Columbus had reached the New World. Many sailors had followed him, and had discovered new lands and brought home new treasures. The Pope of Rome had made a present of the lands of the New World, and the wealth they contained, and the gold and silver in the mines, to the Kings of Spain; but the English Protestants did not mean to leave these to their enemies, and many brave sailors who had heard of the wonders of these countries sailed from England to make fresh discoveries and bring home rich treasures.

5. Sir Walter Raleigh was the most eager of them all. He wished to see Englishmen settling in North America and making the country their own. So he sent a band of men to found a settlement-or colony, as it was called-in Newfoundland; and others to a land which he called Virginia, after the virgin Queen of England.

6. Raleigh's ships brought home with them two things which the English had not before known— potatoes and tobacco. The colonists found them both growing in America, and they learned from the natives how to use them.

7. But when Raleigh was about fifty years old, Queen Elizabeth died, and James I. became king. There were many who were discontented with the king's rule, and plotted against him. And at last Guy Fawkes and his friends resolved to destroy the king and all his councillors by blowing up the Parliament with gunpowder. Just in time Guy Fawkes was discovered in the cellar below, and was taken prisoner and beheaded. But before this the king's

suspicions had fallen upon Raleigh, and he had him imprisoned in the Tower. So he languished in prison from day to day, and week to week, for more than twelve years, and he spent his time in writing a History of the World.

8. At last, Raleigh sent word to the king that he knew of a rich gold mine in the New World, and that, if he were allowed to come out of prison, he would cross the seas once more and find it. Now King James was very fond of money; so, in his desire for the gold, he allowed Raleigh to come out of the Tower, and gave him a ship to go across the ocean.

9. Raleigh was an old man by this time, but he was still full of daring and energy; and he was overjoyed to find himself once more upon the sea. He took his eldest son with him, and sailed away to the New World. But he could not find the gold mine, and on the way the Spaniards killed Raleigh's son; so Raleigh, ill and broken-hearted, came back to England.

10. Now just at that time King James, who was a weak and irresolute king, was very anxious to please the Spanish, who feared and hated Raleigh; so he sent Raleigh back to prison, and commanded that he should be beheaded.

11. A number of Raleigh's old friends came on the scaffold to shake hands with him and bid him good-bye. He took leave of them, and then, after feeling the axe to know if it was sharp enough to do its work well, he knelt down and stretched out his hands in sign that he was ready. Then the executioner struck, and the life of the brave old man was ended.

41. OLIVER CROMWELL (B. 1599; D. 1658).

1. When James I. died he was succeeded by his son Charles I. He was the grandson of Mary Queen of Scots, and his life ended in the same awful way that hers had ended.

2. Charles I. was not reckless as she had been, nor selfish like his father James I.; but he was extremely obstinate, and, what was worse, men found that they could not trust his word. He maintained that he had the right to tax the people himself, and to rule them as he pleased. But the English were determined to be governed by their old laws. Civil war began between the king and the Parliament, and after a long struggle, and many battles, King Charles fell into the hands of the Parliament and was beheaded.

3. Of all the men who resisted King Charles in Parliament and on the battle-field, the most famous was Oliver Cromwell. Oliver Cromwell was a very earnest man, filled with a great desire to serve God faithfully, and he was also very able, strong, and determined. He was very sure that King Charles' way of government was wrong, and that it was the duty of all Englishmen who loved their country to stand up against him. And having once made up his mind to this, he acted accordingly, and shrank from no word or deed that was necessary to get rid of him.

4. Cromwell was a man of middle height, rather stout, and of a reddish-brown complexion. He was awkward in his movements, and rough and blunt of

speech. At times, too, he gave way to great fits of passion, and spoke with violence, forgetting all courtesy and dignity. His dress was plain and rather slovenly; and the fine gentlemen of the king's party used to laugh at his ungainly manners and harsh voice.

5. His regiment was made up of men very much like himself, sober, earnest, God-fearing; but rough in their manners, and terrible when they were roused to anger. All swearing, drinking, plundering, and blasphemy were sternly forbidden amongst them. They were nicknamed "Cromwell's Ironsides," because they were so strong and steadfast that people said their sides must be of iron instead of flesh and blood.

6. However, on the other side the king's friends were just as sure that he was right, and a great number of the English thought so too, and fought for Charles. And when the king was beheaded they refused to submit to the Parliament or to Cromwell, and went on fighting for the king's son, Charles the Second. Those who took part with the Parliament refused to call Charles king; for the Parliament had declared that there should be no king henceforth, and had appointed a Council of State to rule the country-which was now called the "Commonwealth" instead of the "Kingdom."

7. But at last Cromwell won a great victory at Worcester, and Prince Charles was obliged to fly for his life. He hid in all sorts of curious places, and once, when he was in a wood, he was so nearly overtaken that he was obliged to climb up into an oak-tree and remain hidden in its boughs, while the soldiers hunted about all round him, and passed backwards and

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