PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2823, 22 April 1908, Page 85

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

THE CROSS OF ST. GEORGE. I was asked by a teacher to give to-day some patriotic eeleetions suggested by tho Union Jack ; but Thursday is St. George's Day, ar.d though the Union Jack is built 1 up of the three flags — St. Andrew's, St. j Patrick's, and St. George, — the last is tne foundation of the Jack. But a6 I liave described tlie Union Jack before, I shall do a little browsing, and allow my chat to develop ac the spirit moves. And I do this, not only because it is pleasurable to write this way, but because I think that our methods of teaching history are too cast-iron. Why should history be read king by king or pericd by period. Why not link up events independent of reign or century ? - Why take Crecy as an isolated fact, connected with tlie reign of Edward? Again, why not make history, geography, and literature interweave so that cue can hardly tell where one subject ends and another begins? If we were less cramped m. our teaching, I imagine we should give pupils a greater love for these subjects. But I must get ahead. The foundation of the Union Jack is the Cross of St. George, ar.d one naturally asks who St. George was and is? Welf^ every echool ought to have an sncyclopedia to give such information.. Suffice it be_e to <?ay that he is the patron- saint of England. He was taken by Edward 111, m 1330, ojs the patron of the Order of the Garter, and the " Cross of St. George was worn over the armour of every English soldier as the badge ol his being m the service of the Crown." We may take the reign of Edward 111, then, as fixing the introduction of the Cross of St. George as a national emblem. But the mention of Edward HI (1327-----1377) calls up a host of associations, one of which stands out and includes many others — tlie Hundred Years' War raging

from about 1337 to 1453, when the whole of England's possessions m FraiK» wero lost except Calais. It is natural to ask, hoTr«v«r, \Vhat caused th-e Hundred Years' War? Rather a large question, but it may be put m a general way, md briefly something like this: There was r "triangular duel" or "trifijjht'"' between France, Scotland, and Jtn.o^ar.d. Ever since tlie Norman Conquest, the English kings had always held more or less.territory m France, but as vassals to the French King. Naturally there was friction between the French and English kings, for the French King wanted to drive the English bag "and baggage out of France. Again, there had been, and

was still, friction between England and Scotland, for England claimed a suzerainty over Scotland, and the Scots were rebellious just as the Boere six or seven years ago rebelled against our suzerainty un South Africa. It came to this, then: -france wanted to make Aquitane, Edfward's province m France, trench territory, pure and simple ; and Edward wanted to make Scotland English territory, pure and simple. Hence France and Scotland • became fast friends, and there was a considerable intercourse between the two countries, an intercoms© wbich can be traced to this day m many Scotch words of French origin. This alliance was responsible m 1336 lor a French attack on English shipping and the landing of French plunderers on the Isle of Wight — not the only time by •many that a French landing has been effected ; so the French and the Germans are not such idle dreamers as many think .when they — the French and Germans — imagine it possible to land foreign troops «pon British soil. In 1337, then, war was declared, the issue being whether or not the whole of •Aquitane was fco be absorbed by France, end whether or not Scotland was to be 'absorbed by England. The plunderinga jby th© sea rovers of England aad France added bitterness to the contest. In 1338 Edward sailed from th© Orwell, and landed at Antwerp, a city of Flanders /which imported a large amount of wool from Yorkshire and returned it to EngJand m the form of broadcloth. In 1339 .ihe crossed over into France, but, his allies deserting him, and Philip declining V {battle, he had fco retire to Brussels, ana to England, only to com© again m jfche same year, when fresh complications •rase. The Flemings refused fco give him Support unless he took fche title of King of France, for they acknowledged fche King of France ac their overlord, and

, the one claiming that title and backing it |up by a reasonable force received their ' allegiance. He took the title, though he jhad -previously renounced all claims, and though the Salic law, which governed the French succession by not recognising hereditary descent m the female line, shirt out any claim Edward 111 had through his mother. By reasserting his claim to the French throne there wa6 added th© third territorial question, Was England not only to retain Aquitane, but to absorb France too? On land, for four or five years, Edward's campaigns proved costly and fruitless — so costly, indeed, that he returned to England a half a million (of our money) m debt, and had tQ leave some of his nobles m pawn as a guarantee that he would return with the amount. H© redeemed them before the year was out. But I must cry a halt, for I cannot give you all the history of Edward 111. Ho made the ensign of St. George the flag of England, and that suffices our purpose just now. By the bye, do you know your Shakespeare? If you do, what play contains an exhortation to fight for England, Harry, and St. George? Have you ever seen a fleet of men-of-war? That word, however, is dropping out of date now — is becoming obsolescent, just as "ironclad" has become obsolete. If you have, have you noticed the flag of St. George flying afc the masthead of the admiral's flagship? And it is fitting thafc it should. I have told you thafc, m 1330, Edward ordered every soldier to use fche cross as a badge indicating that he was m the service of the Crown. Wellj i» i 340, Philip disputed Edward's claim to tho sovereignty of the Narrow Seas, and mustered at Sluys — I think you will find it on fche sonfch-weet coast of Holland, — some hundreds of vessels of all sorts and sizes for fche invasion of Britain. Edward, flying fche Cross of St. George, with a

favourable wipd bore down upon this fleet, annihilated it, and sent 28,000 soldiers and sailors down below to Davy Jones's locker ; and about the srane time he defeated the Spaniards m another naval action. So, you see, the Cross of St. George had a good start. Unfortunately, England had not recognised that she wae destined to become the Misttfsss of the Seas, and Edward neglected his navy for his army, and t.he fleot fell into decay. We have now recognised that we are Mistress of the Seas, but I am not quite sure that Aye recognise that m the immediate future we shall probably have to fight fiercely to retain it. History teaches us that, at any rate.