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THE
HISTORICAL
REASON WHY
ENGLISH HISTORY.
DESIGNED
TO SIMPLIFY THE STUDY OF ENGLISH HISTORY, AND TO AROUSE
IN THE STUDENT A DISPOSITION TO TRACE THE CAUSES
AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF HISTORICAL EVENTS.
BY THE ATJTHOB OP
'THE REASON WHY-GENERAL SCIENCE;" "THE HOUSEWIFE'S
REASON VHY," &c., &c.
LONDON :
HOULSTON & WRIGHT, 65, PA
IOKDOST:
PRINTED BY GBAHAM & CO., 2A, NEW-STBEET SQTTABA
MACHINED BY THOMAS HAKKI1D, SALISBUBY-SQTJAEE, JLEEI-STBEET.
PREFACE.
THEEE are some, of a pedantic school, who will probably
smile when they read, in an opening page of this work,
the question, « Why did Julim Cvsar invade Great
Britain?" and yet grave historians-who were learned
men, and not pedants - thought fit to discuss the
problem, and to offer elaborate and careful essays thereon.
We take credit for this : that in our answer to the above
question, we give, in a few concise sentences, the sub-
stance of all that has been conjectured and written upon
the subject. We have before us a popular History, in
the catechetical form, and in this the single question
relating to Julius Caesar runs thus: « Who was the first
Boman general wJio invaded this island?" and the answer
is : " Julius CaBsar, who made two expeditions into it ;
but who met with so brave a resistance, that ' he was
obliged to return." Waiving any criticism upon the
sufficiency of the answer, we cannot refrain from showing
that the form of instruction in the work to which we
have referred, comprehends only the communication of
TACTS; while, upon the system adopted in these pages,
the PACTS are preserved, and SEASONS added to them.
iv PREFACE.
This explanation applies to every question and answer
contained in THE HISTORICAL KEASON WHY, excepting
such as involve the mere statement of facts; but which
are, nevertheless, intended to connect, explain, and enforce
the reasons which have already been given, or are intended
immediately to follow.
It is by no means pretended that THE HISTOEICAL
EEASON WHY forms a complete epitome of the History
of England. But it is presumed to be a work which
contains more of the essence of the History than any
hitherto published; it is a letter epitome than any other
of similar pretensions; because it dives beneath the mere
surface of matters of fact, and cuts into the lode which
constitutes the real wealth of information.
The Author is aware that in undertaking to find
SEASONS for many historical events, he has ventured upon
ground which calls into question the wisdom, integrity,
and motives of men of high mark. But it will be
observed that whatever is sacred to the consciences and
ouls of men has been left undisturbed ; and only those
matters which have a broad and open relation to the
political and civil History of the country have been
touched.
For all the reasons given, the most impartial historians
have been consulted and relied upon. The reader of THE
HISTORICAL EEASON WHY should not expect to find a
complete answer immediately following each particular
question. The facts and reasons are mutually relative,
and will generally be found to GROUP themselves around
PREFACE.
a principal question as a centre. Some of the answers
include more reasons or facts than could be expressed in
the terse form of a single interrogation. In such cases,
the question in the Text and the question in the Index
have been made to differ, in order to call attention to
more than one fact or reason, where such may be found.
The Index has been designed to serve the reader as an
interrogator; a profitable system of acquiring information
will be to consult the Index for a question, and, after
exercising the mind thereon, turn to the text to see how
far the mental and the printed solution agree. To facili-
tate this method of self-instruction, the Index has been,
after the manner of the Text, arranged into Periods, so
that the reader may take a definite era of British History,
and exercise himself thereon before proceeding to the.
occurrences of another period.
The paragraphs in small type will be found to supply-
many interesting details, and to give connection and
solidity as a whole, to that which, in the catechetical
form, has a tendency to become fragmentary and uncon-
nected. And the Notes which follow the close of each
historical period will impart a good idea of the material
and intellectual progress of the kingdom.
It has been truly said that History may be regarded
as that species of philosophy which teaches by example;
and it is equally true that, while it adds to our own
stock of experience an immense accumulation of the
experience of others, it furnishes innumerable tests, by
which we may verify all the precepts of morality and
PREFACE.
prudence. History is, indeed, the repository of all those
facts and motives which best illustrate the general nature
of men. It opens to us the springs of human affairs ;
it marks the rise, progress, and decay of empires ; it
developes the reciprocal influence of government and
national peculiarities; it explains the artificial manners of
social life; and, in all the vivid colouring of nature, it
pourtrays, with a firm and steady hand, the strong and
distinguishing traits of individual and of national character.
If these remarks be just, with respect to History at
large, how much more forcibly must they apply to the
immediate History of our own country ? And how much
more interesting must this History be, when we are shown
the intent and bearing of aims and deeds, as far as is
possible, separated from redundant matter, and estimated
by an impartial investigation?
INDEX.
V The Figures refer to the Numbers of the Questions.
PEOM THE HOMAN INVASION" TO THE
AEEIVAL OP THE SAXONS.
Agricola, what was his policy ... 54
Agricola, why did he build forts
from the Solway to the Tyne ... 55
Agricola, why recalled from Britain Cl
Agricola, who succeeded him ... 62
Britain, when first discovered to be
an island .-. ... 60
Britons, why did they break the
terms of peace with Caesar ... 13
Britons, why did they rebel after
the recall of Plautius 34
Britons, what vyas their religion ... 40
Britons, why did the southern re-
volt against Suetonius 45
Csesar, Julius, why did he invade
Britain 2
Caesar, why did he retire from
Britain 15
Caesar, when did he set out for his
second expedition 16
Caesar, to what extent did he sub-
due the Britons 25
Caledonians, who were they ... 55
Caractacus, why made a leader of
the Welsh Britons 36
Carausis, how did he become Em-
peror of Britain 73
Cartismandua, why did she betray
Caractacua 38
Cassibelanus, why chosen to lead
the Britons against the Romans 21
Cassibelauus, why deserted by Brit-
ish tribes 23
Comius, why sent as ambassador to
the Britons 6
Comius, why imprisoned by the
Britons 7
Constantino, why was he surnamed
"the Great" 75
Cunobeliuus, whom did he succeed 28
Druidical orders .. 42
Druids, why is it difficult to arrive
at a knowledge of their belief ... 41
Franks, what were they
77
Governor of Britain, who was the
first ............... 33
Grampian Hills, battle on ...... 59
Hadrian, why did he construct a
wall from the Solway to the Forth 64
Hadrian, why did he come to
Britain ............... 64
Hadrian, why did he hastily quit
Britain ............... 65
Hadrian, who succeeded him ... 66
Historical knowledge, why should
we acquire it ............ 1
Invasion, where did the Romans
land ............... 8
Ireland, when first known to the
Romans ............ 59
Lucullus, what was the cause of
his death . ........... 62
Ostorius, whom did he succeed
Ostorius, what was his policy
Picts, who were they 67
Plautius, when did he invade Bri-
tain : 30
Plautius, why was his landing un-
opposed 31
Plautius, what were his first acts... 33
Roman fleet, why liable to frequent
disasters 20
Romans, why did they withdraw
from Britain 27
Romans, why did they abandon
Britain... 79
Roman Period, notes upon ... page 29
Saxons, what were the first 77
Scots, who were they 67
Severus, why did he come to Britain 67
Severus, why did he strengthen
Hadrian's wall 63
Vlll
INDEX.
Severus, what were the circum-
stances of his last years 71
Suetonius, why did he resolve to
conquer Anglesea 43
Suetonius, how did his army cross
the Menai Straits 44
Suetonius, what did he do when he
heard of the rebellion 47
Theodosius, why sent as governor
to Britain ... 77
Theodosius, what was his policy ... 77
Theodosius, what took place after
his departure 79
Vespasian, in what year did he be-
come Emperor of Rome 52
Vespasian, whom did he appoint
to be governor of Britain 53
Volusenus, why sent to explore the
British shores 4
BRITAIN UNDER THE SAXON?.
Alfred, what were the disasters of
his reign 92
Alfred, what were his character
and policy 95
Alfred, who succeeded him 96
Anglo-Saxons, why did they neglect
agriculture 105
Anlaff, why did he pretend to the
crown a second time 118
Athelstan, what was his policy ... 113
Athelstan, what caused the battle
between him and Anlaff 115
Athelstan, who succeeded him ... 117
Canute, why did he lay claim to the
English crown 132
Canute, why did he enjoy the favour
of the people 134
Canute, in what ways did he distin-
guish himself 135
Canute, who succeeded him 137
Danes, what did they in the Saxon
times 91
Danes, what was their religion ... 103
Danes, how did England fall for a
time under their yoke 130
Edgar, why did he succeed Edwi... 124
Edgar, why was he surnamed " The
Peaceable" 124
Edgar, what was his principal
glory 125
Edgar, how did he succeed in
exterminating wolves 128
Edgar, who succeeded him 127
Edgar, why was he surnamed " The
Martyr" 127
Edred, what was his policy ... 121
Ed red, who succeeded him 122
Edmund, what was the chief event
of his reign 119
Edward, what were his chief acts 97
Edward, why was his right dis-
puted by Ethelwald 98
Edward, what improvements were
made in his reign ......... 100
Edward, who succeeded him ... 112
Edward II., what brought him to
the throne ............ 140
Edward II., why was his marriage
unhappy ............ 141
Edward II., who succeeded him ... 143
Edward II., why was he undecided
to whom to bequeath the crown 148
Edwi, what were the misfortunes
of his reign ............ 123
Egbert, who succeeded him ... 90
Ethelred, why was his reign tur-
bulent ............... 129
Hardicanute, what was his cha-
racter ............... 139
Hardicanute and Harold, what
were the features of their reigns 140
Harold, why was he prevented
from taking the throne ...... 13S
Harold II., how did he become
possessed of the crown ...... 146
Heptarchy, what did it consist of 87
King, who was the first ...... 88
Rents of land, what were the first 107
Saxons, why did they come to
Britain ............ 80
Saxons, what took place upon their
arrival ............... 82
Saxons, why did they resolve to
settle in Britain ......... 83
Saxons, why did they not excel in
learning ............ 101
Saxons, of what religion were they 103
Saxons, why were they encouragers
of poetry ... ...... 109
Saxons, Anglo, why did they en-
gleet maritime affairs ...... Ill
Saxon customs ......... *117
Saxons, Anglo, by whom was their
naval greatness first established. . . 131
Saxon Period, notes upon ...page 43
Vortigern, who was he
William of Normandy, why did he
visit Edward II. ... 142
FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO
THE DEATH OB KING JOHN.
Archbishop of Canterbury, why
declared Primate of all England 168
Assize of Arms, what was the
origin of 260
Battle of Hastings, why fought ... 151
Bishop of Ely, why was he expelled
the kingdom 277
Cinque Ports, why were they so
called ... ... ... 176
Cinque Ports, of what ports com-
posed 177
INDEX.
IX
Commerce, why greatly restricted
in this period 329
Curfew-bell, how did it originate... 18C
Doomsday-book, what was it ... 165
Harold, what were the circum-
stances of his death 151
Harold's sons, what did they at-
tempt 155
Henry, who was he 192
Henry, what acts made him
popular 192
Henry, why did he make an expe-
dition into Normandy 198
Henry, why was a foreign con-
federacy formed against him ... 203
Henry's son, what caused his death 205
Henry's second marriage, what
caused it 207
Henry, what were the circum-
stances of his death 212
Henry, why were English liberties
extended in his reigu 213
Henry, what quarrel took place
between him and the Archbishop
of Canterbury 214
Henry II., who
Henry II., what were the first acts
of his reign
Henry II., why did he have his
son Prince Henry crowned during
his own life-time
Henry II., why did differences
arise between the King and the
Prince
Henry II., what wars and rebellions
occurred in his reign
Henry II., what occasioned a war
between the Princes
Henry II., what were the circum-
stances of his death
Henry II., who succeeded him ...
Jews, what caused a dreadful mas-
sacre of ,
Jews, what caused a second mas-
sacre 273
John, who was he 298
John, why was his accession dis-
puted 299
John, what were the circumstances
of his marriage 305
John, how did he create disaffec-
tion among the Barons 312
John, in what did he yield to the
Barons 314
John, what circumstances attended
his death , 320
Longbeard, who was he 293
MagnaCharta, how was it obtained 314
Matilda, Queen, who was she ... 208
Matilda, why were the people op-
posed to her 215
Matilda, why did she regain the
throne 223
Matilda, what caused her to be
finally dethroned 224
Maud, Queen, who was she ... 202
Norman Period, notes upon... page 88
Peace with Prance, what produced
it in the reign of Henry II. ... 253
Peace with France, why was it once
more disturbed 257
Prince Henry, who was he 221
Prince Richard, who was he ... 261
Prince Henry, what were the cir-
cumstances of his death 263
Prince John, who was he 267
Prince John, of what act of trea-
chery was he guilty 285
Prince John, what obtained for him
Richard's forgiveness 289
Prince Arthur, who was he 299
Prince Arthur, what was his sup-
posed fate
'rince Louis of France, why did he
invade England
... 317
Queen, who became the first, and
why
Richard, who was he
Richard, why did he go to the Holy
Land
Richard, why did he suddenly
abandon the Crusades ...
Richard, what caused him to be
made prisoner
Richard, what were the leading
occurrences during his captivity
Richard, upon what pretext did
the Emperor of Germany keep
him in prison
Richard, what obtained his release
Richard, what great calamity oc-
curred in his reign
Richard, what were the circum-
stances of his death
Richard, who succeeded him
Robert, who was he
Robert, why did he land in England
Robert, why did he return to
Normandy
Robert Earl of Gloucester, why did
he submit to Stephen
Scotland, why did William invade
it IBS
Scotland, how did it become a de-
pendency of England 255
Stephen, why did he claim the
crown 217
Stephen, why did he make war
against Scotland 221
•Stephen, how did he lose the throne 223
Stephen, how did he obtain release
from captivity 225
°tephen, how did he regain the
throne 227
Stephen, what were the circum-
stances of his death 229
271
284
285
2S6
287
295
296
296
160
196
197
219
IXDEX.
Succession to the crown, what ad-
vantages arose from its unset-
tled state in early times 323
Thomas a'Becket, who was he ... 233
Thomas a'Becket, what were the
circumstances of his death ...234
War with France, what caused it
in William's reign 166
William Duke of Normandy, why
did he claim the crown 149
William, why did he make a jour-
npy through the kingdom ...152
William, why did revolts and in-
surrections occur after his acces-
sion 154
William, what was the effect of his
rigid government 156
William, why did a war break out
between him and Robert 1GO
William, what were the circum-
stances of his death 167
William, by whom was he suc-
ceeded 181
William II., why was a conspiracy
raised against him 183
William II., what caused a war be-
tween him and France 189
William II., what were the circum-
stances of his death 191
William II., who buccceded him ... 192
FEOM THE DEATH OF KING JOHN TO
THE ACCESSION OF HENKY THE
lOTTETH.
Alliance, why made between the
Kings of Scotland and France ... 391
Barons, what was their conduct in
Henry's reign 357
Barons, why did Henry make con-
cessions to them 362
Battle of Evesham, what were its
consequences 369
Battle of Poictiers, what caused it 448
Battle of Crecy (or Cressy), what
caused it 450
Bruce, Robert, who was he ... 399
Bruce, why did he claim the throne
of Scotland ... 400
Dukes of Lancaster, York, and
Gloucester, who were they ... 464
Duke of Lancaster, why did he
make an expedition into France 465
Duke of Gloucester, why did he
take up arms against Richard II. 474
Duke of Gloucester, what were his
acts 476
Duke of Gloucester, what was his
end 486
Duke of Hereford, why banished... 488
Duke of Norfolk, why banished ... 4S8
Duke of Hereford, why did he in-
vade England 491
Edward, what prompted him to in-
vade Wales 377
Edward, why did he make war
against Scotland 3S4
Edward, why did he make war
against Scotland asecond time... 393
Edward, what were the circum-
stances of his death 400
Edward II., in what way did he ex-
hibit unfitness for the throne ... 401
Edward II., what led to constitu-
tutional changes in his reign ... 40R
Edward II., what led to a civil war 408
Edward II., what restored peace
between him and tho Barons ... 413
Edward II., what led to a second
civil war 421
Edward II., what led to a third
civil war 425
Edward II., why did he surrender
his French dominions 427
Edward II.. what was his fate ... 431
Edward III., what were his first
acts 437
Edward III., why did he claim the
throne of France 411
Edward III,, why did he invade
France 441
Edward III., what was the result
of the invasion 415
Edward III., why did he invade
Normandy 443
Edward, the Black Prince, who was
he 450
Edward III., what led to war with
France 457
Edward, the Black Prince, what
caused his death 459
Edward III., what were the circum-
stances of his death 460
Edward, the Black Prince, why so
called 461
Edward III., who succeeded him... 462
Gavaston, who was he 405
Gavastou, what was his fate ... 412
Gloucester, Earl of, what set him
at variance with the Royal party 371
Henry III., who was he 337
Henry III., what reconciled the
Barons to him 339
Henry III., why declared of age
when only sixteen 343
Henry III., what was the nature of
the quarrel between him and bis
brother Richard 345
Henry III., why did he make an
expedition into France 347
Henry III., why did his marriage
prove unsatisfactory 351
Henrv III., what influenced him to
confirm the Great Charter ...353
Henry III., what steps did he take
against the domination of the
Barons 359
Henry III., what led to a war be-
tween him and the Barons ... 363
Henry III., what was the result of
the war with the Barons 364
Henry III., what circumstances
attended his death 373
Henry III., who succeeded him ... 374
Hubert de Burgh, why was he dis-
graced 340
Ireland, what led to a revolt in,
under Edward II 419
Jews, why severely treated 380
John, who succeeded him 337
Mad Parliament, what was the so-
called 355
Mortimer, who was he 435
Mortimer, what was his fate ... 438
Notes upon the period ... page 120
Prince Edward, what were his dis-
364
Queen Isabel, what was her con-
duct 423
Richard II., who was he 462
Richard II., what rendered him
popular 463
Richard II., what led to an insur-
rection - 467
Richard II., why did he become
unpopular 469
Richard II., what led to a rupture
between him and the Parliament 471
Richard II., what change did ho
grant in the constitution 473
Richard II., what led to a quarrel
between the Court and the Citi-
zens of London 4SO
Richard II., why did he resign the
crown 497
Richard II., what was his end ... 499
Scotland, what events contributed
to peace with 43G
Scotland, why invaded by English
Barons 439
Spencer, Hugh, who was he ... 423
Wales, in what manner was it an-
nexed to England 882
Wallace, who was he 397
Wallace, what was his death ... 399
War with France, what caused it
under Edward 392
Wat Tyler, who was he 468
PEOM HENRY THE FOURTH TO HENRY
THE SEVENTH.
Battle of Agincourt, why fought ... 534
Duke of Burgundy, who was he ... 530
Duke of Burgundy, what was his
end 532
Duke of York, why did he aspire
to the crown 552
Duke of Suffolk, why brought to
trial 555
Duke of Suffolk, what was his end 558
Duke of York, how was he en-
snared 560
Duke of York, why set at liberty... 561
Duke of York, why made Protector
of England 564
Duke of York, what led to his
quarrel with the King 5G6
Duke of Gloucester, why did he
claim the crown 591
Duke of Gloucester, why was the
crown offered to him 593
Duke of Buckingham, why did he
conspire against Richard III. ... 598
Edward IV., who was he 575
Earl of Warwick, why did he con-
spire against Edward IV. ... 576
Edward IV., why did he fly from
England 580
Edward IV., why did he make an
attempt to regain the crown ... 5S1
Edward IV, what were the circum-
stances of his death 586
Edward IV., who succeeded him ... 587
Edward V., what was his fate ... 597
Earl of Richmond, who was he ... 600
Henry IV., who was he 500
Henry IV., why was a conspiracy
formed against him 503
Henry IV., why threatened with
the loss of French dominions ... 505
Henry IV., what were the circum-
stances of his death 513
Henry IV., who succeeded him ... 514
Henry V., who was he 514
Henry V., why did he become
popular 517
Henry V., why did he pretend to
the crown of France 520
Henry V., what was the result of
his first expedition to France ... 52 i
Henry V., how did he secure the
crown of France 528
Henry V., what were the circum-
stances of his death 535
Henry VI., who was he 537
Henry VI., what resulted after
struggles with the Yorkists ... 56D
Henry VI., why deposed 573
Henry VI., who succeeded him ...575
Henry VI., what were the circum-
stances of his death 5S2
Jack Cade, how did the insurrec-
tion under him originate ...557
Joan of Arc, who was she 541
Lollards, what were they 518
Maid of Orleans, who was she ... 543
Notes upon the period ... page 145
Owen Glendower, who was he ... 507
INDEX.
Owen Glendower, what was his
end 512
Queen Margaret, who was she ... 518
Richard III., who was he 595
Richard III., what were the cir-
cumstances of his death 601
Scotch, why did they invade Eng-
land . ... ... 508
"Wars of" the Roses" ...
... 571
York and Lancaster, wars of ... 561
York and Lancaster, what were
the conditions of the compromise
between 570
FEOM HENEY THE SEVENTH TO THE
DEATH OP ELIZABETH.
Anne Boleyn, why beheaded ... 640
Archbishop Cranmer, why sent to
the Tower 690
Archbishop Cranmer, why did he
suffer 692
Babington's conspiracy, what was
its object 742
Battle of Spurs, why fought ...626
Battle of Flodden Field, why
fought 628
Cardinal Wolsey, who was he ... 624
Cardinal Wolsey, why disgraced ... 638
Cardinal Pole, who was he ... 652
Catherine Howard, why beheaded 650
Catherine Parr, who was she ... 653
Earl of Essex, what led to his ex-
ecution 754
Elizabeth, why was her accession
so well received 715
Elizabeth, what were her first
steps towards a reformed religion 718
Elizabeth, why did she prefer to
remain unmarried 721
Elizabeth, why did she promote
peace with France and Scotland 725
Elizabeth, why did she dislike
Mary Queen of Scots 726
Elizabeth, why did the Parliament
wish her to marry 733
Elizabeth, why did she seek the
death of Mary Queen of Scots ... 740
Elizabeth, what were the circum-
stances of her death 758
Field of Cloth of Gold, why so
called 630
Field of Cloth of gold, why held ... 631
Henry VII., who was he 600
Henry VII., why was he popular... 602
Henry VII., why was his reign
troubled 605
Henry VII., what expedition of
discovery did he promote 619
Henry VIIL, what were his first
acts 622
Henry VIIL, why did he seek a
divorce from Queen Catherine ... 633
Henry VIIL, why did he marry
AnneofCleves 644
Henry VIIL, what were the cir-
cumstances of his death 658
Henry VIIL, who succeeded him... 660
House of Tudor, what is the mean-
ing of the name 608
Lady Jane Grey, who was she ... 680
Lady Jane Grey, why sought to be
made successor to Edward IV. ... 682
Lady Jane Grey, why executed ... 700
Lord Somerset, who was he 661
Lord Seymour, why executed ... 662
Lord Somerset, why executed ... 679
Mary Queen of Scots, why married
to the Dauphin of France 711
Mary Queen of Scots, what were
her claims to the English Crown 726
Mary Queen of Scots, why did she
become unpopular with her sub-
jects 730
Mary Queen of Scots, why did she
submit to Elizabeth 739
Notes upon the period ... page 175
Prayer Book, whycompiled 666
Prince Arthur, who was he 614
Princess Elizabeth, why imprisoned 705
Queen Mary, why did her cause
acquire strength 687
Queen Mary, why did she marry
Philip of Spain 695
Queen Mary, why was her marriage
unpopular 697
Queen Mary, what were the cir-
cumstances of her death 713
Reformation, why did it spread
rapidly in Scotland 719
Sir Thomas More, why beheaded 639
Sir Francis Drake, what gave rise
to his discoveries 746
Spanish Armada, why fitted out ... 748
Spanish Armada, why did it fail ... 750
Star Chamber, why so called ... 610
Thomas Cromwell, who was he ... 646
FEOM THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH TO
GEOBGE THE PIEST.
Battle of Naseby, what resulted
from it 815
Battle of the Boyne, what caused
it 862
Bishops, why committed to the
Tower by James 85Q
Charles L. who was he ... ... 784
Charley, what were his first dif-
ficulties with the Parliament ... 785
Charles, why did he issue writs for
a new Parliament 803
Charles, what led to the final rup-
ture between hina and the Parlia-
ment 807
Charles, why did he remove his
army from Shrewsbury 810
Charles, why did he escape and fly
from Hampton Court 819
Charles, why upon his trial did he
refuse to defend himself 821
Charles, what was his end 822
Charles, what form of government
succeeded his death 824
Charles II., why did he disappoint
his supporters _ 837
Charles II., why did he marry the
Infanta of Portugal 838
Charles II., why did he declare war
against the Dutch 839
Charles II., what were the principal
events disgraceful to his reign ... 841
Charles II., what were the circum-
stances of his death 844
Charles II., who succeeded him ... 846
Commonwealth, or Protectorate,
what were the chief events during 831
Commonwealth, what was it ... 824
Duke of Buckingham, why im-
peached 792
Duke of Buckingham, what led to
his assassination 798
Duke of Monmouth, why did he
create insurrection in James's
reign 847
Duke of Monmouth, who was he ... 848
Duke of Marlboroush, why were
his victories unprofitable to Eng-
land 874
Duke of Marlborough, why dis1-
graced 890
Gibraltar, what led to the siege of 876
George Villiers, who was he ... 776
Gunpowder plot, what originated it 767
Gunpowder plot, what led to its
discovery 770
Gunpowder plot, what was the fate
of the conspirators 771
Jacobites, what were they 870
James, who was he 762
James, why was he received with
popular applause 764
James, in what did he disappoint
the Catholics 765
James, why did he become un-
popular 772
James, how did he raise supplies
when refused by the Parliament 779
James, what were the circum-
stances of his death 783
James, what were the circum-
stances of his flight 854
James, what led to his attempt to
recover the crown 858
John Hatnpden, who was he ... 811
Judge Jeffries, why was he so
odious to the people 849
London, what calamities befel it in
the reiflru of Charles II 843
Lord Falkland, who was he 811
Lord Chancellor Bacon, why im-
peached 781
Lotteries, why were they first intro-
duced 887
Massacre of Glencoe, what caused it 865
National Debt, in what did it
originate 864
Notes upon the period ... page 175
Oliver Cromwell, who was he ... 825
Oliver Cromwell, what were his
movements with the army ...827
Oliver Cromwell, why did the Par-
liament invest him with such
authority 827
Oliver Cromwell, why did he
forcibly dissolve the long Parlia-
ment 829
Oliver Cromwell, why did he be-
come popular with the nation ... 830
Oliver Cromwell, why did he refuse
the crown 832
Oliver Cromwell; what were the
circumstances of his death ... 833
Oliver Cromwell, who succeeded
him .„ 835
Parliament, why did it remon-
strate with Charles 797
Parliament, why called " The Lon g " 80 1
Parliament, The Long, what were
its first measures 805
Parliament, what did it do when
Charles had surrendered 816
Parliament, what was its condition
in the time of Charles 817
Prince Maurice, who was he ... 809
Prince Rupert, who was he 801)
Prince Rupert, how did he endan-
ger Charles's cause 813
Queen Mary, what were the cir-
cumstances of her death 8C6
Queen Anne, why did she make
war against France '...872
Queen Anne, what were the most
important political acts of her
reign 8SO
Queen Anne, what were the cir-
cumstances of her death 892
Queen Anne's reign, why called the
Augustan age of England 894
Richard Cromwell, why did he re-
sign the Protectorate 835
Robert Carr, why a favourite with
James 774
Scotland, what led to revolt in,
under Charles ... 800
XIV
INDEX.
Scotland, what were the circum-
stances of the union with Eng-
land
Sir Walter RaleigL, why executed 777
War against Prance, why under-
taken 796
War with France, what led to it
under William III 867
Whigs and Tories, what originated
their designation 879
William Prince of Orange, why
invited to England 851
William III. and Mary, who were
they, and what brought them to
the throne 855
William and Mary, what was the
first important measure of Parlia-
ment in their reign 857
William III., what were the cir-
cumstances of his death 863
William III., who succeeded him... 870
THE HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK.
Admiral Eyng, why accused of
cowardice 971
America, why did the colonists
refuse to pay duties 995
America, why did the colonists
reject the terms proposed by
England 1006
America, what led to the first col-
lision between the provincial
and the royal troops 1000
American war, what led to its
suspension 1011
Battle of Dettingen, what led to... 953
Battle of Foiiteuoy, what occurred
at 957
Battle of Preston Pans, what oc-
curred after 964
Battle of Culloden, what were the
circumstances of 966
Battle of Copenhagen, what were
the circumstances of 1028
Battle of Trafalgar, what were the
circumstances of 1031
Battle of Leipsic, why the cause
of Napoleon's downfall 1061
Battle of Navarino, why fought... lluS
Boston, why abandoned by the
British 1004
Cato- street conspiracy, what was
its object 1092
Cato-street conspiracy, how de-
tected 1093
Charles Edward Stuart, who was
he 955
Chesapeake and Shannon, engage-
ment between 1066
China, what caused the war with,
in 1840 1138
Chinese Treaty of 185S, what are
the advantages of 1158
Commodore Anson, what disasters
attended his expedition 947
Continental war, what led to, in
the reign of George II 951
Corn Laws, why repealed 1144
Duke of Wellington, his superior
generalship at Waterloo 1069
Earl of Bute, why was he created
first Lord of the Treasury ... 9S7
East Indies, when did the British
power take its rise in 974
East India Company, why de-
prived of exclusive privileges ... 1127
Fox, what great act of good did
he accomplish 1035
Fox, why was the Granville
Cabinet dissolved upon Fox's
death 1037
Fox, who was he 1033
France and Prussia, why did
England participate in the war
between 976
France and Spain, why was war
declared against in the reign of
George III 1007
French, why did they attempt to
invade Ireland 1020
French revolution of 1848, what
produced it 1149
General Howe, what did he ac-
complish in the American war... 1005
George I., who was 896
George, under what circumstances
did he ascend the throne ... 899
George, in what elements of cha-
racter did he differ from the
Stuarts 901
George, to what particular party
did he ally himself 902
George, what were the circum
stances of his death 934
George, who succeeded him .. 936
~ eorge II., who was he 937
George II., what was the state of
the country at the commence-
ment of his reign 940
George II., what were the circum-
stances of his death 978
George II., who succeeded him ... 980
George III., why did he espouse the
Princess Charlotte 983
George Washington, who was he... 1002
George III., what were the cir-
cumstances of his death 10S8
George III., who succeeded him... 1090
George IV., who was he 1090
George IV., of what did he die ... 1111
George IV., who succeeded him ... 1112
Gordon Riots, what led to them ... 1009
Habeas Corpus Act,
pended
rhy sus-
... 1082
Impeachments, what remarkable
ones occurred in the reign, of
George 1 905
INDEX.
XV
Indian Rebellion, what caused it... 1157
Irish Rebellion of '98, what led to
the 1023
Lord Macclesfield, why impeached 933
Lord Clive, why was ho sent back
to India 994
Lord Cornwallis, what led to his
campaign in India 1018
Lord Nelson, why sent with a
fleet to the Baltic 1027
Lord Exmouth, why sent to
Algiers 1073
Lord Exmouth, how did he attack
Algiers 1077
Members of Parliament, why were
five expelled in the reign of
Napoleon, why were his proposals
of peace rejected 1029
Napoleon, what were the terms of
his first abdication 1062
Napoleon's return to Prance, why
called "The Hundred Days ... 1068
Napoleon, why sent to St. Helena 1070
New Orleans, why were the British
defeated at ... -, 1065
North America, why were the
British arms successful in ... 975
Notes upon the reign of Georgo
III page 292
Notes on the period from George
III. to Victoria page 315
O'Connell, why imprisoned ... 1140
Orange Lodges, why abolished ... 1118
Panic of 1825, what led to it ... 1103
Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, why
discreditable 970
Perciyal, what led to his assassi-
nation 1053
Pitt, why did he quit the ministry 9S5
Pitt, why made prime minister ... 1012
Pitt's death, wh?t were its effects
upon the Government policy ... 1032
Poor laws, why altered in the
reign of William IV 1117
Postage, why reduced 1143
Pretender of 1715, who was he ... 908
Prince of Wales, why made Regent 101,
Prince of Wales, the Regency of... 1053
Protectionists, why so called ... 1147
Queen Anne, who succeeded her... 895
Queen Caroline, why didsho return
from the Continent and demand
to be crowned with George IV. 1096
Queen Caroline, what were the
circumstances of her death ... 1100
Rebellion of 1715, what led to it... 908
Reform Bill, why introduced into
Parliament 1113
Reformed House of Commons,
what was the first important
measure passed by 1125
Robert Clive, who was he 973
Russian war, what produced it ... 115-4
Sir Robert Walpole, what was he 938
Sir Robert Walpole, why did he
resign all his appointments ... 949
Sir Arthur Wellesley, why sent
with a British army to Portugal 1044
Sir John Moore, why did he re-
treat to Corunna 1046
Sir John Moore, where was he
killed 1047
Sir Francis Burdett, why com-
mitted to the Tower 1050
Sir Arthur Wellesley, what were
his achievements in Spain ... 1051
South Sea Company, how con-
nected with the Government ... 923
South Sea Company, what led to
its bursting '. 928
Spain, what led to war with, in
the reign of George II 945
Spain and Holland, what great
victories were gained over ... 1021
Spanish and French fleets, why
permitted to unite 1031
Thistlewood, what was his punish-
ment 1096
United States, what produced war
with .,. ... 1054
United States, what was the result
of war with 1055
Victoria, how did she become en-
titled to the throne 1134
Warren Hastings, why impeached 1013
Wilberforce, who was he 112<5
Wilkes's trial, what public bene-
fits resulted from 997
Wilkes, why was he sent to the
Tower, and afterwards expelled
the Honse of Commons 992
William IV., who was he 1112
William IV., what were the cir-
cumstances of his death 1132
EEEATA.— Question 460, for Edward the Tliird, read Edward the Second.
Question 505, for Richard 'threatened, read Henry threatened.
B tire same
THE REASON WHY. — General Science.
THE HOUSEWIFE'S REASON WHY,
t&v.
BRITAIN, INCLUDING ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND WALES, WAS ANCIENTLT
CALLED ALBION.
THE
HISTOEICAL
REASON WHY
INTRODUCTORY.
1. Why should ive acquire Historical knowledge ?
Because it makes us acquainted with the troubles through
which our ancestors have passed, and teaches us to appreciate
and be thankful for the peace and prosperity of the times in
which we live.
While giving us an insight into the errors, difficulties, and
struggles of by-gone times, it teaches us that every individual
in a state possesses some influence over the laws and institutions
under which he lives ; and in disposing us to be good citizens,
fits us for those social and political duties which we may be
called upon to discharge.
History interests us, by revealing the social and domestic
condition of our forefathers. Their modes of life, their habita-
tions, dress, manners, customs, education, laws, and religion, are
made known to us ; and we feel a greater interest in everything
which now exists, by drawing comparisons between the Past
and the Present.
B
THE HISTOEICAL 2EASOX WHY.
JULIUS CJESAR MADE HIS PIEST DESCENT ON BKITAIX, B.C. 55.
FROM THE FIRST INVASION BY THE ROMANS TO
THE ARRIVAL OF THE SAXONS.
2. W hy did Julius Caesar invade Britain ?
Because, like other Roman Generals, he felt an unbounded
ambition to achieve conquests, and to extend, in an age when
victorious warfare was esteemed glorious, the military fame of
the Roman empire. Also because the Britons assisted the Gauls
in their battles with his armies, and thereby rendered the
conquest of Gaul more difficult.
3. It is said, by some authors, that he was prompted to attempt the
invasion by having seen in the possession of the Gauls rich pearls found
upon the British shores: but this is very doubtful.
4. Why did lie send Volusenus to explore tlie sliores
of Britain ?
Because he was unacquainted with the coasts, and the Gaulish
merchants, being unfriendly to his rule, were unwilling to give
him. the information which he needed.
5. Why did the British states send voluntary offers
of submission to Ccesar ?
Because they had heard of his great power, and being
disunited among themselves, were at first afraid to oppose him.
6. Why did Ccesar then send Comius as an Ambassador
to the Britons ?
Because such a stratagem was likely to test the sincerity of
the proffered submission of the Britons, and also to enable him
to gain information of the numbers and strength of the British
people — particulars which Csesar had been unable to gain from
the expedition of Volusenus.
7. Why did the Britons" imprison Comius, and Ircak
from their proffered submission to Rome ?
Because they were divided into a number of independent
THE HISTOEICAL IIEASO>* WHY.
A ROMAN CA3IP ESTABLISHED OX THE SHORES OF DEAL, B C. 54.
states, the most powerful of which had not consented to the
submission ; and also because they found that Caesar was pre-
paring1 for a hostile attack, although he professed to entertain
only peaceful designs.
8. Upon what part of the coast did the invasion take
place ?
Ceesar's fleet first advanced towards the coast of Dover, but
finding the cliffs covered with a numerous army, and that the
place was unfavourable for landing, he sailed along the coast,
until he gained an open shore, probably at the place which is
now called Deal.
9. Wliy did Ctesar succeed in easily effecting a landing ?
Because the Britons were fatigued and harrassed by their
march along a difficult coast, to oppose him; and also because
they were unacquainted with the appearance of the Roman
galleys and arms, and were alarmed thereby.
10. The Roman soldiers had many and great difficulties to encounter
arising from the depth of the water, which struck them breast high, the
weight of their armour, and the assaults of the enemy, who knew the ground,
and fought with great advantage. Ctesar observing that his men were a
little daunted with these difficulties, and did not advance with their usual
spirits, commanded some galleys to approach the shore, and attack the
enemy in the flank with their slings and arrows. The Britons, astonished
at the shape and rapid motions of the galleys, began to give back. The
Roman soldiers hesitated to leave their boats, when the standard bearer of the
Tenth Roman Legion, invoking the heathen gods, jumped into the sea, and
advancing with the eagle towards the enemy, cried aloud, "Follow me, my
fellow soldiers, unless you would betray the Roman eagle into the hands
of the enemy." When the Romans beheld this bold action, they took fresh
courage, and rushed in great numbers to the shore. A fierce battle ensued,
during which Caesar sent constant supplies of men in galleys, and the
.Britons wore ultimately overpowered.
11. Wliy did not Gxsar immediately follow up the
victory lie had gained?
'"' Because the ships having his cavalry on board Lad been
detained by some adverse circumstances.
B 2
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
C.ESAR EETUENED TO THE CONTINENT ABOUT SBPT. 20, B.C. 55.
12. Why did the Britons then offer terms of peace and
submission to Caesar?
Because, having experienced great loss in battle, and having
learnt the power of the Roman arms, they deemed it best to
submit to an enemy by whom they had been defeated.
BEITONS OF THE SOUTHERN PAETS OP THE ISLAND.
13. WJnj did the Britons a second lime Irea'k the
conditions of peace they had proffered ?
Because the ships containing the Eoman cavalry were driven
hack by a violent storm, and scattered upon the Gaulish shore ;
tnid tempestuous tides, rising to an unusual height upon the
British coast, destroyed many of the ships and galleys which
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
CJ5SAK MADE A SECOND DESCENT, B.C. 54.
had brought the Romans over. The Britons were therefore
tempted by these disasters which befel the Romans to endeavour
to drive them from the island.
14. The harvest had been gathered in, except one field, in which, as the
soldiers of the Seventh Legion were one day foraging, they were attacked
by a great number of British cavalry and charioteers. The Romans, con-
founded at the suddenness of the attack, were in the greatest danger <tf
being cut to pieces. But Caesar, being informed that a great cloud of du*
appeared in the direction where the Legion was foraging, suspected what
had happened, and took a large number of soldiers from the camp, to the
immediate rescue of the Legion. When Csesar came to the scene of action,
he found his troops in the most imminent danger. The Britons were put
to a stand; it was a drawn battle, and the Romans cautiously retired into
their camp. The Britons, encouraged by this partial success, sent mes-
sengers into every part of the country, to summon the tribes for a final
struggle. Coesar, being aware of their movements, at once attacked them,
and through the superior discipline of the Romans the Britons were once
more defeated.
15. Why did C&sar again grant easy conditions of
peace to the Britons, and then retire from the island?
Because his forces had been considerably decreased by these
several battles ; many of his ships had been wrecked, and the
winter was approaching without his army being adequately
provided for. He may, also, have mistrusted the fidelity of the
Gauls during his absence. Should they have risen against him,
he would have been cut off from his main point of strength,
and would have been entirely at the mercy of the Britons.
16. When did Caesar set out for his second expedition ?
In May or June of the following year. He had in the
interval gone to Rome, making known his victories, and obtain-
ing fresh supplies to pursue his conquests. His fleet had been
considerably augmented during the winter, and he set sail frora
Portus Titus (now Calais) having eight hundred transports, and
a great number of galleys. In these he embarked five Legions
and two thousand horse — making in all an army 42,000 strong.
17. The Roman army landed the second time, near the same place as at
first, and met with no opposition. Although the Britons had received
early intelligence of the great preparations which were making for a seconxt
invasion of their island, and had collected a powerful army for its defence,
yet when they beheld this enormous fleet approaching their coasts, they
were struck with consternation, and retired into the country.
THE HISTOB1CAL EEASON WHY.
THE BRITO2TS DEFEATED Ilf A BATTLE NEAH, CANTERBTJEY, MAY 20, B.C. 54.
18. Why did Gcesar resolve to attack the Britons, who
~kad not opposed Ids landing ?
Because he obtained information that their armies were
organised with hostile intentions, and he determined to pursue
them and disperse them, while his own forces were yet in full
vigour and spirits. He therefore divided his army into three
bodies, and went in search of the enemy. Some battles were
fought, in which the Britons were invariably defeated. The
chief engagement occurred in the country near where Canterbury
now stands. Here the Britons had a place fortified by felled
trees and mud banks, but the Eomans compelled them to
abandon it, and drove them in disorder into the woods.
19. Here Csesar received intelligence that a terrible storm had. again devas-
tated his fleet. He therefore gave up the pursuit of the Britons, and
returned by forced marches to the sea coast, where he found that forty
ships were entirely destroyed, and the most of the others so much damaged
that they were hardly repairable. Having taken steps for the security of
the ships that were saved, and for the repair of those that were damaged,
lie returned again to the scene of battle, after an absence of ten days.
20. Why was the Roman fleet liable to those frequent
disasters ?
Because, although they were considered in those times to be
great vessels, and strongly built, they were scarcely larger
than the fishing smacks of the present day, and not so well
adapted to withstand tempests. Besides, the tides aifecting our
shores were little known, and the science of navigation was
very imperfectly understood.
21. Why did the Britons choose Cassibelanus for their
leader ?
Because, being divided into numerous tribes, each having its
own chief, they found that they fought at great disadvantage
against an army directed by one head, and acting in every
movement in concert with the whole body. Cassibelanus was
the chief of the most powerful of the British tribes, and when
at war with them had obtained victories which claimed for him
this distinction.
THE HISTOBICAL KEASON WHY.
C-ESAE EJIBAEKED HIS FOECES, AND EETTJENED IO THE CONTINENT,
SEPT. 26, B.C. 54.
22. Several battles took place between the Romans, and the Britons under
the command of Cassibelanus, iu which the Britons, after a brave resist-
ance, were generally defeated, and greatly disheartened.
23. Why did several of the British tribes then desert
Cassibelanus ?
Because he had previously been a powerful chief, and had,
prior to Caesar's invasion, caused much trouble by provoking
internal wars. When, therefore, the Britons found that
Cassibelanus was unable to protect them against Csesar, their
old resentment returned, and they preferred to submit to
Caesar, rather than to share the uncertain fortunes of a rival
chief.
24. What did Cassibelanus then design to do?
He formed a confederation with some of the tribes that were
yet allied with him, to destroy Cassar's fleet. But, upon
making1 the attempt, the Britons were repulsed with great loss,
and Cintegorex, one of the allied chiefs,- was taken prisoner.
After this, Cassibelanus, unable to bear up against these
frequent reverses, sent ambassadors to Caesar to propose con-
ditions of peace. Then the Southern British tribes submitted
to Caesar, consented to pay tribute to Borne, and thus, for
the first time, Roman authority prevailed.
25. Although it is generally said that Caesar subdued the island, it must be
understood that the conquest was very partial. In those days many parts
of the island were very difficult of access; so much so, that many of the
tribes held no intercourse with, and, probably, were unknown to others.
Caesar never penetrated into the country further than the neighbourhood
of St. Albans, where he fought a battle with Cassibelanus. His conquests,
therefore, lay among the tribes that inhabited the parts now known as the
counties of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Dorchester, Essex, &c. In fact, some of
the subsequent British chieftains, as will be seen, regarded Caesar as
defeated, and spoke of his " flying from the island." But the fact that the
Roman power became gradually established here from the time of Caesar is
undeniable,
26. What occurred when Ccesar left the island?
The various tribes, being again left to their own barbarous
ways, engaged in petty wars, in which Cassibelanus took a
THE HISTORICAL BEASON WHY.
TLAUTIUS XAIfDED IN KENT, A.D. 4G.
conspicuous part, and several of them were broken up by
strife, and merg-ed into the dominions of their conquerors.
27. Why did the Romans, after invading the island,
again abandon it to the chiefs?
Because of civil wars which broke out in Rome, absorbed the
attention of its Governors, and rendered foreign expeditions
undesirable. A period of ninety-seven years passed before the
Romans again directed their attention to Britain.
28. Who ivas the next prominent chief in Britain,
after Cassibelanus ?
Cunobelinus, who succeeded Cassibelanus. Cunobelinus arrived
at a degree of greatness formerly unknown in this island. He
Became sovereign of the greatest part of those provinces which
Csesar had conquered; he held peaceable possession probably by
Keeping up friendly intercourse with Rome, and by paying
occasional tribute. After his death his dominions were divided
Between his widow, Queen Cartlsmandua, and his two sons,
Caractacus and Togodunus. These three were then the most
considerable chiefs in Britain.
29. Why did the Romans again invade Britain during
the reign of these chiefs ?
Because, after the death of Cunobelinus, the chiefs withdrew
their allegiance to Rome. And the affairs of the Romans again
becoming settled, that warlike people once more determined to
pursue conquest, and exalt the Roman arms.
30. Who next invaded Britain?
Aulius Plautius, a Roman Consul, was appointed by the
Emperor Claudius to command the expedition. The Roman
army consisted of four Legions with auxiliaries and cavalry,
amounting to about 50,000 men; and Vespasian, who was after-
wards Emperor, commanded under Plautius. This army landed
without opposition.
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
LONDOX FOUNDED BY THE ROMANS, A.D. 50.
31. Why did the Britons offer no resistance to tks
landing of the Army led by Plautius ?
Because, during the long absence of the Romans, they had
become much divided, and there was no confederacy formed to
resist the landing of the Romans. The British tribes prepared
themselves separately for battle, and waited an attack.
32. What did Plautius first do?
Having learned that Caractacus and Togodunus were chiefs
of two of the most powerful tribes, and that they were preparing
for battle, he resolved to attack them at once. He first overtook
and defeated Caractacus; and soon after his brother, Togodunna
shared the same fate.
33. A great many battles ensued, in which the Britons were generally
defeated. Some of the tribes submitted to the Romans, but others held out
with such resolute heroism, and caused to the Roman Generals so much trouble,
that Plautius found it necessary to represent his difficulties to the Emper»r
Claudius, who himself came to Britain and assumed in person the command
of the army. He succeeded in reducing a few of the tribes to submission,
and then, after appointing Plautius to be the first Roman Governor of the
conquered provinces in Britain, Claudius returned to Rome and received the
honours paid to the victorious in battle. After the departure of Claudius,
Plautius still carried on the wars successfully, for a few years. He conquered
all the tribes occupying the country from the part now known as Kent, to
the Land's End, and then returning to Rome, received great homage.
34. Why did the Britons again break out in rebel-
lion ?
Because Plautius was recalled to Rome, and Ostorius appointed
to succeed him as Governor. The Britons, regarding such a
change as a sign of weakness, and looking upon every such
circumstance as a probable opportunity for throwing off their
bondage, determined to struggle once more for freedom. They
therefore began to harrass the Romans, by which they provoked
fresh wars, and sustained further and serious defeats.
35. What course did Ostorius pursue, upon resuming
the Governorship ?
Having found, by the experience of former rulers, that when
the Britons were allowed to remain undisturbed for any length
10 THE HISTORICAL EEASO1-T WHY.
CAKACTACUS DEFEATED BY OSTOEITTS, 51.
of time, they became rebellious, he determined at once to
enforce their subjection. This led to further battles, in which
the Romans, being still victorious, compelled some of the most
troublesome of the tribes to deliver up their arms. Ostorius
then caused a chain of forts to be erected along the banks of
the rivers Nen and Severn ; he also founded a numerous colony
of Roman veterans at Camulodunum, now Maid on, in Essex,
and fortified their position. These were the first fortifications
of any importance erected in the island.
36. Wliy did Caractacus, wlw had leen the chief of
a tribe in South Britain, become the leader of the Welsh
Britons ?
Because, having lost his own dominions, he fled into Wales,
and being received there with great honour, on account of his
patriotic resistance to the Romans, he was chosen to lead the
Welsh Britons in their defence against the attacks which the
Romans were expected to make upon them. This election was
a judicious one, because Caractacus had proved his bravery and
fidelity to British independence, and having repeatedly engaged
with the enemy, he doubtless knew more of their tactics than
the chiefs of the Silurian tribes.
37. The Romans, learning that Caractacus had taken refuge with the Silures
(as the Welsh Eritons were called), knew that there could be no security
for themselvess while so brave a chief had power to incite the Britons to
war. Ostorius, therefore, resolved to conquer the Silures at once. For this
purpose, he marched a powerful army towards "Wales. Caractacus, knowing
well the country, drew his forces into the best position for battle, and
waited the approach of the Romans. He led his forces to a high hill in
Shropshire, upon the borders of Wales, and raised ramparts of stone all
round the hill. The hill is supposed to have been Caer-Caradoc, a name
which it retains to this day, and which is understood to have been the
British name for Car-actacus. On this hill, traces of British ramparts may
still be seen. At this romantic place the armies of the Romans and Britons
met. The brave Caractacus, beholding the enemy approaching, spoke to his
countrymen to this effect : " From this day, and this battle, you must date
your liberty, if victorious, or your eternal servitude, if defeated." He then
encouraged them by saying that Caesar had been obliged to quit the island,
although he had boasted of conquering it ; and he solemnly invoked the gods
(such as the Britons then worshipped) to aid them in the battle, and save
their wives and children from slavery. This roused the Silurian army to the
THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY. 11
CAEACTACUS BETEAYED INTO THE HANDS OF THE EOMAXS BT CARTIS
MANDUA, ABOUT 52.
highest pitch of resolution, and they resolved to defend themselves to the
last. The Romans made a desperate charge up the hill, and were received
with a shower of darts and spears : but warding off these with their shields,
they gained the height, and the Britons were driven back with great
slaughter. The wife and daughter of Caractacus were taken prisoners. The
brave Caractacus made his escape, and fled into the provinces of Cartis-
mandua, the queen of a powerful tribe, holding a large tract of country in
the centre of the island. But she treacherously betrayed him to the
Romans, by whom he was led captive to Rome. Being led with his wife and
children in triumph before the Emperor Claudius, he made the following
touching appeal : " I was lately possessed of subjects, horses, arms, and
rL'hes. Can you, Oh Claudius! be surprised that I endeavoured to preserve
them? If you Romans have a desire to arrive at universal monarchy, must
all nations, to gratify you, tamely submit to servitude? If I had submitted
without a struggle, how much would it have diminished the lustre of my
fall, and of your victory ? And now, if you resolve to put me to death, my
story will soon be buried in oblivion ; but if you preserve my life, I shall
remain a lasting monument of your clemency." He was set at liberty with
his family, and they are supposed to have died in exile, as they were never
again mentioned in history.
38. Wliy did Cartismandua betray Caractacus to the
Romans ?
Because she was a wicked Queen, and had created rebellion
in her own dominions. She therefore made terms with the
Romans to maintain her authority over her own tribe, for
which she delivered Caractacus a prisoner.
39. Ostorius received great honours from the Romans on account of his
victory over Caractacus. Yet the Silures proved to be so unconquerable,
and caused such frequent troubles to the Roman army, that Ostorius died,
it is said, of anxiety caused by the wars. The next Roman Governor sent
to Britain from Rome was Aulius Didius, who, upon arriving here, found
great confusiou and disorder prevailing. Didius continued the policy. of
the previous Governor in upholding the wicked Queen Cartismaudua, and
many battles were fought with various success, until the Queen, even with
Roman aid, was defeated, and Cartismandua obliged to deliver up her
dominions to her injured king, Venusius. While these events were occuring,
the emperor Claudius died, and was succeeded by his son, Nero. Aulius
Didius continued for some time after the accession of Nero to be the
Governor of Britain. But he was an inactive, unskilful Governor, and was
succeeded by Veranius, who died in less than a year after he had reached
this island. Veranius was succeeded by Suetonius Paulinus, one of the
most celebrated generals of those times.
40. Of what religion were the ancient Britons?
The religious teachers of the Britons were called Druids.
They taught the people a mysterious superstition which deified
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
THE GOVERNOR OSTORIUS DIED IN BRITAIN, SUCCEEDED BY AU1IUS
DIDIUS, 53.
rarious visible and invisible things. They worshipped the sun,
moon, and stars, trees and rivers ; they held the oak and the
mistletoe in great veneration ; and they erected large open
DRTJIDICAL TEMPLE AND WORSHIP.
temples, which were constructed of huge stones, in the midst
of which they performed those ceremonies and sacrifices which
constituted their forms of worship.
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 13
SUETONIUS PAUMNUS GOVERNOR OF BRITAIN, 58.
41. Why is it difficult to arrive at a knowledge of
the Doctrines which the Druids taught?
Because the Druidical priesthood deemed it to be unlawful
to allow their doctrines to be written or inscribed. For this
reason, when they consulted each other, they retired into dark
groves and secret places. And there they taught the younger
priests, who were solemnly bound not to divulge the things
that were imparted to them. We know more, therefore, of the
external forms of their superstitious rites, than of the principles
which they inculcated.
42. According to the account given of the Druids by Julius Csesar, and
other ancient authorities, the priesthood were of three classes, who were
all under the government of either one supreme head, or Arch-Druid; or
there were a limited number of Arch-Druids, each being at the head of the
religious order in a limited country or district. The three classes of
Druids were the Bards, the Vates, and the ordinary Druidical priests. The
Bards had little to do with the administration of religious laws or rites.
They were employed to inspire soldiers in time of war by poetic appeals
which were delivered in a chanting tone ; and to instruct the young, chiefly
by the narration of heroic tales. The Vates, were the high priesthood, who
performed the public offices of religion, and accompanied their ceremonies
by wild music, and mysterious words, which led the people to believe that
they were inspired. The ordinary Druids performed minor religious rites
arid attended to those matters which required administration in the houses
of the people, and were unconnected with the great Druidical festivals
There were also Druidesses, a sacred order of women, who attended upon
the Priesthood, and performed deeds of charity. The superstition of the
Druids, however, appears to have possessed very little of benevolence, or of
desire for wisdom. The priests were austere and cruel. They used great
influence to make the Britons fierce in war, and to show no mercy to their
enemies. They professed to have the power of rewarding in a happier state
those who fell in battle. They terrified the people by sacrificing in the
most cruel manner those who offended against the Druidical laws ; and they
are said to have constructed large idols of wicker-work, into which they
put hundreds of human beings, and then destroyed them by fire, employing
music to drown their cries. They also pretended to foretel future events.
Upon the whole, they partook more of the character of magicians, keeping
the people in awe, than teachers of such principles of knowledge or
goodness as they understood, in those unenlightened days.
43. Why did Suetonius Paulinus resolve upon the
conquest of the Isle of Anglesea ?
Because that island was the seat of an Arch-Druid, and a
14
THE HISTORICAL BEASOX WHY.
THE CHRISTIAN EELIGION SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN FIEST PUBLICLY
PREACHED IN BRITAIN ABOUT 60.
place of refuge for the Druids, to which they flocked whenever
the Britons were defeated in battle. From this island, it was
found, that the Druids were constantly instigating the Britons
to rebellion against the Romans. Knowing, therefore, the great
influence which the Druids held over the Britons, Suetonius
THE ARMY OF SUETONIUS MAKING THE CONQUEST OF ANGLESEA.
deemed that there would be no security for Roman possession
until the Druids were exterminated: he, therefore, resolved
upon a great expedition to the Isle of Anglesea for this
purpose.
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 15
THE DIIUID3 ATTACKED AT AJfGLESEA, LAEGE NUMBEES OP
DESTEOYED BY SUETONIUS, ABOUT 61.
41. Suetonius marched his army to the coast, and conveyed his soldiers
across the Menai Straits in flat-bottomed boats. There he found a nume-
rous army of Britons drawn up in the order of battle. The Druids had
caused large fires to be lighted, with the view of alarming the enemy by
indicating that those of them who were captured would be sacrificed. In
the midst of the soldiers there were Druids with large beards, and
Druidesses with long hair flowing, down their backs. They rushed up and
down amid the soldiers, bearing large torches, raising the most frantic
cries, and pouring out the most dreadful imprecations upon their enemies.
The awful spectacle of the fires, the Druids, the women, the torches, and
the fierce aspect of a barbarian array, at first alarmed the Romans
they stood motionless, and many of them were slain. At length, being
animated by the appeals of their generals, they made a daring charge,
broke the British ranks, and many of the Druids were captured, and burnt
in the fires they had prepared for their enemies. Suetonius then commanded
the Druidical groves to be cut down, and their altars and temples to be
destroyed.
45. Why did the Southern Britons break into revolt
•while the army of Suetonius was thus engaged?
Because the Romans who composed the colony of Camalo-
dunum (35) looking- upon the Britons as subdued, had treated
them with great cruelty, depriving them of their lands, and
subjecting them to the treatment of slaves. In a neighbouring
colony, under the British chief Prasutagus, the same severities
had been practised. The chief, who had acquired great wealth,
had died and left his possessions to his Queen and daughters;
but the Eomans seized everything, and treated Boadicea, the
queen, and her daughters, with great indignity.
43. The Britons, taking advantage of the employment of the Roman army
at Anglesea, and enraged also by the knowledge that Suetonius meditated
the destruction of the Druids, whom they greatly reverenced, rose in unani-
mous rebellion, and poured like an irresistible torrent upon the Roman
Colony at Camalodunum. The Romans, not apprehending such an attack,
were unprepared for resistance. The enraged Britons broke in at the first
assault, put all to the sword who fell into their hands, and laid Camalodunum
in ashes. The Roman soldiers, and some of the people, fled for refuge
into one of the sacred temples. But the1 Britons heeded not its sacreduess.
They besieged and took it by storm after a struggle of two days. When
the Britons were retiring, flushed with victory, they fell in with Cerialis,
and the ninth legion of the Roman army, who were hastening to relieve
the province. The Britons, corning upon them suddenly, at once engaged
them in battle, and the legion was completely destroyed, scarcely a man
escaping.
16 THE HISTORICAL KEASON WHY.
A FORMIDABLE REBELLION OF THE SOUTHERN BRITISH TRIBES, UXDER
BOADICEA, 61.
47. What did Suetonius resolve upon when he heard
of the rebellion ?
He at once abandoned the Isle of Anglesea and hastened to
London, which he reached after laborious marches through
difficult parts of the country. London had then become a
large, populous, and wealthy place, and at first Suetonius
intended to occupy and defend it. But he afterwards resolved
that it would be more prudent to abandon it.
48. Why did the Britons and Romans who then
inhabited London implore him to continue in the city ?
Because the Britons residing in the city had, to a great
extent become attached to the Romans, and accustomed to
their manners and institutions, which were superior to the
barbarous habits of their own tribes ; and they knew that
the free Britons would put them to death for associating
with the common enemy.
49. This fear was verified. As soon as Suetonius had quitted London,
the Britons entered it, and slew every one they found therein. From thence
they marched to Verulamium (now St. Albans), where they took the like
dreadful measures of vengeance. So furious had the Britons become that
they reserved no prisoners, either to sell or exchange, but put all to death.
It is said that no fewer than seventy thousand Romans, and their con-
federates, perished in this rebellion.
50. Why did Suetonius leave London in an undefended
state ?
Because his army was reduced to ten thousand men, a small
army compared to the rebellious Britons, who were estimated to
number upwards of two hundred thousand. Suetonius believed
that the better discipline, and the superior arms of the Roman
soldiers, would be advantageous to them in an open battle.
51. He therefore made a prudent choice of ground upon which to engage
the enemy. The rear was secured by an impenetrable wood, and the
ground in front extended into a hollow vale, with very steep sides. Here
he drew up his army in order for battle. The Britons, confident of victory,
and eager to engage, took no precautions, but marched towards the ground
which Suetonius had chosen. Boadicea, mounted in a war-chariot, dressed
iu a flowing robe, with her two daughters sitting at her feet, drove through
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 17
JULIUS FRONTINUS, GOVERN OK OF BRITAIN, SUBDUED THE SILURIANS,
the army and addressed the soldiers, urging them to fight bravely for their
liberties. She concluded a thrilling appeal by saying that she, "though a
woman, had determined to conquer or die; those who pleased might live
and be slaves." The Britons advanced to the charge with dreadful shouts,
and poured a shower of darts and arrows upon the enemy. The Romans
sheltered themselves from these weapons by their shields, and waited until
the Britons had exhausted their supply of darts ; then the Roman foot
soldiers attacked them with their swords, and the cavalry with their pikes,
with such impetuosity that they bore down all resistance. The Britons
fell into disorder, and became confused by the precipitancy of their retreat.
The Romans then, avenging themselves for the sufferings of their fellows,
slaughtered all who fell in their way— men, women, children, and horses.
So terrible was the punishment inflicted upon the Britons, that eighty
thousand of them were killed in the battle and subsequent pursuit.
The unhappy Boadicea, unable to bear up against the defeat, put an end to
her own existence by poison.
52. What were the next events that transpired In
Britain ?
A period of comparative inactivity and peace elapsed, partly
caused by the jealousies and cupidity of the Roman generals
in Britain, and partly by the unsettled state of affairs hi
Home under Nero. In the year A.D. 69, Vespasian was
declared Emperor of Rome, and he then sent a new Governor
to Britain, Petilius Cerialis, with instructions to carry out a
vigorous policy. Under this Governor wars were renewed,
tribes reduced to submission, the Roman conquests were
extended towards the northern part of the island, and sub-
mission and tribute to Rome enforced.
53. Why ivas Julius Agricola appointed ly Vespasian
to be Governor of Britain ?
Because he had served in the British wars under Suetonius,
in which he distinguished himself by acts of great bravery,
judgment, and moderation. Being, therefore, acquainted with
the Britons, and having learned by experience the most
advantageous policy respecting them, he was honoured by
Vespasian with the appointment to the Governorship. He at
once brought some unconquered tribes to subjection, and
completed the conquest of the Isle of Anglesea, which had
been commenced by Agricola.
18 THE HISTOETCAL EEASON WHY.
JULIUS FEONTINUS ORGANISED A ROMAN PROVINCE, AND INTRODUCED
BENEFICIAL LAWS, ABOUT 78.
54. Agricola pursued a wise and humane policy. He introduced reforma-
tion into his own household, and suffered none of his domestics to
be guilty of acts of oppression towards the Britons. In bestowing
employments in the state, and preferments in the army, he regarded only
merit, esteeming it better to employ such as would not transgress, than
to punish transgressors. He heard the complaints of the people with
patience, and redressed their grievances with readiness. By his wise
administration the Britons began to be reconciled to the Roman govern-
ment, and to relish the sweets of peace and industry. Although these
feelings influenced the Britons of the South of the island, there were still
in the North several unconquered tribes, who retained all the characteristics
of barbarity, and occasioned great trouble to the Roman government, and
to those Britons who had begun to improve under the arts of civilisation.
55. Why did Agricola build a series of forts, sup-
posed to have extended from the Solway Frith to the
river Tyne ?
Because it was a part of his wise system, as soon as he
had conquered a people, to take them under his protection,
and to make them feel that in submission they had gained,
rather than lost, advantages. He therefore constructed a
chain of forts from sea to sea — to keep back the northern
barbarians who frequently committed depredations upon the
possessions of the tribes living upon the borders of Scotland.
Although Julius Csesar invaded Britain fifty-five years before
the birth of our Saviour, it- was about eighty-four years after
Christ's nativity, or one hundred and thirty nine years, before
the Romans had carried their conquests as far as the borders
of Scotland.
Forth or Frith, a narrow arm of the sea; or the opening of a river
into the sea.
56. In addition to these measures for the protection of the conquered
Britons, Agricola persuaded them to live in a more civilized manner, to
build better houses, and to construct towns, with a view to the general
convenience, and also to adorn their towns with" buildings for public
purposes. He instructed the sons of British chieftains in the language,
learning, and eloquence of the Romans. By these means he made an
amazing change in the face of the country, and the manners of its
inhabitants.
57. Why, when Agricola entered Caledonia, was he
unopposed ?
Because the barbarous tribes inhabiting that remote part,
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
AGBICOI/A TOOK POSSESSION OF PAETS OP CALEDONIA TNOPPOSEP,
ABOUT 82.
believed that the severity of the winter would compel him to
withdraw his forces, and yield to them possession of the lands
he had occupied. In those days, even in this mild climate,
wars were generally suspended in the winter, and resumed
in summer.
CALEDONIANS.
58. Wlnj icere the Caledonians disappointed in this
expectation ?
Because Agricola was a general of great energy. Finding
the enemy inactive in the winter, instead of wasting that
season in idleness, he moved further north, and quite unmo-
lested, built another chain of forts across the narrow neck
of land, which separates the Friths of Forth and Clyde. He
had thus reached as far as the present county of Stirlingshire.
20 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
AGRICOLA DEFEATED GALGACU3 Itf KOETH BRITAIN,
These operations occupied a series of winters, and he acquired
strength enough to hold the country through the summer.
59. Upon crossing the Clyde, Agricola met with tribes which were
previously unknown. And from the coast he first caught a view of
Hibernia, now Ireland. Agricola turned his attention to the north-east
parts of Britain, which lay beyond the Forth, and having equipped a
considerable fleet, he caused the coast to be explored. His last battle
was fought on the Grampian Hills, where a large army of Caledonians had
assembled, under the command of Galgacus. Although these people were
barbarous, and subsisted chiefly by warlike excursions, in which they
plundered their neighbours, they regarded every inroad upon their own
territory with a very angry feeling. A powerful and daring people, they
determined to resist the Roman intruders to the last, and their chieftain,
before the great and final battle with Agricola's forces, addressed his
followers in a speech full of noble and patriotic sentiments. He called
upon them to look back upon their ancestors, who had long been
known as the bravest of the tribes of Britons; and forward to their
posterity, whose freedom and happiness depended upon their valour, and
the event of that day. These speeches were responded to by his troops
with military songs, and loud shouts. Agricola also addressed his army
in a strain calculated to excite their ardour. He made a very judicious
distribution of his forces; and the battle had not lasted long, when
the Caledonians, who fought under great disadvantage, on account of
their imperfect weapons, were thrown into great confusion, which was
increased by the horses which drew the war chariots taking fright, and
galloping furiously among them. The despair of the Caledonians after
their defeat was inexpressible. They set fire to their houses, and slew
their wives and children, rather than let them, as they anticipated,
become the slaves of ruthless conquerors.
60. Hoiv ivas tlie discovery that Britain is an island
made ?
Agricola, wishing to know more of the northern coast, and
finding that the winter was approaching, ordered his fleet to
sail northward, and after turning the northernmost point, to
return to their winter station, which lay on the western coast.
In carrying out these instructions, the navigators found that
they had an uninterrupted passage around the north coast,
which brought them again to the western port from which
they had sailed.
61. Why was Agricola recalled from tlie Governorship
of Britain ?
Because Domitian, who was then the Emperor of Home, was
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 21
THE EMPEROR HADRIAN LANDED IN BRITAIN, 104. JULIUS SEVER US
GOVERNOR FOR A SHORT PERIOD IN THE EARLY PART OF
HADRIAN'S REIGN.
jealous of the fame which Agricola had acquired, and which
continued to increase. Dornitian was a haughty tyrant, envious
of fame, and he took the most artful means to prevent any
one becoming his rival. Had the noble-minded Agricola con-
tinued for a few years longer to hold authority in Britain, it
is probable that he would so far have improved the country
and the people as to have preserved them from the terrible
calamaties which subsequently occurred in the wars with the
Saxons and the Danes.
62. Who was tlie next Governor of Britain ?
Sallustius Lucullus was appointed Governor by Domitian.
But he did not enjoy his authority long. He invented a new
instrument of war, which he ambitiously named "the Lucul-
lean lance,"— this so incensed the Emperor Domitian that he
ordered Lucullus to be put to death.
63. A lapse of some thirty years occurs in the History of Britain, without
any material occurrences. It was not until Hadrian became Emperor of
Home that anything of great importance again transpired.
61. Why did Hadrian, after assuming the Imperial
throne, himself resolve to visit Britain ?
Hadrian proved to be one of the most active and accom-
plished Emperors that ever held the sceptre cf Eome. He
visited in person all the provinces of his great empire, and
inquired minutely into their civil and military affairs. He
found that the Caledonians, and the Picts and Scots (other
tribes of the north), had acquired a portion of the territory
which Agricola had conquered and fortified. He, therefore,
raised a wall or rampart of earth from the river Tyne on the
east, to the Solway Firth on the west, near the line where
Agricola had built his first chain of forts.
65. Why did Hadrian hastily quit the Island?
He received news that a serious sedition had arisen at
Alexandria, and he was obliged to hasten thither to settle
the strife.
THE HISTOEICAL BEASON WHY.
A LONG INTEEVAL OF PEACE AFTEK HADRIAU'S DEPAETUEE.
66. For a period of fifty years, after the departure of Hadrian, the events
which transpired in Britain were of minor importance. A civil strife in
the Roman Empire occupied the attention of her rulers. There were
occasional disturbances and revolts in Britain, which were generally sup-
pressed without great difficulty. Antoninus Pius, the adopted son of
Hadrian, became his successor to the Imperial throne. Under this Emperor,
Lollius Urbicus, one of his lieutenants, was appointed to the government of
the Roman provinces in Britain. But from this time, except the building
of a wall of earth, beyond the wall of Hadrian, from Edinburgh to Dun-
britton Frith, little of importance occurred, until Clodius Albinus com-
manded in Briton, in the time of the Emperor Commodus. "Upon the death
PICTS OF THE NOETH.
of Commodus the possession of the Imperial throne was disputed between
Septimus Severus, Pescenius Niger, and Albinus. Niger died, and Albinus
after assuming the title of Emperor in Britain, raised a considerable army,
in which he enlisted "the flower of the British y®uth," and transported
them to the Continent, to fight the battles of his cause with Severus. At
length the two competitors met, on the 19th Feb., A.D. 197, upon a plain
near Lyons, where a sanguinary battle was fought, in which Albinus, being
defeated, killed himself, and left Severus sole master of the Roman Empire.
THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY. 23
SEVERUS CONSTRUCTS A. WALL AND LINE OF POUTS.
67. Why did Severus himself come to Britain?
Because, the Governor whom he had appointed, Virius
Lnssus, found himself unable to repel the incursions of the
Caledonians, the Picts, and Scots, who committed dreadful
ravages upon the Eoman settlements, which had been con-
siderably weakened by Albinus having drawn away so many of
their ablest youth.
68. Severus, though advanced in age when these difficulties occurred in
Britain, determined to acquire fresh military glory, and to satisfy the warlike
ambition of the Romans by keeping the soldiers in action. He had, more-
over, two sons, whom he wished to instruct in the art of war. Bringing
these sons with him, he made great preparations for the further conquest of
the north of England and Scotland. Severus took the precaution, when he
moved towards the north, to leave his younger son, Geta, in command of the
southern provinces, thereby to secure their peace. His elder son, Caracalla,
he took with him into the field of action. After the Roman army had passed
the wall of Hadrian, they met with many difficulties and dangers. The enemy,
too weak and disunited to encounter them in the opeu field, in pitched
battles, harassed them with continual skirmishes. But their greatest diffi-
culties arose from the state of the country, which was then covered with
thick woods, deep marshes, brooks, and rivers, arid whose courses were
unknown. To surmount these difficulties, Severus employed one part of his
army in cutting down woods, draining watery lands, and making roads and
bridges, while the other division defended the men engaged in these judicious
labours from the attacks of the enemy. He also compelled the Britons that
were subject to his power to assist in these important wor!;s. In this
expedition a great number of men— estimated at so great a number as fifty
thousand— died from exhaustion, the unhealthiuess of marshy districts, and
the harassing attacks of the enemy, Severus penetrated into the very heart
of Scotland, and obtained from the tribes conditions of submission and
peace.
69. Why did Severus construct a wall, and a line of
fortresses, parallel with the line of Hadrian's ivall ?
Because the wall of earth which Hadrian had caused to be
thrown up, afforded but a very insufficient defence against the
incursions of the northern Britons. Having brought these
into subjection, Severus determined to employ the interval of
peace in strengthening the Eoman position.
70. He employed his troops, for about two years, in building a great
wall of stone, twelve feet high and eight feet thick, strengthened with
many watch-towers, castles, and stations, at moderate distances. This wall
extended across the country in the direction of Hadrian's wall of earth,
but it lay a little further to the north, so that Hadrian's wall became a
24 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
THE EMPEEOE SEVEBTTS DIED AT YORK, FEB. 4TH, 211.
sort of second rampart. Severus having accomplished this, which, together
with the draining of the country and clearing of woods, may be regarded
as the great and distinguishing achievments of his reign, retired to York,
where he sought to establish his Court, and enjoy repose and comfort, the
reward of his victories.
71. What were tlie events which embittered the last
days of Severus ?
He had become very old and infirm; and his sons, whom
he had brought hither to acquire military knowledge and
fame, became disunited, and raised dissensions between the
provinces. The Caledonians, becoming aware of the decline
of the aged Emperor, and the quarrels between his sons,
endeavoured to recover that part of the country which they
had formerly resigned.
Caracalla, ambitious to become sole Emperor after his
father's death, to the exclusion of Geta, corrupted the army,
and induced laxity of discipline, which encouraged the tendency
to public disorder. These events so grieved Severus that he
is reported by historians to have died of grief, rather than
of disease.
7a. Thus we see that after a long life of danger and anxiety, in which he
sought to establish the fame of his two sons, Severus was brought to the
grave by their ingratitude and evil conduct, particularly that of Caracalla,
who even sought to promote his father's death by endeavouring to influence
the attendants to hasten his decease. True, they lived in barbarous times,
and their hearts may have been hardened by constant scenes of warfare,
and by the slavish submission they exacted from their subjects; but for
their ingratitude to tneir father, whose life appears to have been devoted
to their service, they deserve the condemnation of every child who knows
the sweetness of a parent's love.
As soon as Caracalla received the long-expected news of his father's death,
he made an easy peace with the Caledonians, and hastened towards the
South with the intention of taking possession of the Empire, but his brother
Geta had obtained adherents and acquired power too great to be disputed.
The two young Emperors remained but a short time in Britain. They
hastened to Rome, to enjoy the pleasures and honours of that great city,
which was then the capital of the world. After their departure, no material
events occurred in Britain for a period of seventy years.
73. Under what circumstances did Carausius become
mperor of Britain?
He did so by usurpation. In the time when Dioclesian and
THE HISTORICAL KEASOX WHY. 25
CARAXJSIUS USURPS THE EMPIRE, ABOUT 284.
Herculius were Emperors at Home, new enemies to the peace
of Britain arose. These were the Franks and Saxons, who fitted
out ships, and became pirates on the seas, so that no vessels
could sail from the coasts without being plundered, and their
crews murdered. To a nation which was then assuming mara-
time importance, this was a considerable evil, as great as the
internal distractions which had hitherto troubled it.
Carausius was appointed by the Roman Emperors to command
a fleet and exterminate the pirates from the seas. But instead
of fulfilling this duty faithfully, he combined with the pirates,
and ultimately declared himself Emperor of Britain, and inde-
pendent of Roman authority.
74. This led again to internal commotions in which the Romans were
more concerned than the Britons. Orders were sent from Rome to put
Carausius to death. But, being possessed of the fleet which commanded
the seas, he maintained his usurpation for some time, until he was murdered
at York, by Alectus, one of his officers, who immediately made pretensions
to the government of Britain.
In the meantime, under the direction of the Emperors, Constantius had
organised a fleet, for the purpose of recovering Britain from the hands
of the usurpers. Alectus was ultimately defeated and slain; Roman
authority was again established, after disturbances which lasted ten years;
the seas were cleared of pirates, and the freedom of navigation restored.
Constantius was afterward declared Emperor of one division of the Roman
States, including the British provinces. He died at York, in the year 306,
having declared his son successor to the Empire.
75. Why was Constantine, son of Constantius, sur-
named tlie Great?
Because he proved to be a good and powerful prince. He
embraced and encouraged the Christian religion, and enjoyed
a long reign, in which his Empire tasted more of the bless-
ings of peace than was customary to those troubled times. In
Britain, especially, peace prevailed from the time of Constan-
tiiie's accession, to his death, which happened May 22nd, 337.
Constantino the Great is supposed to have been the son of
Constantius, by his first wife Helena, a princess celebrated
for her early connexion with Christianity, and for her piety.
76. Upon the death of Constantino his empire was divided by the
deceased Emperor's will, between his three sons, Constantino, Constans,
and Constautius. Two of these brothers quarrelled respecting the division
26 THE HISTOBICAL SEASON WHY.
THE EOAIAX E3IPIRE BEGINS TO DECLINE, 403.
of the empire, and had recourse to arms. Taking advantage of these
dissensions, the Picts and Scots again rose in great numbers, and repeat-
edly attacked the Roman provinces. Constaris was deposed by the Roman
army and people, and slain when flying for safety towards Spain. Con-
stantius, the youngest of Constantino's sons, and the only surviving one,
having suppressed the usurpation and rebellion, again brought the Roman
Empire under his dominion. Constantius then pursued towards Britain a
tyrannical policy, which caused great discontent.
77. Wliy was Theodosius sent as Governor to Britain
Ijy the lEmperor Valentinian ?
Because Britain had again fallen into a state of great dis-
order. Whenever the Roman Emperors, either from troubles
in their principal states, or from indifference to the welfare
of their provinces, neglected the affairs of Britain, it relapsed
into a state of tumult. The Caledonians, Picts, and Scots,
committed depredations in the North ; and the piratical Franks
and Saxons attacked all .the places on the South coast, and
plundered vessels on the seas.
Such was the state of things when Theodosius, a wise and
energetic general, was sent to rule in this island. He brought
with him an army, to strengthen his movements. For then
the country was completely overran with lawless bands, that
had penetrated as far as London (then called Augusta) and
had collected an enormous mass of booty, as well as taken a
great multitude of men, women, and children, prisoners.
78. These marauding bands everywhere fled before the army of Theodosius.
He drove the Northern barbarians beyond the wall of Antoninus Pius, and
strengthened that wall, together with the wall and fortresses of Severus,
which the enemy had seized, and in some cases destroyed. Theodosius
corrected many abuses in the collection of public revenues, made abatement
in taxes, and gave assistance to the natives in repairing the damages which
their villages and towns had sustained. By these means he again restored
tranquillity, and gained from the people attachment to Roman dominion.
When he was recalled to Rome, to be raised to one of the greatest dignities
of the empire, he was attended to the place of embarkation by multitudes
of people, who gave him their blessings, and prayers for his prosperity.
79. Wliy did tlie Picts and Scots, and the Franks
and Saxons again acquire power to trouble the Britons,
after the departure of Theodosius ?
Because the Roman empire became again disturbed by rival
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 27
THE BOMANS ABANDON THE ISLAND ABOUT 420.
claims to the Imperial throne. Maximus, a Roman officer
stationed in Britain, two sons of Valentinian, and Theodosius,
son of the Theodosius who had governed with so much suc-
cess in this island, became rival claimants for the Imperial
dignity. Maxirnus, who had resided many years in this island,
and had married the daughter of a British chieftain, obtained
great favour with the Britons, and in his wars of ambition
large numbers of them enlisted in his cause, and followed
him to the Continent, where, being defeated by Theodosius,
by whom Maximus was commanded to be put to death, they
were left in a deplorable condition, unable to return to their
native country, which had again become the prey of pirates
and barbarians. After the death of Theodosius II., reinforce-
ments of troops were sent to Britain with the view of again
protecting the Roman provinces from the lawless bands which
had began to overrun them. But the internal troubles of
the Roman Empire increased. Africa was dismembered from
it; Thrace, Hungary, Austria, and several other provinces
were desolated, and multitudes of Goths, Vandals, and other
fierce barbarians had began to threaten Rome itself. In Bri-
tain, a spirit of mutiny and rebellion seized the Roman
troops ; they laid aside all regard to the reigning Emperor,
and invested Marcus, one of their own officers with the
supreme title. Soon getting weary of their idol, they put
Marcus to death, and set up in his stead Gratkin. In less
than four months they deposed and murdered the second
Emperor of their choice. Then they set up one Constan-
tine, an officer of inferior rank — merely because he bore the
auspicious name of Constantine. Constantino with much shrewd-
ness, to increase his popularity, organised military excursions
abroad, and offered great rewards to those who followed his
standard. A considerable number of British youth flocked
to his support, and large armies of them overran the
provinces of Gaul and Spain. Thus the island was again
shorn of the strength necessary for protection. Constantine,
and his son Constans were defeated and slain, and the British
soldiers who escaped joined those who had previously followed
Maximus and Constantine, and founded the colony afterwards
28
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
CLOSE OF THE ROMAN EEA.
called Brittany. Some further attempts were made to uphold
the Roman authority in this island, but the intestine troubles
of Rome at length became so considerable, that the Romans
were obliged to recall all their troops, and abandon the island
to its fate. In vain the Britons and the Roman colonists im-
plored the Imperial government to keep possession of the
island, and protect them from the ravages of their foes. They
did, indeed, send occasional relief to Britain, drove back the
Picts and Scots, and punished the piratical Franks and Saxons.
But at length they were compelled to bid final adieu to Britain,
warning the natives to look for no more protection from them,
and the last Roman legion set sail from the British coast
about 475 years after their ancestors had first landed in it,
under the command of Julius Caesar.
ESITISII V,TAR CHARIOT.
THE HISTORICAL BEASON WHY. 29
THE BOMANS LEAVE THE COUNTRY IMPROVED.
NOTES UPON THE ROMAN PERIOD.
Julius Caesar found the Britains divided into distinct tribes, differing in
degrees of barbarity.
Some of them went unclad, others were habited in the skins of beasts;
others wore manufactured garments, which they obtained from the Gauls.
Most of them dyed their skins with woad, and marked fanciful figures upou
their persons.
Their Jiouses were rude huts formed of mud and wattles, having an
aperture through the thatch for the emission of smoke. Windows were
formed of holes in the walls, or light entered only through the hole in the
roof and the door.
Of furniture they appear to have had none.
They slept upon the ground, upon the skins of beasts, lying with their
feet towards the fire, which burnt in the middle of their huts.
They traded, in some parts of the island, with Phronicians, Spaniards,
Gauls, and others, for various commodities, for which they exchanged tin.
They had no ships, but they rowed about the coast in boats called
coracles, made of wicker, and covered with leather.
Their weapons were darts, with heads formed of flint, bone, or metal ;
long and cumbersome sabres made of copper ; and shields made of wood
or wicker.
Their money was formed of pieces of metal, and metallic rings, of curious
shapes.
The Caledonians, Picts, and Scots, were different tribes of the same
people, occupying the northern parts of the kingdom.
The Britons, under various names, occupied the central and southern
parts of the island.
The Gauls alluded to in the opening of British history, were the people
dwelling upon the coasts of France, opposite to the British coast. But
ancient Gaul was a much more extensive country than is commonly imagined.
It was bounded on the north and west by the sea ; on the east by the Rhine
and the Alps; and on the south by the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees.
The Franks were a savage and daring people whose origin is a matter
of doubt. In course of time they became so powerful and numerous that
they overran and conquered Gaul, and carried wars into many parts of
the ancient world. The Franks referred to in British History were German
tribes who crossed the Rhine and entered Gaul, and then extended their
piratical excursions to Britain.
The Saxons were a people who inhabited a territory on the north side of
the Elbe, from which they made warlike incursions, and spread terror
throughout Europe. Occupying three small islands at the mouth of the
Elbe, they built powerful fleets, and obtained the mastery of the seas.
The Romans taught the Britons many useful arts. Instructed them in
the formation of roads and bridges, the erection of fortresses, houses,
temples, and towns. They put an end to the cruel Druidical sacrifices
of human beings, and introduced their own mythology, which was less
enslaving to the minds of the people.
30 THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
THE SAXONS INVITED INTO BRITAIN, A.D. 449.
BRITAIN UNDER THE SAXONS.
80. Why did tlie Saxons come to 'Britain?
Because the Romans had refused to send further suc-
cours to Britain, and a report was propagated that the
Picts and Scots had resolved to invade South Britain with
their united forces. The Britons, therefore, made application
to the Saxons to assist them, who accordingly came over
from the Continent in three large ships, and landed in the
Isle of Thanet.
81. "When the Britons were threatened by an invasion of the Picts and
Scots, an assembly was convened of all the British Kings, Princes, and
Chieftains, to deliberate upon the steps to be taken. Amongst the great
number of petty princes composing this assembly, .Voltigern, Sovereign of
the Silures, was the most considerable; by him the assembly was greatly
influenced, and it was he who proposed the application to the Saxons.
82. What took place as soon as the Saxons arrived
in Britain ?
The Saxons joined the British army and marched against
the Picts and Scots, who had pushed their destructive ravages
as far as Stamford. Near that place a desperate battle was
fought, in which the Britons, aided and encouraged by their
new allies, obtained a complete victory over their ancient
enemies, and obliged them to retire into their own country.
83. Why did the Saxons resolve to settle in Britain ?
Because the beauty and fertility of the British soil
excited them to wish, and the unwarlike character and
divided state of their inhabitants encouraged them to hope,
for a solid and permanent establishment in the country.
84. A proposal was made by the Saxon chiefs to send for a further
reinforcement of their countrymen, as a greater security against any
future attempt of the enemy; this was acceded to by the unsuspecting
Britons. As soon, therefore, as this end was accomplished, and the Saxon
chieftains, Hengist and Horsa, saw themselves at the head of a consider-
able army, they prepared to seize some part of those countries they had
been invited to defend.
THE HISTOKICAL EEASON WHY. 31
THE SAXON HEPTAKCHY FORMED.
85. What measures did the Saxons then take ?
They concluded a separate peace with the Picts, and began
to quarrel with the Britons about their provisions and pro-
mised rewards; and at length, under the plea of doing them-
selves justice, commenced ravaging the country and destroying
all who fell into their hands.
86. A long atid cruel war now broke out between the Saxons and the
Britons, in which the inhabitants were scattered about the country, many
perishing for the want of food and shelter, others submitting to the most
abject slavery to preserve their lives, and the whole of them, as a people,
effectually subdued.
87. In ivhat manner was the Heptarchy, or seven
Saxon Kingdoms, founded?
The Saxon chieftains who arrived with armies from time
to time, claiming a share of the captured country as a
reward for their services, had separate provinces assigned them,
which henceforth became seven distinct Kingdoms. The seven
Kingdoms were Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Northumberland, East
Saxony, East Anglia, and Mercia.
88. Hoio did the seven Saxon provinces eventually
come under the sway of one King ?
The internal discords which were naturally engendered by
so many warlike tribes, being situated near each other, gave
at length the mastery to the strongest power ; and Egbert,
who was descended from the West Saxon Princes, became the
first English Monarch.
89. At the time that Egbert took possession of the throne all the other
Kingdoms of the Heptarchy were in a dependent, or unsettled state. The
little kingdom of Sussex had been for some time before, annexed to
"Wessex, and that of the East- Angles to Mercia; and the petty Kings of
Kent and Essex were tributaries to the Mercian Monarchs. The two
remaining Kingdoms of Mercia and Northumberland were greatly weakened
by the unsettled state of their governments, and contests about succession.
These circumstances afforded Egbert a fair prospect of enlarging his
dominions and extending his authority. Accordingly he declared war
against the Kingdoms, one after the other, until the whole were defeated,
and the reduction of all the Kingdoms of the Heptarchy under one
Monarch was completed A.D. 827, about three hundred and seventy-eight
years after the first arrival of the Saxons in this island.
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY.
ALFEED THE GEEAT ASCENDED THE TIIEONE, 871.
90. Who succeeded Egbert as Kings of England?
His son Ethelwolf; and at his death his four sons, Ethelbald,
Ethelbert, Ethelred, and Alfred.
91. How were the first years of Alfred's reign occupied?
By endeavouring to drive the Danes out of the English
territories, who had for many years descended from time to
time on the English shores, until they became a formidable
and relentless foe.
92. What disasters attended Alfred's first efforts to
free his country of its enemies?
After several battles, both by sea and land, the English
were utterly discomfited, the armies completely routed, and
Alfred and his followers compelled to fly.
93. Alfred finding it unsafe to retain even a few followers about him,
dismissed them, to wait for better times ; and putting on the dress of
a country clown, concealed himself in the cottage of a cowherd. One day
as he was sitting by the fire in the cottage where he had concealed him-
self, trimming his bow and arrows, he was severely scolded by the good
woman of the house, for neglecting to turn some cakes that were baking;
telling him angrily that he would be active enough in eating them, though
lie would not take the trouble to turn them.
94. What success did Alfred subsequently obtain in
his wars with the Danes?
He fought several battles in which he was invariably vic-
torious, and at length totally subdued them and drove them
out of the country.
95. Why was Alfred surnamed the Great ?
Because, in addition to his military prowess, he superin-
tended the repairing of ruined cities, the building of forts and
fleets, the making of walls, and many other projects for the
security and improvement of his country. He also encouraged
the arts and sciences, was a patron of learned and virtuous
men, and forwarded the progress of civilization generally.
96. Who succeeded Alfred on the throne ?
Edward, Alfred's eldest surviving son, who inherited much
of his father's spirit and military talent.
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
33
EDWABD THE SON OF ALFBED BEIGNED, 901.
97. Edward spent nearly the whole of his reign in reducing the Danes
of Essex, East Anglia, and Meroia, to a thorough obedience to his
authority, and in building towns and castles for keeping them in sub-
jection. He also fitted out a fleet of one hundred ships, and sailed
against the Danes of Northumberland: with the whole of them he
fought several battles, and ultimately defeated them with great slaughter
INTERIOR OF A SAXOX DWELLING.
98. Wliy was Edward's reign disputed ly Etlielwald?
Because the latter was the son of Ethelbert, the elder
brother of Alfred, and therefore considered his claim more
tenable by priority of descent.
99. When Alfred ascended the throne, Ethel wald was an infant, and
therefore could riot prosecute his claim, but when he attained the age of
manhood he did not feel disposed to yield his claim to the throne.
Having spent several years in endeavouring to gain adherents, he at length
hazarded an engagement with an irregular army, and was killed in the
action.
34 THE HISTORICAL BEASON WHY.
THE SAXON KELKHOTT DESCEIBED.
100. How did JZdward prove himself a wortliy successor
of Alfred?
He spent several years in reducing the Danes, built towns
and castles in the most convenient places for keeping them in
subjection; fitted out a fleet of one hundred ships, built and
fortified an incredible number of forts and towns in all parts of
England ; and having thus secured his dominions, he extended
them by making a successful expedition into Wales, and
reducing the then Prince of that country to a state of subjection.
101. Why did not the Saxons excel in learning ?
Because, like all other northern nations, they were so much
addicted to plundering and piratical expeditions that they utterly
despised the peaceful pursuits of science; and their arrival in
Briton almost extinguished the faint light of learning that had
hitherto prevailed.
102. The Saxons, being a fierce and illiterate people, signalized their destruc-
tive progress by darkness and desolation ; and to such an extent did this
prevail, that in the early part of the Saxon era there was not so much as
one person who possessed any degree of literary fame, and at a later period
the only parts of learning that were cultivated by the British and Scotch
clergy were the Latin language, polemical divinity, and ecclesiastical law — a
very small knowledge of either of which was sufficient to procure any one
the character of a very learned man.
103. Of ivkat religion were the Saxons ?
They were acquainted with the doctrine of one supreme Deity;
but this belief was in some measure lost and corrupted by the
introduction of a multiplicity of gods and images.
104. The Saxon and Danish Priests believed and taught the immortality
of the human soul, and a state of rewards and punishments after death :
rejecting the Druidical doctrine of the transmigration of souls as an absurd
fiction. The place of rewards they called Valhalla, where the heroes spent
the day in martial sports, and the night in feasting on the flesh of the boar,
and drinking large draughts of beer or mead, out of the skulls of their
enemies whom they had slain in battle. The place of punishment they
called Niflheim, or The Abode of Evil, where Hela dwelt, whose palace was
Anguish; her table Famine, her waiters Expectation and Delay, the thresh-
old of her door Precipice, and her bed Leanness! In Valhalla all brave
and good men were to reside to the end of the world; and in Niflheim all
cowards and bad men for the same period— when, according to their
doctrine, the heavens and earth, and even the gods themselves were to be
THE HISTOEICAL BEASON WHY. 35
POETJIY HIGHLY ESTEEMED BY THE SAXONS.
consumed by fire. After this, a new and more glorious world was to arise,
the heroes and good men were to be admitted into a palace of gold, and
the cowards and wicked men were to be consigned to a horrible cavern,
built of the carcasses of serpents.
105. Why ivas agriculture neglected among tlie Anglo-
Saxons ?
Because the Germans, from whom the Anglo-Saxons derived
their origin and manners, were not much addicted to agriculture,
but depended chiefly on their flocks and herds for subsistence.
106. These restless and haughty warriors esteemed the cultivation of their
lands too ignoble and laborious an employment for themselves, and there-
fore committed it wholly to their women and slaves. They even went so
far as to enact laws to prevent their contracting a taste for agriculture,
lest it should render them less fond of arms and warlike expeditions.
107. How was the payment of rent adjudged to the
owners of land?
The rates of the rents were ascertained by law, according to
the number of hides of plough-lands of which a farm consisted,
and the tenants were enjoined to pay but in kind.
108. By a law made during the seventh and eighth centuries, a farm con-
sisting of ten hides of ploughed lands was to pay the following ivnt :— Ten
casks of honey, three hundred loaves of bread, twelve casks of strong ale,
thirty casks of small ale, two oxen, ten wethers, ten geese, twenty hens, ten
cheese, one cask of butter, five salmon, twenty pounds of forage, and one
hundred eels.
109. Why did the Saxons esteem and cultivate the art
of poetry ?
Because they considered that all events that deserved to be
remembered, might, through the medium of verse, be more easily
instilled into the minds of men, make a deeper impression on
their memories, and a\so be more effectually handed down to
posterity.
110. Every bold adventurer when he set out on a piratical or military
expedition, if he were not a great poet himself, which was frequently the
case, never neglected to carry with him the best poet he could procure
to behold and celebrate his martial deeds. The most ancient of these
historical and military songs have been Ion? since lost ; but; there is
good reason to believe that it is to them wo owe many particulars of
the most ancient part of our history.
36 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
BATTLE OF BRUNENBUBGH, 938.
111. Why did the early Anglo-Saxons neglect maritime
affairs ?
Partly because the long and obstinate resistance they met with
from the Britons obliged them to employ all their forces on land,
and to neglect the sea ; and partly because the fertility of their
new settlements furnished them with all the necessaries of life,
as men lived at that period.
112. By whom was Edward succeeded ?
By Athelston, his eldest son, who was crowned at Kingston-
upon-Thames in the year 925.
113. What alliance did Athelston form with Sithric
Prince of the Northumbrian Danes ?
In order to attach Sithric more firmly to his interest, Athelston
gave him his sister Edgetha in marriage; and he also yielded
him the sovereignty of the whole country from the river Tees
to Edinburgh.
114. The success of this wise measure was defeated by the death of
Sithric, and the succession of his two sons, Anlaff arid Guthfert, who
renounced Christianity, and cast off all subjection to the King of England.
Athelston, upon this, marched au army into Northumberland, and soon
obliged the two Princes to abandon their country. Ultimately a personal
interview took place between the contending parties, and au amicable
adjustment was effected.
115. Why did Athelston subsequently fight a lattle
with Anlaff and his confederates?
Because, for four years, formidable preparations were made to
invade England with a very powerful army composed of many
different nations.
116. Athelston raised his forces with great ppedition, and came within
view of his enemies at a place called Brunenburgh. The battle continued
from morning till night, with incredible fury and slaughter on both sides.
The result, long doubtful, was at last declared in favour of England, and
in the conflict five of the allied Princes and twelve chieftains were slain.
This glorious victory not only reduced all England under the dominion of
Athelston, and obliged the Princes of Wales, who had been concerned in
the late conspiracy, to submit to pay an additional tribute, but it also
raised his reputation so high among foreign nations that the greatest
foreign Princes in Europe courted his alliance.
THE HISTORICAL EEASOX WHY.
ACCESSION OF EDMUND TO THE THRONE, 941.
117. Who succeeded Athelston on the throne?
Edmund, his brother, who was in his eighteenth year when
he ascended the throne.
CAKVING PilOil THE SPIT.
117.* Our Saxon ancestors were entirely unacquainted with the use of the
fork, which is comparatively a modern invention, dating no further back
than the reign of Edward the First. A joint was cooked in the kitchen,
adjacent to the dining hall, and being brought in, hissing hot, by the
cook or one of his assistants, was presented by him in the kneeling
posture represented in the engraving. The host, or his guest, as the case
might be, then seized any prominent part, such as a leg or a wing, and
cut off as much as he liked, placing the severed portion upon his trencher,
as best he could with his knife and the fingers of his left hand. While
people were compelled to the frequent use of their fingers in despatching a
repast, washing before and after dinner was no idle ceremony, but was
regarded as an indispensable process. The ewers and basins for this pur-'
pose were generally of a costly material and elaborate workmanship. It
was the custom generally for each guest to be furnished with a separate
ewer and basin; at the same time it was considered a very high com-
pliment, or, at least, an act of high courtesy towards a guest to invite
him to wash in the same basin.
38 THE HISTOKICAL EEASON WHY.
EDGAR DECLARED KINO,
118. Why did Anlaff, the former Pretender to the
Kingdom, again attempt to invade it ?
Because upon hearing of Athelston's death, and presuming1
upon the youth of Edmund, he imagined it would be a favour-
able opportunity for another invasion.
119. Edmund having gained a knowledge of Anlaffs intention, marched
against him before he was prepared, and compelled the insurrectionary
Princes to make humble submission, and to embrace Christianity. These
professions, however, proved insincere, and Edmund was ultimately compelled
to expel the apostate Princes from the kingdom.
120. Who succeeded Edmund ?
Edred his brother, in preference to Edwi and Edgar the sons
of Edmund, who at his death were infants.
121. Edred carried out the active measures of his predecessors; quieted
several rebellions that broke out, and died while still in the flower of his
youth.
122. Who succeeded Edred?
Edwi, eldest son of the late King.
123. Nothing can be more melancholy than the story of this unhappy
Prince. He was hardly seventeen years of age when he came to the throne,
remarkably beautiful in his person and of an amiable disposition; but a
violent love which he conceived for his cousin Elgiva, became a source of
many misfortunes to them both. His marriage with that Princess was
opposed by Odo, Archbishop of Canterbury, and by the famous St. Duristan.
Edwi, deaf, to their advice, surmounted every obstacle, and married the
idol of his affections, and then brought upon himself the animosity of not
only Odo and St. Dunstan, but of the whole body of ecclesiastics.
Edwi, enraged at this interference, banished St. Dunstan out of the kingdom,
and expelled the Benedictine monks from several monasteries, restoring
them to the secular canons, their original owners. These measures were
resented by Odo, Dunstan, and other followers, who seized Elgiva, defaced
her beauty with hot irons, and sent her into Ireland. They also poisoned
the minds of the King's subjects against their Monarch, stirring them up to
rebellion, and putting Edwi's brother, Edgar, at their head, who soon
made himself master of the whole country north of the river Thames.
This, and his other misfortunes, crushed his spirits ; and having retired
into Wessex, he ultimately died of a broken heart, his brother Edgar
becoming Sovereign of all England.
124. Wliy was Edgar, the successor of Edwi,
the Peaceable?
Because he was so well prepared for war by a powerful flee t
THE HISTORICAL KEASON WHY.
WOLVES EXTERMINATED PKOM GREAT BRITAIX.
and a well ordered army that other nations dared not disturb
the tranquillity of his dominions.
125. Edgar's attention to maritime affairs was the chief glory of his reign,
and this not only effectually secured the coast from insults, but procured
him much respect from neighbouring states and Princes. Eight of these
Princes are said to have attended the Court of Edgar at Chester, and to
have rowed him in the royal barge on the river Dee, as a mark of their
subjection, or of their regard and friendship.
126. In what manner were wolves, ivhich then Infested
Great Britain, exterminated?
By Edgar imposing- a new and uncommon kind of tribute
on the Princes of Wales ; exacting of them, instead of money
and cattle which they paid before, three hundred wolves' heads
yearly, which occasioned such a keen pursuit of them, that after
a few years they were all either driven out of the country or
killed.
127. Why was Edward, the son and successor of
Edgar, surnamed the Martyr?
Because he was treacherously murdered by his step-mother
Elfrida, who wished to place Edward's younger brother Ethelred
on the throne, in order that she might have the administration
in her own hands.
128. As Edward was hunting one day near Corfe Castle, he rode up to
the castle, without any attendance, to pay Elfrida a passing visit. The
treacherous Queen received him with great seeming kindness; and. upon
his declining to alight, presented him with a cup of wine; but as he was
in the act of drinking he was stabbed in the back either by her own hand
or by her order. Edward finding himself wounded put spurs to his horse ;
but fainting from loss of blood, he fell from the saddle, and was dragged
along with his foot in the stirrup till he expired.
129. Whij was the reign of Ethelred a turbulent and
unfortunate one ?
Because the Danes, who for more than half a century had
given little disturbance to England, again commenced to harass
the English coast. Several descents were made by the enemy
in the course of this reign, and peace was for a short time
secured, by a large bribe of money.
40 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
CANUTE CROWNED KING OF ENGLAND, 1017.
130. How did England come for a time under tlie
Danish yoke ?
Because the purchase of momentary quiet, by large sums of
money, only served to accelerate the ruin of the English by
weakening themselves and strengthening their enemies. Until
at last Ethelred, despairing of preserving his Crown any longer,
fled from England and retired into Normandy. (See 94 and 95.)
131. JBy whom liad the Naval greatness of the Saxons
first leen established?
By Alfred the Great, who not only attempted to discover
unknown seas and countries, and thereby introduce new sources
of trade, but by inventing and encouraging new manufactures
which furnished many things for exportation.
132. Why did Canute lay claim to the English Crown,
and how were his pretensions recognised ?
Canute claimed the English Crown because he was the successor
of Sweyn, King of Denmark, by whom the English had first
been conquered. The greater part of the English clergy and
nobility attended him at Southampton, swore allegiance to him
as their King and abjured all the posterity of Ethelred.
133. After this event Edmund Ironside, son of the deceased King Ethelred,
still continued to prosecute his claim to the throne of his forefathers, and
fought many desperate and bloody battles with Canute without being
conquered. At length both parties becoming tired of these damaging and
fruitless wars, it was agreed to divide the kingdom between the contending
claimants, but a few days after this Edmund was treacherously murdered,
and Canute then became King of all England.
134. Why ivas Canute, although a usurper, in favour
ivith the English people ?
Because he was at much pains to extinguish national animosities,
and to bring about a thorough reconciliation between the Danish
and English subjects ; and having thus secured his newly acquired
kingdom, he proceeded to perform some meritorious acts of
justice.
135. In what other ways did Canute distinguish himself?
He made successful expeditions against Sweden and Norway,
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 41
HAKOLD SUCCEEDS TO THE TUBOUE, 1035.
both of which countries he conquered, and afterwards busied
himself in framing wise laws, building churches and monasteries,
and engaging in other popular and pious works.
136. Canute was called The Great; and his wisdom and good fortune not
only won the good opinion of the people, but engendered a host of unscrupu-
lous flatterers. Some of his courtiers carried their adulation so far, as to
declare in his presence that nothing in nature dared to disobey his com-
mands. To confound these sycophants, Canute ordered his chair to bo
placed on the beach near Southampton, and seating himself just as tlio
tide was coming in, he commanded the waves with an air of mock autho-
rity to approach no nearer his royal person. But the waves, regardless of
his commands, advanced with their accustomed rapidity, and compelled his
Majesty to retire; who turned to his flatterers and said, "Learn from this
example the insignificancy of all human power; arid that the word of God
is alone omnipotent."
137. Who succeeded Canute on the Throne?
The kingdom was divided between his two sons, Harold and
Hardicanute ; Harold keeping possession of London and all the
country to the north of the Thames, while that to the south
of the river was ceded to Hardicanute.
138. Canute left two sons : Harold, who was born to him by his first wife, and
Hardicanute, the offspring of his second wife. This last Prince should, by
right, have succeeded to the Crown, but being in Denmark at the period of
his father's death, his claims were overridden by Harold, who was then in
England, and who stepped into the vacant throne and seized the royal
treasures ; and it was to prevent the horrors of a civil war that the kingdom
was thus portioned between the two brothers.
139. Why did Hardicanute, when made King of all
England, upon the death of Harold, soon become un-
popular ?
Because he gave way to his violent passions, and equally
disregarded the dictates of reason and the laws of his country.
He also rendered himself especially unpopular by imposing a
heavy tax for the payment of his Danish fleet and army; an
impost rendered still more odious by the rigorous manner in
which it was collected, together with a grievous famine that
raged at the same time. Subsequently he abandoned himself to
such excesses in eating and drinking as impaired his health
and hastened his death, which happened while he was carousing
at the wedding of a Danish nobleman.
42 THE HISTOBICAL BEASON WHY.
EDWABD THE CONFESSOB, 3VIAERIED TO EDGITHA.
140. How did the English Crown once more become
possessed ~by an English Prince?
The violences of Harold and Hardicanute had rendered the
Danish rule so distasteful to the English, that upon the death
of Hardicanute they determined upon placing a native Prince
on the throne, and therefore made Edward, son of King
Ethelred, King of England.
141. Why was the marriage of Edward a most un-
happy one ?
Because Earl Godwin, the most powerful nobleman of that
day, had made a condition with Edward that in return for his
aid in raising him to the throne, Edward should espouse his
daughter Edgitha. Edward also professed to hold in abhorrence
Earl Godwin and his kindred, on account of the murder of his
brother Alfred, to which Godwin had been accessory.
142. Why did William Dulce of Normandy pay a
visit to Edward?
Because William had protected and supported Edward during
his banishment and adversity, and the King thus entertained
his Norman cousin as a token of gratitude.
143. It was on this visit that Robert the Norman, Archbishop of Can-
terbury, is said to have given "William the first hint of Edward's intention
of making him his successor; an intention which was probably suggested
by that prelate. A singular commentary on the faithlessness of princes is
afforded by the fact that Harold, the son of Earl Godwin, being sent on a
mission to William Duke of Normandy, took an oath that he would support
William's claim to the Crown of England, which he afterwards claimed
himself.
144. Why was Harold, the son of Earl G-odwin, in-
duced to believe that he might one day Jill the English
throne ?
Because Edward, being in the decline of life, was still child-
less, and the true heir to the crown, Edward the Exile, son
of Edmund Ironside, was at a great distance from the country,
and almost forgotten; and there then remained no one who had
any pretensions to the throne.
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 43
HAROLD II. PROCLAIMED KING, 1066.
145. Did Harold absolutely become possessed of the
Crown ?
Yes, when at the height of his power and popularity, Edward
the Confessor died, and Harold immediately caused himself to be
crowned King-, with the full sanction of the people.
146. Harold owed his elevation to the throne to his own great power and
wealth, his intimate connection with the chief nobility, the favour of the
clergy, the love of the citizens of London, and his general popularity. He
endeavoured to secure the Crown by the same popular acts through which
he had obtained it, and his administration is acknowledged to have been
wise, just, and gracious.
147, Why was Edivard for a long time undecided as
to whom he should lequeatli the Crown?
He is supposed to have inclined towards William Duke oi
Normandy from feelings of partiality; and, on the other hand,
he was disposed to make Harold his heir in order to secure
peace.
148. What ivere the circumstances of Edward the
Confessor's death?
He died on the 5th of January, 1066, and was the next day
interred in Westminster Abbey, the rebuilding of which he had
just lived long enough to complete.
NOTES UPON THE SAXON PERIOD.
The Saxons came over to Britain in separate armies and at different
periods, and, by degrees, founded the Seven Kingdoms, designated, collec-
tively, the Heptarchy.
The lowest order of people among the Anglo-Saxons were slaves, who,
with tlieir wives and children, were the property of their masters, besides
those who were native slaves, or slaves by birth, others frequently became
so by various means ; by the fate of war, by forfeiting their freedom through
crime, or even by contracting debts which they were not able to pay. Some
of these slaves were called villani, or vittans, because they dwelt at the
44 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
NOTES UPON THE SAXON PEEIOD.
villages belonging to their masters, and performed the servile labours of
cultivating their lands, to which they were annexed, and transferred with
these lands from one owner to another.
Several members of the Saxon community associated themselves in what
was called a tithing; its members were strongly attached to each other,
and frequently united by the ties of blood. They fought in one band in the
day of battle, and frequently ate at the same table in the time of peace.
If one of the society was wronged, all the rest assisted to procure redress ;
if one sustained a loss by fire, the death of cattle, or any other accident,
the others contributed to indemnify him for his loss; if one of them
became poor, the rest supported him; all the members of the tithing
attended all the funerals, marriages, and festivals of the neighbourship,
and, finally, if one of the members misbehaved himself he was expelled
the society. This was a heavy social degradation, as from that moment the
expelled member became an outlaw and a wanderer, and was exposed to
a thousand insults.
Trial Ity Jury, as at present practised, was instituted by the Anglo-
Saxons, in these terms: "That there may be a court held in every wapon-
tack, let twelve of the most venerable thanes, with the gerieve, stand forth
and swear upon the holy things put into their hands, that they will not
condemn any innocent, nor acquit any guilty person."
The first taxes on record were those imposed under the name of Danegeld ;
these were raised for the purpose of bribing the Danes to desist from the
incursions they were constantly making upon the English coast. This tax
was gradually increased from one to seven shillings on every hide of land, and
was retained long after the original occasion for imposing it had ceased.
A council, somewhat resembling our present Parliament, existed under
the title of the Wittenagemot. In this assembly, both ecclesiastical and
political laws were made ; taxes for the maintenance of the clergy and the
support of the civil government were imposed; questions relating to peace
and war were debated; civil arid criminal causes of the greatest moment
were determined; and the most important affairs of the kingdom were
finally regulated.
Among the various offices of the Royal Household were two of a somewhat
eccentric character, the one was that of Master of the Lights, who had the
care of all the wax and tallow candles used in the palace ; he was obliged to
hold a taper in his hand near the dish out of which the King ate, and to
carry one before him when he went into his bed-chamber. The other
singular office was that of The King's Feet-bearer, whose duty it was to sit
on the floor, with his back towards the fire, and hold the King's feet in
his bosom, all the time he sat at table, to keep them warm and com-
fortable.
The Parental Authority among the Anglo-Saxons was great, empowering
them to correct their children with becoming severity, to regulate their
general conduct, to sell their daughters with their own consent, and even
to sell both their sons and daughters into slavery to relieve themselves
from extreme necessity. One of the most curious customs among the
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
NOTES UPON THE SAXON PERIOD.
parents of this period was to place their infants on the sloping roofs of
their houses, with a view of testing their future courage. If the child
clung to the thatch with determination and tenacity, the parents hailed
the action with delight, and the child was well tended and carefully
brought up. But if the infant cried, and betrayed a fear of falling, it was
regarded as an ill omen of his future career, and he was ever afterwards
habitually neglected.
Architecture was an art almost wholly unknown among the earlier Anglo-
Saxons ; they lived in houses built of wood or earth, and covered with
straw or the branches of trees; and the walls even of cathedral churches
were built of wood.
SAXON HOUSE. FROM STRUTT.
The Art of making Glass was introduced into England about the eighth
century; before that period the windows of houses and churches were filled
either with linen cloth or lattices of wood .
The Art of Embroidery was extensively practised by Anglo-Saxon ladies ,
who worked rich and ingenious devices, for the purpose of decorating the
priests and ornamenting the churches. Figures were sometimes embroidered
upon cloth with threads of gold, silver, and silk, of purple and other
colours, as the nature of the figures to be formed required; and to render
them more exact, they were first drawn with colouring matter by some
skilful artist.
The Art of Dyeing appears to have been pretty well known, and especially
the dyeing of scarlet, by the help of the small insect known as the
cochineal.
The Furriers' Art, or the art of dressing the skins of animals without
taking off the hair or wool, was much improved in the tenth century ; for
then furs of all kinds were much worn, and highly valued for their warmth
and beauty.
The Painters and Sculptors of the age were chiefly employed in working
for the Church, by drawing and forming figures of our Saviour, the Virgin
46 THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY.
NOTES UPON THE SAXON PERIOD.
Mary, the Apostles, and other saints. At a later period historical paintings
representing the most celebrated actions of Princes and Generals became
common iu England.
Music was universally admired and cultivated, and some skill in vocal or
instrumental performance appears to have been necessary to every man who
wished to mingle in the better class of society ; and not to be acquainted
with music was deemed a disgrace.
Independently of coin, another medium of purchase and sale existed among
the Anglo-Saxons in the shape of living money. This consisted of slaves and
cattle of all kinds, which had a certain value set upon them by law, at
which they passed current on the payment of debts and the purchase of
commoditie of all kinds, and supplied the deficiency of money properly so
called.
The scarcity of money occasioned the prices of commodities to be very
low. line common price of an acre of land was sixteen Saxon pence (about
four shillings of our money), and twenty horses or heads of cattle could
then have been purchased for the cost of one now.
Hospitality was one of the most conspicuous social qualities of the Anglo-
Saxons. They received all comers without exception into their houses, and
entertained them in the best manner their circumstances could afford.
"When all their provisions were consumed they conducted their guests to
the next house without any invitation, where they were received with the
same welcome, and entertained with the same generosity. In those times
monasteries were especially regarded as a species of inn, where all ranks of
travellers were lodged and entertained.
THE HISTOKICAL SEASON WHY. 47
BATTLE OF HASTINGS FOUGHT BETWEEN WILLIAM AND HAEOLD, 1066.
FEOM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO THE DEATH OF
KING JOHN.
149. Why did William Dulce of Normandy lay claim
to the English Grown ?
Partly because he was a distant relation of the deceased Monarch,
and also on the pretext of Edward having- willed the Crown to
him.
150. What was the consequence of these rival claims
to the Throne.
A battle was fought at Hastings between William and Harold,
in which the former was victorious and the latter was killed.
151. The combat lasted from six in the morning till the setting of
the sun. The English troops fought with great bravery and were only
overpowered by the superiority of the numbers of the foe. During the
battle, William had three horses slain under him, and at one minute was
nearly laid prostrate by an English Knight. His followers were fearfully
thinned, and he lost one-fourth of his splendid army; nor did he imme-
diately gain by this battle one-fourth part of the kingdom of England, for
many an after-field was fought, and his wars for the conquest of the west,
the north, and the east, were protracted for seven long years.
152. Why did William malce a royal progress through,
his new kingdom ?
Because he did not feel himself at first secure, and was anxious
to propitiate the English people, by appearing among them,
and behaving towards them with kindness and condescension.
153. William made a progress into the different parts of his kingdom,
receiving the homage of his new subjects, and behaving to all who submitted
to his authority with the most engaging affability. In this progress he
was at great pains to restrain his Norman followers from doing any injuries,
or offering any insults to his English subjects. By these popular and prudeut
measures the public tranquillity was everywhere restored, and the most
perfect submission was observed towards the uew Government.
154. Why did revolts and insurrections spring up
soon after William's accession to the Throne ?
Because the Conqueror having established, as he imagined,
48 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
WILLIAM DESOLATED THE >'OETH OF ENGLAND, 1070.
perfect tranquillity in all parts of England, visited Normandy
for the purpose of receiving the congratulations of his former
subjects; and the Norman captains, taking advantage of the
absence of their chief, loaded the English people with injuries
and indignities, against which they protested.
155. What other revolt had William to suppress?
The two sons of the late King Harold, who had left England
after the battle of Hastings, and taken refuge in Ireland, collected
an army and a fleet, and landed on the coast of Devonshire. They
were, however, immediately defeated, and compelled to return
to Ireland.
156. Why did William forfeit the goodwill and esteem
of his English subjects?
On account of the rigorous measures he adopted against them,
and the cruelty with which he punished those who had armed
themselves against his authority.
157. In the beginning of the year 1070, "William marched northward with
his army, destroying and burning the whole country as he advanced, and
putting all the inhabitants to the sword without mercy. In this cruel
and destructive manner he proceeded as far as Hexham, marking his way
with blood and desolation. Many of the wretched inhabitants, who escaped
the sword by flying to the woods and mountains, perished by famine; and
no fewer than one hundred thousand men, women, and children, are said to
have been destroyed. The whole country between York and Durham was
converted into a desert, and remained without houses or inhabitants for
nine years.
158. Why did William invade Scotland?
Because Malcolm, the King of that country, had afforded a
refuge to all the English exiles, and assisted them in their
attempts against the Norman Government.
159. "William conducted an army into Scotland, where he was met by
Malcolm with forces of equal strength. After the two armies had faced
each other several days, a negotiation was set on foot, which terminated in
a peace, by which Malcolm agreed to do homage to "William for his rule
in England, and "William agreed to receive the English exiles into his
favour, and grant them an honourable establishment.
160. Why did a war IreaJc out between William and
Ms eldest son Robert?
Because Robert had been for some years declared heir to all
THE HISTORICAL SEASON -WHY. 49
DOOMSDAY BOOK PREPABED, 1081.
his father's dominions on the Continent, and began to be
impatient for their immediate possession, a desire which became
all the stronger owing to William's absence in England.
161. For some time "William eluded the importunate applications of his
son by evasive answers; but was at last obliged to declare plainly, that he
vas determined not to resign any of his territories so long as he lived. This
denial increased the discontent and anger of Robert, and was further fanned
into a flame by the following incident, trifling in itself, but important in its
consequences. The King, spending some time that year in the Castle of
I'Aigle with his Court, his two younger sons, William and Henry, in a
jouthful frolic threw some water from an upper apartment on their elder
Brother Robert and his companions, who were walking in a court below.
Robert naturally passionate, and at that time in a peevish and irritable state
of mind, drew his sword in a rage, and rushed upstairs to take revenge on
his brothers. This occasioned a great tumult; and it was owing to the
King's presence only that fatal consequences were prevented. The rage of
Robert, however, was not appeased; for he privily retired from Court that
Tery night with a number of the young nobility attached to his fortunes,
and with the view of surprising the citadel of Rouen, the capital of
Normandy. Open war soon after broke out, in which the father and son
were engaged for almost three years.
162. In what manner was the war put a stop to ?
The superior means and invincible valour of William gave him
considerable advantages over his son, who was at length driven
out of Normandy and took shelter in France.
163. William pursued his son, and besieged the Castle in which he was
shut, which was defended with great valour and many vigorous sallies. In
one of them Robert encountered, wounded, and unhorsed his father; who
made himself known by crying out as he fell to the ground. As soon as the
son heard his parent's voice he was penetrated with horror and remorse,
sprang from his horse, fell on his knees, and implored his father's pardon.
A reconciliation then took place, and Robert and his adherents were again
restored to favour.
164. Why did William cause the volume known as the
Doomsday Book to le prepared ?
In order that he might acquire an exact knowledge of the
possessions of the Crown, the revenues of the church, the nobility,
and land-owners; as also the number, quality, and wealth of all
his subjects.
165. This survey was conducted by Commissioners, taking information upon
oath in each county of the following particulars :— The name of every town
or village; who held it in King Edward's days; who then possessed it; how
C 2
50 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
DEATH OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEEOE, 1087.
many freemen, serfs, and cottagers were in it; how many hides of land
were in each manor ; how much woodland, meadow, and pasture ; how much
it paid in taxes in King Edward's days, and how much now; how many
mills and fish-ponds; and in some parts they were even more particular,
and took an account of the horses, black cattle, swine, sheep, and hives of
bees. All this information was returned by the Commissioners, and formed
into the two valuable volumes of Doomsday Book, which are still preserved
in the Exchequer.
166. Wliy did a war break out witli ^France about this
time ?
Because a want of cordiality had for a long time existed
between the rival Kings, which was brought to a crisis by an
offensive expression which the French King made use of in
reference to William's illness.
167. Under what circumstances did the death of William
the Conqueror occur ?
Having entered France at the head of a formidable army,
with the determination of desolating that country, he took the
town of Mantes, set it on fire, and reduced it to ashes ; but in
the midst of the attack his horse stumbled and threw him
forward on the pummel of the saddle, an injury which, aggra-
vated by previous sickness and advancing age, terminated fatally
a few days afterwards. William died at Eouen on the 9th of
September, 1087, in the sixty-third year of his age and the
twenty-first of his reign.
168. Wliy was the Arclibislwp of Canterbury con-
secrated Primate of all England ?
Because a dispute having arisen between Lanfranc and
Thomas, severally Archbishop of Canterbury and York at this
time, regarding the precedence, their respective claims were
investigated by a Synod, and Canterbury was declared to be
entitled to the Primacy.
169. Wliy did William bring about a cliange in the
polity of the Church of England ?
Because he began to find that the clergy and monas-
teries were possessed of far too large a proportion of the riches
THE HISTOEICAL BEASON WHY. 51
EEVIVAL OF LEARNING IN ENGLAND.
of the kingdom, without contributing in the same degree to
the defence of the country or the support of the State ; he
therefore stripped them of many of their estates by various
means, and adjudged them to pay the same taxes, and perform
the same national duties, as were expected of the laity.
170. So watchful an eye did William keep over the clergy, in the
exercise of discipline and government of the Church, that he did not allow
any of them to go out of the kingdom without his leave, to acknowledge
any Pope without his direction, to publish any letters from Rome till he
had seen and approved them, to hold any councils or to make any canons
without his consent, or to pronounce a sentence of excommunication upon
any of his nobles without his permission.
171. Why were the ancient laws of England preserved
fy William the Conqueror ?
Partly by the professed reverence of William for the ordi-
nances of Edward the Confessor; and partly by the invincible
attachment of the English people to their ancient statutes.
172. Why did the accession of William the Conqueror
to the English throne contribute to the revival of learning ?
Because that Prince had received a good education, was fond
of reading and the conversation of learned men, and by rewarding
with church benefices and other favours excited an extraordinary
desire for literary pursuits.
173. The erection of above one hundred monasteries in England in the
course of this period may be reckoned among the causes of the revival of
learning by increasing the number both of teachers and students, by
multiplying the inducements to pursue, and the opportunities to acquire
knowledge, but chiefly by rendering books much more attainable than they
had been in any former period. The art of making paper, which was
invented in the course of this period, contributed also to the revival of,
and more general application to learning, by rendering the acquisition of
books much less difficult and expensive than it had hitherto been. It is
also possible that some of the ingenious men who were to be found among
the Crusaders benefitted by their expedition to the East, and introduced
the results of their experience among their countrymen.
174. Why was the office of Standard-Sear er one of
the most honourable in the kingdom ?
Because the royal standard was considered as the centre of
the whole army, and being always conspicuous in the sight of
52 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
THE CINQUE POETS ESTABLISHED.
the soldiers, it became at length to be regarded with a sort of
personal interest and affection.
175. Henry de Essex, one of the standard bearers of England, was, on
the occasion of a battle with the Welsh, seized with a sudden panic, and
threw down the royal standard, upon which the whole array concluded that
the King was killed. Being tried for this crime, and convicted, he was
condemned to lose his office, his fortune, and his life, which last was
spared by the clemency of the King.
176. Why were tlie jive towns on the coast of Kent
and Sussex, commonly called the Cinque Ports, so con-
stituted ?
With a view to the protection of the country and the
encouragement of trade and shipping ; the five ports being
compelled to furnish collectively fifty-seven ships at forty days'
notice, and to continue fifteen days in the public service at
their own charges.
177. The five towns which originally formed the Cinque Ports were
Hastings, Dover, Hythe, Romney, and Sandwich; to which were added
Winch elsea and Rye as principals, and some other towns as members,
though they still retained the name of Cinque Ports from their original
number. Some idea of the comparative trade of these towns may be
furnished by a statement of the number of ships which each was compelled
to supply, namely :— Hastings, twenty<one ships; Romney, five; Hy the and
Sandwich, each five; Dover, twenty-one. For this important service to the
State, the people of the Cinque Ports had various honours and privileges
conferred upon them. Their merchants were not only styled Barons, but
four of them had the right to support the canopy over the King on the
day of his coronation, and to dine at a table on his right hand. The
inhabitants were exempted from the several feudal servitudes and prosecu-
tions, and could be sued only in their own court.
178. Why did the business of money-lending fall into
the hands of the Jews ?
Because Christians were prohibited, both by the laws of the
Church and State, from lending money at interest, which was
called usury, and those who were convicted of it were punished
by excommunication, and the forfeiture of all their goods.
179. This impolitic prohibition gave rise to the most exorbitant profits
and the most cruel exactions. For the business of money-lending being
confined to one class, and the rate of interest not being regulated by law,
the Jews set no bounds to their avarice, and took every advantage of the
necessities of those who applied to them for a loan.
THE HISTORICAL KEASON WHY. 53
WILLIAM KtTFUS SUCCEEDED TO THE TIIEONE, 1087.
180. Why was the custom of tolling the Curfew Bell
instituted ?
To compel all fires to be extinguished about sunset in
summer, and at about eight or nine at night in winter.
The ringing of the curfew bell is supposed by some to have
been introduced by William the Conqueror as a badge of servi-
tude. But another opinion is that it was simply intended as
a precaution against fires, which were of frequent occurrence,
and very fatal when so many houses were built of wood.
181. JBy whom was William the Conqueror succeeded?
By his second surviving son, William, surnamed Eufus, from
the red colour of his hair.
182. William Rufus, who was present with his father on his death-bed,
having obtained his nomination to the Crown of England, with a letter of
recommendation from Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, did not stay to
pay the last duties to his expiring parent, but hastened over the sea to
take possession of the Crown. As soon as he arrived in England he got
possession of his father's treasures at Winchester and of the most important
fortresses on the coast, and was eventually crowned at Westminster, by
the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.
183. Why was a conspiracy raised against William II.
soon after his accession ?
Because he was secretly disliked by many of the chief
nobility, who knew his fierce imperious character, and they having
large estates in Normandy, as well as England, conceived that
it would be impossible to preserve them both if the two
countries were under different Sovereigns.
184. The nobles designed to raise Robert Duke of Normandy, the elder
brother of William, to the throne of England. The intention was commu-
nicated to Robert, who encouraged the conspirators to proceed, and promised
to support them with a powerful army. William, alarmed at the combina-
tion against him, exerted all his vigour to defeat his enemies and preserve
the Crown he had obtained. With a view of obtaining the faithful adherence
of the English, he proi. ised to revive their ancient laws, to allow them to
hunt in the royal fores', with other privileges, and so gained thirty thousand
over to his cause. With these, and such Norman barons as adhered to him,
he took the field, and gained a complete triumph over his enemies.
185. Why did William soon after declare tear against
his brother Robert ?
Because he was actuated by revenge for the late attempt
54 THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
A CONSPIRACY KAISED TO DETHEOXE WIXLIAM II., 1095.
made on his Crown, and also by a desire to unite the kingdom
of Normandy to his own.
186. On landing in Normandy, "William was met by several of the Norman
barons, who, having estates in both countries, were naturally anxious to
maintain a peace, which was at length concluded without the rival forces
coming to an engagement.
187. What internal commotion toolc place during the
reign of William II. ?
A dangerous conspiracy was formed during his absence in
Normandy to deprive him of his throne ; William hastened
home, surprised the conspirators, and put an end to the plot
by several executions and confiscations of property.
188. Why did William become for a time the Governor
of Normandy?
Because Kobert, the reigning Duke, was seized with the
prevalent desire of joining the Crusades, and to accomplish his
object, mortgaged his Duchy to his brother William for five years.
189. Why was William involved in war with France ?
Because, when he took temporary possession of Normandy,
he laid claim to certain territories as belonging him, which
were in the hands of neighbouring Princes.
190. These wars were carried on for some time without any decisive result
except the recovery of the province of Maine, which had been defended
with great bravery for many years, until the Commander was compelled to
submit, and suffer himself to be taken prisoner.
191. finder what circumstances did the death of
William Itufus occur?
William Duke of Guienne, wishing to join in the Crusades
as other Princes had done, offered to mortgage his Dukedom
to the King of England for a sum of money to defray the
expenses of the expedition. Rufus accepted the offer, provided
the money, and put himself at the head of a powerful army
to take possession of his new territories ; with this army he
lay near the sea-coast waiting for a fair wind to take him
across to the Continent. On the 2nd of August, in the year
1100, the King, with his brother, Prince Henry, and a
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY. 55
HEKBY FIRST ASCENDED THE THUONE, 1100.
numerous suite, went to hunt in the New Forest ; towards
evening, when the company were dispersed in the pursuit of
their game, a buck suddenly sprang between the King and
one Walter Tyrrel, a French gentleman, who excelled in
archery ; he discharged an arrow at the buck, which missed its
aim, and, glancing against a tree, struck the King on the breast,
pierced his heart, and immediately deprived him of life.
192. Who succeeded William Eufus?
Henry, the youngest son of William the Conqueror, who took
advantage of his elder brother Robert's absence to have himself
crowned King.
193. Henry was in another part of the New Forest pursuing his sport when
he heard that his brother William was killed, and he immediately put spurs
to his horse and galloped to Winchester to seize the royal treasure, in order
to usurp the Crown. William de Breteuil, the keeper of the royal treasure,
was also in the field, and suspecting what might happen rode to Winchester
with equal speed. On his arrival, he found Prince Henry demanding the
keys of the treasury with many threats, and boldly interposed, declaring
that both the treasure and the Crown belonged to Robert, Henry's eldest
brother. The Prince drew his sword and threatened immediate death to any
who should oppose him, and being supported by some of the nobles he
succeeded in obtaining the treasure, and hastened to London, where by gifts
and promises he was at length proclaimed King.
194. WJty did tlie nation soon become reconciled to
Henry's usurpation ?
Because having in the first place secured the Crown by active
and energetic measures, he next by acts of wise and gentle
administration won the approbation of the people.
195. Henry recalled Anslem, Archbishop of Canterbury, the idol of the
clergy, from exile ; he published a royal charter, full of the most captivating
promises of redressing all the wrongs of the two prpceding reigns, reviving
the laws of Edward the Confessor, and granting all the immunities that the
greatest friends of liberty and of their country could desire; he seized Ralph
Flambard, Bishop of Durham, the detested instrument of his brother's
oppression, and threw him into prison ; and effectually to gain the hearts
of the native English, who were yet a distinct people from the Normans,
he married the Princess Matilda, daughter of Malcolm Conmore, sister of
Edgar the reigning King of Scotland, and niece of Edgar Atheling. Besides
all this he banished from court all the profligate companions of his brother's
pleasures, set many prisoners of state at liberty, and remitted many debts
that were owing to the Crown.
56 THE HISTOEICAL BEASON WHY.
EXPEDITION MADE BY HENRY INTO NORMANDY, 1105.
196. What measures did Robert take to gain possession
of the English Crown on Ms return home ?
He procured the promise of assistance from several Norman
and English barons, and after many months spent in preparation
he landed in England with a large army.
197. In the meantime Henry, hearing of his brother's intention, was not
inactive, and raised both an army and a fleet to defend the country against
the threatened invasion. The two armies met each other at Portsmouth,
but being struck with mutual awe, they stood facing each other several
days without coming to an engagement. At length, through the medium
of persons interested in a peace, a treaty was set on foot, on terms mutually
advantageous, and Robert having spent several months in festivity in
England, peacefully withdrew to his own Kingdom of Normandy.
198. Wliy did Henry make an expedition into Nor-
Because the reckless and profligate government of Eobert
had given great dissatisfaction to the people, many of whom
sent an invitation to Henry to come over to Normandy. The
English King, taking advantage of these circumstances, invaded
the country and conquered it.
199. A battle was fought between the armies of the two countries with
great bravery and doubtful success for some time, but by the superior
numbers and valour of the English, Henry obtained a complete victory,
and took his brother Robert, Edgar Atheling, and several other noble
persons prisoners. The victory determined the fate of Normandy, and the
gates of all its castles, towns, and cities were thrown open to the con-
queror. Robert was brought to England and confined in Cardiif Castle..
where, after a captivity of twenty-eight years, he died.
200. Why was Henry guilty of great cruelty towards
his nephew William, only son of Eobert, the late Duke
of Normandy ?
Henry was fearful that the sympathies of the disaffected
and ambitious portion of his subjects might be enlisted in
favour of the unfortunate young Prince. He therefore deter-
mined to get the Prince into his own power, and for that
purpose sent a body of horse to surprise the Castle of St. Saen.
The plot however miscarried, owing to the fidelity of the
servant; and Helie de St. Saen, the guardian of the Prince,
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 57
QFEEIf MAUD DIED, 1118.
withdrew him from England, and was doomed to wander from
court to court for many years.
201. The effect of the intrigues of Helie de St. Saen, in favour of his
pupil, at length began to appear; and several of the neighbouring Princes
discovered a disposition to divest Henry of his foreign dominions, which
obliged him to make a voyage to the Continent for protection. He continued
in Normandy for two years, when he was engaged in constant wars with
the King of France and the Earl of Anjou; by contracting a marriage,
however, between the daughter of the latter and his only son, Henry
succeeded in compromising all disputes.
202. What misfortune did Henry meet with in 1118 ?
He lost his virtuous and amiable Consort Maud "the Good,"
and also suffered considerably by the death of the Earl of
Mellent, the ablest minister of his Kingdom, and who had the
reputation of being the greatest statesman in Europe.
203. Why ivas a foreign confederacy entered into
against Henry about this time?
Because he had secretly assisted his nephew Theobald, Earl
of Blois, in a revolt against his liege lord the King of France ;
and also because he had broken off the match agreed upon
between his son William and the Earl of Anjou's daughter
Matilda ; and finally because he had forgotten many of his
promises made to the Norman barons in his hour of need.
204. The league thus formed against Henry comprised many of his own
disaffected subjects, the King of France, the Earl of Anjou, and Baldwin
Earl of Flanders. After a succession of reverses Henry met with better
fortune : Baldwin the Earl of Flanders was killed ; the immediate celebra-
tion of the marriage of Prince William with the Earl of Anjou's daughter
was agreed upon, thus defeating one enemy more; several of the Norman
barons were won over by rich presents and liberal promises; the French
King after a petty skirmish was defeated, and the confederacy thus terminated.
205. What severe domestic calamity happened to Henry
after his return from Normandy ?
His only son William, whom he loved exceedingly, and whose
succession he had been at great pains to secure, was drowned
at sea.
58 THE HISTOE1CAL EEASON WHY.
PRINCE WILLIAM DROWNED, 1120.
206. When the campaign was at an end, Henry and his army set sail for
England, leaving Prince William to follow in a few days. The Prince ordered
three casks of wine to be given to his ship's crew, so that many of them
were intoxicated when they set sail about the close of the day. As they
proceeded coastwise they became entangled among some rocks at a spot
called Has de Catse (now Has de Catville), and the ship struck on one of
these with such violence that several planks were started, and she instantly
began to fill. The boat was immediately lowered and the Prince and some
of the chief nobility put into it; and having got clear of the ship it might
have reached the shore, which was at no great distance. BUG the Prince
hearing the shrieks of his natural sister the Countess of Perche commanded
the boat to put back and take her in. As soon as the boat approached the
ship, multitudes in despair threw themselves into it, so that it instantly sunk,
and every soul but one perished. This catastrophe was concealed from the
King for several days, who, when at length informed of it, fell down in a
swoon, was with difficulty recovered, and was never afterwards seen to smile.
207. Why did Henry determine on a second marriage
upon the death of Ms son ?
Because that event left him without an heir to succeed him on
the throne, and he was not only anxious to secure the succession
to his own family, but was also desirous of shutting out his
nephew William ; Henry, therefore, espoused Adelais or Alice
daughter of Geoffrey Duke of Louvain, and niece to the regning
Pope Calixtus the Second.
208. Why did Henry afterwards declare Ms daughter
Matilda to be liis successor to the Crown ?
Because the marriage with his new Queen was productive of
no issue. And although the idea of a female Sovereign was
opposed to the wishes, and repugnant to the feelings of the
people, the absolute power which Henry had succeeded in gaming,
enabled him to carry out his project successfully.
209. On Christmas-day, 1126, a general assembly was convened at Windsor
Castle of the bishops, abbots, barons, and all the great tenants of the Crown,
who unanimously declared Matilda to be the next heir to the Crown in the
event of her father dying without any legitimate male issue. They then
swore to maintain her succession ; the clergy swearing first in the order of
their rank, and after them the laity; the first of whom was Stephen Earl
of Boulogne, who afterwards usurped the Crown.
210. Why did Henry enjoy comparative peace and
security towards the latter end of his reign ?
On account of a marriage which was contracted between his
THE HISTOE1CAL EEASON WHY. 59
HENEY'S PATJGHTEE MATILDA BE-:MAEEIED, 1127.
daughter Matilda and Geoffrey, the eldest son of the Earl of
Anjou; by which event an old and troublesome foe was
amicably disposed of. Also from the decease of his nephew
William, whose death took place unexpectedly, from a wound
received in his hand.
211. The gallant but unfortunate young Prince William, in his last
moments wrote a letter to his uncle Henry, asking pardon for all the
trouble he had occasioned the King, and earnestly entreating his favour
for his faithful guardian Helie, and a few other friends who had adhered
to him in all his vicissitudes. Henry, in the joy of his heart, granted the
request of his deceased nephew, who left no children to prolong the King's
disquietude, or enlist the sympathies of the disaffected nobles.
212. What circumstances attended the death of Henry
the First?
He died in Normandy, on the 1st of December, 1135, in
the sixty-seventh year of his age and the thirty-sixth of his
reign. His health and spirits had been for some time on the
decline; but the immediate cause of his death was the partaking
too freely of a dish of lampreys, which occasioned a severe
attack of indigestion, and subsequently fever.
213. By what especial act did Henry the First main-
tain the liberties of the English?
He drew up a charter containing many new privileges and a
confirmation of old ones. Copies of it were sent into every
county and deposited in every monastery. It also served as a
model for the Magna Charta afterwards granted by King John.
214. Why was there a quarrel, prolonged for many
years, between Henry the First, and Anslem, Archbishop
of Canterbury?
Because Henry demanded of Anslem either to do homage
for his bishopric or leave the kingdom, both of which Anslem
refused to do. After some years of angry discussion and
bickerings, a compromise was effected by the Pope, to the
effect that the King should abstain from insisting upon the
investiture with ring and crozier ; the bishops and abbots should
do homage in the same manner with the lay tenants in chief
of the Crown, for the temporalities of their sees.
60 THE HISTOBICAL SEASON WHY.
THE ACCESSION OF MATILDA OPPOSED, 1135.
215. Why tuas the accession of Matilda to the throne
distasteful to the English people?
Because the notion of a female reign was repugnant to the
national habits and feelings of the people ; the nobility, especially,
whose business was war, regarding their monarch as the only
chief who was to lead them to battle.
216. A loud and general cry was raised by the Anglo-Norman and
Norman barons, that it would be most disgraceful for so many knights to
obey the orders of a woman; and as Prince Henry, Matilda's son, was
only four years old, the prospect of a long regency was also incompatible
with the spirit and condition of the times.
217. Why did Stephen lay claim to the Crown?
Because he was nearly allied, both by birth and marriage,
with the Royal Family of England; he also presumed upon a
popularity which he had already succeeded in obtaining.
218. Stephen had resided much in England, and had rendered himself
exceedingly popular both to the Normans and the people of the Saxon race.
The barons and knights admired him for his bravery and energy— the people
for his generosity, the beauty of his person, and his affable and familiar
manners. When Henry the First died, Stephen was at Boulogne, from
whence he immediately hastened to England. At Dover and Canterbury the
gates were closed against him, but, regardless of these repulses, he proceeded
to London, where he, was welcomed with the loudest acclamations; having
gained over the Archbishop of Canterbury and some of the other prelates
to his cause, he was through their instrumentality solemnly crowned and
anointed King: at Westminster.
219. Why did Eolert Earl of Gloucester, the late
King's natural son, submit to the ride of Stephen ?
Because, although attached to the interests of his sister Matilda,
he soon became sensible that unless he submitted, in appearance
at least, he must relinquish all his estates, and with them the
power of promoting the cause which he had so much at heart.
220. Why was Normandy favourable to Stephen ?
Because an hereditary hatred existed between the Normans
and the House of Anjou; and also because the Norman barons
felt that their estates in both countries would be secure under
one Sovereign.
THE HISTORICAL BEASON WHY. 61
STEPHEN MAKES AN UN SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION INTO SCOTLAND.
221. Why did Stephen prosecute a -war with Scotland?
Because Prince Henry, son of the King of Scots, laid claim
to the Earldom of Northumberland, which Stephen refused to
recognise.
222. The Scotch King entered Northumberland with an army which
committed the most cruel ravages, burning all the towns, villages, and
churches, and sparing neither men, women, nor children. Stephen, hearing
of their devastations, marched into the north at the head of a large army,
and upon the Scotch retiring, pursued them as far as Roxburgh. While
the two armies lay facing each other near that place, Stephen discovered
such symptoms of disaffection among his own troops, that he did not think
it prudent to risk a battle, but returned into the south.
223. In ivhat manner did Matilda become Queen ?
A battle was fought between the rival claimants to the throne,
and Stephen was taken prisoner and confined in Bristol Castle.
By this defeat the royalists became quite dispirited, and sub-
mitted to Matilda, who made her triumphant entry into Win-
chester, and was acknowledged Queen a few days afterwards.
224. Why was Matilda soon driven from the throne ?
Because her naturally proud and haughty nature became
aggravated by her recent success; so that she behaved ungra-
ciously towards her friends, and with disdain and insolence
towards her enemies, even when they came to make their most
humble submission. She confiscated the estates of all who did
not immediately submit to her authority, and thereby fixed
them in their opposition; recalled all the grants that had been
made by Stephen, by which the fortunes of many were ruined.
She refused to listen to a petition from the Citizens of London for
an abatement of their taxes; and when the restoration of the
Laws of Edward the Confessor was prayed for, she upbraided
the petitioners with their liberalities to King Stephen, and com-
manded them from her presence. This irritated the people to
such a degree, that they rose up in arms against her, pursued her
from place to place, and finally drove her from England.
225. How was King Stephen liberated from captivity ?
The Earl of Gloucester having been taken in the late war, was
exchanged for King Stephen, by which means both regained their
liberty.
62 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
DEATH OE KING STEPHEN, 1154.
226. Wliat progress was Prince Henry making while
these commotions were going on?
He was knighted with great pomp by the King of Scotland,
successfully invaded Normandy, and secured Anjou, Touraine,
and Maine. He also married Eleanor, the divorced wife of
Louis the Seventh, King of France, who brought him a
considerable accession of power and wealth by the territories
of her family.
227. How ivas the claim of Prince Henry to the
English Crown compromised?
Negotiations were entered into, and agreed upon, that Stephen
should enjoy the crown without further molestation during his
life, and that Prince Henry should succeed to the throne at his
death.
228. This agreement, which diffused incredible joy through the whole
kingdom, that had been so long disturbed by civil wars, was solemnly
ratified in a great council held at "Winchester. The prelates and barons
took an oath of fealty to Henry as successor to the Crown, and the Prince
having thus regulated his affairs in England, returned soon after into
Normandy.
229. What were the circumstances attending Stephen's
death ?
He was seized with illness at Dover, and died on the 25th of
October, 1154, in the fiftieth year of his age, and the nineteenth
of his reign.
230. Why did the accession of Henry the Second
afford great satisfaction to the nation ?
Because the first acts of Henry's reign were equally wise
and vigorous. He immediately issued a proclamation, command-
ing all foreign mercenaries to depart the kingdom by a certain
day, under the pain of death, an order which was promptly
obeyed. He levelled to the ground the numerous castles which
had been erected in all parts of England during the late civil
wars, and from which the neighbouring countries had been deso-
lated ; and finding that the Crown had been greatly impoverished
THE HTSTOEICAL SEASON WHY. 63
TBADITION OF XHOMA3 A'BECKET.
by the many grants of the royal demesnes, he obtained a decree
of his Parliament to recall all these grants and re-attach them
to the royal revenue.
231. Henry also granted to the people a new charter of liberties, and
confirmed the old one. The coin, which had been considerably debased
during the preceding reign, he restored to its standard purity; and the
laws, which had been relaxed, he re-invested with their befitting dignity and
vigour.
232. What was the most important event that occurred
at home during the early part of Henry's reign ?
The quarrel between the King and Thomas a'Becket, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, which arose from the King's attempt
to destroy the power of the ecclesiastical courts of justice, an
encroachment which the Archbishop would not yield to.
233. The origin of Thomas a'Becket, one of the richest and most powerful
Churchmen that England ever saw, furnishes a romantic episode in history,
According to popular tradition, there was among the followers of the Norman
Crusaders a Saxon, named Gilbert Becket, who had the misfortune to be
taken prisoner. During his captivity in Palestine he gained the affections
of his master's daughter, by whose means he was restored to liberty. His
benefactress feeling inconsolable without him, abandoned her home; and
although she could speak no more English than London and Gilbert, by
means of the first she reached England in a pilgrim-ship, and by wandering
through the streets repeating the second, she at last found the person she
sought. She was baptised and admitted into the Christian Church by the
name of Matilda, and, by her union with Gilbert, became the mother of
Thomas a'Becket.
234. Why was a'Bec7cet murdered?
Because his insolence and haughty behaviour had become
insufferable to the King, who hinted, in the hearing of his
barons, that he " wished to get rid of the turbulent priest," and
his assassination was therefore determined upon by several of the
barons.
235. Four of the barons set out for Canterbury, accompanied by a body of
resolute men, with arms concealed under their clothes. These men were
placed in different parts of the city to prevent any interruption from the
citizens. The four barons then went, unarmed, with twelve of their com-
pany, to the archiepiscjpal palace, and were admitted to the apartment
where the Archbishop sat. Certain demands were then made, and a long
altercation ensued, throughout which a'Becket remained inflexible, although
he received several hints that if he did not comply, his life was in danger.
64 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
PEINCE HENEY CROWNED, 1170.
The barons then left the palace for a short time, and afterwards returned,
clothed in mail, and bearing each a sword in his right hand and an axe
iu his left; they again came upon the Archbishop, who boldly confronted
them, but after a few minutes' parley -he was struck down with several
blows, and his skull cleft in two.
236. Why did Conan, Dulce of Brittany, resign his
dominions into Henry's hands ?
Because the Duke's daughter, Constantia, was betrothed to
Geoffrey, Henry's third son, and finding himself unable to keep
his turbulent barons in subjection, he resigned his duchy into
the hands of the King, to be governed by him, for the benefit
of Geoffrey and Constantia during their minority.
237. Why did Henry demolish the Castles of the Barons
of Poitou and Guienne ?
Because they were discontented with some measures of Henry's
Government, and secretly placed themselves under the protection
of the King of France, giving him hostages for their fidelity.
238. Why ivas a peace concluded ivith France ?
Because the two kings had been for a long time engaged in
petty warfare, which did not result in any advantage to either
kingdom.
239. On this occasion Prince Henry of England did homage to his father-
in-law, the King of France, for Anjou and Maine; Richard, the King of
England's second son, did homage for Aquitaine; and Geoffrey, his third
son, for Brittany.
240. Why did Henry have his son, Prince Henri/,
crowned ?
Because the act of crowning and anointing was at this period
regarded as a solemn confirmation of the Monarch's right to the
throne, and Henry, partly from parental affection and partly from
political motives, resolved upon this step.
241. As Henry was now at variance with the Archbishop of Canterbury,
who claimed an exclusive right to perform the coronation ceremony, the
execution of the design was attended with some difficulty. To accomplish
his purpose effectually, Henry appointed an assembly of the nobles and
great men of the kingdom, under the pretence of enquiring into the con-
duct of the sheriffs and other magistrates during the preceding four years
THE HISTORICAL BEA80NWHY.
CONSPIRACY FORMED AGAINST IIENKY.
when King Henry had been absent from his kingdom. Prelates, Earls
liarons, Sheriffs, Aldermen, and Bailiffs accordingly met, when, suddenly, to
their great surprise, Prince Henry was crowned and anointed King by the
Archbishop of York ; and the following day all the members of the assembly
swore fealty to the young King, with a reservation of the fealty they owed
his father.
242. Why did Henry take Dermot, King of Leinster,
under his protection ?
Because that King having been expelled his dominion by his
subjects for misrule, solicited the aid of Henry to reinstate him,
with the condition that, if restored, he would hold his kingdom
of Henry as his sovereign lord.
243. Why did Henry issue proclamations against tlie
expeditions made into Ireland ?
Because Strongbow, the Earl of Pembroke, took the conduct
of those expeditions upon himself, in opposition to the com-
mands of the King, who had himself meditated the conquest
of the Irish kingdom.
244. Strongbow was greatly alarmed at the proclamation, as it tended to
deprive him of his followers, and indicated the high displeasure of his
Sovereign, to mitigate which, he made the King an offer of all his acquisi-
tions in Ireland in the most humble and submissive terms. Henry's
resentment being disarmed at this submissive deportment, he received the
Earl into favour, restored him his estates, and even permitted him to retain
a great part of the kingdom of Leinster.
245. Why did a variance arise between Henry and Ms
sons ?
Prince Henry having been crowned at the early age of fifteen,
and being surrounded by a crowd of flatterers and unscrupulous
courtiers, was induced to demand of his father the immediate
and entire possession either of the kingdom of England, or of
Normandy, Anjou, and Maine. This demand Henry refused to
comply with.
246. On receiving a refusal to his request, the Prince openly^ expressed
his discontent, and thenceforth behaved in a most offensive manner towards
his father. King Henry, fearing that his son listened to bad counsels,
removed several persons from about his son, whose honesty he suspected,
and placed others of a better character in their stead. Upon this Prince
Henry fled the country and hastened to France. The flight of the young
60 THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
CAMPAIGN OP THE ENGLISH IN NOEMANDY.
King was the signal of rebellion to all who were engaged in this conspiracy.
He was soon after followed by his two brothers, Richard and Geoffrey, and
by a great number of the barons; and the defection at length became so
general, that the King knew not whom to depend upon or trust.
247. What followed tliese rebellions ?
Open war broke out in many places. The King of France, with
young Henry, at the head of a large army entered Normandy
on one side, and invested Verneuil. The Earls of Flanders and
Boulogne entered it on the other, and laid siege to Aumale ;
while the rebellious Barons of Anjou, Maine, Aquitaine, and
Brittany, took the field, and desolated the royal demesnes in these
provinces.
248. What was the result of tliese ivars?
Henry, who had previously raised a large array, and strength-
ened his castles and fortified places, attacked his enemies with
such promptitude and vigour, that he succeeded in conquering
the whole of them in a few months with little loss or labour.
249. The Earls of Flanders and Boulogne appeared at first the most for-
midable of his enemies, having taken in a short time the towns of Aumale,
Neuchatel, and Drieucourt. But at the last of these places the Earl of
Boulogne received a wound in his knee, of which he died in a few days;
and his brother, the Earl of Flanders, was so much affected at this loss, as
well as with remorse for the unnatural war in which he was engaged, that
he retired out of Normandy with his own troops, and those of his deceased
brother. Thus encouraged, Henry began to act offensively; and with this
view marched to the relief of Verneuil, which had been bravely defended, but
was uow reduced to the last extremities. The King of France, hearing of
Henry's approach, raised the siege and retreated, leaving the field so pre-
cipitately, that the camp fell a prey to his enemies. The French barons
were so much dispirited with this ill success, that they disbanded themselves,
and withdrew from the service. The barons of Brittany, who had proved the
most formidable foes, were defeated in a pitched battle, and the rebel chiefs
shut up in the Castle of Doll, to which they had fled for refuge. The news
of these events so disheartened the rebellious barons in the other provinces,
that they dismissed their followers and returned to their castles. Thus
ended this active campaign in a manner equally happy and glorious to
Henry; who soon after concluded a truce with the Kings of France and
Scotland, his two most determined enemies.
250. Why was the capture of the King of Scotland, one
of the most important events of this reign ?
Because that monarch had entered into a conspiracy with
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 67
KOUBN BESIEGED A3D SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDED.
Prince Henry and the Earl of Flanders to invade England, and
just as this design (which would -have been, in all probability,
successful) was on the point of being executed, this event occurred.
2$1. The King of Scotland had invested Alnwick Castle, and imagining
himself secure from the approach of any enemy, had sent out the majority
of his forces to plunder the adjacent countries, retaining only his house-
hold troops about his person. The famous Ranulph de Glauville, then
Sheriff of Yorkshire, receiving intelligence of this state of things, collected
about four hundred knights and approached Alnwick unperceived, under
cover of a thick fog. As they approached nearer, the King of Scots, with
about seventy knights, were discovered engaged in the exercise of tilting in
a neighbouring field. The King at first mistook the enemy for a portion of
his own troops, but afterwards discovering his error, he assumed a bold
front and advanced to the attack. But his horse being killed in the first
encounter, he was thrown to the ground and taken prisoner, and his
followers either yielded or fled.
252. What occurrence took place in Normandy about
tliis period?
Rouen was besieged by the King of France and Prince Henry,
but was defended with such vigour that no impression was made
upon it. Henry, having heard of this event, hastened to the
relief of his Norman capital with a powerful army, and compelled
the French to abandon their position and retreat.
253. Why did the King of France, after these events,
seriously propose a peace with England ?
Because the French King was now convinced that Henry was
too powerful a monarch to be vanquished, and that the attempt
might result in his own ruin and humiliation. A peace was
therefore proposed and agreed upon, of which Henry prescribed
the terms.
251. By this peace the formidable confederacy which had been formed
against Henry was dissolved, and all who had been engaged in it released
from their oaths. The three rebellious princes threw themselves at Henry's
feet, implored his pardon, and acknowledged his authority as a father and a
king. All prisoners were released, with the exception of the King of Scot-
land, and the Earls of Chester and Leicester, with whom a separate peace
was to be made. A total oblivion of all injuries on both parts was declared ;
and young Henry agreed to confirm all the grants that had been made by
his father during the war.
D 2
68 THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
SCOTLAND MADE A DEPENDENCY OF ENGLAND.
255. How did Scotland become a dependancy of Eng-
land ?
The captivity of the King of Scotland having occasioned the
greatest anarchy in that kingdom, the imprisoned monarch was
willing to submit to any conditions provided he gained his
release ; he therefore engaged that he and his successors should
do homage to the Kings of England.
256. Why did the Kings of Navarre and Castille make
reference to Henry for the settlement of a dispute that had
Ion a existed between them ?
U
Because the wisdom and justice of Henry were as universally
acknowledged and appreciated as his courage and activity; and
these two princes, therefore, determined to abide by his decision.
The cause was solemnly heard in a great council held at London,
and determined in a manner agreeable to both parties.
257. Why did a fresh dispute arise between the Kings
of England and France ?
Because one of the conditions of the articles of peace con-
cluded on the occasion of the last war remained unfulfilled, —
namely, the marriage between Richard, Henry's second son, and
Adelais, the daughter of Louis.
258. As both, the parties were now become marriageable, Louis insisted
that their marriage should be consummated without delay, to which Henry
discovered a reluctance which could never be overcome. Louis, finding all
his own applications ineffectual, prevailed upon the Pope to interfere; but
Henry pleaded his cause with so much art and address, at the same time
consenting to take a pilgrimage with Louis to the Holy Land, that the
latter monarch agreed to a still further postponement of the marriage.
259. What remarkable act of mediation is recorded of
Henry ?
Louis the Seventh, King of France, being attacked with a
palsy, his son Philip was appointed to the administration of
affairs. At the instigation of the Earl of Flanders, the young
King treated his mother and other members of his family with
such severity that they retired into Normandy, and claimed the
protection of the King of England. On this occasion, Henry,
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY. 69
THE ASSIZE OF ASMS ESTABLISHED, 1181.
instead of fomenting the discord, laboured hard to restore peace
In order to this, he made a voyage into Normandy, and had an
interview with King Philip, in which he reconciled that prince
to his mother and relatives, on reasonable terms, despite th§
opposition made by the Earl of Flanders.
260. What was tlie nature of " The Assize of Arms"
which Henry established?
By this law, in order to provide for the future security and
defence of the kingdom, it was ordered that every earl, baron,
and knight, should have constantly in his possession as many
complete suits of armour as he had knights' fees. Every freeman
who had rents or goods to the value of sixteen marks, was to
have one suit of a similar armour; every freeman who had only
ten marks, was to have a habergeon, a cap of iron, and a lance;
and every free burgess was to have a wambois, a cap of iron,
and a lance. These arms were neither to be lent, sold, pawned,
nor given for payment of debt, but kept in constant readiness
for use.
261. Why did a rupture occur between the three young
Princes ?
Henry, desirous of increasing and perpetuating the harmony
which now subsisted amongst his sons, added the feudal ties,
which were then esteemed inviolable, to those of blood, and pro-
posed that his sons, Bichard and Geoffrey, should do homage to their
elder brother Henry, for their respective territories of Aquitaine
and Brittany. Geoffrey complied with his father's will, but
Eichard rejected the proposal, with so much haughtiness, that
it occasioned an immediate and violent animosity between him
and his eldest brother. A war between the brothers was the
result, which was only put an end to through the mediation of
the King, their father.
262. What important event took place in the Royal
Family at this period ?
The death of Prince Henry, whose naturally passionate dis-
position was aggravated by the unhappy circumstances of this
70 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
HENET DESERTED ET HIS SON RICHARD.
family rupture, so that it threw him into a fever, under which
he sunk.
263. When the young Prince was informed by his physicians that his
recovery was hopeless, he was seized with the most bitter remorse and
anguish for the repeated acts of rebellion he had been guilty of towards
his father, to whom he sent a message, expressing his repentance, and
earnestly entreating a visit. Henry, prevented from complying with this
request, by the representations of his friends, took a ring from his finger,
and sent it to his son as a mark of his forgiveness. The dying Prince
received it with much emotion, and pressing it to his lips, soon after expired,
on a heap of ashes, where he had commanded himself to be laid, with a
halter round his neck. When Henry heard of his son's death, his fortitude
of mind and strength of body failed him. He fainted several times, burst
into a passionate flood of tears, and forgetting all the faults of his departed
son, extolled him for his beauty, bravery, and other excellent qualities.
264. Why did Prince Richard set out for tlie Holy
Land?
Because news arrived in England that the Christian army had
been entirely defeated, and the city of Jerusalem taken, by the
famous Saladin, Sultan of Egypt, which information excited not only
the Prince, but many other princes and nobles to take the Cross.
265. What ivar IroTce out on the Continent about this
period ?
One between the Earl of Toulouse and Prince Eichard of
Aquitaine. The King of France esp9used the cause of the Earl
of Toulouse, and thus compelled Henry to hasten to France, to
protect the interests of his son Eichard, and to prevent a war.
266. What distressing scene marked the conclusion of
this war ?
In a conference held between the Kings of England and
France, the latter monarch, who had entered into a private
arrangement with Prince Eichard, proposed to put an end to
the war, and restore all his conquests, on these two conditions:
that the marriage of his sister Adelais and Eichard should be
immediately consummated, and that all Henry's subjects in Eng-
land and on the Continent should do homage to Eichard as the
heir of all his dominions. The Prince declared his entire acqui-
escence in these proposals, earnestly pressing their acceptance;
THE HIS.TOEICAL EEASON WHY. 71
EXPEDITION MADE BY 3JICHABD INTO THE HOLY LASD.
and when they were rejected by Henry, Eichard, in the presence
of the whole assembly, went over to Philip, and did homage to
him for Normandy, Maine, Berry, Anjou, and Aquitaine.
267. What were tlie circumstances attending Henry tlie
Second's death?
The war was renewed the next season with peat fury ; but
the prosperity and good fortune which had hitherto attended
Henry, now began to desert him, and he was obliged to fly before
his enemies. In this reverse of fortune, when he was pursued
from place to place by his son Richard, he was basely abandoned
by his youngest and favourite son John, who deserted to his
father's enemies. This last event, added to all his other miseries,
inflicted a mortal blow, so that he died shortly after, on the 6th
of July, 1189, in the thirty-fifth year of his reign, and the fifty-
seventh of his age.
268. Who succeeded Henry the Second?
Richard, his eldest son, who was crowned at Westminster,
September 3rd, 1189.
269. Why was a horrible slaughter directed against the
Jews ?
Because, on the occasion of the coronation, the Jews became
mingled with the crowd; and, being greatly disliked by the
people generally, a disagreement arose.
270. Eichard had issued a proclamation, that none of the Jewish people
should enter the church or "Westminster Hall on the day of his coronation.
Some of them, being detected pressing into the hall, were assaulted, at first
with opprobrious language, and afterwards with sticks and stones. The
Jews, perceiving their danger, fled towards the city, pursued by an enraged
mob, amongst whom a cry arose that the King had given orders to put all
the Jews to death. This cry proved fatal to many of that hated nation, some
of whom were massacred in the streets, and others burnt in their houses.
271. Why did Richard maJce an expedition into the
Holy Land?
Because, as he was the first prince in Europe who assumed
the Cross, he thought it incumbent upon him, on the receipt of
the news of the defeat of the Christians, to hasten to their
assistance.
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
IONGCHAMP, BISHOP OF ELT, EXPELLED.
272. The King not only appropriated an immense treasure left in his father's
coffers, but sold castles, manors, parks, woods, and forests, for the purpose
of raising money. He even bartered away the superiority of the Crown of
England over the kingdom of Scotland for the inadequate sum of ten thou-
sand marks. By these and various other methods, Richard amassed an im-
mense sum, and departed from England on the Crusade.
273. Why did a second massacre take place among the
Jews ?
Because many of the English who had assumed the Cross,
and were preparing- for their voyage into the Holy Land, ima-
gined it would be a good beginning of their pious enterprise to
murder as many Jews as possible, and seize their riches. In
consequence of this delusion, many thousands of this persecuted
people were murdered in cold blood in various places.
274. Why was a treaty entered into between Richard
and Tancred, King of Sicily ?
Tancred had detained Eichard's sister, the wife of William
the Second, in prison, and had declined to pay her dower, and a
valuable legacy left by William. Richard invaded the Sicilian
territories, and compelled Tancred to perform his obligations,
and release the Queen Dowager ; and on the termination of
these affairs, a treaty was entered into between the two monarchs.
275. What ivas the first successful action that marked
Richard's progress to the Holy Land ?
The siege and capture of Aeon, which had been two years
invested by the Christian army, and under the walls of which
city, prodigious acts of valour had been performed by both armies.
276. On the arrival of the English army with their gallant leader, the
siege, that had languished for some time, was pushed on with the greatest
ardour; the walls were battered night and day, furious assaults took place,
and the besieged, despairing of relief, agreed to surrender the city.
277. Why tvas Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, expelled
the kingdom during Richard's absence ?
Because he abused the high authority with which Richard had
delegated him (he being the principal Regent of England during
the monarch's absence), by various acts of tyranny, but especially
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY.
73
•WITHDRAWAL OF THE KING- OF FRANCE FROM THE CRUSADE.
by committing a daring act of sacrilege, in dragging Geoffrey,
the King's natural brother, from St. Martin's Church, and im-
prisoning him in Dover Castle.
R-TLT
FEUDAL J3AHOST, AND MOYEABLE SIEGE-TOWEIl.
278. This outrageous insult on an Archbishop, the son and brother of a
King, together with the violation of the rights of sanctuary, excited uni.
versal indignation against Longchamp. He was summoned to attend a
meeting composed of Prince John and the chief nobles, but instead of com-
plying, he shut himself up in the Tower of London, which being insufficiently
provisioned, he was compelled to abandon; finally, he was deprived of all
his offices, and made his escape out of the kingdom in disguise.
279. Why did the King of France ivithdraw from the
expedition to the Holy Land?
His pretence was that the climate of Palestine was injurious
74 THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
EEVERSES SUFFERED BY THE CRUSADEKS.
to liis constitution. But his real motives were various. Many
disputes had arisen between the two monarchs, which rendered
their union neither cordial nor agreeable. The Earl of Flanders
had died before Aeon without issue, and the French King
expected by his presence in France to secure the succession. He
also had a design of seizing a portion of Richard's dominions in
his absence.
280. The King of France in his passage from the Holy Land visited Rome,
and made bitter complaints to the Pope of many affronts and injuries which
he pretended he had received from the King of England, earnestly entreating
that he might be released from his oatte, in order that he might take ven-
geance on his enemy by invading his dominions ; but with this request the
Pope would not comply. On his arrival in France he made a demand of Gisors,
and its territories, threatening immediate irar in case of a refusal. He also
intrigued with Prince John, tempting him with an offer of all his brother's
dominions on the Continent, but in this, John was prevented by his mother,
Queen Eleanor, and by the threats of the Regents to confiscate his estates.
Philip was also deterred from invading Normandy by his barons, who refused
to follow him in the enterprise.
281. Why ivas Richard's expedition subjected to many
misadventures ?
Because Saladin, at the head of the Turkish army, finding
Richard to be so powerful an enemy, determined upon harassing
him to the utmost, and, with this view, he retreated towards
the Holy Land, demolishing in his way the several towns through
which the English would have to pass. In addition to this, the
French generals, acting under the directions of their monarch,
baffled Richard in all his designs, and raised every obstacle to
the progress of the army.
282. The Christian army marched towards Jerusalem, rebuilding the ruined
castles as they advanced. The town of Ascalon alone cost three months'
incessant toil in its reparation, the King himself assisting with his own
hands, and working with greater ardour than any common labourer.
283. Why did Richard suddenly abandon the Crusade ?
Because he had received news of the machinations of his brother,
Prince John, in England, and therefore deemed it necessary to
return to protect his dominions.
284. In what manner was Richard made prisoner ?
In his voyage to England he was shipwrecked, and attempting
THE HISTORICAL KEASON WHY.
TEEACHEEY OP KING OF FEAXCE AND PIUNCE JOHN.
to pass through Germany in disguise, he was discovered, and
thrown into prison by Leopold, Duke of Austria.
285. What occurrences took place in England during
Richard's captivity ?
The King of France, taking advantage of Richard's imprison-
ment, determined on invading his rival's territories, and invited
Prince John to join him in the expedition. In accordance with
this design, John took the Castles of Wallingford and Windsor,
and coming to London gave out that his brother was dead, and
desired to be proclaimed king ; his assertions were, however,
discredited, and an army was raised against him, which compelled
him to beg a truce, and retire into France.
286. Upon what pretext did the Emperor of Germany
detain Richard in prison ?
Richard was accused of having protected Tancred, who had
usurped the crown of Sicily ; of having driven the King of France
out of the Holy Land by many injuries ; and of having
i concluded a truce with Saladin on too easy terms.
287. What conditions were proposed for Richard's
release ?
The Emperor of Germany agreed that as soon as one hundred
thousand marks should be paid, and hostages for fifty thousand
marks were given, the King should be set at liberty.
288. The King's ransom was soon raised by the English people, and Richard
was set at liberty, to the great joy of his mother, Queen Eleanor, and several
of the nobles, who were ready to receive him. The liberated monarch
returned to England, and was shortly afterwards crowned a second time at
Winchester, with great pomp.
289. Why did Richard forgive John for the acts of
treachery he had committed?
Because soon after his coronation Richard raised an army, with
which he set sail for the Continent, and landed at Barfleur ; and
Prince John, upon hearing of his brother's arrival, begged for-
giveness in such abject terms, that Richard was induced to
grant him a pardon.
76 THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
THE FRENCH DEFEATED BY RICHARD.
290. Why ivere the hostages of Richard set at liberty ?
The Duke of Austria, tilting with his courtiers, met with an
accident, which produced fever and gangrene. When he was
made acquainted that there were no hopes for his recovery, he
was seized with remorse for the cruelty and injustice he had
been guilty of towards the King of England, and gave orders
for his hostages to be set at liberty.
291. How were the hostilities between the Kings of
Mngland and France conducted ?
Richard took the field, raised the siege of Verneuil, and took
the Castle of Lochis; he also succeeded in seizing all the bag-
gage and treasure of the King of France, and reduced Guienne
to a state of submission. These operations were terminated by
a truce for one year.
292. As soon as this truce had expired, Philip made an incursion into Nor-
mandy, plundered the country, and demolished such castles as fell into his
hands. Richard, having collected his forces, marched to meet his enemies,
and compelled the French army to retreat. The war was prosecuted for
some months after this with various success, but without producing an.v
general action or important event ; and was at length terminated by a treaty
of peace, concluded between the two monarchs, in a personal interview.
293. What tumults took place in England during
Richard's absence on the Continent?
One William Fitz-Osbert, commonly called Longleard, had
obtained, among the common people and inferior citizens, a certain
amount of influence, by declaiming, with considerable eloquence,
against the tyranny of the King's ministers, and the oppressions
put upon the poor.
294. Though this man was notorious for a dissipated character and ruined
fortunes, yet such was the ascendancy he gained over the minds of his
followers, that they called him the Saviour of the People, greeted him with
loud acclamations whenever he appeared in public, and bound themselves,
by the most sacred oaths, to execute all his orders. The streets were
infested day and night by numerous mobs, who committed many disorders,
insulted the richer citizens, and threatened them with destruction. Long-
beard was at length taken and executed; but after his death, his followers
flocked in great crowds to the place of execution, took down the gallows
upon which he had been hanged, and divided it into a thousand pieces, as
the most precious relics, pretending that they wrought many miracles.
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 77
DEATH OF RICHAED THE PIEST.
295. What domestic calamity occurred in England
during the latter part of Richard's reign ?
A succession of cold and rainy seasons produced a famine,
from which a plague arose, which raged with such violence
for six months, that there were hardly a sufficient number of
persons in health to attend to the sick and bury the dead.
296. What were the circumstances attending Richard's
death ?
A considerable treasure had been accidentally found on the
lands of Vidomar, Viscount of Limoges, and was demanded
from that nobleman by Richard, who claimed a right to it as
sovereign of the country. Vidomar consented to give up part
of the treasure, which Richard rejecting, invested the Castle of
Chalus, near Limoges, where the treasure was supposed to be
concealed.
297. The garrison offered to surrender the castle, on condition that they
should be allowed to march out with their arms. But Richard rejected
this offer, declaring that he was determined to take the castle by force,
and put its defenders to death. On the fourth day of the siege, the king
was wounded in the shoulder by an arrow, discharged by Bertram de
Gourdon, one of the garrison. After remaining for some time in the same
place, he mounted his horse, returned to head-quarters, and gave orders for
the assault. The castle was taken and all its defenders were hanged, with
the exception of Bertram de Gourdon. In extracting the arrow from the
King's shoulder, the iron was left behind, and several deep incisions which
were afterwards made produced mortification, which proved mortal. As soon
as he became apprehensive of death, he commanded Gourdon to be brought
into his presence, and addressing him said, " What injury have I done you.
that you should attempt my death?" Gourdon replied, "You have killed
both my father and my brother with your own hand, and designed to put
me to an ignominious death. I am therefore ready to suffer the greatest
torments you can invent, since I have been so happy as to kill one who has
been the author of so many miseries to mankind. " The King, conscious of
the justice of this bold reply, bore it with patience, and commanded
Gourdon to be set at liberty; but this command was not obeyed, for he was
kept in prison until after the death of Richard, and then put to a painful
death. A few days after this Richard died, on the 6th of April, 1199,
in the forty-second year of his age, and the tenth of his reign.
298. Who succeeded Richard the First?
John, his brother, the youngest son of Henry the Second.
78 THE H1STOEICAL BEASON "WHY.
KING JOHN'S ACCESSION OPPOSED.
299. Why was the accession of Jolm disputed /
Because the crown, by rightful succession, belonged to Arthur,
Duke of Brittany, the only son of Geoffrey, John's elder brother.
300. Through the influence of some of the nobles, John prevailed on the
clergy, nobility, and all ranks of people, to swear fealty to him; and having
had a meeting at Northampton with a few of the barons, who discovered some
reluctance, he persuaded them, by many fair promises, to take the oath. Oa
the Continent, however, John's succession met with greater resistance, many
of the barons of Aujou and Maine having declared in favour of Arthur, Duke
of Brittany. This young Prince, who was now about twelve years of age,
was, by his mother Constance, placed in the hands of the King of France,
to whom he did homage for all the dominions of his family on the Continent.
301. Wlnj was war declared between England and
France ?
The King of France, in return for the homage paid to him
by Prince Arthur, espoused his cause, and undertook to support
his claim to the English throne, against that of King John.
302. A peace was soon after concluded between the two countries, one of the
conditions of which was, that John should pay twenty thousand marks to
the French King.
303. Why ivas Prince Arthur removed from the custody
of the King of France ?
Because William de Eoches. the General of Prince Arthur's
forces, suspecting the views of the French king, had the young
Prince removed from Paris to Le Mans, of which he was
governor.
804. At this place "William de Hoches concluded a treaty with King John,
into whose hands he put Prince Arthur and his mother Constance, imagining
that Prince Arthur would receive care and kindness from such near relations.
This transaction was, however, soon repented of, for, on the very next day,
William de Roches received intelligence that John had formed designs
against the life of his nephew.
305. Why was the marriage of King John imprudent
and unpopular?
Because Isabel, the daughter of Aymar, Earl of Angouleme,
was already the betrothed wife of Hugh le Brun, Earl of La
Marche : but Aymar, dazzled with the lustre of a crown, decoyed
his daughter from her betrothed husband, while John, on his
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 79
DISCONTENT EVINCED BT THE ENGLISH BABONS.
part, had obtained a divorce from his wife, (to whom he had
been married ten years,) in order to contract his second union.
306. What was one of the first symptoms of rebellion
shown ty tlic Barons ?
A rebellion having1 been raised in Guienne, John summoned
all his English vassals and military tenants to assist him in
restoring order in the revolted territory ; but many of the English
barons, considering the affair too trifling, refused to obey their
monarch's summons.
307. Why was a war declared between England and
France ?
Because Philip of France espoused the pretensions of Prince
Arthur, and declared himself the protector of the discontented
barons of Guienne.
308. What was the supposed fate of Prince Arthur ?
Having been taken prisoner by King John, he was conducted
to the Castle of Rouen, where the King resided ; here the
unfortunate Prince was murdered, but in what manner is not
certainly known.
309. Immediately after this, John hastened to England, carrying with him
the Princess Eleanor, Prince Arthur's sister, and committed her to prison.
Many of the other prisoners were so cruelly treated, that they perished in
their confinement, and no fewer than twenty seven of the noblest and
bravest of them were starved to death in Corfe Castle.
310. Why were John's foreign dominions invaded ly
the King of France ?
Because the cruel acts of King John instigated the barons
of Brittany to accuse him of the murder of their Prince, before
the King of France, of whom he held all his continental
territories; and on his not appearing to answer the charge,
he was found guilty of treason and felony, and all his dominions
forfeited.
311. To execute this sentence, Philip put himself at the head of his army,
and being joined by several barons of Poitou, Aujou, and Maine, he made
the conquest of Normandy, while John, spending his time in rioting and
excess, was at length compelled to abandon the Continent and embark for
England.
80 THE HISTOKICAL EEASON %VHY.
3IAGTTA. CHARTA GRANTED, 1215.
312. How did John create ill-feeling and discontent
among the Barons?
After the loss of his foreign possessions, John, to excuse
himself, cast the onus upon his barons, who, he pretended, had
forsaken him, and thereby put it out of his power to defend
his territories ; for which he fined some of the barons, and
confiscated the estates of others.
313. la the following year, John, feigning to have formed a resolution to
attempt the recovery of his foreign territories, summoned all his barons
and military tenants to meet him at Portsmouth, in order to attend him
in an expedition to the Continent. But when the army was assembled, he
suddenly changed his mind and dismissed his troops. In a few weeks after,
changing his mind a second time, he embarked at Portsmouth with a small
retinue and put to sea, but two days after returned, and made this ridiculous
excursion a pretence for exacting money from his military tenants for their
non-attendance.
314. In what manner was Jttagna Charta secured ?
The schemes that had been forming for some time past among
the English barons for recovering and securing their liberties,
becoming at length ripe for execution, a great number of these
barons waited upon the king in London, and demanded a
confirmation of the liberties what had been granted to their
ancestors by Henry the First,
315. John, resolving in his own mind not to grant the demands of the
barons, employed various arts to secure himself from the effects of their
resentment. With this view he commanded all his subjects to renew their
oaths of fealty ; granted to all cathedrals, monasteries, and conventual
societies the right of electing their superiors; took the Cross for the
recovery of the Holy Land ; and sent ambassadors to his sovereign lord the
Pope, to accuse his barons of rebellion, and solicit the anathemas of the
Church against them. By these steps, the barons being convinced that
nothing could be obtained without a sufficient power to enforce their
demands, assembled with all their followers, who constituted a formidable
army, and marched to Brackley, near Oxford, where the King resided. On
the approach of the barons, John sent the Archbishop of Canterbury, and
the Earl of Pembroke, to ask what were the liberties and privileges that
they desired. To these ambassadors, the barons delivered a schedule, con-
taining the heads of their demands, which, upon being presented to the
King, he rejected, declaring that he never would grant such liberties to his
subjects as would make himself a slave. On receiving this answer, the
barons, without paying any regard to the Pope's letters, threatening them
with excommunication, broke out into open war, and having received an
invitation from the chief citizens of London, they marched thither, and took
THE HISTOBICAL EEASON WHY. 81
ENGLAND INVADED BY PRINCE LOUIS OF FBANCE.
possession of the capital. The King afterwards sent to the insurgents at
London to propose a conference, in order to an accommodation. This con-
ference was accordingly held in a large meadow between Staines and Wind-
sor, called Runnymede, where, on the 19th of June, 1215, the famous charter,
called Magna Charta, or The Great Charter, was granted by King John.
316. Why were the Barons who exacted the Charter
excommunicated by the Pope ?
Because the Pope regarded King- John as under his immediate
protection, as he bore the sign of the Cross, and was a vassal
of the Holy See.
317. Why did Prince Louis of France invade England?
The barons having been brought to the brink of ruin by the
King's persecutions, and knowing too well the unrelenting
disposition of their vindictive monarch, sent through their
agents a message to Prince Louis, eldest son of the King
Philip of France, to come and take possession of the English
throne.
318. This offer was gladly accepted, and Prince Louis soon after landed a
large army at Sandwich without any opposition. Having taken the Castlo
of Rochester, he entered London a few days subsequently, and was received
with the loudest acclamations by the citizens, the barons, and their
followers, who did homage to him as their sovereign, and received his
promise, upon oath, that he would restore them to all their possessions, and
protect them in all their privileges.
319. What event impeded the operations of Louis in
England ?
After Prnce Louis had received the homage of the Londoners,
he took the field and marched into the south of England, the
whole of which he reduced to obedience, with the exception of
the Castle of Dover. This place was defended with so much
skill and valour that many of the besiegers were slain, and all
their attacks repulsed, though they employed against it the
most formidable engines of the time. This obstinate resistance
so irritated Prince Louis, that he swore a solemn oath, that he
would not raise the siege till he had taken the castle and
hanged all the garrison — an oath which he was never able to
perform, and which probably lost him the crown of England.
82
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
DEATH OP KING JOIIIf, 1216.
320. W liat circumstances attended, King John's death ?
In marching over the sands into Lincolnshire, at an improper
time, the rear of the King's army was overtaken by the tide,
and the whole of his provisions, baggage, and treasure were
lost. This, added to his other reverses, is supposed to have
thrown him into a fever, of which he shortly after died, on the
19th of October, 1216, in the forty-ninth year of his age, and
the seventeenth of his reign.
T1UAL BY ORDEAL.
321. Why is it probable that if King Join had not
died he would have been restored to his former power f
Because the dreadful devastations which Prince Louis com-
mitted on the estates of those barons who opposed his pretensions,
soon convinced those of their error who had invited him to
England, proving to them, as it did, that he whom they had
chosen for their protector might one day become their conqueror.
THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY. 83
WABPSHIPS ESTABLISHED WITH EOTAL PEIVILEGES.
'ul2. Louis also gave such plain indications of his partiality to his own
countrymen and aversion to the English, that several of the barons aban-
doned his party and returned to their allegiance, and the King in his last
moments is said to have received letters from forty of the revolted barons,
declaring their resolution to return to his obedience.
323. What was the nature of the royal privilege
termed Wardship ?
"When an earl, baron, or other vassal of the crown died, and
left his heir under age, and consequently incapable of performing:
those personal services to his sovereign to which he was bound
by his tenure, the king took possession of his estate, that he
might therewith support the heir, and give him an education
suitable to his quality, and, at the same time, might
provide another person to perform his services in his room.
This right of being the guardian of all minors, male or female,
who held their lands of the crown by military services, brought
considerable sums into the royal coffers, or enabled the monarch
to enrich his favourites, by granting them the guardianship
of some of his most opulent wards.
324. What ivas the nature of scutage or shield-money ?
.It was a sum of money paid in lieu of actual service in the
field, by those who were unable or unwilling to perform that
service in person.
325. This payment became the occasion of much vexation to those who
owed military service to the crown ; because the monarchs of those days
sometimes engaged, or pretended to engage, in expeditions to distant parts,
or at inconvenient seasons, that they might have a pretence for demanding
scutage from their vassals. •
326. Why did the feudal system serve to preserve the
Constitution of England ?
Because the great power and influence which many of the
feudal lords possessed over their vassals and tenants, formed a
kind of counterpoise to the exorbitant power of the crown,
and prevented it from becoming, or, at least, continuing
arbitrary.
327. Why are the legal terms used at the present day
of Norman origin ?
Because William the Conqueror introduced into England the
84 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
EESTEICTION IN THE COMMEECE OF ENGLAND.
customs and laws which he and his ancestors had observed in
Normandy. And to ensure their observance, all the judges
and pleaders in all the courts of England were Normans, and
the laws were written in the Norman tongue.
328. Why was tlie irregular accession of tlie early
Kings of England to tlie crown productive of fortunate
consequences to the English people ?
Because the monarchs who thus stepped into power by acts of
usurpation, made liberal promises to the people in order to
forward their claims; and afterwards felt compelled to observe
their promises for fear of being deposed.
329. Why was the commerce of England greatly re-
stricted during the reigns of the earlier Kings ?
Because a universal jealousy towards strangers existed, and
foreign merchants, in particular, were subjected to such restraints
as almost debarred them from entering into any commercial
operations.
330. Foreign merchants were not allowed to come into the kingdom,
but at certain times, nor to stay above forty days, nor to expose their goods
to sale, except at certain fairs. They were often obliged to pay heavy fines
to the King for license to trade, arid exorbitant tolls and customs of all
kinds; and both their persons and their goods were exposed to considerable
violence, whenever a war happened to break out between England and the
country to which they belonged.
331. Why was the administration of justice irregular,
and the reversal of an unjust sentence difficult to le
obtained ?
Because the chief court in which the laws were administered,
instead of being stationary, followed the King's person, which
at that time moved about from place to place at frequent and
uncertain intervals.
332. Why was the fashion of hunting, practised ~by the
early Kings of England, productive of great mischief to
the people?
Because, in order to indulge in this passion, great tracts of
THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY. 85
MONOPOLY OF TEADE AMONG THE JEWS.
country in almost every county of England were laid waste
and converted into forests, and were then guarded by the most
cruel and sanguinary laws.
333. Previously to the granting of Magna Charta, it was a received notion
that the King might make what laws he pleased for the protection of his
forests, and that in making and executing these laws he was not under any
obligation to observe the ordinary rules of justice. In consequence of this
doctrine, the forest-laws were dictated by such a spirit of cruelty, and
executed with such severity, that they were preat objects of terror and
sources of distress to those who were so unhappy as to live near the precincts
of the royal forests.
334. Why did learning receive a considerable impetus
at this period ?
Because William the First took such great care of the
education of his son Henry, that in consideration of his acquisi-
tions he was surnamed Beauclerc, or the fine scholar. Henry
the First gave his son Henry the Second as liberal an education
as he had received himself, and this monarch in his turn provided
a profound course of instruction for his children. The acquisition
and possession of knowledge thus distinguishing the royal family
became communicated to the nobles, and from them to the
people generally.
335. Why were the Jews enabled to monopolize a
greater share of trade than the Christian population, and
with more considerable advantage?
Because the Jews possessed larger capitals, had a greater
knowledge of trade, and a more extensive correspondence with
those of their own nation in other parts of Europe than the
native English merchants, and were consequently enabled to
undersell all other dealers in every market.
86 THE HISTOE1CAL SEASON WHY.
PROM THE NOEMAN INVASION TO THE DEATH OF KING JOHN.
NOTES UPON THE PEKIOD EXTENDING FROM THE
NORMAN INVASION TO THE DEATH OF KING JOHN.
The Houses of the common people in the country, and the lower burgesses
in towns and cities, were very little improved in their structure in the
course of this period; even in London all the houses of mechanics and
common burgesses were built of wood, and covered with straw or reeds.
But the palaces, or rather castles, of the princes, barons, and prelates were
considerably improved in their style, and efficiently fortified. The following
description appertains to the castle of a great earl or baron of this period : —
The situation of the castle was most commonly on an eminence, and near a
river. The whole site of the castle was surrounded by a deep arid broad
ditch, sometimes filled with water, awd sometimes dry, called the fosse.
Before the great gate was an outwork, termed a barbacan, or ante-mural,
which was a strong and high wall, with turrets upon it, designed for the
defence of the gate and drawbridge. On the inside of the ditch stood the
wall of the castle, about eight or ten feet thick, and between twenty and
thirty high, with a parapet, and a kind of embrasures on the top, called
crennels. On this wall, at proper distances, square towers of two or three
stories high were built, which served for lodging some of the principal
officers of the castle. On the extreme top of these walls, and on the flat
roofs of the buildings, stood the defenders of the castle, in the time of siege ;
and from thence discharged arrows, darts, stones, &c., on the besiegers. The
great gate of the castle stood in the course of this wall, and was strongly
fortified with a tower on each side, and rooms over the passage, which was
closed with thick folding doors of oak, often plated with iron, and with an.
iron portcullis or grate let down from above. Within this outward wall
was a large open space or court, called the outer bayle, in which stood com-
monly a church or chapel. On the inside of this outer bayle was another
ditch wall, gate, and towers enclosing the inner bayle or court, within
which the chief tower or keep was built. Under ground were gloomy vaults
for the confinement of prisoners, hence called dungeons.
The Arts of Working and Refining Metals were brought to considerable
perfection during this period. The constructing of defensive armour, espe-
cially, was performed with such skill,' that a knight completely armed
might be said to be invulnerable. A suit of this armour consisted of many
pieces, for the several parts of the body, jointed with great nicety to cause
them to fit easily, and to allow freedom of motion and exercise of strength.
The whole was well tempered, finely polished, and often beautifully gilt.
The Manufacture of Cloth, Linen, and similar Fabrics was greatly im-
proved at this time. The weavers in all the great towns of England
formed themselves_ into guilds and corporations, and had various privileges
bestowed upon them by royal charters. Silks of various kinds are frequently
mentioned both in the records and by the historians of this period; and
tapestries and embroideries were considerably improved, both in richness
and design.
The Arms, defensive and offensive, consisted of, for the cavalry, shields of
an oval form, carried on their left arms, to ward off the blows— long spears, or
THE HISTOKICAL REASON WHY. 87
NOTES UPON- THE PERIOD EXTENDING PROM THE NORMAN INVASION
TO THE DEATH OF KING- JOHN.
lances, made of light strasg wood, and pointed with steel. Long and broad
swords, double-edged, and a short dirk or dagger, for the infantry. The
defensive armour of a man-at-arms, was a coat of mail, a helmet, and a shield ;
and his offensive weapons, a spear and a sword. The defensive armour of
an ordinary foot-soldier was a jacket twilted with cotton and an iron skull-
cap ; his offensive arms, a spear, or a bow and arrows, or a sling, with a
sword. Besides these small arms, there existed a species of artillery, which
consisted of wooden machines capable of throwing darts and stones at a
great distance.
Sculpture was greatly encouraged at this period ; every church and
cathedral was crowded with the statues of saints, aud many scriptural and
historical pieces were executed in basso and alto relievo.
Painting received a like encouragement as her sister art ; from the same
desire that then existed of decorating and beautifying places of worship
and holy houses. The roofs and walls of these places were covered at this
time with the productions of the artists of the period. In connection
with this art was the illumination of missals and other books, for the
purpose of illustration, as engravings are employed at the present day.
English Poetry may be said to have been invented at this time. This art
is to be traced to the Provencal poets, who were called Troubadors or
Finders, from the fertility of their invention. These poets were greatly loved,
adncired, and cherished. They were invited to the courts of princes, and
were courted by the brave and the fair, -the one to solicit the extolling
of their achievements, and the other their charms.
Tirade and Commerce were increased at this period, but not to the extent
that might have been expected : the military ardour of the people and the
desire for conquest interposed a barrier between commercial enterprise and
the people. Fairs and markets were the principal emporiums of trade, and
London was then, as now, the principal commercial city. Slaves were then
an article of traffic, both in the internal and foreign trade of England.
"When an estate was conveyed from one proprietor to another, all the slaves
annexed to the estate were transferred at the same time and by the same
deed; and on these occasions, when any person had more children than he
could maintain, or more domestic slaves than he chose to keep, he sold them
to a merchant, who disposed of them either at home or abroad, as he found
most profitable.
Personal Adornment received great attention, and was an object of much
solicitude at this period ; the hair was worn long and curled, the vestments
were of a simple and yet graceful form, and the hat or bonnet was decorated
with insignia befitting the rank of the wearer. The mantle was the chief
article of clothing worn, and this was usually made of the finest stuffs, and
variously ornamented. The shoes were worn with immensely long points,
stuffed with wool, and twisted like a ram's horn. The women of this
period began to display a fondness for rich dresses, lined with furs,
embroidered with various figures, and decorated with pearls and precious
stones.
The Sports of this period chiefly consisted of hunting and hawking. In
these diversions the better classes of the people spent the greatest part of
88 THE HISTORICAL EEASOX WHY.
NOTES UPON THE TEKIOD EXTENDING FROM THE NOIIMAN INVASION
TO THE DEATH OF KING JOHN.
their time and their revenues: so general was the passion for rural sports,
that both the clergy and the ladies were seized with it, and the latter
excelled the gentlemen in the art of hawking.
The Pastimes comprised chiefly ecclesiastical plays, composed by the
clergy, and acted by them and their scholars. These entertainments consisted
of representations of events and actions recorded in the Scriptures, or in
the lives of saints. Secular plays were also performed, consisting of comic
tales or stories, intermixed with coarse jests, and accompanied in the acting
with instrumental music, mimicry, and other arts of raising laughter.
The Game of Chess, and several games at dice, were much studied and
practised by persons of rank and fortune at this period. Some knowledge
of these games was so necessary to every gentleman, especially if he aspired
to the honour of knighthood, that they were commonly made a part of his
education.
Tlie Spirit of Chivalry was introduced into England by the Normans,
and gave a new direction to the education of the young nobility and gentry,
in order to fit them for obtaining the honour of knighthood, which was then
an object of ambition to the greatest princes. At their first entrance into
the school of chivalry, they acted in the capacity of pages or valets ; and
in this station were instructed in the laws of courtesy and politeness, and in
the first rudiments of chivalry, and martial exercises, to fit them for shining
iu courts, at tournaments, and on fields of battle. After they had spent a
competent time in the station of pages, they were raised to the rank of
esquire. Then they were permitted into more familiar intercourse with
the ladies and knights of the court ; and were allowed opportunity of
perfecting themselves in those offices becoming the honours of knighthood.
When seven or eight years had been spent in the capacity of esquire, the
order of knighthood was conferred ; this was most generally received from
the hands of the prince, earl, or baron in whose court they had passed
through the several grades of chivalry. The duties of a knight, to which he
was bound by oath, were to serve his prince ; to defend the Church and
clergy ; to protect the persons and reputations of virtuous ladies ; and to
rescue the widow and orphan from oppression, with his sword and at the
hazard of his life.
THE HISTORICAL EEASOX WHY.
HENRY III, ASCENDED THE THRONE, 1216.
FKOM THE DEATH OF KING JOHN, 1216, TO THE
ACCESSION OF HENRY THE FOURTH, 1399.
336. Wliy was the death of King John an opportune
event at this period of English liistory?
Because both the royal family and the country escaped the
ruin with which they were threatened, by the confederacy of the
revolted barons of England with Prince Louis of France.
337. Who succeeded John on the English throne ?
Henry the Third, the late King's eldest son, who was then in
the tenth year of his age.
338. William, Marshal of England, and Earl of Pembroke, the chief support
and ornament of the royal cause, conducted young Henry to the town of
Gloucester, where a meeting of the nobles and clergy was called, and the
young Prince was universally acknowledged as King. At the same time the
Earl of Pembroke was chosen Protector of the kingdom.
339. Why did the cause of Henry soon become popular ?
Because the Protector took care to renew the Great Charter
of Liberties which John had given to the English. He also
wrote letters to all the discontented barons, entreating them to
submit to Henry, promising them forgiveness for the past, and
giving them a guarantee for the future.
340. Why icas Louis of France induced to abandon his
claim to the English Crotvn, ii'hich he had hitherto main-
tained ?
Because the Protector took active measures to defend the
rights of the young King; and at length defeated the French
pretender in a decisive battle at Lincoln.
341. What change took place in the Protectorate of
England ?
The Earl of Pembroke died, and was succeeded in his office
by Peter de Roches, Bishop of Winchester, and Hubert de
Burgh, High Justiciary.
90 THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
WITH TKANCE CONCLUDED BY A TETJCE, 1224.
342. The new Regents employed the first three years of their administra-
tion in reducing the Earl of Albemarle, and some other turbulent barons,
to order, and in quelling and punishing some dangerous mutinies of the Lon-
doners. In doing this, they exercised some acts of power and severity, by
which they gave great offence.
343. Why was Henry the Third declared of age when
only in his sixteenth year ?
Because Hubert de Burgh, who had the chief direction of
affairs, thought it would diminish the general odium, which the
exercise of his power had created, and also that it would in
some degree reconcile the people to the royal cause. The Pope
granted a bull declaring Henry to be of age, and commanding
all the barons to deliver up the royal castles, which they held,
into the King's hands.
344. What important event took place at this time in
connection with France ?
Philip Augustus died, and his son Louis succeeded him. That
Prince had engaged, by a secret article in the treaty which he
made with Henry at his departure out of England, to restore
Normandy to the English power, on his accession to the crown
of France. Ambassadors were sent to demand the performance
of this article ; but Louis, instead of complying with the demand,
raised an army, and visited the province of Poictiers, where he
took several places still belonging to the English. Upon this
news, an English army was sent into France, several places
were recovered, and a truce ultimately agreed to for three years.
345. Why did a quarrel break out between King Henry
and Ms brother Bichard, Earl of Cornwall ?
Because Richard had seized a manor belonging to one "Walleran,
affirming that it belonged to his earldom of Cornwall; and when
the King commanded him to restore it to its former possessor,
he refused to obey, and, forming a confederacy with several
powerful barons, raised a great army.
346. The King being quite unprepared to resist so great a force, and
knowing his brother's covetous disposition, entered into a negotiation with
him, and gained him over by a grant of lands of much greater value than
those in dispute.
THE HISTOETCAL BEASON WHY. 91
HUBERT DE BURGH DISGRACED, 1232.
347. Why did Henry make an expedition into France ?
Because Louis, the King, having died, and left an infant son
as his successor, Henry imagined this would be a favourable
opportunity of gaining the French dominions.
348. This expedition was one of the most unfortunate on record. Henry,
instead of taking immediate advantage of the French King's death, remained
in England, engaged in trifling disputes with his subjects. In the mean-
time the troubles of Prance were being composed, and Queen Blanche
established in the Regency ; and at this inopportune moment, Henry resolved
upon actively prosecuting his intentions. But the expedition was as badly
conducted as it was ill-timed. A large army which had been raised was
detained in England for the want of means of transport, and when Henry
arrived at the scene of action, instead of taking any active steps, he spent
the whole of the campaign in riotous pleasures, and finally returned to
England without having achieved one single action of moment, covered with
disgrace.
349. Why was Hubert de Burgh disgraced?
Because the late disastrous expedition in France had rendered
his ministry odious both to the nobility and the people at large,
and the King, naturally fickle, listened to the clamours against
the minister, and at length consented to his downfall.
350. Hubert was removed from his place of High Justiciary, and commanded
to give an account of the disposal of the revenues of the Crown during his
administration. The fallen minister, perceiving his impending ruin, and
considering even his life in danger, took sanctuary in the Priory of Merton,
from whence the King commanded the Mayor of London to bring him
either dead or alive ; these orders were, however, recalled, and Hubert was
suffered the privilege of sanctuary, but strictly guarded and without food,
so that he eventually surrendered himself, and was imprisoned in the
Tower. Some time after the King relented, Hubert was released from his
imprisonment, and after many various turns of fortune, at last recovered
some degree of the King's favour; but wisely abstained from all participation
in the administration of public affairs.
351. Why did the marriage of Henry with Eleanora,
daughter of the Count of Provence, occasion unsatisfactory
consequences ?
Because the Queen was followed into England by many of
her relations and countrymen, who became great favourites with
Henry, and monopolised the places about the court, and the
direction of public affairs.
92 THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
PEOVISIONS OP OXFORD, 1258.
352. These proceedings did not fail to revive the discontents of the English
barons ; and the history of England for some years after the King's marriage
consists chiefly of the remonstrances of the English nobility against the
foreign favourites, and their attempts to remove them from the King's pre-
sence and councils. Whenever Henry was hard pressed and threatened, or
stood in need of money from his Parliament, he made the most solemn pro-
mises to dismiss all foreigners, and to govern only by the advice of his barons ;
but as soon as the danger was over and his wants supplied, he unscru-
pulously violated all his promises.
353. Why tvas Henry induced to confirm tlie great
English Charter?
Because the King, on the pretext of an intended expedition to
the Holy Land, applied to his Parliament for a grant of money,
which they refused to grant him, without he first confirmed the
Charter of English Liberties in a most solemn manner.
854. According to this agreement, the King, with the whole Parliament, met
in the great hall of Westminster, the prelates and clergy in their robes,
with each a lighted taper in his hand. The Great Charter, and the Charter
of the Forests, were read aloud to this august assembly; and then a sentence
of excommunication, containing the most fearful denunciations of the Divine
wrath against all who should violate or consent to the violation of these
Charters, in any particular, was pronounced ; at the conclusion of which the
prelates and clergy threw their tapers on the ground, crying, with one voice,
" So may every one be extinguished and stink in hell, who shall incur this
sentence." To which the king, laying his right hand upon his heart, replied,
" So help me God, as I shall faithfully observe all these articles, as I am a
man, as I am a Christian, as I am a knight, and as I am a crowned and
anointed king." These obligations, solemn and awful as they were, were
soon afterwards violated by this faithless and misguided prince.
355. What was the occasion of the assembly Icnown as
the Mad Parliament ?
The King, who had laid repeated oppressive attacks upon the
people, for the purpose of rewarding his foreign favourites,
and having also deceived and insulted his officers of state in
various ways, was resisted hy the discontented barons, who
refused to grant him any more supplies, and determined upon
driving all foreigners from the country.
356. The famous assembly at which these resolutions were discussed,
met at Oxford. The barons came attended with such an armed force as
rendered any opposition on the part of the court impracticable. According
to agreement, twelve barons were chosen of the King's Council, and twelve
by the Parliament ; to whom was given an absolute authority to reform the
state, and to make what regulations they thought fit for the future
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 93
THE PBOVISIOJfS OF OXFORD ANNULLED BY HEKEY.
government of the kingdom; and the King himself, his eldest son Prince
Edward, and all persons of every station, took a solemn oath to observe
and obey all the regulations that should be imposed by these twenty-four
barons. They ordained three Sessions of Parliament shoxild be held every
year; that four knights should be chosen in each county, to enquire into
the peculiar grievances of that county, and lay the same before each
meeting of Parliament; that a new high sheriff should be elected every
year, by the votes of the freeholders in each county; that none of the
royal wards should be committed to the custody of foreigners ; that no
new forests or warrens should be created ; and that the revenues of
counties should not be let to farm. Such were the regulations (commonly
called the Provisions of Oxford) which were made by the twenty-four
barons.
357. Wliy did the Barons, invested with these extraor-
dinary powers, soon become unpopular ?
Because they chiefly made use of the power thus gained to
forward their views and advance their own fortunes.
358. They got into their possession all the royal castles, which they
either kept in their own hands, or committed to the custody of their
creatures. They dismissed all the great officers of state, and of the King's
household, to make room for themselves and their dependants. They
enriched themselves and their families by the royal escheats and wardships ;
and, in a word, engrossed the whole power, and a great part of the revenues
of the Crown; the King was a mere pageant of state, without the least
shadow of authority, and the English Constitution was entirely changed
from a monarchy to an aristocracy, or rather an oligarchy.
359. What steps did Henry taJce to regain his authority ?
Having taken a resolution to regain his royal prerogative,
Henry suddenly appeared in Parliament, and reproaching the
twenty-four barons with the breach of their promises to him,
and the many abuses of their power, declared he would no
longer pay any regard to the Provisions of Oxford, but would
immediately re/sume the exercise of his royal authority.
360. Having declared this bold resolution, the King retired to the Tower,
whose governor he had gained, seized a considerable treasure that was
deposited there, and sent out proclamations dismissing all the great officers,
judges, and sheriffs, who had been nominated by the twenty-four barons, and
placed others in their stead. This occasioned infinite confusion in the king-
dom,—some obeying the officers and magistrates nominated by the King,
others obeying those nominated by the barons, and many paying no regard
to any magistracy, but living as if ail government had been dissolved.
94 THE HISTOKICAL EEASON" WHY.
TTAR BETWEEN HENRY AND HIS BARONS.
361. Why was Henry again induced to recognize the
authority of the Barons ?
Because, when affairs were in their most unsettled state,
Prince Edward arrived in England, and declared his determina-
tion to support the observance of the Provisions of Oxford ;
and after certain articles most displeasing to the King had been
mitigated, the dispute was finally adjusted.
362. Why were still farther concessions granted ly
Henry to the Barons ?
Because the Citizens of London having espoused the cause of
the barons, the royal party became unpopular. The Queen was
maltreated by the mob, Prince Edward besieged in the Castle
of Bristol, which, together with a number of minor misfortunes,
compelled the King to yield to still more advantageous terms
than he had hitherto submitted to, in order to obtain a cessation
of hostilities.
363. Why did a war occur between Henry and his
Barons ?
Because, one of the conditions in the late treaty affecting
the succession of Prince Edward, he, with the concurrence of
several of the nobles, determined upon referring all their
differences to Louis the Ninth, King of France. The award
given by the French King being unfavourable to the barons,
they rejected it, and again set themselves up in authority
against the King.
36-1. What was the result of the war between Henry
and the Barons ?
It was disastrous to the royal cause ; Henry and his brother
being both taken prisoners, and his army totally defeated.
365. Prince Edward, returning from the pursuit of the Londoners, whom
he had put to the rout, to his infinite surprise and grief, found the day
entirely lost. He endeavoured to persuade the forces he had about him to
renew the battle, but they were too much dispirited to listen to the sug-
gestion of their leader. In the meantime, the Earl of Leicester was busy
in securing the royal prisoners and rallying his troops, with which he
ultimately surrounded the Prince, Edward, finding that there were no means
THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY. 95
BATTLE OF EVESHAM FOUGHT, 1266.
of escape, was reluctantly compelled to submit to the following conditions:
That the provisions of Oxford should be confirmed and executed; and that
the Prince and his cousin Henry should surrender themselves prisoners,
and remain as hostages for their respective fathers in the hands of Leicester
and the barons, until all things were completely settled.
366. Why was a diversion soon made in tlie royal
favour ?
Because tlie Earl of Leicester having secured immense wealth,
and exorbitant .power, excited the envy of the Earl of Gloucester
and some other nobles, awakening a proportionate degree of
sympathy in favour of the royal prisoners.
367. The Earl of Gloucester formed a scheme for the deliverance of Prince
Edward out of the hands of Leicester; which he not only managed to com-
municate, but also to convey a horse of extraordinary swiftness. The Prince,
in consequence of this plan, feigned illness for some days, and then pretending
to recover, he proposed to take an airing on horseback for the benefit of his
. Leicester, suspecting nothing, and trusting to the fidelity and
vigilance of the persons in whose hands he had entrusted the Prince, offered
no opposition. As the Prince and his attendants were riding along, he
proposed running matches between the several gentlemen who were the
best mounted; while he himself, under the plea of partial convalescence,
moved gently along, on the horse conveyed to him by the Earl of Gloucester.
At length, when he observed that the horses engaged in racing were suffi-
ciently exhausted, the Prince, suddenly clapping spurs to his horse, rode off
at full speed. As soon as the attendants recovered from their surprise, they
pursued the Prince, but only just in time to see him received by a party of
horse, which had been sent to favour his escape.
368. Why did Prince Edward soon gain a large
number of adherents ?
Because he made a solemn declaration to the army, that if God
should grant him victory, he would persuade the king, his
father, to banish all foreigners, to preserve the liberties, and
govern according to the laws of England.
369. What were tlie consequences of the Battle of
Evesham that ivas then fought ?
The rebel army was totally defeated, the Earl of Leicester
and his sons killed, and several barons taken prisoners. .
370. Immediately after this battle the great estates of the revolted barons
were confiscated without mercy. This caused such as had escaped to commit
themselves once more to a struggle in defence of their fallen fortunes ; Prince
Edward, however, pursued them from place to place aud utterly crushed
them both by famine and the sword.
96 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
ACCESSION OF EDWAED TKE FIEST, 1272.
371. Why did the JEarl of Gloucester become dis-
satisfied, and at variance with the royal party ?
Because he was disgusted at the severities exercised towards
the disinherited barons, and with the disregard that was paid
to the solemn promises which had been made by Prince Edward
before the Battle of Eveshara.
372. While the King and Prince were absent from London, the Earl of
Gloucester suddenly entered it with his army; but the royal forces shortly
after approaching, the Earl of Gloucester made proposals for an accommoda-
tion, and having laid down, his arms, returned to his duty.
373. What circumstances attended the death of Henry
the Third?
Henry died on the 16th of November, 1272, in the sixty-fifth
year of his age, and the fifty-seventh of his reign. Worn out
by age and infirmities, the monarch was quite unequal to the
task of government, and his latter days were spent in quelling
the riots and disturbances caused through the oppression of
his barons. As the King was returning from Norwich, where
he had been suppressing one of these riots, he was taken ill at
St. Edmundsbury, and being conveyed by easy journeys to
Westminster, he died there.
374. Who succeeded Henry on the throne?
Edward, the late King's eldest son, who was in Sicily at the
time of his father's death, and was crowned at Westminster in
1274.
375. Why did Edward immediately turn his attention
to the laws and the various offices of state ?
Because great abuses had crept into the administration during
the latter part of Henry's reign, both by reason of the laxity
of the monarch's rule, and the oppression and exactions of the
barons.
376. Why did Edward go to war with Letvellyn, Prince
of Wales?
Because, although the Welsh Prince had been several times
summoned to come to court and perform his homage, he delayed
to do so, under various pretences.
THE HISTOEICAL EEASON" "WHY. 97
THE TITLE OF PRINCE OF WALES FOUNDED, 1283.
377. Lewellyn, who had been a faithful ally and zealous friend to the Earl
of Leicester, in the days of his power and prosperity, still continued to
cultivate the friendship of that family, after their banishment out of
England, and had even entered into a contract of marriage with Eleanor de
Montfort, daughter of the Earl; but the young lady being intercepted on
her passage from France to AVales, was detained a prisoner iu the court of
England. When, therefore, the Prince was again summoned to come and
perform his homage, he made bitter complaints of the injury which had been
done him, and refused to comply, unless his bride was immediately set at
liberty, and the King's son, with several noblemen, were put into his hands
as hostages for the safety of his person. This last demand was considered
insolent and unreasonable, and Edward therefore resolved to reduce the
"Welsh Prince by force of arms.
378. What -were the consequences of Edward's invasion
of Wales?
Lewellyn was compelled to retire into the Welsh mountains
and sue for peace. He also agreed to pay for the expenses of
the war, and to do homage to the Crown of England.
379. Though Lewellyn was reduced to the necessity of submitting, Edward
was not very rigorous in exacting a full performance of the conditions. He
remitted the payment of the fine, delivered to Lewellyn his betrothed wife,
and assisted at their marriage.
380. Wliy were the Jews severely punished about this
time ?
Because they had been guilty of debasing and clipping the
coin of the realm, committing extortion and usury, with various
other practices, equally opposed to the laws of the land and the
spirit of commerce.
381. An order was issued to seize the whole of that people in one day,
the 12th of November, 1278; and, after a very short trial, two hundred and
eighty of them were hanged in London alone, and all their lands, houses,
money, and goods, to an immense value, were confiscated.
382. In ivhat manner was Wales annexed to the English
territory ?
A second battle was fought between Edward and Lewellyn,
by which the latter and his brother lost their lives, and the
Welsh people, upon witnessing the death of their princes, were
utterly dispirited, and tamely submitted to the English yoke.
333. This conquest, however humiliating to the "Welsh people, was productive
of happy consequences, as it put a stop to the bloodshed and scoucs of
E
98 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
\VAE BETWEEN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.
desolation occasioned by the mutual enmity of the two nations : and a more
important result still was the consequent introduction of the English laws,
learning, and arts, into a hitherto half- civilised country. Some years after
this event, Edward bestowed the title of Prince of Wales on his eldest son,
Edward, which has ever since been the title of the eldest sons of the Kings
of England.
384. Why did Edward make war against Scotland?
Alexander the Third, King of Scots, dying, left as heiress to
the throne his grand -daughter, Margaret, a child of three years
of age, whose mother was the late Queen of Norway. Disputes
having arisen among the Regents appointed during the minority
of the Queen, Eric, King of Norway, began to be apprehensive
for the interests of his daughter, the Queen of Scotland ; and
in order to secure to her the possession of that Crown, he applied
to Edward, as her grand-uncle, for his assistance and protection.
Edward was only too willing to assent to this proposal, as he
had already formed a scheme of wedding his eldest son, Edward,
to the infant Queen, and thus unite the two kingdoms.
385. How was the ivar with Scotland made still more
certain and disastrous ?
By the death of the young Queen, just as Edward's scheme
was completed, and Margaret was ou her way to her own
dominions.
386. It would be difficult to find in history the death of any one person
attended with more fatal consequences than that of this infant Queen. It
dissipated in a moment all the pleasing hopes of peace and union, and
entailed long and bloody wars upon both kingdoms, which brought the
weaker of them to the very verge of ruin.
387. Why was JEdivard called upon to arbitrate in tlie
affairs of Scotland ?
Because the Scotch Crown was claimed by two competitors,
and the struggle bid fair to plunge the country into a state of
civil war.
388. The Regents, the States, and even the competitors themselves agreed
that Edward should be the arbitrator in this controversy, as he had always
professed the greatest respect and affection for the Scotch nation, and had
lately acquitted himself creditably as an umpire between the competitors
for the Crown of Sicily.
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY. 99
WAR WITH FBANCE, 1293.
389. Wlii/ did Edward accept tlie office imposed upon
1dm with alacrity?
Because he had designs upon the Scotch Crown himself, and
therefore considered this would be a favourable opportunity for
forwarding his views.
390. Edward played his part with the most admirable policy; never
disclosing his designs till he was almost sure of success, and observing
through the whole proceedings all the external forms and shows of justice.
He summoned the States of Scotland, and the competitors for the Crown, to
meet him at Norham, a small town on the banks of the Tweed, a few miles
from Berwick ; and that they might not hesitate to pass that river, he made
a declaration that it should not be drawn into a precedent. "When all were
assembled, Edward addressed the meeting to the effect that he was come
to determine the great cause concerning the Crown of Scotland, in virtue
of his right of superiority and direct dominion over that kingdom, and
required that this right should be immediately recognised and solemnly
acknowledged by the States, as the first step to be taken. After some little
demur at this unexpected demand, Edward's superiority was at length
acknowledged. Encouraged by this acquiescence, he farther demanded and
obtained all the royal places and castles to be put into his hand, under tho
pretence that he should have the power of bestowing the kingdom to the
claimant to whom it should be adjudged.
391. What was the result of this arbitration?
The Crown was adjudged to John Baliol ; and Edward at
the same time compelled the newly-made King to perform homage,
and swear fealty to him, thus constituting the Scottish kingdom
a dependency on the English Crown.
392. Why did a war with France occur about this time ?
On account of a quarrel which happened between the crews of
an English and French ship about a spring of fresh water, near
Bayonne.
393. This, which was a mere scuffle at the commencement, soon grew into
a national quarrel. A fleet of two hundred Norman ships sailed southwards,
and seized all the English ships which they met in their passage. In conse-
quence, an English fleet was fitted out, and sailed to meet the enemy. Thj
two fleets met ; and after an obstinate struggle the English obtained a com-
plete victory, and took or destroyed the greatest part of the French fleet.
39Jj. Why was an alliance made between the Kings of
Scotland and France?
Because the King of Scotland judged from the aspect of affairs
E 2
00 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
IXSUKRECTIOK IJf SCOTLAND, HEADED BY WALLACE.
that an opportunity would be afforded him of throwing off the
English yoke, whilst the King of France calculated that the
co-operation of the King of Scotland would render him more
secure against the attempts of his formidable rival.
395. WJiy did a war break out with Scotland?
Because Edward, wanting a plausible pretext for invading
the Scotch territories, required King John to deliver certain
castles into his hands, as security for his fidelity during the
threatened war with France. In conformity with his alliance
with the French King, John refused to comply with the demand,
and hostilities were consequently commenced between the two
countries.
396. What was tlie result of this war?
Edward gained a complete victory over the Scotch, and took
their King prisoner, who, after being confined in England for
borne years, died in France at an advanced age.
397. Why did a second war occur with Scotland?
Because the people of that country began to feel the indig-
nities that were put upon them ; and Sir William Wallace offer-
ing himself as a leader of the insurrection, several of the nobility,
and the people generally, joined his standard for the support of
their national rights and privileges.
398. What success attended this rising ?
A battle was fought between the two armies at Stirlicg,
which place was approached by a bridge over which the enemy
had to pass. Wallace, observing the motions of the English,
allowed as many of them to pass as he thought he could defeat,
when rushing on them with irresistible impetuosity, they were
all either put to death, drowned, or taken prisoners.
399. Subsequently to tliis, several battles were fought with varied success.
At length Edward invaded the kingdom of Scotland, took Wallace prisoner,
and had him executed. A plan was then formed for the government of the
country, which, though it gave to Robert Bruce (sou of a former claimant
of the Scotch Crown, and the most considerable man of the country),
some show of power and authority, conferred in reality the chief places
of power and trust upon Englishmen.
THE HISTOEICAL EEASOX WHY. 101
DEATH OF EDTTAED THE FIRST, 1307.
400. Why did Robert Bruce (the sixth of that name)
form the design of mounting the throne of Scotland ?
Because, soon after the settlement of the affairs of Scotland,
Robert Bruce the elder and John Baliol both died, which
circumstances strengthened the claims of the young pretender.
401. When the news of this insurrection reached the ears of Edward, ho
invaded Scotland with a large army; and Bruce, after meeting with many
reverses, and suffering several hair-breadth escapes, was at length compelled
to retire into the Highlands.
402. What were the circumstances of Edward's death ?
While still carrying on war with Scotland, he was attacked
with illness, and reaching Burgh-on-the-Sands, about five miles
from Carlisle, he expired there in his tent, on the 7th of July,
1307, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and the thirty- fifth of
his reign.
403. Why did the reign of Edward the Second promise
to be an auspicious one ?
Because that King ascended the throne when he was in the
prime of manhood, and at the head of a large army flushed with
recent victories, and eager to be led on to further conquests.
404. In ivhat manner did Edward give the first indi-
cations of his weakness, and unfitness for rule ?
By trifling away his time in his progress into Scotland, and
thus allowing Robert Bruce to become more formidable; and
also by recalling a vicious favourite named Piers Gavaston, who
had been banished from the kingdom in the former reign, and
who possessed a most powerful influence over the young monarch.
405. Edward from the very beginning of his reign evinced a disinclination
to continue the war with Scotland, and advanced towards that country but a
short stage, where he continued only a few days, Becoming every day more
weary of war, and impatient to embrace his returning favourite, he disbanded
a great part of his army, and returned to England without accomplishing
anything. As soon as the favourite Gavaston arrived at court, he was loaded
with wealth and honours, and had the entire control both of the king and
the kingdom. And, ultimately, when Edward went to Boulogne to celebrate
his nuptials with Isabella, daughter of the King of France, he constituted
Gavaston guardian of the kingdom in his absence, with more extensive
powers than had ever been granted to any former guardian.
102 THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
CIVIL WAS.
406. Why was a change made in tie Constitution in
the early part of Edward's reign ?
Because the insolence of Gavaston and the protection and
favour which the king accorded him, determined the chief
nobles of the kingdom to take the management of affairs into
their own hands.
407. When Parliament assembled, the chief nobles of the kingdom attended
with numbers of armed followers ; and invested twelve of their own number,
under the title of ordainers, with a kind of dictatorial authority, which they
were to enjoy for a year ; and the King was compelled to grant a commission
for choosing these ordainers from amongst their body. In the following
Parliament the ordinances composed by the twelve ordainers were debated;
and at length, with much reluctance, confirmed by the King, and sworn to by
the Lords and Commons, and copies of them, under the Great Seal, sent to
all the sheriffs of England.
40S. Wliy did a civil war break out in England soon
after this event ?
Because Edward insisted upon recalling Gavaston, who had
been banished the kingdom by one of the articles of the
ordinances, and who was particularly odious in the eyes of the
people.
409. This imprudent measure rekindled the resentment of the confederated
barons, who immediately raised an army, and having appointed the Earl of
Lancaster their general, marched northwards. The confederates received a
great accession of strength by the junction of the Earl of Warrene to their
party, and by the general dissatisfaction with the King-, and rage against
the favourite, which prevailed among the people.
410. What steps did the King take to repress this
insurrection ?
When the rumour first reached Edward he disregarded it, and
still pursued his pleasures in company with Gavaston. At length,
hearing of the near approach of the confederate army, he was
induced to retire ; put Gavaston into the Castle of Scarborough
to defend that place, and marched onwards to York in hopes of
raising an army.
411. As soon as the Earl of Lancaster received intelligence of the King's
movements, he marched to besiege the Castle of Scarborough, and posted
troops between that town and York, to prevent all communication between
the King and his favourite. The siege was pushed on with vigour, and
Gavaston was compelled to surrender himself prisoner.
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 103
PEACE TYITH THE CONFEDEKATED BAROXS.
412. What was Gavaston s ultimate fate ?
Gavaston was conducted to the Castle of Deddington, near
Banbury, in Oxfordshire, in custody of the Earl of Pembroke.
Here the Earl left him in the care of his servants, and went to
pass a few days with his wife, who resided in the neighbourhood.
In the meantime the castle was beset by the Earl of Warwick
and his followers ; and Gavaston, finding his guards neither
able nor willing- to defend him, surrendered himself into the hands
of the Earl, his most furious and implacable enemy, who carried
him to his Castle of Warwick. As soon as this event was known,
the Earls of Lancaster, Hereford, and Arundel, the chiefs of the
confederacy, repaired to Warwick, and, after some consultation,
agreed to put their prisoner to death, as a traitor and public enemy.
In consequence of this resolution, he was conducted to Blacklow Hill,
near Warwick, where, in the presence of the confederate lords, his
head was severed from his body by the hands of the executioner.
413. Why did Edward conclude a peace with tlie con-
federated Barons ?
Because he received intelligence of a large army being raised
and approaching the capital; and through his own fears and the
persuasions of others was thus induced to listen to milder counsels.
414. The pacification was concluded on the following terms : That the
barons should come before the King in Westminster Hall, and ask his pardon
on their knees ; that they should restore the horses, arms, jewels, plate, &c.,
belonging to Gavaston, which they had seized at Newcastle; and that a general
pardon should be passed in the next Parliament to the barons and their
adherents, for the death of Gavaston, and all other crimes and misdemeanours.
415. Why did the state of Scotland materially improve
during this interval ?
Because Eobert, Bruce, who was now universally acknowledged
as King of Scots, had taken advantage of the dissensions in
England to restore order to the civil government, authority to the
laws, and to extinguish the English faction and revive the energy
of the people in the defence of their King and country.
416. What result attended the attempt of tlie English
to regain tlie Scottish government?
A battle was fought at Bannoclvburn, in which the English
104 THE HISTORICAL REASON "WHY.
KEV01T IK IRELAND.
were totally defeated, with a loss of ten thousand men ; and this
victory established Robert Bruce on the throne of Scotland, and
restored the long-disputed independence of the kingdom.
417. Why was England at tills time in a most unhappy
condition ?
Because, in addition to the late defeat, the country was visited
by a famine ; and the Earl of Lancaster and other barons, who
formed a powerful party, instead of endeavouring to relieve their
countrymen, did all in their power to impoverish and oppress them.
418. The whole power was now in the hands of the Earl of Lancaster and
his partisans, who availed themselves of the opportunity to forward their
own ambitious ends. Amongst other acts, they turned all the royal officers
and servants out of their places, which they appropriated to themselves, or
bestowed upon their dependents ; and the King found himself unable to
offer any resistance to their will.
419. Why did a revolt take place in Ireland alout this
Because the Irish, who had long borne the English yoke with
impatience, conceived this to be a favourable opportunity to estab-
lish their freedom; and for that purpose invited Edward Bruce,
brother of the King of Scots, to make an expedition into their
country. This invitation was accepted, and several actions took
place with the English with various success.
420. Wliy was an intended expedition against Scotland
abandoned?
Because when Edward raised an army and appointed
Newcastle as a place of rendezvous, where the forces might
join, the Earl of Lancaster and the barons of his party (who
are supposed to have been in the interest of the King of Scots)
failed to attend.
421. Why did a civil war break out in England soon
after this?
Because the dissensions between the royal party and that of
the Earl of Lancaster were revived by the defection of the
latter, who was openly accused of treason ; whilst the elopement
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 105
CONFEDERACY AGAINST THE SPENCEB FAMILY.
of the Earl of Lancaster's wife about this time, and her
reception and protection by the Earl of Surrey, enraged the
aggrieved nobleman to such a degree that he flew to arms, and
took several castles belonging to the Earl of Surrey, and some
belonging to the King.
422. Upon ivliat terms were tlie contending parties
reconciled ? .
A meeting was appointed between the Earl and the King, at
which it was agreed that the famous ordinances should be again
confirmed, and that a standing council of eight bishops, four
earls, and four barons, should be appointed, who were constantly
to attend the King by turns, and without whose advice no act
of government was to be performed.
423. Wliy was a confederacy raised against the family
of tlie Spencers ?
Because the King had taken Hugh Spencer, a young gentle-
man of ancient family, into his favour, who, taking advantage
of the power that was placed in his hands, invaded the rights
and confiscated the estates of several barons without any just
cause or pretence.
424. This conduct soon rendered him the object of general terror and
detestation, and obliged all who either felt or feared his oppression to
conspire against his ruin in order to prevent their own. An army was
raised by the Earl of Hereford and many other lords, which, marching into
"Wales, committed dreadful ravages on Spencer's estates. The Earl of
Lancaster was induced to join this confederacy, and an instrument was
subscribed, by which they bound themselves to pursue the two Spencers,
father and son, till they had driven them out of the kingdom, and obtained
possession of their lands. Ultimately the confederated lords drew up a
sentence of forfeiture and banishment against the two Spencers, and got it
confirmed by Parliament. They then obtained pardon of the King for all
the treasons, murders, and felonies that had been committed, and separated,
and returned to their several homes.
425. Wliy did a civil war break out soon after this?
Because the Queen, journeying through Leeds, was refused
admission into the castle of the Earl of Badelsmere. The King,
having a former cause of quarrel with the Earl, besieged his castle,
compelled it to surrender, and hanged some of the officers of the
garrison.
106 THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
SUBHEADER OF THE FRENCH DOMINIONS TO THE KING'S SON.
426. The Spencers, hearing of this adventure, took the opportunity of
returning to England ; their banishment \vas declared illegal, and they en-
couraged the King to pursue vigorous measures, and to take vengeance on
ail his enemies. Many other powerful barons, disliking the violent measures
of the confederates, and resenting the compulsion which had been put upon
them in the late Parliament, repaired to the royal standard, and Edward
soon found himself at the head of a powerful army. When the Earl of
Lancaster heard of this, he began to prepare for his own defence. No longer
concealing his connection with the King of Scots, he openly solicited that
monarch's assistance, who immediately placed a body of troops at his service.
A battle was subsequently fought, in which the royal party were victorious,
and the Earl of Lancaster was taken prisoner, and finally beheaded.
427. Why did Edward surrender Ms French dominions
to Ms son ?
Because a dispute had long been pending between the King
of France and the King of England respecting the French ter-
ritories which the latter possessed ; the King of France demanding
that homage should be done for them, and the King of England,
on various pretences, refusing to comply with the demand. An
overture at length came from the court of France, that if the
King of England would bestow his French dominions on his
son Edward, Prince of Wales, the King of France would accept
the homage of that prince, and grant him the investiture of
these territories.
428. Wliy liad Edward soon reason to repent of this
decision ?
Because Isabel, Edward's Queen, had secretly proposed this
arrangement, in order to carry out a plot which she had long
designed against her husband's life and his authority.
429. By this means the perfidious Queen, who had already taken up her
residence in the court of France, on the pretence of forwarding the negotia-
tions, gained possession of her son, and had the opportunity of poison-
ing the mind of the Prince against his father. The designs afterwards
broke into open rebellion, and the Queen and the Prince both refused to
return to England, in spite of the entreaties and importunities which Edward
and his advisers made use of to prevail upon them to do so.
430. Why was a marriage contracted letween tlie
Prince of Wales and Philippa, daughter of the Count of
Holland ?
Because Queen Isabel could not obtain the assistance she
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 107
EDWAKD TAKEX PRISONER.
desired, to carry on her plots against her husband, from the
King of France, and therefore sought the aid of the Count of
Holland, who undertook to furnish the necessary means, on
condition of a marriage contracted between his daughter and
the Prince of Wales.
431. The Queen and her accomplices having completed their preparations,
set sail from Holland with a small fleet, and shortly arrived at Orwell Haven,
in Suffolk. Besides the Queen and Prince, there came over, in this fleet, the
Earl of Kent, who had been betrayed into this conspiracy against his King
and brother, and Roger de Mortimer, the great mover of this enterprise, and
the paramour of the Queen.
432. Wliy did tlie Queen gain many followers in
England ?
Because she pretended that the sole design of her expedition
was to drive the Spencers out of the kingdom, to ease the people
of their burdens, to reform the disorders of the government, and
to improve the liberties of the Church.
433. What was tJie result of this expedition ?
Edward, after vainly endeavouring to arm the Londoners in
his cause, fled to Bristol, accompanied by the two Spencers, and
attended by a small retinue. At this place the Spencers fell
into the hands of the King's enemies and were executed, while
Edward was compelled to flee for safety into "Wales. From
Wales he made for Ireland, in the hopes of finding friendly
succour there ; but, after beating about several days at sea, he
was compelled to land at Swansea, and was soon afterwards
taken prisoner.
434. Wliat was the fate of the King ?
Upon being taken prisoner, the Queen and Mortimer dis-
covered a further part of this plot, which was to depose the
King and place the Prince of Wales upon the throne in his
stead; this design, with the aid of their unscrupulous -partisans,
they were enabled to accomplish, and the King was accordingly
deposed, and imprisoned in Berkeley Castle. Here, after under-
going a series of unheard-of cruelties and indignities, he wa.s
most barbarously murdered by the orders of Queen Isabel and
108 THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
CONSPIRACY RAISED AGAINST MORTIMER.
Mortimer, and died on the 21st of September, 1327, in the forty-
third year of his age, and after a reign of nineteen years
and six months.
435. Why was a threatened war against Scotland, at
this time, frustrated ly a hastily concluded peace ?
Because the Queen and Mortimer, under whose advice the
young King acted, imagined that it would be a great advantage
and security to themselves to have a peace with Scotland, and
obtain the friendship, and, in case of need, the assistance of its
King. While, on the other hand, Robert Bruce, worn out with
infirmities and weary of the perpetual struggle, was desirous of
leaving his infant son at peace with all his neighbours,
especially with England.
436. In consequence of these articles of peace with Scotland, the Queen-
mother of England gave her daughter, the Princess Jane, in a marriage
with the Prince of Scotland ; and with the Princess were delivered up many
of the charters, and also jewels and other effects which had been taken
thence by Edward the First. Thus ended that long and sanguinary war
between the two British kingdoms, which involved them both in great
calamities, and gave birth to that national animosity that laid the foundation
of many future wars.
437. Why was a conspiracy raised against Mortimer ?
Because his great power and influence, combined with his
insufferable insolence and tyrannical conduct, had become
especially distasteful to the nobles, who determined upon ridding
themselves of so dangerous and powerful an enemy.
438. The King, being now eighteen years of age, desired to emancipate
himself from the tutelage of the Queen-mother and her minion, whom he
had many reasons both to hate and fear. In this design he was encouraged
by many noblemen, and a plan was laid to seize Mortimer at the next
Parliament. The King, in carrying this plot into execution, was admitted
into the castle where Mortimer was, with only a few attendants. Having
gained over the governor to his cause, Edward, by means of a subterranean
passage, was enabled to seize Mortimer suddenly, in an apartment adjoining
the Queen's. Soon after he was put upon his trial for various crimes that
he had committed, and condemned to death ; in pursuance of which sentence
he was hanged at Tyburn. The Queen-mother also received both censure
and punishment. She was deprived of her treasures and position, and com-
pelled to live at a private mansion on a comparatively small pension.
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 109
cnovrs OP FEAXCE CLAIMED BY EDWARD.
-i-39. Whi/ was Scotland invaded by a party of English
Barons ?
Because the fulfilment of one of the articles of the late peace
with England, stipulated that some English noblemen should be
restored to their estates in Scotland. But the execution of this
article being delayed from time to time without sufficient reason,
the aggrieved noblemen determined on invading Scotland, in order
to enforce their claims.
440. The rupture was the occasion of a series of battles and invasions
extending over the next three years. Edward Baliol, son of a former King
of Scotland, joined the barons and prosecuted his claim to the throne; in
a short space of time he was proclaimed Kin,?, expelled the kingdom, and
again restored to his dominions, and finally, with the assistance of Edward,
subdued the country for a time.
441. Wliy did Edward lay claim to the Crown of
France ?
Because, owing to the failure of male heirs direct to the throne
of France, the succession became a matter of dispute between
two claimants, one of whom was Philip de Valois, and Edward
the Third, King of England.
412. For Philip it was pleaded, that the male issue of Philip the Fair
being extinct, and all females and their descendants being by the laws and
customs of France excluded, he had a clear and undoubted right to the
Regency, as being the next male heir, the sou of Charles de Valois, brother
of Philip the Fair. For Edward it was argued, that being the son of Isabel,
daughter of Philip the Fair, he was nearer in blood to the three last Kings
of France, being their sister's son, than Philip, who was only their uncle's
sou. After a long debate the decision was given in favour of Philip de Valois,
who thereupon ascended the throne without any further opposition.
443. Why did Edward persist in asserting Ms claim,
notwithstanding this decision ?
Because the haughty nature of Edward revolted at the idea
of being compelled to do homage for his French dominions, to
a King whose accession he had so recently disputed. Edward
v/as also incensed with the new King of France, for affording
an asylum to the young King and Queen of Scotland, who had
been driven out of their dominions by Baliol, whose 'cause
Edward espoused.
110 THE HISTOEICAL EEASO^ WHY.
INVASION OP FBANCE BY THE ENGLISH.
444. Why did Edward determine upon invading France ?
Because his natural desire to do so was encouraged by Kobert
d'Artois, brother-in-law to the King of France, who had been sent
into banishment for forgery and conspiracy. This adventurer
naturally calculated that if Edward could succeed in conquering
France, he would be restored to his possessions, and he, therefore,
took every opportunity to assure Edward of the validity of his
claim to the Crown of France, and to prevail upon the English
monarch to undertake the expedition.
445. What was the result of the invasion ?
After considerable labour and expense, and sacrificing even the
Queen's jewels to raise the necessary funds for the expedition,
Edward could only succeed in raising a defective army, with
which he was compelled to content himself in ravaging the
countries of Cambresis and Vermandois.
446. Philip, who had sufficient warning of this formidable invasion, had
not been indolent in preparing for his own defence, and appeared at the
head of an army of a hundred thousand men; with this army he remained
on the defensive, unwilling to hazard his crown and kingdom in an engage-
ment, and Edward, seeing no opportunity of advantageously attacking a
force so much superior to his own, returned to England without having
reaped any benefit.
447. How did Edward subsequently retrieve these re-
verses ?
He fought a naval engagement with the French off the harbour
of Sluys, in which thirty thousand of the enemy were killed, and
two hundred of their ships taken.
448. Why did Edward invade Normandy?
Because Godfrey de Harcourt, a Norman nobleman, who had
recently been affronted and injured by the King of France,
having fled to the Court of England, persuaded Edward to
invade Normandy, as being not only a wealthy province, but
wholly unguarded, and therefore a valuable and easy prey.
449. Listening to this advice, Edward raised an army, and invaded the
kingdom. The fleet visited tho several seaports on the coasts, and destroyed
the shipping, while the army, divided into three bodies, ravaged the open.
THE HISTORICAL KEASON WHY. Ill
BATTLE OP CEECY FOUGHT.
country, and took and plundered the towns which were inefficiently fortified
and defended. In a few months Edward collected an immense booty, which
was put on board the fleet and sent into England.
450. What celebrated battle was the consequence of
this invasion ?
The Battle of Crecy, in which both the King and his son
Edward, the Black Prince, appeared in person.
451. This is one of the most famous battles on record, both on account of
the illustrious persons engaged on either side, the deeds of valour that were
performed, and the immense loss and terrific slaughter suffered by the French.
In this encounter the French left on the field of battle the King of Bohemia,
eleven other Princes, eighty bannerets, twelve hundred knights, fifteen
hundred gentlemen, four thousand men-at-arms, and thirty thousand other
soldiers.
452. What other great battle succeeded that of Crecy ?
The Battle of Poictiers, in which the English army, commanded
in person by Edward the Black Prince, was again victorious.
453. In this battle two dukes, nineteen earls, a great number of knights
and gentlemen, and about six thousand men-at-arms, with numbers of other
soldiers, were killed. The prisoners taken were still more numerous, and
of higher degree; for, besides the King and his youngest son, there were
taken three princes of the blood, one archbishop, seventeen earls, fifteen
hundred inferior barons, knights, and gentlemen, and several thousand men-
at-arms.
454. Why was a war undertaken against Castille?
Because Don Pedro, the King of that country, having been
driven from his dominions on account of his cruelty and mis-
government, prevailed upon Edward, the Black Prince, to aid
his cause, and assist his attempt at restoration.
455. What was the result of this expedition?
Don Pedro having been restored to his throne through the in-
strumentality of the English, refused to pay the army, according
to his engagement ; and after numbers of the English soldiers
had been stricken down by the heat of the climate, to which
they were unaccustomed, the Black Prince withdrew the shat-
tered and impoverished remains of his army to Bordeaux.
;5G. Nothing could be more fatal to the Black Prince than the consequences
of this expedition : it ruined his health, and embittered the few remaining
112 THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
DEATH OF EDWARD THE SECOND, 1377.
years of his life, by a continued series of troubles. He had not only exhausted
his treasury, by raising and paying the army which he had conducted to
Castille, but he had contracted an immense debt, and threw upon his hands
some thousands of lawless men, who, for want of pay, began to live by plun-
dering peaceful and inoffensive subjects.
457. Why did a war with France ensue?
Because Edward, the Black Prince, in order to raise the money
to pay the troops who had fought at Castille, imposed a tax upon
every hearth in his French dominions ; which measure was so
unpopular that several of the great lords of Guienne intrigued
with the King of France, to assist them in overturning the
English government.
458. In the wars that followed, the usual good fortune of the English
deserted them. Several English provinces fell into the hands of the French ;
and in a naval engagement with Don Henry, King of Castille, who had espoused
the cause of the French, the English fleet suffered a terrible defeat. A truce
was at length concluded, the result of which was that all the advantages
which the English had gained by the Battles of Crecy and Poictiers were
once more relinquished to the French.
459. What event of national concern occurred soon after
tins ?
The death of Edward, the Black Prince, whose health had been
declining for some years, under a disease contracted at Castille.
He died on the 8th of June, 1376, in the forty-sixth year of
his age.
460. What were the circumstances attending the death
of Edward the Second ?
Already grown old and feeble, his system received a severe
shock by the death of his son, on whom he had built the
brightest hopes. He died on the 1st of June, 1377, in the sixty-
fifth year of his age, and the fifty -first of his reign.
461. Why was Edward, the Black Prince, so called?
Because in battle he was equipped in a complete suit of black
armour.
462. Who succeeded Edward the Third?
Richard the Second, son of the Black Prince. He ascended
the throne in the eleventh year of his age.
THE HISTOETCAL EEASON WHY. 113
INSUBBECTIOX IN ENGLAND.
403. Wliy did Richard at once become a popular
Sovereign ?
On account of his tender years, the extreme beauty of his
person, and the remembrance of his beloved father, whose memory
the people of England still revered.
464. Why did the affairs of England wear an unpro-
mising aspect upon tlie accession of Richard ?
Because the King's extreme youth rendered him incapable of
holding the reins of government, which were confided to his
three uncles, the Dukes of Lancaster, York, and Gloucester.
The want of harmony between these three Protectors prevented
the affairs of the nation from being administered with benefit
and satisfaction to the people.
465. Why did the Dulce of Lancaster make an ex-
pedition into France ?
Because he was naturally of an ambitious and warlike dispo-
sition, and finding himself in power, he prevailed upon the council
to grant him money and arms, not only for the purpose of pro-
tecting England from all its enemies, but to enable him to
perform some notable exploit for its honour and advantage.
466. To perform this promise, the Duke raised an army and equipped a
fleet for invading France, with which he landed in Brittany, and invested
St. Malo. The constable, De Gueselin, hastened with an army to the relief
/of the place; and the Duke, finding it would be impossible to take the town
in the presence of the enemy, raised the siege and returned home, without
having performed.] anything worthy of his mighty promises arid enormous
expenditure.
467. Why did an insurrection take place in England
during Richard's minority ?
On account of the heavy imposts which were laid on the
people, especially the poll-tax, which fell peculiarly hard upon
the lower orders. This tax was rendered still more unpopular
by the severity with which it was gathered.
468. The collection of this tax occasioned one of the most memorable
insurrections on record. A quarrel arose between one of the poll-tax gatherers
and a tyler, living in Deptford, named "Walter, in which quarrel the tyler
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
EUPTUEE BETWEEN EICHAED THE SECOND AND THE PAELIAMENT.
beat out the brains of the tax-gatherer with his hammer. This action was
applauded by his neighbours, several of whom gathered together, and in
the course of a little time the common people in the surrounding counties
were invited to take part in a movement to resist the odious tax. The
insurgents at length amounted to one hundred thousand, and a general
meeting was appointed at Blackheath, at which Wat Tyler and Jack Straw
were appointed leaders. The insurgents marched towards London, and sent
a message to the King to come and speak with them. The Kinar acceded
to this request, and pacified the mob by granting them liberal charters, and
extending his forgiveness for past grievances. Some days afterwards, as the
King was riding through Smithfielr], he was seen by Wat Tyler, who. intoxi-
cated by recent success, pressed boldly into the royal presence, and preferred
the most unreasonable requests, in the most insolent tone. Sir William
Walworth, Lord Mayor of London, incensed at this conduct, drew his sword
and slew Wat Tyler on the spot. This circumstance might have occasioned
serious consequences, but the young King, with admirable presence of mind,
put himself at the head of the mob, and cried, " Follow me, I will be your
leader:" he then took them into the open fields, when a body of soldiers
soon appeared, and the insurgents fled, panic-stricken, in every direction.
469. Whi/ did Richard soon become unpopular ?
Because, after a while, he disappointed the expectations that
had been formed of him, neglected the interests of his people,
and being surrounded by a number of young and thoughtless
companions, gave himself up to a course of extravagance and
dissipation.
470. One of the first unpopular acts that Richard committed, was the
taking the great seal from Henry le Scroop, to whom it had been committed
with the approbation of Parliament, because he refused to seal certain grants
of land unworthily made to some retainers about court. The young King,
incensed at the opposition to his will, took the seal into his own hnnds, put
it to these grants, and then delivered it to Robert Braybroke, Bishop of
London.
471. Wlnj did a rupture occur between Hicliard and
Tiis Parliament ?
Because the Earl of Suffolk, who had been created Lord Chan-
cellor, and received many marks of the King's favour, behaved
himself so ill in his office that the Parliament demanded his dis-
missal ; this Richard refused to accede to, and withdrew with
his court to Elthani.
472. Commissioners were sent to the King inviting him to return to his
Parliament, and threatening that if he did not comply, they would dissolve,
and leave the nation in its present disaffected state. The King paying no
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 115
\VAE DECLARED AGAINST THE KING.
attention to this first message, a second was sent still more importunate,
which had the effect of bringing Richard to London. The Earl of Suffolk
was then impeached, and being found guilty, all his offices and emoluments
were taken from him, leaving him only his title, with £20 a year, and the
Parliament committed him to the custody of his most inveterate enemy, the
Duke of Gloucester. Many other changes were made, and several ministers,
who had made themselves obnoxious to the people, were deprived of their
functions.
473. What change did the Constitution undergo at this
period ?
The King was compelled to sign a commission to certain lords,
eleven in number, which placed the administration in their hands,
and deprived the King of all power.
474. Why did the Dulce of Gloucester and his par-
tisans take up arms against the King ?
Because the King's supporters declared that the commission
which he had been compelled to sign was illegal, and that
those who had promoted it ought to be punished as traitors.
475. Intelligence was brought to tho King that the Duke of Gloucester
was approaching at the head of an army of forty thousand men ; and he
and his followers notified an appeal against the decision which the King's
supporters had promulgated. For this purpose they appeared at Westminster
Hall, and falling on their knees before the King, declared, with great profes-
sions of loyalty, that in taking up arms they had no design against his royal
person, but only to bring their enemies to punishment. The King, by way
of answer, raised them from their knees, and assured them that the persons
appealed against should be brought before them at the next Parliament.
476. What steps did the Duke of Gloucester next take ?
He marched his army into London, received the keys of the
city from the Lord Mayor, and dismissed from the King's
person every one who was suspected of having the least attach-
ment towards their royal master. The King's especial favourites
were driven out of the kingdom or execiited, and the judges
were deprived of their offices and banished.
477. By what act of the King's did the Diike of
Gloucester, and Ids party, receive a severe lilow ?
Richard suddenly resolved that he would take the management
of affairs into his own hands. In consequence of this resolution,
116 THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY.
APPBEHENSION OP THE DUKE O£ GLOUCESTER.
when a very numerous council was assembled, Richard boldly
renounced all further tutelage, and declared that he would take
the government of the nation upon himself.
478. Why was this change of affairs submitted to ?
Because the first steps which Richard took in the administra-
tion were very prudent, and tended to repress the arrogance of
the Duke of Gloucester's party, which had latterly become dis-
tasteful to the people.
479. The position of the King was further strengthened by the return of
the Duke of Lancaster to England, and who brought with him an army
devoted to the King's service. Soon after his arrival, Richard held a Council
of Peers, when the Duke of Gloucester and the noblemea of his party were
brought to court by Lancaster, and seemingly reconciled to the King by his
mediation.
480. Why did a quarrel take place between the Court
and the Citizens of London ?
Because, in a tumult that occurred, the populace assaulted
the palace of the Bishop of Salisbury, who was High Treasurer ;
this deed gave such oifence to the King, that he commanded
the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs to be imprisoned, and the City to
be deprived of its liberties.
481. The citizens having submitted to the King's displeasure, and implored
his mercy,, he afterwards entered the City in a kind of triumph, and was
received with every demonstration of respect and welcome. Soon after this
act, their charters were confirmed at the intercession of the Queen, and a
reconciliation was effected. But the King's severity made a deeper impres-
sion on the minds of the citizens than his mercy.
482. Why did Richard send an embassy to the
Court of France ?
To demand the hand of Isabella, daughter of Charles the
Sixth, King of France, in marriage, his first wife having died.
483. This princess was only eight years of age, and the unequal union was
probably determined on, not only in hopes of maintaining a peace between
France and England, but also for the purpose of securing a powerful support
against the Duke of Gloucester and his party, of whom the King was in
continual dread.
484. Why was the Duke of Gloucester apprehended?
Because his disaffection towards the King, and his designs upon
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 117
BANISHMENT OP THE DUKES OP NORFOLK AND HEREPOED.
the government, had become so apparent, that Richard was urged
by his advisers to take this step, in order to secure his own
authority, and to preserve the peace of the nation.
485. Richard, who was but too willing to rid himself of such a formidable
enemy, readily assented to the apprehension of the Duke of Gloucester, who
was soon after surprised at his Castle of Fleshy, in Essex, hurried on board
a ship, and conveyed to Calais as a place of the greatest security. The Earls
of Arundel and "Warwick, the Duke's accomplices, were at the same time
seized in London and committed to prison.
486. What was the result of these apprehensions?
The Duke of Gloucester died in prison under suspicious cir-
cumstances. The Earl of Arundel was beheaded, and the Earl
of Warwick consigned to perpetual confinement in the Isle of
Man.
487. The precise time and manner of Gloucester's death were never certainly
known, and are differently related by different authors. It is supposed that
the King and his ministers, not daring to bring so considerable a personage
to public trial and execution, employed assassins to murder him in prison ;
this belief gained ground among the people, and brought much odium on
the King and his advisers.
488. Why were the Dulces of Hereford and Norfolk
banished from England ?
Because they mutually accused each other of disloyalty, in
having- spoken certain slanderous words of his Majesty; and as
the exact truth could not be arrived at, the King resolved to
punish them both.
489. The Parliamentary commissioners pronounced the following sentence :
That the Duke of Hereford should be banished from the kingdom for ten
years, and that the Duke of Norfolk should quit the realm for the term of
life.
490. Why did popular discontents legin to grow against
government ?
Because in an act of indemnity that was granted to all subjects
who had been guilty of treason, there were severe conditions
made, and large sums of money extorted. These discontents
were greatly increased by the complaints of the families of the
late Duke of Gloucester, and the two banished Dukes of Hereford
and Norfolk.
118 THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
ENGLAND INVADED BY THE DUKE OF LANCASTEB.
491. Why did the Dulce of Hereford return from
banishment and invade England?
Because during the term of his banishment his father, the
Duke of Lancaster, died, by which event an immense accession
of wealth and power fell to him. These possessions the Duke
was entitled to inherit notwithstanding his banishment, Jetters-
patent and powers of attorney having been expressly granted to
the Duke when he departed the kingdom to secure any inheri-
tance that might fall to him during his exile. But, in con-
travention of these conditions, the King declared the estates
confiscated, and appropriated them to himself. This act of
tyranny and oppression excited universal indignation against
Richard and his Parliament, and compassion for the exiled Duke
of Lancaster.
492. The Duke of Hereford was at the court of Franco when he received
intelligence of his father's death, and of the revocation of his letters-patent,
and he soon afterwards received invitations from his numerous and powerful
friends in England to come over and vindicate his rights to the estate of
Lancaster. Encouraged by these invitations, he resolved to return to England,
and having obtained a few ships and a small number of armed it en from the
Duke of Brittany, he put to sea, and in a few days landed in Yorkshire ;
here he was joined by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland,
with other barons of the north, and their followers. Finding himself at the
head of a large army, he marched southward, giving out that he was come
only to recover his inheritance of Lancaster, which brought such multitudes
to his standard, that they soon amounted to sixty thousand men.
493. How did the cause of the King still further suffer ?
By his absence from England ; having made an expedition into
Ireland, to revenge the death of the Earl of March, presumptive
heir to his crown, and to reduce that kingdom to more perfect
subjection.
494. What progress did the Duke of Lancaster make
in his invasion ?
The Duke of York, Eegent of the kingdom, raised a considerable
army, with which he marched towards Bristol, where it was
expected the King would land from Ireland. By this means the
armies approaching each other, a conference was held between the
Dukes of York and Lancaster ; and the latter still pretending that
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
119
KICHARD COMPELLED TO FLEE.
he came only for the recovery of his inheritance, an agreement
was entered into, and the Duke of York joined him with his
forces.
SHIP OF THE PERIOD, 1390.
495. WJiat happened to Richard in these proceedings?
While these events were transpiring1, Eichard landed at Milford
Haven with his troops from Ireland, intending to join the Duke of
York, whom he believed to be at the head of an army, raised in his
name, to support his authority. But when he received intelligence
120 THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
DEATH OP BICITAUD THE SECOND, 1399.
of the Regent's defection, lie disbanded his small army, and retired
with a few faithful friends to Conway.
406. In his retirement Richard took counsel with his friends, whether he
should leave the kingdom and take shelter in his French dominions, or open
a negotiation with the Duke of Lancaster, who had not yet declared his
designs upon the Crown. This last measure was adopted, and in conse-
quence a conference was agreed upon to settle the negotiation. The King
set out on this purpose accompanied by his few remaining friends; but on
the road they were surrounded by a body of armed men, and conducted to
the Castle of Flint as prisoners. Next day the Duke of Lancaster con-
ducted the King to his head-quarters at Chester, and thence to the Tower
of London.
497. Wliy was Richard compelled to resign his Crown?
Because the Duke of Lancaster wishing to obtain the crown
in the most plausible manner, hit upon the expedient of making
Eichard subscribe a resignation of his sovereignty, as an admis-
sion that he was unworthy of possessing it.
498. To carry this plan into execution, a Parliament was summoned in
King Richard's name. On the day before the meeting of Parliament, Richard,
in his chamber in the Tower, before the Duke of Lancaster, with the
prelates and lords of his party, subscribed the instrument of his resignation.
When the Parliament met this instrument was produced and read; and
the members being asked if they accepted of this resignation, replied in the
affirmative.
499. What was the ultimate fate of Richard ?
He did not long survive his deposition, but died after about a
year's confinement at Poutefracfc Castle. The exact time and
manner of his death are not known, but it is conjectured that he
was starved to death. He was dethroned on the 29th of September,
1399, in the twenty-third year of his reign, and the thirty-fourth
of his age.
NOTES UPON THE PERIOD FROM THE DEATH OF KING
JOHN, 1216, TO THE ACCESSION OF HENRY THE
FOURTH, 1399.
At this period some changes were made in the ranks and orders of men
in society, and the distinction between the nobility and gentry especially
began to be conspicuous. Anciently, all who held of the crown in capite
were esteemed noble, and formed one order; but the great inequality of
the power and wealth among the members of this order laid the foundation
THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY. 121
NOTES UPON" THE PERIOD FROM TUB DEATH OF KING JOUX TO THE
ACCESSION OF HENRY THE FOURTH.
of the division of them into the greater and smaller barons. And this
division became more conspicuous still, after the establishment of the House
of Commons, when the smaller barons and freeholders no longer mingled
with the greater, and ceased to be tiieir peers.
Learning began to make sure and rapid strides; logic, rhetoric, physics,
and metaphysics were cultivated and studied with great ardour, and many
discoveries were made in chemistry and natural philosophy.
Medicine was considerably improved. The distinctions between physician,
surgeon, and apothecary, were clearly denned, and the separate branches
cultivated with considerable success. The introduction of chemistry also
contributed to this end, furnishing the practitioners with the various
preparations unknown to their predecessors.
The style of domestic Architecture remained much the same as in the
former period. The building of churches and monasteries, being still believed
to be one of the most effectual means of obtaining Divine favour, was
carried on assiduously. Many of the cathedrals and churches were magni-
ficent fabrics, and raised at an enormous expenditure of labour, time, and
money.
The art of Refining and Working Metals was pursued with great success ;
suits of armour, most exquisitely tempered and polished, were made; domestic
utensils for various purposes constructed, and even statues of some merit
fashioned.
The Cutting and Setting of Precious Stones, and 'converting them with
gold and silver into rings, bracelets, and other ornaments, became a consider-
able branch of commerce.
ClockmaJcing also became a branch of industry, and foreign artists were
encouraged to carry on the trade in England under the protection of a royal
charter. Watches were also made, or at least used in Britain, not long after
the beginning of the fourteenth century.
The Manufacture of Cloth was introduced into England in 1331 by the
people of Flanders and the Netherlands, and the English having great
quantities of wool, gradually became sensible of the great advantages to be
derived from this branch of industry, and thus became themselves manufac-
turers.
The Engines of Warfare, especially those used in battering walls, were of
enormous size and considerable power. Those used in the time of Edward
the First were capable of throwing stones of three hundred pounds weight.
The cross-bow was the most destructive of small arms ; a species of arrow,
termed quarrel, was used with the most deadly effect, being larger and
longer than the ordinary arrow, and sometimes made of brass, and pointed
with steel. The discovery of gunpowder, at the beginning of the fourteenth
century, however, soon changed this mode of warfare. Cannon, or, as they
were then called, bombards, were the most ancient fire-arms. These were
very clumsy and ill-contrived, and resembled the shape of a mortar in
which chemical and other ingredients are compounded. Hand-cannoa
were also used ; they were carried by two men, and fired from a rest,
fixed in the ground.
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
NOTES UPON THE PERIOD FROM THE DEATH OF KING- JOHN TO THE
ACCESSION OF HENRY THE FOURTH.
The arts of Sculpture and Painting were practised with considerable
success, and displayed no little taste during this period. The painting
and decorating of the interiors of public and private edifices also became
very general.
Poetry and Music were assiduously cultivated, and honours and rewards
were conferred on minstrels connected with the households of princes,
prelates, and barons.
The Domestic Trade of Great Britain was at this time chiefly transacted
at fairs. Some of these fairs were of long duration, frequented by multi-
tudes of people from different cov.ntries, and stored with commodities of
all kinds. To such fairs the kings, prelates, and great barons sent their
agents, and others went in person, to purchase jewels, plate, cloth,
furniture, liquors, spices, horses, cattle, corn, and provisions of various
kinds; men and women were also publicly exposed and sold as slaves, so
late as the conclusion of the fourteenth century.
The Foreign Trade of England was very considerable, including Itaty,
Spain, Portugal, France, Eretagne, Holland, Flanders, Germany, Sweden,
Denmark, Norway, &c. The foreign merchants formed themselves into
various bands and companies, each having its peculiar laws and distinctive
charters.
Hills of Exchange became known in the thirteenth century, and towards
the latter end of the fourteenth became a current mode of payment in
mercantile transactions.
The Royal Exchange, London, and other exchanges throughout the country,
were established by Edward the Third, in order to facilitate the exchange
of gold and silver coin, which at that time was a matter of some difficulty.
Certain persons were furnished with a competent quantity of gold and silver
coins, in London and other places, to be the only exchangers of money at
the following rate :— When these royal exchangers of money gave silver coins
for a parcel of gold nobles, for example, they gave one silver penny less for
each noble than its current value; and when they gave gold nobles for silver
coins, they took one penny more, or 6s. 9d. for each noble, by which in. every
transaction they realised a profit of H per cent.
The Language of the people during this period was chiefly Norman or
French ; that is to say, it was spoken by the higher orders, and by all who
wished to be distinguished as persons of rank and fashion: and it was a
species of foppishness in that day for persons among the lower orders to
endeavour to ape their superiors by smatterings of the French language.
The taste for expensive and extravagant Dress became at this time very
prevalent, infecting not only the higher orders but the lower grades of
society. An annalist of these times says:— "Such quantities of furred gar-
ments, fine linen, jewels, gold and silver plate, rich furniture, and utensils,
the spoils of Caen, Calais, and other foreign cities, were imported, that every
woman of rank obtained a share of them, and they were seen in every
mansion. Then the ladies of England became proud and vain in their
attire, and were as much elated by the acquisition of all that finery as
the ladies of France were dejected by the loss of it." At length the legis-
lature found it necessary to interpose, by making sumptuary laws, for
THE HISTORICAL KEASOX WHY.
123
NOTES UPON THE PERIOD FROM THE DEATH OF KING JOHN TO THE
ACCESSION OF HENRY THE FOURTH.
regulating the dress of all ranks of people. But these laws were observed
for a few years only, for shortly after it is recorded, that at this time (1388)
the vanity of the common people in their dress was so great-, that it was
impossible to distinguish the rich from the poor, the high from the low,
the clergy from the laity, by their appearance. Fashions were continually
changing, and every one endeavoured to outshine his neighbour, by the
richness of his dress or the novelty of its form.
LADY OF RANK AND SERVANT.
> The prevailing Amusements of the people consisted of archery, the throw-
ing of stones, wood, or iron ; playing at hand-ball, foot-ball, or club-ball,
and in bull-baiting and cock-fighting, Wrestling, also, was a favourite diver-
sion among the lower orders, and tournaments among the upper classes.
The following is a description given of one of these latter entertainments by
one of the old chroniclers :—" On the first Sunday of October (1389), which
was the first day of the tournament, between two and three o'clock in the
afternoon, sixty fine horses, with rich furniture for the justs, issued one
124 THE IIISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
NOTES UPON THE PEBIOD PEOM THE DEATH OP KING JOHN TO THE
ACCESSION OE HENRY THE POUBTH.
by one from the Tower, each conducted by a squire of honour, and pro-
ceeded at a slow pace through the streets of London to Smithfield, attended
by a numerous band of trumpeters and other minstrels. Immediately after,
sixty young ladies, richly dressed, riding on palfreys, issued from the same
place, and each lady leading a knight completely armed, by a silver chain, they
proceeded slowly to the field. When they arrived there, the ladies were
lifted from their palfreys, and conducted to the chambers provided lor them;
the knights mounted their horses and began the justs, in which they exhi-
bited such feats of valour and dexterity as excited the admiration of the
spectators. The judges gave one of the prizes, a crown of gold, to the best
performer among the foreign knights, and a rich girdle, adorned with gold
and precious stones, to the best English performer. After a sumptuous
supper, the ladies and knights spent the whole night in dancing."
The Sports of the Field were indulged in by all classes, especially by
princes, noblemen, and gentlemen, some of whom made hunting and hawking
the chief business of their lives.
Theatrical Diversions existed at this period, but they chiefly consisted
of awkward representations of Scripture histories, called Mysteries or Miracles.
Moralities were a kind of interlude, in which the virtues and vices, the
human faculties, passions, &c., were personified, and speeches formed for
them, illustrating and inculcating a certain moral.
Grand Festivals were given by princes and noblemen at their palaces
and castles, which were crowded with hundreds of minstrels, mimics, jug-
glers, tumblers, rope-dancers, &c., who exhibited each after his own peculiar
talent for the amusement of the company.
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY. 125
COSSPIEACY POEMED AGAINST HENEY.
FROM THE ACCESSION OF HENRY THE FOURTH, 1399,
TO THE ACCESSION OF HENRY THE SEVENTH, 1485.
500. Who teas Henry the Fourth previous to his
accession to the throne ?
Henry, Duke of Lancaster, surnamed Bollingbroke, and in
his father's lifetime Duke of Hereford, under which title he
had been banished from England.
501. How does the raising of Henry the Fourth to the
throne illustrate one of the most sudden and surprising
changes of fortune in the history of monarchies ?
Because he was crowned king of a great and powerful nation,
to which he had returned, less than three months previously,
a friendless and impoverished exile.
502. Why did Henry deprive several of the nobles of
their honours and estates, which they had acquired during
the previous reign ?
Because he suspected them of an attachment to their former
master, and therefore determined to secure their fidelity by making
them dependent upon him for their titles and fortunes.
503. Why was a conspiracy, formed^ against Henry ?
Because the nobles who had' been deprived of their titles and
estates by the new King, determined upon being revenged for
the injury they had received, and therefore formed a plot for
restoring Richard, and depriving Henry of his life and crown.
504. It \ras agreed to proclaim a splendid tournament, and to invite Henry
to be present at and preside at that solemnity, appointing in the meantime
assassins to murder him, at such time as he was most intent in viewing
the diversion. The scheme was accordingly set on foot; the King, unsus-
pectingly, accepted the invitation, and the day of the tournament drew near;
but on the previous evening the Earl of Rutland (the chief contriver of the
plot) went privately to "Windsor, and put the King upon his guard. On
the next day Henry set out for London. In the meantime the conspirators
at Oxford remained in great anxiety, expecting every moment the arrival of
the King, and their accomplice, the Earl of Rutland. Finding they did not
rrivc, the nobles at once concluded that their plot was discovered, and
126 THE H1STOEICAL EEASON WHY.
EEVOLT OF OWEN- GLEXDOWEE.
resolved to attempt by force what they could not accomplish by stratagem,
hoping to surprise the King at Windsor, where they knew he had but a
slender guard. The conspirators were greatly disconcerted when they after-
wards found that the King had escaped. Being thus foiled, they endeavoured
to raise an army, but this attempt proving unsuccessful, they were at last
compelled to throw themselves upon the mercy of the King. Henry took
a terrible revenge on the conspirators engaged in this plot, and had the
prime movers of it put to death with circumstances of great cruelty.
503. Why was Jiicliard threatened with the loss of
Ids French dominions?
Because the late King Richard was generally beloved by the
inhabitants of the English provinces in France, who were greatly
enraged when they heard the news of their favourite monarch
being dethroned and imprisoned.
506. The French court taking advantage of their discontent, earnestly
solicited them to throw off the English yoke, and put themselves under
the protection of Trance, and these solicitations seemed at first to promise
success. But when the passions of the people of these provinces tegan to
cool, and they had leisure to reflect on the different policy of the two govern-
ments, they wisely preferred the mild rule of a distant sovereign to the
tyrannical domination of a too powerful neighbour.
507. Wliy did a Welsh subject, named Owen Glen-
dower, revolt against Henry ?
Owen Glendower was a Welsh nobleman of high spirit,
descended from the last of the ancient princes of Wales. In a kind
of petty war which he carried on against Lord Grey, respecting
the possession of some lands, Henry espoused the cause of Lord
Grey, and threatened to march against Glendower, whom he
proclaimed as a rebel. Owen, after this proclamation, burnt
Lord Grey's town, declared himself Prince of Wales, and was
generally acknowledged as such by his countrymen. Henry
marched into Wales, but was unable to meet with the enemy,
who had retired into the mountains. From this period a
national war commenced, which lasted for several years.
508. Why did the Scots invade England?
Because a report had been circulated that Eichard, the late
King, was not dead, but alive and at liberty; and the Scotch
conceiving this to be a good opportunity to make a conquest of
THE HISTORICAL EEA.SON WHY. 127
DEATH OF IIENEY THE FOURTH, 1413.
the country, invaded England with a large army, and gave
out that they had King Richard among them.
509. The invaders entered England, and penetrated as far as Newcastle
but on their return they were met by the English army, and were signally
defeated, the leaders of the conspiracy being all either killed or taken
prisoners.
510. Why was there a conspiracy among several of tlie
nobles soon after this battle ?
Because when Henry received the news of the victory he sent
strict injunctions to the commanders of his army not to ransom
any of their prisoners without his express permission — terms
which were distasteful to all who received it, and which some
of them refused to obey.
511. The noblemen concerned in this transaction were so dissatisfied at
the conduct of the King, that they resolved to exert all their power and
influence to dethrone him, and to place the crown on the head of the young
Earl of March, the lineal heir. They communicated their design to their pri-
soner, the Earl of Douglas, and granted him his liberty on condition of
his joining them with his followers, to which he consented. They also
admitted into their confederacy Owen Glendower, who agreed to join them
with ten thousand men. In the meantime, Henry, becoming acquainted
with the conspiracy, collected an army with great expedition, and marched
to meet the rebels. A battle was fought at Shrewsbury, iu which the
King commanded in person, and displayed remarkable judgment and per-
sonal bravery ; after a desperate fis?ht the royal army proved victorious,
and the rebellion was thus crushed.
512. What ivas the result of Glendower 's determined
and protracted opposition to the King's authority ?
After struggling for many years to establish an indepen-
dency, during which all the men of note had been killed,
the Welsh refused any longer to regard him, and submitted
to the English government. Glendower, after wandering about
the country for many years, under several disguises, at length
died at his daughter's house in Herefordshire.
513. What were the circumstances of Henry the Fourth's
death ?
The King, though in the prime of life, had been for some
time in a precarious state of health, being afflicted with fre-
quent fits, which deprived him of all sensation, and seemed to
128 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
FORMIDABLE EISIIfG OF THE LOLLAEDE
threaten him with immediate death. He was seized with one
of these fits when he was at his devotion in St. Edward's
Chapel, Westminster, and being1 carried into the Abbot's
lodgings, he there expired, on the 20th of March, 1413, in the
forty-sixth year of his age, and the fourteenth of his reign.
514. By whom was Henry the Fourth succeeded?
By his son Henry the Fifth, to whose title no objection was
raised, and who ascended the throne with great applause.
515. Why were the anticipations formed of Henry not
very flattering ?
Because as a Prince he had displayed great folly and extra-
vagance, and had committed many irregularities which were well
known to the people.
516. Henry had even been guilty of direct violations of the law, and insults
on its most distinguished ministers ; and for disorders of this nature he had
been placed in confinement on two several occasions, by the Chief Justice of
England and the Mayor of Coventry.
517. Why were the unfavourable opinions formed of
Henry's character soon dispelled?
Because the moment he ascended the throne he altered his
course of life, and became as wise and steady as he had been
before reckless and foolish. He dismissed the licentious com-
panions of his former riots with marks of his bounty, but with
strict commands never to approach his royal person till they
had given sufficient proof of their amendment.
518. Why did a religious sect termed the Lollards
lecome formidable in the early part of this reign ?
Because, in proportion as they were persecuted for the tenets
they professed (being disciples of Wickliff), so they increased.
They also derived a greater amount of importance from the fact
of Lord Cobham, one of their chief members, having escaped
from the Tower, into which he had been thrown on a charge of
heresy.
519. A conspiracy is said to have been set on foot by the Lollards, to kill
the King, the chief members of his family, and the heads of the clergy. A
THE HISTOETCAL REASON WHY.
129
CROWN OF FEANCE CLAIMED BY HENBY.
large reward was offered for Lord Cobliam, who, however, was not taken until
four years afterwards, when he was hanged as a traitor and burnt as a heretic.
520. Why did JLenry purpose claiming the Crown of
France ?
Because the reigning King of France, Charles the Sixth, was
afflicted with a mental malady which seldom allowed him suffi-
cient reason to conduct the ordinary affairs of state ; and advan-
A ROYAL PARTY OF THE TIME OF HENRY HIE FIFTH.
tage was taken of this circumstance, by the two rival factions
of Burgundy and Orleans, to plunge the country into a state of
anarchy and confusion — a conjunction which Henry conceived to
be favourable to his designs.
130 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
BATTLE OP AGINCOURT FOUGHT.
521. Why, although Henry made active preparations for
his expedition, did he conceal his real designs from the
people ?
Because he was anxious to procure all the money and assist-
ance he could, and concluded that these would not be advanced,
if his design upon the French crown were known to be the
object of his expedition.
522. Henry also deceived the King of France, by speciously demanding
the hand of his daughter Catherine in marriage, and with great seeming
earnestness carried on constant negotiations for a long truce or a per-
petual peace. At the same time he took care that these negotiations
should not succeed, by rising in his demands as the French advanced in
their concessions.
523. Why was a conspiracy raised against Henry about
this time?
Because some of the nobles, in order to better their own
fortunes, determined upon proclaiming the Earl of March king1,
purposing to carry him into Wales, and there set up his
standard.
524. What was the result of Henry's expedition into
France ?
He succeeded in laying a successful siege to Harfleur, which
was compelled to surrender on hard conditions ; but, having
accomplished this, he proposed to return to England, owing to
the devastation which the great fatigues of the siege and the
heat of the weather were making in his army. The English
were, however, intercepted in their homeward march by the
French army, and soon after, the battle of Agincourt was fought.
525. The circumstances in connection with this battle are the most extra-
ordinary, especially when the result is considered. The army of Henry was
reduced to 10,000 men, many of whom were suffering from the effects of
sickness ; they had to traverse a long tract of country, inhabited by exas-
perated enemies, upon whom they were to depend for their food, lodging,
guides, intelligence, and everything they wanted. That country was defended
by many strong towns, intersected by deep rivers, and guarded by an army
of upwards of a hundred thousand men. The night previous to the battle,
Henry spent the whole time in preparing his army for the next day's
struggle. The encounter commenced on the following morning at ten o'clock ,
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 131
ALLIANCE WITH THE DUKE OF BUEGUJfDT.
and for three hours a hand-to-hand contest was fought between the two
armies with desperate valour, ending in a signal victory for the English.
The French lost a number of illustrious warriors, fifteen hundred knights,
and several, thousands of common soldiers, whilst the English loss is
recorded as not being greater than one hundred men ; it is also remarkable
that the number of prisoners taken by the English exceeded their own
army.
526. Wliy did Henry make an alliance witli the
Duke of Burgundy?
Because, owing to prevailing factions, that nobleman was ex-
cluded from the participation of the government of France, to
revenge himself for which indignity, he acknowledged Henry to
be King of France, and engaged to assist him with all his
forces to obtain possession of that kingdom.
527. The state of Prance at this period was the most turbulent and unsatis-
factory that can be imagined. The Constable, d'Armagnac, in reality possessed
all the power of the crown, and he employed that power for the most
pernicious purposes. His ruling passion was hatred of the Duke of Burgundy
and his party, and he did not fail to persecute, with, the greatest cruelty,
every person whom he suspected to belong to the Duke's party. This
served to aggravate the recent misfortunes of France, and to accelerate her
ruin.
528. What steps did Henry next take to secure the
Crown of France ?
He invaded France with a large army, and conducted it
through the kingdom in a sort of triumphal march, no resistance
being offered to his progress, and he being universally acknow-
ledged as a conqueror.
529. At the same time the progress of the King's ally, the Duke of
Burgundy, was no less successful. Besides a powerful army, with which he
advanced towards the capital, he had many friends and emissaries in all
parts of the kingdom, who prevailed upon many great men to espouse his
party, and on many towns to open their gates to his troops.
530. Why did the Duke of Burgundy forsake Henry's
cause and enter into an alliance with the Court of
France ?
Because, as Henry's triumphs increased, his demands upon
the conquered nation became proportionately exorbitant, and his
manner towards the other Princes haughty and disdainful.
F 2
132 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
HENRY PROCLAIMED BEGEKT OF FJKAXCE.
531. Why was the situation of Henry at this time
very critical?
Because his hopes of success had been chiefly founded on
the animosity of the French parties, which, being* now at an
end, and having- only a straitened army, and possessing limited
means and credit for carrying on the war, there appeared to be
every prospect that the conquering of France would prove the
ruin of England.
532. What circumstance tended to alter this state of
affairs ?
The assassination of the Duke of Burgundy, who was killed
while attending1 a conference with the Dauphin, by which
event the contending parties in France became as implacable
towards each other as ever.
533. As soon as the news of this assasination reached Paris, where the
Duke had always been exceedingly popular, the whole city was in a tumult,
and the citizens of all ranks expressed the most violent resentment towards
the Dauphin and his adherents, and the other cities of France, of the Bur-
gundian party, imitated the example of the capital. The son of the Duke
of Burgundy thought only of revenging himself for his father's death, and
all these enemies of the Dauphin turned their eyes to the King of England,
determined to deny him nothing to engage him to assist them in gratifying
their revenge.
534. What was the result of this invasion ?
Henry having been acknowledged as a conqueror in all parts
of the French dominions, and having also married Katherine,
the French King's daughter, made a triumphant entry into
Paris, and was publicly acknowledged as Regent of, and heir to,
the kingdom.'
535. Why did Henry again land an army in France ?
Because his brother, the Duke of Clarence, and several other
noblemen, had been killed in a battle fought at Bauge, against
an army of Scots that had been sent to the relief of the Dauphin.
536. What were the circumstances of Henry1 s death ?
In the midst of conducting his army against the Dauphin, he
was seized with fever, and compelled to relinquish the command
THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY. .133
DEATH OF HEXRY THE FIFTH, 3422.
of his troops. After languishing a few days, he died on the
3]st of August, 1422, in the thirty -fourth year of his age, and
after a reign of nine years and five months.
537. What provision was made on the death of Henry
to carry on the English, government during the young
King's minority ?
The Duke of Bedford was appointed Protector of the kingdom
and Church of England, and chief counsellor of the King, when
he resided in the kingdom, and the Duke of Gloucester was
appointed to exercise the same office, with the same powers,
when his brother was abroad.
538. What important event occurred in France in
connection with, England?
The death of the King, immediately after which, the young
King of England was proclaimed King of France, as was also
Charles the Seventh. There were thus two Kings of France,
the possession of the kingdom being left for decision by the
sword.
539. Why did discord IreaJc out letiveen England and
Tier allies?
Because Jacqueline, heiress of Holland, and other provinces,,
fled from her husband, whom she had married through the
influence and persuasion of the Duke of Burgundy, and married
the Duke of Gloucester, though her former marriage was not
dissolved.
540. Why did the claims of England to the Crown
of France receive a severe How at this time ?
Because the Duke of Gloucester, who had landed an army in
France, with a view of taking possession of the estates gained
through his wife, was repulsed by the Duke of Burgundy. The
Earl of Richmond, who had been refused the command of the
English army, allied himself with Charles the Seventh, and also
prevailed upon his brother, the Duke of Brittany, to take the
same steps. The English cause was thus discomfited, and lost
two of its most powerful adherents.
131 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
THE FEENCH ASSISTED BY THE MAID OF ORLEANS.
541. By what extraordinary event was the tide of for-
tune turned in favour of the French ?
By the accession of Joan of Arc, otherwise called the Maid of
Orleans, to the French army, who pretended to have a mission
from Heaven to assist the French in their warfare against the
English.
542. Thia extraordinary woman, who sprang from an obscure origin, and
spent her early days in service, having had her imagination excited and
aroused by the pending warfare between the two kingdoms, travelled to court
and claimed an audience with the King, and declared to him that Heaven
had sent her to his assistance. The circumstance was so extraordinary, and
Joan's manners and address so engaging and enthusiastic, that the French
were induced to listen to her, and ultimately guided their conduct by her
counsels. Joan was present at all the encounters that took place between
the two armies, and so animated the soldiers by her speech and gestures, as
also by their belief that she was inspired from Heaven, that the French
arms were irresistible, and they gained battle after battle, and took town
after town, notwithstanding all the exertions of the English to prevent these
reverses.
543. What was the fate of the Maid of Orleans ?
After a long career of success, she was taken prisoner, deli-
vered into the hands ot the English, and finally burnt as a heretic.
544. Why did the Council in England prove an impedi-
ment to the progress of England in France ?
Because the council was divided into two parties, one headed
by the Duke of Gloucester and the other by the Cardinal of
"Winchester. The animosity of these parties disturbed the peace
of the country, and obstructed the vigorous prosecution of the war.
545. Richard, Duke of York, was appointed Regent of France, by the
influence of the Duke of Gloucester and his party ; but the other party,
who favoured Cardinal Beaufort, threw so many impediments in the way,
that six months elapsed before the Duke of York obtained his commission.
In this interval the city of Paris, and all the other strongholds of France,
were lost, being either purchased, surprised, or forcibly taken, by the enemy.
546. Why was the Duchess of Gloucester sentenced to
penance and imprisonment ?
Because the spies of Cardinal Beaufort, in the family of his
rival, the Duke of Gloucester, gave information that the Duchess
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 135
GOVERNMENT OF ENG1AND USURPED BT QUEEN MARGARET.
was in league with witches and necromancers, to procure the
death of the King. This charge, notwithstanding the position of
the accused and the power and influence of her husband, was
successfully prosecuted by the Duke's enemies ; and the Duchess,
being found guilty, was sentenced to do penance in St. Paul's
and two other churches, on three several days, and to be impri-
soned for life.
547. Why was a truce concluded between England
and France ?
Because both countries had suffered so much from the wars
which had been carried on between them, without any good
prospect of a satisfactory termination, that both parties deemed
it advisable to suspend all further operations for the space of
four years.
548, Why was Henry the Sixth compelled to relinquish
the provinces Tie held in Anjou and. Maine to the Earl
of Maine ?
On account of Henry's marriage with Margaret of Anjou, the
French King's niece, who made this one of the conditions of the
contract.
549. When this contract (which had been contrived by the Cardinal of
Winchester and the Earl of Suffolk, in order to have a Queen in their
interest, and indebted to them for her elevation) was laid before the council,
it was urged, that though Margaret had neither riches nor estates, she had
great beauty and accomplishments ; and further, by her near relationship
to the King, Queen, and Prime Minister of France, she would be mainly
instrumental in bringing about a peace with that kingdom.
550. Why was Queen Margaret well calculated to assist
in carrying out Cardinal Beaufort's selfish ends and am-
bitious views ?
Because, by the beauty of her person, and the energy of her
character, she was enabled to gain an entire ascendant over the
weak and ductile King. He resigned the reins of government
into her hands, which she eagerly grasped j and, favouring
her old friend, the Cardinal, made use of her power to work
the destruction of the Duke of Gloucester.
136 THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
EXECUTION OF THE DUKE OP SUFFOLK.
551. The Queen, the Cardinal, and Suffolk, thinking they might now
attempt anything with impunity, determined to rid themselves of their
most formidable enemy, the Duke of Gloucester. For this purpose he was
treacherously arrested and imprisoned, and a charge brought against him
that he had designed to assassinate the King. Finding, however, that this
improbable accusation could not be substantiated, the Duke's enemies deter-
mined upon despatching him privately, and he was one morning found dead
in his bed, though he had been in perfect health the previous night.
552. Why did the Duke of York aspire to the Crown
of England ?
Because having received injuries and indignity at the hands of
the Queen, and her favourite, Suffolk, and presuming on the
weakness of the King, and the unpopularity of the Queen and
Suffolk with the people, he imagined that this would be a favour-
able opportunity to lay claim to the crown. The pretensions of the
Duke of York were regarded with favour by a large proportion
of the populace, and this circumstance gave rise to those sanguinary
wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, which were
prosecuted for so many years afterwards.
553. Why did England lose Normandy and a great
part of her French possessions ?
Because they had been for many years neglected, were ineffi-
ciently garrisoned and fortified, and were under a weak and
irresolute governor, who suffered the King of France to invest
these territories without taking a single step to defend them.
554. Why did insurrections break out in England ?
Because the loss of these foreign provinces, and the internal
misgovernment of the kingdom, inflamed the rage of the people
against the Queen and the Duke of Suffolk, to whom these
misfortunes were attributable.
555. Why was the Duke of Suffolk Irought to trial ?
He was accused by the Parliament of high treason, the parti-
cular charge being that he had sold the kingdom of England to
France, and being found guilty, he was sentenced to banishment
for five years.
THE HISTORICAL EEASOtf WHY. 137
INSURRECTION OF JACK CADE.
556. Suffolk being fully convinced that he would be no longer safe in
England, hastened to go into banishment, and for this purpose embarked at
Ipswich. He was, however, overtaken at sea by a ship belonging to the
Duke of Exeter, and being seized, he was brought back to Dover, and there
had his head struck off, on the side of a cock-boat, and his headless trunk
left on the beach.
557. JLow did the, insurrection of Jaclc Cade originate ?
The Queen, enraged and grieved at the loss of her favourite,
threatened revenge upon the people, and especially the inha-
bitants of Kent, in which county the Duke of Suffolk had met
with his death ; and this circumstance, together with the Queen's
former unpopularity, incited the people of Kent to place them-
selves under the conduct of Jack Cade, in opposition to the
constituted authorities.
538. Cade having collected a considerable portion of the common people,
by specious promises of reforming all abuses, marched towards London, and
encamped on Blackheath. From this place addresses were sent to the King,
requesting redress for their grievances, and asking for the punishment of
certain evil counsellors. These addresses were rejected, and an army de-
spatched against the insurgents; but in a battle near Sevenoaks, the royal
troops were defeated, and the general slain. Elated by his success, Cade
inarched into London, seized and executed the Lord Say, late high treasurer
of England, and Sir James Cromer, Sheriff of Kent. They then commenced
plundering the city, out of which, however, they were driven into South-
wark. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, taking advantage of this
repulse, caused a pardon under the Great Seal to be proclaimed to all that
would depart to their own homes. The effect of this movement was instan-
taneous ; the insurgents separated in all directions, and Cade was taken and
killed.
559. Why did the DuJce of York taJce up arms against
the Royal Authority ?
His avowed reason was, that he desired only to redress the
grievances of the nation, and to bring the authors of those
grievances to justice.
560. How was the Duke of YbrJc ensnared?
The Queen and the Duke of Somerset having raised an army
to defend the royal cause, prevailed upon the King to send a
message to the Duke of York, demanding the reason of his
appearing in arms. The Duke returned an answer that he
wished only to redress the grievances of the people, and
138 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
DUKE OF YOKE MADE PEOTECTOE.
more especially to have the person of the Duke of Somerset,
the chief author of mismanagement, imprisoned. The King
having- sent an assurance that these requests should be com-
plied with, the Duke of York disbanded his army, and
repaired to the tent of the King1, for a ratification of this
agreement ; but, to his surprise, found that the Duke of
Somerset was still at liberty ; while he himself was shortly
afterwards arrested, and conducted to London.
561. Why was the Duke of York soon afterwards set
at liberty?
Because intelligence arrived at the English Court from
Guienne and Bordeaux that the people of those provinces
designed again to submit to the English, and the Queen and
the Duke of Somerset, calculating that the regaining of these
places would restore the favour and confidence of the people,
determined upon setting the Duke of York free, in order
that they might more readily execute their project.
562. Having resolved upon this step, they set the Duke of York at liberty,
taking care at the same time to bind his conscience by the strongest vows.
They therefore had him conducted to St. Paul's in a public manner, and com-
pelled him, in the presence of a great number of nobles, prelates, and other
orders of the people, to take a solemn oath that he would never more appear
in arms against the royal authority. Having observed the compulsory obli-
gation, the Duke retired to one of his country seats, with a determination of
awaiting a more favourable opportunity.
563. Wliy was the hatred against the Queen and the
Dulce of Somerset increased soon after this event ?
Because the English were unsuccessful in their attempts to
regain the French provinces ; and, simultaneously with this
national disaster, the King became so debilitated in both mind
and body as to be totally unfitted for government.
564. Why was the Duke of York made Protector of
England ?
Because the King's inability for business, his son's infancy,
and the unpopularity of the Queen, rendered it necessary that
the affairs of the kingdom should be administered by some one
who had the interests of the people at heart.
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 139
THE SIXTH DEFEATED BY THE DUKE OF YORK.
565. Encouraged by these circumstances, the Duke of York ventured from
retirement, and came to London, attended by some of the most powerful
lords of his party. The courtiers, alarmed at the arrival of these great men,
with numerous retinues, in the capital, advised the Queen to admit the
Puke of York, with some others of his party, into the council, to allay the
ferment of the nation, and prevent a civil war. These noblemen, being
accordingly admitted, soon became predominant. The Duke of York was
delegated to hold a Parliament, to take into consideration the affairs of the
nation, and he was appointed the Protector of the kingdom during the
King's pleasure, or until Prince Edward arrived at years of discretion.
5G6. Wliy did the Duke of York and tlie Royal Parly
soon come to an open rupture ?
Because the King partially recovering soon after the appoint-
ment of the Protectorate, the Duke of York was not only
deprived of his office of Protector, but had the Governorship
of Calais taken from him, although he held it for seven years,
under the Great Seal.
5G7. The Duke, enraged at this last injury, gave up all thoughts of
reconciliation, and retired into "Wales; here he collected forces, and after
a little time returned to England with a considerable army. A fierce battlo
was fought at St. Alban's, between the Royalist and Yorkist forces, in which
the latter were completely victorious. This established the first success of
the Duke of York's party.
568. Why did the French invade England at tliis
juncture ?
Because the factions existing in England seemed to promise
a favourable opportunity for invasion. They accordingly came,
and committed some depredations on the English coast, but
satisfied themselves with these advantages, and suddenly re-
embarked.
569. Wliat Jiappened to Henry after various struggles
with the Yorkists ?
After the battle of Northampton, which resulted in a signal
victory for the Yorkists, the King, having been deserted by the
Queen and other members of his family, was found in his tent,
almost alone, by the victorious Earls, and was by them con-
ducted to London, and lodged in the Bishop's Palace.
140 THE HISTOKICAL KEASOIS" WHY.
HESBY THE SIXTH DEPOSED.
570. What compromise between the houses of York and
Lancaster was agreed to by Parliament ?
It was settled that Henry should continue King during his
life, and that the Duke of York, or his heir, should succeed to
the Crown on Henry's death.
571. The calm produced by this compromise was of a very short duration,
and many circumstances portended a sanguinary and protracted struggle for
the Crown. The whole nation was divided into two parties, the one distin-
guished by the red rose, the badge of the house of Lancaster, the other by
the white rose, the insignia of the house of York. So universally was either
cause espoused, that both had partisans in every corner of the kingdom, and
frequently in the same family.
572. Why did the Queen refuse to return to England,
with her son, although requested to do so by the King ?
Because, having gained the co-operation of the King of Scots,
she determined to invade England in her own person, and for
that purpose put herself at the head of a large army, and
marched southward.
573. Why was Henry the Sixth deposed ?
Because the ravages committed by the Queen's army, and the
weakness displayed by the King, so irritated the people, that
they assembled in large multitudes, and declared that they
would not have King Henry to reign over them any longer.
In obedience to this popular wish, a council of the chief men of
the kingdom was convened, in which Henry was declared to be
no longer entitled to the Crown.
574. The council declared that Henry of Lancaster had forfeited his right
to enjoy the Crown during his life, and that it now devolved to Edward,
Duke of York, and concluded with entreating him to accept of that Crown,
which was his undoubted right. On the 4th of March, 1461, Edward was
seated on the throne, and Henry was deposed, after a reign of thirty-eight
years and six months.
575. Under ivhat title did Edward, Duke of York,
reign ?
As Edward the Fourth; and as such was crowned at West-
minster in the nineteenth year of his age.
THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY. 141
HENRY RESTORED BT THE EARL OF WARWICK.
576. Why did the Earl of Warwick conspire against
the King?
Because the Queen's relations, who previously occupied a pri-
vate station, had honours, riches, and estates bestowed upon
them, some of which were alienated from the Earl of Warwick,
his family, and friends.
577. Why did Warwick determine upon restoring Henry
the Sixth to the throne?
Because being- declared a rebel, and compelled to fly England,
he resolved to restore Henry to the throne, as the only means
by which he could regain his estates and his personal liberty.
578. Warwick was now residing at the Court of France, and found no
difficulty iu prevailing on the French Monarch to enter into his views; for
Louis the Eleventh had long dreaded the intimate union of King Edward
with his two most formidable enemies, the Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany.
The King of France, therefore, promised his assistance, with these conditions—
that Edward, Prince of Wales, should marry his daughter, the Princess
Ann ; that Warwick should be Regent of the kingdom during the reign of
Henry and the minority of Edward ; and that the Duke of Clarence, Edward
the Fourth's brother, who assisted Warwick in his revolt, should succeed to
the throne if Edward, son of Henry the Sixth, should die without issue.
579. Why was Edward easily expelled?
Because he neglected to take any precautions to secure his
throne, and abandoned himself to pleasure and idleness, with
the belief that Warwick and his party were effectually subdued.
5SO. King Edward was in the north when he heard the news of Warwick
and Clarence landing in England with a formidable army; he hastily
endeavoured to collect his forces together, but finding that many of his
former partisans now declared for Henry, he fled from England, and a few
days after landed at Alomar, in Friezeland. Warwick, on receiving this intel-
ligence, immediately marched to London, released the King from the Tower,
conducted him in triumph through the streets of the city, and finally placed
the crown on his head in St. Paul's Cathedral, when he was hailed as the
lawful King.
581. Why did Edward soon make another attempt to
regain the Crown ?
Because he received considerable assistance, both of money
and troops, from the Duke of Burgundy, who was desirous to
see Edward established on the throne. Edward, therefore, having
142 THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
EXPEDITION OF EDWABD THE POUUTH INTO PEANCE.
collected an army, embarked for England. Here he received a
material accession of strength, by being joined by his brother,
the Duke of Clarence, who had deserted the cause of Warwick.
After two desperate battles at Barnet and at Tewkesbury,
Henry's forces were decisively defeated, and the reign of Edward
the Fourth once more re-established.
582. What were the circumstances of Henry the
Sixth's death?
He was found dead in his bed in the Tower on the morning
after King Edward entered London in triumph. The remarkable
coincidence affecting the circumstances of the two monarchs gave
rise to many suspicions as to the manner in which the King
came by his death. It is generally believed that he was mur-
dered, and the crime is attributed to the Duke of Gloucester,
Edward the Fourth's brother.
583. Why did Edward the Fourth resolve upon an
expedition into France?
Because Edward entertained an animosity against the King
of France for the assistance he had given the Lancastrians,
and feared that he might again render them the same aid ; he
also calculated upon the national enmity which the English
people bore towards the French.
684. Another circumstance served to render this a favourable opportunity
for an invasion of France. The two powerful Dukes of Burgundy and
Brittany were open enemies to Louis, King of France, and several of the
greater lords of the kingdom were secretly disaffected; and all these
earnestly solicited Edward to come over with an army, and promised him
their assistance.
585. Why was the expedition frustrated ?
Because when Edward landed at Calais, and expected to be
joined by the Duke of Burgundy's army, he discovered that
that nobleman had already had his army destroyed by an im-
prudent and unsuccessful expedition into Germany. The Duke
also represented that the Earl of St. Pol, Constable of France,
would surrender him the town of St. Quintin; but, when the
English troops proceeded thither, instead of being assisted by the
THE HISTOEICAL EEASOF WHY. 143
DEATH OF EDWARD THE FOTTBTir, 1483.
Constable, they were fired upon from the ramparts, and a con-
siderable number killed by a sally. And, in the face of these
untoward circumstances, Edward was compelled to conclude a
truce with France.
586. Wliat ivere the circumstances of Edward tlie
Fourth's death?
While he was preparing a second time to invade France, he
was suddenly seized with illness, brought on, as is generally sup-
posed, by the combined effects of mental anxiety and excess. To
this disease he succumbed, and died on the 9th of April, 1483,
in the forty-first year of his age, and the twenty-third of his
reign.
587. Who succeeded Edward the Fourth?
Edward, his eldest son, who was in his thirteenth year when
he ascended the throne.
588. What two great parties existed at this time ?
One consisted of the Queen and her relations, with such as
attached themselves to them in order to gain preferment; the
other was composed of certain noblemen, who, by their long and
faithful services, had gained the confidence of the late King,
and had been thereby supported in their places, without any
dependence upon, or connection with, the Queen's relations.
589. Why did a dispute arise between, these two parties,
on the accession of the young King ?
Because the great object which each of these parties had in
view, was to obtain and keep possession of the person of the
young King, in order that they might avail themselves of his
power.
590. The last named party succeeded in gaining the ascendancy. In this
faction the Duke of Gloucester, brother of the late King, was the chief; by
his directions the Queen was driven from court, and several of her party
were executed. Finally, the Duke of Gloucester had himself made Protector
of the kingdom, and under the mask of loyalty kept a strict surveillance
over the young King.
144 THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
THE CROWN trSTTEPED BY THE DUKE OP GLOUCESTEB.
591. Wliy did the DuJce of Gloucester lay claim to
the Crown ?
He promulgated a statement that the late King, before he
married Lady Jane Grey, had been previously married to Lady
Butler ; and that in consequence of this prior marriage, the
issue by his subsequent marriage was illegitimate.
592. The Duke of Gloucester, who was one of the most artful and designing
princes, was not slow in gaining over creatures to his cause, whom he
prevailed upon to execute the most unscrupulous designs, by promises of
preferment and riches, which he never intended to fulfil. Among these
tools of his ambition were the Duke of Buckingham, one of the most
powerful noblemen of the day, Stillington, Bishop of Bath, and Dr. Shaw,
a popular preacher of the time.
593. Why was the Crown eventually proffered to the
Duke of Gloucester ?
Because the Duke of Buckingham, his chief confederate,
having made a harangue to the citizens of London at
Guildhall, afterwards represented that they were favourable to the
usurper's cause, and prevailed upon some of the principal nobles
to proffer the crown accordingly.
594. -The acting of Gloucester at this juncture was of the most artful
character. When the crown was proffered in the first instance, the Duke
assumed the greatest surprise, and desired time to consider the acceptance
of the offer; and shortly after, when the crown was again proffered him,
he consented to receive it with affected reluctance and humility.
595. Under what title did the DuJce of Gloucester
lecome King ?
As Richard the Third ; and, as such, was crowned, with his
Consort Ann, at Westminster, on the 6th of July, 1483.
596. What horrible crime is attributed to Hichard the
Third?
The murder of the two Princes, Edward the Fifth and his
brother, the Duke of York, in the Tower.
597. The exact circumstances of the death of these unfortunate young
Princes has never been satisfactorily ascertained. The generally received
account is, that Richard sent a message to Sir Robert Brackenbury, Constable
of the Tower, where the children were confined, to assassinate them. Sir
Robert declining to execute this detestable commission, Sir James
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 145
RICHARD THE THIRD KILLED AT BOSWORTH, 1485.
Tyrrel, Master of the Horse, was sent from the court at "Warwick, to
take the command of the Tower for one night ; and in that night the two
young Princes were suffocated in their beds, and buried at the stair-foot.
598. Wliy did the Duke of Buckingham conspire
against llicliard ?
Because Kichard had failed to fulfil his promises made to
Buckingham ; and that nobleman, who had leagued with Richard
for his own selfish purposes only, determined on dethroning
Richard in revenge for his supposed private wrongs.
599. The Duke of Buckingham collected an army and directed his march
towards the river Severn, in order to pass that river and join his con-
federates; but at this juncture such heavy rains fell, as to deluge the
country, and so discourage his troops, that they disbanded themselves, and
Buckingham was obliged to fly and conceal himself in disguise; a large
reward being offered by the King, for the apprehension of the Duke, he
was soon betrayed, and beheaded without a trial.
600. By whom was the possession of the Crown of
^England contested?
By the Earl of Richmond, who was descended by his mother
from one of the natural sons of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.
601. A battle was fought between the two contending parties at Bosworth;
in this battle the indifference and defection of Richard's troops was but too
apparent; finding, therefore, that his fortunes had arrived at a crisis, he
determined upon seeking out Richmond in order that he might turn the
tide of fortune in his favour by one blow; having at length discovered his
rival, he was on the point of attacking him, when he was overwhelmed by
numbers and slain. This event occurred on the 22nd of August, 1485.
NOTES UPON THE PERIOD FROM THE ACCESSION OF
HENRY THE FOURTH, 1399, TO THE ACCESSION OF
HENRY THE SEVENTH, 1485.
Slavery decreased in England considerably during this period. Various
causes conduced to this happy change; but the chief cause was, that the pro-
prietors of land by degrees discovered that slaves, who laboured not for
themselves, but for their masters, were often indolent and refractory, and
that the allotted tasks were much better performed, and at less expense, by
hired servants.
The Method of Making the Laics was essentially amended in the reign of
Henry the Fifth. Previously to that time, it was customary, at the conclusion
146
THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
NOTES UPON THE PERIOD FROM THE ACCESSION OP HENRY THE FOURTH
TO THE ACCESSION OP HENRY THE SEVENTH.
of every session of Parliament, for petitions to be presented to the Kins,
which he denied, granted, or delayed, as he thought proper. Those petitions
that were granted were afterwards promulgated in the form of statutes.
This lax system of promulgating the laws laid them open to many abuses, in
order to amend which the Commons drew up their petitions, and saw them
formed into acts, before the session ended.
T. >••
' ' *» -'
TOURNAMENT.
Alcliemy, or the supposed art of transmuting the baser metals into gold
and silver, was eagerly pursued during this period ; and in the reign of Henry
the Sixth, especially, alchemists were favoured by royal manifestos, by which
they secured immunity from a previous act of Parliament promulgated
against them, and were preserved from the fury of the people, who believed
that they were assisted in their operations by infernal spirits.
Agriculture made but slow progress during this period, owing to the
difficulty of procuring efficient labourers; this partly arose from the
oppressive laws enacted against agriculcural labourers, and partly from the
drain of men from the various estates to follow their employers to the seat
of war.
Architecture displayed but few improvements at this time. Household
conveniences and comforts were but little known ; the common people were
indifferently lodged; and the mansions of the great were more magnificent
than comfortable.
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 147
NOTES tTPON THE PERIOD FEOM THE ACCESSION" Oi1 HENRY THE FOURTH
TO THE ACCESSION OF HENRY THE SEVENTH.
The arts of Mining, of Refining and Working Metals, were greatly im-
proved during the fourteenth century ; to this end the ingenious efforts of the
alchemists considerably contributed : for though these efforts failed to produce
the desired success, they led to a more intimate knowledge of the nature of
metals, and of the arts of working them.
The art of Spinning, Throwing, and Weaving Silk was brought into
England during this period, and was at first practised by a company of
women in England called "silk-women;" but in the year 1480, men began to
engage in this trade, which, up to that period, had been exclusively
practised by females.
Printing was introduced into England at this time. The first book that
issued from the English press was in the year 1474; it was printed by
William Caxton, and was entitled The Game of Chess.
Sculpture was considerably improved during the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries; and this was in a great measure owing to a prevailing taste for
adorning sepulchral monuments with statues, and various devices.
The Dress of this period was characterized by what appear at the present
day very eccentric fashions. The men wore long-pointed shoes, which were
obliged to be fastened to the knees, before the wearer could attempt to walk.
Velvet and satin mantles were also worn, punctured with innumerable small
eyelet-holes, from each of which a needle hung suspended by a silken thread.
Females also indulged in the same ridiculous excess of dress, especially in
the article of head-dresses, which were sometimes made so broad and high
that they could with difficulty pass through an ordinary door. To support
these head-dresses, two large horns were fixed beneath, bending upwards,
on which many folds of ribbon and other ornaments were suspended. From
the top of the horn on the right side, a streamer of silk or some other light
fabric was hung, which was sometimes allowed to fly loose, and sometimes
brought over the bosom, and wrapped about the left arm.
148 THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
ACCESSION OF HENRY THE SEVENTH.
FROM THE ACCESSION OF HENRY THE SEVENTH
TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH.
602. Why was Henry the Seventh at first popular ?
Because with a warlike people a conqueror always obtains
some degree of favour; and it was hoped that through his
marriage with the Princess Elizabeth of York, the rival claims
of the Red and White Roses would be united, and a happy
end put to intestine war.
603. Why did the King delay the coronation of his
Because, having obtained the Crown by the power of the
sword, he was unwilling to admit any title in the Princess of
York, and consented to the performance of the ceremony only
to silence the loud murmurs of the people.
604. Why was the " Yeomanry of the Guard " esta-
blished by Henry ?
Because of a growing tendency on the part of the British
Sovereigns to isolate themselves from the forms of the Consti-
tution, and to rule absolutely and independently.
605. Why was this reign so greatly troubled with
fictitious pretenders to the throne ?
Because of the mystery that surrounded the deaths of the
children of Edward the Fourth, which naturally gave rise to
the wildest surmises> and afforded a safe and easy foundation
to the plots of the dissatisfied partisans of the House of York.
606. Lambert Simnel, the first of these fictitious pretenders, was the son of
a baker, and a native of Oxford. He had been tutored to play the part
of Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, and son of that Duke of Clarence
who had been murdered in the Tower by his brother, King Edward the
Fourth. The second, Perkin Warbeck, was the son of a merchant, a con-
verted Jew, and native of Tournay, in Flanders, who was put forward to
claim the rights, as he succeeded in representing the features and appear-
ance, of Richard, Duke of York, the second son of Edward the Fourth.
That Prince, it was alleged, had escaped from the sceue of his intended
THE HISTOKICAL REASON WHY. 149
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE STAR CHAMBER.
assassination, and, after beiui; a wanderer and a fugitive for seven years
had come to claim his inheritance. Ralph Walford, the third pretender
was the son of a oordwainer, whose exact birth-place has not hitherto been
traced. He affirmed himself to be the Earl of Warwick, whom Simnel had
previously personated.
607. Why did these pretenders meet with, such in-
different success ?
Becausa they were but tools in the hands of the King's
foreign and domestic enemies, put forth by them to serve
temporary purposes, and withdrawn or abandoned when no longer
necessary.
608. What is the meaning of the term " House of
Tudor /"'
The King was descended from Owen Tudor, a Welsh gentle-
man, who had married Catherine of France, widow of Henry
the Fifth.
609. Thus Henry's surname was Tudor; but he traced his descent from
Edward the Third, through his mother Margaret, a daughter of the Duke
of Somerset, and direct heir of John of Gaunt, that monarch's third illegiti-
mate son.
610. What was the Star Chamber, and why was it so
designated ?
Established under the Statute 3rd Henry VII. c. i., it was a
new and most arbitrary tribunal, previously unknown to the
law, and in direct contravention to Magna Charta, by which
almost any amount of iniquity might be perpetrated at the mere
will of the reigning sovereign. Its name was derived from the
decorations of the apartment at Westminster, wherein the sit-
tings took place.
611. By this means, under the name and sanction of law, Henry the
Seventh and his son were enabled to accomplish at least as great, if not
greater acts of tyranny and oppression than the most despotic and power-
ful of the Norman Kings.
612. Why did Henry become the most powerful
monarch of his time ?
His ambition appeared to lie in the rapid acquisition of
treasure ; this gave a reflective rather than an active turn
150 THE HISTOBICAL REASON WHY.
MAIUUAGE OF PRINCE ARTHUR.
to his character, and by watching with great coolness the
various turns in the game of war as played by his contemporaries,
he contrived to sell his influence to the most powerful of them.
C13. Besides this cause, he was most successful in crushing the power of
the feudal barons, his own subjects, who, through their frequent intestine
wars, by attainder, and by the suppression of vassalage, possessed now but
a shadow of their former power and independence.
614. Who was Prince Arthur?
He was the first-born of Henry the Seventh and Elizabeth
of York, a youth of great promise and the hope of the nation,
which saw in that young Prince the final period put to the
rival claims of the York and Lancastrian Houses.
615. Why is 7iis history especially interesting?
Because of the circumstance that, upon his marriage with
Catherine of Arragon, and his early death before that marriage
could be consummated, the whole question of the Reformation
turned.
616. Wliy did Prince Henry, upon the demise of his
brother Arthur, marry his widow ?
From the combined motives of policy and avarice on the part
of the King, his father ; a very considerable dower having been
paid with Catherine, which Henry could not prevail upon himself
to return.
617. Why was Henry the Seventh's Chapel at West-
minster built ?
It was erected by the King as a mausoleum or sepulchral
chapel, for the reception of his own remains.
618. The practice was a very common one in that age— and by no means
one of its worst. Henry, as his end approached, felt considerable uneasiness
of conscience, and deemed that the bestowal of a large sum of money upon
a religious foundation would be beneficial to his soul's interests. From
whatever motive, however, ho may have acted, it is certain that in that
edifice he has left to posterity one of the grandest as well as most graceful
monuments of mediaeval architecture.
TITE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
151
IIENIIY TUB EIGHTH SUCCEEDS HIS FATHEB.
619. Why has the reign of Henry the Seventh an
especial interest from a commercial point of mew?
Because of the discovery of Newfoundland under the expe-
dition fitted 'out by the King and commanded by Sebastian
Cabot.
CABOT'S EXPEDITION OF DISCOVERY.
620. What led to the popularity of the new Xing ?
The nation had felt the cold and heartless policy of Henry
the Seventh to be something- derogatory to the character of a
chivalrous people, and naturally hailed the accession of his son
as the dawn of a new err.
152 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
ADVANCEMENT OF WOLSEY.
621. Henry, to a fine person and a graceful manner, united nearly every
accomplishment which the age could bestow. He was fair, of popular and
winning aspect, seeming to possess in equal proportions the generous im-
pulses of the maternal stock and the clear-headedness of his father. Keen
observers, however, even at that early stage, did not fail to notice that he
preferred the show to the realities of war, and the gratification of his own
will to every other object.
622. What measures of a popular nature did Henry
talce ?
He instituted an inquiry into the conduct of those unscru-
pulous tools of the late monarch, who, under the guise of law,
had despoiled of their estates and houses a vast number of
the gentry and lesser nobility.
623. The two principal culprits, Empson and Dudley, were both lawyers,
and their mode of procedure was simple, and such, says Bacon, as could
not have been effective, but for the utter annihilation of the aris-tocratic
power, and the absence of spirit in the Parliament. They charged the
owners of estates which bad long been held on a different tenure, with the
obsolete burdens of wardship, liveries, and the whole array of feudal obli-
gations, for which they would only give quittances for payments in money ;
they not only converted nearly every offence into a case of fine and forfeiture,
but they invented new offences that they might get the fines. To hunt up
their game, they kept packs of spies and informers in every part of the
kingdom ; and to strike it down with the legal forms, they kept a rabble
to sit on juries, while the court of commission in which these cases were
tried, was in their own houses. Empson and Dudley were arrested and
thrown into the Tower, and after lingering therein for several months, and
submitting to the form of a trial, they were condemned as traitors, and
suffered the loss of their heads on Tower-hill.
624. Who was Wolsey?
He was the son of a substantial butcher, of Ipswich, who
had destined him for the Church.
625. He studied at Oxford, where he rapidly acquired distinction; was
afterwards a tutor in the family of the Marquis of Dorset, through whom
he obtained the living of Limington in Dorsetshire. This he exchanged for
the post of domestic chaplain to the treasurer of Calais. He next entered
the service of Bishop Fox, one of the most accomplished diplomatists of that
period, who introduced him to the King, Henry the Seventh. From the service
of that monarch he passed easily into that of his son, and the eighth Henry
appears immediately to hav« discovered in Wolsey a man every way fitted
to serve him. He became his chief minister, and was the de facto ruler of
England during the first twenty years of that reign.
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 153
WAKS WITH PRANCE AND SCOTLAND.
026. Why was the Battle of Spurs fought, and wJiy was
id so denominated ?
It formed part of a campaign undertaken from a motive of
military aggrandizement by the young King of England, for the
humiliation of the French monarch, and was called the Battle of
Spurs by the vanquished themselves.
627. Henry the Eighth, in pursuance of the ancient claim, bequeathed to
him by a long line of ancestry, to the throne of France, had, in conjunction
with Maximilian, the Emperor of Germany, invaded the former kingdom.
On the 15th June, 1513, the King departed from Greenwich, and on the 30th
landed at Calais. Three weeks later ho was joined by the Emperor of Ger-
many. The allies were engaged besieging the town of Terouenne, when the
Trench army, consisting of about twelve thousand men, advanced from Plangy
with a view of throwing in provisions. Upon this Henry and Maximilian
crossed the river, and formed in order of battle between it, the town, and
the French army. The cavalry of the latter charged in a brilliant manner,
but, after throwing some powder within reach of tlie besieged, they wheeled
round, to fall back upon their main body. Being hotly pursued by the
mounted English archers and a few squadrons of German horse, they quickened
their pace into a downright flight, galloped into the lines of their main body,
and threw the whole into uproar and confusion. The panic was soon com-
plete, and every Frenchman that was mounted struck spurs into his horse
and galloped from the field. Many of the French nobility were among the
captured; and it was in reply to a remark of Henry, congratulatory of the
speed of their horses, that the light-hearted Frenchmen replied, "It was
indeed a Battle of Spurs ! "
G28. Wlnj was the Battle of Flodden Meld fought ?
It was the result of a diversion made by James the Fourth, of
Scotland, in favour of his ancient ally, the French King, by
which he invaded England.
629. The invading army was led by the Scottish King in person. The
English were commanded by the Earl of Surrey. Flodden Hill, which
formed the battle ground, was an offshoot of the Cheviots, steep on both
flanks, and defended in front by the river Till. James allowed this admir-
able position to be turned or taken in flank, and although prodigies of valour
were exhibited by both armies, the English came off victorious. To the
Scotch the battle was most disastrous ; the King and the chief of his nobility,
with no less than nine thousand soldiers, being left dead upon the field.
630. Why was the "Field of the Cloth of Gold" so
called?
Because of the extreme gorgeousness of the appointments,
154 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
QUESTION OF A DIVORCE.
cloth of gold being the material chiefly employed in the coverings
of the Royal pavilions.
631. Why was it held?
Because it was deemed advisable to cement a treaty of peace
between the Kings of England and Prance. The thorough
insincerity, however, of all parties concerned, makes it very
doubtful as to what was its real object.
632. Probably Henry's love of display, and his personal taste for any
pageant, of which he formed the chief figure, was the moving cause of the
whole business, which produced no good results whatever, while it im-
poverished both nations, and ruined many of the chief actors among the
French nobility.
633. Why did Henry the Eighth, seek to le divorced
from Queen Catherine ?
Although he pretended otherwise, it is now pretty certain
that his desire to marry Anne Boleyn was the sole cause.
634. Anne Boleyn was daughter to Sir Thomas Boleyn, a person who,
although descended from the trading classes, had been ennobled and long
employed about the court. Anne was born in or about the year 1507;
when only seven years old was appointed Maid of Honour to the King's
sister, in whose train she went to France. In the French court accordingly
she was brought up. She seems to have returned to England in 1525, and
was then appointed Maid of Honour to Queen Catherine. Thus she was
introduced to the notice of Henry, and the way was paved to her subsequent
elevation and unfortunate end.
635. Why did the question of a divorce so greatly
affect the Papal power in England?
Because the dissolution of the King's marriage with Catherine
could only be effected by an act of the Sovereign Pontiff, and
failing to obtain his wish, Henry resolved to repudiate the Papal
claim, and to abolish the exercise of the Pontifical authority in
his realms.
636. Why did the Pope refuse to grant a divorce ivhen
such great consequences depended upon his consent ?
Because, although swayed by political motives to some extent,
he felt that to grant the divorce would be to violate every just
principle.
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 155
SUPPRESSION OF MONASTERIES.
637. The Pontiff declared to the English envoy that whatever he might be
induced to do as a secular Prince, if they pressed the matter too far, they
would find that, as a spiritual ruler, he was prepared to die rather than act
against the dictates of his conscience.
638. Why was Wolsey disgraced?
Because the King considered that the Cardinal had not used
the great power in his hands with sufficient zeal in the matter
of the divorce, and readily listened to the suggestions of his
639. Why did Sir Thomas More suffer decapitation ?
Because of his refusal to acknowledge that Henry, as a merely
temporal monarch, could be spiritually head of the Church.
640. Why did Anne Boleyn suffer?
Because Henry after a few years grew tired of her, and had
already (1536) cast his eyes upon one whom he destined for her
successor in the person of Jane Seymour.
041. Certain charges were brought against her, which it were idle to
attempt either to prove or disprove, since it is notoriously the fact, that
under the reign of the Tudors to be accused and to be condemned was one
and the same thing.
642. Why were the monasteries suppressed?
Because although many immoralities were laid to the charge
of their inmates, the monks and religious orders were the stoutest
maintainers of the doctrine of the Papal supremacy.
643. Besides which their rich lands and costly altars presented a tempting
bait to the royal commissioners, who, as in the previous reign, made a
very profitable business of confiscation.
644. Why did Henry marry Anne of Cleves?
Queen Jane Seymour having died in childbed, the King
sought a wife among the Protestant powers of the Continent :
and the sister of the Duke of Cleves appearing the most
eligible match, she was proposed to and accepted by him.
(>:.". Anne was far from good-looking, and Henry took a disgust at her
appearance upon their first meeting, which disgust, it is said, only increased
upon a closer acquaintance. Nevertheless, the lady had been brought from
156 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
PERSECUTION OF EECUSANTS.
her own country ; and as it was represented to the King that great offence
would be given to the Protestant Princes by his so doing, he desisted
from his first purpose of sending her home again immediately.
646. Who was Thomas Cromwell ?
He had formerly been the secretary of Wolsey, and after
that prelate's disgrace became the minister of Henry.
647. Cromwell was less scrupulous than any of the creatures of Henry —
had risen from the lowest grades to be Vicar-General of the kingdom — as
such taking precedence of the first and oldest of the nobility, and exercised
his vocation in the most relentless and corrupt manner. The unfortunate
termination of the negotiations touching the King's marriage with Anne of
Cleves so disgusted the King, that he readily consented to his ruin. He was
beheaded as a traitor and heretic on Tower Hill, June 19th, 1540.
648. Why did Henry lurn Protestant equally with
Catholic recusants ?
Because, having constituted himself sole head of the Church,
and final judge in religious matters, he was determined to
extinguish dissent of every kind ; and looked upon the slightest
deviation from the standard of theology which he had set up,
as an act of treason to himself.
649. It was no uncommon spectacle, at that period, to behold a Catholic
and a Protestant drawn together on the same hurdle to the place of execution,
and suffering at one and the same time. Thus, at the execution of Dr.
Barnes, Cromwell's chaplain, who suffered three days after his patron,
Garret and Jerome, two priests, were put to death for denying the Royal
supremacy.
650. Why teas Catherine Howard, Henry's fifth Queen,
decapitated ?
After living happily with the King for more than a year, she
was accused by Cranmer of crimes against the Royal marriage
bed, and upon the evidence of her servants and others, her
former acquaintances, condemned to suffer the penalty of treason.
651. It is difficult at this time to ascertain the exact value of the
evidence produced against this unhappy victim. To be accused, as has
been before shown, was to be condemned. Witnesses were subpoenaed, and
at once submitted to the terrors of the torture-chamber, where infliction
followed upon infliction until the required evidence was extracted. Under
such a state of things, it is easy to imagine how auy accusations, however
atrocious, could be supported.
THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY. 157
HENEY INVADES FRANCE.
652. Who was Cardinal Pole?
Reginald Pole was the son of Sir Richard Pole, by Margaret,
Countess of Salisbury, daughter to George, Duke of Clarence,
the murdered brother of Edward the Fourth. He was thus
second cousin to the King, who at first loved him and gave
him a handsome allowance ; but differing from Henry upon
the question of Queen Catherine's divorce, his love was changed
to the deepest hatred, and he sought by every means to destroy
him.
653. Who was Queen Catherine Parr ?
She was the King's sixth wife ; is described as a very
matronly, learned, discreet, and sagacious woman, the widow of
Neville, Lord Latimer.
634. She was deeply read in the controversies of the time, and a sincere
convert to the Protestant Church. Her union with the King gave great
joy to the Reformers, although it is quite certain that within a fortnight
of her marriage three of their party were burned alive in Smithfield.
655. Why did the King at this period invade France ?
Henry had entertained an enmity to Francis ever since the
affair of Anne Eoleyn ; but the immediate cause was the
encouragement given by the French monarch to the Scots in
their wars with England.
656. Why did the enterprise fail '{
Because, in addition to the fact that the exchequer of the
kingdom was thoroughly exhausted, the King, 'excepting personal
courage, was possessed of none of those qualities which consti-
tute a great general.
657. Henry's father had left him the richest monarch in Europe. This
inheritance was soon spent. The money furnished from the suppression of
monasteries was also soon dissipated. By every species of pretext vast
sums were extracted from Parliament or begged from the nation; yet
towards the end of his reign he had to make a very urgent appeal to
Parliament explanatory of his pressing wants. The subservient members
voted him an enormous subsidy, and, in addition, granted him the disposal
of all colleges, charities, and hospitals in the kingdom, with all their
manors, lands, and hereditaments, receiving in return his gracious promise,
that they should be employed to the glory of God and the public good.
158 THE HISTOEICAL EEASOIST WHY.
DEATH OF HEXEY THE EIGHTH.
A modern historian remarks :— " Had he survived a little while longer, he
would not have left an hospital for the cure of the sick, or a school for
the instruction of youth."
658. What was the immediate cause of Henry's
death ?
He had become the prey to a complication of disorders ; an
ulcer had been for many years the source of great torture to
him, and he was grown unwieldy from the increase of fat ; finally
dropsy set in, under which disease he gradually sank, dying 28th
January, 1547.
659. Why did the late King's executors for several
days conceal his death from the public ?
From a desire to secure their several shares in the effects of
the deceased monarch, and to consolidate their own powers.
660. Why was the ceremonial of the coronation of
Edward the Sixth greatly abbreviated ?
Partly on account of the tender age of the King, and partly
because of the more advanced Protestantism of his council.
661. How did Lord Somerset become Protector of the
Kingdom ?
As uncle of the young Edward, he had, by the will of Henry,
been named chief of the council ; by degrees he arrogated to
himself the whole functions of that body, and ultimately ruled
with the most despotic power.
662. Why was Lord Seymour executed ?
He aspired to a share in the Government, and with that view
sought to alienate the King's affections from the Protector his
brother, who, in return, had him attainted. He suffered as a
traitor on Tower Hill, 20th March, 1549.
663. Seymour had married the Queen Dowager, Catherine Parr; after her
death he sought the hand of the Princess Elizabeth. The Protector, to con-
ciliate his friendship, made him Admiral of the Kingdom. In this situation
he intrigued to secure the King's person and the sole management of affairs ;
but the superior tactics of his brother obtained the mastery, and precipitated
his ruin.
THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY. 159
THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.
664. Why were severe laws against mendicants passed
at this period ?
The poor, who had been, previous to the suppression of so
many religious houses, fed at their gates, now wandered in
crowds through the country, and by their numbers and im-
portunities extorted alms from the intimidated passenger.
665. The act 1st Edw. VI. (Stat. of the Realm, iv. 5) enacted that "whoso-
ever lived idle and loiteringly for the space of three days" came under the
description of a vagabond, and was liable to the following punishment : Two
justices of the peace might order the letter V to be burnt on his breast,
and adjudge him to serve the informer two years as his slave. His master
was bound to provide him with bread, water, and refuse meat; might
affix an iron chain round his neck, arm, or leg, and might compel him
to "labour at any work, however vile it might be, by beating, chaining,
or otherwise."
666. Why ivas " The First Book of Common Prayer"
compiled ?
It was hoped that by removing the old books and manuals,
and substituting for them a new formulary, the separation of
the kingdom from the communion of Rome, begun in the last
reign, would thus be most effectually consummated.
667. Cranmer (its principal author), taking the Latin missals and breviaries
for the groundwork, omitted such parts as he deemed superfluous or super-
stitious, translated others, and by numerous additions and emendations,
endeavoured to meet the wishes of the new teachers, without shocking the
belief or the prejudices of their opponents. The use of this book was
enforced by Act of Parliament. To refuse it, or to speak or write against
it, was made penal, and entailed upon the obstinate offender imprisonment
for life.
668. What is the meaning of " Common Lands, or
Commons" ? *
They were portions of land purposely unenclosed in order to
be left for the common use of the labourers and poorer inha-
bitants.
669. The wars between England and Scotland that followed the death of
Henry the Eighth had greatly interfered with the pursuits of agriculture,
and farmers began to find it more profitable to grow wool than corn. This,
* Such as Chelsea Common, Barnes Common, &c.
160 THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
FALL OP THE PROTECTOR SOMERSET.
joined to Henry's depreciation of the coinage, led to great distress among
the farm labourers. The farmers sought to mend their fortunes by annexing
the common lands,— the labourers, being without remedy, sought for one in
insurrection.
670. What 'particular Act was passed during this reign
upon the subject of fasting ?
By the Act of 19th February, 1549, the observance of certain
days of abstinence from flesh meat were ordered, under severe
671. The preamble of this Act recites that one day, or one kind of meat,
is not more holy than another; but condemns the practice of those who,
turning their knowledge to satisfy their sensuality, had broken and con-
temned such abstinence as had been used in this realm upon the Fridays
and Saturdays, the Ember days, the Vigils, and in the time of Lent. The
King's Majesty, it is recorded, had been moved to maintain the old laws
upon the subject, as well for a means to virtue, as for the maintenance of
the fishing interests, "that men employed that way may be set to work,
aud that thereby much flesh meat may be saved and increased."
672. Why did tlie power of the Protector Somerset now
decline ?
Because of his ill success in war, for which he had but little
genius, joined to a general dislike of his arbitrary temper.
673. Why did the chief nobility league against him ?
He was regarded by them as an upstart who sought to build
his greatness on their depression, and on the general subversion
of the ancient order of things with which they were identified.
674. Wlio were the chiefs of the adverse confederacy ?
The league was headed by the Earl of Warwick and ex-
Chancellor Southampton ; the former of whom had been the
most successful general in the Scottish wars, while the latter
represented the great body of Catholics and High Church
Protestants.
675. The power of "Warwick and bis party was so complete, that Somerset
was soon arrested and sent to the Tower. He escaped for a time with his
life, having, when before his judges, adopted a most abject and submissive
attitude.
THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY. 1G1
LADY JANE GBEY.
676. Wlnf did the chief power of the kingdom remain
in the hands of the Earl of Warwick ?
Having obtained the position formerly held by Somerset, like
him he rid himself very speedily of his immediate associates.
677. Southampton, who hoped to obtain the Chancellorship at the very
least, was entirely discarded by the unscrupulous soldier, and, it is said,
died a few months afterwards of vexation and disappointment.
678. Why were the Protestants, Joan Boucher and
Von Paris, burned during this reign?
The former was burned, by the persuasion of Cranmer, and
against the wish of the King, for a heterodox opinion about
the human nature of the Redeemer, and the latter as a pro-
fessor and preacher of Arianism.
679. What circumstances led to the execution of
Somerset ?
He sought to regain his former power and position; failing
in which, he was tried for high treason and beheaded.
680. Who was the Lady Jane Grey ?
She was the daughter of Frances, Duchess of Suffolk, who-
was the eldest of the two daughters and only surviving children
of the Princess Mary, daughter of Henry the Seventh, who had
been married first to Louis the Twelfth of France, and then to
Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, by whom she had her two
daughters.
6S1. After Edward, in the succession to the throne, there stood between
Lady Jane Grey, or her mother, b.y this descent, the Princesses Mary and
Elizabeth, and the descendants of Mary Tudor's elder sister, Margaret, who
married James the Fourth of Scotland, whose representative was the infant
Queen of Scots.
682. Why was it sought to make her the successor of
Edward ?
The Duke of Northumberland, who now possessed the
chief power in the kingdom, wished to consolidate his position
by a marriage between his sou, the Lord Guildford Dudley, and
162 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
ACCESSION OB MABY.
the Lady Jane Grey, whom it was his intention to proclaim
Queen, to the prejudice of the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth.
683. Why were these projects conceived about tins
time ?
Because of the declining health of King Edward, which ren-
dered it necessary to provide speedily for the succession.
684. Why did the projects fail ?
On account of the powerful interest which the Princess Mary
excited and maintained throughout the greater part of the
kingdom.
685. Upon the demise of Edward, Northumberland and the other con-
spirators endeavoured to secure the persons of Mary and her sister
Elizabeth, intending thereupon to proclaim the accession of Lady Jane
Grey as Queen. Concealing his death, they represented the King as very
sick, and summoned the two Princesses to attend in his chamber and
receive his last instructions. Mary was actually on her way to town when
she received a timely warning from the Earl of Arandel, and so escaped to
Framliiigham Castle, in Suffolk.
686. Why did the proclamation of Jane as Queen meet
ivith a cold response?
Because the great majority of the nation regarded her as
merely the tool of Northumberland, who was suspected of a design
to secure the crown for himself.
687. Why did Queen Mary's cause so rapidly acquire
strength, ?
Because, as the eldest daughter of Henry and the child of
Catherine of Arragon, her claims were too evident to be easily
688. Why did Queen Mary retain the services of so
many of those lords who had been her enemies ?
Because, in addition to their great abilities, she regarded their
former opposition as the result of pressure put upon them by
the adverse circumstances of the times.
689. Queen Mary had had sufficient evidence of this in her own person.
Her youth had been passed in gloom and in storms; her father had alter-
nately threatened to make her a nun and to take off her head ; his myrmidons
THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY. 163
EXECUTION OF ARCHBISHOP CRANMER.
had forced her to sign papers declaring her religion an imposture, and her
mother Catherine no lawful wife. From the time of the marriage of Anne
Boleyn she had been persecuted, insulted, and driven from place to place
almost like a common criminal and a vagabond. She had learned to distrust
mere professions, whether of a favourable or unfavourable character.
690. Wliy was ArcliUsJiop Cranmer sent to the Tower ?
Because, besides being the acknowledged leader of the Pro-
testant party, he had incurred the Queen's hatred, for his conduct
in the divorce of her mother.
691. It was also considered that, as one of the council which had set up
Lady Jane Grey, he had been guilty of high treason. He was sent to the
Tower, with several other lords, but shortly afterwards received pardon.
692. Why did lie afterwards suffer?
Because, notwithstanding his frequent recantations, he was
ever regarded as the strongest champion of the Protestant cause
in England.
693. Wliy did the Parliament reverse all their previous
acts in favour of the Catholic religion ?
Because it is greatly to be feared that its members were
possessed of no genuine sentiments of religion whatever, and pre-
ferred to go with the current, whichever way it might lead.
694. The principal exception to this remark was in respect to the abbey
and church lands, which had now passed into the possession of nearly every
great family in the kingdom. The Lords of the Council and the Parliament
showed the greatest reluctance to part with any portion of these, and Queen
Mary was wise enough not to proceed to extremities on that point.
695. Why did Queen Mary marry Philip of Spain?
Because, having few personal friends in England, she naturally
chose the most powerful alliance which her foreign connections
afforded her.
C96. Philip, King of Spain, was the son and heir of the Emperor Charles
the Fifth, who, in addition to being the wisest and greatest of the
crowned heads of Europe, was, and had been for many years, the friend
and protector of Mary. Charles, being a widower, had entertained some
ideas of proposing for himself, but subsequently decided to offer the hand
of his son.
G2
164 THE H1STOBICAL REASON WHY.
1ADY JANE GKEY EXECUTED.
697. Why was this marriage so unpopular with her
Because of the ancient repugnance to foreign rule on the part
of the English people.
698. Although stipulations of the most stringent character, restricting
the power of Philip as King Consort, were drawn up and submitted to by
him, and it does not appear that he sought to overstep them in any material
degree, the prejudice against his person and nation was too great to be
conquered. Queen Mary herself had great reason to regret the step she
had taken— it is said in a moment of pique— in yielding her hand to Philip.
It was the most unfortunate act of her reign, and while it embittered the
enmity of her Protestant subjects, even shook the fidelity of the Catholics.
699. Why did Cardinal Pole return to England?
Because, as a near relative of the Queen, he was the most
legitimate representative of the Papal authority, which it was
sought to restore.
700. Why was Lady Jane Grey executed?
Because the Queen and council considered that there would be
no end to plots and conspiracies so long as she survived.
701. The Queen's wish was to spare the Lady Jane ; but the Emperor
Charles the Fifth, to whom she was accustomed to submit in most matters,
strongly urged the impolicy of mercy in her regard. The dangerous and
nearly successful rebellion under Sir Thomas "Wyatt went a great way towards
precipitating the catastrophe.
702. Why did Philip leave England?
Because the hostility of his wife's subjects rendered his residence
here odious to him, and the unsettled state of the Continent
offered a pleasanter field for his exertions.
703. What ivas the effect upon the Queen's mind of his
departure ?
She became fretful and unhappy, and cherished a feeling of
resentment against those whom she considered the enemies of
her husband and herself.
704 There can be no doubt that much of the bloodshed which followed
upon these events is to be attributed to the ill will engendered in the Queen's
bosom by the national opposition to her marriage. Hitherto she had hesi-
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
165
IMPRISONMENT OF ELIZABETH.
tated to shed the blood of those opposed to her in religion, as her immediate
predecessors had done. She seems now to have regarded such persons as
her natural enemies, deserving only to be extirpated by those horrid measures
which the intolerance and cruelty of the age placed so readily at her disposal.
LANTERN SEL1EE OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTTJEY.
705. Why was tlie Princess Elizabeth imprisoned?
Because as next lieir (in default of issue of the Queen's
body), and as the reputed leader of the Protestant part}', she
was the rallying point of all the disaffected parties in the nation.
706. Elizabeth had outwardly conformed to the Catholic religion— had
set up an altar in her own house, and employed her leisure hours in
166 THE HISTOKICAL KEASON WHY.
LOS3 OF CALAIS.
making and embroidering vestments, &c., for the Roman rite; but no one
really believed her to be anything but a sound Protestant at heart. She
contrived, however, to keep off any positive evidences of her complicity
with the various conspiracies of the period; and the Queen was not averse
to her release. She was accordingly set at liberty, and received many
marks of her sister's friendship and confidence.
707. Why did the Emperor Charles the Fifth
renounce his crown and retire to a monastery ?
Because, seeing his sons capable of swaying the empire, he
professed himself desirous of spending his remaining years in
religious exercises.
708. Though only fifty-five years old, and with his faculties, both mental
and physical, to all appearance unimpaired, he, on the 25th October, 1555,
met the States of the Low Countries, explained to them the reasons of his
resignation, absolved them from their oaths of allegiance, and devolved his
authority on Philip. He chose for his retreat the Monastery of St. Just,
near Placentia, on the frontiers of Portugal, retaining about him no more
than a dozen servants, and keeping only one horse for the purpose of
exercise. He survived his abdication about two years, chiefly occupying
his time in gardening, the study of theology, and mechanics, for which
latter science, especially that branch of it whicli includes clock-making, he
had a great liking.
709. How came the English during this reign to lose
possession of Calais ?
The low state into which the navy had been allowed to fall,
and the exhaustion of the national finances, tempted the French
King to seek its recovery ; which was effected under the skilful
generalship of the Duke of Guise, on the 8th of January, 1558.
710. The loss of Calais was a great blow at the Queen's prosperity as
well as the national dignity; although its actual value to England was
rather nominal than real, its retention costing annually much treasure
and many brave soldiers, while its utility as a post of defence for the
channel fleet was hardly worth consideration.
711. Why was . the marriage, at this juncture, oj
J\Iary Queen, of Scots with the Dauphin of France, an
event of much importance to England ?
Because it cemented the old alliance between France and
Scotland, which it had been the policy of the later English
monarchs to dissever.
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY. 1G7
DEATH OF QUEEN MAEY AND ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH.
712. What effect was produced ly this event upon the
popular mind in England?
It excited a great desire to recover the ground lost by the
fall of Calais, and the war feeling being most strikingly mani-
fested by the Queen's attitude and the vigorous measures
proposed by her, she succeeded in regaining some degree of
popularity.
713. What were the causes of Queen JkLary's death ?
She contracted the prevailing disorder, a kind of intermittent
fever, which, in 1558, decimated the realm ; and after languish-
ing about two months, died at St. James's Palace.
714. Mary had long been prematurely old, and when she was attacked by
the epidemic her heart was well nigh broken. She had never enjoyed good
health : the troubles of her reign ; the rancorous enmity of the two classes
of politico-religionists ; the desertion of her husband ; finally, the loss of
Calais, which had been considered as one of the crown's brightest jewels, —
conspired to crush her spirit. A stronger frame might well have succumbed.
715. Why was the accession of Elizabeth so well received?
Because of her undoubted right to the throne, and from the
general opinion of her great abilities.
716. Mary had expired about noon (November 17, 1558), and in a short
time the Commons received a message to attend the bar of the House of
Lords. On their arrival the important event was announced by Archbishop
Heath, the Lord Chancellor. Of the right of Elizabeth there could be no
dispute ; it had been established by the statute 35th Henry VIII. ; and
nothing remained for the two Houses but to discharge their duty by recog-
nising the accession of the new sovereign.
717. Why was the Queen, who was a Protestant, crowned
according to the Catholic ritual?
The difference between the two communions was at that precise
moment very trifling ; and Elizabeth was most anxious to have
the ceremony performed without loss of time, and without exciting
any bitterness.
718. What were the first steps taken by Elizabeth
towards establishing the Reformed Religion ?
The statutes of Henry the Eighth against the Papal authority,
168 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REFOBMATIOy.
which had been repealed in the previous reign, were revived,
and it was enacted that "The Book of Common Prayer," with
certain emendations and additions, should alone be used by
ministers, under the penalties of forfeiture, deprivation, and
death.
719. Why did the Reformation succeed rapidly in
Scotland ?
From the character of the people for independence of thought ;
the burning zeal of its promoters ; and the corruptions which
had crept into the higher ranks of the Catholic clergy.
720. Of all the European churches there was perhaps not one better
prepared to receive the seed of the Reformed doctrines than that of
Scotland. During a long course of years, the highest dignities in the
church had been filled by the illegitimate or the younger sons of the
most powerful families. These commendatory abbots, bishops, and priors
received the income, but cared little for the domestic economy of the sees
or monasteries over which they were supposed to rule. Though they
seldom took orders, they ranked as clergymen, arid by their vices and
irregularities continued to throw an odium on the religious profession.
721. Why did Elizabeth prefer to remain unmarried?
The most probable cause is to be found in her love of absolute
power ; no inducements appearing to her mind sufficient for
admitting a second person to share it.
722. The first suitor proposed to her acceptance was Philip of Spain—
formerly husband to her deceased sister. 2. To Philip succeeded Charles
of Austria, son to the Emperor Ferdinand. 3. Eric, King of Sweden,
was the next suitor; who was followed by, 4, Adolphiis, Duke of Holstein.
5. By the Earl of Arran, a Scottish lord and the most ardent of all the
Scottish lords in the cause of the Reformation. G. A sixth suitor was
Sir. William Pickering, a gentleman of great beauty and accomplishments,
who had been employed in a confidential foreign mission. 7. The Earl
of Arundel, and, 8, Robert Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester, close
the list.
723. What further steps did Elizabeth take to esta-
blish the Reformation?
She restored . the Oath of Supremacy, by which the Queen
•^as declared sole head of the Church ; and had an act passed
making it penal for any man to absent himself from his parish
church.
THE HISTOEICAL BEASON WHY. 109
MARY QUEEN- OP SCOTS.
724. All the bishops, with the exception of Kitchiu, Bishop of Landaff,
refused the oath, and were deprived of their episcopal jurisdiction. A vast
number, however, of the parochial clergy agreed to take it, while the places
of those who declined to do so were speedily filled by the many Protestants
whom the severities of the last reign had driven into exile. The two acts
called the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity were the foundation of those
oppressive penal statutes which weighed so heavily upon both Catholics
and Dissenters during the succeeding two centuries.
725. WTiy did Elizabeth conclude a peace with France
and Scotland?
Because she foresaw that her power at that juncture was
more likely to be consolidated by a strict attention to domestic
affairs than by any foreign wars.
726. Why was fllary Queen of Scots an object of fear
and dislike to Elizabeth?
Because, in addition to her superior beauty and attractiveness
of manner, Mary possessed claims to the English Crown which
were by no means despicable or unacknowledged.
727. According to every canonical law of the Roman Church, and to the
notions of nearly every Catholic in England, the claim of Mary Stuart to
the English succession was far preferable to that of her cousin Elizabeth.
Every one who acknowledged the Papal power of binding and loosing
denied the validity of Anne Boleyn's marriage— maintaining in consequence
Elizabeth's illegitimacy. The attainder of her blood had never been reversed
by Parliament ; and Mary of Scotland, although passed by in the will of
Henry the Eighth, and overlooked by the English nation, was in their
opinion, by right of descent and purity of birth, indisputably entitled to
the throne.
728. Why did the Scottish Reformers oppose the mar-
riage of Queen Mary with the Dauphin of France ?
Because they feared that such a union would give an undue
advantage to the Catholic interests in Scotland.
729. The Scottish Reformers accordingly entered into a new religious cove-
nant. The subscribers, with the Earls of Argyle, Morton, and Glencairn at
their head, assuming the title of "The Congregation of the Lord," bound
themselves "to strive to the death in the cause of their Master, to procure
and maintain faithful ministers of the Gospel, to defend them, and every
member thereof, to the whole of their power, and at the hazard of their
lives," &c. This "covenant" was considered by the opposite party as equi-
valent to a declaration of war.
170 THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
THE THIBTY-NINE AKTICLES.
730. Why did Mary Queen of Scots at this juncture
become unpopular with her subjects generally ?
Because the Dauphin, her husband, having1 shortly afterwards
succeeded to the French throne, the Scottish people feared that
their country might become a mere province or dependency of
France.
731. The Reformers hereupon took fresh heart. Led by the celebrated
John Knox, their preachers scrupled not to denounce the Queen in the
most unmeasured terms, calling her Jezebel — the enemy of God's people;
and by various means sought to render her name odious to the body of the
nation.
732. Why did Elizabeth secretly assist the Scottish
malcontents ?
Because she dreaded the enforcement of Mary's claims to the
English Crown, and considered any measures justifiable that
might tend to lessen her rival's power.
733. Why did the English Parliament press Elizabeth
to marry ?
Because of their dread of a disputed succession, which would
inevitably follow her demise without issue.
734. During the year 1563 the small-pox had raged with great violence,
the Queen herself suffering greatly from its effects. This circumstance
aroused her Commons to propose to her either to marry or to name a
successor. Elizabeth appears to have dreaded equally the thought of
sharing her crown with another, and of contemplating her own decease.
She made the deputation some evasive speeches and postponed the
subject. Nevertheless, she avoided giving such a decided answer as
would wholly have discouraged the hopes of her various suitors.
735. Why iv ere the Thirty-nine Articles drawn up
and promulgated ?
A Parliament having assembled (January 12, 1563), the Con-
vocation of the clergy, according to ancient custom, met at the
same time, and the Articles, as they at present exist in the
Common Prayer-Book, were put forth, and received the sub-
scription of both Houses.
THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY. l7l
ASSASSINATION OF DAVID BIZZIO.
736. Why did the Queen assist the French Huguenots ?
Partly from sympathy with their religious tenets, and partly
from a desire to recover the town of Calais from the King of
France, which an alliance with them seemed to promise.
737. Who ivas David Rizzio, and why was he
assassinated ?
He was a native of Piedmont, who had come to Scotland in
the suite of the Ambassador of Savoy. At the request of that
minister, he was appointed secretary to Queen Mary. His fidelity
and attachment to his sovereign and mistress earned for him
the hatred of the native lords, many of whom were in open
rebellion against her.
738. Ey these a plot was formed, and the Secretary was assassinated
(March 10, 156C) at the very feet of the unfortunate Queen, in one of the
apartments of Holyrood Palace.
739. Why did Mary place herself within the power of
Elizabeth ?
Because, being reduced by the rebellion of her own subjects
to the greatest straits, she hoped to receive more consideration
from the magnanimity of her rival than from her French con-
nections or the residue of her Scottish friends.
740. Why did Elizabeth disappoint these hopes ?
Because of the still-recurring fears in her breast that the
beauty and misfortunes of Mary would eventually raise her up
friends sufficiently powerful to endanger her possession of the
741. Elizabeth was soon made to feel that in resolving to keep Mary in
captivity in the heart of England, she had done that which cast a threaten-
ing cloud over her own liberty and greatness, and deprived her of her
peace of mind; in fact, for many years she was incessantly harassed with
the fears of plots, escapes, and bloody retaliation ; no castle seemed strong
enough, no keepers sure enough, for her hated rival, who, in many respects
had become more dangerous to her than ever. During the nineteen weary
years that Mary remained her prisoner, there can be no doubt that the
one thought of her death, by any means, whether fair or foul, occupied the
mind of Elizabeth, as well as the constant thoughts of her ministers.
172 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
THE SPANISH AEMADA.
742. What was tlie object of Babingtons conspiracy /
It was concerted for the purpose of rescuing the Queen of
Scots from the power of Elizabeth.
743. Anthony Babington was a young man of family and fortune; he
was joined by several others whose sympathies had been wrought to the
highest degree in Mary's favour. They were betrayed by one Pooley, a
spy in the pay of Walsingham, and suffered the penalty of treason.
744. Why did Elizabeth seek to remove Mary 'by
assassination ?
Because there was no law in existence by which one crowned
sovereign could try and condemn another.
745. An ex post facto law was, however, passed after the execution of
Babington and his co-conspirators, awarding the punishment of death to
the person in whose favour such attempts should have been made.
746. Why is the fact of Sir Francis Drake's dis-
coveries about this period interesting ?
Because they laid the foundation of the present naval
supremacy of Great Britain.
747. The origin of these discoveries is to be traced in the wars with
Spain, arising out of the claims on the part of Philip of Spain, not only
to the British Crown, but to a universal dominion of the Indian Seas.
Enterprises, set on foot at first simply to intercept the Spanish treasure-
ships, were afterwards developed into greater maritime projects, and by
the indomitable energy of Hawkins, Drake, and others, ended in the dis-
covery of a western passage to India, and the circumnavigation of the
globe.
748. Why was the " Spanish Armada " fitted out ?
Because the King of Spain desired to revenge himself upon
England for their interference with his Transatlantic possessions.
749. Religious considerations also entered into the project ; moreover, the
Spanish Netherlands had been excited to revolt by the agents of Elizabeth,
and Philip felt that the most effectual way to punish his enemies would be
to carry the war into their own country. He levied troops in all parts of
the Continent, hired ships, built new ones, constructed floating batteries,
and raised an army amounting to 34,000 men, which he placed under the
Duke of Parma.
750. Why did the Spanish Armada fail ?
It was partly dispersed by a storm in the Channel, and partly
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY. 173
EXECUTION OF
destroyed by a vigorous attack under the command of Ealeigh,
Howard, and Drake.
751. Although intended by Philip as a demonstration on behalf of the Catholic
religion, the whole body professing that religion in England cordially united
with the Queen to oppose the Armada. At the head of the British arma-
ment, Elizabeth had the liberality to retain the Catholic Lord Howard ; the
rest of the Catholics, disqualified from holding offices of dignity and trust,
chose to enlist in the expedition as common soldiers and sailors.
752. Why is the reign of Elizabeth regarded as one of
the most glorious in our annals ?
Because under her the nation attained its highest rank from
the military and political points of view ; and because our greatest
poets and philosophers were born and flourished at that par-
ticular period.
753. Why did Elizabeth make "progresses" among her
chief nobility ?
Because she desired to ingratiate herself with her subjects by
personal intercourse, and because she was enabled thus to inspect
the establishments of her leading servants, and to curb their
individual power.
754. What were the causes of the rebellion of the Earl
of Essex, and his death ?
He was the greatest of the favourites of Queen Elizabeth ;
by which he incurred the enmity of Cecil and Raleigh, who,
taking advantage of some intemperate expressions of the Earl,
provoked him to the acts of treason for which he suffered.
755. The Earl of Essex was executed on Ash-Wednesday, the 25th of
February, 1599, in an inner court of the Tower. His popular and engaging
manners had won him many friends among the common people ; and perhaps
no act of the Queen's reign, with the exception of the execution of Mary
of Scotland, brought more odium upon her character, or detracted more
from her popularity with all classes of her subjects.
756. What was the latest proclamation issued ly
Elizabeth ?
It was one against the Catholics, whose influence it was
supposed would be used against the succession of James of
Scotland.
174 THE HISTOE1CAL EEASON WHY.
DEATH OP QUEEN ELIZABETH.
757. In this proclamation (see Eymer's Foodera, xiv. 473—476) Elizabeth
notices the divisions among the Catholics. The regular clergy and their
adherents she denounces as traitors ; the seculars as disloyal and disobedient
subjects ; complains that in consequence of her clemency towards both these
classes of men, they even "adventured to walk the streets at noon-day,"
and carried themselves "so as to breed a suspicion that she proposed to
grant a toleration of two religions, though God knew that she was ignorant of
any such imagination, and that no one had ever ventured to suggest such a
thing to her." The document was followed up by the establishment of a
new commission for the sole purpose of banishing summarily, and without
any of the usual forms of trial, all Catholic clergymen under such conditions
as it chose to prescribe.
758. Why did Elizabeth become a prey to melancholy ?
From a growing belief that she had survived her greatness
and popularity, and from a conviction that most of her ministers
longed for her decease.
759. It was supposed that regrets at the death of her favourite Essex
were the chief cause, but most historians are of opinion that the disclosures
made in his confession, and which convinced her of the general faithlessness
of her court, sank deeply into her heart, and wounded her self-esteem beyond
remedy. She became pensive and taciturn; she sat whole days by herself,
indulging in the most gloomy reflections; every rumour agitated her with
new and imaginary terrors. Under these and similar impressions she
assured the French Ambassador that she had grown weary of her very
existence.
760. What was the proximate cause of tlie death of
Queen Elizabeth?
An indiscreet removal from Westminster to Richmond, during
a wet and stormy day, while suffering from a cold, is supposed
to have led to the illness of which she died, March 24, 1603.
761. Her indisposition increased, but, with characteristic obstinacy, she
refused the advice of physicians. To a total loss of appetite was added low-
ness of spirits. She continually relapsed into a kind of stupor, from which
when she aroused herself, it was but to fall into paroxysms of anger and
rage. One of her maids of honour* has recorded : " She sate for 2 days and
3 nights on the stole redie dressed, and would never be brought by any of
the counsell to go to bed: she kept her bed 15 daies, besides 3 daies she sate
upon the stole ; and one day, being pulled up by force, stood on her feat
15 hours."
* Mrs. Southwell, MS. April 1.
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 175
NOTES UPON THE TTJDOE PEEIOD.
NOTES UPON THE TUDOR PERIOD.
Religion.— The great change that took place with respect to the faith and
opinions of the British people during this period forms its chief characteristic.
That change consisted not so much in the details of religion as in the principles
upon which religious faith is founded. Before the breach with Rome every-
thing that concerned faith was received on the authority of the Church
as a living and " infallible " guide. With the suppression of the Papal
supremacy and the stoppage of all intercourse between the new and the old
communions, private judgment may be said to have been substituted ; in
other words, before the Reformation Englishmen believed because Rome
spake— afterwards they did so as the result of their individual investigations.
Constitution, Government, and Laws, — The Royal power attained its
highest point under Henry VIII., Mary, and Elizabeth. This was owing
to the decay of the feudal system, and the gradual absorption of the aristo-
cratic power by the Crown. But having reached to a most tyrannical point,
it appears to have generated the seeds of its own ruin ; and we perceive the
gradual growth of a limited Constitutional Monarchy, even where the power
of the reigning Sovereign appears most complete. Thus Elizabeth is seen
to have outlived her power and popularity; and two reigns later the King
himself is put upon his trial for an alleged violation of the Constitution,
and suffers the penalty of death. The administration of the laws was
marked by the grossest acte of cruelty; and it is difficult to understand
how men and women, reputed as good and virtuous, could have been stained
by the perpetration of the atrocities laid— upon the best evidence— to their
charge. Torture was used to extort confessions, and this of such a sharp
and searching kind that any statement, however monstrous, which it was
deemed desirable to extract, could hardly fail to be produced.
Commerce— Industry.— The discovery of America and of a western passage
to the Indies gave a very great impetus to these sources of the national
wealth ; while the persevering investigations of Cabot, Hawkins, Frobisher,
Drake, Cavendish, and others, laid the foundation of our naval supremacy.
In the year 1562 the African slave-trade was begun by Mr. John Hawkins,
assisted by the subscriptions of " sundry gentlemen of London," who, fitting
up three ships, proceeded to the coast of Guinea, and succeeded in trans-
ferring the first cargo of human beings from their native land to that of
Hispaniola. In 1570 the first Royal Exchange was erected by Sir Thomas
Gresham, and opened for the accommodation of the British and foreign mer-
chants assembling in London ; and in 1581 the original nucleus of the East
India Company was formed.
The Art of Printing, discovered during a former period, was greatly
developed under the Tudors-uot indeed by the Monarchs of that time, but
by the new spirit of inquiry awakened in the 'breasts of their subjects.
That of coining made considerable progress, owing to the great skill brought
to bear upon the art by Italian and French artists ; also from the recovery
of many coins and medals of the classic period, which had been buried
under the ruins of Rome and other ancient cities. Many inventions and
improvements were also introduced into the manufactures of silk, cloth, and
worsted stuffs.
176 THE HTSTOEICAL REASON WHY.
NOTES TJPOff THE TUDOE PERIOD.
Literature and the Fine Arts.— In poetry the names of Shakspere and
Spenser, and in philosophy that of Bacon, entitle this period to the claim
of being the Augustan, or golden age of England. Although no very eminent
names occur in the list of native painters, that of Holbein, an artist from
Holland, employed by Henry the Eighth, stands deservedly pre-eminent.
The Gothic style of architecture attained its highest excellence under the
Tudors, and then becoming corrupted, gave place to a new order called the
Elizabethan, a mixture of the revived Roman and the deposed Gothic.
Domestic Life.— Li the beginning of the period the middle class— the yeo-
manry and traders — lived in houses but little better than those of the
humblest peasants of the present day. These were formed almost entirely
of wood ; their walls of wattled plaster ; without chimneys, and void of all
conveniences. The beds of the same class were of straw, over which were
thrown a coarse sheet and a woollen coverlet. Servants slept upon a heap
of straw or chaff, with nothing but their clothes to protect them from the
inclemency of the night season. The table was poorly furnished with a
wooden platter and a spoon of the same material. Wheaten bread was a
luxury appertaining only to the rich and the noble. Money was extremely
scarce. In times of dearth, artificers and labouring men fared but little better
than cattle. A proverb of the sixteenth century (illustrative of this fact) says :
"Hunger setteth his first foot into the horse-mariger." Notwithstanding
which, a rude kind of abundance seems generally to have prevailed, although
luxuries were unknown. The principal materials for clothing were not
bought, but were obtained by the industry of each family. To the household
establishment of every considerable yeoman, a tailor, a cordwainer, a sempstress,
and a smith were necessary appendages. With the reign of Henry the
Eighth, owing to the great social and religious convulsions, a change took
place, which, however disastrous at first, eventually resulted in good to the
mass of the middle class. Increased pressure induced increased exertions
to meet it, and a spirit of enterprise was awakened, which led to improve-
ments in farming and manufactures. If an additional amount of labour
and skill were required to procure the means of subsistence, the results
were more than correspondent; and we may date from this reign the com-
mencement of a new era in all matters that concerned domestic life.
Costume— The male costume during the reign of Henry the Seventh con-
sisted of a fine shirt of lawn, over which was a doublet of various material,
slashed at the elbows and across the arms, and at the breast, to show the
shirt. To this was added the stomacher and petticoat. Over all drooped a
long furred gown. The general style of this dress prevailed through the
succeeding reigns; with this difference, that the long cloak was retained
only by the graver personages. Soldiers, and the gayer sort of civilians,
wore a shorter cloak or mantle. Of female attire, previous to Henry VIII.,
the chief features were slashed sleeves, a square cut body to the dress, and
a laced stomacher. The high head-dresses of a former period gradually
became depressed, and finally disappeared. In their place simple cauls
of gold net-work were worn, and from under these the hair was allowed
to fall negligently down the back. Turbans, introduced from the East,
which began now to be opened up by travelling merchants, became the
fashion, and divided the rage with a kind of hood— the germ of the mag-
THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY. 177
NOTES UFO?* THE TUDOR PERIOD.
nificently-adorned hooded head-gear of the next reign. The portraits of
Henry the Eighth's Queens are so well known that fe\v words are needed
to describe the female attire of that period. But with the accession of
Elizabeth the hood was discarded, having had its day (by the upper classes
at least), and the hair was dressed, powdered, and dyed, to suit the ever-
varying mode. Ruffs of a monstrous bulk were imported from Holland,
Gown-sleeves increased in volume. The masculine doublet and jerkin were
added to the female dress, and the petticoat, made of cloth of gold, and
spread out with hoops, shone resplendent with embroidery and jewels. The
principal novelty in male costume introduced during the reign of Edward VI.
consisted of the small flat cap— the muffin cap still worn by the boys of
Christ's Hospital, London— placed upon the side of the head, aud ornamented,
by such as could afford it, with a small tuft of feathers, or with a brooch
or device in jewels. The hair, which had previously been worn long, was,
consentaneously with the introduction of the flat cap, cropped close iu
pursuance of a Royal Order to that effect ; on the other hand, beards and
moustachios re-appeared, and were suffered to grow and be worn at pleasure.
Sports and Pastimes.— A characteristic of the times was the relinquishment
of the old tournaments, and the substitution for them of less refined, but
scarcely less dangerous, entertainments. Bull and bear baiting prevailed,
and at the latter sport even Queens presided. The miracle plays fell into
disuse, but masks and secular dramatic shows took their rise. During the
last years of Elizabeth the great works of Shakspere aud his compeers were
produced. Falconry was a favourite pursuit with the upper classes, to
which were added hunting, fowling, and horse-racing; the last-named amuse-
ment began to prevail as a settled national predilection. Dancing also
became a fashionable accomplishment. Both Henry VIII. and Elizabeth
were fond of this exercise, and are said to have prided themselves upon the
manner and vigour of their steps. Music, especially of the vocal class,
was cultivated, and, with a few minor recreations, formed the sum of the
in- door recreations of the Tudor period.
178 THE HISTOEICAL BEASONWHY.
ACCESSION OP JAMES THE FIRST.
THE HOUSE OF STUART.
JAMES THE FIKST, 1603.
FROM THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH TO THE ACCESSION OF
GEORGE THE FIRST, EMBRACING A PERIOD OF 111 YEARS.
762. Why was it that on the death of Elizabeth, and
the failure of the line of Tudor, James the Sixth of
Scotland, a foreign prince, and tfie hereditary enemy of
the country, laid claim to the throne of England?
He did so as lineal heir to the crown, claiming through his
mother, the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, who, as the
granddaughter of Margaret Tudor, eldest daughter of Henry
the Seventh, and wife of James the Fourth of Scotland, was
the direct successor to the throne.
763. He claimed also, though more distantly, through the right of h is
father, the murdered Darnley, who was his mother's cousin, being descended
from the same ancestress, Margaret Tudor, by her second marriage with
the Earl of Angus. Exactly one hundred years after the daughter of Henry
the Seventh quitted England to espouse the Scotch King, James, the
descendant of that union, entered England as its King. To the apprehen-
sions entertained by the peers of this realm upon that marriage, that in
the course of time it was possible, through failure of issue, that England
might fall under the dominion of Scotland, Henry, with a penetration
that succeeding time has verified, replied, "No, in that event Scotland
will only become an accession to England."
764. Why was James received with such universal satis-
faction, and his reign inaugurated as an epoch of hap-
piness ?
Because he came to the throne with the approbation of men
of all degrees and parties, who anticipated, from the learning
and reputed wisdom of the monarch, every benefit to them-
selves and nation. This was particularly the case with regard
to the religious part of the community. The Protestants felt
confident that all their religious and social privileges would be
faithfully confirmed by so wise and pious a prince ; the Dis-
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY. 179
THE GUNPOWDER PLOT.
senters, who already began to form an important element in
the State, trusting to James's Calviuistic principles, and his
known tolerance, hailed his accession as a certain augury of
power and influence to all orders of dissent ; and lastly, the
Catholics, who still numbered a large portion of the wealth and
respectability of the kingdom, trusting to the natural feelings
of resentment James must entertain towards the party who had
executed his mother, and out of sympathy to the religion so
devoutly professed by his unfortunate parent, fully calculated on
experiencing great favour and indulgence from the son of a
queen whom they regarded as a martyr. Indeed, of all parties
and interests who hailed the advent of James with hopes of
personal or general advantage, the Catholics were the most
sanguine and assured.
765. How did James undeceive and exasperate llie
Catholic party ?
By declaring on all occasions he would govern in obedience
to the laws, and at once putting in force all the enactments
and penalties framed in the previous reign against the Catholics.
766. Why did this declaration provoke the Catholic
party, and what remarkable conspiracy resulted from it ?
It incensed them against him, first on account of his bigotry,
and further shocked them, that he should be so dead to natural
feeling as to oppress his mother's friends and partisans, and
place his sole trust in those men who had been instrumental
in her murder ; and seeing that there was no possibility of
ever obtaining favour or safety for the practice of their religion
during his reign, a few of the more fanatical and intolerant of
the party conceived a plot for the murder of the King and
ministry ; a plot that, from the comprehensive and diabolical
nature of its purpose and details, is without example for its
atrocity in the annals of the world.
767. Why was it called the Gunpowder Plot?
Prom the intention of the conspirators to execute their scheme
of vengeance by that means ; and, at one blow, destroy the King,
180 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
CAUSES OF THE GUNPOWDEB PLOT.
Queen, Prince of Wales, the high Officers of State, the Bishops
and Peers of the realm, and all the obnoxious members of the
opposite party, constituting the House of Commons.
768. This frightful scheme was first devised by a gentleman of desperate
fortune, called Robert Catesby, who, having imparted his plan to Sir Henry
Percy, a member of the ducal family of Northumberland, and being
encouraged by Percy's entire approval and concurrence with the plot,
communicated his intentions to Sir Thomas Winter, another Catholic
gentleman, whom they at once sent to Flanders, to engage Guido Faux, an
officer in the Spanish army, a bigoted Catholic, and a man of a bold, fearless,
and unflinching resolution, to superintend and direct the details of their
horrible conspiracy. The leaders of the plot next proceeded to enlist other
partisans of the cause, to take part in their scheme ; adding to their number
Tesmond and Garnet, two Jesuits ; with Sir Everard Digby, Rookwood, and
others ; making, in all, about a hundred persons. But so secretly and
cautiously were all their proceedings conducted— each confederate being
solemnly sworn on the Holy Sacrament, and further bound by every oath
of religion and manhood, not only to perpetual secrecy, but to the rigid
performance of their purpose, at whatever danger or sacrifice— that though
the plot was entrusted to so many, it was preserved for eighteen months
with inviolable secrecy. Having completed their number, the next step
was to commence the execution of their task, and for this purpose, Percy
hired a house in Westminster, adjoining the building in which the Parlia-
ment—about to open— was to be held, the object being to undermine, and
run a passage from the cellar of the house they had hired, into the vaults
beneath the Parliament, where, by depositing a quantity of gunpowder and
connecting it by a train, they could at any moment, upon the arrival of
the King and Peers, fire the mine from a distance, and with perfect safety
to themselves. Having, after incredible labour and perseverance, under-
mined the building, and pierced the wall of one of the vaults, nine feet in
thickness, the conspirators discovered, to their amazement, that the apart-
ment they had entered was filled with coals, which the owner was selling
off previous to letting the vault for business purposes. Upon obtaining
this information, Percy at once hired the place, and bought the remainder
of the coals, and burying beneath them thirty-six barrels of gunpowder,
and laying down the train, only awaited the meeting of Parliament, to
consummate their unparalleled crime. The two members of the Royal
Family, Prince Charles and the Princess Elizabeth, who were in the
country, it was proposed simultaneously to seize. Percy was to possess
himself of the Prince, and assassinate him; while Sir Everard Digby was
to attack Lord Harrington's house in Warwickshire, the residence of the
Princess, and, securing the child, instantly proclaim her as Elizabeth the
Second .
769. Why was it that a plot so successfully planned,
and faithfully kept, miscarried in its aim?
Through the devoted attachment of Sir Henry Percy for his
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 181
PATE OF THE CONSPIEATOKS.
friend Lord Monteagle, who, though a Catholic like himself,
would be in his place in the House of Peers at the approaching
opening of Parliament, and to save whom from the universal
destruction meditated against friend and foe, Percy forwarded
an anonymous letter, advising Monteagle, as he valued his life,
to keep from the approaching meeting of the King and his
Parliament.
770. This important letter was sent about ten days before the appointed
meeting. Monteagle being unable to comprehend the drift of the mysterious
warning, which he half thought to be a trick, resolved to show it to Lord
Salisbury, the Secretary of State ; who, in turn, unable to comprehend its
import, carried it to the King iu Council; but not one of the ministers,
though they apprehended danger, were able to see in what direction the
evil was to be looked for. In this universal dilemma, James is reported to
have been the first to discover the nature and direction of the threatened
danger, and considered that some sudden calamity was meditated by means
of gunpowder, and at once gave orders for the searching of all the vaults
and cellars beneath the Houses of Parliament. But this duty Suffolk, the
Lord Chamberlain, deferred till the day before the intended meeting. Upon
entering the vault he at once perceived the coals and faggots, the gunpowder
and train, and found a man already at his post, waiting the arrival of the
important hour for commencing operations. This man was fully equipped
for his diabolical purpose, dressed in a cloak and boots, a dark lanthorn
in his hand, and matches and other combustibles to fire the train, in his
pocket. This individual, who was instantly arrested, was the veritable Guy
Faux himself, the great directing spirit of -the whole conspiracy. The entire
scheme was now discovered, and it only remained to trace the conspirators.
Faux was at once taken before the Council, where he boldly declared his
intention was to blow up every member of the Government, the Royal
Family, and both Houses of Parliament; and so far from showing regret at
the nature of his act, gloried in the nobleness of the achievement. To every
demand made to him to reveal his accomplices, he returned a proud and
haughty refusal, till, being sent to the Tower, and led into the torture-
room, the sight of the formidable instruments presented to him had such
an effect on his spirit, that he at once lost all his defiant manner, and
divulged the names of all who had participated in the meditated crime.
771. What ivas the fate of the other conspirators ?
Those who were in London, hearing that Faux was arrested,
immediately fled to "Warwickshire, where Sir Everard Digby,
relying on the success of the plot, was already in arms; but
having failed in his attack on the Princess, and being pressed
by the militia of the county, and seeing no chance of escape,
he, with the rest of the conspirators, to the number of eighty,
182 THE HISTOBICAL EEASON WHY.
DEATH OP PRINCE HENKY.
threw themselves into a house, and, first having confessed and
taken the Sacrament, placed themselves back to back, and,
drawing their swords, resolved to sell their lives as dearly as
possible. But an explosion caused by a spark falling on their
gunpowder produced such dreadful havoc among the party, that
the survivors, bursting out on their foes, were instantly surrounded
by their assailants, and nearly all cut to pieces. One shot
stretched Percy and Catesby, as they fought back to back, dead
on the ground. Winter, covered with wounds, with Digby and
Rookwood, were taken alive, and, with Garnet the priest, tried
and executed.
772. Why did James become unpopular with his English
subjects ? •
The two principal reasons of the King's unpopularity were,
first, his extreme toleration, especially towards the Catholics,
he having magnanimously declared, after the late conspiracy,
that he would not confound the great body of the innocent
Catholics with those bigoted murderers who had so lately
attempted to ruin the nation — a tenderness of conscience and
act of justice that the popular feeling against the Papists would
not allow the people to appreciate ; and, secondly, from the
King's great partiality for favourites, and his prodigal extra-
vagance in heaping the wealth of the nation on his low and
infamous creatures, especially Robert Carr, whom he created
Viscount Rochester and Earl of Somerset, a man celebrated only
for his detestable crimes.
773. What memorable events occurred in 1612-13 ?
The death, on the 6th of November, of Henry Prince of
Wales, in the 18th year of his age, beloved and mourned for
by the whole nation ; and three months afterwards, February 14th,
the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth to Frederic, the Elector
Palatine of Germany.
774. Why did James take so marked a liking to -Robert
Carr, and what was the cause of his rise and downfall ?
From his extreme good looks, his youth, and graceful bearing.
THE HISTOKICAL REASON WHY.
183
THE KING'S FAVOTJEITES.
The King, always pleased by youth and comeliness, had been
attracted to Carr by his demeanour in the tilting yard; and his
admiration was further heightened, by sympathy for the youth,
in consequence of his breaking his leg in the King's presence,
HENRY, PBINCE OP WALES, AT THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN.
who thereupon formed so strong a regard for him that he fre-
quently attended on him himself, and, determined that he should
derive all his worldly advancement from himself, heaped upon
him costly gifts, and on his recovery conferred on him the
honour of Knighthood, and in a few months raised him to the
Peerage by the title of Viscount Rochester; and, not content
184 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
EXECUTION OF EALEIGH.
with so much favour, afterwards, upon his shameful marriage,
created him Earl of Somerset— a dignity he subsequently dis-
graced by his profligate life and the crime of murder.
775. Early in his career of prosperity, Carr, or rather Rochester, had had
the good fortune to secure the friendship of Sir Thomas Overbury, a
gentleman, a scholar, and a man of unblemished honour. All the time the
King's favourite followed the wise counsels of his friend, he was esteemed
by the sovereign, and even regarded with favour by the people. But
Rochester having, by a series of most disgraceful acts, procured the divorce
of the Countess of Essex from her husband, that he might espouse her
himself, so exasperated Overbury, who had hitherto directed him in the
paths of virtue, that he foreswore his society and threatened to expose his
conduct to the King. This bold demeanour so offended Rochester, that,
exerting his influence with James, he had him committed to the Tower,
where, aided by his abandoned wife, he shortly after had him secretly poi-
soned. It was some years before the crime was discovered and brought
home to the guilty pair, whose lives being spared in pity by the King, were
driven in disgrace from the Court, spending the rest of their days in a
retirement embittered by remorse, the hatred of the world, and their own
mutual reproaches and contempt.
776. Why was James easily reconciled, to the loss of
Somerset ?
Because he had found a new favourite in the person of George
Villiers, who, having shortly before attracted his attention at a
court play, was first appointed cup-bearer to the King; and,
having once commenced to honour the youthful aspirant for royal
favour, he never paused in his career of adding dignities till he
had passed through the grades of Viscount, Earl, Marquis and
Duke of Buckingham, Knight of the Garter, Master of the
Horse, Chief Justice in Eyre, Warden of the Cinque Ports,
Master of the King's Bench, Steward, of Westminster, Constable
of Windsor, and Lord High Admiral of England, and the
infatuated Monarch could find no new title with which to deck
his new-created minion.
777. Why was Sir Walter Raleigh executed?
To appease the Spanish Court, who, making strong remonstrance
against Sir Walter's conduct in Guiana, one of their settlements,
the King signed the order of his death, not indeed for his attack
upon the Spanish town, but for a previous charge of conspiracy,
for which he had never even been found guilty.
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 185
FALL OF LOUD BACON.
778. Why was the Spanish alliance for the Prince of
Wales broken off?
In a great measure through the vanity arid folly of the
favourite Buckingham, who induced Prince Charles to go to
Spain as a Knight-Errant and win the affections of the Princess
by his devotion and chivalry — a proceeding at which the Spanish
Court took offence; and also partly through the Prince, who
in his travels, having seen Henrietta, the daughter of Henry the
Fourth of France, formed an attachment for her, which was soon
after ratified by marriage.
779. How did James raise supplies ivhen the Par-
liament refused to grant further subsidies ?
By selling the honours and dignities of the State. The prodi-
gality of James to his favourites had been so excessive, that
to meet the requirements of the nation, whose money he had
squandered to enrich a few parasites, he, among other means,
invented a title of nobility called a Baronetcy, which titles were
openly sold to the highest bidder.
780. Why was James so vain of his government of
Ireland?
Because he was the first English prince who, after a pos-
session of the island for four hundred years, had ever attempted
to substitute law and order for the barbarous customs of
Gavelkind and Tanistry, which up to his time had existed in
the country.
781. Why icas Lord Chancellor Bacon impeached, and
what ivas his penalty ?
This ornament of literature, the greatest genius of his country
and age, was accused of taking bribes in his capacity of Lord
Chancellor, and having confessed to the truth of the allega-
tions, was sentenced to pay £40,000 to the King, be imprisoned
in the Tower, declared incapable of ever again holding any
place or office, never to sit in Parliament, or approach within
the verge or confines of the Court.
186 THE HISTOEICAL KEASON WHY.
DEATH OF JAMES.
782. Why did the expedition sent to assist the Elector
Palatine Frederic, and recover the Palatinate, fail ?
Because the French King- neglected to ratify his promise, by
allowing- the English army to enter Calais, in consequence of
which, and from the length of time the troops were kept on
board, half the force was destroyed by a pestilence which broke
out, and the army becoming- too far weakened to be of any
service, returned home without striking- a blow.
783. When and hoio did the King die ?
Anxiety in consequence of his son-in-law's affairs, and the
cares of public business, brought on a tertian ague, of which
he died, after a few weeks' illness, in the 59th year of his age,
and the 22nd of his reign. Of his character it may be said,
that his generosity merged into profusion, his learning into
pedantry, his pacific disposition degenerated into weakness, his
wisdom into cunning, and his friendship into a frivolous fondness.
CHAELES THE FIKST.
FROM MARCH, 1625, TO JANUARY, 1649.
784. Why have historians agreed in calling the acces-
sion of Charles the First propitious and happy ?
Because few princes ever ascended the throne under more
advantageous and cheering circumstances. He was the only
surviving son of James, young, handsome, courtly, and modest ;
and during his career of Prince of Wales, and .for some time
after his accession, universally popular and beloved. He had
also obtained considerable reputation for prudence and economy,
and men expected much both from the natural goodness of his
disposition, and from the penetration and wisdom he was sup-
posed to have derived from his father.
THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY. 187
EARLIEST TROUBLES OF CHAKLES THE PIKST.
785. Why toas Charles so eager to summon a Par-
liament directly on assuming the reins of state, and what
caused the frequent prorogations ?
The war with Spain and Austria, for the recovery of his
brother-in-law's state of the Palatinate, which James had
reluctantly commenced at the end of his reign, and had left
him as a solemn legacy, and to prosecute which he required
immediate supplies. The arrival of his beautiful bride, the
Princess Henrietta of France, immediately before the assembling
of Parliament, with the marriage which followed, and the fetes,
rejoicings, and public galas that for some weeks succeeded that
event, compelled the young King to postpone the meeting with
his Commons from the original time, 7th of May, to the 18th
of June.
786. Independent of the immediate necessity he had for money to equip
his fleet, and pay the army waiting on the coast for embarkation, Charles
was personally in debt, from charges contracted while Prince of Wales ;
besides which, he found his father's coffers not only empty, but outstanding
claims upon the late King, which Charles took upon himself to defray, to
the amount of £300,000.
787. How did the Parliament respond to the young
King's statement of his affairs, in a war that had teen
provoked entirely in obedience to the former Souse ?
By a mockery of the King's necessities, and a total disregard
of the honour and engagements of the country. They granted
him two subsidies, in all about £112,000; a sum so glaringly
inadequate even to dispatching a part of the army, that it is
difficult to understand the motives that at such a time, and
under such circumstances, could have influenced the House in
its dishonourable parsimony.
788. Why did the House take umbrage at the King's
subsequent conduct ?
Because, unable to obtain money from Parliament for the
exigencies of the State, Charles had recourse to a Benevolence,
and issued Privy Seals for borrowing money from his subjects.
188 THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHT.
IMPEACHMENT OP BUCKINGHAM.
789. These compulsory means of borrowing money, though frequently
adopted in cases of emergency by previous sovereigns, had, however unjust
and exacting on the subject, hitherto been silently submitted to by the
people; but now men began to question the Monarch's right to levy by such
illegal means, and maintained, with sullen discontent, and In outspoken
terms, that no antiquity of precedent, and no necessity of occasion, could
sanction a wanton injustice.
790. Did the extorted loan aid the King in liis pur-
pose ?
The amount raised was very disproportionate to the occasion ;
but by means of the sums sent into the Exchequer, and by
loans raised from other quarters, Charles was enabled to equip
and dispatch his fleet by the 1st of October.
791. This armament consisted of eighty ships of all tonnage, carrying an
army of 10,000 men, the whole under the command of Sir Edward Cecil,
created Viscount "Wimbleton, aiid was ordered to sail direct for Cadiz, and
there, after landing the troops, wait for the homeward-bound Plate fleet.
On arriving before Cadiz, Cecil found the bay full of Spanish galleons of
great value; but instead of cutting out or boarding the prizes, in a bold
and skilful manner, he made some crude and preposterous attempts that
finally ended in a repulse, and covered the affair with contempt. After
this failure the troops were landed, and, with their national gallantry,
carried a fort, and made good their lodgment. The want of discipline,
however, rendered this success nugatory; for the men having become
intoxicated from the large stock of wine captured, were rendered unfit for
duty, and Cecil gave orders for their immediate embarkation, and with an
inglorious precipitancy stood out to sea, with the professed object of inter-
cepting the Indian fleet; but the license indulged in by the soldiers, and
the ill-ventilated ships, brought the plague among the troops and crew,
and the disease spreading with fearful havoc through the men, Cecil gave
the signal to return, and about eight weeks after its departure, this ill-
fated expedition, covered with disgrace and odium, re-entered the Downs.
792. Why was the Duke of Buckingham impeached ?
His impeachment was a measure of retaliation on the King
and Court, instigated by the Earl of Bristol, for Charles'
accusation of high treason against the Earl ; for his presumption
in taking his seat in the House of Peers, while still lying under
the Sovereign's command to confine himself to his own house j
and for other contumacious conduct.
793. Charles having summoned another Parliament with no better result
than the former— the House granting him only three subsidies, equivalent
to a hundred and sixty thousand pounds, a sum preposterously insufficient—
THE HISTORICAL BEASON WHY. 189
JOHX HAMPDEir,
he was once more compelled to resort to those arbitrary and unconstitu-
tional means to obtain money that— though in former times it was exacted
by the Prince, and paid by the people without complaint-in the present
temper of men's minds, and the growing power and influence of the House
of Commons, could not be resumed without exciting deep and general dis-
content, a feeling which found such an echo in the House, and was there
denounced with such warmth as a violation of the rights of the subject
and a breach of the constitution, that from that circumstance Charles had
to date all his after urihappiness, and that breach with his Parliament that
ended in the loss of his head. Of all those indiscreet actions which the
parsimony of the House drove the unfortunate King to adopt, none was
more unpopular, or the immediate cause of such momentous consequences,
as the compulsory levy called the ship-money.
794. Why was this the cause of such heats and ani-
mosities in the nation, and what was the result of the
discussion ?
The causes were many already, though so early in the reign.
The breach between the King and the Parliament had become
serious ; and Charles, careless of hiding the resentment he felt
against the Commons, did all he could to show his displeasure
and violate their prejudices ; and, among other impolitic measures,
openly compounded with the Catholics for a large sum of money
to grant them a dispensation of the penal laws in force against
their religion. Independent of many new and vexatious imposts
levied on the people, Charles issued writs through every county
for the arbitrary raising of a sum of money for the express
purpose of building and equipping a fleet for the defence of the
country. Though highly obnoxious to the people, it was not
till some years later that his right to levy such a tax was openly
questioned by John Hampden, who, in his own person, tried
the question for the nation against the Crown; and though,
through his servile judges, he was fined and condemned, his
arguments produced such a revolution in men's minds, that
from that hour may be dated Charles' declension from the throne
to the block.
795. By this measure it was rendered compulsory on every maritime
town, according to its population, to equip a certain number of well-armed
and efficiently-manned vessels of war, at their own and the expense of the
county— the City of London being rated at twenty ships. Among the
irregular impositions adopted by Charles this time to raise money may be
190 THE HISTORICAL REASON TTHT.
CONTEST BETWEEN THE KING ASD HIS PARLIAMENT.
mentioned tonnage and poundage; a county assessment towards the expense
of the Militia; compositions \rith recusants, the Catholics paying a large
part of the annual revenue for the tolerance of their religion; fines and
compositions exacted from owners of land with faulty titles, and another
upon all who possessed £200 a year, and neglected, according to an old law
of Edward II., to claim Knighthood from the Sovereign ; a stamp duty on
cards ; the sale of monopolies ; and last, and greatest of all, the inquisitorial
and tyrannous exactions and fines of the Star Chamber. By all these
means, however, Charles was enabled, in a few years, to equip one of the
finest fleets the country had, up to that time, ever possessed. A formidable
armament of sixty sail, under the command of the Earl of Northumberland,
was sent to sea, and used at first as a means of exacting £30,000 from the
Dutch for one year's privilege of fishing in British waters.
796. Why was war declared against France, and what
was the result of the Duke's expedition ?
In reality to gratify the personal vanity and pique of the
Duke of Buckingham against his rival, the French Prime
Minister, Richelieu; but ostensibly to assist the French Pro-
testants, the Huguenots, shut up and besieged in the town of
Rochelle. To effect this object, July, 1627, a fleet of a hundred
sail, with an army of seven thousand men, was despatched
under the sole command of Buckingham. But so totally unfit
was he for any military command, that he arrived in view of
the town before the besieged had heard of his intended succour,
and believing his coming was only a stratagem, designed by
their enemy Richelieu to entrap them, they refused to let him
land his men or enter their town. Failing in this direction,
the Duke sailed to the Isle of Rhe, an unimportant, and, if
taken, useless acquisition; and here landing his troops, com-
menced military operations against the forts and castle, but in
a manner so rash and precipitate, that he sacrificed two-thirds
of his force through the impolicy of his measures, and at last
was compelled to retreat to his ships, and return to England
with the disgraceful tidings of his own defeat, and the nega-
tive credit of personal courage and hardihood.
797. Why did the Souse frame a remonstrance to the
King, and what was its nature ?
The King's abrupt determination to dissolve Parliament, from
the boldness of the House in compelling the officers of the
THE HISTOBICAL SEASON WHY. 191
ASSASSINATION OF BUCKINGHAM.
Customs to give an account of their authority for distraining
on merchants' goods for tonnage and poundage, and for their
committing the Sheriff of London to the Tower for illegally
countenancing their levy. When apprised that they were to be
dissolved, the Speaker was violently seized and held in his
chair while the members framed their hasty protest. In this
remonstrance all Papists and Arminians, a sect who believed in
freewill and universal redemption, were declared capital enemies
of the State. Tonnage and poundage was condemned as con-
trary to law, and not only those who raised it, but those who
paid it were declared guilty of capital crimes.
798. Why was the Duke of Buckingham at Ports-
mouth when, he was assassinated, and what led to his
death ?
Ashamed of the disgraceful result of the expedition to
Rochelle, another armament, under the Earl of Denbigh, had
been sent out to endeavour to raise the siege; but having
returned without effecting its object, Buckingham was resolved
to dispatch a third fleet, to the relief of the invested city, more
complete than either of the previous expeditions; and to super-
intend and personally direct the equipment, he posted down to
the chief arsenal in the kingdom to expedite the arrangements,
when he was murdered by a gloomy and enthusiastic fanatic,
one Fenton, a disappointed officer, who had served under the
Duke in the first expedition.
799. So great was the discontent of the nation, that the officers appointed
to collect the subsidies, openly connived at all kinds of frauds in the
payment of the assessments, the better thereby to embarrass the King. To
remedy this state of affairs, and compel the officials to execute their duty
with honesty, was also one of Buckingham's motives in hastening to Ports-
mouth, to which place Fenton had followed him, and, sharing a common
opinion among the fanatics of the time, that the murder of a tyrant, and
an oppressor of the people, was a meritorious action, both acceptable to
God and glorious to the country, Fenton entered the room where
the Duke was holding a levee of his officers, watched his opportunity, and
as Buckingham turned to leave, struck him to the heart with a long-bladed
knife, over the shoulder of Sir Thomas Fryar, and then hurried to the
street. The Duke, only exclaiming, " The villain has killed me," drew the
weapon from his breast, and fell dead in the room.
192 THE HISTOBICAL REASON WHY.
BEVOLT IN SCOTLAND.
800. Why did Charles conclude peace with France and
Spain immediately after this event, and ivhom did he take
as councillors ?
Being destitute of money, and having resolved to summon no
more Parliaments, peace became the wisest course he could
adopt : and that he might better devote his time to the internal
policy and welfare of the kingdom, Charles associated two men
with himself in the task of Government, whose devotion to
their Sovereign and sense of duty to the country subsequently
cost each his head. These were Dr. Laud, afterwards Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, and to whom the spiritual welfare of the
country was entrusted ; and Sir Thomas Wentworth, created
Earl of Strafford, to whose hands the foreign and domestic
interests of the nation were confided.
801. How did Charles excite the revolt in Scotland?
By endeavouring to force the reading of the Liturgy in the
service of the Presbyterian religion, which so offended the
people that they flew to arms ; and though prevented by ex-
planations and treaties for a time from open insurrection —
finding at last that they were only trifled with — the whole
country broke out into such open defiance of the royal authority
that to maintain his prerogative Charles was compelled to meet
the rebellion by force of arms.
802. What was the result of this attempt to establish
the Canons and Liturgy of the English Church in Scot-
land?
The formation of the Solemn League and Covenant, and the
abolition of Episcopacy in that country.
803. Why, after a lapse of eleven years, did Charles
issue writs for a new Parliament ?
Because, having tried every means to raise supplies, by the
Star Chamber, illegal levies, forced benevolencies, foreign and
domestic loans, by ship-money, and every ancient stretch of the
prerogative, and failing in all to raise a sufficient sum to enable
THE niSTOEICAL SEASON WHY. 193
SUMMONING OF THE LONG PABXIAMENT.
him to carry on the functions of the state, and punish his
rebellious subjects, no other alternative remained for the unfor-
tunate King- to adopt.
804. Why, and in what year, was the last Parliament
in Charles' reign, called the Long Parliament, summoned?
The former House, having refused the King any supplies, was
at once dissolved; and, hoping to meet more compliance from
another, that remarkable assembly was called together by Charles,
on the 3rd of November, 1640, which exercised such extraordinary
influence on the destinies of the country, and, for the long
period of thirty-nine years, may be said to have ruled the nation
with greater authority than any monarch who ever swayed its
fortunes.
805. What were the first measures of the Long Par-
liament ?
After having declared all the previous acts of the King to
raise money an abuse and breach of the Constitution, they im-
peached both Strafford and Laud, who, having been brought to
trial, were condemned and subsequently executed — Strafford in
1641, and Laud in 1643. Besides these violent measures, bills
were brought in and passed to abolish the High Court of Com-
mission and the Star Chamber, and Charles found himself at
once deprived of his friends and ministers, and the great
instruments of his prerogative.
806. What led to the » rebellion in Ireland, and the
massacre of the Protestants ?
The hope inspired in the breasts of the Catholic party in that
country, by the unsettled state of affairs in England, to recover
their former religious supremacy. A conspiracy was accordingly
formed among the Papists, to murder, on one day, all the Pro-
testants on the island — a massacre that has been unparalleled
in the annals of the world for its fiendish barbarity ; as neither
the ties of blood, obligations of friendship, nor respect to age
or sex, had any influence on the savage butchers, who are esti-
194 THE HISTORICAL EEASON TTHT.
CAUSES OS THE KING'S EUPTUEE WITH THE COMMONS.
mated to have slaughtered, on that occasion, above 100,000 of
unarmed and unsuspecting Protestants.
807. Wliat led, to the final rupture" between tlie King
and Parliament^ and what was the consequence of that
breach ?
The King having violated the privileges of the Commons by
entering the House and endeavouring to seize the five personally
obnoxious members, and his determined refusal to part with the
prerogative of the sword. Upon this, both parties prepared for
war — one to maintain the little authority yet left him, the
other to wrench all power from the Crown and establish a
dynasty of the people.
80S. Charles, having been compelled, one bygone, to acquiesce in the abroga-
tion of his royal rights, and submit to so many abatements of his regal privi-
leges, as well as yielding the custody of all the arsenals and towns of strength
into the hands of the Parliament, that when at last insolently asked to sur-
render the right and authority of the army, his patience, wearied with granting
concessions that only led to further demands, and feeling that longer com-
pliance with exactions aimed at his humiliation would be derogatory to himself
and criminal to the country, resolutely refused to comply with this last
indignity ; and when further virged to resign the command of his army to
the Parliament, for at least a time, exclaimed, with more than his usual heat,
"No; not for an hour!" Upon this, both parties threw off all disguise, and
prepared to decide their differences by arms. The King at once gathered
around him his friends, or the Cavaliers as they were called ; and leaving
London, which was devotedly in the interest of the House of Commons, and
had embodied 4,000 men in one day, proceeded to York— Sir John Hotham
having shut the gates of Hull, with all its magazine of arms, against him—
and for greater security while his friends were mustering, retired to Shrews-
bury, where he appointed Lord Lindesey General of all his Forces, Prince
Rupert to the command of the Horse, and Sir Jacob Anstey of the Infantry.
At the same time the Puritans, or Parliamentarians, as the executive of
the Commons were called, having seized the navy and appointed Essex
Commander of the Army, enlisted men in all parts, making each soldier
swear he would live and die with his General, and finally issued orders for
the raising of contributions for the support of the troops and the safety of
the State.
809. Who were the Princes Eupert and Maurice?
Charles' nephews, the sons of his sister Elizabeth, who had
married the Palatine, and who had come to England on the
breaking out of the war to offer their services to their un-
fortunate uncle.
THE HISTOEICAL BEASON WHY. 195
BATTIE OF EDGE DILL, AND AEBOGANCE OP THE PAIILIAMENT.
810. Why did Charles remove his army from Shrews-
lury?
To meet the advancing Parliamentarians, who, to the number
of nearly twenty thousand, were approaching, under the com-
mand of Essex, and who encountered the Royalists at a village
called Edge Hill, near the borders of Warwick ; and though in
the action that ensued both armies kept the field, yet the retreat
of Essex on the following day gave the honour of the battle to
Charles. In this short and first passage of arms five thousand
men were left dead, the loss on both sides being nearly equal.
811. What was the result of the first campaign, and
who were the chief men of note who fell ?
Decidedly favourable to the Royal cause. The King lost onq
of his most devoted friends, the amiable and beloved Lord
Faulkland ; and the Parliament and the country its patriot and
champion, John Hampden.
812. Why was the Parliament so arrogant under its
Josses, and why did it refuse all overtures of accom-
modation made by Charles after each victory?
Because another element was rising out of the fanatical spirit
of the times — a sect violently opposed to the Presbyterians, and
who aimed at the total extinction of all monarchical and aristo-
cratic institutions; in other words, the Independents — and this
party was gradually working its way to power in the House, and
greatly influenced its decisions. Besides, their disasters were soon
repaired: they levied a new army of 14,000 men in the east,
the command of which was given to the Earl of Manchester,
and another of 10,000 under Sir William Waller; these, with
Essex's force, and a large body of Scots, who marched into Eng-
land to their assistance, gave them a strength that the King's
crippled supplies, and the trifling assistance brought him from
time to time from Holland by the Queen, could not long resist.
H 2
196 THE HISTOBICAL REASON WHY.
KING- CHABLES SUBBENDEBS TO THE SCOTCH.
813. Why was Prince Rupert's rashness fatal to
Charles' fortunes, and the immediate consequence of the
ruin of his cause ?
By having, in contempt of Newcastle's advice, hazarded the
Battle of Marston Moor, which, by the destruction of the finest
army Charles ever had, exposed him to the final defeat of Naseby,
which led to the betrayal and death of the King.
814. The Duke of Newcastle, being closely besieged in York by Leven and
Fairfax, and reduced to the last extremity, Rupert levied an army of
25,000 men in the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire, and resolved to raise
the siege; and having thrown in provisions and effected a junction with
Newcastle, instead of resting contented with the good effected, and arro-
gantly despising all counsel, led out his army to attack the enemy on Marston
Heath— a battle in which more than 50,000 Englishmen were armed against
each other, and which was fought with an obstinacy never surpassed on any
field of battle, whole regiments dying where they stood, and making a rampart
of the dead, over which the living had to mount to confront the foe. Crom-
well, who in this battle first held a post of command, was opposed to Rupert,,
whom he ultimately drove off the field; while Lucas, who commanded the
left wing of the Royalists, routed the troops of Fairfax and Leven. Cromwell,
on his return from pursuing Rupert, having to renew the action, which
finally terminated in the total rout of the Royal army, with the loss of
all their artillery and military stores.
815. Why, after the Battle of Naseby, did Charles sur-
render to the Scotch ?
Because he dreaded the indignities to which the Parliamentary
soldiers might subject him, and trusted to the loyalty of his
national subjects for better treatment than he thought he could
expect from the Commons.
816. How did the Parliament act, when apprised of the
King's surrender?
They sent commissioners to the Scotch army at Newcastle, to
treat for the King's person ; the Scots ultimately receiving a
sum amounting to £400,000, under the name of the arrears
due to their army, but in reality for the infamous sale of their
King.
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 107
PRESBYTEEIANS AND INDEPENDENTS.
817. What was tlie state of the House of Commons at
this juncture of affairs ?
Split like the nation into two great factions, or parties, Pres-
byterians and Independents, who, by the authority they possessed,
kept all other sects — and there were many, each emulous of
power — completely in subjection, — the Protestant doctrine, or
Prelacy, as it was called, being little less obnoxious to all parties
than that universal theme of alarm and bigoted intolerance, the
Papacy.
818. The great distinction between these two powerful religious parties of
the state lay chiefly in this: that the Presbyterians maintained a form of
Church government, denominated an assembly, or synod, composed of the
clergy of the district, and some of the elders of the congregations, and to which
body all questions having reference to the welfare of the Church were sub-
mitted; at the same time they rejected the authority of prelates, ignored the
use of the Liturgy, abolished all expensive shows, and prohibited, as far as pos-
sible, all ceremonials. The Independents, on the other hand, repudiated all
ecclesiastical government whatever, and would allow of no spiritual jurisdiction
among pastors, disdained systems and creeds, and abolished all forms, ordi-
nances, ceremonies, and customs, each congregation forming a church in itself,
and, as they rejected all distinctions between the laity and the clergy,
whoever the congregation elected as their pastor, so long as he possessed
zeal, was unanimously approved by the great body of hearers. The political
opinions of these religionists were in keeping with their theological tenets.
The Presbyterians, as they retained a certain form of ecclesiastical govern-
ment, wished to maintain the national system of magistracy, only correcting
abuses, abridging the exclusive power of the Crown, and fixing on definite
grounds the liberty of the subject. The Independents, on the other hand,
aimed at the total overthrow of monarchy, universal franchise, and equality,
and the establishment of a republican form of government.
819. Why did Charles escape from his confinement at
Hampton Court, and fly to the Isle of Wight?
Out of apprehension of violence from the army, which, com-
posed almost exclusively of Independents, had become too power-
ful for the Parliament to restrain, and who, regarding Charles
as a tyrant, stained with the blood of his people, would have
had no hesitation in sacrificing him to their mistaken sense of
justice.
820. Why, upon being re-captured, was he not imme-
diately Irought to trial?
Because it was necessary to prepare men's minds for so bold
108 THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY.
THE TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF CHAELES.
and unprecedented a proceeding ; and this was effected by spread-
ing slanders among the people, attributing every kind of tyranny
and injustice to the King ; and, further to ensure success,
Cromwell beset the House with a strong body of soldiers, who
stopped and violently carried away one hundred and sixty of the
Presbyterian members, so that when the bill was brought in,
impeaching the King of " high treason, in having levied war
against his Parliament," it met with instant acquiescence from
the body of Independent members, who were left to constitute
the House of Commons.
821. Why did Charles, wlien brought to trial, refuse to
defend himself, or plead to the allegation ?
First, that as he was the King, and fountain of all law, he
could not be tried by laws to which he had never given his
assent ; and second, as there were no peers present to con-
stitute a House of Lords, he denied the power of the court to
try him.
822. What was the result of the King's olstinacy ?
The court on the third day received the evidence of witnesses,
who having sworn to seeing the King in arms against the Par-
liament, the judges, in the name of the people, the "source of
all power and authority," found him guilty, upon which he was
led back to Whitehall, and, on the 30th of January, 1649, pub-
licly beheaded in front of the Palace.
823. The history of few princes presents so pure and blameless a life as
that of Charles Stuart. It was his misfortune to live in troublous times, and
to pay in his own person for the arbitrary encroachments of more despotic
and less conscientious princes. He died with the modest calmness of a
brave man, and the resignation of a martyr, in the forty-ninth year of his
.nge, and the twenty-fourth of his reign.
THE IIISTOBICAL REASON WHY. 199
THE HEPUBLIC OF ENGLAND.
THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE
PKOTECTOEATE.
FROM 1649 TO 1660.
824. What form of Government succeeded on the
execution of Charles, and the abolition of Royalty ?
A Eepublican form of Government, entitled the Common-
wealth of England, with Cromwell as the directing spirit of
the constitution.
825. Why did the Parliament entrust him with such
authority, and luho was Oliver Cromwell?
From the remarkable talent he evinced in all important
trusts reposed in him, and from the singular vigour and re-
solution with which he prosecuted, and the success that attended,
all his undertakings ; besides this, having expelled all the Pres-
byterians from the House, leaving only a remnant of that great
representative body, now called the Rump, amounting to about
sixty members, and all of the Independent party, they were in
a measure bound to support him, as they held their authority
through his sufferance.
826. Oliver Cromwell, the younger branch of an ancient and respectable
family, was born in Huntingdon, in the year 1599. His earlier years were
spent in a course of such reckless extravagance, gambling, dissipation, and
vice, as materially crippled the small inheritance leffc him by his father.
Waking abruptly from this vicious course, he assumed a life of rigid decorum
and Puritanical piety, married, and entered upon many schemes to retrieve
his broken fortunes; and among other pursuits adopted farming, but with
so little success that but for some property left him by a relative his
patrimony would have been insufficient for his requirements. By accident
he was returned for Cambridge to the Long Parliament, where he remained
without displaying any evidence of that great capacity for command and
aptitude for business that subsequently distinguished his career ; and it
was riot till the breaking out of the civil war, and he had obtained a post
of command in the army of the Parliament, that he displayed those traits
of consummate genius that soon after raised him above Fairfax, Essex,
"Waller, Leslie, and all the Puritan generals of the English and Scotch army.
It was through the mere force of his character, an imperious and domi-
200 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
CBOJIWELL'S VICTORIOUS CAEEEB, IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.
neering temper, a seeming devotion to civil and religious liberty, a refined
artifice, and a profound dissimulation, that he became at this juncture of
affairs both the foremost man in the nation, and the expectation and trust
of both Parliament and people.
827. Why did the Parliament give the chief command
of the army to Cromwell, and what expeditions did he
undertake ?
Because Fairfax and the other generals refused to act against
their own party, the Presbyterians — scruples that, as an Indepen-
dent, Cromwell did not feel. His first proceeding was to pass into
Ireland, where, under O'Neil, the whole country was in arms for
the youthful Charles. Here, with his usual success, he overran the
entire kingdom, storming cities, besieging castles, and fighting
pitched battles, till, in a few months, not a hostile trooper was to
be found in the length and breadth of the island. Leaving Ireton
to suppress any after rising, he returned to receive the thanks of
the Parliament ; and, as the Scots had made Charles the Second
King, and were preparing an army to restore him to his English
throne, Cromwell immediately marched into Scotland, and, in a
succession of brilliant victories, restored the country to peace
and order, compelling Charles, with the remnant of his forces,
to seek safety in flight. Leaving Monk to tranquillize Scotland,
Cromwell followed the King by rapid marches to England, and
terminated a succession of splendid victories by the crowning
triumph of the Battle of Worcester, where all Charles' hopes
were ruined, and the last embers of the civil war were trodden
out ; the fugitive King, after many wonderful escapes, returning
to his retreat on the Continent.
828. Hoiv was Cromwell received in London?
In triumph: the House of Commons with their Speaker, the
Lord Mayor and Council in their robes, coming out to meet and
publicly thank him.
829. Why did Cromwell turn the members out of the
Souse, take away the mace, and lock the door?
Because they had answered his purpose, and it was no longer
necessary to keep up the disguise and hypocrisy that had hitherto
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 201
CEOMWELL PEOTECTOE.
./V/N^VV^VVVrvyv-'S-'X/X/X/X/N^^
cloaked all his actions. The army, which was devoted to his
cause, immediately declared him Protector of the Realm and
Commonwealth of England, with the title of " Highness ;" and
Cromwell, in reward for its services, gave the troops a month's
pay, and elected his Council of State out of the most useful of
its officers.
830. Why was this assumption of almost regal power
gladly concurred in by the nation ?
From the heats and contentions that the rancour of fanaticism
and party feeling had extended over the country, to the in-
terruption and ruin of all social and business pursuits. Affairs
had come to such a crisis through the furious animosities of the
different factions, that for the welfare of the country some one
armed with despotic power became absolutely necessary ; and till
he threw off the mask, each party looked on Cromwell as the
man best suited for the time and purpose.
831. What were the chief occurrences of the Pro-
tectorate ?
The war with Holland and the many naval victories gained
over the States by Monk, in which above 1,600 ships — men-of-
war and merchantmen — were taken from the Dutch; the treaty
with Prance against Spain; the burning of a Spanish fleet of
sixteen sail at the Canaries, and capture of their treasure -ships by
Blake, who, sailing into the Mediterranean, compelled the Duke
of Tuscany and the Deys of Tunis and Algiers to apologise and
make restitution for insults to British subjects; the capture of
Jamaica and the settlement of St. Helena; with the storm
and surrender of Dunkirk to England by France.
832. Why did Cromwell refuse the Grown when so
urgently tendered him by the Parliament?
From motives of personal safety, as the Royalists had vowed
to assassinate him if he should ever ascend the throne ; also
through an apprehension of a revolt in the army, should he
accept the offered sceptre : but most of all through the threats,
entreaties, and remonstrances of his own family.
202
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
DEATH AND CHABACTER OP CEOMWEL1.
833. SbtOj and of what, did the Lord Protector die ?
He died of a tertian ague on the day on which he had
gained his most remarkable victories, and expired during a
fearful hurricane of rain and wind, on the 3rd of September,
1658, in the 59th year of his age, and the 9th of his Protectorate.
834. No Monarch ever raised the reputation of England, at home or
abroad, to such a height of national greatness and honour as it acquired
under the firm, patriotic, and courageous conduct of Oliver Cromwell. He
compelled foreign nations to do homage to her greatness, and strike their
ensigns in presence of her flag, and everywhere acknowledge her mistress
of the sea; while in each kingdom in Europe he protected her rights,
compelled justice, and enforced respect to every citizen of the British
Empire.
B'EHTISGT -
DIVRNAliL
o F THE
AN AUTHENTIC SKETCH OP THE PURITAN PARLIAMENT, COPIED PBO
THE HEADING OB A NEWSPAPER OP THE PEEIOD.
835. Why did his son, Richard Cromwell, resign the
Protectorate ?
Though want of courage and capacity have been assigned as
THE HISTORICAL BEASON WHY. 203
ABDICATION OP BICHABD CEOMWELI,, AND ACCESSION OF CHARLES
THE SECOND.
the cause, it is evident that the motives which swayed his
determination are entitled to a higher and more virtuous inter-
pretation, in which a principle of justice, a desire of restitution,
and a wish in his own person to atone, as far as possible, for
the wrong and usurpation of his father, seem unquestionably to
have instigated a course which the rancour of faction and the
malevolence of the times construed to be unmanly fears and
moral incapacity. Seeing also the growing arrogance of the
army, that, like the Eoman Prastorian Guard, assumed all
authority ; and knowing his inability to curb, as his father
Lad done, the ignorant and fanatical natures of which it was
composed, wisely resolved on that course which he proved the
happiest for himself and the best for England, and after a
reign of seven months signed, on the 22nd of April, 1659, his
formal abdication.
835. Fleetwood, from whom the greatest opposition was to be apprehended,
renounced all pretension to the Protectorate, and gave his adhesion to
Richard's title. His brother, Henry Cromwell, Governor of Ireland, assured
him of the support of that «ountry. While Monk proclaimed him in Scotland,
the army and the fleet unanimously sent in their adhesion, and acknowledged
his supremacy. More than ninety addresses were forwarded from the
counties, and all the corporations congratulated him on his accession, while
foreign states sent ambassadors to pay homage and congratulate Richard
on his assumption of the Protectorate. So that it may with justice be said
that no Monarch could have more peaceably or happily ascended a throne
than the son of the brewer of Huntingdon, Richard Cromwell, accepted the
lirst magistracy of Great Britain.
CHAELES THE SECOND.
FROM 1660 TO 1685.
837. Why were the people early disappointed with
tlieir new King, whose return they had nailed with such
demonstrations of delight ?
Because they found that his agreeable person, elegant address,
engaging manner, and mature years, which had fascinated all
beholders, and promised, with the severe teaching of his long
204 THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
MARRIAGE OP CHARLES AND SALE OB DUNKIRK.
misfortunes, so many advantages to the nation, only covered
a rooted indolence, love of pleasure, and a total disregard of
all business.
838. Why did Tie marry the Infanta of Portugal,
from which union Tie was warned no issue could ever
spring ?
From the necessity he had for money; the Princess's dower
of £300,000 being a bribe of ready money, which his love of
sensual pleasures would not permit him to refuse. Besides
this, she brought as part of her fortune the Fortress of Tangier,
in Africa, opposite Gibraltar, and the Castle and City of
Bombay, in the East Indies.
839. Why did Charles declare war against the Dutch,
and what was the result of that contest ?
To recruit his exhausted funds ; for as he knew the money
the Parliament granted to carry on the war would pass
through his hands, he was unscrupulous enough to appropriate
a large portion of it to his own uses, to squander on his
mistresses and favourites.
840. This war, which raged with excessive animosity, was carried on at
immense sacrifice of blood and treasure, until at last both sides, weary of longer
hostilities, signed the treaty of Breda, by which Holland ceded for ever
the colony of New York to the English. The annals of no maritime nation
present such a series of desperate battles, as those which, at this time,
took place between these two nations for the mastery of the seas ; and in
which the success of one side to-day, was counterbalanced by that of the
other to-morrow. On one occasion the fight was continued for four days, and
twice were the Dutch swept from the sea, and blockaded in their harbours.
841. What were the most disgraceful acts of Charles'
reign ?
The sale of Dunkirk to the French for £400,000; the
appropriation of nearly two millions, granted by Parliament to
carry on the war, and in consequence of which the country
had to suffer the greatest disgrace ever inflicted on a nation;
for the Dutch, finding no fleet to guard the coast, sailed up the
Medway, burnt the dockyards and ships at Chatham, and
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY. 205
DOMESTIC OCCUKBENCES AND DEATH OE CHABXES.
outraged the dignity of the people by twice entering the
Thames, and insulting all the towns on the coast. And, lastly,
his taking an annual bribe from the French Monarch, to break
the Triple Alliance, and allow Louis to invade Holland.
842. What were the chief domestic events of this reign ?
The robbery of the regalia and crown jewels, by Blood;
the disturbance with the Covenanters in Scotland, and their
defeat at the Battle of Bothwell Brig; the number of plots
that were got up by infamous persons, for the purpose of
being rewarded for their supposed revelations ; the forfeiture
of all the City charters, by the King, as a means of raising
money, by compelling each town to buy them back again; and
the trial and execution of Lord William Kussell and Algernon
Sydney, for participating in Monmouth's intended insurrection.
843. What great calamities oefel the City of London
during this reign ?
The breaking out, in 1665, of one of the most fearful plagues
that had ever visited the city, above 90,000 of the inhabitants fall-
ing victims to its frightful ravages ; and the 3rd of September in
the following year, 1666, occurred the Great Fire of London,
a conflagration that destroyed four hundred streets and lanes,
and thirteen thousand houses, besides an immense number of
churches and public buildings.
844. In what religion did Charles die?
In that of the Church of Home, to which he had been
gradually approaching for many years, having even promised
the French King to restore the Papacy. Charles having been
seized with a sudden fit of apoplexy, expired after a few days'
illness, on the 6th of February, 1685, in the 59th year of his
age and 25th of his reign.
845. Aa a man the character of Charles presents many sterling quali-
ties that might have become virtues. He was an excellent master, an affable
companion, a kind brother, and an indulgent father; but his friendship
was weak, and his gratitude feeble. As a King, he was dangerous to his
people, faithless with his allies, and dishonourable to himself.
206
THE niSTOElCAL BEASON WHY.
JAMES THE SECOND'S BIGOTED POLICY.
JAMES THE SECOND.
FKOM 1685 TO 1688.
846, Who was James the Second, and what were his
James, Duke of York, who succeeded his brother, was the
second son of Charles the First, and had been reared by his
THE PLAGUE DBESS, -WORN BY THOSE WHO ATTENDED OK, AND
BtTKIED THE DEAD.
mother in the devout observances of the Catholic Church, a faith
in which he had always lived ; and so blindly was he biassed
THE HISTOKICAL EEASON WHY. 207
MONMOTJTH'S EEBSLLI03T.
to its tenets, that, forgetting the temper of his subjects, and
unmindful of the terrible lesson taught in his father's lifetime
and consummated by his tragical death, he was rash enough to
attempt to force the English people into the acceptance of his
own religion, and to acknowledge the spiritual supremacy of the
Pope, — an infatuated policy that inflamed the whole nation with
animosity to his person and rule, embittered his life, and
changed his character, from that of a humane and moderate
prince, into a bigoted tyrant, led to the revolt of his subjects,
and those judicial murders which were the disgrace of the age.
847. Why did Monmouth, having lecn pardoned in the
last reign for his former insurrection, seels to stir up
fresh dissension in this?
Ostensibly to save the nation from the tyranny of James, and
maintain the Protestant religion. For this purpose Argyle was
to rouse the Scotch in the north, and, leading his army into
England, join Monmouth, who was to land in the west, and
with their united forces make for London, and there compel
the King to change his ministers, and adopt a milder policy
towards the people. But Argyle being encountered by the
Royal forces, was defeated, made prisoner, and led captive to
Edinburgh, where he terminated his life and treason on the
scaffold.
848. .Tames Walters, created by his indulgent father Knight of the Bath,
and Duke of Monmouth, was young, handsome, brave, and chivalrous,
idolized by the soldiers and beloved by the nation, a large portion of
whom were ready enough to overlook his bastardy, and accept him with
acclamations as their King. Buoyed up with the hope of dethroning his
uncle, and securing the Crown as heir of his father Charles, Monmouth
landed with a few followers at Dorset, and such was his popularity, that in
a few days he was at the head of a large force, and, advancing to Taunton,
Bridgewater, Wells, and Frome, was at each place proclaimed as King,
issued proclamations, and treated everywhere with the respect of Sove-
reignty. To check this formidable rebellion the Earl of Faversham was
dispatched with all the available troops, and meeting the rebels on Sedge-
moor, totally defeated them. Monmouth, flying from the field, never drew
bridle for twenty miles, when his horse falling dead, he was obliged to
seek shelter in a pea-field, where he lay in the ditches and furrows,
covered with straw and weeds, for some days. At length, tracked by tho
vigilance of his pursuers and their bloodhounds, this son of a King, dis-
guised in rags, half starved with hunger and cold, one pocket filled with
THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
JUDGE JEFFERIES AND HIS VINDICTIVE PUNISHMENTS.
raw peas, aud in the other his diamond George, was dragged forth and at
once led before the King, when, forgetting all the heroism of his former
life, and overwhelmed by misfortune, he threw himself on his knees, and,
in abject cowardice, implored his uncle to spare his life; but James
having still further humiliated the suppliant, by making him, in the hope
of pardon, write a declaration of his own bastardy, with a cold sneer signed
his death-warrant, and sent him to the block, where, having recovered his
fortitude, he died as became a soldier and the son of a King.
849. Why was the name of Judge Jeferies so odious to
the people, and the cause of such universal disgust and terror ?
From the wanton barbarity that marked his conduct in the
THE HALIFAX MAIDEN, OE GIBBET ; AN INSTRUMENT OF CAPITAL AND
GENERAL PUNISHMENT, USED AFTER THE MONMOUTH REBELLION.
trial of the prisoners taken in Monmouth's rebellion, this execrable
wretch often officiating as hangman, and seeming to gloat over
the despair and agony he created.
THE HISTOEICAL REASON "WHY. 209
SEVEN BISHOPS SENT TO THE TOWEE.— ARRIVAL OB THE PEINCE
OF ORANGE.
850. What Bishops were committed to the Tower ly
James, and for what offence ?
Seven: the Bishops of St. Asaph, Bath and Wells, Ely,
Chichester, Peterborough, London, and the Lord Primate. Their
offence was having refused to read the declaration for liberty
of conscience, after service.
851. Why was William, Prince of Orange, invited to
come to England at this critical juncture of affairs ?
Because the nation looked to him, as a firm Protestant, and
the husband of Mary, James's daughter, as the only man who
could save the country from the bigoted tyranny of its present
ruler.
852. What loas the consequence of William's landing
his forces at Torbay ?
Almost all the officers of state deserted James, and fled to
the invader; every county poured out its most honoured names,
and the people everywhere flocked in masses to his side ; till
James, finding himself deserted by the army, his friends, and
kindred, secretly sent off the Queen and her infant, the Prince
of Wales, to France, and then in the night-time left his palace,
threw the Great Seal into the river, and wandered no one knew
whither.
853. This is the only epoch of James' life in which his misfortunes call
for our sympathy ; for so universal was the disaffection, that neither
love nor gratitude could retain a friend by the fallen Monarch. One
daughter and her husband were in arms against him, and even his most
beloved child Anne, and her consort, Prince George of Denmark, though pro-
fessing love and duty to the last, suddenly left him to join his enemy. " God
help me," he cried, in the extremity of his agony, "my own children have
forsaken me ! "
854. What circumstances followed the King's flight ?
The army was disbanded by its General, and the Bishops
formed a Council of State till the arrival of the Prince of Orange.
In the meantime, James was taken prisoner at Faversham, and
210 THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
THE CEOWN CONFEEEED Off THE PEINCE OF OEAIfGE.
brought back to London, but which, by permission of the Prince,
he again left in a few days, and secretly taking ship from
Chatham, landed in France, and proceeded to join his Queen at
St. Germains.
WILLIAM AND MAEY.
FROM 1689 TO 1701.
855. What was the conduct of Parliament upon finding
tlie throne vacant?
The House of Peers and Commons, having taken into con-
sideration the state of the country, first declared King James
to have deserted the throne, and to be civilly dead, ignoring
the existence, as if illegitimate, of the infant Prince of Wales ;
they next declared the crown to be vested in the Princess
Mary and the Prince of Orange, her husband, but the sole
administration to remain in the hands of the Prince. The
Princess Anne to succeed after the demise of William and
Mary, and her posterity to succeed to the throne, after those
of the Prince, but before those by any other wife than Mary.
856. How did William find Ms new subjects affected
towards him?
He found them, though very dutiful, particularly watchful
of their own rights, and jealous of his prerogatives, and more
eager to examine his edicts than obey his authority.
857. What was the first important measure of Par-
liament after the Coronation?
The settlement of the Eevenue. Hitherto all supplies granted
by the country went to the Exchequer for the exclusive use of
the Crown, out of which both the royal expenses and the
charges of Government were defrayed, a course open to great
objection, and the source of constant frauds, embezzlements,
and mal-administration. It was consequently arranged to allow
the Sovereign a certain annual sum out of the gross revenue
THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
A CIVIL LIST GRANTED THE KING.— INVASION OF IRELAND BY JAMES,
AND SIEGE OP DERBY.
for the Royal household and the maintenance of his dignity
of £1,200,000, and a civil list of £600,000 ; the expenses of the
State being defrayed out of the remainder, under the sole
direction and authority of Parliament.
858. Why was the French King so ready to assist
James to recover his Crown?
In the hope of creating a diversion of his enemy's forces,
as William, in furtherance of his Dutch policy, had declared
war against France.
859. Accordingly, on the 22nd of May, James, escorted by a French fleet
of twenty sail of the line, and a large number of transports containing a
store of arms and munitions, and carrying a small army, with, a body of
French officers, landed at Kinsale, in Ireland, and James immediately assuming
Royal authority, issued proclamations, coined money, and collecting an
army of 40,000 men, proceeded north, and at once laid siege to London-
derry.
860. Why did the siege of this insignificant town
lecome so celebrated,?
From the great disparity of numbers between the two parties ;
scarcely seven thousand ill-clad and badly-armed militia, with
a few old guns, commanded by a clergyman, defending for
months a walled town against 40,000 well-provided troops,
under the most able French generals ; for the horrible barbarities
inflicted on the surrounding inhabitants by James' army; the
gallant defence of the besieged, the dreadful privations to which
they were subjected, from hunger, fatigue, and the deprivation of
every comfort. Succour having at last been thrown into the town,
the Catholic army, despairing of success, raised the siege, after
losing nearly 10,000 men in the fruitless attempt, and retreated
before a handful of half-starved but heroic Protestants.
861. Why did not William proceed in person with
the relieving army to Ireland?
Because he was too intent on carrying out his continental
policy to spare the necessary time. The army was conse-
quently entrusted to the command of his Dutch favourite, the
aged Duke of Schomberg, who, after obtaining a few unini-
212 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
BATTLE OF THE BOYNE.— ESTABLISHMENT OP THE NATIONAL DEBT.
portant advantages, entrenched himself at Carlingford, and
neglected striking a decisive blow. A fatal sickness at last
breaking out in his camp, Schomberg saw half of his army
swept away by disease, and the remainder too weak to put in
motion for active operations.
862. Why was the engagement tJiat ensued on William' 's
arrival called the Battle of the Boyne ?
Because this important and decisive encounter was fought on
the banks of that river, in the county of Antrim.
863. It was across this river that either army surveyed the other, both
sides being inflamed with all the animosity that springs from religious
hatred and revenge. James was strongly posted on a rising ground, having
the deep river, and afterwards a morass, in his front, while his son-in-law,
William, was compelled to lead his soldiers breast-deep through the Boyne,
to attack his position— an operation effected in three bodies, and under a
furious cannonade from either bank. Having once gained the shore, the
English troops formed, and plunging into the morass, gallantly struggled
on, -till, reaching the Irish army, they charged them with such fury that
their lines were quickly broken, when a fearful slaughter took place, the
enemy being driven in total rout off the field. The subsequent Battle of
Aughrim and the Siege of Limerick decided the fate of James in Ireland, from
whence he returned to France, and died about seven years after the defeat
on the Boyne, A.D. 1700.
864. Why does the National Delt owe its origin to
William ?
William, anxious to carry on his continental wars, and
humble the power of the French King, came to an under-
standing with the Parliament to waive the greater part of his
prerogative, and allow them to govern the country, on condition
that they supplied him with sufficient funds for the ample
prosecution of his continental wars. For this purpose the Par-
liament mortgaged for many years the national revenue, and
raised immense sums of money, the whole of which were
expended on his foreign campaigns, while England became
hampered with a debt that has gone on increasing, to such an
extent that there is no probability of its ever being paid,
and costs a revenue only to defray the amount required for the
yearly interest.
THE HISTORICAL EEASON "WHY. 213
MASSACRE OF GLENCOE.— DEATH OF WILLIAM.
865. What memorable event occurred in Scotland in
tliis reign?
The massacre of Glencoe ; a horrible atrocity committed under
the direct warrant of the King, and in which thirty-eight of
the Macdonald clan, including the chief, his wife, and children —
all who could be found in the house — were murdered in their
beds, the village fired, and the wretched inhabitants turned
destitute to face the inclement winter and the snow that covered
the earth.
866. When, and of what illness, did Mary die ?
She died on the 28th of September, 1694, of small-pox, in
the 33rd year of her age and the sixth of her reign, with the
reputation of an exemplary and loving wife, an unfeeling sister,
and an unnatural daughter.
867. Why was the long war with France that con-
tinued throughout this reign begun, and what results
occurred to England for the immense expenditure of
Hood and treasure during its prosecution?
The war was waged and carried on entirely in the cause of
Holland • and though many victories were obtained both by sea
and land, they resulted in no benefit to this country, though
adding to the aggrandizement and consolidation of the King's
Dutch possessions. The only concession made to Britain at the
peace of Eyswick was the empty honour of having William
acknowledged King by Louis XIV.
868. What ivas the cause of William's illness and death ?
While riding to Hampton Court his horse stumbled on a mole-
hill ; and the King, being violently thrown, fractured his collar-
bone, which, from his impaired health, brought on a fever, from,
which he died on the 8th day of March, 1701, in the 52nd
year of his age and 13th of his reign.
869. Of a cold, austere, and passionless nature, laconic and taciturn, William
was little calculated either to inspire respect or encourage friendship ; and
except in battle, when his demeanour was free and cheerful, hia society was
214 THE H1STOKICAL REASON WHY.
ACCESSION OP ANNE, AND INFLUENCE OP THE DUCHESS OP
MAELBOROUGH.
rather an infliction than a pleasure. He was religious, temperate, and
ordinarily just: his besetting passion was ambition, and to effect this object
he sacrificed honour, truth, and political faith. He possessed courage, firm*
ness, and indomitable resolution ; but his defective education, grafted on an
unamiable disposition, made his conversation unmannerly and repulsive.
The only emotion he ever displayed was the most commendable feature of
his life— an affection for his wife.
ANNE.
FROM 1701 TO 1714.
870. Why did the Jacobites, or the supporters of King
James, hail the accession of Anne with a satisfaction equal
to any other party in the kingdom ?
Because, as it was unlikely that she would leave any heirs,
the six children she had already been the mother of having
all died as infants, they thought her natural feelings would
sooner or later prevail, and, taking compassion on her exiled
father and his family, she would set aside the prescribed order
of succession, in favour of her young brother, the Prince of
Wales, the offspring of her father's second marriage, and born
only a few months before his desertion of the throne.
871. Through whose instrumentality were these expec-
tations defeated?
Through the advice and counsel of Sarah, Duchess of Marl-
borough, who from her infancy, and till her death, exerted a
strong and domineering influence over the judgment of Anne,
both as Princess and Queen.
872. Why was one of Anne's first acts a declaration
of war against France ?
Ostensibly to curb the ambitious and haughty policy of the
French King, who seemed resolved to subjugate the whole of
Europe to his encroaching authority.
THE HISTOBICAL BEASON WHY. 215
EISE OP HAELBOBOTJGH.— CAPTUEE OB GIBBALTAB.
873. Though this, to preserve the balance of power, as it was called,
was the professed object of Anne's taking part in the war of the
"Spanish Succession," there can be no doubt she was advised into the
measure to advance both the ambition and fortune of her favourite's hus-
band, John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, who, as a soldier and statesman,
was one of the most illustrious men to be found in the annals of this
country : raised by the favour of James, from a Court page, through
every grade of military dignity, and elevated to a peer of the realm, he
was one of the first, in his adversity, to desert his Royal Master, and not
only to side with his enemy, but, through his wife's influence, induce
Anne, his beloved child, to desert her father in his misfortunes. The Duke
of Marlborough had seen much service, and obtained great distinction in
the Dutch and French wars, under the late King William, and he burned
fof an opportunity of distinguishing himself as the sole commander of his
country's forces. In this he was at once gratified, by being appointed
General of the English army; while the Dutch, in remembrance of his
former services, and to gratify Anne, created him Generalissimo of the
entire united armies. Upon this Marlborough, at once repairing to the
Dutch camp at Mineguen, and mustering an army of 60,000 men, imme-
diately broke up, and taking the field, commenced operations against the
enemy.
874. Why were the splendid victories gained fy Jilarl-
lorough over the French in the Low Countries, Blenheim,
families, Oudenarde, and Malplayuet, of such little con-
sequence to England?
Because this country had nothing to gain in a continental
war, beyond restoring the European balance of power : with the
Dutch it was different; they sought not only an enlarged
frontier, but were bent upon humbling the power of their
neighbour and rival; and while the empty glory of these
splendid victories was all that England obtained for the sacrifice
of life, and the immense sums expended in prosecuting each
campaign, all the solid benefits of the war, with much less of
its expense, accrued to Holland.
875. Why was it that one of the most important
achievements of this reign, and a conquest of incalculable
advantage to the nation, the capture of Gibraltar, was
so coldly regarded in England?
Because the ownership of a barren rock was not considered worth
possessing, and the ministry, unable to see its vast importance,
216 THE HISTOEICAL BEASON WHY.
NAVAL AUD MILITAEY EVENTS.— THE SPANISH SUCCESSION.
or recognise the merit and heroism of the undertaking, not only
refused to thank the gallant men who had effected the capture,
but took an early opportunity to suspend the brave admiral,
Sir George Rooke, for his courageous services; and this while
every honour was heaped on Marlborough for victories that
yielded the country no return for the immense expense at which
they were purchased.
876. Sir Cloudesley Shovel and Sir George Rooke, having been sent out, in
1703, with two squadrons, to watch the French fleet and create a diversion
in Spain, being struck as they entered the Mediterranean with the import-
ance of Gibraltar, which, though naturally of immense strength, being
inaccessible on three sides, was at the time but weakly garrisoned, resolved
upon at once attacking the place, and having landed 1,800 men on the
land side, while these assaulted the town and bastions, the ships bom-
barded the citadel, and the boats of the fleet simultaneously stormed the
south mole, which, with the platform, were, after some desperate fighting
and the springing of a mine, by which two officers and 100 men were
blown into the sea, both carried sword in hand, but fresh boats coming
up, the men threw themselves on the rocks and embrasures, and,
resolved to conquer, were quickly in possession of another redoubt, and
would soon have carried the fortress, bastion by bastion, had not the
Governor, seeing the hopelessness of further resistance, hung out a flag of
truce, and directly after surrendered this important fortress to the English.
877. Why did this country favour tlie pretensions of
Charles, the Emperor's son, to the throne of Spain, and
what means were taken to support him?
To harass and oppress France: the grandson of Louis the
Fourteenth being joyfully accepted by the nation as their King,
under the name of Philip the Fourth, the Emperor of Germany
declared that the late Spanish King had, in his will, bequeathed
the crown of that nation to his son Charles, whose cause, out
of motives of policy, was immediately espoused both by this
country and Holland, as well as by the King of Portugal. For
this purpose an army of British infantry and Portuguese horse,
commanded by the Earl of Peterborough, and accompanied by
Charles, entered Spain, for the purpose of dethroning Philip and
placing Charles on his seat ; at the same time the Duke of
Marlborough, at the head of the English and Dutch army,
entered Germany, to assist the Emperor and drive out the
French, and oppose their ally the Bavarians.
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 217
OEIGI5T OF WHIGS AND TOBIES.
878. Why did tlie Spanish invasion fail ?
In a great measure through the divided counsels and petty
jealousies in Charles' court. The English, having taken Bar-
celona, though strongly garrisoned with 5,000 men, and obtained
several brilliant advantages, upon attacking the Spanish army
under the Duke of Berwick, were, in the critical part of the fight,
shamefully deserted by the Portuguese horse, who, posted on
the wings, suddenly fled, leaving the British infantry outflanked,
and entirely surrounded by the enemy, when, throwing them-
selves into a square, they retreated fighting, till, having exhausted
all their ammunition, and ignorant of the country, they were at
last compelled to surrender themselves prisoners of war, to
the number of 10,000. After this disaster Charles lost all his
conquests in Spain, and was compelled to resign every hope of
success, and return to Germany.
879. Why were the two political parties at this time
called Whigs and Tories?
The name Whig had been in vogue from the time of Charles
the Second, and was a term of contempt bestowed by the Court
party upon their opponents, because of their pretended resem-
blance to the Scotch Covenanters, to whom the word was
originally applied. This sarcasm the popular party retaliated by
calling the King's supporters, and all favourers of absolute
monarchy, by the insulting reproach of Tory, a low Irish term
in use to denote a base, unprincipled scoundrel, fit for the
perpetration of any falsehood or villainy; but it was not till
the time of Anne and the first George that the terms came into
general use as distinctive appellations of the two great parties
of the State ; and though since then the principles of both sides
have undergone considerable modification and change, the name
is still used as a distinctive badge of two political creeds.
880. What was the most important political and national
event of Anne's reign ?
The union of the two kingdoms of England and Scotland,
a measure ardently desired by Edward the First, and again
218 THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
THE TOION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.
earnestly attempted by the first James, was finally effected
May 1st, 1707, under the sovereignty of a Queen.
881. WJiy were loth the Scotch and English Par-
liaments dissatisfied with the terms of the Union ?
The Scots were generally indignant at the thoughts of losing
their ancient independence ; the nobility deemed themselves
degraded both in dignity and influence in being excluded from a
seat in the Upper House, and ranking in station after the English
Peerage; and the commercial part of the community regarded
the privilege of trading with the English colonies, and an equal
maritime advantage with the sister country, but a poor com-
pensation for the customs and duties they would have to pay
for the permission. On the side of England it was sarcastically
urged, that the union of a rich with a poor nation could only
be beneficial to the latter, and all the former could expect
from the arrangement was a participation in the other's neces-
sities and troubles ; and it was, moreover, maintained that the
distribution of taxes was unequal, and the proportion which
Scotland was to pay was infinitely less than their just share in
the legislature; that the proposed taxation would not amount
to a seventieth part of what was paid by England, though
their political rights and Parliamentary influence would be
scarcely a tenth less than that of the wealthier state.
SS2. The preliminary articles of this important compact, by which the
political and social welfare of two nations was indissolubly cemented into
one firm and brotherly empire, were discussed and decided upon by the
Scotch and English Commissioners, in the apartment known as the Cock-
pit, adjoining the Palace of Whitehall ; and first stipulated, that the suc-
cession of the United Kingdom should, after the decease of Anne, be
vested in the House of Hanover; that the Parliament should represent
both nations; that the subjects of both should enjoy equally all civil and
religious advantages, and participate in common in all political and com-
mercial rights and benefits; that the Courts of Session and Judicature
should remain in Scotland as then constituted; or, in other words, the
inhabitants of Scotland should be governed by their own laws, as far as
regarded private rights and privileges; that the country should be repre-
sented in Parliament by sixteen Peers and forty-five Commoners; that all
Peers of Scotland should bfe considered as Peers of Great Britain, and
rank immediately after the English Peers, according to their degree, and
take precedence of all after creations of title, and that they should possess
THE nis'qeifTCAL KEASON "WHY. 219
THE WHIG PAETY DISGEACED.— A XOEY MINISTEY POE1IED.
all privileges the same as English Peers, except having a place or voting
in Parliament, and sitting on the trial of Peers. Such were the chief
features of this important treaty, which subsequently received the approval
of the Parliaments of both countries; yet such was the prejudice and
want of sagacity of the great bulk of the people of Scotland at that time,
that the Union was considered a dishonour and a disgrace to that kingdom ;
and so far did the feelings of the people carry them, that the Com-
missioners appointed, to sign the Act of Union were compelled to meet in
secrecy, and at night, in a cellar of the High-street of Edinburgh, to
attach their signatures to an instrument that, from the popular opinion
of the time, might have been supposed the advent to the political ruin,
instead of the regeneration and greatness of the nation and people.
883. Why did the Whigs lose their influence over
the Queen, and by ivhat arts were the Tories brought into
power ?
Anne, growing weary of the arrogance of the Duchess of
Marlborough, through whose influence over her the Whigs
monopolised all the offices of the State, began to listen to the
counsels of Mrs. Masham, an instrument of Secretary Harley, a
Tory in heart, though professing the opposite principles, and the
secret enemy of Marlborough ; and who, advanced by the
Duchess to a place near the Queen, soon began to exercise all
the arts she possessed, but in a more judicious manner than
her rival, and to implant ideas more congenial to the Queen's dis-
position than those inculcated by the great mover of the Whig
party, the Duchess of Marlborough. The consequence was, that
the party soon lost all favour with the Queen, as they had
already done with the country ; the affairs of State were entrusted
to the Tories, headed by Harley, who was created Earl of Oxford,
and appointed Lord of the Treasury, assisted by Henry St. John,
made Lord Bolingbroke, and Sir Simon Harecourt.
884. What measures did the King of France adopt to
create a diversion in the allied army ?
He equipped a large fleet, with a considerable army on board,
to support the Pretender's claim to the crown, by a landing in
Scotland.
885. Having presented the Prince of Wales, the son of James the
Second, commonly called the Chevalier de St. George, with a diamond-
jewelled sword, a service of gold and silver plate, costly liveries for his
220 THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
THE PRETENDER'S THREATENED INVASION DEFEATED.— LOTTERIES
ESTABLISHED.
attendants, and all appliances befitting a king, and employing the words he
used to his father when he embarked for Ireland— "that he hoped he might
never see him again"— despatched him to wage war upon his sister, and
win from an unwilling people his lost inheritance.
886. Why did this formidable expedition fail ?
In consequence of the precaution taken by Admiral Sir George
Byng, who having gained intelligence of the sailing of the
French fleet from Dunkirk, followed it with such expedition
with his light squadron, as to come up with the enemy in the
Firth of Forth, while preparing for landing. Upon this Fourbin,
the French admiral, crowded all sail, and stood out of the Firth
to the north. One of his frigates touching the ground, was
instantly boarded and taken, the rest, under favour of the night,
escaping capture. Being unable, from the state of the weather,
to effect a landing off Aberdeen, and dreading the re-appear-
ance of Byng, Fourbin was compelled to return to Dunkirk,
the Prince retiring to St. Germains, and the whole scheme
ending in total failure.
887. Why were lotteries introduced into this country?
They were first employed by the Government, to raise money
to meet the vast expenses created by the useless and unprofit-
able war carried on through nearly all this reign, on the Con-
tinent.
888. Why was the war prosecuted so long, and who
derived advantage from its continuance ?
It was protracted, as far as respects this country, entirely to
gratify the ambition and military pride of the Duke of Marl-
borough, who used it as a means of gratifying his inordinate
cupidity ; for the shining qualities of this great statesman and
commander were obscured by an ignoble avarice, which led him
to reject all overtures of peace from Louis, that he might
dishonourably convert to his own use large sums entrusted to
him by the nation for the prosecution of the war.
889. What important domestic occurrence created great
heats and commotions both in the Parliament and among
the people T
The trial of Dr. Sacheverel, a Protestant divine of the High
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 221
DISGBACE OF MABLBOEOUGH AND DEATH OF ANNE.
Church party, for some extreme opinions on the rights of the
Crown, and arrogant pretensions of the Church, expressed in
two sermons. After a trial of three weeks he was found guilty,
prohibited from preaching for three years, and his sermons ordered
to be burned by the hangman.
890. Why was Marllorough dismissed from all his
appointments, and publicly insulted ?
For taking an annual bribe of £6,000 from a Jew who had
the contract for supplying bread to the army, and conniving at
the fraud practised on the men's rations.
891. Why was the state of the Ministry tlie cause of
making mortal the Queen's last illness?
The unprincipled conduct of those to whom she had entrusted
the great offices of State, who had no sooner crowned their
animosity by a triumph over the Whigs, than they began to
plot and cabal among themselves, and by their disputes, open
charges, and recriminations, both in the House and at the
Council Board, so affected Anne, whose health since the death of
her husband, Prince George of Denmark, had been greatly impaired,
that it gave way before the state of anxiety and mental distress
engendered by these repeated quarrels and animosities.
892. Of what disease did Anne die ?
The many shocks her health had suffered through the turbu-
lence of her Cabinet, produced such an effect on her constitution
that she declared she could not survive it; and though appa-
rently somewhat better on the previous day, was suddenly
attacked with a fit of apoplexy, from which she never rallied,
expiring on the following morning, July 31st, 1714, in the
49th year of her age and the 12th of her reign.
893. The character of Anne must be considered in the light of a woman,
as well as that of a Queen, before a just estimate of her disposition, or of
her abilities, can be honestly formed. In the former she has ever been
represented as a pattern of conjugal fidelity, a devoted and loving wife,
a tender mother, a warm friend, and an indulgent mistress, alike amiable
in every relation of domestic and social life. As a Sovereign she was deficient
both in capacity and vigour of mind, in independence of thought and
self-reliance of action; easily swayed by favourites and flatterers, and so
THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
THE AUGUSTAN AGE OP EffGLAKD.— PATE OP THE STITAETS.
averse to giving pain to others, that she suffered indignities herself rather
than support her own dignity by an authority that might have distressed
those who offended her ; aud such was her humanity that no one suffered
death during her reign for treason. She was beloved with the tenderest
solicitude by her people, for whose real happiness she felt as a mother;
and so well was this understood by her subjects, that it obtained for her
the enviable title of the "Good Queen Anne." In fine, if she was not the
greatest, she was certainly one of the best Sovereigns who had ever sat
on the throne of these kingdoms.
894. Why was Anne's reign denominated the Augustan
Age of England?
From the great number of poets, men of letters, philosophers,
and military commanders, who flourished during the years of
her supremacy ; of these the most celebrated were Pope, Swift,
Congreve, and Howe ; Steele, Addison, and Arbuthnot ; Bolingbroke
raid Shaftesbury ; Marlborough, Peterborough, Ormond, Byng, and
Sir Cloudesley Shovel.
NOTES UPON THE STUART PERIOD.
With the death of Anne terminated, after six successive Sovereigns, the
reign of the line of Stuarts, at least as respects direct descent— a race of
Kings singularly unfortunate both in their civil and political lives. Robert
the Third died broken-hearted for the loss of his children, the eldest
starved to death by his ambitious uncle, and the youngest, a lad of nine
or ten years, being made captive by the English, and only restored as
James the First, to ascend a throne from which he was speedily removed
by the knives of his assassins. James the Second was killed by the
bursting of his own artillery before the Towers of Roxburgh. The Third
James fell by his own subjects while endeavouring to crush a rebellion ;
his son, James the Fourth, was left, surrounded by two hundred of the
House of Douglas, on the field of Flodden. Shame and mortification at the
defeat of his army, by a handful of English on the banks of the Solway,
brought to an untimely end the Fifth James. His only child, born an
hour before his death, the beautiful Mary Queen of Scots, lost her head in
Fotheringay Castle ; and her grandson, Charles the First, his, at Whitehall.
James the Second was deprived of his throne; and his son and grandson,
proscribed fugitives from their native country, died, and were buried, in a
foreign land. That much of the troubles and misfortunes that attended
the country and the Sovereigns, was in a great measure owing to a false
idea of the Royal prerogative, an infatuated belief in the divine right of
kings, and the want of political faith in the Sovereign to his people,
there can be no question ; but much nmst also be attributed to the dawning
on men's minds of a new, but rude sense of liberty, which, the more it
THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY. 223
NOTES UPON THE STTJAET PEKIOD.
was speculated upon, and the more acquainted men became -with the true
source of all political strength, the more jealous they became of its pos-
session, and the more resolutely resolved, at all hazards, to cherish and
defend it; and while the Sovereign stood on hereditary rights and privi-
leges, the people, the "source of all power" maintained, that as that was
only delegated by them, they had a right to control, direct, or annul it.
Finance.— The revenue of Charles the Second, from customs, excise, hearth-
money, and other sources, amounted to £1,358,000, and the expenditure
to £1,387,770; and the extra sums voted him by Parliament during his
reign amounted in the gross to £11,443,263. The revenue of James the
Second, with his grant as Duke of York, which was continued, amounted
to £2,000,000 a-year.
General Affairs.— Commerce and wealth had never, during any period,
increased so rapidly as from the Restoration to the Revolution of 1688;
events due in a great measure to the Dutch wars unlocking the commerce
of Europe and the Indies, and the great benefits accruing to the nation
from the possession of New York and the Jerseys in America.
Arts and Manufactures,— To James the Second the maritime world is
indebted for the invention of sea signals. Telescopes were also invented in
this age ; and to Prince Rupert, a general patron of arts and sciences, the
invention of etching, and the process called mezzotinto, owe their origin. The
manufacture of glass and crystal was introduced from Venice; turnpikes
were first established in 1662, and the Royal Society founded after the
Restoration.
Learning.— "With the increase of commerce, wealth, and luxury, learning
and education steadily advanced ; and during the reign of the Stuarts many
celebrated writers flourished; among whom were Wilkins, Wren, Wallis, as
mathematicians; Sydeuham, Boyle, and Newton, philosophers; Bucking-
ham, Rochester, Wycherley, and Butler, as wits; while among poets must
be named Spenser, Shakspere, Jonson, Milton, Waller, Denham, Cowley,
Otway, and Dryden; besides Hobbes, Bacon, and Sir William Temple in
other branches of polite and scientific literature.
THE HTSTOEICAL HEASON WHY.
GEORGE THE FIEST'S TITLE TO THE THRONE.
THE HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK.
GEOKGE THE FIRST, 1714.
FROM THE DEATH OF QUEEN AUNE TO THE ACCESSION OF
GEORGE THE THIRD, EMBRACING A PERIOD OF 46 YEARS.
895. What family succeeded the line of Stuart on
tlie Throne of these Jcingdoms?
The House of Brunswick, commonly called the line of Hanover,
from the first Georges being hereditary Electors of that State.
896. Who was George the First?
The son of Ernest Augustus, first Elector of Brunswick, and
the Princess Sophia, granddaughter of James the First.
897. By what right did he claim the Crown of this
country ?
In right of his mother, who was the daughter of the Princess
Elizabeth of England, and Queen of Bohemia, wife of Frederic,
Elector Palatine, and afterwards elected King of Bohemia.
898. And also by an enactment of Parliament made in the reign of
William the Third, called the "Act of Succession," by which the Lords
and Commons of England rendered it impossible for any person professing
the Catholic religion, however just or near their claim might be, ever to
ascend the throne of these dominions; and further, to place their restric-
tion beyond all doubt or evasion, fixed the line of succession first to
William and Mary and their heirs ; next to the Princess, afterwards Queen
Anne, and her children ; and lastly to Sophia, Dowager Duchess of Hanover,
and her lawful issue: thus setting aside all branches of the Royal Family
of the Catholic persuasion ; a measure strongly resented by those foreign
princes, who, in right of marriage, or other ties of kindred, had nearer
claims to the Crown than those of the favoured Protestant branch. This
was especially the case with the Duchess of Savoy, who, in right of her
mother, the Princess Henrietta, daughter of Charles the First, formally
protested by herself and husband against this total exclusion of her more
immediate right.
THE HISTOSICAL KEASOX WHY.
KING'S CIIARACTEB, AND PAETIA1ITT FOB THE WHIGS.
899. Under wliat prospects did lie ascend the Throne ?
The most encouraging, and with every likelihood of peace and
prosperity. The country, weary of the faults and vices of the
Stuarts, and apprehensive of further civil strife through the
Pretender, in some rash endeavour to regain his father's throne,
hailed with the utmost satisfaction the advent of a new race of
Kings, and hoping that the fact of the nation freely giving the
Crown to a foreigner would strike a deathblow at the ambi-
tious hopes of the exiled Stuarts.
900. Sow was this state of public satisfaction and
general tranquillity in a great measure effected ?
By the energetic conduct of the Privy Council, who, during
the last illness of Anne, had taken every precaution to inspire
public confidence, and provide for the safety of the nation ;
.among other measures recalling the army from Flanders, and
distributing the troops over the garrisons and strongholds of
the country ; by manning a fleet with extraordinary expedition
for the defence of the coast, and by other prudent steps to
insure internal order and guard against foreign aggression.
901. In what did the character of George differ from
of the Stuarts ?
Politically, in being less tyrannous and arbitrary, and in
having juster notions of government, both as regarded tho
rights and privileges of the people, and the legitimate prerogative
jf the Crown ; and, as respects his private character, " in never
abandoning a friend, doing justice to all the world, and fearing
no man" — a maxim of his own, and which he is reported to
have faithfully adhered to during life.
902. To ivliat party in the State did the King attach
himself?
To the Whigs.
903. How did Tie slow this?
By depriving the former Ministers of all power in the king-
dom, and putting every office of trust, honour, and emolument
I
226 THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
IMPEACHMENT OP OXFOKD, MOKTIMER, AKD BOUNGBEOKE.
into the hands of the Whigs, who, solely bent on studying-
their own advantage, harassed the people with unjust laws and
arbitrary taxes, and s% degraded the Court by their personal
jealousies and paltry distinctions, that their Sovereign became in
their hands" little better than the King of a faction.
904. How was this conduct regarded lij tlie people ?
With open clamour and great discontent ; the old contentious
cry of " The Church in danger" was revived with acrimonious
heat, and the people only wanted a leader in whom they had
confidence, to incite them to open revolt.
905. Whom did the House of Commons impeach, and
Tiow were they influenced?
The Earls of Oxford and Mortimer were charged with high
treason, and the former nobleman at once committed to the
Tower ; the Duke of Ormond and Lord Bolingbroke, having
fled to the Continent, were outlawed and their estates confis-
cated ; while Thomas Harley, and Matthew Prior, the poet —
both Members of the House — were arrested and lodged in
prison.
906. The Ministry, anxious to ruin their opponents in the opinion of the
country, and divert public odium from themselves, had, immediately en the
meeting of Parliament, called for all papers connected with the late
Government, and, with a most unworthy feeling of animosity against the
Tories, forced a false construction on all their measures, and proceeded to
frame a grave accusation out of the most trivial and justifiable circum-
stances; when Mr. Walpole, taking the initiative, moved for a warrant against
two members, Harley and Prior, and finding the House base enough to
support his motion, proceeded with Lord Coningsby to the more daring
act of impeaching the late Ministers of the Queen.
907. Sow did these impeachments end?
After two years' imprisonment Oxford petitioned to be brought
to trial; but the Peers and Commons not agreeing as to the
mode of conducting the impeachment, the Lords voted his
release, and he was accordingly set at liberty, the other charges,
with the exception of the outlawed noblemen, falliug to the
ground.
THE niSTOEICAi, ai)AiSON WHY. 227
EABL OF MAE SETS UP THE PEETENDEE'S STAUDAED ON BEAEMOOE.
908. What led to the Rebellion of 1715 ?
The extreme impolicy of the Ministry in the virulence with
which they signalised their triumph over the opposite party, the
general severity of their measures, and the imposition of new
and obnoxious taxes. The wide-spread complaints among all
classes of the people, excited by these causes, were mistaken by
the Pretender for a deep-seated animosity to the new Sovereign;
and under the belief that the country was ripe for an insurrec-
tion, the rash, crude scheme of an invasion was at once set on
foot, and still more injudiciously carried into operation.
909. Where did the Belellion first IreaJc out?
At Braemoor, in the Highlands of Scotland, where the Earl
of Mar, surrounded by some three hundred of his clan, set up
the Pretender's standard, and proclaimed him by the title of
James the Third.
910. Sow did the Rebellion proceed, and who were its
leaders ?
Two vessels, filled with men and arms, and secretly furnished
by France, arrived, on the coast, to second the Earl's attempt,
who acted, till the coming over of the young Prince, as Lieu-
tenant-General, and who, through the general loyalty of the
Highlanders to the House of Stuart, soon found himself at the
head of 10,000 men, and in a position to take the field.
911. How was this -formidable demonstration sup-
pressed ?
By the Duke of Argyle, who, with a hastily mustered force
of 5,000 men, intercepted the Earl, and gave him battle near
the town of Dumblane.
912. In this battle, which was fought with great animosity and lasted for
several hours, though neither side could claim the victory, each army being
compelled to retire from the field; yet the effect was all ou the side of the
Royalists, the progress of the rebels being checked,— a result worse than
a defeat resulting from this arrest in their advance South. The Castle of
Inverness was surrendered by the time-serving Lord Lovat; the Marquis
i 2
228 THE HISTORICAL KEASON WHY.
REBELLION SPKEADS TO ENGLAND.— PATE OF THE LEADERS.
of Tullibardine with his followers deserted the Earl, to look after his own
estate; an example that was immediately followed by every leader of the
party, so that in the course of a few days after the engagement at Dum-
blaue, the unfortunate Earl of Mar found himself deserted by his army,
and alone.
913. Did the 'Rebellion spread, to England, and Jiow
did it succeed in this country?
It did, but with still more disastrous consequences. The
Ministry having been apprised, by its Ambassador at Paris, of
all the Pretender's plans, as they were devised in his petty
Court of St. Germains, were in most instances enabled to antici-
pate every rising, and thus crush the several schemes in the
bud. In the north, however, the Earl of Derwentwater, and
his friend, Mr. Forster, took the field with a large body of
horse, and being joined by a considerable number of Border
gentlemen, proclaimed the Pretender; but having sustained a
repulse before the walls of Newcastle, were compelled to fall
back on Hexham, from whence, strengthened by some partisans
from Scotland, they advanced on Kendal and Lancaster, ulti-
mately throwing themselves into Preston, where they made
some rude attempts to defend the town; but, being confronted
by General Willis, with the regiments from Flanders, and
hemmed in on every side by Carpenter, with several squadrons
of horse, the rebels were compelled to lay down their arms,
and unconditionally surrender.
914. What was the fate of the leaders ?
Several of the officers who had deserted from the Eoyal army
were immediately shot ; all the common soldiers were imprisoned
in Chester and Liverpool, and the commanders and men of note
sent to the Tower, being marched through the streets of London,
strongly guarded and bound together, like common malefactors.
915. After some time a commission was opened for the trial of all the
prisoners; the Earls of Derwentwater and Kenmuir were found guilty,
and beheaded on Tower-hill; Lord Nithisdale, Mr. Foster, and Mr. Mac-
intosh, escaped to France; of the remainder, five gentlemen of birth were
hung and quartered at Tyburn; twenty-two executed at Preston and
Manchester; and about a thousand transported for life to what were then
called the plantations of North America.
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 229
PEETENDEE LANDS Iff SCOTLAND ASSISTED ET SPAIN.
916. When, and tender what circumstances, did tlie
Pretender, or the Young Chevalier, as he was called, take
the field?
Not till the ruin of all his projects, and the destruction of
his best friends, rendered his presence useless and contemptible.
917. With the infatuation that characterised all this Prince's proceedings,
he procrastinated his departure till the various crude efforts made in his
behalf, in Scotland and England, had severally failed, and his presence for
any practical utility to the cause was worse than useless. Then passing in
disguise through France, he embarked at Dunkirk, and with only six
gentlemen in his suite, landed in the North of Scotland to recover from
an able monarch, and a resolute people, the Crown his father had lost by
the will of the nation, and his own bigoted incapacity.
918. What ivas his conduct while in Scotland, and
7ww did Tie quit the country ?
Vain and undignified, being indebted to the consideration of
the French Monarch for the means of escape from the country
he ostentatiously called his own.
919. A few days after landing, the Pretender was met by the Earl of Mar,
and about thirty gentlemen, when, having gone through the idle ceremony
of a proclamation, and waiting in vain for any accession to his numbers,
the Prince and his party proceeded to the Palace of Scone: where, after for
a few weeks holding the mockery of a court, and dispensing the abortive
functions of royalty, with an affectation of power that exposed him to the
contempt and ridicule of all who witnessed the pitiful exhibition, he at
length acknowledged his want of money, arms, munitions, and, in fact, all
necessary requisites to recover his throne; and holding out some vague
promise of returning at a future time better supplied, ignominiously quitted
the country, and having embarked on board a French ship of war, once
more returned to his Court of St. Germains.
920. By ivJiat power was the Pretender openly assisted
in his attempt to regain the Throne?
By Spain, who having found a cause of rupture with Great
Britain, fitted out a fleet of ten ships of war, with a large
flotilla of transports, carrying an army of 6,000 men, fully
equipped, and abundantly supplied with arms and ammunition,
for the service of the Pretender.
230 THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
PATE OP THE SPANISH FLEET.— SOUTH! SEA COMPANY, 1720.
921. To whom was the command of this armament given,
and what ivas its fate ?
To the Duke of Ormond ; but he had hardly set sail, when
a violent storm he encountered off Cape Finisterre, so disabled
and scattered his ships, that they were obliged to put back,
totally disorganised. This disaster had such an effect on Philip,
the Spanish King, that he at once abandoned all thoughts of
hostilities, and concluded a peace with England.
922. What great commercial misfortune befel this
country in the year 1720 ?
The failure of the South Sea Company, or the bursting of
the South Sea Bubble, as the ruin of this scheme was called.
923. What tvas the connexion between the Government
and the South Sea Company?
The Company had, in the previous Session of Parliament,
obtained a Bill, empowering them, at their own time, and at
whatever rate they could effect it, to buy up all the Govern-
ment Securities, thus constituting themselves the exclusive
holders of the National Debt
924. The difficulty experienced during the previous three reigns, in collect-
ing in time the different grants and subsidies allowed by Parliament, for
the exigencies of the state, often compelled the ministry, to meet the wants
of government, to borrow, in anticipation, large sums from the merchants
or large commercial companies of the country, and, among other bodies, the
State had borrowed to the extent of some millions from the South Sea Com-
pany. This facility of borrowing had very much increased the expenses-,
and George the First, being anxious to reduce the National Debt, and ease
as far as possible the public burden, advised the House to devise some
means to effect this desirable object. Sir John Blunt, or Blount, a shi'ewd
and calculating lawyer, a member of the House, and a director of the South
Sea Company, secretly advised the Government to sanction, by a bill, his
Company's buying up from the merchants, corporate bodies, and private
individuals, all Government debts and securities, and thereby make the
South Sea Company the sole creditor of the State. For this concession, the
Company was content for six years to receive only five per cent, interest,
and after that period to reduce their claim to four per cent., the Govern-
ment having the privilege, at a subsequent period, of redeeming the debt by
an annual payment of one million sterling.
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY. 231
MAffNEB OP BAISIffG ITS CAPITAL.— THE PUBLIC DEBT.
925. Sow were the Directors to raise funds for so
gigantic an undertaking?
By a clause in the Bill empowering tie Company to raise
subscriptions from the public, for the ostensible object of trading
in the South Seas ; a scheme which the designing- Directors
took every means to represent as fraught with the most fabulous
wealth.
926. When the Sill was passed, did the nefarious
scheme succeed ?
Yes, even beyond the wildest dream of its most sanguine
speculator. No sooner were the books of the Company opened
than the South Sea House was besieged by multitudes, every
day increasing the number of applicants for shares, till the
whole nation became infected with the mania for speculation, in
which the peer, the bishop, and the commoner; the highest
dignitary in the realm, and the lowest costermonger ; the
duchess in her carriage, and the scullion from the kitchen, all
jostled in one eager and excited throng, beseeching the clerks
to take their money in exchange for worthless paper, till every
class of society appeared intoxicated with the wild hope of
realising unbounded wealth.
927. What amount of Public Debt was the Company
to buy up, and to what height did Securities rise ?
More than thirty-two millions. The Company's Stock, which
had stood 'at 130, rose at once to 400, and within a few weeks
went up to ten times its original value. A share that in July
was bought for £100, before the end of August would have
been gladly repurchased for £1,000.
928. What led to the lursting of the Bubble ?
The utter want of faith in the transaction, and the absence of
anything like commercial security. On the 8th of September
the stock began to fall, and before the end of the month ifc
had sunk to 150. The people woke as from a dream, and in
amazement were forced to look on the horrid reality .of a
232 THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY.
FAILURE OF THE SCHEME.— THE BUBBLE BURSTS.— GREAT AND LITTLE
GOES.— IMPEACHMENT OF THE LORD CHANCELLOR.
universal ruin, that beggared the most princely fortunes in the
kingdom, and carried misery and despair into almost every home
in the country.
929. Did Government interpose to punish the delin*
quents, and hoiv ?
Yes, for so universal was the clamour of the people, and so
great the censure thrown on the Ministry, that the King was
obliged to return in haste from Hanover ; Parliament was imme-
diately summoned, and all the principal delinquents punished by
the forfeiture of their ill-gotten wealth and estates.
930. At the same time, Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, who had taken a
prominent part in the transactions, was sent to the Tower ; the Duke of
Norfolk, Earl of Orrery, and Lords North and Grey, with several others,
committed to close custody ; the Bishop was subsequently banished ; and
one Mr. Layer hanged at Tyburn. Besides these severities, the Government
gave some compensation to the sufferers, by ordering seven millions of the
Company's stock to be set apart for that purpose; but the calamity was far
too deep and wide-spread to be effectually relieved.
931. Was this the only great fraud of the time ?
No ; though it was the most important. Unprincipled men,
taking advantage of the mania for speculation encouraged by
the South Sea scheme, opened offices in every street, in which,
with the most unblushiyg hardihood, frauds of every character
were practised on the credulous public, who were so blinded by
the delusions of their own fancy, that in one instance two
thousand guineas were paid down in a few hours, as deposits
for larger sums, to an adventurer, who deemed it unnecessary
even to give a name or prospectus to his scheme.
932. Sow were these bubble schemes denominated?
Great and Little Goes, according to the sums charged for
shares ; for, to meet the gambling spirit of the very poorest,
offices were opened at shilling shares.
933. What Lord Chancellor was impeached in this
reign for receiving bribes, and how was he punished ?
Lord Macclesfield, for the sale of places in Chancery. He
THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
233
DEATH AND CHAEACTEE OF THE KING.
•yas sentenced to pay a fine of £30,000, and imprisoned till the
amount was paid.
934. When and how did George the First die?
He was attacked with' paralysis while on a journey to Hanover,
and had only time to reach Oznaburg, when he became insen-
sible, and expired the next morning, June llth, 1727, in the
68th year of his age and the 13th of his reign.
COSTUME AND MODE OP TRAVELLING AT THE BEGINNING
OF GEORGE THE SECOND'S TIME.
VICAB, WITH HIS WISE AND DAUGHTER, GOING TO CHUECH.
935. What was this King's character?
He was calm, sagacious, and prudent, and, owing to his great
assiduity, remarkably fortunate ; at the same time brave in the
field and wise in council ; an unostentatious, simple, and honest
234 THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
GEOBGE THE SECOND.— WALPOLE MINISTEK.
936. What other important events occurred in this
reign ?
The "Aurora Borealis," or the Northern Lights, were first
accurately described. The Scotch acquired the art of making
thread. The Act establishing Septennial Parliaments passed.
Inoculation was first practised in England for small-pox ; and
Admiral Sir George Byng destroyed the Spanish fleet off Cape
Passaro, August llth, 1718.
THE SECOND.
FROM 1727 TO 1760.
937. When, and by whom, was George the First suc-
ceeded ?
He was succeeded on the 15th of June, by his son George,
Prince of Wales, who ascended the throne in the 44th year of
his age.
938. Who was the Chief Minister of his first Calinet?
Sir Eobert Walpole, Minister for the internal affairs, or Home
Secretary ; and who soon after became Premier, and the leading
politician of the time.
939. Sir Robert "Walpole was a man of extraordinary talents, who, by the
force of his own genius arid energy, had raised himself from an inferior
station to the highest post in the kingdom, and to be acknowledged as a
politician of consummate wisdom. This remarkable man, created Earl of
Orford, was ,born at Houghton, in Norfolk, in 1674, and after serving George
the First and Second as prime minister, and enjoying a plenitude of power,
for a space of nearly twenty years, such as had never been possessed by a
minister of the Crown in this country, died in the year of the last Rebellion,
1745.
940. What was the moral and political state of the
country at the close of the First, and beginning of the
Second Georges reign ?
The morals of the people generally, but more especially of the
aristocracy and governing body, were as low as venality, corrup-
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
JIOEAL AND POLITICAL STATE OP THE COXJNTET.
tion, and the absence of all domestic and political truth and honour
could sink them. The Ministry was filled with corrupt officers,
as ready to take a bribe from the enemies of their country as to
sacrifice friend and family to personal interest or convenience.
Political honour was scouted as a delusion, conjugal fidelity
laughed at as a fable, and intrigue, tergiversation, and gallantry
the established practices of the day. The Sovereign, an alien
in heart as in person, regarded the empire he swayed but as a
ready bank, from which to draw resources for his paltry German
inheritance, whose obscure interests he considered of more account
than the welfare of the great nation entrusted to his care. With
such principles on the throne, it is little wonder if every grade
beneath it imitated and magnified the depravity of heart and
ignominy of mind of that above it. Yet amidst this wreck of
principle, this ruin of social and political faith, civil and reli-
gious liberty, firmly established in the Constitution by the
abdication of James the Second, or the Revolution, as it was
called, progressed gradually onwards, and soon began to produce
fruits on the mind of the nation ; the accession of new territory,
the advancement of literature, arts, sciences, commerce, and
manufactures, soon began to influence a new race of men, and
inaugurate an epoch, from which the nation may date, without
shame or humiliation, its restoration to moral supremacy and
political greatness.
941. What was the state of the country at the acces-
sion of George the Second?
Distracted and hampered on all sides, by foreign treaties, con-
tracts, and obligations to Continental states, not one of which
was of the slightest use or benefit to the nation, the honour,
wealth, and blood of Great Britain being pledged for the petty
Electorate of Hanover, whose defence, and the Dutch wars of
William, had, at the commencement of this reign, in a period
of twenty-nine or thirty years, involved the nation in a debt of
fifty and a quarter millions of money, and for which this country
had not received one shilling's equivalent in value.
236 THE HISTOEICAL KEASON WHY.
FIVE MEMBEBS OP THE HOUSE EXPELLED TOB FBATJD.— WAE WITH SPATS.
942. Why were such clamours raised against the
Spaniards, and how ivas war averted ?
From the cruelties practised on the inhabitants of our West
India Islands, by Spanish cruisers, who, sent out to guard the
trade and suppress smuggling1, had perpetrated the most wanton
barbarities, pillage, and injustice. Through the mediation of
Austria, explanations were given by Spain, with promises of
compensation, and a new treaty being signed, peace was for the
time preserved to Europe.
943. Why were Jive Members of Parliament expelled
the House?
For the disgraceful frauds practised by them as managing
trustees and directors of the " Charitable Corporation Fund," an
association professedly started to lend money on pledge, or
security, upon an equitable interest, to all borrowers ; but though
half a million of paid-up capital had been subscribed, not one
shilling had ever been advanced as a loan, the entire sum
having been disgracefully appropriated by the committee, almost
all of whom were Members of the House, or persons of dis-
tinction.
944. Why tvas Sir Robert Walpole's first scheme of an
excise on tobacco defeated?
From the assertion of its opponents, that bonding the tobacco
in Government warehouses, and making the proprietor pay the
excise duty, which was fixed at 4d. a pound, when the article
was sold — a course, they alleged, which would ruin the factors,
and, by the number of officers required, make the Ministry
formidable — produced such an eftect on the public mind at the
time as compelled the withdrawal of the Bill.
945. Why was war at last declared against Spain?
From the continuance of those violations on the people of the
West Indian colonies that had led to the former remonstrance,
and the neglect of Spain to pay the compensation money agreed
upon.
THE HISTORICAL BEASON WHY. 237
ANSON'S EXPEDITION TO THE PACIFIC.— SAILS BOUND THE WORLD.
946. What were the first achievements of the war ?
The capture of two valuable prizes in the Mediterranean, and
the bombardment and capture of Porto Bello, in South America,
by Admiral Vernon with six ships.
947. Wlnj was Commodore Anson dispatched to the
Pacific, and with what armament?
To intercept and destroy the Spanish trade, and inflict as
much injury on the enemy, in those seas, and their Peru and
Chili possessions, as possible. For this purpose, a fleet of five
sail of the line, a frigate, and two store-ships, carrying about
1,400 marines, were entrusted to Commodore Anson, with orders
to proceed to his destination, and communicate across the Isthmus
of Darien with Admiral Vernon, who had the like commission
in the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean.
918. The hardships and sufferings endured by Auson aud his little fleet is
a narrative so full of adventure that it might be deemed a romance, but that
the facts are incontestable. About a year after leaving England, he entered
the Pacific, with two shattered and leaky vessels, the sole survivors of his
fleet, and his men reduced to the last stage of distress, by privation and
disease, the scurvy having prostrated nearly all his crew. Having recruited
his men at Juan Fernandez, taken all the crew on board his own ship, and
burnt his shattered consort, he proceeded in quest of some of the Spanish
treasure-ships — " immense vessels built to carry a vast quantity of mer-
chandise, powerfully armed, and manned by five or six hundred men."
As these vessels, or galleons, as they were called, only sailed once a-year
from port to port, their freightage was of great value, and consequently
their capture always considered of the utmost importance. Anson, having
failed to fall in with the one expected at Mexico, from the Philippine Islands,
and estimated at immense wealth, traversed the Pacific in search of her, till,
having lost half his crew by the scurvy, which again broke out, he sailed to
China, where having replenished his men, and taken a few Dutch and Indian
sailors to complete his complement, he once more set out in search of the
Spanish prize, and at length had the pleasure to discover the long-sought
galleon iu the Straits of Manilla. Though the Spaniard carried a complement
of six hundred men, and mounted sixty guns of heavy metal, and the " Cen-
turion," Anson's ship, did not muster (Indians and all) half the number of
men or ordnance, he at once bore dowu on the huge ship, determined, after
all his dangers and privations in search of her, to make her his at any
sacrifice, and immediately began a desperate action, which resulted in the
Spaniard hauling down her colours, and yielding to the victor, who, taking
his prize in tow, returned to Canton, and from thence, with his capture, set
sail, by the Cape of Good Hope, for England, where he arrived, after an
absence of three years and nine mouths, having in that time completely
238 THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
WAI/POLE EESIGWS.— FAILUEE BEFORE CABTHAGEKA.
circumnavigated the globe. The prize realized £313,000, which, with his
previous captures, made a gross sum of £700,000, bestowing immense riches
on the few hardy fellows who were permitted to return to their native
country to enjoy it.
949. Why did Sir Robert Walpole resign all Ms ap-
pointments ?
From the dreadful clamour raised in the country by the mis-
carriage of the expedition to the West Indies : a disaster which
the people attributed to the fault of the Minister; when Sir
Eobert, unable to stem the tide of popular displeasure, resigned
all his appointments, upon which the King created him Earl of
Orford, and, to show his displeasure still further, adjourned the
House.
950. Concurrent with Anson's expedition to the Pacific, one of the finest
fleets that had, up to that time, ever sailed from these shores was dispatched
to the AVest Indies, — consisting of twenty-nine sail of the line, thirty frigates,
containing a vast supply of all stores and munitions of war, and carrying
15,000 seamen, and an equal number of land forces. Admiral Vernon com-
manded this magnificent flotilla, and Lord Cathcart had the direction of the
army; but the latter dying on the voyage, was succeeded in his command
by his lieutenant, General "Went worth. The expedition proceeded direct to
the Isthmus of Darieu, and bearing up for Carthagena, one of the most
important and strongly defended towns on the Spanish Main, the army was
landed, and while the fleet bombarded the citadel and town, Wentworth and
his troops stormed and carried some of the outlying forts ; but so incapable
was the commander for such a responsible duty, and so deficient in military
tactics, that he attempted to storm the fort of St. Lazare, one of the strongest
of the enemy's posts, before effecting a breach, in which, from the ignorance
displayed in the plan, the shortness of the scaling-ladders, and the men
being led in mistake to the strongest instead of the weakest part of the fort,
the assault ended in a defeat, the troops being mown down with dreadful
slaughter ; and after losing 600 men before reaching the walls, were com-
pelled to- retire. The rainy season setting in directly after, brought on a
pestilential fever, which raged with such virulence that the army was reduced
to a mere skeleton, in which state the commanders were compelled to
re-embark their shattered forces, and, quitting this scene of slaughter and
contagion, return in disgrace to England, there to recount the history of
their own defeat, each commander accusing the other of ignorance, incapacity,
and rashness.
951. Why did England espouse the cause of the Queen
of Hungary, and enter upon the Continental war ?
Professedly to maintain the balance of power, endangered by
the aggrandizing spirit of France and the Emperor; but more
THE IIISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
QUEEN OP HU A'GAUY.— BATTLE OF DETTINGEN".
to protect the Electorate of Hanover, which might at any
moment be overrun by French or Prussian troops, than to assist
the unhappy Queen in the restitution of her rights.
952. Upon the death of the Emperor Charles the Sixth, the great powers,
in violation of all treaties, and especially of that edict called the " Pragmatic
Sanction," conferred the crown of the Empire on the Elector of Eavaria ; and
Charles' dominions, instead of passing, as pre-ordained, to his daughter, the
Queen of Hungary, were ruthlessly shared among the Continental nations.
Prussia instantly overran and seized Silesia, while France, Saxony, and
Bavaria poured in their troops across their several frontiers, and partitioned
among themselves her empire; and one of the most illustrious sovereigns in
Europe found herself suddenly bereft of all her inheritance and wealth. At
this juncture England came to her assistance, and soon after a coalition was
formed in her favour, consisting of Holland, Sardinia, Russia, and Great
Britain. George, having received a parliamentary grant for the purposes of
the war, dispatched a body of English troops to Hanover, to co-operate with
his Hanoverian army; and with these forces a diversion was made in France,
by which means the Queen's general, Prince Charles of Lorraiu, was enabled
to attack and drive out the French from Bohemia; Bavaria was invaded;
Munich, its capital, taken; and the new Emperor, her rival, stripped of his
power and fighting for his hereditary possessions, was driven defeated from
every field, till finally, abandoned by his powerful allies, and deprived of all
his dominions, he retired to Frankfort, where he passed the rest of his life
in obscure poverty.
953. What were the causes that led to the battle of
Dettingen ?
The English army, having effected their object in France,
to the number of 40,000 pushed along the banks of the Maine
to form a junction with the Queen's Austrian army. To pre-
vent this union, 60,000 French, under Marshal Noailles, followed
them on the opposite bank ; and having cut off all supplies,
the British army were in imminent danger of being starved
into a capitulation, for the country on all sides of them had
been swept of provisions. Upon this, the King, who had just
joined the army, ordered a retreat, in the hope of joining a
large body of Hessians, who lay in the rear with a full com-
missariat. In effecting this retrograde movement, the French,
perceiving their advantage, crossing the river, suddenly seized
a defile, and completely hemmed in the army on every side.
951. In this mortifying position each alternative that presented itself was
equally perplexing and hazardous: if the King risked a battle, it must be
at a fearful disadvantage; if he remained inactive, the army would perish
240 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
THE YOUNG PKETENDER LEAVES BOME.— FAILURE OP THE FKENCH
EXPEDITION FOE SCOTLAND.
of hunger; and even if he succeeded in cutting his way through the defile,,
it must be at the loss of half his army, and the sacrifice of all his baggage,
if not his artillery. From this painful and humiliating situation, the rash-
ness of the enemy saved the honour of the army. Instead of defending the
defile, which shut the British up as in a trap, the impetuous Duke of
Grammont, who commanded the horse, with the entire French cavalry,
made a desperate charge through the pass upon the English infantry, upon
whose serried and immoveable lines they were broken and scattered in
such utter confusion that, after a short but desperate encounter, they were
compelled to retreat not only from the field, but forced, in haste, to repass
the river, leaving the road open, and five thousand of their best men, dead
and wounded, on the plain of Dettingen.
955. Why did diaries Edward Stuart, the son of
the Chevalier de Si. George, and grandson of James the
Second, quit Home in such haste for Paris, travelling
through Italy and ^France in the disguise of a courier ?
The French, smarting under their late reverses, were resolved
to prosecute the war with Britain with increased vigour; and
for this purpose decided upon making use of the Young Pre-
tender— whose appeals for assistance they had hitherto neglected
— to effect that object, and hoped, by supplying him with forces
to make a descent on Scotland, to create a powerful diversion
in the heart of their enemy's dominions.
956. Why did this project miscarry, and what was the
fate of the expedition ?
Through the skill and energy of Sir John Norris, who, with
the Channel fleet, lay in wait for the French armament, which,
consisting of twenty line-of-battle ships and transports, with a
well-provided army of 3.5,000 men, under the command of the
famous Count Saxe. set sail from Dunkirk, and had reached
the middle of the Channel, when, discovering the English fleet
bearing down upon them, the whole flotilla, rather than risk an
action, put back to port with all haste, and being favoured
by a stiff breeze, fled with such speed as to outstrip all pur-
suit; but though they escaped the English cannon, they were
caught off the coast in such a furious gale, and suffered so
many wrecks and disasters, as rendered the whole expedition
a failure — the fleet, shattered and thoroughly disorganised,
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 241
ENGLISH DEFEATED AT FONTENOY.— CHAELES EDWARD STUABT PEEPARES
FOE A DESCENT IN SCOTLAND, 1745.
creeping back to Dunkirk and the nearest harbours to land
their men and material.
957. Wliat reverses did the English arms suffer in
tins campaign in Flanders?
The English and Hanoverian armies, under the Duke of
Cumberland, suffered a defeat at the battle of Fontenoy, fought
on the 1st of May, 1744.
03S. To raise the siege of Tournay, defended by a Dutch garrison, and
reduced to great extremity by the French, who, under Marshal Count Saxe,
with a powerful army, invested the place, the Duke of Cumberland advanced
with his united forces in the hope of throwing in succours to enable the
Governor to maintain a little longer so important a town. Upon hearing
of the approach of the Allies, Saxe drew off from before the walls; and,
posting his army in a strong position, threw up works, and made so
admirable a disposition that, while covering the town, he was enabled
to give battle with every advantage to himself, and at the same time to
compel the Duke to risk an engagement unless he chose to see the town
taken before his eyes. But, despite his numbers and natural and artificia)
strength, the defeat would have been a victory but for the bad Generalship
of the Duke, who sent forward his attacking columns without any cover
or protection to their flanks, by which they were exposed to a murderous
cross fire, were surrounded, outflanked, and mown down in files. Twice
the English infantry swept the plain, driving the entire wing of the
French army before them— once up to their guns and breastworks— and on
their second charge, forcing them, in confusion, into their tents; whenf
had they been supported by horse, they must have remained masters of
the field. Surrounded, however, by fresh numbers, they were compelled
to retire, but not till they had left 12,000 of their comrades on the field;
and even then, though exposed to the whole brunt of the enemy's artillery >
they retreated fighting, and with their faces to the foe, who bought his
hard- won victory at a loss of life equal, if not greater than the vanquished.
This celebrated battle, recorded as one of the most bloody engagements
fought in that age, was begun by the light of the moon, at two o'clock ia
the morning, and lasted, without rest or intermission, for thirteen hours.
959. Why did the Young Pretender resolve to try his
fortune in Scotland with such slender means?
Because, despairing of French assistance, and deceived by
some desperate partisans into the belief that the country,
groaning under heavy taxation to support German interests, was
eager and anxious to welcome him as a deliverer and King :
upon these representations he resolved to take advantage of the
absence of George, and at once adventure the risk.
242 THE HISTOEICAL BEASON WHY.
PKETENDEE LANDS IN THE HIGHLANDS, AND ADVANCES ON EDINETTEGH.
960. Why was it that the Pretender's scheme of taking
Fort William, in the Highlands, was frustrated, a plan
that, if successful, would have given him a large quantity
of arms and immense accession of strength ?
The project was defeated by the expedition being encountered
by the "Lion" line-of- battle ship, which immediately attacked
the Prince's convoy, tlie "Elizabeth," a French man-of-war,
and continued the fight with such fury that both ships became
completely disabled, the "Elizabeth" hauling off, and with
difficulty keeping afloat till she reached Brest. The frigate,
with the Pretender, and some six or seven of his adherents,
carrying two thousand stand of arms, kept her course, and
landed her passengers on one of the Hebrides, from whence they
proceeded to Perth, while above a hundred officers, with his
artillery, aud the greater bulk of his military stores, were lost
to the cause on board the " Elizabeth."
961. Why was the Pretender allowed to gain strength
and descend to. the Lowlands?
Through the pusillanimity, if not cowardice, of Sir John
Cope, the Commander of all the Troops in Scotland, who,
rather than encounter the Chevalier, took a wide detour to the
north, with the intention of coming upon the rear of the rebel
force. Upon this, Charles put his army in motion, and, Cope
having left the whole south of the kingdom unprotected, pro-
ceeded to Perth, Dundee, and Edinburgh, where he took up
his residence in the palace of Holyrood, and where, for the
the third time, he had his father proclaimed as King, and
seizing, wherever it could be obtained, the public money for
the general uses.
962. The caution and procrastination that characterised all Cope's actions,
exposed him to the scorn and merited contempt of both parties ; the
Jacobites, in particular, writing lampoons on his lack of courage, while his
indolence is still perpetuated in the country by sarcastic songs of the period,
finding the enemy had escaped him, he at length embarked his infantry
at Aberdeen, and on the 19th of September landed at Dunbar, where, being
joined by Carpenter's Dragoons and some squadrons of horse, in all about
0,000, he proceeded towards Edinburgh, and on the morning of the 21st was
attacked by the Chevalier, who with his raw levies and Highland clans,
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 243
BATTLE OP PRESTON PANS.— THE EEBKLS ENTEE ENGLAND, AND APPBOACH
LONDON.
amounting in all to some 2,500 men, fell upon him with such abruptness
and impetuosity, that in less than half-an-hour the sanguinary battle that
ensued was lost and won; the royal troops, on every side broken, fled in
confusion; the horse, with Cope at their head, were the first to fly, not
deeming themselves safe till the Tweed lay between them and the Highland
claymore; the infantry, mown down by scythes and the sweeping broad-
swords of the clans, were all killed, or taken prisoners, while all the baggago
and material of the army fell into the hands of the victor. The engagement,
from the name of the village where the chief action took place, was called
the Battle of Preston Pans.
963. Why did not the victor follow up this success
by vigorous efforts ?
He was deluded by promised succours from France, and the
expectation of being joined by many adherents of name and
influence; and in the hope of being soon reinforced by a great
accession of strength he delayed active operations, frittering
away his time, on the strength of his late victory, in a beggarly
assumption of royalty, holding levees, and dispensing the
functions of sovereignty, on behalf of his .father, in whose name
he issued proclamations, reinstated attainted nobles, promised
a dissolution of the Union, and, in imitation of the conduct of
the Government to himself, set a price on the head of the
Elector of Hanover.
964. Sow did the Chevalier proceed, after the battle
of Preston Pans ?
Having wasted many valuable weeks in idle pageant in the
Scotch metropolis, and being promised a diversion in his favour
on the southern coast of England, from France, he came to
the resolution of acting with dispatch and energy; and, taking
his post on foot, at the head of his men, dressed in the national
garb, set his army in motion, and by rapid marches southward
crossed the borders by the western Marches, invested and took
Carlisle, armed his troops from the magazine of the garrison,
and, being joined by considerable numbers, pushed on for
Penrith and Manchester; and finding the country open, and
his progress unopposed, proceeded to Derby, and held on to
within a hundred miles of London, when the disaffection and
insubordination of the Highland chiefs compelled him to abandon
the scheme that might have crowned his adventure with success.
244
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
EEIREAT OP THE BEBEL AEMY TO THE KORT1I.
Retracing his journey northward, he re-entered Scotland by
the west, laid Glasgow under contribution, and, halting near
Stirling, laid siege to that powerful castle — which he raised,
however, to confront General Wade's force, sent after him
from Edinburgh, in which, after a sharp and sanguinary con-
flict, the royal troops were broken, and driven in rout from the
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES.
SMOD2 OF MAKING TB.EEAD BEFORE THE INTRODUCTION OP THE
SPINNING JENNY.
field, leaving the Prince in possession of their camp, baggage,
and artillery. Aided by money from Spain, the junction of
several Scottish nobles, and a great accession of numbers, the
Young Pretender's cause had never presented so promising an
aspect as at this juncture, but instead of taking advantage of
his circumstances he retreated still farther . north, fighting
occasional skirmishes, attempting in vain to capture Fort
William, and finally, after much dissension among the various
leaders, took his stand on the fatal plain of Culloden.
THE HISTOEICAL BEASON WHY. 245
PRETENDER 20STS HIMSELF AT CULLODEN.— ADVANCE OB THE ROYAL
ARMY UNDER THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND.
965. To meet this, the most formidable of all the Pretender's attempts
on the Crown, the country was rapidly put in a posture of defence, volunteer
corps were enrolled all over the kingdom, several regiments of horse and
foot were brought over from the army in Flanders, which, with some
Dutch and household trooos, in all 14,000, were placed under the command
of the Duke of Cumberland, who, setting forward, pursued the retreating
rebels as far as Aberdeen, where, but for the insubordination in his army,
it was the Chevalier's purpose to have given him battle. Having recruited
his army at Aberdeen, the Duke crossed the Spey, a deep and rapid river,
where his passage might have been disputed with every prospect of success,
but, being unguarded, the Duke passed it iu undisturbed freedom, and, on
the 14th of April, encamped his forces at Nairn, nine miles from Culloden.
966. Wliy was the rebel army so unprepared for action
U'Jicn the royal troops came up?
As soon as the Chevalier heard of the Duke's halt at Nairn,
he had his camp reconnoitred, with the intention of attacking
it at dark. For this purpose, on the night of the 15th, he set
his men in motion j but the column was so long that it em-
barrassed and delayed the march, and, in consequence of its
frequent halts, ignorance of the ground, and the absence of
guides, the best part of the night was lost before half the
distance had been traversed, while the men, who had been under
arms all the previous night and day, were so oppressed with
fatigue, sleep, and hunger, that numbers strayed irom the
column, or threw themselves on the earth, and instantly fell
into profound sleep. Finding it impossible to reach the camp
and surround the enemy before daylight, the Prince was
compelled to countermand the movement, and lead his exhausted
troops back to their former ground, upon which the men
threw themselves upon the earth protected by the park wall,
that sheltered a portion of their position from the sharp night
wind, and others scattered themselves about in the vain
search for ibod ; so that when Cumberland, who had set his
army in motion before dawn, reached the rebel position, the
Pretender's army had to be roused from sleep, or gathered
from difierent parts of the field to be marshalled for the coming
shock.
967. What ivas the force of the Chevalier's army at the
Battle of Culloden ?
It is variously estimated, though the most probable number
216 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
BATTLE OF CTJLLODEN, DEFEAT OP THE REBELS, AND PLIGHT OF THE
TOTTNG PEETENDEE, 1746.
is supposed to have been 8,000, with several pieces of cannon,
well manned and properly served, while the Royal army was
little less than twice the strength of the rebels.
968. The battle began about one o'clock in the afternoon of the 16t,h of
April, 1746, by a furious cannonade from the royal artillery, which did dreadful
execution on the enemy's columns, and Avas but feebly replied to by the
rebel guns. Unused to this kind of passive warfare, and maddened at the
loss of their comrades, who were swept away before this storm of artillery,
five hundred of the clans, drawing their claymores, rushed with such
impetuosity on the left wing of the Duke's army, that one regiment was
borne down and routed by the weight and impetus of the onslaught, and but
for the opportune arrival of two battalions from the reserve line, the entire
wing would have been routed. At the same time, and while the Highlanders
were driven back, a regiment of militia having broken a passage through
the park wall, which covered the rebels' right flauk, Hawley's Dragoons, and
several squadrons of horse, poured in, and falling on the unprotected wing,
drove it in wild confusion on the main battle, which instantly became a scene
of inextricable disorder and rout and with such expedition was the charge
given, and so universal became the panic, that in less than half an hour
the enemy was driven from every part of the field, which, with the road as far
as Inverness, was strewn with the dead and dying of the rebel army to
the number of three thousand. Some French companies endeavoured to
cover the retreat by a steady fire, but were borne down by the rush, and.
made prisoners. A large part of the reserve, immediately on witnessing the
rout, marched off the field in order, and escaped pursuit. The Prince fled,
with a single attendant, till their horses breaking down compelled them to
alight, and seek safety on foot in opposite directions. Alone and destitute,
without money, hungry and faint, a fortune set upon his head, hemmed
round by a cordon of thirty thousand soldiers every day drawing closer
their encircling nets; skulking by day in clefts and gullies, or snatching
a few hours' sleep on the bleak heather, and wandering by night over
rocks and mountains, in solitude and darkness, among the frightful wilds
and lonely wastes of Glengary, this unhappy and hunted fugitive endured
six months of ceaseless toil, privation, and mental anxiety; often without
food for days, barefooted and in rags ; many times on the verge of
discovery, and as often, by a fortunate accident, escaping from the very
grasp of his pursuers, before he reached the solitudes of Lochnanach, where
a French privateer, that had kept on and off the coast for mouths, received
him on board, reduced as he was, by famine, fatigue, and constant anxiety,
to a condition of the most abject and melancholy destitution. Though
chased by two frigates, the privateer at length fortunately reached the
coast of Bretagne, arid landed the exile in safety.
969. Why was the conduct of the Duke of Cumberland
so censured after the suppression of the rebellion ?
For the extreme inhumanity that characterised his conduct to
the miserable captives; numbers were shot on the field, and martial
THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
PEACE OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.— LOSS OF MINORCA.— ADMIKAI. BTKG
ACCUSED OF COWAEDICE.
law remorselessly executed everywhere; seventeen officers were
hanged and quartered on Kennington Common, and the Lords
Kilmarnock and Balmerino beheaded.
970. Wliy was the treaty of peace, signed at Aix-la-
Chapelle, so disgraceful to this country?
Because by it England restored to the belligerent powers all the
possessions she had acquired by conquest in the late war, and sent
two noblemen as hostages to France till the restoration of Cape
Breton. So low had sunk the national honour, that the ministry
gloried in a measure that covered the kingdom with disgrace.
971. Wliy was Admiral Byng accused of cowardice ?
For having neglected to fight the French fleet off the island
of Minorca, or rather for allowing them to escape ; for keeping
aloof while his vanguard was in action ; and for other acts of
timidity and irresolution, in consequence of which the island of
Minorca, which had been conquered in the time of Queen Anne,
was taken by the French.
972. The country was so incensed at the misfortunes which attended our
arms in North America, Washington and Braddock's defeat in the renewed
war with France, the capture of Madras in tho New Settlement on the
Coromandel, that on the news of this last misfortune, attended with such
disgraceful timidity, the people were so incensed that the ministry, to save
themselves, willingly seized so inviting an opportunity of giving the populace
a victim, on whom to vent the national anger, which, on the subsequent
news of the loss of the island and citadel, rose to a state of frenzy. Orders
were sent out superseding Byng, who was brought home under arrest, tried
on the capital charge of cowardice in face of the enemy, found guilty, and
shot on the quarter-deck of a line-of-battle ship, in Portsmouth Harbour.
973. Wliy may the prosperity of our Empire in the
East date from this period ?
Because at this time there appeared on the scene Robert
Clive, a young man, a native of Shropshire, who, having gone
out to India in the capacity of a writer, or junior clerk, in the
Honourable East India Company's service, throwing aside the
pen, devoted himself to the sword, and with such singular zeal
and ability, that he soon became the leading man both in the
council and the field.
THE IIIST01UCAL EEASON WHY.
ME. CUVE EXPELS THE FRENCH FROM INDIA.— BEITISH SUPEEMACY IN
HINDOSTAN.
974. Under his auspices, as if by magic, British power and influence
was established over the whole peninsula, arid that mighty fabric of civil
supremacy, that has since become the wonder and admiration of the
world, took from him its coherent shape, and under his directing skill and
energy, seemed to start into a sudden and consolidated existence. So
great were the benefits conferred that the monarch of a grateful nation,
in reward for such exemplary services, subsequently raised him to the
peerage, under the title of Lord Clive, and appointed him first Governor-
General of the new Empire in the East. After having risen through all
the military grades to the rank of colonel, he led his small army against
the French in Arcot, where, in a succession of dashing actions, he completely
cleared the province of the enemy, taking the general prisoner. Having,
with Admiral Watson, attacked the notorious and dreaded pirate-king,
Tullage Angria, stormed and taken his capital city Geriah, fired his
fleet, entirely crushed and rooted out his power, and subdued the border-
ing princes and chiefs, who paid him tribute, he proceeded northward, to
avenge the outrage committed on the English in Bengal, where Sur-Rnjah
al Dowlat, having surprised and captured the Company's chief establishment
in the Indies, Calcutta, had inhumanly confined 140 persons in an under
ground room, hardly 18 feet square, called the Black Hole, where '12?
of the number were in a few hours suffocated by the noxious exhalation?
proceeding from so many human beings confined in so narrow a compass
After a furious fire of two hours, Sur Dowlat was compelled to surrender,
and give up entire possession of the town and fort; an acquisition made
complete by the subsequent capture of his great arsenal, magazine of arms,
and granaries, at Hooghly, a city of great trade and importance. After
many brilliant actions, and the reduction of several strong and hotly con-
tested posts, Colonel Clive fought the great and decisive battle of Plassy,
in which 15,000 horse and 30,000 infantry, with 40 pieces of artillery, were
opposed to a mere handful of Europeans and a small number of native
troops; yet, in despite of such fearful odds, the victory on the side of the
English was decisive. Having subdued all the native malcontents, and placed
a new Emperor on the Mogul throne, Colonel Clive proceeded to wage war
on the French in their Indian possessions, in each engagement with the
enemy being singularly successful, sweeping them one by one from every
settlement they held iu the country.
975. Why were the British arms so signally successful
in ihe North American campaign of 1759 ?
The disasters that had so long attended the British arras
in America were owing to the incapable commanders sent to
those provinces by the ministry, who passed by all real
merit, and promoted only the tools and friends of their party
to posts of distinction. But on the accession of Mr. Pitt to
the ministry, new counsels began to prevail, and more efficient
men were employed in the public service. Three expeditions
THE HISTORICAL KEASON WHY. 249
FRENCH DEIVEIT OTTT OB AMEEICA.— SIEGE OF QUEBEC AND DEATH OP
WOLFE, 1759.
sent out this campaign, to attack the enemy in his most
vulnerable points, were severally crowned with success. General
Amherst stormed and took Crown Point with 12,000 men;
General Prideaux, with a proportionate force, secured Fort
Niagara; and to General Wolfe, who fell in the moment of
victory, was left the third and most important duty of all, the
capture of the city of Quebec, a conquest that struck the last
blow to the power of France in the country, and placed the
whole extent of North America in the hands of the English.
" 976. Why did this country enter on the Continental
war between Prussia and France?
Merely to assist the King of Prussia ; for England had no
interest at stake in a quarrel that disturbed the peace of 'the
whole Continent; and from having supplied money to arm the
Hanoverian contingent, the Parliament granted men, till at last
more than 30,000 English troops were fighting for no national
cause in Germany, while the maintenance of the country's
colonial possessions was left to a weak and shamefully
inadequate force.
977. At this time the honour of the British arms was gloriously vindicated
in every part of the globe. In India and America the national triumph was
borne on every banner ; in Germany the British infantry, now the first in
the world, had won the famous battle of Miuden ; and her invincible fleets,
setting at defiance all considerations of reserve or prudence, with chivalrous
hardihood, entered unknown seas,- braved all dangers of rocks, tempests, or
shoals, by day or night, in calm or storm, as exemplified in the terrific
action in Quiberon Bay, fought in a night hurricane, where her hardy crewa
boldly confronted, and sought the foe, doing battle with a heroism and
undaunted bravery that nothing could withstand;' so that the latter part of
this reign may be regarded as one of the most splendid epochs in the
military history of Great Britain.
978. When and hoiv did George the Second die?
He expired suddenly at the Palace of Kensington, of rupture
of the heart, on the morning of the 25th of October, 1760, in
the 77th year of his age, and the 33rd of his reign.
979. Possessed of qualities more designed to benefit society than adorn
a throne, George the Second was a monarch eminently calculated to inspire
confidence, and beget esteem in his English subjects ; and during his reign
the people rapidly advanced in wealth, commerce, and prosperity. la
THE HISTORICAL REASON WITT.
DEATH OP GEORGE THE SECOND. — ACCESSION OF HIS GRANDSON.— STATE
OP THE COURT.
temper he was violent and sudden, though his actions were ever guided by
deliberation and reason. Plain in his conduct, true to his word, steady in
his favour, and constant in his friendship, he inspired rather esteem for the
solid qualities of the man, than admiration for his attributes as a Sovereign.
Having said so much, truth has spoken all that can be advanced in his
favour. He was ignorant, narrow-minded, and selfish; destitute of education
himself, he despised learning in others ; and though literature flourished in
his time, it was irrespective of Royal patronage. He considered his German
State of more estimate than all his acquired dominions, which were pil-
laged to save and advance the interests of his beloved Electorate; and
finally, his extreme nationality fostered an economy that was only one
degree removed from avaricious meanness.
GEOEGE THE THIED.
FROM 1760 TO 1820.
980. Who was George the Third?
The grandson of the late King", his father, Frederick, Prince
of Wales, a most amiable and beloved Prince, dying- some ten
years before the late King's death, deeply mourned by the
nation.
981. Why were the people so overjoyed at the acces-
sion of the new Sovereign ? ,
There were many causes, independent of his youth, comely
appearance, and agreeable manners, that conspired to make the
advent of a young Monarch at such a time particularly accept-
able to the nation, rendering the ascension of the young King1
one of the most memorable events in the modern history of
the kingdom.
9S2. The three last male sovereigns had all been aliens, who acknowledged
no real interest in the welfare or happiness of the people they governed,
and whose language they were hardly capable of speaking; besides this, all
were far advanced in years when they ascended the throne, which they
surrounded by a barrier of foreign faction, or domestic intrigue, so that the
nation was shut out from all sympathy or communion with its Sovereign, by
a Dutch or German clique, who, if they did not arrogate all the offices of
State, dammed up each avenue of appeal or approach. For nearly a hundred
years no native-born prince had mounted the throne; it was consequently
with particular gratification that the people hailed the coronation of a King,
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 251
KING'S MABEIAGE.— PITT CHEATED EAKL OF CHATEAU.
not only English-born, but bred in the country, and educated by an
exemplary father in the wishes, tastes, and principles of his countrymen
and future subjects ; so, though of German extraction, no Sovereign of these
realms was ever more thoroughly English, in heart and understanding, than
the King to whom this country is indebted for the brightest pages in its
history, and the people, for the regeneration of manners, the elevation of
moral principles and political truth, the bright example of virtue, the
encouragement of art and science, and for the diffusion of happiness and
civilization.
983. Why did the King espouse Charlotte, Princess of
Mccldenburgh-Strelitz ?
Because he did not choose to run counter to the wishes of
the nation, by allying1 himself with any of the great Catholic
families of Europe ; he therefore willingly selected a sovereign
Protestant state of Germany, as the source from which to select
a wife, and was accordingly married on the 8th of September,
3761.
984. What military achievements characterized this year's
proceedings ?
Eelleisle was taken by bombardment from the French ; the
fortress of Pondicherry was stormed in the East Indies; while
in the West, the islands of Martinique, Grenada, St. Lucia,
Grenadillas, St. Vincent, with others of less note, were taken in
rapid succession, from the French and Spaniards.
985. Why did Pitt resign, and quit the Ministry?
Because, foreseeing the French and Spanish coalition, and the
certainty of a war with the latter power, he advised the instant
adoption of active measures, and the capture of the Spanish
treasure fleet, then on its homeward voyage, — measures which
his colleagues, out of rivalry to the minister, violently opposed,
upon which Mr. Pitt, rather than be a party to such irresolute
counsels, resigned.
986. Upon which George the Third, out of consideration to his great
abilities, and the honour his services had conferred on the nation, created
him Earl of Chatham, with a pension of £3,000 a-year, to continue for three
lives ; while, as a further mark of his regard, his wife and her children
were ennobled by titles.
252 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
CIVIL LIST.— PUBLIC EXPENDITURE.— HAVANNAH TAKEN.— CAPTUKE OP
A TBEASUEE SHIP.
987. Why was the Earl of Bute created First Lord of
the Treasury, and what provision was made for the King
and Queen?
Through the influence that nobleman had acquired over the
King, while acting as his tutor. The sum granted the King
for the household and dignity of the Crown was £800,000 ; and
on the Queen, should she survive the King, an annuity of
£100,000 for life, Buckingham House as a residence, and the
lands of Richmond Old Park. At the same time the expenses
for the year were declared to amount to £19,616,119 19s. 9fd.
988. Why, when war was declared against Spain, icas
an expedition sent to the Havannah?
Because the island of Cuba, and its immensely wealthy
capital, the Havannah, was considered the most vital part of the
Spanish West India possessions, being the port in which all
their American and European commerce centred.
9S9. This city, hitherto considered impregnable, was with incredible toil,
heroism, and labour taken, after a siege of two mouths ; at the same time
Manilla and the Phillippine Islands, with Trinidad, were captured, while to
complete the triumph of the English, the great register ship, the Hermioue,
a treasure galleon bound for Cadiz from Lima, was captured at the mouth
of her destined port, and brought in triumph to England. The gold and
silver ingots with which she was laden amounted to above a million sterling,
which, placed in waggons, were drawn through the streets of London to
the Bank at the same moment that all the church bells were pealing for the
birth of the Prince of Wales, August 12th, 1762.
990. Why was Havannah restored to the Spaniards?
It was restored at the general peace, which was concluded
in Paris in 1763, Great Britain receiving Florida in exchange
for the capital of Cuba.
991. In this war, which lasted seven years, England had conquered the
whole of North America, made herself master of twenty-five islands, fought
and won by sea and land twelve pitched battles, bombarded and took nine
fortified cities and forty-four castles, sunk and burned above a hundred
ships, and acquired more than twelve millions of plunder.
992. Why was Wilkes sent to the Tower, and after-
wards expelled the House of Commons ?
For writing a libel on the King's speech in a periodical called
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 253
ME. WILKE3 ACCUSED OF WRITING A LIBEL.— LOED CLIVE SENT TO
INDIA.— DIFFERENCES WITH THE AMERICAN COLONY.
" The North Briton ;" and though his privilege as memher of
the House obtained his release from the Tower, the Commons
subsequently expelled him from their body for the publication
of an indecent work.
993. Why were the political relations of the country
the sulject of such contempt abroad, and so galling to the
people at home?
Because every year saw a new Ministry, whose first duty
was to annul all the acts of their predecessors, and then pro-
mulgate enactments of their own, framed without any regard to
the interests of the people taxed, and with such unstatesmanlike
ignorance as to expose the country to the ridicule of foreigners
and the anger and contempt of its own subjects abroad.
994. Why ivas Mr. CUve, now created Lord Clive for
his meritorious services, sent lack to India?
To correct the shameful abuses that had crept into the adminis-
tration of affairs, the officials exacting from the natives large
sums of money, under the name of gifts, till the name of an
Englishman became synonymous for theft and rapine. Having
restored honesty to every branch of government, and ratified an
advantageous treaty with the Mogul, he returned to England.
995. Why did the colonies of North America refuse to
pay the Stamp Duty, and what led to the unfortunate war
that severed the mother country from what were considered
the most valuable of all her colonial possessions ?
The colonists resolutely refused to be taxed in any way, for
a government in which they had no voice and no representative.
936. There were many causes, heart-burnings, and acts of injustice, which
had for some years been steadily growing up in the minds of the American
people, and finally led to this determination: while the vacillating and ever-
changing ministry, one session passing severe measures on the colonists,
and the next rescinding them, to enact others; that ultimately contempt
was added to their many causes of vexation, till finally they not only
flatly refused to contribute in any way to the imperial exchequer, but even
denied themselves the luxury of all exciseable articles ; and to convince the
Government how obnoxious tho last measure was— that of attempting to
254 THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
GENEEAL WAEEANTS DECLARED ILLEGAL.— FIEST. COtfGEESS AT
PHILADELPHIA.
put an excise on tea and some other commodities— and to place temptation
out of the reach of the more temperate inhabitants, the people of Boston
broke into the ships and bonded houses, and forcibly seizing all the tea
in store, threw it into the harbour. At the same time there can be no
doubt that the weak policy pursued at home by the Ministry, in regard to
Mr. Wilkes, stimulated them to undertake the hazardous course upon
which they decided ; while the formation of Lord North's Cabinet, with
that narrow-minded and strongly-prejudiced nobleman as leader, completed
the last link in the chain of direct and collateral causes, that led to the
horrors of the civil war that immediately followed.
997. What political lenefit accrued to the people from
Mr. Wilkes' trial ?.
General warrants were declared illegal ; at the same time the
seizure of private papers by a State messenger was pronounced
unlawful, and the practice of both abolished.
9D8. The arbitrary conduct of the House of Commons, and the intem-
perate zeal of the Ministry, in committing Mr. Wilkes to the Tower, and,
after being three times returned for Middlesex by overwhelming majorities,
refusing him his seat, and otherwise treating him with insult and con-
tumely, created such a ferment in the country, as being subversive of the
liberty and civil rights of the subject, that his cause was at once espoused
by the nation, whose political freedom he was considered as defending in
his own person at his subsequent trial; and he was consequently regarded
as a martyr in the cause of the Constitution and the civil rights of the
subject, lifting his dispute with the Government from the insignificance of
a private question to the dignity of a great national trial, in which the
whole kingdom took the keenest interest, bestowing on its favourite and
idol the admiration due to the most exalted and patriotic sacrifices.
999. WTiy did delegates from the different American
States meet at Philadelphia? ' .4
The representatives of Thirteen States met, to the number of
fifty-one, and, constituting themselves into a CONGEESS, resolved
to animate each other in a determination to resist the payment
of all taxes to the mother country, that the Government
might plainly understand from their determined conduct that
they were resolute in their resistance, and that they were
prepared to go to any extremity to maintain their rights and
liberties, which they considered imperilled by the late measures,
both as it regarded themselves, and the ministerial treatment
of Mr. Wilkes.
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY. 255
HOSTILITIES WITH THE AMERICANS.— BATTLES OF LEXINGTON AND
BUSKER'S HILL.
1000. What led to tlie first collision lehveen the pro-
vincial and royal troops in America ?
The CONGEESS feeling that, sooner or later, the States would
be forced into an attitude of defence, if not aggression, had
secretly given orders for the collection of military stores, so
that at any moment a sufficient body of volunteers, or militia,
might be easily equipped. General Gage, who commanded the
troops at Massachusets, having received information that a
large magazine of arms was formed at the town of Concord,
sent out a strong detachment, on the night of the 19th of
April, 1775, to capture or destroy them, a duty which was
effected with remarkable despatch, the people being ignorant of
the object and direction of the expedition ; but the news of
the affair having spread like wild-fire over the country, the
inhabitants poured from their homes, and lining the woods and
hedges along the road, through which the troops had to return,
in the neighbourhood of Lexington, poured in such an unex-
pected and well-directed fire, that the men were thrown into
disorder, and' pursued by the masked and shifting enemy almost
to the gates of Boston. In this running fight, the first blood
shed in the "War of Independence," as it was called, the
Royalists lost 273 men killed and wounded, and the Americans
about 60.
1001. The first blow having been struck, both parties addressed themselves
for vigorous action, and on the 7th of June, the Americans, anxious to possess
themselves of Boston, and taking advantage of the reduced strength of the
garrison, before reinforcements could arrive, took the opportunity of the
night, to throw up breast-works, and entrench themselves so strongly round
Bunker's Hill, that in the sanguinary struggle to dispossess them of their
earth-works, the British army lost 226 killed, and 800 wounded; and though
the troops were finally victorious, it was at the price of a dearly-bought
triumph. The Congress at once appointed George Washington, a gentleman
of large property in Virginia, and who had formerly been in the British
service, and engaged against the French, as Colonel Washington, Commander-
in-Chief of all their forces. At the same time, they drew up a declaration of
rights, declaring, that as they had taken up arms to defend those rights,
they would never lay them down, so long as oppression or injustice was
practised or attempted. A petition was drawn up and sent to the King, by
Mr. Perm, the Governor of Pennsylvania, humbly praying his Majesty to adopt
means to suppress the further effusion of blood, and to be graciously pleased
to devise a remedy for the grievances of which the colonists complained. But
256 THE HISTOIUCAL SEASON WHY.
WASHINGTON MADE COMilANDEE O~E THE AMEEICAIT AB3IIES : HIS CAEE22.
such was the infatuation and criminal egotism of the Ministry, that Lord
Dartmouth, the American secretary, informed the delegate, that no answer
would be accorded— z\\ insulting reply to their address, that embittered the
feelings of the Americans, and caused them to redouble their efforts at
resistance.
1002. Who was George Washington ?
George Washington, the founder of American independence,
and one of the purest and most illustrious characters to be
found in the annals of any age or people, was born on the llth
of February, 1732, in the State of Virginia, United States.
His early education, amid the beauty and magnificence of his
native state, was of a nature admirably suited to the develop-
ment of a sound mind and vigorous frame, which, cast in the
largest mould, was early inured by robust exercise to endurance
and hardship. After the acquisition of a sound and useful
education, he embraced the military profession, and in the
service of the state, rose to the grade of colonel, and having
obtained considerable experience in the several French campaigns
on both sides of the St. Lawrence, was particularly serviceable
in bringing off Braddock's force, when led into the Indian
ambuscade.
1003. After the conquest of Canada, he retired into private life, on his
paternal estate ; till the impolitic course adopted by the Ministry in England
roused him to a keen sense of the dangers menacing his native country,
when, with many others, good and patriotic men, he came forward boldly
to identify himself with the interest of the American States, and was
returned as delegate for Virginia in the first Congress in 1774. In the
second Congress, so high an opinion was entertained of his abilities as a
commander and a statesman, that his brother colonists unanimously elected
him to the highest office they had to dispose of, that of Comtnander-in-
Chief of their army — a post that, through all the difficulties, hardships, and
responsibilities of the long, and often doubtful war, he fulfilled with such
brilliant distinction as to command the admiration of both friend and
enemy. Having guided the military destinies of his country through all the
vicissitudes and troubles of that stormy period, after the capitulation of
New York he laid his delegated truncheon at the feet of his liberated
country. The earliest act of his grateful confederates was to confer ou
General Washington the proud and distinguished office of First President
of the United States of North America, where, invested with almost
absolute functions, he implicitly obeyed those laws, in the formation of
which he had, by his wisdom, so largely contributed. In this dignified post,
which, like Cincinnatus, he twice held, he remained till, overcome by
the weight of years, and seeing more active spirits rising round him, he
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY. 25'
BOSTON ABANDONED BY THE BRITISH.— BETBEAT OF WASHINGTON.
resigned in 1793 the supreme authority his country had again conferred on
him, and retired to his paternal estates on the Potomac, accompanied in his
retirement by the admiration of his countrymen and the blessing of all true
lovers of a country that, under his prowess in the field, and wisdom in the
council, had risen from a distracted and ill-governed colony, to a great,
independent, and powerful nation. In this retirement, General Washington,
the most illustrious man America ever gave birth to, died in the year 1799,
iu the 67th year of his age.
1004. Wliy was Boston abandoned ly the British?
The Americans, under Montgomery and Arnold, having made
a successful irruption into Canada, besieged and then blockaded
Quebec, were, on the receipt of reinforcements by Carleton, the
Governor, compelled to retreat in great disorder, leaving Canada
in the undisturbed possession of the English troops. Washington,
who in the meantime had invested Boston, recruited by
a part of Arnold's troops, pressed the town so hard, that the
garrison, under General Howe, reduced to the last extremity by
the want of provisions, and despairing of timely succour to relieve
them, were obliged to desert the town, Howe embarking his
troops, to the number of 7,000, on board the vessels in the
harbour, set sail for Halifax, — Nova Scotia having remained
faithful to British rule. As the fleet left the harbour on the
17th March, 1776, the American army took possession of the
town and defences of Boston.
1005. Why did not General Howe, after overrunning
tlie Jerseys, push on for Philadelphia, where, by seizing
the Congress, and head of the American Executive, the
war might have been finished at one How?
This great neglect is said to have arisen from hampering
orders from England ; but, whatever was the reason for so great
an omission, it proved the saving of America. Howe, having
been reinforced by a large body of Hessians, and several regiments
of Highlanders, assisted by his brother Lord Howe, with the
fleet, attacked and took the town of New York ; gained several
advantages on the White Plains, took Fort Washington, with
2,500 prisoners ; and shortly after Fort Lee, with a vast
quantity of the enemy's stores and munitions, compelling the
258 THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY.
THE AMERICANS KEFUSE CONDITIONS.— WAE DECLARED WITS JJJ1ANCE
AND SPAIN.
Americans to retreat across the Delaware, above ninety miles;
while in the north, Sir Henry Clinton drove the enemy from the
State of Rhode Island ; the British troops covering the Jerseys
and all the eastern face of the country, from the mouth of the
Delaware to Cape Cod • so that if Washington, with the shattered
remnant of his army, had been followed up, as all the tactics of
war demanded, nothing could have saved the capital from falling*
into the hands of the British, and by this bold achievement
concluding the war.
1006. Why were the terms of accommodation sent over
to America from England, indignantly rejected ly the
Congress ?
Because, by this time, the Americans had recovered from the
deplorable state into which their reverses had thrown them, and
had, in a series of actions, obtained great advantages; and though
they would, some months before, have gladly accepted terms of
reconciliation, they had now become so incensed at the wanton
and horrible barbarities practised on the people by the German
regiments in the British pay, that they refused to hear the
Commissioners, till their independence was acknowledged, and
every ship and soldier withdrawn from their land and waters.
These terms being rejected, the war was consequently continued
with unabated energy.
1007. Why was war declared against France and
Spain, and how was it carried on ?
The Americans having sought assistance from France to
carry out their War of Independence, that nation dispatched a
powerful fleet, with a considerable number of land forces, to
America, to distress the English in the Southern States ; and
further used her influence to induce Spain to co-operate — an
offensive and defensive treaty being ultimately agreed to between
these two powers, and a united fleet of Spanish and French
ships sent to sea, thai? for its number, complement of men,
and weight of metal, was so formidable as to create the most
intense alarm in this country, as this defiant flotilla arrogantly
paraded the English Channel.
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 259
NAVAL EVENTS.— SIEGE OP GIBEALTAB.— POPISH EIOTS OF LONDON, 1780.
IOCS. D'Estang, with the French expedition to the Savannah, was
gallantly beaten off by General Prevost, while Sir Hyde Parker swept the
Gulf Stream, and defended the West India Islands from the enemy, taking
many of his merchantmen. The first measure of the Spaniards was ono
in which all the resources of the nation were stretched to the uttermost to
carry it out with success, and on which Europe looked in doubt and
amazement ; this was no less than an attempt to retake Gibraltar, a siege
which has justly been described as one of the most terrific bombardments
that had ever been known. The united fleet consisted of forty-eight ships
of the line, besides ten floating batteries, great numbers of frigates, gun-
boats, bomb-ketches, and smaller craft, carrying in all one hundred and
fifty-four pieces of brass cannon, and above a hundred thousand men.
Though ill supplied to resist such overwhelming odds, General Elliott, the
governor, defended his important trust with the most determined courage
and vigilance. This desperate battle presented one of the most terrible
and sublime scenes of grandeur ever witnessed: above four hundred
pieces of ordnar.ce were incessantly vomiting forth fire and death, till the
earth shook with the roar of the reverberating guns, and both the rock
and the peninsula on which the fortress stood were wrapped in a dense cloud
of smoke, through which the fire from the red-hot shot and shells gleamed
like a smothered volcano. This scene, terrible in the day, became grandly
awful through the darkness of the night, as, without slack or pause, the
destructive cannonade continued night and day, till at length, their batteries
taking fire, compelled a respite to the deadly storm. Eefore it could be
renewed, Lord Howe, with thirty-five ships of the line, bore up to the
relief of the garrison, and, with his deadly broadsides, completed the victory,
and saved the rock from further molestation. In the following January,
Admiral Rodney captured seven Spanish ships of war, and the greater part
of the merchantmen they were convoying, and, a few days after, defeated, off
Cape St. Vincent, a fleet of eleven ships of the line and two frigates— one
of the Spaniards, a seventy-four, with 600 men, was blown up in the heab
of the action. In the following May, three naval battles were fought and
won over the French in the West Indies, with the capture of twelve valuable
merchantmen. These victories were damped, however, by the loss of five
East Indiamen and fifty merchantmen, captured by the French and Spanish
fleet,— the greatest mercantile loss ever sustained by this country at one time.
1009. What led to the Popish Riots of 1780, or the
Gordon Riots, as they were called?
The passing of an Act in the former session to relieve the
Catholic part of the community from some of the shameful
disabilities imposed on them by an enactment of William the
Third, and which had passed off without giving offence in this
country, till the Scotch, in their bigoted intolerance, created a
riot in Edinburgh, and, setting fire to a Catholic Chapel,
sounded the key-note that set loose all the dogs of discord,
260 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
MILITABY OPERATIONS IN AMEEICA.— INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED
STATES DECLARED, JULY 4, 1783.
theological rancour, and party animosity, which for more than
a week gave the metropolis up to the pillage of an infuriated
mob, led on by a religious madman, and created one of the
most audacious civil commotions that had ever disgraced the
capital.
1010. The ignorant mob, excited by the rabid fanaticism of a self-constituted
body called the Protestant Association, and led on by an insane visiouary>
Lord George Gordon, broke open and fired the prisons, sacked all places of
Catholic worship, and the houses of all persons supposed favourable to the
persecuted Catholics ; broke into the house of the Lord Chancellor Mansfield,
and, heaping his books and manuscripts on a fire kindled for the purpose,
compelled him to look on while they wantonly consumed one of the finest
private libraries in the kingdom; while like fiends they danced round the
blazing ruin they made; or, rushing with torches up and down the streets,
fired every building whose owner did not display a banner from his window,
with " No Popery " in conspicuous letters. The Corporation, like the Ministry,
were too timid to act;. and for more than a week London was at the mercy
of an excited rabble, till the troops, called out, but left to their own dis-
cretion, put an end to scenes that had created the wildest alarm and appre-
hension.
1011. What were the immediate measures that led to the
suspension of the American war ?
The surrender of Lord Cornwallis, with his army and part of
the fleet, together with the City of New York, to Washington
and the American army that besieged him ; the news of which
disaster had such an effect on the nation, that, considering the
immense expense the war had entailed on the country, and the
formidable nature of the league against it, Holland having joined
with France and Spain to aid the revolted colonies, the House
memorialised the King to terminate a war so repugnant to
the feelings of the people, and so fearfully expensive to the
nation. A change of Ministry succeeded, and negotiations were
opened at Paris, and soon after terminated in declaring the
sovereign independence of the British North American States,
4th of July, 1783, after a war of eight years. At the same
time peace was separately concluded with France, Spain, and
Holland; and the country, overjoyed at the termination of the
ong and fearful war, presented addresses of congratulation to
the King.
THE HISTOniCAL REASON WHY. 2G1
PITT MADE PRIME MINISTER.— TRIAL OF WARREN HASTINGS.— PRINCE OF
WALES REGENT, 17S7.
1012. Why was Pitt made Prime Minister?
The King, weary of the weak and vacillating counsels that,
through ten distinct Cabinets during this reign, had covered
the Government of the country with odium, sent at midnight,
on the 19th of December, 1783, to demand the seals of office
from the two Secretaries, and giving them to Mr. Pitt, a new
Cabinet and new Parliament inaugurated the following year,
with wiser counsels.
1013. Why was Warren Hastings, the late- Governor-
General of India, impeached ?
Because he was accused of many acts of tyranny, extortion,
and cruelty, on the chiefs and natives of the Indian Empire,
vhereby the British name was exposed to the charge of avarice
and barbarity, and the Company's possessions and the national
honour endangered and compromised by such disgraceful conduct.
1014. After one of the most remarkable trials on record in the House of
Peers, where his accusation and defence were conducted, both for the im-
portance of the inquiry, the length and patience of the trial, the brilliant
speeches delivered for and against the accused, and for the vast interests
compromised in the question, Mr. Hastings, though believed to have com-
mitted most of the allegations laid to his charge, was finally acquitted,
because it was allowed that the urgent necessity of the Indian affairs at tho
time warranted the performance of the offences alleged against him, and
that the extreme iiature of the occasion justified the unusual and extra-
ordinary proceedings adopted, and that what was done was performed for
the good of the service, and to the best of his judgment. Upon his acquittal,
the East India Company paid the entire expense of the trial, and settled
on their late Governor the sum of £5,000 a-year for life.
1015. Why was the Prince of Wales created Regent ?
In the month of November, 1787, the King was first attacked
with those occasional fits of insanity, that from time to time
recurred throughout the remainder of his long reign ; the Prince
of Wales was, therefore, under certain restrictions of prerogative,
appointed to administer the affairs of the nation, under the title
of Regent.
1016. What great social convulsion IroJce out in
France, and shook the entire of Europe, with its
democratic principles, 'in the year 1789 ?
The French Revolution, by which the King and Queen of that
262 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
STOHMIUG OP SEEINGAPATA.M.— MUTINY IN THE FLEET AT 8PITHEAD.
country were brought to the guillotine, and which, in its horrible
ravages, exterminated the ancient nobility of the kingdom, and
ended by establishing an aristocracy of the people and a military
government, which, after passing through the different phases
of a National Convention, Directory, and Consulate, merged into
an absolute despotism, called the Empire, with the first Napoleon
as its chief.
1017. What led to the great campaign in India, under
Lord Cormvallis, in 1790 ?
The feuds and jealousies between the Rajah of Travancore,
and Tippoo Saib, Sultan of Mysore, the most formidable of all
our adversaries in Hindostan. To save the Rajah from the
overwhelming force of Tippoo, and punish him for his broken faith
to the English, it was resolved to wage war on this powerful
enemy, which, after many splendid achievements, terminated in
storming the capital, Seringapatam, the death of Tippoo, who
fell bravely defending his walls, and the annexation of a large part
of the Mysore country to the British possessions : the two sons of
the Sultan being brought to England for education.
1018. Why, when the signal to weigh zuas given to the
British fleet at Spithead, did the men mutiny, and refuse
to obey orders ?
The alleged cause of this alarming mutiny was the bad pay,
and inferior and unjust rations served to the men, with some
minor grievances ; these complaints constituted the chief demands
made by the men to their Admiral. This dangerous and most
formidable defection of the navy, occurring when the arms of the
Allies and the English, under the Duke of York, in the Nether-
lands, were attended with such ill-fortune, created the utmost
terror in the public mind throughout the country.
1019. The mutiny of the seamen, which threatened to leave the nation
naked to the assaults of the enemy, created universal consternation through-
out the kingdom; after having returned to their duty, the men, under a
belief that Government meant to deal falsely by them, again revolted,
turned the cannon on their officers, and hoisting their mutinous red flag,
took possession of the fleet. The Parliament having passed an act, allowing
additional pay to the men, and the settlement of all tubjects of complaint,
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 2G3
MUTINY AT THE NOEE.— FEENCH ATTEMPT A LANDING IN IRELAND.-
GEBAT NAVAL VICTOEIES.
Lord Howe returned to the fleet, with full powers to grant all their
demands, and the King's pardon; upon which the men pulled down their
flag, and instantly returned to their duty. This danger at Spithead had,
however, hardly been surmounted, when the fleet at the Nore revolted in
the same manner, but, far more insolently, refused all accommodation, unless
their own terms were complied with, and, under the leadership of Richard
Parker, proceeded to blockade the mouth of the Thames. The Government
having refused all terms, but those granted to the other fleet, prepared
floating batteries at Sheerness, to bombard the rebellious ships, upon which
many of them struck their colours, and, growing weary of Parker's tyranny,
returned to their duty, and in a few days every ship in the fleet struck her
flag, and placed herself under the guns of Sheerness, upon which Parker
and his accomplices were arrested, four or five of them executed, and the
rest pardoned, upon the news of Duncan's great victory over the French,
and the nation was thus saved from the most formidable danger that had
ever assailed it.
1020. Why did the French attempt the invasion of
Ireland, and how did the expedition terminate?
The arrogance of the French Directory having- precluded all
chances of peace, they sent a strong squadron of ships, under
Admiral Bouret, to make a descent in Ireland, which had reached
Bantry Bay, when, being opposed by a few ships, and the weather
not admitting the attempted landing, the entire fleet returned to
Brest, with the exception of two ships "of the line, and three
frigates, taken or sunk by the English.
1021. Why were the great victories gained over the
navies of Spain and Holland, off Cape St. Vincent, under
Sir John Jervis, and the Texel, by Admiral Duncan, of
such great importance to the nation, and of such disastrous
results to the French ?
The Dutch, ever subtle and artful in their foreign policy, and
strongly influenced by French interest, had formed themselves
into a Eepublic, on the model of that country, and concluding an
alliance with France, declared war against England, and having
equipped a large fleet, with an army of French soldiers on board,
were ready to co-operate with their new ally, either in a descent
on these islands, or wherever else French interests might direct,
as best suited to strike a telling blow at England. The destruction
of the principal fleets of their two allies, Spain and Holland,
264 THE H1STOKICAL EEASON WHY.
CAPE OP GOOD HOPE TAKEN FBOM THE DTTTCH.— OEEAT EEBELLION
IBELAND, 1798.
within a few months of each other, was a most serious blow
to the ambition of the French Directory; though the means
of saving this country from some meditated evil was only averted
by the loss of her subsequent navies.
1022. If the arms of Britain were less triumphant on the Continent, in this
campaign, her successes on the sea fully compensated for any deficiency on
land. In the previous summer, the British navy rode the ocean, in each
hemisphere, and in every, quarter, with equal glory and triumph. France
Spain, arid Holland suffered in their colonial dependencies by the capture
of a great number of their "West India Islands, while from the latter were
taken the Cape of Good Hope, her most favoured possession, and the colony
adjacent— a conquest that so galled the Batavian Republic, as Holland was
now called, that a small fleet and army were despatched to recover the colony
at all hazard; and while the English Governor was preparing his batteries
to resist the bombardment and landing, a British squadron of eight line-
of-battle and several frigates entered the Bay ; and, at once preparing for
action, placed the Dutch between the range of two fires, at which their
Admiral, seeing their hopelessness of resistance, struck and surrendered
his whole fleet without firing a shot.
1023. WTiy was tlie year '98 so memorable in the history
of Ireland ?
For the breaking out of one of the most formidable and widely
ramified rebellions that was ever developed in that country,
above a million of members being enrolled for the purpose, and
large sums of money subscribed to buy arms; while, to assist
the rising and give system and order to the whole scheme, 1,800
well-armed French soldiers were landed, and took part in the
scenes of outrage that ensued.
1024. The arbitrary and cruel penal statutes enacted in former reigns
against the Catholics had been almost entirely repealed in this, and the
Catholic now enjoyed the same civil privileges, with the exception of sitting
in Parliament or holding Government offices, as the Protestant. Consequently,
all religious or civil grievances were supposed to have been removed. Yet a
society of men was formed, called the " United Irishmen," who were bound
together by oaths and secret signs, ramifying through every grade of society,
affecting even the army, to the extent of one-third of its number, and
spreading over the entire length and breadth of the island; and though,
"Catholic Emancipation" was the professed object of this far-spread con-
spiracy, it is evident by the secrecy observed, the soliciting aid from France,
and the collection of arms, that the real object was a total separation from
Great Britain, and the establishment of an independent state on the model
of the American Union. This dangerous society was originated by an Irish
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 265
'UNITED IRISHMEN" AND "ORANGEMEN." — FRENCH INVADE EGYPT.
barrister of great ability, called Theodore Wolfe Tone, whose object was to
connect the whole Irish nation in one bond, and all pledged to one purpose.
The Protestants, alarmed by the machinations going on, and persuaded such
a union could only be established for some dangerous mischief, formed
among themselves a counter society, and assumed the name of "Orange-
men," after William of Orange, the supporter of Protestant principles. The
animosity engendered by these opposite parties was fruitful of constant
strife, faction, and ill-will. Though the plot of the " United Irishmen "
was discovered, and the ringleaders and chiefs arrested, it did not prevent
the rising on the day appointed, or the murder and violence that was
anticipated from taking place, and though suppressed early in two of the
provinces, in Connaught it raged with frightful fury, till the surrender of
the French rendered longer opposition useless; as it was, above 80,000 lives
were lost, and still more wounded and maimed, before peace was restored to
the harassed country. Of the fourteen chiefs arrested, Emmet and several
others were hanged, but by far the greater number were tried by drum-head
court-martial, and immediately shot or hanged.
1025. Why did the 'French send an armament to Egypt,
and wliat was the result of that invasion and the sub-
sequent conquest of the country ?
The French having been expelled from Hindostan by the
English, and all their valuable possessions annexed to the Com-
pany's settlements, it was the policy of France to endeavour to
regain, not only her former influence in the Indian peninsula,
but strike a bold and severe blow at the wealth and power of
this nation by assailing her in her Eastern Empire. For this
purpose, as a long sea voyage was beset with perils from the
English fleets, that in all latitudes rode triumphant mistress of
the seas, an overland expedition was projected, which would have
the further advantage of injuring our oldest ally, Turkey, who,
as Sovereign of Egypt, it was intended to humble, by wrench-
ing from her the richest province in the Ottoman Empire.
The objects, therefore, were two-fold: first, the conquest of
Egypt, and secondly, an expedition from thence, by the Eed
Sea, to the British possessions in the East Indies.
1026. For the better execution of this purpose, and to blind England as to
the real destination of the armament, rumours of an intended invasion of
Britain were busily circulated, which led to the putting the coast of this
country in a posture of defence, the enrolment of volunteer corps in every
county, the embodiment of the militia, a great accession of the naval
and military strength of the nation, and the dispatching of a fleet, under
Admiral Lord Nelson, to watch the French coast, and observe the enemy's
THE HISTOEICAL BEASON WHY.
ITSLSON DEFEATS PBENCH FLEET AT THE BATTLE OP THE NILE, 1798.
motions. In spite, however, of all Nelson's precaution, the French escaped
his vigilance, and, with an immense flotilla of transports, containing a large
army, under the command of General Bonaparte, escorted by a fleet of
.sixteen line-of-battle ships, frigates, gun-boats, &c., put to sea, and reached
the coast of Egypt, where, being safely disembarked in the neighbourhood
of Alexandria, that city was, after a sharp and hotly-contested engagement,
taken by the French. From Alexandria, Bonaparte led his army into the
interior, fighting several bloody battles with the Egyptian cavalry, the
Mamalukes, till, unable to oppose the disciplined legions of the French, the
country submitted ; upon which Bonaparte led his forces to Acre, a ruined
and neglected city, hastily and inefficiently put in a state of defence by Sir
Sidney Smith, who, with a few English sailors, and a small number of
Turks, defended the place with such obstinate gallantry as to baffle every
nttomyt of the French army, though supported by a powerful train cf
artillery, and commanded by a man who had made his name illustrious, as
the first captain of the age. After losing many thousands of his army in
the trenches, and greater numbers by the mortal pestilence of the country,
the French general was compelled to raise the siege, and leaving his
shattered army in Egypt, fled to France to assume the office of First Consul
of the French Republic. Nelson having at length learned the direction
the enemy's fleet had takeri, followed it to Africa, and on the morning of
the 6th of August, 1798, came upon it in the Bay of Aboukir, and
instantly making his disposition for action, commenced that splendid
engagement, which, subsequently called the "Battle of the Nile," ended in
the total defeat of the French fleet, the blowing up of their admiral's ship,
the death of Casablanca, and the capture or destruction of all their ships,
with the exception of two, that escaped to bear to France the news of this
disaster to their arms, which occurred exactly a month after the landing
rff the army in Egypt. After keeping possession of the country till the year
1S01, when Sir Ealph Abercroinbie, having landed with an English army,
fought the memorable battle of Alexandria, the French were compelled to
surrender, and finally expelled from the country— a success clouded, however,
by the death of the gallant Abercrombie, who fell at the moment of victory.
1027. Why was a British fleet, under the command of
Sir Hyde farJcer and Lord Nelson, sent to the Baltic,
and what was the result of the Battle of Copenhagen ?
To break the coalition formed between the Northern States
and France, ostensibly designed out of resistance to the English
„ right of search," a privilege they exacted of searching all
neutral vessels, to ascertain whether they carried any articles
contraband of war — a power neutral states resented, and which
England as firmly refused to yield; though the real object was
to shut out English merchandize entirely from the Continent,
as it was Bonaparte's belief that if he could effectually prohibit
our goods entering the Continent, he should be able to break
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY. 267
BATTLE OF COPENHAGEN.
the power of the nation, and compel his most determined and
constant enemy, the English, to accept his own conditions of
peace. But the great and immediate object in the coalition
was to recruit his ruined marine by the aid of the Northern
fleet. This hope was, however, frustrated by the capture of
Copenhagen and the destruction of the Danish flotilla.
102S. To the immortal Nelson the nation owes the glory of this great
victory; for when his superior in command, alarmed at the formidable bat-
teries and tremendous armament prepared to receive them, gave the signal
to come to anchor, Nelson, who led the van, and saw that victory was
possible, dared to disobey his orders, and placing his squadron alongside
the enormous guns, after four hours' terrific fighting silenced all the Danish
batteries, took or sank eighteen ships, seven of these being line-of-battle,
with a great number of smaller craft, and the loss to the enemy of 4,000
men, killed at the batteries. This victory, with Vh.e death of the Russian
Emperor Paul, broke up the coalition, and led to peace with the Northern
States. Horatio Nelson, Viscount Nelson, and Duke of Bronte, in Sicily, was
born in Norfolk, 1758— died, 1805. Bred to the sea, this hero early evinced
that prompt decision of character and intrepidity of conduct by which he
was so eminently distinguished. In 1779 he was appointed post captain. At
Touloti, Bastia, and Cabri, he displayed his courage and conduct, When
Rear-Admiral of the Blue and Knight of the Bath, ho lost his right arm
while gallantly signalizing himself at the siege of Santa Cruz, in the isle of
Teneriffe. But the successive victories of the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar
completed the climax of his professional glory. In the battle of the Nile,
nine French ships of the line were taken and two burnt. Before Copen-
hagen eighteen Danish ships were taken, seven of which were of the line.
In Lord Nelson's last and great achievement, the ever-memorable battle of
Trafalgar, the combined fleets were defeated, and twenty ships of the line
taken and destroyed. He fell towards the close of the engagement, in
life victorious, and in death triumphant; his remains being interred in St.
Paul's Cathedral, with unexampled funeral pomp, and at the public expense.
1029. Wliy did Napoleon, immediately after Ids coro-
nation, make proposals of peace to England, and wliy ivere
tliey rejected?
He did so merely to gain time to effect the preparations making
for his great scheme of an invasion of England, and without any
real desire for a lasting peace, and to show Europe that he was
not actuated by motives of aggrandizement. As this country,
however, refused to agree to a separate treaty, or negotiate
without consulting her allies, the useless parade of a moderate
policy fell to the ground.
268 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
EXEETIONS MADE BY PRANCE TO EETEIEVE HEE LOSSES.— THE ALLIEE
FLEET ESCAPES PEOM ITS HAEBOTJES.
1030. What steps did the French take to retrieve their
naval losses?
The exertions of the French, at this time, to rebuild another
navy, were of the most gigantic description : every carpenter in
the Empire was compelled to work in the dockyards ; and, to
expedite their fleet, and construct transports to convey the
army of 100,000 men, who lay encamped at Boulogne, the
artisans worked in relieving gangs both day and night, in every
seaport in France and Holland. These exertions, however,
would have been of little avail, had not Spain, who had had
longer time to recover her misfortunes, been once more in pos-
session of an efficient navy ; with this, joined to the French
ships already completed, Napoleon, though he had given up
the idea of an invasion as utterly hopeless, against so vigilant
a rival, was once more enabled to take the sea, in the hope of
effecting some signal injury on our commerce and possessions.
1031. Why were the Spanish and French fleets allowed
to quit their harbours and unite their forces?
Having long blockaded Toulon with an inferior number of
ships, in the hope of inducing the French to come out and
risk a battle, Nelson purposely stood out to sea to allow them
to escape, trusting to his falling in with them on some part of
the coast. Taking advantage of the freedom granted, the
French fleet sailed out ; and having effected a junction with
their Spanish allies, stood to the westward. Now began the
most memorable chase that naval history has recorded. Twice
Nelson swept the Mediterranean — from Gibraltar to the Levant —
crossed the Atlantic, sailed through the "West India Islands,
and again returned to Europe, baffled, but confident. For
several weeks he continued his search, till, on the morning
of the 21st of October, 1805, the two fleets, to the number of
thirty-three sail-of-the-line, seven frigates, and eight corvettes,
commanded by five admirals, were descried off Cape Trafalgar.
The enemy at once formed in line of battle, presenting the form
of a crescent, and with great coolness awaited the attack — which
Nelson, with his fleet of twenty- six line- of- battle and a few
THE HISTORICAL BEASON WHY. 2G9
ALLIED FLEET TOTALLY DESTROYED AT TRAFALGAR.— DEATH OF KELSON,
OCTOJJEE 21, 1805.
frigates, in two lines, immediately commenced. The action
began by cutting the enemy's line with his van, every vessel
breaking through in succession, in the most splendid order,
and engaging its antagonist muzzle to muzzle. The French
and Spaniards fought with a courage hardly to be surpassed,
while the British seamen, actuated by the memory of former
victories, national honour, and a determination to act up to
their beloved admiral's last signal, "England expects every man
to do his duty," fought with a coolness, determination, and scorn
of danger, that elicited the admiration even of those who best
knew their sterling qualities. Courageous as the conduct of
the enemy was, nothing could resist the impulse and hardihood
of the English ; and the battle, which began at twelve o'clock,
raged for three hours with fearful fury. By that time many
of the enemy had struck ; and their line giving way, all became
confusion. One of the Spanish admirals contrived to escape
with ten ships in tolerable order, six of which were afterwards
captured ; and a squadron of four French line-of-battle got off,
but were in a few days subsequently taken, after a sharp action,
by an equal number of English. Twenty ships-of-the-line were
sunk or taken in the battle ; and of the formidable fleet that
presented so magnificent a spectacle on the morning of the 21st,
but four vessels finally escaped this terrible battle. Great and
unprecedented as this crowning victory was— perfectly annihi-
lating the enemy's navy — the triumph was considered dearly
bought with the life of the renowned commander. The intrepid
Nelson, confident of victory, was struck about the end of the
action, as he walked the quarter-deck, by a ball in the breast;
and though his wound gave him great pain, he continued giving
orders and making inquiries till the last of the enemy had
struck, when, being told of the number, he exclaimed, " Thank
God, I have done my duty," and immediately expired.
1032. What was the consequence of Mr. Pitt's death
on the policy of the Government ?
After a vain attempt at pacific measures by the new Ministry,
the Cabinet was obliged to carry out the former statesman's
views. Lord Grenville succeeded the late minister as first Lord
270 THE HISTOKICAL REASON WHY.
DEATH OF PITT.— BATTLE OE MAIDA HILL.— DEATH Otf POX, 1806.
of the Treasury, with Mr. Fox as Secretary of State for the
Foreign Department, the other offices being filled up by friends
of the administration.
*
1033. William Pitt, second son of the illustrious Earl of Chatham, born in
Kent, 1759 -died 1806. This great statesman was appointed Chancellor of the
Exchequer when only twenty-three, and continued Prime Minister, with
very little interruption, till his death, which happened at a critical period
for England. During the arduous discharge of public duty, he of course
met with warm partisans, and inveterate enemies ; his perseverance in the
measures which he deemed just has been termed obstinacy, his magnanimity
in changing them when the national welfare required it, inconsistency. But
all parties concur in acknowledging that his talents, integrity, disinterested-
ness, and love of country, were eminently worthy of praise and imitation:
the country decreed him public funeral honours, and granted £140,000 for
the payment of his debts.
1034. Why were British troops sent to Calabria, and
what was the result of the expedition?
The French having invaded Naples, and deposed the reigning
Sovereign, who fled to Sicily, there implored the assistance
of England, who dispatched a fleet to protect the island, and
landed a small army of 10,000 men in Calabria, under General
Stuart, to oppose the further progress of the enemy, and if
possible expel them from the country; an operation which was
in part effected by the victory of the English at Maida Hill,
in which 6,000 were killed, or made prisoners, with all their
arsenal and stores, and the independence of Sicily secured.
1035. What philanthropic good did Mir. Fox effect,
when admitted to tlie Ministry, which Pitt was unable,
through his twenty years of office, to effect ?
The total abolition of the African slave-trade.
1036. Of what did Mr. Fox die ?
He died of dropsy on the 13th of September, and expired
without a struggle, in the 59th year of his age, leaving a name
beloved and venerated.
1037. Why was the Granville Cabinet IroTcen up on
the death of Mr. Fox?
From the King's obstinacy in resisting the introduction of
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
271
ME. PEBCIVAI- PIEST 10ED OP THE TEEASUEY.— EXPEDITION TO THE
BALTIC.
measures for Catholic Emancipation, which the Ministry were in
a manner pledged to bring forward, and which they considered
absolutely necessary for the tranquillity of Ireland.
1038. The Right Hon. Charles James Pox, n, distinguished statesman and
orator, and the great rival of Mr. Pitt, was born 1748, and died 1806. Parties
have differed, and will still continue to differ, as to his politics, but all will
allow the honesty of the man, and all must bow to the conviction of his
lofty mind and gigantic talents. His nephew, the late Lord Holland,
inherited much of his genius and zeal for the popular cause. He was dis-
tinguished, also, for his learning, wit, and hospitality.
POPU1AE MODE OP TBAVELLIKG AtfD CONVEYANCE IK THE EARLY
PAET OP THIS EEIGtf.
1039. Whom did the King call upon to form a new
administration ?
Mr. Percival, who, with Lord Liverpool, and other partisans
of the late Pitt Cabinet, constructed a Ministry out of these
elements.
1040. Why was a second expedition sent to Copenhagen
in the year 1809 ?
Napoleon having, by a series of brilliant victories, prostrated
the whole of Northern Europe, first by annihilating the
272 THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY.
AFFAIBS OF EUEOPE.— THE DANISH FLEET CAPTtJBED BY THE ENGLISH.
Austrian power, on the bloody field of Austerlitz, or the Battle
of the three Emperors ; again by crushing the Prussians, in
the terrific battle of Jena, wher three hundred thousand men,
and eight hundred pieces of artillery, created a din and carnage
fit to decide a universe; and finally on the snows of Elau and
Friesland, bending the stubborn Russian to his will, had so
completely subjected all the Northern States and Empires of
Europe, as to remain the great arbiter of the destinies of the
nations subjected to obedience by the power of French
arms. Having after each victory compelled the defeated State,
as a sine qua non of peace, to expel all English commodities
from their dominions, Napoleon now satisfied himself that,
having formed a barrier from the Bay of Biscay to the North
Pole, against the introduction of British commerce, that this
country must soon feel the severity of the blow aimed at her
pertinacious existence. His next step was in the direction of
Denmark, where, by the offer of advantageous terms, and by
overawing her by the neighbourhood of large armies, he com-
pelled her Government to negotiate a treaty for the secret delivery
of the Danish fleet to France, with which, added to the few
remaining ships in the French harbours, some fortunate blow
might be struck against England, always the most resolute and
determined of his enemies.
1041. What steps did England take to frustrate this
Admiral Gambier was sent with a fleet, conveying an army
under General Cathcart, to prevent the Danish fleet falling into
the hands of the French.
1042. What was the result of the expedition?
The Danes having refused to negotiate, or break with
France, and, further, indignantly rejecting the idea of sur-
rendering their fleet in trust to the British, General Cathcart
landed his troops, and a sharp engagement was fought with,
considerable loss to the Danes, who still obstinate not to come
to terms, the town was bombarded for three days, and not
till it had been wrapped in flames, and reduced to a heap of
THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY. 273
BKITISH TROOPS SENT TO SPAIN.— SIE ABTHTTR WELLESLEY LANDS IN
PORTUGAL.— BATTLE OB VIMIEBA.
ruins, would the gallant enemy yield ; but his capital no longer
tenable, and the smouldering streets filled with dead, they were
compelled to surrender, and with bitter mortification see their
splendid navy, consisting of eighteen sail of the line, fifteen
frigates, six brigs, and twenty-five gunboats, manned by
British seamen, navigated through the Sound as captives of
war, and taken as an honourable pawn to England.
1043. Why were British troops under Sir David Baird
sent to Spain?
At the solicitation of the Supreme Junta, who, on the flight
of Charles and Ferdinand to France, where they had been
decoyed by Napoleon, concluded peace with Britain, and solicited
the aid of men, arms, and money, to repel the invader, who
was already pouring his conquering legions over their frontier.
1044«. Why was Sir Arthur Wellesley sent with a
British army to Portugal ?
To oppose the French, who, having overrun the country,
and deposed the house of Braganza (the Royal Family having
been escorted by the English fleet to Brazil), were committing
frightful ravages : the opportunity was thought favourable for
annoying the enemy, forming a good basis for future operations,
and from where, at any time, a highway might be opened into
the heart of France.
1045. After a few severe skirmishes, Sir Arthur advanced his army to
Vimiere, where he first encountered the French under Junot, one of
Napoleon's most esteemed generals. In this battle British discipline and
courage were too much for French enthusiasm, the enemy being totally
defeated, and compelled within a few days to surrender prisoners of war, to
the number of 30,000.
1046. Why did Sir John Moore retreat to Corunna?
Sir John advanced nearly to the centre of the kingdom with
20,000 men, to co-operate with the Spanish General Cuesta,
but the latter general having been defeated, and Sir John
Moore, remaining ignorant of the fact, and believing the road
open, pushed on, till within dangerous proximity to the enemy,
when, to avoid being surrounded by the French army, com-
274 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
ilETEEAI OF SIS JOHH MOOEE, AND BATTLE OP COBUNIfA.— WALCIIEEEN
EXPEDITION, 1809.
manded by Napoleon in person, he was compelled instantly to
retreat with all expedition to the nearest port of embarkation;
and though this movement has been regarded as a masterpiece
of military tactics, it was one most disastrous to the army; the
country through which the retreat was conducted was totally
destitute of provisions, while, to add to the distress of the troops,
the season was most inclement, the ground deeply covered with
snow, and the enemy, in vast numbers, constantly harassing
their flanks and rear; many of the soldiers perished from the
intense cold, and for miles the line of march was covered with
dead horses, that, falling lame, had to be shot to save them
from the hands of the enemy.
1047. Galled past endurance by the harassment of the French, Sir John
repeatedly formed Ms men, and offered battle on the most advantageous
terms ; but, content with skirmishing, the enemy always declined the
challenge. In this way, exhausted, without shoes, and paralyzed with the
cold, fatigue, and insufficient food, the wreck of the British army reached
the walls of Corunna, and beheld with joy the transports waiting to receive
hem. The sight that cheered the British exasperated the French, who,
resolving, if possible, to compel a surrender, poured their masses down the
neighbouring heights, determined, at all hazards, to prevent the embarka-
tion. Soult, who commanded tha enemy, immediately began the battle,
but weary and worn down as they were, the men were still dangerous ;
and, throwing aside all fatigue, fought with the energy of fresh troops, and
after a sanguinary and unequal contest, the French were successively
beaten back at every point, and the after shipment of the British troops
effected with safety. Early in the action, Sir John Moore was struck with
a spent cannon-ball, while leading on his gallant Highlanders; he only
lived to hear the shout that proclaimed the field his own, when this brave
soldier, like another "Wolfe, died, with the resignation of a hero.
1048. What was the Walcheren expedition?
A powerful army of 40,000 of the finest troops that ever
quitted this country, with a considerable fleet, was sent to
Flanders in the year 1809, to enter the Scheldt, and destroy
the enemy's ships and arsenals at Antwerp ; but, in conse-
quence of the gross mismanagement of Lord Chatham, to whom
the expedition was entrusted, in stopping short at Flushing,
and encamping his army in the morasses of Walcheren, a deadly
swamp at the mouth of the Scheldt, this splendid army was
utterly disorganised, and after, losing many thousands by the pesti-
THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY. • ' 275
THE JUBILEE.— SIE P. BUBDETT SENT TO THE TOWEE.— CAMPAIGNS IN
SPAIN.
lential exhalations of the place, the fever- stricken remnant of the
army was brought back to England in a deplorable state of
disease, spreading the pestilence to all around.
1049. Why was the 25th of October, 1810, lieU as a
Jubilee ?
Because on that day the King had reigned fifty years.
1050. Why ivas Sir Francis Burdett committed to the
Tower ?
For a breach of privilege, in having as a member of the
House written a letter in Cobbett's " Register " upon the imprison-
ment of John Gale Jones, a proceeding that led to vast commo-
tion and serious popular disturbances.
1051. What was the progress of events in Spain ?
In the campaign of 1809, Sir Arthur Wellesley defeated the
French, under Soult, on the Vaiega, and effected a junction
with Cuesta ; fought and won the famous battle of Talavera, but,
the enemy being strongly reinforced; Sir Arthur was compelled
to fall back on Portugal, where he constructed those celebrated
defences around Lisbon known as the lines of Torres Vedras.
Sir Arthur, now created Lord Wellington, after several engage-
ments at the opening of the following campaign, pursued
the French, who were compelled to retreat, and defeated them
at Fuentes d'Honore, and again more signally at the battle
of Albuera. These successes were followed in the succeeding
campaign by the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, capture of Badajos,
and the desperate battle of Salamanca, upon which Wellington'
and his army entered Valladolid and Madrid. The vast successes
of this campaign brought new honours and rewards to the great
victor, who, by his series of brilliant battles, had raised the
military reputation of this country to the highest pitch. The
greater part of the next campaign was occupied in short, but
brilliant, actions with the enemy, as they fled before the English
in their retreat through Spain, till Jourdan, making a halt to
rest his columns at Vittoria, gave Wellington an opportunity
of adding another wreath to his crown of fame in the signal
THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
THE BKITIS1T, XTJJDER THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, DRIVE THE FBENCH
OUT OF SPAIN.— PBINCE OF WALES EEGENT, 1812.
victory on the plains of Vittoria, in which the rout of the
enemy was so complete that they lost baggage, camp, and a
hundred and fifty guns, with the whole material of their army.
The next brilliant success was the storming and capture of
St. Sebastian, which led the way for the entrance of the British
army into France, where Bayonne was invested; and while
Marshal Beresford took Bordeaux, Wellington advanced to
Toulouse, where Soult and his army were for the third time
defeated, and where the news of Napoleon's abdication suspended
all hostilities for a time.
1052. Why was the Prince of Wales created Regent?
In consequence of the state of mental apathy into which the
King had fallen on the death of his beloved daughter, the
Princess Amelia; and as his state rendered it impossible to con-
sult him on the subject, a bill was brought into the House and
passed, empowering the Prince to assume the office of Regent
till such time as the King's health warranted his resuming the
regal authority.
KEGENCY OF THE PBINCE OF WALES.
FROM 1812 TO 1821.
1053. Why was Mr. Percival assassinated in the lolly
of the Rouse ?
Out of a feeling of revenge, by a man named Bellingham,
who having suffered loss and imprisonment in Russia, which he
thought the country ought to be responsible for, and deeming
the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Premier stood in the way
of redress, watched the latter's coming to the House, and as Mr.
Percival entered the lobby leading to the House of Commons,
drew a pistol and shot him through the heart, May llth, 1812.
1054. Why did the Americans declare war against
Great Britain ?
In consequence of the vexatious restrictions and embargoes laid
on their commerce, by the Orders of the Council, which though
TBE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
C77
WAE WITH THE UNITED STATES DECLAEED.
repealed as equally hurtful to the general commerce in this
country, was not promulgated till lour days after hostilities
had commenced, by the Americans issuing letters of marque
and reprisals ; consequently the act was kept in force as far as
America was concerned.
CASALS INTRODUCED AT THE CLOSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH AND
BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CEXTUBY.
1055. What was the result of this war with the United
States ?
The war was carried on in an extremely vague and desultory
manner ; the whole attention of the country being directed to
France, and the great resources of the nation sent to the
scat of war in the Peninsula, she had little time to think or
care about the hostilities on the other side of the Atlantic.
278 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
THE FRENCH ARMY DESTROYED IN THE SNOWS OZ? RUSSIA. — AFFAIRS IN
AMERICA.
1056. The Americans, attempting to strike a blow in Canada, were worsted
in several encounters, lost the Fort of Detroit, General Hall being at
last compelled to surrender the army under his command to the British.
This blow was followed up, in the autumn, by another defeat at the Battle
of Queeustown, on the Niagara frontier, and the capitulation of General
"VVodsworth, and nine hundred men. At sea, the success was more in their
favour, their navy having captured two British ships of war— a success owing
to the greater size of the American ships, their greater complement of men,
heavier metal, and number of guns.
1057. What great political event marked the campaign
0/1812,?
The invasion of Russia by the French, and the total destruction
of the magnificent army with which Napoleon had so confidently
set out on his mission of subjugating the North ; and of five
hundred thousand fighting men who passed the Ilussian frontier,
so high in hope, and confident of success, not more than thirty
thousand returned with their beaten captain ; the rest had fallen
in action, perished in the snow, or been made captives by the
pursuing Muscovite.
1058. What was the result of the next American
campaign ?
Highly honourable to the British: early in the year Major
Proctor attacked the Americans at French Town, Major
Winchester and five hundred of his men being taken prisoners.
Major MacDonnell, having crossed the St. Lawrence, took Fort
Ogdensburg, and captured above seven hundred stand of arms,
thirteen cannon, and a large quantity of stores. Several other
severe actions were fought with defeat and rout to the enemy,
whose only success in the campaign was the taking of Little
York, in Upper Canada.
1059. What were the political consequences to France
of the failure of the Russian expedition ?
It at once sealed the prestige of the French arms, and was
the beginning of the end of Napoleon's career. The Russians,
but feebly opposed by the French, advanced into Germany.
Prussia, encouraged by the presence of the Czar's army, threw
off her compelled submission, recruited her armies, and declared
THE HISTOBICAL EEASON WHY. 279
MIUTAEY AFFAIKS OB TUB CONTINENT.— BATTLE OP LEIP3IC.— ABDICATION
OP NAPOLSON.
war ; the mediatized German States began to shake off their
subservient lethargy, and join the greater powers; Hamburg*
revolted, and expelled the French; Sweden, taking part with
the Northern Confederacy, put her forces in motion to assist
the Allies ; while Austria, out of family ties, preserved a doubtful
neutrality ; at the same time, in the Peninsula, the French
armies were being gradually forced towards the Pyrenees.
1060. Why did Austria join the allies ?
After the battle of Lutzen, Austria, having negotiated a truco
between the Allies and Napoleon, had promised that if Napoleon
refused the terms proposed, the most important of which was
the evacuation of Germany by French troops, to declare for the
Allies. Napoleon having haughtily refused compliance with the
demands, Austria at once declared war, and set her army in
motion,
1061. Why ivas the Battle of Lcipsic the immediate
cause of Napoleon's downfall ?
This fearful' battle, the most bloody and important of any
fought by Napoleon, was contested with a rancour and obstinacy
unusual in civilized warfare, and on this spot the French
Emperor seems to have ventured his last stake. In consequence
of the immense loss sustained by his army in this battle, Napoleon
was unable to make head against the overwhelming fores of the
united power of Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, and Sweden. In
this conflict, which lasted for two days, the French alone left
80,000 in the streets, on the ramparts, and in the river, which
was choked with the dead. In the retreat that followed, Napoleon,
regardless of his suffering army, pushed on to Paris, where he
was soon after compelled to sign his abdication.
1062. What were the final terms of the abdication ?
That Napoleon should renounce all present and future title
to the Crown of France, in lieu of which the small island of Elba
was ceded to him as a kingdom, with a yearly pension to be paid
by France of £24,000 a-year, in quarterly payments, and wnich
England guaranteed to see paid.
280 THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
BEaTC-RATION OB LOUIS XVIII.— BRITISH DEFEATED AT NEW ORLEANS. —
DECLARATION OP PEACE.
1063. What occurred in France on the abdication of
Napoleon ?
The Bourbons were restored to the throne, and Louis the
Eighteenth, the brother of the unfortunate Louis the Sixteenth,
beheaded in the Revolution, after residing in England for nearly
twenty-three years, returned to France to ascend the vacant
throne.
1064. What public event occurred in "England, after
the ratification of peace ?
The Sovereigns, their Ministers, and most of the great
commanders of the Allied army, came to England and were
publicly entertained by the Prince Regent.
1065. Why tvere the 'British defeated at New Orleans ?
In consequence of the admirable disposition of the Americans,
who, having an open town to defend, made a breast-work of
woolsacks, behind which, and flanked by a battery of ten guns,
their men, in safety themselves, were enabled to pour in a
withering fire on the advancing British. In this unequal
contest, the most severe during the war, the British lost
above two thousand men, with their two commanders, while the
loss of the enemy is reported at only seventy.
1066. Why did the American Ministry consent to come
to terms, and conclude a peace with this country ?
The severe chastisement which they had suffered at
Washington, and the heavy loss inflicted on the navy, along
the coast, by Admiral Cochrane, had tended greatly to subdue
that arrogance which the success of a few naval duels had
given them.
1067. The vanity of the Americans received a severe rebuke in an engage-
ment between the Shannon aud the Chesapeake, the former a British, the
latter an American ship of war. This action was fought off Boston, and
was witnessed by thousands of the inhabitants ; and so confident were
they of the success of their countrymen, that a supper was ordered to wel-
come them on their victory, to which the captive British officers were to bo
invited, to give additional grace to the triumph. The commander of the
Shannon, Captain Broke, had long been anxious to engage the Chesapeake,
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 281
DUEL BETWEEN THE SHANNON AND THE CHESAPEAKE.
although she was superior iu tonnage, number of guns, weight of metal, and
complement of men. Accordingly, while lying off Boston, hi June, 1813,
Captain Broke sent a challenge to Captain Lawrenco, of the Chesapeake, to
meet, " ship to ship, and try the fortune of their respective flags." The letter
was written in a very gentlemanly style, with great candour and spirit ; it
concluded in the true spirit of a British sailor, anxious only for a battle:
"Chooso your terms, but let us meet." Before the challenge reached the
Chesapeake she was observed to be under way. She came down upon the
Shannon's quarters with three ensigns flying; she had also flying at the
fore a large flag, inscribed with these words : " Free trade and sailors'
Tights," upon a supposition that this favourite American motto might para-
lyze the efforts, or damp the energy, of the Shannon's men. The vessels
were soon iu action, the shot of the Shannon proving very destructive. After
ten minutes' fighting:, Captain Broke perceived that the Chesapeake's quarter-
deck division were deserting their guns ; he instantly called out, " Board ! "
and, accompanied by the first lieutenant and twenty men, sprang upon the
Chesapeake's quarter-deck. Here not an officer or a man was to be seen;
upon her gangways about twenty Americans made a slight resistance. These
were instantly driven towards the forecastle, where a few endeavoured to
get down the fore hatchway, but in their eagerness prevented each other;
a few fled over the bows, and reached the main-deck ; and the remainder
laid down their arms. The Chesapeake's fore-top was now stormed by Mid-
shipman Smith and his top-men, about five in number, who either destroyed
or drove on deck all the Americans there stationed. This gallant young
officer had deliberately passed along the Shannon's fore-yard, which was
braced up, to the Chesapeake's, also braced up, and thence into her top.
After those on the forecastle had submitted, Captain Broke ordered one of
his men to stand sentry over them, and sent most of the others aft, where
the conflict was still going on. He was in the act of giving them orders to
answer the fire from the Chesapeake's main-top, when three treacherous
Americans, seeing they were superior to the British then near them, had
armed themselves afresh. Captain Broke parried one fellow's pike, and
wounded him in the face; but instantly received, from the man on the
pikeman's right, a blow from the butt-end of a musket, which bared hia
skull and stunned him. Determined to finish the British commander, the
third man cut him down with his broadsword, and at that very instant was
himself cut down by one of the Shannon's seamen. Captain Broke and his
treacherous foe now lay side by side, each, although nearly powerless, strug-
gling to regain his sword, when a marine despatched the American with his
bayonet. Captain Broke was severely wounded by this affair; and while a
seaman was tying a handkerchief round his commander's head, he called
out (pointing aft), "There, sir, there goes up the old ensign over the Yankee
colours." The Captain saw it hoisting, and was instantly led to the quarter-
deck, where he seated himself upon one of the carronade-slides. Even after the
British colours were flying on board the Chesapeake, some of her men kept
firing up the main hatchway, and killed a British marine. It was then, and
not till then, that Lieutenant Falkiner, who was sitting on the booms, very
properly directed three or four muskets that were ready to be fired down.
Captain Broke told him to summon them to surrender if thoy desired quarter
He did so, aud they replied, "We surrender," and all hostility ceased
282 THE IIISTOEICAL SEASON WELT.
NAPOLEON EETUENS TO FEANCE.— THE DUNDEED DATS.— PEUSSIAKS
DEFEATED AT LIGNY.
Between tho discharge of the first gun, and the period of Captain Broke's
boarding, eleven minutes only elapsed; and, in four minutes more, the
Chesapeake was completely his. Happily a better state of society and public
feeling now exists between the two nations, and their friendship is cemented
by a commerce which is the pride and happiness of both.
1068. Why was Napoleon's return to France called
" The Hundred Days ?"
Because, between the time of his first landing from Elba,
to the signing of his second abdication, embraced exactly a
hundred days.
1069. In that time Napoleon collected a powerful army, and, as dispatch,
was of the utmost consequence to his future success, he, as early as possible,
put his troops in motion, hoping to fall on the different armies of the
Allies, quartered in various parts of the frontiers; and before they could
unite their forces, or individually take the field, encounter them singly,
and cut them up in detail. For this purpose he advanced with great
rapidity to the Sambre, on the banks of which the Prussians, with some
Austrian and Russian troops, were encamped to the number of one hun-
dred thousand men, under Blucher. Having driven in his outposts,
Napoleon came upon the main army at Ligny, where the celebrated battle
of that name was fought; the first of that series of fearful encounters, that
made this short, but terrible campaign, so grand and illustrious, which,
after five hours' hard fighting, terminated in the retreat of the Prussians,
with great loss. Dispatching one of his marshals with a strong corps to
prevent the junction of Blucher and Wellington, Napoleon turned to
encounter the British, whose army, quartered round Brussels, had been
hastily collected from its cantonments ; a large body, with some Hanoverian
and Dutch troops, having been pushed forward to Quatre Bras, while the
main army was collected in tho rear, and taking up its position around
the height of Mount St. John, in the Plain of Waterloo. Ney having been
defeated in his attempt to drive the British from the Quatre Bras, or Four
Roads, the troops towards evening fell back, and after another sanguinary
encounter at Genappe, the Duke of Wellington concentrated all his forces
at Waterloo, where the final struggle was to be decided ; a battle .that drove
the French army in total rout from the field, and hurried Napoleon back
to Paris, where, having signed a second abdication, he attempted to leave
France for America, but finding all the coast guarded, he surrendered to the
English. The important and decisive battle of Waterloo was fought on
Sunday, the ISth of June, 1815, between the British, Hanoverian, and Dutch
troops, to the number of seventy-five thousand, of which the British did not
exceed thirty-three thousand, under the Duke of Wellington, and the French,
commanded by Napoleon in person, with a force of infantry, artillery, and
all his cavalry, of one hundred and ten thousand. This battle, so fiercely
contested and obstinately disputed, in which the French performed prodigies
of valour, and were only surpassed in heroism by the indomitable courage of
their victors, was obtained at a fearful sacrifice of life; the loss of the British
and their allies, irrespective of the Prussians, who came on the field at
THE IIISTOEICAL EEASON WHY. 283
PliESCH TOTALLY DEFEATED AT WATERLOO.— NAPOLEON SURRENDEBS,
AND SENT TO ST. HELENA.
tho final charge of the army, was thirteen thousand killed and wounded,
with six hundred officers and eleven generals. The French are supposed to
have left twenty thousand on the field, exclusive of the slaughter that took
place in the pursuit. Much has been said about the victory being due to
the timely arrival of tho Prussians, but the battle was virtually decided
long before Blucher made his appearance, and Wellington only waited their
coming up to give the decisive charge, well knowing that his own men, after
so long a day's action, were ill-suited for an active pursuit. Had the Duko
of "Wellington commanded the splendid army of veterans he led into France
from the Peninsula— by his own statement years afterwards— "Waterloo would
have been decided in six hours. But the greater part of his army in
Flanders was composed of fresh regiments, many of them raw levies, and
most of his allies, especially the Dutch troops, not to be relied upon. Tho
battle of Waterloo, therefore, properly considered, and in this light, and
remembering who their antagonists were, was one of the most remarkable
battles and splendid victories to be met in the records of history.
1070. Why ivas Napoleon sent to St. Helena?
As a place of greater security and protection than any place
of .confinement to be found in Europe, and as it was evident,
by his breaking his parole and escaping from Elba, that no
obligations of honour, no stringency of treaty, would restrain
him from in future effecting, if possible, his escape, and again
plunging Europe into war, in hope of recovering his lost sceptre,
it was deemed expedient by the Allies to imprison him for life
in some remote locality, where, removed from the tide of
European politics, and excluded from the aid and machinations
of his friends, escape would be impossible, — in fact, some prison,
where, out of respect to his former career, a certain freedom of
body might be guaranteed with perfect safety of person ; and as
it was most inexpedient to retain him in Europe, and the other
contracting powers possessed no colony suited to the purpose,
the safe custody of his person was confided to England, not only
because she possessed those advantages in which they were
deficient, but because he had voluntarily surrendered to that
power, being well assured that his safety would be more guaran-
teed by England than by any other power.
1071. The island of St. Helena, rising grand and boldly from the bosom
of the South Atlantic, twelve hundred miles from the nearest coast, seemed
destined by nature in its solitary grandeur as the prison of some illustrious
captive. This island rock, powerful by nature, and made impregnable by
art, rises abruptly from the sea, presenting, on four-fifths of its circum-
ference, an unbroken rampart of towering granite, on which the long deep
28'i THE JIISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
NAPOLEON ARRIVES AT ST. HELENA, 1815.— AIAKEI AGE OF THE PRINCESS
CHA.BLOTTE.
swells of the Atlantic break in ceaseless roar. On its only approachable
side the rocks shelve down in broken declivities till they meet the water-
line, where the land and rock, receding for a short space inwards, create
a miniature bay or harbour. "Within this cleft or rift, as it appears, of the
island, is built the town, covered and protected from every eminence by
forts and batteries, with each muzzle of its armament raking the little
bay and span of beach that forms the only landing on the rock. On a
wild and broken plateau, higher up and more inland, is situated Longwood,
the house of the former Governor, and afterwards celebrated as the resi-
dence of the fallen Emperor, no longer the arbiter of nations and the dictator
of Europe, but the exiled General Bonaparte. On the 15th of June, 1815,
Napoleon began that scries of battles that terminated with "Waterloo; on
the 15th of July he surrendered to the English, and on the 15th of October
he landed at St. Helena. And here, in the society of four devoted friends,
their wives and children and domestics, he spent the remaining six years
of his life, like a caa;ed lion or fettered eagle, gazing from the rocky pinnacles
of his solitary prison on the unbroken stretch of water that on every side
made the same unvarying horizon of sky and ocean. Deserted by his wife
and child, and the bitter reflections of his ruined greatness, soon began to
affect his temper, which became captious, irritable, and querulous, venting
itself in petty quarrels with the Governor of the Island, Sir Hudson Lowe,
whom he accused -but most unjustly— of acts of tyranny and a studied
system of personal insult -charges that have long since been fully and com-
pletely rebutted. Napoleon's want of veracity, when it suited his purpose
to disguise the truth, has long been matter of fact, though his charge
against Sir Hudson Lowe charity willingly attributes to the inroads of the
painful malady— cancer of the stomach— that on the 8th of May, 1821,
terminated the life of this great and extraordinary man. His body was
interred in a spot selected by himself soon after his arrival on the island,
and where it remained for more than twenty years ; till the British Govern-
ment surrendered his remains to France, to be entombed beside the departed
heroes of the nation in the Hospital of the Invalids.
1072. What event of interest occurred in the year 1816 ?
The marringe of the Princess Charlotte, the daughter and
only child of the Prince Regent, with Leopold, Duke of Saxe
Coburg, which event took place on the 2nd of May, Parlia-
ment granting a pension of £60,000 a-year for the household
of her Royal Highness.
1073. Wliy was Lord Exmouth sent with a fleet to
Algiers ?
To demand from the Dey satisfaction for many acts of
outrage committed on British subjects, and, in defence of the
common claims of humanity, to protest against the atrocities
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 285
BOMBAEDMENT OF AIGIEKS BY LOED EXMOUTH. — ITS DEFENCES.
perpetrated by Algerine pirates upon Christians of all denomi-
nations and of all nations ; and to demand not only immediate
redress, but a guarantee that such horrible cruelties as those
perpetrated on unoffending Christians should from henceforth
cease.
1074. What reply did the Algerine Sovereign make io
the British demands ?
He treated them with contempt; and having had time to
put the town in a posture of defence before the arrival of the
fleet, the Dey, when apprised of the admiral's resolution to
proceed to extremities unless satisfaction was at once given,
contemptuously pointed to his forts and bastions, as an answer
to his ultimatum.
1075. The City of Algiers is situated between two hills, having a long train
of batteries in front over the harbour, and as the town is built on an
incline, a succession of batteries rise with the streets one over the other,
the apex being crowned with a strong fortress, while on a tongue of land
that runs abruptly into the sea and forms a side of the harbour, was
erected another range of strong batteries, the whole defences mounting a
thousand guns; making Algiers one of the most formidable positions in
the world. And as every piece cf ordnance was levelled or depressed to
rake the harbour, threatening annihilation to any ship that might come
within their range, it might well appear, to the over-coulldent Dey, as an
act of perfect madness for any one glancing over his bristling cannon, that
from the water line to the lofty citadel presented their brazen throats, to
hazard his ship within the jaws of such a powerfully defended harbour.
1076. How did Lord Exmouth attack the place?
Besides the land defences already described, the harbour
contained the whole Algerine navy, ranged with their broad-
sides to the offing ; but undaunted by such a formidable de-
monstration, Lord Exmouth, in the Queen Charlotte of 110
guns, placing himself alongside the Mole, immediately swept
the sea wall and its line of batteries with his broadside, while
the other vessels of the fleet, boldly ranging alongside the
enemy's flotilla, opened their fire with murderous execution
both on the town and navy. In this manner the battle raged
with, desperate fury for several hours, the Algerines fighting
with a desperation almost amounting to frenzy, till the darkness
of night, and the sudden rise of a terrific storm of thunder and
238 THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
THE DEY CONSENTS TO COME TO TEEMS.
lightning, put a end to the engagement, and compelling Lord
Exmouth, for the safety of his fleet, to seek a wider effing.
When day broke on the following morning, the City of Algiers
presented a scene of the most frightful havoc and confusion :
the batteries, even up to the7 citadel, lay in crumbling ruins,
while more than two-thirds of the city itself was reduced to
ashes; the guns were overthrown, the bastions unmanned and
desolate, and the few ships not in flames or sunk, lay perfect
wrecks on the water ; the place' presenting a picture of absolute
desolation and smoking ruin. No victory could be more
complete ; the arrogance of the Dey was completely humbled ; his
city, navy, magazines, arsenals, were prostrate and destroyed ;
and nearly seven thousand of his troops lay dead by their
prostrate guns and battered ramparts.
1077. The attack on Algiers, whether considered as to its object, or tho
success with which that object was accomplished, must be regarded as ono
of the most glorious achievements of the British arms. Resolved to punish
tho wanton outrages committed by that piratical state on the laws of
nations and the rights of humanity, Lord Exmouth first sent a message to
the Dey, with the terms which he demanded; these not being acceded to,
his lordship still waited for them to fire first. When, much to the gratifica-
tion of the British, who were impatient for the attack, he saw the flash of
one of their guns, before he heard the sound, he exclaimed with great
alacrity, " That will do ; fire, my fine fellows ! " A tremendous broadside was
immediately given with great cheering, which made havoc among the
people on shore. In this engagement the most determined bravery was
displayed. Some of the sailors, wanting wadding, impatiently tore their
jackets in pieces, and crammed buttons and all into the guns ; while the
soldiers' wives on board some of the ships supplied their husbands with
powder and shot during the engagement. During the action, the Leander
lay for a considerable time exposed to a most destructive fire of shot and
shells. Everyone was at his post; and among others Mr. Colthorp, master's
mate, was ordered into the fore-top, where he remained unhurt during the
hottest of the conflict. When the batteries were found to slacken their fire,
he was called in to perform some duty on deck. He came down smiling,
and taking the lieutenant by the hand, pointed to the Mole, where the
Algeriue fleet lay on fire, and in a most impressive manner, with his eyes
flashing fire, and his whole countenance full of animation, exclaimed in the
language of Byron, in his poem of "The Corsair:"—
"Much has beeji done, but more remains to do.
Their galleys burn! why not their cities too?"
Scarcely had the words died on his lips, when a round shot struck him on
the head, and blew it to atoms. Lord Exmouth escaped unhurt most
miraculously, for his coat was cut to pieces b.y musket-balls and grape-shot.
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 287
THBEE THOUSAND CAPTIVES RESTORED TO LIBERTY BY LORD EXMO
STATE O? THE COUNTRY AFTER THE PEACE.
1078. What was the result of this splendid achievement ?
The Dey agreed to abolish Christian slavery for ever, to
deliver to the victors all the captives of whatever nation in
his dominions, to return all the money he had received within
the year for the redemption of slaves, and to make restitution
and a public apology to the British Consul, for the indignities
to which he had been subjected.
1079. The Dey refunded three hundred and eighty- two thousand five
hundred dollars, to the Governments of Naples and Sardinia, and set at
liberty three thousand and three Christian slaves, all of whom were delivered
up to the British admiral. When the boats of the fleet came alongside the
Mole to receive the unfortunate captives, who, of all ages, sex, and nations,
were driven to the water's edge like a ghastly flock cf famished and hideous
spectres, their lamentable appearance so affected the British seamen, that
they could with difficulty suppress the indignation that fired them, on
beholding such a mass of liumau misery ; while the poor slaves, suddenly
dragged from hideous dungeons, or from brutal toil, at first incredulous as
to their good fortune, believing they were rather collected to suffer some
new tortui-e, gazed with wild and bewildered looks on all around; but when
at length made certain of their release, and that liberty was indeed before
them, as if actuated by one spirit, the whole mass of human beings at once
lifted off the hats and coverings from their heads, and, half choked by their
tears of gratitude, shouted, in their different tongues, "Long live the King
of England, the eternal father, and the English admiral who has delivered
us from this second hell!" The scene was so affecting that Lord Exmouth
said, in his dispatches home, " that to. have been the humble instrument,
under Divine Providence, in breaking down this horrid system, and effecting
so much good, was happiness enough for one man's life-time." The entire
number of slaves liberated were in all 3,003:— Neapolitan subjects 2,050,
Sardinian 409, Romans and Tuscans 190, Spaniards 226, Portuguese 1,
Greeks 7, Dutch 32, French and Austrian 4, and of English 13.
1080. What was the state of the country after the
peace ?
Great distress prevailed among the agriculturists ; and the
manufacturing interest suffered severely, especially in Stafford-
shire, Nottingham, and South Wales, as well as among the
silk-weavers of Spitalfields, which led to great commotion and
tumultuous meetings all over the country, and a serious riot
took place in London. In the House the Ministry endeavoured
to renew the property-tax, but the project created such wide-
spread alarm that the bill was thrown out, the Ministers
suffering a defeat upon the division of thirty-seven.
288 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
THE SPANISH MONARCH RESTORES THE INQUISITIOK.— HABEAS CORPUS
ACT SUSPENDED.— DEATH OB THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE, 1817.
1081. What remarJcable event occurred in Spain?
The re-establishment of the Inquisition in all its horrors,
which on the entrance of the French into Spain had been
abolished ; but no sooner was the infatuated Bourbon restored
to his throne than he revived this frightful tribunal, before
which some of the noblest in the land — patriots who had fought
for the restoration of their King — were, by his connivance, ques-
tioned and horribly tortured by this court of spiritual juris-
prudence.
1082. Wliy was the Haleas Corpus Act suspended?
In consequence of the angry tone of public opinion, the
numerous seditious meetings held all over the country, consequent
on the general distress and want of employment among all
classes of the labouring poor. Great riots took place at Spa
Fields and at Derby, and the public were in a state of great excite-
ment, which was considerably increased by the trial of Thistle-
wood and Watson for conspiracy and sedition, and the execution
of the ringleaders of the Derby rioters. All these causes made
it expedient to suspend this bulwark of constitutional liberty —
the Habeas Corpus.
1083. What event of national sorrow threw a gloom
over the nation in the years 1817 and 1818 ?
The death, on November the 6th, of the Princess Charlotte
of Wales, the wife of Prince Leopold, the daughter of the
Regent, and the heir apparent to the throne of these kingdoms.
This amiable and beloved lady, the hope of the nation and the
idol of the people, had only been married eighteen months, when
her young and exemplary life was prematurely closed in child-bed,
only surviving three days the birth of her still-born child. The
sorrow of the nation at this great calamity, which left the
direct succession to the throne a subject of apprehension and
uncertainty, was not a passing and complimentary grief for the
death of an illustrious personage, but an unalloyed and heart-
felt sorrow for one whose gentleness of nature, humanity and
tenderness of disposition, extreme affability of deportment and
THE HISTORICAL BEASON WHY. 289
BOYAL MAEKIAGE3 Iff 1818.
benevolence of heart, had personally endeared her to the people;
so that, on the news of her untimely fate, her death was mourned
in every home of England as an individual grief.
1084. On the 18th of the following November, after a long illness, borne
with meek and pious resignation, expired Queen Charlotte, the wife of George
the Third. She died of dropsy, at her Palace of Kew, in the 75th year of
her age. Though possessed of few personal attractions, she was by no
means destitute of those graces and accomplishments so necessary for the
high station she was called upon to fill. As a wife and a mother, her
conduct through life was an example and a pattern that every mother in the
kingdom endeavoured to imitate. When she came to this country, the
court was corrupted with the licentiousness and vice of the former reign, bu*
by her bright example she raised it to be the envy of foreign States, and
the example for succeeding ages; and while most. Continental courts
were disgraced by vice and immorality, that over which Queen Charlotte
presided was celebrated for the purity of its manners, and the moral rectitude
of those who were permitted to enter its virtuously guarded precincts. Of
this there can be no doubt, that to the virtues and moral qualities of this
lady the English nation is indebted for that regeneration iu public morals
and domestic habits, which succeeded the dissolute laxity of honour and
principle brought in by the Second Charles, and elaborated into a system,
called Intrigue, by the First and Second George.
1085. Why were so many Royal marriages celebrated
in 1818?
The sudden death of the Princess Charlotte left the
succession in a most unsatisfactory state, and without any pre-
sumptive heir ; all the Royal brothers of the Regent being
unmarried, and the separation existing between his Royal
Highness and the Princess of Wales, rendering it unlikely that
another heir would ever follow from that unfortunate union.
Under these circumstances it became necessary to seek for
suitable alliances for the King's sons. Accordingly, on the 7th of
April, the Duke of Cambridge married the Princess of Hesse-
Cassel, and at the same time the Princess Elizabeth, the
King's daughter, was united to the Prince of Hesse -Hombourg.
On the llth of the following July, the Duke of Kent was
married to the Princess of Leningen, and the Duke of Clarence
to the Princess of Saxe-Meningen, on each and all of whom
the nation bestowed an abundant revenue.
290 THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY.
OBIGIK OF THE EADICALS.
1086. Why were tlie political reformers icJio created
so much discussion in the country at this time called
Radicals ?
From the sweeping and absolute measures they advocated,
who, eschewing all half or palliative reforms, insisted upon
going to the root of every abuse, and attacking1 the fundamental
evil ; from whence, and their party cry of Radical Reform,
the term in time became the political name of a new party
in the State, though, from the principles enunciated being
largely embraced by the lower orders, and the most turbulent
of the people, the name of Radical, in its early adoption, was
used by the more moderate as a term of reproach, sig-
nifying a noisy and unreasonable demagogue — a party whose
existence was a symbol of anarchy and strife. At the present
day, however, the word possesses a very different interpretation.
1087. feadical doctrines continued to gather strength among the mechanics
and lower orders, and large bodies collected in various places, marching in
bauds with music and flags, with their orators at their head. Above 80,000
assembled in this manner at Manchester, their appearance and order so
alarming the magistrates that they called out the yeomanry to disperse
them. These citizen cavalry dashed among the assembled thousands and
with their sabres cut down great numbers, and riding over the affrighted
mob soon cleared the town of the political operatives, but at the cost of
several lives, vast numbers being wounded, and many maimed for life. This
impolitic measure produced such a feeling of resentment that the operatives
turned out in all parts of the country, especially in the manufacturing
towns, and in large bodies paraded the streets ; in Glasgow especially the
demonstrations became formidable, and more than one encounter with the
military took place ; the volunteer rifles were called out and lined the streets
by night and day, and ib was not till the arrival of some field-pieces, with a
troop of Horse Artillery, that the " Radicals," as they were called, were
finally suppressed. As it was, several lives were lost, and three of the ring-
leaders executed for high treason, one of the number being beheaded after
hanging. Hunt, one of the principal orators, and some others, were tried
and imprisoned for lengthened terms, and after a year of much cormnotiou,
public order and quietude were finally re-established.
1088. When, and of loliat disease, did George the
Third die ?
He died on the 29fch day of January, 1820, at the place of
his usual residence, Windsor. Early in the previous November,
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 291
DEATH OF GFOEGE THE THIKD, 1820.
the firm, indeed robust health which the King had always
enjoyed abruptly gave way, and though some dangerous symptoms
that supervened were quickly subdued, they eventuated into a
settled debility, which indicated approaching death, and though
the fatal event was averted for the time, his strength gradually
became more impaired, till he finally expired without a sigh or
moan, from a complete decay of nature, dying in the 60th year
of his reign and the 82nd of his age, and outliving his son,
the Duke of Kent (who died suddenly of inflammation of the
lungs in the 53rd year of his age), by exactly eight days.
1089. As already stated upon the accession of George the Third, this is
the most remnrkjible reign in the whole annals of the British history, not
alone from being the longest period that any Sovereign ever sat on the
throne of this country, but for the great social and political events that,
from its dawn to its termination, took place at home and abroad, within
that cycle of time. Though naturally of a humane and pacific disposition,
unswayed by the pomp of war or the ambition of conquest, and with a
taste that inclined to the arts of peaee, the encouragement of genius,
and the development of civilisation, it was this monarch's misfortune,
v/ith the exception of two or three brief intervals of peace, to be engaged,
in almost ceaseless wars — wars which, for their length, the immense
burdens they imposed on the people, and their frightful sacrifice of life,
are without parallel in the history of nations. This circumstance is to
be attributed, in a great measure, to a resolute obstinacy of disposition on
the part of the Kinar, which made him adhere, with remarkable tenacity,
to his preconceived opinion on all political subjects, and also in some
respect to ministers who, in the commencement of his reign, it was his
misfortune to call to his counsels— men whose shallow abilities made them
unable to take comprehensive views of great events, or direct the more
acute, but often erring, judgment of their master. The impolicy of the
American war, opposed as it was on natural feelings to the unanimous wish
of the people of this country, was fraught with more momentous con-
sequences than the mere loss of our early settlements; for there can be
no doubt that though the vice and luxury of the French Court, and its
regime of old nobility, had, by exciting the contempt and hate of the
nation, prepared men's hearts for the perpetration of those political
horrors, that, in its subsequent Revolution, converted France into a
shambles of human blood, the direct stimulant to revolt was caught
from the American War of Independence; and from the pure patriotism
of Washington and his Government, the French demagogues drew the
crude outline of their Utopia. And to this Europe owes the advent of that
remarkable man, whose ambition was inimical, indeed, impossible with the
co-C'iistence of freedom, and for whose suppression, the war this country
waced so long, and often single-baud, d, against all Europe, was, in the cause
of humanity, a holy one. If, as a shrewd politician and wise Sovereign.
L 2
292 THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
NOTES UPON THE REIGN OP GEORGE THE THIRD.
George the Third is unable to claim equal honour with other monarchs
who have held the sceptre of these realms, as the father of his people, one
ever solicitous for the welfare and happiness of his subjects, and as an
example of domestic truth, moral rectitude, and modest piety, his private
and public character may challenge comparison with any King who ever
lived. He found on his accession the whole frame of society unhinged
and polluted, and by making his nobles personally oblige him by abstaining
from masquerades and card-playing on the Sunday, slowly effected that
reform in the external respect to the day, which, in imitation of French
manners, it had become the fashion to profane. The people, who in all
things always copy the aristocracy, soon took a pleasure in following the
example set by their King in his household; so that when he resigned his
sceptre, the morals of the English people became the pattern for Europe.
George the Third was a great and steady patron of the arts, and to literature,
science, and the drama, a munificent friend ; his taste was eminently practi-
cal ; and all his recreations and amusements thoroughly English ; and he
taught the nation, by his own example, to find their greatest happiness at
home and in their families. For the last ten years of his life he had been
afflicted with blindness, which, with the obscuration of his mental life, left
him in his old age a wreck to be pitied. The last time that he ever
publicly appeared was at the Jubilee, when the people devoted themselves
to rejoicing on his having completed his fiftieth year as their King; and
as the blind old man passed through the throng on his way to St. Paul's,
he was the object of universal love and veneration. Up to the end of
George the Third's reign, nations chronicled their epochs of glory by deeds
of blood, by battles, sieges, and campaigns, by the pirate flag of slaughter
and oppression; but a new era then began to dawn on Europe, and one that
has already far advanced its reign within these happy islands. We have come
to chronicle time by deeds of public good, by trophies of scientific improve-
ment, by works that civilise as they teach, and the further they spread
the more indelibly they grave on the face of time the fact, that Knowledge
is Power, and Christian "Wisdom Strength.
NOTES UPON THE REIGN OF GEOKGE THE THIRD.
In Literary Taste, George the Third was supposed to be somewhat
deficient, though he collected a noble library, and during his reign
literature was certainly not neglected, as such names as Johnson, Gold-
smith, Cowper, Burns, Paley, Robertson, Blair, Scott, and Gibbon eminently
attest in every branch of polite letters.
The Graphic Arts may be said to have been almost created, so extensive
were the improvements that this branch of pictorial art underwent in the
long series of years that extended from 1760 to the erid of the reign in 1820.
In 1765 a Royal Charter was given to a society of artists, who, for some few
years previously, had exhibited their own pictures; and this Charter was
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY. 293
NOTES UPON THE EEIG* OP GEORGE THE THIRD.
also accompanied by an annual donation from the Royal purse of £10<V to
encourage the society in the furtherance of its meritorious exertions. The
Royal Academy was founded some few years after the other; removing the
reproach, which up to that time had existed, that this country possessed
neither a home nor a school for pictorial art. But now, through private
benevolence and national aid, public galleries have been opened in different
parts of the metropolis, where the finest creations of the great masters
may be admired and studied by the connoisseur and student. Among the
celebrated men who raised the Fine Arts to so enviable a distinction, during
this reign, we must mention the names of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Morlaud,
Sir James Thornhill, Benjamin West, Wilson, Hogarth, Gainsborough,
Stothard, and Wilkie— men who, in the different branches of their art, have
left a deathless reputation, a fame that will outlive the wear of canvas
and the endurance of oil.
The love of Art, and an improved taste for the beautiful, soon began to
exert a strong influence on every branch of domestic and commercial utility,
as the excellence attained in architecture, furniture, dress, and in all the
daily accessories of life fully testified. Formerly, the mirrors, tables, and
indeed, all kinds of household furniture, were copies of the gorgeous French,
or heavier Italian school, but now the public taste was altered ; instead of
resorting to foreign nations for the pattern of articles of ornament or utility,
home artists designed for domestic wants, and with a beauty arid finish
of execution that immeasurably surpassed the innovations from the
Continent; from that time our useful arts have been developed with a
perfection that may challenge the world to surpass, or even equal.
Maritime Discoveries progressed in this reign with astonishing rapidity,
in consequence of the indefatigable researches of Captain Cook, Carteret,
King, Vancouver, and others. By the unwearied investigation of these, and
those undaunted explorers, Bruce, Mungo Park, Clapperton, and others, the
words that had hitherto disfigured our maps as "Unknown Regions" were
swept away, and fruitful colonies and busy towns sprang up on what had
been represented as arid sands or a deadly morass. Nor was it a mere
accession of territory that these discoveries brought to the country: the
sciences were greatly advanced; botany, mineralogy, and natural history
largely extended, and the sphere of knowledge on several branches received
an amount of confirmation that lifted them into sciences.
The door of inquiry and improvement being once open, investigation
poured in like a tide, and Philosophy and the Sciences being brought in to
every purpose of life, the secrets of nature became revealed facts; new
systems of worlds, and erratic planets were discovered in the most distant
heavens; and the miner's lamp, that placed the subterranean explorer
above the danger of the fire and choke-damp, was invented.
Great as the marvels were which the application of science to social
purposes was effecting, there were two agents yet untried that were destined
to yield results the most astounding, and consequences the most momentous,
to nations and peoples, that ever had or probably ever can again occur.
204 TJIE HISTORICAL RSASOM WHY.
NOTES UPON THE KEIGN OP GEOEGS THE THIBD.
Franklin having demonstrated the identity of lightning and Electricity, and
drawing it from the air, like Prospero, mado its potent principle subservient
to his uses, the knowledge thus acquired vent on expanding and developing
till now, highly organized in our own time, it has become the subtle courier
of the world, doing our business in the bowels of the earth or mid air,
and, on the wings of thought, —
" "Wafting7 a sigh from Indus to the Pole."
Great and wonderful as electricity is, it is of infinitely less consequence to
the welfare of mankind than the sister discovery, the Steam-Engine, the great
leveller of all distinction, and universal teacher. This giant monopoliser,
that has as many hands as purposes, is now applied to every pursuit of life,
and is the motive power of all manufactures. Electricity, the steam-engine,
and gas, were discoveries that, singly, would have been enough to crown
any ap;e with the laurels of a wondrous triumph, sufficient to have marked
out the century as an epoch of vast and imposing consequences. The
Marquis of Worcester is commonly regarded as the inventor of the steam-
engine; but perhaps the most that can justly be said is, that he was the
first person who imagined the possibility of constructing such a machine.
The individual who actually first constructed an engine, for raising
•water by the alternate force and condensation of steam, was Captain
Savary, who published a;i account of his invention in a small tract, called
"The Miner's Friend." In 1705, Nevt'comen obtained a patent for an im-
proved steam-engine, and in 1717, Henry Beighton made some farther im-
provements, one of which is generally allowed to have been that of causing
the steam-cock to be opened aud shut by the machinery, a man having been
previously employed for the expi-ess purpose. A few other improvements
were made by different persons, but they did not affect the general action of
the engine; and although defects in its power had been noticed, their cause was
unknown, until 1765, when, happily for the prosperity of the arts and manu-
factures of Britain, the subject engaged the ingenuity of Mr. Watt. The
model of a Nevrcomen's engine fell into his hands to be repaired; and in
this, he presently discovered the immense loss of steam occasioned by its
admission into the cylinder, just cooled for condensation; indeed, he went
so far as to ascertain, by experiment, that half the steam of the boiler
•was thus lost. But the circumstance that excited his greatest surprise
was, that the injected water gained infinitely more heat, than if a
quantity of boiling water, equal to that required to form the steam, had
been added to it. In this dilemma he is understood to have consulted the
celebrated Dr. Black, whose discoveries on the subject of heat were then
the theme of general wonder; and from him he obtained such an explana-
tion of the difficulty, as enabled him so to alter the construction of the
engine, that, with rather less than one-third the quantity of steam, it
could produce the same power as one of equal dimensions on Newcomen's
plan. But, great as was this improvement, it formed but a small part of
the successful achievements of llr. Watt in this department of mechanics.
The application and utility of the engine he extended iu various im-
portant ways; and at last arrived at that climax of improvement, which
THE HISTOEICAL E.EASOX WHY. 29-5
NOT2S UPON THE EEJGX OF GEORGE THE THIED.
consisted in making the steam serve to elevate as well as to depress tlio
piston. An engine upon this plan, executed at Mr. Watt's manufactory at
Soho, near Birmingham, was first employed at the Albion Mills in 1778.
In Manufactures, no branch flourished so greatly as that of cotton, till
our textile fabrics have become almost the staple of our trade; and so ex-
quisitely have these been elaborated, that this country has become the fore-
most in the world for the beauty and delicacy of their texture. For this
great source of trade the country is indebted to Richard Arkwright. When
Sir Richard Arkwright went first to Manchester, he hired himself to a
petty barber ; but, being remarkably frugal, ho saved money out a very
scanty income. With these savings he took a cellar, and commenced busi-
ness; at the cellar-head he displayed this inscription — "Subterranean shaving,
with keen razors, for one penny." The novelty had a very successful effect,
for he had soon plenty of customers ; so much so, that several brother
tensors, who before had demanded twopence a-piece for shaving, were obliged
to reduce their terms. They also styled themselves subterranean shavers,
although they all lived and worked above ground. Upon this, Arkwright
determined on a still further reduction, and shaved for a halfpenny. A
neighbouring cobbler one day descended the original subterranean tonsor's
steps in order to be &haved. The fellow had a remarkably strong, rough
beard. Arkwright, beginning to lather him, said he hoped he would give
him another halfpenny, for his beard was so strong it might spoil his razor.
The cobbler declared he would not. Arkwright then shaved him for the
halfpenny, and immediately gave him two pairs of shoes to mend. This
was the basis of Arkwright's extraordinary fortune ; for the cobbler, struck
with this unexpected favour, introduced him to the inspection of a cotton
machine invented by his particular friend. The plan of this Arkwrighfc got
possession of; and it gradually led him to the dignity of knighthood, and
the accumulation of half a million of money.
In Agriculture the progress of this country within the sixty years of
George's reign has been truly wonderful, not alone in a just knowledge of
the soil, but in an improved mode of drill-sowing, by which space is
economised, and the land made more productive; while the knowledge of
artificial manures, and steam appliances in husbandry, have raised the calling
of a farmer to the dignity of a science. A complete history of English
agriculture from 1750 would comprise names worthy of record from almost
every county, and the name of George the Third would worthily appear at
the head of the list. He had a considerable practical knowledge of the
science, and contributed, under the denomination of Ralph Robinson, to
Young's monthly periodical, " The Annals of Agriculture." His devotion to
the pursuit did much to recommend it to others ; and he was often fondly
and proudly spoken of as " Farmer George."
The general introduction of Canals and Macadamized Roads, in the early
part of George's reign, did much to expedite travelling, the roads of Great
Britain having become the envy and admiration of Europe ; and that these
should have been carried on amidst such incessant wars, is a matter as sur-
096 THE HISTORICAL EEASOX WHY.
NOTES UPON THE EEIGX OF GEOEGE THE THIED.
prising to observe as it is gratifying to record. The progress of turnpike
legislation may be thus stated :— From 1700 to 1710, twelve Turnpike Acts
received the royal assent; from 1710 to 1720, twenty-one Acts; from 1720 to
1730, seventy-one Acts ; from 1730 to 1740, thirty-one Acts ; from 1740 to 1750,
twenty-nine Acts: thus far existed one hundred and sixty-nine Turnpike
Acts. From 1750 to 1760, one hundred and eighty-five Acts were added;
from 1760 to 1770, one hundred and seventy- five Acts; so that five hundred
and thirty such Acts existed in the year 1770. These Acts were limited to
twenty-one years' duration, the Legislature presuming that tolls might not
continue to be always necessary: but since the year 1830, the term has
been prolonged to thirty-one years, and most of the Turnpike Acts have
been renewed. In 1838 (the period when railways began to supersede roads)
the total number of Turnpike Trusts exceeded eleven hundred. The debts
of the Trusts at that time amounted to £8,500,000, of which £1,000,000 was
unpaid interest. They paid £300,000 interest annually upon bond debts
amounting to £7,100,000. The annual income from tolls was £1,800,000; their
expenditure in making, maintenance, and improvements, £1,064,000; in
management, £135,000.
In 1760 the net customs duties paid into the Exchequer amounted to
£1,969,934 : and in 1815, the customs, with the duties and war taxes, amounted
to £10,487,522 ; the consolidated excise, with duties, &c., to £26,562,432; stamps,
post-office, assessed taxes, &c., produced £29,393,848,— making a total net
revenue of £66,443,802. At the accession of Queen Anne, the National Debt
amounted to £16,000,000. It was thought by Sir Robert Walpole that it
might be increased to a hundred millions, but beyond that it was declared
to be impossible to carry it without producing national bankruptcy. Yetf
in spite of such fears, it has gone on increasing, and in 1820 had reached to
the amount of £869,000,000,
THE HISTORICAL SEASON WHY. 297
ACCESSION OP GEOEGE THE FOTJETH.
•~N^^X>^^N^^^XVVVA^VVV^\xvx^ok^^^v^^^yv>/Xj^vv/v^^^^/x
GEORGE THE FOURTH.
FKOM 1820 TO 1830.
1090. Who succeeded to the Throne on the death of
George the Third?
His eldest son, George, Prince of Wales, who, for the last
ten years of his father's life, had exercised nearly all the func-
tions of Royalty as "Prince Regent."
1091. Why was the Cato Street Conspiracy formed?
The object for which these infatuated men banded together
seems totally inexplicable, unless we suppose that, under the
excitement of a heated imagination, they considered themselves
as worthy patriots, and that, in plotting the murders they meant
to execute, they should perform a meritorious work.
1092. What was the nature of this conspiracy ?
The object was to murder all his Majesty's Ministers, fire the
city, open the prisons, and form themselves into a Provisional
Government ; and, that this might be done effectually and at once
the plan was arranged to attack the Ministry in a body while
collected at the house of Lord Harrowby, where a Cabinet
dinner was to be held, and the mode of procedure was as fol-
lows : Arthur Thistlewood, their leader, was to knock at Lord
Harrowby's door with a dispatch-box in his hand, and upon
gaining admission give his box to the porter to convey to the
Secretary, as if containing papers of instant import : while the
porter retired to give the box to a servant, Thistlewood was
to open the hall- door and admit the whole band, who, being
fully armed, were to rush into the room where the assembled
Cabinet were seated, and, while some guarded the door, the
rest were to fall upon the Ministers, and ruthlessly destroy them.
1093. Sow was so horrible a scheme detected?
By one of the conspirators, who, disliking the whole proceed-
298 THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY.
THE CATO STEEET COSSPniACY.
ing, secretly informed the authorities, who retained him in their
service, and used him as a spy, to inform them from time to
time of all that took place among the band. A short time
before the hour intended for the execution of this scheme} a
large body of armed police suddenly surrounded the stable in
Cato-street, Edgware-road, where the conspirators assembled, and
boldly dashing up the ladder that led into the loft, confronted
the whole body, dressed and armed, and that moment preparing
to set forward. To the summons from the magistrate who
accompanied them, to surrender, the conspirators drew their
swords and stood on their defence, upon which Smithers, one of
the officers, rushed forward, and received Thistle wood's sword in
Ins breast, immediately falling dead in the loft. The lights
were then blown out, and a scene of wild confusion, deadly
struggle, and uproar ensued, hardly possible to be described: at
this moment the military, who should have been on the spot
before, arrived, and nine of the party were secured. Thistlewood,
who had escaped, was captured next morning in his bed; and
the following day the remainder of the conspirators, the whole
being conveyed to Bow-street for examination.
1094. Thistlewood, the chief actor in this murderous plot, had originally
been bred as a druggist in Newark ; he then became a subaltern officer in
a militia regiment, leaving this to take a situation in a regiment of the
line, ordered to the West Indies. Resigning his commission, he passed into
America, where he acquired strong Republican notions; these extreme
opinions led him to France, where he arrived during some of the bloodiest
days of the Revolution under Robespierre. After witnessing the execution
of that sanguinary miscreant, he returned to England, where he became
mixed up with Dr. "Watson's forgery, for which he was tried, but acquitted.
Upon being set at liberty, he challenged Lord Sidmouth, for which he was
fined and imprisoned. From this time the sole bent of his mind, and after
his release the exclusive employment of his time, was the study of revenge.
For this he associated with the lowest, most abandoned, and violent of the
disaffected whom, he could find, till he had made himself the nucleus of a
horrid scheme of murder and arson ; for immediately on the commission of
their butchery, the barracks, certain private dwellings, and many of the
public buildings were to be fired, and proclamations which were already
printed distributed, calling on the people to rise and vindicate their
freedom. So systematic and well-considered had been the plot, that a
number of short but deadly swords had been made, and so ingeniously
contrived that though the point was double-edged for some inches, the
broad back of the weapon was serrated to answer the purpose of a file
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 299
DIFFICULTIES WITH QUEEK CAROLINE.
or saw, and while, from its length, width of blade, and exquisite temper,
capable of inflicting a mortal stab, when used on guard it would dash off
the lunge of a bayonet, and as a strong tool, saw through a door, or file oir
an iron bar ; besides these uses, its moveable handle adapted it to other pur-
poses, so that, as well as a means of defence and attack, it became in the
hand of an artisan a tool of universal use. Though malignity and revenge
may account for the desperate part taken by Thistlewood in this conspiracy,
it is difficult to find a motive strong enough to account for the part taken
by the other poor and infatuated beings who leagued with him, to overcome
the evident risk— indeed, the moral certainty— there was of detection and
failure.
1095. What was the punishment inflicted on the
conspirators ?
Thistlewood, and four of his leading accomplices, were, ac-
cording- to the tenor of their sentence, hanged, beheaded, and
quartered, the horrid butchery occupying nearly an hour and
a half.
1096. Wliy did the Queen go to Westminster Alley
during the coronation, and demand admittance?
To assert her right, as the lawful wife of the King, to be
crowned with him ; his Majesty, having been for many years
separated from his wife, had resolved that she should not share
his dignity, when, by the course of nature, he should be called
to the throne. Upon the death of the late King, Queen
Caroline, who had resided for some years on the Continent,
returned to England, and adopted measures to induce the King
to do her the justice of sharing his coronation.
1097. What offer was made ly the Ministry to the
Queen ?
That if she remained on the Continent, a pension of £50,000
a year would be fixed upon her for life, but that if she
persisted in coming to England, a bill of pains and penalties
would be brought into the House against her.
1098. Why was such a measure proposed, and how
did the Queen answer the offer made to her ?
The threatened bill was to be based on some alleged errors of
300 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
DEATH OP QUEEN CABOLINE, 1821.
conduct, of which the Queen was said to have been guilty, in
connection with one of her attendants called Bergami. The
proposal was received with scorn by her Majesty, who, in
opposition to all advice, immediately returned to England, and
having demanded to be admitted to the coronation, and being
refused by the officers on guard, she published an account of
her treatment to the nation, in a letter in the public journals.
1099. What steps were taken after these appeals to
the public ?
Witnesses having been brought from Italy, and the House
of Lords having heard evidence, and the Ministry obtaining a
majority of nine votes in favour of the bill, abruptly dropped
all proceedings, and the trial fell to the ground.
1100. What effect had these proceedings on the Queen ?
They preyed so deeply on her spirits, that her health
rapidly declined, and after a short illness of eight days, she
died suddenly at Hammersmith, on, the 7th of August, 1821.
1101. Why did the populace rise and make such a
violent demonstration at her funeral ?
Because orders had been given to take the funeral possession
by the outskirts of London on its way to Harwich, where it
was to embark on its journey to the Continent, when the
body was to be taken for interment in the family vault of
Brunswick ; but the populace, resolved that the funeral should
pass through the City, assembled in vast numbers, overpowered
the military, made it return, and led it through the heart of
the city, till, having reached Mile End, it was allowed to
proceed.
1102. What places did, the King visit after his
coronation ?
First Ireland, where he landed on the 12th of August, and
a few weeks later set out on a visit to his Hanoverian domin-
ions, which, during the late war, had been overrun and oc-
THE HISTOKICAL SEASON WHY. 301
THE PANIC 05 1825.
cupied by the French; and on the 15th of August, 1822, the
King landed in Scotland, entering the capital in great pomp,
followed by many of the Highland clans, and troops of gentle-
men on horseback, dressed in the costume of the time of Henry
the Eighth. Though holding levees in the palace of Holyrood, and
giving audience in the Castle, his Majesty resided, during his
stay in Scotland, in the Duke of Buccleugh's palace at Dalkeith,
the present noble owner being then a minor.
1103. What led to the remarkable failures that so
seriously shook the money market in 1825 ?
Over-speculation in what were called Joint Stock' schemes :
projects that in themselves were, many of them, useful and
meritorious, but fell to the ground and were ruined, from the
excessive cupidity of those entrusted with their management.
1104. What military events occurred at this period?
The Algerines, having forgotten the chastisement inflicted by
Lord Exmouth, had resumed their piratical dealings, when, to
intimidate them from their practice of making Christian slaves>
Sir E. Neale was dispatched with a squadron of ships to
demand satisfaction. Upon sight of the British fleet, the Dey
was seized with such alarm, that he immediately entered
into a treaty, and promised to abolish the slavery of Christian,
subjects for ever.
1105. The former Dey had been strangled by his own guards, either in
consequence of his dreadful cruelties, or, as is not impossible, out of revenge
for his adhesion to the pledge given to the English to refrain from piracy,
—a means of profitable gain too agreeable to Mahometan cupidity to be
easily or willingly surrendered.
1106. What other military achievements took place?
A tribe of the Ashaiitees having committed great depredation
on our African possessions, and killed Sir Charles Macarthy,
and afterwards mustered in great force, were attacked by Sir
Charles Pardon with 600 Europeans and several thousand
natives, and totally defeated with great slaughter. In the East
the Burmese, having commenced hostilities on our Indian
302
THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
SIE ABCHIBALD CAMPBELL AND LOUD COJIBESMEKE.
were opposed by Sir Archibald Campbell and an
Anglo-British force, and after a series of decisive engagements,
following the enemy up to the heart of his kingdom, they
ABCHITECIUBE OP OLD LONDON.
were compelled to sue for peace, which was only at last
granted them upon ceding; four of their richest provinces to the
English, and paying all the expenses of the war.
1107. Immediately after this splendid accession of territory, Lord Comber-
mere attacked with 20,000 men the usurping Rajah of Bhurtpore in his
capital fort, one of the strongest in India, and which after a brave defence
and gallant assault was carried; the treasure, stores, and spoil taken
exceeded the expense of the entire expedition. The remaining forts in the
Rajah's dominions, intimidated by this success, at ouce surrendered, and
the who]e population returned to their duty.
THE HiSTOETCAL SEASON WHY. 303
CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION-, 1829.
1108. Why was tlie lattle of Navarino fought ?
The allied powers of England, France, and Russia, desirous
to see the Greek nation re-established in independence, for which
the Greeks had been fighting1 for some years, made urgent
representations to Turkey on the subject, and to back their
remonstrances sent a combined fleet to the coast of Greece
under the command of Admiral Stopford, to watch over the
interest of the Greeks ; the Turkish and Egyptian fleets having
been allowed to enter Navarino Bay, under a promise that the
inhabitants on the coast should be respected. But, forgetting
the promise given, the Egyptians commenced operations by
ravaging the country ; upon this Sir Edward Codrington, with
the allied fleet, moved nearer in to the bay, when the Turkish
admiral, incensed at being enclosed, began firing on the advancing
fleet, upon which a general action ensued, in which, after an
obstinate and bloody battle, the Ottoman fleet was totally de-
stroyed.
1109. What ivas the last important measure of this
rcirm ?
The passing of the Catholic Emancipation Bill in the session
of 1829.
1110. After many years' struggle, the rejection of innumerable bills, and
the breaking up of many Cabinets, this great and important measure, that
removed the last restriction on tha Catholic subject, and the last of those
measures of pains and penalties imposed on the Papists by the Puritans,
was finally swept away by the determination of the Duke of Wellington,
who, having resolved that tho law should no longer disgrace the legislature,
succeeded in abolishing so hateful an injustice.
1111. Of what did George tlie Fourth die?
George the Fourth died from the effects of water in the chest,
but his constitution, long enfeebled by a life of extreme gaiety,
was a prey to many sufferings, filling his last hours with
great physical anguish ; he lingered from the middle of April
till the 26 tli of June, 1830, when death at last relieved him
from the sufferings he had endured so long. As a King, his
taste for magnificence and splendour was a source of vast
304 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
ACCESSION OP -WILLIAM THE FOtTKTH, 1830.
expense to the country, and though the judgment that dictated
it was often more than questionable, the manner in which it
was expended was eminently regal.
WILLIAM THE FOUKTH.
FROM 1830 TO 1837.
1112. Who succeeded George the Fourth on ike Throne ?
The Duke of Clarence, the late King's brother, who ascended
the throne under the title of William the Fourth.
1113. Why was a Reform Bill introduced into Parlia-
ment ?
Because the country having changed, without any corresponding
alteration in the constituency having been made for centuries,
and various other abuses having crept into the representative
system, it was determined by the Liberal party to initiate a
measure calculated to be acceptable to the people.
1114. The passing of this measure met with the greatest opposition from
the Conservative party, and the struggle between the Reformers and Anti-
Reformers was one of the longest and most severe on record. The Duke of
Wellington made himself especially obnoxious to the people by his determined
and dogged resistance to the proposed measure. The Duke's house, and
those of several of the peers, were attacked by the mob. In Derby, Bristol,
and several other large towns, serious riots took place, and, in short, from
one end of the kingdom to the other, this measure became the great object
of contention. At length, however, the bill was passed, and became law in
June, 1832.
1115. What "humane act was passed ly the English
Government in 1833 ?
An act for the Abolition of Slavery, which had long been the
object of philanthropists, and which was more immediately
owing to the efforts of Wilberforce and Clarkson.
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 305
ALTEKATIOSr OB THE POOE 1AWS.
1116. By this act about 800,000 slaves were emancipated, subject only to
an apprenticeship to their former masters for a limited number of years,
wlile all children under the age of six years were declared free. By a
subsequent law, imperatively called for by the ill effects of the apprenticeship
system, the "West Indian negroes were entirely freed from servitude. The
sum of £20,000,000 was paid as a compensation to the owners, or, in other
words, with that money Government purchased all the slaves, and then
restored them to their liberty.
1117. Why was a thorough change effected in the Poor
Laws about this time ?
Because the old regulations, based on an act passed in the
reign of Elizabeth, had been grossly abused. The poor-rates were
a "bounty to indolence, instead of an encouragement to honest
industry. The object of the amendment act was to apply the
labour test, that is, when people able to work applied for relief,
to give it only in the shape of labour, so that it might hold
out no temptation to those who were not truly destitute.
1118. Why li'ere the Orange Lodges abolished ly
Hoyal Authority ?
Because, Ireland being essentially a Roman Catholic country,
the existence of these Lodges was considered to be offensive to
the people, consequently the Koyal Authority was promulgated,
and the Lodges immediately dissolved themselves.
1119. Why was the Spanish Government permitted
to enlist Englishmen to serve in her army?
Because the English Government sympathized with the Queen
of Spain, and the Constitutionalists in Portugal; who were
threatened by Don Carlos and a large body of followers.
1120. Why was it, after so many precautions, and
the strict enforcement of the quarantine laws, that
Cholera, that dreaded disease, in its worst form, gained
an entrance into this country?
It is impossible to find anything like an intelligible reason for
such a visitation, after the adoption of what was considered every
306 THE niSTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
DEATH OF SIE WALTEB SCOTT, 1832.
possible precaution, to slmt out its ravages from assailing the
inhabitants of these islands. The disease, in a most unaccountable
manner, having found its way to Sunderland, produced frightful
havoc among its inhabitants, and spread in all directions from
that centre, raging with an unprecedented virulence over the
South of Scotland, and especially in the fishing village of Mussel-
burgh, within a few miles of the capital, which suffered more
than any other town of equal population in either kingdom. The
disease, after extending to almost every town in the kingdom,
after a visitation of about ten weeks gradually declined, and by
the approach of winter had entirely disappeared, not, however,
till many thousands had fallen victims to this modern plague.
1121. Wliy ivas the dispute continued, so long "between
tlie States of Holland and Belgium ?
Because the King of the former country would not give up
the citadel of Antwerp to the Belgians. On this refusal, England
laid an embargo on Dutch vessels, and France marched an. army
of 50,000 men into Flanders. The citaclel was invested, and
the siege commenced on the 4th of December, and lasted
twenty days. The Dutch commander, being obliged to capitu-
late, was made prisoner of war. Being thus conquered by the
superior force of the French, they could not again advance, in
consequence of a treaty of alliance between the five Great
European Powers and the King of the Belgians.
1122. What eminent literary man died in the year
1832 ?
Sir Walter Scott, the celebrated novelist and poet, died at
Abbotsford, near Edinburgh, in his sixty-second year, having
attained over Europe a greater celebrity "than any English
author could hitherto boast.
1123. Sir Walter Scott was born on the 15th of August, 1771 ; was educated
at the High School, Edinburgh, and afterwards brought up to the law. In
1792, he was called to the Scotch bar; and in 1800, he obtained the valu-
able situation of Clerk of the Sessions in Scotland. Sir Walter early
discovered a love of poetry and legendary lore; and his being born laino
THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY. 307
DEATH OF WILLIAM WILBEKFOUCE, 1833.
gave htm leisure for study. After several minor publications, "The Min-
strelsy of the Scottish Border," in 1S02, first established his fame. "The
Lay of the Last Minstrel," &c., followed; and in 1810, "The Lady of the
Lake." To these and other poetic works succeeded the splendid series,
known by the name of the "Waverley Novels." No contemporary author
has written so much, and certainly few so well. He created a new world
of fiction, founded rather on the spirit than on the letter of history.
1124. What was the first important measure passed ly
the Reformed House of Commons?
The Irish Coercion Bill, brought in by Earl Grey, which
empowered the Lord Lieutenant to suppress all meeting's that
might be considered dangerous, and to declare the disturbed
districts under martial law.
1125. What circumstance led to the civil wars in
Spain and Portugal ?
The abolition of the Salique law by Ferdinand the Seventh, King
of Spain, to enable his daughter Isabella to succeed to the
crown. The friends of Don Carlos, who was heir-presumptive
according to the old law, rose in arms, and declared him their
rightful Sovereign. A civil war ensued; but towards the latter
end of the year the insurrection was so far quelled that it was
confined to the mountains of Navarre. In Portugal Don Pedro
supported the claims of his daughter, Donna Maria, to the
crown. After a protracted struggle, the usurper, Don Miguel,
was defeated, and driven into exile.
1126. Who icas William Wilberforce, and when did
he die?
A distinguished philanthropist, born at Hull in 1759; died
on the 29th of July, 1833. His name will be transmitted to
posterity for his enthusiastic exertions in the cause of the
abolition of slavery, and negro emancipation. He had the good
fortune to live to see his labours crowned with success, and
his death took place in the very year that the last fetters
were struck from the slave throughout the British dominions.
THE HISTOKICAL REASON WHY.
HOUSES OF PABUAMENT BtTENT, 1831.
1127. Wliy did Government, on the renewal of the
Charter of the East India Company, deprive it of its
exclusive commercial privileges ?
In order to extend the right of trading with China to the
community at large. The ancient policy of not allowing
Europeans to settle in Hindostan was also departed from, under
some restrictions of inferior importance.
1128. What calamitous conflagration occurred alout
this time ?
In the month of October, 1834, both Houses of Parliament
were destroyed by fire, which was accidentally occasioned by
over-heating the flues ; but, fortunately, the library and national
archives were saved from the ravages of the destructive element.
1129. Who succeeded Sir Robert Peel as Premier?
The resignation of the Ministry being announced on the 9th
of April, Lord Melbourne received his Majesty's commands to
form a new Cabinet.
1130. What important measure was carried this session ?
A bill for the reform of the English Municipal Corporations
was carried with difficulty, in consequence of the small majority
the Ministry possessed in the House.
1131. What event, occurred in Paris in 1835 ?
An attempt was made on the life of the French King, by means
of a machine formed of thirty gun-barrels, heavily loaded with
powder and balls. The assassin (a Corsican named Fieschi)
would have probably effected his escape, but for the bursting
of some of the barrels, by which he was severely hurt; the
number of killed and wounded, caused by this explosion, amounted
to forty, but the King escaped uninjured.
1132. When did King William die?
The health of the King had been for some months declining,
TIIE HISTOEICAL SEASON "WHY. 309
ACCESSION OF QUEEN TICIOEIA, 1837.
and on the 20fch of June, 1837, he breathed his last. His reign was
brief, extending over a period of not quite seven years, and his
death took place in the seventy-second year of his age.
1133. Whatever opinions may be entertained of the political tendencies
of his Government, it must be admitted by all that no Monarch ever lived
who was more anxious for the prosperity of his people— who, to use the
language of his successor, more earnestly desired "to promote the ame-
lioration of the laws and institutions of his country." Brought up on that
element which is the peculiar source of Britain's supremacy, the late King,
though not possessed of splendid talents, had a vigour of character, a
decision, and a manly frankness, which could not fail to command the respect,
to win the love, and secure the confidence of the people of England. The
combined qualities of firmness and conciliation he eminently displayed ia
his conduct as the ruler of a great nation in times of no ordinary difficulty
and peril. In pursuing the generous purposes of an enlightened patriotism,
he knew how to distinguish between the clamour of faction and the reason-
able desires of the country, making it the object of a wise solicitude to
leave unimpaired to his successors the constitutional grandeur of the throne,
the sanctity of the national altars, the independence of the peerage, and
the liberties of the people.
QUEEN VICTOEIA,
1837.
1184. How did Queen Victoria become entitled to the
Throne ?
She was the daughter of the Duke of Kent, who was the
next eldest brother to William the Fourth.
1135. Why were Upper and Lower Canada united?
On account of the rebellions which had from time to time
broken out in the separate provinces, and which this consoli-
dation, and the transference of the seat of Government from
Quebec to Montreal, were calculated to suppress.
1136. Why did Chartist Riots break out in 1839 /
Because there was a political body who were dissatisfied with
the existing Parliamentary Laws and Representation, and who,
310 THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY.
WAR WITH CHINA, 1840.
therefore, claimed a Charter of Liberties which they held to be
essential to good government and the well-being of society.
1137. The doctrines thus espoused were comprised in "Six Points;" namely,
Annual Parliaments, Vote by Ballot, Universal Suffrage, Electoral Districts,
Abolition of the Property Qualification for Parliamentary Representatives,
and Payment of Members. The agitation which was carried on in connec-
tion with this cause assumed a formidable appearance, and disturbed the
public peace for some time. In the manufacturing districts several riots
took place, attended with loss of life and destruction of property; and in
"Wales several of the ringleaders were taken, and transported for life.
1138. Why did a war take place with China in 1840 ?
Because for many years the East India Company, as well
as private merchants, had been carrying on a very lucrative
commerce with China in opium, one of the staple productions of
the Indian peninsula; and the Chinese Government, alarmed
not less by the drainage of silver specie than by the frightful
ravages caused by this poisonous drug among its subjects, had
prohibited its importation, and forbidden its use in the empire
under the severest penalties. As the people of China were still
ready to purchase opium, the merchants gave but little heed to
these orders, and a most extensive contraband trade was opened
for the sale of the forbidden article. At length several cargoes
were seized by the Chinese authorities and destroyed, and
British subjects, charged with attempts to contravene these
regulations, were imprisoned. The Commissioner, Captain Elliot,
had also been deprived of his liberty.
1139. Such an insult as this could not be overlooked; satisfaction and
reparation were demanded by the Home Government, and refused, upon
which war was declared. Canton was immediately blockaded, and Chusan
occupied. In the following year Canton was attacked, and just as the
besieging troops were marching to storm the walls, the city capitulated,
and, on payment of a ransom of six millions of dollars, the British army
was withdrawn. Meantime the war was going on in the north; Amoy
was taken, the island of Hong Kons was ceded to Great Britain, and four
other ports, besides Canton, were opened to foreign traders.
1140. Wliy was Mr. O'Connell imprisoned?
Because he agitated the Repeal of the Union between England
and Ireland; and in advocating the cause, his words and
THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY. 311
THE COEN LAWS REPEALED, 1846.
demeanour were so offensive towards the English Government,
and had such a dangerous influence on the Irish populace, that
he was put upon his trial for sedition and treason, found guilty,
and imprisoned.
1141. The extraordinary influence possessed by this one man over the
Irish people, was one of the most remarkable events of this period. O'Con-
noll was originally a barrister, but abandoned this profession for the
express purpose of agitating the cause of Repeal. To compensate their
leader for the income he had sacrificed, as well as to repay the other
expenses of the movement, a species of voluntary tax, called the Rent, was
raised, to which people of all ages and of both sexes contributed. At the
commencement of the movement this contribution was only between two
and three thousand per annum, but reached at length the astonishing
amount of forty-eight thousand. Soon after tho imprisonment of O'Connell
the agitation declined, and a fuw years afterwards became quite extinct.
1142. Wliy lucre certain outbreaks in Wales ' termed
Rebecca riots?
Because they wished to suppress the toll-bars in the different
parts of the country, and called themselves " Rebecca and her
daughters," deriving this title from the twenty-second chapter
of Genesis, in which the children of Rebecca are promised
possession of "the gates of their enemies."
1143. Why was the Penny Postage established?
Because the high rates that were charged for the postage of
letters proved a serious impediment to commerce, and fell upon
the poorer classes especially, as a heavy social tax. Great
abuses also existed in the system of franking, which gave
members of Parliament and other persons the privilege of
forwarding all letters having their signature on the superscrip-
tion through the post-office free.
1114. Great opposition was made to this movement; and the Postmaster-
General for the time being declared, in his place in Parliament, that if a
universal penny postage were established, it would be utterly impossible to
carry on the business of the post-office.
1145. Wliy were the Corn Laws repealed?
Because the payment of duty on corn imported from foreign
312 THE HISTORICAL EEASON WHY.
WAE, WITH INDIA, 1849.
countries was adjudged to be both unnatural and unjust, as a
tax upon the food of the people, and it was also calculated that
the removal of this restriction would give an impetus to trade
and commerce, and be beneficial to the community generally.
1146. This wise and beneficial measure, from which the most important
results have arisen, owes its existence to the individual energy and eloquence
of two men, occupying a comparatively subordinate position in society;
namely, Eichard Cobderi and John Bright. Through the instrumentality of
these original advocates of the cause, an agitation gradually spread itself
throughout England, and a powerful association was organized, called the
Anti-Corn-Law League, which, by indomitable energy and perseverance, at
length secured the advantages it struggled for.
1147. Why ivas the term " Protectionists " applied to
a certain section of the Conservative body ?
Because they opposed the repeal of the Corn Laws, on the
plea that the introduction of foreign grain, duty free, would
be unjust to the English farmer, by bringing about a competi-
tion which it would be impossible to maintain; and they
therefore declared that it was necessary, not only to the
agricultural interest, but to the country generally, that the
grower of home produce should be " protected."
1148. The fallacy of this reasoning has been unanswerably proved by sub-
sequent events; and the Protectionist party, convinced of the weakness of
their position, have abandoned their theory, and may be said to be defunct.
1149. Why did a revolution in France occur in 1848 ?
Because the people of France had been for some time dis-
satisfied with the government of Louis Philippe, which was
brought to a crisis by that monarch refusing to allow a
military banquet which had been projected to take place.
1150. The result of this resolution was, that the people rose in arms ;
Louis Philippe was compelled to fly to England, and Louis Napoleon,
nephew of tho Emperor Bonaparte, encouraged by the event, hastened to
France, was elected President, and afterwards became Emperor.
1151. Why did a war IreaJc out in India in 1.849 ?
Because the Sikhs, who had on previous occasions resisted the
THE HISTOEICAL SEASON WHY. 313
WAE WITH EUSSIA, 1S54.
British rule, again rose in rebellion, and the English Govern-
ment determined to reduce the revolters to obedience by force
of arms.
1152. In this struggle, Mooltan was besieged and taken; and subsequently
a battle was fought at Chillinwallah, in which, though the English remained
masters of the field, they suffered severe loss. Several minor victories
were afterwards gained; the chiefs of the insurgent forces were compelled
to surrender themselves prisoners ; and the Punjaub teritory became annexed
to the British.
1153. What protracted warfare ivas brought to a close
in 1852?
The hostilities between the British and the Caffres. These
were terminated by General Cathcart, who reduced Sandalli, the
most active chief of the Caffres, to submission, and defeated the
most formidable of our opponents.
1154. Wliy did England go to war with Russia ?
Because the Emperor of Eussia attempted to interfere with
the organization of the Greek Church in Turkey ; and, as Turkey
was the ally of England, the latter was bound to assist in
resenting the insult thus offered by one power to another.
1155. In the year 1854 the Russian war broke out. In this terrible and
protracted conflict England received the assistance of France; and great
intrepidity and gallantry were displayed by the armies of both countries.
On the 20th of September the battle of Alma was fought, in which the
allies were victorious. On the 25th of October the battle of Balaklava was
fought, chiefly remarkable for the daring charge of a brigade of cavalry,
which, numbering only 670 men, went through the whole Russian forces,
and only about 200 returned. The 5th of November saw the battle of
Inkermann; the allies were completely victorious, but the loss, especially
of officers, was something unprecedented. The crowning act of the war was
the bombardment of Sebastopol, which, after three days' incessant cannonade,
was abandoned by the enemy on the 8th of September, 1855, and the allied
armies entered the city in triumph. The capture of Sebastopol brought the
war to a termination, and terms of peace were concluded on the 10th of
January, 1856.
1156. Wliy did, a rebellion lreak out in India?
The immediate pretext was, an objection on the part of the
314. THE niSTOEICAL SEASON Vv'HY.
TEEATY OB PEACE WITH CHINA, 1S5S.
native troops to bite the regulation cartridges, with which
grease was mixed, tho tasting of which was interdicted by the
religious customs of the country. The real cause of the war,
however, is to be traced to the accumulated grievances of a
number of years, which a large portion of the native population
urge against the Home Government.
1157. This disastrous rebellion has occasioned great bloodshed, and an
enormous outlay of treasure, besides interrupting the commercial relations
between tho two countries. The struggle, however, like every other in
which the, British arms have been engaged, has served to commemorate the
names of many of our countrymen who were conspicuous for valour and
personal bravery. The defence of Lucknow, under the most disadvantageous
circumstances possible, affords one of the most striking illustrations of
British heroism, energy, and perseverance. The name of Havelock, who
conducted this memorable defence, and who sacrificed his life to the exces-
sive demands that were made upon his mental and physical faculties, has
been handed down to posterity among our national heroes. Lord Clyde,
the successful Commander-in-Chief, is also entitled to the gratitude of his
country, for having crushed one of the most formidable rebellions on
record, and re-established the peace of the empire.
1158. What important treaty, affecting the commercial
and political greatness of England, was secured in 1858 ?
On the 19th of June, 1858, a treaty was entered into with
China, which secured many important advantages to the European
powers, and is calculated to extend its influence over the whole
civilized world. By this treaty, the whole of the vast Empire
of China is thrown open to Christianity, and nearly the whole of
it to the trade and industry of the Vfest. Our diplomatic agents
may reside temporarily at Pekin, and our missionaries are to be
admitted everywhere. France and England obtained the most
ample concessions for injuries previously received, and the laws
against Christianity are all abolished.
1159. These concessions, obtained from one of the most important coun-
tries in the world in point of wealth and commerce, have been followed
up by a stroke of policy on the part of Lord Elgin, who has succeeded in
obtaining privileges, similar to those just recorded, from the enterprising
but hitherto jealously guarded empire of Japan. By these two treaties,
British enterprise and commerce will receive an impetus, the full value of
which cannot be at present calculated.
THE HISTORICAL EEASO2T WHY. 315
NOTES UPON THE EEIGtJT OP VICTORIA.
NOTES UPON THE PERIOD.
During the reign of the present Queen the progress of the nation lias
been comparatively much greater than during any preceding interval of the
same term.
The extension of Railways, the improvements in Steam Navigation, the
Electrio and Submarine Telegraphs, have been brought into a state of
wonderful efficiency, and have been productive of the most important benefits
in a social, commercial, and national point of view
The Manufacturing and Agricultural Interests of the Country have been
considerably enhanced by the introduction of many important improvements
in these branches of industry. The introduction of Gutta Percha has been
the means of supplying many important requirements in connection with
rural and domestic economy. The importation of guano, as a valuable
manure, has been attended with the most important results, materially im-
proving the soil, and tending to the production of various crops.
Architecture has made rapid strides during this period. The r.ew neigh-
bourhoods that have sprung into existence within the last few years in the
suburbs of the metropolis is something surprising, while the improved style
of architecture observable in warehouses, shops, and other commercial
establishments, are evidences alike of the riches and the enterprise of the
country. The public buildings that have arisen during the same period
include the Royal Exchange and the Houses of Parliament. The erection
of magnificent halls at Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, &c.,
indicate the growing prosperity and improving taste of the inhabitants of
those great depdts of industry. The most conspicuous undertaking, how-
ever, of modern times is the Crystal Palace.
Some years ago it having been determined to establish in London an
Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations, one of the considerations naturally
was, to secure an appropriate edifice in which the specimens of every
branch of industry and enterprise might be exposed. Mr. Joseph Paxton,
•who was at that time employed by the Duke of Devonshire as an ornamental
gardener, and who had directed his attention to the raising of glass structures,
which should have all the stability of buildings raised from heavier materials,
submitted a design to the authorities, of an edifice which was to be almost
wholly constructed of glass and iron. Under this gentleman's superintendence,
the noble building was erected, which became the wonder and admiration
of the whole civilized world. This building, which was only intended for a
temporary purpose, has been re-erected, with additions and improvements,
at Sydenham, and, under the name of the Crystal Palace, has become the
most popular and interesting place of resort of the English people.
Another great work of art and utility, though with a different intention,
is the Tubular Bridge across the Menai Straits. This wonderful invention
of engineering skill consists of a hollow iron cylinder, through which a
locomotive engine and a railway train travel with the ease and safety that
they would on an ordinary line.
316
THE HISTOEICAL REASON WHY.
NOTES UPON THE REIGN OF VICTORIA,
The building of the "Great Eastern" steam-ship furnishes another
evidence of the enterprise and ardour of the British character. This
enormous vessel is provided with accommodation for 4,000 passengers, inde-
pendently of her crew ; but might, on an emergency, be made to carry twice that
number. She will travel at the rate of twenty miles an hour, and will reach
Australia in from thirty to thirty-five days. Her five saloons will afford
accommodation equal to that of five of our largest hotels ; while her deck
will afford a promenade around her, equal to a quarter of a mile. She is of
two thousand six hundred horse power. Her screw propeller is tweuty-
6TERN, KEEL, AND SCREW-SHAFT OF THE GREAT EASTERN.
four feet in diameter, and its shaft is one hundred and twenty feet long.
The diameter of each paddle-wheel is fifty-six feet. She will carry twenty
large boats on deck, and will bear on her sides two screw steamers, each
one hundred feet long, and between sixty and seventy tons burden. There
will be »n electric telegraph on beard, to communicate orders simul-
taneously from the officer in command, to the distant parts of the ship.
THE HISTOEICAL EEASON WHY. 317
NOTES UPON THE BEIGN OF VICTORIA.
She will be lit by gas, which will be made on board; and the electric
light is designed to shine, like a star of the first magnitude, from her
mast-head.
In the Arts, the most rapid strides have been made. Photography has
served to supersede the expensive and capricious art of portrait painting.
And we have, also, presented to us the kindred invention of the Stereoscope,
by which mere outlines are rounded into realities, and which reflect, as nearly
as art can do, life in its various phases and situations.
In the Sciences, many important discoveries have been made, not only
tending to introduce new theories, but to detect previous fallacies, and
correct former errors.
Literature is not behind in the general advancement. The names of Buck-
land and Faraday, in science; Macaulay, Alison, and Carlyle, in history;
Bulwer, Dickens and Thackeray, in fiction; and Tennyson in poetry, are
sufficient to attest to the literary talent and genius existing in the country.
The most remarkable feature in this direction, however, is the talent,
energy, and uncompromising integrity of the Newspaper Press. So con-
spicuous has this become, that it is the fashion to denominate the Press
"the fourth estate;" and it is certain that the healthy influence which the
Press is enabled to exercise on behalf of the people, and in opposition to
any bad tendencies which may arise, from whatever quarter it may be, is
one of those happy results of civilization which cannot fail to be a source
of congratulation to the public.
The tendency to Investigation, and Research, which has ever been one of
the characteristics of the English people, is being worthily perpetuated by
those enterprising travellers and discoverers of the present day, Layard,
Livingstone, Dr. Rae, and others. By the exertions of these eminent men,
many important discoveries have been made, and numerous relics brought
to light, of the most interesting and important nature.
The Improvements in the Statutes and Laws of the Country have been
most essential and significant ; among these may be mentioned, the
admission of Jews into Parliament, and the abolition of the qualification
of Members of Parliament, by which latter, a serious obstruction, as well
as a notorious abuse, has been for ever done away with. The minor
alterations in legal enactments are not less essential : the abrogation of the
window-tax has abolished one of the most offensive burdens that was ever
imposed upon the people. The universal penny receipt and penny postage
stamps, and the considerable reduction of the charges for stamps on bills
of exchange, have also exercised a salutary influence upon commercial trans-
actions.
The Trade and Commerce of the country have considerably extended
during the last few years; the export trade with other countries, more
especially with America, is one of the most gratifying results of our
advancing prosperity ; and the impetus which has been given from time to
time to the import trade by judicious reductions in the tariff, has brought
within the reach of the humbler classes many comforts and enjoyments
which have been hitherto placed beyond their reach.
318 THE HISTORICAL REASON WHY.
NOTES UPON THE EEIGN OP VICTOEIA.
The Rise and Progress of our Colonies are fully commensurate with
their requirements ; the discoveries of gold in Australia and the subsequent
application of the energies of the colonists to every branch of art and
industry, have tended to raise the new country high iu the scale of civiliza-
tion. And when the colonial media of communication are more advanced,
the beneficial effects which will be felt by the old and new countries will
tend to the firmer union and the happier condition of both.
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