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 him to become king of England, and he consented.

60. He came, with a large army, to Torbay, in Devonshire; but there was no fighting, for king James, with his wife and infant son, fled to France, where he was kindly received by the French king, Louis the Fourteenth, who promised to try and replace him on the throne; but the attempt was unsuccessful, as you will presently see.

61. James the Second had only reigned in England three years, and during that time the Protestants were so cruelly treated in France, that thousands of industrious artisans came over here, chiefly silk weavers, but also watchmakers, cutlers, and manufacturers of glass, writing paper and many other things; from whom the English learned to make all these things as well as the French.

62. The middle classes were much better off than at any former time, on account of the increase of trade; but the lower orders were not so well off, for wages were less, in proportion to the prices of bread and meat, than they were at earlier periods of our history.

QUESTIONS.

2. What was the gunpowder plot?