"Blessed be," and the others
would respond, "The Lord."

Then the head of the family would say,

"God and Saint Mango,
Saint Romane and Saint Andro,
Shield us this day from God's grace, and
the foul death that Englishmen die of."

And all the others would say "Amen."

Thus they considered the grace of God as an evil which they were to
pray to be delivered from.

Indeed, the common people at this time, not only in Scotland, but
throughout England, were in a state of great ignorance and
degradation. The barons, and knights, and soldiers generally looked
down with great contempt upon all who were engaged in any industrial
pursuits. In the country, the great mass of those who were employed in
tilling the ground were serfs or slaves, bought and sold with the
land, and at the disposal, in almost all respects, of their haughty
masters. The inhabitants of the towns, who lived by the manufacturing
arts or by commerce, were more independent, but the nobles, and
knights, and all who considered themselves gentlemen looked down with
something like contempt upon these too, as, in fact, their
successors, the present aristocracy of England, do at the present
day, regarding them as persons in a very mean condition, and engaged
in low and ignoble pursuits. Still, the industrial classes had
increased greatly in wealth and numbers, and they began to have and to
express some opinion in respect to public affairs. They had
considerable influence in the House of Commons; and the government
was, in a great measure, dependent upon the House of Commons, and was
becoming more and more so every year. It is true, the king, or rather
the great lords who managed the government in his name, could make war
where they pleased, and appoint whom they pleased to carry it on.
Still, they could not assess any tax except by the consent of the
Commons, and thus, in carrying on any great operations, they were
becoming every year more and more dependent on the public sentiment of
the country.

The country began to be very much dissatisfied with the management of
public affairs within two or three years after the commencement of
Richard's reign. Large sums of money were raised, and put into the
hands of Richard's uncles, who spent it in organizing great
expeditions by land and sea to fight the French; but almost all of
these expeditions were unsuccessful. The people thought that they
were mismanaged, and that the money was squandered.