The Washington times., 1914-02-07


|. lish Civil War.
-HE King of England and his son
were both prisoners. Not Of for
i eign enemy, but of their own peo-
pie. The King was Henry III, weak
ling.
1t was the same old clash between
royal power and the peoples rights
Henry III, like his father, King John,
from whom the barons had wrung the
Magma Charta, thought the people had
no rights a King need respect. The bar
ons thought otherwise. They banded to-
gether under old Simon de Montfort.
Earl of Leicester, overthrow the royal
lists and took Henry and Prince Edward
prisoner.
The capture of the King and the
Prince put a speedy stop to the quarrel
between Leicester and the re! alists. The
latter were left leaderless.
Meanwhile, Prince Edward was cooped
I'm at Hereford. always under a strong
guard. Yet the guard was not SO vlgi-
liant that he could not exchange secret
messages with his loyal followers. And
by means of these messages n clever
plan was made for the Princes escape.
One day Edward suggested to- the
yroup of mobiles who were guarding MN
that he would like to go for an AFTER
noon's ride in the country. The request
was simple and natural for an athletic
youth to make. There Seemed no Booo
reason to refuse it Leicesters SCOUTS
had reported that there was no large
force Of possible enemies wlthn many
miles. A. 1,.;r.o
and his guards. Edward rode the fleet
EST horse. and at his belt jinSled purse
heavy with gold. As the party RODE on,
he fell to comparing some OF tne
guards horses with others, onerhs 10
wager big sums as TO which we're tne
Glad to earn royal gold so easily. the
Guards rode dozens of races, getting tne
last atom of speed from their chargers 3
At sunset they turned homeWard; I;
their horses exhausted-aH but Ed
wards. AS they mounted nil they
saw a horseman on its summit. The dis
tant rider waved his hat. At the slgnal
Prince Edward set spurs to his morse
and thundered away toward the
stranger on the hilltop. the guards
tried TO follow and to catch him, but
their horses were "orn out ana coulu
scarcely move faster than a walk.
The prince joined the man who await
ed him. Together they galloped away
to where a party of the loyalists were
hidden. thence to a distant place OF
sa afety. Within a few days the news
spread abroad that the prince was free.
Throngs OF men focked TO his standard
At the head of a strong army he march
ed against the rebel barons.
Edward first met and routed an army
led by Leicester's son; then turned to
fight Leicester himself. By a bit Of
brilliant strategy he quickly had the
earl at his mercy. At the battle began
leicester cried aloud in despair:
1T is over! The Lord have mercy on
our souls, for our bodies are Prince Ed
wards
Ieicester's army was destroyed and
Leicester himseG was killed. For nearly
two wears thereafter the civil war con-
tinued to rend England BY the end of
that time the prince had crushed his
fathers foes and his own and was mas
ter of the kingdom. Soon afterward, on
Henry's death, he became King Edward
1.
1t was Edward, by the way, who, by
playipg q trick on the Welsh people
Originated the title prince OF Wales" :"
The welsh were at enmity with their.
English masters. Edward to pacify
them promised they should be ruled by
a prince born in Wales who could speak
no word of English. Soon afterward, at
Carnarvon Castle, Edwards wife gave
birth to a son. Edward presented the
new born baby TO the Welsh as their
Prince. declaring the infant in every
way fulfilled the promised conditions, as
II was born in Wales and could speak
no English.