Page:History of the Kings and Queens of England.pdf/7

 HENRY III. This prince succeeded his father on the 28th of October, 1216, when he was only 9 years of age. His countenance had a peculiar cast from his left eye-lid, which was so long as to cover part of the eye. He was of an inconstant and capricious disposition; arrogant in prosperity, and abject in adversity. He was a prince of very mean talents, and his desire of arbitrary power involved him in perpetual difficulties. He died at London on the 16th November, 1272, aged 65, in the 56th year of his reign.

In his reign Wales was wholly subdued, and governed by the English laws; tiles were introduced in building and fine linen was first made in England.

EDWARD I., son of Henry III., and surnamed Longshanks, was born June 16, 1239, and was crowned on the 9th of August, 1274, having returned from a glorious crusade against the Saracens. He was an excellent king, an affectionate father, and equally famed as a legislator and a warrior. His deportment was also chaste and regular; yet he cherished a dangerous ambition, to which the good of his country was sometimes sacrificed. He died at Brough on the Sands, in Cumberland, on July 7, 1307, in the 68th year of his age, and 35th of his reign.

In this reign Westminster Abbey was finished, 60 years after it was founded; and the magnetic needle first brought into use.