to the spot,
struck one blow, and the villanous collector lay dead at his feet.

Within an hour the people of the town were in arms. As the story spread
through the country, the people elsewhere rose and put themselves under
the leadership of Wat Tyler. In Essex was another party in arms, under a
priest called Jack Straw. Canterbury rose in rebellion, plundered the
palace of the archbishop, and released John Ball from the prison to
which this "mad" socialist had been consigned. The revolt spread like
wildfire. County after county rose in insurrection. But the heart of the
rebellion lay in Kent, and from that county marched a hundred thousand
men, with Wat Tyler at their head, London their goal.

To Blackheath they came, the multitude swelling as it marched. Every
lawyer they met was killed. The houses of the stewards were burned, and
the records of the manor courts flung into the flames. A wild desire for
liberty and equality animated the mob, yet they did no further harm. All
travellers were stopped and made to swear that they would be true to
King Richard and the people. The king's mother fell into their hands,
but all the harm done her was the being made to kiss a few rough-bearded
men who vowed loyalty to her son.

The young king--then a boy of sixteen--addressed them from a boat in the
river. But his council would not let him land, and the peasants, furious
at his distrust, rushed upon London, uttering cries of "Treason!" The
drawbridge of London Bridge had been raised, but the insurgents had
friends in the city who lowered it, and quickly the capital was swarming
with Wat Tyler's infuriated men.

Soon the prisons were broken open, and their inmates had joined the
insurgent ranks. The palace of the Duke of Lancaster, the Savoy, the
most beautiful in England, was quickly in flames. That nobleman,
detested by the people, had fled in all haste to Scotland. The Temple,
the head-quarters of the lawyers, was set on fire, and its books and
documents reduced to ashes. The houses of the foreign merchants were
burned. There was "method in the madness" of the insurgents. They sought
no indiscriminate ruin. The lawyers and the foreigners were their
special detestation. Robbery was not permitted. One thief was seen with
a silver vessel which he had stolen from the Savoy. He and his plunder
were flung together into the flames. They were, as they boasted,
"seekers of truth and justice, not thieves or robbers."

Thus passed