nch nearer to Prince Edmund's
head. The end of the business was, that the Pope gave the Crown to the
brother of the King of France (who conquered it for himself), and sent
the King of England in, a bill of one hundred thousand pounds for the
expenses of not having won it.

The King was now so much distressed that we might almost pity him, if it
were possible to pity a King so shabby and ridiculous. His clever
brother, Richard, had bought the title of King of the Romans from the
German people, and was no longer near him, to help him with advice. The
clergy, resisting the very Pope, were in alliance with the Barons. The
Barons were headed by SIMON DE MONTFORT, Earl of Leicester, married to
King Henry's sister, and, though a foreigner himself, the most popular
man in England against the foreign favourites. When the King next met
his Parliament, the Barons, led by this Earl, came before him, armed from
head to foot, and cased in armour. When the Parliament again assembled,
in a month's time, at Oxford, this Earl was at their head, and the King
was obliged to consent, on oath, to what was called a Committee of
Government: consisting of twenty-four members: twelve chosen by the
Barons, and twelve chosen by himself.

But, at a good time for him, his brother Richard came back. Richard's
first act (the Barons would not admit him into England on other terms)
was to swear to be faithful to the Committee of Government--which he
immediately began to oppose with all his might. Then, the Barons began
to quarrel among themselves; especially the proud Earl of Gloucester with
the Earl of Leicester, who went abroad in disgust. Then, the people
began to be dissatisfied with the Barons, because they did not do enough
for them. The King's chances seemed so good again at length, that he
took heart enough--or caught it from his brother--to tell the Committee
of Government that he abolished them--as to his oath, never mind that,
the Pope said!--and to seize all the money in the Mint, and to shut
himself up in the Tower of London. Here he was joined by his eldest son,
Prince Edward; and, from the Tower, he made public a letter of the Pope's
to the world in general, informing all men that he had been an excellent
and just King for five-and-forty years.

As everybody knew he had been nothing of the sort, nobody cared much for
this document. It so chanced that the proud Earl of Gloucester dying,
was succeeded by his son; and that his