Contents ▼▲
Front Matter Early Times The Druids The Britons Caesar in Britain Queen Boadicea The Great Walls The Great Irish Saint The Anglo-Saxons Brave King Arthur The Laws of the Saxons The Story of St Augustine Three Great Men The Danish Pirates King Alfred and the Cakes Alfred conquers the Danes A King's Narrow Escape The King and the Outlaw The Monasteries An Unlucky Couple St Dunstan King Canute and the Waves A Saxon Nobleman Lady Godiva's Ride The Battle of Hastings The Conquest Lords and Vassals Death of William The Brothers' Quarrels Arms and Armour The "White Ship" Matilda's Narrow Escapes Story of Fair Rosamond Thomas a Becket Murder of Thomas a Becket Richard's Adventures Richard and the Saracens The Faithful Minstrel Death of Richard The Murder of Arthur The Great Charter The Rule of Henry III A Race Persecution of the Jews The Conquest of Wales A Quarrel with France The Coronation Stone The Insolent Favourite Bruce and the Spider Death of Edward II The Murderers punished The Battle of Crecy The Siege of Calais The Age of Chivalry The Battle of Poitiers The Peasants' Revolt Richard's Presence of Mind A Tiny Queen Henry's Troubles Madcap Harry A Glorious Reign The Maid of Orleans The War of the Roses The Queen and the Brigand The Triumph of the Yorks The Princes in the Tower Richard's Punishment Two Pretenders A Grasping King Field of the Cloth of Gold The New Opinions Death of Wolsey Henry's Wives The King and the Painter A Boy King Lady Jane Grey The Death of Cranmer A Clever Queen Elizabeth's Lovers Mary, Queen of Scots Captivity of Mary Stuart Wreck of the Spanish Armada The Elizabethan Age Death of Elizabeth A Scotch King The Gunpowder Plot Sir Walter Raleigh King and Parliament Cavaliers and Roundheads "Remember" The Royal Oak The Commonwealth The Restoration Plague and Fire The Merry Monarch James driven out of England A Terrible Massacre William's Wars The Duke of Marlborough The Taking of Gibraltar The South Sea Bubble Bonny Prince Charlie Black Hole of Calcutta Loss of the Colonies The Battle of the Nile Nelson's Last Signal The Battle of Waterloo First Gentleman of Europe Childhood of Queen Victoria The Queen's Marriage Wars in Victoria's Reign The Jubilee

Story of the English - Helene Guerber




A Terrible Massacre

James gone, the crown was offered to William and Mary by Parliament. A new charter was made, in which, besides the laws of the Magna Charta granted by John, and those of the Petition of Right granted by Charles, were those called the Act of Settlement. Among other things, this act decided that the crown could belong only to a Protestant ruler, and that if Mary, Anne, and William all died without children, it should go to Sophia, a grand-daughter of James I., and to her Protestant descendants.

The change of government which gave the crown to William and Mary is called the "glorious revolution of 1688; "and it was glorious not only because it took place without costing a drop of blood, but also because England, instead of being ruled by a tyrant, was to be governed by its own laws, and thus to be a constitutional monarchy.

William of Orange was the great-grandson of a famous Dutch hero of the same name, and grandson of Charles I., King of England. Although weak and sickly, he was a great fighter and a very determined man. The English did not like him much at first, because he was cold and reserved and spoke English badly; but they all loved the virtuous Queen Mary. Her excellent example was soon followed by other women, who, instead of gambling and thinking of nothing but dress and amusement, now began to delight again in needlework and study.

Although most of the Protestants had warmly welcomed William and Mary, all the Catholics had remained faithful to James; and as his name in Latin was Jacobus, they were called Jacobites. Besides, the Highlanders, as the Scotch who lived in the northern and mountainous part of the island were called, were so loyal to the old royal family that for a time they refused to obey William and Mary.

After these Highlanders were defeated, an edict was published, promising full pardon to all rebels if they would only take, before a certain day, an oath to be faithful to the new rulers. One of the Highland families, or clans, the MacDonalds, by mistake failed to take this oath in time; so their enemies, the Campbells, got an order to put them to death. Coming to the valley of Glencoe as if they were friends, and tarrying there twelve days, the Campbells suddenly fell upon the MacDonalds and began to murder them. A few escaped to the mountains, but it was only to perish of hunger and cold, not far from the ruined homes where they had once been happy.

William wanted the whole kingdom to be of one religion; but finally he granted full freedom in religious matters to all the people. The church was therefore mainly Anglican in England, Presbyterian in Scotland, and Roman Catholic in Ireland, and so it still remains to-day.

In England the population had been increased by the arrival of many French Protestants, the Huguenots, who had been driven out of France in 1685, when the king recalled a law allowing them to worship as they pleased. These industrious Huguenots began to work at their trades, and at Spitalfields they set up the first English silk manufactory.