5. In the same year that Cressy was fought, England was invaded by David Bruce. He was defeated by Philippa at Nevill's Cross, near Durham, and taken prisoner.

He was then sent to the Tower, where he remained in imprisonment for eleven years.

6. In 1348 England was visited by a terrible plague, called "The Black Death." In London alone 100,000 fell victims to it; and, on an average, 200 were buried daily. The courts of justice were closed, agriculture was neglected, and famine, as a consequence, soon followed.

It is computed that 25,000,000 Europeans were swept away by this awful visitation.

7. At the expiration of the truce (1355) the war with France was resumed. The Black Prince ravaged the whole of the south of France; and in 1356 gave the French, who were vastly superior in numbers, another severe defeat at Poictiers. John, the French king, was taken prisoner and brought to London.

His victor treated him with great civility, and waited upon him at table as his esquire. In 1360 "The Great Peace" was concluded with France; and John was released, on condition that he should pay a ransom of 3,000,000 gold crowns, and that some of the southern provinces should be ceded to Edward. He found it impossible to obtain the money, and returned to London, where he died (1364).

8. The Black Prince soon after engaged in a war for the support of Pedro the Cruel, who had been expelled by his half-brother from the throne of Castile. In the campaign which followed, his health was completely shattered, and he was obliged to return to Gascony. In 1361 he was summoned by the French king to Paris, to answer the charges of oppression brought against him by the nobles of Aquitaine. He replied that he would appear, but with 60,000 warriors at his back. War was again resumed, and did not terminate until 1374.

This war was marked by no great battles, and was 'on the whole favourable to the French. When it was concluded, all the possessions which had been ceded at the Great Peace, except Bordeaux, Bayonne, and Calais, were lost; and England possessed less power in France than she had before the war began. The cruelties which were perpetrated in this war, at the orders of the Black Prince, are a great stain on his character. On the capture of Limoges he caused 3000 of the poor inhabitants of the city, men, women, and children, to be massacred. He died A.D. 1376.

9. Edward only outlived his son one year. He was courageous, wise, affable, and merciful. In person he was tall, majestic, and of noble aspect.

In this reign Windsor Castle was built; the title of duke was introduced; the Order of the Garter founded; and tolls for the repairs of roads were levied. Cannon were first used at Cressy, and contributed very much to the defeat of the French.

The use of the French language* in the law courts and in public schools was now discontinued; and the English tongue gradually took its place.

Contemporaries.-10. Scotland, David I., David II., Robert II.; France, Charles IV., Philip VI., John, Charles V.; Sir John Mandeville, a famous oriental traveller.

His book of travels is one of the earliest specimens of good English prose. It is full of the most absurd stories. He speaks of men with tails, of birds capable of carrying elephants through the air, and of certain fruits which contained within them live lambs.

John Wiclif (1324-1385), rector of Lutterworth, the first great English reformer, and the translator of the Bible into English; Chaucer (1328-1402), the father of English poetry; Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, celebrated Italian writers; Schwarz, a monk of Co

* French was the language spoken by our English sovereigns down to the time of Richard II. William the Conqueror tried to learn English, but gave it up in despair. Henry II., when once addressed in English by a Welsh peasant thus,-"God hold ye, king," was unable to understand him, and observed to his squire in French, "Ask this peasant if he is telling us his dreams."

logne, said to be the inventor of gunpowder; Thomas Blanket, a native of Bristol, who first introduced into England the art of weaving the article which bears

his name.

RICHARD II., OF BORDEAUX.

Born A.D. 1366; Reigned 22 Years (1377-1399).

Family.-1. Richard was the eldest surviving son of Edward, the Black Prince. He was twice married: first to Anne of Bohemia, and afterwards to Isabella of France. He had no issue by either marriage.

Chronicle.-2. The young king ascended the throne in his eleventh year, but did not actually assume the reins of government until his twenty-second. In the mean time all state affairs were managed by twelve councillors, selected by the Parliament.

3. In 1381 a poll-tax of one shilling was levied on every person above fifteen years of age. This impost was violently resisted in the Eastern Counties, and led to a serious insurrection of the lower orders. They were headed by a mechanic named Wat the Tyler, and by two profligate priests, John Ball and Jack Straw. A force of nearly 100,000 of them marched on London, where they committed the most frightful excesses, setting open the prisons, burning the mansions of the nobles, pillaging and murdering in all directions. Richard met a portion of the insurgents at Mile-end, and having granted them the charters they required, they returned peaceably home.

These charters proclaimed that slavery should be abolished, that the rent of land should be reduced to an equal rate, that the fairs and markets should be thrown open to all, and that the insurgents should receive full pardon.

On the following day Richard had a conference with Wat the Tyler at Smithfield, during which the latter was stabbed by Walworth the lord-mayor, who, seeing him play with the handle of his dagger, suspected that

he was about to assassinate the king. His followers immediately bent their bows to avenge his death; but Richard rode into the midst of them, exclaiming, "What mean ye, my lieges? Tyler was a traitor. I am your king, and I will be your leader." The boldness of the address awed the insurgents; and they soon after dispersed.

The immediate cause of Tyler's rebellion was an outrage offered by a brutal tax-collector to his daughter. On hearing of the insult, Tyler struck the ruffian a mortal blow with his hammer. His fellow-villagers approved the deed, and swore to protect him from punishment.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chancellor, with vast numbers of Lombards and Flemings who had settled in London, were massacred in this outbreak.

In spite of the charters, 1500 of the insurgents were executed; and laws were passed, which rendered the position of the peasantry worse than it had been before.

4. Richard now fell into the hands of favourites, and lavished upon them his richest estates and highest honours. One of these minions, Robert de Vere, was made Duke of Ireland; another, Michael de la Pole, was made Earl of Suffolk. This imprudence gave great dissatisfaction; and in 1386 these nobles were impeached by Parliament, and Richard was obliged to dismiss them.

A desultory kind of war was carried on with France and Scotland about this period. On one occasion Richard advanced into the latter country as far as Aberdeen, burning Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee on his way. This invasion was followed in 1388 by the battle of Otterbourne, fought between the Scotch Earl Douglas and the English Earl Percy. It is best known as the Battle of Chevy Chase.

5. On the downfall of Richard's favourites, the Duke of Gloucester, his uncle, put himself at the head of the government; but, as soon as the young king attained his majority, he prepared to avenge himself for the treatment he had undergone, and in 1397 Gloucester was seized, conveyed to Calais, and there most probably murdered.

The particulars of his death are unknown; but it is generally believed that he was dispatched in some way at the command of Richard.

6. In the following year a serious quarrel sprang up between the Duke of Norfolk and Henry Bolingbroke, son of John of Gaunt. The former having uttered some treasonable remarks concerning the king, Bolingbroke accused him of it in Parliament: Norfolk denied the charge, and it was then resolved to settle the dispute by single combat. They met at Coventry for the purpose; but, before the encounter commenced, the king interposed and forbade it. He, then took the matter into his own hands, banishing Norfolk for life, and Hereford for ten years.

Norfolk is said to have died about a year after, of a broken heart, at Venice.

7. In 1399 John of Gaunt died. Richard then seized on his estates, though he had promised that they should descend to Bolingbroke. The latter, on hearing this, immediately returned to England in order to assert his rights, and was soon joined by thousands of his fellow-countrymen.

This act of injustice, together with the general misgovernment of the country, made Richard very unpopular. "The realm, and the good people said, the time changed upon us from good to evil; ever since the death of good King Edward the Third, in whose days justice was well kept and ministered: in his days there was no man so hardy in England to take a hen, or a chicken, or a sheep, without he had paid truly for it; and now-a-days, all that we have is taken from us, and yet we dare not speak."

At the time of this invasion Richard was in Ireland; and before he could return Henry had collected an army of 80,000 men. The king, on landing, threw himself into Conway Castle, where he was shortly after taken prisoner.

When brought before Henry, Richard said to him, "Fair cousin of Lancaster, you are right welcome." Henry replied, "My lord, I have come somewhat before my time: the reason whereof I will tell you. Your people complain that you have