{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_34083/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_34083","id":"gutenberg_34083","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34083","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Readers"],"text":"\n\n\n\nProduced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[illustration]\n\n\n\n\n _HISTORICAL SERIES--BOOK IV PART I_\n\n STORIES\n OF THE OLDEN TIME\n\n COMPILED AND ARRANGED\n BY JAMES JOHONNOT\n\n [Illustration]\n\n NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO\n AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY\n\n\n\n\n COPYRIGHT, 1889,\n BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY\n\n E. P. 12\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nWhen we go back to the early history of any people, we find that fact\nand fiction are strangely blended, and that the stories told are\nlargely made up of traditions distorted and exaggerated by imagination\nand time. The myth, however, is valuable as representing the first\nsteps of a nation in the evolution of its literature from a barbaric\nstate, and as indicating special national characteristics.\n\nThe myths of Greece, for example, are chiefly derived from the\ntraditions extant when the alphabet was invented, and are preserved in\nthe poetic stories of Homer and Virgil. Combined, they make that\nmythology which grew up in Greece, and which now so largely permeates\nthe literature of every civilized language.\n\nThe first stories given in this book are myths. They stand first in\nthe order of precedence because they stand first in the order of time.\n\nThe myths are followed by a few parables and fables, forms of stories\nwhich from the earliest times have been used to apply some\nwell-established principle of morals to practical conduct.\n\nNext follow legends, where we are called upon to separate the probable\nfrom the improbable, the true from the false. Herodotus, the father of\nhistory, wrote his account of the \"Persian Empire\" several hundred\nyears after the events took place which he has recorded. The stories\nhad been preserved to his day by tradition.\n\nIn the traditional stories and in the truer records which follow, the\npupil will see the play of the same emotions and passions which\nactuate men at the present time, and the careers of the great\nconquerors, Frederic and Napoleon, differ little essentially from\nthose of Alexander and C\u00e6sar. Tyranny remains the same forever,\nencroaching upon human liberty and limiting the field of human\nconduct. It will be seen also that from the state of barbarism there\nhas been a gradual evolution which more and more places men under the\nprotection of equal laws.\n\nThese books are to be used mainly for the stories they contain. By a\nsimple reproduction in speech or in writing, we have the best possible\nlanguage lesson. The value of the books may be entirely lost by\ncatechisms which demand the literal reproduction of the text.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n MYTHS.\n\n PAGE\n\n I. Arion 7\n II. Arachne 12\n III. Polyphemus 15\n IV. Ulysses's Return 17\n V. Thor's Visit to Jotunheim 20\n\n\n PARABLES AND FABLES.\n\n VI. The Wolf and the Dog 24\n VII. Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard 26\n VIII. Parable of the Sower and the Seed 28\n IX. Pairing-Time anticipated 30\n\n\n LEGENDS.\n\n X. The Gift of Tritemius 33\n XI. Damon and Pythias 36\n XII. King Canute 40\n XIII. A Norseman's Sword 43\n IV. The Story of King Alfred and St. Cuthbert 46\n XV. A Roland for an Oliver 49\n XVI. The Legend of Macbeth 52\n\n\n OLD BALLADS.\n\n XVII. Chevy-Chase 59\n XVIII. Valentine and Ursine 65\n\n\n EARLY EASTERN RECORD.\n\n XIX. Sennacherib 71\n XX. Glaucon 75\n XXI. Cyrus and his Grandfather 80\n XXII. Cyrus and the Armenians 83\n XXIII. The Macedonian Empire 90\n XXIV. Alexander's Conquests 98\n XXV. Judas Maccab\u00e6us, the Hebrew William Tell 106\n\n\n ROMAN RECORD.\n\n XXVI. Tarquin the Wicked 117\n XXVII. The Roman Republic 127\n XXVIII. Cincinnatus 137\n XXIX. The Roman Father 141\n XXX. Archimedes 150\n XXXI. The Death of C\u00e6sar 154\n XXXII. How Romans lived 161\n\n\n MEDI\u00c6VAL RECORD.\n\n XXXIII. Conversion of the English 169\n XXXIV. Leo the Slave 173\n XXXV. The Moors in Spain 179\n XXXVI. Charlemagne 183\n\n\n WESTERN RECORD.\n\n XXXVII. The Norsemen 191\n XXXVIII. Rolf the Ganger 200\n XXXIX. The True Story of Macbeth 206\n XL. Duke William of Normandy 211\n XLI. The Norman Conquest 217\n XLII. King Richard C[oe]ur de Lion in the Holy Land 224\n XLIII. King John and the Charter 230\n XLIV. An Early Election to Parliament 237\n XLV. The Battle of Cressy 245\n XLVI. The Battle of Agincourt 251\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_I.--ARION._\n\n\n1. Arion was a famous musician, and dwelt at the court of Periander,\nKing of Corinth, with whom he was a great favorite. There was a\nmusical contest in Sicily, and Arion longed to compete for the prize.\nHe told his wish to Periander, who besought him like a brother to give\nup the thought. \"Pray stay with me,\" he said, \"and be contented. He\nwho strives to win may lose.\" Arion answered: \"A wandering life best\nsuits the free heart of a poet. A talent which a god bestowed upon me\nI would fain make a source of pleasure to others; and if I win the\nprize, how will the enjoyment of it be increased by the consciousness\nof my wide-spread fame!\"\n\n2. He went, won the prize, and embarked with his wealth in a\nCorinthian vessel for home. On the second morning after setting sail,\nthe wind breathed mild and fair. \"O Periander!\" he exclaimed, \"dismiss\nyour fears. Soon shall you forget them in my embrace. With what lavish\nofferings will we display our gratitude to the gods, and how merry\nwill we be at the festal board!\" The wind and sea continued favorable,\nnot a cloud dimmed the firmament. He had not trusted too much to the\nocean, but to man he had. He overheard the seamen plotting to get\npossession of his treasure. Presently they surrounded him, loud and\nmutinous, and said: \"Arion, you must die! If you would have a grave on\nthe shore, yield yourself to die on this spot; but if otherwise, cast\nyourself into the sea.\"\n\n3. \"Will nothing satisfy you but my life?\" said he; \"take my gold in\nwelcome. I willingly buy my life at that price.\" \"No, no; we can not\nspare you. Your life would be too dangerous to us. Where could we go to\nescape Periander if he should know that you had been robbed by us? Your\ngold would be of little use to us, if, on returning home, we could never\nmore be free from fear.\" \"Grant me, then,\" said he, \"a last request,\nsince naught will prevail to save my life, that I may die as I have\nlived, as becomes a bard. When I shall have sung my death-song, and my\nharp-strings cease to vibrate, then I will bid farewell to life, and\nyield to my fate.\" This prayer, like the others, would have been\nunheeded--they thought only of their booty--but to hear so famous a\nmusician moved their hearts. \"Suffer me,\" he added, \"to arrange my\ndress. Apollo will not favor me unless I am clad in my minstrel garb.\"\n\n4. He clothed himself in gold and purple, fair to see, his tunic fell\naround him in graceful folds, jewels adorned his arms, his brow was\ncrowned with a golden wreath, and over his neck and shoulders flowed\nhis hair, perfumed with odors. His left hand held the lyre, his right\nthe ivory wand with which he struck the chords. Like one inspired he\nseemed to drink the morning air and glitter in the morning ray. The\nseamen gazed in admiration. He strode forward to the vessel's side,\nand looked down into the blue sea.\n\n5. Addressing his lyre, he sang: \"Companion of my voice, come with me\nto the realm of shades! Though Cerberus may growl, we know the power\nof song can tame his rage. Ye heroes of Elysium, who have passed the\ndarkling flood--ye happy souls, soon shall I join your band. Yet can\nye relieve my grief? Alas! I leave my friend behind me. Thou, who\ndidst find thy Eurydice, and lose her again as soon as found, when she\nhad vanished like a dream, how thou didst hate the cheerful light! I\nmust away, but I will not fear. The gods look down upon us. Ye who\nslay me unoffending, when I am no more your time of trembling shall\ncome! Ye Nereids, receive your guest, who throws himself upon your\nmercy!\" So saying, he sprang into the deep sea. The waves covered him,\nand the seamen held their way, fancying themselves safe from all\ndanger of detection.\n\n6. But the strains of his music had drawn around him the inhabitants\nof the deep to listen, and dolphins followed the ship as if charmed by\na spell. While he struggled in the waves a dolphin offered him its\nback, and carried him mounted thereon safe to shore. At the spot where\nhe landed, a monument of brass was afterward erected upon the rocky\nshore to preserve the memory of the event.\n\n7. When Arion and the dolphin parted, each returning to his own\nelement, Arion thus poured forth his thanks: \"Farewell, thou faithful,\nfriendly fish! Would that I could reward thee! but thou canst not wend\nwith me, nor I with thee; companionship we may not have. May Galatea,\nqueen of the deep, accord thee her favor, and thou, proud of the\nburden, draw her chariot over the smooth mirror of the deep!\"\n\n[Illustration: _Arion and the Dolphin._]\n\n8. Arion hastened from the shore, and soon saw before him the towers\nof Corinth. He journeyed on, harp in hand, singing as he went, full of\nlove and happiness, forgetting his losses, and mindful only of what\nremained, his friend and his lyre. He entered the hospitable halls,\nand was soon clasped in the embrace of Periander. \"I come back to\nthee, my friend,\" he said. \"The talent which a god bestowed has been\nthe delight of thousands, but false knaves have stripped me of my\nwell-earned treasure.\" Then he told all the wonderful events that had\nbefallen him. Periander, who heard him in amazement, said: \"Shall such\nwickedness triumph? Then in vain is power lodged in my hands. That we\nmay discover the criminals you must lie here concealed, so that they\ncome without suspicion.\"\n\n9. When the ship arrived in the harbor, he summoned the mariners\nbefore him. \"Have you heard anything of Arion?\" he inquired. \"I\nanxiously look for his return.\" They replied, \"We left him well and\nprosperous in Tarentum.\" As they said these words, Arion stepped forth\nand faced them. He was clad in all his glory as when he leaped into\nthe sea. They fell prostrate at his feet, as if a lightning-bolt had\nstruck them. \"We meant to murder him, and he has become a god! O\nearth, open and receive us!\" Then Periander spoke: \"He lives, the\nmaster of the lay! kind Heaven protects the poet's life. As for you, I\ninvoke not the spirit of vengeance; Arion wishes not your blood. Ye\nslaves of avarice, begone! Seek some barbarous land, and never may\naught beautiful delight your souls!\"\n\n\n\n\n_II.--ARACHNE._\n\n\n1. In the old mythology it was considered a great sin for any mortal\nto enter into a contest with a god, and whenever one did so he\nincurred a fearful penalty. The maiden Arachne early showed marvelous\nskill in embroidery and all kinds of needle-work. So beautiful were\nher designs that the nymphs themselves would leave their groves and\nfountains, and come and gaze delighted upon her work. It was not only\nbeautiful when it was done, but was beautiful in the doing. As they\nwatched the delicate touch of her fingers they declared that the\ngoddess Minerva must have been her teacher. This Arachne denied, and,\ngrown very vain of her many compliments, she said: \"Let Minerva try\nher skill with mine, and if beaten I will pay the penalty!\"\n\n2. Minerva heard this, and was greatly displeased at the vanity and\npresumption of the maiden. Assuming the form of an old woman she went\nto Arachne and gave her some friendly advice. \"I have much\nexperience,\" she said, \"and I hope you will not despise my counsel.\nChallenge mortals as much as you like, but do not try and compete with\na goddess!\" Arachne stopped her spinning, and angrily replied: \"keep\nyour counsel for your daughters and handmaids; for my part, I know\nwhat I say, and I stand to it. I am not afraid of the goddess.\"\n\n3. Minerva then dropped her disguise, and stood before the company in\nher proper person. The nymphs at once paid her homage. Arachne alone\nhad no fear. She stood by her resolve, and the contest proceeded. Each\ntook her station, and attached the web to the beam. Both worked with\nspeed; their skillful hands moved rapidly, and the excitement of the\ncontest made the labor light.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n4. Minerva wrought into her web the scene of her contest with Neptune.\nThe gods are all represented in their most august forms, and the\npicture is noble in its perfect simplicity and chaste beauty. In the\nfour corners she wrought scenes where mortals entered into contest\nwith gods and were punished for their presumption. These were meant as\nwarnings to her rival to give up the contest before it was too late.\n\n5. Arachne filled her web with subjects designedly chosen to exhibit\nthe failings and errors of the gods. Every story to their discredit\nshe appears to have treasured up. The last scene she represented was\nthat of Jupiter in the form of a bull carrying off Europa across the\nsea, leaving the heart-broken mother to wander in search of her child\nuntil she died.\n\n6. Minerva examined the work of her rival, and doubly angry at the\npresumption and the sacrilege manifested in her choice of subjects,\nstruck her web with a shuttle and tore it from the loom. She then\ntouched the forehead of Arachne and made her feel her guilt and shame.\nThis she could not endure, and went out and hanged herself. Minerva\npitied her, as she saw her hanging by a rope. \"Live, guilty woman,\"\nsaid she; \"and that you may preserve the memory of this lesson,\ncontinue to hang, you and your descendants, to all future times.\" She\nsprinkled her with the juice of aconite, and immediately her form\nshrunk up, her head grew small, and her fingers grew to her sides and\nserved as legs. All the rest of her is body, out of which she spins\nher thread, often hanging suspended by it in the same attitude as when\nMinerva touched her and transformed her into a spider.\n\n\n\n\n_III.--POLYPHEMUS._\n\n\n1. When Troy was captured, Ulysses, the King of Ithaca, set sail for\nhis native country. With favorable winds he should have reached home\nin a few months, but he met with so many adventures that it was ten\nyears before he saw the shores of his beloved Ithaca. At one time he\nand his companions landed upon an unknown shore in search of food.\nUlysses took with him a jar of wine as a present should he meet with\nany inhabitants. Presently they came to a large cave, and entered it.\nThere they found lambs and kids in their pens, and a table spread with\ncheese, fruits, and bowls of milk. But soon the master of the cave,\nPolyphemus, returned, and Ulysses saw that they were in the land of\nthe Cyclops, a race of immense giants. The name means \"round eye,\" and\nthese giants were so called because they had but one eye, and that was\nplaced in the middle of the forehead.\n\n2. Polyphemus drove into the cave the sheep and the goats to be\nmilked, and then placed a huge rock at the mouth of the cave to serve\nas a door. While attending to his supper he chanced to spy the Greeks,\nwho were hidden in one corner. He growled out to them, demanding to\nknow who they were, and where from. Ulysses replied, stating that they\nwere returning from the siege of Troy, and that they had landed in\nsearch of provisions. At this Polyphemus gave no answer, but seizing a\ncouple of Greeks, he killed and ate them up on the spot. He then went\nto sleep, and his snoring sounded like thunder in the ears of the\nterrified Greeks all the livelong night. In the morning the giant\narose, ate two more men, and went out with his flocks, having\ncarefully secured the door so that the remainder could not get away.\n\n3. Then Ulysses contrived a plan to punish the giant, and get away\nfrom his clutches. He found a great bar of wood which the giant had\ncut for a staff. This his men sharpened at one end and hardened at the\nfire. Then a number were selected to use it, and they awaited events.\nIn the evening Polyphemus returned, and having eaten his two men he\nlay down to sleep. But Ulysses presented him with some of the wine\nfrom the jar which the giant eagerly drank, and called for more. In a\nshort time he was quite drunk, and then he asked Ulysses his name, and\nhe replied: \"My name is Noman.\"\n\n[Illustration: _Polyphemus._]\n\n4. When the giant was fairly asleep, the sailors seized the sharpened\nstick, and, aiming it directly at his single eye, they rushed forward\nwith all their might. The eye was put out, and the giant was left\nblind. He felt around the cave trying to catch his tormentors, but\nthey contrived to get out of his way. He then howled so loud that his\nneighbors came to see what was the matter, when he said, \"I am hurt,\nNoman did it!\" Then they said, \"If no man did it, we can not help\nyou.\" So they went home, leaving him groaning.\n\n5. In the morning Polyphemus rolled away the stone to let out his\nsheep and goats, and the Greeks contrived to get out with them without\nbeing discovered. Once out, they lost no time in driving the flocks\ndown to the shore, and then with their vessels well provisioned they\nset sail once more for their native land.\n\n\n\n\n_IV.--ULYSSES'S RETURN._\n\n\n1. Ulysses, the lord of Ithaca, went to assist the Greeks in the siege\nof Troy. For ten long years the war lasted, and when Troy fell,\nUlysses was ten more years in reaching his home. He met with so many\naccidents and adventures that delayed him, that even his stout heart\nalmost gave out as he thought of the wife and children waiting for him\nthrough all these weary years. In the mean time his son Telemachus had\ngrown to manhood, and had gone in search of his father.\n\n2. During all this time his wife, Queen Penelope, never lost hope, but\nlived daily looking for her husband to come sailing over the sea. But\nwhile the master was away, more than a hundred young lords laid claim\nto the hand of Penelope, so as to obtain the power and riches of\nUlysses. They lorded it over the palace and people as if they were the\nowners of both, and they paid no attention to the wishes of Penelope,\nas she was but a woman, and could not protect herself. Her only safety\nlay in the fact that the suitors were jealous of each other, and no\none could make any advance until Penelope had made her selection.\n\n[Illustration: _Ulysses and his Dog._]\n\n3. At last Ulysses returned in the disguise of a beggar. No one knew\nhim except his old dog Argus, who, in his excess of joy, died while\nlicking his hands. He made himself known to Eum\u00e6us, a faithful\nservant, and by him was presented to Telemachus, who had just\nreturned. Great was the joy of father and son at thus meeting each\nother. Then the three laid a plan to punish the suitors and to rid\nIthaca of their presence. In carrying out this plan, Telemachus went\nto his mother's palace publicly, and the suitors bade him welcome,\nthough they secretly hated him, and had tried to take his life. Here\nhe found feasting going on, and, at his request, the supposed beggar\nwas admitted to the foot of the table.\n\n4. Penelope had put off her decision on various pretexts until now,\nwhen there appeared no other reason for delay. So she announced that\nshe would accept the one who would shoot an arrow through twelve rings\narranged in a line. A bow formerly used by Ulysses was brought in and\nall other arms removed. All things being ready, the first thing to be\ndone was to attach the string to the bow, which required the bow to be\nbent. Telemachus tried and failed. Then each of the suitors tried in\nturn, and all failed. They even rubbed the bow with tallow, but it\nwould not bend.\n\n5. Here Ulysses spoke and said: \"Beggar as I am, I once was a soldier,\nand there is some strength in these old limbs of mine yet. Let me\ntry.\" The suitors hooted at him, and would have turned him out of the\nhall; but Telemachus said it was best to gratify the old man, and so\nput the bow in his hand. Ulysses took it and easily adjusted the cord.\nThen he selected an arrow and sent it through the twelve rings at the\nfirst shot. Before the suitors recovered from their astonishment he\nsent another through the heart of the most insolent of them.\nTelemachus, Eum\u00e6us, and another faithful servant sprang to their aid.\nThe suitors looked around for arms, but there were none. Ulysses did\nnot let them remain long in doubt; he announced himself as the\nlong-lost chief whose house they had invaded, whose substance they had\nsquandered, and whose wife and son they had persecuted for ten long\nyears, and told them he meant to have ample vengeance. All the suitors\nwere slain but two, and Ulysses was left master of his own palace and\nthe possessor of his kingdom and wife.\n\n[Illustration: _Penelope and Ulysses's Bow._]\n\n\n\n\n_V.--THOR'S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM._\n\n\n1. Thor, the god of the Northmen, who always carried a hammer to make\nhis way or obtain his wishes, heard of the giant's country, Jotunheim,\nof which Utgard was the capital, and he resolved on a visit to that\nregion to try his strength with any one whom he might find. So,\naccompanied by his servants, Thiolfi and Loki, he set out. Thiolfi was\nof all men the swiftest on foot. At nightfall they took refuge from a\nstorm in a very large building which they imperfectly saw in the dim\nlight, but were kept awake by loud thunder which shook their abode\nlike an earthquake. In the morning it was found that the thunder was\nthe snoring of a huge giant sleeping near by, and that the building in\nwhich they had taken shelter was the giant's glove.\n\n2. The giant, whose name was Skrymer, knew Thor, and proposed that\nthey should travel together, to which the god consented. At night they\nencamped, and soon the giant was asleep. Thor, finding that he could\nnot untie the provision-bag which the giant had carried all day, went\ninto a rage and struck the sleeper a mighty blow with, his hammer.\nSkrymer awoke and said, \"The leaves are falling, for one just now fell\nupon my breast.\" They lay down again, and soon the giant began to\nsnore so loud that Thor could get no sleep, so he grasped the hammer\nin both hands and dealt him another blow. Skrymer awoke and called\nout, \"How fares it with thee, Thor? A bird must be overhead--a bunch\nof moss has just now fallen upon me.\" Just before daylight Thor\nthought that he would end this matter then, so he seized his hammer\nand threw it with all his might. Skrymer awoke, and stroking his cheek\nsaid, \"An acorn fell upon my head. But let us be stirring, as we have\na long day before us.\"\n\n3. When within sight of the city Skrymer turned off, as his route lay in\nanother direction, and soon Thor and his companions were in presence of\nthe giant king. Addressing Thor, the king asked if he or his companions\ncould do anything better than others, for he said that no one was\npermitted to remain in the city unless he excelled in something.\n\n4. Loki, who was a great eater, proposed a feast, and the king called\nLogi to come out and compete with him. A trough filled with meat was\nplaced in the midst of the hall, and Loki beginning at one end soon\nate all the flesh to the middle of the trough; but it was found that\nLogi had devoured both flesh and bones and the trough to boot. So the\ncompany adjudged Loki vanquished.\n\n5. Next Thiolfi presented himself to run a race, and the king brought\nout a young man named Hugi to run with him. Hugi ran over the course\nand turning back met Thiolfi but just started. Then the king remarked\nthat if Thor could not do better than his servants, it were well that\nhe stay at home. Then a drinking-match was proposed, and a drinking\nhorn was brought in. It was not very large, but was of great length,\nand the king remarked that any one of his subjects ought to empty it\nat a single draught, but none would fail to do so in three draughts.\nThor drank long and deep, but the horn was as full as before; a second\ntrial met with a similar failure. Then Thor straightened himself for a\nmighty effort and drank as the thirsty earth drinks of the rains from\nheaven. The liquor was diminished, but still the horn was nearly full.\n\"I perceive,\" said the king, \"that thou canst not be very thirsty, or\nthou wouldst drink more.\"\n\n6. \"What new trial do you propose?\" said Thor. \"We have a trifling\ngame here,\" said the king, \"in which we exercise none but children. It\nconsists in merely lifting my cat from the ground, and I should not\nhave mentioned it to the great Thor if I had not observed that thou\nart by no means what we took thee for.\" As he finished speaking, a\nlarge gray cat sprang into the hall. Thor put forth all his mighty\nstrength three times without lifting her, though on the third trial\none foot was raised from the floor.\n\n7. \"Well,\" said the king, \"only one trial remains for thee. Thou must\nwrestle with somebody, and after thy failures to-day none of our men\nwill wrestle with thee.\" So saying, the king called upon his old\nnurse, a toothless crone, shaking and trembling on the edge of the\ngrave. Thor grasped her and put forth a mighty effort, but the old\nwoman stood fast. At last she grasped him in turn, and he was thrown\nupon his knee. The king here interfered, and the contests came to an\nend. The travelers, however, were royally entertained, and after a\ngood night's rest, and a bountiful breakfast, they bade the king\ngood-by, and set out on their return.\n\n8. Toward night they overtook a traveler, who proved to be Skrymer,\ntheir former companion and guide, and they encamped together in the\nvery wood where they passed their first night together. The giant,\nperceiving the dejected looks of Thor, said, \"Something appears to\ntrouble thee; has thy journey gone amiss?\" Thereupon Thor related the\nwhole story of his failures. \"Then,\" said the giant, \"take heart, for\nthou hast performed great wonders, but hast been the victim of\ndelusions. Observe me closely!\" Thor looked, and saw that Skrymer and\nthe king were one and the same person.\n\n9. \"Now,\" said the king, \"Loki devoured all that was set before him,\nbut Logi was Fire, and consumed trough and all. Hugi, with whom\nThiolfi was running, was Thought, and not the swiftest runner can keep\npace with that. The horn that thou failedst to empty had its lower end\nin the sea, and thou wilt see how the very ocean is lowered by thy\ndraught. The cat is the animal that bears up the world, and thy last\nmighty effort caused the solid earth to shake as with an earthquake.\nThe old woman with whom thou wrestledst was old age, and she throws\neverybody.\" The king then pointed out the place where Thor dealt his\nblows on the night of their first meeting, and lo! three mighty chasms\nshowed where the solid mountains had been rent asunder.\n\n\n\n\nPARABLES AND FABLES.\n\n\n\n\n_VI.--THE WOLF AND THE DOG._\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nLean, hungry wolf, fell in one moonlight night with a jolly, plump,\nwell-fed mastiff, and after the first greetings were passed, the wolf\naccosted him: \"You look extremely well,\" said he, \"I think I never saw a\nmore graceful, comely personage; but how comes it about, I beseech you,\nthat you should live so much better than I? I may say, without vanity,\nthat I venture fifty times more than you do, and yet I am almost ready\nto perish with hunger.\" The dog answered very bluntly: \"Why, you may\nlive as well as I if you will do the same services for it.\" The wolf\npricked up his ears at the proposal, and requested to be informed what\nhe must do to earn such plentiful meals. \"Very little,\" answered the\ndog; \"only to guard the house at night, and keep it from thieves and\nbeggars.\" \"With all my heart,\" rejoined the wolf, \"for at present I have\nbut a sorry time of it; and, I think, to change my hard lodging in the\nwoods, where I endure rain, frost, and snow, for a warm roof over my\nhead and plenty of food, will be no bad bargain.\" \"True,\" said the dog,\n\"therefore, you have nothing more to do than to follow me.\"\n\n2. As they were jogging along together, the wolf spied a circle, worn\nround his friend's neck, and, being almost as curious as some of a\nhigher species, he could not forbear asking what it meant. \"Pooh!\nnothing,\" said the dog, \"or at most a mere trifle.\" \"Nay, but pray,\"\nurged the wolf, \"inform me.\" \"Why, then,\" said the dog, \"perhaps it is\nthe collar to which my chain is fastened; for I am sometimes tied up\nin the day-time, because I am a little fierce, and might bite people,\nand am only let loose at night. But this is done with design to make\nme sleep in the day, more than anything else, that I may watch the\nbetter in the night-time. As soon as the twilight appears, I am turned\nloose, and may go where I please. Then my master brings me plates of\nbones from the table with his own hands; and whatever scraps are left\nby the family fall to my share, for you must know I am a favorite with\neverybody. So, seeing how you are to live, come along! Why, what is\nthe matter with you?\" \"I beg your pardon,\" replied the wolf, \"but you\nmay keep your happiness to yourself. I am resolved to have no share in\nyour dinners. Half a meal, with liberty, is, in my estimation, worth a\nfull one without it.\"\n\n\n\n\n_VII.--PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD._\n\n\n1. For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder,\nwhich went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.\n\n2. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent\nthem into his vineyard.\n\n3. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle\nin the market-place,\n\n4. And said unto them; go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is\nright I will give you. And they went their way.\n\n5. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.\n\n6. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing\nidle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?\n\n7. They say unto him, because no man hath hired us. He saith unto\nthem, go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that\nshall ye receive.\n\n8. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his\nsteward, call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from\nthe last unto the first.\n\n9. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they\nreceived every man a penny.\n\n10. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have\nreceived more; and they likewise received every man a penny.\n\n11. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man\nof the house,\n\n12. Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made\nthem equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n13. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong:\ndidst not thou agree with me for a penny?\n\n14. Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last,\neven as unto thee.\n\n15. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine\neye evil, because I am good?\n\n16. So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be\ncalled, but few chosen.\n\n (_St. Matthew, xx. 1-16._)\n\n\n\n\n_VIII.--PARABLE OF THE SOWER AND THE SEED._\n\n\n1. The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.\n\n2. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he\nwent into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.\n\n3. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a\nsower went forth to sow;\n\n4. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side, and the fowls\ncame and devoured them up:\n\n5. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and\nforthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:\n\n6. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had\nno root, they withered away.\n\n7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked\nthem:\n\n8. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a\nhundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold.\n\n9. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.\n\n10. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto\nthem in parables?\n\n11. He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know\nthe mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.\n\n[Illustration: _A Sower went forth to Sow._]\n\n12. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more\nabundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even\nthat he hath.\n\n13. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see\nnot; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.\n\n (_St. Matthew xiii, 1-13._)\n\n\n\n\n_IX.--PAIRING-TIME ANTICIPATED._\n\n\n 1. I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau\n If birds confabulate or no;\n 'Tis clear that they were always able\n To hold discourse,--at least in fable;\n And even the child, who knows no better\n Than to interpret by the letter\n A story of a cock and bull,\n Must have a most uncommon skull.\n\n 2. It chanced then on a winter's day,\n But warm and bright and calm as May,\n The birds, conceiving a design\n To forestall sweet Saint Valentine,\n In many an orchard, copse, and grove,\n Assembled on affairs of love,\n And with much twitter and much chatter,\n Began to agitate the matter.\n\n 3. At length a bull-finch, who could boast\n More years and wisdom than the most,\n Entreated, opening wide his beak\n A moment's liberty to speak,\n And silence publicly enjoined,\n Briefly delivered thus his mind:\n \"My friends! be cautious how ye treat\n The subject upon which we meet;\n I fear we shall have winter yet.\"\n\n 4. A finch, whose tongue knew no control,\n With golden wings and satin poll,\n A last year's bird, who ne'er had tried\n What marriage means, thus pert, replied:\n \"Methinks the gentleman,\" quoth she,\n \"Opposite in the apple-tree,\n By his good will, would keep us single\n 'Till yonder heaven and earth shall mingle,\n Or, what is likelier to befall,\n 'Till death exterminate us all.\n I marry without more ado!\n My dear Dick Redcap, what say you?\"\n\n 5. Dick heard, and tweedling, ogling, bridling,\n Turning short round, strutting and sidling,\n Attested glad his approbation\n Of an immediate conjugation.\n Their sentiments so well expressed,\n Mightily influenced all the rest.\n All paired and each pair built a nest.\n\n 6. But though the birds were thus in haste,\n The leaves came out not quite so fast,\n And destiny, that sometimes bears\n An aspect stern on men's affairs,\n Not altogether smiled on their's.\n The wing of late breathed gently forth,\n Now shifted east and east by north.\n Bare trees and shrubs, but ill, you know\n Could shelter them from rain or snow.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n 7. Stepping into their nests they paddled;\n Themselves were chilled, their eggs were addled;\n Soon every father bird and mother,\n Grew quarrelsome and pecked each other,\n Parted without the least regret--\n Except that they had ever met--\n And learned in future to be wiser\n Than to neglect a good adviser.\n\n 8. Moral:\n Misses, the tale that I relate,\n This moral seems to carry--\n Choose not alone a proper mate,\n But proper time to marry.\n\n _Cowper._\n\n\n\n\nLEGENDS.\n\n\n\n\n_X.--THE GIFT OF TRITEMIUS._\n\n\n 1. Tritemius, of Herbipolis, one day,\n While kneeling at the altar's foot to pray,\n Alone with God, as was his pious choice,\n Heard from without a miserable voice,\n A sound which seemed of all sad things to tell,\n As of a lost soul crying out of hell.\n\n 2. Thereat the abbot paused; the chain whereby\n His thoughts went upward broken by that cry;\n And, looking from the casement, saw below\n A wretched woman, with gray hair a-flow,\n And withered hands held up to him, who cried\n For alms as one who might not be denied.\n\n[Illustration: _The gift of Tritemius._]\n\n 3. She cried, \"For the dear love of Him who gave\n His life for ours, my child from bondage save,--\n My beautiful, brave first-born, chained with slaves\n In the Moor's galley, where the sun-smit waves\n Lap the white walls of Tunis!\" \"What I can\n I give,\" Tritemius said: \"my prayers.\" \"O man\n Of God,\" she cried, for grief had made her bold,\n \"Mock me not thus; I ask not prayers, but gold.\n Words will not serve me, alms alone suffice;\n Even while I speak, perchance, my first-born dies.\"\n\n 4. \"Woman,\" Tritemius answered, \"from our door\n None go unfed; hence are we always poor;\n A single soldo is our only store.\n Thou hast our prayers; what can we give thee more?\"\n\n 5. \"Give me,\" she said, \"the silver candlesticks\n On either side of the great crucifix;\n God may well spare them on his errands sped,\n Or he can give you golden ones instead.\"\n\n 6. Then spake Tritemius: \"Even as thy word,\n Woman, so be it! (Our most gracious Lord,\n Who loveth mercy more than sacrifice,\n Pardon me if a human soul I prize\n Above the gifts upon his altar piled!)\n Take what thou askest, and redeem thy child.\"\n\n 7. But his hand trembled as the holy alms\n He placed within the beggar's eager palms;\n And as she vanished down the linden shade,\n He bowed his head, and for forgiveness prayed.\n\n 8. So the day passed, and when the twilight came\n He woke to find the chapel all aflame,\n And, dumb with grateful wonder, to behold\n Upon the altar candlesticks of gold!\n\n _Whittier._\n\n\n\n\n_XI.--DAMON AND PYTHIAS._\n\n\n1. About four hundred years before the Christian era, the government\nof Syracuse fell into the hands of Dionysius, a successful general of\nthe army. He dispossessed the magistrates whom the people elected, and\nwas therefore a usurper. While ruling justly in the main, he had a\ncapricious temper, and often in his rage performed actions which he\nsincerely regretted in his sober moments. He was a good scholar, and\nvery fond of philosophy and poetry, and he delighted to have learned\nmen around him, and he had naturally a generous spirit; but the sense\nthat he was in a position that did not belong to him, and that every\none hated him for assuming it, made him very harsh and suspicious. It\nis of him that the story is told, that he had a chamber hollowed in\nthe rock near his state prison, and constructed with galleries to\nconduct sounds like an ear, so that he might overhear the conversation\nof his captives; and of him, too, is told that famous anecdote which\nhas become a proverb, that on hearing a friend, named Damocles,\nexpress a wish to be in his situation for a single day, he took him at\nhis word, and Damocles found himself at a banquet with everything that\ncould delight his senses, delicious food, costly wine, flowers,\nperfumes, music, but with a sword with the point almost touching his\nhead, and hanging by a single horse-hair! This was to show the\ncondition in which a usurper lived.\n\n[Illustration: _Damon and Pythias._]\n\n2. Thus Dionysius was in constant dread. He had a wide trench round his\nbedroom, with a drawbridge that he drew up and put down with his own\nhands; and he put one barber to death for boasting that he held a razor\nto the tyrant's throat every morning. After this he made his young\ndaughters shave him; and by-and-by he would not trust them with a\nrazor, and caused them to singe off his beard with hot nut-shells.\n\n3. One philosopher, named Philoxenus, he sent to a dungeon for finding\nfault with his poetry, but he afterward composed another piece, which\nhe thought so superior that he could not be content without sending\nfor this adverse critic to hear it. When he had finished reading it,\nhe looked to Philoxenus for a compliment; but the philosopher only\nturned round to the guards, and said dryly, \"Carry me back to prison.\"\nThis time Dionysius had the sense to laugh, and forgive his honesty.\n\n4. All these stories may not be true; but that they should have been\ncurrent in the ancient world, shows what was the character of the man\nof whom they were told, how stern and terrible was his anger, and how\neasily it was incurred. Among those who came under it was a\nPythagorean called Pythias, who was sentenced to death, according to\nthe usual fate of those who fell under his suspicion.\n\n5. Pythias had lands and relations in Greece, and he entreated as a\nfavor to be allowed to return thither and arrange his affairs,\nengaging to return within a specified time and suffer death. The\ntyrant laughed his request to scorn. Once safe out of Sicily, who\nwould answer for his return? Pythias made reply that he had a friend\nwho would become security for his return; and while Dionysius, the\nmiserable man who trusted nobody, was ready to scoff at his\nsimplicity, another Pythagorean, by name Damon, came forward and\noffered to become surety for his friend, engaging that, if Pythias did\nnot return according to promise, to suffer death in his stead.\n\n6. Dionysius, much astonished, consented to let Pythias go, marveling\nwhat would be the issue of the affair. Time went on, and Pythias did\nnot appear. The Syracusans watched Damon, but he showed no\nuneasiness. He said he was secure of his friend's truth and honor, and\nthat if any accident had caused his delay, he should rejoice in dying\nto save the life of one so dear to him.\n\n7. Even to the last day Damon continued serene and content, however it\nmight fall out; nay, even when the very hour drew nigh and still no\nPythias. His trust was so perfect that he did not even grieve at having\nto die for a faithless friend who left him to the fate to which he had\nunwarily pledged himself. It was not Pythias's own will, but the winds\nand waves, so he still declared, when the decree was brought and the\ninstruments of death made ready. The hour had come, and a few moments\nmore would have ended Damon's life, when Pythias duly presented himself,\nembraced his friend, and stood forward himself to receive his sentence,\ncalm, resolute, and rejoiced that he had come in time.\n\n8. Even the dim hope they owned of a future state was enough to make\nthese two brave men keep their word, and confront death for one\nanother without quailing. Dionysius looked on more struck than ever.\nHe felt that neither of such men must die. He reversed the sentence of\nPythias, and calling the two to his judgment-seat, he entreated them\nto admit him as a third in their friendship.\n\n _Charlotte M. Yonge._\n\n\n\n\n_XII.--KING CANUTE._\n\n\n 1. Upon his royal throne he sat\n In a monarch's thoughtful mood;\n Attendants on his regal state,\n His servile courtiers stood,\n With foolish flatteries, false and vain,\n To win his smile, his favor gain.\n\n 2. They told him e'en the mighty deep\n His kingly sway confessed;\n That he could bid its billows leap,\n Or still its stormy breast!\n He smiled contemptuously and cried,\n \"Be then my boasted empire tried!\"\n\n 3. Down to the ocean's sounding shore\n The proud procession came,\n To see its billows' wild uproar\n King Canute's power proclaim,\n Or, at his high and dread command,\n In gentle murmurs kiss the strand.\n\n 4. Not so thought he, their noble king,\n As his course he seaward sped;\n And each base slave, like a guilty thing,\n Hung down his conscious head:\n He knew the ocean's Lord on high!\n They, that he scorned their senseless lie.\n\n 5. His throne was placed by ocean's side,\n He lifted his scepter there,\n Bidding, with tones of kingly pride,\n The waves their strife forbear;\n And while he spoke his royal will,\n All but the winds and waves were still.\n\n[Illustration: _Canute and his Courtiers._]\n\n 6. Louder the stormy blast swept by,\n In scorn of idle word;\n The briny deep its waves tossed high,\n By his mandate undeterred,\n As threatening, in their angry play,\n To sweep both king and court away.\n\n 7. The monarch, with upbraiding look,\n Turned to the courtly ring;\n But none the kindling eye could brook\n Even of his earthly king;\n For in that wrathful glance they see\n A mightier monarch wronged than he!\n\n 8. Canute, thy regal race is run;\n Thy name had passed away,\n But for the meed this tale hath won,\n Which never shall decay:\n Its meek, unperishing renown\n Outlasts thy scepter and thy crown.\n\n 9. The Persian, in his mighty pride,\n Forged fetters for the main,\n And, when its floods his power defied,\n Inflicted stripes as vain;\n But it was worthier far of thee\n To know thyself than rule the sea!\n\n _Bernard Barton._\n\n\n\n\n_XIII.--A NORSEMAN'S SWORD._\n\n\n1. The smelting of iron in the north of Europe is believed to have\ncommenced with the Finns or Laplanders, the original inhabitants of\nScandinavia, who then occupied the localities where the best ores are\nstill found. The diminutive stature of these people compared with that\nof their Gothic invaders, their skill in penetrating the bowels of the\nearth in search of ores, the smoke of their collieries, the flame and\nthunder of their furnaces and forges, and, above all, the excellent\ntemper of the weapons wrought by them--all these conspired to render\nthem objects of superstitious wonder to the Goths.\n\n2. The legendary stories of that people are filled with strange tales\nof the northern dwarfs, who lived in the solid rock, and possessed\nmagic skill in all the various arts of the smith. One of these legends\nmay be worth citing, and the rather, because it relates to Vanlander,\nthe Scandinavian Vulcan, of whom many traditions are extant, even in\nEngland, where he is styled Wayland Smith. At the age of thirteen\nVanlander was apprenticed by his father, the giant Vade, to two of the\ndwarfs who dwelt in the interior of the mountain, and he applied\nhimself so faithfully to their instructions, that in two years he\nequaled his masters in knowledge of all the arts of smithery, both\nblack and white.\n\n3. Being at the court of King Nidung, where his dexterity as a smith\nbecame known, a rivalship arose between him and Amilias, principal\nsmith to the king. Amilias challenged Vanlander to a trial of skill,\nupon condition that the life of the vanquished should be at the\ndisposal of the victor. The terms proposed were that Vanlander should\nforge a sword, and Amilias a helmet, cuirass, and other defensive\narmor, and a twelvemonth was allowed for preparation. If the sword of\nVanlander penetrated the armor of Amilias, the former was to be\ndeclared the victor, if otherwise, his life was forfeited to his rival.\n\n[Illustration: _A Norseman's Sword._]\n\n4. Amilias spent the whole year at his task, but Vanlander did not\ncommence his labors until two months before the trial. He now, after\nseven days' labor, exhibited to the king a sword of great beauty and\nexcellent temper, but too heavy for use. By way of testing its edge,\nhe took a cushion stuffed with wool a foot in thickness, threw it into\nthe river, and let it float with the current against the edge of the\nsword, which cut it fairly in two. The king thought this a sufficient\nproof, but Vanlander was not satisfied.\n\n5. He took the sword to his smithy, filed it quite to dust, and after\nsubjecting the filings to an odd process of animal chemistry, he\nforged from them another sword of somewhat smaller size than the\nfirst, though still rather heavy. Upon testing this sword in the same\nmanner as before, it readily divided a cushion two feet in thickness,\nand the king thought it the finest weapon in the world, but Vanlander\nsaid he would have it half as good again before he was done with it.\n\n6. It was now reduced to filings, which were treated as in the former\ninstance, and in three weeks Vanlander produced a sword of convenient\nsize, inlaid with gold, and with an ornamental hilt, all of the\nhighest finish and beauty. The king and the smith went again to the\nriver with a cushion three feet in thickness, which was thrown into\nthe water and driven against the blade as before. The sword divided\nthe cushion as easily as the water, and without even checking its\nprogress as it floated with the current, and King Nidung declared its\nfellow could not be found on earth.\n\n7. At the appointed day Amilias put on his armor, all of which was of\ndouble plates, and, declaring himself ready for the trial, seated\nhimself in a chair, and defied his rival to do his worst. Vanlander\nstepped behind him, gave him a blow upon the helmet, and asked him if\nhe felt the edge. \"I felt as if cold water were running through me,\"\nreplied Amilias. \"Shake yourself,\" said Vanlander. His rival did so,\nand fell asunder, the sword having cleft him to the chine.\n\n _George P. Marsh._\n\n\n\n\n_XIV.--THE STORY OF KING ALFRED AND ST. CUTHBERT._\n\n\n1. Now King Alfred was driven from his kingdom by the Danes, and he\nlay hid three years in the Isle of Glastonbury. And it came to pass on\na day that all his folk were gone out to fish, save only Alfred\nhimself and his wife and one servant whom he loved. And there came a\npilgrim to the king and begged for food. And the king said to his\nservant, \"What food have we in the house?\" And his servant answered,\n\"My lord, we have but one loaf and a little wine.\" Then the king gave\nthanks to God, and said, \"Give half of the loaf and half of the wine\nto this poor pilgrim.\" So the servant did as his lord commanded him,\nand gave to the pilgrim half of the loaf and half of the wine, and the\npilgrim gave great thanks to the king.\n\n2. And when the servant returned he found the loaf whole, and the wine\nas much as there had been aforetime. And he greatly wondered, and he\nwondered also how the pilgrim had come into the isle, for that no man\ncould come there save by water, and the pilgrim had no boat. And the\nking greatly wondered also. And at the ninth hour came back the folk\nwho had gone to fish. And they had three boats full of fish, and they\nsaid, \"Lo, we have caught more fish this day than in all the three\nyears that we have tarried in this island!\" And the king was glad,\nand he and his folk were merry; yet he pondered much upon that which\nhad come to pass.\n\n3. And when night came the king went to his bed, and the king lay\nawake and thought of all that had come to pass by day. And presently\nhe saw a great light, like the brightness of the sun, and he saw an\nold man with black hair, clothed in priest's garments, and with a\nmiter on his head, and holding in his right hand a book of the Gospels\nadorned with gold and gems. And the old man blessed the king, and the\nking said unto him, \"Who art thou?\" And he answered: \"Alfred, my son,\nrejoice; for I am he to whom thou didst this day give thine alms, and\nI am called Cuthbert the Soldier of Christ.\n\n4. \"Now be strong and very courageous, and be of joyful heart, and\nhearken diligently to the things which I say unto thee; for henceforth\nI will be thy shield and thy friend, and I will watch over thee and\nover thy sons after thee. And now I will tell thee what thou must do:\nRise up early in the morning and blow thine horn thrice, that thine\nenemies may hear it and fear, and by the ninth hour thou shalt have\naround thee five hundred men harnessed for the battle. And this shall\nbe a sign unto thee that thou mayst believe. And after seven days thou\nshalt have, by God's gift and my help, all the folk of this land\ngathered unto thee upon the mount that is called Assaudun. And thus\nshalt thou fight against thine enemies, and doubt not that thou shalt\novercome them.\n\n5. \"Be thou, therefore, glad of heart, and be strong and very\ncourageous, and fear not, for God hath given thine enemies into thine\nhand. And he hath given thee also all this land and the kingdom of thy\nfathers, to thee and to thy sons and to thy sons' sons after thee. Be\nthou faithful to me and to my folk, because that unto thee is given\nall the land of Albion. Be thou righteous, because thou art chosen to\nbe the king of all Britain. So may God be merciful unto thee, and I\nwill be thy friend, and none of thine enemies shall ever be able to\novercome thee.\"\n\n6. Then was King Alfred glad at heart, and he was strong and very\ncourageous, for that he knew that he would overcome his enemies by the\nhelp of God and St. Cuthbert his patron. So in the morning he arose\nand sailed to the land, and blew his horn three times, and when his\nfriends heard it they rejoiced, and when his enemies heard it they\nfeared. And by the ninth hour, according to the word of the Lord,\nthere were gathered unto him five hundred men of the bravest and\ndearest of his friends.\n\n7. And he spake unto them and told them all that God had said unto them\nby the mouth of his servant Cuthbert, and he told them that, by the gift\nof God and by the help of St. Cuthbert, they would overcome their\nenemies and win back their own land. And he bade them, as St. Cuthbert\nhad taught him, to be pious toward God and righteous toward men. And he\nbade his son Edward, who was by him, to be faithful to God and St.\nCuthbert, and so he should always have victory over his enemies. So they\nwent forth to battle and smote their enemies and overcame them, and King\nAlfred took the kingdom of all Britain, and he ruled well and wisely\nover the just and the unjust for the rest of his days.\n\n _E. A. Freeman._\n\n\n\n\n_XV.--A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER._\n\n\n1. Milon, or Milone, a knight of great family, and distantly related\nto Charlemagne, having secretly married Bertha, the emperor's sister,\nwas banished from France. After a long and miserable wandering on foot\nas mendicants, Milon and his wife arrived at Sutri, in Italy, where\nthey took refuge in a cave, and in that cave Orlando was born. There\nhis mother continued, drawing a scanty support from the compassion of\nthe neighboring peasants, while Milon, in quest of honor and fortune,\nwent into foreign lands. Orlando grew up among the children of the\npeasantry, surpassing them all in strength and manly graces.\n\n2. Among his companions in age, though in station far more elevated,\nwas Oliver, son of the governor of the town. Between the two boys a\nfeud arose, that led to a fight, in which Orlando thrashed his rival;\nbut this did not prevent a friendship springing up between the two\nwhich lasted through life.\n\n3. Orlando was so poor that he was sometimes half naked. As he was a\nfavorite of the boys, one day four of them brought some cloth to make\nhim clothes. Two brought white and two red; and from this circumstance\nOrlando took his coat-of-arms, or quarterings.\n\n4. When Charlemagne was on his way to Rome, to receive the imperial\ncrown, he dined in public in Sutri. Orlando and his mother that day had\nnothing to eat, and Orlando, coming suddenly upon the royal party, and\nseeing abundance of provisions, seized from the attendants as much as he\ncould carry off, and made good his retreat in spite of their resistance.\n\n5. The emperor, being told of this incident, was reminded of an\nintimation he had received in a dream, and ordered the boy to be\nfollowed. This was done by three of the knights, whom Orlando would\nhave encountered with a cudgel on their entering the grotto, had not\nhis mother restrained him. When they heard from her who she was, they\nthrew themselves at her feet, and promised to obtain her pardon from\nthe emperor. This was easily effected. Orlando was received into favor\nby the emperor, returned with him to France, and so distinguished\nhimself that he became the most powerful support of the throne and of\nChristianity.\n\n6. On another occasion, Orlando encountered a puissant Saracen\nwarrior, and took from him, as the prize of victory, the sword\nDurindana. This famous weapon had once belonged to the illustrious\nprince Hector of Troy. It was of the finest workmanship, and of such\nstrength and temper that no armor in the world could stand against it.\n\n7. Guerin de Montglave held the lordship of Vienne, subject to\nCharlemagne. He had quarreled with his sovereign, and Charles laid\nsiege to his city, having ravaged the neighboring country. Guerin was\nan aged warrior, but relied for his defense upon his four sons and two\ngrandsons, who were among the bravest knights of the age. After the\nsiege had continued two months, Charlemagne received tidings that\nMarsilius, King of Spain, had invaded France, and, finding himself\nunopposed, was advancing rapidly in the southern provinces. At this\nintelligence, Charles listened to the counsel of his peers, and\nconsented to put the quarrel with Guerin to the decision of Heaven, by\nsingle combat between two knights, one of each party, selected by lot.\n\n8. The proposal was acceptable to Guerin and his sons. The name of the\nfour, together with Guerin's own, who would not be excused, and of the\ntwo grandsons, who claimed their lot, being put into a helmet,\nOliver's was drawn forth, and to him, the youngest of the grandsons,\nwas assigned the honor and the peril of the combat. He accepted the\naward with delight, exulting in being thought worthy to maintain the\ncause of his family. On Charlemagne's side Roland was designated\nchampion, and neither he nor Oliver knew who his antagonist was to be.\n\n9. They met on an island in the Rh\u00f4ne, and the warriors of both camps\nwere ranged on either shore, spectators of the battle. At the first\nencounter both lances were shivered, but both riders kept their seats\nimmovable. They dismounted and drew their swords. Then ensued a combat\nwhich seemed so equal, that the spectators could not form an opinion\nas to the probable issue. Two hours and more the knights continued to\nstrike and parry, to thrust and ward, neither showing any sign of\nweariness, nor ever being taken at unawares.\n\n10. At length Orlando struck furiously upon Oliver's shield, burying\nDurindana in its edge so deeply that he could not draw it back, and\nOliver, almost at the same moment, thrust so vigorously upon Orlando's\nbreastplate that his sword snapped off at the handle. Thus were the two\nwarriors left weaponless. Scarcely pausing a moment, they rushed upon\none another, each striving to throw his adversary to the ground, and,\nfailing in that, each snatched at the other's helmet to tear it away.\nBoth succeeded, and at the same moment they stood bareheaded face to\nface, and Roland recognized Oliver, and Oliver Roland. For a moment they\nstood still; and the next, with open arms, rushed into one another's\nembrace. \"I am conquered,\" said Orlando. \"I yield me,\" said Oliver.\n\n11. The people on the shore knew not what to make of all this.\nPresently they saw the two late antagonists standing hand-in-hand, and\nit was evident the battle was at an end. The knights crowded around\nthem, and with one voice hailed them as equal in glory. If there were\nany who felt disposed to murmur that the battle was left undecided,\nthey were silenced by the voice of Ogier the Dane, who proclaimed\naloud that all had been done that honor required, and declared that he\nwould maintain that award against all gainsayers.\n\n12. The quarrel with Guerin and his sons being left undecided, a truce\nwas made for four days, and in that time, by the efforts of Duke Namo\non the one side, and of Oliver on the other, a reconciliation was\neffected. Charlemagne, accompanied by Guerin and his valiant family,\nmarched to meet Marsilius, who hastened to retreat across the frontier.\n\n _Bullfinch._\n\n\n\n\n_XVI.--THE LEGEND OF MACBETH._\n\n\n1. Soon after the Scots and Picts had become one people, there was a\nking of Scotland called Duncan, a very good old man. He had two sons,\nMalcolm and Donaldbane. But King Duncan was too old to lead out his\narmy to battle, and his sons were too young to help him. Now it\nhappened that a great fleet of Danes came to Scotland and landed their\nmen in Fife and threatened to take possession of that province. So a\nnumerous Scottish army was levied to go out to fight with them. The\nking intrusted the command to Macbeth, a near kinsman.\n\n2. This Macbeth, who was a brave soldier, put himself at the head of\nthe Scottish army and marched against the Danes. And he took with him\na near relative of his own called Banquo, a brave and successful\nsoldier. There was a great battle fought between the Danes and the\nScots, and Macbeth and Banquo defeated the Danes and drove them back\nto their ships, leaving a great many of their soldiers killed and\nwounded. Then Macbeth and his army marched back to Forres in the north\nof Scotland, rejoicing on account of their victory.\n\n3. Now, at this time, there lived in the town of Forres three old\nwomen, whom people thought were witches, and supposed they could tell\nwhat was to come to pass. These old women went and stood by the\nway-side, in a great moor near Forres, and waited until Macbeth came\nup. And then stepping before him as he was marching at the head of his\nsoldiers the first woman said, \"All hail Macbeth! hail to the Thane of\nGlamis!\" The second said, \"All hail to the Thane of Cawdor!\" Then the\nthird wishing to pay him a higher compliment, said: \"All hail Macbeth,\nthat shall be King of Scotland!\" While Macbeth stood wondering what\nthey could mean, Banquo stepped forward and asked if they had not\nsomething good to say to him. And they said he should not be so great\nas Macbeth, yet his children should succeed to the throne of Scotland\nand reign for a great number of years.\n\n4. Before Macbeth had recovered from his surprise, there came a\nmessenger to tell him that his father was dead; so that, he was Thane\nof Glamis; and then came a second messenger from the king to thank\nMacbeth for the great victory over the Danes, and to tell him that the\nThane of Cawdor had rebelled against the king, and that the king had\ntaken his office from him, and had sent to make Macbeth Thane of\nCawdor. Macbeth, seeing that a part of their words came true, began to\nthink how he might become king as the three old women had predicted.\nNow Lady Macbeth was a very wicked woman, and she showed Macbeth that\nthe only way to become king was to kill good King Duncan. At first\nMacbeth would not listen to her, but at last his ambition to be king\nbecame so great that he resolved to murder his kinsman and best friend.\n\n5. To accomplish his purpose he invited King Duncan to visit him in\nhis own castle near Inverness, and the king accepted the invitation.\nMacbeth and his lady received their distinguished guests with great\nseeming joy and made for them a great feast. At the close of the feast\nthe king retired to rest, and all the other guests followed his\nexample. The two personal attendants of the king whose duty it was to\nwatch over him while asleep, were purposely made drunk by Lady\nMacbeth, and they fell upon their couch in a profound slumber.\n\n[Illustration: _Macbeth._]\n\n6. Then Macbeth came into King Duncan's room about two o'clock in the\nmorning. It was a terrible stormy night, but the noise of the wind and\nthe thunder could not awaken the king, as he was old and weary with\nhis journey; neither could it awaken the two sentinels. They all slept\nsoundly. So Macbeth stepped gently over the floor and took the two\ndirks which belonged to the sentinels and stabbed poor old King Duncan\nto the heart, so he died without a groan. Then Macbeth put the bloody\ndaggers into the hands of the sleeping sentinels and daubed their\nhands and faces with blood. Macbeth was frightened at what he had\ndone, but his wife made him wash his hands and go to bed.\n\n7. Early in the morning the nobles and gentlemen who attended on the\nking assembled in the great hall of the castle, and then they began to\ntalk of what a dreadful storm there had been the night before. They\nwaited for some time, but finding the king did not come out, one of the\nnoblemen went to see whether he was well or not. But when he came into\nthe room he found King Duncan dead, and went back and spread the alarm.\nThe Scottish nobles were greatly enraged at the sight, and Macbeth made\nbelieve he was more enraged than any of them, and drawing his sword he\nkilled the two attendants of the king, still heavy with sleep in\nconsequence of the drink furnished by Lady Macbeth the night before.\n\n8. Malcolm and Donaldbane, the two sons of Duncan, when they saw their\nfather dead, fled from the castle, as they believed that Macbeth had\ncommitted the murder. Malcolm, the eldest son, made his way to the\nEnglish court, and solicited aid to get possession of his father's\nthrone. In the mean time Macbeth took possession of the kingdom of\nScotland. The remembrance of his great crime continually haunted him,\nand he became so sleepless as to be nearly insane. He remembered that\nthe witches had said that the children of Banquo should reign as kings\nin Scotland, and he became terribly jealous of his old friend and\ncompanion. At last he hired ruffians to waylay Banquo and his sons and\nmurder them. The scheme was partially successful--Banquo was killed\nbut the sons escaped, and from him descended a long line of the early\nScottish kings.\n\n9. But Macbeth was not more happy after he had slain his friend and\ncousin Banquo. He knew that people began to suspect him of his evil\ndeeds, and he was constantly afraid that some of his nobles would\ntreat him as he treated King Duncan. In his perplexity he sought the\nthree witches he had met before, to ask them what was to happen to him\nin the future. They answered him that he should not be conquered nor\nlose the crown of Scotland until a great forest, called Birnam Wood\nshould come to attack him in his strong castle on Dunsinane hill. As\nthe distance between the two was about twelve miles, Macbeth thought\nit was impossible that the trees should ever come to assault him in\nhis castle. He immediately summoned all his nobles to assist him in\nstrengthening his castle at Dunsinane. All the nobles were obliged to\nfurnish oxen and horses to drag the heavy stones and logs used on the\nfortification up the steep hill.\n\n10. One day Macbeth noticed a pair of oxen so tired with their burden\nthat they fell down under their load. Upon inquiry he learned that they\nbelonged to Macduff, the Thane of Fife. The king, who was jealous of\nMacduff, flew into a great rage and declared that \"since the Thane of\nFife sends such worthless cattle as these to do my labor, I will put his\nown neck into the yoke, and make him drag the burden himself.\" A friend\nof Macduff who heard this speech hastened to the king's castle and\ninformed Macduff who was walking about while the dinner was preparing.\n\n11. Macduff snatched a loaf of bread from the table, called for his\nhorses and servants, and galloped off toward his own castle of\nKennoway in Fife. When Macbeth returned he first asked what had become\nof Macduff, and being informed that he had fled from Dunsinane,\nMacbeth put himself at the head of a large force of his guards, and\nimmediately pursued. Macduff reached his castle which is built upon\nthe shore of the sea, a little in advance of the king. He ordered his\nwife to shut the gates of the castle and pull up the drawbridge, and\non no account permit the king or any of his soldiers to enter. In the\nmean time he went aboard a small ship and put out to sea.\n\n12. Macbeth then summoned the lady to open the gates and deliver up\nher husband. \"Do you see,\" said she, \"yon white sail upon the sea?\nYonder goes Macduff to the court of England. You will never see him\nagain until he comes with young Prince Malcolm to pull you down from\nthe throne and put you to death. You will never be able to put your\nyoke upon the neck of the Thane of Fife.\"\n\n13. Some say that Macbeth was so enraged at the escape of Macduff that\nhe stormed and took the castle, and put to death the wife and children\nof Macduff. But others say that Macbeth turned back from the strong\ncastle and its brave defenders, and returned to his own home at\nDunsinane. Macduff readily found Prince Malcolm and the English king,\nfitted them out with an army. Upon entering Scotland a large share of\nthe nobles deserted Macbeth and joined the forces of Malcolm. The army\nmarched as far as Birnam Wood where they encamped to rest and recuperate.\n\n14. Macbeth, in the mean time, shut himself up in his castle, where he\nthought himself safe according to the old woman's prophecy, until\nBirnam Wood should advance against him, and this he never expected to\nsee. Malcolm's army having entirely recovered their strength and\nvigor, at length were ready to march. As they were about to start,\nMacduff advised each soldier to cut down the bough of a tree and carry\nit so as to conceal the strength of the army as they crossed the\nvalley. The sentinel on the castle walls saw all these green boughs\nadvancing, ran to Macbeth and informed him that the wood of Birnam was\nmoving toward the castle of Dunsinane. The king at first called him a\nliar and threatened to put him to death; but when he looked from the\nwalls himself, and saw the appearance of a forest approaching from\nBirnam, he remembered the prediction, and felt that the hour of his\ndestruction had come.\n\n15. His followers were also superstitious and began to desert him. But\nMacbeth, at the head of those who remained true to him sallied out,\nand was killed in a hand-to-hand conflict with Macduff. This story, a\ntradition, is told by Sir Walter Scott, and forms the foundation of\nShakespeare's tragedy of \"Macbeth.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nOLD BALLADS.\n\n\n\n\n_XVII.--CHEVY-CHASE._\n\n\n 1. God prosper long our noble king,\n Our lives and safeties all;\n A woful hunting once there did\n In Chevy-Chase befall.\n\n 2. The stout Earl of Northumberland\n A vow to God did make\n His pleasure in the Scottish woods\n Three summer days to take--\n\n 3. The chiefest harts in Chevy-Chase\n To kill and bear away.\n These tidings to Earl Douglas came,\n In Scotland where he lay;\n\n 4. Who sent Earl Percy present word\n He would prevent his sport.\n The English earl, not fearing that,\n Did to the woods resort,\n\n 5. With fifteen hundred bowmen bold,\n All chosen men of might,\n Who knew full well in time of need\n To aim their shafts aright.\n\n 6. The gallant greyhounds swiftly ran\n To chase the fallow deer;\n On Monday they began to hunt\n When daylight did appear;\n\n 7. And long before high noon they had\n A hundred fat bucks slain;\n Then, having dined, the drovers went\n To rouse the deer again.\n\n 8. Lord Percy to the quarry went,\n To view the slaughtered deer;\n Quoth he, \"Earl Douglas promised\n This day to meet me here;\n\n 9. \"But if I thought he would not come--\n No longer would I stay\";\n With that a brave young gentleman\n Thus to the earl did say:\n\n 10. \"Lo, yonder doth Earl Douglas come--\n His men in armor bright,\n Full twenty hundred Scottish spears\n All marching in our sight.\"\n\n 11. Earl Douglas on his milk-white steed,\n Most like a baron bold,\n Rode foremost of his company,\n Whose armor shone like gold.\n\n 12. \"Show me,\" said he, \"whose men you be,\n That hunt so boldly here,\n That, without my consent, do chase\n And kill my fallow-deer.\"\n\n 13. The first man that did answer make\n Was noble Percy he--\n Who said: \"We list not to declare,\n Nor show whose men we be:\n\n 14. \"Yet will we spend our dearest blood\n Thy chiefest harts to slay.\"\n Then Douglas swore a solemn oath,\n And thus in rage did say:\n\n 15. \"Ere thus I will out-brav\u00e8d be,\n One of us two shall die!\n I know thee well, an earl thou art--\n Lord Percy, so am I.\n\n 16. \"Let you and me the battle try,\n And set our men aside.\"\n \"Accursed be he,\" Earl Percy said,\n \"By whom this is denied!\"\n\n 17. Then stepped a gallant squire forth,\n Witherington was his name,\n Who said: \"I would not have it told\n To Henry, our king, for shame,\n\n 18. \"That e'er my captain fought on foot,\n And I stood looking on.\n You two be earls,\" said Witherington,\n \"And I a squire alone.\n\n 19. \"I'll do the best that do I may,\n While I have power to stand;\n While I have power to wield my sword\n I'll fight with heart and hand.\"\n\n 20. Our English archers bent their bows--\n Their hearts were good and true;\n At the first flight of arrows sent,\n Full fourscore Scots they slew.\n\n 21. Yet stays Earl Douglas on the bent,\n As chieftain stout and good;\n As valiant captain, all unmoved,\n The shock he firmly stood.\n\n 22. His host he parted had in three,\n As leaders ware and tried;\n And soon his spearmen on their foes\n Bore down on every side.\n\n 23. At last these two stout earls did meet;\n Like captains of great might,\n Like lions wode, they laid on lode,\n And made a cruel fight.\n\n 24. \"Yield thee, Lord Percy,\" Douglas said.\n \"In faith I will thee bring\n Where thou shalt high advanc\u00e8d be\n By James, our Scottish king.\n\n 25. \"Thy ransom I will freely give,\n And this report of thee--\n Thou art the most courageous knight\n That ever I did see.\"\n\n 26. \"No, Douglas,\" saith Earl Percy then,\n \"Thy proffer I do scorn;\n I will not yield to any Scot\n That ever yet was born.\"\n\n 27. With that there came an arrow keen\n Out of an English bow,\n Which struck Earl Douglas to the heart--\n A deep and deadly blow;\n\n 28. Who never spake more words than these\n \"Fight on, my merry men all;\n For why, my life is at an end;\n Lord Percy sees my fall.\"\n\n 29. Then leaving life, Earl Percy took\n The dead man by the hand,\n And said: \"Earl Douglas, for thy life\n Would I had lost my land!\n\n 30. \"In truth, my very heart doth bleed\n With sorrow for thy sake;\n For sure a more redoubted knight\n Mischance did never make.\"\n\n 31. A knight amongst the Scots there was\n Who saw Earl Douglas die,\n Who straight in wrath did vow revenge\n Upon the Earl Percy.\n\n 32. Sir Hugh Mountgomery was he called,\n Who with a spear full bright,\n Well mounted on a gallant steed,\n Ran fiercely through the fight;\n\n 33. And past the English archers all,\n Without a dread or fear,\n And through Earl Percy's body then\n He thrust his hateful spear.\n\n 34. So thus did both these nobles die,\n Whose courage none could stain.\n An English archer then perceived\n The noble earl was slain.\n\n 35. Against Sir Hugh Mountgomery\n To right a shaft he set;\n The gray goose-wing that was thereon\n In his heart's blood was wet.\n\n 36. This fight did last from break of day\n Till setting of the sun;\n For when they rung the evening-bell\n The battle scarce was done.\n\n 37. Of fifteen hundred Englishmen\n Went home but fifty-three;\n The rest in Chevy-Chase were slain,\n Under the greenwood-tree.\n\n 38. The news was brought to Edinburg,\n Where Scotland's king did reign,\n That brave Earl Douglas suddenly\n Was with an arrow slain.\n\n 39. \"Oh, heavy news!\" King James did say;\n \"Scotland can witness be,\n I have not any captain more\n Of such account as he.\"\n\n 40. Like tidings to King Henry came\n Within as short a space,\n That Percy of Northumberland\n Was slain in Chevy-Chase;\n\n 41. \"Now God be with him,\" said our king,\n \"Since 'twill no better be;\n I trust I have within my realm\n Five hundred as good as he:\n\n 42. \"Yet shall not Scot or Scotland say\n But I will vengeance take;\n I'll be reveng\u00e8d on them all\n For brave Earl Percy's sake!\"\n\n 43. This vow full well the king performed\n After at Humbledown:\n In one day fifty knights were slain,\n With lords of high renown;\n\n 44. And of the rest, of small account,\n Did many hundreds die:\n Thus endeth the hunting of Chevy-Chase,\n Made by the Earl Percy.\n\n 45. God save the king and bless this land\n With plenty, joy, and peace;\n And grant, henceforth, that foul debate\n 'Twixt noblemen may cease!\n\n _Old Ballad._\n\n\n\n\n_XVIII.--VALENTINE AND URSINE._\n\n\n 1. When Flora 'gins to deck the fields\n With colors fresh and fine,\n Then holy clerks their matins sing\n To good St. Valentine.\n\n 2. The King of France, that morning fair,\n He would a-hunting ride,\n To Artois Forest prancing forth\n In all his princely pride.\n\n 3. To grace his sports a courtly train\n Of gallant peers attend,\n And with their loud and cheerful cries\n The hills and valleys rend.\n\n 4. Through the deep forest swift they pass,\n Through woods and thickets wild,\n When down within a lonely dell\n They found a new-born child.\n\n 5. All in a scarlet kerchief laid,\n Of silk so fine and thin,\n A golden mantle wrapt him round,\n Pinned with a silver pin.\n\n 6. The sudden sight surprised them all,\n The courtiers gathered round;\n They look, they call, the mother seek--\n No mother could be found.\n\n 7. At length the king himself drew near,\n And, as he gazing stands,\n The pretty babe looked up and smiled,\n And stretched his little hands.\n\n 8. \"Now, by the rood,\" King Pepin says,\n \"This child is passing fair;\n I wot he is of gentle blood,\n Perhaps some prince's heir.\n\n 9. \"Go, bear him home unto my court,\n With all the care you may,\n Let him be christened Valentine,\n In honor of this day.\n\n 10. \"And look me out some cunning nurse,\n Well nurtured let him be;\n Nor aught be wanting that becomes\n A bairn of high degree.\"\n\n 11. They looked him out a cunning nurse,\n And nurtured well was he;\n Nor aught was wanting that became\n A bairn of high degree.\n\n 12. Thus grew the little Valentine,\n Beloved of king and peers,\n And showed in all he spake or did\n A wit beyond his years.\n\n 13. But chief in gallant feats of arms\n He did himself advance,\n That, ere he grew to man's estate,\n He had no peer in France.\n\n 14. And now the early down began\n To shade his youthful chin,\n When Valentine was dubbed a knight,\n That he might glory win.\n\n 15. \"A boon, a boon, my gracious liege,\n I beg a boon of thee:\n The first adventure that befalls\n May be reserved for me.\"\n\n 16. \"The first adventure shall be thine,\"\n The king did smiling say.\n Not many days, when lo! there came\n Three palmers clad in gray.\n\n 17. \"Help, gracious lord,\" they weeping said,\n And knelt, as it was meet;\n \"From Artois Forest we are come,\n With weak and weary feet.\n\n 18. \"Within those deep and dreary woods\n There dwells a savage boy,\n Whose fierce and mortal rage doth yield\n Thy subjects dire annoy.\n\n 19. \"To more than savage strength he joins\n A more than human skill;\n For arms no cunning may suffice\n His cruel rage to still.\"\n\n 20. Up then rose Sir Valentine\n And claimed that arduous deed.\n \"Go forth and conquer,\" said the king,\n \"And great shall be thy meed.\"\n\n 21. Well mounted on a milk-white steed,\n His armor white as snow,\n As well beseemed a virgin knight,\n Who ne'er had fought a foe--\n\n 22. To Artois Forest he repairs,\n With all the haste he may,\n And soon he spies the savage youth\n A-rending of his prey!\n\n 23. His unkempt hair all matted hung\n His shaggy shoulders round;\n His eager eye all fiery glowed,\n His face with fury frowned.\n\n 24. Like eagle's talons grew his nails,\n His limbs were thick and strong,\n And dreadful was the knotted oak\n He bare with him along.\n\n 25. Soon as Sir Valentine approached,\n He starts with sudden spring,\n And yelling forth a hideous howl,\n He made the forest ring.\n\n 26. As when a tiger fierce and fell\n Hath spied a passing roe,\n And leaps at once upon his throat,\n So sprang the savage foe.\n\n 27. So lightly leaped with furious force,\n The gentle knight to seize,\n But met his tall uplifted spear,\n Which sank him on his knees.\n\n 28. A second stroke, so stiff and stern,\n Had laid the savage low;\n But, springing up, he raised his club,\n And aimed a dreadful blow.\n\n 29. The watchful warrior bent his head,\n And shunned the coming stroke;\n Upon his taper spear it fell,\n And all to shivers broke.\n\n 30. Then, lighting nimbly from his steed,\n He drew his burnished brand;\n The savage quick as lightning flew\n To wrest it from his hand.\n\n 31. Three times he grasped the silver hilt,\n Three times he felt the blade;\n Three times it fell with furious force,\n Three ghastly cuts it made.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n \"_To court his hairy captive soon\n Sir Valentine doth bring,\n And, kneeling down upon his knee,\n Presents him to the king._\"\n\n]\n\n 32. Now with redoubled rage he roared,\n His eyeballs flashed with fire,\n Each hairy limb with fury shook,\n And all his heart was ire.\n\n 33. But soon the knight, with active spring,\n O'erturned his hairy foe,\n And now between their sturdy fists\n Passed many a bruising blow.\n\n 34. But brutal force and savage strength\n To art and skill must yield;\n Sir Valentine at length prevailed,\n And won the well-fought field.\n\n 35. Then binding straight his conquered foe\n Fast with an iron chain,\n He ties him to his horse's tail,\n And leads him o'er the plain.\n\n 36. To court his hairy captive soon\n Sir Valentine doth bring,\n And, kneeling down upon his knee,\n Presents him to the king.\n\n 37. With loss of blood and loss of strength,\n The savage tamer grew,\n And to Sir Valentine became\n A servant tried and true.\n\n 38. And, 'cause with bears he first was bred,\n Ursine they called his name--\n A name which unto future times\n The Muses shall proclaim.\n\n _Old Ballad._\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nEARLY EASTERN RECORD.\n\n\n\n\n_XIX.--SENNACHERIB._\n\n\n1. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith\nthe Lord God of Israel, that which thou hast prayed to me against\nSennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.\n\n2. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The\nvirgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to\nscorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.\n\n3. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast\nthou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against\nthe Holy One of Israel.\n\n4. By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With\nthe multitude of my chariots, I am come up to the height of the\nmountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall\ncedar-trees thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof: and I will enter\ninto the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.\n\n5. I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my\nfeet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.\n\n6. Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient\ntimes that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou\nshouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.\n\n7. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed\nand confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green\nherb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be\ngrown up.\n\n8. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy\nrage against me.\n\n9. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine\nears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy\nlips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.\n\n10. And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such\nthings as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which\nspringeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and\nplant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.\n\n11. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet\nagain take root downward, and bear fruit upward.\n\n12. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that\nescape out of Mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.\n\n13. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He\nshall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come\nbefore it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.\n\n14. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall\nnot come into this city, saith the Lord.\n\n15. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and\nfor my servant David's sake.\n\n16. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went\nout and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and\nfive thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they\nwere all dead corpses.\n\n17. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned,\nand dwelt at Nineveh.\n\n _II Kings, xix, 20-36._\n\n\nTHE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB.\n\n 1. The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,\n And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;\n And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,\n When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.\n\n 2. Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,\n That host with its banners at sunset was seen;\n Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,\n That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.\n\n 3. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,\n And breathed on the face of the foe as he passed;\n And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,\n And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still.\n\n 4. And there lay the steed, with his nostrils all wide,\n But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride;\n And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,\n And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.\n\n 5. And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,\n With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail,\n And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,\n The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.\n\n 6. And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,\n And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;\n And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,\n Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n _Byron._\n\n\n\n\n_XX.--GLAUCON._\n\n\n1. When Glaucon, the son of Ariston, attempted to harangue the people,\nfrom a desire, though he was not yet twenty years of age, to have a\nshare in the government of the state, no one of his relatives, or\nother friends, could prevent him from getting himself dragged down\nfrom the tribunal and making himself ridiculous; but Socrates, who had\na friendly feeling toward him on account of Charmides, the son of\nGlaucon, as well as on account of Plato, succeeded in prevailing on\nhim, by his sole dissuasion, to relinquish his purpose.\n\n[Illustration: _Socrates._]\n\n2. Meeting him by chance, he first stopped him by addressing him as\nfollows, that he might be willing to listen to him: \"Glaucon,\" said\nhe, \"have you formed an intention to govern the state for us?\" \"I\nhave, Socrates,\" replied Glaucon. \"By Jupiter,\" rejoined Socrates, \"it\nis an honorable office, if any other among men be so; for it is\ncertain that, if you attain your object, you will be able yourself to\nsecure whatever you may desire, and will be in a condition to benefit\nyour friends; you will raise your father's house, and increase the\npower of your country; you will be celebrated first of all in your own\ncity, and afterward throughout Greece, and perhaps, also, like\nThemistocles, among the barbarians, and, wherever you may be, you will\nbe an object of general admiration.\" Glaucon, hearing this, was highly\nelated, and cheerfully stayed to listen. Socrates next proceeded to\nsay: \"But it is plain, Glaucon, that if you wish to be honored, you\nmust benefit the state.\" \"Certainly,\" answered Glaucon. \"Then, in the\nname of the gods,\" said Socrates, \"do not hide from us how you intend\nto act, but inform us with what proceeding you will begin to benefit\nthe state.\" But as Glaucon was silent, as if just considering how he\nshould begin, Socrates said: \"As, if you wished to aggrandize the\nfamily of a friend, you would endeavor to make it richer, tell me\nwhether you will in like manner also endeavor to make the state\nricher?\" \"Assuredly,\" said he. \"Would it then be richer, if its\nrevenues were increased?\" \"That is at least probable,\" said Glaucon.\n\"Tell me then,\" proceeded Socrates, \"from what the revenues of the\nstate arise, and what is their amount; for you have doubtless\nconsidered, in order that if any of them fall short, you may make up\nthe deficiency, and that if any of them fail, you may procure fresh\nsupplies.\" \"These matters, by Jupiter,\" replied Glaucon, \"I have not\nconsidered.\"\n\n3. \"Well, then,\" said Socrates, \"if you have omitted to consider this\npoint, tell me at least the annual expenditure of the state; for you\nundoubtedly mean to retrench whatever is superfluous in it.\" \"Indeed,\"\nreplied Glaucon, \"I have not yet had time to turn my attention to that\nsubject.\" \"We will therefore,\" said Socrates, \"put off making our\nstate richer for the present; for how is it possible for him who is\nignorant of its expenditure and its income to manage those matters?\"\n\n4. \"But Socrates,\" observed Glaucon, \"it is possible to enrich the\nstate at the expense of our enemies.\" \"Extremely possible, indeed,\"\nreplied Socrates, \"if we be stronger than they; but if we be weaker,\nwe may lose all that we have.\" \"What you say is true,\" said Glaucon.\n\n5. \"Accordingly,\" said Socrates, \"he who deliberates with whom he\nshall go to war, ought to know the force both of his own country and\nof the enemy, so that, if that of his own country be superior to that\nof the enemy, he may advise it to enter upon the war, but if inferior,\nmay persuade it to be cautious of doing so.\" \"You say rightly,\" said\nGlaucon.\n\n[Illustration: _Socrates and Glaucon._]\n\n6. \"In the first place, then,\" proceeded Socrates, \"tell us the\nstrength of the country by land and sea, and next that of the enemy.\"\n\"But, by Jupiter,\" exclaimed Glaucon, \"I should not be able to tell\nyou on the moment, and at a word.\" \"Well, then, if you have it written\ndown,\" said Socrates, \"bring it, for I should be extremely glad to\nhear what it is.\" \"But, to say the truth,\" replied Glaucon, \"I have\nnot yet written it down.\"\n\n7. \"We will therefore put off considering about war for the present,\"\nsaid Socrates, \"for it is very likely that on account of the magnitude\nof these subjects, and as you are just commencing your administration,\nyou have not yet examined into them. But to the defense of the\ncountry, I am quite sure that you have directed your attention, and\nthat you know how many garrisons are in advantageous positions, and\nhow many not so, what number of men would be sufficient to maintain\nthem, and what number would be insufficient, and that you will advise\nyour countrymen to make the garrisons in advantageous positions\nstronger, and to remove the useless ones.\"\n\n8. \"By Jove,\" replied Glaucon, \"I shall recommend them to remove them\nall, as they keep guard so negligently, that the property is secretly\ncarried off out of the country.\" \"Yet, if we remove the garrisons,\"\nsaid Socrates, \"do you not think that liberty will be given to anybody\nthat pleases to pillage? But,\" added he, \"have you gone personally and\nexamined as to this fact, or how do you know that the garrisons\nconduct themselves with such negligence?\" \"I form my conjectures,\"\nsaid he. \"Well, then,\" inquired Socrates, \"shall we settle about these\nmatters also, when we no longer rest upon conjecture, but have\nobtained certain knowledge?\" \"Perhaps that,\" said Glaucon, \"will be\nthe better course.\"\n\n9. \"To the silver-mines, however,\" continued Socrates, \"I know that\nyou have not gone, so as to have the means of telling us why a smaller\nrevenue is derived from them than came in some time ago.\" \"I have not\ngone thither,\" said he. \"Indeed, the place,\" said Socrates, \"is said\nto be unhealthy, so that when it is necessary to bring it under\nconsideration, this will be a sufficient excuse for you.\" \"You jest\nwith me,\" said Glaucon. \"I am sure, however,\" proceeded Socrates,\n\"that you have not neglected to consider, but have calculated, how\nlong the corn which is produced in the country, will suffice to\nmaintain the city, and how much it requires for the year, in order\nthat the city may not suffer from scarcity unknown to you, but that,\nfrom your own knowledge, you may be able, by giving your advice\nconcerning the necessaries of life, to support the city and preserve\nit.\" \"You propose a vast field for me,\" observed Glaucon, \"if it will\nbe necessary for me to attend to such subjects.\"\n\n10. \"Nevertheless,\" proceeded Socrates, \"a man can not order his house\nproperly, unless he ascertains all that it requires, and takes care to\nsupply it with everything necessary; but since the city consists of\nmore than ten thousand houses, and since it is difficult to provide\nfor so many at once, how is it that you have not tried to aid one\nfirst of all, suppose that of your uncle, for it stands in need of\nhelp? If you be able to assist that one, you may proceed to assist\nmore; but if you be unable to benefit one, how will you be able to\nbenefit many? Just as it is plain that, if a man can not carry the\nweight of a talent, he need not attempt to carry a greater weight?\"\n\n11. \"But I would improve my uncle's house,\" said Glaucon, \"if he would\nbut be persuaded by me.\" \"And then,\" resumed Socrates, \"when you can\nnot persuade your uncle, do you expect to make all the Athenians,\ntogether with your uncle, yield to your arguments?\n\n12. \"Take care, Glaucon, lest, while you are eager to acquire glory,\nyou meet with the reverse of it. Do you not see how dangerous it is\nfor a person to speak of, or undertake, what he does not understand?\nContemplate, among other men, such as you know to be characters that\nplainly talk of, and attempt to do, what they do not know, and\nconsider whether they appear to you, by such conduct, to obtain more\napplause or censure, whether they seem to be more admired or despised?\n\n13. \"Contemplate, again, those who have some understanding of what\nthey say and do, and you will find, I think, in all transactions, that\nsuch as are praised and admired are of the number of those who have\nmost knowledge, and that those who incur censure and neglect are among\nthose that have least.\n\n14. \"If, therefore, you desire to gain esteem and reputation in your\ncountry, endeavor to succeed in gaining a knowledge of what you wish\nto do; for if, when you excel others in this qualification, you\nproceed to manage the affairs of the state, I shall not wonder if you\nvery easily obtain what you desire.\"\n\n _Xenophon._\n\n\n\n\n_XXI.--CYRUS AND HIS GRANDFATHER._\n\n\n1. When Cyrus was twelve years old, his mother Mandana took him with\nher into Media to his grandfather Astyages, who, from the many things\nhe had heard in favor of the young prince, had a great desire to see\nhim. In this court young Cyrus found very different manners from those\nof his own country: pride, luxury, and magnificence reigned here\nuniversally. Astyages himself was richly clothed, had his eyes\ncolored, his face painted, and his hair embellished with artificial\nlocks; for the Medes affected an effeminate life--to be dressed in\nscarlet and to wear necklaces and bracelets--whereas the habits of the\nPersians were very plain and coarse.\n\n2. All this finery had no effect upon Cyrus, who, without criticising\nor condemning what he saw, was content to live as he had been brought\nup, and adhered to the principles he had imbibed from his infancy. He\ncharmed his grandfather with his sprightliness and wit, and gained the\nfavor of all by his noble and engaging behavior. I shall only mention\none instance, whereby we may judge of the rest. Astyages, to make his\ngrandson unwilling to return home, made a sumptuous entertainment, in\nwhich there was a vast plenty and profusion of everything that was\nnice and delicate. Cyrus looked upon all this exquisite cheer and\nmagnificent preparation with great indifference, and, observing that\nit excited the surprise of Astyages, \"The Persians,\" says he to the\nking, \"instead of going such a roundabout way to appease their hunger,\nhave a much shorter one to the same end: a little bread and cresses\nwith them answer the purpose.\"\n\n3. Astyages desiring Cyrus to dispose of all the meats as he thought\nfit, the latter immediately distributed them to the king's\nofficers-in-waiting: to one, because he taught him to ride; to\nanother, because he waited well upon his grandfather; and to a third,\nbecause he took great care of his mother. Sacas, the king's\ncup-bearer, was the only person to whom he gave nothing. This officer,\nbesides the post of cup-bearer, had that likewise of introducing those\nwho were to have audience with the king; and, as he could not possibly\ngrant that favor to Cyrus as often as he desired it, he had the\nmisfortune to displease the prince, who took this occasion to show his\nresentment.\n\n4. Astyages, manifesting some concern at the neglect of this officer,\nfor whom he had a particular regard, and who deserved it, as he said,\non account of the wonderful dexterity with which he served him--\"Is\nthat all, father?\" replied Cyrus; \"if that be sufficient to merit your\nfavor, you shall see I will quickly obtain it; for I will take upon me\nto serve you better than he.\" Cyrus immediately equipped as a\ncup-bearer, and advancing gravely with a serious countenance, a napkin\nupon his shoulder, and holding the cup nicely with three of his\nfingers, presented it to the king with a dexterity and a grace that\ncharmed both Astyages and Mandana. When he had done he threw himself\nupon his grandfather's neck, and, kissing him, cried out with great\njoy: \"O Sacas! poor Sacas! thou art undone; I shall have thy place!\"\n\n5. Astyages embraced him with great fondness, and said: \"I am highly\npleased, my dear child; nobody can serve me with a better grace; but\nyou have forgot one essential ceremony, which is that of tasting\";\nand, indeed, the cup-bearer was used to pour some of the liquor into\nhis left hand, and to taste it, before he presented it to the king.\n\"No,\" replied Cyrus, \"it was not through forgetfulness that I omitted\nthat ceremony.\" \"Why, then,\" says Astyages, \"for what reason did you\nnot do it?\" \"Because I apprehended there was poison in the liquor.\"\n\"Poison, child! How could you think so?\" \"Yes, poison, father, for not\nlong ago, at an entertainment you gave to the lords of your court,\nafter the guests had drunk a little of that liquor, I perceived all\ntheir heads were turned. They sang, made a noise, and talked they did\nnot know what; you yourself seemed to have forgotten that you were\nking, and they that they were subjects; and when you would have danced\nyou could not stand upon your legs.\" \"Why,\" said Astyages, \"have you\nnever seen the same thing happen to your father?\" \"No, never,\" says\nCyrus. \"What, then? How is it with him when he drinks?\" \"Why, when he\nhas drunk, his thirst is quenched, and that is all.\"\n\n6. Mandana being upon the point of returning to Persia, Cyrus joyfully\ncomplied with the repeated requests his grandfather had made to him to\nstay in Media; being desirous, as he said, to perfect himself in the\nart of riding, which he was not yet master of, and which was not known\nin Persia, where the barrenness of the country and its craggy,\nmountainous situation rendered it unfit for the breeding of horses.\n\n7. During the time of his residence at this court his behavior\nprocured him infinite love and esteem. He was gentle, affable,\nbeneficent, and generous. Whenever the young lords had any favor to\nask of the king, Cyrus was their solicitor. If the king had any\nsubject of complaint against them, Cyrus was their mediator; their\naffairs became his, and he always managed them so well that he\nobtained whatever he desired.\n\n _Rollin._\n\n\n\n\n_XXII.--CYRUS AND THE ARMENIANS._\n\n\n1. The King of Armenia who was vassal to the Medes, looking upon them\nas ready to be swallowed up by a formidable league formed against\nthem, thought fit to lay hold of this occasion to shake off their\nyoke. Accordingly he refused to pay them the ordinary tribute, and to\nsend them the number of troops he was obliged to furnish in time of\nwar. This highly embarrassed Cyaxares, who was afraid at this\njuncture of bringing new enemies upon his hands if he undertook to\ncompel the Armenians to execute their treaty.\n\n2. But Cyrus, having informed himself exactly of the strength and\nsituation of the country, undertook the affair. The important point was\nto keep his design secret, without which it was not likely to succeed.\nHe therefore appointed a great hunting-match on that side of the\ncountry; for it was his custom to ride out that way, and frequently to\nhunt with the king's son and the young noblemen of Armenia. On the\nappointed day, he set out with a numerous retinue. The troops followed\nat a distance, and were not to appear till a signal was given. After\nsome days' hunting, when they had nearly reached the palace where the\ncourt resided, Cyrus communicated his design to his officers; and sent\nChrysanthes with a detachment, ordering them to make themselves master\nof a certain steep eminence, where he knew the king used to retire in\ncase of an alarm, with his family and his treasures.\n\n3. This being done, he sent a herald to the king of Armenia, to summon\nhim to perform the treaty, and in the mean time ordered his troops to\nadvance. Never was a court in greater surprise and perplexity. The\nking was conscious of the wrong he had done, and was not in a\ncondition to support it. However, he did what he could to assemble his\nforces together from all quarters; and in the mean time dispatched his\nyoungest son, called Stabaris, into the mountains, with his wives, his\ndaughters, and whatever was most precious and valuable. But when he\nwas informed by his scouts that Cyrus was closely pursuing, he\nentirely lost all courage, and all thoughts of making a defense.\n\n4. The Armenians, following his example, ran away, every one where he\ncould, to secure what was dearest to him. Cyrus, seeing the country\ncovered with people that were endeavoring to make their escape, sent\nthem word that no harm should be done to them if they stayed in their\nhouses; but that as many as were taken running away should be treated\nas enemies. This made them all retire to their habitations, excepting\na few that followed the king.\n\n5. On the other hand, they that were conducting the princesses to the\nmountains fell into the ambush Chrysanthes had laid for them, and were\nmost of them taken prisoners. The queen, the king's son, his\ndaughters, his eldest son's wife, and his treasures, all fell into the\nhands of the Persians.\n\n6. The king, hearing this melancholy news, and not knowing what would\nbecome of him, retired to a little eminence, where he was presently\ninvested by the Persian army, and obliged to surrender. Cyrus ordered\nhim with all his family to be brought to the midst of the army. At\nthat very instant arrived Tigranes, the king's eldest son, who was\njust returned from a journey. At so moving a scene he could not\nforbear weeping. Cyrus, addressing himself to him, said: \"Prince, you\nare come very seasonably to be present at the trial of your father.\"\nAnd immediately he assembled the captains of the Persians and Medes,\nand called in also the great men of Armenia. Nor did he so much as\nexclude the ladies from this assembly, who were there in their\nchariots, but gave them full liberty to hear and see all that passed.\n\n7. When all was ready and Cyrus had commanded silence, he began with\nrequiring of the king, that in all the questions he was about to\npropose to him, he would answer sincerely, because nothing could be\nmore unworthy a person of his rank than to use dissimulation or\nfalsehood. The king promised he would. Then Cyrus asked him, but at\ndifferent times, proposing each article separately, and in order,\nwhether it was not true, that he had made war upon Astyages, King of\nthe Medes, his grandfather; whether he had not been overcome in that\nwar, and in consequence of his defeat had concluded a treaty with\nAstyages; whether by virtue of that treaty he was not obliged to pay a\ncertain tribute, to furnish a certain number of troops, and not to\nkeep any fortified place in his country.\n\n8. It was impossible for the king to deny any of these facts, which\nwere all public and notorious. \"For what reason, then,\" continued\nCyrus, \"have you violated the treaty in every article?\" \"For no\nother,\" replied the king, \"than because I thought it a glorious thing\nto shake off the yoke, to live free, and to leave my children in the\nsame condition.\" \"It is really glorious,\" answered Cyrus, \"to fight in\ndefense of liberty, but if any one, after he is reduced to servitude,\nshould attempt to run away from his master, what would you do with\nhim?\" \"I must confess,\" said the king, \"I would punish him.\" \"And if\nyou had given a government to one of your subjects, and he should be\nfound to misbehave, would you continue him in his post?\" \"No,\ncertainly; I would put another in his place.\" \"And if he had amassed\ngreat riches by his unjust practices?\" \"I would strip him of them.\"\n\"But, which is still worse, if he had held intelligence with your\nenemies, how would you treat him?\" \"Though I should pass sentence upon\nmyself,\" replied the king, \"I must declare the truth; I would put him\nto death.\" At these words Tigranes tore his tiara from his head, and\nrent his garments; the women burst out into lamentations and outcries,\nas if the sentence had actually passed upon him.\n\n9. Cyrus, having again commanded silence, Tigranes addressed himself\nto the prince to this effect: \"Great prince, can you think it\nconsistent with your wisdom, to put my father to death, even against\nyour own interest?\" \"How against my interest?\" replied Cyrus. \"Because\nhe was never so capable of doing you service.\" \"How do you make that\nappear? Do the faults we commit enhance our merit, and give us a new\ntitle to consideration and favor?\" \"They certainly do, provided they\nserve to make us wiser; for wisdom is of inestimable value. Are either\nriches, courage, or address to be compared to it? Now it is evident,\nthis single day's experience has infinitely improved my father's\nwisdom. He knows how dear the violation of his word has cost him. He\nhas proved and felt how much you are superior to him in all respects.\nHe has not been able to succeed in any of his designs; but you have\nhappily accomplished all yours; and with such expedition and secrecy\nthat he has found himself surrounded and taken before he expected to\nbe attacked, and the very place of his retreat has served only to\nensnare him.\"\n\n10. \"But your father,\" replied Cyrus, \"has yet undergone no sufferings\nthat can have taught him wisdom.\" \"The fear of evils,\" answered\nTigranes, \"when it is so well founded as this is, has a much sharper\nsting, and is more capable of piercing the soul, than the evil itself.\nBesides, permit me to say, that gratitude is a stronger and more\nprevailing motive than any whatever; and there can be no obligations\nin the world of a higher nature than those you will lay upon my\nfather--his fortune, liberty, scepter, life, wives, and children, all\nrestored to him with such a generosity. Where can you find,\nillustrious prince, in one single person, so many strong and powerful\nties to attach him to your service?\"\n\n11. \"Well, then,\" replied Cyrus, turning to the king, \"if I should\nyield to your son's entreaties, with what number of men, and what sum\nof money, will you assist us in the war against the Babylonians?\" \"My\ntroops and treasures,\" says the Armenian king, \"are no longer mine;\nthey are entirely yours. I can raise forty thousand foot and eight\nthousand horse; and as for money, I reckon, including the treasure\nwhich my father left me, there are about three thousand talents ready\nmoney. All these are wholly at your disposal.\" Cyrus accepted half the\nnumber of the troops, and left the king the other half, for the\ndefense of the country against the Chaldeans, with whom he was at war.\n\n12. The annual tribute which was due to the Medes he doubled, and\ninstead of fifty talents exacted a hundred, and borrowed the like sum\nover and above in his own name. \"But what would you give me,\" added\nCyrus, \"for the ransom of your wives?\" \"All that I have in the world,\"\nreplied the king. \"And for the ransom of your children?\" \"The same\nthing.\" \"From this time, then, you are indebted to me the double of\nall your possessions. And you, Tigranes, at what price would you\nredeem the liberty of your lady?\" Now he had lately married her, and\nwas passionately fond of her. \"At the price,\" said he, \"of a thousand\nlives if I had them.\" Cyrus then conducted them all to his tent, and\nentertained them at supper. It is easy to imagine what transports of\njoy there must have been upon this occasion.\n\n13. After supper, as they were discoursing upon various subjects,\nCyrus asked Tigranes what was become of a governor whom he had often\nseen hunting with him, and for whom he had a particular esteem.\n\"Alas!\" said Tigranes, \"he is no more; and I dare not tell you by what\naccident I lost him.\" Cyrus pressed him to tell him. \"My father,\"\ncontinued Tigranes, \"seeing I had a very tender affection for this\ngovernor, and that I was extremely attached to him, suspected it might\nbe of some ill consequence and put him to death. But he was so honest\na man, that as he was ready to expire, he sent for me and spoke to me\nin these words: 'Tigranes, let not my death occasion any\ndissatisfaction in you toward the king your father. What he has done\nto me did not proceed from malice, but only from prejudice, and a\nfalse notion wherewith he was unhappily blinded.'\" \"Oh, the excellent\nman!\" cried Cyrus, \"never forget the last advice he gave you.\"\n\n14. When the conversation was ended, Cyrus, before they parted,\nembraced them all, as in token of a perfect reconciliation. This done,\nthey got into their chariots, with their wives, and went home full of\ngratitude and admiration. Nothing but Cyrus was mentioned the whole\nway; some extolling his wisdom, others his valor; some admiring the\nsweetness of his temper, others praising the beauty of his person and\nthe majesty of his mien. \"And you,\" said Tigranes, addressing himself\nto his lady, \"what do you think of Cyrus's aspect and deportment?\" \"I\ndo not know,\" replied the lady, \"I did not observe him.\" \"Upon what\nobject, then, did you fix your eyes?\" \"Upon him that said he would\ngive a thousand lives to ransom my liberty.\"\n\nThe next day the King of Armenia sent presents to Cyrus, and\nrefreshments for his whole army, and brought him double the sum of\nmoney he was required to furnish. But Cyrus took only what had been\nstipulated, and restored him the rest. The Armenian troops were\nordered to be ready in three days' time, and Tigranes desired to\ncommand them.\n\n _Rollin._\n\n\n\n\n_XXIII.--THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE._\n\n\n1. After the battle of Plat\u00e6a, in which the army of the Persian king\nXerxes was defeated and destroyed, the Greek states became the\ndominant power in the civilized world, and the Greek cities became\ncenters of influence and art. Under Pericles, the successor of\nThemistocles, Athens, in richness and beauty of her palaces and\ntemples, arrived at a point of excellence which far surpassed anything\nthe world had before seen. But jealousies between different states led\nto civil wars that desolated the whole land, and in the next one\nhundred and fifty years scarcely any progress was made in adding to\nthe national strength. While these bloody wars were going on\nprincipally between Sparta and Athens, the tribes of Macedon, a region\nlying immediately north of Greece, were rapidly becoming civilized and\nconsolidated. In 359 B. C. Philip became the reigning monarch.\n\n2. He was very desirous of being considered as a Greek, invited\ndistinguished men to his court, and ordered public rejoicings in his\nkingdom when his chariots had won the prize at the Olympic games. He\nwas very clever, and cared little about the justice and honor of the\nmeans by which he attained his ends, which were, to hold in subjection\nall the rest of Greece, and to conquer Persia. In the first design he\nsucceeded, for the latter he only prepared the way for his son. He had\nboth to form his officers and his army. The first he attempted by\nbringing the young nobles to his court, and there instructing them;\nand in the last he succeeded in a remarkable manner.\n\n3. The chief strength of the army, as he constituted it, was in the\nphalanx, a body of sixteen thousand foot soldiers, fully armed in the\nGreek fashion, with spears twenty-four feet long. When drawn up in\norder of battle, the four front ranks held their spears pointing\noutward, and stood at such a space apart, that the foremost line had\nfour spear-points between each man and the enemy, or on occasion they\nmarched with their shields touching, so as to form an almost\nimpenetrable wall.\n\n4. As soon as Philip's designs against Greece were apparent, a strong\nspirit of resistance showed itself, and chiefly at Athens, where the\ngreat orator, Demosthenes, never ceased to rouse his countrymen to\nmaintain their freedom. Demosthenes had trained himself in eloquence\nunder great difficulties; he naturally either stammered, or had an\nindistinct pronunciation--a defect which he cured by speaking with\npebbles in his mouth, and he used to rehearse his speeches to the\nroaring sea, in order to nerve himself against the clamors of a\ntumultuous assembly. He so far succeeded, that he often swayed the\nminds of the Athenians; his name stands as the first of orators, and\nhis Philippics, as his discourses against Philip are called, are\nconsidered as models of rhetoric.\n\n5. At Cheron\u00e6a, in 338, a battle was fought by Philip against the\nallied forces of the Athenians and Thebans. At one time the Athenians\ngained some advantage, but they used it so ill, that Philip, calling\nout to his troops, \"They do not know how to conquer,\" made a sudden\ncharge, and routed them with great slaughter. The battle of Cheron\u00e6a\nwas the end of the independence of Greece, which from that time\nforward became subject to Macedon, in spite of its many struggles to\nshake off the yoke, and recover the liberty which had been lost for\nwant of a firm, united, settled government.\n\n6. The King of Macedon next commenced his arrangements for his other\nfavorite scheme--the invasion of Asia; but in the year 336, in the\nmidst of the feasts in honor of his daughter's marriage, he was\nmurdered by a young Macedonian noble, who was slain in the first anger\nof the surrounding guards, without having time to disclose the motive\nof his crime.\n\n7. Alexander, son of Philip and his Epirot queen Olympias, was twenty\nyears of age when he came to the throne. On the night of his birth the\ntemple of Diana, at Ephesus, was burned to the ground by a man named\nErostratus, in the foolish desire of making himself notorious, and\nthis Alexander liked to consider as an omen that he should himself\nkindle a flame in Asia.\n\n8. He traced his descent from his father's side from Hercules, and by\nhis mother's from Achilles, and throughout his boyhood he seems to\nhave lived in a world of the old Greek poetry, sleeping with Homer's\nworks under his pillow, and dreaming of deeds in which he should rival\nthe fame of the victors of Troy. He was placed under the care of\nAristotle, the great philosopher of Stagira, to whom, when Philip had\nwritten to announce Alexander's birth, he had said that he knew not\nwhether most to rejoice at having a son, or that his son would have\nsuch a teacher as Aristotle.\n\n9. From him the young Alexander learned to think deeply, to resolve\nfirmly, and devise plans of government; by others he was instructed in\nall the graceful accomplishments of the Greeks, and under his father\nhe was trained to act promptly. At fourteen he tamed the noble horse\nBucephalus, which no one else dared to mount; two years later he\nrescued his father in a battle with the Scythians, and he commanded\nthe cavalry at Cheron\u00e6a, but he was so young at the time of his\naccession, that the Greeks thought they had nothing to fear from him.\n\n[Illustration: _Battle on the Granicus._]\n\n10. There were very ungenerous rejoicings at Athens at the murder of\nPhilip. Demosthenes, though he had just lost a daughter, crowned himself\nwith a wreath of flowers, and came with great tokens of joy to announce\nit to the Athenians so soon after the event, as almost to excite a\nsuspicion that he must have been concerned in the crime. But they found\nthat their joy was unfounded, for no sooner did Thebes take up arms,\nthan Alexander marched against it, destroyed the walls, killed many of\nthe citizens, and blotted it out from the number of Greek cities. The\nother states did not dare to make any further opposition, and he was\nthus at leisure to prepare for the invasion of Persia.\n\n11. Leaving Antipater as governor of Macedon, he set out in the spring\nof 334, at the head of thirty thousand infantry and four thousand five\nhundred cavalry, and bade farewell to his native land, which he was\nnever to see again. He crossed the Hellespont, and was the first man\nto leap on Asiatic ground; then, while his forces were landing, he\nwent to visit the spot which had so long been the object of his\ndreams--the village which marked the site of Troy. He offered a\nsacrifice at the tomb of Achilles, hung up his own shield in the\ntemple, and took down one which was said to be a relic of the Greek\nconquerors, intending to have it always borne before him in battle.\n\n12. His march was at first toward the east, along the shore of the\nHellespont, until at the river Granicus he met the Persians drawn up\non the other bank of the river, under the command of the satrap\nMemnon. Alexander himself, at the head of his cavalry, charged through\nthe midst of the rapid stream, won the landing-place, and followed by\nthe phalanx, quickly gained a complete victory.\n\n13. All the neighboring country fell into his hands, and after taking\npossession of it, he changed his course, marching along the shores of\nthe \u00c6gean, and taking all the towns. It was his first object to cut\nthe Persians off from their seaports, and thus deprive them of the use\nof their fleet, which was so superior to his own, that he never\nventured on one sea-fight.\n\n14. This march round the western and southern coasts of Asia Minor,\ntogether with an expedition into the interior, occupied a year, and in\nthe early part of the summer, he arrived at Tarsus, in Cilicia. Here,\non entering the city, overwhelmed with heat and fatigue, he bathed in\nthe cold waters of the Cydnus, and the chill brought on a violent\nfever, which nearly cost him his life. A letter was sent to warn him\nthat his physician, Philip, had been bribed by the Persian king to\npoison him. While he was reading it the physician himself brought him\na draught of medicine; the king put the letter into his hand, took the\ncup and drank it off, even before Philip could profess his innocence.\nIn three days' time he was again able to appear at the head of his\ntroops, and not before he was needed, for the enemy's army was near at\nhand, under King Darius Codomanus himself.\n\n15. The Persians advanced in great state. First came a number of\npersons bearing silver altars, on which burned the sacred fire; then\nfollowed the Magi, and three hundred and sixty-five youths robed in\nscarlet, in honor of the days of the year. Next came the chariot and\nhorses of the Sun, with their attendants, and afterward the army\nitself, the Immortal Band, with gold-handled lances, white robes, and\njeweled corslets, and a host of others of less note, all far more fit\nfor show than for battle. Darius himself, arrayed in purple robes and\nglittering with jewels, was in the midst, in a chariot covered with\ngold ornaments, and with him came his mother, Sisygambis, his\nprincipal wife, his daughters, a number of other ladies, and a\nmultitude of slaves. This unwieldy and useless host took up their\nposition on the hilly ground above the city of Issus, where they were\nso entangled among the rocks, that their numbers were of little profit\nto them, and it was an easy victory for the Macedonians. No sooner did\nDarius see that the day was against him, than he turned his chariot\nand fled, leaving his family to fall into the hands of the conqueror,\nwhile he himself hastened to Babylon to collect another army.\n\n16. Alexander treated the mother, wife, and children of Darius with\ngreat kindness and courtesy, sending an officer to assure them of his\nprotection, and going the next morning to visit them, accompanied by\nhis friend Heph\u00e6stion, a young man of his own age. Alexander, though\nof beautiful and noble countenance, and well formed for strength and\nactivity, was rather short in stature, and as his dress was very\nsimple, Sisygambis mistook Heph\u00e6stion for the King of Macedon, and\nthrew herself on the ground before him; and she was greatly confused\nand distressed when she discovered her error; but Alexander said, as\nhe raised her, \"You were not deceived, for he is Alexander's other\nself.\" He gave her the name of mother, never sat down in her presence\nexcept at her request, and showed in every point a respect and\ncourtesy such as she had probably never before received from the\nAsiatic princes, who always held women in contempt.\n\n17. Pursuing his intention of first destroying the naval power of the\nPersian empire, Alexander next entered Phoenicia, and readily received\nthe submission of Zidon, but Tyre refused to admit him within the\nwalls. New Tyre, which was built after the seventy years' desolation\nwhich followed the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar, stood upon an island\nabout half a mile from the shore, and was inhabited by a numerous and\nbrave people, who thought themselves secure from an enemy who had no\nfleet to bring against them.\n\n18. Alexander was, however, not to be daunted by any difficulty. He at\nfirst attempted to build a causeway from the shore to the island, and\nwhen the Tyrians destroyed his works he went to Zidon and there\nobtained a fleet, by means of which he at length took the city after a\nseven months' siege. He stained his victory by a cruel slaughter, and\nmade slaves of all whose lives were spared, excepting a few whom the\nZidonians contrived to conceal in their ships. This was the final fall\nof the great merchant city, so often predicted by Isaiah and Ezekiel.\n\n19. He then marched through the rest of Palestine, intending to punish\nJerusalem, which had stood loyal to Darius, and refused to send him\nsupplies. The Jews, on his approach, prayed for guidance and\nprotection, and it was revealed to Jaddua, the high-priest, that he\nshould open the gates and go forth in his sacred robes to receive the\nGrecian conqueror. It was accordingly done; and Jaddua, in the\nvestments of Aaron, came forth at the head of the choir of priests in\nwhite garments as Alexander and the Greeks mounted the hill toward the\ncity. No sooner did the king meet the procession than he bent down to\nthe ground in adoration, and walked in the midst of the priests to the\ntemple, where a sacrifice was offered; and he not only spared the\nJews, but showed them much favor.\n\n20. He told his generals that before he left Macedon he had seen in a\ndream a figure exactly resembling that of the high-priest, which had\nforetold all his conquests. And surely there is little reason to doubt\nthat such a revelation might be made to a conqueror marked out as\nclearly by prophecy as Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus, before he set out on\nthe work appointed for him. Both his predecessors in conquest, as soon\nas they came in contact with the chosen people, were taught that they\nwere the subjects of prophecy; and Alexander, in his turn, was shown\nby Jaddua the prediction of Daniel, which spoke of him as a he-goat\n(the actual ensign of Macedon), \"Who came from the West, and smote the\nram, and brake his two horns, and cast him down and trampled on him.\"\n\"And the rough goat is the King of Grecia.\"\n\n21. He then proceeded southward, besieged and took Gaza, after a brave\nresistance, which he cruelly requited, and entered Egypt, subduing it\nwith little difficulty. On one of the peninsulas formed by the mouth\nof the Nile, he founded a city, called after his name Alexandria,\nwhich became the capital of Egypt under its Greek rulers, and one of\nthe most famous cities in the world. He made an expedition to the\ntemple of Jupiter Ammon, on an oasis in the Libyan desert, and\nconsulted the oracle there, and then after appointing a Macedonian\nsatrap in Egypt, retraced his steps toward the Holy Land, and marched\ntoward Babylonia, where Darius was again collecting his forces to\noppose him.\n\n _Charlotte M. Yonge._\n\n\n\n\n_XXIV.--ALEXANDER'S CONQUESTS._\n\n\n1. Alexander crossed the Euphrates and Tigris without opposition, and\nthe decisive battle did not take place till he reached the plain of\nArbela, where the Persians were drawn up to receive him. The\nMacedonians wished to make a night attack, but Alexander would not\npermit it, saying that he disdained to steal a victory, and the combat\ntook place the next day.\n\n2. The present army of Persians was drawn from the more remote\nregions of Bactria and Parthia, where the men were more warlike, and\nthey fought better than any whom the Macedonians had before\nencountered; but Darius himself fled early in the day, leaving behind\nhim his bow and shield; his men lost courage, and followed him, and\nAlexander was left master of the field of Arbela.\n\n3. This battle placed in his power all the western part of the Persian\nempire, and he had only to march to the great cities of Babylon, Susa,\nEcbatana, and Persepolis, to take possession of the huge stores of\ntreasures there heaped up by the Persian kings, which he now\ndistributed among his followers with royal bounty. The unfortunate\nDarius escaped into Bactria, where two satraps, in whom he had\nconfided, treacherously seized him and made him prisoner, carrying him\nalong with them as they fled before Alexander, until at length, being\nclosely pressed by the Greeks, they threw their darts at him, and left\nhim lying on the ground mortally wounded.\n\n4. He was still alive when some of the Greeks came up, but died before\nthe arrival of Alexander. The conqueror wept as he beheld the corpse\nof the last of a line of such great princes; he threw his own cloak\nover it, and sent it to Babylon, where it was buried with great\nmagnificence.\n\n[Illustration: _Alexander at the Dead Body of Darius._]\n\n5. The wife of Darius had died a prisoner, but Sisygambis still\nremained with her grandchildren at Babylon. Only once does Alexander\nseem to have hurt her feelings, and this was through ignorance of\nPersian customs. He showed her some robes of his sister's own weaving\nand embroidery, and offered to have her grand-daughters instructed in\nthe same art, at which she wept, since Persian ladies deemed such\nemployments work fit only for slaves and captives, and Alexander was\nobliged to explain how honorably the loom and needle were esteemed\nby his own countrywomen.\n\n6. Alexander was much attached to his own mother, Olympias, and\nportions of his letters to her have come down to our time. She was a\nproud and violent woman, who often interfered with Antipater, governor\nof Macedon, and caused him to send many complaints to the king: \"Ah!\"\nsaid Alexander, \"Antipater does not know that one tear of a mother\nwill blot out ten thousand of his letters.\"\n\n7. Alexander had indeed an open and affectionate heart, but he was\nfast becoming too much uplifted by his successes. On Darius's death,\nhe took the state as well as the title of a king of Persia, wore the\ntiara and robes, and claimed from the Macedonians the same servile\ntokens of homage as were paid by the eastern nations, thus causing\nperpetual heart-burnings among them, since they could neither endure\nto see their king exalted so much further above them, nor to be placed\non the same level with the barbarians whom they despised.\n\n8. Their jealousies troubled Alexander from the time he assumed the\ntiara of Persia. He found it impossible to raise the condition of the\nPersians, and treat them with favor, without offending the\nMacedonians, and his temper did not always endure these provocations.\nThe worst action of his life was the sentencing to death, on a false\naccusation, the wise old General Parmenio, and his son; and in a fit\nof passion at a riotous banquet, he slew, with his own hand, his\nfriend Clitus, his nurse's son, who had saved his life at the battle\nof Granicus. It was the deed of a moment of drunken violence, and he\nbitterly lamented it, shutting himself up for several days without\nallowing any one to approach him, and paying all honors to the memory\nof his murdered friend.\n\n9. His pride and vain-glory went so far, that he declared that the\noracle of Jupiter Ammon had announced that he was the son of Jupiter,\nand sent to Greece to desire to be enrolled among the gods in his\nlife-time. Some of the Greeks were shocked at his profanity, others\nlaughed at him; but all the Spartans said was, \"If Alexander will be a\ngod, let him.\"\n\n10. The next four years were the most laborious of Alexander's life.\nHe pursued the murderers of Darius into Bactria and Sogdiana, avenged\nhis death, and reduced the numerous hill-forts as far as the frontier\nof Scythia. Fierce insurrections broke out among the wild tribes of\nSogdiana, which it required all his activity and judgment to quell,\nand more than once provoked him into cruelty, though in general,\nconqueror as he was, he was no spoiler, but wherever he went founded\ncities, and tried to teach the Persians the civilized arts of Greece.\n\n11. In 326 he set out for India, as the region was called round the\nriver Indus. Here the inhabitants were warlike, and Porus, king of a\nportion of the country, made a brave resistance, but was at length\ndefeated and taken prisoner. On being brought before Alexander he said\nhe had nothing to ask, save to be treated as a king. \"That I shall do\nfor my own sake,\" said Alexander, and accordingly not only set him at\nliberty, but enlarged his territory.\n\n12. All these Indian nations brought a tribute of elephants, which the\nMacedonians now for the first time learned to employ in war. Alexander\nwished to proceed into Hindostan, a country hitherto entirely unknown,\nbut his soldiers grew so discontented at the prospect of being led so\nmuch farther from home, into the utmost parts of the earth, that he\nwas obliged to give up his attempt, and very unwillingly turned back\nfrom the banks of the Sutlej.\n\n13. While returning, he besieged a little town belonging to a tribe\ncalled the Malli, and believed to be the present city of Mooltan. He\nwas the first to scale the wall, and after four others had mounted,\nthe ladder broke, and he was left standing on the wall, a mark for the\ndarts of the enemy. He instantly leaped down within the wall into the\nmidst of the Malli, and there setting his back against a fig-tree,\ndefended himself until a barbed arrow deeply pierced his breast, and,\nafter trying to keep up a little longer, he sunk, fainting, on his\nshield. His four companions sprung down after him--two were slain, but\nthe others held their shields over him till the rest of the army\nsucceeded in breaking into the town and coming to the rescue.\n\n14. His wound was severe and dangerous, but he at length recovered,\nsailed down to the mouth of the Indus, and sent a fleet to survey the\nPersian Gulf, while he himself marched along the shore. The country\nwas bare and desert, and his army suffered dreadfully from heat,\nthirst, and hunger, while he readily shared all their privations. A\nlittle water was once brought him on a parching day, as a great prize,\nbut since there was not enough for all, he poured it out on the sand,\nlest his faithful followers should feel themselves more thirsty when\nthey saw him drink alone.\n\n15. At last he safely arrived at Caramania, whence he returned to the\nmore inhabited and wealthy parts of Persia, held his court with great\nmagnificence at Susa, and then went to Babylon. Here embassies met him\nfrom every part of the known world, bringing gifts and homage, and\nabove all, there arrived from the Greek states the much desired\npromise that he should be honored as a god. He was at the highest\npitch of worldly greatness to which mortal man had yet attained, and\nhis designs were reaching yet further; but his hour was come, and at\nBabylon, the home of pride, \"the great horn\" was to be broken.\n\n[Illustration: _Alexander the Great._]\n\n16. In the marshes into which the Euphrates had spread since its\nchannel was altered by Cyrus, there breathed a noxious air, and a few\nweeks after Alexander's arrival, he was attacked by a fever, perhaps\nincreased by intemperance. He bore up against it as long as possible,\ncontinued to offer sacrifices daily, though with increasing\ndifficulty, and summoned his officers to arrange plans for his\nintended expedition; but his strength failed him on the ninth day, and\nthough he called them together as usual, he could not address them.\nPerhaps he thought in that hour of the prophecy he had seen at\nJerusalem, that the empire he had toiled to raise should be divided,\nfor he is reported to have said that there would be a mighty contest\nat his funeral games. He made no attempt to name a successor, but he\ntook off his signet-ring, placed it on the finger of Perdiccas, one of\nhis generals, and a short time after expired, in the thirty-third year\nof his age, and the twelfth of his reign.\n\n17. There was a voice of wailing throughout the city that night. The\nBabylonians shut up their houses, and trembled at the neighborhood of\nthe fierce Greek soldiery, now that their protector was dead; the\nMacedonians stood to arms all night, as if in presence of the enemy;\nand when in the morning the officers assembled in the palace council\nchamber, bitter and irrepressible was the burst of lamentation that\nbroke out at the sight of the vacant throne, where lay the crown,\nscepter, and royal robes, and where Perdiccas now placed the\nsignet-ring. More deeply than all mourned the prisoner, the aged\nSisygambis, who covered her face with a black veil, sat down in a\ncorner of her room, refused all entreaties to speak or to eat, and\nexpired five days after Alexander.\n\n18. Nor did the Persians soon cease to lament the conqueror, who had\nruled them more beneficently than their own monarchs had done; their\ntraditions made Alexander a prince of their own, and adorned him with\nevery virtue valued in the East. That he had many great faults has\nalready been shown, and, of course, by the rules of justice, his\nconquests were but reckless gratifications of his own ambition; but he\nwas a high-minded, generous man, open of heart, free of hand, and for\nthe most part acting up to his knowledge of right; and if unbridled\npower, talent of the highest order, and glory such as none before or\nsince has ever attained, inflamed his passions, and elated him with\npride, still it is not for us to judge severely of one who had such\ngreat temptations, and so little to guide him aright.\n\n _Charlotte M. Yonge._\n\n\n\n\n_XXV.--JUDAS MACCAB\u00c6US, THE HEBREW WILLIAM TELL._\n\n\n1. The kingdom of Judah escaped destruction at the hands of\nSennacherib, but its respite was short. Soon afterward Babylon,\nclosely related to Assyria, and the heir of its dominion, swept into\ncaptivity in distant Mesopotamia nearly all that were left of Hebrew\nstock. For a time, the nation seemed to have been wiped from the face\nof the earth. The ten tribes of Israel that had been first dragged\nforth never returned to Judea, and their ultimate fate, after the\ndestruction of Nineveh, whose splendor they had in their servitude\ndone so much to enhance, was that of homeless wanderers. The harp of\nJudah, silent upon the devastated banks of the Jordan, was hung upon\nthe Babylonian willows, for how could the exiles sing the Lord's song\nin a strange land! But the cry went forth at length that Babylon had\nfallen in her turn, just as destruction had before overtaken Nineveh.\nIn the middle of the sixth century B. C., Cyrus the Mede made a\nbeginning of restoring the exiles, who straightway built anew the\nTemple walls.\n\n2. In David's time, the population of Palestine must have numbered\nseveral millions, and it largely increased during the succeeding\nreigns. Multitudes, however, had perished by the sword, and other\nmultitudes were retained in strange lands. Scarcely fifty thousand\nfound their way back in the time of Cyrus to the desolate site of\nJerusalem, but, one hundred years later, the number was increased by a\nre-enforcement under Ezra. From this nucleus, with astonishing\nvitality, a new Israel was presently developed. With weapons always at\nhand to repel the freebooters of the desert, they constructed once\nmore the walls of Jerusalem. Through all their harsh experience their\nfeelings of nationality had not been at all abated; their blood was\nuntouched by foreign admixture, though some Gentile ideas had entered\ninto the substance of their faith. The conviction that they were the\nchosen people of God was as unshaken as in the ancient time. With\npride as indomitable as ever, intrenched within their little corner of\nSyria, they confronted the hostile world.\n\n3. But a new contact was at hand, far more memorable even than that\nwith the nations of Mesopotamia--a contact whose consequences affect\nat the present hour the condition of the greater part of the human\nrace. In the year 332 B. C., the high-priest, Jaddua, at Jerusalem,\nwas in an agony, not knowing how he should meet certain new invaders\nof the land, before whom Tyre, and Gaza, the old Philistine\nstronghold, had fallen, and who were now marching upon the city of\nDavid. But God warned him in a dream that he should take courage,\nadorn the city, and open the gates; that the people should appear in\nwhite garments of peace, but that he and the priests should meet the\nstrangers in the robes of their office. At length, at the head of a\nsumptuous train of generals and tributary princes, a young man of\ntwenty-four, upon a beautiful steed, rode forward from the way going\ndown to the sea to the spot which may still be seen, called,\nanciently, Scopus, the prospect, because from that point one\napproaching could behold, for the first time, Jerusalem crowned by the\nTemple rising fair upon the heights of Zion and Moriah.\n\n4. The youth possessed a beauty of a type in those regions hitherto\nlittle known. As compared with the swarthy Syrians in his suite, his\nskin was white; his features were stamped with the impress of command,\nhis eyes filled with an intellectual light. With perfect horsemanship he\nguided the motions of his charger. A fine grace marked his figure, set\noff with a cloak, helmet, and gleaming arms, as he expressed with\nanimated gestures his exultation over the spectacle before him. But now,\ndown from the heights came the procession of the priests and the people.\nThe multitude proceeded in their robes of white; the priests stood\nclothed in fine linen; while the high-priest, in attire of purple and\nscarlet, upon his breast the great breastplate of judgment with its\njewels, upon his head the mitre marked with the plate of gold whereon\nwas engraved the name of God, led the train with venerable dignity.\n\n5. Now, says the historian, when the Ph[oe]nicians and Chaldeans that\nfollowed Alexander thought that they should have liberty to plunder\nthe city, and torment the high-priest to death, the very reverse\nhappened; for the young leader, when he saw the multitude in the\ndistance, and the figure of the high-priest before, approached him by\nhimself, saluted him, and adored the name, which was graven upon the\nplate of the mitre. Then a captain, named Parmino, asked him how it\ncame to pass that, when all others adored him, he should adore the\nhigh-priest of the Jews. To whom the leader replied: \"I do not adore\nhim, but that God who hath honored him with his high-priesthood; for I\nsaw this very person in a dream, in this very habit, when I was at\nDios in Macedonia, who, when I was considering how I might obtain the\ndominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass\nover the sea thither, for that he would conduct my army, and could\ngive me the dominion over the Persians.\" Then, when Alexander had\ngiven the high-priest his right hand, the priests ran along by him and\nhe came into the city, and he offered sacrifice to God in the Temple,\naccording to the high-priest's direction, and magnificently treated\nboth the high-priest and the priests. He granted all the multitude\ndesired; and when he said to them that if any of them would enlist\nthemselves in his army on this condition, that they should continue\nunder the laws of their forefathers, he was willing to take them with\nhim, many were ready to accompany him in his wars.\n\n6. But this Aryan troop that went southward is less interesting to us\nthan companies that departed westward, for in these westward marching\nbands went the primeval forefathers from whose venerable loins we\nourselves have proceeded. They passed into Western Asia, and from Asia\ninto Europe--each migrating multitude impelled by a new swarm sent forth\nfrom the parent hive behind. At the head of the Adriatic Sea an Aryan\ntroop had divided, sending down into the eastern peninsula the ancestors\nof the Greeks, and into the western peninsula the train destined to\nestablish upon the seven hills the power of Rome. Already the Aryan\npioneers, the Celts, on the outmost rocks of the western coast of\nEurope, were fretting against the barrier of storm and sea, across which\nthey were not to find their way for many ages. Already Ph[oe]nician\nmerchants, trading for amber in the far-off Baltic, had become aware of\nthe wild Aryan tribes pressing to the northwest--the Teutons and Goths.\nAlready, perhaps, upon the outlying spur of the Ural range, still other\nAryans had fixed their hold, the progenitors of the Sclav. The\naboriginal savage of Europe was already nearly extinct. His lance of\nflint had fallen harmless from the Aryan buckler; his rude altars had\nbecome displaced by the shrines of the new gods. In the Mediterranean\nSea each sunny isle and pleasant promontory had long been in Aryan\nhands, and now in the wintry forests to the northward the resistless\nmultitudes had more recently fixed their seats.\n\n7. In the Macedonians, the Aryans, having established their dominion\nin Europe, march back upon the track which their forefathers long\nbefore had followed westward; and now it is that the Hebrews become\ninvolved with the race that from that day to this has been the\nmaster-race of the world. It was a contact taking place under\ncircumstances, it would seem, the most auspicious--the venerable old\nman and the beautiful Greek youth clasping hands, the ruthless\nfollowers of the conqueror baffled in their hopes of booty, the\nmultitudes of Jerusalem, in their robes of peace, filling the air with\nacclamations, as Alexander rode from the place of prospect, upon the\nheights of Zion, into the solemn precincts of the Temple.\n\n8. The successors of Alexander the Great made the Jews a link between\nthe Hellenic populations that had become widely scattered throughout the\nEast by the Macedonian conquests, and the great barbarian races among\nwhom the Greeks had placed themselves. The dispersion of the Jews, which\nhad already taken place to such an extent through the Assyrian and\nBabylonian conquests, went forward now more vigorously. Throughout\nWestern Asia they were found everywhere, but it was in Egypt that they\nattained the highest prosperity and honor. The one city, Alexandria\nalone, is said to have contained at length a million Jews, whom the\nGreek kings of Egypt, the Ptolemies, preferred in every way to the\nnative population. Elsewhere, too, they were favored, and hence they\nwere everywhere hated; and the hatred assumed a deeper bitterness from\nthe fact that the Jew always remained a Jew, marked in garb, in feature,\nin religious faith, always scornfully asserting the claim that he was\nthe chosen of the Lord. Palestine became incorporated with the empire of\nthe Seleucid\u00e6, the Macedonian princes to whom had fallen Western Asia.\nOppression at last succeeded the earlier favor, the defenses of\nJerusalem were demolished, and the Temple defiled with pagan ceremonies;\nand now it is that we reach some of the finest figures in Hebrew\nhistory, the great high-priests, the Maccabees.\n\n9. There dwelt at the town of Modin a priest, Mattathias, the\ndescendant of Asmon\u00e6us, to whom had been born five sons--John, Simon,\nJudas Maccab\u00e6us, or the Hammer, Eleazar, and Jonathan. Mattathias\nlamented the ravaging of the land and the plunder of the Temple by\nAntiochus Epiphanes, and when, in the year 167 B. C., the Macedonian\nking sent to Modin to have sacrifices offered, the Asmon\u00e6an returned a\nspirited reply. \"Thou art a ruler,\" said the king's officers, \"and an\nhonorable and great man in this city, and strengthened with sons and\nbrethren. Now, therefore, come thou first: so shalt thou and thy\nhouse be in number of the king's friends, and thou and thy children\nshall be honored with silver and gold and many rewards.\" But\nMattathias replied with a loud voice: \"Though all the nations that are\nunder the king's dominions obey him, and fall away every one from the\nreligion of their fathers, yet will I and my sons and my brethren,\nwalk in the covenant of our fathers. God forbid that we should forsake\nthe law and the ordinances! We will not hearken to the king's words to\ngo from our religion, either on the right hand or the left.\"\n\n10. An heroic struggle for freedom at once began, which opened for the\nJews full of sadness. An apostate Jew, approaching to offer sacrifice\nin compliance with the command of Antiochus, was at once slain by\nMattathias, who struck down also Apelles, the king's general, with\nsome of his soldiers. As he fled with his sons into the desert,\nleaving his substance behind him, many of the faithful Israelites\nfollowed, pursued by the Macedonians seeking revenge. The oppressors\nknew well how to choose their time. Attacking on the Sabbath-day,\nwhen, according to old tradition, it was a transgression even to\ndefend one's life, a thousand with their wives and children were\nburned and smothered in the caves in which they had taken refuge. But\nMattathias, rallying those that remained, taught them to fight on the\nSabbath, and at all times. The heathen altars were overthrown, the\nbreakers of the law were slain, the uncircumcised boys were everywhere\ncircumcised. But the fullness of time approached for Mattathias; after\na year his day of death had come, and these were his parting words to\nhis sons: \"I know that your brother Simon is a man of counsel; give\near unto him always; he shall be a father unto you. As for Judas\nMaccab\u00e6us, he hath been mighty and strong even from his youth up; let\nhim be your captain and fight the battles of the people. Admit among\nyou the righteous.\"\n\n11. No sooner had the father departed, than it appeared that the\ncaptain whom he had designated was a man as mighty as the great\nchampions of old, Joshua and Gideon and Samson. He forthwith smote\nwith defeat Apollonius, the general in the Samaritan country, and when\nhe had slain the Greek he took his sword for his own. Seron, general\nof the army in C[oe]le-Syria, came against him with a host of\nMacedonians strengthened by apostate Jews. The men of Judas Maccab\u00e6us\nwere few in number, without food, and faint-hearted, but he inspired\nthem with his own zeal, and overthrew the new foes at Bethoron. King\nAntiochus, being now called eastward to Persia, committed military\nmatters in Palestine to the viceroy, Lysias, with orders to take an\narmy with elephants and conquer Judea, enslave its people, destroy\nJerusalem, and abolish the nation. At once the new invaders were upon\nthe land; of foot-soldiers there were forty thousand, of horsemen\nseven thousand, and as they advanced many Syrians and renegade Jews\njoined them. Merchants marched with the army, with money to buy the\ncaptives as slaves, and chains with which to bind those whom they\npurchased. But Judas Maccab\u00e6us was no whit dismayed. Causing his\nsoldiers to array themselves in sackcloth, he made them pray to\nJehovah. He dismissed those lately married, and those who had newly\ncome into great possessions, as likely to be faint-hearted. After\naddressing those that remained, he set them in the ancient order of\nbattle, and waited the opportunity to strike.\n\n12. The hostile general, fancying he saw an opportunity to surprise\nthe little band of Hebrews, sent a portion of his host against them,\nby secret ways at night. But the spies of Judas were out. Leaving the\nfires burning brightly in his camp, to lure forward those who were\ncommissioned to attack him, he rushed forth under the shadows against\nthe main body, weakened by the absence of the detachment. He forced\ntheir position, though strongly defended, overcame the army; then\nturned back to scatter utterly the other party who were seeking him in\nthe abandoned camp. He took great booty of gold and silver, and of\nraiment purple and blue. He marched home in great joy to the villages\nof Judea, singing hymns to God, as was done in the days of Miriam,\nlong before, because they had triumphed gloriously.\n\n13. The next year Lysias advanced from Antioch, the Syrian capital,\nwith a force of sixty-five thousand. Judas Maccab\u00e6us, with ten\nthousand, overthrew his vanguard, upon which the viceroy, terrified at\nthe desperate fighting, retired to assemble a still greater army. For\na time there was a respite from war, during which Judas counseled the\npeople to purify the Temple. The Israelites, overjoyed at the revival\nof their ancient customs, the restoration of the old worship in all\nits purity, and the relief from foreign oppressors, celebrated for\neight days a magnificent festival. The lamps in the Temple porches\nwere rekindled to the sound of instruments and the chant of the\nLevites. But one vial of oil could be found, when, lo, a miracle! the\none vial sufficed for the supply of the seven-branched golden\ncandlestick for a week. This ancient Maccab\u00e6an festival faithful Jews\nstill celebrate under the name of the Hanoukhah, the Feast of Lights.\n\n14. Judas subdues also the Idumeans of the southward, and the\nAmmonites. His brethren, too, have become mighty men of valor.\nJonathan crosses the Jordan with him and campaigns against the tribes\nto the eastward. Eleazar is a valiant soldier, and Simon carries\nsuccor to the Jews in Galilee. But at length the Macedonian is again\nat hand, more terrible than before. The foot are a hundred thousand,\nthe horse twenty thousand; and as rallying-points, thirty-two\nelephants tower among the ranks. About each one of the huge beasts is\ncollected a troop of a thousand foot and five hundred horse; high\nturrets upon their backs are occupied by archers; their great flanks\nand limbs are cased in plates of steel. The host show their golden and\nbrazen shields, making in the sun a glorious splendor, and shout in\nexultation so that the mountains echo. In the battle that follows\nFortune does not altogether favor the Jews. In particular, the\nchampion Eleazar lays down his life. He had attacked the largest\nelephant, a creature covered with plated armor, and carrying upon his\nback a whole troop of combatants, among whom it was believed that the\nking himself fought. Eleazar had slain those in the neighborhood,\nthen, creeping beneath the belly of the elephant, had pierced him. As\nthe brute fell, Eleazar was crushed in the fall. Judas was forced to\nretire within the defenses of Jerusalem, where still further disaster\nseemed likely to overcome him. Dissensions among themselves, however,\nweakened the Macedonians. Peace was offered the Jews, and permission\nto live according to the law of their fathers--proposals which were\ngladly accepted, although the invaders razed the defenses of the Temple.\n\n15. The peace was not enduring. New Macedonian invasions followed; new\nHebrew successes, the Maccabees and their partisans making up, by\ntheir fierce zeal, their military skill, and dauntless valor, for\ntheir want of numbers. But a sad day came at last. Judas, twenty times\noutnumbered, confronts the leader Bacchides in Galilee. The Greek sets\nhorsemen on both wings, his light troops and archers before the\nheavier phalanx, and takes his own station on the right. The Jewish\nhero is valiant as ever; the right wing of the enemy turns to flee.\nThe left and center, however, encompass him, and he falls, fighting\ngloriously, having earned a name of the most skillful and valorous of\nthe world's great vindicators of freedom.\n\n _James K. Hosmer. \"The Story of the Jews.\"_\n _Putnam's \"Stories of the Nations\" Series._\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nROMAN RECORD.\n\n\n\n\n_XXVI.--TARQUIN THE WICKED._\n\n\n1. For his tyranny King Tarquin was banished from Rome about 500 B.\nC., and after his expulsion he sent messengers to Rome to ask that his\nproperty should be given up to him, and the senate decreed that his\nprayer should be granted. But the king's ambassadors, while they were\nin Rome, stirred up the minds of the young men and others who had been\nfavored by Tarquin, so that a plot was made to bring him back. Among\nthose who plotted were Titus and Tiberius, the sons of the consul\nBrutus; and they gave letters to the messengers of the king. But it\nchanced that a certain slave hid himself in the place where they met,\nand overheard them plotting; and he came and told the thing to the\nconsuls, who seized the messengers of the king with the letters upon\ntheir persons, authenticated by the seals of the young men. The\nculprits were immediately arrested; but the ambassadors were let go,\nbecause their persons were regarded as sacred. And the goods of King\nTarquin were given up for plunder to the people.\n\n2. Then the traitors were brought up before the consuls, and the sight\nwas such as to move all beholders to pity; for among them were the\nsons of Lucius Junius Brutus himself, the first consul, the liberator\nof the Roman people. And now all men saw how Brutus loved his country;\nfor he bade the lictors put all the traitors to death, and his own\nsons first; and men could mark in his face the struggle between his\nduty as a chief magistrate of Rome and his feelings as a father. And\nwhile they praised and admired him they pitied him yet more. This was\nthe first attempt to restore Tarquin the Proud.\n\n3. When Tarquin saw that the plot at home had failed, he prevailed on\nthe people of Tarquinii and Veii to make war with him against the\nRomans. But the consuls came out against them; Valerius commanding the\nmain army, and Brutus the cavalry. And it chanced that Aruns, the\nking's son, led the cavalry of the enemy. When he saw Brutus, he\nspurred his horse against him, and Brutus did not decline the combat.\nThey rode straight at each other with leveled spears; and so fierce\nwas the shock, that they pierced each other through from breast to\nback, and both fell dead.\n\n4. Then, also, the armies fought, but the battle was neither won nor\nlost. But in the night a voice was heard by the Etruscans, saying that\nthe Romans were the conquerers. So the enemy fled by night; and when\nthe Romans arose in the morning, there was no man to oppose them. Then\nthey took up the body of Brutus, and departed home, and buried him in\npublic with great pomp.\n\n5. And thus the second attempt to restore King Tarquin was frustrated.\nAfter the death of Brutus, Valerius, the remaining consul, ruled the\npeople for awhile by himself, and began to build himself a house upon\nthe ridge called Velia, which looks down upon the forum. So the people\nthought that he was going to make himself king; but when he heard\nthis, he called an assembly of the people, and appeared before them\nwith his fasces lowered, and with no axes in them, whence the custom\nremained ever after, that no consular lictors wore axes within the\ncity, and no consul had power of life and death except when he was in\ncommand of his legions abroad. And he pulled down the beginning of his\nhouse upon the Velia, and built it below that hill. Also, he passed\nlaws that every Roman citizen might appeal to the people against the\njudgment of the chief magistrates. Wherefore he was greatly honored\namong the people, and was called _Poplicola_, or _Friend of the People_.\n\n6. After this Valerius called together the great assembly of the\ncenturies, and they chose Spurius Lucretius, father of Lucretius, to\nsucceed Brutus. But he was an old man, and not many days afterward he\ndied, and Marcus Horatius was chosen in his stead.\n\n7. The temple on the Capitol which King Tarquin began had never yet been\nconsecrated. Then Valerius and Horatius drew lots which should be the\nconsecrator, and the lot fell on Horatius. But the friends of Valerius\nmurmured, and they wished to prevent Horatius from having the honor; so,\nwhen he was now saying the prayer of consecration, with his hand upon\nthe door-post of the temple, there came a messenger who told him that\nhis son was just dead, and that one mourning for a son could not rightly\nconsecrate the temple. But Horatius kept his hand upon the door-post,\nand told them to see to the burial of his son, and finished the rite of\nconsecration. Thus did he honor the gods even above his own son.\n\n8. In the next year Valerius was again made consul, with Titus\nLucretius; and Tarquin, despairing now of aid from his friends at Veii\nand Tarquinii, went to Lars Porsena of Clusium, a city on the river\nClanis, which falls into the Tiber. Porsena was, at this time,\nacknowledged as chief of the twelve Etruscan cities; and he assembled\na powerful army and came to Rome. He came so quickly that he reached\nthe Tiber, and was near the Sublician Bridge before there was time to\ndestroy it; and if he had crossed it the city would have been lost.\n\n9. Then, a noble Roman, called Horatius Cocles, of the Lucerian tribe,\nwith two friends--Spurius Lartius, a Ramnian, and Titus Herminius, a\nTitian--posted themselves at the far end of the bridge, and defended\nthe passage against all the Etruscan host, while the Romans were\ncutting it off behind them. When it was all but destroyed, his two\nfriends retreated across the bridge, and Horatius was left alone to\nbear the whole attack of the enemy. He kept his ground, standing\nunmoved amid the darts which were showered upon his shield, till the\nlast beams of the bridge fell crashing into the river. Then he prayed,\nsaying, \"Father Tiber, receive me, and bear me up I pray thee.\" He\nthen plunged in, and reached the other side safely; and the Romans\nhonored him greatly: they put up his statue in the Comitium, and gave\nhim as much land as he could plow round in a day, and every man at\nRome subscribed the cost of one day's food to reward him.\n\n _Liddell._\n\n10. This story is told in very spirited verse by Macaulay, in his poem\nof Horatius:\n\n\nHORATIUS.\n\n 1. Fast by the royal standard,\n O'erlooking all the war,\n Lars Porsena of Clusium\n Sate in his ivory car.\n By the right wheel rode Mamilius,\n Prince of the Latian name;\n And by the left false Sextus,\n That wrought the deed of shame.\n\n 2. But when the face of Sextus\n Was seen among the foes,\n A yell that rent the firmament\n From all the town arose.\n On the house-tops was no woman\n But spate toward him and hissed;\n No child but screamed out curses,\n And shook its little fist.\n\n 3. But the consul's brow was sad,\n And the consul's speech was low;\n And darkly looked he at the wall,\n And darkly at the foe.\n \"Their van will be upon us\n Before the bridge goes down;\n And if they once may win the bridge,\n What hope to save the town?\"\n\n 4. Then out spoke brave Horatius,\n The captain of the gate:\n \"To every man upon this earth\n Death cometh soon or late.\n And how can man die better\n Than facing fearful odds\n For the ashes of his fathers,\n And the temples of his gods!\n\n[Illustration: _Horatius._]\n\n 5. \"Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul\n With all the speed ye may;\n I, with two more to help me,\n Will hold the foe in play.\n In yon straight path a thousand\n May well be stopped by three.\n Now, who will stand on either hand,\n And keep the bridge with me?\"\n\n 6. Then out spoke Spurius Lartius,\n A Ramnian proud was he:\n \"Lo, I will stand on thy right hand,\n And keep the bridge with thee.\"\n And out spoke strong Herminius,\n Of Titian blood was he:\n \"I will abide on thy left side,\n And keep the bridge with thee.\"\n\n 7. The three stood calm and silent,\n And looked upon the foes.\n And a great shout of laughter\n From all the vanguard rose:\n And forth three chiefs came spurring\n Before that mighty mass;\n To earth they sprang, their swords they drew\n And lifted high their shields, and flew\n To win the narrow pass.\n\n 8. Aunus from green Tifernum,\n Lord of the Hill of Tines;\n And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves\n Sicken in Ilva's mines;\n And Picus, long to Clusium\n Vassal in peace and war,\n Who led to fight his Umbrian powers\n From that gray crag where, girt with towers,\n The fortress of Nequinum lowers\n O'er the pale waves of Nar.\n\n 9. Stout Lartius hurled down Aunus\n Into the stream beneath;\n Herminius struck at Seius,\n And clove him to the teeth;\n At Picus brave Horatius\n Darted one fiery thrust,\n And the proud Umbrian's gilded arms\n Clashed in the bloody dust.\n\n 10. But meanwhile axe and lever\n Have manfully been plied,\n And now the bridge hangs tottering\n Above the boiling tide.\n \"Come back, come back, Horatius,\"\n Loud cried the Fathers all.\n \"Back, Lartius! back, Herminius!\n Back, ere the ruin fall!\"\n\n 11. Back darted Spurius Lartius;\n Herminius darted back:\n And as they passed, beneath their feet\n They felt the timbers crack.\n But when they turned their faces,\n And on the further shore\n Saw brave Horatius stand alone,\n They would have crossed once more.\n\n 12. But with a crash like thunder\n Fell every loosened beam,\n And, like a dam, the mighty wreck\n Lay right athwart the stream;\n And a long shout of triumph\n Rose from the walls of Rome,\n As to the highest turret tops\n Was splashed the yellow foam.\n\n 13. Alone stood brave Horatius,\n But constant still in mind;\n Thrice thirty thousand foes before,\n And the broad flood behind.\n \"Down with him!\" cried false Sextus,\n With a smile on his pale face.\n \"Now yield thee,\" cried Lars Porsena,\n \"Now yield thee to our grace.\"\n\n 14. Round turned he, as not deigning\n Those craven ranks to see;\n Naught spake he to Lars Porsena,\n To Sextus naught spake he;\n But he saw on Palatinus\n The white porch of his home,\n And he spake to the noble river\n That rolls by the towers of Rome.\n\n 15. \"Oh, Tiber! Father Tiber!\n To whom the Romans pray,\n A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,\n Take thou in charge this day!\"\n So he spoke, and speaking sheathed\n The good sword by his side,\n And with his harness on his back\n Plunged headlong in the tide.\n\n 16. But fiercely ran the current,\n Swollen high by months of rain;\n And fast his blood was flowing;\n And he was sore in pain,\n And heavy with his armor,\n And spent with changing blows:\n And oft they thought him sinking,\n But still again he rose.\n\n 17. And now he feels the bottom;\n Now on dry earth he stands;\n Now round him throng the fathers,\n To press his gory hands;\n And now with shouts and clapping,\n And noise of weeping loud,\n He enters through the River-gate,\n Borne by the joyous crowd.\n\n 18. And still his name sounds stirring\n Unto the men of Rome,\n As the trumpet-blast that cries to them\n To charge the Volscian home;\n And wives still pray to Juno\n For boys with hearts as bold\n As his who kept the bridge so well\n In the brave days of old.\n\n 19. And in the nights of winter,\n When the cold north winds blow,\n And the long howling of the wolves\n Is heard amidst the snow;\n When round the lonely cottage\n Roars loud the tempest's din,\n And the good logs of Algidus\n Roar louder yet within;\n\n 20. When the oldest cask is opened,\n And the largest lamp is lit,\n When the chestnuts glow in the embers,\n And the kid turns on the spit;\n When young and old in circle\n Around the firebrands close;\n When the girls are weaving baskets,\n And the lads are shaping bows;\n\n 21. When the goodman mends his armor,\n And trims his helmet's plume;\n When the goodwife's shuttle merrily\n Goes flashing through the loom;\n With weeping and with laughter\n Still is the story told,\n How well Horatius kept the bridge\n In the brave days of old.\n\n _Macaulay._\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_XXVII.-THE ROMAN REPUBLIC._\n\n\n1. The establishment of the republic marked an era in the history of\nRome. The people had decreed, that for them there never should be a\nking, and the law was kept to the letter; though, if they meant that\nsupreme authority should never be held among them by one man, it was\nviolated many times. The story of Rome is unique in the history of the\nworld, for it is not the record of the life of one great country, but\nof a city that grew to be strong, and successfully established its\nauthority over many countries.\n\n2. The most ancient and the most remote from the sea of the cities of\nLatium, Rome soon became the most influential, and began to combine in\nitself the traits of the peoples near it; but owing to the singular\nstrength and rare impressiveness of the national character, these were\nassimilated, and the inhabitant of the capital remained distinctively\na Roman in spite of his intimate association with men of different\norigin and training.\n\n3. The citizen of Rome was practical, patriotic, and faithful to\nobligation; he loved to be governed by inflexible law; and it was a\nfundamental principle with him that the individual should be\nsubordinate to the state. His kings were either organizers, like Numa\nand Ancus-Marcius, or warriors like Romulus and Tullus Hostilius; they\neither made laws, like Servius, or they enforced them with the\ndespotism of Tarquinius Superbus. It is difficult for us to conceive\nof such majestic power emanating from a territory so insignificant.\n\n4. We hardly realize that Latium did not comprise a territory quite\nfifty miles by one hundred in extent, and that it was but a hundred\nmiles from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic. It was but a short walk\nfrom Rome to the territory of the Etruscans, and when Tarquin found an\nasylum at C\u00e6re, he did not separate himself by twenty miles from the\nscene of his tyranny. Ostia was scarcely more distant, and one might\nhave ridden before the first meal of the day to Lavinium, or Alba, or\nVeii, or to Ardea, the ancient city of the Rutuli. It is important to\nkeep these facts in mind as we read the story of the remarkable city.\n\n5. All towns were built on hills in these early days, for safety in\ncase of war, as well as because the valleys were insalubrious, but\nthis was not a peculiarity of the Romans, for in New England in the\nlate ages of our own ancestors, they were obliged to follow the same\ncustom. On the tops and slopes of seven hills, as they liked to remind\nthemselves, the Romans built their city. They were not impressive\nelevations, though their sides were sharp and rocky, for the loftiest\nrose less than three hundred feet above the sea-level. Their summits\nwere crowned with groves of beech trees and oaks, and in the lower\nlands grew osiers and other smaller varieties.\n\n[Illustration: _Ancient Roman Monument._]\n\n6. The earlier occupations of the Roman people were war and\nagriculture, or the pasturage of flocks and herds. They raised grapes\nand made wines; they cultivated the oil-olive, and knew the use of its\nfruit. They found copper in their soil, and made a pound of it their\nunit of value, but it was so cheap that ten thousand pounds of it were\nrequired to buy a war-horse, though cattle and sheep were much lower.\nThey yoked their oxen and called the path they occupied a _jugerum_\n(_jugum_--a cross-beam or a yoke), and this in time came to be their\nfamiliar standard of square measure, containing about two-thirds of an\nacre. Two of these were assigned to a citizen, and seven were the\nnarrow limit to which only one's landed possessions were for a long\ntime allowed to extend. In time commerce was added to the pursuits of\nthe men, and with it came fortunes and improved dwellings, and public\nbuildings. Laziness and luxury were frowned upon by the early Romans.\nMistress and maid worked together in the affairs of the household,\nlike Lucretia and other noble women of whom history tells, and the man\ndid not hesitate to hold the plow, as the example of Cincinnatus will\nshow us. Time was precious, and thrift and economy were necessary to\nsuccess. The father was the autocrat in the household, and exercised\nhis power with stern rigidity.\n\n7. Art was backward, and came from abroad; of literature there was\nnone, long after Greece had passed its period of heroic poetry. The\ndwellings of the citizens were low and insignificant, though, as time\npassed on, they became more massive and important. The vast public\nstructures of the later kings were comparable to the taskwork of the\nbuilders of the Egyptian pyramids, and they still strike us with\nastonishment, and surprise.\n\n8. The religion of these strong conquerors was narrow, severe, and\ndreary. The early fathers worshiped native deities only. They\nrecognized gods everywhere--in the home, in the grove, and on the\nmountain. They erected their altars on the hills; they had their lares\nand penates to watch over their hearth-stones, and their vestal\nvirgins kept everlasting vigil near the never-dying fires in the\ntemples. With the art of Greece that made itself felt through Etruria,\ncame also the influence of the Grecian mythology, and Jupiter, Juno,\nand Minerva found a shrine on the top of the Capitoline, where the\nfirst statue of a deity was erected. The mysterious sibylline books\nare also a mark of the Grecian influence, coming from Cum\u00e6, a colony\nof Magna Gr\u00e6cia.\n\n9. During the period we have considered, the city passed through five\ndistinct stages of political organization. The government at first was\nan elective monarchy, the electors being a patriarchal aristocracy.\nAfter the invasion of the Sabines there was a union with that people,\nthe sovereignty being held by rulers chosen from each, but it was not\nlong before Rome became the head of a federal state. The Tarquins\nestablished a monarchy, which rapidly degenerated into an offensive\ntyranny, which aroused rebellion and at last led to the republic.\n\n10. During all these changes, the original aristocrats and their\ndescendants held their position as the Populus Romanus, the Roman\npeople, insisting that every one else must belong to an inferior order,\nand, as no body of men is willing to be condemned to a hopelessly\nsubordinate position in a state, there was a perpetual antagonism\nbetween the patricians and the plebeians, between the aristocracy and\nthe commonalty. This led to a temporary change under Servius Tullius,\nwhen property took the place of pedigree in establishing a man's rank\nand influence; but owing to the peculiar method of voting adopted, the\npower of the commons was not greatly increased. However, they had made\ntheir influence felt, and were encouraged.\n\n11. The overturning of the scheme by Tarquin favored a union of the\ntwo orders for the punishment of that tyrant, and they combined; but\nit was only for a time. When the danger had been removed, the tie was\nfound broken and the antagonism rather increased, so that the\nsubsequent history for five generations, though exceedingly\ninteresting, is largely a record of the struggles of the commons for\nrelief from the burdens laid upon them by the aristocrats.\n\n[Illustration: _Roman Private Life._]\n\n12. The father passed down to his son the story of the oppression of\nthe patricians, and the son told the same sad narrative to his\noffspring. The mother mourned with her daughter over the sufferings\nbrought upon them by the rich, for whom their poor father and brothers\nwere obliged to fight the battles, while they were not allowed to\nshare the spoil, nor to divide the lands gained by their own prowess.\nThe struggle was not so much between patrician and plebeian as between\nthe rich and the poor. It was intimately connected with the uses of\nmoney in those times. What could the rich Roman do with his\naccumulations? He might buy land or slaves, or he might become a\nlender; to a certain extent he could use his surplus in commerce; but\nof these its most remunerative employment was found in usury. As there\nwere no laws regulating the rates of interest, they became exorbitant,\nand as it was customary to compound it, debts rapidly grew beyond the\npossibility of payment. As the rich made the laws they naturally\nexerted their ingenuity to frame them in such a way as to enable the\nlender to collect his dues with promptness and with little regard for\nthe feelings or interests of the debtor.\n\n13. It is difficult, if not impossible, for us to form a proper\nconception of the magnitude of the wrongs involved in the system of\nmoney-lending at Rome during the period of the republic. The small\nfarmers were ever needy, and came to their wealthy neighbors for\naccommodation loans. If these were not paid when due, the debtor was\nliable to be locked up in prison, to be sold into slavery, with his\nchildren, wife, and grandchildren; and the heartless law reads, that\nin case the estate should prove insufficient to satisfy all claims,\nthe creditors were actually authorized to cut the body to pieces, that\neach Shylock might take the pound of flesh that he claimed.\n\n14. At last the severity of the lenders overreached itself. It was in\nthe year 495 B. C., that a poor but brave debtor, one who had been at\nthe very front in the wars, broke out of his prison, and while the\nwind flaunted his rags in the face of the populace, clanked his chains\nand told the story of his calamities so effectually in words of\nnatural eloquence, that the commons were aroused to madness, and\nresolved at last to make a vigorous effort, and seek redress for their\nwrongs in a way that could not be resisted.\n\n15. The form of this man stands out forever on the pages of Roman\nhistory, as he entered the forum with all the badges of his misery\nupon him. His pale and emaciated body was but partially covered by his\nwretched tatters; his long hair played about his shoulders, and his\nglaring eyes and the grizzled beard hanging down before him added to\nhis savage wildness. As he passed along he uncovered the scars of near\ntwo score battles that remained upon his breast, and explained to\ninquirers that while he had been serving in the Sabine war, his house\nhad been pillaged and burned by the enemy; that when he had returned\nto enjoy the sweets of the peace he had helped to win, he had found\nthat his cattle had been driven off, and a tax imposed.\n\n16. To meet the debts that thronged upon him and the interest by which\nthey were aggravated, he had stripped himself of his ancestral farms.\nFinally, pestilence had overtaken him, and as he was not able to work,\nhis creditor had placed him in a house of detention, the savage\ntreatment in which was shown by the fresh stripes upon his bleeding back.\n\n17. At the moment a war was imminent, and the forum--the entire city,\nin fact--already excited, was filled with the uproar of the angry\nplebeians. Many confined for debt broke from their prison-houses and\nran from all quarters into the crowds to claim protection. The majesty\nof the consuls was insufficient to preserve order, and while the\ndiscord was rapidly increasing horsemen rushed into the gates\nannouncing that an enemy was actually upon them, marching to besiege\nthe city. The plebeians saw that their opportunity had arrived, and\nwhen proud Appius Claudius called upon them to enroll their names for\nthe war, they refused the summons, saying that the patricians might\nfight their own battles; that for themselves it was better to perish\ntogether at home rather than to go to the field and die separated.\n\n18. Threatened with war beyond the gates, and with riot at home, the\npatricians were forced to promise to redress the civil grievances. It\nwas ordered that no one could seize or sell the goods of a soldier\nwhile he was in camp, or arrest his children, and that no one should\ndetain a citizen in prison or in chains, so as to hinder him from\nenlisting in the army. When this was known, the released prisoners\nvolunteered in numbers, and entered upon the war with enthusiasm. The\nlegions were victorious, and when peace was declared, the plebeians\nanxiously looked for the ratification of the promises made to them.\n\n19. Their expectations were disappointed. They had, however, seen\ntheir power, and were determined to act upon their new knowledge.\nWithout undue haste they protected their homes on the Aventine, and\nretreated the next year to a mountain across the Anio, about three\nmiles from the city, to a spot which afterward held a place in the\nmemories of the Romans similar to that which the green meadow on the\nThames called Runnymede has held in British history since the June day\nwhen King John met his commons there, and gave them the great charter\nof their liberties.\n\n20. The plebeians said calmly that they would no longer be imposed\nupon; that not one of them would thereafter enlist for a war until the\npublic faith was made good. They reiterated the declaration that the\nlords might fight their own battles, so that the perils of conflict\nshould lie where its advantages were. When the situation of affairs\nwas thoroughly understood, Rome was on fire with anxiety, and the\nenforced suspense filled the citizens with fear lest an external enemy\nshould take the opportunity for a successful onset upon the city.\n\n21. Meanwhile the poor secessionists fortified their camp, but\ncarefully refrained from actual war. The people left in the city\nfeared the senators, and the senators in turn dreaded the citizens\nlest they should do them violence. It was a time of panic and\nsuspense. After consultation, good counsels prevailed in the senate,\nand it was resolved to send an embassy to the despised and downtrodden\nplebeians, who now seemed to hold the balance of power, and to treat\nfor peace, for there could be no security until the secessionists had\nreturned to their homes.\n\n22. The spokesman on the occasion was Menenius Agrippa Lanatus who was\npopular with the people and had a reputation for eloquence. The\naddress of this good man had its desired effect, and the people were\nat last willing to listen to a proposition for their return. It was\nsettled that there should be a general release of all those who had\nbeen handed over to their creditors, and a cancelling of debts, and\nthat two of the plebeians should be selected as their protectors, with\npower to veto objectionable laws, their persons being as inviolable at\nall times as were those of the sacred messengers of the gods. These\ndemands, showing that the plebeians did not seek political power, were\nagreed to, the Valerian laws were reaffirmed, and a solemn treaty was\nconcluded, each party swearing for itself and its posterity, with all\nthe formality of representatives of foreign nations.\n\n23. The two leaders of the commons, Caius Licinius and Lucius Albinus,\nwere elected the first tribunes of the people, as the new officers\nwere called, with two \u00e6diles to aid them. They were not to leave the\ncity during their term of office, their doors being open night and\nday, that all who needed their protection might have access to them.\nThe hill upon which this treaty had been concluded was ever after\nknown as the Sacred Mount; its top was enclosed and consecrated, an\naltar being built upon it, on which sacrifices were offered to\nJupiter, the god of terror and deliverance, who had allowed the\ncommons to return home in safety, though they had gone out in\ntrepidation. Henceforth the commons were to be protected; they were\nbetter fitted to share the honors as well as the benefits of their\ncountry, and the threatened dissolution of the nation was averted.\n\n _Arthur Gilman, M. A. \"The Story of Rome.\"_\n _Putnam's \"Stories of the Nations Series.\"_\n\n\n\n\n_XXVIII.--CINCINNATUS._\n\n\n1. In the course of the early Roman wars, Minucius, one of the consuls\nsuffered himself to be cut off from Rome, in a narrow valley of Mount\nAlgidus, and it seemed as if hope of delivery there was none. However,\nfive horsemen found means to escape and report at Rome the perilous\ncondition of the consul and his army. Then the other consul consulted\nthe senate, and it was agreed that the only man who could deliver the\narmy was Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. He was thereupon named dictator,\nand deputies were sent to acquaint him with his high dignity.\n\n2. He was called Cincinnatus, because he wore his hair in long curling\nlocks, _cincinni_, and, though he was a patrician he lived on his own\nsmall farm, like any plebeian yeoman. This farm was beyond the\nTiber, and here he lived contentedly with his wife Racilia.\n\n3. Two years before he had been consul, and had been brought into\ngreat distress by the conduct of his son, K\u00e6so. This K\u00e6so was a Wild\nand insolent young man, who despised the plebeians and hated their\ntribunes. One Volscius Fictor alleged that he and his brother, an old\nand sickly man, had been attacked by K\u00e6so and a party of young\npatricians by night, and that his brother had died of the treatment\nthen received. The indignation of the people rose high; and K\u00e6so was\nforced to go into exile. After this the young patricians became more\ninsolent than ever, but they courted the poorest of the people, hoping\nto engage them on their side against the more respectable plebeians.\n\n4. Next year all Rome was alarmed by finding that the Capitol had been\nseized by an enemy during the night. This enemy was Appius Herdonius, a\nSabine, and with him was associated a band of desperate men, exiles and\nrunaway slaves. The first demand he made was that all Roman exiles\nshould be restored. The consul, P. Valerius, collected a force and took\nthe Capitol, but was killed in the assault, and Cincinnatus, father of\nthe banished K\u00e6so, was chosen to succeed him. When he heard the news of\nhis elevation, he turned to his wife, and said: \"I fear, Racilia, our\nlittle field must remain this year unsown.\" Then he assumed the robe of\nstate, and went to Rome. It was believed that K\u00e6so had been concerned in\nthe desperate enterprise that had just been defeated. What had become of\nhim was unknown; but that he was already dead was pretty certain; and\nhis father was very bitter against the tribunes and their party, to whom\nhe attributed his son's disgrace and death.\n\n5. P. Valerius, the consul, had persuaded the plebeians to join in the\nassault of the Capitol, by promising to gain them further privileges;\nthis promise Cincinnatus refused to keep, and used all his power to\nfrustrate the attempts of the tribunes to gain its fulfillment. At the\nend of his year of office, however, when the patricians wished to\ncontinue him in the consulship, he positively declined the offer, and\nreturned to his rustic life as if he had never left it.\n\n6. It was two years after these events that the deputies of the\nsenate, who came to invest him with the ensigns of dictatorial power,\nfound him working on his little farm. He was clad in his tunic only,\nand as the deputies advanced they bade him put on his toga, that he\nmight receive the commands of the senate in seemly guise. So he wiped\noff the dust and sweat, and bade his wife fetch his toga, and asked\nanxiously whether all was right or no. Then the deputies told him how\nthe army was beset by the \u00c6quian foe, and how the Senate looked to him\nas the savior of the state. A boat was provided to carry him over the\nTiber; and when he reached the other bank, he was greeted by his\nfamily and friends, and the greater part of the senate, who followed\nhim to the city, while he himself walked in state, with his four and\ntwenty lictors.\n\n7. That same day the dictator and his master of horse came down into\nthe forum, ordered all shops to be shut, and all business to be\nsuspended. All men of the military age were to meet in the Field of\nMars before sunset, each man with five days' provisions and twelve\nstakes; the older men were to get the provisions ready, while the\nsoldiers were preparing the stakes. Thus all was got ready in time:\nthe dictator led them forth; and they marched so rapidly, that by\nmidnight they had reached Mount Algidus, where the army of the consul\nwas hemmed in.\n\n8. Then the dictator, when he had discovered the place of the enemy's\narmy, ordered his men to put all their baggage down in one place, and\nthen to surround the enemy's camp. They obeyed, and each one raising a\nshout, began digging the trench and fixing his stakes, so as to form a\npalisade round the enemy. The consul's army, which was hemmed in,\nheard the shout of their brethren, and flew to arms; and so hotly did\nthey fight all night, that the \u00c6quians had no time to attend to the\nnew foe, and next morning found themselves hemmed in on all sides by\nthe trench and palisade, so that they were now between two Roman\narmies. They were thus forced to surrender. The dictator required them\nto give up their chiefs, and made their whole army pass under the\nyoke, which was formed by two spears fixed upright in the ground, and\na third bound across them at the top.\n\n9. Cincinnatus returned to Rome amid the shouts and exultation of his\nsoldiers: they gave him a golden crown, in token that he had saved the\nlives of many citizens; and the senate decreed that he should enter the\ncity in triumph. So Cincinnatus accomplished the purpose for which he\nhad been made dictator in twenty-four hours. One evening he marched\nforth to deliver the consul, and the next evening he returned\nvictorious. But he would not lay down his high office till he had\navenged his son. Accordingly, he summoned Volscius Fictor, the accuser,\nand had him tried for perjury. The man was condemned and banished; and\nthen Cincinnatus once more returned to his wife and farm.\n\n _Liddell._\n\n\n\n\n_XXIX.--THE ROMAN FATHER._\n\n\n1. Among the most interesting of the early legends of Rome is that of\nVirginius, a soldier of the army belonging to the plebeian order.\nWhile performing his duty in the army which was encamped about twenty\nmiles from Rome, his young daughter, Virginia, about fifteen years\nof age found her home with her near relatives in the city. Her beauty\nattracted the attention of Appius Claudius, one of the ten governors\nof Rome. With the view of getting possession of her person, he ordered\none of his clients, M. Claudius by name, to lay hands upon her as she\nwas going to her school in the Forum, and to claim her as his slave.\nThe man did so; and when the cries of her nurse brought a crowd round\nthem, M. Claudius insisted on taking her before the decemvir, in order\n(as he said) to have the case fairly tried. Her friends consented, and\nno sooner had Appius heard the matter, than he gave judgment that the\nmaiden should be delivered up to the claimant, who should be bound to\nproduce her in case her alleged father appeared to gainsay the claim.\n\n[Illustration: _The Seizure of Virginia._]\n\n2. Now this judgment was directly against one of the laws of the\nTwelve Tables, which Appius himself had framed: for therein it was\nprovided, that any person being at freedom should continue free, till\nit was proved that such person was a slave. Icilius her betrothed,\ntherefore, with Numitorius, the uncle of the maiden, boldly argued\nagainst the legality of the judgment; and at length, Appius, fearing a\ntumult, agreed to leave the girl in their hands, on condition of their\ngiving bail to bring her before him next morning; and then, if\nVirginius did not appear, he would at once, he said, give her up to\nher pretended master.\n\n3. To this Icilius consented; but he delayed giving bail, pretending\nthat he could not procure it readily, and in the mean time he sent off a\nsecret message to the camp on Algidus to inform Virginius of what had\nhappened. As soon as the bail was given, Appius also sent a message to\nthe decemvirs in command of that army, ordering them to refuse leave of\nabsence to Virginius. But when this last message arrived, Virginius was\nalready half-way on his road to Rome; for the distance was not more\nthan twenty miles, and he had started at nightfall.\n\n4. Next morning early, Virginius entered the forum leading his\ndaughter by the hand, both clad in mean attire. A great number of\nfriends and matrons attended him; and he went about among the people\nentreating them to support him against the tyranny of Appius. So, when\nAppius came to take his place on the judgment-seat, he found the forum\nfull of people, all friendly to Virginius and his cause. But he\ninherited the boldness as well as the vices of his sires, and though\nhe saw Virginius standing there, ready to prove that he was the\nmaiden's father, he at once gave judgment against his own law, that\nVirginia should be given up to M. Claudius, till it should be proved\nthat she was free. The wretch came up to seize her, and the lictors\nkept the people from him. Virginius now despairing of deliverance,\nbegged Appius to allow him to ask the maiden whether she were indeed\nhis daughter or no. \"If,\" said he, \"I find I am not her father, I\nshall bear her loss the lighter.\" Under this pretense, he drew her\naside to a spot upon the northern side of the forum (afterward called\nthe Nov\u00e6 Tabern\u00e6), and here, snatching up a knife from a butcher's\nstall, he cried: \"In this way only can I keep thee free!\" and, so\nsaying, stabbed her to the heart.\n\n5. Then he turned to the tribunal, and said: \"On thee, Appius, and on\nthy head be this blood.\" Appius cried out to sieze \"the murderer\"; but\nthe crowd made way for Virginius, and he passed through them holding up\nthe bloody knife, and went out at the gate, and made straight for the\narmy. There, when the soldiers had heard his tale, they at once\nabandoned their decemviral generals, and marched to Rome. They were soon\nfollowed by the other army from the Sabine frontier; for to them\nIcilius had gone, and Numitorius; and they found willing ears among the\nmen. So the two armies joined their banners, elected new generals, and\nencamped upon the Aventine hill, the quarter of the plebeians.\n\n6. Meantime, the people at home had risen against Appius; and after\ndriving him from the forum, they joined their armed fellow citizens\nupon the Aventine. There the whole body of the commons, armed and\nunarmed, hung like a dark cloud ready to burst upon the city.\n\n _Liddell._\n\n\nVIRGINIUS.\n\n 1. When Appius Claudius saw that deed he shuddered and sank down,\n And hid his face some little space with the corner of his gown,\n Till with white lips and blood-shot eyes Virginius tottered nigh,\n And stood before the judgment-seat, and held the knife on high.\n \"Oh! dwellers in the nether gloom, avengers of the slain,\n By this dear blood, I cry to you, do right between us twain;\n And even as Appius Claudius hath dealt with me and mine,\n Deal you by Appius Claudius and all the Claudian line!\"\n So spake the slayer of his child, and turned, and went his way;\n But first he cast one haggard glance to where the body lay,\n And writhed, and groaned a fearful groan; and then with steadfast\n feet,\n Strode right across the market-place into the sacred street.\n\n 2. Then up sprang Appius Claudius: \"Stop him; alive or dead!\n Ten thousand pounds of copper to the man who brings his head.\"\n He looked upon his clients, but none would work his will.\n He looked upon his lictors, but they trembled and stood still.\n And as Virginius, through the press, his way in silence cleft,\n Ever the mighty multitude fell back to right and left.\n And he hath passed in safety unto his woful home,\n And there ta'en horse to tell the camp what deeds are done in\n Rome.\n\n 3. By this the flood of people was swollen from every side,\n And streets and porches round were filled with that o'erflowing\n tide,\n And close around the body gathered a little train\n Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain.\n They brought a bier, and hung it with many a cypress crown,\n And gently they uplifted her, and gently laid her down.\n The face of Appius Claudius wore the Claudian scowl and sneer,\n And in the Claudian note he cried, \"What doth this rabble here?\n Have they no crafts to mind at home, that hitherward they stray?\n Ho! lictors, clear the market-place, and fetch the corpse away!\"\n\n 4. Till then the voice of pity and fury was not loud,\n But a deep, sullen murmur, wandered among the crowd.\n Like the moaning noise that goes before the whirlwind on the deep,\n Or the growl of a fierce watch-dog but half-aroused from sleep.\n But when the lictors at that word, tall yeomen all, and strong,\n Each with his axe and sheaf of twigs, went down into the throng,\n Those old men say, who saw that day of sorrow and of sin,\n That in the Roman Forum was never such a din.\n The wailing, hooting, cursing, the howls of grief and hate,\n Were heard beyond the Pincian hill, beyond the Latin gate.\n\n 5. But close around the body, where stood the little train\n Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain,\n No cries were there, but teeth set fast, low whispers, and black\n frowns,\n And breaking up of benches, and girding up of gowns.\n 'Twas well the lictors might not pierce to where the maiden lay,\n Else surely had they been all twelve torn limb from limb that day.\n Right glad they were to struggle back, blood streaming from their\n heads,\n With axes all in splinters, and raiment all in shreds.\n\n[Illustration: _The Dead Virginia._]\n\n 6. Then Appius Claudius gnawed his lip, and the blood left his cheek;\n And thrice he beckoned with his hand, and thrice he strove to\n speak;\n And thrice the tossing forum sent up a frightful yell--\n \"See, see, thou dog! what thou hast done; and hide thy shame in\n hell,\n Thou that wouldst make our maidens slaves, must first make slaves\n of men.\n Tribunes!--Hurrah for tribunes! Down with the wicked Ten!\"\n And straightway, thick as hailstones, came whizzing through the\n air\n Pebbles, and bricks, and potsherds, all round the curule chair;\n And upon Appius Claudius great fear and trembling came;\n For never was a Claudius yet brave against aught but shame.\n\n 7. So now 'twas seen of Appius. When stones began to fly,\n He shook, and crouched, and wrung his hands, and smote upon his\n thigh.\n \"Kind clients, honest lictors, stand by me in this fray!\n Must I be torn to pieces? Home, home the nearest way.\"\n While yet he spake, and looked around with a bewildered stare,\n Four sturdy lictors put their necks beneath the curule chair;\n And fourscore clients on the left, and fourscore on the right,\n Arrayed themselves with swords and staves, and loins girt up for\n fight.\n\n 8. But, though without or staff or sword, so furious was the throng,\n That scarce the train, with might and main, could bring their lord\n along.\n Twelve times the crowd made at him; five times they seized his\n gown;\n Small chance was his to rise again, if once they got him down:\n And sharper came the pelting; and evermore the yell--\n \"Tribunes! we will have tribunes!\" rose with a louder swell:\n And the chair tossed as tosses a bark with tattered sail,\n When raves the Adriatic beneath an eastern gale,\n When the Calabrian sea-marks are lost in clouds of spume,\n And the great Thunder-Cape has donned his veil of inky gloom.\n One stone hit Appius in the mouth, and one beneath the ear;\n And ere he reached Mount Palatine, he swooned with pain and fear.\n His cursed head, that he was wont to hold so high with pride,\n Now, like a drunken man's, hung down, and swayed from side to\n side;\n And when his stout retainers had brought him to his door,\n His neck and face were all one cake of filth and clotted gore.\n\n _Macaulay._\n\n\n\n\n_XXX.--ARCHIMEDES._\n\n\n1. This extraordinary man was a native of Syracuse, a city of Sicily. He\nwas born two hundred and eighty-eight years before the Christian era,\nand from fifty to one hundred years after the appearance of the\nfar-famed Euclid. Who his parents were, and what was their rank in life\nare not known, though it is claimed that he was in some way related to\nHiero the king of Syracuse. It is said that Hiero considered himself\ngreatly honored by such a relation, and well he might be, for science\nand genius combined are much higher than royalty. Besides it is probable\nthat the name of the monarch would never have been preserved except in\nconnection with the great philosopher.\n\n2. By whom he was instructed in the elements of education, history\nfails to inform us, but it tells us of the progress he made in\nmechanics and geometry, and for the sake of the quiet necessary to\npursue these branches he gave up all the advantages of a political\nlife derived from his connection with the king. His favorite studies\nhad more charms for him than the glitter of events or the plunder of\nconquered cities.\n\n3. After studying at home until he could learn nothing more in the\ncity of his birth, he repaired to Alexandria in Egypt, at that time\nthe educational center that had inherited the philosophy and culture\nof Athens. Here he studied for some years and became acquainted with\nthe most distinguished scholars of his day. Among his most intimate\nfriends was Conon, a famous mathematician from Samos, who often\nexchanged problems with him for solution. While staying at Alexandria\nhe began his work of practical invention which he afterward turned to\nsuch good account.\n\n[Illustration: _Archimedes._]\n\n4. Some of his ardent admirers have maintained that Archimedes\ntaught the Egyptians more than they taught him; that while he imbibed\nphilosophy and book learning, he more than repaid the New Athens by\ninventions which were of the greatest use in the ordinary work of the\nhome and the shop. Although we do not know exactly what he turned his\nhand to, we are quite sure that in many ways he performed feats that\nhave scarcely been surpassed in modern times.\n\n5. After his return to his native city, Archimedes continued his\nstudies with unabated vigor, often neglecting his food and the care of\nhis person when a new problem was to be solved or a new invention\nperfected. The method of determining the relative amount of gold and\nbase metal in Hiero's crown occurred to him while in his bath, and\nwithout stopping to put on his clothes, he is said to have rushed\nthrough the streets exclaiming \"_Eureka!_ Eureka!\"\n\n6. To prevent the ruin of his health his servants were sometimes\nobliged to take him by main force to the table and bath, and to take\nhis daily exercise. Hiero at one time expressed an admiration of some\nof his inventions when Archimedes replied that had he a place to fix\nhis machines upon he could move the earth itself. His days were passed\nin study and retirement until the safety of his native city called him\nout to take part in its defense.\n\n7. During the wars between the Romans and Carthaginians, the people of\nSicily, and especially the Syracusans, had for a long time remained\nneutral or been in alliance with the Romans. But a Carthaginian\ninterest sprung up which mastered and sought to extend itself over the\nwhole island. As soon as the news of this political movement and\nrebellion reached Marcellus, the Roman general, he hastened with a\nstrong force into Sicily, and after the capture of the principalities\nhe laid siege to Syracuse.\n\n8. Here he met with an unexpected check. The inventive genius of\nArchimedes enabled the Syracusans to successfully defend their city\nfor three years. He so improved the warlike instruments for the\ndischarge of missiles, that he repeatedly beat back the most\ndetermined assault, and the Romans were more than once on the point of\nabandoning the siege, believing that the city was defended by the\ngods. By means of long and powerful levers, together with grappling\nirons, he is said to have destroyed many of the Roman galleys when\nthey approached the walls of the city; and when they retired for\nsafety he set them on fire by a combination of immense burning-glasses.\n\n9. The story of these exploits is told by the Romans themselves, and\nthere can be no doubt but here Science gained one of her greatest\ntriumphs. The success of the new engine was evidently so great, that\nan element of superstition entered into the record. But the triumph of\ngenius was not complete. During a festival in honor of Diana when wine\nflowed freely, the guards neglected to man some particular part of the\nwalls. The Romans observing this scaled the walls and made themselves\nmasters of the city.\n\n10. Amid the plunder and carnage which followed, Archimedes was killed.\nMarcellus had given orders for his special protection, but the deed was\ndone by a Roman soldier. One account says that he was slain in his\nlaboratory where he was found studying a problem, and he refused to move\nuntil he had completed the solution. Another account says that he was\nput to death on the street while drawing a geometrical figure in the\nsand. The third and most rational account is that while bearing some\nboxes of mathematical instruments to Marcellus he was killed by a\nsoldier who supposed that the boxes contained treasure. His death\nhappened about 210 B. C. at the age of seventy-six.\n\n\n\n\n_XXXI.--THE DEATH OF C\u00c6SAR._\n\n[Illustration: _C\u00e6sar (enlarged from a Roman Coin)._]\n\n\n1. The greatest of Rome's generals, and one of the greatest of\nmilitary chieftains of all ages, was Julius C\u00e6sar. Of a patrician\nfamily, he was one of the most accomplished men of Rome. He was great\nin civil as well as military life. He became the most popular of the\ngreatest men of Rome's most brilliant days. His military feats rivaled\nthose of Alexander, and he extended the rule of Rome through all\ncentral Europe, completely subduing all of the tribes with which he\ncame in contact. From his northern victories he turned his victorious\narmy south, crossed the Rubicon, which marked the border of his own\nprovince, and seized the control of Rome.\n\n2. In the management of civil affairs he was as successful as in the\nfield. He corrected abuses that had crept into the political management\nof affairs, and placed new safeguards around the rights of the people.\n\n3. His administration was almost as brilliant as that of Pericles in\nAthens; yet the principal nobles did not love him, and with the people\nat large he suffered still more, from a belief that he wished to be\nmade king. On his return from Spain he had been named dictator and\nimperator for life. His head had for some time been placed on the\nmoney of the republic, a regal honor conceded to none before him.\nQuintilis, the fifth month of the old calendar, received from him the\nname which it still bears. The senate took an oath to guard the safety\nof his person.\n\n4. He was honored with sacrifices, and honors hitherto reserved for\nthe gods. But C\u00e6sar was not satisfied. He was often heard to quote the\nsentiment of Euripides, that, \"if any violation of law is excusable,\nit is excusable for the sake of gaining sovereign power.\" It was no\ndoubt to ascertain the popular sentiments that various propositions\nwere made toward an assumption of the title of king. His statues in\nthe forum were found crowned with a diadem; but two of the tribunes\ntore it off, and the mob applauded.\n\n5. On the 26th of January, at the great Latin festival on the Alban\nMount, voices in the crowd saluted him as king; but mutterings of\ndiscontent reached his ears, and he promptly said; \"I am no king, but\nC\u00e6sar.\" The final attempt was made at the Lupercalia on the 15th of\nFebruary. Antony, in the character of one of the priests of Pan,\napproached the dictator as he sat presiding in his golden chair, and\noffered him an embroidered band, like the diadem of Oriental\nsovereigns. The applause which followed was partial, and the dictator\nput the offered gift aside. Then a burst of genuine cheering greeted\nhim, which waxed louder still when he rejected it a second time. Old\ntraditional feeling was too strong at Rome even for C\u00e6sar's daring\ntemper to brave it. The people would submit to the despotic rule of a\ndictator, but would not have a king.\n\n6. Other causes of discontent had been agitating various classes at\nRome. The more fiery partisans of C\u00e6sar disapproved of his clemency;\nthe more prodigal sort were angry at his regulations for securing the\nprovincials from oppression. The populace of the city complained--the\ngenuine Romans, at seeing favor extended to provincials, those of\nforeign origin because they had been excluded from the corn bounty.\nC\u00e6sar, no doubt, was eager to return to his army, and escape from the\nincreasing difficulties which beset his civil government. But as soon\nas he joined the army, he would assume monarchical power in virtue of\nthe late decree; and this consideration urged the discontented to a\nplot against his life.\n\n7. The difficulty was to find a leader. At length Marcus Junius Brutus\naccepted the post of danger. This young man, a nephew of Cato, had\ntaken his uncle as an example for his public life. But he was fonder\nof speculation than of action. His habits were reserved, rather those\nof a student than a statesman. He had reluctantly joined the cause of\nPompey, for he could ill forget that it was by Pompey that his father\nhad been put to death in cold blood. After the battle of Pharsalia he\nwas treated by C\u00e6sar almost like a son. In the present year he had\nbeen proclaimed pr\u00e6tor of the city, with the promise of the\nconsulship. But the discontented remnants of the senatorial party\nassailed him with constant reproaches. The name of Brutus, dear to all\nRoman patriots, was made a rebuke to him. \"His ancestors expelled\nthe Tarquins; could he sit quietly under a king's rule?\" At the foot\nof the statue of that ancestor, or on his own pr\u00e6torian tribunal,\nnotes were placed, containing phrases such as these: \"Thou art not\nBrutus: would thou wert.\" \"Brutus, thou sleepest.\" \"Awake, Brutus.\"\nGradually he was brought to think that it was his duty as a patriot to\nput an end to C\u00e6sar's rule even by taking his life.\n\n8. The most notable of those who arrayed themselves under him was\nCassius. This man's motive is unknown. He had never taken much part in\npolitics; he had made submission to the conquerer, and had been\nreceived with marked favor. Some personal reason probably actuated his\nunquiet spirit. More than sixty persons were in the secret, most of\nthem, like Brutus and Cassius, under personal obligations to the\ndictator. Publius Servilius Casca was by his grace tribune of the\nplebs. Lucius Tullius Cimber was promised the government of Bithynia.\nDecius Brutus, one of his old Gallic officers, was pr\u00e6tor elect, and\nwas to be gratified with the rich province of Cisalpine Gaul. Caius\nTrebonius, another trusted officer, had received every favor which the\ndictator could bestow; he had just laid down the consulship, and was\non the eve of departure for the government of Asia. Quintius Ligarius\nhad lately accepted a pardon from the dictator, and rose from a sick\nbed to join the conspirators.\n\n9. A meeting of the senate was called for the Ides of March, at which\nC\u00e6sar was to be present. This was the day appointed for the murder.\nThe secret had oozed out. Many persons warned C\u00e6sar that some danger\nwas impending. A Greek soothsayer told him of the very day. On the\nmorning of the Ides his wife arose so disturbed by dreams, that she\npersuaded him to relinquish his purpose of presiding in the senate,\nand he sent Antony in his stead.\n\n10. This change of purpose was reported after the House was formed.\nThe conspirators were in despair. Decius Brutus at once went to C\u00e6sar,\ntold him that the Fathers were only waiting to confer upon him the\nsovereign power which he desired, and begged him not to listen to\nauguries and dreams. C\u00e6sar was persuaded to change his purpose, and\nwas carried forth in his litter. On his way, a slave who had\ndiscovered the conspiracy tried to attract his notice, but was unable\nto reach him for the crowd. A Greek philosopher, named Artemidorus,\nsucceeded in putting a roll of paper into his hand, containing full\ninformation of the conspiracy; but C\u00e6sar, supposing it to be a\npetition, laid it by his side for a more convenient season. Meanwhile,\nthe conspirators had reason to think that their plot had been\ndiscovered. A friend came up to Casca and said, \"Ah, Casca, Brutus has\ntold me your secret!\" The conspirator started, but was relieved by the\nnext sentence: \"Where will _you_ find money for the expenses of the\n\u00e6dileship?\" More serious alarm was felt when Popillius L\u00e6nas remarked\nto Brutus and Cassius: \"You have my good wishes; but what you do, do\nquickly\"--especially when the same senator stepped up to C\u00e6sar on his\nentering the house, and began whispering in his ear. So terrified was\nCassius, that he thought of stabbing himself instead of C\u00e6sar, till\nBrutus quietly observed, that the gestures of Popillius indicated that\nhe was asking a favor, not revealing a fatal secret. C\u00e6sar took his\nseat without further delay.\n\n[Illustration: _Antony delivering the Oration on the Death of C\u00e6sar._]\n\n11. As was agreed, Cimber presented a petition praying for his\nbrother's recall from banishment; and all the conspirators pressed\nround the dictator, urging his favorable answer. Displeased at their\nimportunity, C\u00e6sar attempted to rise. At that moment Cimber seized the\nlappet of his robe, and pulled him down; and immediately Casca\nstruck him from the side, but inflicted only a slight wound. Then all\ndrew their daggers and assailed him. C\u00e6sar for a time defended himself\nwith the gown folded over his left arm, and the sharp-pointed style\nwhich he held in his right hand for writing on the wax of his tablets.\nBut when he saw Brutus among the assassins, he exclaimed, \"You, too,\nBrutus!\" and covering his face with his gown, offered no further\nresistance. In their eagerness, some blows intended for their victim\nfell upon themselves. But enough reached C\u00e6sar to do the bloody work.\nPierced by twenty-three wounds, he fell at the base of Pompey's\nstatue, which had been removed after Pharsalia by Antony, but had been\nrestored by the magnanimity of C\u00e6sar.\n\n12. Thus died \"the foremost man of all the world,\" a man who failed in\nnothing that he attempted. He might, Cicero thought, have been a great\norator; his \"Commentaries\" remain to prove that he was a great writer.\nAs a general he had few superiors, as a statesman and politician no\nequal. That which stamps him as a man of true greatness, is the entire\nabsence of vanity and self-conceit from his character. He paid,\nindeed, great attention to his personal appearance, even when his hard\nlife and unremitting activity had brought on fits of an epileptic\nnature, and left him with that meager visage which is familiar to us\nfrom his coins. Even then he was sedulous in arranging his robes, and\nwas pleased to have the privilege of wearing a laurel crown to hide\nthe scantiness of his hair. But these were foibles too trifling to be\ntaken as symptoms of real vanity. His successes in war, achieved by a\nman who in his forty-ninth year had hardly seen a camp, add to our\nconviction of his real genius. These successes were due not so much to\nscientific man[oe]uvres, as to rapid audacity of movement, and mastery\nover the wills of men.\n\n13. The effect of C\u00e6sar's fall was to cause a renewal of bloodshed for\nanother half generation; and then his work was finished by a far less\ngeneral ruler. Those who slew C\u00e6sar were guilty of a great crime, and\na still greater blunder.\n\n _Liddell._\n\n\n\n\n_XXXII.--HOW ROMANS LIVED._\n\n\n1. The Roman house at first was extremely simple, being of but one\nroom, called the _atrium_ or darkened chamber, because its walls were\nstained by the smoke that rose from the fire upon the hearth, and with\ndifficulty found its way through a hole in the roof. The aperture also\nadmitted light and rain, the water that dripped from the roof being\ncaught in a cistern that was formed in the middle of the room. The\natrium was entered by way of a vestibule open to the sky, in which the\ngentleman of the house put on his toga as he went out. Double doors\nadmitted the visitor to the entrance-hall, or _ostium_.\n\n2. There was a threshold upon which it was unlucky to place the left\nfoot; a knocker afforded means of announcing one's approach, and a\nporter, who had a small room at the side, opened the door, showing the\ncaller the words _Cave canem_ (beware of the dog), or _Salve_\n(welcome), or perchance the dog himself reached out toward the visitor\nas far as his chain would allow. Sometimes, too, there would be\nnoticed in the mosaic of the pavement the representation of the\nfaithful domestic animal which has so long been the companion as well\nas the protector of his human friend. Perhaps myrtle or laurel might\nbe seen on a door, indicating that a marriage was in process of\ncelebration, or a chaplet announcing the happy birth of an heir.\nCypress, probably set in pots in the vestibule, indicated a death, as\na crape festoon does upon our own door-handles, while torches, lamps,\nwreaths, garlands, branches of trees, showed that there was joy from\nsome cause in the house.\n\n3. In the \"black room\" the bed stood; there the meals were cooked and\neaten, there the goodman received his friends, and there the goodwife\nsat in the midst of her maidens spinning. The original house grew\nlarger in the course of time: wings were built on the sides--and the\nRomans called them wings as well as we (_ala_, a wing). Beyond the\nblack room a recess was built in which the family records and archives\nwere preserved, but with it for a long period the Roman house stopped\nits growth.\n\n4. Before the empire came, however, there had been great progress in\nmaking the dwelling convenient as well as luxurious. Another hall had\nbeen built out from the room of archives, leading to an open court,\nsurrounded by columns, known as the _peristylum_ (_peri_, about,\n_stulos_, a pillar), which was sometimes of great magnificence.\nBedchambers were made separate from the atrium, but they were small,\nand would not seem very convenient to modern eyes.\n\n5. The dining-room, called the _triclinium_ (Greek, _kline_, a bed)\nfrom its three couches, was a very important apartment. In it were\nthree lounges surrounding a table, on each of which three guests might\nbe accommodated. The couches were elevated above the table, and each\nman lay almost flat on his breast, resting on his left elbow, and\nhaving his right hand free to use, thus putting the head of one near\nthe breast of the man behind him, and making natural the expression\nthat he lay in the bosom of the other. As the guests were thus\narranged by threes, it was natural that the rule should have been\nmade that a party at dinner should not be less in number than the\nGraces, nor more than the Muses, though it has remained a useful one\never since.\n\n6. Before the republic came to an end, it was so fashionable to have a\nbook-room that ignorant persons who might not be able to read even the\ntitles of their own books endeavored to give themselves the appearance\nof erudition by building book-rooms in their houses, and furnishing\nthem with elegance. The books were in cases arranged around the walls\nin convenient manner, and busts and statues of the Muses, of Minerva,\nand of men of note were used then as they are now for ornaments.\nHouse-philosophers were often employed to open to the uninstructed the\nstores of wisdom contained in the libraries.\n\n[Illustration: _Interior of a Roman Bath-Room, Ruins of Pompeii._]\n\n7. As wealth and luxury increased, the Romans added the bath-room to\ntheir other apartments. In the early ages they had bathed for comfort\nand cleanliness once a week, but the warm bath was apparently unknown\nto them. In time this became very common, and in the days of Cicero\nthere were hot and cold baths, both public and private, which were\nwell patronized. Some were heated by fires in flues, directly under\nthe floors, which produced a vapor-bath. The bath was, however,\nconsidered a luxury, and at a later date it was held a capital offense\nto indulge in one on a religious holiday, and the public baths were\nclosed when any misfortune happened to the republic.\n\n\n8. Comfort and convenience united to take the cooking out of the\natrium into a separate apartment known as the _culina_, or kitchen, in\nwhich was a raised platform on which coals might be burned, and the\nprocesses of broiling, boiling, and roasting might be carried on in a\nprimitive manner, much like the arrangement still to be seen at Rome.\nOn the tops of the houses, after a while, terraces were planned for\nthe purpose of basking in the sun, and sometimes they were furnished\nwith shrubs, fruit-trees, and even fish-ponds. Often there were upward\nof fifty rooms in a house on a single floor; but in the course of time\nland became so valuable that other stories were added, and many lived\nin flats. A flat was sometimes called an _insula_, which meant,\nproperly, a house not joined to another, and afterward was applied to\nhired lodgings. _Domus_, a house, meant a dwelling occupied by one\nfamily, whether it were an _insula_ or not.\n\n[Illustration: _Lares and Penates._]\n\n9. The floors of these rooms were sometimes, but not often, laid with\nboards, and generally were formed of stones, tiles, bricks, or some\nsort of cement. In the richer dwellings they were often inlaid with\nmosaics of elegant patterns. The walls were often faced with marble,\nbut they were usually adorned with paintings; the ceilings were left\nuncovered, the beams supporting the floor or the roof above being\nvisible, though it was frequently arched over. The means of lighting\neither by day or night, were defective. The atrium was, as we have\nseen, lighted from above, and the same was true of other apartments,\nthose at the side being illuminated from the larger ones in the\nmiddle of the house. There were windows, however, in the upper\nstories, though they were not protected by glass, but covered with\nshutters or lattice-work, and, at a later period, were glazed with\nsheets of mica. Smoking lamps, hanging from the ceiling or supported\nby candelabra, or candles gave a gloomy light by night in the houses,\nand torches without.\n\n10. The sun was chiefly depended upon for heat, for there were no\nproper stoves, though braziers were used to burn coals upon, the smoke\nescaping through the aperture in the ceiling, and, in rare cases,\nhot-air furnaces were constructed below, the heat being conveyed to\nthe upper rooms through pipes. There has been a dispute regarding\nchimneys, but it seems almost certain that the Romans had none in\ntheir dwellings, and indeed, there was little need of them for\npurposes of artificial warmth in so moderate a climate as theirs.\n\n11. Such were some of the chief traits of the city-houses of the\nRomans. Besides these there were villas in the country, some of which\nwere simply farm-houses, and others places of rest and luxury\nsupported by the residents of cities. The farm-villa was placed, if\npossible, in a spot secluded from visitors, protected from the\nseverest winds, and from the malaria of marshes, in a well-watered\nplace, near the foot of a well-wooded mountain. It had accommodations\nfor the kitchen, the wine-press, the farm superintendent, the slaves,\nthe animals, the crops, and the other products of the farm. There were\nbaths, and cellars for the wine and for the confinement of the slaves\nwho might have to be chained.\n\n[Illustration: _Roman Villa._]\n\n12. Varro thus describes life at a rural household: \"Manius summons\nhis people to rise with the sun, and in person conducts them to the\nscene of their daily work. The youths make their own bed, which labor\nrenders soft to them, and supply themselves with water-pot, and lamp.\nTheir drink is the clear fresh spring; their fare bread, with onions\nas a relish. Everything prospers in house and field. The house is no\nwork of art, but an architect might learn symmetry from it. Care is\ntaken of the field that it shall not be left disorderly, and waste or\ngo to ruin through slovenliness or neglect; and in return, grateful\nCeres wards off damage from the produce, that the high-piled sheaves\nmay gladden the heart of the husbandman. Here hospitality still holds\ngood, the bread-pantry, the wine-vat, and the store of sausages on the\nrafter, lock and key are at the service of the traveler, and piles of\nfood are set before him; contented, the sated guest sits, looking\nneither before him, nor behind, dozing by the hearth in the kitchen.\nThe warmest double wool sheepskin is spread as a couch for him. Here\npeople still, as good burgesses, obey the righteous law which neither\nout of envy injures the innocent, nor out of favor pardons the guilty.\nHere they speak no evil against their neighbors. Here they trespass\nnot with their feet on the sacred hearth, but honor the gods with\ndevotion and with sacrifices; throw to the familiar spirit his little\nbit of flesh into his appointed little dish, and when the master of\nthe household dies accompany the bier with the same prayer with which\nthose of his father and of his grandfather were borne forth.\"\n\n _Arthur Gilman, M. A. \"The Story of Rome.\"_\n _Putnam's \"Stories of the Nations Series.\"_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMEDI\u00c6VAL RECORD.\n\n\n\n\n_XXXIII.--CONVERSION OF THE ENGLISH._\n\n\n1. Some time before Gregory became Pope, perhaps about the year 574,\nhe went one day through the market at Rome, where, among other things,\nthere were still men, women, and children to be sold as slaves. He saw\nthere some beautiful boys who had just been brought by a\nslave-merchant, boys with a fair skin and long fair hair, as English\nboys then would have.\n\n2. He was told that they were heathen boys from the Isle of Britain.\nGregory was sorry to think that forms which were so fair without\nshould have no light within, and he asked again what was the name of\ntheir nation. \"_Angles_,\" he was told. \"_Angles_,\" said Gregory; \"they\nhave the faces of _angels_, and they ought to be made fellow-heirs of\nthe angels in heaven. But of what province or tribe of the Angles are\nthey?\" \"Of _Deira_,\" said the merchant. \"_De ira!_\" said Gregory;\n\"then they must be delivered from the wrath of God. And what is the\nname of their king?\" \"_\u00c6lla._\" \"_\u00c6lla_; then _Alleluia_ shall be sung\nin his land.\"\n\n3. Gregory then went to the Pope, and asked him to send missionaries\ninto Britain, of whom he himself would be one, to convert the English.\nThe Pope was willing, but the people of Rome, among whom Gregory was a\npriest and was much beloved, would not let him go. So nothing came of\nthe matter for some time.\n\n4. We do not know whether Gregory was able to do anything for the poor\nEnglish boys whom he saw in the market, but he certainly never forgot\nhis plan for converting the English people. After a while he became\nPope himself. Of course, he now no longer thought of going into\nBritain himself, as he had enough to do in Rome. But he now had power\nto send others. He therefore presently sent a company of monks, with\none called Augustine at their head, who became the first Archbishop of\nCanterbury, and is called the Apostle of the English.\n\n5. This was in 597. The most powerful king in Britain at this time was\n\u00c6thelbert, of Kent, who is said to have been lord over all the kings\nsouth of the Humber. This \u00c6thelbert had done what was very seldom done\nby English kings then or for a long time after; he had married a\nforeign wife, the daughter of Chariberth, one of the kings of the\nFranks, in Gaul.\n\n6. Now, the Franks had become Christians; so when the Frankish queen\ncame over to Kent, \u00c6thelbert promised that she should be allowed to\nkeep to her own religion without let or hindrance. She brought with\nher, therefore, a Frankish bishop named Lindhard, and the queen and\nher bishop used to worship God in a little church near Canterbury,\ncalled Saint Martin's, which had been built in the Roman times. So you\nsee that both \u00c6thelbert and his people must have known something\nabout the Christian faith before Augustine came.\n\n7. It does not, however, seem that either the king or any of his\npeople had at all thought of turning Christians. This seems strange\nwhen one reads how easily they were converted afterward. One would\nhave thought that Bishop Lindhard would have been more likely to\nconvert them than Augustine, for, being a Frank, he would speak a\ntongue not very different from English, while Augustine spoke Latin,\nand, if he ever knew English at all, he must have learned it after he\ncame into the island. I can not tell you for certain why this was.\nPerhaps they did not think that a man who had merely come in the\nqueen's train was so well worth listening to as one who had come on\npurpose all the way from the great city of Rome, to which all the West\nstill looked up as the capital of the world.\n\n8. So Augustine and his companions set out from Rome, and passed\nthrough Gaul, and came into Britain, even as C\u00e6sar had done ages\nbefore. But this time Rome had sent forth men not to conquer lands,\nbut to win souls. They landed first in the Isle of Thanet, which joins\nclose to the east part of Kent, and thence they sent a message to King\n\u00c6thelbert, saying why they had come into his land. The king sent word\nback to them to stay in the isle till he had fully made up his mind\nhow to treat them; and he gave orders that they should be well taken\ncare of meanwhile.\n\n9. After a little while he came himself into the isle, and bade them\ncome and tell him what they had to say. He met them in the open air,\nfor he would not meet them in a house, as he thought they might be\nwizards, and that they might use some charm or spell, which he thought\nwould have less power out-of-doors. So they came, carrying an image\nof our Lord on the cross, wrought in silver, and singing litanies as\nthey came. And when they came before the king, they preached the\ngospel to him and to those who were with him.\n\n10. So King \u00c6thelbert hearkened to them, and he made answer like a\ngood and wise man. \"Your words and promises,\" said he, \"sound very\ngood unto me; but they are new and strange, and I can not believe them\nall at once, nor can I leave all that I and my fathers, and the whole\nEnglish folk, have believed so long. But I see that ye have come from\na far country to tell us that which ye yourselves hold for truth; so\nye may stay in the land, and I will give you a house to dwell in and\nfood to eat; and ye may preach to my folk, and if any man of them will\nbelieve as ye believe, I hinder him not.\"\n\n11. So he gave them a house to dwell in in the royal city of\nCanterbury, and he let them preach to the people. And, as they drew\nnear to the city, they carried their silver image of the Lord Jesus,\nand sang litanies, saying, \"We pray Thee, O Lord, let thy anger and\nthy wrath be turned away from this city, and from thy holy house,\nbecause we have sinned. Alleluia!\"\n\n12. Thus Augustine and his companions dwelt at Canterbury, and\nworshiped in the old church where the queen worshiped, and preached to\nthe men of the land. And many men hearkened to them and were baptized,\nand before long King \u00c6thelbert himself believed and was baptized; and\nbefore the year was out there were added to the Church more than ten\nthousand souls.\n\n _Freeman._\n\n\n\n\n_XXXIV.--LEO THE SLAVE._\n\n\n1. In A. D. 533, the Franks had fully gained possession of all the\nnorth of Gaul, except Brittany. Clovis had made them Christians in\nname, but they still remained horribly savage, and the life of the\nGauls under them was wretched. The Burgundians and Visigoths, who had\npeopled the southern and eastern provinces, were far from being\nequally violent. They had entered on their settlements on friendly\nterms, and even showed considerable respect for the Roman-Gallic\nsenators, magistrates, and higher clergy, who all remained unmolested\nin their dignity and riches. Thus it was that Gregory, Bishop of\nLangres, was a man of high rank and consideration in the Burgundian\nkingdom, whence the Christian Queen Clotilda had come; and even after\nthe Burgundians had been subdued by the four sons of Clovis, he\ncontinued a rich and prosperous man.\n\n2. After one of the many quarrels and reconciliations between these\nfierce brethren, there was an exchange of hostages for the observance\nof the terms of the treaty. These were not taken from among the\nFranks, who were too proud to submit to captivity, but from among the\nGaulish nobles, a much more convenient arrangement for the Frankish\nkings, who cared for the life of a \"Roman\" infinitely less than even\nfor the life of a Frank. Thus many young men of senatorial families\nwere exchanged between the domains of Theodoric to the south, and of\nHildebert to the northward, and quartered among Frankish chiefs, with\nwhom at first they had nothing more to endure than the discomfort of\nliving as guests with such rude and coarse barbarians.\n\n3. But ere long fresh quarrels arose between Theodoric and Hildebert,\nand the unfortunate hostages were at once turned into slaves. Some of\nthem ran away, if they were near the frontier; but Bishop Gregory was\nin the utmost anxiety about his nephew Attalus, who had been last\nheard of as being placed under the charge of a Frank who lived between\nTr\u00e8ves and Metz. The bishop sent emissaries to make secret inquiries,\nand they brought back the word that the unfortunate youth had been\nreduced to slavery, and was made to keep his master's herds of horses.\nUpon this the uncle again sent off his messengers with presents for\nthe ransom of Attalus; but the Frank rejected them, saying, \"One of\nsuch high race can only be redeemed for ten pounds weight of gold.\"\n\n4. This was beyond the bishop's means, and, while he was considering\nhow to raise the sum, the slaves were all lamenting for their young\nlord, to whom they were much attached, till one of them, named Leo,\nthe cook to the household, came to the bishop, saying to him, \"If thou\nwilt give me leave to go, I will deliver him from captivity.\" The\nbishop replied that he gave free permission, and the slave set off for\nTr\u00e8ves, and there watched anxiously for an opportunity of gaining\naccess to Attalus; but, though the poor young man, no longer daintily\ndressed, bathed, and perfumed, but ragged and squalid, might be seen\nfollowing his herds of horses, he was too well watched for any\ncommunication to be held with him.\n\n5. Then Leo went to a person, probably of Gallic birth, and said:\n\"Come with me to this barbarian's house, and there sell me for a\nslave. Thou shalt have the money; I only ask thee to help me thus\nfar.\" Both repaired to the Frank's abode, the chief among a confused\ncollection of clay and timber huts, intended for shelter during eating\nand sleeping. The Frank looked at the slave, and asked him what he\ncould do. \"I can dress whatever is eaten at lordly tables,\" replied\nLeo. \"I am afraid of no rival; I only tell thee the truth when I say\nthat, if thou wouldst give a feast to the king, I could send it up in\nthe neatest manner.\" \"Ha!\" said the barbarian, \"the Sun's day is\ncoming. I shall invite my kinsmen and friends. Cook me such a dinner\nas may amaze them, and make them say, 'We saw nothing better in the\nking's house.'\" \"Let me have plenty of poultry, and I will do\naccording to my master's bidding,\" returned Leo.\n\n6. Accordingly, he was purchased for twelve gold-pieces, and on the\nSunday, as Bishop Gregory of Tours, who tells the story, explains,\nthat the barbarians called the Lord's day, he produced a banquet after\nthe most approved Roman fashion, much to the surprise and delight of\nthe Franks, who had never tasted such delicacies before, and\ncomplimented their host upon them all the evening. Leo gradually\nbecame a great favorite, and was placed in authority over the other\nslaves, to whom he gave out their portions of broth and meat. But from\nthe first he had not shown any recognition of Attalus, and had signed\nto him that they must be strangers to one another.\n\n7. A whole year passed away in this manner, when one day Leo wandered,\nas if for pastime, into the plain where Attalus was watching the\nhorses, and sitting down on the ground at some paces off, and with his\nback toward his young master so that they might not be seen talking\ntogether, he said: \"This is the time for thoughts of home! When thou\nhast led the horses to the stable to-night, sleep not. Be ready at the\nfirst call!\"\n\n8. That day the Frank lord was entertaining a large number of guests,\namong them his daughter's husband, a jovial young man, given to jesting.\nOn going to rest he fancied he should be thirsty at night, and called\nLeo to place a pitcher of hydromel by his bedside. As the slave was\nsetting it down, the Frank looked slyly from under his eyelids and said\nin joke, \"Tell me, my father-in-law's trusty man, wilt thou not some\nnight take one of his horses and run away to thine own home?\"\n\n9. \"Please God, it is what I mean to do this very night,\" answered the\nGaul, so undauntedly that the Frank took it as a jest, and answered,\n\"I shall look out, then, that thou dost not carry off anything of\nmine,\" and then Leo left him, both laughing.\n\n10. All were soon asleep, and the cook crept out to the stable, where\nAttalus usually slept among the horses. He was broad awake now, and\nready to saddle the two swiftest; but he had no weapon, except a small\nlance, so Leo boldly went back to his master's sleeping hut, and took\ndown his sword and shield, but not without awakening him enough to ask\nwho was moving. \"It is I, Leo,\" was the answer; \"I have been to call\nAttalus to take out the horses early. He sleeps as hard as a\ndrunkard.\" The Frank went to sleep again, quite satisfied, and Leo,\ncarrying out the weapons, soon made Attalus feel like a free man and a\nnoble once more.\n\n11. They passed unseen out of the inclosure, mounted their horses and\nrode along the great Roman road from Tr\u00e8ves as far as the Meuse, but\nthey found the bridge guarded, and were obliged to wait till night,\nwhen they cast their horses loose, and swam the river, supporting\nthemselves on boards that they had found on the bank. They had as yet\nhad no food since the supper at their master's, and were thankful to\nfind a plum-tree in the wood, with fruit, to refresh them in small\ndegree, before they lay down for the night. The next morning they went\non in the direction of Rheims, carefully listening whether there were\nany sounds behind, until, on the broad, hard-paved causeway, they\nheard the trampling of horses. Happily a bush was near, behind which\nthey crept, and here the riders actually halted for a few moments to\narrange their harness. Men and horses were both those they feared, and\nthey trembled at hearing one say: \"Woe is me that those rogues have\nmade off, and have not been caught! On my salvation, if I catch them,\nI will have one hung, and the other chopped into little bits!\"\n\n12. It was no small comfort to hear the trot of the horses resumed, and\nsoon dying away in the distance. That same night, the two faint, hungry,\nweary travelers, foot-sore and exhausted, came stumbling into Rheims,\nlooking about for some person still awake, to tell them the way to the\nhouse of the priest Paul, a friend of Attalus's uncle. They found it\njust as the church-bell was ringing for matins, a sound that must have\nseemed very like home to these members of an episcopal household. They\nknocked, and in the morning twilight met the priest going to his\nearliest Sunday-morning service. Leo told his young master's name, and\nhow they had escaped, and the priest's first exclamation was a strange\none: \"My dream is true! This very night I saw two doves, one white and\none black, who came and perched on my hand.\"\n\n13. The good man was overjoyed, but he scrupled to give them any food,\nas it was contrary to the Church's rules for the fast to be broken\nbefore mass; but the travelers were half-dead with hunger, and could\nonly say, \"The good Lord pardon us, for, saving the respect due to his\nday, we must eat something, since this is the fourth day since we have\ntouched bread or meat.\" The priest, upon this, gave them some bread\nand wine, and after hiding them carefully, went to church, hoping to\navert suspicion. But their master was already at Rheims, making strict\nsearch for them, and learning that Paul the priest was a friend of the\nBishop of Langres, he went to the church, and there questioned him\nclosely. But the priest succeeded in guarding his secret, and though\nhe incurred much danger--as the Salic law is very severe against\nconcealers of runaway slaves--he kept Attalus and Leo for two days,\ntill the search was over, and their strength restored, so that they\ncould proceed to Langres. There they were welcomed like men risen from\nthe dead; the bishop wept on the neck of Attalus, and was ready to\nreceive Leo as a slave no more, but a friend and deliverer.\n\n14. A few days after, Leo was solemnly led to the church. Every door\nwas set open as a sign that he might henceforth go whithersoever he\nwould. Bishop Gregorius took him by the hand, and, standing, before\nthe archdeacon, declared that for the sake of the good services\nrendered by his slave Leo, he set him free, and created him a Roman\ncitizen. Then the archbishop read a writing of manumission. \"Whatever\nis done according to the Roman law is irrevocable. According to the\nconstitution of the Emperor Constantine, of happy memory, and the\nedict that declares that whosoever is manumitted in church, in the\npresence of the bishops, priests, and deacons, shall become a Roman\ncitizen under protection of the Church; from this day Leo becomes a\nmember of the city, free to go and come where he will, as if he had\nbeen born of free parents. From this day forward he is exempt from all\nsubjection of servitude, of all duty of a freedman, all bond of\nclientship. He is and shall be free, with full and entire freedom, and\nshall never cease to belong to the body of Roman citizens.\"\n\n15. At the same time Leo was endowed with lands, which raised him to\nthe rank of what the Franks called a Roman proprietor, the highest\nreward in the bishop's power, for the faithful devotion that had\nincurred such dangers in order to rescue the young Attalus from his\nmiserable bondage.\n\n _Charlotte M. Yonge._\n\n\n\n\n_XXXV.--THE MOORS IN SPAIN._\n\n\n1. Scarcely had the Arabs become firmly settled in Spain before they\ncommenced a brilliant career. Adopting what had now become the\nestablished policy of the commanders of the Faithful in Asia, the\ncaliphs of Cordova distinguished themselves as patrons of learning,\nand set an example of refinement strongly contrasting with the\ncondition of the native European princes. Cordova, under their\nadministration, at its highest point of prosperity, boasted of more\nthan two hundred thousand houses, and more than a million inhabitants.\nAfter sunset a man might walk through it in a straight line for ten\nmiles by the light of the public lamps. Seven hundred years after this\ntime there was not so much as one public lamp in London. Its streets\nwere solidly paved. In Paris, centuries subsequently, who ever stepped\nover his threshold on a rainy day stepped up to his ankles in mud.\n\n2. Other cities, as Granada, Seville, Toledo, considered themselves\nrivals of Cordova. The palaces of the caliphs were magnificently\ndecorated. Those sovereigns might well look down with supercilious\ncontempt on the dwellings of the rulers of Germany, France, and\nEngland, which were scarcely better than stables--chimneyless,\nwindowless, and with a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape, like\nthe wigwams of certain Indians.\n\n3. The Spanish Mohammedans had brought with them all the luxuries and\nprodigalities of Asia. Their residences stood forth against the clear\nblue sky, or were embosomed in woods. They had polished marble\nbalconies, overhanging orange-gardens, courts with cascades of water,\nshady retreats provocative of slumber in the heat of the day,\nretiring-rooms, vaulted with stained glass, speckled with gold, over\nwhich streams of water were made to gush; the floors and walls were\nof exquisite mosaic. Here a fountain of quicksilver shot up in a\nglistening spray, the glittering particles falling with a tranquil\nsound like fairy bells; there, apartments into which cool air was\ndrawn from flower-gardens, in summer, by means of ventilating towers,\nand in the winter through earthen pipes, or caleducts, imbedded in the\nwalls--the hypocaust, in the vaults below, breathing forth volumes of\nwarm and perfumed air through these hidden passages.\n\n4. The walls were not covered with wainscot, but adorned with\narabesques and paintings of agricultural scenes and views of paradise.\nFrom the ceilings, corniced with fretted gold, great chandeliers hung,\none of which, it is said, was so large that it contained one thousand\nand eighty-four lamps. Clusters of frail marble columns surprised the\nbeholder with the vast weights they bore. In the boudoirs of the\nsultanas they were sometimes of verd-antique, and incrusted with\nlapis-lazuli. The furniture was of sandal and citron wood inlaid with\nmother-of-pearl, ivory, silver, or relieved with gold and precious\nmalachite. In orderly confusion were arranged vases of rock-crystal,\nChinese porcelain, and tables of exquisite mosaic. The winter\napartments were hung with rich tapestry; the floors were covered with\nembroidered Persian carpets. Pillows and couches of elegant forms were\nscattered about the rooms, which were perfumed with frankincense.\n\n5. It was the intention of the Saracen architect, by excluding the\nview of the external landscape, to concentrate attention on his work,\nand since the representation of the human form was religiously\nforbidden, and that source of decoration denied, his imagination ran\nriot with the complicated arabesques he introduced, and sought every\nopportunity of replacing the prohibited work of art by the trophies\nand rarities of the garden. For this reason the Arabs never produced\nartists; religion turned them from the beautiful, and made them\nsoldiers, philosophers, and men of affairs. Splendid flowers and rare\nexotics ornamented the court-yards and even the inner chambers.\n\n6. Great care was taken to make due provision for the cleanliness,\noccupation, and amusement of the inmates. Through pipes of metal,\nwater, both warm and cold, to suit the season of the year, ran into\nbaths of marble; in niches, where the current of air could be\nartificially directed, hung dripping _alcarazzas_. There were\nwhispering-galleries for the amusement of the women; labyrinths and\nmarble play-courts for the children; for the master himself, grand\nlibraries. The Caliph Alhakem's was so large that the catalogue alone\nfilled forty volumes. He had also apartments for the transcribing,\nbinding, and ornamenting of books. A taste for caligraphy and the\npossession of splendidly illuminated manuscripts seems to have\nanticipated in the caliphs, both of Asia and Spain, the taste for\nstatuary and painting among the later popes of Rome.\n\n7. Such were the palace and gardens of Zehra, in which Abderrahman III\nhonored his favorite sultana. The edifice had twelve hundred columns\nof Greek, Italian, Spanish, and African marble. The body-guard of the\nsovereign was composed of twelve thousand horsemen, whose cimeters and\nbelts were studded with gold. This was that Abderrahman who, after a\nglorious reign of fifty years, sat down to count the number of days of\nunalloyed happiness he had experienced, and could only enumerate\nfourteen. \"O man!\" exclaimed the plaintive caliph, \"put not your trust\nin this present world.\"\n\n8. No nation has ever excelled the Spanish Arabs in the beauty and\ncostliness of their pleasure-gardens. To them also we owe the\nintroduction of very many of our most valuable cultivated fruits, such\nas the peach. Retaining the love of their ancestors for the cooling\neffect of water in a hot climate, they spared no pains in the\nsuperfluity of fountains, hydraulic works, and artificial lakes in\nwhich fish were raised for the table. Into such a lake, attached to\nthe palace of Cordova, many loaves were cast each day to feed the\nfish.\n\n9. There were also menageries of foreign animals, aviaries of rare\nbirds, manufactories in which skilled workmen, obtained from foreign\ncountries, displayed their art in textures of silk, cotton, linen, and\nall the miracles of the loom; in jewelry and filigree-work, with which\nthey ministered to the female pride. Under the shade of cypresses\ncascades disappeared; among flowering shrubs there were winding walks,\nbowers of roses, seats cut out of rock, and crypt-like grottoes hewn\nin the living stone. Nowhere was ornamental gardening better\nunderstood; for not only did the artist try to please the eye as it\nwandered over the pleasant gradation of vegetable color and form--he\nalso boasted his success in the gratification of the sense of smell by\nthe studied succession of perfumes from beds of flowers.\n\n10. In the midst of all this luxury, which can not be regarded by the\nhistorian with disdain, since in the end it produced a most important\nresult in the south of France, the Spanish caliphs, emulating the\nexample of their Asiatic compeers, were not only the patrons but the\npersonal cultivators of human learning. One of them was himself the\nauthor of a work on polite literature in not less than fifty volumes;\nanother wrote a treatise on algebra. When Taryak, the musician, came\nfrom the East to Spain, the Caliph Abderrahman rode forth to meet him\nwith honor. The College of Music in Cordova was sustained by ample\ngovernment patronage, and is said to have produced many illustrious\nprofessors.\n\n _John W. Draper._\n\n\n\n\n_XXXVI.--CHARLEMAGNE._\n\n\n1. We come now to one of the greatest men of all times, Charles the\nGreat, son of Pepin the Short, a man who has left his mark on history\nfor all time. Charles (called by the French Charlemagne) was great in\nmany ways, whereas most great men are great in one or two. He was a\ngreat warrior, a great political genius, an energetic legislator, a\nlover of learning, and a lover also of his natural language and poetry\nat a time when it was the fashion to despise them. And he united and\ndisplayed all these merits in a time of general and monotonous\nbarbarism, when, save in the church, the minds of men were dull and\nbarren.\n\n2. From 769 to 813, in Germany and Western and Northern Europe,\nCharlemagne conducted thirty-two campaigns against the Saxons,\nFrisians, Bavarians, Avars, Slavs, and Danes; in Italy, five against\nthe Lombards; in Spain, Corsica, and Sardinia, twelve against the\nArabs, two against the Greeks, and three in Gaul itself, against the\nAquitanians and Bretons--in all, fifty-three expeditions in forty-five\nyears, among which those he undertook against the Saxons, the\nLombards, and the Arabs were long and difficult wars.\n\n3. The kingdom of Charles was vast; it comprised nearly all Germany,\nBelgium, France, Switzerland, and the north of Italy and of Spain. He\nhad, in ruling this mighty realm, to deal with different nations,\nwithout cohesion, and to grapple with their various institutions and\nbring them into system.\n\n4. The first great undertaking of Charles was against the Saxons. They\nwere still heathen, and were a constant source of annoyance to the\nFranks, for they made frequent inroads to pillage and destroy their\ntowns and harvests.\n\n5. In the line of mountains which forms the step from lower into upper\nGermany, above the Westphalian plains, is one point at which the river\nWeser breaks through and flows down into the level land about three\nmiles above the town of Minden. This rent in the mountain is called\nthe Westphalian Gate. The hills stand on each side like red sandstone\ndoor-posts, and one is crowned by some crumbling fragments of a\ncastle; it is called the Wittekindsberg, and takes its name from\nWittekind, a Saxon king, who had his castle there. Wittekind was a\nstubborn heathen, and a very determined man.\n\n6. In 772 Charles convoked a great assembly at Worms, at which it was\nunanimously resolved to march against the Saxons and chastise them for\ntheir incursions. Charles advanced along the Weser, through the gate,\ndestroyed Wittekind's castle, pushed on to Paderborn, where he threw\ndown an idol adored by the Saxons, and then was obliged to return and\nhurry to Italy to fight the Lombards, who had revolted. Next year he\ninvaded Saxony again. He built himself a palace at Paderborn, and\nsummoned the Saxon chiefs to come and do homage. Wittekind alone\nrefused, and fled to Denmark.\n\n[Illustration: _Charlemagne._]\n\n7. No sooner had Charles gone to fight the Moors in Spain than\nWittekind returned, and the Saxons rose at his summons, and, bursting\ninto Franconia, devastated the land up to the walls of Cologne.\nCharles returned and fought them in two great battles, defeated them,\nerected fortresses in their midst, and carried off hostages. Affairs\nseemed to prosper, and Charles deemed himself as securely master of\nSaxony as Varus had formerly in the same country, and under precisely\nthe same circumstances. Charles then quitted the country, leaving\norders for a body of Saxons to join his Franks and march together\nagainst the Slavs. The Saxons obeyed the call with alacrity, and soon\noutnumbered the Franks. One day, as the army was crossing the\nmountains from the Weser, at a given signal the Saxons fell on their\ncompanions and butchered them.\n\n8. When the news of this disaster reached Charles he resolved to teach\nthe Saxons a terrible lesson. Crossing the Rhine, he laid waste their\ncountry with fire and sword, and forced the Saxons to submit to be\nbaptized and accept Christian teachers. Those who refused he killed.\nAt Verdun he had over four thousand of the rebels beheaded. At\nDetmold, Wittekind led the Saxons in a furious battle, in which\nneither gained the victory. In another battle, on the Hase, they were\ncompletely routed.\n\n9. Then Wittekind submitted, came into the camp of Charles, and asked\nto be baptized. A little ruined chapel stands on the Wittekindsberg,\nabove the Westphalian Gate, and there, according to tradition, near\nthe overturned walls of his own castle, the stubborn heathen bowed the\nneck to receive the yoke of Christ. Charles's two nephews, the sons of\nKarlomann, were with Desiderius, the Lombard king, and Desiderius\ntried to force the Pope to anoint them kings of the Franks, to head a\nrevolt against Charles. When the great king heard this he came over\nthe Alps into Italy, dethroned Desiderius, and shut him up in a\nmonastery. Then he crowned himself with the iron crown of the Lombard\nkings, which was said to have been made out of one of the nails that\nfastened Christ to the cross.\n\n10. Duke Thassils of Bavaria had married a daughter of Desiderius, and\nhe refused to acknowledge the authority of Charles. He also stirred up\nthe Avars who lived in Hungary to invade the Frankish realm. Charles\nmarched against Thassils, drove him out of Bavaria, subdued the Avars,\nand converted the country between the Ems and Raab--that is, Austria\nproper--into a province, which was called the East March, and formed the\nbeginning of the East Realm (Oesterreich), or Austria. Charles also\nfought the Danes, and took from them the country up to the river Eider.\n\n11. When we consider what continuous fighting Charles had, it is a\nwonder to us that he had time to govern and make laws; but he devoted\nas much thought to arranging his realm and placing it under proper\ngovernors as he did to extending its frontiers.\n\n12. Charles constituted the various parts of his vast\nempire--kingdoms, duchies, and counties. He was himself the sovereign\nof all these united, but he managed them through counts and\nvice-counts. The frontier districts were called marches, and were\nunder march-counts, or margraves. Count is not a German title; the\nGerman equivalent is Graf, and the English is earl. The counties were\ndivided into hundreds; a hundred villages went to a vice-count. He had\nalso counts of the palace, who ruled over the crown estates, and\nsend-counts (_missi_), whom he sent out yearly through the country to\nsee that his other counts did justice, and did not oppress the people.\nIf people felt themselves wronged by the counts, they appealed to\nthese send-counts; and if the send-counts did not do them justice,\nthey appealed to the palatine-counts.\n\n13. Every year Charles summoned his counts four times, when he could,\nbut always once, in May, to meet him in council, and discuss the\ngrievances of the people. As the great dukes were troublesome, because\nso powerful, Charles tried to do without them, and to keep them in\ncheck. He gave whole principalities to bishops, hoping that they would\nbecome supporters of him and the crown against the powerful dukes.\n\n14. He was also very careful for the good government of the Church. He\nendowed a number of monasteries to serve as schools for boys and\ngirls. He had also a collection of good, wholesome sermons made in\nGerman, and sent copies about in all directions, requiring them to be\nread to the people in church. He invited singers and musicians from\nItaly to come and improve the performance of divine worship, and two\nsong-schools were established, one at Gall, another at Metz. His\nFranks, he complained, had not much aptitude for music; their singing\nwas like the howling of wild beasts or the noise made by the\nsqueaking, groaning wheels of a baggage-wagon over a stony road!\n\n15. Charles was particularly interested in schools, and delighted in\ngoing into them and listening to the boys at their lessons. One day\nwhen he had paid such a visit he was told that the noblemen's sons\nwere much idler than those of the common citizens. Then the great king\ngrew red in the face and frowned, and his eyes flashed. He called the\nyoung nobles before him and said in thundering tones: \"You grand\ngentlemen! You young puppets! You puff yourselves up with the thoughts\nof your rank and wealth, and suppose you have no need of letters! I\ntell you that your pretty faces and your high nobility are accounted\nnothing by me. Beware! beware! Without diligence and conscientiousness\nnot one of you gets anything from me.\"\n\n16. Charles dearly loved the grand old German poems of the heroes, and\nhe had them collected and copied out. Alas! they have been lost. His\nstupid son, thinking them rubbish, burned them all. The great king\nalso sent to Italy for builders, and set them to work to erect palaces\nand churches. His favorite palaces were at Aix and at Ingelheim. At\nthe latter place he had a bridge built over the Rhine. At Aix he built\nthe cathedral with pillars taken from Roman ruins. It was quite\ncircular, with a colonnade going round it; inside it remains almost\nunaltered to the present day.\n\n17. He was very eager to promote trade, and so far in advance of the\ntimes was he that he resolved to cut a canal so as to connect the Main\nwith the Regnitz, and thus make a water-way right across Germany from\nthe Rhine to the Danube, and so connect the German Ocean with the\nBlack Sea. The canal was begun, but wars interfered with its\ncompletion, and the work was not carried out till the present century\nby Louis I of Bavaria.\n\n18. Charles was a tall, grand looking man, nearly seven feet high. He\nwas so strong that he could take a horseshoe in his hands and snap it.\nHe ate and drank in moderation, and was grave and dignified in his\nconduct.\n\n19. In the year 800, an insurrection broke out in Rome against Pope\nLeo III. While he was riding in procession his enemies fell on him,\nthrew him from his horse, and an awkward attempt was made to put out\nhis eyes and cut out his tongue. Thus, bleeding and insensible, he was\nput into a monastery. The Duke of Spoleto, a Frank, hearing of this,\nmarched to Rome and removed the wounded Pope to Spoleto, where he was\nwell nursed and recovered his eye-sight and power of speech. Charles\nwas very indignant when he heard of the outrage, and he left the\nSaxons, whom he was fighting, and came to Italy to investigate the\ncircumstance. He assumed the office of judge, and the guilty persons\nwere sent to prison in France.\n\n20. Then came Christmas-day, the Christmas of the last year in the\neighth century of Christ. Charles and all his sumptuous court, the\nnobles and people of Rome, the whole clergy of Rome, were present at\nthe high services of the birth of Christ. The Pope himself chanted the\nmass; the full assembly were rapt in profound devotion. At the close\nthe Pope rose, advanced toward Charles with a splendid crown in his\nhands, placed it upon his brow, and proclaimed him C\u00e6sar Augustus.\n\"God grant life and victory to the great emperor!\" His words were lost\nin the acclamations of the soldiery, the people, and the clergy.\n\n21. Charles was taken completely by surprise. What the consequences\nwould be to Germany and to the papacy, how fatal to both, neither he\nnor Leo could see. So Charlemagne became King of Italy and Emperor of\nthe West--the successor of the C\u00e6sars of Rome.\n\n22. When Charles felt that his end was approaching, he summoned all\nhis nobles to Aix into the church he had there erected. There, on the\naltar, lay a golden crown. Charles made his son Ludwig, or Louis,\nstand before him, and, in the audience of his great men, gave him his\nlast exhortation: to fear God and to love his people as his own\nchildren, to do right and to execute justice, and to walk in integrity\nbefore God and man. With streaming eyes Louis promised to fulfill his\nfather's command. \"Then,\" said Charles, \"take this crown, and place it\non your own head, and never forget the promise you have made this day.\"\n\n _Sabine, Baring-Gould. \"The Story of Germany.\"_\n _Putnam's \"Stories of the Nations\" Series._\n\n\n\n\nWESTERN RECORD.\n\n\n\n\n_XXXVII.-THE NORSEMEN._\n\n\n1. The Gulf Stream flows so near to the southern coast of Norway, and\nto the Orkneys and Western Islands, that their climate is much less\nsevere than might be supposed. Yet no one can help wondering why they\nwere formerly so much more populous than now, and why the people who\ncame westward even so long ago as the great Aryan migration, did not\npersist in turning aside to the more fertile countries that lay\nfarther southward. In spite of all their disadvantages, the\nScandinavian peninsula, and the sterile islands of the northern seas,\nwere inhabitated by men and women whose enterprise and intelligence\nranked them above their neighbors.\n\n2. Now, with the modern ease of travel and transportation, these\npoorer countries can be supplied from other parts of the world. And\nthough the summers of Norway are misty and dark and short, and it is\ndifficult to raise even a little hay on the bits of meadow among the\nrocky mountain-slopes, commerce can make up for all deficiencies. In\nearly times there was no commerce, except that carried on by the\npirates, if we may dignify their undertakings by such a respectable\nname, and it was hardly possible to make a living from the soil\nalone. But it does not take us long to discover that the ancient\nNorthmen were not farmers, but hunters and fishermen. It had grown\nmore and more difficult to find food along the rivers and broad grassy\nwastes of inland Europe, and pushing westward they had at last reached\nthe place where they could live beside waters that swarmed with fish\nand among hills that sheltered plenty of game.\n\n3. The tribes that settled in the north grew in time to have many\npeculiarities of their own, and as their countries grew more and more\npopulous, they needed more things that could not easily be had, and a\nfashion of plundering their neighbors began to prevail. Men were still\nmore or less beasts of prey. Invaders must be kept out, and at last\nmuch of the industry of Scandinavia was connected with the carrying on\nof an almost universal fighting and marauding. Ships must be built,\nand there must be endless supplies of armor and weapons. Stones were\neasily collected for missiles or made fit for arrows and spear-heads,\nand metals were worked with great care.\n\n4. In Norway and Sweden were the best places to find all these, and if\nthe Northmen planned to fight a great battle, they had to transport a\nhuge quantity of stones, iron, and bronze. It is easy to see why one\nday's battle was almost always decisive in ancient times, for supplies\ncould not be quickly forwarded from point to point, and after the arrows\nwere all shot and the conquered were chased off the field, they had no\nfurther means of offense except a hand-to-hand fight with those who had\nwon the right to pick up the fallen spears at their leisure. So, too, an\nunexpected invasion was likely to prove successful; it was a work of\ntime to get ready for a battle, and when the Northmen swooped down upon\nsome shore town of Britain or Gaul, the unlucky citizens were at their\nmercy. And while the Northmen had fish and game, and were mighty\nhunters, and their rocks and mines helped forward their warlike\nenterprises, so the forests supplied them with ship-timber, and they\ngained renown as sailors wherever their fame extended.\n\n5. There was a great difference, however, between the manner of life in\nNorway and that of England and France. The Norwegian stone, however\nuseful for arrow-heads or axes, was not fit for building purposes. There\nis hardly any clay there, either, to make bricks with, so that wood has\nusually been the only material for houses. In the southern countries\nthere had always been rude castles in which the people could shelter\nthemselves, but the Northmen could build no castles that a torch could\nnot destroy. They trusted much more to their ships than to their houses,\nand some of their captains disdained to live on shore at all.\n\n6. There is something refreshing in the stories of old Norse life; of\nits simplicity and freedom and childish zest. An old writer says that\nthey had \"a hankering after pomp and pageantry,\" and by means of this\nthey came at last to doing things decently and in order, and to\nsetting the fashions for the rest of Europe. There was considerable\ndignity in the manner of every-day life and housekeeping. Their houses\nwere often very large, even two hundred feet long, with flaring fires\non a pavement in the middle of the floor, and the beds built next the\nwalls on three sides, sometimes hidden by wide tapestries or foreign\ncloth that had been brought home in the viking ships. In front of the\nbeds were benches where each man had his seat and footstool, with his\narmor and weapons hung high on the wall above.\n\n7. The master of the house had a high seat on the north side in the\nmiddle of a long bench; opposite was another bench for guests and\nstrangers, while the women sat on the third side. The roof was high;\nthere were a few windows in it, and those were covered by skins, and\nlet in but little light. The smoke escaped through openings in the\ncarved, soot-blackened roof; and though in later times the rich men's\nhouses were more like villages, because they made groups of smaller\nbuildings for store houses, for guest-rooms, or for work-shops all\naround still, the idea of this primitive great hall or living-room has\nnot even yet been lost. The latest copies of it in England and France\nthat still remain are most interesting; but what a fine sight it must\nhave been at night when the great fires blazed and the warriors sat on\ntheir benches in solemn order, and the skalds recited their long\nsagas, of the host's own bravery or the valiant deeds of his\nancestors! Hospitality was almost chief among the virtues.\n\n8. We must read what was written in their own language, and then we\nshall have more respect for the vikings and sea-kings, always\ndistinguishing between these two; for, while any peasant who wished\ncould be a viking--a sea-robber--a sea-king was a king indeed, and\nmust be connected with the royal race of the country. He received the\ntitle of king by right as soon as he took command of a ship's crew,\nthough he need not have any land or kingdom. Vikings were merely\npirates; they might be peasants and vikings by turn, and won their\nnames from the inlets, the viks or wicks, where they harbored their\nships. A sea-king must be a viking, but naturally very few of the\nvikings were sea-kings.\n\n[Illustration: _A Viking's Home._]\n\n9. The viking had rights in his own country, and knew what it was to\nenjoy those rights; if he could win more land, he would know how to\ngovern it, and he knew what he was fighting for, and meant to win.\nIf we wonder why all this energy was spent on the high seas and in\nstrange countries, there are two answers: first, that fighting was the\nnatural employment of the men, and that no right could be held that\ncould not be defended; but besides this, one form of their energy was\nshowing itself at home in rude attempts at literature.\n\n10. The more that we know of the Northmen, the more we are convinced\nhow superior they were in their knowledge of the useful arts to the\npeople whom they conquered. There is a legend that, when Charlemagne,\nin the ninth century, saw some pirate ships cruising in the\nMediterranean, along the shores of which they had at last found their\nway, he covered his face and burst into tears. He was not so much\nafraid of their cruelty and barbarity as of their civilization. Nobody\nknew better that none of the Christian countries under his rule had\nships or men that could make such a daring voyage. He knew that they\nwere skillful workers in wood and iron, and had learned to be\nrope-makers and weavers; that they could make casks for their supply\nof drinking-water, and understood how to prepare food for their long\ncruises. All their swords and spears and bow-strings had to be made\nand kept in good condition, and sheltered from the sea-spray.\n\n11. When we picture the famous sea-kings' ships to ourselves, we do\nnot wonder that the Northmen were so proud of them, or that the skalds\nwere never tired of recounting their glories. There were two kinds of\nvessels: the last-ships, that carried cargoes, and the long-ships, or\nships of war. Listen to the splendors of the \"Long Serpent,\" which was\nthe largest ship ever built in Norway. A dragon-ship, to begin with,\nbecause all the long-ships had a dragon for a figure-head, except the\nsmallest of them, which were called cutters, and only carried ten or\ntwenty rowers on a side. The \"Long Serpent\" had thirty-four rowers'\nbenches on a side, and she was one hundred and eleven feet long. Over\nthe sides were hung the shining red and white shields of the vikings,\nthe gilded dragon's head towered high at the prow, and at the stern a\ngilded tail went curling off over the head of the steersman. Then,\nfrom the long body, the heavy oars swept forward and back through the\nwater, and as it came down the fi\u00f4rd, the \"Long Serpent\" must have\nlooked like some enormous centipede creeping out of its den on an\nawful errand, and heading out across the rough water toward its prey.\n\n12. The voyages were often disastrous in spite of much clever\nseamanship. They knew nothing of the mariner's compass, and found\ntheir way chiefly by the aid of the stars--inconstant pilots enough on\nsuch foggy, stormy seas. They carried birds, too, oftenest ravens, and\nused to let them loose and follow them toward the nearest land. The\nblack raven was the vikings' favorite symbol for their flags, and\nfamiliar enough it became in other harbors than their own. They were\nbold, hardy fellows, and held fast to a rude code of honor and rank of\nknighthood.\n\n13. The valleys of the Elbe and the Rhine, of the Seine and the Loire,\nmade a famous hunting-ground for the dragon-ships to seek.\n\n14. The people who lived in France were of another sort, but they\noften knew how to defend themselves as well as the Northmen knew how\nto attack. There are few early French records for us to read, for the\nliterature of that early day was almost wholly destroyed in the\nreligious houses and public buildings of France. Here and there a few\npages of a poem or of a biography or chronicle have been kept, but\nfrom this very fact we can understand the miserable condition of the\ncountry.\n\n15. The whole second half of the ninth century is taken up with the\nhistories of these invasions. We must follow for a while the progress\nof events in Gaul, or France as we call it now, though it was made up\nthen of a number of smaller kingdoms. The result of the great siege of\nParis was only a settling of affairs with the Northmen for the time\nbeing; one part of the country was delivered from them at the expense\nof another.\n\n16. They could be bought off and bribed for a time, but there was\nnever to be any such thing as their going back to their own country\nand letting France alone for good and all. But as they gained at\nlength whole tracts of country, instead of the little wealth of a few\nmen to take away in their ships as at first, they began to settle down\nin their new lands and to become conquerors and colonists instead of\nmere plunderers. Instead of continually ravaging and attacking the\nkingdoms, they slowly became the owners and occupiers of the conquered\nterritory; they pushed their way from point to point.\n\n17. At first, as you have seen already they trusted to their ships,\nand always left their wives and children at home in the north\ncountries, but as time went on, they brought their families with them\nand made new homes, for which they would have to fight many a battle\nyet. It would be no wonder if the women had become possessed by a love\nof adventure, too, and had insisted upon seeing the lands from which\nthe rich booty was brought to them, and that they had been saying for\na long time: \"Show us the places where the grapes grow and the\nfruit-trees bloom, where men build great houses and live in them\nsplendidly. We are tired of seeing only the long larchen beams of\ntheir high roofs, and the purple and red and gold cloths, and the red\nwine and yellow wheat that you bring away. Why should we not go to\nlive in that country, instead of your breaking it to pieces, and going\nthere so many of you, every year, only to be slain as its enemies? We\nare tired of our sterile Norway and our great Danish deserts of sand,\nof our cold winds and wet weather, and our long winters that pass by\nso slowly while the fleets are gone. We would rather see Seville and\nParis themselves, than only their gold and merchandise and the rafters\nof their churches that you bring home for ship timbers.\"\n\n18. The kingdoms of France had been divided and subdivided, and, while\nwe find a great many fine examples of resistance, and some great\nvictories over the Northmen, they were not pushed out and checked\naltogether. Instead, they gradually changed into Frenchmen themselves,\ndifferent from other Frenchmen only in being more spirited, vigorous\nand alert. They inspired every new growth of the religion, language,\nor manners, with their own splendid vitality. They were like plants\nthat have grown in dry, thin soil, transplanted to a richer spot of\nground, and sending out fresh shoots in the doubled moisture and\nsunshine. And presently we shall find the Northman becoming the Norman\nof history. As the Northman, almost the first thing we admire about\nhim is his character, his glorious energy; as the Norman, we see that\nenergy turned into better channels, and bringing a new element into\nthe progress of civilization.\n\n _Sarah O. Jewett. \"The Story of the Normans.\"_\n _Putnam's \"Stories of the Nations\" Series._\n\n\n\n\n_XXXVIII.--ROLF THE GANGER._\n\n\n1. The ninth century was a sad time for both England and France. The\nGothic tribes, in their march to the west had reached the sea in\nDenmark and Norway, and had increased to such an extent as to take up\nall the land fit for cultivation. The strength and courage which they\nhad shown in many a battle-field on the land was now transferred to\nthe sea, soldiers and knights becoming vikings and pirates. Fierce\nworshipers were they of the old gods Odin, Frey, and Thor. They\nplundered, they burned, they slew; they especially devastated churches\nand monasteries, and no coast was safe from them from the Adriatic to\nthe farthest north--even Rome saw their long-ships, and, \"From the\nfury of the Northmen, good Lord deliver us!\" was the prayer in every\nlitany of the West.\n\n2. England had been well-nigh undone by them, when the spirit of her\ngreatest king awoke, and by Alfred they were overcome. Some were\npermitted to settle down, and were taught Christianity and\ncivilization, and the fresh invaders were driven from the coast.\nAlfred's gallant son and grandson held the same course, guarded their\ncoasts, and made their faith and themselves respected throughout the\nNorth. But in France, the much harassed house of Charles the Great,\nand the ill-compacted bond of different nations, were little able to\noppose their fierce assaults, and ravage and devastation reigned from\none end of the country to another.\n\n3. However, the vikings, on returning to their native homes sometimes\nfound their place filled up, and the family inheritance incapable of\nsupporting so many. Thus they began to think of winning not merely\ngold and cattle, but lands and houses, on the coasts they pillaged. In\nScotland, the Hebrides, and Ireland, they settled by leave of nothing\nbut their swords; in England, by treaty with Alfred; and in France,\nhalf by conquest, half by treaty, always, however, accepting\nChristianity as a needful obligation when they took posession of\nsouthern lands. Probably they thought Thor was only the god of the\nnorth, and that the \"White Christ,\" as they called Him who was made\nknown to them in these new countries was to be adored in what they\ndeemed alone his territories.\n\n4. Of all the sea-robbers who sailed from their rocky dwelling-places\nby the fi\u00f4rds of Norway, none enjoyed higher renown than Rolf, called\nthe ganger, or walker, as tradition relates, because his stature was\nso gigantic that, when clad in full armor, no horse could support his\nweight, and he therefore always fought on foot.\n\n5. Rolf's lot had, however, fallen in what he doubtless considered as\nevil days. No such burnings and plunderings as had hitherto wasted\nEngland and enriched Norway, fell to his share; for Alfred had made\nthe bravest Northman feel that his fleet and army were more than a\nmatch for theirs. Ireland was exhausted by the former depredations of\nthe pirates, and, from a fertile and flourishing country had become a\nscene of desolation. Scotland and its isles were too barren to afford\nprey to the spoiler.\n\n6. Rolf, presuming on the favor shown to his family while returning\nfrom an expedition on the Baltic, made a descent on the coast of\nViken, a part of Norway, and carried off the cattle wanted by his\ncrew. The king, who happened at that time to be in that district, was\nhighly displeased, and, assembling a council, declared Rolf the Ganger\nan outlaw.\n\n7. The banished Rolf found a great number of companions, who, like\nhimself, were unwilling to submit to the strict rule of Harald, and\nsetting sail with them, he first plundered and devastated the coast\nof Flanders, and afterward returned to France. In the spring of 896\nthe citizens of Rouen, scarcely yet recovered from the miseries\ninflicted upon them by the fierce Danish rover Hasting, were dismayed\nby the sight of a fleet of long, low vessels, with spreading sails,\nheads carved like that of a serpent, and sterns finished like the tail\nof a reptile, such as they well knew to be the keels of the dreaded\nNorthmen, the harbingers of destruction and desolation. Little hope of\nsuccor or protection was there from King Charles the Simple; and,\nindeed, had the sovereign been ever so warlike and energetic, it would\nlittle have availed Rouen, which might have been destroyed twice over\nbefore a messenger could reach Laon.\n\n8. In this emergency, Franco, the archbishop, proposed to go forth to\nmeet the Northmen and attempt to make terms for his flock. The offer\nwas gladly accepted by the trembling citizens, and the good archbishop\nwent, bearing the keys of the town, to visit the camp which the\nNorthmen had begun to erect upon the bank of the river. They offered\nhim no violence, and he performed his errand safely. Rolf, the rude\ngenerosity of whose character was touched by his fearless conduct,\nreadily agreed to spare the lives and property of the citizens, on\ncondition that Rouen was surrendered to him without resistance.\n\n9. Entering the town, he there established his headquarters, and spent\na whole year in the adjacent parts of the country, during which time\nthe Northmen so faithfully observed their promise, that they were\nregarded by the Rouennais rather as friends than as conquerors; and\nRolf, or Rollo, as the French called him, was far more popular among\nthem than their real sovereign. Wherever he met with resistance, he\nshowed, indeed, the relentless cruelty of the heathen pirate;\nwherever he found submission, he was a kind master.\n\n10. In the course of the following year, he advanced along the banks\nof the Seine as far as its junction with the Eure. On the opposite\nside of the river there were visible a number of tents, where slept a\nnumerous army, which Charles had at length collected to oppose this\nformidable enemy. The Northmen also set up their camp, in expectation\nof a battle, and darkness had just closed in on them when a shout was\nheard on the opposite side of the river, and to their surprise a voice\nwas heard speaking in their own language. \"Brave warriors, why come ye\nhither, and what do ye seek?\"\n\n11. \"We are Northmen, come hither to conquer France,\" replied Rollo.\n\"But who art thou who speakest our tongue so well?\" \"Heard ye never of\nHasting?\" was the reply. \"Yes,\" returned Rollo, \"he began well, but\nended badly.\" \"Will ye not, then,\" continued the old pirate, \"submit\nto my lord the king? Will ye not hold of him lands and honors?\" \"No,\"\nreplied the Northmen, disdainfully, \"we will own no lord, we will take\nno gift, but we will have what we ourselves can conquer by force.\"\n\n12. Here Hasting took his departure, and returning to the French camp,\nstrongly advised the commander not to hazard a battle. His counsel was\noverruled by a young standard-bearer, who, significantly observing,\n\"Wolves make not war on wolves,\" so offended the old sea-king, that he\nquitted the army that night, and never again appeared in France. The\nwisdom of his advice was the next morning made evident, by the total\ndefeat of the French, and the advance of the Northmen, who in a short\nspace after appeared beneath the walls of Paris. Failing in their\nattempt to take the city, they returned to Rouen, where they fortified\nthemselves, making it the capital of the territory they had conquered.\n\n13. Fifteen years passed away, the summers of which were spent in\nravaging the dominions of Charles the Simple, and the winters in the\ncity of Rouen, and in the meantime a change had come over the leader.\nHe had been insensibly softened and civilized by his intercourse with\nthe good Archbishop Franco, and finding, perhaps, that it was not\nquite so easy as he had expected to conquer the whole kingdom of\nFrance, he declared himself willing to follow the example which he\nonce despised, and to become a vassal of the French crown for the\nduchy of Neustria.\n\n14. Charles, greatly rejoiced to find himself thus able to put a stop\nto the dreadful devastations of the Northmen, readily agreed to the\nterms proposed by Rollo, appointing the village of St. Clair-sur-Epte,\non the borders of Neustria, as the place of meeting for the purpose of\nreceiving his homage and oath of fealty.\n\n15. The greatest difficulty to be overcome in this conference was the\nrepugnance felt by the proud Northman to perform the customary act of\nhomage before any living man, especially one whom he held so cheap as\nCharles the Simple. He consented, indeed, to swear allegiance, and\ndeclare himself the \"king's man,\" with his hands clasped between those\nof Charles. The remaining part of the ceremony, the kneeling to kiss\nthe foot of the liege lord, he absolutely refused, and was with\ndifficulty persuaded to permit one of his followers to perform it in\nhis name. The proxy, as proud as his master, instead of kneeling, took\nthe king's foot in his hand, and lifted it to his mouth while he stood\nupright, thus overturning both monarch and throne, amid the rude\nlaughter of his companions, while the miserable Charles and his\ncourtiers felt such a dread of these new vassals that they did not\ndare resent the insult.\n\n16. On his return to Rouen, Rollo was baptized, and, on leaving the\ncathedral, celebrated his conversion by large grants to the different\nchurches and convents of his duchy, making a fresh gift on each of the\ndays during which he wore the white robes of the newly baptized. All\nof his warriors who chose to follow his example, and embrace the\nChristian faith, received from him grants of land, to be held of him\non the same terms as those by which he held the dukedom from the king.\nThe country thus peopled by the Northmen, gradually assumed the name\nof Normandy.\n\n17. Applying themselves with all the ardor of their temper to their\nnew way of life, the Northmen quickly adopted the manners, language,\nand habits which were recommended to them as connected with the holy\nfaith which they had just embraced, but without losing their own bold\nand vigorous spirit. Soon the gallant and accomplished Norman knight\ncould scarcely have been recognized as the savage sea-robber, while,\nat the same time, he bore as little resemblance to the cruel and\nvoluptuous French noble, at once violent and indolent.\n\n18. There is no doubt, however, that the keen, unsophisticated vigor\nof Rollo, directed by his new religion did great good in Normandy, and\nthat his justice was sharp, his discipline impartial, so that of him\nis told the famous old story bestowed upon other just princes, that a\ngold bracelet was left for three years untouched upon a tree in a\nforest. He had been married, as part of the treaty, to Gis\u00e8le, a\ndaughter of King Charles the Simple, but he was an old grizzly\nwarrior, and neither cared for the other. A wife whom he had long\nbefore taken, had borne him a son, named William, to whom he left his\ndukedom in 932.\n\n\n\n\n_XXXIX.--THE TRUE STORY OF MACBETH._\n\n\n1. In the north of Scotland, where the cliffs bordering Moray Firth\nface the auroral heavens, are two ancient towns, Inverness and Forres,\nwhose names are immortalized in Shakespeare's great tragedy of\nMacbeth, for it is in their vicinity that most of its scenes are laid.\n\n2. It is a wild, lonely country, and must have been wilder and\nlonelier still eight hundred years ago, when from the neighboring\nNorway coast the black boats of the vikings, or North Sea rovers, used\nto come flocking into the quiet harbors of Moray and Cromarty Firths,\nlike so many swift birds of prey swooping suddenly in from the gray\nhorizon, snatching their plunder and flitting away on never-resting\nwings only to return in greater numbers and depart with richer booty.\n\n3. In 1033-1039, when the sons of Canute the Dane were wearing the\nEnglish crown, and not long after a few of the roving Norsemen had\ndrifted away to plant a little history and a great mystery across the\nwide Atlantic, there reigned in Scotland a king by the name of Duncan\nMacCrinan. Among his nobles was a certain Macbeth, Thane of Glamis,\nabout whom a great many stories are told, some of which would no doubt\nhave made their subject open his eyes, for if we may credit the sober\nhistorians he was rather respectable than otherwise, and probably\nslept much better o' nights than Mr. Shakespeare would have us\nbelieve. It is even said that he made a pilgrimage to Rome and saw the\nPope, which certainly ought to establish his virtue to anybody's\nsatisfaction.\n\n4. At all events he was a brave soldier and able general, and Duncan\nnaturally thought that he had the right man in the right place when he\ngave him command of the royal army and sent him off to drive out\nThorfinn and Thorkell, two Norse chiefs who had come over to conquer\nScotland.\n\n5. Macbeth had wedded a lady named Grnoch MacB[oe]dhe, which made him\ncousin to the king, and very likely put strange notions into his head,\neven if they never were there before. He was what we call \"a rising\nman,\" and so, having gloriously defeated Thorfinn and Thorkell, or,\nsome say, making them allies, he gloriously turned around and made war\nupon Duncan MacCrinan. In this struggle Duncan was killed or mortally\nwounded near Elgin, on Moray Firth, and Macbeth usurped the throne.\n\n6. Others claim that Thorfinn had conquered that part of Scotland,\nthat Macbeth was his vassal and merely fulfilled his duty to his\nover-lord in repelling an invasion by Duncan, in which the latter\ndeservedly met the common fate of war.\n\n7. It is very difficult to learn the real truth about people who lived\nbefore history was anything more than oral tradition, because, as in\nthe case of Macbeth, a great many legends gradually clustered about\ntheir names, which were not committed to writing until many, many\nyears after the events actually occurred. The very earliest Scotch\nwriting ever discovered is only a charter, and is dated 1095, more\nthan fifty years after Duncan was \"in his grave,\" and it was more than\nthree hundred years later that a Scotch prior, named Androwe of\nWyntonne, wrote a long historical poem which he called an Orygynale\nCronykil of Scotland. In it he relates the story of Macbeth and the\nthree witches, and the murder of Duncan, though he says that Macbeth\nafterward made a very wise and just king, whose reign of seventeen\nyears was marked by great abundance, and by royal almsgiving and zeal\nfor \"holy kirk.\"\n\n8. But a Latin history of Scotland, written about a hundred years\nbefore Shakespeare by an Aberdeen professor, and translated into\nEnglish under the title of Holinshed's Chronicle, supplied the great\ndramatist with his plot, though it suited his purpose to combine the\ntrue story of Macbeth with the murder of an earlier king. Then, adding\na great deal about ghosts and witches, and, above all, breathing into\nthese dry, long-dead mummies the quickening breath of genius, the\nimmortal playwright recreated a Macbeth who seems a far more real and\nliving character than many of our contemporaries.\n\n9. By whatever means Macbeth secured the throne, history and fiction\nagree as to the manner of his losing it. Duncan's sons, in reality\nmere infants at their father's death, were hurried away by their\nfriends, and Malcolm, the elder, was committed to his mother's\nbrother, Siward, Earl of Northumbria, who in good time aided his young\nkinsman to recover his birthright.\n\n10. Macbeth, notwithstanding his prosperous reign, was regarded as a\nusurper, and was consequently very unpopular with the loyal Scotch,\nwho, though proud and quarrelsome, were always devotedly true where\nthey recognized an obligation of fealty. So when Malcolm returned they\nflocked around the beloved young heir, and defeated his enemy at\nDunsinane, though Macbeth was not killed at this place, as Shakespeare\nsays, but fled across the Grampians to rally at Lumphanan. Here he was\nslain and the victorious Malcolm--called in history Malcolm\nCanmore--now went to Scone and was crowned upon a famous stone,\nbelieved by the Scotch to be the same that Jacob used for his pillow.\nIt is certainly the one that Edward I of England afterward took away\nand made the seat of the coronation chair at Westminster Abbey, where\nit is still to be seen.\n\n11. But, like many another evil that has been wrought before now,\nMacbeth's treason resulted in the ultimate good of his country; for\nMalcolm, during his long exile, had become accustomed to the superior\ncivilization of the English, and now introduced many improvements\namong his subjects. Having known, too, the sorrows of a fugitive, he\nwelcomed to his court the Saxon princes fleeing from Norman William,\namong whom was Margaret Atheling, the gentle granddaughter of Edmund\nIronsides, who became his bride, and whose winning graces went far\ntoward refining the rude manners of the warlike Scots. One of their\nsons was the saintly King David, who founded Melrose Abbey, and who is\nsaid to have been to Scotland \"all that Alfred was to England, and\nmore than Louis was to France.\"\n\n12. Another noble, called Banquo, seems to have had some part in\nDuncan's overthrow, but as the play of Macbeth was written in the\nreign of James I, who was a Scot and traced his descent back to\nBanquo, it was not deemed prudent or polite to represent the character\nin an unflattering light; so he was pictured as noble and\nincorruptible, and was so unfortunate, poor man, as to have to be\nmurdered to make the story end well.\n\n13. Sir Walter Scott, in his \"Tales of a Grandfather,\" gives us a\nstory differing little from the outline of Shakespeare's drama, but\nthen, who that has spent enraptured hours over Rob Roy and the Black\nDwarf could wish the charming wizard to spoil a good story for the\nsake of mere historical exactness? not I, surely! And the Macbeth of\nhistory, no matter how zealously we may try to discover him, or how\nfaithfully we may attempt, at this late day, to reconstruct his\ndamaged reputation, he can never be to us anything better than a very\nmisty tradition. Whatever he may have been eight hundred years ago,\nthe Macbeth _we_ know, the only real Macbeth there is or ever can be,\nis after all the one that met the witches in the thunder-storm on\nForres Heath and then went home and murdered the gentle old king who\n\"had so much blood in him,\" and a moment later, startled by the\nknocking at the gate, exclaimed in bitterest remorse: \"Wake Duncan\nwith thy knocking! I would thou could'st!\"\n\n14. If you read this scene in the silent hours when every one else in\nthe house is sleeping, you will almost believe that you murdered\nDuncan yourself, and that you hear Lady Macbeth's hoarse whisper in\nyour ear: \"To bed, to bed, there's knocking at the gate. Come, come,\ncome, come, give me your hand. What's done can not be undone. To bed,\nto bed, to bed.\"\n\n15. Then you will shut the book in sudden terror of the lonely\nmidnight, and scramble into bed with the blood curdling in your veins,\nand presently, aided by the darkness, your imagination will bridge the\ngulf of centuries, and you will seem to see a long vaulted hall in a\nmedi\u00e6val palace, and in the hall a banquet spread, around which gather\nlords of high degree, while on the canopied dais at the upper end sit\nKing Macbeth and his white-haired, pitiless, guilty queen. And from\nthe rainy outer darkness you may catch the faint echo of a mortal cry:\n\"Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!\" And then as you picture the king\nstepping down from his royal seat to meet a blood-stained murderer at\nthe door, you will have a momentary glimpse of Banquo lying in the\nroadside ditch \"with twenty trench\u00e9d gashes in his head,\" and of\nFleance speeding away alone through the stormy night.\n\n\n\n\n_XL.--DUKE WILLIAM OF NORMANDY._\n\n\n1. Now Duke William was in his park at Rouen, and in his hands he held\na bow ready strung, for he was going hunting, and many knights and\nsquires with him. And behold, there came to the gate a messenger from\nEngland; and he went straight to the duke and drew him aside, and told\nhim secretly how King Edward's life had come to an end, and Harold had\nbeen made king in his stead. And when the duke had heard the tidings,\nand understood all that was come to pass, those that looked upon him\nperceived that he was greatly enraged, for he forsook the chase, and\nwent in silence, speaking no word to any man, clasping and unclasping\nhis cloak, neither dared any man speak to him; but he crossed over the\nSeine in a boat, and went to his hall, and sat down on a bench; and he\ncovered his face with his mantle, and leaned down his head, and there\nhe abode, turning about restlessly for one hour after another in\ngloomy thought. And none dared speak a word to him, but they spake to\none another, saying: \"What ails the duke? Why bears he such a mien?\"\n\n2. \"That is it that troubles me,\" said the duke. \"I grieve because\nEdward is dead, and that Harold has done me a wrong; for he has taken\nmy kingdom who was bound to me by oath and promise.\" To these words\nanswered Fitz-Osbern the bold: \"Sir, tarry not, but make ready with\nspeed to avenge yourself on Harold, who has been disloyal to you; for\nif you lack not courage, there will be left no land to Harold. Summon\nall whom you may summon, cross the sea and seize his lands; for no\nbrave man should begin a matter and not carry it on to the end.\"\n\n3. Then William sent messengers to Harold to call upon him to keep\nthe oath that he had sworn; but Harold replied in scorn that he would\nnot marry his daughter, nor give up his land to him. And William sent\nto him his defiance; but Harold answered that he feared him not, and\nhe drove all the Normans out of the land, with their wives and\nchildren, for King Edward had given them lands and castles, but Harold\nchased them out of the country; neither would he let one remain. And\nat Christmas he took the crown, but it would have been well for\nhimself and his land if he had not been crowned, since for the kingdom\nhe perjured himself, and his reign lasted but a short space.\n\n4. Then Duke William called together his barons, and told them all his\nwill, and how Harold had wronged him, and that he would cross the sea\nand revenge himself; but without their aid he could not gather men\nenough, nor a large navy; therefore, he would know of each one of them\nhow many men and ships he would bring. And they prayed for leave to\ntake counsel together, and the duke granted their request. And their\ndeliberations lasted long, for many complained that their burdens were\nheavy, and some said that they would bring ships and cross the sea\nwith the duke, and others said they would not go, for they were in\ndebt and poor. Thus some would and some would not, and there was great\ncontention between them.\n\n5. Then Fitz-Osbern came to them and said: \"Wherefore dispute you,\nsirs? Ye should not fail your natural lord when he goes seeking\nhonors. Ye owe him service for your fiefs, and where ye owe service ye\nshould serve with all your power. Ask not delay, nor wait until he\nprays you; but go before, and offer him more than you can do. Let him\nnot lament that his enterprise failed for your remissness.\" But they\nanswered: \"Sir, we fear the sea, and we owe no service across the\nsea. Speak for us, we pray you, and answer in our stead. Say what you\nwill, and we will abide by your words.\" \"Will ye all leave yourselves\nto me?\" he said. And each one answered: \"Yes. Let us go to the duke,\nand you shall speak for us.\"\n\n6. And Fitz-Osbern turned himself about and went before him to the duke,\nand spoke for them, and he said: \"Sir, no lord has such men as you have,\nand who will do so much for their lord's honor, and you ought to love\nand keep them well. For you they say they would be drowned in the sea or\nthrown into the fire. You may trust them well, for they have served you\nlong and followed you at great cost. And if they have done well, they\nwill do better; for they will pass the sea with you, and will double\ntheir service. For he who should bring twenty knights will gladly bring\nforty, and he who should serve you thirty will bring sixty, and he from\nwhom one hundred is due will willingly bring two hundred. And I, in\nloving loyalty, will bring in my lord's business sixty ships, well\narrayed and laden with fighting men.\"\n\n7. But the barons marveled at him, and murmured aloud at the words\nthat he spake and the promises he made, for which they had given him\nno warrant. And many contradicted him, and there arose a noise and\nloud disturbance among them; for they feared that if they doubled\ntheir service it would become a custom, and be turned into a feudal\nright. And the noise and outcry became so great that a man could not\nhear what his fellow said. Then the duke went aside, for the noise\ndispleased him, and sent for the barons one by one, and spoke to each\none of the greatness of the enterprise, and that if they would double\ntheir service, and do freely more than their due, it should be well\nfor them, and that he would never make it a custom, nor require of\nthem any service more than was the usage of the country, and such as\ntheir ancestors had paid to their lord. Then each one said he would do\nit, and he told how many ships he would bring, and the duke had them\nall written down in brief. Bishop Odo, his brother, brought him forty\nships, and the Bishop of Le Mans prepared thirty, with their mariners\nand pilots. And the duke prayed his neighbors of Brittany, Anjou, and\nMaine, Ponthieu, and Boulogne, to aid him in this business; and he\npromised them lands if England were conquered, and rich gifts and\nlarge pay. Thus from all sides came soldiers to him.\n\n8. Then he showed the matter to his lord the King of France, and he\nsought him at St. Germer, and found him there; and he said that he\nwould aid him, so that by his aid he won his right, he would hold\nEngland from him and serve him for it. But the king answered that he\nwould not aid him, neither with his will should he pass the sea; for\nthe French prayed him not to aid him, saying he was too strong\nalready, and that if he let him add riches from over the sea to his\nlands of Normandy and all his good knights, there would never be\npeace. \"And when England shall be conquered,\" said they, \"you will\nhear no more of his service. He pays little service now, but then it\nwill be less. The more he has, the less he will do.\"\n\n9. So the duke took leave of the king, and came away in a rage,\nsaying: \"Sir, I go to do the best I can, and if God will that I gain\nmy right you shall see me no more but for evil. And if I fail, and the\nEnglish can defend themselves, my children shall inherit my lands, and\nthou shalt not conquer them. Living or dead, I fear no menace!\"\n\n10. Then the duke sent to Rome clerks that were skilled in speech,\nand they told the Pope how Harold had sworn falsely, and that Duke\nWilliam promised that if he conquered England he would hold it of St.\nPeter. And the Pope sent him a standard and a very precious ring, and\nunderneath the stone there was, it is said, a hair of St. Peter's. And\nabout that time there appeared a great star shining in the south with\nvery long rays, such a star as is seen when a kingdom is about to have\na new king. I have spoken with many men who saw it, and those who are\ncunning in the stars call it a comet.\n\n11. Then the duke called together carpenters and ship-builders, and in\nall the ports of Normandy there was sawing of planks and carrying of\nwood, spreading of sails and setting up of masts, with great labor and\nindustry. Thus all the summer long and through the month of August\nthey made ready the fleet and assembled the men; for there was no\nknight in all the land, nor any good sergeant, nor archer, nor any\npeasant of good courage, of age to fight, whom the duke did not summon\nto go with him to England.\n\n12. When the ships were ready, they were anchored in the Somme at St.\nValery. And as the renown of the duke went abroad there came to him\nsoldiers one by one or two by two, and the duke kept them with him,\nand promised them much. And some asked for lands in England, and\nothers pay and large gifts. But I will not write down what barons,\nknights, and soldiers the duke had in his company; but I have heard my\nfather say (I remember it well, though I was but a boy) that there\nwere seven hundred ships, save four, when they left St. Valery--ships,\nand boats, and little skiffs. But I found it written (I know not the\ntruth) that there were three thousand ships carrying sails and masts.\n\n13. And at St. Valery they tarried long for a favorable wind, and the\nbarons grew weary with waiting; and they prayed those of the convent\nto bring out to the camp the shrine of St. Valery, and they came to it\nand prayed they might cross the sea, and they offered money till all\nthe holy body was covered with it, and the same day there sprang up a\nfavorable wind. Then the duke put a lantern on the mast of his ship,\nthat the other ships might see it and keep their course near, and an\nensign of gilded copper on the top; and at the head of the ships,\nwhich mariners call the prow, there was a child made of copper holding\na bow and arrow, and he had his face toward England, and seemed about\nto shoot.\n\n14. Thus the ships came to port, and they all arrived together and\nanchored together on the beach, and together they all disembarked. And\nit was near Hastings, and the ships lay side by side. And the good\nsailors and sergeants and esquires sprang out, and cast anchor, and\nfastened the ships with ropes; and they brought out their shields and\nsaddles, and led forth the horses.\n\n15. The archers were the first to come to land, every one with his bow\nand his quiver and arrows by his side, all shaven and dressed in short\ntunics, ready for battle and of good courage; and they searched all\nthe beach, but no armed man could they find. When they were issued\nforth, then came the knights in armor, with helmet laced and shield on\nneck, and together they came to the sand and mounted their war-horses;\nand they had their swords at their sides, and rode with lances raised.\nThe barons had their standards and the knights their pennons. After\nthem came the carpenters, with their axes in their hands and their\ntools hanging by their side. And when they came to the archers and to\nthe knights they took counsel together, and brought wood from the\nships and fastened it together with bolts and bars, and before the\nevening was well come they had made themselves a strong fort. And they\nlighted fires and cooked food, and the duke and his barons and knights\nsat down to eat; and they all ate and drank plentifully and rejoiced\nthat they were come to land.\n\n16. When the duke came forth of his ship he fell on his hands to the\nground, and there rose a great cry, for all said it was an evil sign;\nbut he cried aloud: \"Lords, I have seized the land with my two hands,\nand will never yield it. All is ours.\" Then a man ran to land and laid\nhis hand upon a cottage, and took a handful of the thatch, and\nreturned to the duke. \"Sir,\" said he, \"take seizin of the land; yours\nis the land without doubt.\" Then the duke commanded the mariners to\ndraw all the ships to land and pierce holes in them and break them to\npieces, for they should never return by the way they had come.\n\n _\"Belt and Spur,\" Stories of the Old Knights._\n\n\n\n\n_XLI.--THE NORMAN CONQUEST._\n\n\n1. Poor old Edward the Confessor, holy, weak, and sad, lay in his new\nchoir of Westminster--where the wicked cease from troubling and the\nweary are at rest. The crowned ascetic had left no heir behind.\nEngland seemed as a corpse, to which all the eagles might gather\ntogether; and the South-English, in their utter need, had chosen for\ntheir king the ablest, and it may be the justest, man in Britain--Earl\nHarold Godwinson: himself, like half the upper classes of England\nthen, of all-dominant Norse blood; for his mother was a Danish princess.\n\n[Illustration: _Edward the Confessor's Tomb._]\n\n2. Then out of Norway, with a mighty host, came Harold Hardraade,\ntaller than all men, the ideal Viking of his time. He had been away to\nRussia to King Jaroslaf; he had been in the Emperor's Varanger guard\nat Constantinople--and, it was whispered, had slain a lion there with\nhis bare hands; he had carved his name and his comrades' in Runic\ncharacters--if you go to Venice you may see them at this day--on the\nloins of the great marble lion, which stood in his time not in Venice\nbut in Athens. And now, King of Norway and conqueror, for the time, of\nDenmark, why should he not take England, as Sweyn and Canute took it\nsixty years before, when the flower of the English gentry perished at\nthe fatal battle of Assingdune? If he and his half-barbarous host had\nconquered, the civilization of Britain would have been thrown back,\nperhaps, for centuries. But it was not to be.\n\n3. England _was_ to be conquered by the Normans; but by the civilized,\nnot the barbaric; by the Norse who had settled, but four generations\nbefore, in the northeast of France under Rou, Rollo, Rolf the Ganger,\nso called, they say, because his legs were so long that, when on\nhorseback, he touched the ground and seemed to gang, or walk. He and\nhis Norsemen had taken their share of France, and called it Normandy\nto this day; and meanwhile, with that docility and adaptability which\nmarks so often truly great spirits, they changed their creed, their\nlanguage, their habits, and had become, from heathen and murderous\nBerserkers, the most truly civilized people in Europe, and--as was\nmost natural then--the most faithful allies and servants of the Pope\nof Rome. So greatly had they changed, and so fast, that William Duke\nof Normandy, the great-great grandson of Rolf the wild Viking, was\nperhaps the finest gentleman, as well as the most cultivated sovereign\nand the greatest statesman and warrior in Europe.\n\n4. So Harold of Norway came with all his Vikings to Stamford Bridge by\nYork; and took, by coming, only that which Harold of England promised\nhim, namely, \"forasmuch as he was taller than any other man, seven\nfeet of English ground.\"\n\n5. The story of that great battle, told with a few inaccuracies, but\nas only great poets tell, you should read, if you have not read it\nalready, in the \"Heimskringla\" of Snorri Sturluson, the Homer of the\nNorth:\n\n High feast that day held the birds of the air and the beasts of the\n field,\n White-tailed erm and sallow glede,\n Dusky raven, with horny neb,\n And the gray deer the wolf of the wood.\n\nThe bones of the slain, men say, whitened the place for fifty years to\ncome.\n\n6. And remember that on the same day on which that fight\nbefell--September 27, 1066--William, Duke of Normandy, with all his\nFrench-speaking Norsemen, was sailing across the British Channel,\nunder the protection of a banner consecrated by the Pope, to conquer\nthat England which the Norse-speaking Normans could not conquer.\n\n7. And now King Harold showed himself a man. He turned at once from\nthe north of England to the south. He raised the folk of the southern,\nas he had raised those of the central and northern shires, and in\nsixteen days--after a march which in those times was a prodigious\nfeat--he was intrenched upon the fatal down which men called\nHeathfield then, and Senlac, but Battle to this day--with William and\nhis French Normans opposite him on Telham Hill.\n\n8. Then came the battle of Hastings. You all know what befell upon\nthat day, and how the old weapon was matched against the new--the\nEnglish axe against the Norman lance--and beaten only because the\nEnglish broke their ranks.\n\n9. It was a fearful time which followed. I can not but believe that\nour forefathers had been, in some way or other, great sinners, or two\nsuch conquests as Canute's and William's would not have fallen on them\nwithin the short space of sixty years. They did not want for courage,\nas Stamford Brigg and Hastings showed full well. English swine, their\nNorman conquerors called them often enough, but never English cowards.\n\n10. Their ruinous vice, if we trust the records of the time, was what\nthe old monks called _accidia_, and ranked it as one of the seven\ndeadly sins: a general careless, sleepy, comfortable habit of mind,\nwhich lets all go its way for good or evil--a habit of mind too often\naccompanied, as in the case of the Anglo-Danes, with self-indulgence,\noften coarse enough. Huge eaters and huger drinkers, fuddled with ale,\nwere the men who went down at Hastings--though they went down like\nheroes--before the staid and sober Norman out of France.\n\n11. But these were fearful times. As long as William lived, ruthless\nas he was to all rebels, he kept order and did justice with a strong\nand steady hand; for he brought with him from Normandy the instincts\nof a truly great statesman. And in his sons' time matters grew worse\nand worse. After that, in the troubles of Stephen's reign, anarchy let\nloose tyranny in its most fearful form, and things were done which\nrecall the cruelties of the old Spanish _conquistadores_ in America.\nScott's charming romance of \"Ivanhoe\" must be taken, I fear, as a too\ntrue picture of English society in the time of Richard I.\n\n[Illustration: _Battle Abbey._]\n\n12. And what came of it all? What was the result of all this misery and\nwrong? This, paradoxical as it may seem: that the Norman conquest was\nthe making of the English people; of the free commons of England.\n\n13. Paradoxical, but true. First, you must dismiss from your minds the\ntoo common notion that there is now in England a governing Norman\naristocracy, or that there has been one, at least since the year 1215,\nwhen the Magna Charta was won from the Norman John by Normans and by\nEnglish alike. For the first victors at Hastings, like the first\n_conquistadores_ in America, perished, as the monk chronicles point\nout, rapidly by their own crimes; and very few of our nobility can\ntrace their names back to the authentic Battle Abbey roll.\n\n14. The cause is plain: The conquest of England by the Normans was not\none of those conquests of a savage by a civilized race, or of a\ncowardly race by a brave race, which results in the slavery of the\nconquered, and leaves the gulf of caste between two races--master and\nslave. The vast majority, all but the whole population of England,\nhave always been free, and free as they are not when caste exists to\nchange their occupations. They could intermarry, if they were able\nmen, into the rank above them; as they could sink, if they were unable\nmen, into the rank below them.\n\n15. Nay, so utterly made up now is the old blood-feud between Norman\nand Englishman, between the descendants of those who conquered and\nthose who were conquered, that, in the children of the Prince of\nWales, after eight hundred years, the blood of William of Normandy is\nmingled with the blood of Harold, who fell at Hastings. And so, by the\nbitter woes which followed the Norman conquest was the whole\npopulation, Dane, Angle, and Saxon, earl and churl, freeman and slave,\ncrushed and welded together into one homogeneous mass, made just and\nmerciful toward each other by the most wholesome of all teachings, a\ncommunity of suffering; and if they had been, as I fear they were, a\nlazy and a sensual people, were taught--\n\n That life is not as idle ore,\n But heated hot with burning fears,\n And bathed in baths of hissing tears,\n And battered with the strokes of doom\n To shape and use.\n\n _Charles Kingsley._\n\n\n\n\n_XLII.--KING RICHARD C[OE]UR DE LION IN THE HOLY LAND._\n\n\n1. At the end of August, 1191, Richard led his crusading troops from\nAcre into the midst of the wilderness of Mount Carmel, where their\nsufferings were terrible; the rocky, sandy, and uneven ground was\ncovered with bushes full of long, sharp prickles, and swarms of\nnoxious insects buzzed in the air, fevering the Europeans with their\nstings; and in addition to these natural obstacles, multitudes of Arab\nhorsemen harrassed them on every side, slaughtering every straggler\nwho dropped behind from fatigue, and attacking them so unceasingly\nthat it was remarked, that throughout their day's track there was not\none space of four feet without an arrow sticking in the ground.\nRichard fought indefatigably, always in the van, and ready to reward\nthe gallant exploits of his knights. A young knight who bore a white\nshield, in hopes of gaining some honorable bearing, so distinguished\nhimself that Richard thus greeted him at the close of the day: \"Maiden\nknight, you have borne yourself as a lion, and done the deed of six\ncrusaders.\"\n\n[Illustration: _Battle of Arsaaf._]\n\n2. At Arsaaf, on the 7th of September, a great battle was fought.\nSaladin and his brother had almost defeated the two religious orders\n(the Templars and the Hospitallers), and the gallant French knight\nJacques d'Avesne, after losing his leg by a stroke from a cimeter,\nfought bravely on, calling on the English king until he fell\noverpowered by numbers. C[oe]ur de Lion and Guillaume des Barres\nretrieved the day, hewed down the enemy on all sides, and remained\nmasters of the field. It is even said that Richard and Saladin met\nhand to hand, but this is uncertain. This victory opened the way to\nJoppa, where the crusaders spent the next month in the repair of the\nfortifications, while the Saracen forces lay at Ascalon.\n\n3. While here, Richard often amused himself with hawking, and one day\nwas asleep under a tree when he was aroused by the approach of a party\nof Saracens, and springing on his horse Frannelle, which had been\ntaken at Cyprus, he rashly pursued them and fell into an ambush. Four\nknights were slain, and he would have been seized had not a Gascon\nknight named Guillaume des Parcelets called out that he himself was\nthe Malak Rik (great king), and allowed himself to be taken. Richard\noffered ten noble Saracens in exchange for this generous knight, whom\nSaladin restored together with a valuable horse that had been captured\nat the same time. A present of another Arab steed accompanied them;\nbut Richard's half-brother, William Longsword, insisted on trying the\nanimal before the king should mount it. No sooner was he on its back,\nthan it dashed at once across the country, and before he could stop it\nhe found himself in the midst of the enemy's camp. The two Saracen\nprinces were extremely shocked and distressed lest this should be\nsupposed a trick, and instantly escorted Longsword back with a gift of\nthree chargers, which proved to be more manageable.\n\n4. From Joppa the crusaders marched to Ramla, and thence, on New\nYear's Day, 1192, set out for Jerusalem through a country full of\ngreater obstacles than they had yet encountered. They were too full of\nspirit to be discouraged until they came to Bethany, where the two\nGrand Masters represented to Richard the imprudence of laying siege to\nsuch fortifications as those of Jerusalem at such a season of the\nyear, while Ascalon was ready in his rear for a post whence the enemy\nwould attack him.\n\n5. He yielded, and retreated to Ascalon, which Saladin had ruined and\nabandoned, and began eagerly to repair the fortifications so as to be\nable to leave a garrison there. The soldiers grumbled, saying they had\nnot come to Palestine to build Ascalon, but to conquer Jerusalem;\nwhereupon Richard set the example of himself carrying stones, and\ncalled on Leopold, the Duke of Austria, to do the same. The sulky\nreply, \"He was not the son of a mason,\" so irritated Richard, that he\nstruck him a blow; Leopold straightway quitted the army, and returned\nto Austria.\n\n6. It was not without great grief and many struggles that C[oe]ur de\nLion finally gave up his hopes of taking Jerusalem. He again advanced\nas far as Bethany; but a quarrel with Hugh of Burgundy, and the\ndefection of the Austrians made it impossible for him to proceed, and\nhe turned back to Ramla. While riding out with a party of knights, one\nof them called out, \"This way, my lord, and you will see Jerusalem.\"\n\"Alas!\" said Richard, hiding his face with his mantle, \"those who are\nnot worthy to win the Holy City are not worthy to behold it.\" He\nreturned to Acre; but there hearing that Saladin was besieging Joppa,\nhe embarked his troops and sailed to its aid.\n\n7. The crescent (the standard of the Saracens) shone on its walls as\nhe entered the harbor; but while he looked on in dismay, he was hailed\nby a priest who had leaped into the sea and swum out to inform him\nthat there was yet time to rescue the garrison, though the town was in\nthe hands of the enemy. He hurried his vessel forward, leaped into the\nwater breast-high, dashed upward on the shore, ordered his immediate\nfollowers to raise a bulwark of casks and beams to protect the landing\nof the rest, and rushing up a flight of steps, entered the city alone.\n\"St. George! St. George!\" That cry dismayed the infidels, and those in\nthe town to the number of three thousand fled in the utmost confusion,\nand were pursued for two miles by three knights who had been fortunate\nenough to find him.\n\n8. Richard pitched his tent outside the walls, and remained there with\nso few troops that all were contained in ten tents. Very early one\nmorning, before the king was out of bed, a man rushed into his tent,\ncrying out: \"O king! we are all dead men!\" Springing up, Richard\nfiercely silenced him: \"Peace! or thou diest by my hand!\" Then, while\nhastily donning his suit of mail, he heard that the glitter of arms\nhad been seen in the distance, and in another moment the enemy were\nupon them, seven thousand in number. Richard had neither helmet nor\nshield, and only seventeen of his knights had horses; but undaunted he\ndrew up his little force in a compact body, the knights kneeling on\none knee covered by their shields, their lances pointing outward, and\nbetween each pair an archer with an assistant to load his cross-bow;\nand he stood in the midst encouraging them with his voice, and\nthreatening to cut off the head of the first who turned to fly. In\nvain did the Saracens charge that mass of brave men, not one seventh\nof their number; the shields and lances were impenetrable; and without\none forward step or one bolt from the cross-bows, their passive\nsteadiness turned back wave after wave of the enemy.\n\n9. At last the king gave the word for the cross-bowmen to advance,\nwhile he, with the seventeen mounted knights charged, lance in rest.\nHis curtal axe bore down all before it, and he dashed like lightning\nfrom one part of the plain to another, with not a moment to smile at\nthe opportune gift from the polite Malek-el-Afdal, who, in the hottest\nof the fight, sent him two fine horses, desiring him to use them in\nescaping from this dreadful peril. Little did the Saracen princes\nimagine that they would find him victorious, and that they would mount\ntwo more pursuers!\n\n10. Next came a terrified fugitive with news that three thousand\nSaracens had entered Joppa! Richard summoned a few knights, and\nwithout a word to the rest galloped back into the city. The panic\ninspired by his presence instantly cleared the streets, and riding\nback, he again led his troops to the charge; but such were the swarms\nof Saracens, that it was not till evening that the Christians could\ngive themselves a moment's rest, or look round and feel that they had\ngained one of the most wonderful of victories. Since daybreak Richard\nhad not laid aside his sword or axe, and his hand was all over\nblistered. No wonder that the terror of his name endured for centuries\nin Palestine, and that the Arab chided his starting horse with, \"Dost\nthink that yonder is the Malek Rik?\" while the mother stilled her\ncrying child by threats that the Malek Rik should take it.\n\n11. These violent exertions seriously injured Richard's health, and a\nlow fever placed him in great danger, as well as several of his best\nknights. No command or persuasion could induce the rest to commence\nany enterprise without him, and the tidings from Europe induced him to\nconclude a peace and return home. Malek-el-Afdal came to visit him,\nand a truce was signed for three years, three months, three weeks,\nthree days, three hours, and three minutes, thus so quaintly arranged\nin accordance with some astrological views of the Saracens. Ascalon\nwas to be demolished on condition that free access to Jerusalem was to\nbe allowed to the pilgrims; but Saladin would not restore the piece of\nthe True Cross, as he was resolved not to conduce to what he\nconsidered idolatry.\n\n12. Richard sent notice that he was coming back with double his\npresent force to effect the conquest, and the Sultan answered, that if\nthe Holy City was to pass into Frank hands, none could be nobler than\nthose of the Malek Rik. Fever and debility detained Richard a month\nlonger at Joppa, during which time he sent the Bishop of Salisbury to\ncarry his offerings to Jerusalem. The prelate was invited to the\npresence of Saladin, who spoke in high terms of Richard's courage, but\ncensured his rash exposure of his own life. On October 9, 1193,\nC[oe]ur de Lion took leave of Palestine, watching with tears its\nreceding shores, as he exclaimed, \"O, Holy Land, I commend thee and\nthy people unto God. May He grant me yet to return to aid thee!\"\n\n _Charlotte M. Yonge._\n\n\n\n\n_XLIII.--KING JOHN AND THE CHARTER._\n\n\n1. On his return from the crusade Richard was taken prisoner by the\nDuke of Austria. He bought his release only to find King Philip\nattacking his French dominions, and to plunge into wearisome and\nindecisive wars, in the midst of which he was slain at the Castle of\nChaluz. His brother John, who followed him on the throne, was a vile\nand weak ruler, under whom the great sovereignty built up by Henry II\nbroke utterly down. Normandy, Maine, and Anjou were reft from him by\nPhilip of France, and only Aquitaine remained to him on that side of\nthe sea. In England his lust and oppression drove people and nobles to\njoin in resistance to him; and their resistance found a great leader\nin the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton.\n\n2. From the moment of his landing in England, Stephen Langton had\ntaken up the constitutional position of the primate in upholding the\nold customs and rights of the realm against the personal despotism of\nthe kings. As Anselm had withstood William the Red, as Theobald had\nwithstood Stephen, so Langton prepared to withstand and rescue his\ncountry from the tyranny of John. He had already forced him to swear\nto observe the laws of Edward the Confessor, in other words the\ntraditional liberties of the realm. When the baronage refused to sail\nfor Poitou, saying that they owed service to him in England, but not\nin foreign lands, he compelled the king to deal with them not by arms,\nbut by process of law. But the work which he now undertook was far\ngreater and weightier than this. The pledges of Henry the First had\nlong been forgotten when the justiciar brought them to light, but\nLangton saw the vast importance of such a precedent. At the close of\nthe month he produced Henry's charter in a fresh gathering of barons\nat St. Paul's, and it was at once welcomed as a base for the needed\nreforms. From London Langton hastened to the king, whom he reached at\nNorthampton on his way to attack the nobles of the north, and wrested\nfrom him a promise to bring his strife with them to legal judgment\nbefore assailing them in arms.\n\n3. With his enemies gathering abroad, John had doubtless no wish to be\nentangled in a long quarrel at home, and the archbishop's mediation\nallowed him to withdraw with seeming dignity. After a demonstration\ntherefore at Durham John marched hastily south again, and reached London\nin October. His justiciar Geoffry Fitz-Peter at once laid before him the\nclaims of the Council of St. Alban's and St. Paul's, but the death of\nGeoffry at this juncture freed him from the pressure which his minister\nwas putting upon him. \"Now, by God's feet,\" cried John, \"I am for the\nfirst time king and lord of England,\" and he intrusted the vacant\njusticiarship to a Poitevin, Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester,\nwhose temper was in harmony with his own. But the death of Geoffry only\ncalled the archbishop to the front, and Langton at once demanded the\nking's assent to the charter of Henry the First.\n\n4. In seizing on this charter as a basis for national action, Langton\nshowed a political ability of the highest order. The enthusiasm with\nwhich its recital was welcomed showed the sagacity with which the\narchbishop had chosen his ground. From that moment the baronage was no\nlonger drawn together in secret conspiracies by a sense of common\nwrong or a vague longing for common deliverance; they were openly\nunited in a definite claim of national freedom and national law.\nSecretly, and on the pretext of pilgrimage, the nobles met at St.\nEdmundsbury, resolute to bear no longer with John's delays. If he\nrefused to restore their liberties they swore to make war on him till\nhe confirmed them by charter under the king's seal, and they parted to\nraise forces with the purpose of presenting their demands at\nChristmas. John, knowing nothing of the coming storm, pursued his\npolicy of winning over the Church by granting it freedom of election,\nwhile he imbittered still more the strife with his nobles by\ndemanding scutage[A] from the northern nobles who had refused to\nfollow him to Poitou. But the barons were now ready to act, and early\nin January, in the memorable year 1215, they appeared in arms to lay,\nas they had planned, their demands before the king.\n\n5. John was taken by surprise. He asked for a truce till Easter-tide,\nand spent the interval in fevered efforts to avoid the blow. Again he\noffered freedom to the Church, and took vows as a crusader against\nwhom war was a sacrilege, while he called for a general oath of\nallegiance and fealty from the whole body of his subjects. But month\nafter month only showed the king the uselessness of further\nresistance. Though Pandulf, the Pope's legate, was with him, his\nvassalage had as yet brought little fruit in the way of aid from Rome;\nthe commissioners whom he sent to plead his cause at the shire courts\nbrought back news that no man would help him against the charter that\nthe barons claimed; and his efforts to detach the clergy from the\nleague of his opponents utterly failed. The nation was against the\nking. He was far indeed from being utterly deserted. His ministers\nstill clung to him, men such as Geoffry de Lucy, Geoffry de Furnival,\nThomas Basset, and William Briwere, statesmen trained in the\nadministrative school of his father, and who, dissent as they might\nfrom John's mere oppression, still looked on the power of the crown as\nthe one barrier against feudal anarchy; and beside them stood some of\nthe great nobles of royal blood, Earl William of Salisbury, his cousin\nEarl William of Warenne, and Henry, Earl of Cornwall, a grandson of\nHenry the First. With him too remained Ranulf, Earl of Chester, and\nthe wisest and noblest of the barons, William Marshal, the elder Earl\nof Pembroke. William Marshal had shared in the rising of the younger\nHenry against Henry II, and stood by him as he died; he had shared in\nthe overthrow of William Longchamp, and in the outlawry of John. He\nwas now an old man, firm, as we shall see in his aftercourse, to\nrecall the government to the path of freedom and law, but shrinking\nfrom a strife which might bring back the anarchy of Stephen's day, and\nlooking for reforms rather in the bringing constitutional pressure to\nbear upon the king than in forcing them from him by arms.\n\n6. But cling as such men might to John, they clung to him rather as\nmediators than adherents. Their sympathies went with the demands of\nthe barons when the delay which had been granted was over and the\nnobles again gathered in arms at Brackley in Northamptonshire to lay\ntheir claims before the king. Nothing marks more strongly the\nabsolutely despotic idea of his sovereignty which John had formed than\nthe passionate surprise which breaks out in his reply. \"Why do they\nnot ask for my kingdom?\" he cried. \"I will never grant such liberties\nas will make me a slave!\" The imperialist theories of the lawyers of\nhis father's court had done their work. Held at bay by the practical\nsense of Henry, they had told on the more headstrong nature of his\nsons. Richard and John both held with Glanvill that the will of the\nprince was the law of the land; and to fetter that will by the customs\nand franchises which were embodied in the baron's claims seemed to\nJohn a monstrous usurpation of his rights.\n\n[Illustration: _King John and the Charter._]\n\n7. But no imperialist theories had touched the minds of his people.\nThe country rose as one man at his refusal. At the close of May,\nLondon threw open her gates to the forces of the barons, now arrayed\nunder Robert Fitz Walter as \"Marshal of the Army of God and Holy\nChurch.\" Exeter and Lincoln followed the example of the capital;\npromises of aid came from Scotland and Wales, the northern barons\nmarched hastily under Eustace de Vesci to join their comrades in\nLondon. Even the nobles who had as yet clung to the king, but whose\nhopes of conciliation were blasted by his obstinacy, yielded at last\nto the summons of the \"Army of God.\" Pandulf, indeed, and Archbishop\nLangton still remained with John, but they counseled as Earl Ranulf\nand William Marshal counseled his acceptance of the charter. None, in\nfact, counseled its rejection save his new justiciar, the Poitevin\nPeter des Roches and other foreigners who knew the barons purposed\ndriving them from the land. But even the number of these was small;\nthere was a moment when John found himself with but seven knights at\nhis back and before him a nation in arms. Quick as he was, he had been\ntaken utterly by surprise. It was in vain that in the short respite he\nhad gained from Christmas to Easter, he had summoned mercenaries to\nhis aid and appealed to his new suzerain, the Pope. Summons and appeal\nwere alike too late. Nursing wrath in his heart, John bowed to\nnecessity, and called the barons to a conference on an island in the\nThames between Windsor and Staines, near a marshy meadow by the\nriver-side, the meadow of Runnymede.\n\n8. The king encamped on one bank of the river, the barons covered the\nflat of Runnymede on the other. Their delegates met on the 15th of\nJuly in the island between them, but the negotiations were a mere\ncloak to cover John's purpose of unconditional submission. The Great\nCharter was discussed and agreed to in a single day.\n\n _John Richard Green._\n\n[Footnote A: Scutage, or shield-money, was the commutation paid in\nlieu of military service by all who owed service to the king.]\n\n\n\n\n_XLIV.--AN EARLY ELECTION TO PARLIAMENT._\n\n The following preliminary sketch by J. R. Green, the historian,\n serves as an introduction to Palgrave's picture of an election\n under Edward I:\n\n \"It was Edward the First, who first made laws in what has ever\n since been called Parliament. For this purpose he called on the\n shires and larger towns to choose men to 'represent' them, or\n appear in their stead in the Great Council; the shires sending\n knights of the shire, the towns burgesses. These, added to the\n peers or high nobles and to the bishops, made up Parliament.\n\n \"The business of Parliament was not only to make good laws for\n the realm, but to grant money to the king for the needs of the\n state in peace and war, and to authorize him to raise this money\n by taxes or subsidies from his subjects. So at first people saw\n little of the great good of such Parliaments, but dreaded their\n calling together, because they brought taxes with them. Nor did\n men seek, as they do now, to be chosen members of Parliament, for\n the way thither was long and travel costly, and so they did their\n best not to be chosen, and when chosen had to be bound over under\n pain of heavy fines to serve in Parliament.\"\n\n\n1. During the last half-hour the suitors had been gathering round the\nshire-oak awaiting the arrival of the high officer whose duty it was\nto preside. Notwithstanding the size of the meeting, there was an\nevident system in the crowd. A considerable proportion of the throng\nconsisted of little knots of husbandmen or churls, four or five of\nwhom were generally standing together, each company seeming to compose\na deputation. The churls might be easily distinguished by their dress,\na long frock of coarse yet snow-white linen hanging down to the same\nlength before and behind, and ornamented round the neck with broidery\nrudely executed in blue thread. They wore, in fact, the attire of the\ncarter and plowman, a garb which was common enough in country parts\nabout five-and-twenty years ago, but which will probably soon be\nrecollected only as an ancient costume, cast away with all the other\nobsolete characteristics of merry old England.\n\n[Illustration: _An Early Election to Parliament._]\n\n2. These groups of peasantry were the representatives of their\nrespective townships, the rural communes into which the whole realm\nwas divided; and each had a species of chieftain or head-man in the\nperson of an individual who, though it was evident that he belonged to\nthe same rank in society, gave directions to the rest. Interspersed\namong the churls, though not confounded with them, were also very many\nwell-clad persons, possessing an appearance of rustic respectability,\nwho were also subjected to some kind of organization, being collected\ninto sets of twelve men each, who were busily employed in\nconfabulation among themselves. These were \"the sworn centenary\ndeputies\" or jurors, the sworn men who answered for or represented the\nseveral hundreds.\n\n3. A third class of members of the shire court could be equally\ndistinguished, proudly known by their gilt spurs and blazoned tabards\nas the provincial knighthood, and who, though thus honored, appeared\nto mix freely and affably in converse with the rest of the commons of\nthe shire.\n\n4. A flourish of trumpets announced the approach of the high-sheriff,\nSir Giles de Argentein, surrounded by his escort of javelin-men, tall\nyeomen, all arrayed in a uniform suit of livery, and accompanied,\namong others, by four knights, the coroners, who took cognizance of\nall pleas that concerned the king's rights within the county, and who,\nthough they yielded precedence to the sheriff, were evidently\nconsidered to be almost of equal importance with him. \"My masters,\"\nsaid the sheriff to the assembled crowd, \"even now hath the\nport-joye[B] of the chancery delivered to me certain most important\nwrits of our sovereign lord the king, containing his Grace's high\ncommands.\" At this time the chancellor, who might be designated as\nprincipal secretary of state for all departments, was the great medium\nof communication between king and subject: whatever the sovereign had\nto ask or tell was usually asked or told by, or under, the directions\nof this high functionary.\n\n5. Now, although the gracious declarations which the chancellor was\ncharged to deliver were much diversified in their form, yet, somehow\nor other, they all conveyed the same intent. Whether directing the\npreservation of peace or preparing for the prosecution of a war,\nwhether announcing a royal birth or a royal death, the knighthood of\nthe king's son or the marriage of the king's daughter, the mandates of\nour ancient kings invariably conclude with a request or a demand for\nmoney's worth or money.\n\n6. The present instance offered no exception to the general rule. King\nEdward, greeting his loving subjects, expatiated upon the miseries\nwhich the realm was likely to sustain by the invasion of the wicked,\nbarbarous, and perfidious Scots. Church and state, he alleged, were in\nequal danger, and \"inasmuch as that which concerneth all ought to be\ndetermined by the advice of all concerned, we have determined,\"\ncontinued the writ, \"to hold our Parliament at Westminster in eight\ndays from the feast of St. Hilary.\" The effect of the announcement was\nmagical. Parliament! Even before the second syllable of the word had\nbeen uttered, visions of aids and subsidies rose before the appalled\nmultitude, grim shadows of assessors and collectors floated in the\nambient air.\n\n7. Sir Gilbert Hastings instinctively plucked his purse out of his\nsleeve; drawing the strings together, he twisted, and tied them in the\ncourse of half a minute of nervous agitation into a Gordian knot,\nwhich apparently defied any attempt to undo it, except by means\npracticed by the son of Ammon. The Abbot of Oseney forthwith guided\nhis steed to the right about, and rode away from the meeting as fast\nas his horse could trot, turning the deafest of all deaf ears to the\nmonitions which he received to stay.\n\n8. The sheriff and the other functionaries alone preserved a tranquil\nbut not a cheerful gravity, as Sir Giles commanded his clerk to read\nthe whole of the writ, by which he was commanded \"to cause two knights\nto be elected for the shire; and from every city within his bailiwick\ntwo citizens; and from every borough two burgesses--all of them of the\nmore discreet and wiser sort; and to cause them to come before the\nking in this Parliament at the before-mentioned day and place, with\nfull powers from their respective communities to perform and consent\nto such matters as by common counsel shall then and there be ordained;\nand this you will in no wise omit, as you will answer at your peril.\"\n\n9. A momentary pause ensued. The main body of the suitors retreated\nfrom the high-sheriff, as though he had been a center of repulsion.\nAfter a short but vehement conversation among themselves, one of the\nbettermost sort of yeomen, a gentleman farmer, if we may use the\nmodern term, stepped forward and addressed Sir Giles: \"Your worship\nwell knows that we, your commons, are not bound to proceed to the\nelection. You have no right to call upon us to interfere. So many of\nthe earls and barons of the shire, the great men, who ought to take\nthe main trouble, burthen, and business of the choice of the knights\nupon themselves, are absent now in the king's service, that we neither\ncan nor dare proceed to nominate those who are to represent the\ncounty. Such slender folks as we have no concern in these weighty\nmatters. How can we tell who are best qualified to serve?\"\n\n10. \"What of that, John Trafford?\" said the sheriff. \"Do you think\nthat his Grace will allow his affairs to be delayed by excuses such as\nthese? You suitors of the shire are as much bound and obliged to\nconcur in the choice of the county members as any baron of the realm.\nDo your duty; I command you in the king's name!\"\n\n11. John Trafford had no help. Like a wise debater, he yielded to the\npinch of the argument without confessing that he felt it; and, having\nmuttered a few words to the sheriff, which might be considered as an\nassent, a long conference took place between him and some of his\nbrother stewards, as well as with other suitors. During this\nconfabulation several nods and winks of intelligence passed between\nTrafford and a well-mounted knight; and while the former appeared to\nbe settling the business with the suitors, the latter, who had been\nclose to Sir Giles, continued gradually backing and sidling away\nthrough the groups of shiresmen, and, just as he had got clear out of\nthe ring, John Trafford declared, in a most sonorous voice, that the\nsuitors had chosen Sir Richard de Pogeys as one of their\nrepresentatives.\n\n12. The sheriff, who, keeping his eye fixed upon Sir Richard as he\nreceded, had evidently suspected some man[oe]uvre, instantly ordered\nhis bailiffs to secure the body of the member. \"And,\" continued he\nwith much vehemence, \"Sir Richard must be forthwith committed to\ncustody, unless he gives good bail--two substantial freeholders--that\nhe will duly attend in his place among the commons on the first day of\nthe session, according to the law and usage of Parliament.\"\n\n13. All this, however, was more easily said than done. Before the\nverbal precept had proceeded from the lips of the sheriff, Sir Richard\nwas galloping away at full speed across the fields. Off dashed the\nbailiffs after the member, amid the shouts of the surrounding crowd,\nwho forgot all their grievances in the stimulus of the chase, which\nthey contemplated with the perfect certainty of receiving some\nsatisfaction by its termination; whether by the escape of the\nfugitive, in which case their common enemy, the sheriff, would be\nliable to a heavy amercement;[C] or by the capture of the knight, a\nresult which would give them almost equal delight, by imposing a\ndisagreeable and irksome duty upon an individual who was universally\ndisliked, in consequence of his overbearing harshness and domestic\ntyranny.\n\n14. One of the two above-mentioned gratifications might be considered\nas certain. But, besides these, there was a third contingent\namusement, by no means to be overlooked, namely, the chance that in\nthe contest those respectable and intelligent functionaries, the\nsheriff's bailiffs, might somehow or another come to some kind of\nharm. In this charitable expectation the good men of the shire were\nnot entirely disappointed. Bounding along the open fields, while the\nwelkin resounded with the cheers of the spectators, the fleet courser\nof Sir Richard sliddered on the grass, then stumbled and fell down the\nsloping side of one of the many ancient British intrenchments by which\nthe plain was crossed, and, horse and rider rolling over, the latter\nwas deposited quite at the bottom of the foss, unhurt, but much\ndiscomposed.\n\n15. Horse and rider were immediately on their respective legs again:\nthe horse shook himself, snorted, and was quite ready to start; but\nSir Richard had to regird his sword, and before he could remount, the\nbailiffs were close at him. Dick-o'-the-Gyves attempted to trip him\nup, John Catchpole seized him by the collar of his pourpoint.[D] A\nscuffle ensued, during which the nags of the bailiffs slyly took the\nopportunity of emancipating themselves from control. Distinctly seen\nfrom the moot-hill, the strife began and ended in a moment; in what\nmanner it had ended was declared without any further explanation,\nwhen the officers rejoined the assembly, by Dick's limping gait and\nthe closed eye of his companion.\n\n16. In the mean time Sir Richard had wholly disappeared, and the\nspecial return made by the sheriff to the writ, which I translate from\nthe original, will best elucidate the bearing of the transaction:\n\n\"Sir Richard de Pogeys, knight, duly elected by the shire, refused to\nfind bail for his appearance in Parliament at the day and place within\nmentioned, and having grievously assaulted my bailiffs in contempt of\nthe king, his crown, and dignity, and absconded to the Chiltern\nHundreds[E], into which liberty, not being shire-land or guildable, I\ncan not enter, I am unable to make any other execution of the writ as\nfar as he is concerned.\"\n\n17. At the present day a nominal stewardship connected with the\nChiltern Hundreds, called an office of profit under the crown, enables\nthe member, by a species of juggle, to resign his seat. But it is not\ngenerally known that this ancient domain, which now affords the means\nof retreating out of the House of Commons, was in the fourteenth\ncentury employed as a sanctuary in which the knight of the shire took\nrefuge in order to avoid being dragged into Parliament against his\nwill. Being a distinct jurisdiction, in which the sheriff had no\ncontrol, and where he could not capture the county member, it enabled\nthe recusant to baffle the process, at least until the short session\nhad closed.\n\n _Palgrave._\n\n[Footnote B: The port-joye was the messenger of the chancellor.]\n\n[Footnote C: Fine.]\n\n[Footnote D: Overcoat, or doublet.]\n\n[Footnote E: The district of the Chilterns, or line of chalk-hills to\nthe east of Buckinghamshire.]\n\n\n\n\n_XLV.--THE BATTLE OF CRESSY._\n\n\n1. Froissart was a brilliant historian of the middle ages. His\nwritings are in quaint old French. At the request of Henry VIII of\nEngland, a translation of his \"Battle of Cressy\" was made into the\nEnglish of that day. We insert this as a most lively description of\nthe battle itself, and as a specimen of old literature in which pupils\ncan not fail to take great interest:\n\n2. Thenglysshmen who were in three batayls, lyeing on the grounde to\nrest them, assone as they saw the frenchmen approche, they rose upon\ntheir fete, fayre and easily, without any haste, and arranged their\nbatayls: the first, which was the prince's batell, the archers then\nstrode in the manner of a harrow, and the men at armes in the botome\nof the batayle.\n\n3. Therle of North[=a]pton and therle of Arundell, with the second\nbatell, were on a wyng in good order, redy to comfort the princes\nbatayle, if nede were. The lordes and knyghtes of France, c[=a]e not\nto the assemble togyder in good order, for some came before, and some\nc[=a]e after, in such haste and yvell order, y^t one of th[=e] dyd\ntrouble another: when the french kyng sawe the englysshmen, his blode\nchaunged, and sayde to his marshals, make the genowayes go on before,\nand begynne the batayle in the name of god and saynt Denyse; ther were\nof the genowayse crosbowes, about a fiftene thousand, but they were so\nwery of goyng a fote that day, a six leages, armed with their\ncrosbowes, that they sayde to their constables, we be not well ordered\nto fyght this day, for we be not in the case to do any great dede of\narmes, we have more nede of rest. These wordes came to the erle of\nAlanson, who sayd, a man is well at ease to be charged w^t suche a\nsorte of rascalles, to be faynt and fayle now at moost nede. Also the\nsame season there fell a great rayne, and a clyps, with a terryble\nthunder, and before the rayne, ther came fleying over both batayls, a\ngreat nombre of crowes, for feare of the tempest comynge.\n\n4. Than anone the eyre beganne to wax clere, and the sonne to shyne\nfayre and bright, the which was right in the frenchmens eyen and on\nthenglysshmens backes. Whan the genowayes were assembled to-guyder,\nand began to aproche, they made a great leape and crye, to abasshe\nthenglysshmen, but they stode styll, and styredde not for all that;\nth[=a]ns the genowayes agayne the seconde tyme made another leape, and\na fell crye, and stepped forward a lytell, and thenglysshmen remeued\nnot one fote; thirdly agayne they leapt and cryed, and went forthe\ntyll they come within shotte; thane they shotte feersly with their\ncrosbowes; thun thenglysshe archers stept forthe one pase, and lette\nfly their arowes so hotly, and so thycke, that it semed snowe; when\nthe genowayes felte the arowes persynge through heeds, armes, and\nbrestes, many of them cast downe their crosbowes, and dyde cutte their\nstrynges, and retourned dysconfited.\n\n5. Whun the frenche kynge sawe them flye away, he sayd, slee these\nrascalles, for they shall lette and trouble us without reason: then ye\nshulde have sene the men of armes dasshe in among them, and kylled a\ngreat nombre of them; and ever styll the englysshmen shot where as\nthey sawe thyckest preace; the sharpe arowes ranne into the men of\narmes, and into their horses, and many fell, horse and men, am[=o]ge\nthe genowayes; and when they were downe, they coude not relyve agayne,\nthe preace was so thycke, that one overthrewe another. And also amonge\nthe englysshmen there were certayne rascalles that went a fote, with\ngreat knyves, and they went in among the men of armes, and slewe and\nmurdredde many as they lay on the grounde, both erles, baronnes,\nknyghtes and squyers, whereof the kynge of Englande was after\ndyspleased, for he had rather they had bene taken prisoners.\n\n6. The valyant kyng of Behaygne, called Charles of Luzenbomge, sonne\nto the noble emperour Henry of Luzenbomge, for all that he was nyghe\nblynde, whun he understode the order of the batayle, he sayde to them\nabout hym, where is the lorde Charles my son? his men sayde, sir, we\ncan not tell, we thynke he be fyghtynge; thun he sayde, sirs, ye ar my\nmen, my companyons, and frendes in this journey. I requyre you bring\nme so farre forwarde, that I may stryke one stroke with my swerde;\nthey sayde they wolde do his commandement, and to the intent that they\nshulde not lese him in the prease, they tyed all their raynes of their\nbridelles eche to other, and sette the kynge before to accomplysshe\nhis desyre, and so thei went on their ennemyes; the lorde Charles of\nBehaygne, his sonne, who wrote hymselfe kyng of Behaygne, and bare the\narmes, he came in good order to the batayle, but wh[=a]ne he sawe that\nthe matter went awrie on their partie, he departed, I can not tell you\nwhiche waye, the kynge his father was so farre forwarde that he strake\na stroke with his swerde, ye and mo thun foure, and fought valyuntly,\nand so dyde his compuny, and they adv[=e]tured themselfe so forwarde,\nthat they were ther all slayne, and the next day they were founde in\nthe place about the kyng, and all their horses tyed eche to other.\n\n7. The erle of Alansone came to the batayle right ordy notlye, and\nfought with thenglysshmen; and the erle of Flaunders also on his\nparte; these two lordes with their c[=o]panyes wosted the englysshe\narchers, and came to the princes batayle, and there fought valyantly\nlonge. The frenche kynge wolde fayne have come thyder whanne he saw\ntheir baners, but there was a great hedge of archers before hym. The\nsame day the frenche kynge hadde gyven a great blacke courser to Sir\nJohn of Heynault, and he made the lorde Johan of Fussels to ryde on\nhym, and to bere his banerre; the same horse tooke the bridell in the\ntethe, and brought hym through all the currours of th[=e]'glysshmen,\nand as he wolde have retourned agayne, he fell in a great dyke, and\nwas sore hurt, and had been ther deed, and his page had not ben, who\nfollowed him through all the batayls, and sawe where his maister lay\nin the dyke, and had none other lette but for his horse, for\nthenglysshmen wolde not yssue out of their batayle, for takyng of any\nprisiner; th[=a]ne the page alyghted and relyved his maister, thun he\nwent not backe agayn y^e same way that they came, there was to many in\nhis way.\n\n8. This batyle bytwene Broy and Cressy, this Saturday was right cruell\nand fell, and many a feat of armes done, that came not to my\nknowledge; in the night, dyverse knyghtes and sqyers lost their\nmaisters, and sometyme came on thenglysshmen, who receyved them in\nsuch wyse, that they were ever nighe slayne; for there was none taken\nto mercy nor to raunsome, for so thenglysshmen were determyned: in the\nmornyng the day of the batayle, certayne frenchmen and almaygnes\nperforce opyned the archers of the princes batayle, and came and\nfought with the men of armes hande to hande: than the seconde batayle\nof thenglysshmen came to sucour the princes batayle, the whiche was\ntyme, for they had as th[=a]n moche ado; and they with y^e prince sent\na messanger to the kynge, who was on a lytell wyndmyll hyll; thun the\nknyght sayd to the kyng, sir, therle of Warwyke, and therle of\nC[=a]fort, Sir Reynolde Cobham, and other, suche as be about the\nprince your sonne, as feersly fought with all, and ar sore handled,\nwherefore they desyre you, that you and your batayle wolle come and\nayde them, for if the frenchmen encrease, as they dout they woll, your\nsonne and they shall have much ado.\n\n9. Thun the kynge sayde, is my sonne deed or hurt, or on the yerthe\nfelled? no sir, quoth the knyght, but he is hardely matched, wherefore\nhe hath nede of your ayde. Well, sayde the king, returne to him, and\nto thrm that sent you hyther, and say to them, that they sende no more\nto me for an adventure that falleth, as long as my son is alyve, and\nalso say to th[=e], that they suffre hym this day to wynne his\nspurres, for if god he pleased, I woll this journey be his, and the\nhonoure therof, and to them that be aboute him. Thun the knyght\nreturned agayn to th[=e], and shewed the kynges wordes, the which\ngretly encouraged them, and repoyned in that they had sende to the\nkynge as they dyd. Sir Godfray of Harecourt, wolde gladly that the\nerle of Harcourt, his brother, myghte have been saved, for he hurd say\nby th[=e] that he sawe his baner, howe that he was ther in the felde\non the french partie, but Sir Godfray coude not come to hym betymes\nfor he was slayne or he coude co[=e] at hym, and so also was therle of\nAlmare, his nephue.\n\n10. In another place the erle of Aleuson, and therle of Flaunders,\nfought valyantly, every lorde under his owne banere; but finally they\ncoude not resyst agaynt the payssance of thenglysshmen, and so ther\nthey were also slayne, and dyvers knyghtes and sqyers, also therle of\nLewes of Bloyes, nephue to the frenche kyng, and the duke of Lorayne,\nfought under their baners, but at last they were closed in among a\nc[=o]pany of englysshmen and welshmen, and were there slayed, for all\ntheir powers. Also there was slayne the erle of Ausser, therle of\nSaynt Poule, and many others.\n\n11. In the evenynge, the frenche kynge, who had lefte about hym no\nmore than a threscore persons, one and other, whereof Sir John of\nHeynalt was one, who had remounted ones the kynge, for his horse was\nslayne with an arowe, th[=a] sayde to the kynge, sir, departe hense,\nfor it is tyme, lese not yourselfe wylfully, if ye have losse at this\ntyme, ye shall recover it agaynt another season, and soo he took the\nkynge's horse by the brydell, and ledde hym away in a maner perforce;\nthan the kyng rode tyll he came to the castell of Broy. The gate was\nclosed, because it was by that tyme darke; than the kynge called the\ncaptayne, who came to the walles, and sayd, Who is that calleth there\nthis tyme of night? than the kynge sayde, open your gate quickly, for\nthis is the fortune of Fraunce; the captayne knewe than it was the\nkyng, and opyned the gate, and let downe the bridge; than the kyng\nentred, and he had with hym but fyve baronnes, Sir Johan of Heynault,\nSir Charles of Monmorency, the lorde of Beaureive, the lorde Dobegny,\nand the lorde of Mountfort; the kynge wolde not tary there, but\ndr[=a]ke and departed thense about mydnyght, and so rode by suche\nguydes as knewe the country, tyll he came in the mornynge to Anyeuse,\nand then he rested. This saturday the englysshmen never departed for\ntheir batayls for chasynge of any man, but kept styll their felde, and\never defended themselfe agaynst all such as came to assayle them; the\nbatayle ended about evynsonge tyme.\n\n\n\n\n_XLVI.--THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT._\n\n\n 1. Fair stood the wind for France\n When we our sails advance,\n Nor now to prove our chance\n Longer will tarry;\n But, putting to the main,\n At Kaux, the mouth of Seine,\n With all his martial train,\n Landed King Harry.\n\n 2. And taking many a fort,\n Furnish'd in warlike sort,\n March'd toward Agincourt\n In happy hour;\n Skirmishing day by day\n With those that stop'd the way,\n Where the French gen'ral lay\n With all his power.\n\n 3. Which in his height of pride,\n King Henry to deride,\n His ransom to provide\n To the king sending;\n Which he neglects the while,\n As from a nation vile,\n Yet with an angry smile,\n Their fall portending.\n\n 4. And turning to his men,\n Quoth our brave Henry then,\n Though they be one to ten,\n Be not amazed.\n Yet, have we well begun,\n Battles so bravely won\n Have ever to the sun\n By fame been raised.\n\n 5. And for myself, quoth he,\n This my full rest shall be,\n England ne'er mourn for me,\n Nor more esteem me.\n Victor I will remain,\n Or on this earth lie slain,\n Never shall she sustain\n Loss to redeem me.\n\n 6. Poictiers and Cressy tell,\n When most their pride did swell,\n Under our swords they fell,\n No less our skill is,\n Than when our grandsire great,\n Claiming the regal seat,\n By many a warlike feat,\n Lop'd the French lilies.\n\n 7. The Duke of York so dread\n The eager vanward led;\n With the main Henry sped\n Amongst his henchmen.\n Excester had the rear,\n A braver man not there;\n O Lord, how hot they were\n On the false Frenchmen!\n\n 8. They now to fight are gone,\n Armor on armor shone,\n Drum now to drum did groan,\n To hear was wonder;\n That with the cries they make,\n The very earth did shake,\n Trumpet to trumpet spake,\n Thunder to thunder.\n\n 9. Well it thine age became,\n O noble Erpingham,\n Which did the signal aim\n To our hid forces;\n When from a meadow by,\n Like a storm suddenly,\n The English archery\n Struck the French horses.\n\n 10. With Spanish yew so strong,\n Arrows a cloth-yard long,\n That like to serpents stung,\n Piercing the weather;\n None from his fellow starts,\n But playing manly parts,\n And, like true English hearts,\n Stuck close together.\n\n 11. When down their bows they threw\n And forth their bilbows drew,\n And on the French they flew;\n Not one was tardy.\n Arms from their shoulders sent,\n Scalps to the teeth were rent,\n Down the French peasants went,\n Our men were hardy.\n\n 12. This while our noble king,\n His broadsword brandishing,\n Down the French host did ding,\n As to o'erwhelm it;\n And many a deep wound lent,\n His arms with blood besprent,\n And many a cruel dent\n Bruis\u00e8d his helmet.\n\n 13. Glo'ster, that duke so good,\n Next of the royal blood,\n For famous English stood,\n With his brave brother,\n Clarence, in steel so bright,\n Though but a maiden knight,\n Yet in that furious fight\n Scarce such another.\n\n 14. Warwick in blood did wade,\n Oxford the foe invade,\n And cruel slaughter made,\n Still as they ran up;\n Suffolk his axe did ply,\n Beaumont and Willoughby;\n Bore them right doughtily,\n Ferrers and Fanhope.\n\n 15. Upon Saint Crispin's day\n Fought was this noble fray,\n Which fame did not delay\n To England to carry.\n O when shall Englishmen\n With such acts fill a pen,\n Or England breed again\n Such a King Harry?\n\n _Michael Drayton._\n\n\n THE END.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\n\n * Punctuation errors have been corrected.\n\n * Footnotes have been moved to the end of the respective story.\n\n * Hyphenation of \"housetops\" and \"house-tops\" left as printed.\n\n * Pg 51 Corrected spelling of \"breastplace\" to \"breastplate\" in\n \"... upon Orlando's breastplace that his sword ...\"\n\n * Pg 137 Corrected spelling of \"acccess\" to \"access\" in \"... might\n have acccess to them\"\n\n * Pg 148 Corrected spelling of \"forescore\" to \"fourscore\" in \"... on\n the left, and forescore on the ...\"\n\n * Pg 176 Corrected spelling of \"Treves\" to \"Tr\u00e8ves\" in \"... Roman\n road from Treves as far as the ...\"\n\n\n\n\n\n
","title":"Stories of the Olden Time: (Historical Series\u2014Book IV Part I)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":62986}