tions, in pursuit of true science. Then the illustrious namesake of the humble friar of the middle ages, Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam and Viscount St. Albans, became the father of experimental philosophy. Thirty thousand pounds were expended by Friar Bacon in scientific investigation and experiment. He discovered the art of making gunpowder, but never published it to the world, probably from a humane motive. After describing, in his writings, the effects produced by this dangerous compound, he gives the list of ingredients. In doing this, he transposes the letters of the Latin words which signify charcoal, in such a way as to render the description obscure, whilst making it perfectly certain, whenever the secret should be discovered, that it had already been in the good friar's possession. He invented reading-glasses and various mathematical instru ments. Owing to the ignorance and envy of the monks, Bacon was accused of being a sorcerer, and thrown into prison, where he languished for many years. He died in 1292. Michael Scott and John Duns Scotus were two famous mathematical and metaphysical scholars of that day. The former spent much time in the study of astrology and alchemy, so that the common people looked upon him as a magician. On men of genius and learning in that age it was the custom to bestow pompous titles, such as "the angelic doctor," "the subtile," "the singular and invincible," &c. To Matthew Paris, a Benedictine monk of St. Alban's, we owe a very interesting history, which is chiefly remarkable for the boldness with which the tyranny of the Romish church is condemned. The condition of England was not more secure during this period, than it had been in previous ages. King Henry III. complained that in travelling through Hampshire, the bold robbers plundered his baggage, carried off his wine, and set his power at defiance. In Edward I.'s reign a law was passed ordering the gates of all walled towns to be shut from sunset to sunrise; a watch to be set, and every stranger to be seized, unless the guest of a citizen. The highways between market towns were to be cleared for two hundred. feet on either side, and no tree or bush left near the road, behind which a robber could lurk. Every one was ordered to provide himself with armor; the poor were to have bows and arrows at least. When a band of robbers was discovered, the nearest towns were to raise "the hue and cry." The word hue meant in those days, pursuit, and was taken from an old French verb, "huer," signifying, to pursue with shouting. QUESTIONS.-What reason is given for the slight allusion to the church in Magna Charta?-Describe the condition of the English churches in this century.-Name and describe the character of the mendicant monks.-Describe the style of preaching in this age.Mention the checks which ecclesiastical power received towards the close of the century. What laws injurious to commerce were passed?-Describe the fairs of those days.-Relate the origin of the term "staples.”— Likewise the origin of "sterling," as applied to currency.-Name a few specimens of the architecture of this age.-Who were the free masons?-Describe their plan of operations.-What improvements are mentioned in the dwellings of this century? What is told of gardens and their products?-What entertainments were enjoyed by the nobles at their meals?-Describe the fare and habits of the poorer classes.-Relate what is told of dress.— Describe the condition of the universities prior to this time.-Mention the colleges founded in this century.-Relate the account given of Friar Bacon.-Describe the condition of the country.-By what laws was its better security provided for? PART VI. ENGLAND DURING THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. EDWARD II.-EDWARD III-RICHARD II. A. D. 1307-1399. "With Edward's acts adorn the shining page, CHAPTER XX. EDWARD II. GAVESTON-BANNOCKBURN-CIVIL STRIFE-DEPOSITION OF THE KING. 1307. EDWARD began his reign by disobeying the dying commands of his father. In a few months he committed the late king's remains to a tomb in Westminster Abbey: he made but a feeble pretence of carrying on the war in Scotland, and he recalled Gaveston from banishment, and loaded him with riches and honors. This young man was handsome, brave, and accomplished; but he was a foreigner. He had unbounded influence over the king, and the highest honors which a subject could receive were bestowed by his royal master, to the exclusion of the hereditary nobility of the realm. Twice compelled by parliament to banish him, Edward as often recalled and restored him to his honors and estates. At length Gaveston fell into the hands of his enemies. In the hall of Warwick Castle he was condemned by a council of those English nobles, whom in the day of his power he had despised and ridiculed. On Blacklow Hill, a gentle knoll that rises from the river Avon, the head of the haughty favorite bowed beneath the executioner's axe. 1307 Taking advantage of the weakness of the English king, Robert Bruce, his brave brothers and friends, Edward Bruce, Randolph, Douglas, and the Steward of Scotland, were fast recovering the liberty of their country. By force or guile, castle after castle had fallen into their hands. to 1314. At length the English king was roused to exertion. With one of the largest and finest armies ever raised in England, he set out for the Scottish border. At the little burn (brook) of Bannock, about two miles from Stirling, Bruce, with hardly forty thousand men, prepared to encounter this mighty array. The night before the battle was spent by the Scottish army in devotion. As the English king gazed upon this inferior force, kneeling on the greensward, in the attitude of prayer, he exclaimed: "See! they kneel! they cry for mercy!" "They kneel, indeed, my liege," was the reply, "but not to you; they cry for mercy; but it is to heaven. On that field they will conquer or die!" And on the field of Bannockburn, they did conquer, and bravely too. The day before the regular action, Bruce, by a brilliant deed of valor, done in the sight of both armies, cheered the spirits of his men. As he reviewed his troops, riding on a palfrey, with battle-axe in hand, and the crown of Scotland surmounting his steel helmet, an English knight, armed cap-à-pie, galloped forward on his heavy charger, and challenged him to single combat. With one blow of his battle-axe, Bruce laid the proud antagonist at his feet. In the general battle, which occurred on the 24th of June, the conflict was long and bloody. When the Scottish shout of victory arose, two hundred English knights, seven hundred squires, and thirty thousand of the common soldiers, lay dead upon the field. After the battle of Bannockburn, Stirling Castle, the great stronghold of English power, surrendered. Border warfare was carried on between the two countries, with scarcely an interval of peace, until 1323, when a truce of thirteen years was concluded. The king's misgovernment and passion for favorites roused a rebellion, headed by the Duke of Lancaster. At Boroughbridge, the two parties had an encounter, in which Lancaster was defeated, and compelled to surrender. He was put to death by order of the king, who regarded him with especial enmity, for the part he had taken in the death of Gaveston. Among the prisoners at Boroughbridge was one Roger Mortimer. He was thrown into the Tower of London, and there lay under sentence of death. Making his guards drink to intoxication, he escaped their vigilance. Climbing the chimney, he let himself down by a ladder of ropes, and crossing the Thames in a wherry, mounted a fleet horse, prepared by friends who awaited him, and escaped to the coast, whence he crossed over to France. 1323. Edward's queen, Isabella, the sister of the French king, was one of the most beautiful women in Europe, but she was unprincipled, and her husband's neglect had so excited her evil passions, that she was fully prepared to take part with his enemies. In the year 1325 she went to France, under pretence of settling some dispute which had arisen between her husband and her brother, the king of that country. There she was joined by Roger Mortimer. A host of enemies was raised against the English monarch, and Isabella, placing herself at their head, entered England, where she was hailed as a deliverer. Never was English king so entirely deserted by all 1326. classes of his subjects. He became a fugitive among the mountains of Wales; but even there, in the land of his birth, none gathered to the standard of Edward of CaernarSurrendering himself into the hands of a brother of the murdered Duke of Lancaster, he became a prisoner in Kenilworth Castle. von. In January, 1327, parliament met at Westminster. The queen and her son, Edward, Prince of Wales, were present, |