reign, a tax of four groats was laid upon every persou above the age of fifteen. This sum of money was of much more value in those days than at present, and was a very severe tax too, as it made the poor pay just as much as the rich. This caused great rebellion ;-one Wat Tyler, a blacksmith, refused to pay it, and he headed a great mob, and went to London to endeavour to make a disturbance. King Richard, then just sixteen years old, agreed to meet him in Smithfield to listen to the grievances of the people, and to try to remedy them. This was nobly done of the young king, who was indeed a very fine promising young man. Nothing could. be better than his behaviour; but, Tyler behaved in so insolent a manner, shaking his sword as if he was threatening the king, and conducting himself so rudely, that the Lord Mayor, William Walworth, knocked him down with his mace; and another person killed him with his sword. You may be sure that Wat Tyler's people were angry enough when they saw their leader killed, and were just preparing for a violent attack, when the young king said to them in the most kind and endearing manner, you have lost your leader; but, I will be your leader, follow me, and your wishes shall be granted." Thus, the king, by his courage and good conduct, at once put an end to the fury of the mob; and they quietly went to their homes. 66 This was a good beginning in the young king, but he did not go on so well; in short, he soon shewed that he was a very weak king, and all his affairs went on ill. It would be tedious to tell you of all his mismanagement, but one thing is worth mentioning, as it was, perhaps, the cause why he lost the crown. The Dukes of Norfolk and Hereford had had a quarrel; and, instead of hearing who was right and who was wrong, the King ordered them both to be banished. The Duke of Norfolk died abroad; but Hereford came back again rather sooner than the king expected him. This Duke of Hereford was the first cousin of the king, being the son of the Duke of Lancaster, the king's uncle. Now, as the king governed so badly, and every body was dissatisfied with him, this Hereford (now become Duke of Lancaster by the death of his father,) thought he could get the crown for himself; and, accordingly, landed at Ravenspur, in Yorkshire, and was joined by a great number of powerful people, so that he was soon able to get rid of the king, and to be crowned in his stead. To be sure, this was a most wicked piece of injustice; for this Duke of Lancaster had no right at all to the throne whilst Richard was alive; and, indeed, if Richard had been dead, still, Lancaster had no right to it, as it belonged of right to the family of Richard's uncle, the Duke of Clarence, who was older than the late Duke of Lan caster. This family is called the house of York: and, it was the disputes between these two families which made the civil wars which so long raged in England between the houses of York and Lancaster. The poor King Richard was barbarously murdered, in Pomfret Castle. Some say that eight murderers were sent to kill him, and that he snatched a pole-axe from one of them, and laid four of them dead at his feet; and, was then himself knocked on the head with a pole-axe. Some say he was starved to death, not having any thing given him to eat for a fortnight. Whichever it was, it was horrible enough. I don't wonder at you for not wishing to be a King! The power which Richard's grandfather had gained in France was lost again in this weak king's reign. So much for fighting. I have not time to enter into the particulars of your last letter, but I agree with you in most of your remarks. I am, Your affectionate Father, STOKESLEY SAVINGS' BANK. To the Editor of the Cottager's Monthly Visitor. vice. W. D. W. Friends and Neighbours, I congratulate you upon the establishment of a Savings' Bank for this district. It is an institution that has been much wanted, and is likely to be highly beneficial to the nighbourhood. It holds out the following general advantages: A mechanic, journeynan, servant, or labourer, will have a safe place where he may deposit his earnings. No expence whatever is incurred by the depositor. Your money may be taken out whenever you please; and as much or as little of it at a time as you think fit. You can get as good interest for it as can now be had any where else, namely four per cent. per annum. You are enabled to lay by little sums every week, or month, or quarter, as you can spare them. A sum so small as one shilling will be received. The gentlemen of Stokesley and the neighbour. hood have voluntarily come forward to manage the business of the Savings' Bank. They can derive no private advantage or profit whatever from it: on the contrary, they have subscribed a large sum to defray the necessary expences of books, room, &c. Now let us see the personal advantages you will gain by putting your money into this Savings' Bank. You can put in whatever sum you save, as low as a shilling, just as you can get it, without any further expence or trouble than that of walking to the Bank at Stokesley, any Saturday. You need not wait till you have made up a certain sum, and then have to look for a safe person to lend it to, or be at the expence or risk usually attending such transactions. You can get your money without delay. You will be led by degrees to lay by those small sums which, before, you spent idly, and perhaps to your own hurt. You will have the satisfaction of thinking, if you are a young person, that by putting in something regularly, you will have a handsome purse to set up house with, against you marry. If you have a family, you will console yourself that your wife and children will not be left destitute when you die. You will feel how comfortable a thing it is to have a little money ready, should it please God to afflict you with sickness, or misfortune; or when you grow old; and that you will have no occasion to be beholden to the parish. You will acquire habits of greater industry and frugality for when once a man begins to save, if it be only one shilling-he is sure always to be adding something to it. For money saved is like a snowball-it grows larger the more it is rolled. In times when work is scarce, the servant or workman, who is known to have money in the Bank, will always be employed, in preference to those who have none:- for there cannot be a better proof than this, of his carefulness and industry. * If a servant were, from the age of 20, to lay by 17. only out of every quarter's wages, he would at the age of 60, have more than 400l. with which he might buy an annuity of 457. a year for the rest of his life. Much is said in these times about freedom, and liberty, and independence. And undoubtedly there is great tyranny, oppression, and slavery in the world. For every one knows, that whoever has the misfortune to be idle and extravagant suffers the most grievous oppression a man can do: for his debts are the cruellest tyrants in the world; and he is an abject slave to whomsoever he owes money. The most truly independent man, is he who is favoured with health and strength, owes nobody a farthing, and has a shilling to spare! This is true liberty. Whoever, therefore, is under the bondage of debt or idleness, let him or her now begin by saving something weekly, to shew that he wishes to be free. ONE SHILLING a week put into this Bank, in seven years will amount to TWENTY POUNDS; three shillings a week, in seven years, will become SIXTY POUNDS; and seven shillings a week, in the same time, will make 1431. What an opportunity for servants to put by their wages; journeymen their earnings; labourers their harvest money; young boys and girls any little sums they may have given to them, or have made by their own industry! How easily a poor man's houserent may thus be collected! I remain, Friends and Neighbours, Your sincere well wisher, W. DOWNES WILLIS, Secretary to the Langbaurgh West Savings' Bank, Stokesley, Oct. 1822, |