upon Dublin, and were driven by the rival Butler faction into the wilds of Munster and Connaught. Fitzgerald soon after surrendered to Skeffington, the new deputy, and A. D. being sent to London, was there beheaded with his 1537. five uncles. The strength of the Fitzgeralds lay principally in their resistance to Henry's innovations; and on their arrest, the opposition was carried on by the Archbishop of Armagh. By a violent stretch of the royal prerogative, the whole body of the Irish clergy had been excluded from the parliament; and then statutes were enacted abolishing the papal authority, declaring Henry supreme head of the church, and giving him the first fruits and tithes and estates of all the suppressed monasteries. While the Irish factions quarrelled with each other, the English government treated them all alike without mercy. O'Neil, the great northern chieftain, revolted against the new system of church government: his country was given over to fire and sword, and in the many vicissitudes of the war, the territory under the dominion of the English suffered the like evils in its turn. In 1541, Ireland was raised from a lordship into a kingdom; and in order to attach the powerful native chiefs and great Anglo-Irish proprietors to the crown, many of them were admitted to the honours of the peerage. Ulliac de Burgh became earl of Clanricarde; Murrogh O'Brien, earl of Thomond; and O'Neil, earl of Tyrone,-all consenting to hold their lands by military tenure, swearing fealty to Henry, and accepting from him houses in Dublin, which they were to occupy when summoned as peers to the Irish parliament. 19. On the 12th of July 1543, Henry married his sixth wife Catherine, widow of Lord Latimer, a woman of ripe years, well educated, and of the reformed faith. He became ambitious of shaking the power of his old rival and friend Francis I., and concluded a treaty with the Emperor of Germany for the partition of France. By great exertions an army of 30,000 men was raised, which invaded France, but accomplished no more than the capture of Boulogne, after a siege of two months' duration. Henry was now rapidly approaching his end. For some years before his death, he was subject to a painful disease which made his temper more furious and tyrannical. His queen must have led a life of inconceivable misery, for she knew herself to be marked out for destruction, and she was only saved by death overtaking the tyrant. The accomplished Earl of Surrey was his last victim. The Duke of Norfolk was destined for a similar fate, but on the 28th day of January 1547, the tyrant himself died in the fifty-sixth year of his age and the thirty-eighth of his reign; and those whose life had been one of terror and uncertainty, could breathe freely. So ended a wicked reign, in which, nevertheless, the seeds of much good were sown. It is a history of little else than tyranny and cruelty, but it must not be supposed that the country at large was subjected to his despotic caprices. None could approach the court or fill any place of high rank and power without danger; but the ordinary people lived quietly, and the law was administered among them with tolerable impartiality. EXERCISES. 1. Mention some of the circumstances attending Henry's coronation. How did the influence of the two houses of York and Lancaster become united in his person? Were the people contented? What occurred in Ireland? 2. What was the conduct of the Earl of Lincoln? How was the impostor Simnel crowned? What battle was fought near Newark? In what station did Simnel spend the remainder of his days? Describe what occurred in contemplation of a war with France. 3. Whom did the person called Perkin Warbeck represent himself to be? What woman of high rank aided him, and what name did she give him? What steps did Henry take? What was the result of Warbeck's invasion? 4. Describe the conduct of James IV. What occurred in Devonshire? What was the result of Warbeck's descent on Cornwall? What was his subsequent history? What doubts are there about his origin? 5. Mention the peculiar circumstances of the marriages of the young princes. What were the king's own matrimonial projects and their result? What were the circumstances of his death? 6. Was Henry VII. a warlike prince? What did he protect and foster? What discoverer did he send out? What was his main vice? How did he succeed in his extortions? 7. How did the reign of Henry VIII. open? What failings did he soon show? What was the national feeling on a war with France? What affair was called "The Battle of the Spurs ?" 8. What was Wolsey's origin? Describe his progress and character. How did he recommend himself to the king! Describe the conduct of Henry towards Francis I. What was the Field of the Cloth of Gold?"" 66 9. What was the fate of the Duke of Buckingham? What did the king do in support of the popedom? How was he called " Defender of the Faith " What league was signed at Calais ? 10. What project was arranged between Henry and the emperor ! What plans did the King of France devise as to Ireland? Describe the attempts made by Henry and Wolsey to raise money, and their result. 11. What occurred in the year 1527? What induced Henry to profess scruples against his marriage? What was the conduct of the pope? Give an account of the fall of Wolsey. Repeat Shakspeare's account of his character. 12. What was Cranmer's suggestion? What bodies did the king consult? Give an account of Cromwell. What great step did he counsel? How was England finally severed from the authority of the pope? What domestic change did the king accomplish at the same time? 13. Who was the Holy Maid of Kent? What were her prophecies and fate? What other persons were persecuted? What arrangements did Henry make for getting possession of the ecclesiastical revenues? What was the fate of Anne Boleyn? Whom did Henry next marry? 14. State the results of the ecclesiastical changes. in relation to the Bible? How were the changes people? Give an account of Aske's rebellion. What was done received by the 15. How did Henry use the wealth he obtained? What objects of value and interest were destroyed on account of his measures? What was the immediate effect of the alterations? 16. What induced the king to adopt the Six Articles? What name are they known by? What were the contents of these articles ! What other important measure did parliament pass? 17. What was the history of Anne of Cleves? Who succeeded her? What effect had this new alliance on Cromwell? What was the fate of Catherine Howard? How did Henry proceed with those who differed from him in opinion? What took place as to Wales! 18. Whom did Kildare leave as his deputy in Ireland? What was the conduct of his son? Describe the scene in the council hall. What name did his followers give the young deputy? What was his fate? What else occurred in Ireland? 19. Who was Henry's sixth wife? What warlike operation did he attempt? When did he die? Who were saved from destruction by his death? What was the character of his reign? CHAPTER XVIII. SCOTLAND FROM THE RESTORATION OF INDEPENDENCE 1. WHEN We last left the Scots in order to detail the more important history of England, they had just gained the memorable battle of Bannockburn. On the 17th of March 1329, the independence of Scotland was formally acknowledged by the treaty of Northampton; and on the 12th of July, David the prince of Scotland was married to Joanna the daughter of Edward II. The brave King Robert Bruce died on the 7th June 1329. But after the soul had departed from it, his body seemed still to connect itself with romantic incidents. His heart was preserved in a silver case, and his faithful follower, the Lord James of Douglas, with a goodly band of Scottish warriors, undertook to convey it to the Holy Land. In Spain they aided the Spaniards against the Saracens, and being hard pressed in the fight, Douglas undid from his neck, where it usually hung, the silver case containing the heart, and flinging it forward the enemy, among cried out, 66 Onward as thou wert wont, thou noble heart, Douglas shall follow thee." At the end of the fight he was found lying dead upon the heart. The body of the king was buried in the old Norman abbey of Dunfermline. In the year 1818, a skeleton was there found covered with lead and wax; it was of large and strong frame, and even the bones bore the marks of wounds. These were fully believed to be the remains of Robert Bruce, and they were again buried with honour and distinction after an interval of nearly five hundred years. Robert was succeeded by his son David II. He was a child of only four years old, and the government was managed by Randolph earl of Murray as regent. The English made many efforts at this time to repossess themselves of Scotland, and some of their inroads and battles have already been described. They professed to support the claims of Edward Baliol, who was actually for some time 24th Sept. in possession of the throne, and was crowned as 1332. king; within a few months afterwards, however, he was driven from Scotland. When David died he left no children, and the nation was anxious that a descendant of their favourite King Robert Bruce should rule over them. His daughter Marjory had married Walter the steward of Scotland, and their son Robert was chosen king, thus founding the celebrated royal line of Stuart, so remarkable for its romantic history, its greatness, A.D.} 1370. and its misfortunes. Robert II. had a son John who was destined to be his successor, but the populace were partial to the name of the great king who had conquered at Bannockburn, and so his name was changed to Robert. This amiable and intelligent prince had passed his fiftiA. D. eth year before he ascended the throne. He had 1390. suffered from a wound early in life, and gradually became unfit for government, his brother, the Earl of Fife, afterwards Duke of Albany, with the title of Guardian, being ruler both of the kingdom and of the king. As Robert's son, the Duke of Rothesay, grew up, a strong A. D. party of the nobility rallied round him, and com1398.pelled Albany to resign his post; and when Henry IV. invaded Scotland in 1400, the government was in the hands of the heir-apparent. But Rothesay's thoughtless character and licentious life proved his ruin. The old king A. D. gave Albany an order to arrest him; he was impris1402.oned in Falkland Castle, and there starved to death. Hostile operations against England were now resumed; but the battles of Nesbit Moor and Homildon Hill were adverse to the Scottish arms, and not long after, James, Robert's second son, and heir-apparent to the crown, fell into the hands of the English monarch during the existence of a truce between the two kingdoms. Robert died about a year after (1406), and the parliament of Perth continued Albany in the regency. 2. BATTLE OF HARLAW.-From the beginning of the reign of the Stuarts down to the year 1411, a species of war was carried on between the Highlands and the Lowlands of Scotland. It is generally said that the Highlanders were then turbulent and rebellious, but in fact they had not yet been subdued and made part of the kingdom of Scotland. They spoke a different language from the Lowlanders, had different laws and customs, and professed allegiance to kings of their own, who, whenever they were strong enough, asserted that they were independent of the King of Scotland. The last of these kings, called Donald of the Isles, claimed an earldom in the north of Scotland, which the regent refused, and Donald considering himself powerful enough to go to war with the Lowlands, he led a large army of Highlanders through the low country of |