ERT SIMNEL, THE BAKER'S BOY WHO PRETENDED TO BE A KING.

A scene of unwonted excitement was being enacted in Dublin. The streets
were thronged with people, the houses were gay with flags, soldiers
lined the paths, and nobles in their grand carriages went by in
procession. The common folk shouted till they were hoarse, and pressed
forward on every hand towards the great church of the city, to witness
the ceremony which was taking place there.

Whence was all this excitement? How came the Irish capital into such a
state of festivity and holiday-making? The story is a short one and a
strange.

Some weeks before, a man in the dress of a priest, accompanied by a
good-looking boy, had landed in Dublin, and made his way to the
residence of the governor of the place, with whom he sought an
interview. On being admitted, he much astonished that nobleman by the
tale he told.

It was well known that Richard the Third had during his lifetime shut up
in prison the young Earl of Warwick, his nephew, whose title to the
crown was better than his own. The cruel uncle, who seemed unable to
endure the presence of any of those whom he had so basely robbed of
their inheritance, had already, as is well known, murdered those other
two nephews whose claims were most prominent and unmistakable. The
young Earl of Warwick, however, was allowed to keep his life, but
remained a close prisoner in a castle in Yorkshire.

When Henry the Seventh took the crown from Richard and became king, he
was by no means disposed to liberate a prince who was clearly nearer to
the throne than himself. So he had him removed from Yorkshire to the
Tower of London, where he remained almost forgotten amid the bustle of
coronation festivities of the new king.

Now the story told by the priest was that this prince had succeeded in
escaping from the Tower, and indeed was none other than the lad who now
stood at his side, having made his way to Ireland in the company of his
tutor and friend, to beg the aid of the Governor of Dublin in an effort
to recover his lawful inheritance.

The Earl of Kildare (that was the governor's name) looked in
astonishment from one to the other, and bade them repeat their story,
asking the boy many questions about his childhood and the companions of
his youth, which the latter answered so glibly and unhesitatingly that
the foolish governor was fully persuaded this was no other than the
rightful King of England.

He caused the la