7. This was an important event, because the earl summoned a parliament to consult as to what it would be best to do under these circumstances; and he desired that, besides the nobles and bishops, there should come to this parliament knights, or gentlemen from every county, and citizens and burghers, from every city and burgh to state what the condition of the people really was, and to help to advise what could be done for them; so that the commoners were now, probably, for the first time, admitted to some share in the government of the country, which was a great step gained by the people, who, before this, had no representatives in the national council, or parliament, to take their part; and this was the beginning of our House of Commons, so it is worth remembering. 8. Prince Edward, after this, escaped from Hereford, where he had been kept a prisoner, and gained a great victory over the Barons, and replaced his father Henry on the throne; after which, he went on a crusade to the Holy Land. 9. He had married a Spanish princess, named Eleanor, who was the first person, in England, that had a carpet, which she brought from Spain, for the floors of the best apartments in the palace were strewed with rushes; and, in houses, where they could not get rushes, they used straw. 10. Henry the Third died about seven years after his restoration, in the year 1272, having reigned fifty-seven years; and, although the news was sent to his son as soon as possible, it was nearly two years before he returned to England; such was the difference between travelling then and now; for the journey to and from the Holy Land may now be accomplished in a few weeks. 11. Edward the First was a much wiser and better prince than his father, but he was too fond of war, and too anxious to be renowned as a conqueror, which was the cause of the long wars in Scotland, for his great ambition was to conquer that country. 12. But, the first thing he thought of, when he came home, was to make such regulations as were most likely to protect the people from robbery; so he had watchmen and patrols appointed in all the cities, and ordered that nobody should be abroad in the streets of London, nor any taverns kept open, after the curfew bell had tolled. 13. The curfew was instituted by William the Conqueror, to prevent fires, which were very frequent, when houses were in general built of wood, and thatched; so, when this bell tolled at eight o’clock, the people, for a long time after the conquest, were obliged to put out their fires and candles; but the custom of tolling the bell was continued after that of putting out fire and candle was done away with, and even to this day, in many places. 14. Edward the First took care that the magistrates should do their duty, and punished those who broke the laws, which the kings had been afraid to do in the last two reigns, because their lives would have been in danger if they had.