8. King Harold, wounded with an arrow in the eye, was nearly blind. His brothers were already killed. Twenty Norman knights, whose battered armour had flashed fiery and golden in the sunshine all day long, and now looked silvery in the moonlight, dashed forward to seize the royal banner from the English knights and soldiers, still faithfully collected around their blinded king. The king received a mortal wound and dropped. The English broke and fled. The Normans rallied, and the day was lost. 9. Oh what a sight beneath the moon and stars, when lights were shining in the tent of the victorious Duke William, which was pitched near the spot where Harold fell and he and his knights were 'carousing within-and soldiers with torches, going slowly to and fro, without, sought for the corpse of Harold among piles of dead-and the Warrior, worked in golden thread and precious stones, lay low, all torn and soiled with blood-and the three Norman Lions1 kept watch over the field. CHARLES DICKENS: A Child's History of England. a-dorned', ornamented. ca-rous-ing, drinking jovially; revel- clus-tered, gathered; crowded. 1 Senlac, a low hill 7 miles northwest of Hastings, on the coast of SusWilliam had landed at Pevensey, 10 miles south-west of Hastings, a few days previously. sex. 2 Battle. The year after the Conquest, William began to build Battle Abbey on the field, and in memory, of his victory. He is said to have directed the high altar to be placed over the spot where Harold fell. The town which ral-lied, got into order again; re- re-mem-brance, memory. re-sound-ed, echoed. | gathered around the abbey was called 3 Holy Rood, that is, Holy Cross. Rood is etymologically the same word as rod. 4 Three Norman Lions.-The device on the Norman standard was three lions passant (that is, walking), as may still be seen in the royal arms of England. 10. THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS. 1. Across the ocean's troubled breast And in his warlike band The brightest swords of his father's land, 2. What doth the foe on England's field? But, lo! in regal pride Stern Harold comes again, With the waving folds of his banner dyed 3. The song, the prayer, the feast were o'er, The stars in heaven were pale, And many a brow was bared once more At length the sun's bright ray Tinged the wide east with gold, 4. And all along each crowded tract Till the polished armour sent him back Still flashed the silver sheen Along the 'serried lines, Where the deadly wood of spears was seen To rise like forest-pines. 5. In either host was silence deep, Save the 'falchion's casual ring, When a sound arose like the first dread sweep Then burst the 'clamour out, Still maddening more and more, Till the air grew troubled with the shout, 6. And the war was roused by that fearful cry, And the hosts rushed wildly on, Like clouds that sweep o'er the gloomy sky Swift as the lightning's flame The furious horsemen passed, And the rattling showers of arrows came Like hailstones on the blast. 7. The Island 'Phalanx firmly trod On paths all red with gore; For the blood of their bravest stained the sod They proudly spurned before. But close and closer still They plied them blow for blow, Till the deadly stroke of the Saxon bill 8. And the stubborn foemen turned to flee, Like hounds when they lightly cross the lea Each war-axe gleaming bright But in the mingled chase and flight They lost their firm array. 9. From a mounted band of the Norman's best A vengeful cry arose; Their lances long were in the rest, And they dashed upon their foes On, on, in wild career : Alas for England, then, When the furious thrust of the horsemen's spear 10. They bore them back, that 'desperate band, And the corselet bright and the gory brand Fierce flashed the Norman's steel, 11. But still for life the Saxons ply, And their frantic leader's rallying cry He toils; but toils in vain! The iron point has pierced his brain- 12. The fight is o'er, and wide are spread And many a heart has quailed with dread, The victor's fears are past, The golden spoil is won, And England's tears are flowing fast In grief for England's son. M'DOUGALL. chiv-al-ry, body of knights; knight- | pros-trate, laid low; overthrown. [hood. clam-our, noise; din. phalanx, body of troops. 1 The base-born Norman.-Duke William; so called because his mother had been a woman of low birth. 2 The hostile Dane, Harold Har(632) 4 quailed, sunk; become depressed. ser-ried, close; crowded. sheen, bright; glittering. stub-born, not easily moved; obsti venge-ful, seeking vengeance. [nate. | drada, King of Norway, who invaded Northumbria with Tostig, one of Harold's brothers, and was slain at Stam ford Bridge, September 25, 1066. PART II. FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VII. 1.-HEREWARD, THE ENGLISH OUTLAW. [After the victory of Senlac, William marched toward London, where the Witan had chosen Edgar the Ætheling as King. On the Duke's approach, tho chief supporters of Edgar fled; and William was crowned King of England on Christmas Day. Not, however, till five years later was he master of England. During these five years there were repeated disturbances in different parts of the country, caused by the efforts of the English to rid themselves of the Norman yoke. In 1067, during the absence of William in Normandy, there were revolts in the east, the west, and the north-the last under the Earls Edwin and Morcar, brothers-in-law of Harold, the late King. In the following year, the King of Denmark landed in Yorkshire, and was joined by the English exiles in Scotland, headed by Edgar the Ætheling. The insurgents seized York. In 1069, William got rid of the Danes by buying them off. He then retook York, drove the English northward, and laid waste the country between the Ouse and the Tyne. Thereafter the country was quiet till 1071.] 1. In 1071 the embers of civil war were again rekindled by the jealousy of William. During the late disturbance1 Edwin and Morcar2 had cautiously 'abstained from any communication with the insurgents. But if their conduct was 'unexceptionable, their influence was judged dangerous. In them the natives beheld the present hope, and the future liberators, of their country; and the King judged it 'expedient to allay his own apprehensions by securing their persons. Edwin concealed 2. The attempt was made in vain. himself; solicited aid from the friends of his family; and, eluding the 'vigilance of the Normans, endeavoured to escape towards the borders of Scotland. Unfortunately, the secret of his route was betrayed by three of his vassals: the temporary swell of a rivulet from the influx of the tide 'intercepted his flight, and he fell, with twenty of his faithful adherents, fighting against his pursuers. The |