money as she was liberal
in spending it.

"Why, child, taxes came heavy in those days. When the Lord King needed
money, he sent home to his treasurer, and it was had as he could get
it--sometimes by selling up divers rich folks, or by levying a good sum
from the Jews, or any way man could; not always by equal tenths or
fifteenths, as now, which comes not nigh so heavy on one or two when it
is equally meted out to all. But never was there king like our late
Lord King Henry (whom God pardon) for squeezing money out of his poor
subjects. Yet old folks did use to say his father King John was as ill
or worse."

Taxes, in those days, were a very different thing from what they are
now, and were far more at the mere pleasure of the King, not only as to
the collecting of them, but as to the spending. Ignorant people fancy
that this is the case still; but it is not so. Queen Victoria has no
money from the taxes for her private spending. When she became Queen,
she gave up all the land belonging to her as Queen, on condition that
her daughters should be portioned, and that she should receive a certain
sum of money every year, of less value than the land she gave up; so
that it would be fraud and breach of trust in the people if they did not
keep their word to pay the sum agreed on to the Queen. There is so much
misunderstanding on this point that it is worth while to mention it.

"Then were the King and Queen--" Bertha began.

Avice answered the half-asked question. "They were like other folks,
child. They liked their own way, and tried to get it. And they liked
fine clothes, and great feasts, and plenty of company, and so forth; so
they spent their money that way. I'll not say they were bad folks,
though they did some bad things they were folks that only thought what
they liked, and did it; and folks that do that are sure to bring sorrow
to themselves and others too, whether they be kings and queens or cooks
and haymakers. The kings and queens can do it on a larger scale; that
is all the difference. There are few enough that think what God likes,
as holy Bishop Robert did, and like to do His will better than their
own; those that do scatter happiness around them, as the other sort
scatter misery.

"Well, after a while, the Lady Queen left England, to join the Lord King
across seas; but before she went, she took our little Lady down to the
Castle of Windsor to the rest of the King's children. There was first
th