El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-11-11
THREE BOY KINGS.
Edmund. Edred and Edwy Were Hul-
ers of England When Young.

Edmund. Edred and Edvvy Were Hui-
ers of England When Young.
We of today always think of king
or a prince as being creature Win
nothing much to do but to ENJOY lie
and be waited on. Kings and princes
do not enjoy life any more-ln tact'
not as much-as we common mor1als
do. though they may take their ease
and dress in silks and plush NOW
there was time when even kings coulo
not take their ease. but lived in con-
slant state Of turmoil and danger Hun
dreds and hundreds of years ago there
reigned in England a boy king called
Edmund. He was only IL year, OLD
when he came to the throne. and he
was the first of six boy kings whose
reigns were short and turbulent Ed
mund was called the Magnificent be-
cause he tried to improve the dress ana
the living of the times; but. unfortu-
nately for him. he had a violent tenn
per. which socn ended his reign and his
life
In those days the kings palace con-
sisted of few sleeping apartments and
u
from the king to the meanest servant
dined at the same table. The king.
however. was at one end on a raised
platform. which distinguished him from
the others who sat below.
It was the custom then. and very
beautiful one. to allow any poor way
farer who might be passing to come In,
warm himself and take his place at the
table. One night King Edmund. after
he had eaten heavily and drunk too
deeply. it is to be feared. noticed among
the company at table q noted outlaw
and robber called Leof. This man had
been banished from England. and when
the king saw him sitting there he flew
into a mighty rage at the mans pre-
sumption, and he commanded him to
depart
Leof said, 81 will not depart,
whereupon the foolish king, instead OF
ordering his servants to put him out,
himself seized the bold robber and tried
to throw him out Leof had q dagger
concealed under his long cloak. and he
stabbed the king. In minute all the
kings retainers were upon the outlaw
and cut him to pieces, but not before
the king and several of his servants
were killed
Then came Edred. another boy king,
who was very weak of body. but strong
of mind. He fought many great battles
against the Danes and the Norsemen
| and beat them off. but he only lived to
rule nine years
Then Edwy. is years .old. became
king, but he was ruled by a monk
| named Dunstan. who watched over
him like a guardian The handsome
| young monarch had married his cousin.
the beautiful Elgiva. although he was
SO young. Dunstan did not approve of
| this marriage. fed the country and Sc
cretly worked up a plot to get rid of
Edwy and put his younger brother Ed
| gar on the throne. Not content with
this Dunstan caused the beautiful girl
! queen to be seized and her fair face
branded with redhot iron. and then
! she was sold into slavery in Ireland.
for in those days white people were
made slaves just as we made slaves OF
the blacks before the war.
| The Irish people. however, were then.
as they are now, a warm hearted race,
and they determined to restore the poor
queen to her husband. First they cured
her of the awful scar on her face. SC
she was as beautiful as ever. and then
sent her on her way back to England
But on the way home she was killed.
When the king heard of her fate. he
died, too of q broken heart
You can easily imagine it wasn't
much fun to be king or a queen Ell
ther in those old daya-New York
Herald