nd the four quarters of the body were then sent to
various parts of the kingdom, and set up in conspicuous places in
large cities and towns.]

In the midst of these proceedings the barons held a sort of
Parliament, and made a solemn declaration that the king, by his
flight, had abdicated the throne, and they proclaimed his son, the
young Prince of Wales, then about fourteen years old, king, under the
title of Edward the Third. In the mean time, the king himself, who had
attempted to make his escape by sea, was tossed about in a storm for
some days, until at last he was driven on the coast in South Wales. He
concealed himself for some days in the mountains. Here he was hunted
about for a time, until he was reduced to despair by his destitution
and his sufferings, when at length he came forth and delivered himself
up to his enemies.

[Illustration: KENILWORTH CASTLE.]

He was made prisoner and immediately sent to Kenilworth Castle, and
there secured. Afterward he was brought to trial. He was accused of
shameful indolence and incapacity, and also of cowardice, cruelty, and
oppression, and of having brought the country, by his vices and
maladministration, to the verge of ruin. He was convicted on these
charges, and the queen, his wife, confirmed the verdict.

Not being quite sure, after all, that by these means the dethronement
of the king was legally complete, the Parliament sent a solemn
deputation to Kenilworth Castle to depose the monarch in form. The
king was brought out to meet this deputation in a great hall of the
castle. He came just as he was, dressed in a simple black gown. The
deputation told him that he was no longer king, that all allegiance
had been withdrawn from him on the part of the people, and that
henceforth he must consider himself as a private man. As they said
this, the steward of the household came forward and broke his white
wand, the badge of his office, in token that the household was
dissolved, and he declared that by that act all the king's servants
were discharged and freed. This was a ceremony that was usually
performed at the death of a king, and it was considered in this case
as completely and finally terminating the reign of Edward.

The delegation also exacted from him something which they considered
as a resignation of the crown. His son, the young prince, it was said,
was unwilling to ascend the throne unless the barons could induce his
father voluntarily to abdicate his own right