On the 7th of January parliament met and decided to remove their absent sovereign, proclaiming the Prince of Wales King of England by the title of Edward III. When this was made known to the queen she pretended to be very much distressed, and actually forced herself to shed tears, though it was precisely what she had worked for. But she overacted her part, and her counterfeit tears so deceived her son that he made a solemn vow not to accept the crown unless his royal father should willingly resign it to him.
This was awkward; for how could a committee wait upon the king to ask him to abdicate? But young Edward adhered to his resolution, and a dozen commissioners were appointed by Isabella to demand of the fallen monarch his crown, sceptre, and the rest of the regalia.
They proceeded to Kenilworth Castle, where Edward was kept as a state prisoner, and in a cruel, heartless manner pointed out to him the errors he had committed as their reason for desiring him to resign his crown. Edward listened to the mortifying recital and wept bitterly. At length he replied, "that he knew he was punished for his many sins, and was grieved for having incurred the hatred of his people. He was glad his eldest son was so gracious in their sight, and gave them thanks for choosing him to be their king." Although the poor monarch had fainted during this interview, he failed to arouse the sympathy of the commissioners.
Edward II. was by no means a bad man, for his chief faults were those of judgment, and at times want of dignity, which led him to engage in boyish frolics, and occasionally to drink to excess.
A.D. 1326. On the following Christmas day, 1326, young King Edward, who was just fifteen years of age, was crowned in Westminster Abbey. Then twelve bishops and nobles were appointed to advise and assist the youthful sovereign in affairs of state. The queen offered no objection, but as she had the military power in her own hands she made Roger Mortimer her prime minister, and demanded an enormous sum of money for her own use. She sent presents and deceitful messages full of affection to her husband, who in return wrote to request the favor of being once more permitted to see her and his son. But Isabella was never softened towards him, though she was, to a great extent, the cause of his unfortunate situation. She was so thoroughly hard-hearted that, when she heard he was kindly treated at Kenilworth, she had him removed from one place to another under the care of two brutal fellows whose cruelties were too horrible to mention. One night, just a year after the queen's return, Edward II. was put to death by her order in Berkeley Castle, and buried privately. Then the nation became indignant; many of Isabella's friends deserted her when they found that they had been the tools of an artful, ambitious, depraved woman, and a strong party was organized to get rid of her. She had committed more crimes in one year than the late king and his ministers had done in twenty, though she pretended to be a reformer.
She was a cruel hypocrite, planning, with the slyness of a cat, the destruction of each member of the royal family. Knowing that the Earl of Kent was most miserable on account of the part he had taken in her proceedings, she caused somebody to tell him that his brother was not dead, but a prisoner at Corfe Castle. The earl employed a friar to inquire whether this was true.
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He was assured that it was, and had shown to him at a distance a person seated at a table so disguised as to resemble the dead king. The earl then went to the castle and requested the governor to conduct him to his brother's apartment. The governor did