were utterly useless in this case. Alfred knew well that the Danes depended chiefly on their ships, and that to render them useless would be like robbing Samson of his hair.

11. Secretly, therefore, but ceaselessly, he set diggers to work upon the banks of the stream, who trenched the land in two long channels, parallel to the natural bed, in whose waters the Danish fleet was floating. When all was ready he cut a way for the river to flow into these artificial troughs, and thus rendered the stream so shallow that the ships ran aground and fell on their sides, useless, and incapable of being stirred by wind or oar. It was a fatal blow to the pirates, who abandoned their works, and, scattering over the country, got home with difficulty next year, in some leaky ships which they managed to borrow from the Danes of the eastern coast. Five years after this skillful achievement Alfred died (901).

[Besides the two incidents related in the above extract of Alfred's taking refuge in a peasant's hut, and of his entering, in disguise, into the Danish camp, many other singular stories are related by the old chroniclers of this renowned monarch. The following, although wanting in historical accuracy, is interesting as illustrative of the peculiar superstition of the time.]

The Story of King Alfred and Saint Cuthbert.

Freeman.

[From "Old English History for Children," by Edward A. Freeman, M.A.]

1. Now King Alfred was driven from his kingdom by the Danes, and he lay hid for three years in the Isle of Glaston bury. And it came to pass on a day that all his folk were gone out to fish, save only Alfred himself, and his wife, and one servant whom he loved. And there came a pilgrim to the king, and begged for food. And the king said to his servant, "What food have we in the house?" And his servant answered, "My lord, we have but one loaf and a little wine." Then the king gave thanks to God, and said, "Give half of the loaf and half of the wine to this poor pilgrim."

2. So the servant did as his lord commanded him, and gave to the pilgrim half of the loaf and half of the wine, and the pilgrim gave great thanks to the king. And when the serv

ant returned he found the loaf whole, and the wine as much as there had been aforetime. And he greatly wondered, and he wondered also how the pilgrim came into the isle, for that no man could come there save by water, and the pilgrim had no boat. And the king greatly wondered also. And at the ninth hour came back the folk who had gone to fish; and they had three boats full of fish. And they said, "Lo, we have caught more fish this day than in all the three years that we have tarried in this island.'

3. And the king was glad, and he and his folk were merry; yet he pondered much upon that which had come to pass. And when night came, the king went to his bed with Elizabeth, his wife. And the lady slept, but the king lay awake and thought of all that had come to pass that day. And presently he saw a great light, like the brightness of the sun, and he saw an old man with black hair, clothed in priest's garments, and with a mitre on his head, and holding in his right hand a book of the Gospels, adorned with gold and gems.

4. And the old man blessed the king, and the king said unto him, "Who art thou?" And he answered, "Alfred, my son, rejoice; for I am he to whom thou didst this day give thine alms, and I am called Cuthberht, the soldier of Christ. Now be strong and very courageous, and be of joyful heart, and hearken diligently to the things which I say unto thee; for henceforth I will be thy shield and thy friend, and I will watch over thee and over thy sons after thee.

5. "And now I will tell thee what thou must do. Rise up early in the morning, and blow thine horn thrice, that thine enemies may hear it and fear, and by the ninth hour thou shalt have around thee five hundred men harnessed for the battle. And this shall be a sign unto thee that thou mayest believe. And after seven days thou shalt have, by God's gift and my help, all the folk of this land gathered unto thee upon the mount that is called Assandun. And thus shalt thou fight against thine enemies, and doubt not that thou shalt overcome them.

6. Be thou therefore glad of heart, and be strong and very

courageous, and fear not, for God hath given thine enemies into thine hand. And He hath given thee, also, all this land and the kingdom of thy fathers to thee and to thy sons and to thy sons' sons after thee. Be thou faithful to me and to my folk, because that unto thee is given all the land of Albion. Be thou righteous, because thou art chosen to be the king of all Britain. So may God be merciful unto thee, and I will be thy friend, and none of thine enemies shall ever be able to overcome thee."

7. Then was King Alfred glad at heart; and he was strong and very courageous, for that he knew that he would overcome his enemies by the help of God and Saint Cuthberht his patron. So in the morning he arose, sailed to the land, and blew his horn three times, and when his friends heard it they rejoiced, and when his enemies heard it they feared. And by the ninth hour, according to the word of the Lord, there were gathered unto him five hundred of the bravest and dearest of his friends.

8. And he spake unto them and told them all that God had said unto them by the mouth of his servant Cuthberht, and he told them that, by the gift of God and by the help of Saint Cuthberht, they would overcome their enemies and win back their own land. And he bade them, as Saint Cuthberht had taught him, to be pious toward God and righteous toward men. And he bade his son Edward, who was by him, to be faithful to God and Saint Cuthberht, and so he should always have the victory over his enemies. So they went forth to battle and smote their enemies, and overcame them; and King Alfred took the kingdom of all Britain, and he ruled well and wisely over the just and the unjust for the rest of his days.

[After a little more than a century and a half the last Saxon king ascended the English throne. This was Harold, the second of that name. Between him and Alfred there had been thir cen reigns, three of which were of Danish kings. The longest of these reigns was that of Edward the Confessor, who, dying without heirs, the crown was conferred upon Harold, son of Earl Godwin, the most powerful nobleman of the time, whose daughter Edward had married. William, Duke of Normandy, however, claimed the throne on the plea that Edward had bequeathed it to him, and determined to enforce his claim, accusing Harold of perjury, because, as it is said, the latter, while on a visit. to William some time before, had sacredly promised to aid him in acquiring the English throne. Harold's reign was very brief, the principal events being contained in the fol lowing extract.]

Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings of England.

Dickens.

[From "A Child's History of England," by Charles Dickens.]

1. KING HAROLD had a rebel brother in Flanders, who was a vassal of Harold Hardrada, King of Norway. This brother and this Norwegian king, joining their forces against England, with Duke William's help, won a fight in which the English were commanded by two nobles; and then besieged York. Harold, who was waiting for the Normans on the coast at Hastings, with his army marched to Stamford Bridge, upon the river Derwent, to give them instant battle.

2. He found them drawn up in a hollow circle, marked out by their shining spears. Riding round this circle at a distance, to survey it, he saw a brave figure on horseback, in a blue mantle and a bright helmet, whose horse suddenly stumbled and threw him. "Who is that man who has fallen ?" Harold asked of one of his captains. "The King of Norway," he replied. "He is a tall and stately king," said Harold; "but his end is near."

3. He added in a little while, "Go yonder to my brother, and tell him, if he withdraw his troops he shall be Earl of Northumberland, and rich and powerful in England." The captain rode away and gave the message.

"What will he give to my friend, the King of Norway?" asked the brother. "Seven feet of earth for a grave," replied the captain. "No more?" returned the brother with a smile. "The King of Norway being a tall man, perhaps a little more," replied the captain. "Ride back!" said the brother, "and tell King Harold to make ready for the fight.”

4. He did so very soon. And such a fight King Harold led against that force, that his brother, and the Norwegian king, and every chief of note in all their host, except the Norwegian king's son, Olave, to whom he gave honorable dismissal, were left dead upon the field. The victorious army marched to York. As King Harold sat there at the feast, in the midst of

all his company, a stir was heard at the doors; and messengers all covered with mire from riding far and fast through broken ground, came hurrying in to report that the Normans had landed in England.

5. The intelligence was true. They had been tossed about by contrary winds, and some of their ships had been wrecked. A part of their own shore, to which they had been driven back, was strewn with Norman bodies. But they had once more made sail, led by the duke's own galley, a present from his wife, upon the prow whereof the figure of a golden boy stood pointing toward England. By day, the banner of the three lions of Normandy, the diverse-colored sails, the gilded vanes, the many decorations of this gorgeous ship had glittered in the sun and sunny water; by night, a light had sparkled like a star at her masthead.

6. And now, encamped near Hastings, with their leader lying in the old Roman castle of Pevensey, the English retiring in all directions, the land for miles around scorched and smoking, fired and pillaged, was the whole Norman power, hopeful and strong on English ground. Harold broke up the feast and hurried to London. Within a week his army was ready. He sent out spies to ascertain the Norman strength. William took them, caused them to be led through his whole camp, and then dismissed them.

7. "The Normans," said these spies to Harold, “are not bearded on the upper lip as we English are, but are shorn. They are priests." "My men," replied Harold, with a laugh, "will find these priests good soldiers!" "The Saxons," reported Duke William's outposts of Norman soldiers, who were instructed to retire as King Harold's army advanced, "rush on us through their pillaged country with the fury of madmen." "Let them come and come soon!" said Duke William.

8. Some proposals for a reconciliation were made, but were soon abandoned. In the middle of the month of October, in the year one thousand and sixty-six, the Normans and the English came front to front. All night the armies lay encamped before each other, in a part of the country then called