SUCCESSORS OF KING ALFRED.

A.D. 901-1016.

THE wise laws which the good King Alfred had made, and the noble works which he had done, seemed to leave a blessing on those who reigned after him. His son, EDWARD, was a good and brave king; and though the Danes often invaded the land during his reign, he always drove them back.

His son, ATHELSTAN, made some very

wise laws. Seeing that it would be well for the country to have a number of ships both to defend its coasts and for the purposes of trade, he ordered that every man who built a ship, or went three voyages, should be called a thane, that is, a noble.

Athelstan was succeeded by his brother, EDMUND, who reigned about six years. He was murdered by a robber in his own hall.

EDRED was the name of the king who next came to the throne. Being very feeble, he allowed a proud priest named Dunstan to manage the affairs of the kingdom.

Edred died in 955, and was succeeded by his nephew EDWY, who was only seventeen years of age when he was made king. Edwy was a very handsome youth, and was so fond of his cousin, Elgiva, that he married her. Dunstan and the priests of that day were angry at the marriage, because the two were so closely related. When Edwy was crowned there was a great feast, at which many of the nobles drank too much. Edwy not liking such company, left them to join his young wife. While they were sitting together, Dunstan rushed into the room, and after saying many bitter words to Elgiva, he dragged Edwy back again to where the nobles were drinking. Poor Elgiva was very cruelly

treated after this; they branded her beautiful face with red-hot irons, and sent her out of the country. Then Dunstan stirred up the people to rebel against Edwy, and took his throne from him, and set his younger brother, EDGAR, in his place.

In the reign of Edgar, wolves were very numerous in England. Instead, therefore, of taking money from his people, the king obliged them to bring in the heads of these fierce and cruel animals, and in less than three years there was not a single wolf left in the land. After the death of his first wife, Edgar murdered a nobleman named Athelwold, and married his widow Elfrida.

When Edgar died, in the year 975, his eldest son, EDWARD, became king. Now Elfrida, who was Edward's stepmother, was very jealous of him, because she wanted her own son, Ethelred, to be king. One day when Edward was hunting, he went to the

castle where Elfrida and his young brother lived. He was very tired, and asked for some wine, which Elfrida gave him with her own hand. But while he was drinking it, by her orders one of her servants came softly behind and stabbed him. After this cruel death, he was always called Edward the Martyr. So ETHELRED did become king, but the wicked Elfrida was hated by every one, and passed the rest of her days in great misery. Ethelred from his weak and feeble nature, was called the Unready. He was too cowardly and idle to fight the Danes openly, so he gave them large sums of money that they might stop away. But the more money the Danes received the oftener they came. Many of these Danes had settled in the land, but because they were haughty and proud, the people did not like them. So Ethelred took advantage of this feeling, and called