e to him in his dismal
prison!' Next morning he was dead--not bruised, or stabbed, or marked
upon the body, but much distorted in the face; and it was whispered
afterwards, that those two villains, Gournay and Ogle, had burnt up his
inside with a red-hot iron.

If you ever come near Gloucester, and see the centre tower of its
beautiful Cathedral, with its four rich pinnacles, rising lightly in the
air; you may remember that the wretched Edward the Second was buried in
the old abbey of that ancient city, at forty-three years old, after being
for nineteen years and a half a perfectly incapable King.

CHAPTER XVIII--ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE THIRD

Roger Mortimer, the Queen's lover (who escaped to France in the last
chapter), was far from profiting by the examples he had had of the fate
of favourites. Having, through the Queen's influence, come into
possession of the estates of the two Despensers, he became extremely
proud and ambitious, and sought to be the real ruler of England. The
young King, who was crowned at fourteen years of age with all the usual
solemnities, resolved not to bear this, and soon pursued Mortimer to his
ruin.

The people themselves were not fond of Mortimer--first, because he was a
Royal favourite; secondly, because he was supposed to have helped to make
a peace with Scotland which now took place, and in virtue of which the
young King's sister Joan, only seven years old, was promised in marriage
to David, the son and heir of Robert Bruce, who was only five years old.
The nobles hated Mortimer because of his pride, riches, and power. They
went so far as to take up arms against him; but were obliged to submit.
The Earl of Kent, one of those who did so, but who afterwards went over
to Mortimer and the Queen, was made an example of in the following cruel
manner:

He seems to have been anything but a wise old earl; and he was persuaded
by the agents of the favourite and the Queen, that poor King Edward the
Second was not really dead; and thus was betrayed into writing letters
favouring his rightful claim to the throne. This was made out to be high
treason, and he was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to be executed.
They took the poor old lord outside the town of Winchester, and there
kept him waiting some three or four hours until they could find somebody
to cut off his head. At last, a convict said he would do it, if the
government would pardon him in return; and they gave him the pa