DEATH OF HENRY.

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the council of Constance in this reign; and the Lollards everywhere suffered dreadfully from the persecutions of the Romanists.

After Henry had remained some time in England, having left the duke of Clarence in command of the army in France, he went back to that country on hearing that Clarence had been slain in battle. He left Katherine in England till the birth of their son Henry, at Windsor, and then the queen joined her husband at Paris. He had subdued all Normandy, and every thing seemed to prosper according to his wishes, when he was suddenly called to his account, being seized with an illness which caused his death, August 31, 1422, in the thirty-fourth year of his age, and the tenth of his reign. When near his end, he appointed the duke of Bedford regent of France, and the duke of Gloucester to the same office in England; leaving his little son in the care of the earl of Warwick. Then turning his thoughts from earthly cares, he passed the remainder of his time in devotion.

His body was brought to England, and buried with great pomp in Westminster Abbey. And thus ended all his grand schemes of wealth and ambition, for which he had poured out the blood of his subjects like water. While his "inward thought was that his

house should continue for ever, his dwelling place to all generations," he was "cut off in the midst of his days," before even the afflicted king of France, whom he expected to succeed. Truly "God's ways are not as our ways;" He is "a God that hideth himself."

I have met with a remark in a history of England,* (which you may one day read with pleasure,) concerning the French wars at this period, worthy of remembrance. I have before said that war is one of the greatest afflictions which can befal any country, and that it is very wrong for a king to engage in it without good cause, as Henry did, as it brings misery on thousands. But God often permits a country to be tormented with fierce wars to punish its inhabitants for their wickedness; and as at this time the French had fallen into a dreadful state of sin, we may well believe that God employed the kings of England as scourges or instruments to punish them, and bring them back to a sense of right. "Because my people have forgotten me, saith the Lord, I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy." The judgments with which God declares He will punish a rebellious people, are war, famine, and pestilence. May our country long be preserved from such terrible

*Mrs. Markham's.

RICHARD WHITTINGTON.

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scourges, and may we turn unto the Lord God with all our hearts, that He may remember us in mercy, and not in wrath!

Katherine, the widow of Henry the fifth, married a Welsh gentleman, named Owen Tudor, and had two sons, Edmund, earl of Richmond, and Jasper, earl of Pembroke. Edmund had a son, who afterwards became king of England, although without just title, by the name of Henry the seventh.

Richard Whittington, "thrice lord mayor of London," lived in the reign of Henry the fifth. I doubt not most of my young readers have become acquainted with his history, and that of his cat, and almost thought it was a fabulous story, like "Jack the Giantkiller," &c. But Whittington was a real character, whatever his cat might be, and many public institutions of his founding still remain, and there is a stone on Highgate-hill marking the spot where he sat down and listened to the church-bells, till their merry peal cheered up his sinking heart, and seemed to call to to him, "Turn again, Whittington, thrice lord mayor of London!" Near to that spot is a public building, called Whittington College, instituted by him as an asylum for elderly females of respectable station but decayed fortune.

CHAPTER XIX.

HENRY THE SIXTH.-FROM 1422 TO 1461.

I AM now about to give you the history of a reign which is all filled up with rebellion and civil war; by civil war is meant when people of the same country fight against each other. It is, indeed, the very worst kind of war, and the very greatest affliction that can happen to any nation. Solomon says, (Eccle. x. 16) "Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child !” and the history of England at this time proves the wisdom of the remark. Henry the sixth was a baby only nine months old when his father died. The duke of Gloucester, familiarly spoken of as "the good duke Humphrey," and deservedly beloved by the people, watched over the interests of the little king in England; while the duke of Bedford, a man of wisdom and integrity, sought to support his claims in France. Charles the sixth, the insane king of that country, only survived Henry the fifth a few months; and the dauphin at once assumed the title of Charles the seventh. Bedford resisted him with all his power,

and among other wise measures, allowed the king of Scotland, who had so long been a prisoner in England, to be ransomed by his subjects; and then made a treaty with them, so that the French were deprived of their aid in the war. Many battles were fought, with various success, much money was spent, and many a valuable life lost in this useless war, but all in vain. The French naturally clung to their own kings, and would by no means acknowledge Henry, though he was actually, when about eight years old, crowned at Paris.

A very extraordinary circumstance took place in France at this time. A young girl of obscure birth, named Joan d' Arc, believed herself inspired by God to expel the invaders of her country. The English were besieging Orleans, and Joan promised that they should be driven away, and that Charles should be crowned at Rheims. Roused by her courage and enthusiasm, the soldiers fought with new ardour, and their exertions were crowned with victory.

But Charles treated this young girl, who had rendered him so great a service, with the basest ingratitude. Having been taken prisoner by the English at Compeigne, she was tried and condemned on the charge of being a witch; (for even grown-up people