men out of their neighbourhood to give evidence on trials. These men swore to speak truth, and were, therefore, called jurors, from the Latin juro, ‘I swear.'

Another assize ordered that the twelve jurors from each neighbourhood and four from each township were to bring to trial before the king's justices, when they came round, all in their neighbourhood who were thought guilty of any crime.

We see, therefore, that the jurors were at first witnesses more than anything else. But as time went on and it was found that the jurors often had not enough knowledge about the matter in question, they were allowed to call eyewitnesses, who had seen the thing themselves, to help them. So in time they came to fill the position which they do now, of deciding as to the truth of the matter from all that witnesses can tell them about it.

5. Henry had much need of soldiers for his foreign wars, and he made some important changes Henry's in the way in which he got armies together.

armies.

6. You will remember that the feudal vassals of the crown had to bring their followers to aid the king in his wars. This was all very well for a war in England, but it was different for foreign wars, when men had to be taken out of the country for long and dangerous expeditions. In early English times the man who did not follow his king to war had to pay a fine. Henry now brought back this custom; but the payment of money instead of bearing arms, was no longer a punishment but a favour. The vassal who did not wish to go to war paid the king a fixed sum of money, according to the amount of land he possessed. This was called scutage, and with the money so raised Henry hired troops to fight his wars. These troops

Scutage.

were raised from different countries; at that time they

were mostly Flemings, from Flanders. Henry II.'s habit was to hire troops for his foreign wars, but to trust to the national force in England.

Assize of
Arms.

7. This national force was not a feudal force. In raising it Henry went back to the old custom by which every freeman was bound to serve for the defence of the country. The Assize of Arms of 1181 fixed the way in which each freeman was bound to arm himself when summoned by the king. This large force the king could use as he willed to defend his kingdom. 8. It will be well to notice how among all these changes made by Henry II. things were slowly moving on towards the government of England as it is now-by a Parliament which represents or stands in the place of the people, who have

Preparation of the people for selfgovernment.

chosen it.

(1.) The king never made a change in the laws or did anything of importance without the advice of his Council. It is true that the Council seldom dared to oppose him, but still the fact remains that he held very many councils, and asked their advice on every point.

(2.) The jurymen were chosen out of their neighbourhood to stand in the place of their neighbourhood, and this accustomed the people to see a few men representing many. It was the same in the county courts, where each township was represented by four men.

(3.) The Itinerant Justices brought the county courts, or shiremoots, and the Curia Regis into close connexion. In the county courts there was representation, and the Curia Regis was part of the Great Council, by the advice of which the king governed. The bringing together of representatives of the counties and the towns to advise the king made in time our House of Commons.

The idea of representation-of one man standing for many-had been present in early English customs. It is.

by carefully watching how this idea grew that we shall understand how the government of England as it now is came about.

9. It was in the towns at this time that the people were most quickly growing in wealth and prosperity. At the time of the Conquest the towns, like the rest of the county, had been under the rule of the the English sheriff. Little by little they made their way

Growth of

towns.

to independence. They were allowed to pay their taxes direct to the Exchequer, and not through the sheriff, and the sum of money demanded from them was called the Firma Burgi; the citizens were allowed to have their own magistrates and courts of law; their Guilds also were recognised by the king.

Guilds,

10. These guilds were in early times bodies of men bound together by oath for some common purpose, such as taking part in some religious service, and helping one another when in difficulties. As trade increased there grew up Merchant Guilds of all the merchants of the town, to watch over the interests of trade. These Merchant Guilds were now the chief body in the towns, and filled the same sort of place as the corporation filled afterwards. Craft Guilds also began to spring up, in which the members of any particular craft, such as weavers or goldsmiths, bound themselves together to watch over the interests of their craft, and allowed no man to practise it who was not a member of the guild.

II. The different privileges of the towns were given them by the king in form of charters, which were bought from him by the town with large Charters. sums of money. The poorer towns, which

could not pay so much, could not buy such great privileges as the richer ones. The barons who had towns in their lands followed the king's example and sold charters to them. This was done very often at the time

For a long while Henry was too busy to trouble himself about Ireland. At last, in 1166, Dermot, an Irish king, who had been worsted in a struggle with a rival, came to Henry and asked to be allowed to get Englishmen to help him win back his power. Henry agreed, and love of adventure led many to go and help Dermot. Chief amongst these was Richard de Clare, surnamed Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke. He at last became so powerful in Ireland that Henry grew alarmed. But Strongbow hastened to Henry's court and promised to hold all his lands in Ireland as vassal of the English king.

It was soon after this, in 1171, that Henry himself went to Ireland. Perhaps he was glad to go there for a while and let men have time to forget Becket's death. He kept his court in a great wooden palace outside Dublin. He ordered castles to be built over the land, and made many of the Irish kings and chieftains submit to him. He also gave away lands to many of his followers. If he had been able to stay, he would doubtless have gained a firm hold over the country, but disturbances in England and France forced him to leave Ireland.

John in Ireland, 1185.

4. Later on he sent John there to be overlord. But John did not know how to make friends of the Irish chieftains. He laughed at their rough dresses, and pulled their long beards, with rude jests. He made so many enemies that he had to be called back to England. Only a small part of the island continued to be held by the English. This was called the English Pale. So far Henry's plans for John had not been very successful.

Death put an end to the plots of two of his other sons-Henry, who had been crowned King of England under his father, and Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany. Richard

still went on plotting against his father with Philip Augustus, King of France. At last they entered Maine, where Henry was, with an army, before which Henry had to fly; his flight filled England and all Europe with surprise.

The hand of death was upon the conquered king. The cup of his sorrow overflowed when he was shown in a list of the conspirators against him the Henry's name of his favourite son, John. "Now,' he death, 1189. said, 'let things go as they will; I care no more for myself or for the world.' He was borne on a litter to Chinon, and as he lay dying there he cried out from time to time, 'Shame, shame on a conquered king!' At last he bade them carry him before the altar of the chapel, and his fiery soul passed away after he had taken the last sacraments of the Church.

CHAPTER II.

RICHARD I.

Richard I.

1. RICHARD Succeeded his father without any difficulty, though Philip of France, his friend before, became his foe the moment his father's death made him King of England. His mother kept order for him in England whilst he settled matters with Philip. When he passed over to England, his one wish was to go on the Crusade, and with this object to raise as much money as he could.

Richard was very little in England either before or after he became king. We do not even know whether he could speak English. He was nothing but a soldier, with splendid tastes, a great love of fine clothes, and some feeling for poetry.

But he had no care for his