dence which, though it may degenerate into national vanity or swell into intolerable national pride, is part of the power which makes a people unconquerable, it is in such a spirit that Falconbridge tells the young prince and the nobles

"This England never did, (nor never shall,)
Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror,
But when it first did help to wound itself.
Now these her princes are come home again,

Come the three corners of the world in arms,

And we shall shock them: nought shall make us rue,
If England to itself do rest but true."

Let me add that these lines were composed by Shakspeare not long after that year in which the formidable invasion by the Spanish Armada was driven back in ruin from the shores of England. The poet's heart beat high as he beheld the banners of the ships of Spain hung out as trophies from the battlements of the Cathedral of St. Paul's, when Queen Elizabeth, in the midst of a rejoicing people, went up to that metropolitan temple to give thanks to God for the safety of her realm.

LECTURE V.*

The Reign of Richard the Second.

Henry the Third and the Edwards passed over by Shakspeare-De Montfort's Rebellion-Growth of the Constitution-The CommonsExtent of parliamentary government-Our republican institutions— The highway of nations-The Plantagenet kings-Edward the Third and the Black Prince-Chaucer-War with France-Arnold's view-Southey-From Richard the Second the "Chronicle-Plays" continuous-The fifteenth century-King John and Henry the Eighth, prologue and epilogue-Richard the Second strictly historical-Character of the king-His previous career-Popular element in France and Flanders and England-Wat Tyler's Rebellion-Its effects-Revolt of the nobles-Opening of the tragedy-Norfolk and Bolingbroke-Exile-Character of Bolingbroke-Death of John of Gaunt Moral degradation of the king-His misfortunes elevate him-Bolingbroke's return-Divine right of kings-Richard's deposition, imprisonment, and death.

AFTER King John, the next period of English history which has been illustrated by Shakspeare's historical plays is the reign of Richard the Second. The reign of King John belongs, it will be remembered, to the first years of the thirteenth century; that of Richard the Second closed the fourteenth; so that the intervening time was not a great deal less than two hundred years, an interval of great importance for the

* January 25th, 1847.

events that distinguished it and for the progress of the Constitution, but less familiar, for the single reason, I believe, that the light of Shakspeare's mind has not illuminated it for us. The reigns during that interval were few in number, for two of them were protracted to an uncommon length,-half a century in one case, and more than that in another. The reigns which Shakspeare has passed over are those of Henry the Third and the first three of the Edwards.

When, on the death of King John, his son Henry, in the tenth year of his age, was crowned King of England, the Earl of Pembroke, addressing his baronial peers, said, "We have persecuted the father for evil demeanour, and worthily yet this young child, whom ye see before you, as he is in years tender, so he is innocent of his father's doings." The appeal was not in vain. The young Plantagenet was set on the throne, enjoying the restored allegiance of his barons; but the regal power, thus fortified by returning loyalty, was also in the bonds of the Great Charter. The child-king grew to manhood, but not to the strength of manhood. Old abuses were revived, and the high spirit of the barons awoke again to resist them-by remonstrance, by opposition, and, at length, by open war. There was De Montfort, Earl of Leicester, at the head of the insurgent nobles,-he who, with his Oxford Parliament-the "Mad Parliament," as the old historians called it took the kingdom away from the sovereign, and gave it into the hands of Commissioners. There were the vicissitudes of civil war,-the king, at one time, a prisoner, and afterwards triumphant, and Leicester dead on the field of battle. "All the months of the year," says the witty church-historian, Thomas Fuller, "may in

a manner be carved out of an April day, hot, cold, dry, moist, fair, foul weather, being oft presented therein. Such was the character of King Henry the Third's life, certain only in uncertainty; sorrowful, successful; in plenty, in penury; in wealth, in want; conquered, conqueror."*

This period of English annals is too remote, and the prominent characters in it are too dimly represented, for us to feel that lively interest which is produced by the biographical knowledge of historic personages. The study of it is, however, important, as showing the growth of the nation, and the steady and gradual progress of the Constitution. In looking back over that progress, one cannot help being struck with the small and obscure beginnings of great political institutions, and thinking how unconscious the actors must have been of the magnitude of that futurity, which was to follow their deeds. In this reign of Henry the Third, after Simon de Montfort, at the head of the baronial confederacy, had defeated his king in open battle, acting as sovereign of the kingdom, he summoned the cities and boroughs to send members to Parliament. When he cast that seed into the soil of his country, how little did he dream of the mighty and perpetual germination that it would disclose in after times! How little could he have thought, that he was laying the foundation of the popular house of the British Parliament; and, indeed, not only of the English House of Commons, but the popular representative legislatures of the Anglo-American republics in another continent! Men cannot foresee the consequences of such deeds; and,

*Church History of Britain, vol. i. p. 369.

indeed, the most enduring and happiest political institutions are those which have not grown up in the sight of one generation of men, but during the lapse of ages have risen higher and higher, and spread their branches on every side. In examining the history of a country, you see the national life as it develops itself, first in one change, then in another; sometimes by regular and tranquil alterations, sometimes by violence, and, it may be, bloodshed; but ever, when the growth is most healthful, it is by a due course of expansion, rather than by wilful and violent changes. Thus, the steps which De Montfort took when he summoned the representation of the towns, made a path which seemed slight; but it was destined, in the providential government of the world, to become the great highway on which there should move, not only the kingly Commonwealth of England, but the republican Commonwealth of America. Indeed, I find myself borrowing here partly the language of a very happy illustration of gradual changes of government:" New political institutions," it has been well said, "originate just as a path is made in the field. The first person who crosses the grass, treads it down. The mass of elastic verdure immediately rises up again; nevertheless, some few of the more limber stalks and slender blades are bruised and crushed, and continue prostrate on the ground; yet so slight is the impression made upon the herbage, that the clearest eyesight can hardly discover the harm. After the first passenger, other people follow; and, within a little while, marks of their footsteps begin to be perceivable. Nobody noticed the first footsteps. At what period they

*De Maistre, Essai sur le principe générateur des Constitutions Politiques.