guage into form and enriched it from foreign

sources.

Now, too, English began to be spoken in Parliament and the law courts. In these places French had hitherto been in common use, as well as among the rank, wealth, and fashion of the country. Thus we are told of Bishops of Ely and Durham who did not know a word of English. The three Edwards wrote all their letters and despatches in French; and the students at Oxford conversed either in that language or in Latin.

A great revival of intellectual life began during this period, which is distinguished by inventions which have affected the history of the world. Such was the mariner's compass. The Chinese, at a very early date, had discovered the extraordinary property of the magnet to direct north and south; but it was not until the early part of the fourteenth century that it became generally known in Europe. Even then it was only by slow degrees that men became aware of what a wonder-working instrument had been placed in their hands.

Hitherto there had been little more than coasting voyages; for mariners, even such as the sea-kings, dared not lose sight of land for long together; and the ancients had believed that the marvellous, mysterious ocean, which baffled all their inquiries, was wrapped in awful darkness at a certain distance from the shore. But when the compass lifted the veil, light poured in on that unknown, watery world. It made the wide, pathless sea a highway for the human race, and it rendered possible the

discovery and colonization of America, for it laid bare the most distant corners of the earth to the explorer's footstep.

This, too, was the era of the invention of gunpowder. The Chinese had known something about it long before, and the wonderful friar, Roger Bacon, had found out that this murderous compound might be produced; but the practical inventor was German monk named Berthold Schwartz. Its deadly powers were gradually developed as the structure of guns of all descriptions was improved; and, finally, it caused a revolution in warfare, driving out of use not only the heavy defensive armour, but the battle-axe, the spear, and even the bow, which had won famous victories for England at Cressy, Agincourt, and elsewhere.

The introduction of gunpowder also helped to destroy Feudalism. The mounted and heavily armed knight gave way to the meaner foot-soldier; and fortresses which had formerly been impregnable, crumbled before the new artillery.

Throughout the

The strength which this change gave to the crown was almost irresistible. Middle Ages the call of a great baron had been enough to raise a formidable revolt. Yeomen and retainers took down the bow from the chimney corner, knights buckled on their coats-of-mail, and in a few days an army threatened the throne. But without artillery such a force was now helpless, and the only cannon in the kingdom lay at the disposal of the sovereign. Thus artillery gave Henry VII. an easy victory over a rising of the Cornish in

surgents, the most formidable danger that threatened

his throne.

1 A great improvement in the manufacture of woollen cloth was made in the reign of Elizabeth, by he settlement in England of the Flemish weavers, who were driven out of Flanders by the cruelties of Duke Alva.

2 In many iron districts coal is

also found, so that the iron ore is smelted on the spot.

3 Ro'-ger Ba'-con. See note 7 page 80.

The Cor'-nish ris'-ing was in consequence of the heavy taxes levied by Henry VII. to repel the Scotch invasion under James IV.

THE HOUSE OF TUDOR.
HENRY THE SEVENTH.

Two months after the battle of Bosworth, Henry Tudor was crowned king, and in the January following he married the Princess Elizabeth of York. The Red and White Roses were thus united; but the Yorkists were by no means satisfied with Henry's government, and more than one effort was made to place a rival on his throne.

The person whom Henry most feared was the Earl of Warwick, son of the late Duke of Clarence; so one of the first acts of Henry's reign was to secure this youth, and lodge him for safe custody in the great state prison.

In 1487, however, a clever, handsome young man appeared in Ireland, and claimed to be the Earl of Warwick, having escaped, as he said, from the Tower. His real name was Lambert Simnell, and he was the son of a baker; but the Irish readily believed his story, and proclaimed him king under the title of Edward the Sixth.

With a considerable following, which was still

further increased by two thousand troops sent to his assistance by Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy,1 and sister of Edward the Fourth, Simnell landed in England, and marched into Nottinghamshire without opposition. No one, however, joined him, and at Stoke, near Newark, the rebels were met by the king's army, and overthrown with great slaughter.

The Pretender was brought before Henry, who, knowing that he had been merely a tool in the hands of others, spared his life, and made him a scullion in the royal kitchen.

But a few years afterwards a much more dangerous rising took place, when Perkin Warbeck claimed to be Richard of York, the younger of the two lads who were said to have been murdered in the Tower.

His story was, that at the time when he and his brother were supposed to have been put to death, some friends contrived his escape, and conveyed him to Flanders, where he had been brought up under a feigned name.

Perkin bore a striking resemblance to Edward the Fourth. Many people therefore believed, or pretended to believe, that his story was true. Among these was the Duchess of Burgundy, who received him as her nephew. Thence Warbeck proceeded to other countries, and was everywhere accepted as the true prince.

In 1495 Warbeck visited Scotland, when James the Fourth was so convinced of the justice of his claims, that he married him to his cousin, the young and beautiful Countess of Gordon.

Two years later the adventurer landed in Ccrnwall, and at Bodmin was proclaimed king as Richard the Fourth. He then marched into Devonshire; but on the eve of a battle with the royal forces, he lost heart, and fled in the night to the sanctuary of Beaulieu Abbey, near Southampton, where in a few days he surrendered to the king, who allowed him to live, under certain restraints, in London; while his beautiful wife, the "White Rose," as she was called, became an attendant on Queen Elizabeth.

For two years Warbeck remained a prisoner at large. Once he made his escape, but being brought back, was set in the stocks, made to read a confession of his imposture, and then sent to the Tower. Here he formed an intimacy with the Earl of Warwick, who, for no crime but his birth, had now been a prisoner for fourteen years, and, without teachers, companions, or amusements, had grown up almost an idiot.

A plot was soon discovered between these young men and the keepers, to murder the governor, secure the keys, and proclaim Warbeck king. That there was some such plot, is likely; that they were tempted into it, was probable; and that the unfortunate Earl of Warwick-last male of the Plantagenet line-was too unused to the world, and too ignorant and simple to know much about it, whatever it was, is perfectly certain. But it was the king's interest to get rid of him. So Warwick was beheaded on Tower Hill, and Warbeck was hanged at Tyburn.