and cased in armour. When the Parliament
again assembled, in a month's time, at
Oxford, this Earl was at their head, and the
King was obliged to consent, on oath, to what
was called a Committee of Governmen:
consisting of twenty-four members: twelve
chosen by the Barons, and twelve chosen by
himself.

But, at a good time for him, his brother
Richard came back. Richard's first act (the
Barons would not admit him into England
on other terms) was to swear to be faithful
to the Committee of Government—which he
immediately began to oppose with all his
might. Then, the Barons began to quarrel
among themselves; especially the proud Earl
of Gloucester with the Earl of Leicester, who
went abroad in disgust. Then, the people
began to be dissatisfied with the Barons,
because they did not do enough for them. The
King's chances seemed so good again at
length, that he took heart enough—or caught
it from his brother—to tell the Committee of
Government that he abolished them—as to
his oath, never mind that, the Pope said!—
and to seize all the money in the Mint, and
to shut himself up in the Tower of London.
Here he was joined by his eldest son, Prince
Edward ; and, from the Tower, he made public
a letter of the Pope's to the world in general,
informing all men that he had been an excellent
and just King for five-and-forty years.

As everybody knew he had been nothing
of the sort, nobody cared much for this document.
It so chanced that the proud Earl of
Gloucester dying, was succeeded by his son ;
and that his son, instead of being the enemy
of the Earl of Leicester, was (for the time)
his friend. It fell out, therefore, that these
two Earls joined their forces, took several
of the Royal Castles in the country, and
advanced as hard as they could on London.
The London people, always opposed to the
King, declared for them with great joy. The
King himself remained shut up, not at all
gloriously, in the Tower.  Prince Edward
made the best of his way to Windsor Castle.
His mother, the Queen, attempted to follow
him by water; but, the people seeing her barge
rowing up the river, and hating her with all
their hearts, ran to London Bridge, got
together a quantity of stones and mud, and
pelted the barge as it came through, crying
furiously, "Drown the witch ! Drown her!"
They were so near doing it, that the Mayor
took the old lady under his protection, and
shut her up in Saint Paul's until the danger
was past.

It would require a great deal of writing on
my part, and a great deal of reading on yours,
to follow the King through his disputes with
the Barons, and to follow the Barons through
their disputes with one another—so I will
make short work of it for both of us, and only
relate the chief events that arose out of these
quarrels. The good King of France was
asked to decide between them. He gave it
as his opinion that the King must maintain
the Great Charter, and that the Barons must
give up the Committee of Government, and all
the rest that had been done by the Parliament
at Oxford: which the Royalists, or King's
party, scornfully called the Mad Parliament.
The Barons declared that these were not fair
terms, and they would not accept them. Then,
they caused the great bell of Saint Paul's to
be tolled, for the purpose of rousing up the
London people, who armed themselves at the
dismal sound and formed quite an army in
the streets. I am sorry to say, however, that
instead of falling upon the King's party with
whom their quarrel was, they fell upon the
miserable Jews, and killed at least five
hundred of them. They pretended that some of
these Jews were on the King's side, and that
they kept hidden in their houses, for the
destruction of the people, a certain terrible
composition called Greek Fire, which could
not be put out with water, but only burnt the
fiercer for it. What they really did keep in
their houses was money ; and this their cruel
enemies wanted, and this their cruel enemies
took, like robbers and murderers as they
were.

The Earl of Leicester put himself at the
head of these Londoners and other forces, and
followed the King to Lewes in Sussex, where
he lay encamped with his army. Before
giving the King's forces battle here, the Earl
addressed his soldiers, and told them that
King Henry the Third had broken so many
oaths, that he had become the enemy of God,
ami therefore they would wear white crosses
on their breasts, as if they were arrayed—not
against a fellow Christian, but against a Turk.
White-crossed accordingly, they rushed into
the fight. They would have lost the day—
the King having on his side all the foreigners
in England: and, from Scotland, JOHN COMYN,
JOHN BALIOL, and ROBERT BRUCE, with all
their men—but for the impatience of PRINCE
EDWARD, who, in his hot desire to have
vengeance on the people of London, threw the
whole of his father's army into confusion.
He was taken Prisoner; so was the King of the
Romans ; and five thousand Englishmen were
left dead upon the bloody grass.

For this success, the Pope excommunicated
the Earl of Leicester; which neither the Earl
nor the people cared at all about. The
people loved him and supported him, and he
became the real King; having all the power
of the government in his own hands, though
he was outwardly respectful to King Henry
the Third, whom he took with him wherever
he went, like a poor old limp court-card.
He summoned a Parliament (in the year one
thousand two hundred and sixty-five) which
was the first Parliament in England that the
people had any real share in electing; and he
grew more and more in favor with the
people every day, and they stood by him in
whatever he did.