man, and this injustice was the cause of all his misfortunes.
2. One of the first things he did on his own account, was to break a promise he made to the people; and this was how it happened. A new tax had caused great discontent among the labouring classes, and their unwillingness to pay it was increased by the insolence of the collectors, who, one day, in the house of a man called Walter, or Wat Tiler, behaved so ill to his daughter, that he gave one of them a blow on the head with his hammer, which unluckily killed him.
3. Now the neighbours knew that if Walter should be taken, he would be put to death for the offence, and as they all had cause to complain of the tax-gatherers, they assembled in front of his cottage, and declared they would protect him.
4. This was at Deptford, and they all proceeded to London, being joined by thousands of men from different towns, and a dreadful riot there was; so that it was thought necessary for the king to take some means of pacifying the rebels.
5. Accordingly he went, with the lord mayor and some nobles and gentlemen, to meet them in Smithfield, and whilst Tiler, their leader, was
