dour; and they built magnificent palaces and churches, and passed their time in luxury amidst songs and music. Henry was not a wicked man, like his father had been, but he was a bad king, for he cared nothing about the happiness of his people. He spent so much money upon all this magnificence, and gave so much to his French friends, that he was always in debt; and then they persuaded him to pay no more attention to the Charter, which he had promised to obey, but to govern the land as he pleased, and to rob his subjects of their money.

2. At last the clergy, and the barons, and the people resolved to endure this no longer. There was a great lord called Simon de Montfort. He was tall and handsome haughty and wrathful if he was displeased, but kind and gracious to those whom he loved. He was so fair and just in all his dealings that he was called "Sir Simon the Righteous." He came to King Henry's court, and the king received him graciously and granted all that he asked. He made him Earl of Leicester, and before long gave him his sister Eleanor in marriage, and with her a splendid dowry and fine lands, and the beautiful castle of Kenilworth to live in; and Simon became godfather to Henry's eldest son, Prince Edward.

3. But suddenly the king's mind changed towards him, either because the king's favourites grew jealous of Simon and told stories against him to the king, or because Henry himself saw that Simon would not support him in wrong-doing, like the rest of the courtiers. So Simon and his wife departed to France.

Yet when war broke out between the Kings of England and France, Simon fought for England.

4. But the time came when the English barons and clergy resolved that they would bear King Henry's misgovernment no longer, and then Earl Simon went over to live in England again, and became their leader, although he had married the king's sister.

5. The king came to meet the barons in Westminster Hall, and Simon and all the rest appeared in armour, with their swords by their sides. They told the king that they could endure his extravagance and misgovernment no more, and that he must give up his power, as King John had promised to do, to a council. And Henry yielded.

6. However, the country was in so wretched a condition that even Simon could not cure all its evils in a day, and many grew discontented, so that King Henry was encouraged to undertake the government himself again. At last Simon saw that there was no remedy but to compel Henry to submit. He gathered his followers, and they all wore white crosses on their coats, like the army which had fought for the Great Charter against King John. A great battle was fought at Lewes, in Sussex, in which Simon's army defeated the king's army, and Simon took his godson, Prince Edward, prisoner. So the king was obliged to make a treaty with the barons, and give up his power to them; and Simon governed the kingdom in the king's name, and kept the king under his control.

7. For a time all went well, for Simon obeyed the

Great Charter and the laws of the land, and called Parliament together to advise him in the government. At last, however, Prince Edward made his escape from his imprisonment. One day, while he was riding with the officers who guarded him, he proposed a race with the officers, and they all set off galloping. Prince Edward's horse beat them all. He was soon out of sight, and never stopped till he had joined his friends.

8. Then Edward collected an army and marched against Earl Simon at Evesham, in Worcestershire, and Simon's army was defeated, and he himself was killed in the battle. But his work was not forgotten. Prince Edward had learnt from his godfather both how to rule well and how to fight well, and though he fought against Simon for his father's sake, yet he never forgot his example. When he came to be king himself, he always governed by the advice of Parliament, as Earl Simon had begun to do; and for long after the people thought Simon a saint and a martyr, and came from far to worship at his tomb.

20. EDWARD I. (R. 1270-1307).

1. Prince Edward was a very tall man, and because of his long legs people called him Edward Longshanks. He was a strong, restless prince, a great rider, and a skilful soldier. He was accustomed to warfare from his youth, and all his days until his death he was fighting with the kingdoms around.

2. As soon as the war with Simon was over, Prince Edward set out, with his wife Eleanor and with many of the great barons, to fight in the Crusade in Palestine. He came to Nazareth, where Jesus Christ lived in His youth, but he could not take Jerusalem. One day, while Edward lay resting in the noontide heat, there came a dark stranger in a flowing robe with a letter to his tent, and asked to see the prince. Edward bade him enter; and then, as he took the letter, the stranger drew a dagger from beneath his robe, and sprang upon the prince and stabbed him. Edward leaped from his couch and slew the assassin on the spot. But the dagger had been poisoned, and the prince thought that he would die in a few hours. Then Eleanor sucked the wound with her lips until all the poison was drawn out, though she knew not whether it would kill her instead; however, Prince Edward recovered, and Eleanor was none the worse.

3. Soon afterwards they set off home, and on the way a messenger met them to tell Edward that King Henry was dead, and that all the barons of England were waiting for him to come and reign over them. So he went on to England, and when he was crowned there were great feastings and rejoicings, for he was a very just and noble prince.

4. The first thing Edward did was to make war upon the people of Wales, the descendants of the Britons who held on amongst the mountains when the English conquered the country in the old times. They spoke the old British language, and were ruled by British princes. Many kings of England had tried to

conquer Wales, but they could not, and thousands had been slain upon either side in the war.

5. There was in the time of Edward a brave and noble Welsh prince called Llewelyn, and the Welsh all loved him greatly. He had already led them many times to battle and brought them home victorious, and they almost worshipped him for his valour. Their poets, or bards as they called them, made songs about Prince Llewelyn and the other Welsh heroes, and the brave deeds they had done in warfare with the English; and the people sang these songs to their harps, and the sound of them stirred up their hearts to resist the English.

6. But at last they were defeated in battle, and Prince Llewelyn was killed. King Edward commanded his soldiers to cut off the head of the dead prince, and he sent it to London, so that the citizens might see that he had conquered his enemy. After this the Welsh people submitted to the English, and Edward was proclaimed King both of England and Wales.

7. He made good laws for the Welsh, but for a long time they hated their conqueror. However, Queen Eleanor had a little son, who was born at Carnarvon, in Wales; and when the Welsh had submitted to the king, Edward made them a most gracious speech, and said that he was going to present them with a prince who was born in their own country and could not speak a word of any other language; who had never offended them, or indeed done anything that was wrong or cruel; and that this prince should be called the Prince of Wales. The people wondered very much who this