tree, so called from being shaped like a heart, from the Latin cor, cordis, the heart. A cordate leaf is broad at the base, where it is attached to the petiole, and pointed at the extremity. When a leaf is narrow or pointed at the base and broad at the end, or shaped something like the figure presented by the section of a pear, it is called obcordate. Confluent Leaves (Fig. 32).-Leaves which are joined together, or which surround the stem in such a way that it appears to pass through the centre of them; from the Latin con, together, and fluo, to flow. Leaves of this kind are sometimes called perfoliate. Lanceolate Leaf (Fig. 33).-A leaf formed like the head of a lance, oblong, narrow, and tapering from the broadest part in the centre towards the base and extremity. Orbicular Leaf (Fig. 34).—A leaf circular in outline, from the Latin orbiculus, the diminutive of orbis, a globe or sphere. Leaves of this kind resemble peltate leaves in shape, but differ from them in being cleft as far as the point of junction with the petiole. A good example may be found in the leaf of the common mallow. Dentate Leaf (Fig. 35).—When the edge of a leaf is notched or indented it is said to be dentate, from the Latin dens, a tooth. When the margin of the leaf is unbroken, as is the leaf of the myrtle, or nasturtium, it is said to be entire. Deltoid Leaf (Fig. 36).-A leaf with a broad base and triangular in form, so called from its resemblance to the Greek letter A, or capital D, called delta. Decomposite Leaf (Fig. 37).-A leaf divided into a great number of parts like leaflets, as in the illustration, in which leaflets are attached on either side to the branches which issue from the petiole. It should be noted that the term is the very opposite of decomposition, which means a state of decay or dissolution, the word decomposite being derived from the Latin compono, to put together, with de prefixed to increase the force of its signification, and show that it means a composition of things already compounded, the leaf under consideration being composed of three sets of compound leaflets. Reniform Leaf (Fig. 38).-A leaf shaped like a kidney, and so called from the Latin ren, a kidney. Pennatifid, or Pinnatifid Leaf (Fig. 39).-A leaf indented along the margin with deep irregular notches extending about half way into the mid-rib, as in the leaf of the dandelion, or sowthistle; so called from the Latin penna, a feather, and findo, to split. Palmisccate Leaf (Fig. 40).—A leaf consisting of five leaflets attached to a common petiole, so called from its resemblance to the extended fingers of the hand, from the Latin palma, a hand, and seco, to cut. Leaves of this kind are sometimes termed quinate. Digitate Leaf (Fig. 41).—A leaf consisting of several leaflets or lobes proceeding from the same point of a common leaf-stalk, so called from the Latin digitus, a finger, the lobes being extended like the fingers of a hand. An example may be found in the leaf of the horse-chestnut. Pennate, or Pinnate Leaf (Fig. 48).-A leaf consisting of pairs of leaflets ranged along a common petiole opposite to each other, and attached to the common petiole by smaller leafstalks';. so called from the Latin penna, a wing, the attachment of each pair being like the wings of a bird, or the small feathers that branch out on either side of the mid-rib of a complete feather. Bipennate Leaf (Fig. 49).-A leaf consisting of pairs of pinnate leaves arranged along a common petiole opposite to each other; the leaf, in other words, being pennately branched, and each branch pennate with leaflets. Leaves are tri-pennate, or three times pennate, when the mid-rib is pennately branched, the branches again pennately branched, and these last furnished with leaflets pennately arranged. Distic, or Distichous Leaves (Fig. 50).—Leaves springing from alternate points in two rows, one on the right of the stem, and the other on the left, from the Greek diorixos (pronounced dis'. tick-os) a couplet. Acute Leaves (Fig. 51).—Narrow leaves terminating in a sharp point, from the Latin acutus, sharp. The above is a summary of the principal terms applied to leaves. Sometimes, however, to describe a leaf correctly, it is necessary to apply two or three of these terms; as, for example, when a leaf is long, narrow, and pointed at either end, fringed with hair-like appendages, and notched with small regular indentations along the margin projecting forwards, it is described as lanceolate-ciliate-serrate. READING AND ELOCUTION.-V. PUNCTUATION (continued). VII. THE PARENTHESIS, CROTCHETS, AND BRACKETS. () [] 41. A PARENTHESIS is a sentence, or part of a sentence, enclosed between two curved lines, thus ( ). 42. The curved lines in which the parenthesis is enclosed aro called Crotchets. 43. The parenthesis, with the crotchets which enclose it, is generally inserted between the words of another sentence, and may be omitted without injuring the sense. and lower tone of voice than the other parts of the sentence in 44. The parenthesis should generally be read in a quicker which it stands. 45. Sometimes a sentence is enclosed in marks like these [], which are called Brackets. 46. Sentences which are included within crotchets or brackets, should generally be read in a quicker and lower tone of voice. 47. Although the crotchet and the bracket are sometimes indiscriminately used, the following difference in their use may be noticed :--Crotchets are used to enclose a sentence, or part of a sentence, which is inserted between the parts of another sentence: brackets are generally used to separate two Capillary Leaf (Fig. 42).-A leaf branching out in all direc-subjects, or to enclose an explanation, note, or observation, tions in narrow hair-like divisions, so called from the Latin standing by itself. When a parenthesis occurs within another capillus, hair. Examples of this kind of leaf are found in some parenthesis, brackets enclose the former, and crotchets enclose of the fern tribe. Spiny Leaf (Fig. 43).-A leaf with spines or sharp points projecting at intervals round the margin, like the leaf of the holly, so called from the Latin spina, a thorn. Sessile Leaves (Fig. 44).-When leaves are attached to the stem of a plant without any petiole or leaf-stalk, they are termed sessile, from sessum, a part of the Latin verb sedeo, to sit, because the leaves are closely attached to the stem as if sitting on it. Ciliate Leaf (Fig. 45).-When a leaf is bordered or covered with short hair-like appendages it is termed ciliate, from the Latin cilia, eyelashes. Serrate Leaf (Fig. 46).-When the margin of a leaf is toothed sharply, like a saw, the teeth projecting forward, as in the roseleaf, it is termed serrate, from the Latin serra, a saw. Oval Leaf (Fig. 47).-A leaf longer than it is broad, but equally rounded at the base and extremity, so called from the Latin ovum, an egg. Oval leaves which are broader at the base, where the leaf is attached to the petiole, than at the extremity are called ovate; but leaves which are narrower at the base than at the extremity are called obovate. the latter. Examples. I asked my eldest son (a boy who never was guilty of a falsehood) to give me a correct account of the matter. The master told me that the lesson (which was a very difficult one) was recited correctly by every pupil in the class. When they were both turned of forty (an age in which, according to Mr. Cowley, there is no dallying with life), they determined to retire, and pass the remainder of their days in the country. Notwithstanding all this care of Cicero, history informs us that Marcus proved a mere blockhead; and that Nature (who, it seems, was even with the son for her prodigality to the father) rendered him incapable of improving, by all the rules of eloquence, the precepts of philosophy, his own endeavours, and the most refined conversation in Athens. Natural historians observe (for whilst I am in the country I must fetch my allusions from thence) that only the male birds have voices; that their songs begin a little before breeding time, and end a littl after. Dr. Clark has observed that Homer is more perspicuous than any other author; but if he is so (which yet may be questioned), the perspicuity arises from his subject, and not from the language itself in which he writes. The many letters which come to me from persons of the best sense of both sexes (for I may pronounce their characters from their way of writing) do not a little encourage me in the prosecution of this my undertaking. It is this sense which furnishes the imagination with its ideas; so that by the pleasures of the imagination, or fancy (terms which I shall use promiscuously), I here mean such as arise from visible objects. The stomach (crammed from every dish, a tomb of boiled and roast, and flesh and fish, where bile, and wind, and phlegm, and acid, jar, and all the man is one intestine war) remembers oft the schoolboy's simple fare, the temperate sleep, and spirits light as air. William Penn was distinguished from his companions by wearing a blue sash of silk network (which, it seems, is still preserved by Mr. Fett, of Seething Hall, near Norwich), and by having in his hand a roll of parchment, on which was engrossed the confirmation of the treaty of purchase and amity. Again, would your worship a moment suppose (it is a case that has happened, and may be again) that the visage or countenance had not a nose, pray who would, or who could, wear spectacles then? Upon this the dial-plate (if we may credit the fable) changed countenance with alarm. To speak of nothing else, the arrival of the English in her father's dominions must have appeared (as indeed it turned out to be) a most portentous phenomenon. Surely, in this age of invention, something may be struck out to obriate the necessity (if such necessity exists) of so tasking the human intellect. I compassionate the unfortunates now (at this very moment, perhaps) screwed up perpendicularly in the seat of torture, having in the right hand a fresh-nibbed patent pen, dipped ever and anon into the -bottle, as if to hook up ideas, and under the outspread palm of the keit hand a fair sheet of best Bath post (ready to receive thoughts yet unhatched), on which their eyes are riveted with a stare of disconsolate perplexity, infinitely touching to a feeling mind. O the unspeakable relief (could such a machine be invented) of having only to grind an answer to one of one's dear five hundred friends! Have I not groaned under similar horrors, from the hour when I was first shut up (under lock and key, I believe) to indite a dutiful epistle to an honoured aunt ? To such unhappy persons, then, I would fain offer a few hints (the fruit of long experience), which may prove serviceable in the hour of emergency. If ever you should come to Modena (where, among other relics, you may see Tassoni's bucket), stop at a palace near the Reggio gate, dwelt in of old by one of the Donati. My father and my uncle Toby (clever soul) were sitting by the fire with Dr. Slop; and Corporal Trim (a brave and honest fellow) was reading a sermon to them. As the sermon contains many parentheses, and affords an opportunity also of showing you a sentence in brackets (you will observe that all the previous parentheses in this lesson are enclosed in crotchets), I shall insert part of it in the following paragraph: To have the fear of God before our eyes, and in our mutual dealings with each other, to govern our actions by the eternal measures of night and wrong: the first of these will comprehend the duties of religion; the second those of morality, which are so inseparably connected together, that you cannot divide these two tables, even in imagination (though the attempt is often made in practice), without breaking and mutually destroying them both. [Here my father observed that Dr. Slop was fast asleep]. I said the attempt is often made; and so it is; there being nothing more common than to see a man who has no sense at all of religion, and, indeed, has so much honesty as to pretend to none, who would take it as the bitterest affront should you but hint at a suspicion of his moral character, or imagine he was not conscientiously just and scrupulous to the uttermest mite. I know the banker I deal with, or the physician I usually call in ["There is no need," cried Dr. Slop (waking) "to call in any physician in this case"], to be neither of them men of much religion. Experienced schoolmasters may quickly make a grammar of boys' matures, and reduce them all (saving some few exceptions) to certain general rules. Ingenious boys, who are idle, think, with the hare in the fable, that, running with snails (so they count the rest of their school-fellows), they shall come soon enough to the post; though sleeping a good while before their starting. VIII, THE DASH. 48. The Dash is a short straight line which occurs in reading, and which is placed between the sentences in such a manner as to be parallel to the top or the bottom of the page. 49. The dash is sometimes used to express a sudden stop, or change in the subject. 50. The dash requires a pause sometimes as short as that of a comma, and sometimes one as long as, if not longer than, that of a period. 51. The dash is frequently used instead of crotchets or brackets, and a parenthesis is thus placed between two dashes. 52. The dash is sometimes used to precede something unexpected; as when a sentence beginning seriously ends humorously. 53. In the following examples, the dash is used to express a sudden stop, or change of the subject. Examples. If you will give me your attention, I will show you-but stop, I do not know that you wish to see. Alas! that folly and falsehood should be so hard to grapple withbut he that hopes to make mankind the wiser for his labours, must not be soon tired. "Please your honours," quoth Trim, "the inquisition is the vilest-" "Prithee, spare thy description, Trim; I hate the very name of it," said my father. The fierce wolf prowls around thee-there he stands listening-not fearful, for he nothing fears. The wild stag hears the falling waters' sound, and tremblingly flies forward-o'er his back he bends his stately horns--the noiseless ground his hurried feet impress not-and his track is lost amidst the tumult of the breeze, and the leaves falling from the rustling trees. The wild horse thee approaches in his turn. His mane stands up erect-his nostrils burn-he snorts-he pricks his ears and starts aside. There was silence-not a word was said-their meal was before them-God had been thanked, and they began to eat. They hear not-see not-know not-for their eyes are covered with thick mists-they will not see. And ye like fading autumn leaves will fall; your throne but dustyour empire but a grave-your martial pomp a black funereal pallyour palace trampled by your meanest slave. To-day is thine-improve to-day, nor trust to-morrow's distant ray. For some time the struggle was most amusing-the fish pulling, and the bird screaming with all its might-the one attempting to fly, and the other to swim from its invisible enemy-the gander at one moment losing and the next regaining his centre of gravity. 54. The dash is sometimes to be read as a period, with the falling inflection of the voice. Examples. The favoured child of Nature, who combines in herself these united perfections, may justly be considered as the masterpiece of creationas the most perfect image of the Divinity here below. Now launch the boat upon the wave-the wind is blowing off the shore-I will not live a cowering slave, in these polluted islands more. The wind is blowing off the shore, and out to sea the steamers flymy music is the dashing roar, my canopy the stainless sky-it bends above, so fair a blue, that heaven seems opening to my view. He had stopped soon after beginning the tale-he had laid the fragment away among his papers, and had never looked at it again. The exaltation of his soul left him-he sunk down-and his misery went over him like a flood. Mr. Playfair was too indulgent, in truth, and favourable to his friends-and made a kind of liberal allowance for the faults of all mankind-except only faults of baseness or of cruelty; against which he never failed to manifest the most open scorn and detestation. Towards women he had the most chivalrous feelings of regard and attention, and was, beyond almost all men, acceptable and agreeable in their society-though without the least levity or pretension unbecoming his age or condition. 55. The dash is sometimes to be read like a comma, with the voice suspended. Examples. "I have always felt that I could meet death with composure; but I did not know," she said, with a tremulous voice, her lips quivering—“I did not know how hard a thing it would be to leave my children, till now that the hour is come." And Babylon shall become-she that was the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans-as the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah by the hand of God. Our land-the first garden of liberty's tree-it has been, and shall yet be, the land of the free. They shall find that the name which they have dared to proscribe→→ that the name of Mac Gregor is a spell. Delightful in his manners-inflexible in his principles-and generous in his affections, he had all that could charm in society, or attach in private. The joys of life in hurried exile go-till hope's fair smile, and beauty's ray of light, are shrouded in the griefs and storms of night. Day after day prepares the funeral shroud; the world is grey with age: the striking hour is but an echo of death's summons loud-the jarring of the dark grave's prison door. Into its deep abyss-devouring all-kings and the friends of kings alike must fall. She made an effort to put on something like mourning for her son; and nothing could be more touching than this struggle between pious affection and utter poverty: a black ribbon or so a faded black handkerchief, and one or two more such humble attempts to express by outward signs that grief that passeth show. LESSONS IN GEOMETRY.—V. SIMPLE GEOMETRICAL THEOREMS. BEFORE entering on the consideration of problems in geometry which will be found to be practically useful to all who are engaged in any mechanical art, it will be necessary for the learner to become acquainted with a few simple statements or facts in geometry, the truth of which is so clear and plain that they require but little, if any explanation. These are called theorems, or self-evident propositions, from the Greek Oewpnua (the-o-re-ma), literally a sight, or something which can be seen, in contradistinction to problems, or propositions which require something to be done in order to effect their solution. The word "problem" is derived from the Greek poßλnua (pro-ble-ma), which is derived in its turn from wрo (pro) before, and Baλw (bal-lo) to cast or throw, while the word "proposition" is derived from the Latin pro, before, and pono, to place. Hence the meaning of the words "problem" and "proposition" is precisely the same, namely, something that is placed before you to be done or solved. ano E D B C Fig. 3. DBE is a right angle, the straight line B E being at right As a familiar illustration of this, the spokes of a wheel may be taken, which radiate from the nave as a common centre. If a chalk line were drawn down the middle of each spoke, these lines would meet in the centre of the nave, and the angles formed by these lines at their point of meeting would be equal to four right angles. 4. Any angle drawn in a semicircle is a right angle. An angle drawn in a semicircle is one which has its top or vertex in the arc, while its legs pass through the extremities of the diameter at its points of contact with the arc. Thus, the angle A C B in the semicircle ACB is a right angle. The truth of this may be shown by cutting out a right-angled triangle and applying it to a semicircle. If large enough, it will be found that the legs of the right angle will pass through the ends of the diameter of the semiLet the straight line A B intersect the straight line C D in the circle, no matter at what point in the arc of the semicircle the point E. Now, by the intersection of 1. When one straight line intersects another straight line, the vertical or opposite angles are equal to one another. Fig. 4. B vertex of the right angle may be placed. 5. The greatest side of every triangle is opposite the greatest angle. B D The truth of this may be shown in a very simple and practical manner by copying the figure on a piece of paper, and then cutting out the angles and placing them on each other, the greater on the greater and the less on the less. This mode of proof will frequently be found useful in similar cases. Opposite angles are also called vertical angles, because the top or vertex of each angle is directly opposite to the vertex of the other. 2. When a straight line intersects two parallel straight lines, the alternate angles are equal. E Let the straight line E F intersect the parallel straight lines A B, C D, in the points G H. The angles AG H, G H D are alternate angles, and are equal to one another, and the angles CHG, HG B are also alternate and equal. C H Fig. 2. B D There are eight angles formed by the intersection of the straight lines A B, C D, E F, in Fig. 2. Of these the reader will find that there are two sets of four angles that are equal to one another-namely, A G E B G H = G H C = DHF, and E GB = A G H = GHD = CHF. Let him demonstrate the truth of this practically by drawing the figure on paper, cutting out one of the greater angles and one of the less, and placing them on the remaining angles in each set of four. 3. The adjacent angles which are formed when one straight line stands on another straight line, are together equal to two right angles. In Fig. 3 the adjacent angles A B C, A B D, which are formed by the straight line A B standing on the straight line CD, are equal to two right angles. The truth of this is lent when we consider that each of the angles C B E, A moment's reflection will show that the greatest angle of any triangle must have the greatest opening between the lines of which it is formed, and that the line which is opposite to or subtends the greatest opening, must of necessity be greatest of the three lines which subtend the three openings of the angles of the triangle. 6. If one side of a triangle be produced, the outer or exterior angle is equal to the two interior and opposite angles of the triangle. In the figure that accompanies the preceding theorem let the side A c of the triangle A B C be produced to D. The outer or exterior angle B C D is equal to the two interior and opposite angles C B A, BA C. For if at the point c in the straight line A D the straight line c E be drawn parallel to A B, then the alternate angles E C B, C B A are equal to one another, and by Theorem 2, the angle D C E is equal to the angle C A B; but the angles D C E, E C B together make up the angle D C B, which is therefore equal to the angles C B A, B A C. 7. The three interior angles of every triangle are together equal to two right angles. In Fig. 5 the angle B C D has been shown to be equal to the angles C B A, BAC; to each of these equals add the angle B CA. Now, by Theorem 3 the angles D C B, B C A are equal to two right angles, and C B A, B A C, A C B, the three interior angles of the triangle A B C, which are equal to these two angles, must therefore be equal to two right angles. PROBLEMS IN PRACTICAL GEOMETRY. PROBLEM I.-To bisect a given straight line-that is, to divide it into two equal parts. с Let A B (Fig. 6) be the straight line to be bisected. From the two extremities A and B, with a radius of any length greater than half of the line, describe or draw arcs of circles, intersecting or crossing each other at the point c, above the straight line A B, and at the point D, below it. Then, from the point of intersection c, draw a straight line to the point of intersection D; and the straight line A B will be bisected by the straight line CD, at the point E; that is, A B is divided into two equal parts, A E, E B, at the point E. By this method of construction, a straight line may be divided into any number of equal parts, denoted by the series 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, etc. It is not necessary in the above construction that the two arcs at D Δ Fig. 6. be drawn with the same radius as the two arcs at c; but it is necessary that each pair be drawn with the same radius; that is, practically speaking, without shifting the legs of the compasses. It is self-evident that in Fig. 6 the straight line C D is bisected by the straight line A B at the point E; and that A B and C D intersect each other at right angles. The problem therefore teaches us how to draw two straight lines at right angles to each other. PROBLEM II.—To draw a perpendicular to a straight line from a point in it. D Let A F (Fig. 7) be the straight line to which the perpendicular is to be drawn, and в the point in it. From the point B, with any convenient radius, less than B A or B F, cut off, or measure off equal parts of the straight lines B A, B F-namely, в C, BE; and from the points C, E, with any radius greater than c B or E B, describe arcs of circles intersecting each other at the point D. Then join D B, that is, draw a straight line from the point D to the point B, and B D will be perpendicular A C to A F. B Fig. 7. E F PROBLEM III.-To draw a perpendicular to a straight line from one of its extremities. E Let A B (Fig. 8) be the straight line, and B one of its extremities, from which the perpendicular is to be drawn. Take any point c, at a convenient distance from B, and nearly over the middle of the straight line A B ; then with c as a centre, at the distance C B as radius, describe the are D B E, so that it shall be greater than a semicircle; from the point D, draw through the point c, the straight line D C E, to meet the arc in the point E; and join E B, that is, draw a straight line from the point E to the point B, and в E will be perpendicular to A B, at the extremity of B, as required. Fig. 8. B The demonstration of this proposition is founded on the fact that the angle contained in a semicircle is a right angle. This fact, indeed, is well known to intelligent workmen, who are accustomed to make use of the For the T square; for they try the accuracy of that instrument by this property of the circle. Thus, if in Fig. 9 A G C were an angle drawn by means of an F or T square, in order to test its accuracy, and consequently that of the instrument, they join any two points in the legs of the angle, say D C, by drawing the straight line DC; they bisect it in E by means of the arcs shown in the figure on either Fig. 9. side of the straight line CD, and drawn by the method explained in Problem I.; and then, with radius E C or E D, they describe the semicircle D G C; if the arc of this semicircle passes exactly E 3 through the point &, the angle and the instrument are correct; if not, they are incorrect, and the instrument must be adjusted. PROBLEM IV.—To draw a perpendicular to a straight line from a point without it. с Let A B (Fig. 10) be the straight line, and c the point from which the perpendicular is to be drawn. From the point c as a centre, with any radius sufficient to extend beyond the straight line A B, describe an arc of a circle D E, intersecting the straight line A B in the points D, E; then, from these points as centres, with any radius greater than half the straight line D E, describe arcs intersecting each other in the point F; then join c F; that is, draw a straight line from c to F, cutting A B in the point &; then c G is perpendicular to A B, and is drawn from the point c, as required. PROBLEM V. To draw a perpendicular to a straight line at or near one of its extremities, from a point without it. F Fig. 10. Let A G (Fig. 9) be the straight line, G one of its extremities, and c the point without it, from which the perpendicular is to be drawn. Take any point D in A G, and join D C; bisect it in E; and from the point E, as a centre, with radius E D or E C, describe the semicircle D G C; then join G c, and it will be perpendicular to A G. It is evident, from the remarks made on Problem III., that c & is perpendicular to a G, and it is drawn from the point c, as required. Observe, that unless the point happens to be exactly in the vertical line above the point &, the semicircle will not pass exactly through G, but will pass through a point either nearer to or farther from the point A. In the latter case, the straight line AG must be produced till it meets the arc of the semicircle. This problem is considered as merely a case of the preceding problem, although the construction be different. HISTORIC SKETCHES.-V. THE RISING OF THE LABOURERS UNDER RICHARD II. 66 ON Whit Monday, 1382, Sir Simon Burley, who is called by one historian " a favourite of King Richard II.," and by another, “a Knight of the King's Household," rode into Gravesend, and seeing one of the townsmen, claimed him as his slave. There was great dissatisfaction and open murmuring among the people, with whom the man was a favourite, and they protested against his removal. The townsman himself loudly declared that he never was slave to any one, to Sir Simon or another, and seeing the sympathy the crowd had with him, he appealed to them for help. Sir Simon claimed the man as the son of one of his female slaves, called niefs, and disregarding the earnest entreaty of the crowd, would not abate his claim unless he were paid three hundred pounds of silver-a price he well knew the friends of the bondman could not possibly raise. Some disorder ensuing, Sir Simon, who was attended by two serjeants of law and a following of armed men, pushed on through the crowd, and gave orders that the prisoner should be taken to Rochester Castle. As soon as the great man's train had left, the awe inspired by its presence died away, and the people, whom the seizure of their fellow had taken completely by surprise, and had also deprived of their power to act, recovered their self-possession, and began to cry out with one voice, "Down with the tyrants! Let us go to Rochester! Let us join our brethren of Essex!" The Essex men had already risen in arms, and were vowing vengeance on all the lords and owners of land, and especially against lawyers, whom they hated as the ministers of the law that crushed them. Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and some of the other home counties, had been infected with the same spirit. In them the bubbles of rebellion were beginning to rise to the surface and to break, though as yet there was nothing like united action. The above-mentioned claim of Sir Simon Burley, made in spite of the ferment which was going on only on the opposite bank of the river, was the spark which fired the train of the Kentish men's anger. Before time enough had elapsed to throw cold water on the fire, another and more serious offence had been given to the people of the county, which not only caused them to make common cause at once with the men of the Eastern Counties, but drew to the front men of a certain kind of ability-such as Wat Tyler and the priest John Ball-who marshalled the malcontents into something like order, and put them under leadership. This second cause of offence is well known by tradition to almost every one. A poll-tax, that is to say, a tax of so much a head-in this case it was fourpence-had been ordered to be levied on all persons above the age of fifteen. The tax was very unpopular in itself, but the manner in which it was raised rendered it almost unbearable. To begin with, it was not committed to the royal officers to collect the money, but men of influence about the Court gave the king a certain sum in lieu of the tax, and then were permitted to make as much profit as they could out of the tax-gathering itself. Under these circumstances it is no wonder the tax was hated; the farmers of it naturally strove to make the yield as large as possible, and they instructed their agents to see that no one who was liable to the tax-every man and woman above fifteen years of age was liable-escaped payment. One of these agents came to Dartford, in Kent, and began to pursue his business. The household of John of Dartford, a hellier or tiler, consisted of himself, his wife, his daughter, and two other persons. John himself was from home, at his work roofing a house, when the tax-gatherer came and demanded the dues. John's wife paid for herself, her husband, and the two servants or apprentices, but claimed exemption for her daughter, as being under the taxable age. The man disputed the woman's statement about her daughter, who, he averred, must be quite fifteen, and to this he held, demanding the tax for her, in spite of her mother's statement, which was supported by the witness of all her neighbours. High words followed, the tiler's wife refusing to submit to an injustice, and the collector, presuming on his position and his authority, speaking in most unseemly way about the maiden.. A friend ran off to where John was working, and told him what was going on at home, and probably magnified the true state of the case, after the manner of rumour-bearers. Anyhow, John no sooner heard his neighbour's words than he jumped down from the work he was engaged upon, and snatching up his heavy helving hammer, ran away home. Arrived at his own door, he found a crowd assembled, the tax-man still insisting on the polltax for the maiden, and in the very act of taking an indecent liberty, for the purpose, as he said, of ascertaining whether she was of full age or not. The same practice, it seems, had been pursued in other places, where the people had not had the strength or the spirit to resist it; but Dartford was not the place in which to try such a thing, and John the Tiler was the last man in Dartford to put up with it. The scoundrel collector had barely time to draw his sword, which was all too useless as a guard, when the enraged father attacked him. No fence, however well sustained, could ward off the tiler's blow. Quickly the hammer rose in the air, swung by sinewy arms; more quickly still it descended, cleaved a way through the idle guard, which it shivered and broke, and falling with tremendous force on the skull of the collector, dashed out his brains on to the adjacent wall. Without a struggle or a groan the man fell dead, and the people stood around wondering at what was done. Yet no man laid hands on the tiler, no man regarded him as a murderer; and when he broke the silence, and told them in a few short words how that his cause was theirs, that this act for which the collector had died was of a piece with the rest of the treatment the people received from those above them, they rent the air with shouts of approval, and proposed to march at once to Canterbury and join their brethren who were already under arms. John the Tiler was a working man, and the people he addressed were of the same class. To that class also belonged "the brethren," who were in rebellion all over the Eastern Counties; agricultural labourers, fishermen, and some artisans employed in towns, composed the army-if it could be so called -which Wat Tyler of Maidstone, Jack Straw, Hob the Miller, John Ball, and others, led to Rochester, Canterbury, and Blackheath, and bearded the king even in the Tower of London. Working men alone were concerned in the affair; none of the knights, clergy, lawyers, or landowners taking any part in it, except for its suppression. Had some such men put themselves at the head of the movement, they might have succeeded in restraining the fury of the multitude, and in directing its energy into a channel where it would have borne good fruit. But there was no Stephen de Langton-no prophet. The people merely knew they were oppressed both by the lords and by the law which the lords had made; they knew not how to provide a remedy. Goaded to desperation, they turned and kicked, as a worm will twist when trampled on, and they became drunk in their fury, and turned away even such sympathy as otherwise there might have been in the breasts of their rulers. With blind guides, demagogues, and men whose heads were turned by the possession of power, "the Commons of England" went from place to place, committing all sorts of excesses, cutting off the heads of all lawyers they could lay hands on, burning books and records, houses and colleges, opening the prisons, getting very drunk on the wine for which they ransacked the cellars of castles and mansions, and, for the purpose of enjoying the contrast, making earls, barons, and knights attend upon them in the capacity of servants and stable-men. To women, however, it is not reported that they did any harm, though they sadly frightened the Princess Dowager of Wales, widow of the Black Prince, and mother of King Richard, by detaining her on her journey from Canterbury to London, and declining to let her proceed until she had kissed some of them, which she did, the old chroniclers report, with a very ill grace, though glad to get away at such a price. But what was the cause of this rising of the Commons? The end of it we know. The rebels marched from all the home counties to London, sacked the Temple, the Duke of Lancaster's Palace of the Savoy, and burnt many other houses; they broke into the Tower, cut off the head of the Archbishop of Canterbury, with that of the Prior of St. John's, and some other noblemen; and proposed to do the like to all the knights and lords in the country, though they still professed affection for the king, and rallied to the cry of "King Richard and the true Commons." Then came the end of all. Many of the insurgents had left London with charters of liberties which they obtained from the king, but Wat Tyler, at the head of several thousands, chiefly Kentish men, remained, and venturing to be insolent to the king himself at an interview which took place in Smithfield, was slain in view of his host by Sir William Walworth, the Lord Mayor of London. The men, disconcerted by the fall of their leader, were partly cajoled, partly driven from the metropolis, and when they were dispersed, commissions were issued for the trial and punishment of the leaders, the charters already granted were taken away, and the people were reduced to a state of bondage worse than before. The commissions to punish were carried out with so much excessive zeal, that even in those days, when might was not over squeamish about the way in which it kicked right against the pricks, an Act of Indemnity was thought necessary to hide the acts of the officers of the Crown. But what was the cause of the rebellion ? We have seen a part of it in the odious claim made by Sir Simon Burley at Gravesend, and in the outrageous conduct of the tax-gatherer at Dartford. These, however, were only the outward, visible signs of a very oppressive state of things which had their foundation in the laws and institutions of the country. In King John's time (1199-1215), when the population of England was under two millions, there were upwards of one million villeins, that is to say, half the population were in a state of bondage. A villein was one, man or woman, who was sold as a separate chattel, or with the stock on the land-one who, in the terse language of the chronicler, "knew not in the evening what he was to do in the morning, but he was bound to do whatever he was commanded." His children were slaves like himself-hence Sir Simon Burley's claim to the Gravesend man -he might be beaten, chained, ill-fed, over-worked; his master might do anything to him short of killing him. The whole of the agricultural labourers were of this condition. In towns there were free workmen and free labourers, but their number was not large, and their influence was a creature of slow growth. Their wages were, moreover, fixed, not by the means of competition in an open market, but by regulations made by those who employed them. Thus, in the reign of Edward I. (A.D. 1272), the wages of carpenters, tilers, masons, and plasterers, in London, where the terms were probably more liberal than in the provinces, were fixed at fourpence a day. As time went on, the number of free men increased, both in town |