In chapter 27, Edward gets a firsthand look at the suffering that unjust laws cause in his kingdom.
As the young son of King Henry VIII, Edward has led a charmed life throughout his childhood. However, his eyes are opened when he exchanges places (and identities) with Tom Canty.
In the chapter, he is appalled when he sees two Baptists burned at the stake. Edward can't believe that such a barbaric act can happen in England. He, of course, belongs to the Church of England, which is the church founded by his father, King Henry VIII.
The church is said to be both Catholic and Reformed. In the seventeenth century, the Church of England (also known as the Anglican Church) persecuted what it called Protestant Dissenters, such as Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Quakers.
For Edward, the specter of two innocent women burning at the stake is unbearable. During...
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the execution, two little girls burst into the square and throw themselves on their mothers. Both are restrained, but one manages to get free.
This little girl begs to die with her mother because she has no other family. Both girls wail uncontrollably as they watch their mothers die in terrible agony. Heartsick, Edward vows that he will make changes to the law when he ascends to the throne.
His resolve is strengthened when he meets more prisoners later in the day. One of the prisoners is a woman with obvious mental disabilities. Edward learns that she is to be hanged for stealing a yard or two of cloth from a weaver.
Meanwhile, another prisoner was accused of stealing a horse. He was found innocent and expected to be freed. However, he was later accused of killing a deer in the king's park.
For this, he will go to his death, although there's no indication that he was guilty of the crime.
The case that most distresses Edward is the one concerning a young man who found a hawk. Since the youth had no way of ascertaining the identity of the hawk's owner, he took the bird home. Because of his ill-fated actions, he will be sentenced to die.
Having seen the suffering of his people firsthand, Edward will prove to be a better king than Tom Canty, the boy with whom he exchanged places.