What of their places of worship? 4. How was the oak considered by the Druids? The mistletoe? 5. When was the country entirely subdued? What of Suetonius? 6. What of the Scots? What did the Romans do? 7. How long did Rome govern Britain? What of the empire of Valentinian? 8. Whose aid did the Britions ask against the Scots ? 9. What did these two tribes do? How was Britain then divided?

CHAP. CXLVII.-EUROPE continued.

SAXON AND DANISH KINGS OF ENGLAND.

1. In the year 827 of the Christian era, all the seven kingdoms of the Saxon Heptarchy were united into one, under the government of Egbert. He was, therefore, the first king of England.

2. Egbert was a native of England, but had been educated in France, at the court of Charlemagne. He was therefore more polished and enlightened than most of the Saxon kings. During the reign of Egbert, and for many years afterwards, the Danes made incursions into England. They sometimes overran the whole country.

3. Alfred, who ascended the throne in 872, fought fiftysix battles with them, by sea and land. On one occasion, he went into the camp of the Danes in the disguise of a harper. He took notice of everything, and planned an attack upon the camp. Returning to his own men, he led them against the Danes, whom he completely routed.

4. This king was called Alfred the Great; and he had a better right to the epithet of Great, than most other kings

who have borne it. He made wise laws, and instituted the custom of trial by jury. He likewise founded the university of Oxford. Nearly a hundred years after his death, the Danes again broke into England. There was now no Alfred to oppose them. They were accordingly victorious, and three Danish kings governed the country in succession.

5. Canute the Great was one of them. He appears to have been an old pirate, or, as they were called in those days, a sea-king. One day, when he and his courtiers were walking on the shore, they called him king of the sea, and told him that he had but to command, and the waves would obey him.

6. Canute, in order to shame their flattery, desired a chair of state to be brought and placed on the hard smooth sand. Then, seating himself in the chair he stretched out his sceptre over the waves, with a very commanding aspect.

7. "Roll back thy waves, thou sea!" cried Canute. "I am thy king and master! How darest thou foam and thunder in my presence?" But the sea, nowise abashed, came roaring and whitening onward, and threw a sheet of spray over Canute and all the courtiers. The giant waves rolled upward on the beach, far beyond the monarch's chair. They would soon have swallowed him up, together with his courtiers, if they had not all scampered to the dry land.

8. In the year 1041, the Danes were driven out of England, and another Saxon king called Edward the Confessor, was placed upon the throne. At his death, in 1066, Harold, who was also a Saxon, became king.

No sooner

9. But he was the last of the Saxon kings. had he mounted the throne, than William, duke of Normandy, in France, invaded England, at the head of sixty thousand men, and landed at Pevensey Bay.

10. Harold led an army of Saxons against the Norman invaders, and fought with them at Hastings. In the midst of the battle, an arrow was shot through his steel helmet, and penetrated his brain. The duke of Normandy gained the victory and became king of England.

QUESTIONS.-1. Who was the first king of England? What kingdoms did he govern? 2. What of Egbert? What of the Danes? 3. When did Alfred ascend the throne? What did he do? 4. Why was he called Alfred the Great? What of the Danes after his death? 5, 6, 7. Tell a story of Canute. 8. When were the Danes driven out of England? Who was then placed upon the throne? When did Harold become king? 9. Who now invaded England? 10. Where was the battle fought between arold and William? Who became king of England?

CHAP. CXLVIII.-EUROPE continued.

NORMAN KINGS OF ENGLAND.

1. WILLIAM the Conqueror (as the duke of Normandy was now called) reigned about twenty years. He was succeeded by his second son, William Rufus, or the Red, who was so named from the colour of his hair.

2. The red king was very fond of hunting. One day, while he was chasing a deer in the forest, a gentleman of

the name of Walter Tyrrel let fly an arrow. It glanced against a tree, and hit the king in the breast; so that he fell from his horse and died.

3. This took place in the year 1100, and William Rufus was succeeded by his brother Henry. This king was called Beauclerk, or Excellent Scholar, because he was able to write his name. Kings were not expected to have much learning in those days. On the death of king Henry Beauclerk, in 1135, the throne was usurped by Stephen of Blois. But he died in 1154, and was succeeded by Henry the Second, who was son to the former Henry.

4. This monarch had a violent quarrel with Thomas à Becket, archbishop of Canterbury. Hoping to please the king, four knights went to Canterbury, and murdered Becket at the foot of the altar. But this bloody deed was a cause of great trouble to king Henry; for the pope threatened to excommunicate him.

5. In order to pacify his holiness, the king set out on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Becket. When he entered the abbey where the tomb was situated, the whole community of monks assaulted him with rods. The king, being afraid to resist them, was soundly whipped; and, as a reward for his patience, he received the pope's pardon.

6. During the reign of this king, Ireland was conquered and annexed to the realm of England. It had previously been divided into several separate kingdoms.

7. Richard the Lion-hearted was crowned king of England

in 1189. He was a valiant man, and possessed prodigious strength; and he delighted in nothing so much as battle and slaughter. After gaining great renown in Palestine, he was, on his way back, taken and imprisoned for two years by the duke of Austria.

8. The English obtained Richard's release by paying a heavy ransom; but soon afterwards, while besieging a castle in Normandy, he was killed by an arrow from a cross-bow. The next king was Richard's brother John, surnamed Lackland, or Loseland.

6. This epithet was bestowed on John because he lost the territories which the English kings had hitherto possessed in France. John was one of the worst kings that ever England had. Among other crimes, he murdered his nephew, Arthur of Bretagne, who was rightful heir to the crown.

10. The barons of England were so disgusted with the conduct of John, that they assembled at Runnymede, and compelled him to sign a written deed, called Magna Charta. This famous charter was dated the 19th of June, 1215. It is considered the foundation of English liberty. It deprived John, and all his successors, of the despotic power which former kings had exercised.

11. King John died in 1216, and left the crown to his son, who was then only nine years old. He was called Henry the Third. His reign continued fifty-five years; but, though he was a well-meaning man, he had not sufficent wisdom and firmness for a ruler,