lessons  for  Little  Learners," 

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WORKS  BY  W.  H.  G.  KINGSTON. 

BLUE  JACKETS; 

Or,  CHIPS  OF  THE  OLD  BLOCK.  A  Narrative  of  the  Gallant 
Exploits  of  British  Seamen,  and  of  the  principal  Events  in  the 
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Majesty  QUEEN  VICTORIA.  Post  Svo,  price  7s.  6d.  cloth. 

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MANGO,  THE  PERUVIAN  CHIEF. 

With   Illustrations  by  CARL   SCHMOLZE.      Fcap  Svo,   5s. 

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MARK  SEAWORTH; 

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light."— Art  Journal. 

PETER  THE  WHALER; 

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"  In  short,  a  book  which  the  old  may,  but  which  the  young  must,  read 
when  they  have  once  begun  it." — Athenaeum. 


SUCCESSORS   TO   NEWBERY  AND    HARRIS.  11 


A  WORD  TO  THK  WISH; 

Or,  HINTS  ON  THE  CURRENT  IMPROPRIETY  OF  EXPRESSION 
IN  WRITING  AND  SPEAKING.     By  PARRY  GWYNNE.     Fifth 
Edition.      18mo,  price  6d.  sewed,  or  Is.  cloth. 
"All  who  wish  to  mind  their  p'a  and  (j"s  should  consult  this  little  volume." 
—  Gentleman's  Magazine. 

"May    be    advantageously  consulted   by    even    the    well-educated."  — 
Athenaeum. 


WORKS  BY  MRS.  LOUDON. 

DOMESTIC  PETS; 

Their  Habits  and  Management ;  with  Illustrative  Anecdotes. 

By  MRS.  LOUDON,  Author  of  "  Facts  from  the  World   of 

Nature,"    &c.        With    Engravings    from    Drawings    by 

HARRISON  WEIR.  Second  Thousand.  Fcap  Svo,  2s.  6d.  cloth. 

CONTENTS  : — The  Dog,  Cat,    Squirrel,    Babbit,    Guinea- 

Pig,    White   Mice,    the   Parrot    and   other    Talking- Birds, 

Singing-Birds,  Doves  and  Pigeons,  Gold  and  Silver  Fish. 

"A  most  attractive  and  instructive  little  work.     All  who  study  Mrs. 

London's  pages  will  be  able  to  treat  their  pets  with  certainty  and  wisdom." 

— Standard  of  Freedom. 

FACTS  FROM  THE  WORLD  OF  NATURE, 

ANIMATE  AND  INANIMATE.  Part  1.  THE  EARTH. 
Part  2.  THE  WATERS.  Part  3.  ATMOSPHERIC  PHENOMENA. 
Part  4.  ANIMAL  LIFE.  By  MRS.  LOUDON.  With  nume- 
rous Illustrations  on  Wood,  and  Steel  Frontispiece.  Third 
Thousand.  Fcap  Svo,  5s.  cloth,  gilt  edges. 

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features  and  striking  facts." — Literary  Gazette. 

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poetic  truth." — Illustrated  News. 

"  A  volume  as  charming  as  it  is  useful.  The  illustrations  are  numerous 
and  well  executed." — Church  and  State  Gazette. 

TALKS  OF  SCHOOL  LIFE. 

By  AGNES  LOUDON,  Author  of  "Tales  for  Young  People." 
With  Illustrations  by  JOHN  ABSOLON.  Second  Edition. 
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TALES  FROM  CATLAND. 

Dedicated  to  the  Young  Kittens  of  England.  By  an  OLD 
TABBY.  Illustrated  by  H.  WEIR.  Third  Edition.  Small 
4to,  2s.  6d.  plain  :  3s.  6d.  coloured. 

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12  GRIFFITH    AND    FARRAN, 


THE  WONDERS  OF  HOME,  IN  ELEVEN  STORIES. 

By  GRANDFATHER  GREY.  With    Illustrations.      Second 
Edition.     Royal  16 mo,  3s.  6d,  cloth;  4s.  6d.  coloured. 

CONTEXTS  :  The  Story  of 

1.  A  Cup  OP  TEA.  2.  A  PIECE  OF  SUGAR. 

3.  A  MILK-JUG.  4.  A  LUMP  OF  COAL. 

5.  SOME  HOT  WATER.  6.  A  PIN. 

7.  JENNY'S  SASH.  8.  HARRY'S  JACKET. 

9.  A  TOMBLEK.  10.  A  KNWE. 
11.  THIS  BOOK. 

"  The  idea  is  excellent,  and  its  eieeution  equally  commendable.  The 
subjects  are  well  selected,  and  are  very  happily  told  in  a  light  yet  sensible 
manner." — Weekly  News. 


EVERY-DAY  THINGS; 

Or,    USEFUL    KNOWLEDGE    RESPECTING    THE    PRINCIPAL 
ANIMAL,     VEGETABLE,     AND    MINERAL    SUBSTANCES    IN 
COMMON  USE.     Written  for  Young  Persons,  by  a  LADY. 
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1.  BRITISH  ANIMALS.     First  Series. 

2.  BRITISH  ANIMALS.     Second  Series. 

3.  BRITISH  BIRDS. 

4.  FOREIGN  ANIMALS.     First  Series. 

5.  FOREIGN  ANIMALS.     Second  Series. 

6.  FOREIGN  BIRDS. 

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Six  Illustrations  by  WATTS  PHILLIPS. 

THE  PEACOCK  AT  HOME  AND   THE  BUTTERFLY'S 
BALL.     With  Four  Illustrations  by  HARRISON  WEIR. 

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BELLENGER'S  FRENCH  WORD  AND  PHRASE-BOOK; 

Containing  a  select  Vocabulary  and  Dialogues,  for  the  Use 
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SUCCESSORS    TO    NEWBERY    AND    HARRIS.  13 

THi:  FAVOURITE  LIBRARY. 

A  Series  of  Works  for  the  Young ;  each  Volume  with  an 
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2.  MRS.    LEICESTER'S    SCHOOL.     By  CHARLES   and 

MARY  LAMB. 

3.  HISTORY  OF  THE  ROBINS.     By  MRS.  TRIMMER. 

4.  MEMOIRS  OF  BOB  THE  SPOTTED  TERRIER. 

5.  KEEPER'S    TRAVELS    IX     SEARCH    OF     HIS 

MASTER. 

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7.  NEVER    WRONG  ;    or,    THE    YOUNG    DISPU- 

TANT:  and  "IT  WAS  ONLY  IN  FUN." 

S.  THE    LIFE    AND    PERAMBULATIONS    OF     A 
MOUSE. 

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OF  NATURE.     By  MRS.  TRIMMER. 

10.  RIGHT  AND  WRONG.     By  the  Author  of  "  Always 

Happy." 

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3.  ANIMAL  HISTORIES.     THE  ROBINS  and  MOUSE. 

4.  TALES  FOR  BOYS.     HARRY'S  HOLIDAY  and  NEVER 

WRONG. 

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and  RIGHT  AND  WRONG. 

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STORIES  OF  JULIAN  AND  HIS  PLAYFELLOWS. 

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lent moral." — Morning  Advertiser. 


14  GRIFFITH    AND    FARRAN, 

MIDDLKTON'S  LETTER  FROM  ROME 

Showing  an  exact  Conformity  between  Popery  and  Pa- 
ganism ;  or,  the  Religion  of  the  present  Romans  to  be  de- 
rived entirely  from  that  of  their  Heathen  Ancestors.  12mo, 
price  Is.  sewed. 

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have  assumed  a  more  dangerous  form,  than  was  the  case  when  the  letter  was 
first  published." — Church  of  England  Quarterly  Review. 


HINTS  TO  A  CLERGYMAN'S  WIFE ; 

Or,  FEMALE  PAROCHIAL  DUTIES  PRACTICALLY  ILLUSTRATED. 

Dedicated  to  the  Rev.  C.  BRIDGES.     Third  Edition.     Fcap 

8vo,  3s.  cloth. 

CONTENTS:  Parti.  Hints  relative  to  Personal  Character.  Part  2.  Hints 
relative  to  active  exertion  among  the  Poor — Cottage  Visits — The  Sick — 
Schools — Religious  Instruction  of  the  Young — Cottage  Reading — Parochial 
Library — Suggestions  for  the  Employment  of  the  Poor,  &c. 

"  This  very  useful  book  is  evidently  the  work  of  an  author  practically  con- 
versant with  her  subject  in  all  its  bearings  and  details.  We  cordially  recom- 
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ILLUSTRATED  BY  GEORGE  CRUIKSHANK. 

KIT  BAM,  THE  BRITISH  SiKBAD  ; 

Or,  THE  YARNS  OF  AN  OLD  MARINER.     By  MARY  COW- 
DEN  CLARKE,  Author  of  "The  Concordance  to  Shakspeare," 
&c.     Fcap  Svo,  price  3s.  6d.  cloth ;  4s.  gilt  edges. 
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THE  HISTORY  OF  A  FAMILY ; 

Or,  RELIGION  OUR  BEST  SUPPORT.      With  an  Illustration 
on  Steel  by  JOHN  ABSOLON.     Fcap  Svo,  2s.  6d.  cloth. 
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will  find  its  way  into  many  English  homes." — Englishwoman's  Magazine. 

RHYMES  OF  ROYALTY. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND  in  Verse,  from  the  Norman 
Conquest  to  the  reign  of  her  present  Majesty,  QUEEN  VIC- 
TORIA ;  with  an  Appendix,  comprising  a  Summary  of  the 
leading  events  in  each  reign.  By  S.  BLEWETT.  Designed 
chiefly  to  assist  Young  Persons  in  the  Study  of  History. 
Fcap  Svo,  with  an  elegant  Frontispiece  engraved  on  Steel, 
2s.  6d.  cloth. 


SUCCESSORS    TO    KEWBERY   AND    HARRIS.  15 


NEW  AND  CHEAPER   EDITION. 

THE  LADY'S  ALBUM  OF  FANCY  WOHK', 

Consisting  of  Novel,  Elegant,  and  Useful  Patterns  in  Knitting, 
Netting,  Crochet,  and  Embroidery,  printed  in  colours.  Bound 
in  a  beautiful  cover.  New  Edit.  Post  4to,  3s.  6d.,  gilt  edges. 

HANS  CHRISTIAN  ANDERSEN. 

THE  DREAM  OF  LITTLE  TUK, 

AND  OTHER  TALES,  by  H.  C.  ANDERSEN.     Translated  and 
dedicated  to  the  Author  by  CHARLES  BONER.     Illustrated 
by  COUNT  Pocci.     Fcap  Svo,  2s.  plain ;  3s.  coloured. 
"  Full  of  charming  passages  of  prose,  poetry,  and  such  tiny  dramatic 
scenes  as  will  make  the  pulses  of  young  readers  throb  with  delight." — Atlas. 

VISITS  TO  BEECHWOOD  FARM; 

Or,  COUNTRY  PLEASURES  AND  HINTS  FOR  HAPPINESS,  AD- 
DRESSED TO  THE  YOUNG.     By  CATHARINE  M.  A.  COUPER. 
Illustrations  by  ABSOLON.  Small  4to,  3s.  6d.  plain;  4s.  6d.  col. 
"  The  work  is  well  calculated  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  the  young  the 

superiority  of  simple  and  natural  pleasures  over  those  which  are  artificial." 

— Englishwoman's  Magazine. 

MARIN  DE   LA  VOYE'S  ELEMENTARY  FRENCH  WORKS. 

LES  JEUNKS  NARRATEUHS; 

Ou,  PETITS  CONTES  MORAUX.     "\VithaKeytothedifficult 
Words  and  Phrases.     Frontispiece.     ISmo,  2s.  cloth. 
"  Written  in  pure  and  easy  French." — Monting  Post. 

THE  PICTORIAL  FRENCH  GRAMMAR, 

FOR  THE  USE  OF  CHILDREN.      With  Eighty   Engravings. 

Royal  16mo,  2s.  in  illuminated  cloth. 

"The  publication  has  creater  than  mechanical  merit;  it  contains  the 
principal  elements  of  the  French  language,  exhibited  in  a  plain  and  expres- 
sive manner." — Spectator. 

THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  GEOGRAPHY. 

Specially  adapted  as  a  Text  Book  for  Beginners,  and  as  a 
Guide  to  the  Young  Teacher.     By  HUGO  REID,  Author  of 
"  Elements  of  Astronomy, "  &c.     Second  Edition,  carefully 
revised.     ISmo,  Is.  sewed. 
"  One  of  the  most  sensible  little  books  on  the  subject  of  Geography  we 

have  met  with."— Educational  Times.     "  As  a  lesson-book  it  will  charm  the 

pupil  by  its  brief,  natural  style." — Episcopalian. 


INSECT  CHANGES.  _ 

With  richly  Illuminated  Borders,  composed  of  Flowers  and 
Insects,    in    the    highly- wrought   style    of    the    celebrated 
"  Hours  of  Anne  of  Brittany,"  and  forming  a  First  Lesson 
in  Entomology.      Small  4to,  5s.  in  elegant  binding. 
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hood.   Kothing  can  be  more  perfect  in  illumination  than,  the  embellishments 
of  this  charming  little  volume."- — Art  Union. 


1C  GRIFFITH    AND    FARRAN, 

THE  MODERN  BRITISH  PLUTARCH; 

Or,  LIVES  OF  MEN  DISTINGUISHED  IN  THE  RECENT  HIS- 
TORY OP  OUR  COUNTRY  FOR  THEIR  TALENTS,  VIRTUES, 
AND  ACHIEVEMENTS.  By  W.  C.  TAYLOR,  LL.D.,  Author 
of  "A  Manual  of  Ancient  and  Modern  History,"  &c. 
1 2mo.  Second  Thousand,  with  a  new  Frontispiece.  4s.  Cd. 
cloth ;  5s.  gilt  edges. 

CONTEXTS:  Arkwright— Burke— Burns— Byron — Canning— Earl  of  Chat- 
ham— AdamClarke— Olive— Captain  Cook— Cowper— Crabbe — Davy— Eldon 
— Erskine— Fox — Franklin — Goldsmith — Earl  Grey — Warren  Hastings— 
Heber — Howard— Jenner — Sir  W.  Jones — Mackintosh— H.  Martyn— Sir  J. 
Moore— Kelson— Pitt— Romilly— Sir  W.  Scott— Sheridan— Smeaton— Watt 
—  Marquis  of  Wellesley — Wilberforce — Wilkie— Wellington. 

"  A  work  which  will  be  welcomed  in  any  circle  of  intelligent  young  per- 
sons."— Uritish  Quarterly  Review. 


HOME  AMUSEMENTS : 

A  Choice  Collection  of  Riddles,  Charades,  Conundrums, 
Parlour  Games,  and  Forfeits.  By  PETER  PCZZLEWELL, 
Esq.,  of  Rebus  Hall.  New  Edition,  with  Frontispiece  by 
H.  K.  BROWNE  (Phiz).  16mo,  2s.  6d.  cloth. 


EARLY  DAYS  OF  ENGLISH  PRINCES. 

By  MRS.  RUSSELL  GREY.    Dedicated,  by  permission,  to  the 
Duchess  of  Roxburghe.  With  Illustrations  by  JOHN  FRANK- 
LIN.    Small  4to,  3s.  6d.  tinted  Plates  ;    4s.  tid.  col.  cloth. 
"  Just  the  book  for  giving  children  some  first  notions  of  English  history, 

as  the  personages  it  speaks  about  are  themselves  young." — 2£auche*ter 

Ji.i'a  miner.  ____— 

FIRST  STEPS  TO  SCOTTISH  HISTORY. 

By  Miss  RODWELL,  Author  of  "First  Steps  to  English 
History."  With  Ten  Illustrations  by  WEI  GALL.  IGmo, 
3s.  6d.  cloth ;  4s.  6d.  coloured. 

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— Q-latgow  Constitutional. 

"  The  work  is  throughout  agreeably  and  lucidly  written." — Midland 
Counties  Herald.  _ ______ 

LONDON"  CRIES  AND  PUBLIC  EDIFICES, 

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.    "  The  moral  is  in  the  good,  broad,  unmistakeable  style  of  the  best  fairy 

period." — AtheiKpum. 
"The  story  is  written  with  excellent  taste  and  sly  humour." — Allan. 


SUCCESSORS   TO    XEWBERY    AND    HARRIS.  17 

MRS.  TRIMMER'S  HISTORY  OE  ENGLAND. 

Revised  and  brought  down  to  the  present  time  by  MRS. 

MlLNER.     With  Portraits  of  the  Sovereigns  in  their  proper 

costume,  and  Frontispiece  by  HARVEY.     New  Edition  in 

One  Volume.     5s.  cloth. 

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tables,  and  for  its  pervading  tone  of  Christian  piety." — Clturcli  and  State 
Gazette. 

THE  CELESTIAL  EMPIRE ; 

Or,  POINTS  AND  PICKINGS  OF  INFORMATION  ABOUT  CHINA 
AND  THE  CHINESE.  By  the  Author  of  "Paul  Preston," 
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Drawings  by  W.  H.  PRIOR.  Fcap  Svo,  3s.  6d.  cloth  ;  4s. 
gilt  edges. 

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information,  good  feeling,  and  good  temper."— Allen's  Indian  Hail. 

"  Even  well-known  topics  are  treated  with  a  graceful  air  of  novelty." — 
Atheiuettm. 


TALES  FROM  THE  COURT  OE  OBERON : 

Containing  the  favourite  Histories  of  Ton  THUMB,  GRACIOSA 
AND  PERCINKT,  VALENTINE  AND  ORSON,  and  CHILDREN  IN 
THE  WOOD.  With  Sixteen  Illustrations  by  ALFRED  CROW- 
QUILL.  Small  4to,  2s.  6d.  plain ;  4s.  6d.  coloured. 

GLIMPSES  OE  NATURE, 

AND  OBJECTS  OF  INTEREST  DESCRIBED,  DURING  A  VISIT  TO 
THE  ISLE  OF  WEIGHT.  Designed  to  assist  and  encourage 
Young  Persons  in  forming  habits  of  Observation.  By  MRS. 
LOUDON.  Second  Edition,  enlarged.  With  Forty-one  Illus- 
trations. 3s.  6d.  cloth. 

"  We  could  not  recommend  a  more  valuable  little  volume.    It  is  full  of 
information,  conveyed  in  the  most  agreeable  manner." — Literi'ry  Gazette. 

"  A  more  fitting  present,  or  one  more  adapted  to  stimulate  the  faculties  of 
'little  people,'  could  not  be  published." — Bath  and  Cheltenham  Gazette. 


Oi-iyinaUy  published  under  the  Superintendence  of  the  Society  for 
the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge. 

ARITHMETIC  EOR  YOUNG  CHILDREN, 

in  a  Series  of  Exercises,  exhibiting  the  manner  in  which  it 
should  be  taught.    ByH.  GRANT,  Author  of  "Drawing  for 
Young  Children,"  &c.     New  Edition.     Is.  6d.  cloth. 
"  This  work  will  be  found  effectual  for  its  purpose,  and  interesting  to 
children." — Educational  Times. 

"  The  plan  is  admirably  conceived,  and  -we  have  tested  its  efficacy." — 
Church  of  England  Quarterly. 


18  GRIFFITH    AND    FARRAN, 

THE  YOUNG  JEWESS  AND  HER  CHRISTIAN'  SCHOOL- 
FELLOWS.    By  the  Author  of."Rhoda,"  &c.    With  a 
Frontispiece  by  J.  GILBERT.     16mo,  Is.  Cd.  cloth. 
"  The  story  is  beautifully  conceived  and  beautifully  told,  and  is  peculiarly 

adapted  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  young  persons  the  powerful  efficacy 

of  example." — Englishwoman's  Magazine. 

RHODA ; 

Or,  THE  EXCELLENCE  OF  CHARITY.     Third  Edition.     With 
Illustrations.     16mo,  2s.  cloth. 

"Not  only  adapted  for  children,  but  many  parents  might  derive  great 
advantage  from  studying  its  simple  truths." — Church  and  State  Gazette. 

"  Written  in  plain  and  unafi'eeted,  but  elegant  language.  The  design  of 
tlie  author  is  worked  out  by  means  of  an  interesting  story." — Morning 
Chronicle. 


WORKS  BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF  MAMMA'S  BIBLE  STORIES. 

m'NY  AND  HKI!  MAMMA; 

Or,  EAST  LESSONS  FOB  CHILDREN.    In  which  it  is  attempted 

to  bring   Scriptural    Principles  into  daily  practice  ;    with 

Hints  on  Nursery  Discipline.     Illustrated  by  J.  GILBERT. 

Second  Edit.    16mo,  2s.  6d.  cloth  :  3s.  6d.  col.,  gilt  edges. 

"A  little  book  in  beautiful  largo  clear  type,  to  suit  the  capacity  of  infant 

readers,  which  we  can  with  pleasure  recommend." — Christian  Lady's  Mag. 

SHOUT  AND  SIMPLE  PRAYERS 

FOR  THE  USE  OF  YOUNG  CHILDREN,  WITH  HYMNS.    Third 

Edition.     Square  16mo,  Is.  6d.  cloth. 

"  Well  adapted  to  the  capacities  of  children, — beginning  with  the  simplest 
forms  which  the  youngest  child  may  lisp  at  its  mother's  knee,  and  proceeding 
with  those  suited  to  its  gradually  advancing  age.  Special  prayers,  designed 
for  particular  circumstances  and  occasions,  are  added.  We  cordially  recom- 
mend the  book." — Chriitian  Guardian. 

MAMMA'S  BIBLE  STORIES 

FOR  HER  LITTLE  BOYS  AND  GIRLS,  adapted  to  the  capacities 
of  very  young  children.  Ninth  Edition,  with  Twelve  En- 
gravings. 2s.  6d.  cloth  ;  3s.  6d.  coloured,  gilt  edges. 

A  SEQUEL  TO  MAMMA'S  BIBLE  STORIES. 

Third  Edition.     With  Twelve  Illustrations.     3s.  6d.  cloth. 

BIBLE  SCENES; 

Or,  SUNDAY  EMPLOYMENT  FOR  VERY  YOUNG  CHILDREN. 
Consisting  of  Twelve  Coloured  Illustrations  on  Cards,  and 
the  History  written  in  Simple  Language.  In  a  neat  Box, 
3s.  6d. ;  or  dissected  as  a  Puzzle,  6s.  6d. 

FIRST  SERIES  :  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPH. 

SECOND  SERIES  :  HISTORY  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR. 

THIRD  SERIES  :  HISTORY  OF  MOSES. 

FOURTH  SERIES  :  THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST. 

"It  is  hoped  that  these  '  Scenes*  may  form  a  useful  and  interesting  addi- 
tion to  the  Sabbath  occupations  of  the  Nursery.  From  their  very  earliest 
infancy  little  children  will  listen  with  interest  and  delight  to  stories  brought 
thus  palpably  before  their  eyes  by  meaus  of  illustration." — Preface. 


SUCCESSORS   TO    NEWBEKY   AND    HARRIS.  19 

TRCF;  STORIES  FROM  ANCIENT  HISTORY. 

Chronologically  arranged  from  the  Creation  of  the  "World  to 
the  Death  of  Charlemagne.  Eleventh  Edition.  With  24 
Steel  Engravings.  12mo,  os.  cloth. 

TRUE  STORIES  FROM  MODERN  HISTORY, 

Chronologically  arranged  from  the  Death  of  Charlemagne 
to  the  Present  Time.  Eighth  Edition.  With  24  Steel 
Engravings.  12mo,  5s.  cloth. 

TRUE  STORIES  FROM  ENGLISH  HISTORY, 

Chronologically  arranged  from  the  Invasion  of  the  Romans 
to  the  Present  Time.  Sixth  Edition.  With  36  Steel 
Engravings.  12mo,  5s.  cloth. 

STORIES  FROM  THE  OLD  AND  NEW  TESTAMENTS.. 

on  an  improved  plan.  By  the  Rev.  BOURNE  HALL  DRAPEE. 
With  48  Engravings.  Fifth  Edition.  12mo,  5s.  cloth. 

THE  WARS  OF  THE  JEWS, 

as  related  by  JOSEPHUS  ;  adapted  to  the  capacities  of  Young 
Persons.  With  24  Engravings.  Sixth  Edit.  4s.  6d.  cloth. 

THE  PRINCE  OF  WALES'S  PRIMER. 

With  300  Illustrations  by  J.  GILBERT.  Dedicated  to  Her 
Majesty.  New  Edition,  price  6d.  :  with  title  and  cover 
printed  in  gold  and  colours,  Is. 

EMILY'S  REWARD ; 

Or,1  THE  HOLIDAY  TRIP  TO  PARIS.  By  MRS.  HOFLAXD  (her 
lust  work'),  Author  of  "  Daughter  of  a  Genius,"  "  Ellen  the 
Teacher,"  &c.  ISmo,  2s.  6d.  cloth. 

BEGINNINGS  OF  BRITISH  BIOGRAPHY; 

being  the  Lives  of  One  Hundred  Persons  eminent  in  English 
History.  By  the  Rev.  ISAAC  TAYLOR.  48  Engravings. 
12mo,  5s.  cloth. 


MORAL  TALKS. 

By  Miss  EDGEWORTH.    New  Edit.  Fcap  Svo,  3s.  6d.  cloth. 


HOW  TO  BE  HAPPY; 

Or,  FAIRY  GIFTS  :  to  which  is  added,  A  SELECTION  OF 
MORAL  ALLEGORIES,  from  the  best  English  Writers. 
Second  Edition.  With  8  Engravings.  12mo,  3s.  6d.  cloth. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  SANDFORD  AND  MERTON. 

By  THOMAS  DAY,  Esq.     A  New  Edition,  revised,  with  Cuts 
from  Designs  by  HARVEY.     3s.  6d.  cloth. 


20  GRIFFITH    AND    FARRAN, 


<a<iulttcv's 
1.  FAMILIAR  GEOGRAPHY, 

With  a  concise  Treatise  on  the  Artificial  Sphere,  and  two 
coloured  Maps,  illustrative  of  the  principal  Geographical 
Terms.  Fourteenth  Edition.  16mo,  3s.  cloth. 

IT.  GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  HISTORICAL  QUESTIONS, 

Referring  by  characteristic  and  distinguishing  marks  to  the 
most  remarkable  places  in  the  World  ;  with  3  small  coloured 
Charts  of  the  comparative  heights  of  Mountains  and  lengths 
of  Rivers.  16mo,  3s.  cloth. 

TIL  AN  ATLAS, 

Adapted  to  the  Abbe"  Gaultier's  Geographical  Games,  con- 
sisting of  8  Maps,  coloured,  and  7  in  Outline,  &c.     Folio, 
15s.  half-bound. 
*,*  For  the  purpose  of  playing  the  Games,  a  set  of  counters,  on  which 

the  names  of  Kingdoms,  Seas,  Elvers,  &c.,  are  printed,  may  be  had,  price 

Cs.  in  a  box. 


BUTLER'S  OUTLINE  MAPS,  AN])  KEY;  . 

Or,  Geographical  and  Biographical  Exercises ;  with  a  Set 
of  Coloured  Outline  Maps ;  designed  for  the  Use  of  Young 
Persons.  By  the  late  WILLIAM  BUTLER.  Enlarged  by  the 
Author's  Son,  J.  O.  BUTLER.  Thirtieth  Edition,  revised.  4s. 

BATTLE-HELD!?. 

A  graphic  Guide  to  the  Places  described  m  the  History  of 
England  as  the  scenes  of  such  Events  ;  with  the  situation  of 
the  principal  Naval  Engagements  fought  on  the  Coast  of  the 
British  Empire.  By  Mr.  WAUTHIEB,  Geographer.  On  a 
large  sheet,  3s.  6d. ;  in  case,  Cs. ;  or  mounted  on  oak,  var- 
nished, 10s.  6d. 


THE  CHILD'S  GRAMMAR. 

By  the  late  Lady  FENN,  under  the  assumed  name  of  Mrs. 
Lovechild.     Forty-seventh  Edition.     18mo,  9d.  cloth. 

THE  MOTHER'S  GRAMMAR: 

A   Sequel   to   "The  Child's  Grammar."       Twenty-second 

Edition.     18mo,  Is.  cloth. 

The  first  of  these  little  treatises  is  intended  to  be  the  young  pupil's 
manual,  and  the  greater  part  of  it  is  to  be  committed  to  memory;  the  second 
is  designed  to  remain  some  time  in  the  possession  of  the  teacher  for  her  own 
occasional  use. 


EVENINGS  AT  HOME ; 

Or,  the  Juvenile  Budget  opened.  Sixteenth  Edition,  revised 
and  newlyarranged  by  ARTHUR  ATKIN,  Esq.,  and  Miss  AIKIN. 
With  Engravings  by  HARVEY.  Fcap  8vo,  3s.  6d.  cloth. 


SUCCESSORS    TO    NEWBERY    AND    HARRIS.  21 


ANDERSEN'S  (H.  C.)  NIGHTINGALE  AND  OTHKR  TALKS. 

2s.  6d.  plain  ;  3s.  6d.  coloured. 

ANECDOT.KS  OF  KINGS, 

selected  from  History  ;  or,  Gertrude's  Stories  for  Children. 
With  Engravings.  2s.  6d.  plain ;  3s.  6d.  coloured. 

BIBLE  ILLUSTRATIONS: 

Or,  a  Description  of  Manners  and  Customs  peculiar  to 
the  East,  and  especially  explanatory  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
By  the  Kev.  B.  H.  DRAPER.  With  Engravings.  Fourth 
Edition.  Bevised  by  J.  KITTO,  Editor  of  "The  Pictorial 
Bible,"  &c.  3s.  6d.  cloth. 

"  This  volume  will  be  found  unusually  rich  in  the  species  of  information  so 
much  needed  by  young  readers  of  the  Scriptures." — Christian  Mother'*  JJ/iy . 


THE  BRITISH  HISTORY  BRIEFLY  TOLD, 

and  a  Description  of  the  Ancient  Customs,  Sports,  and 
Pastimes  of  the  English.  Embellished  with  full-length 
Portraits  of  the  Sovereigns  of  England  in  their  proper 
Costumes,  and  IS  other  Engravings.  3s.  6d.  cloth. 


CHIT-CHAT; 

Or,  Short  Tales  in  Short  Words.  By  a  MOTHER,  Author 
of  "Always  Happy."  New  Edition,  enlarged.  With  lb' 
Engravings.  3s.  tid.  cloth. 


CONVERSATIONS  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  JESUS  CHRIST, 

For  the  use  of  Children.     By  a  MOTHER.     A  New  Edition. 
With  12  Engravings.     2s.  6d.  plain ;  3s.  6d.  coloured. 


COSMOBAMA. 

The  Manners,  Customs,  and  Costumes  of  all  Nations  of  the 
World  described.  By  J.  ASPIN.  New  Edition,  with  nume- 
rous Illustrations.  3s.  6d.  plain ;  arid  4s.  6d.  coloured. 


EASY  LHSSONS; 

Or,   Leading-Strings    to   Knowledge.     New  Edition,  with 
8  Engravings.     2s.  6d.  plain  ;  3s.  (5d.  coloured. 


FACTS  TO  CORRECT  FANCIES; 

Or,  Short  Narratives  compiled  from  the  Biography  of 
Eemarkable  Women.  By  a  MOTHEK.  With  Engravings. 
3s.  (id.  plain;  4s.  (Jd.  coloured. 


22  GRIFFITH    AND    F  ARK  AN, 

INFANTIN  K  KNOWLEDGE  • 

A  Spelling  and  Reading  Book,  on  a  Popular  Plan,  combining 
much  Useful  Information  with  the  Rudiments  of  Learning. 
By  the  Author  of  "The  Child's  Grammar."  With  nume- 
rous Engravings.  Eighth  Edit.  2s.  6d.  plain ;  3s.  6d.  col. 

KEY  TO  KNOWLEDGE ; 

Or,  Things  in  Common  Use  simply  and  shortly  explained. 
By  a  MOTHER,  Author  of  "Always  Happy,"  £c.  Twelfth 
Edition.  With  numerous  Illustrations.  3s.  6d.  cloth. 


THE  LADDKR  OF  LEABNJNG: 

A  Collection  of  Fables,  Original  and  Select,  arranged  pro- 
gressively in  words  of  One,  Two,  and  Three  Syllables.  Edited 
and  improved  by  the  late  MRS.  TRIMMER.  With  79  Cuts. 
Nineteenth  Edition.  3s.  6d.  cloth. 


L1TTLK  LESSONS  FOR  LITTLK  LKARNKRS, 

In  AVords  of  One  Syllable.  By  MRS.  BARWKLL.  Eighth 
Edit.,  with  numerous  Illustrations.  2s.  6d.  plain;  3s.  6d.  col. 

MARMADUKE  MULTIPLES  MK1WY  MKTHOD  OF  MAKING 

MINC-R  MATHEMATICIANS  ;  or,  the  Multiplication 
Table  in  Rhyme.  With  C9  Engravings.  4s.  6'd.  coloured. 

THE  GARDEN; 

Or,  Frederick's  Monthly  Instructions  for  the  Management 
and  Formation  of  a  Flower-Garden.  Fourth  Edition. 
With  Engravings  of  the  Flowers  in  Bloom  for  each  Month 
in  the  Year,  &c.  3s.  Gd.  plain  ;  or  Us.  with  the  Flowers  col. 

THE  MINK; 

or,  Subterranean  Wonders.  An  Account  of  the  Operations 
of  the  Miner,  and  the  Products  of  his  Labours ;  with  a  De- 
scription of  the  most  important  in  all  parts  of  the  World. 
By  the  late  Rev.  ISAAC  TAYLOR.  Sixth  Edition,  with 
numerous  corrections  and  additions,  by  MRS.  LOUDON. 
With  45  new  Wood-cuts  and  16  Steel  Engravings.  3s.  6d.  cl. 


THE  OCKAN; 

a  Description  of  Wonders  and  important  Products  of  the 
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