Many years ago there was a little boy living in England whose name was
Edward. Of course there have been many boys in England by the name of
Edward, but they are not so well known as this boy, for he was the son
of a king.
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Edward’s father was King Henry the Eighth, and Edward was called Edward
the Sixth when he became King of England.
King Henry was very fond of his children and did not like to have them
punished, so he had a little “whipping boy” for each one of them.
Whenever one of the Princes or Princesses did anything naughty, the
whipping boy was punished.
Sometimes he had to stand in the corner for a whole hour. Sometimes
he was sent to bed without any supper, and sometimes he had to have a
whipping.
Prince Edward’s whipping boy was Edward Brown. He lived in the castle
and played with the Prince every day. The two boys were very fond of
each other, and the Prince did not like to have his friend punished.
So he tried to be good, but there are so many things a Prince must not
do!
A Prince must not throw his toys out of the castle window. He must
never get angry at his brothers and sisters and quarrel with them. He
must learn his lessons every day.
He must be polite and obedient to the King and Queen, to all the
Gentlemen in Waiting and Ladies in Waiting, to the Head Nurse and all
the Under Nurses, and to his Tutor and all his teachers.
Oh! it is very hard to be a good Prince!
Sometimes Edward Brown had to be punished more than once while the
boys were at play, and sometimes Prince Edward was quite good all day
long.
One day the Prince did something that was very wrong; and when his
Tutor would have punished the whipping boy, Edward took the cane from
his hand and said, “Sir, you shall whip me for this. It is my command.
I did wrong. I should be punished.”
When Prince Edward was nine years old, his father died, and the Prince
was made King of England.
Perhaps you would like to know how he was dressed when he went to be
crowned. He wore a suit of white velvet, embroidered with diamonds,
pearls, and rubies. His cap was white velvet, and his coat was cloth of
silver.
He rode on a white horse through the city and the people shouted, “Long
live King Edward.”