[Illustration: Royal Children of English History] [Illustration: ALFRED THE GREAT LEARNING TO READ. ] [Illustration] Royal Children of English History, by E. Nesbit Illustrated by Frances Brundage and M. Bowley. RAPHAEL TUCK & SONS, LTD. London, Paris, New York Publishers to the QUEEN. No. 2091. Black & White Drawings & Letterpress printed in England Contents Page Alfred the Great 5 Prince Arthur 12 Henry the Third 20 The First Prince of Wales 27 Edward the Black Prince 35 Henry the Fifth and the Baby King 42 [Illustration] [Illustration: ROYAL CHILDREN OF ENGLISH HISTORY Alfred the Great. ] WHEN I was very, very little, I hated history more than all my otherlessons put together, because I had to learn it out of a horrid littlebook, called somebody's "Outlines of English History"; and it seemed tobe all the names of the kings and the dates of battles, and, believingit to be nothing else, I hated it accordingly. I hope you do not think anything so foolish, because, really, history isa story, a story of things that happened to real live people in ourEngland years ago; and the things that are happening here and now, andthat are put in the newspapers, will be history for little children oneof these days. The people in those old times were the same kind of people who live now. Mothers loved their children then, and fathers worked for them, just asmothers and fathers do now, and children then were good or bad, as thecase might be, just as little children are now. And the people you readabout in history were real live people, who were good and bad, and gladand sorry, just as people are now-a-days. [Sidenote: A. D. 827. ] You know that if you were to set out on a journey from one end ofEngland to another, wherever you went, through fields and woods andlanes, you would still be in the kingdom of Queen Victoria. But onceupon a time, hundreds of years ago, if a child had set out to ride, hemight have begun his ride in the morning in one kingdom, and finished itin the evening in another, because England was not one great kingdomthen as it is now, but was divided up into seven pieces, with a king tolook after each, and these seven kings were always quarrelling with eachother and trying to take each other's kingdom away, just as you mightsee seven naughty children, each with a plot of garden, trying to takeeach other's gardens and spoiling each other's flowers in their wickedquarrels. But presently came one King, named Egbert, who was strongerthan all the others; so he managed to put himself at the head of all thekingdoms, and he was the first King of _all_ England. But though he hadgot the other kings to give in to him, he did not have at all a peacefultime. There were some very fierce wild pirates, called Danes, who usedto come sailing across the North Sea in ships with carved swans' headsat the prow, and hundreds of fighting men aboard. Their own country wasbleak and desolate, and they were greedy and wanted the pleasant Englishland. So they used to come and land in all sorts of places along thesea-shore, and then they would march across the fields and kill thepeaceful farmers, and set fire to their houses, and take their sheep andcows. Or sometimes they would drive them out, and live in the farmhousesthemselves. Of course, the English people were not going to stand this;so they were always fighting to drive the Danes away when they camehere. [Sidenote: A. D. 871. ] Egbert's son allowed the Danes to grow very strong in England, and whenhe died he left several sons, like the kings in the fairy tales; and thefirst of these princes was made King, but he could not beat the Danes, and then the second one was made King, but he could not beat the Danes. In the fairy tales, you know, it is always the youngest prince who hasall the good fortune, and in this story the same thing happened. Thisprince did what none of his brothers could do. He drove out the Danesfrom England, and gave his people a chance of being quiet and happy andgood. His name was Alfred. Like most great men, this King Alfred had a good mother. She used toread to him, when he was little, out of a great book with gold andprecious stones on the cover, and inside beautiful songs and poetry. Andone day she said to the young princes, who were all very fond of beingread to out of this splendid book-- "Since you like the book so much, I will give it to the one who is firstable to read it, and to say all the poetry in it by heart. " The eldest prince tried to learn it, but I suppose he did not try hardenough; and the other princes tried, but I fear they were too lazy. Butyou may be quite sure the youngest prince did the right thing. He learntto read, and then he set to work to learn the poems by heart; and it wasa proud day for him and for the Queen when he was able to say all thebeautiful poetry to her. She put the book into his hands for his veryown, and they kissed each other with tears of pride and pleasure. You must not suppose that King Alfred drove out the Danes without muchtrouble, much thought, and much hard work. Trouble, thought, and hardwork are the only three spells the fairies have left us, so of course hehad to use them. He was made King just after the Danes had gained agreat victory, and for the first eight years of his reign he wasfighting them continually. At one time they had conquered almost thewhole of England, and they would have killed Alfred if they could havefound him. [Illustration] You know, a wise prince always disguises himself when danger becomesvery great. So Alfred disguised himself as a farm labourer, and went tolive with a farmer, who used to make him feed the beasts and help aboutthe farm, and had no idea that this labourer was the great King himself. One day the farmer's wife went out--perhaps she went out to milk thecows; at any rate it was some important business--and she had made somecakes for supper, and she saw Alfred sitting idle in the kitchen, so sheasked him to look after the cakes, to see that they did not burn. Alfredsaid he would. But he had just received some news about the Danes, andhe was thinking and thinking and thinking over this, and he forgot allabout the cakes, and when the farmer's wife came in she found them burntblack as coal. [Illustration] "Oh, you silly, greedy fellow, " she said, "you can eat cakes fastenough; but you can't even take the trouble to bake them when otherpeople take the trouble to make them for you. " And I have heard that she even slapped his face. He bore it all verypatiently. "I am very sorry, " he said, "but I was thinking of other things. " Just at that moment her husband came in followed by several strangers, and, to the good woman's astonishment, they all fell on their knees andgreeted her husband's labourer as their King. "We have beaten the Danes, " they said, "and everyone is asking where isKing Alfred? You must come back with us. " "Forgive me, " cried the woman. "I didn't think of your being the King. " "Forgive me, " said Alfred, kindly. "I didn't think of your cakes beingburnt. " [Illustration: "THERE WERE NO CLOCKS IN THOSE DAYS BUT HE MADE A CLOCKOUT OF A CANDLE. "] The Danes had many more fighting men than Alfred; so he was obliged tobe very cautious and wise, or he could never have beaten them at all. Inthose days very few people could read; and the evenings used to seemvery long sometimes, so that anybody who could tell a story or sing asong was made much of, and some people made it their trade to go aboutsinging songs and telling stories and making jokes to amuse people whocould not sing songs or tell stories or make jokes themselves. Thesewere called gleemen, and wherever they went they were always welcomedand put at a good place at table, and treated with respect and kindness;and in time of war no one ever killed a gleeman, so they could alwaysfeel quite safe whatever was going on. Now Alfred once wanted to know how many Danes there were in a certainDanish camp, and whether they were too strong for him to beat. So hedisguised himself as a gleeman and took a harp, for his mother hadtaught him to sing and play very prettily, and he went and sang songs tothe Danes and told stories to them. But all the time he kept his eyesopen, and found out all he wanted to know. And he saw that the Daneswere not expecting to be attacked by the English people, so that, instead of keeping watch, they were feasting and drinking and playingall their time. Then he went back to his own soldiers, and they crept upto the Danish camp and fell upon it while the Danes were feasting andmaking merry, and as the Danes were not expecting a fight, the Englishwere easily able to get much the best of it. At last, after many fights, King Alfred managed to make peace with theDanes, and then he settled down to see what he could do for his ownpeople. He saw that if he was to keep out the wicked Danes he must beable to fight them by sea as well as by land. So he learned how to buildships and taught his people how to build them, and that was thebeginning of the great English navy, which you ought to be proud of ifyou are big enough to read this book. Alfred was wise enough to see thatknowledge is power, and, as he wanted his people to be strong, he triedto make them learned. He built schools, and at University College, Oxford, there are people that will tell you that that college wasfounded by Alfred the Great. He used to divide up his time very carefully, giving part to study andpart to settling disputes among his people, and part to his shipbuildingand his other duties. They had no clocks and watches in those days, andhe used sometimes to get so interested in his work as to forget that itwas time to leave it and go on to something else, just as you dosometimes when you get so interested in a game of rounders that youforget that it is time to go on with your lessons. The idea of a clocknever entered into Alfred's head, at least not a clock with wheels, andhands on its face, but he was so clever that he made a clock out of acandle. He painted rings of different colours round the candle, and whenthe candle had burnt down to the first ring it was half an hour gone, and when it was burnt to the next ring it was another half-hour, and soon. So he could tell exactly how the time went. He was called Alfred the Great, and no king has better deserved such atitle. "So long as I have lived, " he said, "I have striven to live worthily. "And he longed, above all things, to leave "to the men that came after aremembrance of him in good works. " He did many good and wise things, but the best and wisest thing he everdid was to begin to write the History of England. There had been Englishpoems before this, but no English stories that were not written inpoetry. So that Alfred's book was the first of all the thousands andthousands of English books that you see on the shelves of the biglibraries. His book is generally called the Saxon Chronicle, and wasadded to by other people after his death. He made a number of wise laws. It is believed that it was he who firstordained that an Englishman should be tried not only by a judge but alsoby a jury of people like himself. [Illustration: KING·ALFRED·DISGUISED·HIMSELF·AS·A·GLEEMAN·&·TOOK·A·HARP·&·SAND·SONGS TO·THE·DANES·&·TOLD STORIES·TO THEM] [Sidenote: A. D. 901. ] Though he had fought bravely when fighting was needed to defend hiskingdom, yet he loved peace and all the arts of peace. He loved justiceand kindness, and little children; and all folk loved and wept for himwhen he died, because he was a good King who had always striven to liveworthily, that is to say, he had always tried to be good. His last words to his son, just before he died, were these--"It is justthat the English people should be as free as their own thoughts. " You must not think that this means that the English people should befree to think as they like or to do as they like. What it means is, thatan Englishman should be as free to do good deeds as he is to think goodthoughts. [Illustration: PRINCE ARTHUR] [Sidenote: A. D. 1066. ] THE Danes never succeeded in conquering England and in making it theirown, though many of them settled in England and married English wives. But some relations of the Danes, called the Normans, were bolder andstronger and more fortunate. And William, who was called the Conqueror, became King of England, and left his son to rule after him. And whenfour Norman Kings had reigned in England, the Count of Anjou was madethe English King, because his mother was the heiress of the Englishcrown. His great-grandfather, Ingeger, the first Count of Anjou, must have beena very brave man. When he was quite a boy he was page to his godmother, who was a great lady. It was the custom then for boys of noble family toserve noble ladies as pages. One morning this lady's husband was found dead in his bed, and the poorlady was accused by a nobleman, named Gontran, of murdering him. Gontransaid he was quite sure of her guilt, and that he was ready to stake hislife on it, that is to say, he offered to fight anyone who should saythat the lady was innocent. This seems a curious way of finding out aperson's innocence or guilt, but it was the custom of the times. The poor lady could find no one who believed in her enough to risk hislife, and she began to despair, when suddenly her boy-page rushedforward and begged that, though he was not yet a knight, and so hadreally no right to fight, yet that he might be allowed to do combat inher defence. "The whole Court were spectators. The Duke Charles was onhis throne, and the accused widow in a litter curtained with black. Prayers were offered that God would aid the right. The trumpets sounded, and the champions rode in full career against each other. At the firstonset Gontran's lance pierced his adversary's shield so that he couldnot disengage it, and Ingeger was thus enabled to close with him, hurlhim to the ground, and despatch him with a dagger. Then, while the listsrang with applause, the brave boy rushed up to his godmother and threwhimself into her arms in a transport of joy. " [Illustration] When William conquered England he became King of England and still ownedhis own possessions in Normandy, and the Count of Anjou, when he becameKing, still held the lands he had held as Count, so that the Kings ofEngland held a great part of France as well as England. The Counts ofAnjou used to wear a sprig of broom, or _planta genista_, in theirhelmets, and from this they were called the Plantagenet Kings. The first of them was brave and clever, and the second was brave, butthe third, John, was mean and cruel and cowardly, and had really noright to the throne at all. His nephew, Prince Arthur of Brittany, oughtto have been King, because he was the son of John's elder brother. ButJohn wanted the kingdom for himself, and though the King of France triedto help Arthur to get his rights, John would not give up the crown hehad stolen. He managed to take Prince Arthur prisoner, and thenpretended to be very fond of him. "All this quarrel has been a mistake, "he said; "come with me and I will give you a kingdom. " So Prince Arthur went with him, and in the dark night, as they passedalong by the river, the wicked King stabbed the young Prince with hisown hand, and pushed him into the swift-flowing water. "There, " hecried, "that is the kingdom I promised you. " And the poor young Prince sank into the dark flood, never to rise again. Shakespeare tells another story of Prince Arthur's death, which you willread for yourselves one day; and this is the story:-- After King John had taken the young Prince prisoner, he shut him up inthe Castle of Northampton, and ordered Hubert de Burgh, the Governor ofthe Castle, to put poor Arthur's eyes out, because he thought that noone would want a blind boy to be King of England. So Hubert went intothe room where the little Prince was shut up. "Good morning, " said the Prince. "You are sad, Hubert. " "Indeed, I have been merrier, " said Hubert, who, though he did not liketo disobey the King, was yet miserable at the wicked deed he had beenasked to do. "Nobody, " said Arthur, "should be sad but I. If I were out of prison andkept sheep I should be as merry as the day is long. And so I would behere but for my uncle. He is afraid of me and I of him. Is it my faultthat I was Geoffrey's son? Indeed it is not, and I would to heaven Iwere your son, so you would love me, Hubert. " "If I talk to him, " said Hubert to himself, "I shall never have thecourage to do this wicked deed. " "Are you ill, Hubert?" Arthur went on. "You look pale to-day. If youwere ill I would sit all night and watch you, for I believe I love youmore than you do me. " Hubert dared not listen. He felt he must do the King's wicked will, sohe pulled out the paper on which the King had written his cruel order, and showed it to the young Prince. Arthur read it calmly and then turnedto Hubert. "So you are to put out my eyes with hot irons?" [Illustration: "YOU ARE SAD, HUBERT, " SAID THE PRINCE. ] "Young boy, I must, " said Hubert. "And you will?" asked Arthur. And Hubert answered, "And I will. " "Have you the heart?" cried Arthur. "Do you remember when your headached how I tied it up with my own handkerchief, and sat up with you thewhole night holding your hand and doing everything I could for you! Manya poor man's son would have lain still and never have spoke a lovingword to you; but you, at your sick service, had a prince. Will you putout my eyes--those eyes that never did, nor never shall, so much asfrown on you?" "I have sworn to do it, " said Hubert. He called two men, who brought inthe fire and the hot irons, and the cord to bind the little Prince. "Give me the irons, " said Hubert, "and bind him here. " "For heaven's sake, Hubert, let me not be bound, " cried Arthur. "I willnot struggle--I will stand stone still. Nay, hear me, Hubert, drivethese men away and I will sit as quiet as a lamb, and I will forgive youwhatever torment you may put me to. " And Hubert was moved by his pleading, and told the men to go; and asthey went they said--"We are glad to have no part in such a wicked deedas this. " Then Arthur flung his arms round Hubert and implored him to spare hiseyes, and at last Hubert consented, for all the time his heart had beensick at the cruel deed he had promised to do. Then he took Prince Arthuraway and hid him, and told the King he was dead. But King John's lords were so angry when they heard that Arthur wasdead, and John seemed so sorry for having given the order to Hubert, that Hubert thought it best to tell him that Arthur had not been killedat all, but was still alive and safe. John was now so terrified at theanger of his lords on Arthur's account that Arthur might from that timehave been safe from him. But the poor boy was so frightened by what hehad gone through that he made up his mind to risk his life in trying toescape. So he decided to leap down from the top of the tower as his onlymeans of escape. Then he thought he could get away in disguise without being recognised. [Illustration] "The wall is high, and yet will I leap down, " he said. "Good ground, bepitiful and hurt me not. " So he leaped, but the tower was high, and the fall killed him. Andbefore he died, he murmured--"Heaven take my soul and England keep mybones. " That is the story as Shakespeare gives it. [Illustration] Almost everyone in England hated King John, even before this dreadfulaffair of Prince Arthur's death. The King of France took Normandy awayfrom him, and his own people would not help him to fight for it. He was very cruel and revengeful, and often put people in prison orkilled them without giving any reason for it, or having them properlytried. So the great nobles of England joined together and said that theywould not let John be King any longer in England unless he would givethem a written promise to behave better in future. At first he laughedat the idea, and said he should do as he chose, and that he would fightthe lords and keep them in their proper place. But he had to give inwhen he found that only seven of the lords of England were on his sideand all the rest against him. So then he asked the barons and thebishops to meet him at Runnymede and there he put his big seal to awriting, promising what they wished. He did not sign his name to it, butyou can see that very parchment sealed in the British Museum with theKing's big seal to it. [Sidenote: Magna Charta A. D. 1215. ] But though he fixed his seal to the paper he did not keep the promisesthat were in it, and the barons grew so angry that they asked the Kingof France to help them to fight John, and to turn him out. [Illustration: ROBIN HOOD] John ran away when he heard that the French were coming. He left hisfriends to fight his battles, and went off, wrecking the castles of thebarons who had asked the French Prince to come over, and who were nowwith him. Then someone told the barons that the French Prince wasdetermined to cut off all their heads as soon as he had got England forhis own. So they saw how foolish they had been to ask him to come andhelp them. John was in Lincolnshire, and was coming across the sands atthe Wash, but the tide suddenly came in and swept away his crown, histreasure, his food, and everything was lost in the sea. King John wasvery miserable at losing all his treasures, and he tried to drown hissorrows by drinking a lot of beer and eating much more than was good forhim. This brought on a fever, and he died miserably, with no one at allto be sorry for him. [Sidenote: A. D. 1216. ] He was and is the best-hated of all our English kings. There was much danger in travelling in those days, for robbers used tohide in the woods and lonely places, and to attack and rob travellers. Many of the nobles themselves who were in attendance on the King, beingoften unable to get their proper pay, either belonged to these robberbands or secretly helped them, and shared with them the plunder theytook from those they robbed. The best known of these robbers was thefamous Robin Hood, who lived in the time of King Richard and King John. He is supposed to have been a nobleman, and to have had his hiding placein Sherwood Forest, and he is said to have been kind and merciful tothe poor, and to have helped them out of the money and good things hestole from the rich. Many songs about him have come down to us. The poorsuffered in those old days many and great hardships at the hands of thenobles of England, who indeed robbed and oppressed them very cruelly. Sothey were ready enough to sing the praises of one who stole only fromthe rich and who gave to the poor. [Illustration] [Illustration: HENRY THE THIRD. ] [Sidenote: A. D. 1216. ] HENRY THE THIRD was crowned at Gloucester when he was only nine yearsold. You remember that King John's crown had been lost in the Wash withhis other treasures, so they crowned Henry with a gold bracelet of hismother's. The lords who attended the coronation banquet wore whiteribbons round their heads as a sign of their homage to the innocent, helpless child. They made him swear to do as his father had promised inthe great charter sealed at Runnymede; and the Earl of Pembroke wasappointed to govern the kingdom till Henry grew up. Henry grew up unlike his cruel father. He was gentle, tenderhearted, fond of romance, music and poetry, sculpture, painting and architecture. Some of the most beautiful churches we have were built in his reign. But, though he had so many good qualities, he had no bravery, no energyand perseverance. He was fond of pleasure and of the beautiful things ofthis world, and cared too little for the beautiful things of the soul. He was fond of gaiety, and his young queen was of the same disposition. She was one of four sisters. Two of these sisters married kings and twomarried counts, and the kings' wives were so proud of being queens thatthey used to make their sisters, the countesses, sit on little lowstools while they themselves sat on handsome high chairs. Henry's time passed in feasts and songs and dancing. Romances andcurious old Breton ballads were translated into English, and recited atthe Court with all sorts of tales of love and battle and chivalry. The object of chivalry was to encourage men in noble and manlyexercises, and to teach them to succour the oppressed, to uphold thedignity of women, and to help the Christian faith. And chivalry was madeattractive by all sorts of gay and pretty devices. Knights used to wearin their helmets a ribbon or a glove that some lady had given them, andit was supposed that, while they had the precious gift of a good lady intheir possession, they would do nothing base or disloyal that shoulddishonour the gift they carried. [Illustration] Each young noble at twelve years old was placed as page in some othernoble household. There, for two years, he learned riding and fencing, and the use of arms. When the lord killed a deer the pages skinned itand carried it home. At a feast the pages carried in the chief dishesand poured the wine for their lords to drink. They helped the ladies ofthe house in many ways, and carried their trains on state occasions. At fourteen a page became a squire. He helped his lord to put on hisarmour, carried his shield to battle, cleaned and polished his lord'sarmour and sharpened his sword, and he was allowed to wear silver spursinstead of iron ones, such as the common people wore. When he was considered worthy to become a knight he went through aceremony which dedicated him to the service of God. The day before he was to become a knight the young man stripped andbathed. Then he put on a white tunic--the white as a promise of purity;a red robe--the red meant the blood he was to shed in fighting for theright; and he put on a black doublet (which is a sort of jacket), andthis was black in token of death, of which a knight was never to beafraid. Then he went into the church, and there he spent the night inprayer. He heard the priests singing their chant in the darkness of thebig church, and he thought of his sins, and steadfastly purposed to leada new life. In the morning he confessed his sins, walked up to thealtar, laid down his belt and sword, and then knelt at the foot of thealtar steps. He received the Holy Communion, and then the lord who wasto make him a knight gave him the accolade--three strokes on the back ofthe bare neck with the flat side of the sword--and said: "In the name of Saint George I make thee a knight, "--and bade him takeback his sword--"in the name of God and Saint George, and use it like atrue knight as a terror and punishment for evil-doers, and a defence forwidows and orphans, and the poor, and the oppressed, and thepriests--the servants of God. " The priests and the ladies came round him and put on his gilt spurs, andhis coat of mail, and his breastplate, and armpieces, and gauntlets, andtook the sword and girded it on him. Then the young man swore to befaithful to God, the King, and woman; his squire brought him his helmet, and his horse's shoes rang on the church pavement and under the tallarches as his squire led the charger up the aisle. In the presence ofpriests, and knights, and ladies assembled, the young knight sprang uponhis horse and caracoled before the altar, brandishing his lance and hissword. And then away to do the good work he was sworn to. Many, of course, forgot their promises and broke their vows, but inthose wild times many a rough man was made gentle, many a cruel man lesscruel, and many a faint-hearted one made bold by the noble thoughts fromwhich the idea of chivalry sprang. Now, you know, England is governed by the Queen and Parliament. But inthose old days England was ruled by the King and by such nobles as hadmoney and strength enough to be able to rule by force. These nobles wereindeed a terror to the people. They lived in strong, stoutly-builtcastles, with a great moat or ditch round them, and having always manyretainers and armed servants, they were often able to resist the Kinghimself. It was the growing power and riches of the King which they mostdreaded, for he only could do them harm. It was then for their ownsakes--to guard their own persons, to protect their own property againstthe King--rather than from any desire to help the people, that thebarons resisted first John and then Henry. [Illustration] But among them was a noble, unselfish man, who loved his fellowcountrymen, and who saw, that to make people rich, and happy, andprosperous, they must be allowed to share in the government of thecountry in which they live. This noble Englishman, Simon de Montfort, was called the great Earl, and it was he who headed the resistance toHenry the Third, when that King tried to escape from keeping thepromises contained in the Great Charter which he had bound himself toobey. The resistance grew so strong that at last there was war in England. Atthe Battle of Lewes, Simon de Montfort defeated Henry and took himprisoner, and with him was his son, Prince Edward. Then at last aParliament was called. Two knights were sent to it from each county, andfrom every town two citizens. It was chiefly to get these townsrepresented in Parliament that the great Earl opposed the King. Prince Edward was very anxious to escape and fight another battle forhis father. So he pretended to be very ill. When he got better he askedhis gaolers to let him go out riding for the benefit of his health. Theyagreed, but of course, they sent a guard of soldiers out with him to seethat he did not escape. Prince Edward rode out for several days withthem and never even tried to get away. But one day he begged them toride races with each other, while he looked on. They did so, and whentheir horses were quite tired, he shouted, "I have long enough enjoyedthe pleasure of your company, gentlemen, and I bid you good-day, " putspurs to his horse, and was soon out of their reach. His friend, theEarl of Gloucester, joined him, and they soon raised an army anddefeated the great Earl at Evesham. [Sidenote: A. D. 1265. ] "Let us commend our souls to God, " said Simon, as Prince Edward and hismen came down upon him and the little band of knights who stood by hisside. One by one the knights fell, till Simon only was left. He hackedhis way through his foes, and had nearly escaped when his horse wasbrought to the ground, and a death wound was given him from behind. "Itis God's grace, " he said, and died. But though the leader died, the workwas done, and a Parliament established in England. Some of the priests in England had grown very wicked and greedy. Theyneglected their duties and thought only of feasting and makingthemselves comfortable. But some good monks came over from Rome, anddetermined to try to show the English priests what a Christian's dutywas. They made a vow to be poor, and to deny themselves everything, except just enough food to keep body and soul together. They would noteven have books at first, but spent all the money they could collect onthe poor. They nursed the sick and helped the unfortunate. They wouldnot wear pretty clothes or beautiful vestments, but were dressed inplain grey or black serge, with a rope round the waist, and bare feet. Although they were foreigners and could speak but little English, theyencouraged people to write in the English language instead of in Latinor French. [Illustration] It was a favourite dream of the early English and French kings to takeJerusalem and the Holy Land from the hands of the Saracens, and to letChristians be the guardians of the place where Christ lived and died. Todo this they were constantly making war on the Saracens, and these warswere called Crusades, and the knights who went to them Crusaders. Crusaders carried a red cross on their banners and on their shields. TheSaracens' banners and shields had a crescent like a new moon. For twohundred years this fighting went on, and the last of our English princesto take part in it was Prince Edward. He had only three hundred knightswith him, and was not able to attack Jerusalem, because he could not gettogether more than seven thousand men. His knights went on pilgrimage toJerusalem, but he stayed in his camp at Acre. One day a messenger cameinto his tent with letters, and while he was reading them the wickedmessenger stabbed him. He had been sent to do so by the Saracens, because they were afraid of this brave prince. The prince caught theblow on his arm, and kicked the messenger to the ground, but the manrose and rushed at him again with the knife. The dagger just grazed theprince's forehead, and seizing a wooden footstool Prince Edward dashedout the messenger's brains. His wife, the Princess Eleanor, was afraidthe dagger was poisoned. So she sucked the blood from his wound with herown lips, and so most likely saved his life. But he was very ill inspite of this, and England nearly lost one of her best and bravestprinces. [Sidenote: A. D. 1272. ] As soon as he was well enough to travel, he set out for England, and onthe way he was met with the sad news that his father and two of hischildren were dead. So he became King of England, and he was the fatherof the first Prince of Wales. [Illustration: PRINCESS ELEANOR] [Illustration: The First Prince of Wales. ICH DIEN] THERE were Welsh princes long before there were English kings, and theWelsh princes could not bear to be subject to the kings of England. Sothey were always fighting to get back their independence. But theEnglish kings could not let them be free as they wished, because Englandcould never have been safe with an independent kingdom so close to her. So there were constant wars between the two countries, and sometimes thefortune of battle went one way and sometimes the other. But at last the Welsh Prince Llewellyn was killed. He had gone to thesouth of Wales to cheer up his subjects there, and he had crossed theriver Wye into England, when a small band of English knights came up. Ayoung knight named Adam Frankton met with a Welsh chief as he came outof a barn to join the Welsh army. Frankton at once attacked him, andafter a struggle, wounded the Welsh chief to death. Then he rode on tobattle, and when he came back he tried to find out what had become ofthe Welshman. He heard that he was already dead, and then they foundthat the dead man was the great Welsh Prince Llewellyn. His head wastaken off and sent to London, where it was placed on the battlements ofthe Tower and crowned, in scorn, with ivy. This was because an old Welshmagician, years before, had said that when English money became round, the Welsh princes should be crowned in London. And money had becomeround in this way:-- Before this there were silver pennies, and when anyone wanted ahalf-penny, he chopped the silver penny in two, and if he wanted afarthing he chopped the silver penny in four, so that money was allsorts of queer shapes. But Edward the First had caused round copperhalf-pennies and farthings to be made, and when the Welsh prince hadheard of this he had believed that the old magician's words were comingtrue, and that he should defeat Edward and become king of Englandhimself. Instead of this, the poor man's head was cut off, and, inmockery of his hopes and dreams, they crowned the poor dead head withthe wreath of ivy. Now the Welsh wanted another prince, and King Edward said: "If you willsubmit to me and not fight any more, you shall have a prince who wasborn in Wales, can speak never a word of English, and never did wrong toman, woman, or child. " The Welsh people agreed that if they could havesuch a prince as that, they would be contented and quiet, and give upfighting. And so one day the leaders of the Welsh met King Edward at hiscastle in Caernarvon and asked for the Prince he had promised them, andhe came out of his castle with his little son, who had only been born aweek before, in his arms. "Here is your Prince, " he said, holding up the little baby. "He was bornin Wales, he cannot speak a word of English, and he has never done harmto man, woman or child. " Instead of being angry at the trick the king had played them, the Welshpeople were very pleased. Welsh nurses took care of the baby, so that hereally did learn to speak in Welsh before he could speak in English. Andthe Welsh were so pleased with their baby king that from that timeEdward the First had no more trouble with them. There are many stories told of this prince's boldness as a child. Hepromised them to grow up as brave as his father, and it would have beenbetter for him if he had done so. He was always very fond of hunting, and once when he was quite young, he and his servants were hunting thedeer. His servants lost the trace of the deer, and presently, when theyreined up their horses, they found that the young prince was no longerwith them. They looked everywhere for him, very frightened lest heshould have fallen into the hands of robbers; and at last they heard ahorn blown in the forest. They followed the sound of it and presentlyfound that the young prince had seen which way the deer went, and hadfollowed it and killed it all by himself. [Illustration] Now King Edward the First had great trouble with his Scotch nobles, andmany were the battles he fought with them, until at last he forced theScottish king Balliol to declare himself his vassal, and he became theover-lord of Scotland. But there arose a brave Scot named WilliamWallace, who longed to see his country free from England, and he drovethe English back, and again and again he beat them. But in a few years Edward got together another army, and leading theminto Scotland he beat the Scots and took Wallace prisoner. Wallace wastried and found guilty of treason, and when he had been beheaded, theycrowned his head with laurel and placed it on London Bridge, for all thepassers-by, by road or river, to see. [Sidenote: A. D. 1305. ] Then two men claimed the Scottish crown, Robert Bruce and John, who wascalled the Red Comyn. They were jealous of each other, and Bruce thoughtthat Comyn had betrayed him. They met in a church to have anexplanation. "You are a traitor, " said Bruce. [Illustration] "You lie, " said Comyn. And Bruce in a fury struck at him with his dagger, and then, filled withhorror, rushed from the church. "To horse, to horse, " he cried. One ofhis attendants, named Kirkpatrick, asked him what was the matter. "I doubt, " said Bruce, "that I have slain the Red Comyn. " "You doubt!" said Kirkpatrick. "I will make sure. " So saying, he hurried back into the church and killed the wounded man. And now the task of defending Scotland against Edward was left to RobertBruce. King Edward was so angry when he heard of this murder, that atthe feast, when his son was made a knight, he swore over the swan, whichwas the chief dish and which was the emblem of truth and constancy, thathe would never rest two nights in the same place till he had chastisedthe Scots. And for some time the Scots and English were at bitter war, and when King Edward died, he made his son promise to go on fighting. [Sidenote: A. D. 1307. ] But Edward the Second was not a man like his father. He was more likehis grandfather Henry the Third, caring for pretty colours and prettythings, rich clothes, rich feasts, rich jewels, and surrounding himselfwith worthless favourites. Robert Bruce said he was more afraid of thedead bones of Edward the First than of the living body of Edward ofCaernarvon, and that it was easier to win a kingdom from his son than afoot of land from the father. Gradually the castles the English hadtaken in Scotland were won back from them. For twenty years the Englishhad held the Castle of Edinburgh, and at the end of that time, Randolph, a Scottish noble, came to besiege it. The siege was long, and the brave English showed no signs of giving in. Randolph was told that it was possible to climb up the south face of therock on which the castle stood, and steep as the rock was, Randolph andsome others began to climb it one dark night. When they were part of theway up, and close to the wall of the castle, they heard a soldier abovethem cry out--"Away, I see you, " and down came stone after stone. Hadmany more been thrown Randolph and his companions must have been dashedto the ground and killed, for it was only on a very narrow ledge thatthey had found a footing. But the soldier was only in joke, trying tofrighten his fellows. He had not really seen them at all, and he passedon. When all was quiet again, the daring Scots climbed up till theyreached the top of the wall, and when they had fixed a rope ladder therest of their men came up. Then they fell upon the men of the garrisonand killed them, and the castle was taken by the Scots. [Sidenote: A. D. 1314. ] But a greater loss awaited the English. Edward led an English army tobattle in Scotland; and at Bannockburn they met the force of the Scotsking. They fought till the field was slippery with blood, and coveredwith broken armour and lances and arrows. Then at the last, as theEnglish began to waver, Bruce charged down on them with more soldiersand utterly routed them. Edward with difficulty saved his life, andthroughout England there were bitter lamentings at the loss and shamethe country had suffered. Scotland was free from the English yoke, andof all the great conquests the first Edward had won, onlyBerwick-on-Tweed remained to the English. Edward II. Was never loved by his subjects. He made favourites of sillyand wicked persons, and so gave much offence to good folk. He waswasteful and extravagant, and did not even try to govern the countrywisely and well, while his favourites made themselves hated more andmore by their dishonesty and wickedness. The last of his favourites wasnamed Despenser, and he was as much hated by the Queen Isabella as bythe lords and people of England. Despenser not only made himself hatedby the queen, but he managed also to make her dislike her husband, theking, with whom she had long been on unfriendly terms. At last Isabella, disgusted with her husband and his favourite, ran away to France, andthere, with the help of the Count of Hainault and other friends inEngland, she raised an army and attacked and defeated her husband andhis favourite. The young Despenser was hanged on a gibbet fifty feethigh, and a Parliament was called to decide what should be done with theking. [Illustration] The Parliament declared its right to make or unmake kings, and orderedthat Edward should not be king any more. Some members went to Edward atKenilworth to tell him what they had decided, and Edward clad in aplain black gown, received them and quietly promised to be king no more. Then he was taken to Berkeley Castle, and a few months after the peoplelearned that he was dead. [Illustration] There has always been much doubt whether he died a natural death or wasmurdered. The Bishop of Hereford, who had always been on the queen'sside, is said to have sent to two wicked men the following messagewritten in Latin--"Edwardum occidere nolite timere bonum est. " Now thismessage had two meanings according to the way the stops were put in. Thefirst was--"Be unwilling to fear to kill Edward--it is good. " The otherwas--"Be unwilling to kill Edward--it is good to fear. " So you see that, if this message fell into anyone's hands for whom itwas not intended, the bishop would have been able to say he meant towarn people not to kill the king, while Gurney and Maltravers, whoreceived the message, could say that the paper was an order to kill him. The story goes, that they came to the castle and there found the poorking in a dungeon. He was standing in mire and puddle, and, although hewas a king, they gave him only bread and water. Then he thought of hisformer greatness and how brave and gallant a show he had made as aknight, and he cried out-- "Tell Isabel, the queen, I looked not thus When for her sake I ran at tilt in France And there unhorsed the Duke of Cleremont. " [Sidenote: A. D. 1327. ] He was too weak to resist these wicked men, and they had no mercy intheir hearts, but murdered him. [Illustration: HENRY VI. , THE BABY KING. (_See page 47. _)] [Illustration: Edward the Black Prince. ] [Sidenote: A. D. 1340. ] THE name of Edward the Black Prince will always be remembered with loveand admiration by all young Englishmen, because he was by all accounts avery brave, gallant, and courteous prince, feared by his foes and by hisfriends beloved. His father, Edward the Third, had not given up hishopes of regaining his lost possessions in France, so he spent two longyears in getting together money and ships and an army. He fought theFrench fleet near Sluys. Both sides fought fiercely, and at last theEnglish won. The French had thought that they were quite sure to get thebest of it, and they were afraid to tell the King of France how theEnglish had beaten them, for hundreds of the French had been eitherkilled or been forced to jump into the sea to escape the swords of theEnglish. Now, at this time every king kept a jester to make jokes and amuse himand his friends at their feasts, and the jester was a privileged person, who could say anything he liked. So now they told the jester of the Kingof France that he must tell the king the bad news, because he could saywhat he liked and no one would punish him for it. So the jester said-- "Oh! what dastardly cowards the English are!" "How so?" said the king, who expected to hear that the cowardly Englishhad been driven away by his men. [Illustration: ·KING· ·EDWARD· ·SAILS· ·FOR· ·FRANCE·] "Because, " answered the jester, "they have not jumped into the sea asour brave men had to do. " So then the king asked him what he meant, and then the courtiers cameforward and told the sad story of the English victory. Then Edward besieged a town called Tournay, but he had not enough moneyto get provisions for his men, so he had to make friends with the kingof France for a little while and go back to England. Six years later he pawned his crown and his queen's jewels, and at lastgot together enough money to go and fight with the French again. Helanded at La Hogue, and as he landed he fell so violently that his nosebegan to bleed. "Oh, this is a bad sign, " said his courtiers, "that your first step onFrench soil should be a fall. " "Not so, " said the king. "It is a good sign. It shows that the landdesires me: so she takes me close to her. " He had thirty-two thousand men with him, and his son, the Black Prince. Some say he was called the Black Prince because he wore black armour, but others say it was because he made himself as great a terror to theFrench as a black night is to foolish children. Edward marched towards the French and the French marched to meet him, and as they marched they broke down all the bridges, so that the Englishcould not advance by them. But Edward had made up his mind to get acrossthe river Seine and fight with his enemies; and he was no more to bestopped by the water than a dog would have been who wanted to get overto the other side to fight another dog. He got a poor man to show him aplace where the river was shallow at low tide, and there he plunged intothe river, crying, "Let him who loves me follow me, " and the whole armyfollowed and got safely to the other side. Edward arranged his soldiers well, and went himself to the top of alittle hill where there was a windmill. From this he could seeeverything that went on. The French had a far larger army than theEnglish, and when they came in sight of Edward's army and saw how wellplaced it was, the wiser Frenchmen said, "Do not let us fight themto-day, for our men and horses are tired. Let us wait for to-morrow andthen we can drive them back. " So the foremost of the French army turnedback, but those behind were discontented and thought the fighting hadbegun and that they had not had a chance. So they pushed forward tillthe whole French army was close to the English. [Illustration] [Sidenote: A. D. 1346. ] King Edward had made all his soldiers sit on the grass and eat anddrink. Mounted on his horse he rode among them telling them to be brave, for that they were now going to win a glorious victory and coverthemselves with eternal glory. At three in the afternoon the firstFrench soldiers came face to face with the Englishmen, and the battlebegan. Some soldiers from Genoa who had been paid to fight for theFrench king, said they did not want to fight, they were too tired andcould not fight as good soldiers should, but the men behind pressed themon and they were beaten. A heavy rain fell, with thunder, and a greatflight of crows hovered in the air over all the battalions, making aloud noise. Shortly afterwards it cleared up and the sun shone verybright. But the French had it in their faces and the English at theirbacks. [Illustration] When the Genoese drew near, they approached the English with a loudnoise to frighten them; but the English remained quite quiet, and didnot seem to attend to it. They then set up a second shout and advanced alittle forward. The English never moved. Still they hooted a third time, and advanced with their crossbows presented and began to shoot. TheEnglish archers then moved a step forward and shot their arrows withsuch force and quickness that it seemed as if it snowed. The fight ragedfuriously, and presently a knight came galloping up to the windmill andbegged the king to send help to his son, the Black Prince, as he wassore pressed. "Is my son in danger of his life?" said the king. "No, thank God, " returned the knight, "but in great need of your help. " Then the king answered: "Return to them that sent you and say that Icommand them to let the boy win his spurs, for I am determined that, ifit please God, all the glory of this day shall be given to him and tothose to whose care I have entrusted him. " [Illustration] This message cheered the Prince mightily, and he and the English won thebattle of Creçy. And the battle of Creçy, one of the most glorious in English History, was won by the common people of England, yeomen and archers, footsoldiers against the knights and squires of France with their swords andhorses. In this battle the blind king of Bohemia took part with the French. "I pray you, " he said to his friends, "lead me into the battle that Imay strike one more stroke with this good sword of mine. " So they led him in and he was killed. [Sidenote: A. D. 1356. ] The battle of Poictiers was fought entirely under the direction of theBlack Prince, and this was another splendid victory to England; and inthis battle the French king was taken. The king was brought to the BlackPrince as he was resting in his tent, and he behaved like the truegentleman he was. He showed the deepest respect and sympathy for hisvanquished foe. He ordered the best of suppers to be served to the king, and would not sit with him to eat, but stood behind his chair and waitedon him like a servant, saying--"I am only a prince. It is not fitting Ishould sit in the presence of the king of France. " And King John said-- "Since it has pleased Heaven that I am a captive, I thank my God I havefallen into the hands of the most generous and valiant prince alive. " King John was taken as a prisoner to London. They rode into the city, King John mounted on a beautiful white horse that belonged to the BlackPrince, while Prince Edward himself, riding on a black pony, was readyto wait on him, and to do his bidding. It was this generous temper which made the Black Prince beloved by allwho knew him; it was only during his last illness that his characterseemed to be changed by the great sufferings that he underwent, and itwas only during the last year of his life that he did anything of whicha king and an Englishman need be ashamed. He seems to have inherited his skill in war from his father, and fromhis mother, Queen Philippa, he inherited gentleness, goodness, and truecourtesy. There are many stories told of the goodness and courage ofthis lady. Among others, this:-- [Sidenote: A. D. 1347. ] When Edward the Third had besieged Calais for a year, the good townwhich had held out so long was obliged to surrender, for there was nolonger anything to eat in the city, and the folks said: "It is as goodto die by the hands of the English as to die here by famine like rats ina hole. " So they sent to tell the king they would give up the town tohim. But Edward the Third was so angry with them for having resisted himso long, that he said that they should all be hanged. Then Edward theBlack Prince begged his father not to be so hard on brave men who hadonly done what they believed to be their duty, and entreated him tospare them. Then said the king-- "I will spare them on condition that six citizens, bare-headed andbare-footed, clad only in their shirts, with ropes round their necks, shall come forth to me here, bringing the keys of the city. " And when the men of Calais heard this, they said: "No; better to diethan live a dishonoured life by giving up even one of these our brotherswho have fought and suffered with us. " But one of the chief gentlemen ofCalais--Eustace de S. Pierre--said: "It is good that six of us should win eternal glory in this world andthe sunshine of God's countenance in the next, by dying for our town andour brethren. I, for one, am willing to go to the English king on suchterms as he commands. " Then up rose his son and said likewise, and four other gentlemen, inspired by their courage, followed their example. So the six in theirshirts, with ropes round their necks and the keys of the town in theirhands, went out through the gates, and all the folk of Calais stoodweeping and blessing them as they went. When they came to the king, hecalled for the hangman, saying--"Hang me these men at once. " [Illustration] But Queen Philippa was there, and though she was ill, she left her tentweeping so tenderly that she could not stand upright. Therefore she castherself upon her knees before the king, and spoke thus:-- "Ah, gentle sire, from the day I passed over sea I have asked fornothing; now I pray you, for the love of Our Lady's son Christ, to havemercy on these. " King Edward waited for a while before speaking, and looked at the queenas she knelt, and he said--"Lady, I had rather you had been elsewhere. You pray so tenderly that I dare not refuse you; and though I do itagainst my will, nevertheless take them. I give them to you. " Then took he the six citizens by the halters and delivered them to thequeen, and released from death all those of Calais for the love of her. [Illustration: "THERE·IS·NOTHING·IN FRANCE·THAT·CAN·BE·WON WITH·A·DANCE·OR·A·SONG. " HENRY the FIFTH and the BABY KING] [Sidenote: A. D. 1399. ] HENRY the Fourth was the Black Prince's nephew, and he came to be kingof England. His son was Henry the Fifth, the greatest of the Plantagenetkings. When he was a young man, and only Prince of Wales, he was verywild and fond of games and jokes. They used to call him Harry Madcap. Once, when he got into some trouble or other, his father, who was ill, sent for him, and he went at once in a fine dress that he had had madefor a fancy dress party. It was of light blue satin with odd puckers inthe sleeves, and at every pucker the tailor had left a little bit ofblue thread and a tag like a needle. The king was very angry with theprince for daring to come into the royal presence in such a silly coat. Then Prince Harry said-- "Dear father, as soon as I heard that you wanted me, I was in such ahurry to come to you that I had no time to even think of my coat, muchless change it. " And so the king forgave him. Another time one of his servants got into trouble and was taken beforethe Chief Judge Sir William Gascoyne. The Prince went directly to theCourt where the judge was and said-- "Lord Judge, this is my servant, and you must let him go, for I am theking's son. " "No, " said the judge, "I sit here in the place of the king himself, todo justice to all his subjects, and were this man the Prince of Waleshimself, instead of being his servant, he should be punished in that hehas offended against the law. " The prince was so angry that he actually forgot himself so far as tostrike Sir William Gascoyne. The good judge did not hesitate a minute. "You have insulted the king himself, " he said, "in my person, since Isit here in his place to do justice. The common folks who offend againstthe law offend merely against the king; but you, young man, are a doubletraitor to your king and your father. " And he sent the prince to prison. Henry begged the good judge's pardon afterwards, and when he came to thethrone he thanked him for having behaved so justly and wisely, and gavehim great honour because he had not been afraid to do his duty withoutrespect of rank, and Henry behaved to the judge like a good son to agood father. No king of England was ever more wise or brave or just than Henry theFifth; and even now he is remembered with affection. One ofShakespeare's most splendid plays is written about him, and, when youhave once read that, you will always remember and love Henry the Fifthas all Englishmen should do. [Sidenote: A. D. 1413. ] At the very beginning of his reign the wars with France began again. Theking sent to France and claimed some lands that had belonged to Edwardthe Third; and the young prince of France sent back the message--"Thereis nothing in France that can be won with a dance or a song. You cannotget dukedoms in France by playing and feasting, and the prince sends yousomething that will suit you better than lands in France. He has sentyou a barrel of tennis balls, and bids you play with them and letserious matters be. " Then King Henry was very angry, and said--"We thankhim for his present. When we have matched our rackets to these balls, We will in France, by God's grace, play a set Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard. Before I was King of England I was wild and merry because I knew not howgreat and solemn a state waited for me. I have played in my youth like acommon man because I was only Prince of Wales; but now that I am King ofEngland I will rise up with so full of glory that I will dazzle all theeyes of France. " [Illustration] Henry sailed over to France and besieged a town called Harfleur. Hespoke to the soldiers before they attacked the town. "Break down the wall and go through, " he said, "or close the wall upwith our English dead. Bend every spirit To his full height. On, on, you noblest English, Whose blood is fetched from fathers of war proof. Be copy now to men of grosser blood And teach them how to war. And you, good yeomen, Whose limbs were made in England, let us swear That you are worth your breeding, which I doubt not; Cry God for Harry, England and Saint George. " The Englishmen answered nobly to his appeal, and Harfleur was taken. Then the English advanced to a place called Agincourt, a name fated tobe linked with splendid glory for ever in the hearts of all Englishfolk. The French had a very large army, and the English soldiers weretired with their long march. Many of them were ill and many were hungry;but they loved the king, and for his sake, and for the sake of theircountry, they were brave in spite of hunger and cold. Though they werein a strange country and many times outnumbered by their foes, they keptup a brave heart as Englishmen have done, thank God, many's the goodtime, all the world over. So few were they that the Earl of Westmorelandsaid, just before the battle, -- "Oh, that we now had here But one ten thousand of those men in England That do no work to-day!" The king came in just as he was saying this, and said-- "No, if we are marked to die, we are enough for our country to lose. Ifwe are to live, the fewer there are of us the greater share of honour. Ido not covet gold or feasting, or fine garments, but honour I do covet. Wish not another man from England. I would not lose the honour of thisfight by sharing it with more men than are here, and if any among oursoldiers has no desire to fight, let him go. He shall have a passportand money to take him away. I should be ashamed to die in such a man'scompany. We need not wish for men from England. It is the men in Englandwho will envy us when they hear of the great crown of honour and glorythat we have won this day. This is Saint Crispin's day. Every man whofights on this day will remember it and be honoured to the last hour ofhis life. Crispin's day shall ne'er go by from this day to the ending ofthe world, But we in it shall be remembered, We few, we happy few, we band of brothers, For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother, be he ne'er so vile. And gentlemen in England now abed Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their manhood cheap while any speaks That fought with us upon St. Crispin's day. " Lord Salisbury came in as the king was saying this. "The French are inbattle order, " he said, "and ready to charge upon our men. " "All things are ready, " said the king quietly, "if our minds are ready. " "Perish the man whose mind is backward now, " said Westmoreland. "You wish no more for men from England then, " said the king smiling. And Westmoreland, inspired with courage and confidence by the king'sbrave speech, answered--"I would to God, my king, that you and I alonewithout more help might fight this battle out to-day. " "Why, now you have unwished five thousand men, " said the king laughing, "and that pleases me more than to wish us one more. God be with youall. " [Sidenote: A. D. 1415. ] So they went into battle tired as they were. The brave English let loosesuch a shower of arrows that, as at Creçy, the white feathers of thearrows filled the air like snow, and the French fled before them. The Earl of Suffolk was wounded, and as he lay dying, the Duke of York, his great friend, wounded to death, dragged himself to Suffolk's sideand took him by the beard and kissed his wounds, and cried aloud-- "Tarry, dear Cousin Suffolk, My soul shall keep thine company to heaven. Tarry, sweet soul, for mine, then fly abreast, As in this glorious and well-foughten field We kept together in our chivalry. " [Illustration] Then he turned to the king's uncle, the Duke of Exeter, and took hishand and said: "Dear my lord, commend my service to my sovereign. " Then he put his two arms round Suffolk's neck, and the two friends diedtogether. But the battle was won. Peace was made with France, and to seal the peace Henry married theFrench princess, Katherine. A little son was born to them at Windsor, and was called Henry of Windsor, Prince of Wales; he was afterwardsHenry the Sixth. When Henry the Fifth knew he was going to die, hecalled his brothers together and gave them good advice about rulingEngland and France, and begged them to take great care of his littleson. Henry the Sixth was not a year old when his father died, and he wascrowned at once. One of the finest English poems we have, was written about the Battle ofAgincourt. I. Fair stood the wind for France When we our sails advance, Nor now to prove our chance Longer will tarry; But putting to the main At Caux, the mouth of Seine, With all his martial train, Landed King Harry. II. And turning to his men, Quoth our brave Harry then, Though they be one to ten, Be not amazed. Yet have we well begun; Battles so bravely won Have ever to the sun By fame been raised. III. And for myself (quoth he) This my full rest shall be, England ne'er mourn for me, Nor more esteem me. Victor I will remain, Or on this earth lie slain, Never shall she sustain Loss to redeem me. IV. Poitiers and Cressy tell When most their pride did swell, Under our swords they fell; No less our skill is Then when our grandsire great, Claiming the regal seat, By many a warlike feat Lopped the French lilies. V. They now to fight are gone, Armour on armour shone, Drum now to drum did groan, To hear was wonder; That with the cries they make, The very earth did shake, Trumpet to trumpet spake, Thunder to thunder. VI. With Spanish yew so strong, Arrows a cloth-yard long That like to serpents stung, Piercing the weather; None from his fellow starts, But playing manly parts, And like true English hearts, Stuck close together. VII. When down their bows they threw And forth their bilbos drew, And on the French they flew, Not one was tardy; Arms were from shoulders sent, Scalps to the teeth were rent, Down the French peasants went-- Our men were hardy. VIII. This while our noble king, His broadsword brandishing, Down the French host did ding, As to o'erwhelm it. And many a deep wound lent His arms with blood besprent. And many a cruel dent Bruised his helmet. IX. Upon Saint Crispin' day Fought was this noble fray. Which fame did not delay To England to carry. O when shall Englishmen With such acts fill a pen, Or England breed again Such a King Harry? [Illustration: Father Tuck's "GOLDEN GIFT" AND "LITTLE LESSON" SERIES Uniform with this Volume, and Published at the same Price. ] * * * * * Transcriber's Note: This edition did not contain a table of contents. One was created to aid the reader.