Page:The child's pictorial history of England; (IA childspictorialh00corn).pdf/175

 *wich into an asylum for poor old sailors; and the king gave money for the purpose.

9. The East Indian trade was very much increased during this reign, so that all things that came from China and India, such as tea, silk, cotton, spices, porcelain or china ware, and many other beautiful and useful things, became more easy to be procured in this country.

10. I must also tell you that the Bank of England was now first established, for the purpose of raising money for the government to carry on war against Louis the Fourteenth, of France; and this was the beginning of what you will sometimes hear called the National Debt; for when people put money into the bank, it is the same as lending it to the king or the government; and as long as they choose to lend it, they are paid so much a year for doing so, and this is called their dividend, which they go to the Bank twice a year to receive.

11. The war in which king William was engaged, had nothing whatever to do with the English, but was only for the sake of helping the Archduke of Austria, to fight out his quarrels with the king of France; yet, after William's death, these wars were carried on during the whole reign of queen Anne, who succeeded