Widnes Examiner. — 1887-12-24 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

AND HIS HOSTAGE. A touching incident, which is mentioned in only a few of the school books, is thus related in the Band of Hope Reviem i—After the death of Henry 1. of England (Ist December 1135) a civil war ravaged the country for many years. The kingdom was claimed both by the deceased monarch's nephew, the Earl of Blois, who had been crowned under the title of King Stephen, and by his daughter, the Empress Maud; and many nobles and other powerful men took sides with each party, so that the strife was long and bitter, though in the end the reigning Sovereign got the upper hand. Amongst the barons who had sworn to support Stephen, and to be true to him, was one who bore the title of John the Marshal; this man, on leaving the Royal camp, for his own private reasons, left behind him his little son as a hostage, that is to say, as a pledge of nis own good faith. It was in the year 1152, whilst the King was besieging the town of Newbury, in Berkshire, then in possession of the esemy, that tidings were brought to him how that John the Marshal had proved himself a traitor, and, with all his forces, had joined Atlaud's army. Great was Stephen's anger; though a good and brave King, and in many respects an admirable character as a man, he had a fiery temper; and in ' the first heat of his rage at having been so deceived by a man whom he trusted, he gave hasty orders that, since the father was out of his power, the son should suffer, and that his head should be cut off without delay. The followers to whom this cruel order was given, horrified at the idea of murdering an innocent child, andknowing the King's better nature in his calmer moments, consulted among themselves how they might save Use boy, and at last sought the aid of a priest who was in the, camp, who by his holy life and his wisdom had gained great influence over the King. The gbod man gladly undertook to do what they asked him, hurried to Stephen's tent, and by his pleadings and rebukes so worked upon the Monarch's feelings that at last he decided to see the little hostage himself before the sentence was carried out. So the boy was brought before the King. When he came- in he went fearlessly up, and having knelt respectfully, stood up and looked smiling into the handsome face—for Stephen was one of the handsomest men in England. He had in his hand a bundle of the flowering stalks of the common plantain, or waybread (Plantago major) ; in many parts of the country the children call these koapes, a name taken from a Danish word meaning a soldier; they have a common game which is played by two—each takes a plaintain stalk, and the players strike each in turn at the one held by the other, trying to cut its head off, and the one who succeeds oftenest has the victory. Looking up in the King's face, the child asked him to play, and, to the surprise of all around, Stephen, touched no play, by the innocence of the request, consented, and tlqi game began. In a little time all the King's kempes were headless, and the boy was coneuerer; we may well believe that the naturallv good-hearted Sovereign allowed himself to be overcome without much difficulty. The game being tht,s finished, Stephen took the boy in his arms, and made a solemn vow, before all his courtiers, that from tout day the son af his treacherous enemy should be to him as his own son, should be brought up at his expense, and trained in all that was then thought needful for a tentleman to know. He kept his word; and so it came that, in after years, the little hostage grew to be a good and great man, and is still spoken of in history, under his name of William Marshal, Earl of Fembroke, as "the wisest and noblest of the barons."  BY