was to look into the conduct of his judges and magistrates, and to dismiss those who did not administer justice properly, and to put down bands

20.-CONQUEST OF WALES.

1. The Welsh were a different race from the English. They were the descendants of the Britons who had been driven into the western part of

the island by the English, and they therefore belonged to the Celtic race, while the English were Teutons.

2. The Welsh had always remained a separate people, and they had been a constant cause of trouble to the English kings. They had always been ready to join in any movement against the King, as they hated the idea of being ruled by the English, and wished to keep their independence. William II.

and Henry I. had formed the plan of planting nobles called Lords Marchers along the marches or borders between England and Wales, to keep the people in order; but the mountains served the Welsh as a protection, and hitherto every effort to bring them to obedience had failed.

3. The Welsh prince Llewelyn had taken the side of Simon de Montfort against Henry III., and in the troubles of that weak reign he had been able to secure so large an amount of independence that he was allowed to take the title of Prince of Wales, the Welsh princes up to this time having been called only "Lords of Snowdon." On the accession of Edward, Llewelyn was called upon to do homage as a vassal of the English crown, but he refused to obey the summons, although it was repeated in the two following years. Edward now marched into Wales with an army, and soon forced Llewelyn into submission, Llewelyn's brother David taking the side of Edward. Llewelyn was to have married Eleanor, a daughter of Simon de Montfort, but she had been taken prisoner by the English while on her way to Wales to join him. Llewelyn now went to London with Edward, did homage to him at Westminster,

received his captive bride, Eleanor, and returned to Wales.

4. All was now at peace, and so it remained for four years; but then there was a new outbreak. This was begun by David, the man who had formerly been on Edward's side, had been made an earl by him, had lived at the English court, and had been treated with much favour. Edward again collected a large army, and marched to Shrewsbury, which he made his head-quarters. Llewelyn for some time held out in the mountain fastnesses1 round Snowdon, but it was in vain to struggle against Edward's superior forces, and at last Llewelyn was killed in a little skirmish, and David was taken prisoner 1283 and hanged as a traitor, for he had rebelled against Edward, who was his lord. Wales was conquered, and it has ever since formed part of the English realm.

5. Edward had now to settle the country, and for this purpose he published the Statute of Wales, by which he brought some English laws into the country; but in many matters the people were allowed to keep their own laws, and it was not until the reign of Henry VIII. that the Welsh sent members to the English Parliament. Edward had a little son born in Wales, whom he called "Prince of Wales," and this title has ever since been borne by the eldest son of the King of England. A great deal of fine poetry had been written by the Welsh, and it is said that Edward put to death all the bards or poets, lest their songs might stir up the people to revolt; but this is not true. Eleven years of Edward's reign had now passed, and he had made a great step

in his work of uniting the country, for he was now

lord of all England south of the Tweed.

21.-CONQUEST OF SCOTLAND.

1. The people who lived in the Lowlands, or the south of Scotland, were of the same race as the English, and spoke English, while the people of the Highlands, or north, were Celts, and spoke Gaelic. They were less civilised than those in the south, and they were divided into a number of tribes called clans, all the members of a clan being related to one another, while in the south, feudal customs were in force, as in England. The royal family of Scotland was Celtic, but it had more power in the Lowlands than in the Highlands.

2. As far back as the reign of Edmund the Magnificent, England had some sort of claim over Scotland, for Edmund had granted Strathclyde1 to the Scotch king on condition of service in war. The Scotch king had also done homage to William the Conqueror and to William Rufus. Henry I., by his marriage with Matilda, daughter of Malcolm, King of Scotland, had drawn the two countries closer together, and the Scotch court became filled with Norman nobles, and the south of Scotland became

like England in its manners and customs. In the reign of Henry II., England gained a great advantage over Scotland, for William the Lion had been compelled to do homage to Henry for Scotland, but Richard had sold back her freedom to Scotland. In this way homage had at various times been paid to England by the Scotch king. But the exact claim which England had over Scotland had always been

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vague, the Scotch declaring that homage was done only for certain lands in England, while the English declared that the homage was for the whole of Scotland. So matters stood at this time, when Edward began to take part in the affairs of Scotland.

3. The last prince of the Celtic line was dead, leaving only a grand-daughter, to whom Edward wished to marry his son, with the purpose of uniting the two