6. The commander refused to do such a wicked deed. Then Richard sent a man, who would do as he wished, to have charge of the Tower for one night.

7. In the dead of night the new commander and two ruffians whom he had hired crept softly up the stairs. They stopped when they came to the bedchamber of the young princes, and looked in.

8. The two boys were sleeping peacefully with their arms thrown round each other. It was a beautiful sight, but it did not touch the hearts of those cruel men. Stealing into the room they placed pillows over the children's faces and smothered them in their bed.

9. Many years afterwards their bones were found by some workmen under an old staircase, and were then buried in Westminster Abbey.

When Edward the Fourth died, his son, a boy of twelve, became king. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the king's uncle, sent him and his brother to live in the Tower of London. Soon afterwards Richard became king, and his nephews were murdered by his orders.

THE CHAINED BIBLE.

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XX. THE CHAINED BIBLE.

1. Now that the Bible is found in every house, we can hardly imagine the time when there were only a very few copies in the land. Those copies were not in English, but were written in Latin.

2. In the reign of Richard the Second there lived a good man named John Wycliffe, who wrote out the Bible in English. He was the first person who did so. It was a very hard task, and occupied his time for fifteen years.

3. But even when an English Bible could be obtained very few persons had a copy. There were not many people then living who could read, and besides, as printing was not yet known, and all books had to be written, Bibles were very dear indeed.

4. About one hundred and fifty years after Wycliffe's time, some of the people wished to make certain changes in the government of the Church. As they wanted to reform it, or make it better, their work was called the Reformation.

5. The people who helped in this work came to be known as the Protestants, because they protested against, or objected to, some of the things taught by the Catholic Church.

6. Henry the Eighth was king of England at that time, and as he had quarrelled with the Pope he encouraged the Reformation.

7. To please the Protestants the king allowed the Bible to be printed in English, in a large volume.

When the work was done he ordered a copy to be placed in every church in the kingdom, so that

The Bible was first written in English by John Wycliffe, who lived in the reign of Richard the Second. One hundred and fifty years afterwards some of the people wished to make changes in the govern ment of the church. Their work was called the Reformation, and they became known as Protestants. Henry the Eighth was king, and encouraged them. He ordered a large copy of the Bible to be placed in every church. To prevent the book from being stolen, it was chained to a desk.

LADY JANE GREY.

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XXI.-LADY JANE GREY.

1. There is one English queen whose name does not appear in the list of sovereigns who have governed England. This queen reigned only ten days, and was never crowned. She is known in history as Lady Jane Grey.

2. King Edward the Sixth and Lady Jane were cousins, and both were Protestants. As Edward did not wish his sister Mary, who was a Roman Catholic, to become queen if he should die, he was persuaded to make a will and leave the crown to his Protestant cousin Jane.

3. Very soon afterwards the young king died, and Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed queen. The chief nobleman on her side, however, was so much disliked by the people that they helped Edward's sister Mary to become queen, and the Lady Jane was sent to live in the Tower of London. Her husband was also sent there as a prisoner.

4. Perhaps Mary would have allowed them to live there quietly, but by and bye a number of Englishmen marched to London to fight against the queen, and to place Lady Jane again on the throne. Then Mary said that the two prisoners must die.

5. As Lady Jane was sitting at a window she saw her husband taken away to be executed, and after a short time she saw the dead body brought back in a cart.

6. Presently an officer entered her room to lead her to the block. She went quickly up the steps

of the scaffold, and asked the people who were there to bear witness that she died a true Christian

woman.

7. Some one gave her a handkerchief to tie over her eyes. When she was blindfolded she felt for the block on which she was to lay her head, but as she could not find it, one of the bystanders led her to it. Then she laid her head down and said, "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit."

EXECUTION OF LADY JANE GREY.

8. With one blow of the axe her head was severed from her body, and Lady Jane Grey was no more. She was only seventeen years of age when she was put to death in this cruel manner.